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| Duty of the saints in relation to their persecutors, as set forth by Joseph Smith the Prophet, while a prisoner in the jail at Liberty, Missouri, March 1839. HC 3:302-303. | ||
7—10, The same spirit that establised the false creeds also leads to persecution of the saints; 11—17, Many among all sects will yet receive the truth. | ||
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D&C 123:1 And again, we would suggest for your consideration the propriety of
all the saints agathering up a knowledge of all the facts,
and bsufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of
this State;
D&C 123:2 And also of all the property and amount of damages which they have sustained, both of character and person ainjuries, as well as real property; D&C 123:3 And also the names of all persons that have had a hand in their aoppressions, as far as they can get hold of them and find them out.
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D&C 123:4 And perhaps a committee can be appointed to find out these things,
and to take astatements and affidavits; and also to gather
up the libelous publications that are afloat;
D&C 123:5 And all that are in the magazines, and in the encyclopedias, and all the libelous histories that are published, and are writing, and by whom, and present the wholea concatenation of diabolical rascality and nefarious and murderous impositions that have been practiced upon this people— D&C 123:6 That we may not only publish to all the world, but present them to the aheads of government in all their dark and hellish hue, as the last effort which is enjoined on us by our Heavenly Father, before we can fully and completely claim that promise which shall call him forth from his bhiding place; and also that the whole nation may be left without excuse before he can send forth the power of his mighty arm.
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5apresent the whole Judgement shall be out of the 'books' or records which are made. History would have seen many of the charges and persecutions against the saints and the church disapear through the process of time and in light of the commandment that we are to forgive all who have sinned against us some may wonder why it was needful that such negative lies and hatred be recorded for posterity and for our enemies to again and again refer to our own records and echo those words against us again from time to time. But vengence it the Lord's and it is he who hath required the record to be made and it will be He who will judge men out of that required record. Caution should be offered those who would use it against God, His Church and His people, for it will be God who will judge all men out of he books, histories and records which he has caused to be written. | |
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D&C 123:7 It is an imperative duty that we owe to God, to angels, with
whom we shall be brought to stand, and also to ourselves, to our wives and
achildrena, who
have been made to bow down with grief,
sorrow, and care, under the most damning hand of murder, tyranny, and
boppression, supported and urged on and upheld by the
influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the
ccreeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies, upon the
hearts of the children, and filled the world with confusion, and has been
growing stronger and stronger, and is now the very mainspring of all
corruption, and the whole dearth groans under the weight of
its iniquity.
D&C 123:8 It is an iron ayoke, it is a strong band; they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of bhell.
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7a It is an imperative duty that we owe to God, to angels, with whom we shall be brought to stand, and also to ourselves, to our wives and children The record of the persecutions was, as Joseph Smith stated, a duty to be made as witness against those who so persecuted and opposed the coming forth of God's Great Plan of Redemption to come forth upon the earth. It was not only for the benefit of the saints who lived immediately under that persecution, but it was a matter which concerned all God's children of eternity, all the angels of heaven, all who would benefit from the coming forth of the plan. It was and is a part of that continuation of the war fought in heaven between the forces of Satan and those who remained faithful to the cause of our God, the Father and the Son. Those who fight against God will be judged accordingly. And it was and is our duty to record a record which will stand as witness against those who would stand against God, that they might be judge by God according to their works of opposition aginst not only earth but against heaven. | |
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D&C 123:9 Therefore it is an imperative duty that we owe, not only to our own
wives and children, but to the awidows and fatherless,
whose husbands and fathers have been bmurdered under its
iron hand;
D&C 123:10 Which dark and blackening deeds are enough to make hell itself ashudder, and to stand aghast and pale, and the hands of the very devil to tremble and palsy.
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D&C 123:11 And also it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising
generation, and to all the pure in heart—
D&C 123:12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are ablinded by the subtle bcraftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to cdeceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they dknow not where to find it—
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D&C 123:13 Therefore, that we should waste and awear out
our lives in bringing to light all the bhidden things of
darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—
D&C 123:14 These should then be attended to with great aearnestness.
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D&C 123:15 Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.
D&C 123:16 You know, brethren, that a very large ship is abenefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves. D&C 123:17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us acheerfully bdo all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the csalvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
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