Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-11-22

Reference q made 70 the presence Of
suxelr; 10 the valor and vision Of
the chosen servants Of God in thu
see, to the collection and right under
stand of old and new acred writings;
10 the accspeancs Of The Gospel BY
Jews and GentiIes; to the last efforts
OF the servants Of unrighteousness,
and to subsequent outpourings OF
divine judgments. There Is, In one
word, . clear and bold outline Of
~hat the world calls 'sMormonism, u
drawn on the pages Of the history Of
the 18th century.
[Hildegard died ll7s. Her re.
markable prediction has been quoted
by H. Arnim in BlicSs 0uf Hsrgon'
cenheH sind Gegesvarf Deufschtands,
Bremen lsl7, and also by Johannes
Kreyher, Die n,ystichsn EIscheinun.
gen des SeeieH,eoens, Stuttgart, 1851,
The fact being established that the
human mind possesses the faculty
Of perceiving what is not actually
present to the outward senses, al.
though having an actual existence,
it is easy to accept the prophecies
with which revealed religion Is &c
abuncantly interviewer. True re.
ligion claims every good gift, every
noble faculty Of man. It claims bis
reasoning powers, whereby, IL
strengthened by the Spirit Of God,
he Is enabled 10 perceive the con-
nection between the different parts
o: his Fathers work and penetrate
even into the deep mysteries Of the
divine plans; II claims his feelings,
his ''heart," whereby he is enabled
to accept the infinite lave Of his
Father, and reflect the same toward
Him and towards the whole beau
tiul creation. It claims his speech,
that he may proclaim the won
ders Of his God; his song,
his every talent, every emotion
How strange would 1t be, il this one
mysterious gift Of man should have
been discarded as useless in the
divine worship? 1t cannot be. Hd.
man 10 some extent this gift, as We
have shown that he has, then il
must be found in the service Of God,
exercised In behalf OF true religion.
In other words, divine predictions
are as natural and necessary to
Gods religion as are the speeches
whereby the Gospel is proclaimed,
the songs and music whereby God
is honoreI and His children edited,
or the expositions Of the scripture
whereby the Fathers will is made
plain to mankind. All are neces-
sary. Religion without one or any
Of these is defective.
1t would be a great mistake to sup.
pose that only good men, men OF
God, could possess the gift Of pre-.
perception. IL We may SO call 1t.
The Bible shows US instances prov.
ing the contrary. There ID Baalam
tNumb. 81; ICY who caused Israel to
trespass against the Lord; there ID
that lying prophet who caused a
man Of God to turn from His coun-
sci, but who nevertheless predicted
the punishment that followed
i, Il Kings, Is; l1-22l. And there are
other similar characters. Every
faculty Of man can be used either
in the service Of Light or Of Dark
ness. 1t can be influenced and
guided either by a good spirit or by
an evil spirit. Man can use his
mental or physical powers either for
or against the Kingdom Of heaven.
A mans reasoning powers and
gifts OF oratory for instance may be
used in the defense Of the truth or in
the dissemination Of falsehood; his
/, md may be used for the assistance
Of brother, or for stabbing him In
his heart. the faculties and powers
are substantially the same, il we do
not consider the difference Of de-
gree found in different ind.-
viduals. The real differences il
in the way In which they are
used for good or for evil. So with
this gift Of pre-perception. 1t IL
found to some extent, probably, in
every human being. In some it is
found highly developed. A man
who ievotes this faculty, as well rs
Others, to the service Of God be-
comes, when the Spirit Of God ac-
cepts his service and operates upon
and through this faculty, laying
open to the mind things past, pres
ent and future-we say, under these
circumstances he becomes = prophet
Of God, and his disclosures are divine
revelations, IL they refer to the past
and present; they are predictions or
prophecies il they refer to the fu-
ture.
Prophets Of God have this distin.
gushing mark: that the knowledge
they impart is given them from q
divine source. This they claim and
this their utterances must prove
themselves to be. Mohammed anu
Swedenborg were prophets. They
held communion with the uu-
seen world and were infiu-
enccd by spirits. But they were
evidently misguided In mary in
stances and led astray, thus proving
that they were not prophets Of
God, In the true sense Of the word.
Others there have been and ar
probably now in the world, who are
inspired by the Prince Of darkness.
Even such may through their facul-
ty of pre-perception rec-ive i'm
pressions Of the future, although
mixed with falsehood and error.
But a prophet Of God holds com
munion with the Almighty and
receives from Him light and truth
and understanding according to the
purposes Of the Lord for the good Of
His people.
This leads us to consider the pos-
sibility Of communicating with un-
seen beings, a subject which Will
la prDennfa.l In q as.boar...-t - -s:ut