Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Jan. 25, 1874.

I will read a portion of a prophecy, written in the Book of Mormon, in the third chapter of the second book of Nephi. The Prophet who spoke the words I am about to read, and who also quoted the words of another Prophet, was named Lehi; he lived about six hundred years before Christ.

“For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord, which he made unto Joseph. Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.

For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins. Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers. And I will give unto him a commandment, that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work. And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel. And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt. But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them. Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him, shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise; And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation. Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever. And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a spokesman for him. And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it. And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust; for I know their faith. And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words. Because of their faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.”

Corresponding with this prophecy, I will read a few verses in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, commencing at the 15th verse.

“The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

“Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

“And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thy hand.

“And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?

“Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

“And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

“And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

“And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.”

I have read these two prophecies; one, recorded in the Book of Mormon, delivered by Joseph in Egypt, written upon brass plates and brought by the descendants of Joseph from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ, with their colony that came from Palestine and were located on the western coast of South America, having crossed the mighty waters under the direction of the Almighty; the other, and corresponding prophecy, was written by Ezekiel the Prophet, a short time after this colony left the city of Jerusalem. Ezekiel informs us in this chapter, that prior to the great restitution of the House of Israel, never to be scattered or divided into two nations again, the Lord would bring forth the stick of Joseph, written upon for the tribe of Joseph, and the other, written upon for Judah, and cause them to grow together in His hand, and when this great event should take place, it should be the period when he would take Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and gather them on every side, and bring them into their own lands, and when he had accomplished this work, he would make them one nation upon the mountains of Israel, and they should no more become two nations, neither should they, from that time forward, be two kingdoms any more at all.

It is very evident to every person who believes in the Scriptures of truth that, so far as the gathering of Israel and their becoming one nation in their own land are concerned, this prophecy has never yet been fulfilled, it is therefore among those great events which the Lord has decreed and determined to bring to pass in a period of time yet in the future; and he has pointed out, in this chapter of Ezekiel, the manner and method in which he will commence the great work of the restitution of Israel. A great deal has been done by the religious world, so far as dollars and cents, and the formation of societies are concerned, for the amelioration of the condition of the scattered Jews. But what are the results of all the labors of the various Christian sects in this direction? Have they succeeded in gathering the Jews from the nations of the earth? Not at all. A very few Jews at the present time are residents of Palestine, and they are not converted to the truth. They believe in the religion of their ancient fathers, and all of them who dwell there are very poor, many of them are what may be termed beggars, being sustained principally by the charity of travelers and other visitors to that land, and by donations from charitable Christians and Jews abroad. But all the Jews dwelling in Palestine are but a very small handful, compared with the immense numbers of their brethren who are scattered to the four winds of heaven. Then, besides the Jews thus scattered, there are the ten tribes, who are not called Jews, who were led away out of the land of Palestine about seven hundred and twenty years before Christ, and who have never dwelt in that land since. They were taken captive by the king of Assyria and taken to his dominions, and never since the day of their captivity, now almost twenty-six centuries, have they or their descendants had a residence in the Promised Land.

Prior to their captivity the House of Israel were divided into two kingdoms; one, called the Ten Tribes, who had their capital city in Samaria, north of Jerusalem. Numerous kings reigned over them, from the days of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, until the time of their captivity. They were a separate and distinct nation from the Jewish nation, which consisted of the tribes of Judah and Levi, a very few of the remnants of Joseph, and a portion of the tribe of Benjamin, who were not taken away with the ten tribes. About a hundred and thirty years after the ten tribes were taken from Palestine, the Jewish nation were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and they dwelt in Babylon seventy years, after which they returned to Palestine, rebuilt their capital city and its walls, and reestablished their Temple, and continued to dwell in the land of their fathers until the coming of Christ, and for about seventy years after his coming; and then, in fulfillment of a certain prophecy, the Jewish nation were scattered by the Roman army under Titus. About eleven hundred thou– sand Jews perished by the sword, and, according to history, about ninety-seven thousand were dispersed among the nations.

This great calamity happened to the Jewish nation in fulfillment of many prophecies, among which I will quote one by our Savior, recorded in the 21st chapter of Luke. Says our Savior—“For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and they shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” That portion of this prophecy, concerning the Jews perishing by the edge of the sword, and their being scattered among all nations, and Jerusalem being trodden down under the feet of the Gentiles, has had a literal fulfillment; but there is one saying of our Savior that has not yet been fulfilled—“Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” That the times of the Gentiles are not yet fulfilled is proven by the fact that Jerusalem is still in possession of the Gentiles, and under their control. When the time shall have arrived for the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded by Ezekiel the Prophet, when the Jews and the ten tribes shall return and they shall no more be divided into two kingdoms, Jerusalem will be redeemed from the hands of the Gentiles, and it will be again inhabited by the Jews as a nation; not by a poor miserable remnant, dependent upon the charity of foreign nations for subsistence, but hundreds of thousands of the twelve tribes will return to Palestine, and their capital city will be Jerusalem, not Samaria.

This fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles is something to which I wish to call the special attention of my hearers this afternoon. In what manner will the Lord fulfill this work among the Gentiles, that the fullness of their times may come in? We have a little information on this subject, recorded in the eleventh chapter of Romans, which makes the subject very plain in regard to the two great classes of people—the Jews and the Gentiles. They are spoken of in that chapter under the figure of two olive trees, one—the house of Israel—being represented by a tame olive tree, and the other—the Gentiles—by a wild olive tree. Paul, in speaking of the branches of Israel, says—“If some of the branches be broken off and thou, (the Gentiles) being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree, boast not against the branches. But if thou boast thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou (that is the Gentiles) wilt say then, the branches were broken off that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them (meaning Israel) which fell, severity; but towards thee (the Gentiles), goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also (the house of Israel), if they abide not in unbelief shall be graffed in again, for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou (the Gentiles) were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.” Again he says in the 30th and 31st verses—“For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief, even so have these now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.”

We can see from the instructions that Paul has given, in this chapter, that the Gentiles were grafted in instead of the House of Israel; in other words, the Jews were broken off, as our Savior predicted to them. Said he—“Therefore say I unto you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” That is, it should be taken from the Israelites, and delivered over into the hands of the Gentiles. The kingdom that was thus rent from the Jews and transferred to the Gentiles may be called a spiritual kingdom, inasmuch as the Saints, to whom the kingdom was given in that day, did not form any particular constituent portion of the nations of the earth, but here was a branch, and there was a branch, one in one place and another in another; having received the blessings of the fullness of the Gospel, the blessings of that spiritual kingdom which was built up in their midst, they partook of the fatness of the olive tree, though they were wild branches. But by and by we find the Gentiles following after the same example of unbelief; they to whom the kingdom had been transferred from Israel got into darkness, unbelief and apostasy, the same as the Jews had done before them. Paul further warns them in this chapter not to boast. Says he—“Boast not against the branches, but if thou boast thou bearest not the root but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off that I might be graffed in. Take heed, therefore, lest you also shall fall after the same example of unbelief.”

Have they taken heed? No, they have not. Where is that kingdom that was transferred to the Gentiles, that had inspired Apostles and Prophets in it? That kingdom upon which the Lord shed forth the Holy Ghost and all its gifts—the gift of revelation, discerning of spirits, seeing angels, healing the sick, foretelling future events, visions and all the other gifts which came through the operation of his Spirit upon the wild branches of the olive tree, after they were grafted, through obedience to the Gospel, and became partakers of the root and fatness of the tame olive? Where is that kingdom? In other words, where is the church? It is said by some that the church has continued from the Apostolic period down until the present century of the Christian era. But if it has, I cannot find it, the researches I have made give me no indication of the existence of the kingdom that was transferred to the hands of the Gentiles. I know of no way to distinguish the church of God, only by comparing it with the pattern given in the New Testament. Can I find among any of the Gentile nations a church with inspired Apostles in it? If I cannot, I have no authority to pronounce any such church the church of God. Its members may believe in the Bible, and they may be honest, we do not dispute the honesty of men; but unless they have this distinguishing characteristic of the Church of the living God, we have no right to suppose them to be the real, true Christian church. Let us hear what Paul says in the 12th chapter of Corinthians in relation to the organization of the church of Christ. We there find that the church have placed within it, first, Apostles, secondarily, Prophets, thirdly, Teachers, after that working of miracles, healing the sick, speaking with divers tongues, interpretation of tongues, &c., and all these were helps, governments, gifts, blessings, authorities and powers that served to characterize the true kingdom or church of God from all those that were destitute of this power and authority. Did this authority, these gifts and blessings exist towards the close of the second century of the Christian era? No. What had become of them? The people had entirely apostatized from that ancient order of things. There were no doubt many who were very zealous and who professed Christianity, and claimed to be the church of God, but where were their Apostles? Nowhere to be found among men. Where were the Prophets in what was called the Christian church towards the latter part of the second century? Nowhere upon the face of the earth; the spirit of prophecy was entirely rooted out, and the Gentiles, through apostasy and unbelief, had fallen as the Jews had done before them.

Again, where were the healing of the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, unstopping deaf ears, and the lame leaping like a hart? Where were all those ancient gifts, such as speaking with tongues, interpretation of tongues, beholding angels, discerning spirits and the things of God as did the church of Christ in the first century? Nowhere to be found; but instead of this we find the people called Christians, spreading and increasing in the second, third, fourth and fifth centuries, but destitute of the spirit, power and gifts which characterized the ancient church, so much so that they even denied that there could be any more revelation, and instead of there being Prophets to give revelation day by day, week by week and year after year from one generation to another, they were obliged, at the Council of Carthage, held at the close of the fourth century of the Christian era, to gather up such fragments of the ancient revelations as they could find, here and there, scattered in manuscript among the various nations, sit in judgment upon them, without any spirit of revelation to designate to them whether they were true or false; and they compiled them together, and pronounced the canon of Scripture full.

Now, if they had had the ancient Christian church, there would have been revelations during all of the second century as well as the first, and there would have been revelations in the third century, and in the fourth century, and in all the subsequent centuries down to the present period of time, and there would have been no such doctrine promulgated among the children of men as the canon of Scripture being full. It is one of the most false doctrines ever advanced among the children of men. God never yet had a people on the face of the earth in any age of the world from the creation down through all the dispensations, without having inspired men among them, who could call upon God and receive revelations, and their revelations were just as sacred as those which had preceded them, and that had been bound into volumes; hence the canon of Scripture would have been enlarged every century down to the present time had the Church of God continued on the earth. But like the ancient Jews, the Christians of the second and following centuries had apostatized, and were entirely destitute of the Spirit of God. The Jews had apostatized before Jesus came among them to that degree, that there were sects and parties among them, just as we find in the Christian world since; and these Jewish sects were destitute of the spirit of prophecy which their ancient fathers had; they were destitute of the ministration of angels, and scarcely one feature existed which was among their fathers in the days of their righteousness. It was because of this that the Jews were broken off, and the Gentiles were grafted in, and were made partakers of the riches, blessings and glories formerly enjoyed by the ancient Jews.

“Well,” says one, “am I to understand from your remarks that there has been no real Christian Church on the earth, for a great many centuries that are passed?” These are my views, and these are the views of the Latter-day Saints—we believe that, so far as the eastern hemisphere is concerned, there has been no true Christian Church for some seventeen centuries past. I say the eastern hemisphere, for we believe that there was a true Christian Church on this continent, which continued for nearly four centuries after Christ; but so far as the eastern hemisphere is concerned, it ex– isted in name only, with some few of the ordinances administered by persons without authority. We read in the works of the early Christian fathers, so called, when they found themselves destitute of all power to get new revelation from God, that they tried to persuade, and did finally persuade, the people that the canon of Scripture was full, and that God did not design to give his people any more revelation, and that wicked delusion continued for a great many generations. It was necessary to form some excuse, for those few among the people who had the privilege of reading the Bible would naturally see the distinguishing characteristics between the ancient Church and that with which they were connected, and unless there had been something to quiet their consciences they would have been continually asking the question—“Why do we not have Apostles? Why do we not have Prophets? Why do we not have the gifts which characterized the ancient Church?” and hence the religious teachers of those days, as in ours, were compelled to tell the people that the canon of Scripture was full, and that the ancient Scriptures and the traditions of the Church were their only guides.

Perhaps you may think I am misrepresenting this matter; if you do, go and read the works of the Roman Catholic Church written before there were any Protestant seceders from it, and you will find that this doctrine is universally inculcated therein. I should like to know, and I will ask the question, how it would be possible to transfer the Christian ministry from generation to generation, and from one century to another, without revelation? It could not be done; it would be an utter impossibility. A true Christian ministry must be called of God as Aaron was called, so says the Apostle Paul in writing to the Hebrews. He declares that “no man taketh this honor unto himself, save he be called of God as was Aaron.” If we turn to the fore part of the Bible, we shall find that Aaron was called, not by revelation given to his ancient fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not to Joseph in Egypt, to Noah or to Enoch, who lived before the flood; none of the revelations given to those ancient servants of God called Aaron to the ministry, but he was called by new revelation, direct from heaven to Moses, his brother, commanding Moses to set apart Aaron to the ministry; giving him directions respecting his duty; and God spake to both Moses and Aaron. That was the way Aaron was called. Now look at the ministry from the first century down to the present time. All its members have denied new revelation, and have declared that the canon of Scripture was full. Who, among the whole of them, was ever called by new revelation? Why, if a man made any such pretence he was excommunicated from the Church unless he repented of the sin, as they called it. To believe that God would again speak and call men by new revelation, as Aaron was called, was in their idea a heresy, and they were not to believe in anything except it was bound in their ancient books. We will take, for instance, the highest authority in the Church of Rome. The members of that church say that the right to sit in the papal chair has been handed down in unbroken succession from the Apostle Peter. Now, take away new revelation, and how could you choose from among the millions who professed Christianity the one that should sit in that chair? There is no means whatsoever of distinguishing him, unless he was called of God as was Aaron, and this would introduce new revelation, and hence, when it ceased, the real authority ceased, and the Pope had no more authority than a heathen priest, neither could he confer authority upon a second man, neither could the church itself give authority without new revelation from God. The Bible could not give this authority, for there is not a word said in all the Old or New Testament that such and such a man, by such a name and at such a period in the future, should occupy the chair of St. Peter; hence, without new revelation, the selection of the successive Popes would be mere guess work.

How is it with the Protestants? Let us come down to the Waldenses, to Luther, Calvin, Henry the Eighth, and those who dissented from the Catholic Church; have they authority? Let us inquire a little into their belief and views. Did those I have named believe there was any later revelation than that which was given on the Isle of Patmos? No, in this respect the Protestants followed after the same heresy as the mother church; she had taught for many generations that the canon of Scripture was full, and those who dissented and came out from her declared the same thing, and the people believed it, and finally the Church of England incorporated it into their thirty-nine articles of faith, and no person, according to their creed, was to receive anything as a part of his religious faith, except that which was contained in the books they called the canon of Scripture, which they said was full and complete. They never have found, in any revelation which God has given, that no more revelation or Scripture was to be given so long as there was a Christian Church on the face of the earth. These Protestants, then, were excommunicated from the mother church, were they not? I have heard some say, when asked about their authority to baptize and preach, and to administer the Lord’s Supper, “We do it by the authority of our priesthood and of the office we hold.” “Who gave you that office and authority?” “Such a man.” “Where did he get it?” “He got it from another, who preceded him.” “And, pray, how far back can you trace your priesthood?” —We can run it back to Martin Luther, John Calvin, Henry the Eighth, or some of those reformers who came out from the Roman Catholic Church,” “Where did the first ones whom you call reformers get their priesthood from, inasmuch as they denied new revelation, and were not called of God as Aaron was?” “Oh, they got it from the mother church, the Roman Catholic Church.” “But what do you Protestants say about the Roman Catholic Church?” “Why, we say that she is that great and abominable power that is called the mother of harlots and Mystery Babylon the Great, that she is one of the most corrupt powers on the face of the earth, hence the Protestants, who could not endure all this corruption, came out from her.” “And yet you get your priesthood from this source.” Do you not see, at once, the dilemma into which they fall, when they attempt to run their priesthood back? In one of the homilies of the Church of England, it is stated that for eight centuries the whole Christian world, every man, woman and child therein, were in the depths of idolatry, so that there was no individual, during that long period, who had any authority whatever. But supposing that you grant that the Roman Catholic Church, which the Protestants denounced as so corrupt, had power to hand down authority, and that, by the authority which they held they ordained Martin Luther, John Calvin and others of those early reformers, they had power to take their priesthood from them, had they not? Certainly, if they could bestow authority they could take it away again. Did they do that? Yes. Read the declarations of the Roman Catholic Church respecting these Protestant leaders, and see if they did not cut them off from everything that was ever conferred upon them in that church, every office, every authority and all power, and then denounced them to the very lowest abyss of hell; consequently, if you should even pretend that authority could be transferred to the Protestants, it was taken from them. Says one, “Do you mean to unchristianize not only the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, but also all those Protestant denominations who have sprung from them?” Certainly I do, and it is in fulfillment of that which was spoken of by Paul in the 11th chapter of Romans, where he declares that if they do not continue in the goodness of God, they also shall be cut off, that is, cut off from all those blessed privileges and spiritual gifts which characterized the Church of Christ whilst it was on the earth.

This being the condition of things no wonder that God has left on record, in this good old book, that in the latter days he would again restore the kingdom to the earth; as there has been no Christian Church, with divine authority, in the four quarters of the globe for many centuries past, it is no wonder that the ancient Prophets saw a period of time when God would restore to the earth the true Church. Hence, we find, in the 14th chapter of the revelations of St. John, that among the things which he saw, which were to transpire in the future, was the restoration of the everlasting Gospel to earth by an angel flying through the midst of heaven. It seems then, that, at the eleventh hour, the last period of time, God would again visit the inhabitants of the earth by sending a messenger from the courts above with glad tidings of great joy, not for a few people dwelling in some particular corner of the earth, but for all people—every nation, kindred and tongue upon the four quarters of our globe. Go and ask any of these fallen churches—go to the oldest among them, the Roman Catholic, or the Greek church, and ask them if God has sent another angel with the everlasting Gospel to be preached to all nations, and has committed it to them, and they will tell you no, they do not believe it is ever to be sent in that manner, but that it has continued on the earth from the time it was introduced by the Savior, and consequently there is no need of any such restitution, there is no need of any angel coming to restore it, for they have it already. They will tell you that they have the good word of God, which already contains the everlasting Gospel; but if they have the word of God, I think I have proved to my hearers this afternoon, that they have not the authority to administer it, and that makes all the difference. They may have the word, but the Bible itself says that the letter killeth. The word is not calculated to save unless we can obey it. Can I be baptized if there is no man on the earth authorized to baptize me? No. He that is not born of the water and of the spirit can in no wise enter into the kingdom of God. How can I partake of the emblems of the broken body and shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, unless there is some man on earth authorized to administer that ordinance? I cannot do it. How can I receive the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost if there be no person on the earth who has the authority to lay on hands in the name of the Lord Jesus to confer that blessing, the same as the apostles did in ancient times? How can I obey any institution that belongs to the Christian Church, wherein authority is necessary, unless such authority be on the earth? Consequently if they, in their zeal towards God, say that they have the Gospel, I will admit it so far as the letter of the word is concerned, but they have not the authority to administer its ordinances, having lost it, because they have lost the power of revelation, and the power of the Priesthood.

Well then, what are we to look for and expect? We are to look for the Lord to restore it. In what manner? Just as he has predicted through the mouths of his servants. If Joseph Smith had received the Book of Mormon without the ministration of an angel, and pretended that it was a revelation from God, every person acquainted with the Scriptures would have known that he was an impostor. How would they have known it? Because the Bible says that when the everlasting Gospel is restored it shall be by sending another angel flying through the midst of heaven, with the joyful message to be preached to all the inhabitants of the earth, to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people; therefore, if Joseph Smith had come pretending that no angel had revealed this to him, but that he was inspired from on high to bring forth the re– cords called the Book of Mormon, we should have set him down at once as one of the basest of impostors, because it would have been contrary to the Scriptures.

Again, supposing that Joseph Smith had neglected to organize the Church of Latter-day Saints according to the ancient pattern, leaving out Apostles and inspired Prophets, as all the sects have done, all sensible men who believe in the Bible would have been compelled to come to the conclusion that in its organization this Church was defective, and did not agree with the ancient pattern, and they might have said—“You have no Prophets, you have no Apostles, and hence we reject you Joseph Smith, and your Book of Mormon; for if you were an inspired man, sent of God to raise up and establish his latter-day Church and kingdom upon the earth, you would have among you inspired Apostles and Prophets, and your Church would have agreed in all respects with the ancient pattern.” But although Joseph Smith was but a farmer’s boy, and had but a very limited education when the Lord called him, we find nothing lacking in the organization of the Church, we find that it agrees in every respect with the Church as organized anciently by the Savior. God even told him the very day on which it should be organized, and also named the various offices that should be contained therein, and he also gave him revelation concerning the names of the individuals who should be ordained, from time to time, until there were twelve Apostles and until the Priesthood was restored in all its branches. And when we compare the Gospel taught by this young man we find that it agrees in every particular with the ancient Gospel, as re– corded in the New Testament. He preached faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as the ancients did, also repentance of all sins, as the ancients did; be baptized by immersion in water for the remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ, just as the ancients did; God commanded him to lay hands upon those who believed, repented and were baptized for the remission of their sins, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost might be given to them, just as the ancients did. God promised, in this last dispensation, that the Saints should enjoy all the gifts enjoyed by his people in ancient days—that they should lay hands upon the sick and they should recover; that in the name of Jesus they should cast out devils, open the eyes of the blind, unstop deaf ears, cause the lame to walk, and that through them, God would show forth his power in this latter-day Church and kingdom as he did in the former-day Church and kingdom. These promises were made to the believers in our day; and moreover Joseph Smith declared that when he obtained the plates of the Book of Mormon, it was by an angel flying through the midst of heaven, who directed him by vision to the place where these plates were deposited—the hill Cumorah in the State of New York. He was also commanded of the Almighty to translate the contents of these plates by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, which were found deposited with the plates, and he translated them according to God’s command.

God raised up, before this Church was organized, three other witnesses and they beheld an angel in his glory and power; they saw him descend from the heavens, and heard his voice, and they heard the voice of the Lord testify unto them that the translation by this young man, from these plates, had been given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and they were commanded to bear record to all people, nations and tongues to whom this work should be sent. In all of these respects, there is a perfect correspondence between this latter-day work of God and the Bible.

Now let us come to those passages of Scripture which I read at the commencement of my discourse. The thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel informs us that before God should restore the House of Israel to their own lands he would bring forth the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, and put it with the stick of Judah, written upon for Judah, and that he would make these two records one in his own hands; and then, for fear the children of Israel would not understand what Ezekiel meant by writing upon one stick for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and then writing upon the second stick for Judah, he was required to hold up these two sticks, after having joined them in one before the children of Israel, and then says the Lord—“When the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these two sticks, written upon for these two tribes, say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the stick of Ephraim, the stick of Joseph, and I will put it with the stick of Judah, and they shall become one in mine hands; but the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hands before their eyes;” showing that that which was in Ezekiel’s hands was to typify that which the Lord said should be in his own hands.

Now you see that this record of the tribe of Joseph, called the Book of Mormon, agrees in all its particulars, so far as doctrine is concerned, with the record of the tribe of Judah; hence the testimony of two nations should be a witness to all people, nations and tongues respecting the truth of Christianity: and instead of doing away with Christianity, the Book of Mormon—the record or stick of Joseph, is an additional testimony to the great and important truths contained in the Bible; it is a testimony against the corruptions that have been introduced into the world under the name of Christianity.

Had we time we might refer you to many other prophecies that have been given and written in the Jewish record concerning the coming forth of the record of Joseph in the latter days, just prior to the gathering of the House of Israel. The Christian world may use all the exertions they are capable of, and spend all the money they please, to bring about the gathering of the Jews in the land of Palestine, never to be divided again, but they cannot accomplish it. Why? Because God has his own way to fulfill and bring about his purposes, and they must be accomplished as he has decreed in order that the prophecies may be fulfilled. Read the 29th chapter of Isaiah. Nearly the whole chapter speaks of future events, declaring how another book should come forth, and that before it was translated the words of the book, not the book itself, should be delivered to the learned, saying, “Read this, I pray thee;” and he replied, that it was a sealed book, and he could not read it. Then the book is delivered to him that is not learned, and he is requested to read it, but he replies, “I am not learned.” The next passage says—“Forasmuch as this people”—the people to whom the book is revealed—“draw near to me with their mouth, do honor me with their lips, and their hearts are removed far from me, and the fear of the Lord is taught to them by the precepts of men, behold I will proceed to do a marvelous work, even a marvelous work and a wonder; the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”

All this was fulfilled when the Lord brought forth the Book of Mormon. According to the prediction of Isaiah, a copy of some of the words or characters on the plates was sent, by him who found them, to the city of New York, and were presented to the learned for translation, but they could not translate them. They were the inscriptions of the ancient fathers of the Indians, and the learned knew nothing about them; they were as a sealed book to them. Then the Lord commanded this young man to translate the book, not by learning, but by inspiration, and in that respect the wisdom of the wise and learned did perish, and a marvelous work even a wonder was accomplished. In the same chapter it says that, “in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book.” What book? Answer, the book that was previously spoken of. “The eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness, the meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”

Would you like to know who it is who have settled this Territory, and built up between one and two hundred towns and village’s now existing within its borders? It is the poor among men. The rich and great, the highminded and noble have despised the work of the Lord; but the poor among men, from many nations, have received the message and testimony which God has re– vealed by the ministration of an angel flying through the midst of heaven. They have left their native countries, and have gathered here, and here they are in the possession of a rich country and they have been made to “rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”

And then again, what does the Lord say about the gathering of Jacob, when this book shall come forth? Read a little further on in the same chapter and you will find these words—“Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob. Jacob shall no longer be made ashamed, neither shall his face wax pale, but when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.” No longer be made ashamed! Why? Because the book that Isaiah speaks of, that should come forth, should be the means of gathering them and restoring them to their own land, and they should never become two kingdoms and two nations any more at all. Inquires one—“Why do you not go to the House of Israel, what have you Latter-day Saints been doing for forty years past? Have you gathered Israel?” No, we have not; if we had the Scriptures would not have been fulfilled. Why? Because the times of the Gentiles must first be fulfilled, and Jerusalem must be trodden down by them, until their times are fulfilled. What do you mean by their times being fulfilled, and the fullness of the Gentiles coming in? I mean just what the Lord means, that this Gospel, which God sends by the ministration of “another angel” from heaven, must be preached to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, to the Gentiles first; and when they get through with them, it will go to Israel, for the times of the Gentiles will then be fulfilled; in other words, when God shall speak to his servants, and say unto them—“It is enough, you have been faithful in your ministry, you have warned the nations, kindreds and tongues of the Gentiles sufficiently, now I call you to a still greater work, and will give you a new mission, not to go and preach to the Gentiles, but go to the remnants of the House of Israel wherever they can be found, and let your testimony be to them. Hunt them up from the four quarters of the earth, gather them out with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and bring them back to their own land.” When that time shall come Israel will be gathered and not till then.

Inquires one—“How long will the Gospel still be preached to the Gentiles?” I do not know; I can give you certain limits, but within those limits I cannot decide. God told us in the early days of this Church, by new revelation, that the times of the Gentiles would be fulfilled in the generation then living upon the earth. Forth-three years of that generation have already gone by. How many more years it will be before their times are fulfilled I cannot tell; but I know the day is not far distant when young men, now living in these mountains, will be commissioned to go, not to the Gentiles, for their times will be fulfilled, but the Lord will say to them—“Go forth and fish and hunt up Israel in the four quarters of the earth. Go to the remnants of Joseph that are in South America, and scattered over this vast continent from the frozen regions of the north to Cape Horn in South America; go and teach them the Gospel, for they are a remnant of the tribe of Joseph: and his arm will be made bare in that day in such a manner that they will not reject the truth, and they will be grafted in again into their own olive tree, and become a righteous branch of the house of Israel.

That is the destiny of our Indian tribes. Many may yet suffer and perish, but when the time of their tribulation is past, when the Lord has rewarded unto them double for all the sins that were committed by their ancient fathers in their apostasy, and when he has visited them in judgment according to the prophecies that are contained in this Book of Mormon, and the times of the Gentiles who now occupy this land are fulfilled, then the Lord will make bare his arm, and he will redeem these remnants of Israel, that they may inherit the blessings promised to their ancient fathers.

I do not know that I have time to say anything more on this subject. To those who are unacquainted with the vast amount of testimony in the Scriptures in relation to this work, I say, read the ancient prophecies, Isaiah especially; read the Psalms of David, those which speak of the events which are to precede the second coming of Christ; read the prophecy of Daniel, about the setting up of the latter-day kingdom, whose beginning should be like a little stone cut out of the mountains without hands, rolling forth and becoming a great mountain and filling the whole earth, not like the destiny of the ancient kingdom, to be destroyed out of the earth through apostasy. The latter-day kingdom is to increase in greatness, power and glory, until the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven shall be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High, and the wicked shall be entirely swept from the face of the earth. Read all these prophecies, and when you have read and understood them, you will know what the Latter-day Saints believe, and what are their views in relation to the future. Amen.

Remarks by Elder William C. Dunbar, delivered in the Twentieth Ward School House, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Jan. 4, 1874.

Last Sunday evening I asked the privilege from the Bishop to give a little lesson to the young, and to the old and middle-aged about the young. It is something new for me to ask for the privilege of speaking, for my weakness has generally led me to decline speaking when asked to do so; but inasmuch as I have assumed the task, I trust I shall be assisted by that Spirit that illuminates the understanding, and that it will on this occasion dictate things which will be for our good.

I have heard some say that they thought we made too much fuss and talk about the rising generation; but when we take into consideration the circumstances in which we are placed as Latter-day Saints, we shall see that this is not the case. We are connected with the kingdom of God, established in these last days never to be cast down again. We are not connected with a system of religion which is to expire when we expire, but with one which is to exist when we are gone, and there is a prospect of a great many of us departing this life before very many years more pass away. There are thousands and tens of thousands of us who embraced the Gospel soon after the Church was organized by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and who are now arriving at an age when we must naturally expect that we will not live long upon the earth, hence, in the minds of all such who reflect, there is an anxiety about the young. Why? Because they have an anxiety about the kingdom of God being perpetuated; they have an anxiety about the young, realizing that the responsibility of bearing off this kingdom and its principles must shortly rest upon their shoulders, when they will have to preach the Gospel and to administer the laws and ordinances of the kingdom of God, and to bear off its principles while they shall live upon the earth, hence the anxiety of the old members of the Church to know that their children are in a position to be able to perform the duties devolving upon them as well as, if not better than, their predecessors.

We have around us a multitude of children growing up. We are in the habit of calling them children and of treating them as such, and all the time our speeches to them are as if directed to children; but all of a sudden it has come to our notice that some of these children have arrived at the years of accountability. Some of our sons, for instance, are as old as we were ourselves when we went forth to preach the Gospel, and we see around us a multitude of young men and women who were baptized when they were eight years old, and who, almost unnoticed, have arrived at years when they begin to think and act for themselves. Among them are those who have a knowledge, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Church and work of God, and perhaps a great proportion of them have this knowledge. Then, there are a great many of them who say they have not this knowledge, but they believe “Mormonism” is true because father and mother say it is; that is, they believe it by education and not by conviction and through understanding it for themselves. Among these children to which I am referring is a small number who have come in contact with certain influences, and who are becoming skeptical and unbelieving as to the principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We may shut our eyes to these things, but they are facts, and the question is, How shall we treat them? If we knew that two Gentiles were in this meeting, we would so arrange our discourse as to be suitable to them, and let all the rest of the congregation, who already know these principles, sit and listen. But it appears to me that we have to take a new departure in regard to our preaching. We must adapt ourselves to circumstances, and remember that there are those amongst us of the kind I have mentioned. It is true our children have been raised and grounded, as it were, in the principles of “Mormonism:” they have grown up and have scarcely heard anything else. It is not these little ones here that I am so much concerned about, but it is the young men and the young women, from sixteen to twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, who go out in life for themselves. Perhaps the sisters go to service in various parts of the city and among various kinds of people; and the young men, they go to learn trades—learn to be carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, or some other occupation. They have to go out in life, and they meet with a great many influences now that were not to be found in our midst years ago; for amongst us now are those who are straining every effort to undermine the education that we have been giving to our children. When I say education, I mean the religious training which we have been giving them. There are men in our midst who consider they have a mission to perform, and that mission is to undermine our religion. There are many amongst us now who do not believe in and who care nothing about our religion. Some of these have come to dig in the mountains, to extract the silver and get a fortune; they care nothing about religion of any kind. There are others here who consider they have a mission to undermine “Mormonism,” and who think the only way for them to do that is by undermining the education of our young people. They say, “We can only reach the young, so far as faith in “Mormonism” is concerned; but if we succeed in making the rising generation skeptical, “Mormonism” will be a thing of the past and almost forgotten in the next generation.” There is a class of so-called religious men whose aim is to make our young folks skeptical; there is the apostate, who is either an infidel or a deist, working to accomplish the same object; there is also the Gentile, who is a deist or a free– thinker, and does not believe in God or in a life hereafter; and they all feel that it is their special mission to undermine what we have been doing during the last twenty years to establish in the minds of the rising generation the truth of the principles which we have espoused, and which we know to be true.

Now, if it has taken all the knowledge that we have, all the testimony that we have received from the Almighty, to carry us through to the present moment; if it has taken the power of the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of God to enable us to stand and resist the various opposing influences by which we have been assailed since we obeyed the Gospel, it will take the same testimony and the same understanding to enable the rising generation to carry off this kingdom triumphantly in spite of all the combined opposition that may be brought against it. Hence the necessity, my brethren and sisters, of being exercised about the young, and hence the reason that they should have a knowledge of the principles of truth that we have received, that when we are departing this life we can lay our hands upon them and bless them, and set them apart for the work that we have about closed. Then the fathers in Israel can say—“Here are our sons, who will carry out what we have begun;” and the mothers can say—“Here are our daughters, who will carry out what we have commenced.” Under such circumstances the feelings of the dying will be those of joy and pleasure, for they will know that they are leaving behind them a multitude upon whose hearts is ineffaceably impressed the conviction of the divinity of this work.

I am pleased when I hear a young man or young woman testify that they know this is the kingdom of God; but I should not be pleased to hear them testify that they did know if they did not; I should not be pleased to hear them say they believed if they did not believe. It might cost me sorrow to hear my son or my daughter, or your son or your daughter, say, “I do not know that ‘Mormonism’ is true,” or “I do not believe it is true,” or to see them in a kind of betwixt and between state of mind, not knowing what to believe; but at the same time I would rather they would honestly say just what is the fact, than to have them hypocritically say one thing and mean another. I would not like to see this among children or among men and women. But if a person is really sick and we can find out what the disease is, then we can apply the remedy; if, however, the patient insists that he is not sick, and that nothing is the matter with him, we cannot touch him. Hence I say, if we know the circumstances in which we are placed, we know what remedy to apply. A young man or young woman will ask this question, for instance, which is very natural—“Father, I hear you say that all the sects in the Christian world are wrong except the ‘Mormons;’ but yet I find, when I attend the Episcopal, Roman Catholic or Methodist church, that they quote from the very same Bible which you quote from. How is it that they are wrong?” Do you recollect, brethren and sisters, how we were when first the Gospel reached our ears? One of the first questions that we asked of the Elder who preached to us was—“You say that ‘Mormonism’ only is right, but how is it that all these other sects and parties, who say they believe in God, the Bible and Jesus Christ, are wrong and you only are right?” This was a kind of a mystery to us, it caused a query to arise in our minds, and we could not exactly understand it. This brings to my remembrance a figure that was very frequently used by the Elders when preaching the Gospel in the old country in early days. To explain this seeming mystery to the minds of the new converts, they would liken the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ and its organization, to a watch with all its complicated machinery, including wheels, pivots and pins, face, fingers and mainspring. All these properly combined will correctly tell the time of day. “But,” said the Elders, “Suppose a man comes along and takes one of these wheels away, and another man takes another wheel, and another takes another wheel; another man takes a pin, and another another pin; another man takes a pivot, and another takes another pivot; one takes the face, another takes a finger, and another takes another finger, and so on, until finally the whole watch is divided up, say among six hundred different people, everyone of whom says—“I have got the watch, and I can tell the time of day.” Says the watchmaker—“Do you think I am such a fool as to believe that any of you can tell the time of day? A watch cannot tell the time unless it is combined and united together, every wheel and pivot in its place, with the mainspring in good order. It takes the whole machine to tell the time of day, and when a man says—‘I have got the watch,’ and he has only got a wheel, a pivot, or a pin, the face, mainspring, or case, he does not tell the truth, whether he knows it or not.”

So it is, my young friends and brethren and sisters, in regard to the Bible; every religious sect takes that part of it which suits them, and they all say they believe in it, and they have got the plan of salvation. For instance, one sect or party will take faith in Jesus Christ, and say that is all that is necessary for the salvation of man. Another sect will perhaps take baptism, and say that faith and baptism are necessary for salvation, and throw away something else; and thus you find the whole Christian world, although professing to believe in the same Savior and in the same Bible, opposed to each other. And then the “Mormons” come along and they say—“All these sects are wrong and we are right.” They say to the sects—“Why, you have not got the watch, you have only got one of the wheels, one of the pins or fingers, or you have only got the case, and there is nothing in it, and it requires the case with all its contents properly arranged to tell the time of day correctly; in other words, if you would teach the people how to be saved in the kingdom of God, you must teach them to obey every principle of the plan of salvation.” That is precisely what the Elders of this Church do, and that makes the grand distinction and difference between them and the so-called religious teachers of the day.

Now to illustrate this. You attend a church or a chapel, and you perhaps hear a minister preach from the 16th chapter of St. Mark’s Gospel, where the Apostles are commanded to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, with the promise that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, &c. Some of our young people have not read the Bible a great deal. It is true that many of them who attend Sunday school do read it, but as a general thing the class I am referring to do not attend Sunday school. They consider that they are too old, that they know too much, or that it is rather humiliating to associate with children; and, with a few exceptions, those I mean are not of the kind who have read the Bible; but you will find, no matter how much it may chagrin us to admit it, that they would rather read the Ledger, Bowbells, or some other book of that character, than the Bible, and consequently when they hear a sectarian minister quote from it, that he that believeth in Jesus shall be saved, they take it for granted that he is reading the Bible, when, if they had read and studied its pages for themselves, they would know that he only quotes part of it. Is it not singular that sectarian ministers, as a general thing, manage to forget that little word “baptism” when exhorting sinners to repent and be saved? Is it not singular that the divines of the day, as a general thing, although they have made the Bible their study, and have gone to college on purpose to study how to explain its contents, should stop short and say, “He that believeth shall be saved,” leaving out all about baptism?

What is the difference, in this respect, between the “Mormon” and the sectarian teacher? The “Mormon” teacher reads the whole of it—the text and the context, and he declares to the people that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be condemned. Is it not singular that men professing to be servants of God and ministers of salvation, when they quote Scripture, should only quote part of it? This is the course pursued by the ministers of nearly every denomination in Christendom. One will take a pivot or a wheel, and leave all the rest of the machinery; another will do the same, and so on, and if we were to examine the whole, we should perhaps find that all of the principles of the Gospel are scattered amongst them, but all of them reject some portions of it.

On the day of Pentecost, when a large multitude of people where assembled at Jerusalem, the Apostles of the Savior, who had been endowed with power from on high, plainly and unmistakably declared unto them the way of life and salvation. In answer to the earnest and anxious inquiries of many on that occasion, Peter, the chief of the Apostles, said—“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost,” &c. But how is this Scripture quoted by those who take only one wheel or pivot? They say—“Repent and be saved;” or, Believe in Jesus and be saved;” but somehow or other, either through a defective memory, or from some other cause, they fail to quote the rest of it.

Here is the difference between the sectarians and us who are called “Mormons.” We take the whole chapter, we want the whole watch. We know we cannot tell the time correctly if we only take a part of it, and we know we cannot get full salvation in the celestial kingdom of God unless we obey the whole Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation unto all who believe it enough to obey it.

The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, lays down the organization of the Church, as established by its founder, Christ. He says that in the Church are placed Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. What for? For the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, and for the perfecting of the Saints, until we all come to the unity of the faith. The Apostle also says that there are in the Church a diversity of gifts, such as tongues, the interpretation of tongues, healing, knowledge, faith, wisdom, &c. Now, how much does a sectarian pick out of this when he quotes it? He takes Pastors and Teachers, but he throws away Apostles, Prophets, gifts, helps, tongues, healings, &c.; in fact, he claims to have the whole watch, when, at the same time, he has but one little pin or pivot, and throws away the principal part of the machinery.

Did you ever think of these things my brethren and sisters? If you would read the Bible and New Testament you would get an understanding of them just as we did. How was that? Most of us were trained to read the Bible, and when we heard the Later-day Saints preach we said—“This is different from anything we ever heard before. The Bible seems like a new book, we never knew there were such things in it. Our ministers never taught us these principles, and when we mention them to them they say they are done away, and no longer needed;” in other words they say that a watch does not need a mainspring now; it was necessary 1,800 years ago for a watch to have a mainspring and a variety of wheels and pins all united together in one case, but now it is not necessary, for you can tell the time of day with one of the fingers, or a pin, or with the empty case. We who had read the New Testament, when we heard the Elders explain the organization of this Church, could at once see that it was in accordance with the Scripture pattern, and that it was different to the churches of Christendom; but the reason that our young men and women are sometimes in a quandary when they hear sectarians preach is because they have not read the Scriptures, and hence when they hear a man in a pulpit make an assertion, they are not able to tell whether he quotes the whole or only a part of the passage, and hence the necessity for them to make themselves more acquainted with the Bible.

When I was about seventeen years of age I first heard this Gospel preached by Elder Orson Pratt. He quoted from the Acts of the Apostles, and although I had another word of testimony within me that what he said was correct, that he was a servant of God and that Joseph Smith had had the ministration of angels, when he quoted from the Scriptures I could not say whether it was so or not, because I had never read the Bible. I had never been allowed to read it, for reasons which I stated this afternoon, but I went home directly and read the Bible, and found that what he said was true. Then I went to another place of worship and I heard a man quote the same chapter, but somehow or other he failed to quote the whole passage, and quoted only a little bit of it. This led some of us to investigate, and we did so just as we would any other branch of knowledge. No young man would think of reading Robinson Crusoe in order to make himself acquainted with geography, neither would he read the history of Scotland in order to master algebra; and no young man or young woman would think of studying any branch of science or art by reading novels. But if they really desired to acquire any branch of knowledge they would, of course, procure works that treated on that subject, and make it a matter of earnest study. I knew a man who did nothing but study grammar from the time he was fifteen years old until he was twenty-five. They used to call him “Old Syntax” for a by– name. So it is with our young—they must not expect to study “Mormonism” by reading novels, but they must read the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Millennial Star, Orson Pratt’s Works, the Voice of Warning and many others. These are the works our children must study if they ever find out for themselves the truth of the principles of “Mormonism.” And besides doing this, they must also pray unto the Almighty for the testimony of his Holy Spirit. How did we, now growing old in the work, get a knowledge of its truth? Many of us, after hearing the testimony of the servants of God, went into our closets, and some of us labored for months with the Almighty before we obtained that knowledge. We prayed “Lord, if the testimony of this man is true, make it known unto us, by some means or another;” and we finally received impressions which induced us to repent and be baptized, and we had hands laid upon us for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and still we labored, and prayed, and contended for the faith once delivered to the Saints, until God in his mercy manifested himself unto us in such a manner that we knew this was his work and kingdom.

Now, if a young man rises and bears testimony that he knows this is the kingdom of God, perhaps some other young man may make fun and say, “How do you know it?” Perhaps he cannot explain, for the revelations of God to the mind and soul of man cannot always be explained, any more than Columbus could explain when he asserted there was a vast continent that had not then been discovered, or than the philosopher could explain to unbelievers that the globe was round and not flat; they could not understand it without studying natural laws as he had done. The testimony of the Holy Ghost and the Revelations of God give knowledge to the mind of him upon whom they are conferred but he cannot explain their operations to others. In the Scriptures we are told that the things of man are known by the spirit of man, and the things of God only by the Spirit of God, and the promise to those who obey the Gospel is that they shall know for themselves of its truth, and this is the only condition on which the fulfillment of this promise can be obtained. Said Jesus—“Do my will and you shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

Our children were baptized when they were eight years old, but that was more by our agency that theirs. The gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred upon them, and that Spirit is within them, and if they understood its whisperings and dictates I believe that they would admit they know a great deal more than they now think they do; and if they would heed its teachings it would lead them in the way of eternal life. But there is a great difference between the “Mormons” and the rest of the religious world when we come to the fundamental principles of all religion, namely, belief in God. The sectarian world say that they believe in God, but that he has neither body, parts nor passions, and yet there are three persons in the godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. If you were to attend the Sabbath schools of our friends who are not of us, you would probably hear these principles taught. But this is not in accordance with the Bible, for that teaches that God made man in his own image. If you want to know what the Almighty looks like, look at man, only he is in a fallen condition and clothed with humanity. Jesus said that he was the express image and likeness of his Father. The “Mormons” believe this, but the sectarians believe in a God without body, parts and passions; they believe in Jesus sitting at the right hand of a God without body parts and passions; they believe in a God who loves the righteous, and who is angry with the wicked every day, but yet he has neither body, parts nor passions. I am not saying this with a design to deride, or anything of the kind, but I am simply stating facts as they are. The “Mormons” believe these things just as the Bible tells them; they believe that God is a great and exalted Being, filled with knowledge and understanding, that he created this earth, but not out of nothing. One of the principles taught by the religious world of Christendom, is that the earth was made out of nothing, in six of our days. No wonder, as Brother Maeser said the other Sunday evening, that people consider that science and religion are opposed to each other. True science and true religion are not opposed to each other; false religion and true science are opposed to each other, and it is this very fact which has caused infidelity to spread with such rapidity of late years. As men become acquainted with the laws of nature, which are the laws of God, they are compelled to lay false religion aside, and consequently they say religion is all nonsense. For instance, the chemist finds that he cannot bring one particle of matter from nonentity neither can he annihilate one particle, therefore he disbelieves in the world being created out of nothing. When a man descends into the bowels of the earth and, through science, becomes acquainted with the laws which govern the materials there contained, he understands that the earth could not be made out of nothing; he also understands that it could not be made in six of our days, and consequently, rather than throw aside science, the truth of which he can demonstrate, he throws religion to one side, the truth of which he cannot demonstrate. But if he were in possession of true religion he would not have to throw it away, neither would he have to abandon his science because they would harmonize.

We Latter-day Saints do not believe the world was created out of nothing, but that it was created just upon the same principle that a builder creates a house, that is, there is matter in existence and he organizes it and changes its condition suitable to the circumstances that he wishes to use it for; the builder changes the bricks, lumber and other material into a house or other structure; the Almighty by his power and wisdom takes existing matter and combines it and makes a world; and he places the stars and the sun and moon in the firmament, giving to each the laws by which its movements are governed. If we understand it we should see that it was all done upon true scientific principles. Scientific truth and God’s truth are just the same, hence when a man becomes acquainted with science or the laws of nature he has to throw away his belief in a God without body, parts and passions, and in the estimation of the religious world, he becomes an infidel. But suppose he were to obey the Gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints, what would be the consequence then? His science and religion would help and sustain each other, and would enable him to bear testimony to the wonderworking hand of God, not only in revealing the true principles of salvation, but also in revealing the laws of nature or the principles of science, and he would embrace both as emanations from the same great Deity.

Here, my young brethren and sisters, is another great distinction and difference between the Latter-day Saints and the rest of the Religious World, and if you were to study the Bible sometimes—I do not say it is necessary to throw away every other book and study the Bible only—you would come to an understanding of these principles for yourselves, then you would know why your fathers and mothers declare that they know “Mormonism” is true.

I have endeavored to drop a few hints, to show the necessity of our young people taking a course by which they may attain the same realizing sense of the truth of the Gospel and work of God which their seniors possess. If a son or a daughter belonging to anyone of us should say—“Father, I know you have always taught me to believe that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and you say that God has revealed it to you, but he has not revealed it to me and I do not know it,” shall we get mad at them, and resort to coercion in order to make them believe as we believe? No, we may be sorry to hear them make such an avowal, but we must neither get mad nor use harsh language towards them, for that might drive them to do that which we are so anxious to prevent. We must treat them as men and women, or as rational, intelligent beings, and reason with them, and labor with and pray for them just as much as if we were sent to preach the Gospel to the world. That is the course I believe we, the fathers and mothers of Israel, should pursue with the rising generation.

I have said all I desire to say on the present occasion. May God bless us! May the spirit of the Gospel rest upon our young, that they may be led to investigate its principles and come to an understanding thereof for themselves, that they may be prepared for the responsibilities that will rest upon those who will succeed us in carrying on the work of the Lord, and be enabled to bear it off triumphantly is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the First Ward School House, Sunday Afternoon, Dec. 28, 1873.

We will commence our discourse by reading a part of the 25th, and the 26th and 27th sections of a revelation, given December 27, 1832, contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.

“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. Be– hold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

“And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together. And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That great church, the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea—behold, she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it.

“And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled; 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 their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—They are Christ’s, the firstfruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.”

This revelation was given through our Prophet, and Seer, and Revelator, Joseph Smith, who was one of the greatest men who ever lived in this probation, one of the greatest Prophets, with the exception of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ever sent to our earth. I think it is forty-one years yesterday since this revelation was given. In it are revealed many things pertaining to the salvation of the children of men, and pertaining to the great and eventful works of the Lord which are about to take place on the earth. In the sections preceding those which I have read, we have an account of certain great events that have not yet transpired, namely, that after the testimonies of the servants of God among the nations comes the testimony of many judgments, which will be poured upon the nations, such as earthquakes, wars, the sea heaving beyond its bounds, and a variety of calamities which shall make the hearts of all the wicked fail them for fear. After these great judgments are poured upon the nations of the earth, then will be fulfilled the words which I have read, “and angels will fly through the midst of heaven 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.” After these angels have flown through the midst of heaven calling upon the inhabitants of the earth to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom, seven more angels are to sound their trumps. The first one sounds, and his proclamation is concerning great Babylon, “who has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, concerning her who sits upon many waters, who has her dominion among many nations, kindreds, tongues and people, behold she is the tares of all the earth, she is bound in bundles, her bands are made strong, no man can loose them, therefore she is ready to be burned, and he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it.”

There must be something connected with the sounding of this trump that is miraculous in order that all nations may hear it. Any sound that can be produced by mortal man does not reach, generally speaking, over about thirty miles from where it originates, which is a very small space indeed. But there will be something connected with the sounding of the trump of the first of the seven angels which will manifest a power which we know nothing of. The sound of that trump will be heard by all people, nations, kindreds and tongues in the four quarters of our globe. I do not know that the sound will be so much louder than some we have heard, but it will be carried by some miraculous power so that all people will hear it.

“Immediately after the sounding of this trump, there will be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour.” Whether the half hour here spoken of is according to our reckoning—thirty minutes, or whether it be according to the reckoning of the Lord we do not know. We know that the word hour is used in some portions of the Scriptures to represent quite a lengthy period of time. For instance, we, the Latter-day Saints, are living in the eleventh hour, that is in the eleventh period of time; and for aught we know the half hour during which silence is to prevail in heaven may be quite an extensive period of time. During the period of silence all things are perfectly still; no angels flying during that half hour; no trumpets sounding; no noise in the heavens above; but immediately after this great silence the curtain of heaven shall be unfolded as a scroll is unfolded. School children, who are in the habit of seeing maps hung up on the wall, know that they have rollers upon which they are rolled up, and that to expose the face of the maps they are let down. So will the curtain of heaven be unrolled so that the people may gaze upon those celestial beings who will make their appearance in the clouds. The face of the Lord will be unveiled, and those who are alive will be quickened, and they will be caught up; and the Saints who are in their graves, will come forth and be caught up, together with those who are quickened, and they will be taken into the heavens into the midst of those celestial beings who will make their appearance at that time. These are the ones who are the firstfruits, that is, the firstfruits at the time of his coming.

There was a period some eighteen centuries ago, when the Saints arose from their graves, after the resurrection of Christ, he being the firstfruits. That is called in the Book of Mormon the first resurrection; it took place about the time, or a little after the resurrection of Jesus. But when he comes the second time, the firstfruits of the resurrection will be the Saints who come out of their graves. They, in connection with the Saints of all ages, will be the Church of the Firstborn, and they will descend with the Savior when he comes.

There are some who suppose, when these Saints are thus resurrected and taken up into heaven, that this will be the precise period when Jesus will descend on the earth; but I wish to correct this idea by the aid of both old and new revelation. Instead of Jesus immediately descending to the earth, when these Saints are thus taken into heaven, he will stay until the seven angels have sounded their trumps. There will be quite a lapse of time between the sounding of each of these seven; some months will intervene; they do not all follow directly one after the other or in the course of a few hours time; but there will be a period between in which certain great and marvelous events will take place. For instance, if we read the revelations of St. John, we find that when the fifth angel shall sound his trump, the bottomless pit shall be opened, and there shall come forth a great smoke, and a cloud of locusts, so great that the sun and air shall be darkened; and these locusts shall have power to torment men five months before the sounding or the sixth trump. This shows that there will be a period of at least five months, between the sounding of the trumps of the fifth and sixth angels. Read also concerning the sounding of the sixth trump, and you will find that there is a great work to be accomplished before the seventh angel shall sound, for in the time intervening between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumps the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates are to be loosed, and they are to gather together a very great army. If I recollect aright, that army is to consist of two hundred millions of people, who are to ride on some kind of beasts or animals which the Lord, probably by some supernatural means, will prepare for the occasion. These personages who come forth riding upon these beasts are prepared for an hour, for a day, for a month, and for a year; and their work is to slay a third part of the hosts of men then existing upon the earth, and as they are prepared for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, it shows there will be quite a lapse of time between the sounding of the trump of the sixth and seventh angel.

We might bring up, also, the declaration of John in relation to the two witnesses who are to prophesy about that period. They are to prophesy three and a half years, and their field of labor will be Jerusalem, after it shall have been rebuilt by the Jews. By means of their prophecies and the power of God attending them, the nations who are gathered together against Jerusalem will be kept at bay, these Prophets will hold them in check by their faith and power. By and by these nations overcome the two witnesses and, having finished their mission, they are slain, and their bodies will lie three days and a half in the streets of the city. Then a great earthquake will take place, and these two witnesses will be caught up to heaven.

All this takes place after these trumps begin to sound; and if these two witnesses are to fulfill a mission of three and a half years, it shows that the sounding of the trumpets does not take place, as many have supposed, in rapid succession, but certain events have to be accomplished between their respective soundings. By and by the whole seven will have sounded, and then they commence to sound a second time. According to the revelation from which I have read, the second sounding of the trumpets is not to prudence destruction among the nations, but the sound of the first one will reveal the secret acts of God, his purposes and doings on the earth during the first thousand years; the sounding of the second will reveal the doings and purposes of the Great Jehovah during the second thousand years, and so on, until the seventh shall sound the second time, and pronounce the work of God finished, so far as the great preparation needful for his second coming is concerned.

Notice, now, that it is the first sounding of the first of these seven, when the first resurrection takes place; and all these great works are to be performed on the earth, and years elapse before Jesus descends with all his Saints; that, is, if we understand these things correctly, by what little is revealed upon the subject. There are many things which I would like to dwell upon in connection with the resurrection of the Saints and their being caught up into the heavens. The subject of the resurrection is one that we all are very much interested in; it is something which concerns all mankind, more or less, but especially the Latter-day Saints who are now living on the earth. We all see that our brethren and sisters, as well as the wicked, are passing away, leaving us; they are called upon to lay aside these bodies, which are deposited in the grave. They are passing off by scores, by hundreds and by thousands, and we expect to follow them, that is the most of us. Perhaps some may live until the coming of the Son of Man, or the sounding of the first trump; but inasmuch as most of us expect to lay our bodies down to sleep, it must be interesting to every Latter-day Saint to know something about the resurrection.

What can we know about it? Nothing except what the Lord has revealed, and let me here say that perhaps no subject pertaining to salvation was ever so fully revealed to the inhabitants of the earth as that of the resurrection of the body. Many people have thought that very little has been revealed on this subject; but if I am not mistaken we have an abundance, although there are many things in regard to it about which we are still in the dark, because they have not been revealed. But if we will carefully search the revelations that have been given, we may learn many things in regard to this great event which will be satisfying to our minds.

When we carry our friends to the grave yard we feel sorrowful, because we have to leave them, and because they are separated from us, for a short time. All that kindness and sociability which existed are no more experienced, and we no longer have the privilege of their society as we had formerly, and consequently we mourn. But what a consolation it is to realize that, when our friends are laid down, we are not separated from them forever, if they have died in the faith, and if we, ourselves, endure faithful to the end; for if we keep the commandments of God as we should, we have an assurance and a hope within us which cannot be shaken that we shall rise again, and that our bodies will come forth from the grave.

Now let us try to understand how much is revealed upon this subject; and in order to understand it, let me refer you to some things that are contained in the Book of Mormon. On page 240 of that book we find something on the subject of the resurrection. That which I am about to read was spoken by the Prophet Amulek, in the city of Ammonihah, to a very wicked people, who were shortly afterwards totally destroyed because of their wickedness.

“Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but all things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.”

Thus we see that there will be no limbs lacking. If a person has lost his arm, his leg, or his eyes, they will be restored, and will stand before God perfect, and the wicked will have a bright recollection of all their guilt. The Prophet Amulek was trying to explain all this to a people who were full of guilt, having disobeyed the commandments of heaven, until they were almost ripened for destruction. He informed them that they should have a perfect knowledge of all their guilt. In this life there are many things that people, whether righteous or wicked, forget. Our memories are so weak that many things done in years passed are obliterated; but when they come forth in the morning of the resurrection, the wicked as well as the righteous, their memories will be restored, so that every act of their lives, whether good or evil, will be perfectly remembered, and the wicked will have a perfect knowledge of all their guilt. Will not this be sufficient to create an unquenchable fire in their breasts, and with this recollection, to behold the face of the Lord? Will not this cause them to shrink from his presence? I think it will. The Prophet Moroni, speaking on this subject, and addressing himself to the unbelieving who should live on the earth at the time the Book of Mormon should come forth, says—“You would be more miserable to dwell in the presence of that holy and pure Being than you would to dwell with the damned souls in hell.” That is perfectly reasonable; for a wicked person in the presence of God would be a place not adapted to his evil, corrupt, carnal nature. There must be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy, that those who are filthy, wicked and corrupt may be placed in circumstances adapted to their condition. Such persons, when in the presence of God, would be glad for the rocks and mountains to fall upon and hide them, for the recollection of their iniquities will smite them, and kindle within them a flame like an unquenchable fire, for their consciences will have a bright recollection of all their guilt.

Now this restoration will come to all, both old and young, bond and free, male and female, righteous and wicked, and there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost. Many persons, when they advance in years, lose their hair, and become baldheaded. Will they rise in the resurrection without hair, because they have been laid in the grave in that condition? No, that would be imperfection, and we have a statement in the Book of Mormon that not so much as one hair shall be lost. Again the Prophet Amulek says—“But all things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, and shall be arraigned before the bar of Christ, the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil. Now, behold I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the immortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death, unto life, that they can die no more.” What this means is this—there can be no further dissolution between the spirit and the body; they cannot be separated, and they can die no more. This seems to make it plain that their spirits unite with their bodies never to be separated again, and return to dust, as in the first death, and thus becoming spiritual and immortal, “they can no more see corruption.”

We will now turn to what the Prophet Alma said to his son Corianton, not only concerning the resurrection, but also concerning the condition or state of the spirit of man, between the time of death and the resurrection. This is on page 318 of the Book of Mormon.

“And now I would inquire what becometh of the souls of men from this time of death to the time appointed for the resurrection? Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men. Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space of time between the time of death and the resurrection. And now concerning this space of time, what becometh of the souls of men, is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing of which I do know. And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God knoweth all times which are appointed unto man. Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me, by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

“And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and in a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.”

There is an idea prevalent, I do not know how prevalent, among the Saints, that we do not go directly home to God, when our spirits leave these bodies, but that there is a kind of intermediate state where we have to go through further preparations; but if I can understand the language contained in this declaration of Alma, it seems that the spirits of all men, whether wicked or righteous, as soon as they leave this mortal body, “go home to that God who gave them life,” that is, they return to the place and position that they occupied while they were in the eternal worlds. It is called “home,” because they once had their abiding place there, and they have been absent from home, while here in the body; but as soon as they are separated from the body, they all return to that ancient home, into the presence of the Lord.

After they get back there, they are completely redeemed, so far as the original sin is concerned. The original sin shut them out from the presence of God; did it not? Every one will say yes. The redemption made by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ redeems mankind from the penalty of the original sin, fully and completely and the wicked and the righteous, without any respect of persons, are brought back into his presence, the same as they were before they came from his presence into these fallen bodies. This makes the redemption universal. No person, however wicked, if he be as corrupt a man as ever lived on the earth, even a son of perdition, can avoid being brought back into the presence of God, that his redemption may be complete, so far as the original sin is concerned. Anything short of this would be a failure in the redemption of man from the fall. The righteous, after death, are received into a state of rest, peace, and happiness, in Paradise. There they will be free from all care and sorrow, and Satan will have no power over them. If they should be sent on a mission from Paradise to any part of the dominion of the Almighty to administer, as Jesus administered while his body was in the tomb, evil powers and spirits and fallen angels are subject to their command, and they are not in the least subject to these evil beings. Herein is the freedom of the righteous, and the victory they obtain, for in the name of Jesus they can command these fallen angels, and they are compelled to yield obedience. But how is it with the wicked? They have not learned to command these evil powers, they have not placed themselves in a position here in this life to do so; they cannot cast out devils. Why? Because they are wicked and corrupt, and when they meet with the devil or any of the fallen angels, they are immediately enslaved and brought into captivity to them, and that is the worst kind of slavery; and according to what I have read here, the spirit of the devil enters into their house. What house? The spiritual house, for they have not got bodies of flesh and bones yet, the resurrection has not taken place yet, and that spirit, that spiritual body, becomes subject to the devil, and he enters their house, and they are cast out into outer darkness, and are in captivity to the devil, and are his slaves, until the resurrection, when their bodies and spirits will be reunited.

Let us enquire, for a few moments, concerning the nature of these spiritual bodies which are thus restored back into the presence of God. A great many people have supposed that the spirit which exists in the tabernacle, for instance, of an infant, is of the same size as the infant tabernacle when it enters therein; No one will dispute that it is of the same size when it is enclosed therein; but how large was the spirit before it entered the tabernacle? Was it a full grown male or female spirit, or was it a little infant spirit in its pre-existent state? We have no account that I know of, in any revelation which God has given, of any infant spirit coming from the eternal worlds to take infant bodies; but we have an opposite account in the revelations which God has given; for if we turn to the Book of Ether we shall find that the Lord Jesus, who was one of these spirits, and the firstborn of the whole family, was a personage like unto a man, without flesh, blood or bones, but a fullgrown spirit, thousands of years before he came to take his infant tabernacle. Is it so recorded in the Book of Ether? Yes. You will no doubt recollect the words of the brother of Jared, at the time that he prayed unto the Lord, when he carried in his hand sixteen small transparent stones, and went to the top of Mount Shelem. He said—“Lord, stretch forth thine hand and touch these stones with thy finger one by one, that they may shine forth and give light unto us in the vessels which thou hast commanded us to prepare, and suffer not that thy people shall cross this great deep in darkness. Behold, O Lord, then canst do these things,” &c. The Lord, in answer to his prayer, stretched forth his hand and touched these stones one by one, sixteen of them. Eight vessels were prepared, and the Prophet wanted one in each end of each vessel; and because of the faith of the brother of Jared the Lord could not hide his finger from him, and hence the veil was taken from before his eyes, and he saw the finger of the Lord, and it was like unto the finger of a man, and not like an infant, which when the brother of Jared saw he fell, through fear, lest the Lord should smite him, it being the first time he had ever seen any part or portion of the spiritual body of Jesus. The Lord said unto him—“Arise, why hast thou fallen?” And the brother of Jared said, “I saw the finger of the Lord, and I knew not the Lord had flesh and blood.” The Lord said—“Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so, ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this? And he answered, nay; Lord, shew thyself unto me. And the Lord said unto him, Believest thou the words which I shall speak? And he answered, yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth and canst not lie. And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord shewed himself unto him, and said, Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore, ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I shew myself unto you.”

Here was the redemption of a man restored back again into the presence of the Lord while yet in the flesh; he saw with his eyes what he had before seen by faith. Then the Lord said—“Behold I am Jesus Christ, I am the Father and the Son, and in me shall all mankind have light, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name. Behold, this body which you now see is the body of my spirit, and all men in the beginning have I created after the body of my spirit.” Notice now, they were created after the same form and fashion, and no doubt attain by growth to similar dimensions as the body of his spirit, without flesh and bones. The expression is, “All men in the beginning”—you were there, all this creation were there; all the inhabitants of the earth who now live, all that have lived, and all that will live in times to come, were all created after the body of his spirit in the beginning before this world was made.

When all these spirits were sent forth from the eternal worlds, they were, no doubt, not infants; but when they entered the infant tabernacle, they were under the necessity, the same as our Lord and Savior, of being compressed, or diminished in size so that their spirits could be enclosed in infant tabernacles. If their bodies die in infancy, do their spirits remain infants in stature between death and the resurrection of the body? I think not. Why not? Because the redemption must restore everything to its natural order. If they were of the size and stature of manhood or womanhood before they entered into the tabernacle would the redemption be complete, when they came out of that tabernacle, unless they were restored to their former dimensions? I think not; there would not be a full restoration, and consequently, there would seem to be an imperfection in the plan. There are some of our brethren and sisters, perhaps, who are very anxious to see their little children after they depart this life. The Lord sometimes gives them a vision of their departed little ones, not of their spirits, but as they will appear in the morning of the resurrection, in order that they may know and recognize them. But supposing that he should show them the spirits of their little children as they are after leaving their infant tabernacles, would they be satisfied? I think not. Why? Because I think they would not recognize them, for I am of the opinion that the spirits of children who die here regain their former dimensions of manhood or womanhood, and hence if you were to see them you would perhaps be disappointed. But by and by the resurrection will come, then these full grown spirits, who have died in infancy here, will again enter into the infant tabernacle, and they will come forth as infants, as they were at the time they laid down their bodies; then their parents will have no difficulty in recognizing them.

There is quite an anxiety at the present time, about one thing, connected with the resurrection, and that is, will those spirits, whose bodies died here in infancy, when reunited with their infant bodies, re– main of that stature through all the ages of eternity? There is a sermon of the Prophet Joseph Smith, reported by longhand reporters, in which it is stated that resurrected infants will forever remain infants. But I doubt very much in my own mind if those who reported that sermon got the full idea on this subject; and if they did, I very much doubt whether the Prophet Joseph, at the time he preached that sermon, had been fully instructed by revelation on that point, for the Lord has revealed a great many things to Prophets and revelators, and among them to Joseph Smith, the fullness of which is not at first given. For instance, in baptism for the dead, in Joseph’s day women were baptized for men, and men for women as well as for men. The Lord had at first revealed a few things to him, showing that baptism for the dead was a true principle, without giving him all the particulars at once. But he continued to enquire of the Lord, and he received more and more in regard to this principle. So in regard to the resurrection, there may have been many things revealed to him that were true, and others upon which, without having revelation, he would draw his own conclusions, until it should please the Lord to give further revelation. There is no revelation given that gives us a full knowledge upon that point—but I will give you my reasons, merely as reasons, to show that they who die here in infancy will grow up to the full stature of manhood or womanhood, after the resurrection. I do not say that it is so, but my reasons for believing that they do are these: How could they be restored completely to all that perfection of manhood and have a perfect tabernacle, adapted to the dimensions of the spirit as it existed, before it came here, unless their bodies should grow up from a state of infancy, and be sufficiently enlarged to become a perfect house for the fullgrown spirit, whether man or woman? I have heard, whether it be true or not I do not know, that before Joseph was martyred, he had obtained further light and information on this subject, to the effect that there would be a growth after the resurrection. How this may be I do not know, and it does not particularly matter; still it is something that we have the right and the privilege of reflecting upon, for there is no harm for any man or woman letting the mind expand to lay hold upon all that God has revealed, and to ponder upon it, as the ancient children of God did. Nephi says—“I ponder upon the things of God continually which he has revealed unto me,” and there is no harm for us to do the same. We should not get into that old sectarian notion, that we have no right to know anything about this, that or the other, and that we must not pry into this, that or the other. That is an old sectarian notion, which we have fought against all the day long, and we do not want it to creep into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the privilege of its members to let their minds expand, and to ponder upon the things of God, and to enquire of him, and by and by, when we have prepared ourselves by getting all the knowledge we possibly can from that which is written, God will give us more.

There are many other things I would like to touch upon in regard the resurrection. We often reflect in our minds upon the capacity and power we shall have after the resurrection, when we are quickened by the celestial spirit. To dwell upon this subject would take up another discourse, and I see I have not time for that, for I have to be at another meeting soon after 4 o’clock. But I will just mention a few things which we shall enjoy after the resurrection that we do not have here. For instance, we are limited in our vision here, we can see only a few things round about us, and they must be in the immediate neighborhood. We cannot see away off to England, or the European countries, and we cannot see anything unless it reflects the natural light of the sun or some other luminous body, and sends the light into our eye, and by that means the mind is informed concerning objects outside of us. But how very limited this sight of ours is! Do you suppose that the sight of the immortal body will be thus limited to the natural light that shines? No, there are a great many kinds of light besides the light which shines from the sun, moon or stars, or for some artificial light that may be created on the earth. There is, for instance, the light of the Spirit of God, by which the elements are controlled and governed; that is in all the elements, it matters not whether beneath or above the surface of the earth. Now, there may be a perfect organization in the resurrection, wherein this other kind of light, associated with the elements, will be permitted to affect the eye of the immortal body, so that it can see into the earth as well as on its surface. I do not wish you to take my statement only in regard to this, but the revelations of God inform us that there have been men here in mortality who have had their eyes quickened by this other species of light so that they could see things under the earth as well as things on its surface. Moses was one of these men, and we have an account, in the Pearl of Great Price, of the great vision he had concerning this earth. Before the Lord revealed to him the history of its creation Moses beheld every particle of the earth, and the account says there was not a particle that he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God. One of the revelations says, that whatsoever is light is spirit, and there are degrees of this spiritual influence that will affect the natural or mortal eye; then there are other degrees more refined, perhaps, which do not affect the mortal eye, but will affect the immortal eye, yet the Lord would be able to touch the eyes of a man like unto Moses or any other man of God, so as to show him every particle of the earth, inside and outside.

Now, if the mortal man can see this, as Moses certainly did, why should we suppose that we will be limited in that state of immortality which all Latter-day Saints expect to enjoy? It is more probable that we shall be able to discern, not only everything pertaining to this little speck of creation which we now inhabit, but also other worlds and what takes place thereon, as easily as that which takes place on our own. We have revelations also in regard to this. When Enoch was expressing his mind about the greatness of the creations of the Almighty, he said that if a man could number millions of earths like this, and all the separate particles which enter into their composition, it would not be a beginning of those creations, yet, said he to the Lord—“Thou art here, thy bosom is here;” and the Lord said unto Enoch—“I can stretch forth mine hand and hold all the creations that I have made, and mine eye can pierce them also.” By what power can his eye pierce them? By the same power that quickened the eyes of Moses while yet a mortal man; that same power can quicken the eyes of immortality to behold all the creations that the Lord has made, and hence there will be an enlargement of vision in the resurrection.

We might dwell on the enlargement of hearing as well as of vision. Do you suppose that immortal beings depend, for sound, upon the mere vibrations of an atmosphere like ours? This atmosphere only extends about forty-five miles above the surface of the earth. How could beings, away above this atmosphere of ours, communicate sounds to us here? There are other principles and elements of a more refined nature that intervene between these creations that God has made, and these elements may be brought into perfection, and by their vibratory powers they may communicate sounds from one world to another, just the same as light is communicated from world to world, and the immortal ear would be adapted to this.

We have not time to dwell upon this, I merely mention it as one of the great blessings of immortality.

We might mention too, concerning sleep. We have to sleep away about one-third part of our time here; will immortal beings be obliged to do the same, and spend one-third of the eternal millions on millions of the ages to come in dormancy? I do not think any such thing. Inquires one—“Are not things here typical of things hereafter?” Some are not. We die here, but that is not typical of any death that will come on the righteous hereafter, and there are a great many things which we pass through here that are not typical of things hereafter. All physical imperfections will be done away with hereafter, and we shall enjoy a greater fullness and power, and I cannot see that it will be necessary for the immortal body to be vivified or quickened and refreshed by sleep. They will no doubt eat and drink in an immortal state, but whether it will be necessary to do this is another question entirely. The Twelve Apostle, Jesus said, “shall eat and drink at my table, and shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,” showing that the Lord will have a table, and that he will have food upon it, and that they will eat and drink at that table, though they are immortal; but whether it will be necessary in order that their immortality may endure is another question, and we have not time to dwell upon it. Suffice it to say that, even children of mortality, when quickened by the Spirit of God, have often lived for quite a period of time without eating or drinking. Moses, for instance, on two occasions, passed forty days and forty nights in Mount Sinai, and neither did eat nor drink during that time.

We might go on and speak of other enlargements that we will have that we do not have here, besides eating, drinking, hearing, seeing, &c. We might mention the perfection of locomotion, passing to and fro from world to world, and the power of rising contrary to the principle of gravitation, showing that man will have superior power, even as Jesus did, when he ascended heavenward, contrary to the laws of gravitation. We might speak of the velocity of locomotion; but it will not do for me to dwell upon these subjects at the present time. But I pray that the Lord God will pour out his Spirit upon the Latter-day Saints throughout all the earth, and quicken our minds and understandings, and every power and faculty that he has given us, that we may search after knowledge, and be obedient to all that the Lord requires at our hands. If we do this the time will come, by and by, when we will have faith in God, even as the brother of Jared had; and when we possess faith like unto his, we are promised in the Book of Mormon that all the great things which he saw shall be revealed unto us. But we shall have to obtain them as he obtained them—by faithfulness. By the quickening power which was bestowed upon him, the brother of Jared beheld all the inhabitants of the earth that had been before his day, all who existed when he existed, and all who would exist even unto the end of the world. The power of God rested upon him and enlarged his vision, enabling him to see all these objects. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Sixteenth Ward Meeting Rooms, Nov. 22, 1873.

I will read the first ten verses of the 20th chapter of the Revelation given to St. John, the “beloved disciple,” while on the Isle of Patmos:

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

“And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

“And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

In the words which I have read, we have perhaps as much revealed in regard to the Millennium, as we will find in any of the revelations which God has given to man. We can understand from these words that a time is to come in which the devil will have no power to tempt the children of men, and this happy period will last for one thousand years. There never has been a period since the creation, but what the devil has had more or less power or influence over the inhabitants of our world. Such has been the case from the day that he came before our first parents in the Garden of Eden, until the present. We have an account, however, of a period of time when he had not much dominion, that was in the days of the flood. After the wicked were destroyed, there were eight persons in the ark, sailing upon the waters, over whom, I presume, Satan had very little power. With the exception of this short period, in which the earth was submerged and the ark was sailing upon the waters, the devil has exercised power over the hearts of the children of men in all ages and countries. There seems to be a very great amount of evil in existence at the present time, for people are being continually stirred up to commit all manner of abomination—robbery, murder, blaspheming the name of the Deity, and the violation of every command that he has ever given. There is a time, however, to come, when this earth will be depopulated of the wicked to the same extent as it once was by the waters of the flood. The waters then made an entire sweep of the wicked, they were laid low, and the earth was cleansed. We might, in other words, call it a baptism of the earth by water, or a cleansing of it from sin. You know that baptism is intended for the remission of sins; it is the ordinance through which our heavenly Father forgives the sins of those who believe in his Son Jesus Christ. The promise of forgiveness, however, is on condition that we believe in the atonement made by the Savior, that we repent of our sins, and that we are baptized or immersed in water for the remission thereof. That was the way with our earth. Some eighteen hundred or two thousand years after the fall our earth was immersed in water, and every sin was swept from the face of it, the same as your sins were forgiven when you acknowledged your belief in the atonement of the Son of God, and were baptized by immersion in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. There seems to be a similarity, then, so far as these ordinances are concerned, between the inhabitants of the earth who are saved and the earth itself; there is also a similarity, in the process of creation, between the earth and its inhabitants. The earth when created, according to the accounts we have, was covered with a flood of waters; no dry land, in fact no land at all, appeared, but a flood of waters seemed to encompass it. By and by, in the providence of God, in what way we know not, this flood of waters was gathered together into one place, and the dry land appeared, emerging from the waters. This was the birth of creation, the same as we are born here into this world, from one element into another. After having been brought forth from the element of water, the process of creation, or the further development of the earth continued. It did not come forth perfect in every respect at the time of birth, it had to undergo other processes necessary to prepare it for the abode of man. It seems, from the account contained in the first of Genesis, that the earth was not only immersed in a flood of waters, but that darkness was upon the face of the earth, that is, the earth seemed to be enclosed or enveloped in darkness. The cause of this darkness, in King James’ translation, is not fully revealed. There is a translation, however, that was given by inspiration, which makes the subject more clear and plain, and more easy to be understood, than the uninspired translation that is generally called King James’ translation of the Bible. This inspired translation by the Prophet Joseph Smith, says—“I the Lord God created darkness upon the face of the great deep, and I, God, said let there be light, and there was light, and the evening and the morning were the first day.” This makes it very plain compared with the old uninspired translation. I will repeat the quotation, “I, the Lord God, created darkness upon the face of the great deep.”

It would seem, that light had been shining previous to this time. The universe, probably was lighted up, so far as it existed, and that light shone forth over the face of this embryo creation. Where that light came from or how it was produced is not mentioned; but the Lord was obliged to create darkness in order to envelop the earth therein. There are many ways in which this might have been accomplished. The sun was not permitted to shine forth on the first, second, or third day of creation, but on the fourth day it was permitted to give its light to the earth. Whether the sun shone upon the face of this creation, before the Lord created darkness, is not for me to say. If it did, it would be an easy matter for him to withhold the rays of that bright luminary in such a manner as seemed good in his sight, the same as he did among the ancient Nephites who dwelt on this continent at the time of the crucifixion. During the three days and three nights that our Savior was in the tomb, thick darkness covered the face of this land, so that there was no light of the sun, neither of the moon, nor stars; and so great was the darkness during that period, that the inhabitants who had not fallen could feel it. The Lord had some method by which he created or produced that darkness by shading the earth from the rays of the sun; but by and by he said, “Let there be light,” and light was again restored.

Now these two states of being in which our earth existed are called first, the evening, and second, the morning—and the evening and the morning were the first day. Whether the day here mentioned was a period such as the one to which we now apply that term, we are not informed in the Bible, but from what has been revealed to the Latter-day Saints we have great reason to believe that it was a very long period of time, and that this darkness existed over the face of the great deep for a long time. It might have been for many centuries, we have no definite information on this point. We find that, after the dry land appeared by the gathering together of the waters in one place, God created a firmament, dividing the waters from the waters—the waters that were above the firmament from the waters that were beneath. We do not exactly understand the meaning of this. If we had the process of creation unfolded to us, we should probably find that many of the materials of our globe once existed in a dispersed or scattered form, in a state of chaos, and that the Lord, in collecting them together, brought them from a distance in the solar system, and that in so doing, he took his own time and way, and wrought according to his own laws, for, as far as we are acquainted, the Lord works by law, and why not create by law? I do not mean make out of nothing. I hope that none of my audience will suppose for a moment that I believe in such an absurdity as this. There is not a hint in all the Bible that God created this or any other world out of nothing. The work of creation was to take the materials that existed from all eternity, that never were created or made out of nothing, to take these self-existent materials and organize them into a world. This is called creation. There is, however, a declaration made by many religious people, that “God created all things out of nothing.” They even teach it in their Sunday schools; but they have never been able to prove any such thing. It is one of those ideas which have got into the minds of people through the teachings of uninspired men. The ancients—those who lived many centuries before Christ, did not believe this doctrine; but since the days of Christ, and since the days of the great apostasy, they have got up the idea that God made all things out of nothing, and they have incorporated it into their disciplines, catechisms, Sunday schoolbooks, and various works which they have published. The Scriptures say—“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The word “create” does not mean make out of nothing. For instance, when he says—“I created darkness and I created light,” what does he do? Does he absolutely form light out of nothing? No, he causes the light that existed from all eternity to shine where darkness existed, and it is light creating light, the same as you, when you attend meeting, lock up your house and blow out the lights. When you return, supposing you say in your own hearts, or to your wife, daughter, or son, “Let there be light.” Do you create it out of nothing? No, you look for a match, or for some means by which you can start the light and cause it to be exhibited, where darkness was before. So when God creates light he calls forth and makes to shine that light which has existed from all eternity. We read that God is light. Was there ever a time that God did not exist? No, and if he is light there never was a time when light did not exist, one being as eternal as the other.

In order to prove that light did exist long before this world was called forth from the womb of the great waters, long before God said, “Let there be light,” so far as this earth was concerned, I will refer you to some discoveries that have been made by philosophers and astronomers of the present day. They have invented telescopes that are of such penetrating power that they have discovered systems of worlds at such an immense distance in space, that they calculate their light would take six hundred thousand years to reach our system. Very well then, how long must it have been on the journey when the Lord said—“Let there be light,” so far as this creation is concerned? I answer, that light was traveling five hundred and ninety-four thousand years before that time; consequently light must have existed, at least, half a million years before the Lord said—“Let there be light,” so far as this globe was concerned.

In gathering together the materials that were scattered in space, the firmament that I was speaking of seems to have been one of the parts of creation, necessary in the grand process of collecting and condensing the constituents of our globe; and in doing this I do not know but what some portions of the atmospheric materials collected together helped to form some other worlds. At any rate the firmanent was placed in such a manner as to divide the waters beneath it from those which were above it. According to the theory which is accepted by some as being true, the planets of our system are supposed to have been originally formed by a rotation on its axis of a nebulous fluid, that was expanded far beyond the bounds of our present solar system; that by rotation and condensation nebulous masses were thrown off or detached from the great parent body, and that the orbits assumed by the parent mass and its detached masses, are the necessary results of their respective directions and velocities at the instant of detachment, combined with the laws of gravitation, and the relative positions of their respective centers of gravity. That in like manner, a still further operation of similar laws finally formed secondary planets or moons. This nebulous fluid, extending for millions of miles, might indeed be called a firmament, containing the constituents of water, both above and beneath, as recorded in Genesis.

But what I wish to more fully explain, on this occasion, is the length of the days of creation—the days mentioned in which God performed certain portions of his work. It is said, that in six days he formed this world of ours, and that on the fourth day he formed the sun and the moon and the stars. What I understand by the formation of these celestial luminaries, is that he then caused them to shed forth their light. I cannot suppose that it would take the Lord six days to form such a little speck of a world as ours, and then for him on the fourth day to form a globe fourteen hundred thousand times larger than the earth. This does not look consistent to me. If it took six days to form a small world like ours, we might certainly suppose that it would require more than one day to form the sun, which contains a quantity of matter sufficient to make some three hundred and fifty-four thousand worlds like this, and whose actual size or magnitude is fourteen hundred thousand times larger than our globe; consequently I understand by the formation of the sun and of the moon and stars, and setting them in the firmament of the heavens, that he merely suffered their light to shine on the fourth day, to regulate the evenings and mornings that were produced prior to that time, probably by some other cause. The Lord wanted, by these luminaries, to divide the day from the night, and he set them for times and for seasons in the firmament of the heavens.

These six days in which the Lord performed this work, I do not believe, were each limited to twenty-four hours, as are the periods which we now call day; indeed, when we come to new revelation, we find some light on this subject. In the Book of Abraham, as well as in the inspired translation of the Scriptures, given through Joseph Smith, the Lord says, in speaking of the work of creating this earth, that he was governed by celestial time. According to this new revelation, there is a certain great world, called Kolob, placed near one of the celestial kingdoms, whose diurnal rotation takes place once in a thousand of our years; and that celestial time was measured by those celestial beings, by the rotations of Kolob, hence one day with the Lord was a thousand of our years. If this was the case, the six days of the creation of our earth, the six days during which it was being prepared as a habitation for man, must have been six thousand of our years. When the Lord spoke to Adam, after having placed him in the Garden of Eden, concerning the forbidden fruit, saying—“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die!” we cannot suppose that the day there referred to meant a day of twenty-four hours. It could not have meant that, for history informs us that Adam lived almost one thousand years from the time of the Fall; but before the day of a thousand years had wholly passed away his death did take place.

The book of Abraham, translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith, also contains an account of the creation and the fall of man; but the word translated “day” in Genesis is translated in the Book of Abraham “time”—“in the time that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” In the next sentence the same book says, speaking of time—“The reckoning of time was not yet given to man,” that is, the Lord had reckoned previous to that period by the diurnal rotations of Kolob, and that, without doubt, was the day referred to in which our first parents should die, if they ate of the forbidden fruit.

We will now come to the seventh period of creation—the seventh thousand years; that is called in Scripture a day of rest, that is supposing that what were called days in the beginning were a thousand years. The Lord rested from his labors the seventh day. What particular period of time within that day Adam fell I do not know; but one thing is certain, that in the morning of the seventh day the Garden of Eden was planted and he was placed therein, and during that morning a great many things transpired pertaining to this temporal creation. In the preceding six days was completed the formation or creation of the earth, after the spiritual order that man was formed or born in the heavens. All men, male and female, that ever have lived, or that ever will live on this earth, had a pre-existence before the formation of the earth commenced; and during our pre-existence in the heavens, the earth was undergoing this formation.

After man and woman were placed in the Garden of Eden, we find that they were tempted. By whom? By a being or beings who once dwelt in the presence of God, in his celestial kingdom. They once were angels of light and truth, having authority in the presence of the Father. But they rebelled against God; and one of those angels, named Lucifer, when they were talking over the great plan of redemption and salvation for the inhabitants of the future creation, proposed a plan by which he would redeem all mankind, that not one soul should be lost. But his plan was rejected, because it destroyed the agency of man, being contrary to God’s plan; for he desires that all intelligent beings shall be free in the exercise of their agency. Because his plan was rejected, Lucifer rebelled, and a third part of the hosts of heaven joined him, and they were all cast down, and it was this being who entered into a beast, called a serpent and tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, and that was the beginning of his power on this earth.

The events of this creation, the formation of the earth, the different day’s work, &c., and finally the great day of rest after the six days were ended, were all typical, the latter especially, typifying what should take place in regard to the future existence of this creation. After six thousand years should pass away, during which Satan should have more or less dominion over the inhabitants of this world, he, in the seventh period, or the seventh thousand years, should be bound, should have no dominion over the earth or its inhabitants.

In order to show you this type still further, we will pass along over the flood, which was merely a type of the baptism of redemption, and we will come down to the day when this great period shall arrive, when Satan shall be bound and wickedness be swept from the face of the earth. This is to be done by a variety of judgments, the last of which is called fire. The Prophet Malachi says—“The day shall come that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud and they who do wickedly shall become as stubble, and the day that comes shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch, but unto them who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and they shall go forth and grow up like calves of the stall, and they shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under the soles of their feet in the day that I do this, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Here then is a declaration how this earth is to be cleansed the second time from wickedness, namely, by fire, which is a more powerful element than water. The earth is to be cleansed by fire; in other words, the elements are to be melted with fervent heat. This is the declaration of several of the prophets. David, in speaking of this period, in one of his psalms, says, the mountains shall melt like wax before the presence of the Lord when he shall come. You know how wax melts when exposed to the influence of heat. So, when the Lord comes, will the elements melt and the mountains flow down at his presence with fervent heat. This will cleanse the earth as it was cleansed in the days of Noah, only by another element called fire. This is typical of the cleansing of those who embrace the plan of salvation. After you have been immersed, as this earth was, in the water, and been cleansed and received the remission of your sins, you also have the promise of baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, by which you are purified, as well justified and sanctified from all your evil affections, and you feel to love God and that which is just and true, and to hate that which is sinful and evil. Why? Because of this sanctifying, purifying principle that comes upon you, by the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. So must this earth be baptized by fire, it must be cleansed from all sin and impurity. Will it be filled with the Holy Ghost? Yes. These elements that melt like wax before the presence of the Lord will again be filled with his Spirit and will be renewed, and the earth itself will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the channels of the great deep. It will enter into the elements of creation, so that the curse which came in consequence of the fall of man will be removed from the earth, and the elements will be cleansed, not only by fire but by the Spirit of the living God, which will mingle with and purify them. Satan, that arch-deceiver, will be bound, and a seal will be set upon him, and King James’ translation of the Scriptures tells us that he will be cast into the bottomless pit. But in the inspired translation I have referred to, it reads, if I remember correctly, “the lowermost pit,” which, to my mind is more consistent than a pit that has no bottom. Satan is to be cast into this pit, and a seal set upon him, and he is to be bound with a chain, and will have no power or dominion upon this earth. He and all the fallen angels with him, are to be kept in that pit until the thousand years are ended.

Now, then, all the inhabitants who are spared from this fire—those who are not proud, and who do not do wickedly, will be cleansed more fully and filled with the glory of God. A partial change will be wrought upon them, not a change to immortality, like that which all the Saints will undergo when they are changed in the twinkling of an eye, from mortality to immortality; but so great will be the change then wrought that the children who are born into the world will grow up without sin unto salvation. Why will this be so? Because that fallen nature, introduced by the fall, and transferred from parents to children, from generation to generation, will be, in a measure, eradicated by this change. Then the righteous will go forth, and grow up like calves of the stall; and one revelation says, their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation. Satan having no power to tempt them, these children will not sin.

The question may arise here—“Will it be possible for men to sin during the Millennium?” Yes. Why? Because they have not lost their agency. Agency always continues wherever intelligent beings are, whether in heaven, on the earth, or among any of the creations that God has made; wherever you find intelligent beings, there you will find an agency, not to the same extent perhaps, under all cir– cumstances, but yet there is always the exercise of agency where there is intelligence. For instance, when Satan is bound and a seal set upon him in this lowermost pit, his agency is partially destroyed in some things. He will not have power to come out of that pit; now he has that power; then he will not have power to tempt the children of men, now he has that power; consequently his agency then will be measurably destroyed or taken away, but not in full. The Lord will not destroy the agency of the people during the Millennium, therefore there will be a possibility of their sinning during that time. But if they who live then do sin it will not be because of the power of the devil to tempt them, for he will have no power over them, and they will sin merely because they choose to do so of their own free will.

To show you that such will be the case, let me quote some Scripture. After Jesus comes with all his Saints with him, and stands on the Mount of Olives, we find that the Lord will require all the nations round about Jerusalem, to go up and worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles, and that there shall be one Lord and his name one. There will be no heathen gods in those days, but during the Millennium he will require all the people to go to Jerusalem, the headquarters on that continent, to worship him. Now, will it be possible for the people in that day to sin? Yes; for we read, in the same chapter, if the people go not up, that upon all such nations there shall no rain descend during the time of their transgression. It seems then by this that there will be a chance for the people, during that happy period, to refuse to comply with the commands of the Most High, and thus bring upon themselves speedy destruction, by famine, through the rain being withheld. And in the case of the people of Egypt, where the withholding of rain does not now affect them, they being supplied by water from the Nile, the Lord has prepared a special judgment. If they will not come up to Jerusalem, year by year, we are told that their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their flesh fall from their bones. Then again, we read in the sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah that—“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner, being a hundred years old, shall be accursed,” showing that, when that day shall come, the people will have their lives prolonged on the earth to the age of a tree, growing up to be a hundred years old, then if they sin they shall be accursed, proving that there is a possibility of sinning.

In regard to this partial change that will be wrought upon the people in those days, let no one suppose that this is inconsistent with the dealings of the Lord, for we have on record in the Book of Mormon, that he did accomplish a work similar to this upon the bodies of at least four men who once lived upon this globe, three of whom belonged to the twelve disciples which Jesus, personally, chose to minister on this western continent. They had a desire to live while the world should stand, for the purpose of bringing souls unto Jesus, and the Lord granted unto them their desire. But first the heavens were opened, and they were caught up, and they saw and heard unspeakable things, things that were not lawful to be uttered, and which they were forbidden to utter, and it seemed to them like unto a transfiguration. They, nevertheless, came down again out of heaven, after having had this great feast, and they went forth upon the face of this land in connection with nine others of their quorum, and ministered among the people, and so great was their faith, that when their enemies shut them in prisons, the prisons were rent in twain, and they came forth from their confinement. Again, when they dug pits in the earth, however deep, and cast them down into them, they smote the earth by the word of God, and were delivered out of the pits and came forth unharmed. Again, when they cast them three times into furnaces of fire, they came forth unharmed; and when they cast them into dens of wild beasts, they played with them as a child would play with a suckling lamb, and came forth unharmed, and they performed mighty miracles, and signs, and wonders in connection with the other members of the Twelve. They also built up the Church of God upon all the face of this land, and all the inhabitants thereof were converted and brought to a knowledge of the truth.

These three men tarried among the Nephites until between three and four hundred years after Christ, and until the wickedness of the people became so great that the Lord took them out of their midst. Mormon, in speaking of these three men, inquired of the Lord, whether they did receive a change to immortality at the time they were caught up into heaven. The Lord answered and told him, that they did not receive a full change, but only so much that Satan had no power over them, and sickness had no power over their bodies. This partial change, then, was sufficient to preserve them to live without pain and sickness, and without Satan having power to tempt them and lead them astray, and they would have no sorrow in relation to themselves, but only in regard to the sins of the world, and on this account they sorrowed considerably.

It seems then, that if God did, in ancient times, so show forth his power, as to operate upon three men on this American Continent, and one on the Eastern Continent, namely, John the Revelator, so that the power of death could not be exercised over them, that they could tarry and live here on the earth for eighteen hundred or two thousand years, as the case may be, he can perform the same in regard to the Latter-day Saints, that they also shall live; and inasmuch as they are permitted to dwell here in the presence of Jesus, it is reasonable to believe that they will ask, and desire, and seek unto him to receive this partial change. And will he grant it? Yes. But yet there is to be a falling asleep; notwithstanding this partial change, they will fall asleep, when they have come to full maturity, or the full age of man. But they will not be deposited in the grave—this is what the Lord has told us—they will be raised again immediately after having fallen asleep, raised again to immortality and eternal life, instead of being buried and seeing corruption. Those persons, therefore, who die under these circumstances, have not the experience of a long absence from their bodies, their spirits are only separated for a moment, as it were, and then they are permitted to come forth in the beauty of immortality and eternal life.

The same revelation that speaks of the Saints being raised after falling asleep, in the twinkle of an eye, says they shall be caught up, and their rest shall be glorious. Now, if all the immortal, resurrected Saints are to be here on the earth, and Jesus himself here, where will they, who live and die, and are resurrected during the Millennium, go to when they are caught up? They go away from Jesus, if Jesus is to be here all the time, and they will also go away from the rest of the resurrected Saints, who reign on the earth, if the latter are wholly limited to this earth. But the idea is that they are caught up and have the privilege of beholding the heavens, the celestial paradise, the celestial mansions; and then, whenever it is wisdom and necessary to come down here on the earth to reign as kings and priests, the same as Jesus, and the Twelve Apostles will have their thrones, and eat and drink at the Lord’s table here on the earth, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel; so will all those other Saints reign on earth who are counted worthy to receive kingdoms and thrones.

When the period called the Millennium has passed away, Satan will again be loosed. Now the query arises, Will Satan have power to deceive those who have lived on the earth, and have fallen asleep for a moment, and have received their immortal bodies? No, he will not. When they have passed through their probation, and have received their immortal bodies, Satan will have no power over them. Thus generation after generation will pass away, during the Millennium, but by and by, at the close of that period, unnumbered millions of the posterity of those who lived during the Millennium will be scattered in the four quarters of the earth, and Satan will be loosed, and will go forth and tempt them, and overcome some of them, so that they will rebel against God; not rebel in ignorance or dwindle in unbelief, as the Lamanites did; but they will sin willfully against the law of heaven, and so great will the power of Satan be over them, that he will gather them together against the Saints and against the beloved city, and fire will come down out of heaven and consume them.

After this shall have taken place, a great white throne will appear, on which the Divine Judge will be seated, from before whose face the heaven and earth shall flee away, and no place will be found for them. This change in the earth is very different from the one I have spoken of, wrought by the baptism of fire. One is a sanctification and cleansing of the earth, the other is a complete dissolution and passing away thereof. When the earth is thus dissolved and passes away, where will it go to? Will it go out of existence? No, not one particle of material that now enters into all the creations which God has made ever had a beginning, or will ever have an end. The materials exist co-eternally with God. The materials of which the earth is composed may be dispersed, and the earth may pass away as an organized globe, before the face of him who sits upon the throne, and this may be accomplished by fire, which not only melts the elements, but causes them to be separated and scattered in space.

Before this takes place the last trump will sound. All the Saints that are on the earth, in the camp, and in the beloved city, around about the old and new Jerusalems, when Satan’s army is consumed and this trump shall sound, will be caught up, and those who have not undergone their full change from mortality to immortality will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. As Paul said to the Corinthians—“We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye.” At what time? When the last trump shall sound, after the thousand years are ended, they shall be changed and caught up. Where are they taken to? Up into the celestial heavens, to those invisible creations that are in space, which have passed through their ordeals, and been sanctified, glorified and made celestial. What will they be caught up for? That they may not pass away, when the earth passes away. What becomes of the wicked, those who were consumed to ashes, who lived before the Millennium? They are called forth by the sound of the last trump, and caught up also to be judged; and they who are filthy will be filthy still, and they who are unholy will remain unholy still, they who are happy will be happy still; both small and great in that day, will stand before God, and be judged out of the things written in the books, every man according to his works.

We might say considerable in relation to these books, as they are revealed in the Book of Mormon and elsewhere, but we will pass along. By and by it will be needful to have a new earth. Now how does the Lord make this new earth? He makes it out of the materials of the old one. This very earth on which we dwell, whose elements are to be melted and sanctified with fervent heat, in order that the Saints may reign upon it for a thousand years; this very earth that will pass away and no place be found for it as an organized earth, will be resurrected, the elements thereof will be brought together again, as they were in the beginning, and they will be sanctified and purified, and made holy and celestial, and become like a sea of glass, and then, after all things are made new, and old things have passed away, the two Jerusalems will come down from God out of heaven, and will rest upon the new earth, the new Jerusalem standing upon this continent, and the old Jerusalem brought again to where it formerly stood. Then God himself will be with them, and he will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more sorrow, nor mourning, neither any more death, for the former things will have passed away, and all things will have become new. This land or hemisphere will be the abiding place of the New Jerusalem forever and ever.

Now, do you not see that there is a similarity in regard to God’s dealings with the earth and with the inhabitants who dwell upon its face? The earth has to undergo a change as well as our bodies. As our bodies may be burned at the stake and the ashes blown to the four winds of heaven, so will the earth be burned and pass away; and in the same manner as our bodies are renewed out of the elements which once entered into their composition, or at least a sufficient quantity thereof to make a new body, so will the earth have to be renewed again and resurrected, redeemed and made immortal from the elements of which it was formerly composed, so that those immortal beings who are brought forth from the grave will have an immortal earth to dwell upon. There is a type of this thing also in regard to our first parents. When this earth issued from the hands of the Almighty it was intended for an eternal duration; in other words, it was an immortal earth or creation, all things being pronounced very good. But man brought a curse upon the earth, he brought death into the world, he brought a curse upon the waters and upon all the materials of our globe, and hence, as man has to be sanctified and to pass through the several ordeals necessary for that purpose, so does the earth; and when man has got through with these ordeals and becomes immortal, so will his abiding place become immortal, and he will inherit it forever and ever. Our first parents were not mortal when they were placed on this earth, but they were as immortal as those who are resurrected in the presence of God. Death came into the world by their transgression, they produced mortality; hence this will be a complete restoration, of which I am speaking.

We are living, Latter-day Saints, near the close of the sixth thousand years from the fall of man; how near I do not know, and there is a great change about to take place. Inquires one—“Is there not some way by which we can fix the time, and arrive at a certainty in regard to the age of our globe since the fall of man?” I do not know of any way except by new revelation, for chronology is so imperfect that many hundreds who have spent their lives and fortunes in studying it, differ from each other in their conclusions. One has one date for the age of the world, and another has another. Let me give to you a few specimens. We will take one of the oldest eras—the Alexandrian—computed by Julius Africanus. In this Alexandrian era, the time from the creation to the birth of Christ is set down at 5,500 years; in the Antioch era, computed by Pannerus, it is set down at 5,493 years; in the Constantinople, or Greek era, it is set down at 5,509 years; you take Scaliger, another great chronologist, and he, by a comparison of the text of various ancient manuscripts, makes the age of the world, from the creation to the coming of Christ, 3,950 years. Then you take another celebrated man, Father Pezron, and he makes it 5,873 years from the creation to Christ. Then you take the one who has given the chronology to the Bible, Archbishop Usher, and he makes it 4,004, years from the creation to Christ. Another chronologist, Josephus, makes it 4,163 years; and you take some other Jewish chronologists, and they make it as high as 6,524 years from the creation to Christ. How are you going to judge? You may take over two hundred other chronologists, whose names are given, and they all have their special dates; consequently, you see, we are utterly at a loss, and without new revelation, we are no more sure that Archbishop Usher’s chronology, contained in King James’ Bible, is correct, than we have to suppose that that many of those others are correct. What shall we do, then? The best thing for us to do is to depend upon what God reveals. If he gives us any knowledge regarding chronology, depend upon it; and he has given us a great deal of information with regard to the signs of the times. If he has not given us the age of the world, he has given us that whereby we may know that we live in the generation in which the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled. He informed us, in the rise of this Church, that that generation should not pass away until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. And then we have other revelations, showing that when their times are fulfilled there is a speedy and short work to be accomplished in the gathering of the house of Israel from the four quarters of the earth. They are to be brought out of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. We are told that God will then perform won– ders, miracles and signs, greater than ever have been performed since the creation of the world; that he will bring back his covenant people. After the Jews have rebuilt Jerusalem, and after the Temple is erected, the Lord Jesus will come.

How much of this work will be performed, after the sixth thousand years have passed away, I do not know. Inquires one—“Don’t you think it will all be completed before the last day of the six thousand years from creation?” No, I do not; the Lord has told us differently. Read the key to John’s revelations, published in the “Pearl of Great Price,” and you will find that there is a very great work to be performed, after the seventh thousand years, called the Millennium, has commenced. You will find that the seven trumpets are to sound, preparatory to the beginning and finishing of his work in the morning of the seventh thousand years, just as the Lord performed a work in the seventh day of creation, when he planted the Garden of Eden and placed the man Adam therein. He performed quite a temporal work in the process of creation on the morning of the seventh day; and so he will perform a work at the beginning of the seventh thousand years, after the seventh millennium shall open; and the nature of the work, which will then be performed, was typified by that which God performed in the beginning. In the beginning of the seventh day or “time” of creation he placed man in the Garden of Eden, free from the curse, and, says the key to John’s revelations, in the morning of the seventh thousand years will he sanctify the earth, redeem man from the grave, and seal all things to the end of all things; and the sounding of these trumpets, and the work which is to be performed, as each trumpet shall sound in its turn, will accomplish that which is necessary as a preparation for the sealing up of all things to the end of all things before he comes. Some have supposed that during the Millennium a great work would be performed for and in behalf of the dead. This may be; but this revelation would seem to indicate that everything will be prepared before the Savior comes, everything sealed to its position, everything reduced to its standard and to its sphere; that there will be no links in the chain but what will be completely welded, and everything completely prepared by the sounding of these trumpets.

Then again, after the six thousand years have ended, before the Lord shall come while these trumpets are sounding, or about that time, we find that there is to be a great work among the nations—which will probably take place in the morning of the seventh thousand years. The ten tribes will have to come forth and come to this land, to be crowned with glory in the midst of Zion by the hands of the servants of God, even the Children of Ephraim; and twelve thousand High Priests will be elected from each of these ten tribes, as well as from the scattered tribes, and sealed in their foreheads, and will be ordained and receive power to gather out of all nations, kindreds, tongues and people as many as will come unto the general assemblage of the Church of the Firstborn. Will not that be a great work? Imagine one hundred and forty-four thousand High Priests going forth among the nations, and gathering out as many as will come to the Church of the Firstborn. All that will be done, probably, in the morning of the seventh thousand years. The work is of great magnitude, Latter-day Saints, and we are living almost upon the eve of it. Six thousand years have nearly gone by, the world is getting aged, and Satan has accomplished almost all that the Lord intends that he shall accomplish, before the day of rest. With a work of such magnitude before them, the Latter-day Saints should be wide awake, and should not have their minds engaged in those fooleries in which many indulge at the present time. We should put these things away, and our inquiry should be—“Lord, how can we prepare the way before thy coming? How can we prepare ourselves to perform the great work which must be performed in this greatest of dispensations, the dispensation of the fullness of times? How can we be prepared to behold the Saints who lived on the earth in former dispensations, and take them by the hand and fall upon their necks and they fall upon ours, and we embrace each other? How can we be prepared for this?” How can all things that are in Christ Jesus, both which are in heaven and on the earth, be assembled in one grand assembly, without we are wide awake?

May God bless you. Amen.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Nov. 16, 1873.

In rising to make a few remarks this afternoon I shall not attempt to take any text, or to confine myself to any particular subject. My impression about this is, that both speaker and hearer ought to be under the guidance and direction of the Almighty, for unless a man speaks by the dictation of the Spirit of the Lord, his discourse will be of very little benefit to those who hear; and unless those who hear also hear by the Spirit, and are prepared to receive correct instructions, no matter how eloquent the discourse may be, or how forcible and powerful the truths which are enunciated, it amounts to very little. It is not the hearer of the word, we are told, who is benefited, but he that doeth it. And Jesus says that many will say in that day, “Lord, have we not spoken in thy name, and prophesied in thy name, and in thy name done many wonderful works?” Yet he will say unto them—“Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, for I never knew you;” or I suppose, in other words, “I never approved of you.”

There is one great principle by which, I think, we all of us ought to be actuated in our worship, above everything else that we are associated with in life, and that is honesty of purpose. The Scriptures say—“If the truth shall make you free, then shall you be free indeed, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” We are told again that God requires truth in the inward parts. It is proper that men should be honest with themselves, that they should be honest with each other in all their words, dealings, intercourse, intercommunication, business arrangements and everything else; they ought to be governed by truthfulness, honesty and integrity, and that man is very foolish indeed who would not be true to himself, true to his convictions and feelings in regard to religious matters. We may deceive one another, and, in some circumstances, as counterfeit coin passes for that which is considered true and valuable among men. But God searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of men. He knows our thoughts and comprehends our desires and feelings; he knows our acts and the motives which prompt us to perform them. He is acquainted with all the doings and operations of the human family, and all the secret thoughts and acts of the children of men are open and naked before him, and for them he will bring them to judgment. These ideas are believed in by men generally, who, with very few exceptions, whatever their general conduct or ideas on religious matters may be, believe in an All-seeing eye which penetrates and is enabled to weigh the actions and motives of the children of men. This is an idea that will not be disputed by any race of men now existing upon the earth, nor perhaps by any who have existed heretofore, for whatever may have been the theories or notions of men in former times, they have generally had a reverence for, and a belief in, an Allwise, Supreme, Omnipotent Being, who, they supposed, was greater than all of them, and who governed and controlled all their actions. A feeling of this kind is frequently made manifest in the Scriptures, and it is nothing new in our age to believe in a God of this character.

When Paul was preaching at Ephesus he said, among other things, that he saw an altar to an unknown God. Among the variety of gods which they worshiped there was an altar to an unknown God. “Him,” said he, “whom ye ignorantly worship declare I unto you, the God who made the heavens, the earth, the seas and the fountains of waters.” If we examine the pages, either of sacred or profane history, we find the same ideas prevailing to a greater or less extent in former times. Even Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of the great empire of Babylon, had a knowledge, or an idea of a certain Being who ruled and governed the universe, who was superior to, and ruled over all other influences and powers; and was more intelligent than any of them; and when the magicians and the soothsayers, the astrologers and wise men were called upon to tell him the dream and its interpretation, they were unable to do so, and they told him that it was beyond their science, and that there was nothing connected with their systems that would unfold anything pertaining to such things as those referred to; but they said that if he would tell them the dream they had rules whereby they could interpret it. He insisted upon the interpretation. Said they—“that is unreasonable, O King—there is no being but that God whose dwelling is not with flesh, who can reveal those things that thou speakest of.” They had their gods which they worshiped, their deities in whom they had confidence; but they declared that there was no God but that Being whose dwelling was not with flesh, who could unravel those mysteries that he desired them to make known to him. Hence, in those days we find the same principle existing, and you can trace it out in various examples in holy writ, men had their theories and ideas about God, generally speaking; but very few of them understood anything about the true God whose dwelling was not with flesh.

Our Bible purports to be the account given us of him by men who were inspired by him, for we are told that, “holy men of old spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost.” It is related within the lids of this sacred volume that a great many of the ancients had dreams, visions, the ministering of angels and revelations; and the accounts of those visions, ministrations of angels and manifestations of the power of God, together with a little history, is what this sacred volume is composed of. Hence Jesus said to the people in his day—“Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me;” they are they which unfold many things concerning my mission, the circumstances with which I am surrounded, and events which will transpire in connection with my ministry. Holy men of God in former times had prophesied of him. Isaiah, for instance, had said—“Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted, is ‘God with us.’” It is said of him that he came to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and a great many things were said and written of him in the holy Scriptures, before he came, while he lived upon the earth and after he left it and ascended up to his Father in heaven.

There is very little difference among mankind in relation to many of these facts; men, generally, view these things alike—I mean in the Christian world—especially the nation in which we live, the British and French nations, the empire of Austria, Russia, Prussia, the inhabitants of Scandinavia and most of the European nations; and some of the Asiatic nations also have faith in what we term the word of God, and hold its truths in reverence, according to the ideas they entertain and the creeds they profess. There is little or no difference among the men of these various nations in regard to the existence of a Supreme Being, who rules and controls the destinies of nations, as well as of individuals; and there was no difference, in former times, between the magicians, and Daniel and those associated with him in his faith relative to the true God. They all be– lieved in him, no matter what deities of an inferior nature they might have. But there were very few who knew how to worship the true God; hence they made to themselves all sorts of gods, some of wood, stone, ivory, gold, silver, brass, iron, &c. They had deities of every imaginable kind, and through these various forms and mediums they wished or thought to propitiate the Deity, and to secure to themselves some kind of happiness in the life hereafter.

We, in this generation, are a good deal like them. We think we are very superior in intelligence and in religion. Men, everywhere, are egotistical, they always think they are the smartest and most intelligent that ever lived; and it must be confessed that in many respects the generation in which we live are very far in advance of many others, and in regard to the arts and sciences, and certain branches of literature and mechanism, but how vague and uncertain are the ideas entertained by men in general, about the Deity! Are we intellectual in this? I think not. We have our bodies of divinity, our schools of theology, our religious seminaries, and places where ministers are manufactured and prepared to perform certain work which they call preaching the Gospel, and these ministers, as well as the people, have different ideas about the Deity and the proper modes of worshiping him. Does the incongruity of this state of things ever strike the minds of reflecting men, men of science, who are accustomed to weigh the force of an argument and to solve knotty problems? When I was a little boy I used to wonder, if there was a God who created man, and who ruled and dictated the affairs of heaven and earth, why he had pointed out so many different modes of worship. I think so still. I know, and so do you, according to the principles of science, that the laws which govern the operations of universal Nature are true to themselves nine hundred and ninety-nine times, and then the thousandth time; they are always true in all the various phases of Nature’s works. This is so under the most severe tests which scientific criticism can apply; with every known principle in nature, whether we refer to light, heat, the gases, or any and all of the elements of which the earth is composed or by which we are surrounded. In their operations they are governed and controlled by eternal, unchangeable laws, and you cannot violate any one of those laws in any particular without producing the inevitable result of such violation. In the motions of the starry heavens, the sun, moon, earth, day and night, summer and winter, and the various seasons as they pass along, the wisdom, intelligence, prescience and power of a God are manifested; and the same is true of the organization and operations of all the myriads of organisms that exist upon the earth—symmetry, beauty, order and law pervade and control all their operations, all manifesting the wisdom, intelligence and power of God. You do not find one man differing from another, only in certain respects, a little in stature or strength. One is a little stronger than another, one has a more beautiful face, perhaps; may be more exquisitely formed than another; but all bear the same impress; all are governed by the same laws, all possess the same properties, powers and faculties to a certain extent, so far as the body is concerned, according to the strength or weakness of the individual. You do not find men with four arms, six eyes, ten heads, or fifteen feet or legs; they are alike, and there is a uniformity in relation to their general organism. So when you come to examine the properties of water, caloric or fire, earth, air, the different gases, electric fluid, or any substance or matter you please, you will find that they are governed by certain specific laws, and those laws are universal in their application; and furthermore that all the elements with which we are surrounded are controlled by certain eternal and unchangeable laws which cannot be departed from.

Now, what can God think of a people, placed here on the earth, the most intelligent of his creations, possessed of reasoning faculties, who, in many instances, have investigated and understand the laws of Nature, I say, what can he think of men who set up every form, notion and theory, every species of absurdity that can be imagined, and call it the worship of God? Suppose we were to put ourselves in his place for a little while, we should think there was something a little strange in relation to these matters. He might reasonably say, these men exhibit wisdom and intelligence in many respects. So far as discovering the operations of Nature, and examining and testing the laws thereof, they all agree, but in religious matters they exhibit imbecility and weakness, in that there is no union. A philosopher in America, France, Germany, England, Spain, Italy, Russia, Prussia, or any other nation, will arrive at the same conclusions, precisely, that all other men or scientists of all other nations do; that is, when they examine the laws of nature and operate in the actual sciences. No matter where they are, or in what language they may convey their ideas—for words are merely the signs of ideas—whenever correct ideas exist, and these ideas are properly explained, whenever submitted to scientific analysis and proper tests, they all arrive at the same conclusions, no matter what nation it is you are among or where you live.

This reasoning is correct, and in regard to nature and its laws, the world and the elements with which we are surrounded, and the laws operating in the world with which we are acquainted, all men arrive at the same conclusions, and there is no difference, unless we come to theorizing, and then there is always difficulty. Well, in regard to all these things we all think alike, because our thoughts are based on correct principles. But when we come to religious matters, we discover that, though men are naturally intelligent, they act like fools; they do not use their common judgment, reason or intelligence. “Well,” say they, “you know we are governed by the Bible.” Now that is exactly what we do not know, and therefore I doubt it. “But our divines tell us we are.” Oh, do they? Well, suppose somebody was to tell you the result of some scientific analysis, you would be very likely to say—“I believe you in part, but I would like to test it for myself; when I have done that I shall know it. Yet strange as it is, you are willing to take anybody’s ipse dixit in relation to religious matters, in relation to things of the most vital importance, things pertaining to the immortal part of man, we act like the veriest babies or consummate fools, while in regard to the affairs of this life we act intelligently.

Is there a way of arriving at a knowledge of the things which pertain to man’s eternal welfare? Why yes, we are inclined to think there is. God, we are told, “is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness shall be accepted of him.” Is that true? Yes. God “has made of one blood all the families of the earth,” we are told. There seemed to be an idea of this kind prevailing in ancient days, according to the sayings of some of the inspired men mentioned in the Scriptures. We are in the habit of going along like flocks of sheep—following our leader, no matter where he goes. I have seen sheep sometimes, and perhaps you have, running along a road, and one thought there was an obstacle—perhaps there was not anything—and it would make a leap, and when the others reached the same place they would all make the same leap; if one leaps they all leap. It is so apparently among men.

If we would examine Christianity there is something peculiar about that. We call ourselves Christians, that is, we Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians and “Mormons,” we all call ourselves Christians. Well, perhaps we are, and then, perhaps we are not; it is a matter that would bear investigation, I think; and, then, I think, too, that it is very proper, as I said at the commencement, that we should be honest with ourselves about all things, and especially in religion and the service and worship of God. “Well, but my father was a Methodist, and I am one;” “my father was a Presbyterian, and I am one;” “my father was a ‘Jumper,’ and I am one;” “my father was a Muhammadan, and I am one;” “my father was a worshiper of Buddha, and I am one;” and among us Christians we are Episcopalians, Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and members of the various professional phases descended from that remarkable man, Martin Luther or Catholics or Greeks. Let us examine these things for a little while or, at least, try to go to the foundation. Believing in the Bible, we will not go at once into these outside systems, but examine our own for a little while, and see how it stands and how we stand in relation to it.

Jesus, we are told, “brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel.” There was something peculiar about it—it gave men who lived up to and honored its principles in their lives and actions, a knowledge of life and immortality. They were not dependent upon the sayings or doings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi or any of the Prophets; but the Gospel brought a knowledge of life and immortality to all who obeyed it and lived according to its precepts. It informed all such that they were immortal beings; that they would exist after they had got through with time; if they died they should live again; if they were buried they should burst the barriers of the tomb and come forth to immortality.

Seeing, then, that man is both a mortal and an immortal being, having to do with eternity as well as time, it is proper that he should become acquainted with those principles that are so nearly concerned with his happiness and well-being in time and in eternity. We will let John Wesley, Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, Henry the Eighth, and any other organizer of religion go, and we will come to the Scriptures of truth and see what they say about it. Christ, we are told, brought life and immortality to light, and he did it through the medium of the Gospel. And what course did he pursue in doing this? The Scriptures inform us that when Jesus commenced to preach the Gospel he called men from the various avocations of life, among others from the occupation of fishing; he called twelve men, whom he ordained as Apostles. He inspired these men with the gift of revelation and with a knowledge of God; he placed them in communication with God, so that they had revelation from him and were enabled to teach the laws of life; he breathed upon them and said—“Receive ye the Holy Ghost;” and they received it, and that Holy Ghost took of the things of God and showed them unto them, it drew aside the curtains of futurity, whereby they were enabled to penetrate into the invisible world and comprehend the things of God. This was the position they occupied and the kind of Gospel they had.

Well, how did they operate with it? Jesus told them to go out and preach it; and he called seventy men and inspired them too; and told them to go out and heal the sick, cast out devils, and preach the Gospel, they were furthermore to go without purse and scrip, he saying unto them—“Freely ye have received, freely give.” They went out in this kind of a way, without purse and scrip, to preach the Gospel. By and by a number of them returned, and he asked them how they had fared. They told him they had been preaching, and healing the sick, and even devils were subject to them in his name. Said he—“Rejoice, not that devils are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven,” that you are the Lord’s, that God is your friend; rejoice that you have been brought into communication with God, and that you have received the everlasting Gospel, which brings life and immortality to light. This was their position, and they listened to the teachings of Jesus, and we all—that is all these various parties of which I have spoken—believe that Jesus was the Son of God; we all believe that he was the Anointed, elect and sent of God. And speaking of himself he said—“I and the Father are one,” and “he who has seen me has seen the Father.” He taught them a great many things pertaining to their present happiness and future exaltation, and he spoke of a time that should come when the Saints should inherit the earth. When he was about to be crucified, to be offered as a sacrifice to do the will of his heavenly Father, and to open up the way of life and salvation, that man might attain to exaltation in the kingdom of God, he told his disciples that it behooved Christ to suffer, and to be raised from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.

Now let us examine the position of those disciples. I believe a good deal in first principles. I want to examine things candidly and honestly, and to see what kind of a position they occupied in those days. When Jesus was about to leave his disciples he told them that it was necessary that he should go away; for said he, “If I go not away the Comforter will not come.” There was something remarkable about this expression. “If I go not away the Comforter will not come; but if I go away I will send you the Comforter.” What was that Comforter? It is important that we should understand this. That Comforter was the Spirit of Truth. What should it do to them? It should “bring things past to their remembrance, lead them into all truth and show them things to come;” in other words it should bring life and immortality to light; it should open the heavens to its possessors, enable them to understand the designs of God and lead them into all truth, not into one little truth or two little truths; but into all truth. What a privilege, what a blessing, what a rich legacy to impart unto his followers! Only think of men being in possession of a principle which should enable them, under all circumstances, to discriminate between truth and error, virtue and vice; between those principles which would ennoble and elevate, and those which would overthrow and destroy, and which should make them acquainted with God and the principles of eternal life.

I pause here, and ask, will this principle or spirit lead one man to be a Methodist, another to be a Presbyterian, another to be an Episcopalian, another to be a “Mormon,” another a Quaker, another something else, passing through all the various phases, notions, theories and ideas that prevail in the Christian world? Is this the spirit that Jesus promised to impart unto his people, or is it confusion and darkness? Scientifically it is not true, philosophically it is not true, religiously it is not true. The spirit that Jesus promised to impart to his disciples was to lead them into all truth, and to enable them to comprehend all correct principles; and it is said—“As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God,” and says one, “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye have received a spirit whereby you are enabled to cry, ‘Abba Father, or my Father, my Lord and my God.’” They had received a principle of that kind, and there was nothing uncertain, conflicting or evanescent about it; nothing tending to error, confusion or doubt, but everything tending to certainty, life, light and intelligence; to the blessing and happiness of the human family, and to a knowledge of all things necessary for their welfare in time, and in all eternity. Said he—“If I go away I will send you the Comforter, which is the Spirit of truth, and it shall bring things past to your remembrance, it shall lead you into all truth and show you things to come;” in other words—“You, man, who are made in the image of God, shall be brought into your proper relationship with him. That spirit of intelligence which dwells in you shall be associated with God—the God who dwells in eternity, communication shall be opened up between you and him, you shall be placed en rapport with him, and you shall realize and comprehend all things pertaining to your well-being. It shall bring things past to your remembrance, it shall lead you into all truth, and show you things to come. If there is anything behind the veil that is mysterious; if there is anything that the Prophets saw when the visions of eternity were unfolded to their view; if there are principles of life and salvation; if there is anything tending to exalt man in time and eternity, anything pertaining to eternal rewards and everlasting exaltation, you are now in possession of a principle which will unfold and develop these principles to your mind.”

That was the kind of Gospel they had then. And did they see, enjoy and possess these things? Yes, for says Paul—“Whether in the spirit or out of the spirit I do not know; but I was caught up into the third heavens, and I saw things that were unlawful to utter.” We read that John, while on the Isle of Patmos, banished for his faith in God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, was in the spirit on the Lord’s day and the visions of eternity were unfolded, he gazed upon all things as they existed then, and as they would exist in after ages, and until the final winding-up scene. He saw and comprehended the position of the various churches, and told them that unless they repented and did their first works over again and obeyed the behests of the Almighty, their candlestick would be removed out of its place. He saw that Great Mystery Babylon, who “made all the earth drunk with the wine of her fornication.” He saw her fall like a millstone that was cast into the sea and rise no more forever. He saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it, and from before whose face the heavens and the earth fled away; he saw the dead, small and great, arise and stand before him, brought to judgment; he saw a new Jerusalem, descending, as a bride adorned for her husband; he saw events that should transpire throughout every subsequent period of time until the final winding-up scene, and comprehended the whole matter. Why was this? He had the Gospel that brought life and immortality to light. He had received that Comforter that Jesus spoke of, which should bring things past to their remembrance, lead them into all truth and show them things to come.

Well, there was something interesting about that. It was not a kind of lullaby story that we hear now-a-days—“Hush-a-by-baby on the tree top, when the wind blows the cradle will rock.” It was nothing of that kind. There was something intellectual about it, something tangible, and satisfactory to the human mind, and calculated to meet the capacious desires thereof, and to make a man feel that he was an inheritor of eternal life. It implanted within him a hope blooming with immortality and eternal life. It produced a certainty in his mind and made him feel that everything else was as dung and dross in comparison with the life and light and power and intelligence which the Gospel imparted.

What kind of ordinances did they have? They were very simple and straightforward. We read that when the disciples were met together, on a certain occasion in an upper room, the Spirit of God descended upon them as a mighty rushing wind, and rested upon them as in cloven tongues of fire; and they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. There were people there from the surrounding nations who heard the Apostles speak, in their own tongues, the wonderful works of God. They did not know what it meant? Said they—“These men are drunk.” Peter answered—“Oh, no, that is a slight mistake you have made, they are not drunk, it is only nine o’clock, the third hour of the day—people do not get drunk so early.” “Well, what is it then?” Said Peter—“This is that which was spoken of by the Prophet Joel—’It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions, and upon my servants and handmaidens will I pour out, in those days, of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy;’” that is it shall place them in communion with God and enable them to have dreams and visions, to prophesy and see things to come; in other words, it will make them Prophets. This is the kind of religion they had in that day.

I sometimes reflect and wonder whether the same effects would follow if we had that religion today, or whether truth has turned into fiction, or has falsehood turned into truth. How is it, if that was the Gospel then, and God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and, as they say in the Church of England—“As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, worlds without end, amen?” If that is true, then we ought to expect the same things today as they had then, that is, if we profess the same Gospel. This is the way I reason, I cannot get at it any other way, I cannot arrive at any other conclusion. It is reasonable, rational and philosophical; it agrees with every principle of science, with every principle of intelligence that God has communicated to man.

Well having noticed a little of the results of the Gospel in ancient days, let us inquire into the principles taught in those days. We have a very remarkable account of affairs on the Day of Pentecost. The Apostles had been waiting at Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Ghost. They had been promised it by Jesus and they expected it. Neither the Church nor the Apostles had had time, from the ascension of Jesus, to get corrupted, nor to introduce any false principles. They were the recipients of the favor of God, and his Spirit finally rested upon them as in cloven tongues of fire and when the people of the various nations assembled at Jerusalem heard them declare the wonderful works of God, many of them were pricked in their hearts, and they cried out—“Men and brethren, what shall we do? We believe the statement you have made; we believe that the Messiah, promised by our ancient Prophets, has been taken by wicked hands and crucified and slain; we believe what you say concerning his resurrection, and that although he was placed in the tomb he has burst its barriers and has ascended to the right hand of his Father; we believe all these things, now what shall we do?” Said Peter—“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive, the Holy Ghost.” Who were they whom he told to repent and be baptized? The Jews and the Gentiles, the Pharisees, doctors, lawyers, rabbis, and all men of every creed, profession and nation, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins.” “What, we doctors?” “Yes.” “We lawyers?” “Yes.” “We divines?” “Yes, all of you.” “What shall we receive if we do?” “The Holy Ghost.” “What is that?” “Just what you have seen here.” “Shall we all have it if we do this?” “Yes.” And they went forth and were baptized, and three thousand were added to the Church the same day. The Apostle did not tell them to come to any class meeting, mourning bench or anything of that kind. There was not anything of that sort in the program. They were not so well educated in sectarianism then as we are now, and had not invented so many systems of religion or bodies of divinity then as now. In those days they had to take things as God gave them, that was, to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and they should receive the Holy Ghost.

Will obedience to that Gospel do the same thing for us? Yes. Why? Peter said, “The promise is unto you and your children, and to all who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” This thing was not confined to one, two, three, twelve or seventy individuals, but said Peter, “It extends to you”—the vast concourse then before him—“to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” If you can show me a people that the Lord our God does not call, I will show you a people to whom this promise does not apply.

Here are things that are very simple and straightforward. Why can’t we investigate them. The same cause will produce the same effect now as then. It is in vain for us to deny those things; we have no right to do so until we have complied with the requisitions made and applied the tests. If we were using any chemical tests, for scientific analysis, we should go strictly by the rules laid down; why should we not do the same with regard to the Gospel of life and salvation? Here is the law laid down, plain and straightforward, in the word of God, for it is in the Christian’s Bible that these things are contained. It is this very Jesus that they all believe in who talks about these things, and his twelve Apostles bear him out, and bear testimony to the same things. Here is a religious law plainly indicated, which we have no more right to ignore than we have any scientific formula in relation to earthly things.

But to proceed. We find his disciples baptizing; and after Jesus rose from the dead he appeared to them, and he told them to go forth and preach, not the theories and opinions of men, but the Gospel that brought life and immortality to light. Said he—“Go and preach the Gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned; and these signs shall follow them that believe, &c.” They went forth and proclaimed his word, in his name and by his authority, and whatever they did they did in his name and by his authority. Jesus said unto them, “Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Some may say, “That is Catholicism.” Well, then, so far, I am a Catholic, for I believe in everything contained in the Scriptures pertaining to these matters. “Don’t you think this is a great heresy?” I think it would be greater heresy to disbelieve it. I do not believe that everybody has this authority and power; but only those whom God calls and sets apart in the way here spoken of. They had power “to bind on earth and to bind in heaven—to loose on earth and to loose in heaven.” That is Catholicism, is it? Well, let us see a little further how it goes. “Peter, how did you forgive sins? Did you have power to forgive sins?” “Yes.” “How did you exercise it?” “I called upon the people to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and promised them that they should receive the Holy Ghost. That is the way that I forgave sins. And then I laid on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost; and when men received this Holy Ghost it took of the things of God and showed them unto them.”

These are some of the leading principles of the Gospel of Christ. I might talk for hours on the subject. These are the kind of things God has revealed to us. People say we are fanatics. Perhaps we are, but if we are, Peter, James, John and Paul were fanatics, for they believed in the very principles that I have been laying before you today; and when God restored this Gospel, he simply restored what is called “the everlasting Gospel.” John said, “I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth.” What do you mean by the everlasting Gospel? Why the Gospel that Adam had, the Gospel that Noah, Abraham and the Prophets had; the Gospel that Jesus brought—the everlasting Gospel, the Gospel that existed from eternity to eternity, the system or medium through which God saves the human family—the Gospel which brings life and immortality to light. Why, say some, “I thought nobody had the Gospel until Jesus came.” You thought very foolishly if you thought that, for Jesus, speaking of Abraham said—“Abraham saw my day and was glad.” He had communication with God and revelation from him. And how did he have it? Through the Gospel. How do you know it? Paul tells us so; your Paul, you know, that you believe in, he tells us so. What, that Abraham had the Gospel? Yes, he says, “God, foreseeing that he would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham.” Did he have it? Yes, it was through that medium that life and immortality were brought to light. And Moses, in the wilderness, had the Gospel, and preached it to the people. “What, Moses?” Yes. “Well, I thought there was no Gospel until Jesus came.” You thought, I say again, very foolishly. “We,” says the apostle, “have the Gospel preached unto us as well as they; but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it; wherefore the law was added, because of transgression.” Added to what? Why, to the Gospel which they had before. What was the law? The law of carnal commandments and ordinances which the Apostle says—“neither we nor our fathers were able to bear.” How long did the law continue? Until Christ came. Who was Christ? A priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Who was Melchizedek? A greater than Abraham, for he had the Gospel and blessed Abraham. All of those ancient worthies had a knowledge of the Gospel, and of life and immortality through the Gospel.

This is the same thing that is communicated unto us. It is our privilege, it is the privilege of all men who yield obedience to the Gospel. It is your privilege, you Latter-day Saints, to live in the enjoyment of this light and immortality. According to your faithfulness you have experienced more or less of this spirit of revelation, light and truth, and the power of God, and by living your religion you can go on from strength to strength, intelligence to intelligence, from revelation to revelation, until you can “see as you are seen, and know as you are known.” Having commenced in the principles of truth and obtained the Spirit of light and intelligence that flows from God through obedience to the Gospel, it is for us to “purify ourselves even as God is pure,” and purge from ourselves all corruption, iniquity, fraud, lying and evil of every kind, all adultery, fornication, seduction and lasciviousness; and everything that would corrupt and destroy the human family, and seek after everything that is high, noble, exciting and praiseworthy among men, and among the Gods, that when we get through with this world we may obtain an everlasting inheritance in the celestial kingdom.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Thirteenth Ward Meetinghouse, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Nov. 2, 1873.

According to our usual custom we have assembled on this, the first day of the week, to partake of the Sacrament, as a witness before God and angels, and as a testimony one to another, that we are determined to keep the commandments of the Most High, and to obey his laws, and the institutions and ordinances of his kingdom. The order of things we are now celebrating we have endeavored to observe from the organization of this Church. It has been our practice, when circumstances would permit, to assemble every Sabbath day for this purpose, and also to express one to another our desires and to bear our testimonies concerning the truth, and also to preach when we felt the spirit to do so.

I feel, this afternoon, to investigate before this assembly some of the distinguishing characteristics between this people and the various religious denominations of Christendom. I do not do this particularly for the edification and benefit of the Saints; but, as there are probably many now present who never have had the opportunity of learning the difference which exists between the faith of the Latter-day Saints and that of other religious denominations, I presume that it would be interesting to them to have some of these things spoken of on the present occasion. We differ in our religious faith and notions in some things which I consider to be of essential importance to the salvation of the children of men; in some points of our doctrine and faith we do not differ so much with religious people generally as might be supposed.

To begin, then, we believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, our heavenly Father; we believe also in the existence of his Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior of the world, and that he, through the shedding of his blood, has opened a way by which the fallen sons and daughters of the children of men may be saved. I believe that almost every Christian denomination has the same views in regard to the atonement of Christ, and that they, as well as we, believe in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We also believe that it is important and necessary that all mankind should repent of and forsake their sins, and that they should forsake everything that is contrary to the law of God, and that is in violation of his institutions; everything immoral and unholy that we have been in the habit of practicing; that we should repent of these things, not merely in word, but absolutely repent of and put them away. I believe that all denomina– tions who believe in Christ also believe in repentance; hence, so far as faith in God the Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and repentance and reformation are concerned, there are few distinguishing characteristics between us and the outside world. We also believe that it is important for every person who wishes to obtain the forgiveness of his sins to be baptized in water—immersed—in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, for their remission. In this we differ with most of the religious world. I believe that the sect which is generally called Campbellites believe in being baptized in water for the remission of sins. The Church of England also believe in baptism for the remission of sins, but they do not administer that ordinance by immersion. We also believe that when a person has repented, and has been baptized for the remission of his sins, by one having authority to administer this ordinance, his sins will be forgiven. Not but what the Lord has, in some instances on record, forgiven the sins of parties before baptism. We have some account, in both ancient and modern times, of the Lord having done this. The Prophet Joseph obtained a forgiveness of his sins, before baptism, and also the gift of the Holy Ghost; but the reason, probably, was that there was no Church that had been organized after the ancient pattern at the time he received the administration of the angels, and there being no minister authorized to administer baptism and the laying on of hands, the Lord in that instance dispensed with the forms and ordinances recorded for that purpose in the New Testament, and granted unto him both these blessings—the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Before he was baptized he translated the greater part of the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, through the aid of the Urim and Thummim. We have an account of at least one instance, in ancient times, where the Holy Ghost was given before baptism, that is the case of Cornelius. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon him, and upon his household, before they were baptized. It was contrary to the ordinance and the form that had been laid down in the Gospel; but on that occasion it was evidently given for a special purpose, namely, to convince the brethren who accompanied Peter to the place where Cornelius lived, that their traditions concerning the Gentiles were incorrect; and to prove to them that the Gentiles were heirs of salvation as well as the Jews, the Lord condescended, while Peter was speaking to Cornelius and his house, to bestow upon them the Holy Ghost, and they spake with tongues and prophesied, before they were baptized. When Peter saw that the Holy Ghost had been bestowed upon them, he turned to the Jewish brethren, and said, “Who can forbid water that these should be baptized, seeing they have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?”

On the Day of Pentecost, when we are told, three thousand were pricked in their hearts, and desired to know what they should do; the answer given was that they should repent of their sins. They already believed, before they repented, the testimony of Peter and the rest of the Apostles that Jesus was the very Christ; they believed these Old Testament Scriptures that related to him, which were quoted by the Apostle Peter on that occasion: and they were pricked in their hearts. If they had not believed that Jesus was the Christ, they would not have been pricked in their hearts and convicted of sin; but they believed, and the answer of Peter to their inquiry about what they should do to be saved was—“Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost.” Cannot every person, who reflects a moment on this passage, see that the remission of sins and the Holy Ghost, were two blessings promised after repentance and faith, and baptism for the remission of sins? When the people of Samaria heard the preaching of Philip, they also believed and repented, and they were baptized, and there was great joy in that city. No doubt their sins were then remitted, an event which would cause joy and satisfaction among the Samaritans. But there was not one soul of all those converts in Samaria, neither man nor woman, who had received the Holy Ghost, they had only believed in Christ and received the forgiveness of sins, but none of them were as yet born of the Spirit. When the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, which Philip had preached unto them, they sent Peter and John, and they came down to Samaria and knelt down and prayed for these baptized Samaritans, that they might receive the Holy Ghost;” for as yet,” says the Scripture, “he had not fallen upon any of them, only they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; and when they had prayed for them, they laid their hands upon them and they received the Holy Ghost.”

Now they must have received on that occasion, something that was powerful and miraculous, so much so that it made itself manifest even to bystanders. The reason which I have for believing this is in consequence of what Simon Magus said and did on that occasion. He came to the Apostle Peter and offering money to him, said—“Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands he may receive the Holy Ghost.” He was evidently convinced that there was a power made manifest on that occasion, and as he had been a sorcerer, and had deluded and deceived the people in former times, and had evidently come into the Church with a corrupt heart, he no doubt wished to obtain this increased power to aid him in his future operations. But Peter answered—“Let thy money perish with thee, I perceive that thy heart is not right in the sight of God.”

Here then was a sacred ordinance which I wish to call your attention to, namely, the laying on of hands. The Samaritans had, no doubt, believed as firmly as ever persons could believe; they had repented as much as any persons could repent; they had complied with the ordinance of baptism for the remission of sins, and were justified and filled with great joy in consequence of the forgiveness of their sins; but with all this, why did they not receive the Holy Ghost? Why was it not sent down from heaven as it was on Cornelius? Because there were none present on that occasion that needed to be convinced, as in the case of the household of Cornelius; no Jewish brethren there to forbid water; no ones there to have their traditions corrected, and consequently the Lord did not give a sign to them. But when they were confirmed, he sent upon them the Holy Ghost through the sacred ordinance of the laying on of hands. That is as much an ordinance as baptism.

Here then is one instance wherein we differ from the main portions of the religious world. It is true the Church of England practices confirmation—their lay hands upon those who are sprinkled; but we have no account of the gifts following this administration among the members of that church such as the gift of tongues, healing and the various gifts of the Spirit. They are withheld. We differ, then, from the outside religious world in this one ordinance. No person comes into this Church and is acknowledged to be in full fellowship as a member of the Church, unless one or more of the servants of God have administered the sacred ordinance of the laying on of hands expressly for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. I do not know why it was that the Lord established this ordinance. He seems to have, in all ages, bestowed blessings upon the children of men through simple ordinances, and he seldom gave blessings, unless those ordinances were complied with. When the angel came to Cornelius and told him that his prayers and his alms had ascended up before God as a memorial, he did not see proper on that occasion to tell exactly what he should do in order to be saved; but he told him to send for Peter, and he would tell him words whereby he and his house should be saved. Cornelius had faith enough in that angel to actually send for Peter. There was something required on the part of Cornelius to manifest his faith before God. There was something required of the children of Israel when they were to take the City of Jericho. It would have been an easy matter for God to have thrown down the walls of Jericho in an instant without making any requirement of the children of Israel; but he determined to try their faith, so they were commanded to pass round the walls of the city once a day for seven days, and on each day when they encompassed the walls they were to blow rams’ horns. On the seventh day they were to go round the walls of the city seven times, and when they had completed their last circuit on the seventh day they were to give a certain blast with the horns, and all the people were to give a shout, then the walls were to fall down. Now, could not the Lord have done it without going through all that process? O, yes, but he did not see proper to do so, he wanted to try the faith of that people, to see whether they would be obedient to that which he required of them. When they had shown their faith by their works, then the power of God was made manifest.

It is so in relation to baptism. When we have shown that we have faith in God and in the ordinances and institutions of his kingdom; when we prove our belief in the principle of baptism by rendering obedience thereto, we then obtain the remission of our sins. When we have faith enough to have hands laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost, after being baptized, the Lord sees that we are complying with the institutions of his kingdom, and he is willing to bestow the blessing of the Holy Ghost. When we have faith enough to go to the house of worship on the first day of the week and offer up our sacrament before the Lord, according to his commandments, we witness before him that we are willing to keep his commandments; but when, without excuse, we neglect this week after week, we show that we are careless and indifferent, and the influence of the Holy Spirit, which we would otherwise enjoy as Latter-day Saints, is withheld from us.

Let none experiment on this, let no Latter-day Saints neglect to come to meeting, when it is their privilege to do so, and also neglect this divine ordinance which the Lord has instituted in commemoration of the death and sufferings of his Son; for if they continue to do this without any reasonable excuse, they will soon begin to be darkened in their minds. Hence you see, that all these ordinances, however simple in their nature, are instituted of the Lord, and if we have not faith sufficient to comply with them, it proves that we have not much faith in God. The Apostle James speaks upon the subject of faith very plainly: he says—“Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.” Faith without works is dead, being alone. Men may profess ever so much faith in Christ, but if they do not attend to the ordinances of heaven, we know that their faith is a dead faith and will not obtain the blessings which the Lord has promised. We will pass on, however, in taking up the distinguishing characteristics, between the Latter-day Saints and other religious denominations. We shall, however, have to dwell briefly on the different points, for there are many things wherein we differ.

When the baptized believer has received the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, the question is, What will be its manifestations, &c., and how are we, as Latter-day Saints, to know that we have received the Holy Ghost? This is a very important question for us to decide in our own minds. How are believers in Christ to know that they are believers, such as the Lord will acknowledge? They are to know it by the pouring out of the Holy Ghost upon them. How am I to know when the Holy Ghost is poured out upon me, or how are you to know? We would not know only by comparing with the Scriptures, or by some revelation to our own minds, which would give us this knowledge. For instance, suppose we should receive a spirit that would cause us to fall down on the ground, or cause us to be cramped up into an ill kind of a shape, or that would take away our strength and all our memory and understanding, should we not know at once that no such spirit was acceptable in the sight of God? And, after reading about the gifts of the Holy Ghost to man, should we not know, that it does not operate thus? When the Holy Ghost rests upon the servants and handmaidens of the Lord, it imparts a variety of gifts, not all to one man, and not the same to every individual; but it gives to one, one gift, and to another, another. For instance it gives to some the gift of wisdom. Now, what is it to receive the word of wisdom? When a person receives, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the word or gift of wisdom, he receives revelation. Herein, then, is another point in which we differ from the religious world generally. They do not believe in any later revelation than the New Testament, that is, they did not when this Church arose; but of late years, since the rise of this Church, many of them have begun to believe in revelation later than the New Testament.

When the Holy Ghost falls upon some it gives them the word of wisdom, that is, it imparts to them an understanding of things that are wise. The Spirit may whisper, “It is wise for you to do this thing,”—“it is wise for you to do that thing,”—“it is wise for you to take such a course, and to do thus and so.” This is what might be termed the word of wisdom. A person may have great wisdom and yet not have much knowledge; he may have great wisdom given by revelation to know how to exercise that degree of knowledge which he may be in possession of. Then again there are others who may receive the gift of knowledge from God and yet they may have very little wisdom; and they do not know how to turn their knowledge to the best advantage. Here is the distinction then between a revelation which gives wisdom, and a revelation which gives knowledge.

To another is given, by the Spirit, the gift of healing. Some may say that the gift of healing was only intended for ancient times, to establish the Gospel; that the people in those days needed some miraculous power and evidence to convince them of the truth of the Gospel; but I find that the gift of healing was given for the benefit of all who had faith to be healed. This was the way that the Lord administered in ancient times, and there is just as much necessity in our day that the sick should be healed, as there was eighteen centuries ago; and the Lord is just as willing, inasmuch as we will exercise faith in him, to bestow the gift of healing now as he was in ancient times. This seems to be a kind of common gift, not limited altogether to a few individuals, as we find recorded in the last chapter of Mark. Jesus said on that occasion, speaking to his Apostles—“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, he that believes”—that is every creature in all the world who believes—“and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe,” that is, every creature in all the world that believes, showing that the believers generally might have the gift of healing, although, perhaps, to some it is given more fully than it is to others. “These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

It seems that the gifts here named are general gifts, intended more or less for the whole Church; not only for those in the Priesthood, but for those out of the Priesthood, for males and for females. For instance, children are often taken sick, and it is the privilege of their parents, whether they have the Priesthood or not, by virtue of this promise, to lay their hands on their sick children, and ask the Lord, in the name of Jesus, to heal them. Suppose that the father, the head of the family, is absent, has the mother the right to lay her hands upon her sick child? We say that, by virtue of this promise which the Lord has made, she may lay her hands upon her child or children, and ask God to heal it or them. How many scores and scores of cases have there been in this Church, every year since it was organized, where the parents, both brethren and sisters, have had power over disease, through the Spirit of God being poured out upon them, and their children have been healed through the laying on of their hands? Here, then, is another point wherein we differ from the religious world. Go and ask them if they will come and visit a sick person. “Oh yes,” says the minister, “I will visit the sick.” When he arrives, the sick person or his friends request him to pray. That is all right and in accordance with the Gospel. They kneel down, and the minister prays that the Lord will look in mercy upon the sick person, and, if it please him, heal and restore him. But do they lay on hands or anoint with oil as the Scriptures direct? The Scriptures say—“If anyone among you is sick, let him send for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray for him”—it is all right to pray—“and let them anoint the sick in the name of the Lord.” Now, when they do this they are complying with the requisitions of the Gospel of the Son of God, and why not follow this ordinance of laying on of hands on the sick, and anointing them with oil, just as well as following the praying part? No wonder that they do not have power over sickness and disease, for they only attend to half their duties—they pray, but neglect the other part. Inquires one, “Cannot the Lord hear prayer and heal the sick just as well without laying on of hands and anointing with oil as with?” He could have thrown down the walls of Jericho without the children of Israel walking around them and blowing rams’ horns; but the Lord has a form, then why not comply with it, and leave the event with him. It requires faith on the part of the sick in order to be healed; they ought to have faith as well as their friends. When an infant child is sick, it, of course, is not required to exercise faith; but its parents and friends can exercise faith on its behalf, as was done in ancient times. Sometimes sickness will deprive an adult person of his senses, in that case his friends may exercise faith for him. But where there is no faith in God, as in the case of infants, his servants may prevail, and heal the sick, but this is not always the case. For instance, as great a man as Paul was, a person who had the gift of healing to such a degree that even by carrying a handkerchief, or some little article from him to those who were sick, devils would flee and the sick would be healed; I say that as great a man as he was obliged on a certain occasion to leave one of his fellow laborers in the ministry sick at Miletus. Why? Because he had not faith. People may sometimes have faith, and at other times they do not exercise it; sometimes people are appointed unto death, and in such cases the administrations of the Elders are not likely to be effectual. If believers could always exercise faith to be healed of disease, all the ancient Saints might be living now, eighteen hundred years after they were born. But the Lord heals the sick when it seems good unto him, and he gives us, inasmuch as we are not appointed unto death, the privilege of calling upon his name, and of having the administrations of his servants in our behalf. This has been practiced ever since this Church was organized—forty-three years since—and if it had done no good, if there had been no healings in that time, do you suppose the Latter-day Saints would continue to be members of the Church? No, the Church would have quickly broken up, it would not have lasted more than two or three years if its members had not found the promises verified, according to the word of the Lord; but they have found that the Lord really does stretch forth his hand to heal the sick, and that he does raise them up from the very point of death, and restore them, almost instantly, to health and strength. Knowing this to be the case, the afflicted Saints have faith in the ordinances, and they continue sending for the Elders, and God blesses their administrations.

Then, if I received a spirit by which, in the name of Jesus Christ, I was enabled to rebuke sickness, and that sickness was rebuked, and the persons were raised up, should I not have reason to believe that I had received that true Spirit of the Gospel, called the Holy Ghost? I certainly should. If I received a revelation telling me what would be the best course for me to pursue under certain circumstances, should I not know that it was a revelation from God? I think I should know, just as well as the ancient Prophets knew when they received a revelation. If I received knowledge by revelation concerning this, that or the other thing or principle, would not that be a testimony to me that I had received the Holy Ghost? Again, if I was sick and afflicted and in great pain, and I sent for the Elders of the Church to come and pray for me and to rebuke the disease which was afflicting me, and, in the name of Jesus, command it to depart, and it was done, would not this be a testimony unto me that the Lord had heard the prayers of his servants, and that he had really and truly verified his promise? Certainly.

To another is given the gift of prophecy, or foretelling future events. Among the ancient Saints this was regarded as a very important gift, much more so than the gift of speaking in tongues. Paul, in addressing the Corinthians, says—“Seek earnestly the best gifts, and forbid not to speak with tongues,” &c. And again, he says, “Greater is he that prophecies than he that speaketh with tongues.” Again, in the same chapter, he says—“How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation? Let the prophets speak, two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

Here, then, we see that the Saints in ancient times prophesied by revelation. If persons come together in a religious capacity, as this assembly has done this afternoon, and God should reveal to some present some– thing pertaining to the future, it is not necessary for them to rise up while any other person is speaking, and make confusion, but let all the Prophets who have any revelation, wait until the person speaking gets through, and then let them rise, one by one, and declare what God has revealed to them. This was the way the ancient Christians worshiped, and these were the gifts by which they were distinguished from those who were not Christians, and those also were the distinguishing characteristics between the general world of mankind and the real, true-hearted Christians in ancient times. Why not have the same distinguishing characteristics now? Has God ever said that these gifts should be unnecessary in the Church?

We find a great many gifts besides those I have mentioned. The gift of tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the discerning of spirits, and the beholding of angels, were all given in ancient times by the Spirit, and the Church possessing them was compared to the body of Christ; and the Apostle Paul, in order to show the necessity of all these gifts, when comparing them to the body of a man, says, the whole system is necessary, the eye cannot say to the hand “I have no need of you” in the body, for it is absolutely necessary there; neither can the head say to the feet “I have no need of you;” no, the feet are necessary; and even the most imperfect, or simplest member of the human system could not be dispensed with without making a schism in the body. Says Paul, speaking to the Church—“You are the body of Christ, and members in particular. God has set in the church, first apostles, second prophets, after that teachers, workers of miracles, speakers with tongues, interpreters of tongues.” All these different ones are members of the body of Christ. Now, have we any right to say to the lowest of these members, “We have no need of you in the body?” Supposing the teacher should say to the speaker in tongues—“I have no need of you, now in the body, the Lord has a different kind of a body on the earth from what he had eighteen hundred years ago, and we do not need you now.” Another says to the interpreter of tongues—“We have persons who have studied all these languages, and we do not need a person to interpret tongues, by the Spirit, now; we can dispense with this principle from the body of Christ.” Another minister arises and he says to the member possessing the gift of healing—“We do not need such a member in the church now, we can do without it in the body; it is true it makes a kind of a schism in the body, and it looks different from what the New Testament has taught; but we are enlightened in this day, we are living in such a blaze of Gospel liberty that we do not need the same kind of members now to compose the body of Christ as they did in ancient days,” and he passes him by. The worker of miracles comes along, and another minister says—“We have no need of you in the body;” the discerner of spirits comes along and he says—“I have beheld spirits, I have seen angels.” Says the modern religionionst—“We have no need of you now in the church, we are sufficiently enlightened to do without you.” An Apostle comes along and declares his mission and calling, and he is greeted with the customary salutation—“We do not need Apostles now. God set those officers in his church at first, but we can dispense with them now.” I say, if you can dispense with these officers, what have you left? Says one—”We have teachers left.” “Well, why do you not do away with the office of teacher? Have you not the same authority to do away with the member of the body of Christ called a teacher, that you have to do away with the Apostle, the Prophet, the gift of healing, the discerning of spirits? Yes, you have the same right to do away with one officer as with another. If you have only teachers left, I ask, Does that constitute the Church of God? No, for you have done away with the most prominent officer, the Apostle, the one first set in the Church, which is like taking a man’s head from his body and then saying “Live, live.”

Now the very fact that all these officers have been done away, shows that the Church of God has been rooted out of the earth. No wonder, then, that the Lord had to send an angel from heaven with the everlasting Gospel, to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, because there was no nation, people, kindred or tongue upon the face of the whole earth that had that Gospel, and a Church organized in accordance with it. The various sects of religionists in Christendom have lost all authority; they have neither Apostles nor Prophets, no one who can have heavenly visions, who can discern spirits or have the ministrations of angels; no one to heal the sick or to speak with tongues. They have done away with all gifts and members and have blotted out the ancient Church, having merely a dead form left. No wonder then that the Lord sent an angel, in fulfillment of the revelations of St. John, to restore the Gospel to earth, and to prepare for the reorganization of his Church among men according to the ancient pattern. It was absolutely necessary that the Gospel should be restored, together with the authority to ad– minister its ordinances, baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost; authority to build up the Church and kingdom on the earth, that the Holy Ghost might again be poured out as in ancient times, that the people might receive the gifts thereof, and that they might know of a surety, when they had received the Holy Spirit. All this the Lord has done, hence you see the distinguishing characteristics, so far as the organization of the Church and the administration of its ordinances are concerned, between the Latter-day Saints and the rest of the religious world.

But suppose we speak still further on one principle, and that is the authority to baptize. I might be baptized by a person whom the Lord had neither called nor sent, and that baptism would never be acknowledged in the eternal worlds. I might be ever so sincere, and I might receive the ordinance from the hands of a man who, I really supposed, had the authority and who was a good, moral, upright man, and yet that baptism would not be acceptable in the sight of God, unless he did truly have divine authority.

How am I to know whether a man has divine authority or not? It is one of the easiest things in the world to know. I will tell you how you may know a man who has divine authority from one who has not. If you find a man who, though he may profess to be a Christian minister, says he does not believe in any later revelations than those given to St. John the Divine, and that he was the last to whom the Lord revealed himself, you may know that that man has no authority from God. Why not? Because the Bible says—“No man taketh this honor unto himself”—speaking of the Priest– hood—“Save he be called of God as was Aaron.” Now, turn to the Bible and see how Aaron was called, see if he was not called by name, by new revelation: that is, it was a new revelation to him. See if he was not called through Moses, the servant of God, who received a revelation commanding him to set apart his brother Aaron to the Priest’s office, directing him what ordinance to use, how to set him apart, and giving all the particulars of his calling and ordination to the ministry, and what his duties were to be after ordination. All this was given by new revelation. No man can receive the Priesthood, neither officiate in its ordinances acceptably, unless he is called of God as was Aaron. If Aaron was called by new revelation, then all others who have this authority must be called in the same way, or their authority is not valid, and all ordinances under it are good for nothing.

This is the reason why the Lord commanded this people—the Latter-day Saints—to rebaptize all persons who come to them professing to have been baptized before. In the early days of this Church there were certain persons, belonging to the Baptist denomination, very moral and no doubt as good people as you could find anywhere, who came, saying they believed in the Book of Mormon, and that they had been baptized into the Baptist Church, and they wished to come into our Church. The Prophet Joseph had not, at that time, particularly inquired in relation to this matter, but he did inquire, and received a revelation from the Lord something like this—that although a man had been baptized a hundred times under these old institutions, it would avail him nothing; that this was the New and Everlasting Covenant, even the same that was in the beginning, and that they who administered its ordinances must have authority from God, or their administrations were illegal. These Baptists had to be rebaptized: there was no other way to get into this Church. There is not a person now in full fellowship with this people, but what has come in by baptism, whether he formerly belonged to the Baptist or any other Church. Indeed it would be impossible for a Church to be reorganized upon the earth, unless God had bestowed the authority upon men to act in his name, that is, had spoken from on high and called them by revelation.

I will come still closer. Here is the Book of Mormon. When Joseph Smith obtained the plates from which this book was translated, when he came to the history of how baptism was administered among the Israelites of ancient America, and learned that it was by immersion, he felt very anxious to be baptized, not having been baptized in any Church in existence, and not understanding fully about this matter, he and a young man, who was acting as his scribe, went out and called upon the Lord, desiring to know what they should do in relation to their baptism. They read that those who dwelt on this Continent eighteen hundred years ago were baptized by immersion and that the ordinance had to be administered by men holding the authority to do so from God. In answer to their prayers, the Lord sent an angel to them on the 15th day of May, 1829, nearly a year before the Church was organized, and this angel laid his hands upon the heads of these two individuals, and ordained them to the holy Priesthood, that is, the Priesthood which John the Baptist held, which had the right to baptize, but not to confirm by the laying on of hands; and when he had ordained them he commanded them to baptize each other, and they did so. Here then was a commencement of the restoration of authority to the earth. Prior to that time, for hundreds and hundreds of years, no man had authority to baptize, from the very fact that they all denied new revelation, and hence none of them could have been called as Aaron was.

After Joseph and his scribe had been baptized for the remission of their sins, they sought after authority in order that they might have hands laid upon them for the Holy Ghost. The lesser Priesthood could not do this, the Priesthood that John the Baptist held was not authorized to lay on hands; he could only baptize believers in water. But John, when upon the earth, said there was one coming after him mightier than he, who held a greater Priesthood and authority than he—the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek—and he would bestow upon them the higher baptism—the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery sought after this higher authority, and the Lord gave it to them, before the rise of this Church, sending to them Peter, James and John. What for? To bestow upon them the Apostleship. Now, who would be likely to have better authority than Peter, James and John, the three foremost of the ancient Apostles when they died? When Peter was crucified with his head downwards, and James was martyred, their Priesthood was not taken from them; their Priesthood remained with them after their bodies were laid in the tomb, and they will hold it until their bodies are resurrected; and when they reign on the earth, they will reign as kings and Priests; and, as we read in the New Testament, these twelve Apostles will eat and drink at the table, and in the presence of, God—and will rule over the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now, who would be better qualified to administer the sacred office of the Apostleship than the three men who held it while they were here on the earth? There are a great many in heaven who have not the right to ordain Apostles, a great many who, though they are exalted and have glory and great authority, yet do not hold the Apostleship, and therefore they have no right to come as angels from heaven and lay their hands upon any individual and ordain him to the Apostleship. It has to be a man who holds authority in heaven that can bestow it here on the earth; and such men were Peter, James and John, who restored that authority to the earth in our day, by bestowing it upon Joseph Smith. When this authority was restored, the Church was organized, on the 6th day of April, 1830, consisting of six members, and then there was power in existence, not only to baptize, but to confirm by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost; and from the authority then sent down afresh from heaven has this Church been enabled to pass along, and receive the great blessings which the Lord has bestowed upon it. But I will pass along.

I was saying, a little while ago, that there is nothing in the New Testament to prove that the gifts which were given to and enjoyed by the ancient Saints, should ever cease from among the true people of God; and whenever there has been a Church of Christ on the earth there have been all its members, including Apostles, Prophets, speakers in tongues, interpreters of tongues, discerners of spirits, those having the gift of healing, &c.; and whenever these things have disappeared the Church of Christ has disappeared from the earth, and then authority, revelation, prophecy, and the ministration of angels have ceased. But we have a declaration in the 13th chapter of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, that these gifts should be continued in the true Church, until that which is perfect is come. Now we see, know, and understand in part; we see through a glass darkly here in this world, but when that which is perfect is come that which is in part shall be done away. Now we have certain blessings bestowed upon us, but the time will come when tongues will cease and prophecy will fail; that time will be, when the Church has become perfect in the eternal world. After we pass through this state of existence and are exalted, we shall no longer see through a glass darkly. Here while the Church remains in this world, we only prophesy in part. We have some gifts, but we do not possess them in their fullness; but when we receive our resurrected bodies, and that which is perfect is come, we shall have no need of the gift of healing, because there will be none sick, for all will be immortal. There will be no need in those days of prophecy in part, because everything will be open and understood by the minds of the Saints of God, and prophesying in part will be done away, and they will see as they are seen and know as they are known. All these things prove to us, that so long as the true Church remained on the earth, so long should all these various gifts remain.

The object of these gifts is not merely to convince the world, but Paul informs us in another chapter that they were intended not only for the unbeliever but also for the believer. When Jesus ascended up on high, Paul says that he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. He gave some Apostles, some Prophets, some evangelists, pastors, and teachers, besides all these other gifts I have named. What for? Paul informs us that he gave these gifts for the perfecting of the Saints. Do you not see then, that they were not given merely to convince unbelievers and to establish the Gospel, but for the perfecting of the Saints? Now, do you know, does anyone know, how the Saints of God can be made perfect without these gifts? How can the members of a Church, which has not any inspired Apostles and inspired Prophets, be made perfect? “Oh, but,” says one, “we have some of these gifts.” “What are they?” “Why, he mentions pastors and teachers; we have them.” What right have you to claim them, and do away with the other gifts mentioned in the same verse? Is there any consistency in that? Is it right, can we feel justified before the heavens in taking a verse and claiming one or two gifts mentioned there, and doing away with all the rest? The Scriptures say that he gave Apostles, Prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers; the modern Christians claim two or three of these and do away with all the rest. The Latter-day Saints will not do this; they have been traditionated to do so in times of old, but now they have learned better; and they now say—“Give us all these gifts. If we have a Church, let us have inspired Apostles and Prophets in that Church, for without them the Saints cannot be made perfect.”

They are given, also says Paul, not only for the perfecting of the Saints, but for the work of the ministry. How can the work of the ministry proceed without Apostles and Prophets? It cannot proceed. They are given for the edifying of the body of Christ, says the Apostle. How can the body of Christ be edified without Apostles and Prophets, and the gifts mentioned? And again, he says, They are given in order that the Church may become perfect, that is, that its members may grow up into perfect men, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Without these gifts the Church never can grow up, it has nothing to edify or perfect it, nothing to do the Saints any good, but with these gifts they may be perfected, and grow to the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Another grand object specified in the giving of these gifts, as mentioned in the next verse, is, that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, and by the cunning craftiness and slight of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Now, you take a Church that has no Apostles, no Prophets, no gifts, such as those that are named in the New Testament, and that Church is all the time liable to be carried away with every foolish doctrine that may come along. But when you see a Church organized with Apostles, having power to receive revelations from heaven, and having Prophets who can foretell future events through the Holy Ghost resting upon them, it is not carried away with every cunning plan and device of false doctrines; but its members know for themselves, by the power of the Holy Ghost, by the gifts that are given to them, and by the revelations which they receive, and hence they are not carried about as the religious world have been, during the past seventeen centuries. What is the reason of all the confusion, jars, and discords that have troubled the religious world during that time? The grand reason is, that they have lost that which would have held them together—the gifts of the Spirit, and hence there are hundreds and hundreds of denominations following this doctrine and that doctrine, having no voice of God, no angels, no visions to guide their footsteps. Not so with the Latter-day Saints. Go throughout the whole of this Territory, and wherever you find true-hearted Latter-day Saints you will find those who are guided by the Spirit of revelation, and who enjoy those gifts that were made manifest in ancient times.

I will mention some few more of the characteristics wherein we differ from the world. We believe in that doctrine which is enunciated in the fifteenth chapter of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, namely, baptism for the dead—“Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?” This shows plainly and clearly that, in ancient times, the people called Corinthians, organized into the Church of God, did practice the ordinance of baptism for the dead. They understood it. Paul was not writing to them about a new doctrine, but about one which they understood and practiced, and he tried to prove to them the nature of the resurrection and that such a principle as the resurrection was true, from the very fact that they were practicing baptism for those who were dead, in order that they might receive a more glorious resurrection. This doctrine has been revealed anew to this Church. Of course, in the first rise of the Church, we did not understand this any more than the sectarian world, but as soon as the Lord laid it open, and taught us why he had instituted it, it was very plain.

I have not time to dwell long upon this principle, but I will try, briefly, to explain to you its necessity and consistency, and the bearing it will have upon our ancestors. We all have many friends, behind the veil, who lived on this earth when the true Gospel was not known. Many of them were just as good as we are, and some perhaps a little better; but they lived when the world was in darkness and confusion. They had the history of the ancient Church and Gospel, but they had no one to administer its ordinances. The religious sects and ministers were contending one against another, having neither the power nor gifts of the Holy Ghost. Under these conditions our progenitors fell asleep. Now must they go down to everlasting destruction, be damned to all ages of eternity because they did not happen to live in an age, when there were none authorized by heaven to administer the ordinances of the Gospel? No, that would be inconsistent. God judges men according to the circumstances in which they are placed, and he does not condemn the people for not obeying his message, when it is not sent to them. Now, if a man comes to me that has never been called of God, and pretends to bring to me the Gospel, and has no divine authority to administer its ordinances, I am not bound to obey his message, for that requires a man that is authorized to administer it. Our fathers have gone down to the grave without having had such a man to administer the Gospel to them; the Lord is no respecter of persons. It is written, in the Scriptures, that except a man be born of water and of the spirit he can in no wise enter into the kingdom of God. If that is so, and our fathers have gone down to the grave and have not had an opportunity to be baptized in water for the remission of their sins by men having authority, must they be shut out forever from the kingdom of God? Jesus says that unless they are born of water, as well as of the spirit, they can in no wise enter into his kingdom. The purpose then for which baptism for the dead was instituted, was that we might be baptized for our ancestors who died without having the privilege of hearing and obeying the Gospel in the flesh, that, though in the spirit, they may have the same chance of eternal life as we have. Jesus was very merciful to the antediluvians who perished before the flood. A host who lived in those days perished in the flood and were shut up in prison; and while the body of Jesus was sleeping in the tomb his spirit went and preached to them that were disobedient in the days of Noah. They probably did not have a good opportunity in the days of Noah. There were only four persons to warn them, and they were multiplied by millions and millions in all parts of the earth, and all except Noah and his family were swept off by the flood and cast into prison, and they were kept there some two thousand years, then Jesus went to preach the Gospel to them, as it is written in the fourth chapter of the first epistle of Peter—“For, for this cause was the Gospel preached them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, and live according to God in the Spirit.” Now, if the Gospel was preached to those who were dead, to the old antediluvians who perished over two thousand years before Jesus was put to death, for what purpose was it preached? That they might have the same privilege of hearing and obeying the Gospel that those have who are in the flesh, and of being judged thereby. “But,” says one, “they cannot obey it in the spirit world.” They can in part, they can obey it so far as believing in Jesus is concerned, and repenting of their sins; for repentance and faith are both acts of the mind; but when it comes to baptism, being born of or immersed in water, they cannot do it; God has ordained that men, here in the flesh, shall be baptized for those who are dead, in order that they may commemorate the death, sufferings, and burial of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that as he rose to newness of life, so may they, for whom the ordinance of baptism is administered, by those in the flesh, have a claim to a more glorious resurrection.

“But,” says one, “how do you know that they who are in the spirit world can repent and believe?” Because agency always accompanies intelligence, and intelligence is not blotted out by death. The spirits of men and women who leave this world are intelligent, and intelligence is founded upon free agency, and hence, inasmuch as they who are in the spirit world are agents, they can exercise that agency in believing; when they have a testimony they can exercise that agency in repenting of sins of which they have been guilty. But they cannot exercise that agency in attending to an ordinance ordained for the body; and therefore God has instituted baptism for the dead, that our fathers may have the same chance that we have. What for? In order that, when they come up in the resurrection with us, if they will receive what is done for them, they may be perfected with us, that there may be no broken chain in the matter, no links left out of the chain, but that all persons who will comply may be united in the grand chain of genealogy, back even to the commencement. Therefore the ordinance of baptism was ordained by the Lord from the beginning of the world down until the days of Christ, and from the days of Christ down to the end, that in the dispensation of the Gospel, when the plan of salvation should be administered to the human family, they should look after the fathers—their ancestors; and this is specially spoken of by the Prophet Malachi, or rather the Lord through the Prophet says—“Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet; he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I, come and smite the earth with a curse;” as much as to say, that before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come, unless the children shall seek after the salvation of their fathers, who are dead and gone, by being baptized for them, and attending to every ordinance which God has ordained for them and in their behalf, he will smite the whole earth with a curse, and no people would be prepared to behold the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

It is for this reason, that this people are building Temples. We do not build Temples to be places of preaching altogether; we have tabernacles that will accommodate many thousands, wherein we preach to the people; but Temples are built by the commandment of the Most High God, constructed after the pattern that he gives, in order that the people may be baptized for their dead, as the Corinthians and the Christians of ancient times did, leaving it with those in the eternal worlds, whether they will receive what is done for them or not, the same as Jesus, who died for all men and all women, leaves it with all men and all women to act upon their own agency, and say whether they will or will not receive that which he has purchased for them; if they will not, their condemnation is just. So in relation to our dead—if we officiate for them, we have done our duty; if they will not repent in the spirit world, and obey the principles that God has ordained for their exaltation, their condemnation will rest upon their own heads, and not upon ours. But if we do not do our duty in relation to the fathers, they will testify against us in the judgment day, saying—“Lord, you sent an angel from heaven; you communicated the everlasting Gospel after I was dead; you gave the Apostleship, by sending Peter, James and John, and your servants went forth armed with authority and power to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth, and many received it. You did not give me the privilege, Lord, of hearing and obeying the Gospel when I was upon the earth.” Then the Lord might reply—“But I gave the privilege to the people on the earth to be baptized for their dead, and I gave you the privilege of availing yourself of their administrations, the same as the antediluvians had.” Then you see, if we have attended to the duties devolving upon us in their behalf, the condemnation fails upon them; if we neglect this, it may be that some other person, not a blood relation, will be appointed by the Lord, and the condemnation will fall upon the blood relations, and they will be rejected, while those whom they have neglected will be saved. “They without us cannot be made perfect,” says the New Testament, “neither we without them.” You need not think that God is so partial that he is going to save the children in the latter days, and reject all their ancestors. He is not going to do any such thing. If we would be saved we shall have to look after the salvation of the generations which are past and gone.

“But,” says one, “I cannot trace my forefathers, I can only go back to my grandfather or great grandfather, what shall I do? Were not my an– cestors, ten or fifteen generations further back, as worthy of salvation as they were?” “Yes.” “Then how are you going to manage that?” That same God who has ordained baptism for the dead, and who has commanded the believers in this generation to be baptized for them, will in due time, when we have done all we can in searching out our genealogies, reveal to us the chain so that we shall find our fathers, no matter how many generations, until we get back to the time when the Priesthood and authority were on the earth; and then, if they have not attended to their duties, we will have to go back still further, for the Lord has determined that, in the dispensation of the fullness of times, everything pertaining to former dispensations shall be perfected, whether it was in a dispensation before the flood, in the days of Enoch, Abraham, Moses, or the Prophets, it matters not, if there is anything that has been left undone pertaining to the dead in any former dispensation, it must all be fulfilled in that great and last dispensation spoken of by Paul, wherein all things in heaven and on earth, that are in Christ Jesus, shall be gathered in one. Everything must be made perfect and prepared for the great day of rest of a thousand years, during which Jesus will reign on the earth with all the resurrected Saints. If we would have our fathers and our ancient ancestry reign with us, we must do that for them which the Lord has required, and they and we shall be blessed; but if we neglect it, the whole earth will be smitten with a curse before the great day of his coming.

Has the Lord, according to his promise, sent the Prophet Elijah? He has, you have the record of it, you know where and to whom he appeared, and the keys that were given in relation to these matters. They are on record, and the Lord has fulfilled his promise, and now it is required of us to fulfill the duties devolving upon us. I feel very thankful that the Lord is moving upon our friends in the New England States and in various parts of the East to get up their genealogies. They do not know why they are doing so, or why they are so anxious to find out the ancient generations who settled this continent. We understand it; we know that God is working with them, we know that many of those early settlers who have gone down to their graves, were just as pure and upright as men could be. God is going to remember them, and hence, there are now some four hundred records of different families that have been gotten up in the East, and they are still extending their researches, and hunting out all the ancient pilgrim fathers, and their ancestry in the old countries. The genealogy of my forefathers has been sought out by them for some eleven generations. Have I been baptized for any of them? Yes. Has my brother Parley’s family been baptized for any of them? Yes, we have been baptized for something like three thousand of our ancestors, and we have been confirmed for them, and have done for them that which they could not do for themselves.

Well, this is a peculiarity wherein we differ from the rest of the world. I do not know but I am getting into too many peculiarities. I think I have not time to follow out this subject any further on the present occasion. I would like to talk a little about our marriage relations, but we shall have to defer that to some other time. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at the Semi-Annual Conference, October 8, 1873.

I am called upon to occupy a little time this morning, and I realize that I and my brethren are all dependent upon the Spirit of God to guide, dictate and direct us in all our public teachings, as well as in all other acts we are called upon to perform in the kingdom of God. The Apostle says there is no prophecy of the Scripture which is of any private interpretation, but holy men of old spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. The Lord has told us in some of the revelations which he has given in our day, that all of his messengers or servants, his Elders who are sent forth to teach, should speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and when they follow this counsel, what they say, the Lord says, is Scripture, it is the mind and will of the Lord, it is the word of the Lord, and it is the power of God unto salvation. “And this is an ensample unto you, even all my servants who go forth to declare the words of life unto the inhabitants of the earth.”

Again, the Lord has said that it matters not whether it be by my own voice out of the heavens, whether it be by the administering of angels, or whether it be by the voice of my servants, it is all the same, and their words shall be fulfilled though the heavens and the earth pass away. This is the position which the Prophets, Apostles and Patriarchs have occupied upon the earth in every age and dispensation. They have had to be governed by the Spirit of God; and when men are sent with a message, and they speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost, their words are the words of the Lord, and they will be fulfilled.

We have had a good deal of teaching during this Conference from the servants of God, teachings given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. We occupy a very peculiar position on the earth, a position differing in many respects from any other dispensation of men. Paul says—“Though we or an angel from heaven preach unto you any other Gospel than that which we have preached, let him be accursed.” All the teachings of the Patriarchs and Prophets have shown us but one Gospel. There is but one Gospel, there never was but one and there never will be. The Gospel revealed for the salvation of man is the same in every age of the world. Adam, our first great progenitor and father, after the fall, received this Gospel, and he received the holy Priesthood in all its power, and its keys and ordinances. He sealed these blessings upon his sons—Seth, Enos, Jared, Cainan, Mahaleel, Enoch and Methusaleh. All these men received this high and holy Priesthood. They all professed to give revelation. They all had inspiration and left their record on the earth; and not one of them but what saw and prophesied about the great Zion of God in the latter days. And when we say this of them, we say it of every Apostle and Prophet who ever lived upon the earth. Their revelations and prophecies all point to our day and that great kingdom of God which was spoken of by Daniel, that great Zion of God spoken of by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and that great gathering of the house of Israel spoken of by Ezekiel and Malachi and many of the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets.

When the Lord has attempted to perform a work on the earth there has been one peculiarity with him, and that is, the instruments which he has made use of have occupied a peculiar position in the world. He has generally chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise, and things that were not to bring to pass things which were. When he wanted a man to deliver Israel, he called Moses, who was in an ark of bulrushes among the crocodiles and alligators of the river Nile, put there by his mother, a Hebrew woman, because Moses was her firstborn, and all the firstborn of the Hebrews had to be slain. The daughter of Pharaoh, through the providence of God, preserved Moses, and by her he was given to his mother to raise. When called to deliver Israel, Moses told the Lord that he was a man slow of speech. He did not feel qualified to perform so great a work, yet the Lord chose him, and he performed the work the Lord assigned him.

So when the Lord wanted a king for Israel and the lot fell upon the family of Jesse. The Prophet went and called for the sons of Jesse to pick out this king. All the boys were brought before him except David. He was the smallest of the flock, and was out taking care of the sheep. Jesse never thought of him at all. He brought his other sons, who had been trained in all the arts, sciences and learning of the day, and when they came in Samuel could not see the one he wanted. He asked Jesse if he had not any more sons. Yes, he had a boy taking care of the sheep. “Let’s see him,” said the Prophet; and when he came he was anointed king.

Jesus himself was born in a stable and cradled in a manger and traveled in poverty all the way through his life. When he chose his disciples he did not take the great, learned, rich and noble of that generation, but he chose fishermen, the most illiterate men and, in one sense of the word, we may say, almost the lowest calling among men in that day. They were the ones the Lord made use of to go forth to preach his Gospel and to build up his kingdom on the earth.

How is it in our day, in this great and last dispensation? The Lord required an instrument who would take hold and work with him. He required someone to lay the foundation of this great Church and kingdom who would be willing to step forth and be led in the channel that was according to the mind and will of God; a man who could not be swayed by the traditions and religions of the day. Whom did the Lord call? The Patriarchs and Prophets not only pointed out the Zion of God and the manner in which his Church and kingdom should be established and built up, but they even called the name of the man who should be called to establish this work, and I do not know but the name of his father. His name was to be Joseph and he was to be a lineal descendant of ancient Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, separated from his brethren. The record or stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, which Ezekiel speaks of, which was to be put with the record of the Jews in the last days, was to be an instrument in the hands of God of performing this great work of laying the foundation of this Church, and the gathering of the twelve tribes of the house of Israel. In that record the man’s name was pointed out as well as the work he was to do. Joseph Smith knew nothing of all this until after he was administered to by the angel of God; he had no knowledge of this when he brought forth that record to the world, and until he translated it, by the Urim and Thummim, into the English language. He had no knowledge whatever of this; but here was that great band, as strong as iron, that surrounded him by the revelations of God, for the last six thousand years, by every man who spoke of the work of God in the last days. These prophecies, revelations, and decrees of the Almighty, as it were, surrounded that man, and he had to be taught, not by man nor by the will of man, but he required the angels of God to come forth and teach him; it required the revelations of God to teach him, and he was taught for years by visions and revelations, and by holy angels sent from God out of heaven to teach and in– struct him and prepare him to lay the foundation of this Church.

As I before remarked, these prophecies surrounded him, forming, in one sense of the word, a band and a power he could not get out of. Why? Because no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, but holy men of old spoke as they were moved upon by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and when any of those Prophets and Patriarchs for the last six thousand years spoke, when wrapped in prophetic vision, of the Zion of God being established in the last dispensation, those decrees had to be fulfilled to the very letter.

When Joseph Smith received these revelations he was an illiterate boy, like David among the sheep. The Lord, in this day, did not choose one from among the great, mighty, rich or noble, but he choose one prepared from before the foundation of the world, to come forth in the last days, through the loins of ancient Joseph who, in the hands of God, was the savior of the house of Israel and of the Egyptians in his day. This man was raised up in his proper time, and came forth into the world, and the Lord began to feel after him and to prepare him; but he, himself, did not know even when he laid the foundation of this work. The Lord told him—“you will lay the foundation of a great work, but you know it not.” Joseph himself could not comprehend, unless he was wrapped in the visions of eternity, the importance of the work the foundation of which he had laid. When his mind was opened he could understand, in many respects, the designs of God; and these revelations were around him and they guided his footsteps. They could not fail of fulfillment, they had to be accomplished in the earth. The servant of God came forth and he received the Book of Mormon—the record or stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim. He brought forth that record according to the dictation of Moroni, Nephi and Lehi, the angels of God who administered to him, and he translated it into the English language before he laid the foundation of this Church. Joseph Smith did not call upon any man to ordain or to baptize him, but he waited until the Lord sent forth his servants to administer unto him. He was commanded of the Lord to go forth and be baptized, but not until he had received the Priesthood. Where did he get it, and in fact what is the Priesthood? It is the authority of God in heaven to the sons of men to administer in any of the ordinances of his house. There never was a man and never will be a man, in this or any other age of the world, who has power and authority to administer in one of the ordinances of the house of God, unless he is called of God as was Aaron, unless he has the holy Priesthood and is administered to by those holding that authority.

There was no man on the face of the earth, nor had not been for the last seventeen centuries, who had power and authority from God to go forth and administer in one of the ordinances of the house of God. What did he do then? Why, the Lord sent unto him John the Baptist, who, when upon the earth, held the Aaronic Priesthood, who was beheaded for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. He laid his hands upon the head of Joseph Smith and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and he never attempted to act in any authority of the Gospel until he received this Priesthood. Joseph was then qualified to baptize for the remission of sins, but he had not the authority to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and he never attempted to administer in this ordinance until Peter, James and John, two of whom—Peter and James—were also martyred for the testimony of Jesus and the word of God. These three men were the last who held the keys of the Apostleship in its fullness and power previous to this dispensation. They laid their hands upon the head of Joseph Smith, and sealed upon him every power, principle, ordinance and key belonging to the Apostleship, and until he received this ordination he was not qualified and had no right to administer in the ordinances of the house of God, but he did this after he received the Priesthood, and on the 6th day of April, 1830, he organized this Church with six members, which was the foundation of what we see today in this Tabernacle, and for six hundred miles through this American desert. This has all come from that small seed—the foundation of the great kingdom of our God upon the earth.

What did Joseph Smith do after having received this Priesthood and its ordinances? I will tell you what he did. He did that which seventeen centuries and fifty generations, that have passed and gone, of all the clergy and religions of Christendom, and the whole world combined were not able to do—he, although an illiterate youth, presented to the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness, plainness and simplicity, as taught by its Author and his Apostles; he presented the Church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God perfect in their organization, as Paul represents them—with head and feet, arms and hands, every member of the body perfect before heaven and earth. How could he, an illiterate boy, do that which the whole of the learning of the Christian world for seventeen centuries failed to do? Because he was moved upon by the power of God, he was instructed by those men who, when in the flesh, had preached the same Gospel themselves, and in doing this he fulfilled that which Father Adam, Enoch, Moses, Elias, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus and his Apostles all prophesied about. Well might Paul say—“I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believes.” So may the Latter-day Saints say—“We are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” I am not ashamed to say that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God; I am not ashamed to bear record that he was called of God, and laid the foundation of this Church and kingdom on the earth, for this is true, and any man or woman who is inspired by the Holy Ghost can see and understand these things.

My brethren and sisters and friends, here is laid the foundation of the fulfillment of that mighty flood of prophecy delivered since the days of Father Adam down to the last Prophet who breathed the breath of life. There has been more prophecy fulfilled in the last forty-three years upon the face of the earth, than in two thousand years before. These mighty prophecies, as I said before, like a band of iron, governed and controlled Joseph Smith in his labors while he lived on the earth. He lived until he received every key, ordinance and law ever given to any man on the earth, from Father Adam down, touching this dispensation. He received powers and keys from under the hands of Moses for gathering the house of Israel in the last days; he received under the hands of Elias the keys of sealing the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers; he received under the hands of Peter, James and John, the Apostleship, and everything belonging thereto; he received under the hands of Moroni all the keys and powers required of the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim; he received under the hand of John the Baptist the Aaronic Priesthood, with all its keys and powers, and every other key and power belonging to this dispensation, and I am not ashamed to say that he was a Prophet of God, and he laid the foundation of the greatest work and dispensation that has ever been established on the earth.

Joseph Smith lived until he gave his testament to the world, and when he had sealed all these keys, powers and blessings upon the head of Brigham Young and his brethren; when he had planted these keys on the earth so that they should be removed no more forever; when he had done this, and brought forth that record, that book of revelation, the proclamation of which involved the destiny of this whole generation—Jew, Gentile, Zion and Babylon, all the nations of the earth, he sealed that testimony with his blood in Carthage jail, where his life and that of his brother Hyrum were taken by the hands of wicked and ungodly men. Why was his life taken? Why were not John Taylor and Willard Richards, the only two of the Twelve at that time in Nauvoo and with him, also sacrificed? Why did Willard Richards, the largest man in the prison, stand in the midst of that shower of balls and escape without a hole in his robe or garment, or clothing? Because these things were all governed and controlled by the revelations of God and the word of the Lord. The Lord took whom he would take, and he preserved whom he would preserve, and he has done this all the way through. Why has Brigham Young been preserved, when he has stood as much chance to lay down his life in defense of this cause, and run as many dangers in one position and another as anybody else? Because the Lord has had a hand and a meaning in this, and he has preserved him for a certain purpose, and other men have been preserved by the same power. The whole of it has been the work of God on the earth. The revelations of God have surrounded Brigham Young. The revelations of God in ancient days affect him and the Apostles, and the Elders of Israel, as much as they have affected any people in any generation.

I will speak of another branch of this subject. We have the kingdom organized, the prophecies have been fulfilled, the Church has been planted in the earth, and now there are other portions of these revelations which must be fulfilled. We were settled in Jackson County, Clay County, Caldwell County, in Kirtland and finally in Nauvoo. We were driven from one place to another until we settled Nauvoo, and at last we were driven from Nauvoo into the wilderness and to this land, led here by President Brigham Young, under the inspiration of Almighty God. Some felt their faith tried that we had to leave our lovely Nauvoo and go into the wilderness. Bless your souls, there would have been a flood of revelation unfulfilled if these things had not been so. Isaiah speaks of the foundation of this great Zion, and writes the whole of her history and travels up to the present day, and from this time on until the winding-up scene. If we had not been driven from Nauvoo we would never have come up the Platte River, where, Isaiah says, he saw the Saints going by the river of water wherein went no galley with oars; a great company of women with child and her that travailed with child would never have come here to the mountains of Israel if we had not been driven from that land, and a whole flood of prophecy would have remained unfulfilled, with regard to our making this desert blossom as the rose, the waters coming forth out of the barren desert, our building the house of God on the tops of the mountains, lifting up a standard for these nations to flee to; all this and much more would have remained unfulfilled had we not been guided and led by the strong arm of Jehovah, whose words must be fulfilled though the heavens and the earth pass away.

Having been brought to Zion, another subject presents itself to our consideration—namely, the position which President Young occupies in regard to us today. He calls upon us to build Temples, cities, towns and villages, and to do a great deal of temporal work. Strangers and the Christian world marvel at the “Mormons” talking about temporal things. Bless your souls, two-thirds of all the revelations given in this world rest upon the accomplishment of this temporal work. We have it to do, we can’t build up Zion sitting on a hemlock slab singing ourselves away to everlasting bliss; we have to cultivate the earth, to take the rocks and elements out of the mountains and rear Temples to the Most High God; and this temporal work is demanded at our hands by the God of heaven, as much as he required Christ to die to redeem the world, or as much as the Savior required Peter, James and John to go and preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. This is the great dispensation in which the Zion of God must be built up, and we as Latter-day Saints have it to build. People think it strange because so much is said with regard to this. I will tell you Latter-day Saints, and the Christian world too, our work will fall short, we will come short of our duties, and we never shall perform the work that God Almighty has decreed we shall perform unless we enter into these temporal things. We are obliged to build cities, towns and villages, and we are obliged to gather the people from every nation under heaven to the Zion of God, that they may be taught in the ways of the Lord. We have only just begun to prepare for the celestial law when we are baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

There has been a good deal said here with regard to baptism for the dead. When Joseph Smith had laid the foundation of this work he was taken away. There are good reasons why it was so. Jesus sealed his testimony with his blood. Joseph Smith did the same, and from the day he died his testimony has been in force upon the whole world. He has gone into the spirit world and organized this dispensation on that side of the veil; he is gathering together the Elders of Israel and the Saints of God in the spirit world, for they have a work to do there as well as here. Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Father Smith, David Patten and the other Elders who have been called to the other side of the veil have fifty times as many people to preach to as we have on the earth. There they have all the spirits who have lived on the earth in seventeen centuries—fifty generations, fifty thousand millions of persons who lived and died here without having seen a Prophet or Apostle, and without having the word of the Lord sent unto them. They are shut up in prison, awaiting the message of the Elders of Israel. We have only about a thousand millions of people on the earth, but in the spirit world they have fifty thousand millions; and there is not a single revelation which gives us any reason to believe that any man who enters the spirit world preached the Gospel there to those who lived after him; but they all preach to men who were in the flesh before they were. Jesus himself preached to the antediluvian world, who had been in prison for thousands of years. So with Joseph Smith and the Elders—they will have to preach to the inhabitants of the earth who have died during the last seventeen centuries; and when they hear the testimony of the Elders and accept it there should be somebody on the earth, as we have been told, to attend to the ordinances of the house of God for them, that they may be judged according to men in the flesh and come forth in the morning of the first resurrection and have a part therein with us.

These are eternal principles of the Gospel of Christ. We have been commanded and have been under the necessity of going forth and declaring it to the sons of men. I will ask by what power have these Apostles and Elders taken their knapsacks on their backs, wading swamps and rivers, and preaching without purse and scrip, as they have done for years and years past and gone. What power has sustained them? As I have said before, these revelations of God, these great commandments and prophecies that have been given for the last six thousand years. They have been inspired by the Spirit and power of God, they have been commanded to go forth and warn this generation by preaching the Gospel to them. Here is President Brigham Young who has traveled, as poor as any man could be, tens of thousand miles, without purse and scrip, to preach the Gospel to the sons of men. So have his brethren. They have been sustained by the hand of the Almighty, and if they had not done it they would have been under condemnation. Why? The angel of God, who restored the everlasting Gospel to earth, said it must be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue and people under the whole heaven, for the hour of God’s judgment had come. The hour of God’s judgment is at the door of this nation and the Christian world. Brother Erastus Snow here, a week last Sunday, told us about preaching to the dead, and the judgments that awaited the nations. Other Elders have referred to the same subject. But seventeen hundred years have passed without Prophets, Apostles and Patriarchs. The judgments of God did not rest upon the nations of the earth during that time as they will after the proclamation of this Gospel. This message that Joseph Smith brought to the world involves the destinies of this whole generation, not only of this nation, but the whole Christian and Jewish world, Zion and Babylon, the whole of it. They now stand, as it were, warned of the Lord. The Gospel has had to go to them. We have been obliged to go abroad to preach the Gospel to the nations; we should have been condemned, and smitten by the arm of Jehovah; if we had failed to fulfill the revelations given unto us. It is by that power that President Young, Joseph Smith, the Twelve Apostles, and the thousands of Elders of Israel have been moved upon to go forth and do the work of God.

Now then, my friends, are we going to stop here? Are the rest of the prophecies not to be fulfilled? Is the Lord going to cut his work in two, or let the rest go unfulfilled? I tell you nay, the word of the Lord is going to be fulfilled, and the Lord is not going to give this kingdom to another people. The Lord has raised up a set of men and women, and he will inspire and move upon them to carry out this great work, and we have got it to do. Zion is going to rise and shine, and to put on her beautiful garments; she will be clothed with the glory of God, and for brass she will have gold; for iron silver and for stone iron. All these revelations touching the last days have got to be fulfilled. President Young is moved upon to call upon Zion to do her duty. Why is he thus moved upon? Because the power of revelation surrounds him and crowds upon him to magnify his calling and do his duty among the sons of men. The power of God rests upon him, and he will never hold his peace until Zion is built up and perfected, the house of Israel gathered and the work of God performed under his administration as long as he dwells in the flesh. He is as much under the power of God and the revelations of Jesus Christ as any man that ever breathed the breath of life.

We have got to build this Temple. The Lord requires it at our hands. We have to pay our Tithing—the Lord requires it at our hands. The Lord has never said by any revelation that Brigham Young should build a Temple alone, that his counselors, or that the Apostles or Bishops should do it alone. This responsibility rests upon every man and woman who has entered into covenant with the Lord in these latter days; and if we do not discharge it we shall suffer, the Lord will chastise us. He is not going to leave us, and he is not going to take this kingdom away from the Latter-day Saints and give it to anybody else, for they are the Saints, and although mixed like corn in a sieve among the Gentile nations they have been prepared from the foundation of the world to come forth as the sons of Jacob in these latter days, to build up the Zion of God on the earth. We have got to come to it. We must give our earnest support to cooperation, for it is a step in advance towards establishing the Order of Enoch and the building up of the Zion of God. The servant of God is moved upon to call upon us to perform this work, and we have it to do.

There are some prophecies pertaining to these latter days that are unpleasant to contemplate. President Young has been calling upon the daughters of Zion day after day, now, for years, to lay aside these Babylonish fashions. I have been reading the third chapter of Isaiah, and I have been hoping, all the days of my ministry, that the sayings contained in that chapter would never apply to the daughters of Zion in our day; but I believe they will and inasmuch as they will not listen to President Young and to the Prophets, Apostles and Elders of Israel with regard to throwing off these nonsensical things, I hope they will hasten the lengthening out of their skirts and drag them in the streets; that they will increase their round tires like the moon, increase their hoops, and their headbands, increase their Grecian bends at once and carry it out until they get through with it, so that we can turn to the Lord as a people. Some of the daughters of Zion do not seem willing to forsake the fashions of Babylon. I to such would say has– ten it, and let the woe that is threatened on this account come, that we may get through with it, then we can go on and build up the Zion of God on the earth. But in spite of the follies that some among us delight in, we are going to build up Zion. We are going to fill these mountains with the cities and people of God. The weapons formed against Zion will be broken, and the nations of the Gentiles will visit her and their kings will, come to the brightness of her rising. I often think when I see gentlemen and ladies sitting in our Tabernacles, who have come over this great highway that has been cast up, whether they realize that they are fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah. I think this many times in my own mind. I am satisfied that they do not realize it, but they are fulfilling the revelations of God. The Gentiles are coming to the light of Zion and kings to the brightness of her rising. All these things have been spoken of and will be fulfilled; and by and by, when we are sanctified and made perfect, when we are chastised and humbled before the Lord, when we have got our eyes opened, and our hearts set upon building up the kingdom of God, then will we return and rebuild the waste places of Zion. We have got this to fulfill in our day and generation. Then think not, ye Elders of Israel, ye sons and daughters of Zion, that we are going to live after the order of Babylon always. We are not. We shall be chastised and afflicted, and shall feel the chastening rod of the Almighty, unless we serve the Lord our God, and build up his kingdom, for he has given us all power; yes, all power is given into our hands to perform this work.

Where is the man or the woman on the face of the earth who cannot see the hand of God in our deliverance until today? Every weapon has been broken that has ever been formed against us. Point me out an individual or a people who have ever taken a stand against Joseph Smith or Brigham Young, the Zion of God or the Elders of Israel, and who have sought to overthrow this work, but what the curse of God has rested upon them. Show me one of that class who has not gone down to the dust, and as it has been in days past so it will be in days to come. Woe to that nation, kindred, tongue and people under the whole heavens who war against Zion in the latter days; every weapon shall be broken that is formed against her, and that nation that will not serve her shall be utterly wasted away saith the Lord of hosts. These things are true, and I would warn Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner and all the world to be careful what they do as touching them.

A few words more to the Latter-day Saints. I want to say to the brethren and to the sisters, let us cease finding fault one with another; let us not say that this man or this woman does wrong, this family does wrong, this person or the other sets a bad example; let us realize that we ourselves are held responsible for what we do. It will do me no good if I apostatize because somebody’s family follows the fashions of Babylon, or because some man or woman or some set of men and women do wrong. Let us cease this kind of work, and all of us look to ourselves. It will do me no good if I apostatize because I think somebody else does not do right. We should lay aside this, there is too much of it in the Zion of God today, and has been a good while, finding fault with this, that and the other, instead of looking at home. Let us all look at home, and each one try to govern his own family and set his own house in order, and do that which is required of us, realizing that each one is held responsible before the Lord for his or her individual actions only.

I pray God, my heavenly Father that he will pour out his Spirit upon the daughters of Zion, upon the mothers in Zion, upon the Elders, and upon all her inhabitants, that we may listen to the counsels of the servants of God, that we may be justified in the sight of God, that we may be preserved in the faith, that we may have power to build Temples, build up Zion, redeem our dead, and be redeemed ourselves, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at the Semi-Annual Conference, October 8, 1873.

Before the brethren and sisters disperse, we wish to say a few words to them in relation to building the Temples that are in progress. I think it was in 1852 that we broke the ground for this Temple. We have met with a great many obstacles in the way of its progress. After the foundation was level with the ground, we commenced to use granite, which had to be hauled some eighteen miles, and we hauled it with oxen and mules. Whenever oppression from our enemies or other causes did not prevent, we progressed with this great work. The building is nearly 200 feet long and about 120 feet wide. The foundation of the side walls is sixteen feet wide, while that of the towers at each end has a proportionately broad footing. When completed, the pinnacles will be 112 feet high, while the main tower will be 225 feet high. The building will be a majestic one, and will creditably compare with any large building in the world. We have now gained an advantage that we never had before—that is, railway communication directly with the granite quarry. It is true that we have to change from narrow to broad gauge, causing a little trouble; we bring from two to four carloads a day of this granite on to the Temple Block. There are some eighty men cutting these stones, and there is a party of men now engaged in laying them. I invite all the brethren from a distance to go on to the ground when the men are at work, and see how beautifully they handle these large stones, and how accurately they place them in their position, for I hope that every Latter-day Saint feels enough interest in the building of the Temple to lift his heart in prayer to the Most High that he will enable us to build the Temples which we have commenced, that we may continue the work of salvation for ourselves and our dead.

We are employing a considerable force of men in the stone quarry, and have been increasing the number of late. Our hope in doing so is to get a quantity of stone quarried before the winter sets in, that we may continue the work of stone cutting through the winter. As it is now, when only two car loads a day arrive, some of the stone cutters on the block will be idle, for it requires nearly three car loads a day to supply them. We are very glad that we are able to move the Temple forward, but you must be aware that all this takes means. The mining companies in the mountains pay, or promise to pay, high wages; and we have to pay a pretty liberal price in order to satisfy the brethren who work on the Temple. A portion of this is paid in the staple products of the country, and the residue in money, or merchandise, which is the same thing as money to us, for we have to pay money for it. We accordingly appeal to the brethren, both here and throughout the world, to remember their duties and their offerings for the Temple. Remember that the ordinances by which we gain exaltation for ourselves and our relatives, who have gone before us, are only administered in a holy house, which has been built in the name of, and dedicated to, the Most High God, according to his laws and commandments.

It would seem that in Salt Lake City and vicinity, there should be abundance of Tithes and offerings to carry on the work on the Temple; yet we are suffered to go behind, get into debt and incur responsibilities. It is the duty of our brethren and sisters, Bishops, teachers and all, to wake up to this subject, and remembering what is required of them by the law of the Lord, to contribute of their mites and of their abundance, that when this great building shall be dedicated, they can come forward knowing it is their offering to the Most High; that their tenths have been expended upon it, and that they have the right to the privilege of entering its basement and receiving the ordinances of baptism for their dead, to pass through the various ordi– nances of the Priesthood, and have the necessary sealings duly recorded, for themselves and their ancestors, and bequeath to their posterity the blessings which are there sealed upon them for ever. I exhort the brethren to consider these things.

It is said that in judging the conduct of others we should be merciful. This is a kind of proverb or select sentence. But it goes on further to say, that in criticising ourselves we should be exact and severe. Now when we come to judge our Tithing, and the interests we invest in the Temples of the Lord, let us do it conscientiously, each one for himself or herself.

I spoke here, the other day, a little in relation to the Word of Wisdom, and I again appeal to my brethren and my sisters to observe it, for I know that if they neglect to do so, before they pass behind the veil they will mourn, wail and weep in their hearts, for it will have a tendency to shorten their days, decrease their strength and lessen their glory. To those brethren who indulge in intoxicating drinks I say, Cease this folly. Brethren, I appeal to you in the name of humanity, in mercy to your wives and children, in the name of my Father in heaven and in the name of his Son, and say, Waste not your strength and your life with folly of this kind. Let intoxicating drinks alone, entirely alone.

We are looking forward to the day when we shall return to Jackson County. The time will come when the Latter-day Saints will build, in Independence, Mo., a holy city. That will one day be the Center Stake of Zion, the center spot of the New Jerusalem which God is to build on this land. We can only be prepared for that work by being united. Can we not unite a little in building a Temple, in contributing a tenth of all our substance to that work? Can we not unite a little in erecting a factory, in establishing a store? Can we not learn, step by step, the principles of unity, which will enable us to be the people of God, like the Zion of Enoch, and prepare us for a dwelling with the blest? Let us consider these things, and sustain with all our powers all the efforts that are made to bring about a unity among the Saints. Every step we take of this kind is in the right direction. Sustain our Cooperative stores, and cease to sustain those who do not build up Zion. The Elders of Israel have traversed the earth and gathered you from distant nations, and you have come here to serve the Lord; but if you expend your energies and means in sustaining those who would destroy the Saints, you are only laying the foundation of your own degradation, for as the Lord God lives, the man who will not sustain Zion will be cut off.

Remember these things, brethren and sisters, and sustain the servant of God and the institutions of heaven. Pray for those who are in authority, sustain the organizations that are established for the welfare of Zion, and cease to sustain her enemies. Circulate among the people our publications. Let the sermons of the Presidency and of the Apostles, that are published in the Deseret News, be read in every habitation. Circulate the publications of the Church wherever you can, and supply your families with Bibles and Testaments. Sustain and maintain Sabbath schools, and encourage all the children, and as many grown people as may be necessary, to attend, that these schools may prosper, and be useful.

I thought, in the start, of a great many subjects that I wished to talk about. In the Sunday School Union, which met last evening, eighteen thousand children were represented, who were regular attendants at the Sabbath schools in this Territory. This is not what it should be. It is very extensive I will admit, but at the same time there is a school population in this Territory of about thirty-five thousand. The State of Nevada has for years received very large means in various ways from the United States for sustaining schools; but the whole population of that State is probably not equal to the number of school children in this Territory, and yet they have had all the resources usually given by the national government to States to sustain schools. The State of Nebraska was admitted into the Union when it had but a small population, but it received the same liberal school bequest, and it is reported that the Governor stole the outfit, and was impeached and dismissed from office for so doing. Whether they recovered the money or not I do not know. At any rate they disgraced him. The idea among many of these public officers is that if they can only steal skillfully enough not to be caught and brought to justice, it is all right. But the Governor of Nebraska was a little clumsy, and consequently they impeached him. There is said to be a great deal of swindling among these public officers, and in Nebraska it was the school fund that was assailed.

We have never had in this Territory national aid for schools to the amount of a dollar, or from any other source than our own pockets, and I am proud of the achievements of the Territory with regard to schools. We should not relax our efforts. Our Sunday School Union should be able to bring out more Sunday school scholars than now attend.

I want to say to my brethren that our journeyings in the Holy Land had a tendency to inform us with regard to many things we did not understand, and we now know much better than before our visit how to establish missions in those countries, which will be done at a proper time as the Lord opens the way. They are, however, fearfully tied up with ignorance, superstition and oppressive laws, &c. But we found more bigotry, narrow-mindedness and disposition to proscribe each other among those professing Christianity than among any other class of people in the Turkish Empire.

In Jerusalem there was an attempt made by certain men of science to search for the old foundations of the city. They sank down some hundred and seventy feet, and they found that the old foundation was built among the mountains, and little valleys running between them. Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, Mount Calvary, the Mount of Olives and others are all in the neighborhood, and there were anciently deep ravines between, and the city was originally built with terraces, one street rising above another. It is said that some of the Christians feared that this investigation would result in proving that the holy places, which are so much worshiped and adored, were not the true holy places, so they, I was told by some respectable Jews who were anxious to have the investigation go on, exercised an influence with the Turkish government to stop it, on the ground that the excavation were likely to undermine Jerusalem. At any rate the investigation was stopped. The Greek, Latin, Coptic and Armenian sects were said to have been principally interested in this matter.

The American minister to the Turkish empire assured me that he had greater difficulty in promoting peace among the different Christian sects toward each other than he had among the Muhammadans and Christians, and in most cases the Christians were far less tolerant towards each other than the Muhammadans were towards them. When we find Elders who have the spirit of such a mission and wish to labor in the work of the Lord, and to go into those countries and learn the languages, we shall send some of them there to make an attempt to introduce the Gospel. President Joseph Smith laid us under obligations to preach the Gospel or send it to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and wherever the way has opened we have exerted ourselves to the utmost to do this. We have a Territory here hundreds of miles in extent, occupied by a thriving population. Where did they come from? They have been gathered from the nations wherever the Elders of Israel have been permitted to preach. A great many of the Christian nations are locked up. A man could now preach in Italy, but the traditions of the people are so strong that it would be a dangerous experiment probably to undertake it. While conversing with some Greek members of parliament they said to us—“We are Christians already, why not go among the heathens and teach them Christ? We know something about Christ now, and that is enough.” The constitution of Greece provides that all sects may be tolerated, but proselytism is prohibited from the Oriental Greek church, so you may think as you have a mind to, but if you get any of the people to believe in the Gospel and they are baptized you are subject to a penalty.

I wish to bear my testimony to the truths of the Gospel, to express my gratitude to the Conference for the attendance and attention, and to return my heartfelt thanks to our brethren and sisters who have made us music. I am gratified at the attendance of the singers from the various settlements. I feel that the blessing of Israel’s God will be upon them. I hope the brethren and sisters will treasure up what they have heard and profit by it. Every man who has spoken has seemed to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. At the opening of the Conference I requested that the prayer of faith should ascend on high that the Spirit of the Almighty might dictate and control those who spoke, that we might be edified by the power of the Almighty. Our prayer has been heard, and we can now go away from this Conference to the different parts of the Territory, or to our several missions abroad, wherever we are called, with a united faith and confidence that we shall be better men, and that we shall more truly and faithfully perform our duties than we have done before.

The blessings of Israel’s God be upon you all, and may we all be faithful in the performance of our several duties, exercising faith before God to deliver us from our enemies, and cause that the Lamanites may be peaceable in our midst; for I will assure you, brethren, that if you want the Lamanites to be peaceable towards you, you must cultivate peaceable feelings in your hearts towards them, and never desire to shed their blood.

The peace of God be upon you all, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at the Semi-Annual Conference, October 7, 1873.

I feel a deep interest in the subjects which have been brought before us this morning by the Elders who have spoken, as well as in every discourse that has been uttered since the commencement of the Conference, and I hope that the impressions which have been made will be lasting. In relation to intemperance, we, all of us, as Latter-day Saints, should observe the Word of Wisdom; and if we do not observe it, we lay a foundation to weaken ourselves. You will see young persons come to the table in the morning, and they want some tea, or coffee, or a cup of good, strong, warm drink. A habit of this kind has, perhaps, already been acquired by them, and it is likely to continue until they become slaves to it. In a little while it affects the complexion, it weakens the mind and the body throughout, and lays the foundation for a weaker generation to follow. Of course it is no use to talk to men about tobacco. It takes a man of energy to quit chewing tobacco, a man who has a mind and independence; boys who undertake it seldom accomplish it, though they are very foolish ever to indulge in the habit.

I feel like exhorting my brethren and sisters to abstain from everything prohibited in the Word of Wisdom, and to live in accordance with its principles as near as our climate and the productions of our country will permit. So far as intoxicating drinks are concerned, it is worse than madness and folly for men to indulge in them. There is something comparatively innocent in tea, coffee or tobacco when compared with intoxicating drinks. Of course a man who uses tobacco freely for years gets an appetite for liquor; he lays a foundation for an appetite for liquor, and after a while he craves it and must have it. He should let tobacco alone in the start; but yet tobacco does not make a man insane in a minute. Some of our most promising business men, who have come to Salt Lake City at different periods, have carried themselves to untimely graves by indulging in intoxicating drink. Men whose voices have been heard in the Tabernacle, men who have rendered service in the offices, and who have been honored, have died like a dog in a ditch, or in a most degraded manner, in consequence of indulging in intoxicating drinks. A man says to another—“Come, take a drink.” “No, I don’t wish any.” “Oh, don’t be so pious, come and take a drink with us, don’t be a coward;” and so, for fear of being a coward, he takes the drink. Shame on such a man! Why not quietly say—“No, I do not need it;” and if the invitation is repeated, say—“No more of that, gentlemen,” and be man enough to let it alone, rather than yield and let a habit creep upon him that will destroy him. I have heard men say—“I can drink, or let it alone;” then let it alone; but some of those who can “drink or let it alone” will get drunk every day. They have sold themselves to the cursed alcohol. Let the Elders of Israel cease this habit and learn wisdom. When you come to meet the presence of your Father in heaven, when you wish for the rewards of your Priesthood, you who have not obeyed the Word of Wisdom will wail at the loss you have sustained in consequence of your folly. Think of these things, continue to think of them, pray over them, and set an example before your children that is worthy of imitation. If an old lady of seventy comes to my house at Conference, and I get her a cup of tea, if there is a girl there of fifteen, she will want to drink with grandma, and she will think she must have it because grandma does. This has been my experience in times past. I do not have it now; I do not get tea for people, unless they pretend to be sick, then I tell my folks to make them a tin cup full of good, strong catnip tea. That is a rule I have prescribed. I do not know how my folks keep it. I certainly do not intend to place any restrictions on them any further than their own wisdom dictates. But if they use these things they do it in violation of my advice and run their own risks, and so do all others.

I say, brethren and sisters, let us observe the Word of Wisdom. We are doing a great business in the tea, coffee and tobacco in the Cooperative Store. When we first esta– blished it we thought we would not sell tobacco at all; but pretty soon the Superintendent asked the Directors if he might not bring in some poor kind of tobacco to kill the ticks on the sheep. It was very soon discovered that unless they sold tobacco, so many Latter-day Saints used it, that a successful opposition could be run against them on the tobacco trade alone, and they had to commence it, I believe, under the plea that it was brought on to kill the ticks on sheep. Shame on such Latter-day Saints, so far as tobacco is concerned.

I will say a word in relation to the colleges which brother Jesse N. Smith spoke about. As he said, we have struggled against many difficulties as far as education is concerned, and our university and our colleges, so far, have simply been schools for the education of teachers in the primary branches. We have sometimes employed professors and taught many different branches. But a great effort has been made to educate teachers for primary schools, and some of them have taken great pains to inform themselves. They have held associations and got up a normal and training class, have given lectures, and this summer they spent six weeks voluntarily to instruct each other.

It has been the uniform custom of the General Government to give the different States public lands and money to a liberal extent for educational purposes. None of this has ever been made available for Utah; we have had to carry everything by our own individual effort. Now that there are many young men and women among us who wish to study more advanced branches than we have, as yet, been able to organize, they would like to go to famous seats of learning in distant parts of the country for that purpose. A cooperative effort is now required on the part of the people, as a matter of domestic economy, to establish schools of a higher order, and to provide the professors and apparatus necessary to impart instruction in the higher branches of learning, that our young people may be able to obtain the education they desire at home; for while they would go away and spend five or six hundred dollars a year each, the same amount expended here would establish schools for the higher branches, and cut off a large proportion of the expense in all time to come. We would like to have all the Wards and settlements consider these questions, and make it a matter of real interest to bring about an organization and to supply the means necessary for this object.

In the foundation of a country it is necessary, of course, to look well to its primary schools; we have tried to do this, we are still doing it, and, I believe considering their circumstances, the people of Utah have done more for education than the people of any other Territory.

May the blessing of Israel’s God be upon us in all our efforts to guide our children, in all our efforts to maintain the principles of temperance, to observe the Word of Wisdom and keep the commandments of God, and to establish such schools and colleges as shall enable us to advance in all branches that are useful, for our religion includes every good and true principle. There is no principle on the face of the earth or in heaven that is true, but what belongs to “Mormonism.” May God enable us to do these things as we should, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Joseph F. Smith, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at the Semi-Annual Conference, October 7, 1873.

To say I have been very much interested in the instructions that we have had at this Conference is but faintly to express my feelings. We have had much very excellent teaching, which we will do well to give heed to. I cannot believe that the congregations that have attended this Conference will cast lightly aside these teachings. Certain it is that all the preaching that can be done by those who are most competent, and most richly endowed with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, will not benefit the people in the least, unless they will receive it, and will realize that the counsels which are given are designed expressly for themselves. It is not for us to say, “that does not mean me,” and “that applies to my neighbor;” or “that has reference to the doings of so and so.” We should each feel that the instructions given have direct reference to ourselves individually; that counsel or that commandment is for me, and it is for me, as a individual, to put it into practice. This is the only course that will benefit, and fit us for the responsibilities that will de– volve upon us in the future. It will not do for us to say—“If brother so and so, or sister so and so, will observe and carry out that counsel, I shall be satisfied to remain as I am.” We cannot obtain blessings from God by taking this course; the only way to secure them is by diligence on our own part. When we are prepared, by our own works and diligence, to receive the blessings that God has in store for the faithful; then, and not till then, shall we receive them. It will not do for us to be satisfied for our brother to prepare himself to receive the blessings God has promised to his children, and to rest content with seeing him receive the light of truth, the blessings of the Gospel, and manifest a willingness to work righteousness in the earth. That will not reach us, only so far as we adopt his course and follow his example.

This is how I look at the requirements which God has made upon his people collectively and individually, and I do believe that I have no claim upon God or upon my brethren for blessing, favor, confi– dence or love, unless, by my works, I prove that I am worthy thereof, and I never expect to receive blessings that I do not merit. Who does? I do not know that anybody does, yet if we were to judge by the actions of some, we must come to the conclusion that they are satisfied by seeing others live their religion.

I love the society of the good, honorable and pure, of those who love virtue and work righteousness. To associate and be numbered with such and to have my portion and my lot with them in this life, and to live so that I can secure that association in the life to come, throughout the countless ages of eternity. I take no pleasure in the society of the wicked, for this reason—the pleasures of the wicked will cease and be forgotten, and the wicked will die and will not be regretted, their names will be cast out from the presence of God and from the things of the righteous forever and ever. I, therefore, want no part with them, but I want to cast my lot with those who are securing to themselves eternal riches and happiness. To obtain these blessings I must be found walking in their footsteps and following their examples, otherwise I shall come short.

This is how I understand the principles of the Gospel and the work we are engaged in. It is an individual work. You and I must secure the blessings of eternal lives for ourselves, through obedience and the mercy of God. We have the volition of our own wills and we can choose evil or good, the society of the wicked or that of the good; we can enlist under the banner of Christ, or under that of Belial. We have this option, and can do whichever we choose. Therefore we must look well to our ways, and see that we choose the right course, and build upon a foundation that will not wash away. We have got to learn to stand or fall for ourselves, male and female. It is true that we are taught in the principles of the Gospel that man is the head of the woman, and Christ is the head of the man; and according to the order that is established in the kingdom of God, it is the duty of the man to follow Christ, and it is the duty of the woman to follow the man in Christ, not out of him.

But has not a woman the same volition that the man has? Can she not follow or disobey the man as he can follow or disobey Christ? Certainly she can, she is responsible for her acts, and must answer for them. She is endowed with intelligence and judgment, and will stand upon her own merits as much so as the man. That is why the brethren, during this Conference, have been teaching the sisters that they must refrain from the fashions of Babylon. They must use their own judgment and agency as to whether they will obey this counsel or not. If they will not obey it, they will be responsible as much as the men are responsible for their acts. The man is responsible for the woman only so far as she is influenced by, or is obedient to, his counsels. Christ is responsible for the man so far as the man walks in obedience to the laws and commandments he has given, but no further, and so far will his atoning blood redeem and cleanse from sin; so far as they obey them will the principles of eternal life revealed in the Gospel have effect upon the souls of men, so also with women. So sisters, do not flatter yourselves that you have nothing to answer for so long as you may have a good husband. You must be obedient. Obe– dience is the first law of heaven. Without it the elements could not be controlled. Without it neither the earth nor those who dwell upon it could be controlled. The angels in heaven would not be controlled without it, and in fact without obedience there could be no union or order, and chaos and confusion would prevail. When we are obedient we may be guided to the accomplishment of all that is required of us by our heavenly Father, for it is on this principle that the designs and purposes of God are accomplished. The elements are obedient to his word. He said, “Let there be light and there was light.” He commanded the land and the waters to be divided, and it was so. When Christ commanded the storm to be still, and the sea to be calm, the elements were obedient to him. The earth, and all the worlds which God has made are obedient to the laws of their creation, for this reason there are peace, harmony, union, increase, power, glory and dominion, which could not exist without obedience. For the lack of obedience the whole world today lies in sin, for except the little existing among this people, obedience cannot be found on the face of the earth. Go to the religions of the day, do you find obedience manifested by the people? No, but you find man everywhere self-willed and untractable, therefore confusion and anarchy reign. It is said in the Scriptures that all things are possible with God; but he only works in accordance with the principles by which he himself is governed; and hence he cannot convince nations of the truth against their will. As the poet says—

Know this, that every soul is free, To choose his life and what he’ll be; For this eternal truth is given, That God will force no man to heaven. He’ll call, persuade, direct aright— Bless him with wisdom, love and light— In nameless ways be good and kind, But never force the human mind.

That is the way that God deals with man, therefore I say, he cannot work with this generation. They have set him aside and made themselves supreme. They have fulfilled the words of the prophet Paul when he said, “That in the last days perilous times should come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affections, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” &c.

No one could better describe the condition of this generation, and yet light has come into the world, but it is rejected, and for this reason the world lies in sin, and under condemnation. The people of God lie under condemnation too, so far as they are disobedient to the counsels of God’s servants. We talk of obedience, but do we require any man or woman to ignorantly obey the counsels that are given? Do the first Presidency require it? No, never. What do they desire? That we may have our minds opened and our understandings enlarged, that we may comprehend all true principles for ourselves; then we will be easily governed thereby, we shall yield obedience with our eyes open, and it will he a pleasure for us to do so.

The Lord does not accept obedience from men except that which they render cheerfully and gladly in their hearts, and that is all that is desired by his servants. That is the obedience we ought to render, and if we do not we are under condemnation.

What matters what the world say in regard to us? Nothing. What do I care? Have I spent thirty years of life, with the opportunities that have been afforded me, and am yet ignorant of the way of eternal life. If I have, then I am to be pitied. “Why then,” says the blasphemer, “do you yield obedience to the servants of God?” Because it is meat and drink to me to do so. Because it is for my safety and for my best good. I ask no odds of the world. I have learned that it is the very best thing that I can do, and I should be a fool indeed not to do that which is for my best good. I intend to do it, and I do not care what the world say about me.

I am sorry to say that there are some of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints, who meet with the Saints on the Sabbath and partake of the Sacrament, witnessing that they are willing to take upon them the name of Christ, and to follow him through evil as well as good report, and yet in their hearts they oppose the plans and projects of those whom they pretend to upheld and sustain. I know and could call the names of some of these men. Shame on them! I say, in the name of manhood, come out and show your colors! Say you will not be obedient, and cease to be hypocrites, cease lying in the presence of God, and trying to deceive yourselves and your brethren. Tell us what you are, take your stand where you belong, and do not deceive the unwary. You cannot deceive those who have the Spirit of God, for they can discern your hearts.

I love the cause of the Gospel. I love this people, because, of all others on the face of the earth they have enlisted under the banner of King Emanuel. They have covenanted with God to keep his com– mandments, and they are the most willing of any on the face of the earth to hearken to God’s inspired servants. I love them for this reason, and I want to be identified with them, not only in time but throughout eternity. Without them I would have no home, no friends. I want none without them.

Let us keep the commandments and counsels that have been given to us, let us not be hearers of the word only, but let us be doers of it as well as hearers. Let us put away the foolish fashions of the world, live up to the truth, and seek to find out God, whom to know is life eternal. The road to this knowledge is obedience to his laws and to the whisperings of the still small voice in our own hearts. That will lead us into truth if we will hearken, and do not blunt the monitor that is within us. Let us do our duty, and be for God and his kingdom. Let our motto be—“The kingdom of God or nothing.” Because in the kingdom there is everything, and outside of it nothing at all. We heard here, the other day, from the President, that the Gospel embraces everything that is good and true or desirable to the pure in heart. I have said that outside the kingdom of God there is nothing, but there is something. What is it? Disappointment, sorrow, anguish and death, and everything that will make us miserable; while everything that is good, desirable and worth possessing eternally is to be found only in the Gospel of Christ.

Says one, “Do not people who are not Latter-day Saints have a great many blessings and enjoy a great many good things?” Certainly they do, they enjoy gold, silver and worldly honors—they have a plentitude of greenbacks, houses, lands, carriages, horses, luxury and ease. Dives had all these, in this world, while Lazarus crawled at his feet and begged for the crumbs that fell from his table; but afterward Dives lifted up his eyes in hell and saw Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom enjoying the good things that he had formerly possessed in the world, and he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to alleviate his parching tongue. But even this poor boon was denied him, he being informed that there was an impassable gulf between them; and said Abraham to Dives—(in effect), “When you were in the flesh you had Moses and the Prophets, you had the Gospel preached to you, but you rejected and refused to obey it. You had your good portion and your enjoyments in the world, now you are denied them, they are given to Lazarus.” How long do the honors, wealth, and pleasures of the worldling last? Until death claims him for its own, then he ceases to enjoy them, because he has failed to secure his title to them, they have not been sealed upon him by the authority of the Priesthood of the Son of God, which has power to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven. If they have wives and children, when death calls them they are no longer theirs, because they have not been sealed unto them by the power of God. They do not obey the truth, they do not receive the ministrations of the Priesthood, and consequently they are deprived, not only of their wealth, but of their wives and children.

We are not living only for the few miserable years that we spend on this earth, but for that life which is interminable; and we desire to enjoy every blessing throughout these countless ages of eternity, but unless they are secured to us by that sealing power which was given to the Apostle Peter by the Son of God, we cannot possess them. Unless we secure them on that principle, in the life to come we shall have neither father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children, nor friends, nor wealth nor honor, for all earthly “contracts, covenants, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, connections, and associations,” are dissolved in the grave, except those sealed and ratified by the power of God. It is said in the Scriptures that the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s, and that they are to be given to the Saints of the Most High God, and they are to possess them forever and ever.

You know that those who have not faith in the Gospel call us exclusive and uncharitable; they say—“You cast out all except those of your faith.” Then enroll yourselves under the banner of King Emanuel, to whom the earth and its fullness belong, and when it shall be given to the Saints of the Most High God, you will come in for your share, and only in that way can you do so. Obedience to the Gospel of Christ is the only way to secure blessings for the life that now is, or that which is to come. We are not talking in parables, neither are we ignorantly repeating the words of the ancient Apostles. Our declarations are founded upon modern revelation and inspiration, and we know whereof we speak. We know that angels have come to earth and that God has spoken in our day, that he has raised up Apostles and Prophets, restored the holy Priesthood, and shown himself to man and revealed his truth to those who dwell on earth. We know these things, it is this that makes us bold to declare it to the world. We are not ashamed of it, because we know it is the power of God unto salvation.

May God help us, and all who love the truth, to keep an eye single to his glory and to the building up of his kingdom on the earth, that we may be among those who shall be counted worthy to possess the earth and its fullness forever and ever, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.