Awake and Awake

1And the voice out of the wilderness of Shem saith: Thus saith the Lord God of thy fathers; who speaketh unto the branch broken off, speaks like unto a voice from the wilderness, because ye cannot see him or hear him, for your spiritual eyes have not fully developed and ye cannot withstand his presence at this moment. But surely the day shall come when ye shall abide his presence and ye shall know that he is; that he is the God of thy fathers who led them through the wilderness. For even thy fathers, they were deaf and blind that they could not hear him or see him in the wilderness. Thus saith this spiritual God, who came to his own and his own received him not, nor did they know who he was, but they cursed and crucified him, yet he said not a word, but him, they should be forgiven in these days.

2Wherefore, ye gentiles I say unto you, that I the Lord decreed a decree which my people shall realize; that because of the cursings upon their fathers, they lost the blessings of the land whereupon thou standeth, and this land is blessed above all other lands of the earth. And a commandment I the Lord gave unto you gentiles to gather the children of the covenant, for herein is eternal truth for I the Lord made a covenant with their fathers, that I would remember them unto the end of my work; yea, even though the fathers might have lost the blessings that might have given unto their children, because of transgression of the fathers, their seed or their children, I the Lord cursed even unto the fourth generation, but I the Lord forgive those I will forgive; herein is the eternal nature of God, that he shall remembered the seed, the natural seed of the body.

3I remember all promises made for all promises made of me are made of eternal conditions and I the Lord forget not eternal promises made; wherefore, a commandment I gave that the gentiles should build up Zion or that the gentiles should gather again for a final time the children of Jacob, and the children I speak of are those who are descendant of Lehi, whom I brought forth for a wise purpose unto this land of promise.

4I the Lord covenanted with Lehi, on account of his righteousness and great obedience to the commandments, I gave unto him for he did all things that he was commanded. While in the wilderness, I instructed him that from his loins should come the seed that would bring again the Zion spoken of by the fathers from the beginning; thus, with heads and hands lifted, he asked me to make a promise unto him that I the Lord should always remember his children that the blessings of the fathers might finally come unto them. In this thing, I reaffirmed the promises of the fathers in all generations from the beginning; yea, even among the branch broken off that in this day I shall reaffirm the promises made wherein the covenant made unto Jacob, your father, shall be fulfilled. Herein is truth eternal, for all things that come to pass by the will of the Father is but to fulfill the words of the prophets and to fulfill every word that proceedeth forth from God unto the children of men.

5In the first generation of the gentile, I the Lord said: but inasmuch as the gentiles keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe my words, the kingdom of the world shall prevail against them. For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men. And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. But verily I say unto you, I have decreed unto you gentiles that your brethren which have been scattered shall return to the lands of their inheritances, and shall build up the waste places of Zion as hath been spoken of by the fathers. For herein lies the promises of the father; inasmuch as ye do what I say, the blessings of the fathers shall come unto the gentiles but through them which hath been scattered upon this the land of promise. And I say this in accordance with that which hath been written by the fathers and that which I the Lord hath covenanted with the Father for them, for they are mine, and I shall being them again unto the Father in mine own due time, which time no man knoweth but the Father.

6For I did tell the gentiles, for after much tribulation, as I have said unto them in former commandments, then cometh the blessings; such a blessing cometh of the Father by obedience to the law given and by diligence unwavering having tested the faith and belief of that man. Behold as I have said before, this is the blessing which I have promised after the tribulation of the gentile, and the tribulation of your brethren-which blessing is your redemption for ye cannot be redeemed without them, but also I the Lord say, they cannot be redeemed without you.

7Wherefore, the redemption of your brethren, even their restoration to the land of Zion or even the land of the first inheritance from whence they came, shall be established again to be no more thrown down. And as ye gentiles have done, thine inheritance wast thrown down for thou didst pollute your inheritance and that land belongeth to the Lord of the Sabaoth. Wherefore, the Lord did not spare thy fathers to inherit the Lord's land in their polluted condition for where much is given, much is expected and they who receive the celestial laws of God must live them or they are likened unto salt that hath lost its savor, thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men.

8Wherefore, I speak unto the redeemed of Israel and all those who are numbered with them, ye shall not pollute the land of thine inheritance again, no, not ever; for ye shall all walk in the ways the Lord and ye shall know of the Lord's doctrine which shall tell thee all things whatsoever ye should do that the Father may come to be among you. For this is the promise like unto the first, for herein is redemption found and salvation attained to in this life; for if ye receive the Lord Jesus Christ, in the sanctified flesh, this is life eternal, then ye shall have the fulness thereof, which is to say, the presence of God the Father.

9Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by power; which power is that it must come from the Lord Jesus Christ for do not the scripture say of how the Lord went into the Mount of Transfiguration and received power from on high? Even so in these days, shall power come from him who hath overcome all things, yet who hath descended below all things, and received of the Father grace for grace until he received all things in full. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel in the wilderness. And this man shall be like unto my Moses of old, he that I raised and taught in the wilderness of affliction, that he might know the sweet from the bitter; and in this thing, shall he be taught from on high, not as man thinketh or believeth, but as I the Lord shall command. For I the Lord hath spoken and so it shall be done as I proposed and much power shall be given unto him, for this power shall be of God.

10For ye are the children of Israel, and the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with stretched out arm; which arm represents the power of God unto restoration and unto eternal salvation of my people. And as your fathers were led at first, even so shall the redemption of Zion be. Wherefore, lift up your hearts and faint not, or be not alarmed and discouraged at what may come to prevent thee from fulfilling that which is to come to pass for I the Lord command all things and there is no thing that I have created that obeyeth not my voice or command. Yea, so it shall be for this man, for he shall command in my name, that which is good and righteous and all heaven and earth shall obey, for the good of my children that I may fulfill unto Abraham the promise and covenant I made unto him.

11Wherefore, let not your hearts and faith faint, for I say not unto you as I said unto your fathers: Mine angel shall go up before you, but not my presence. But I say unto you at this time: Mine angels shall go up before you, and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land; and this land shall be the land of the first inheritance of which I have appointed unto thy father which now I appoint unto you, then in a short time, I will give of the land of the New Jerusalem for thy habitation. Where I am ye shall be and where I am, the Father shall be, yea, even all those of the church of the Firstborn, those whom the Father hath given unto me, and there ye shall find songs of everlasting joy, and peace shall abide in the earth, of which peace, I promised to thy father Enoch in the beginning.

12Wherefore, I say unto you and unto all those who believe on thy words, which words cometh of my Father and I have given them unto you for the edification of my house; preside ye in the midst of my people in times to come, and organized them and my kingdom upon the consecrated land, and establish ye the children of Zion upon the laws and commandments of the celestial kingdom which hath been and which shall be given unto you.

13Therefore, I say unto you to remind you of the consequence of doing that which I have commanded through the words of my mouth or by the voice of my servants, with a promise immutable and unchangeable, that inasmuch as those whom I commanded were faithful they should be blessed with a multiplicity of blessings, even that of eternal life; but inasmuch as they were not faithful, they were nigh unto cursing, and even thy fathers were at an instant sudden destroyed off the face of the land of promise.

14As I said to thy father Nephi, that inasmuch as ye keep my commandments and live by every word that proceeded forth from my mouth, ye shall be blessed and ye shall prosper on the land of promise, and even all thy children and their children, even unto the end of man. But if ye knowingly break the covenant by which ye are bound and ye seek to do that which is evil in the eyes of a just God, ye shall be cursed in this life and in the life to come, and shall be trodden down under feet by whom I will. For I, the Lord, am not to be mocked in these things, for these things cometh from the throne of the Father, and it is him whom I serve, but ye must obey me in all things, for I am sent of the Father unto you; I and the Father are one, and if ye do whatsoever I command, then ye shall be one with me and the Father, then shall ye be found in the New Jerusalem for I will bring you unto the Father.

15Wherefore, as I told the fathers of the gentile through my servant Joseph Smith, that I, the Lord, will redeem the affliction of my people; behold, I say unto you gentiles, were it not for the transgression of the gentile people, speaking concerning the church and not individuals, my people might have been redeemed even now as I have commanded. But behold, the gentiles have not learned to be obedient to the things which I require at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and the afflicted among them. They forget the law given unto all my people since the beginning and as hath been expounded by king Benjamin of old and as they are contained in the Book and the Covenants I made. This they do that they are not united or under covenant one to another according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; and Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom, otherwise, I cannot receive her unto myself.

16Yea, I am angry that the gentiles have rejected what is contained in the records of thy father, for they have sought for things not required, but have openly rejected thy people and have not with full faith sought to recover them to the blessings contained in the record. Wherefore, surely, such a people must suffer the wrath and indignation of a just and righteous God who has covenanted with Jacob.

17Therefore, as I have heretofore commanded other just and righteous servants, prepare thy heart and mind to receive and obey every instruction which I God shall give unto man; for all those who have any celestial law given unto them that I might build up my kingdom in the earth, must obey the same and all conditions thereto. For behold, I will reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant, new because of the newness of times for which Israel has looked, and if ye abide not that covenant then ye are damned for I, the Lord, shall not be mocked. For verily, verily, I say unto my people and unto all those who seek to be redeemed in the kingdom of my Father, no one can reject the laws and ordinances that I am about to give and enter into my glory. Ponder the writings of Moses and learn to understand all that he was commanded of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring the children of Jacob into the rest of God, for they rejected all that was given them and they rebelled against Moses and they provoked God. Notwithstanding all the rebellion and transgressions of the sons of Jacob, they shall not be consumed, but I, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall remember the covenants my Father made with thy fathers in these days. And truly, the promises and covenants made by my Father with thy fathers are great unto mighty deliverance.

18For my people who seek a blessing at my hand shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions as they were instituted from the beginning, and for the which they were instituted for the fulness of my glory; wherefore, he that recieveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or shall be damned for having rejected my counsel and command , saith the Lord God.

19As I contemplated what had been received, the Holy Ghost bore witness of the truth of the things revealed and in this thing, I did inquire and received of the Lord instruction and an understanding of his ways, which if I do and follow, I should be greatly blessed and receive of him greater instruction. It is the design of God the Father that he will work with the seed of his body in that he hath means prepared wherein he has covenanted with the fathers that the work and will of the Father would fill the whole earth to bring again man unto him; and it is the responsibility of the servant of God to prepare the way that these things might come to pass or that every word of God might be fulfilled.

20Wherefore, prepare thy mind and pretend to no other means whereby sanctification may be achieved in this life, but to do all that is commanded of the Father, for the Father giveth no commandment unto the children of men unless he prepares a way for them, and that the intent and purpose is to bring again man into his rest, which rest is the glory of the Son and the fulness cometh of the Father. Even so Amen.