The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of

"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." ¶

Thus did our Lord and Master teach the Saints in olden times to pray. The pattern which He gave for prayer has never been superseded nor abrogated. Thus does the Christian world profess to pray today : "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." If ever there were rational and imperative need for such prayer as this, today witnesses that need. Who will dare affirm that ¶

we need no longer pray that the kingdom of heaven may come, or that the will of God is being wrought upon the earth as it is in heaven ? ¶

Do you believe that the kingdom of heaven has been already set up upon the earth? I do not. I know that the kingdom of God has been established upon the earth, but the kingdom of God is a preparation for the kingdom of heaven, which is yet to come. The expressions "Kingdom of God" and "Kingdom of Heaven" are ofttimes used synonymously and interchangeably in our imperfect English translation of the Holy Bible, particularly in the Gospel according to Matthew, where the expression "Kingdom of Heaven" is most commonly, used. But in these instances, as in so many others, the light of modern revelation clears up the darkness of ancient passages ; and the Lord has in this day and age made plain the fact, beyond all question, that there is a distinction between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God is the Church of Christ ; the kingdom of heaven is that system of government and administration which is operative in heaven, and which we pray may some day prevail on earth. The kingdom of heaven will he established when the King shall come, as come He shall, in power and might and glory, to take dominion in and over and throughout the earth. ¶

Thus spake the Lord in the year 1831, calling attention to the imminent duty of the Church and, the Saints : ¶

"Hearken, and lo, a voice as of one from on high, who is mighty and powerful, whose going forth is unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice ¶

is unto men. — Prepare ye the way of Lord, make his paths straight. ¶

"The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth; ¶

"Yea, a voice crying, — Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom; ¶

"Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the people; ¶

"Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet, the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth; ¶

"Wherefore may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come, that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thy enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and glory, for ever and ever. Amen." ¶

Thus reads the revelation known to us as Section 65 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The kingdom of heaven shall come, and then shall justice rule in the earth. No longer shall men rise in unrighteous dominion over their fellows. No longer shall men exalt themselves on thrones, nor adorn themselves with crowns and scepters. The best form of government possible unto man is a monarchy with the right kind of a monarch, who will do only justice, full justice, and with due regard to the claims of mercy, give unto every man his right. Such a government will be democracy and monarchy combined, and such is the government of the kingdom of heaven. ¶

The work of the Church of Jesus ¶

Christ of Latter-day Saints may be summed up as the preparation of the earth for the coming of its Lord and King. As in the meridian of time the voice of the Baptist was heard in the wilderness, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," so has the voice of that same John the Baptist been heard in this day, restoring the authority of the Priesthood requisite to the administration of the ordinance of baptism, whereby remission of sins may be obtained ; and the proclamation is made now, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." That proclamation is authoritatively sounded throughout the world ; and the work of the Church, which is veritably the kingdom of God, is to prepare the earth for the coming of the King of earth and heaven, and for the establishment of the kingdom of heaven upon the earth. ¶

We Latter-day Saints are peculiarly literal in our acceptance of plain scripture. We believe that the Scriptures are very simple to understand, if we can only get the theologians to leave them alone and not confuse us with explanations. The Spirit of the Lord will enlighten the mind of the earnest reader, and will interpret the Scriptures, for that is the spirit in which the Scriptures were written. When we read in prophecy, ancient and modern, and find in all predictions bearing upon this subject a strict unanimity, without any shadow of contradiction or inconsistency, we hold it to be a fact beyond question that the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived in the flesh, who was actually crucified, and who .did take up that same body of flesh and bones that had lain in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, shall come in that same body and stand upon the earth and mingle with His people, and rule and reign. ¶

Forty days after the day in commemoration of which this Easter Sunday is celebrated throughout Christendom, Christ led out His faithful servants, those who had been commissioned to administer in the authority of the holy Priesthood after He would leave, led them out to the historic little mount, Olivet; and there after communing with them and giving them final instructions, answering some of their eager questions, and putting others aside with but partial answer because the brethren were unprepared to fully comprehend, He ascended from their midst. They saw Him ascend; there was no shedding of body or robe ; and as they watched Him disappearing in the upper deep they became aware of the presence of two white-robed angels, who addressed them saying: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." ¶

I admit that we Latter-day Saints are behind the times in many respects. We are still simple-minded enough to believe what the Scriptures say, which is the truth, and which cannot be gainsaid. Time forbids me citing even the most important and most striking of ancient prophecies relating to the coming of the Son of God in the dispensation of fulness, which is known as the day of vengeance. It was shown unto the prophets, however, even in the most ancient of times. Adam learned of it. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of it, declaring that in the last days Jesus the Christ would come with ten thousand of His saints to rule in ¶

person upon the earth for a thousand years. I find nothing ambiguous in that, nothing requiring an interpreter. If I understand English at all, if I am more than a child in understanding, I can comprehend what that declaration means ; and I believe it in its impressive literalness and in all its grand and glorious simplicity. ¶

In preparing the world for the coming of the Lord there is a duty laid upon the Church as an organization, and upon every member of the Church individually; and that duty or obligation is to carry the word to our neighbors, to all with whom we may come in contact. Remember the mission of the Church is not wholly and solely to convert men to the acceptance of its principles and to bring them into membership. The duty laid upon us is also that of warning the world of the judgments that are to come. Can you doubt that the present dread scenes of conflict and slaughter on land and sea, in the air and beneath the water, are insignificant as signs of the times ? ¶

In that solemn interview which Christ had with His apostles just after their departure from the temple for the last time, in the course of the evening walk back to Bethany, He rested on the slopes of Olivet, and the apostles came to Him privately to ask certain questions regarding the time of His coming, which He had in part explained to them. Read for yourselves the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew and the twenty-first chapter of Luke. The burden of the Lord's instructions was this : Watch, for ye know not the day nor the hour. He went so far as to tell them that not even the angels in heaven, nor at that time did the Son ¶

himself know the time appointed for His return in glory to exercise dominion on the earth. That knowledge He said, rested with the Father only. So in our assurance that the Lord shall come, and that His coming is very near, let us beware of those who undertake to set dates, to designate months and years ; for the Lord hath positively declared that that shall not be given to man to know, nor even to the angels who stand in the presence of God. But certain signs are specified, and those signs are today ripening like the fruit in autumntide, when the fulness of summer is past. Who can doubt the imminence of this event, which shall be known as the consummation of the ages? ¶

We do well to bear in mind the fact that the coming of the Christ is not the event spoken of in the Scriptures by the figurative phrase "the end of the world". That is not to be the occasion of the final judgment. Yet when Christ comes He shall execute judgment; and the wilfully hopeless, the unregenerate wicked shall be destroyed. Then there shall be a general resurrection of the righteous dead, and a change from mortality to immortality in the case of many who are living in the flesh at the time of His coming. But following the millennium, a thousand years of peace, shall be the final resurrection, in which men shall stand in their bodies of flesh and bones before the judgment seat of God. ¶

I ask your attentive consideration of one of the many utterances of the Lord concerning His coming, given to us in these modern days, as recorded in the 88th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants. In 1832, the Lord said unto His elders ¶

and the Church generally, through the mouth of the Prophet Joseph: ¶

"And I give unto you a commandment, that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom; ¶

"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; ¶

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"Behold I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned, to warn his neighbor. ¶

"Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads. ¶

"He that seeketh me early shall find me, and shall not be forsaken. ¶

"Abide ye in the liberty wherewith ye are made free; entangle not yourselves in sin, but let your hands be clean, until the Lord come; ¶

"For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man, and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light, and the moon shall be bathed in blood, and the stars shall become exceeding angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree. ¶

"And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people; the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground, and shall not be able to stand. ¶

"And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. ¶

"And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people; ¶

"And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump ,of God, saying, Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come; behold, and lo! the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. ¶

"And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened, and be caught up to meet him. ¶

"And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth; for they shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven." ¶

I believe it all without question or mental reservation. And now, as I know that I may be criticized by some, who pride themselves on scholarship, for the child-like simplicity of my acceptance and for my belief in the literalness of these events, I say to you in paraphrase of the utterance of Paul : Brethren, I come not to you with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I am determined not to know anything amongst you save Jesus Christ and him crucified, the Christ who is to come. And I am with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching unto you is not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That our faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. So be it, in the name of Christ. Amen. ¶