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"The Endowment"
by Earl R. Curry
Characteristic No. 9: There shall be an endowment of special appearances
of Jesus Christ to His Ministry.
There are many reasons why He shall thus appear to His ministers, His co-
labors, and His friends.
He shall come to fulfill His promise made to prophetic-minded men from ancient
times even down to this very day in which you live.
He promised Enoch, in that day when
He talked to him face to face, and
caused the vision of much that was to be, down to the end of time,
to marvelously unfold before his mind, and
said, "As I live even so will I come in the last days."
"Righteousness will I send down out of Heaven
to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten, and
righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood."
In those promises was it made clear that
as the time of the end neared,
a work of mighty spiritual power was to be done.
Again, the promise was made to Malachi,
"The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple,"
to purify His servants.
The angels at the day of ascension promised the disciples He would
likewise come again.
To John He showed the day of endowment.
To the church of one hundred and twenty years ago was the promise made
that as they would
sanctify themselves and
so discipline their minds as to make them single to the great Father,
then Jesus would unveil His face unto them and
they would see Him.
Last of all, this same Holy Spirit of Promise has witnessed
to you, who have sought the guidance and enlightenment of Him who is
altogether lovely, even
to you has He witnessed under the almost overwhelming presence of the
Holy Ghost that soon Jesus
would once again stand on the pulpits in the lower room of the
Temple and
would speak face to face with His chosen servants,
just as He spoke to Joseph and Oliver in 1836.
Still further came the same witness that,
just as Jesus, your eternal elder brother, came quietly into the room where the
disciples were gathered,
just as they were beginning to recover from the paralyzing dismay and
shock of the crucifixion, though even yet some of them doubted,
just so will He quietly come into the upper room of the Temple.
Those who have waited and longed for His coming shall see Him and
He will minister unto them.
Surely, as God has thus testified unto him who writes,
even so will He testify to others if they will,
in concern,
in fasting, and
prayer,
seek Him.
In view of these promises and many others as well,
in view of the needs of this very hour, in that so many of you do not seek this
guidance and insight that God alone can give,
in view of the growing desire in the hearts of the saints that they
shall be ministered unto by spiritual servants
whose minds are on fire with the Holy Ghost and
whose countenances are radiantly aglow as they thus minister,
and even
in view of the facts of sacred history--why should any look on
fulfillment of these promises as an impossible experience?
How clear is the record of Holy Writ:
Search it out for yourself, and
be not faithless but believing.
Do not the first four books of the New Testament record His many appearances after
His resurrection--
from Mary who cried from the very depth of her soul, in great gladness
and joy, "Master!"
to Thomas who, when he had beheld for himself cried out, "My Lord and
my God!"
Does not the book of Acts testify that He was seen of many?
Did not Paul write that Jesus was seen of upward of five hundred brethren at once,
and last of all by himself, as one born out of due time?
Oh, turn and
read again in the Book of Mormon the terrible judgments that fell on a
people who refused to believe
that Christ would come and
that He would appear unto them.
Read of how they were gathered about the Temple in the land Bountiful.
Hear again the voice from the Infinite One,
"Behold my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased,
in whom I have glorified my name.
Hear ye Him!"
Look up with those people and see Jesus, clothed in white,
coming down and standing among them, and
saying unto them with the utmost of truth,
"I am the light and life of the world!"
Study once again the record of His coming
to bring the church out of the wilderness in these last days,
to get under way a marvelous work and a wonder,
a work that as yet has not begun to reach the climax of expression
in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit that God would
manifest thru it.
Consider all these records.
Let their truth and their testimony be deeply imbedded in your minds, and
let them be a powerful prophecy of what yet shall be!
As God lives,
even as Christ has thus so many, many times come heretofore,
even so can, and will, He come again to His servants,
those who are truly looking for Him,
to most strongly establish them with the witness of His presence and
to personally commission them with His endowment to do extraordinary
things for Him!
Again, let the record of the scripture bear testimony to you of what has happened
in these times when He has appeared unto His believing people.
The endowment of the day of Pentecost was augmented
and extended by these appearances in the land of Jerusalem.
His servants who had not seen their risen Saviour were blessed
as they believed,
but surely as witnesses, those who have seen are better
witnesses than those who just believe,
however blessed that may be.
Therefore, Jesus appeared unto many and
would have appeared unto many more
had there been great enough faith that others could have
called on Him in mighty prayer.
Again, how marvelous were the results of His appearing in the land Bountiful,
for so great was
the glory of His presence and
the utter convincing power of His personal ministry, that
not only were His servants endowed for their day,
but Jesus' most beneficent spiritualizing influence
spread throughout the land and
continued over nearly two centuries of time.
Thru Jesus' showing himself and ministering, as only He can minister, came
one of the finest eras of civilization in the world's history.
Truly, Zion was among them.
Now you live in a day when the signs of Jesus' return to the world are being rapidly
fulfilled, even as He has foretold and as the prophets have foreseen.
The church has come out of the wilderness,
notwithstanding many of the Restoration have again sought
the ways of the world and
the flesh pots of Egypt,
yet a nucleus still abides, with many of whom the Great Father
shall build gloriously.
Great storms lash both land and sea.
All nations of men are faced with problems of increasing complexity
. Confusion abounds.
Men's hearts are failing them for fear.
The dread of awful, annihilating war is constantly with you,
a war so terrible that no nation on earth can escape it.
The ideal and the hope of Zion exists among you and,
altho far from the highest realization,
in this is a marked sign of Christ's return to the world.
Yet, notwithstanding all these signs, and many more,
the greatest sign of all,
the shining forth of the gospel as the brightness of the midday, is still in
the realm of prophetic predictions.
You are not endowed.
You trust so much in the wisdom of men.
Not very often do you speak in prophetic depth and power.
The voice you raise is so feeble in the face of the world's need.
So little do you lift a warning voice concerning what lies ahead.
A clear cry of repentance does not resound thru the world,
nor scarcely in the areas where you live,
you are so concerned with worldly things.
Small affairs and activities of little permanent importance take so much of
your time.
So little of
your time,
your means,
your resources, and
your powers are dedicated to Zion.
You need the broad, sweeping, mighty powers of the endowment much more than
most of you even begin to understand.
This power can only reach its maximum of development and expression
as Jesus shall stand among you, and
it is only He who can bestow it.
How marvelous,then, the promise of His thus coming.
How great should be your rejoicing that the day of His visitation is near.
And yet, withal, how sobering should be the realization
that His coming waits on you, His servants,
that you appreciate the promise of His coming to you,
that you be looking forth for His appearing, and
that you be putting on the wedding garments.
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