Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Logan City, Saturday Afternoon, November 1st, 1879.

I will read a few passages from the Book of Jacob, one of the sacred compilations of the Book of Mormon.

“And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things. And there began to be the natural fruit again in the vineyard; and the natural branches began to grow and thrive exceedingly; and the wild branches began to be plucked off, and to be cast away; and they did keep the root and the top thereof equal, according to the strength thereof. And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning.”

These words occurred to me this forenoon, while Brother Snow was speaking upon the subject of the Order laid down in the Doctrine and Covenants. We have here a clear and plain prediction, in the form of a parable, that was recorded upon plates of gold, almost 600 years before Christ, in relation to the great work in which we, as the servants of the Lord, and the Latter-day Saints, are engaged. Perhaps there may be some persons, numbered among this community, who may have a feeling something like this; “that we are not living according to the law that is given in the Doctrine and Covenants, in all respects.” And they have drawn the conclusion, that perhaps the Lord would forsake us in consequence of our not carrying out the laws so clearly defined and explained in that record. These things were clearly set forth before the people, this forenoon, in regard to wherein we have not entered into all the fulness and perfection of that order of things. But the question is, can we do much better, under the present circumstances? This is a great question to be considered. And in the consideration of it, we have to enquire into a number of other things, such as can we lay aside the present order of things that is not consistent with the Doctrine and Covenants; and can we begin anew here in these valleys, and carry out the law of the Lord in all its perfection? I do not know but what there may be a bare possibility of our doing it; but whether the Lord requires this at our hands under the present circumstances is another thing. We are very imperfect, and yet we try to do right. We want to keep the commandments of the Lord; we desire to be members of his Church; we desire to have his Holy Spirit resting upon us, and we desire to be guided by it. We wish to know what the counsel of the servants of God is concerning us; and yet, hardly know which way to turn. We see a united order established in one place, according to one principle; we go to another part of the land, and we find an order established on a little different principle; and we hear of another, all differing somewhat. And so on until we visit nearly all the settlements of these mountains. And as was stated this forenoon, they differ as do the elders themselves in their views.

Now what has the Lord said in this parable of the vineyard? “And they did keep the root and the top thereof equal.” In what respect were they made equal? The next part of that same sentence declares that they were made equal “according to the strength thereof.” Now there is a great deal expressed in those few words. They were not made equal all at once, as the inhabitants of a celestial world are, without any improvements being introduced; but they were to keep the root and the top of the great tree equal, according to the strength thereof; that is according to the condition and circumstances in which the people are placed. Now I consider, that notwithstanding all our deviations from the perfect law that God has given, notwithstanding the condition of things pointed out so clearly in the Doctrine and Covenants in regard to holding stewardships and inheritances, and giving an account of those stewardships and inheritances, according to the perfect order—I consider we are doing pretty well, in a great many respects. We have progressed; we have made improvements; we are in a more united condition than we were 45 years ago. Hence there has been an improvement among the Latter-day Saints; and this improvement has been for the better; it has been pointing all the time towards equa– lity, though we have not succeeded, according to the perfect law. But we have succeeded according to the strength of the people—according to the circumstances with which they are surrounded. We have succeeded in a great measure to instill into their minds the great principle of unity and oneness, not only in spiritual things, but in temporal things also. The day will come when this will be fulfilled to the very letter, in accordance with words which say, “they became like unto one body; and the fruit were equal.” That is the destination of the Latter-day Saints in the future. The fruit is to be equal; the roots and the branches are all to be kept in their perfect order, and the whole tree kept in a thriving condition. Then we shall have learned the great principle of the celestial order, that must be carried out among the children of men. During that long period called the Millennium, this people will see the importance of attending to that perfect order when our strength shall warrant. At present we have no perfect example before us. Where has there been either in this Territory or in Arizona an instance where the perfect law of God has been carried out, as laid down in the Doctrine and Covenants? I know of no such instance. I know of a great many improvements upon the old condition of things which has existed among our fathers—the Gentile notion and idea of each one holding separate and individual interests, without being accountable to anyone. That is the old system. We have made many improvements, but we have not carried out in any one solitary instance in any settlement I am acquainted with, the order of things laid down in the revelations, contained in the Book of Covenants.

There has been a great deal said at different times upon the subject of families being united as one—eating at the same table, for instance, and having one large field, where their farming operations might be carried on, all who are farmers going forth into the same field to labor; and the same principle carried out in regard to other branches, all taking hold unitedly, having the common interest at heart. Is there anything in the revelations given in these latter days requiring this order of things, or is it something we ourselves have considered as being a little ahead of what our fathers have been practicing? I do not know anything laid down in the revelations, requiring us to take this particular method. Yet, is it right? Yes. Why it is right according to the circumstances with which they are surrounded; it points forward to unity and tends to instruct us in the preliminary ideas of being united together. And hence, those that can enter into this order, who are willing to unite in this way, are doing well and will be blessed for it. But let no person set any stakes, in regard to this matter, that because he may have entered into a special order, introduced in one settlement, that all others are wrong, because they do not do likewise; they should not find fault with their brethren, neither be discouraged in welldoing.

There are a great many different ideas among the Latter-day Saints, in relation to these matters. But then, we have a standard given in the Book of Covenants, by which we should be governed. By and by, I expect we will be in different circumstances, in which stewardships or inheritances can be issued, for all families of the Saints, some in one kind or branch of business, and some in another; and the full law of consecration will take place.

I am, and I presume a great many others who are acquainted with the revelations of God, as contained in the Doctrine and Covenants, are looking for the period of time to come, in the history of the Latter-day Saints, when we as a people shall possess a very different country from the one we are now inhabiting. We do not expect to go to the Sandwich Islands, neither to the Society Islands, neither to any of the islands of the oceans, nor into South America, nor Central America, to carry out the order of things which we expect to enter into in all its fulness. But we expect, just as much as we expect the sun will shine, when it arises on a clear morning, that the Lord will, by and by, take us back to the land referred to by Brother Snow, this forenoon. We do not expect that when that time shall come, that all Latter-day Saints, who now occupy the mountain Valleys, will go in one consolidated body, leaving this land totally without inhabitants. We do not expect any such thing. But we do expect, that there will be a period in the future history of the Church when many hundreds of this people—our youth, for instance, who will grow up in those days, when they will be consolidated as a body, and will go to the eastern portions of the state of Kansas, and also to the western portions of the state of Missouri to settle. And when that time shall come, if it be needful to carry out the commandments which Brother Snow read this morning, referring to the purchase of lands, we will have property and means sufficient to accomplish this work. It was necessary some 47 years ago to purchase lands, and also for several years afterwards. But we did not do it then. It may be necessary for us in times to come, and probably will be necessary for us to purchase that whole region of country. Why so? Because if there be prior occupants to it, should we not be willing to give them an equivalent, such as will satisfy them, for its possession, including the improvements attached thereto? Certainly. Consequently it may be necessary for us to carry out the fulness of all these revelations, notwithstanding all the abuses and persecutions that have been heaped upon the Latter-day Saints. But whether this be the case or not there is one thing certain—something that you and I may depend upon, with as much certainty as we expect to get our daily food, and that is, that the Lord our God will take this people back, and will select from among this people, a sufficient number, to make the army of Israel very great. And when that day comes, he will guide the forces of those who emigrate to their possessions in those two states, that I have mentioned. And the land thus purchased will be no doubt, as far as possible, located in one district of country, which will be settled very differently from the way we now settle up these mountain regions. You may ask, in what respect we shall differ in settling up those countries when we go there to fulfil the commandments of the Lord? I will tell you. No man in those localities will be permitted to receive a stewardship on those lands, unless he is willing to consecrate all his properties to the Lord. That will be among the first teachings given. When this shall be done, the people will be, as the parable says, like unto one body—all equally poor, or all equally rich; in other words, they will be persons that can claim no property as their own, everything being consecrated. And the land being purchased, will be held on a different principle, from what it is now. Today fifty thousand dollars worth of real estate property is the most that can be held by a religious organization; but in that day the whole of our properties, amounting a very much larger sum, will be held in trust. For whom? For the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and for all this great company that will be gathered together. And there will be such a change in governmental affairs, that the trustee, whoever he may be, will only act as such as long as he is faithful; and if he becomes unfaithful it will be transferred to another. Neither in case of death will the heirs of such trustee have any claim whatever on the property; the power regulating such matters will then be vested in the proper authority who will mete out even justice to all parties.

These persons, therefore, will be in the same condition that all the rest of the people are in. The properties they hold will not be their own, although it may be called so, as far as that is concerned. And when it shall be ascertained that an individual has consecrated everything he has, inquiries will be made as to the size of his family, and land will be apportioned to him accordingly—not to deed him the property, according to the Gentile practice; but rather that the extent of his stewardship may be determined. When this is done, he takes his stewardship, each man having his own table, without being necessitated at all to eat at his neighbor’s. People will build their own houses, etc., when needful, provided they are able to do so, if not, what assistance they require will be rendered them. And then they and all the others will be required to keep an account of their proceedings and present the same to the bishops at the end of the year, or as often as may be required. These bishops, if they do their duty, will say these things: “Brother, you have been unwise in such and such things, but in other particulars you have done well.” In this way each man will give an account of his stewardship, as the revelation says, both in time and eternity. And he that proves himself a faithful and wise steward in time, will be counted worthy to receive not only a stewardship but an inheritance in eternity. What is the object of the stewardship? Is it not to prepare us for that still higher order of things that shall exist when we shall receive an inheritance? And when that time comes, and we shall still be found faithful to our trust, the Lord will be pleased to say, “I can trust that man, he has proved himself in the days of his probation: he is a wise man; he has done right in all things with which he has been entrusted. Now let him have not merely a stewardship, but let it be given to him as an everlasting possession, for him and his seed after him forever and ever, both for time and eternity.”

You may perhaps ask when this time will come for the Saints to receive bona fide inheritances? The time will come for the Saints to receive their stewardships, when they shall return to the lands from whence they have been driven; but the inheritances will not be given, until the Lord shall first appoint to the righteous dead their inheritances, and afterwards the righteous living will receive theirs. This you will find recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants; and in the same Book it is predicted that there is to be one “mighty and strong,” as well as to be an immortal personage—one that is clothed upon with light as with a garment—one whose bowels are a fountain of truth. His mission will be to divide, by lot, to the Saints their inheritances, according to their faithfulness in their stewardships. This too agrees with another revelation, given on the 27th Dec. 1832, which says, in great plainness, that when the Saints are resurrected and caught up into heaven, and the living Saints are also caught up, and that when the seventh angel shall have sounded his trump, then the Saints shall receive their inheritances. The time then is there specified, concerning the period that the Lord has in his own mind, when inheritances shall be given. Finally after the Saints have been resurrected and caught up, in connection with all the then living Saints, into heaven; and after the seventh angel sounds his trump, the earth will be given to the Saints of the Most High for an inheritance to be divided out to them. This land, about which I have been speaking, is called in some places in the revelations of God to the Prophet Joseph, the land of our inheritance; and in other places it is referred to in the form of stewardships. In one sense it may be considered our inheritance, because the Lord designs, in his own wisdom, that the Latter-day Saints shall possess that land as such, and their dead with them. And having decreed this, even before we ever saw it, he will fulfil it. I will refer you to a part of the revelation given on the 2nd Jan., 1831, at the house of Father Whitmer: “And I hold forth and deign to give unto you greater riches, even a land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey, upon which there shall be no curse when the Lord cometh; And I will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance”—not only stewardship, but inheritance; “And this shall be my covenant with you,” says the Lord further, “ye shall have it for the land of your inheritance, and for the inheritance of your children forever, while the earth shall stand, and ye shall possess it again in eternity, no more to pass away.” In this sense it is called the land of our inheritance. But when we come to speak definitely, we will have to be proven as stewards first. If we shall be unwise in the disposition of this trust, then it will be very doubtful, whether we get an inheritance in this world or in the world to come.

What is it then we look for? We expect—I was about to quote from the prediction of Isaiah regardless of consequences; I trust, however, there is no one present who will look upon that great and good man of God as a traitor against the government of the United States—that, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.” I expect that this people, if they do not become a “strong nation” in one sense of the word, they will be a great and strong and powerful people upon the face of this land. This is one of the things your humble servant is looking for. And I expect that when we go from these mountains, by hundreds of thousands, down to that land to purchase it and to occupy it, that we will take with us a great deal of gold and silver—for the Lord will in those days make his people very rich, in fulfillment of another promise made in the same revelation, in which he says, that we shall become the richest of all people. If this is to be the case, the Lord will probably fulfil that prediction by Isaiah, contained in the 60th chapter of his book—“for brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron;” and he will bestow upon his people riches that they will not know what to do with them, unless directed by the counsels of the servants of the living God. With this we will purchase the land, and go down and inherit it, as a strong and powerful people, receiving our stewardships. And we will not spread forth in that land three or four miles apart, and think we are crowded when people come and settle within a mile of us; but we will settle in such a manner as to make a very dense population. It is a country that is susceptible, almost every foot of it, to agricultural purposes; and we can settle with a very large population upon every square mile of country. And we will extend our borders around about the great central city, not stake, of Zion. You have heard of the Center Stake of Zion, but did you ever read in the revelations of God that the place where the New Jerusalem is to be built is called a stake? There are other places, called Stakes of Zion, but they will be round about the city. And we will be multiplied by hundreds and thousands; and we will build, throughout the region of country, our meetinghouses, our schoolhouses, our academies and universities; and we will see to it, that all of our children have equal advantages, as far as possible, of becoming acquainted with all necessary and useful learning. Not as it is now: some obtain great learning; while others are obliged from their childhood, from the time they are six or eight years of age, to work to that extent that they cannot devote any time to acquire an education. This order of things will be remedied; and the youth of God’s people will have equal opportunities, to develop themselves; not that they will all gain the same ideas exactly; not that they will all advance in the same direction in education, and to the same extent. One perhaps may follow a certain branch, calculated to prepare him to act in a certain position in his future life; while another may adopt an entirely different course of study, by which he could be of benefit to Zion. But there will be equal privileges and blessings bestowed upon the Latter-day Saints.

Now about these stewards. They have to be accountable; and if they gain anything in their stewardships over and above that which may be necessary to conduct the business of stewardships, and also to support themselves, if there be a surplus of means, what will be said? Will it be said by bishops, “Here, brother you must give up all this surplus to the storehouse of the Lord?” It might be said to one to unite him to the stewardship, without having any greater means to extend his operations, for the time being; and again, it might be deemed wisdom to assist another to the amount of five, ten, twenty thousand dollars or so, by way of extending his branch of business, because in doing so it would be the means of not only benefiting himself and family but the people of Zion generally.

The revelation says: “They shall give into the storehouse all that is not needed for the support of the needy families.” In this way the Lord’s storehouse will be full and in great abundance; and these means will be used for public purposes, and also by way of providing farming implements, books, etc., for the remnants of Joseph who will come into the covenant in those days, that they may also have their stewardships in the midst of the people of God. There will be a portion of the avails of these stewardships, that will be consecrated to the Lord’s storehouse, and which will be used for the building of Temples, and for beautifying public places in the city of the New Jerusalem, and making that a city of perfection as near as we possibly can.

Now, there will be this difference between that city and the cities and Temples which are being built. The cities and temples which we are now engaged in building, we expect to decay; we expect the rock and the various building materials will in time waste away, according to natural laws. But when we build that great central city, the New Jerusalem, there will be no such thing as the word decay associated with it; it will not decay any more than the pot of manna which was gathered by the children of Israel and put into a sacred place in the ark of the covenant. It was preserved from year to year by the power of God; so will he preserve the city of the New Jerusalem, the dwelling houses, the tabernacles, the Temples, etc., from the effects of storms and time. It is intended that it will be taken up to heaven, when the earth passes away. It is intended to be one of those choice and holy places, where the Lord will dwell, when he shall visit from time to time, in the midst of the great latter-day Zion, after it shall be connected with the city of Enoch. That then is the difference.

The Lord our God will command his servants to build that Temple, in the most perfect order, differing very much from the Temples that are now being built. You are engaged in building Temples after a certain order, approximating only to a celestial order; you are doing this in Salt Lake City. One already has been erected in St. George, after a pattern in part, of a celestial order. But by and by, when we build a Temple that is never to be destroyed, it will be constructed, after the most perfect order of the celestial worlds. And when God shall take it up into heaven it will be found to be just as perfect as the cities of more ancient, celestial worlds which have been made pure and holy and immortal. So it will be with other Temples. And we, in order to build a Temple, after a celestial order in the fulness of perfection, will need revelators and prophets in our midst, who will receive the word of the Lord; who will have the whole pattern thereof given by revelation, just as much as everything was given by revelation pertaining to the tabernacle erected in the wilderness by Moses. Indeed, before we can go back to inherit this land in all its fulness of perfection, God has promised that he would raise up a man like unto Moses. Who this man will be I do not know; it may be a person with whom we are entirely unacquainted; it may be one of our infant children; it may be some person not yet born; it may be someone of middle age. But suffice it to say, that God will raise up such a man, and he will show forth his power through him, and through the people that he will lead forth to inherit that country, as he did through our fathers in the wilderness. Did he then display his power by dividing the waters? Yes. Did the mountains and land shake under his power? Yes. Did he speak to the people by his own voice? Yes. Did he converse with Moses face to face? Yes. Did he show him his glory? Yes. Did he unfold to him in one moment more than all our schools and academies, and universities could give us in ten thousand years? Yes. God will assuredly raise up a man like unto Moses, and redeem his people, with an outstretched arm, as their fathers were redeemed, at the first, going before them with his own presence, and will also surround them by his angels. I expect, when that time comes, that man will understand all the particulars in regard to the Temple to be built in Jackson County. Indeed, we have already a part of the plan revealed, and also the plat explaining how the city of Zion is to be laid off, which may be found commencing on page 438, Volume 14 of the MILLENNIAL STAR. From what has been revealed of this Temple to be erected we can readily perceive that it will differ from anything that we have had. It will differ in regard to the number of rooms; it will differ very much in its outward and also its inward form; and it will differ in regard to the duties to be performed in each of its rooms to be occupied by the respective departments of priesthood. This house will be reared, then, according to a certain plan, which God is to make known to his servant whom he will, in his own due time, raise up. And he will have to give more revelation on other things equally as important, for we shall need instructions how to build up Zion; how to establish the center city; how to lay off the streets; the kind of ornamental trees to adorn the sidewalks, as well as everything else by way of beautifying it, and making it a city of perfection, as David prophetically calls it.

And then God will come and visit it; it will be a place where he will have his throne, where he will sit occasionally as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and reign over his people who will occupy this great western continent; the same as he will have his throne at Jerusalem. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.”

And again he says:

“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.”

Does the Psalmist mean that God will shine literally out of Zion? Yes, shine with light that will be seen by the righteous and the wicked also.

For fear of taking up too much of the time, I will bring my remarks to a close. I will say, however, I desire greatly that the Lord will bless the Latter-day Saints, and bless his servants that some, at least, may have the pleasure of entering into all the perfection of this glory, here in this temporal life; while the more aged, the grayhaired and graybearded like myself, will perhaps pass away, if the Lord requires it. And that our sons may rise up after us, being filled with the power and Spirit of God, to carry out his great and righteous purposes, even to completion.

I pray God to bless the inhabitants of Logan and those of the towns round about in this valley, and throughout all our mountain regions; and that his peculiar blessings and favor may continue to attend us while we sojourn in these mountains, and go with us when Zion shall be redeemed in all its fulness. Amen.

Discourse by Apostle Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 26, 1879.

I will read a few passages of Scripture which will be found in the 54th chapter of Isaiah. (The speaker then read most of the chapter referred to.) Continuing, he said:

I hope that the congregation will pardon me for undertaking three Sabbaths running to instruct them when there are so many of our brethren—those who are ordained and filled with the spirit of truth—who would be glad, no doubt, to speak to the people; but a great many of my younger brethren, younger than I am, may perhaps have a great many opportunities after I may pass away, provided that the Lord sees proper in His wisdom to call me hence.

I feel a great pleasure in standing before a congregation of Latter-day Saints, or a mixed assembly of those who belong to the Church and those who have not received the great message which the Church has received. It gives me great joy and great satisfaction to speak to them in the name of the Lord, and unfold, as far as the Spirit will give me utterance, that which the Lord has said concerning His people in the latter days. I had nothing upon my mind when I arose and walked into the stand, but upon opening the Bible my eyes fell upon this chapter, and I thought that I would read it—and perhaps something might occur in relation to this chapter that would be interesting in regard to the latter days, for certainly what I have read relates to future times—times that have not yet come.

“Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;” is the exhortation of the prophet to some class of people that should dwell on the earth. If we wish to know what class of people the Prophet had reference to, read the last verse of this chapter: “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” It would seem then, from the declaration given in that clause of the seventeenth verse of this chapter, that the Prophet was speaking of his servants and their heritage—that is, the heritage that his servants should occupy—that they were not to be narrowed and contracted in their feelings in regard to their inheritance as though it were to be in a small tract or region of country. The Lord had otherwise determined according to the words of this chapter. He intends they should inherit a great land, that they were to stretch forth the curtains of their habitations, and for fear that they would be limited in their views and contract themselves to a small region of country, the Lord says expressly, “Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.” Well, we are trying to do this as Latter-day Saints. When we first came here we located this city in the month of July, 1847, some 32 years ago this last summer. Then it was thought by many that had not a knowledge of prophecy, that we were too expanded in our views to lay out a city—being only a handful of pioneers—to lay out a city covering several miles of ground, when there was not yet a house built; when comparatively there was before us a great dry, barren desert. It seemed almost folly to even some of the Latter-day Saints to see the surveyor with his measure line, others with their instruments of observation, getting the height of this land above the sea level—making great preparations, while we yet camped, a little handful of us, in wagons and in a few tents. It seemed folly to lay out a city covering an area of several square miles; but those who did this work were under the direction and inspiration of the Almighty. We knew that this people would become a very great people. We knew that the words of Isaiah would be fulfilled which are recorded in the 60th chapter, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.” Now we believed that. It was not merely all opinion such as might be formed by the enlightened judgment of the human family, but by the inspiration of that Spirit which knows all things, we laid out a city sufficiently large in extent to accommodate and gather together an extensive population for this inland country and desert. Have we been disappointed? Has the Lord disappointed us in our expectation? Go over the area of this whole city, over these northern wards and western wards, and travel and traverse all the different lots and streets, and see if you find many vacant places. Is not the land generally taken up? Is it not generally occupied? Are there many vacant lots, where there are no houses or habitations? Are there many places where there are no fruit trees, no gardens? Are there many streets where there are no ornamental trees, no water ditches? We find after we have traveled several days and traversed nearly all the streets of this city, gone for miles each way, that all the lots with some very few exceptions, seem to be occupied, and not only so but some of the lots originally intended only for one family are now split up, divided and subdivided, and contain several habitations in the same lot, and scarcely room enough at that. We find the population coming into this city so great that there seems to be scarcely room, and even our water in dry seasons seems to be very scarce, not sufficient to water even the trees that are so necessary to be kept alive, to say nothing of gardens and flowers and shrubbery. “Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not;” that is don’t be stingy, don’t be contracted, don’t limit yourselves to a small area of country but break forth on the right hand and on the left. Already within the last 32 years we have been fulfilling this commandment. We have stretched forth the gardens of our habitation several hundred miles in the south especially, and one or two hundred miles in the north, into the Territory of Idaho. Utah does not seem sufficient for us, hence we have built many large towns and villages in Idaho. We have spread forth our towns, our villages and our settlements to the south for some 300 or 400 miles, and even after doing this we find the place is too strait, and the saying is: “give place to me that I may dwell.” We would scarcely suppose that a work of this great and important magnitude would have been accomplished in so short a time as scarcely one-third of a century, when all this great basin—nearly all with the exception of one or two small portions of the country traversed by Fremont and a few of his followers—was explored and considered an unprofitable desert, considered unfit for the habitation of man, in consequence of the dryness and parched condition of its soil. But the Lord when He begins to fulfill and accomplish a work among His people does so by degrees. He did not convert this great American desert, several hundred miles in extent, into a fruitful garden in one day, nor in one year; but in a few years, comparatively speaking, He has accomplished this work and has done it too with an eye to the predictions that were uttered by His servant Isaiah, the Prophet, and His servant, David, the Psalmist.

The Sabbath before last I addressed the congregation and spoke of the people inhabiting the great mountain territory, removing. You will recollect this. You know our enemies have had a great many speculations about our moving. A great many have supposed that we would remove to an island of the sea; others have pointed out Vancouver’s Island, others Russian America, as it used to be called; others have pointed out Mexico; others the islands of the Indian Ocean; and others South America, as the future destination of the Latter-day Saints. But Sunday before last I endeavored to point out to you our hopes, our views as contrasted with the views of our enemies, in relation to our future destination. I will repeat again, to bring to the remembrance of the Latter-day Saints, and those who might have been present on that occasion, what was then said. We expect that these mountains will not be the residence of all the Latter-day Saints; we expect that the great majority of the people will emigrate. We want to tell you where our eyes are fixed. As stated in our former discourse, they are fixed upon a land—not in the distant islands of the Indian Ocean, nor in the Pacific Ocean, nor in South America, but our eyes are fixed upon a land on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri and the boundaries of the State of Kansas. We expect to go there just as much as we expect the sun will rise and set. We have no other expectation. We expect to return there just as much as the Jews expect to return to old Jerusalem in the latter days. Perhaps you may inquire if we expect to return as a majority. Yes. Do we expect to return as a great people? Yes. Do we expect to return with our wives and our children? Yes. Do we expect to return in a peaceable manner? Of course. Have you ever seen any other feeling on the part of the Latter-day Saints, only to promote peace wherever they may settle? What has been our object from the commencement? Peace and goodwill to all men. But perhaps you may still further inquire concerning our emigration to the eastern boundaries of the State of Kansas, and to the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, what we intend to do in that part of the country? We expect to be farmers, a great many of us. We expect to introduce all kinds of machinery and manufactures. We expect to build mills. We expect to become a very industrious, frugal, economical people. We expect to have our merchandise and our stores and storehouses in that land. We expect to build a great many hundred schoolhouses in that country, just the same as we have already done in this country and in the two adjacent Territories, Idaho in the north and Arizona in the south. We do not calculate to neglect our children in regard to their education. We expect to build a great number of academies or the higher schools, and besides a great many schoolhouses. We expect to erect universities for the still higher blanches to be taught. We expect to build many hundreds of meetinghouses, and we expect to be a people very densely located there—not one man taking up six or eight miles of land, and calling it his farm; we don’t expect to live in that way, but we expect to settle a very dense settlement in that region of country. We expect to own the land, too. How? By purchase. We expect to purchase the land that we have not already purchased. We have already purchased a great deal of land in Jackson County and Clay County, Missouri, and our purchases are on record if they have not destroyed the record; but we were driven from that land, from our farms and homes; our houses were burned down, our merchandise that we had in our store was taken and strewn through the street; our printing office—one of the most distant western offices in the Union—was also destroyed; the type was taken out and scattered through the streets; our hay stacks were burned, our cattle were shot down, and we were driven in the cold month of November from our houses and lands purchased of the general Government, and we fled before our enemies. “Well,” says one, “are you not afraid to go back again to purchase land in that country when you were thus treated in the early settlement in 1833, when you were driven from your homes, some of you massacred, your property destroyed—are you not afraid to return?” O, I expect they are more civilized now. Do you think civilized people would murder now? Do you think they would drive people from their homes now? We may give them a chance to see. At any rate we shall fulfill our part, purchase the land, gather together upon our own purchased land, and we calculate to obey all the laws of the State of Missouri, and all the laws of the State of Kansas that are constitutional in their nature. But, says one, suppose the people should rise up and say you should not possess the land, what would you do? We would leave the matter in the hands of the Lord, just the same as we did at first when He led us by revelation to where the great central stake of Zion should be built. We went there because the Lord told us to go. We settled upon the very spot where the Lord commanded us. We commenced to lay the foundation of a temple about three-quarters of a mile from Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. It was then a wilderness, with large trees on the temple block. I visited that place 47 years afterwards, namely, a year ago last September, and not a tree was to be found on that temple block—not so much as a stump—everything seemed to be cleared off, and one would scarcely know, unless very well acquainted with the ground, where the temple site was located. There, however, we expect to build a temple different from all other temples in some respects. It will be built much larger, cover a larger area of ground, far larger than this Tabernacle covers, and this Tabernacle will accommodate from 12,000 to 15,000 people. We expect to build a temple much larger, very much larger, according to the revelation God gave to us forty years ago in regard to that temple. But you may ask in what form will it be built? Will it be built in one large room, like this Tabernacle? No; there will be 24 different compartments in the Temple that will be built in Jackson County. The names of these compartments were given to us some 45 or 46 years ago; the names we still have, and when we build these 24 rooms, in a circular form and arched over the center, we shall give the names to all these different compartments just as the Lord specified through Joseph Smith. Now, our enemies do not believe one word of this. They think we are enthusiastic, they think that this is all nonsense, and I do not know but there may be some of the Latter-day Saints that begin to partake of the same spirit, owing to their assimilating themselves so much to the fashion of the world, that they have lost their strong and powerful faith in that which God has predicted by the mouth of his servants. Perhaps you may ask for what purpose these 24 compartments are to be built. I answer not to assemble the outside world in, nor to assemble the Saints all in one place, but these buildings will be built with a special view to the different orders, or in other words the different quorums or councils of the two Priesthoods that God has ordained on the earth. That is the object of having 24 rooms so that each of these different quorums, whether they be High Priests or Seventies, or Elders, or Bishops, or lesser Priesthood, or Teachers, or Deacons, or Patriarchs, or Apostles, or High Councils, or whatever may be the duties that are assigned to them, they will have rooms in the Temple of the Most High God, adapted, set apart, constructed, and dedicated for this special purpose. Now, I have not only told you that we shall have these rooms, but I have told you the object of these rooms in short, not in full. But will there be any other buildings excepting those 24 rooms that are all joined together in a circular form and arched over the center—are there any other rooms that will be built—detached from the Temple? Yes. There will be tabernacles, there will be meeting houses for the assembling of the people on the Sabbath day. There will be various places of meeting so that the people may gather together; but the Temple will be dedicated to the Priesthood of the Most High God, and for most sacred and holy purposes. Then you see that, notwithstanding all these Temples that are now building in this Territory, and those that have been built before we came here in Kirtland and Nauvoo, the Lord is not confined to an exact pattern in relation to these Temples building in the different Stakes any more than He is confined in the creation of worlds to make them all of the same size. He does not make them all of one size, nor does He set them rolling on their axes in the same plane, nor does He construct any in many respects alike; there is variation as much as there is in the human form. Take men and women. There are general outlines that are common to all, but did you ever see two faces alike among all the millions of the human family? What a great variety, and yet all are constructed in general outline alike—after the image of God. So in regard to the building of Temples. The Lord will not confine Himself to any one special method to be so many feet long, so many feet wide, and so many places for the Priesthood to stand, but He will construct His Temples in a great variety of ways, and by and by, when the more perfect order shall exist we shall construct them, through the aid of revelation, in accordance with the Temples that exist in yonder heaven. And when I speak of yonder heaven I do not refer to that kind of heaven the sectarian world sings about, beyond the bounds of time and space. I have no reference to any heaven beyond space, but I have reference to the heaven that the Lord has sanctified and made heaven in other worlds that he has created, consisting of all kinds of materials the same as our world is, and when this world passes through its various ordeals, it, too, by and by, will pass away and die like the body of man and be resuscitated again, a new heaven and a new earth, eternal in its nature. The new worlds that are thus constructed and quickened by the fullness of the celestial glory will be the heavens where the Gods will dwell, or in other words, those that are made like unto God, when their bodies are changed in all respects like unto His glorious body, changed from materiality and cleansed from sin and redeemed, they will then be immortal and dwell in a heavenly world. Now, in this world there will be Temples, and these Temples will be constructed according to the most perfect law of the celestial kingdom, for the world in which they are built or in which they stand will be a celestial body. This last Temple that I am speaking of, or this last one to be built in Jackson County, Missouri, will be constructed after that heavenly pattern in all particulars. Why? Because it will never perish, it will exist forever. “What! Do you mean to say,” says one, “that the materials of that temple will not wear?” “Do you mean to say,” some of you may inquire in your hearts, “that age will have no effect upon the walls and the materials of that temple?” This is what I mean—I mean to say that not only the Temple, but all the buildings that shall be built round about that Temple, and the city that will be built round about it, which will be called the New Jerusalem, will be built of materials that never will decay. “But,” says one, “that will be contrary to the laws of nature.” You may cite me to some of the buildings that existed before Christ that were built out of the most durable materials that could be found, and yet when the storms of hail, rain and snow came, these buildings began to waste away until they could scarcely be recognized. Well, I do not ask you to think that this temple and the city round about it will defy the rough hand of time and the work of the elements of our globe, and exist forever, so far as natural laws are concerned; but there is a principle higher than these natural laws. Did you never think of it—a higher principle, a higher kingdom that governs all these laws of nature, such as you and I have been accustomed to understand ever since our youth. I say there is a higher law, a controlling power over all the laws of nature, that will prevent these buildings from decaying; and I wish while dwelling upon this subject to say a little about another subject; that is, the building up of Palestine with the new Jerusalem. It will be the old Jerusalem rebuilt upon its former site. Now, will that city ever be destroyed, will it ever decay? Will the Temple to be built in Palestine ever be thrown down or ever be furrowed with hail, rain, snow and frost—will these ever have any effect upon it? No, not in the least.

Why? Because God will be there. So He will be in the temple of Zion on this continent, and by His power, by His laws—which are superior to all those grosser laws of nature—He will preserve both of these cities, one on the western hemisphere, and one on the eastern hemisphere, from any decay whatever. Now, we have it recorded here in this book, in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah, that this city on the eastern continent shall not be thrown down any more forever. It seems, therefore, to be an eternal city, never to be destroyed. “But,” says one, “I cannot believe that; I cannot believe but what these cities will be subject, just as much as anything else to decay.” Do you believe this good book—the Bible? If you do, you are obliged to believe that such things are possible. Do you want to know some of them? I will mention one instance. You will recollect that Moses commanded Aaron to take a pot of manna and lay it before the Lord, to be kept for their generations. Now it was a noted fact that if the children of Israel gathered more manna than would last them until after the next morning, it would decay, but on the last day before the Sabbath they gathered manna for two days, and they found that on the Sabbath day it was preserved. Who preserved it? Why did it last two days instead of one? Because God counteracted those lesser laws, or laws of nature, by His divine power, which is greater than them all, and He therefore preserved for two days that which would not last longer on the other days of the week than twenty-four hours. Well, we find that the Lord ordered the manna to be placed in the tabernacle to be kept for their generations, that they might see the bread wherewith He had fed them in the wilderness, when He brought them forth from the land of Egypt. Did that manna decay? No, it remained fresh and pure in the tabernacle. Why? Because God was there; His divine power was there; a miracle was wrought to counteract the general laws of nature such as we generally understand them to be, and this manna was preserved from generation to generation. Now the Being that could produce this effect upon a small quantity of substance on a pot of manna, could He not do the same in regard to whole buildings, or is His arm so limited that He has to work in a little narrow corner and preserve a little handful of manna from spoiling through decay. I would say that the same Being that could perform this, which we might term a lesser miracle, could extend the same power to stone, wood, and to all kinds of metal and material that might enter into the construction of a Temple. Shall I limit that power to the preserving of a Temple! No. The same Being could preserve the city round about the Temple, hence it is a city that shall never be destroyed nor thrown down from that time henceforth and forever. God will be in the city. He will take care that the building materials suffer nothing from the laws of nature. He will take care that the city is illuminated by His divine power, and especially the Temple, the most sacred of all the Temples, where He will have His throne, where the Twelve Apostles will have their thrones, as the judges of the twelve tribes of Israel; He will take care that there is nothing in that Temple that shall decay in the least degree. So it will be in the New Jerusalem. Zion upon this great western hemisphere will have a city called the New Jerusalem (because it has never been built before) and God will preserve it by His divine power. Read what the Psalmist, David, has said in the 50th Psalm: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Perhaps you may ask why it is called “the perfection of beauty.” Shall I read from the chapter I opened with? In the 11th verse of that chapter we read: “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.” Now any person that is acquainted with mineralogy or with geology, and any person that has studied these things to any great extent, knows concerning these precious stones how very precious they are esteemed, and how a small portion of these stones is very frequently valued at more than its weight in gold, some of them one hundred times their weight in gold, and yet the Lord will bring or create, or form, as the case may be, or tell His children how to form those precious stones in great abundance, sufficiently pure and crystallized in order to complete the foundations and also the temples and the public buildings of that great city called the New Jerusalem. But before this shall commence, the Lord has addressed them as a people afflicted: “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted.” Just as the Latter-day Saints have been now for upwards of forty years driven from place to place before we emigrated to this great mountain desert, persecuted by our enemies, our cities taken from us, our villages taken from us, our farms taken from us, our flocks and herds shot down; we were robbed of all these things, and yet without any redress from the Government under which we live. We then came forth beyond these great rocky chains of mountains, hoping that in the distant desert, where no other people would have thought of locating themselves, we might live undisturbed. We have been greatly prospered in this desert. We have lived here long enough to fulfill a great many of the prophecies that are contained in this good Jewish Bible. But we have not yet got through with fulfilling prophecies. We are designed as a people to fulfill a great many prophecies. We shall move however, as I have already stated, down into that region of country. But you may say—that is, some of the weak Latter-day Saints may say—that it will cost so much; we will have to purchase all that country sufficiently extensive to give place to all this people. How are you going to obtain means enough to purchase a country large enough for all this people to dwell in? Well, now, the Lord has that in His own hands, don’t you know it? Is it a difficult thing for the Lord to make his people rich when they are prepared for it, after days of tribulation, after passing through a great many afflictions and difficulties, tossed to and fro; would it be a difficult matter for the Lord to open up whenever He pleases, means of unmeasurable riches, more than all the Latter-day Saints would know how to use? Hear what the Lord says: “For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders.” Who were the people here spoken of? They were people that should be clothed upon with this light that I have been speaking of, this glorious light; the presence of the Lord will be in their midst, and it will radiate over their temples, it will light their city by night and by day. “But are you sure,” says one, “that such a thing will take place?” I have no time to read all the Lord says on the subject, but if you read the 60th chapter of Isaiah, you will find that the sun shall be no longer necessary by day, nor the moon by night, to give light to a certain people. Why? Because “the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down.” Not like our sun which arises in the morning and exists above the horizon for a few hours, then descends, and darkness covers the earth. Not so with this light, the glorious divine light that will lighten up the heights of Zion. It will never go down, it will be a standing miracle by day and by night, from one week to another, month after month, year after year, until the one thousand years shall have rolled away over the heads of the people that dwell on the earth. But let us see what more is said. That same God that has spoken of these great riches, brass for gold, iron instead of silver, for wood brass, and for stones iron—I say that that same God has exhorted the latter-day people called Zion to “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” I do not mean something that never can be discerned. I mean that true light that emanates from the great fountain of light, the Messiah, the Redeemer; that true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; that true light which is in all things and giveth light to all things; that true light that lighteth up the understanding of the children of men and quickeneth their memory; that true light that quickens the eyes of this mortal tabernacle, that we are able to discern objects round about us; that true light which is of God, will be rendered visible to the eyes of all the inhabitants of that city. And shall I limit it there? No. The light will shine so conspicuously from that city, extending to the very heavens, that it will in reality be like unto a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid, and it will have quite a tendency to strike terror to all the nations of the earth. Will all see it? No, some may be too far off, beyond the ocean, to behold that miraculous light that will shine forth in this city, but I will tell you the effect it will have upon the kings, queens, rulers, congressmen and judges of the earth—they will hear of it by telegraph; the news will be flashed over the civilized nations of the earth, but they will not believe it. They will say, “Let us cross the ocean, and let us see this thing that is reported to us by telegraph; let us see whether it is so or not.” Well, when they get within a day or two’s journey of the city they will be alarmed. Some of these kings and nobles, when they see the light shining forth like the northern lights in the arctic regions, illuminating the whole face of the heavens—when they see this light shining forth long before they reach the city, fear will take hold of them there, says the Psalmist, in the 48th Psalm, they will become weak, and their knees will smite together like the knees of Belshazzar. They will try to haste away from the glory of God and from the power of God, and to get out of the country as soon as possible. Fear and terror will be upon them. It will have an effect upon many other kings and nobles, more pure in heart, more honest, that are willing to receive the truth; it will have a different effect upon them, so much so, that they will say with Isaiah, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen from thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” These are the different effects which it will have upon the rulers of the various nations, some believing, some trembling, some humbling themselves and willing to forsake their thrones and their kingdoms and their empires to come and dwell with the people of God, while others more wicked, more corrupt, will not be able to endure it. This shining light will be seen for many miles distant, and the wicked will flee away; they will be fearful lest they be smitten by that power that illuminates the people of God, hence the terror of the Lord will be there. Terror will take hold of the wicked when Zion becomes as fair as the sun and as clear as the moon, and her banners will be terrible to all nations. One would naturally suppose when we see the present hardness of heart that exists among our enemies, when we see our Elders waylaid, young peaceable boys that are taking their first mission abroad to proclaim the Gospel of the Son of God—when we see them shot down and their murderers tried by a jury and acquitted, and then tried for riot and acquitted of that—one would naturally suppose that a people so hard in their hearts would not be converted to believe even if they should see the power of God manifested. But do you suppose that among these people where such things are carried on in the light of day, where murderers go free and where judges say, “commit murder, commit riots, take the life of the innocent; we will free you”—do you suppose that there are no honest hearted among the people that are allowed to do this? If you do you are mistaken. There are many of the honest in heart deceived by the cunning craftiness of the children of men, by priestcraft which lies at the foundation of all the persecutions endured by the Latter-day Saints. Priests, afraid of their craft, afraid of this little one, afraid that the little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation, say: “let us down upon them, let us drive them from their homes, let us burn their houses, let us persecute them from city to city, let us fall upon their missionaries and put them to death.” We would hardly suppose that there could be found an honest person among such a people, but there are. There are goodhearted people all through the States. In Missouri, where they first drove us? Yes, many. In Ohio, where we were also driven? Yes, many which are honest before God, and will receive the testimony of the Gospel, and unto this Zion that I have been speaking of such will gather together, to swell the numbers of the Latter-day Saints, and we will become a strong nation and they cannot help themselves, and this is what makes them feel so bad. But, says one, we can help ourselves. We have got the Secretary of State, Mr. Evarts, and he in connection with others of the Cabinet, have published a circular unto the nations of Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, asking their help; “Will you not step forward,” say they, “and put a stop to the emigration of the Latter-day Saints. We are afraid they are growing too strong. We are afraid there are too many of them in yonder hills. O, Great Britain, help us! O Germany, help us! Let your arm stretch forth and allow no more of these Latter-day Saints to gather to the mountains of Utah! O keep them back. Shut up the ports of Liverpool, of Europe, and let no more emigrate to that land!” Do you think they can shut the ports of heaven? Do you think that yonder spirits that dwell in the presence of God the Father, will be kept back, and will not come here and take infant tabernacles to swell the borders of Zion? Think you, you can shut down the gates of heaven and control this matter? Stretch forth your arm and try to stay the arm of the Almighty, that He send no more spirits here to swell the borders of Zion! Would it not be well to pass laws to prevent these spirits coming, to prevent this heavenly emigration? Think you, you can stay the purposes of the Great Jehovah? No; these spirits will come and our streets will be full of children, sons and daughters, and they will say, as they crowd up: “The place is too strait, Give place to me that I may dwell,” and they will stretch forth the curtains of their habitations, they will lengthen their cords and strengthen their stakes in spite of all the powers of earth and hell combined. “A little one,” says the Prophet Isaiah, “shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.” Daniel caught the same spirit. He saw a little one planted in the mountains. He saw a kingdom organized, an ecclesiastical government called the Kingdom of the God of Heaven. He saw it organized—not in the lower countries of the earth, but he saw it organized in a high and lofty region; in other words, as is recorded in the 18th chapter of his prophecies, he saw an ensign lifted up upon the mountains. What is an ensign? “Why,” says one, “according to our dictionary, and according to our opinion upon this subject, I should suppose an ensign, or standard, to be something unto which the people will gather.” You have thought right. This ensign, says the Lord, shall be lifted up upon the mountain. What is an ensign? It is not only something unto which the people will gather, but it is something of divine appointment, something that the Lord organizes, something that will be a pattern to all peoples, nations and governments erected in the mountains, and He calls upon all the inhabitants of the earth to see it. In another place the Prophet Isaiah says: “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Can you hinder it? Can you oppose the almighty hand of Jehovah that he shall not accomplish His purposes? It cannot be done. You may afflict, you may pass laws, you may call upon distant nations to help you, you may shut down the emigration against the Latter-day Saints, you may drive them, you may burn their houses—you may do all this, but they will continue to live and to stretch forth in spite of all the powers beneath the heavens, and become a great people under the Constitution of this great land. We never want to be freed from the Constitution of our country. It is built upon heavenly principles. It is established as firm as the rock of ages, and when those that abuse it shall molder in corruption under the surface of the earth, the American Constitution will stand and no people can destroy it, because God raised it by our ancient fathers, and inspired them to frame that sacred instrument. The Constitution is one thing; corrupt politicians are another thing. One may be bright as the sun at noonday, the other as corrupt as hell itself; that is the difference. Because we have a good Constitution that is no sign that the strong arm of the law, founded upon that Constitution, will protect the minority as well as the majority. The politician may suffer the majority to trample upon the rights guaranteed by that Constitution to the minority. They have done it before, and perchance they will continue to do it until they are wasted away. Then will be fulfilled another saying in this same chapter which I have read—“For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” Now, there are a great many cities in the United States that will not be totally destroyed when the inhabitants are swept off the surface of the earth. Their houses, their desolate cities will still remain unoccupied until Zion in her glory and strength shall enlarge the place of her tents, and stretch forth the curtains of her habitations. That is the destiny of this nation, and the destiny of the Latter-day Saints. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered at the General Conference, Held in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 6, 1879.

By the blessing of our Heavenly Father, we are permitted once more, under circumstances of peace, to assemble ourselves here in this large tabernacle, in the capacity of a semiannual Conference, in the 50th year of the history of this Church. A few months more, and this Church will have seen the history of fifty years. Great and wonderful has been the progress of the Church during this period of time; far beyond anything that we could have calculated upon, looking at the subject naturally, as natural men. But contemplating the subject spiritually, we might have expected to see what we now behold—a great people assembled from many nations, occupying the central portion of this great north wing of the western hemisphere. We, as a people have made during the first half century, or nearly so, of our existence, great and rapid progress, far beyond that of some of the former dispensations which have been introduced into our world. It is a matter of astonishment with me, that so many people have received the divine message which God has communicated to the human family in our day, when we consider that the generation, or people, who should live just prior to the coming of the Son of Man in his glory were described as a people such as did exist in the days of Noah. It will be remembered that the message of that good man did not receive much attention, in his day; but a very few, in fact, believed in his message. I have often times thought how discouraging it must have been to that good old prophet, to prophesy to that generation—to foretell concerning the great judgment that was to happen to them, to point out the only means of safety for those who desired to escape, laboring diligently for so many years, and then to find only seven individuals besides himself righteous enough to receive the message. How discouraging! If this message had been treated with the same indifference, we can readily imagine how discouraging it would have been to Joseph Smith, as a prophet and revelator, to labor for perhaps a hundred years and only make seven converts. As regards numbers, then, those who have obeyed the Gospel message in our day, have become very numerous, compared with those that received the message in the days of the flood. Not merely one family of persons, but hundreds of thousands have been gathered into this latter-day Church. The divinity of a message does not, however, depend upon the numbers who receive it. Numbers has nothing to do with the subject. The Lord our God has sent forth his servants in this great dispensation; he sent them first directly to our own nation; they, as a people, have re– jected it. Individuals, however, in all the States, have seen proper to receive the divine warning, and have mostly gathered to these mountains, and are located among these ever-lasting hills. Who were they that first redeemed this desert? Were they a mixed people, those belonging to the Latter-day Saints and those unconnected with them? No; it was the united efforts of a poor and afflicted people, who had already been driven from their houses five times while they dwelt in the States. They came here almost barehanded, so far as property was concerned. They came to an undesirable country; they came to a location that was marked upon our maps as “the Great American Desert;” a country that had scarcely been penetrated by white men. We began anew in this country, and it was by the labor of our hands, being strengthened by the Almighty, that we opened up these rugged canyons, and penetrated into these mountains, and obtained timber to build our houses and to fence our fields; it was by the united labors of the Latter-day Saints, that we constructed water ditches and canals for the purpose of irrigating the land, instead of depending upon the rains of heaven, and thus commenced a new system of farming, at least as far as our experience was concerned. It was by the labor of the Latter-day Saints alone, and not by the labor and capital of Gentiles. These beautiful ornamental shade trees were placed out in front of our houses, to beautify and adorn the streets, by the labor of the hands of the Latter-day Saints, and not by the aid of Gentiles. It was the Saints who established these beautiful orchards that are seen, not only in this great city, which well might be termed a city of orchards, but in almost all other large towns and cities throughout this great desert. It was by the labor of our own hands that schoolhouses were erected in all the countries and settlements of our Territory; all this too, at an early stage of our settlements here, the education of our youth, being among the most prominent and important steps calculated to benefit the people. It was by the labors of our own hands that academies and buildings for high schools were established in various portions of the Territory, as well as our common schoolhouses. It was by the labor of our own hands that chapels and meetinghouses were located in all our settlements throughout this mountain region. It was by the labor of our own hands that the desert was made to blossom as the rose.

By and by, after we had fulfilled and about accomplished this work, having formed numerous settlements and built numerous dwelling houses, and planted out numerous ornamental trees and established extensive gardens, and began to raise grain, fruits and vegetables in great abundance; after we had done all these things, fairly opening up the Territory, that outside population began to pour in. Who was it, then, that opened up the country so that our Gentile friends might come into it, and of causing prosperity to prevail in our midst? It was the Latter-day Saints. Who was it that made feasible the grading of the Union Pacific Railroad through these rugged mountains—the most difficult work on the whole of its construction? It was the strong arms of the Latter-day Saints, our mountain boys; they continued the road some hundreds of miles; tunnels had to be cut through huge mountains, and rough and precipitous places were made smooth, and the way prepared that our Gentile neighbors might come among us, and all this that they might have the privilege of entering on record that they were the great ones that established these facilities, and that made the desert to blossom as the rose.

What, let me ask, have our Gentile neighbors that have come among us done? They have done some good things; they have introduced some very bad things. I speak now according to my own individual feelings upon this subject. Before they came we had no grog shops in the various towns, and villages, and cities in our Territory, to convert a temperate people into confirmed drunkards. We had no such institutions; but as soon as they came this product of what they call civilization was introduced into our midst, wherever they could obtain a foothold. So much for this kind of civilization that has been introduced into the midst of this people. What, else? Years and years passed by, before the Gentile population began in any degree to come into our Territory, during which safety attended our habitations. We could leave our doors open at night, in summer time, to be benefited by the mountain breezes; now we have to lock our doors, and bolt down the windows. Why? Because that thing called civilization has come into our midst, which renders it unsafe for our habitations to be thus left open. What else? Formerly we could wash our clothes, as we do weekly, and hang them out upon the lines, letting them remain there if necessary for one or two days and nights, without the least danger of their being taken away. Dare we do these things now? Can we expect safety now? No. Why? Because Gentile civilization has come into our midst, that which we forsook, when we left the lands from which we emigrated. It has come to us; and these are the disagreeable things which the Latter-day Saints have to encounter.

But it has been said, and even published that it was not the Latter-day Saints that introduced the blessings that are enjoyed today by the inhabitants of this Territory; that it was some other people. I am trying to portray these things precisely as they are.

What else? Our streets are filled, not only with drunkards, by introducing these liquor saloons in nearly all parts of our Territory, but we see fightings, blasphemy, threatening life, etc., in all the places in the Territory, wherever this outside “civilization” has appeared. There may be some few exceptions among the Gentile elements. We do not wish to pronounce all the outsiders who have taken up their abode among us being of this character, but we speak of these things in general terms. There are good men and women who were not among the early settlers of this country, that have come here since the way was opened, and since prosperity prevailed over this desert; we do not speak against them, but against that class that have introduced these evils into our midst. We might speak of other things, such as houses of ill fame—something that was not known in our country and something that the youth and the rising generation grew up to manhood without knowing anything about, only as they happened to read of them occasionally in some of the Eastern papers. Do they now exist? Yes. Who brought them here, and who sustains them after they have come? Undertake to put these things down by law, and every exertion is made to retain these sink-holes of corruption in the land. Writs of habeas corpus are issued in order to free those bad characters, and turn them loose upon the community. This is another feature of what they term “civilization.” We might go on and name Sabbath breaking, lying, misrepresenting, quarreling, stealing, and so forth but we have not time to dwell on all these subjects.

We came here as a religious people. We had a civil government, and a religious government; we had civil authority and ecclesiastical authority, before the Gentiles came here in any great numbers. Both of these principles of government were in existence in this Territory in the early rise thereof. The religious, in this Territory, seemed to be very much united, with a very few exceptions. We all believed in the same doctrines. But says one, “Is not this in opposition to the principles of our government, for all the people to be united?” I do not know of anything in any of the principles ordained by the revolutionary fathers that requires division in a representative form of government. They make provisions, in case there should be division; but never founded the government with an express determination that there should be division, either in their religion or in their politics; it is not a necessary concomitant to the form of our government. Our government and the principles thereof could be sustained without any violation whatever, if the forty millions of people were all of one faith. If they were all democrats, or any other political faith, still the government would not be violated. But they made provisions, in case there should be divisions. Thank God, that in this Territory we have supported a Republican form of government, without being under the necessity of impressing upon the people that they should be divided. We do not impress any such thing upon their minds. It is no part of the Republican government to be divided. You can all vote the same way at the polls; you can all believe the same religion and yet be good citizens of the United States. What? Can they all be Presbyterians and at the same time be good American citizens Yes. Can they all be Methodists, and yet be good American citizens? Yes. Can they all belong to one political party, without any to oppose them, and yet be good American citizens? Yes. Why? Because there is nothing in the Constitution of our government that requires the population to believe different doctrines, according to their religious notions and ideas—nothing that requires them to be politically divided, in their feelings. But they are divided. The people of all nations are divided; and good wholesome laws, for the most part, have been established by Congress, and by the various States of our Union, making provisions for this divided state of society, giving, to every person the privilege of believing as he or she may see proper to do in regard to their religious ideas, and to carry out their sentiments by practicing their religion also, as well as believing; and that the majority should not, because they happen to be the majority, oppress the minority. Arguments have been made by statesmen, judges, and others professing great intelligence something like this: that the Latter-day Saints are a people of only about 150,000; while the United States are a people, numbering forty or forty-five millions. Therefore, say they, the great majority—the forty or forty-five millions of people—should, or they have a perfect right to oppress you, Latter-day Saints, because you are the minority in your religious views. Now, I do not believe this anti-republican idea, though it was published in this city last week, from a person in high authority—a Federal officer of our Territory. Supposing for instance, there were only ten religious men, living in the United States that believed a certain doctrine, according to Bible precepts, and all the rest believed something else, differing from that; have this great majority a right to oppress these ten men? They have no such right. The Constitution of our country has provided for that minority, to believe as they choose to, so long as they injure no one by their belief, and so long as they injure no person by practicing that belief. Supposing that the Presbyterians should insist, in their Church capacity, that sprinkling with water was to be the only mode of baptism, that should be observed by the members of their denomination; have they a right to do this? Yes. But supposing that forty millions of people, who were not Presbyterians, should denounce that system as criminal, on the ground that it was not in accordance with the doctrines of the Bible, and consequently it would be a criminal practice to blaspheme the name of Trinity by sprinkling a few drops of water and call that baptism; and supposing they should succeed in getting Congress to pass a law against sprinkling, because it was criminal according to their ideas; and supposing that the persons who introduced that mode of baptism should be brought up by that law to be judged by it, and should be found criminals, according to that law of Congress; and supposing that the Supreme Court of the United States were to confirm the action of the lower court, on this matter; ought such persons to be condemned as criminals? No. You would say that they have a right to sprinkle; I would say the same, however much I might differ from the Presbyterian practice, in my own mind; however much I might look upon that act as abominable in the sight of heaven; however much I might consider it to be criminal before God, yet I would say they had a constitutional right to sprinkle; so in regard to all other divisions so far as religious sentiments are concerned. Wherein those divisions of political or religious sentiments do not harm the neighbor, do not harm society, do not harm families, or the nation at large; a law, passed by men, has nothing to do with it, what courts might decide to the contrary notwithstanding.

These are my views as an individual. I do not pretend to set these things forth as your views or the views of the people generally, but my own individual views on this subject.

Now in regard to plurality of wives, why is that a crime? Only because Congress passed a law making it criminal. Does the Bible make it criminal? No. Does the Book of Mormon make it criminal? No. Does the Doctrine and Covenants make it criminal? No. Why is it criminal? Is there a law of our nature that makes it criminal? No. There are some things that are criminal in and of themselves, and we cannot think of them only as such, and as we by our own consciences know them to be criminal. And for instance, stealing property that belongs to our neighbors. That we look upon as being criminal. We would not wish our neighbor to steal our property. Again violence done to another person to rob him of his property, that is something which is criminal in itself. Taking life like the heathen, who offer up their human sacrifices, the heathen widow that is burned upon the pile, is criminal. Why? Because it is something that our nature at once denounces to be criminal, and it is also denounced as such by the laws of heaven, by the laws of God; but not so in regard to many other things. For instance, one day out of seven is set apart as a day of rest; and under the law of God, in ancient times, it was considered criminal to gather a bundle of sticks on that day, for the purpose of making a fire; and the person who was found doing so was condemned to death. Now if there had been no law concerning that matter, all Israel would have made no distinction between the sacredness of days. All would have been alike to them. Why? Because there was nothing in their own minds or consciences that would perceive such an act to be criminal. But when the revealed law of God came, making it criminal, it then became so. So in regard to many of these religious principles, observed among the heathen. They are criminal, and any person acquainted with the law of God is compelled to pronounce them as such. But then, shall we condemn anything that the conscience does not denounce to be criminal, that the law of God does not denounce as criminal; shall we get our Congress to make a law declaring it criminal, so that those that break that law shall become criminals? I cannot see it. I am so obtuse in my understanding and my mind is so blunted, that I really cannot see any sense in a law of that kind, whether passed by Congress or a congressional power of all nations combined; it makes no difference, so far as my mind is concerned.

I have read the speeches of members of Congress, in which they have made the contrast of Bible polygamy with some of the heathen worship which is denounced by the Bible. Why not contrast everything else pertaining to religion in the same way? Why not pass a law, prohibiting that religious people called Jews, from practicing the Mosaic law of circumcision, inflicting fine and imprisonment if they persist in following the Bible custom? Simply, because they are not hated as the “Mormons” are. “We must have a law expressly framed for these Mormons; we must pass a law that will catch them. But in order to make the people think we are not unjust we will make it general throughout all the Territories.”

I believe in the great principles laid down in the American Constitution; I believe in religious freedom, religious belief, religious practice. I believe in every principle guaranteed in that document. Well, supposing then that they should send me, as an individual, to prison because of my belief or religious practice; would that alter my belief? No. Would, say, five years in the penitentiary change my belief? No. If they were to inflict the full penalty of the law upon me in every respect, how much would they succeed in converting me that my belief and practice were a crime in the sight of God? Not one iota, forty-five millions of people to the contrary notwithstanding. Why? Because although I am in the minority, I am protected by the Constitution just as much as though I were in the majority; I am an American citizen and I have the rights of an American just as much as though I belonged to the majority. Well, then, what do you say, shall I renounce my religion, because of this law? No. Shall I advise the Latter-day Saints, (an independent people to do as they please so far as their religious views are concerned) to renounce any part of their doctrines because Congress has denounced it? No. I can do no such thing. If they wish to renounce them or forsake them, they are at liberty so to do, and be accountable to God, and be disfellowshipped from the Church, because of their disbelief. “O,” says one, “you would disfellowship your members and thus bear upon them?” Certainly we would. Have we not the right to do so? What denomination is there, in these United States, but has the right to disfellowship their members for any thing they please, if they go according to their own creed and documents? I do not know of any denomination that does not enjoy this right. I claim no more for myself, nor for my brethren, in regard to these matters, than they claim for themselves, nor any more than the Constitution guarantees to all.

We have the right, therefore, to say, that if a man denounces any part or portion of his religion that we will disfellowship him; or that if a woman shall do the same, that we deal with her in like manner. And we have the right to disfellowship members of our Church, for any transgression of the laws of God. And this has nothing to do with the great principles of right and wrong established by our American government. But I will leave this subject.

We have assembled here in our semi-annual conference, what for? To take into consideration any subject that may be for the advantage and well-being of the whole. That is one object. To give advice and counsel to the people of God, that may be under the sound of our voices. To get the united sanction and voice, with uplifted hands to the Most High God, in sending forth missionaries to the various nations of the earth. What for? To convert them to the everlasting gospel.

We have been told by a circular letter, which has been issued officially, and sent to various nations, that because the people believe in the doctrines of the Latter-Saints in Germany, in Scandinavia, in Great Britain, etc., that the United States are very anxious to get all these governments to band together against what? To prevent the religious people who believe in these doctrines from emigrating from their own lands, to the land of America. Will these governments respond? Will they aid the great government of the United States, to persecute religious people by trying to prevent them from emigrating from one country to another? I do not know but what they may; it is very doubtful, in my mind, whether they will go back to the old dark ages of persecution, and be united as Herod and Pilate were, in preventing religious people from emigrating to other nations. It would be difficult, under the color of consistency, to hinder it. How are they going to know whether emigrants are Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists or Latter-day Saints, when they embark at European ports to come to this great continent of America? Or how are they going to know what religion they belong to? Are they going to have their ambassadors, their consuls, and great men, appointed on purpose, paying them large salaries, and instructing them to be at every port, and also to make every man swear, when he embarks on board of a vessel, that he is not a Latter-day Saint?

Now, I do not believe they are going that far; and if they do not, how easy a matter it would be for emigrants, to say nothing about their religious sentiments, while sailing across the great ocean. Or could we not keep our peace so long? Would it be difficult for the Latter-day Saints to shut up the fire of truth in their hearts, so that no one would know them to be Latter-day Saints for ten long days? I expect that would be the difficult part of the undertaking. We feel to rejoice so in the Gospel, in the great plan of salvation, that we can hardly hold our peace for ten days; though if it were really necessary, I think some of us could manage to do so.

Well, supposing we landed safely, and held our peace, and should take the railroad cars for Chicago, say, whose business is it? And supposing we concluded then to take the cars for Omaha, whose business is it? And at Omaha, supposing we should get it into our heads to come further West, and should then purchase a ticket for Ogden, have we not the right to do so? Is our government going to employ runners and spies to find out every man’s religious views, who passes over the various railroads? I am inclined to think not; I do not believe they have reached that stage yet.

But now concerning the justice of these matters. Supposing that we do preach what the world calls “Mormonism” from the time we embark, until the time of our landing, because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, because we believe in repenting of our sins, and because we believe in baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and because we believe in the plural order of marriage, as taught in the Bible, have they the right to shut down the gate against us? When I say a right, I mean a Constitutional right. Is not this country open to all nations? Is it not called by every people, “the asylum of the oppressed of all nations?” They have not yet passed a law forbidding the Chinaman from emigrating to this country. Have the Latter-day Saints sunk down so far beneath heathenism, that we must have the gate shut down upon us, and heathens by tens of thou– sands come swarming to our land? I do not, I cannot believe that the good sense of the American people can tolerate such persecution. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, September 21st, 1879.

If the congregation will give their attention, I will read a portion of the word of God, given in these last days, dated March, 1829—a portion of revelation—through the Prophet, and Seer, and Revelator, Joseph Smith, in Harmony, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, a little over one year before the rise of this Church, commencing with the 10th verse:

“But this generation shall have my word through you; And in addition to your testimony, the testimony of three of my servants, whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show these things, and they shall go forth with my words that are given through you. Yea, they shall know of a surety that these things are true, for from heaven will I declare it unto them. I will give them power that they may behold and view these things as they are; And to none else will I grant this power, to receive this same testimony among this generation, in this the beginning of the rising up and the coming forth of my Church out of the wilderness—clear as the moon, and fair as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. And the testimony of three witnesses will I send forth of my word. And behold, whosoever believeth on my words, them will I visit with the manifestation of my Spirit; and they shall be born of me, even of water and of the Spirit—And you must wait yet a little while, for ye are not yet ordained—And their testimony shall also go forth unto the condemnation of this generation if they harden their hearts against them; For a desolating scourge shall go forth among the inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to time, if they repent not, until the earth is empty, and the inhabitants thereof are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming. Behold, I tell you these things, even as I also told the people of the destruction of Jerusalem; and my word shall be verified at this time as it hath hitherto been verified.”

Fifty two years shall have passed tomorrow since the Lord permitted his holy angel to descend from heaven and commit into the care and charge of Joseph Smith, a young man, plates which had the appearance of gold, filled with engravings. He obtained these plates on the 22nd day of September in the year 1827, being then not quite twenty-two years of age. This young man was not learned, like those educated in colleges and theological institutions; indeed, he was a farmer’s boy, unacquainted with the arguments, and the tenets, and the creeds, and the institutions of religion that existed around him, except what he had heard from time to time, in the neighborhood where his father resided; a young man not versed in the Scriptures any more than most of the common lads of that age. And we all know that there are but a very few among farmers that have the opportunity of informing their minds at so early a period—at the age of twenty-one—in regard to the doctrines and prophecies contained in the Scripture.

You may, some of you, wonder, perhaps, why the Lord should select an instrument of this kind; why he did not take a person more qualified by education, more experienced in the doctrines taught among the human family, more conversant with the Bible. You perhaps, may think in your own mind that if you had had the selection of the individual to begin the work of the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth in the last days, and you had followed the best wisdom you had on the subject, that you certainly would have selected a person well trained and skilled in the different doctrines of the day. But the Lord does not see as man sees, his thoughts are not like our thoughts, neither are his ways like our ways. Hence he chose a man unconnected with any of the religious societies of the day—untaught in the Scriptures and doctrines of the different religious denominations—he selected a man of his own choice, as he had frequently done in former ages of the world.

We all recollect the selection that the Lord made in relation to David, when he was called to be king of the House of Israel, and anointed for that purpose. There were, I think, seven brethren older than David—men of fair appearance, men of experience—men that probably their neighbors, their acquaintances, would have selected either one of them in preference to the youth that was tending the sheep. But Samuel, being a prophet of the Lord, when these certain brethren came up before him, said: “The Lord hath not chosen him,” and continued to say so until all the seven had passed by, and then the inquiry was made, “Is there not another?” “Why, yes, there is a boy; but he is keeping his father’s sheep.” “Send and fetch him,” said the Prophet Samuel. He was brought in—he was goodly to look upon, but he was simply a youth, untrammeled with the traditions around him, but yet an honest-hearted boy. The Lord chose him, the anointing oil was poured upon his head, and he was appointed to be the future king of Israel.

Now, the Lord did not have any prophets in the year 1827 on all the face of the earth. There was no Samuel existing, no person who had the spirit of prophecy; consequently the Lord, instead of sending a Samuel, sent an angel to make the selection. This angel committed, as I have always said, the plates of the Book of Mormon, together with the Urim and Thummim, into the hands of this youth, and also gave him many instructions informing him that he must be very strict in keeping the commandments of God, and that he must do with these plates as he was counseled from time to time, not to shew them to everybody that might wish to see them, but was strictly forbidden, by the angel, to shew them unto any person until the Lord should give him commandment so to do. He translated these plates unlearned as he was. And now let me ask, would you naturally expect that if he—this unlearned youth—did this by his own wisdom, that it would agree with the Jewish record in all the doctrines taught, or said to be taught in the translation of this record? Would it be reasonable to expect that this unlearned, inexperienced youth could be able to sit down and in a very short period of time translate a book two-thirds as long as the Old Testament, without contradicting himself in some way? Would it be reasonable to suppose or to conclude that he would get all the doctrines, contained in that Book of nearly 600 pages to agree in every respect with the ancient Gospel as it was taught in the New Testament, especially when there were several thousand different notions in regard to that doctrine? We could not expect any such thing. The more inexperienced a man is the less qualified he is to write, by his own human wisdom, and get into proper shape, a history said to extend over a thousand years or a little more—a history commencing with the colony that came from Jerusalem to this continent, down until the records were sealed and hid in the earth—a thousand years’ history of a nation, of two nations that were opposed to each other, of their wars and their travels to and fro upon a large continent, like ours—we would naturally expect that a young man, so inexperienced, would, by his own human wisdom, get that country awfully muddled up as regards places, as regards the location of cities, and location of countries. We would naturally expect, I say, such contradiction to occur in the writings of an unlearned youth.

But what is still more marvelous, is the prophetic portions of this record, called the Book of Mormon. It is full of prophecies from the open– ing of the record unto the closing thereof. Predictions, not only concerning events that took place after this colony left Jerusalem, during 600 years before Christ, predictions that were to take place down to the coming of Christ in the flesh, but predictions that were to be fulfilled after the first coming of Christ down until the end of time. The book is full of these predictions. Would you not naturally expect therefore, could you look for any other thing than that an inexperienced, unlettered young man, unread in prophetic history, should contradict himself in different parts of the record; speak of an event on one occasion and forget and speak of something quite different on another? Then again, where did you find a young man, unacquainted with the Jewish record, that could make all these predictions and prophecies coincide with the ancient prophecies of the Jews? Would it be likely that he could do so by his own wisdom? I think not. All these things, therefore, so far as the history is concerned in the Book of Mormon, so far as the prophetic writings are concerned in this late record, so far as the doctrinal parts of that Book are concerned, it is a marvel in the age in which we live; it is a marvel in my eyes; but perhaps my eyes are not constituted as the eyes of others. To me, however, it is one of the greatest marvels of the age. I am familiar with this; and I have read it, perhaps, more carefully than any other man that has ever lived in this generation, and probably ten or fifteen times more than any other man has done. Why, when I was a boy, 21 years of age, I had, for the two years during my first acquaintance with the book, read it so much that I could repeat over chapter after chapter, page after page, of many portions of the Book of Mormon, and could do it just as well, with the Book closed or laid to one side, as I could with the Book open; and I have continued to read it from that day down to the present, without finding one contradiction in the book. I have read the comments, I have read the writings of our greatest opposers who have undertaken to examine the book from the beginning to the end. I have tried to follow their arguments, in relation to the contents of this book, but I have never unto the present day—and it is forty-nine years since I became acquainted therewith—been able to find one contradiction in the whole work.

Can we say as much concerning the Jewish Bible in the present state of its existence? What is the great fault found by the opposers to the Jewish Bible? The infidel says, “We do not believe it, because it apparently contradicts itself in doctrine, in history, and in many other portions.” And the Christian undertakes to read it, he undertakes to show that these are not contradictions; but with the arguments of the Christian on the one side, and the infidels on the other, in relation to the Bible, it is confessed by the generality of mankind that there are many contradictions, not original contradictions, but contradictions that have been introduced into the record since it was originally given—introduced by the wisdom of man, or rather by the wickedness of man. But does the Book of Mormon contradict the teachings of the present day? Yes. There is a great difference between the Book of Mormon and modern Christian religion; but there is no difference between that book and ancient Christianity. We may hunt the wide world over, amongst some 400 millions of Chris– tians, so called, and search deeply for a complete, and good, and thorough understanding of their doctrines, and when we have made ourselves thoroughly acquainted with them, take up the Book of Mormon, compare their doctrines with this Bible of ancient America, and there is a great difference, a fundamental difference, not a trifling difference, but a difference that lies at the foundation. It is the same when we come to compare these modern doctrines of Christendom with the doctrine taught in the New Testament. Where can we find a man who can reconcile the two? Or the thousand if you please? Who is able to show that the New Testament proves and sets forth clearly the ancient doctrine of the Gospel? There may be now and then an item which each denomination has in accordance with the New Testament; but where is the authority which lies at the foundation of Christianity? Where is the man among all these 400 millions of Christians that is a revelator, that is a prophet, or is inspired of God? He cannot be found and yet the ancient Christianity, recorded in the Bible advocates that great gift as one that lies at the foundation of Christianity. Christianity is built upon it, built upon Jesus, who was the great revelator of the Church, and built upon apostles who were also revelators, as well as Jesus, and who received their revelations by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, by inspiration as men of God. Can you find such an order of things in Christendom? Do any profess to have these gifts? They say that they are unnecessary; they say that these gifts were intended for the first age of Christianity, but when Christianity was once established these high gifts were no longer necessary. This is their argument almost as one. They seemed to be agreed, however much they may be opposed in other points of doctrine—they all, almost without an exception, seem to be agreed that there is no need of these high gifts of inspiration, and prophecy, and new revelation that accompanied the preaching of the Gospel in ancient times. “The Gospel is established,” say they; “we have no need of it.” As much as to say that these gifts are no part of the Gospel; that the Gospel is one thing and the gifts are another; that the Gospel was established by the evidence of the gifts, but the gifts are no part of the Gospel. They are as much a part of it as faith; just as much a part of the Gospel as repentance, as baptism for the remission of sins, or as the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and to undertake to separate the blessings of the Gospel, and then call something else the Gospel, does seem very absurd, very inconsistent, and is something that cannot be proved from the divine record. Now, here is something that is of minor importance, something that is not particularly necessary, that might be called nonessential, but something that lies at the very foundation of Christianity. These gifts are a portion of Christianity. Revelation, inspiration and the gift of prophecy, are part and portion of the Gospel as taught by the ancient apostles and men of God, and by our Savior; and to do away with these gifts destroys the fundamental principles of Christianity.

What does the Book of Mormon advocate? It comes directly in contact with all modern Christendom, and goes back to the old Gospel as it was taught nearly 1,800 years ago, and maintains that there must be in the kingdom and Church of God, in every age of the world, these gifts as well as outward forms and ceremonies—maintains that these gifts are a part of the ancient Gospel and must exist wherever the Gospel exists—and when they cease the Gospel ceases to be preached, and true believers, in a Scriptural sense, cease to exist with them.

Now, it does not seem likely to me, that a young man whose beard had scarcely grown—a youth untutored, untaught in the sectarian notions of the day, brought up to labor hard on his farmer’s farm, should be able to make these great distinctions, to come out in opposition to all modern systems of religion, and establish the very fundamental principles that are necessary to the very existence of Christianity in the last days. But God was with that young man. He was not his own teacher, he was not left to his own judgment in regard to what Christianity should be and what it should not be. The angel that came from heaven and revealed himself to the youth understood his mission. He understood what the Gospel was and should be; he understood the revelations of St. John; he understood that these revelations never could be fulfilled unless an angel were sent from heaven in the last days, with the message of the Gospel to be proclaimed unto the inhabitants of the earth, not to a sectional portion of it, not to some corner of it, or to some obscure people, but to commit the everlasting Gospel unto the inhabitants of the earth, to be proclaimed to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. He understood the difference between modern Christianity and ancient Christianity. And when the Urim and Thummim was lighted up by the power of God, and magnified before the eyes of this youth, those ancient characters upon the plates of the Book of Mormon, the distinction was clearly made, between the purity of the Gospel as it was taught in ancient days, and the doctrines and innovations of man as have been taught during many long centuries of apostasy.

How I have rejoiced, since I was a youth of nineteen, in this record! Why I esteem it—I was going to bring up some earthly comparison, but I will not compare great and glorious and heavenly things—so great, so pure and so important, as that of the plan of salvation, with anything of an earthly nature, as there cannot really be any comparison. When I look at all the earthly riches and grandeur of this world, and then look at the Book of Mormon and the Bible, with power to select, which should I choose? Why, the grandeur of this world, the riches of this world, the glories of this world, would be nothing; they would be like the dream of a night vision when a person is disturbed, not by the Spirit of God, but by his own cogitations in the night. I would look upon them as nothing, as vanity and foolishness, as unworthy of the love or approbation of any man of God, were they to be set before me and contrasted with the glory of this book. It is a record given to this generation as one of the choicest gifts of heaven! No other books exist upon the face of our globe so choice as the books which God has given in different ages of the world: the Bible for one, the Book of Mormon for another, and the book called the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations which God gave through his servant the prophet, during some seventeen of the last years of his existence here upon the earth. These revelations, these books are more precious than the riches, and kingdoms, and glories, and honors of this present life, so far as I am concerned. Do I esteem them more than I do my own life? I would be unworthy of my Father and my God in the eternal worlds if I would refuse to lay down my life, if it were required of me of the Lord. If I should save it for a moment, and deny the Book of Mormon; if I were to deny the gifts of the Gospel, or any of the revelations that God has given that are published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—if I were to do such a thing, could I look upon my Father’s face without blushing? Could I think upon God without blushing? Could I think upon anything that was pure and holy, without being, in my own mind, in perfect torment? If I were to be so ungrateful as to deny anything that God has given me, I should be unworthy of the kingdom of God. I do most sincerely and humbly hope and trust that the Lord will not call me and try me in this respect, for I know the weakness of man; I know that man has been weak in all ages, and I do not wish to be thus tried, I do not covet this trial, I do not pray for it; but if ever I should be brought to this condition, with my present feelings, with the feelings I have had for a great many years, I would say: “Come martyrdom, come burnings at the stake, come any calamity and affliction of the body, that may be devised by wicked and ungodly men—let me choose that, and have eternal life beyond the grave; but let me not deny the work of God.” Why do I thus feel? If I had not a knowledge that the Book of Mormon was true, I should not have these feelings. Then I should probably say, if I only had faith that the Book of Mormon is true, “My life is precious, let me save my life, let me deny something which I do not know is true.” But when a person has a knowledge, as I have, of the divinity of this work—having this revealed to me when I was but a beardless boy—I hope never to be brought in that condition, where the trial will be upon me, but should it come I hope to be able to lift up my hands to high heaven, and say, “Oh Lord enable me to endure the trials and afflictions that may come, that I may be faithful unto death.”

Am I the only one that feels in this way, among the Later-day Saints? Are there no other persons that have this knowledge, excepting your humble servant? Yes, there are scores of thousands, if they testify the truth, and I have no reason to think that they would falsify their word; scores of thousands who know as well as they know they have an existence, that the Book of Mormon is a divine record; that the Bible is a divine record; that the revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, are divine; they know it. Would they be willing to suffer martyrdom? I think they would. There might be individual cases, as in ancient times, where they might reject the truth, lose their hopes of salvation, to save their temporal lives; but take the great mass of this people, they would be willing to lay down their lives, or be burned at the stake before they would reject their religion.

How kind, how good was our Heavenly Father, before the rise of this Church, after he had inspired this boy to translate these records; how good it was to send an angel from heaven to three other persons, namely: David Whitmer, Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith being with them on the occasion. The angel descended from heaven, clothed with light and glory, and, taking these records in his hands, turned them over leaf after leaf, showing to these three other men, besides the translator, the engravings on the plates. How kind this was. A Church was to be raised up. The Lord was willing that they should have all the evidence that they could reasonably ask for, before even the first branch of the Church was organized. Did he condescend, in many of the past ages of the world, to do so much for the different generations that have lived, as he has done for the present generation? Look at the days of Noah. He had a message to deliver—a message that affected the human family. He had to tell the people that were living around him that God had spoken. “And what has God said?” He has told me that because of your wickedness he will send the floods upon you. He will break up the foundations of the great deep, he will open the windows from on high and he will pour out the floods upon these nations and they will be swept away root and branch, except a few that will believe in my message, and come into the ark that I am building. How many witnesses did God raise up then? I expect he must have revealed himself to the sons of Noah, as well as to Noah. That would be but four witnesses; but we have no account that the Lord revealed himself to these three sons. They, however, believed the testimony of their father; whether they knew it or not we do not know. At any rate their faith was sufficiently strong to cause them to labor with the old man, and they labored along year after year, weary no doubt, in forming the timbers of this huge ark or vessel. Finally they got it fixed together, and the beasts of the field—that appeared to have more inspiration than the men and the women of that age, began to come from the forests towards the ark, and finally the door was closed. They must have been prophetic beasts, beasts that had revelations, beasts that were able to judge far better than the world of mankind in that age. The rains descended, and the earth was covered with the flood, and we read that Noah by his testimony condemned the whole world. What! One witness? One witness alone condemned the whole world, and they perished from off the face of the earth, because one witness was sent unto them! The Lord has done a little better with this generation. He sent four witnesses before he organized the Church, and that was not all. There were other men that had great testimony and evidence given to them; but they did not see the angel; they did not see the plates in the hands of the angel; but what did they see? They saw this boy have these plates. They took the plates and handled them themselves. They saw the engravings upon these plates—eight other men, besides the four I have mentioned—and they testify to what they saw. They bear witness in words of soberness, that they did handle the plates with their own hands, that they did feel the weight of the plates, that they did observe the engravings thereon, that they had the appearance of ancient work and of curious workmanship, and they bear testimony to what their eyes saw and to what they handled with their hands. Their names, as also the names of the four that saw the angel, were attached to this record, when the first edition of that book was issued from the press. Twelve witnesses then did God condescend to raise up immediately before he organized this Church. Are not twelve witnesses sufficient to condemn the world in this age, if one witness condemned the world in the days of Noah? I think that God has been very lenient, very kind and very merciful in beginning the work with so many witnesses.

But there seem to be other witnesses and evidences concerning the correctness and divinity of this book that are far greater than those I have named. There is a promise to all the human family, that is far better than the ministrations of angels to others. What knowledge does it give to me, to you, to any other person, among all the nations and kindreds of the earth, concerning the divinity of the Book of Mormon, because four witnesses, that lived in some portion of our globe, state that an angel had come from heaven? Does that give me a knowledge? No. Did that impart a knowledge to any other creature on the face of the globe? No. Did we not need a knowledge as well as they? Yes. I have a soul as well as these four men that must be saved or must be lost. If that be the case, ought I not also to have a knowledge concerning my safety as well as they? I think so. Has the Lord made it impossible for me to obtain this knowledge? No. The very message itself in the book, and in the New Testament, and in the modern revelations that are given through the prophet, told me, told you, told all the people upon the face of this earth, how they also might obtain a knowledge of the truth of the Book of Mormon and of this work. How? By getting a vision or manifestation from that same God? No. That we should all have the ministration of angels? No. To some is given one gift, and to some are given other gifts. To some it is given to know in one way, and to some it is given to know in some other way. The Lord has promised that if I will repent, if you will repent, if the people of the United States will repent, if the people of all the nations of the earth will repent, turn unto him and obey his commandments that they should receive the Holy Ghost. Will that give us a knowledge as clear, as definite, as pointed as could be revealed by the ministration of angels? Yes.

Supposing now that I were a natural man, never had received the Holy Ghost. Supposing that a person should come and testify to me that he had received the Holy Ghost, that he had received Heavenly visions that the Lord had sent angels to him, what would I know about it? What would I know about the Holy Spirit, if I never had received it? No man can discern the things of God, but by the Spirit of God; so says the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. It is impossible for the natural man to know the things of God, and if I were a natural man, and had never partaken of the Holy Ghost I might hear a cloud of witnesses testifying to what they had received. I might say, “Well you seem a sincere people, you seem to be honest in your declarations, you say you have had the visitation of angels, you say you had heavenly visions, you say the Holy Ghost has been poured out upon you, but I have never received these things as a natural man.” Now what reason would there be to condemn me on the great judgment day, if I rejected their testimony? They would tell me that I might be put in communication with the heavens the same as they. They might tell me that on certain conditions, I might obtain the Holy Ghost, as well as they, if I would only exercise sufficient faith, to repent of my sins and to be baptized for a remission of them, and to have the servants of God lay their hands upon my head for the reception of the Holy Ghost; that if I would enter into a covenant with the Most High God, to obey his commandments and to call upon his name in faith, and to exercise faith before him—I expect if I did not do all these things, that all this cloud of witnesses that I have named, would stand up on the day of judgment and would condemn me. But if I would exercise faith though I had no knowledge, and would obey the commandments, would be obedient to the principles, and then I received for myself the testimony, I should then be dependent neither upon David Whitmer, Martin Harris nor Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith, nor any of the twelve witnesses that saw the plates, nor any other man living on the whole earth. I could then say, “Oh Lord, my God, thou hast fulfilled thy promise which thou hast made. Thou hast said if I would repent and be baptized I would receive such and such blessings. They have been given unto me, and now I know that thy word is true.” And from that forth I could be a witness myself, but before that I could not be a witness.

Are the ministers of the different denominations of this day, who have never had the spirit of revelation upon them—are they competent witnesses of God to stand before this generation and declare the things of God? No. Can they stand up in the great judgment day and condemn any of this generation to whom they have preached? No. Why not? From the very fact that they are not witnesses. They can tell what the ancients say, how the ancients became witnesses, but they themselves have not an experience in these things, and therefore, God has not made them witnesses. They cannot condemn any man living on the face of the earth, by their preaching and their testimony.

We are living, then, in the great and last dispensation, in which God has provided a way that he might raise up scores of thousands of witnesses, a way that all might know as Peter did. Peter did not get his knowledge from seeing miracles wrought. He did not obtain his knowledge because some other man had received a knowledge. The Savior blessed him and said, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” The Lord had revealed this knowledge unto Peter, consequently Peter was constituted a witness. And so the Lord, by having given revelation from the heavens to scores of thousands of the Latter-day Saints, has made them witnesses of the divinity of this work.

O, how the Latter-day Saints ought to rejoice! How faithful we all ought to be! How frivolous are the things of this present life, compared with the knowledge of God, which you have received! Do you appreciate this, Latter-day Saints? Do you realize it as you ought to, or are your minds swayed to and fro by the frivolities and vanities of this present life? Do they absorb the greater portion of your attention? Do you forget your God, the greatness of your calling, and the knowledge which you have received? I have not.

I believe that the Latter-day Saints are the very best people on the face of our globe. Why? Because they have been willing to endure hardships, persecutions all the day long. They have been willing to leave their houses, their lands, their possessions, have been willing to see all fall into the hands of their enemies and flee to a desert country for the sake of their religion. Has God forgotten all these things? O, ye children of Zion! Do you suppose that the Lord has forgotten, because many years have passed away, your tribulation, your sacrifices if they can be called such—your mobbings and persecutions in times that are past? No. They are written as it were on the palms of his hands, they are printed indelibly upon the thoughts of his heart. He has all these things in remembrance, and a day of controversy is coming, and it is not far in the future—a controversy for Zion; a controversy with all the nations of the earth that fight against Mount Zion—the Lord has all these things in his mind, and he will fulfil them in his own due time and season. But now is the day of our tribulation and has been for some forty years and upwards that are past. Are there better days to come? Yes. How far in the future I am not prophet enough to know. All that I do know is that they are nigh, near at the very door, when the Lord will rise up and come forth out of his hiding place and fulfil that which he has spoken concerning Zion and the inhabitants of this land. Zion is not destined to be crushed down forever into the dust. Zion is not destined to be overcome by the kingdoms of this world forever. The turning point will come, and that is nigh at hand. The days are coming—I know they are close at hand—when the young and rising generation that are now sitting in this congregation, and who are spread forth upon the face of the land, throughout these mountains and valleys, will see the turning point for Zion. What will they see? They will see a man raised up like unto Moses in days of old—a man to whom the Lord will reveal himself, as he did to his servant Moses, by angels, by visions, by revelation from the heavens, and will give unto him commandments, and make him an instrument in his hands, to redeem the people and to establish them in their everlasting inheritance upon the face of this American continent. Will he show forth his power in that day as he did unto his servant Moses and to Israel? Yes, only more abundantly, more extensively than in the days of Moses, for there is a larger continent than the land of Egypt, in which the Lord will make manifest his power—a greater people than the Egyptians, among whom he will work. Consequently he will show forth his power unto all the inhabitants of this land. He will fulfil the plain predictions of the Prophet Isaiah that the Lord shall make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, until all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. What will be said then concerning this people and Zion? It will then be said by those that are spared in the midst of the terrible judgments that will fall upon these nations, “Surely the people called Latter-day Saints, the people of Zion, are the people of our God. God is there, his power is there, it is his power that delivers that people; it is his power that is over them as a cloud by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. It is his power that protects their congregations, protects their settlements, protects their holy temple. Let us no longer fight against Zion or the people of God, let us enter into the everlasting covenant which has been revealed anew. We will join ourselves with the people of God.” In that day will be fulfilled that which has been spoken by Isaiah in the second chapter, by the prophet Micah, in the fourth chapter, that in the last days many nations shall say: “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

May God bless—not the wicked, not the ungodly, not those that blaspheme the name of the Lord, not those that fight against Zion—but all the true, pure hearted Latter-day Saints, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, September 7th, 1879.

It is with feelings of thanksgiving to my Father who is in heaven, that I stand before you this afternoon, after having been absent from this place for some nine months that are past.

I suppose that the Latter-day Saints who are congregated here, understand the object of the mission which was given to me, to go to Great Britain, and there get the pages of the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, electrotyped, with double sets of plates, for the purpose of spreading forth copies of these works, among the inhabitants of the earth by hundreds of thousands. I therefore, feel very much pleased to have the privilege of bearing testimony to you, that I have, through the blessing of the Lord, been enabled to finish or complete the work that was given me to do, in relation to these two standard works of our Church.

Had it not been for the Book of Mormon this territory would not be occupied by a people called the Latter-day Saints. That lies at the foundation of the work of the last days, in which we are engaged. All of you are acquainted, if you have endeavored to exercise your judgment and your capacities as intelligent beings, with the nature of that book. If you are not acquainted with it you certainly ought to be. We all ought to inform ourselves concerning every principle that is contained in that record. We ought to make ourselves very familiar also, with the Book that is called the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, given by divine revelation in the generation in which we are permitted to live. These two books, we as a people, esteem to be as sacred as any other revelations which were ever given to the human family. We look upon the Book of Mormon as a very precious record—a precious blessing to the people who live in this dispensation, a divine work—a divine revelation. It has now been before the world almost 50 years, being published over 49 years; and the whole world, if they had seen proper to inform themselves, concerning the nature of the work, could have been blessed with the privilege. It is a work which the Lord our God has commenced by his own power. The book was not written by the wisdom of man, by the inspiration of man, but it was written by the commandment of the Most High God. It was written as revealed to a young man, the founder of this Church, under the divine influence of the Holy Spirit. This young man being inspired of God, and having revelations granted to him from heaven, had the privilege of bringing forth this sacred record to this generation. The record was translated, as the Latter-day Saints understand, and as the world generally have been informed, by revelation, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, through the aid of an instrument that was used anciently and called the Urim and Thummim. The Lord did not, in revealing this work to us, require us to receive it blindly and enthusiastically, but to receive it on good, substantial, sound evidence, such as we cannot controvert, such as we cannot contradict—evidence that no reasonable person, having the common reasoning faculties of man, can consistently reject. The Lord did not raise up this Church—did not commence its foundation, until he revealed this Book; and in the revelation of this Book, he fulfilled many predictions, made in ancient days, by the mouth of the Jewish prophets, and also the apostles that succeeded the Jewish prophets. They spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and they predicted that such a work would come forth in the latter times; and if this is not the work, as the world say it is not, then we are to look forward to the day when a similar work will be brought forth by the power of Almighty God; for the events predicted by the mouth of the prophets, recorded in the Jewish Bible, never can be fulfilled, never can be brought to pass, unless a work of a similar description, to the one that has been presented to the people of the nineteenth century shall come forth.

The Book of Mormon, we say, is just as sacred as the Bible—the Old and New Testaments. We cannot see any reason why we should exclude all other books from the compiled books of the Jewish Bible. We have nothing in the compiled works of the Bible (King James’ translation), we have no declarations in this Book, that the canon of Scripture should be full at the close of the fourth century of the Christian era. We have no declarations in this Book, that about 400 years after Christ there should be a church or people on the earth that should collect together manuscript books and call them the Bible, and that that should be a complete revelation of God’s will; or that there were no other sacred books in existence, only what the Catholic church, at the close of the fourth century, happened to collect together.

We believe that God is the God of all nations, as well as the God of the Jews. We believe that he did not confine his divine power and the inspiration of his Spirit to one little spot of our globe; although he did work wonderfully, and in a marvelous manner, in the land of Palestine among the Jews, and did shew forth his power by raising up prophets, and revelators, and apostles. Yet we cannot, in our views, limit the Almighty, as the Christian nations do, and say that he has never spoken to any other people. We cannot, with the intelligence and light that God has given to us, say that the Bible is the only revelation of God to man. We believe that he made all nations, and all the inhabitants of the earth. We believe that he had as much regard for the ten tribes, after they revolted from the house of Judah and separated themselves into a distinct nation—when they wrought righteousness, as he had for the Jews who dwelt in Jerusalem, and in the vicinity of that great capital city. Indeed the Lord has shown to us that he was no respecter of persons. So far as the ten tribes were concerned, he had revealed himself to them. Some of the greatest prophets that were raised up in days of old, before the coming of the Messiah, were prophets that lived among the ten tribes, who were not Jews: not included in the house of Judah, or the two years and a half. For instance, Elijah, who had such great power given him from God, that he could call upon His name and the heavens would be shut up so that there would be no rain fall upon the earth, according to his prayer, for three and a half years. A man with such faith, that after three and a half years of great famine, he prayed for the Lord to send rain, and rain was given immediately. A man with such power that when a captain of fifty with his fifty came to take him—who mockingly called him a man of God—he said to the captain, “If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty,” and it was done, according to his word. He was not a Jewish prophet; he was a prophet of the ten tribes. A man also that had such great faith in God, that he was taken away from the earth, in a chariot of fire, and wafted to the abodes of immortality, among the immortal beings. Here then was a prophet raised up among another branch of the house of Israel. Here was also Elisha, another prophet, not of the Jews but of the ten tribes. Were not their revelations just as sacred as the revelations of the prophets of Judah? They certainly were; and were incorporated in the Jewish Bible. Were there any other branches of Israel besides those ten tribes, who dwelt in the northern parts of the Land of Palestine, and the Jews? Yes, we read in various parts of this Bible, that many of the house of Israel were taken away from the main body who dwelt in Palestine, and scattered to the four quarters of the earth. Did God forget them and their generations after them, after they were thus scattered? I think not. He did not forget them; and in the days of their righteousness, he revealed himself to them and to his prophets. And this great and choice American continent was once peopled by the seed of Israel, not the ten tribes or Jewish nation especially, but a small remnant of one tribe, namely the descendants of Joseph who was carried into Egypt. These American Indians scattered over this great continent of ours, are the literal descendants of the chosen seed. Now, do you suppose that the Almighty, who desires the salvation of the children of men, would take a company, however great or small it might be, and locate them upon such a great and vast continent as ours, and leave them without any guidance by revelation from him? Leave them from generation to generation without prophets and without revelators? Such an event is inconsistent to my mind. God, who is no respecter of persons, who loves all people of all nations, of all kindreds and tongues, surely would not thus lead away the chosen seed, and plant them upon such a vast continent as ours and obscure or withdraw himself, leaving them in total ignorance, without any revelation from heaven. What is the Book of Mormon? It is their record, their Bible, their revelations, their predictions, their doctrines, their manifestations and visions, and their history, the same as the Bible is the record and history of the Jews. Why then should it be thought inconsistent with the character of God that he should bring forth records, so sacred, so great, so important to join with the testimony of the Jewish record that the nations of the last days might have the testimony of two hemispheres that God is the same God, that his doctrines are everlasting, the same unchangeable Gospel and plan of salvation, and that his people Israel were as precious to him on the western hemisphere as they were on the eastern, and that the great atonement which we are now celebrating in this house, should not be shut out from the minds of the people in the western hemisphere? Is it consistent that this should be the case? There is not a man living, who will free himself from the traditions of false doctrines that have prevailed for many generations, but what will say it is godlike, it is consistent with the character of the Almighty to reveal himself to the western hemisphere as well as to the great eastern hemisphere, and if he did this would there be anything inconsistent that these records should be brought to light in the last days? Is God limited in his power? I appeal to the whole of Christendom, do we as Christians believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and in his Father, as being limited in their power, and that people should be left without divine knowledge, without information from heaven, when it is so easy for them to reveal? Is not the knowledge of God to cover the earth, according to the prediction of Isaiah the prophet, as the waters cover the great deep, before the end shall come? Are not many, in the last days, to run to and fro, and knowledge be increased, and when I speak of knowledge I mean that knowledge which is of God, the knowledge revealed from heaven, concerning the great plan of salvation. It is reasonable, it is consistent, it is in accordance with the Jewish Bible, that God should reveal himself and the plan of salvation to the people of the latter days, that the knowledge of God may truly cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. In revealing this additional knowledge, will it do any harm? Is there any church on the face of the whole earth that is in the least degree harmed by the additional revelations sent from heaven? I think not. What harm is there in the Lord’s making manifest to the people in this western hemisphere, that the same Gospel was preached to the inhabitants of this land as was preached to the Jews and the people of the eastern continent in ancient days? Who is harmed among all the religious denominations of Christendom, the four hundred millions of Christians, so called, by the addition of further revelation? Did it harm any of the branches of the church that were anciently Christian, after they had the Book of Matthew revealed to them, to be permitted to have a testimony from another inspired man, called the Book of Mark? I think there was no harm in Mark’s writing his Gospel, after Matthew had written his. It did no harm to the ancient Christians that Luke should write his testimony of the Gospel; that John should write his, that John should be permitted to receive great prophecy and revelation on the isle of Patmos. Did that close revelation from God? No, because we find that the Lord inspired John to write his testimony of the Gospel, showing that the canon of Scripture was not closed up when John left Patmos. What harm is there for another nation to know about the Prophet Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the atonement that he made by his own suffering and death? Would it not be a privilege and blessing for the ancient inhabitants of America to be informed concerning the only way by which they could be saved in the kingdom of God? The Book of Mormon records the fact that Jesus did appear on this American continent, after his resurrection from the dead; that he did administer in person, in his immortal body, after his resurrection, for several days, in the midst of this remnant of Israel, the forefathers of these American Indians. What Gospel did he teach? Did he teach one Gospel in Asia and another in ancient America? No. If the same Gospel then is taught, who is harmed among the four hundred millions of Christians, by having the information concerning it? It seems to me as if I could imagine the feeling of the strangers that may be present this afternoon. I can imagine someone saying, “Oh, it would be a very beautiful theory, if we could only believe it; if we only had testimony sufficient to believe what you Latter-day Saints declare, that the Book of Mormon is actually a divine revelation of the Gospel as it was preached in ancient America; if we knew this fact we could not denounce it as something that was calculated in its nature to destroy the peace and happiness of Christendom, but we should consider it a great blessing to the human family if we only had the evidence and testimony that the facts are as you state them.” Now I expect these thoughts are running through the minds of some individuals here. Well, now, what must be the evidence? What would you naturally suppose would be the kind of evidence that the Lord Almighty would give to substantiate the divinity of a book that is almost two-thirds as voluminous as the Jewish Bible? Can you imagine any testimony that ought to be given to convince the children of men? “Well,” says one, “if we could only have it confirmed by the ministration of angels, that would be an evidence, a great evidence or testimony.” The inhabitants of this generation, for nearly fifty years, have had the testimony of three men, besides the boy that translated the Book of Mormon—the testimony of three witnesses. The Lord would not suffer his Church to be organized, would not suffer his servants to build up this kingdom on the earth—this ecclesiastical kingdom, until he gave sufficient evidence unto three chosen witnesses, as well as the boy that translated the work. Their testimony is given, in connection with the book, and there is no man living that can contradict their testimony or can prove it to be untrue. The witnesses themselves have never denied their testimony; and not only three other witnesses who saw the angel, heard the words of his mouth, saw the glory of his countenance, and saw the plates—the original plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, but also eight other witnesses who saw the plates, but did not see the angel; they saw the plates at another time; saw the engravings upon the plates, handled them with their hands, and have recorded their testimony. Hence we have the testimony of the young man that was called by the angel to translate and bring forth the book, and then the testimony of eleven other witnesses besides. In the mouth of two or three witnesses, we are told in the Jewish record, every word shall be established. But God saw fit to give twelve witnesses before the Church of the Latter-day Saints ever had an existence on this earth. That certainly ought to be sufficient to begin the work with, to begin to enlighten the minds of the children of men, concerning what God was about to do upon the face of the earth. But are we confined to these twelve men and their testimony? Are there no other means by which we may for ourselves come to a knowledge that this work is divine? I will tell you how the Lord has provided in a godlike manner, just as we would naturally expect he would do—that the children of men, however weak, frail, and imperfect in their judgment, if they have the common sense and common attainments that the children of men generally have, may not only have a faith concerning the truth of this work, founded on the evidence of others, but also a knowledge for themselves. And how is this? How can people get a real knowledge that this Book is divine? Says one: “I should like to embrace it, but then you are so unpopular. Still if I knew it to be true,” perhaps some stranger may say in his heart, “if I knew that God was the author of it, I would not mind anything about the contumely, or anything about the unpopularity of the people called Latter-day Saints.” There is a way to know whether this work be true, if you will follow the conditions. And what are the conditions that God has pointed out, by which we may receive a knowledge now as well as they received a knowledge in ancient times, concerning similar doctrines and principles? It is by obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God. The Lord, before he suffered this Church to be organized gave authority to his servants to preach the Gospel and to organize his kingdom on the earth in fulfillment of the ancient prophecies. In connection with this authority, he gave them authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel to those that would repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave them not only power and authority to baptize—that is divine authority to baptize—for the remission of sins, but also to lay their hands upon the heads of baptized believers and pronounce upon them the blessings of the Holy Ghost as they did in ancient days. This was placing the people of this generation in a condition to prove whether this work was divine or not. The elders were sent forth in the early rise of this Church, saying unto the people, “If you will repent of your sins—if you will turn from everything that is evil, if you will with all your hearts enter into a covenant with the Almighty to obey the Lord of righteousness, to keep his commandments, to do right all your future days, and will be baptized by the authority that God has given from heaven, and also be confirmed by the laying on of hands, God will give you the Holy Ghost, and by this gift of the Holy Ghost you shall know that the Book of Mormon is a divine revelation, and that this is the Church and the kingdom of the living God.” Very many honest hearted people in the American Union, in the nation of Great Britain, in the various nations of Europe, and upon the islands of the Sea, have tested the truth of this commandment of God given unto his servant in the first rise and beginning of this Church. Did they receive the Holy Ghost? They testify that they did. They say, that “by obeying that message which you brought to us, which you testified that God had sent you to preach, the promises you made to us are fulfilled. You stated that we should receive the Holy Ghost. We have received it because we have humbled ourselves before God. We have been baptized by you. You stated you held authority. We believed it from testimony that you gave us, that such was the case, but we did not know it. We went forth and acted upon our faith, and now we can testify we know you are the servants of God; for God has fulfilled the promise which he has given to us through your word.” Thus scores of thousands have proved the divinity of this work. You marvel that this people are so well united. You marvel that we come out from the nations of the earth and assemble ourselves in one. You marvel what it is that prompts this people called Latter-day Saints to come from the lands of their forefathers, from the islands of the Sea, from distant nations, and assemble themselves here in this great basin of North America. It is not man that has accomplished this work. It is because you have received the Holy Ghost that you are here in these valleys. It is because God witnessed unto you in your own lands, before you started upon your journey that he had again spoken to the inhabitants of the earth as in ancient days. You there learned that this was his true Church, his true kingdom established upon the earth as he predicted by the mouth of his servants, and you felt anxious to be gathered with the rest of the Saints that had the same testimony with you. Hence you gather not only from choice, but by actual commandment. We do not gather here merely for the sake of being together, but it is because the same God who revealed the Book of Mormon by his servant Joseph, the youth of whom I have spoken—that same boy received another revelation which is published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which I now hold in my hand, commanding the Latter-day Saints to gather out of all nations of the earth, to this American continent. Hence you came here because you had received the Holy Ghost. You have come here because you knew this work was true. You have come here that you might fulfil the commandment which God gave near the time of the rise of this Church in relation to the gathering of his Saints from among all the nations and kingdoms of the earth. Has God fulfilled that which he spoke when we were but a little handful of people, not numbering one hundred souls? He told us that his people should be gathered from all quarters of the earth into one place upon the face of this great continent. Has he fulfilled it? The testimony is before the eyes not only of the Latter-day Saints, but the eyes of all people, nations and tongues, and among the most distant nations of the earth concerning the gathering of the people called Latter-day Saints. God has fulfilled his word—this word, which was given nearly fifty years ago, as to the gathering of his people from the four quarters of the earth. Now this great work of the last days never could be accomplished without this gathering together of the Saints. There are no other people fulfilling it. For instance, take the Roman Catholics; they were not gathering from all parts of the earth. Take the Greek Church; they do not come out from the nations from which they receive their doctrine. Take all the Protestant denominations, and who among them all are assembling themselves together in one? If they should issue a proclamation by human wisdom and by human commandment, requiring their members to gather together, they could not accomplish it. Why? Because there is not enough unity amongst them; the Holy Ghost has not been given to them in its fulness, as given to the ancient Saints; hence they could not gather the people together. But the Lord has done it through this people. And what will he yet do? Permit me to prophesy, not in my own name nor by my own wisdom, but on the strength of that which God has revealed to this Church since the year 1830, and that also which is given in the Book of Mormon—I prophesy that this is only just the beginning, as it were of the great work of the gathering of the Latter-day Saints.

[I would say that some of our friends that have called in this afternoon are obliged, in consequence of the cars leaving, to retire. May the Lord bless them, pour out his Spirit upon them, may he manifest the truth unto them that they may be blessed in common with all those who keep the commandments of God.]

The Lord our God has therefore fulfilled that which he spoke; and as I said this work, instead of being nearly accomplished, nearly fulfilled, and all things brought about according to the purposes of the Almighty, only the foundation, as it were, is now laid, and instead of being gathered in a little company of 150,000, by and by we shall be gathered in hundreds of thousands and even millions. Now, do you believe it? I not only believe it but know it will come to pass just as much as a great many other things which have already been fulfilled since the promises were uttered and published in this book. I knew they would come to pass, for God has revealed these things to me, and given me a knowledge of them, and I also know concerning the future of this people, as also do a great many of our brethren that have received testimonies concerning these matters. Is God limited to this little narrow spot, called the great basin of North America? Why, no. It is only for the present, for the time being that we dwell here. Where will we dwell in the future? What is our future destiny? It is not on the Sandwich islands, it is not in New Zealand, it is not in Australia, it is not in any of the islands of the sea, but I will tell you the future destiny of this people in a very few words. Not many years hence—I do not say the number of years—you will look forth to the western counties of the State of Missouri, and to the eastern counties of the State of Kansas, and in all that region round about you will see a thickly populated country, inhabited by a peaceful people, having their orchards, their fruit trees, their fields of grain, their beautiful houses and shade trees, their cities and towns and villages. And you may ask—Who are all these people? And the answer will be—Latter-day Saints! Where have they come from? They have come from the nations of the earth! They have come from the mountains of Utah, from Arizona, from Idaho, and from the mountainous territories of the North American Continent, they have come down here, and are quietly cultivating the lands of these States! Now, this will all come to pass, just as sure to come to pass as there is a God that reigns in yonder heavens, and not many years hence either. Thus you see that for some time to come, our future destiny is not to build up this kingdom upon any of the islands of the sea, but to be located where God has decreed, by his own power that his people shall dwell. “Oh, but,” says one, “you have to get the land first.” But I would ask is there any breaking of the Constitution—is there anything calculated to take away the rights of American citizenship by emigrants going from one part of this nation to another, peacefully and quietly, purchasing the land and locating upon it? I think not. “But,” says one, “perhaps they will not allow you to purchase the land.” The Lord will take care of that; that is in the hands of the Lord. That same being who will assist in the building of a great city on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, has all power; and when we purchase the land, and go and take possession of it, I do not think we will be driven from our own lands, if we mind our own business and do not meddle with our neighbors’ business, and do not undertake to injure them in their rights and privileges, guaranteed to them by the Constitution of our country. If we conduct ourselves in a peaceable manner, I do not see why we may not dwell there as well as other citizens. We have the strongest assurance that such will be the case. These were promises made to us, before there were a hundred persons in this Church. It was promised that we should have a land as an inheritance; but we were commanded of God, to purchase the land. Now, when the time comes for purchasing this land, we will have means. How this means will be brought about it is not for me to say. Perhaps the Lord will open up mines containing gold and silver, or in some other way as seemeth to him best, wealth will be poured into the laps of the Latter-day Saints till they will scarcely know what to do with it. I will here again prophesy on the strength of former revelation that there are no people on the face of the whole globe, not even excepting London, Paris, New York, or any of the great mercantile cities of the globe—there are no people now upon the face of the earth, so rich as the Latter-day Saints will be in a few years to come. Having their millions; therefore they will purchase the land, build up cities, towns and villages, build a great capital city at headquarters, in Jackson County, Missouri. Will we have a temple there? Yes; will we have a beautiful city? Yes, one of the most beautiful cities that will ever be erected on the continent of America will be built up by the Latter-day Saints in Jackson County, Missouri. Consequently, when congressmen and statesmen, and the great men of our nation, want to know what the future destiny of the Latter-day Saints will be, let them remember the words of your humble servant, who has addressed you this afternoon; for they will come to pass—they will be fulfilled. We have seen too many revelations fulfilled, already, to be mistaken in regard to these matters. Amen.

Delivered in the North Branch Meeting Room, of the London Conference, on Sunday Evening, March 9th, 1879.

It is with pleasure, brethren and sisters, that I rise before this small assembly to address them upon such subjects as may be put into my heart. However much learning and information may be in the possession of a speaker it does not matter, God is able, by his Spirit, to make use of the most unlearned, if they will but seek unto him, and have faith in him, that he can speak through them to the edification of the people who hear. We have a vast amount of information which the Lord has revealed from on high in different periods of the world’s history, as well as in our own day; information that is of the greatest importance to the human family; information that has relation to our eternal happiness and welfare in the world to come, if we can but obtain enough of the spirit of truth to impart that information to our minds.

We, Latter-day Saints, are living in a peculiar age of the world; we are called by the Almighty, by new revelation. We have not taken this name upon ourselves, it is a name the Lord gave by direct revelation through the prophet and seer, Joseph Smith. The Lord spoke to him, as he always did to those who were sent forth to build up his Church On the earth; hence, this Church has not been built upon the opinions of men, neither upon the learning of men, neither upon the doctrines and covenants of men; but in the very beginning, before there were any Latter-day Saints, or true Church, the Lord gave a revelation regarding the time when the Church should be organized. A few had believed, a few had repented, a few had been baptized for the remission of their sins, and a few had been confirmed, by the laying on of hands, for the gift of the Holy Ghost. They were organized into a Church by commandment, and on the same day that they were thus organized, the Lord pointed out the duties of the members, and also of the officers of the Church. It was also revealed that in the Church of the living God there should be inspired apostles. We did not assume the apostleship ourselves, we did not pick up this information in and of ourselves, but the Lord gave revelation respecting it. And, indeed, there is not one doctrine believed in or practiced by the Latter-day Saints, but what the Lord our God has given revelation upon that subject or that doctrine. In the first place, before the establishment of the Church, the Lord intending to set up his kingdom again on the earth, made preparation for it by raising up a boy—a young man, unlearned in the schools of theology. This youth was inspired from on high. God sent his holy angels to minister to him, and gave him power to bring forth a sacred record of a branch of the house of Israel, a record, in other words, of a remnant of Israel, who inhabited the great western continent. Their records were brought forth by this boy, this young, unlearned, uneducated youth. He did not attempt to establish the Church while translating those records. This was the first duty required at his hands—namely, to translate from the plates of gold, which he discovered, by the aid of an instrument, called the Urim and Thummim. This sacred instrument was used in ancient times to inquire of the Lord. This young man continued the work of translation from the autumn of the year 1827, until 1829, as time and circumstances would permit. He was a man whose father was in poverty, and consequently a portion of his time had to be occupied by himself in laboring to obtain the necessary comforts of life; but he, after some two years and a half, succeeded in finishing and printing the record, a record which contains about 600 pages. After this record was translated, and the manuscript placed in the hands of a certain printer in Palmyra, State of New York, and after it had been printed, and the Lord had prepared all things, he then gave commandment to this young man to organize the Church, that is, to establish the Latter-day kingdom spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, on the earth, and gave the name by which the same should be called—namely, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

In regard to our forms of Church government, we are also guided by written and printed revelations. We were not left to ourselves, to conjecture, or merely to base our opinion, in regard to what the various duties of the officers of the Church are, but the Lord did distinctly point out the duty of an apostle, telling us that that was one of the officers of the Church, that it is his duty to receive revelation—to receive communications from the heavens, as the apostles did in ancient times, and to administer in all of the ordinances of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and to regulate the Church and watch over the same, and to administer in all spiritual things. The Lord also pointed out the duties of Elders, and of the lesser priesthood. Now we should not have known anything about, what is termed, the “lesser priesthood,” if it had not been for new revelation. We read about two priesthoods in the Bible; one was called, the “higher priesthood” the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek; the other was called, the “lesser priesthood,” or the priesthood after the order of Aaron, the Levitical priesthood, some would term in. But we knew nothing about these things only so far as the Lord revealed them. There were none to take us by the hand, and say to us, “we have the priesthood of the Church, we can teach you what the duties of the respective officers are,” but these things had to be learned anew.

The Lord did not see proper, at the first, to give us the fulness of the authority that he afterwards revealed. He gave us the lesser priesthood. And how did he do it? It was not on the earth. You might have searched all the various Christian churches, built up among all the nations, and you could not have found among any of them, what is termed, the “lesser priesthood,” after the order of Aaron, and yet we are told, in the Jewish record (the Bible), that the priesthood of Aaron is an “everlasting priesthood,” that it was intended to be continued while the sun and the moon should endure—that is, when men were acknowledged sufficiently worthy, to have that priesthood on the earth. It has never died out. It has been in the heavens all the time. Death takes no authority of a divine nature, from any human being, when it is once conferred upon him, if he is faithful until death; consequently there were persons in the heavens who held that priesthood, but no one upon the earth, no one that ever pretended to have it, among the Christian denominations. And the Jewish people, who pretend to have the Levitical priesthood, rejected and do still reject the true Messiah, consequently, their priesthood is null and without authority, and they could not, therefore, administer baptism, for the remission of sins, as John the Baptist did, the forerunner of Christ, who held that priesthood.

There was no other way, therefore, for this priesthood to be established again on the earth, only for it to be sent down from heaven; and the Lord did this. Without it, all of our ministrations would have been in vain. We could not have officiated, without some kind of authority, or priesthood. How did the Lord restore it? In answer to humble, solemn prayer, before the Church arose, the Lord sent his angel, John the Baptist, to two of his servants, namely, the translator of the work, and also the scribe who was writing from his mouth. This angel came, and laid his hands upon their heads, and ordained them, unto the same priesthood which he himself held. They were also instructed, by that angel, concerning the nature of the duties of that priesthood. They were told that they should baptize the people, as John did in ancient times, for the remission of sins, but they had no power, by this priesthood, to lay their hands upon baptized believers, that they might receive the Holy Ghost; that authority did not belong to the lesser priesthood, but required a greater power than the Levitical priesthood, to administer that divine ordinance, for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Therefore these persons could, as yet, only baptize in water; but they sought diligently, knowing from the Bible, and also from the Book of Mormon, which they were translating, that the laying on of the hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, was a sacred and holy ordinance, and that without it, the Church could not be organized on the earth. Knowing this, they pleaded before the heavens, that God would condescend to give them a higher priesthood, that would enable them also to administer in those higher Gospel ordinances. The Lord heard their prayers, and three heavenly personages were sent to them. What authority did these three angelic personages hold? They held the apostleship. They were the ancient apostles, Peter, James and John, three of the most conspicuous of the ancient apostles. They were sent as ministering angels. They also conferred upon them the apostleship. The apostleship holds this higher priesthood, after the order of Melchizedek, a priesthood greater than that of Aaron; and hence, when they received the apostleship, or this divine authority, they were commanded to call the baptized believers together, and lay their hands upon them, and confirm upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost.

In this way the Church was organized, on the 6th day of April, 1830, in Fayette, Seneca Co., New York, or rather began to be organ– ized, for there are many things besides these first principles of the Gospel I have named, that are essential duties necessary to be practiced amongst the people of God. After they were thus organized and confirmed by the laying on of the hands, and became members of the Church, then it became necessary, that there should be other officers, as leaders, and guides, and persons, holding different authority, to administer in their respective callings, among the people and hence, deacons, teachers and elders were given, and after a while bishops. Now, we had but little knowledge of the duties of bishops. We knew what the sectarian religionists expressed, in regard to bishops, that they were to administer principally in spiritual things, but the Lord gave us altogether a different view of this subject, from what we had learned from sectarian religion. He gave by revelation, the duties of bishops, that, they were to hold the presidency of the Aaronic priesthood, that they were to administer in all temporal things, and not spiritual things only, And finally other officers were pointed out, from time to time, as the Church increased and among these, the Lord had told his servants, about a year before the organization of the Church, that there would be Twelve Apostles appointed, and that the Lord should designate to them, who these Twelve Apostles should be. These Twelve, in due time, were called and ordained, by the commandment of the Almighty, and they also had their duties specified by revelation. Their duties were more particularly, to see that the gospel was preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, upon the face of our globe; first, to carry it to the Gentile nations, and after we had completed our mission to the Gentiles, then our calling and duties would be to the house of Israel scattered in the four quarters of the earth.

We have been now almost one half a century, in fulfilling the first part of our duty, namely, in publishing the Gospel to the gentile nations.

We have sought diligently, year after year, to publish glad tidings of great joy, to all the different peoples on the face of the earth, so far as the governments, and the laws of the respective governments, of these nations would permit the Gospel of the Church of Christ, to be established amongst them. We have sought diligently, therefore, to perform our mission to the Gentiles. We have not gone to the house of Israel, because that was not the commandment. We were commanded of the Lord our God, to preach to, the Gentiles first, to warn them, to testify to them that their times are nearly fulfilled; and that then the Gospel of the kingdom should be turned from among them, and transferred over to the house of Israel. We have been faithful, I believe, in England, in Wales, in Scotland, in Ireland, and upon the Continent, among the European nations, so far as their laws would permit, and also among the various States of the American union, and in the British dominions, the Canadas. And we have tried to be faithful in carrying out our testimony also to the British Colonies in India; and also in the Southern portions of Africa; and also at Gibraltar, and in South Australia, and New Zealand and in all those various countries, trying to warn the Gentile nations, concerning that which the Lord; our God is beginning to do here on the earth. Having established his kingdom, he offers it first to these Gentile nations, if they will receive it; and when they shall account themselves unworthy of the kingdom, unworthy of eternal life, unworthy of the message which God has sent to them, and shall persecute his servants and his people all the day long, and shall close up their sanctuaries, their Churches, their chapels, their meetinghouses, and their places of worship against this message, and when it can no longer find place among them, so as to bring them to a knowledge and understanding of the truth, the Lord will, after a while, designate by revelation, and say unto his servants, “It is enough. You have been faithful in laboring in my vineyard, for the last time;” for it was the decree of heaven, that this shall be the last time, that he will labor in his vineyard. It is the eleventh hour, the last warning that will be given to the nations of the earth, first to the Gentiles, and then to the House of Israel.

When they shall render themselves unworthy of this great and joyful message, that has been presented to them, the servants of God will, as I have already stated, have it revealed to them, to confine no longer their mission to the Gentiles; but they will receive a commission from the Almighty to go to the scattered remnants of the House of Israel, wherever they may be located.

The American Indians are the descendants of a remnant of the tribe of Joseph with a mixture of the descendants of one of the kings of Israel of the tribe of Judah; hence, Judah and Joseph are mixed together, and God will send his servants among them, and they will receive the records of their fathers. They will believe in those records, which their forefathers kept by inspiration, and believe in the revelations that are contained therein. It is their Bible, the same as the Old and New Testaments are the Bible of the Jews, that lived at Jerusalem.

They, the Indians, will not reject it, but obey it, and practically receive it, and become a powerful branch of the House of Israel. The servants of the Lord will also be sent to the Jews, some of whom are here in London. Some are mingled with the various nations of Europe. Many hundreds of thousands of them are in Asia and among all nations. These Jews must be warned, when we get through with the Gentiles; and they will begin to believe in Christ, according to the prophecies, that are contained in the Stick of Joseph. They will begin to believe in the true Messiah and gather unto their land, the land of Palestine; and there will be many of the people of Israel, that are scattered upon the Isles of the sea—on the Pacific Isles—who will receive the work; and the Lord will perform in their midst, miracles, and signs, and wonders, and make bare his arm, just as is prophesied by Isaiah in bringing about his covenants to the House of Israel. And he will make bare his arm very differently from what he has done among the Gentiles; for among the Gentiles, he has, it is true, healed the sick; he has opened the eyes of the blind; he has caused the tongue of the dumb in some instances, to sing; and he has healed them of various diseases; and there has been a certain degree of the power and gifts of the ancient Gospel, manifested as in ancient times, among the ancient Gentile Churches. But I do not call this the making bare of the arm of the Almighty in so great fulness as it is predicted in the Jewish record, the Bible. It is making bare his arm in some small degree. And we have great reason to be thankful, when he does hear the prayers of his servants, when he does heal those who are sick, when he does show forth his power as in ancient times, in these spiritual gifts and blessings, which belong especially to the Gospel of his Son. But when I speak of the Lord making bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, I have reference to that what which is predicted in this book, called the Bible, when the waters will again be divided, and Israel will go through dry-shod, as they did in ancient times. When the great deep will have a highway cast up through the midst of it and Israel will pass through it dry-shod. When I mention about the Lord making bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, I have reference to that tremendous power, that is specified by the Ancient prophets, which will be made manifest before all people, all governments, nations and countries upon the face of the whole earth. Israel will return with power. Will God be with them when they return? He will. He will go as literally before their Camp, as they go out from among the nations, as he did in ancient times when he brought them out from that one single nation of the Egyptians. Then there was a display of great power, great signs, great wonders. The Lord condescended to talk with men from heaven. He descended upon Mount Sinai and his voice was heard, like the voice of thunder, by the numerous multitudes of Israel that were gathered at the foot of the mount.

Upon that mountain he manifested his power by causing it to tremble exceedingly, his lightnings and thunders were seen and heard and therefore this was making bare his arm in very deed; and from that day to this, Israel when scattered among the nations, and when they wish to speak of the greatness of their God and magnify his great and holy name, still refer to the signs and wonders that were wrought in delivering their fathers from the land of Egypt, in dividing the waters of the Red Sea. They still refer to the cloud they saw over their camp by day, and to the shining of the flaming fire by night. They still refer to the numerous revelations, given to them while they so sojourned forty years in the wilderness. They still refer to the waters of Jordan which were divided, as they went into the land of Palestine.

But that was only a display of the power of the Almighty before the nations that were in that immediate vicinity. There is a day coming when this will be manifested over all the face of the earth, when the Lord God shall organize the camps of Israel among the various nations and bring them home to their own lands.

Ezekiel, the prophet, being filled with the spirit of inspiration, and looking forth by the power of that spirit to that time when they should be brought back and assembled into one body, in the wilderness, says that the Lord should plead with them face to face, like as he plead with their fathers in the wilderness and the land of Egypt. (See Ezekiel xx.) So we see there is a day of power coming, and a day of wonders and a day of mighty deeds, when the power of the Lord, in great judgment, will be upon the nations of the wicked; and also when his glory shall be upon his covenant people who shall be restored to their own lands. The message with which we are now entrusted is a part of the great and last warning message to the nations of the earth, first to the Gentiles, and last to the house of Israel. And when we get through warning the Gentiles, the proclamation which the Lord has given us, shall be delivered to Israel in the islands of the sea and among the various nations; and they shall gather home to the land of their inheritance. Then Jerusalem shall be redeemed and a temple established upon its former foundation in the holy land. Then the nations of the earth will see a fulfillment of our words. We have told them for the last forty-nine years that the Lord God had commenced a work to prepare the way before the face of his coming, to prepare a people to endure his presence, to gather his people from the four quarters of the earth into one, in order that they might be prepared against the day when the veil of eternity shall be rent, and the voice of the Lord shall be heard unto the ends of the earth. Then they shall behold a fulfillment of our words, they shall then know of a surety, if they do not before, that there is a God in this work, that he has commenced a proclamation and message for the last time, to prepare the way before the face of the coming of his Son from the heavens.

But before that great day shall come, let me foretell, before this people, that which they may look for, that which will most assuredly come to pass, and that which will eventually cause their ears to tingle, and the sound thereof will cause them to tremble exceedingly, namely, the judgments that are decreed by the Almighty, to be poured out upon the nations of the Gentiles, that do not repent.

While this message is going forth, in your midst, it is a time of comparative peace, it is a time when the Lord our God is granting unto you the proclamation of mercy, and has given you peace in your homes, peace among yourselves; no civil wars are raging in your midst, though there are some foreign wars that occasionally disturb the peace of the people; but the Lord has been specially favorable to the people of this island, while the proclamation has been sounding, during the last forty-three years in your midst. But this will not always continue. You may be assured, that there is a change coming as you may be assured of the fulfillment of anything that has ever been spoken, by the mouth of the ancient servants of God. A change is coming over the political affairs of these nations. Great Britain will not escape. What will be this change? There will be various causes that will bring it about. One change will be this, which you, without being prophets, can by a little reflection, understand for yourselves. You know that England, for many years past, has been the great manufacturing nation for the whole world. They have looked to you for your manufactures and such merchandise has been carried unto all parts of the earth; and this has kept your workmen and poor people employed. They have had abundance to do the most of their time. You have sent forth a vast amount of your manufactures to the continent of America, to the people of the United States, but the scene is changing; for any person, with a little reflection, can see that the change is already beginning to come, and that too very readily. The nations, to whom you have exported your products, are beginning to manufacture for themselves. This cuts off the trade with Great Britain.

The American nation is beginning to manufacture for themselves, and not only themselves, but they are actually sending their manufactures to this little island; and the people here are beginning to purchase American goods and manufacture in preference to their own. This cuts off in your country a great many of the manufacturing establishments, and you have a surplus population, of many millions, thrown as it were out of employment, who can scarcely get sufficient to sustain themselves from day to day. Is this state of things going to get better? No, it will not, there may be prosperous times for a short season, but they will soon pass away; and such times are coming, such as this nation has not experienced, neither they, nor their forefathers for many generations.

I might go on and tell you many things, in relation to the consequences of people being thrown out of employment. I might portray it, but I do not wish to harrow up the people, in regard to this matter. You yourselves can see, that when people are pinched, for the want of bread, for the want of clothing, for the want of the necessary comforts of life, and are driven to desperation, you can judge for yourselves what must be the state of things that will ensue. I have no need to portray them. But I would say to the Latter-day Saints who have been taught these things for many years, gather out from this nation. And inasmuch as we have pointed out the way of escape and shown you that the Lord has provided in regard to these matters, for all that will believe in him, and repent of their sins, and obey the gospel, do not be dilatory, do not be slack, do not be extravagant in your expenditures, but strive to lay up means, and so far as you possibly can, by being faithful, and serving the Lord your God, gather out from these countries; for a day of great tribulation is coming, a day of desolation, a day wherein the Country will be revolutionized, wherein the poor and the afflicted, and the needy, will contend earnestly for the lives of themselves, and their little ones, instead of seeing them perish by hundreds and thousands in the streets. And inasmuch as such a day is coming, Latter-day Saints, it would be far better for you, to be out of the country, than in it. And would to heaven we could Sound this message, not only to the Latter-day Saints, but to every good, upright, honest-hearted soul, throughout Great Britain. That they might take warning, and escape, before the terrible time shall come.

Now let me point out some other things which will occur, before the coming of the Son of Man. The Lord has a controversy among all the nations of the Gentiles. He has sent to them a warning. He has sent his servants to prophesy to them. He has sent them to preach and bear record of the truth. He has sent them to call upon the nations to repent, both high and low, rich and poor, religionist and non-religionist, priest and people, for all of them to repent and receive the Gospel in its fullness, and not only to do this, but to gather out from these nations. Will they hear? They will not. We know they will not; but this does not justify us in being slack in delivering our message. We have a responsibility placed upon us, and that responsibility we must fulfill, whether the people hear, or whether they forbear, we must warn them, so that they shall not have any excuse, when the tribulations shall come which I have named.

The Lord, therefore has a controversy among them, the same as he had with the Egyptian nation, with this difference, that the Egyptians did not have the same length of time to consider the message which you have. They only had a few days, and if they would repent and receive the word which Moses and Aaron delivered to them, well and good; and only a short time, a very few days were allowed them to decide this matter. You have had a portion of a whole generation. Your times are not quite yet fulfilled, and hence you have had the privilege to consider it from your childhood up to middle age, and some of you from middle age to old age, to see whether you will receive the latter-day message which God has sent or not. How, the consequences will be, if you receive it, you will save yourselves by fleeing out from the midst of this nation. You will save yourselves and your children temporally speaking as well as spiritually. On the other hand, if you do not receive it, the Lord, who is long-suffering, will, after he has borne with the people all the day long, withdraw his servants from your midst. When that day shall come there shall be wars, not such wars as have come in centuries and years that are past and gone, but a desolating war. When I say desolating, I mean that it will lay these European nations in waste. Cities will be left vacated, without inhabitants. The people will be destroyed by the sword of their own hands. Not only this but many other cities will be burned; for when contending armies are wrought up with terrible anger, without the Spirit of God upon them, when they have not that spirit of humanity that now characterizes many of the wars amongst the nations, when they are left to themselves, there will be no quarter given, no prisoners taken, but a war of destruction, of desolation, of the burning of the cities and villages, until the land is laid desolate.

That is another thing that will come before the coming of the Son of Man.

What about my own nation—the American nation? What can I say more than I have said in times that are past? They have had a great desolating war; a war between the North and the South in which many hundreds of thousands were destroyed. This war was foretold twenty-eight years before it took place; the very place where it should commence was marked out by the Prophet Joseph Smith, that young man of whom I have spoken. By him it was designated that the revolution should commence in South Carolina, and it did so. By him it was pointed out that this war would be great and terrible, and it came to pass although twenty-eight years intervened, before it commenced. These revelations and prophecies have been published by hundreds of thousands and circulated in your midst here in Great Britain. The people are not altogether ignorant about these matters; they have been forewarned. But what about the American nation. That war that destroyed the lives of some fifteen or sixteen hundred thousand people was nothing, compared to that which will eventually devastate that country. The time is not very far distant in the future, when the Lord God will lay his hand heavily upon that nation. “How do you know this? inquires one.” I know from the revelations which God has given upon this subject. I read these revelations, when they were first given. I waited over twenty-eight years and saw their fulfillment to the very letter. Should I not, then, expect that the balance of them should be fulfilled? That same God who gave the revelations to his servant Joseph Smith in regard to these matters, will fulfil every jot and every tittle that has been spoken, concerning that nation. What then will be the condition of that people, when this great and terrible war shall come? It will be very different from the war between the North and the South, Do you wish me to describe it? I will do so. It will be a war of neighborhood against neighborhood, city against city, town against town, county against county, state against state, and they will go forth destroying and being destroyed and manufacturing will, in a great measure, cease, for a time, among the American nation. Why? Because in these terrible wars, they will not be privileged to manufacture, there will be too much bloodshed—too much mobocracy—too much going forth in bands and destroying and pillaging the land to suffer people to pursue any local vocation with any degree of safety. What will become of millions of the farmers upon that land? They will leave their farms and they will remain uncultivated, and they will flee before the ravaging armies from place to place; and thus will they go forth burning and pillaging the whole country; and that great and powerful nation, now consisting of some forty millions of people, will be wasted away, unless they repent.

Now these are predictions you may record. You may let them sink down into your hearts. And if the Lord your God shall permit you to live, you will see my words fulfilled to the very letter. They are not my words, but the words of inspiration—the words of the everlasting God, who has sent forth his servants with this message to warn the nations of the earth. The Book of Mormon contains many of these predictions. This book has now been printed forty-nine years, and the prophecies contained in it are being fulfilled with great rapidity; and every prediction yet in the future, recorded in that book, will be fulfilled literally, according to the words that are spoken. The Lord our God has already destroyed two great and powerful nations that once occupied the western hemisphere, because they fell into wickedness and would not repent. We have a record of this. The first nation he brought upon that hemisphere, were a people from the Tower of Babel. They were led by the hand of the Lord. They were located upon the north wing of that continent, and they became a great and powerful nation. They inhabited the land for some sixteen or seventeen centuries after they came from the Tower of Babel. But the Lord made a decree, when he first led them forth to that land, that if they or their descendants should fall into wickedness, and would not repent, that he would visit them with utter destruction. He did so. About 600 years before Christ, that great nation was entirely swept off by the judgments of Almighty God, and their bones were left bleaching upon the plains and mountains of that land—left unburied by the numerous armies that went forth slaying and being slain, and another colony was brought from Jerusalem in their stead, being a remnant of the tribe of Joseph. The same decree was passed respecting one branch of that colony, that was made regarding the first nation. Said the Lord to them, “Inasmuch as you keep my commandments, you shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as you keep not my commandments in the land, you shall be destroyed from the face thereof.” That was literally fulfilled. After living upon that land till nearly the close of the fourth century of the Christian era, they fell into wickedness and were destroyed, with the exception of a few who went over to the opposite army.

And the Lord also made a similar decree, recorded, too, in the same book, in regard to the present great populous nation called the people of the United States. They must perish, unless they repent. They will be wasted away, and the fullness of the wrath of Almighty God will be poured out upon them, unless they repent. Their cities will be left desolate. A time is coming when the great and populous city of New York—the greatest city of the American Republic, will be left without inhabitants. The houses will stand, some of them, not all. They will stand there, but unoccupied, no people to inherit them. It will be the same in regard to numerous other cities, or, in the words of the Lord, “I will throw down all their strongholds, and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.” It will all be fulfilled. But there will be a remnant who will be spared. It will be those who repent of their sins; it will be those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and are willing to obey his commandments, willing to hearken to his voice, willing to be baptized for the remission of their sins, willing to be born of the spirit, or receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, willing to walk uprightly and honestly with all men, and justly one with another.

These and these only will be spared, for it is the decree of Jehovah; and this is not all. We have thus far, only told you that which will take place upon the people of Great Britain, upon the European nations, and upon the people in the United States. But great tribulations will also be among all of the nations of the earth, who will not repent. They will be wasted with various judgments; but the heathen will be spared longer than these Gentile nations who have had the scriptures in their midst, but would not obey them.

You have had the Bible multiplied by millions of copies, and circulated in almost every family. You can read it at your leisure. You can see the glorious light of truth, recorded in these prophecies, in these doctrines, in these heavenly and holy principles, and yet in the face of all this light, knowledge, truth and divine revelation, you reject the servants of God, reject the ancient Gospel, when it is preached in its fulness, refuse to repent of all the iniquities and abominations into which the nations are fallen.

It is because of this, of the light that the nations have in their midst, which they will not receive that the Lord will visit them first; and when he has visited and overthrown them, he will lay his hand heavily upon the heathen nations in Asia, and also those who are in Africa, and they will be visited with severe judgment, but they will not be utterly destroyed. A portion of the heathen nations will be redeemed. Why? They will see the power and glory of God that will be manifested among the tribes of Israel, who will be gathered out from their midst and return to their own land. They will see the glory of God manifested as in ancient times and they will say, “surely Jaggernaut is no longer my God.” “Surely I will not worship crocodiles, nor serpents; neither will I worship the sun, or the moon, for there is a God manifested among that people, Israel, who is worthy of the natures and attributes of a God. I will cast my Gods to the moles and bats, and I will worship the God of Israel. Then will be fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet Ezekiel, “then shall the heathen know that I the Lord am God.” And it will come to pass, after that period, when Jesus shall have raised all the righteous from their graves, that he will descend with all the hosts of heaven accompanying him, and will stand upon the Mount of Olives, and he will go out of Jerusalem, and the Jews will go out to the mount to meet him and will acknowledge him as their Messiah and King; and then it shall come to pass, that the heathen nations will also more fully recognize him as the true and only God. Then will be fulfilled that which is written in the last chapter of Zechariah, that every nation round about Jerusalem, shall come up from year to year, to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, at Jerusalem, and also to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. There will be a great many of those solemn assemblies and feasts that were commanded in ancient times, that will be reestablished in the midst of Israel when they shall return. And the Lord Jesus will be there. His Twelve Apostles who wandered about with him, while he was in the flesh, will be there; and they sit upon twelve thrones, and assist our Lord and Savior in judging the twelve tribes of Israel. But Jesus will have a throne as well as these twelve disciples. Where will be his throne? A temple is to be reared in ancient Palestine where it formerly stood. Ezekiel saw it in vision, and he describes the building of that house when it shall be complete, and he saw the glory of God coming by the way of the East, and this glorious personage entered through the East Gate of that temple, and entered into the temple; and Ezekiel, being full of the Spirit of God, was picked up and carried into that court, where Jesus had entered, and he heard a voice speaking unto him, Behold, the place of my throne, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, and they shall no more defile my name, but I will dwell with them forever.

This will be a glorious period. It will be a time when all will know who the true God is, and who is commissioned to speak in his name, and to declare his truths among the people—if we do not find it out before. If we will not repent of our sins; if we will harden our hearts, that the Spirit of God has no place within us, to reveal to us the truth, we shall know then who it is that will be saved. We shall know then, that there is a Lord God, and that he is in the midst of Israel, and his throne is among them, and he will reign over the house of David, and all Israel, forever and ever. Do you not suppose that the Twelve Apostles, who were with him, who suffered persecution, and finally the most of them were martyred—do you not suppose that they will have thrones? John the Revelator saw the thrones of those that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God; and he says, they will sit upon these thrones as judges. So there will be twelve thrones built, when the temple of God is built in Jerusalem, beside the throne of the Messiah, for these twelve men to sit upon, when they shall come forth from their graves to reign as kings, and to eat and drink at the table of the Lord. “What?” some might exclaim, “eat and drink after the resurrection from the dead? Yes, did not Jesus eat and drink with his disciples after he came forth from the tomb? He did. He ate the broiled fish and the honeycomb, in their presence. Immortal beings can eat if they choose to do so. Hence it is written, “You that have followed me in the regeneration,” meaning these twelve disciples, “inasmuch as you have followed me in the regeneration, you shall sit upon twelve thrones and shall eat and drink at my table, and you shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel.” That will be better than to be judged by imperfect mortals. Men who are called here to be judges are not always perfect in their judgment. They err; the best of them, the wisest of men may err in their decisions. But not so with these great judges that come forth out of the tomb, raised to immortality, clothed with light as with a garment, purified and made white before God. Their minds are full of intelligence, and it beams forth from their countenances, and they know how to judge by the Spirit that is upon them, and their decisions will be in righteousness.

How pleasant it would be to walk into one of those beautiful rooms that will be constructed in the temple of our God at Jerusalem, and behold the beautiful table spread, on which the luxuries of our earth shall be served to those immortal beings, and then to see the Master, the great King, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings rise up and minister to his disciples; wait upon them; setting them an example. He that is immortal and as far above mortality as the heavens are above the earth, condescending to administer to their happiness. Would not this be delightful? Who, that has any desire for holiness, and purity, and honesty, and virtue in his heart, would not be enraptured at the thought of having the privilege of being an invited guest, to go in, even if you did not sit down to the table; to see them when they were partaking, with their Savior, of this feast? And these will be the men that will be with Jesus when he descends upon the Mount of Olives, after the graves of the just have been opened. In the resurrection, they will come forth immortal, eternal, clothed upon with the fulness of that glory that pertains to the celestial kingdom. They will also reign as kings and priests here on the earth. To some of the raised Saints there will be given ten cities to rule over. To others there will be given five cities to rule over, according to their works here in this life. All will not have the same power. All will not have the same rule. The Twelve shall have twelve thrones—one throne each, to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. The tribes will need judging, during the whole thousand years they live on the earth; they will need judges in their midst, to make manifest unto them that which is important for men, and women, and children, to know.

These twelve men who are appointed to judge these twelve tribes of Israel cannot be as it were the judges over all the earth at the same time. They cannot be everywhere present at the same moment, and hence there will be other judges, other men of God, those who are accounted Worthy in the sight of the Most High. Hence we read in the revelations of St. John that he heard them singing a new song, a glorious song. About what? Their future glory and their future happiness and their future home, Where? On the earth. What? People in heaven singing about coming to the earth? Yes. When it is redeemed it will be a glorious mansion, it will be a glorious world, it will be worth living on; and it will be sanctified, and the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the deep. All beings will have knowledge. All people will have understanding. They will comprehend the things of God, and perform them. The Lord will make this earth one of the most glorious habitations, inasmuch as the people will prepare themselves for it, one of the most glorious habitations that can be given to men. It will be peopled by immortal beings throughout eternity. But before that it will have to die. The earth will have to pass away the same as our bodies do, and the dust thereof be mingled in a chaotic form. But that same being who organized the earth will again speak, and eternity will again hear his voice, and the materials of our earth will come together again, and when it unites them in one, and forms them into a world, it will be a glorious world, a habitation for immortal beings; for kings and for priests, and for those that have been faithful to the end. They will dwell upon it, and the generations of their children will dwell upon it, till they become sufficiently numerous to need another creation. What generation? Generations do you say, Mr. Pratt? Do you mean to say that these immortal beings are going to have posterity? I do. I mean just what I say. Those who are accounted worthy to inherit this earth, when it shall be made heavenly, celestial beings will people the earth with their own offspring, their own sons and their own daughters; and these sons and these daughters which will be born to these immortal beings, will be the same as you and I were before we took these mortal tabernacles. Now do you understand it? How were we then? Perhaps some stranger present may ask, “What position did we occupy before we took these mortal tabernacles? We were in the presence of God the Eternal Father. We were with our Elder Brother. Who is he? The scriptures say that he was Christ. The scriptures say that he was our Lord and Savior Jesus “the firstborn of every creature.” Indeed! Does that mean his birth in the stable? No. Do the scriptures really say that? Yes. Who are the others that were born? It was all the human family, who were once in the celestial kingdom from whence our spirits came, when they took possession of these mortal tabernacles. As Jesus came down from the Father, being the eldest of the family, and took upon him a mortal tabernacle, even so have his brethren and sisters come from the same region of glory, and have taken upon them mortal tabernacles to follow in his footsteps, if they will. As he was with the Father, before the foundation of the world was laid, so were we, and all the rest of the human family. I don’t mean this flesh; these bones, I do not mean the mortal part of man, but I mean that being that is within these flesh, and bones. I mean that being that feels, that reflects, that thinks, the being that is godlike in its nature, inasmuch as it keeps the commandments of God. That is the being that lived, before these mortal tabernacles were framed. We were there when the foundations of the earth were laid. We were number– ed among those sons of God, whom the Lord speaks of to the patriarch Job. “Where wast thou,” “speaking to Job,” “when I laid the corner stone of the earth, when all the sons of God shouted for joy, and the morning stars sang together?” Job where were you at that time? He was among them; he was there, perhaps he did not remember it, any more than we do. This is a principle that was taught in ancient times. God is the Father of our spirits, God is the author of all the intelligences, that have ever come into this world. He begat them. He is called the Father of Spirits. Have we to become like him? What is the promise Latter-day Saints? What is the great promise made to all Saints, ancient-day Saints, as well as Latter-day Saints? The promise is that they shall become like him. In what respect? Like him with an immortal body. He will purify these vile bodies of ours and fashion them after his own body, cleansed from sin and prepared to dwell in his presence, having immortal bodies of flesh and bones as our Savior has; and if there is no end to the increase of our Savior’s kingdom, there will be no end to the increase of the kingdom of his younger brethren. Here then, we see the propriety of what I, a little while ago, stated, that this earth will become a habitation of immortal beings and there shall be no more death nor sorrow, for the former things have passed away and all things have become new. They will spread forth and multiply as the stars in yonder heavens or as the sand on the seashore, that cannot be numbered by mortal man. These offsprings will be spirits, not bodies with flesh and bones, till they have proved themselves as we have done, when they shall be sent upon a new earth, and receive tabernacles the same as we have done, and if they are willing to keep the laws of God, as the Saints keep the laws of God, they will also be redeemed, and there will be a mansion prepared for them, namely, the world that is erected for their habitation. Thus creations will be multiplied upon creations, a universe of worlds will be constructed for the kingdoms of our God, all becoming or being subject to him that sits upon the throne, who sways his scepter over all worlds and dominions, and we in connection with him will reign upon thrones and in our mansions, that are given unto us. Hence, says the Apostle Paul, the man is not without the woman in the Lord, neither the woman without the man. People may think they can get a fulness of celestial glory, without having a wife. They may think so, but they will be mistaken. The Lord our God ordained that the male and female should be united for eternity. A marriage covenant for time alone, is not the order of heaven. God designed that man and woman, being immortal beings, should be each others companion, husband and wife, while eternal ages shall roll around, and to enjoy all that is intended for them in the eternal worlds. This is the object that the Lord had in view. These marriages that are celebrated by the gentile nations are well enough in their places. They do very well for those who have no knowledge of the truth. They do well enough for those who have no knowledge of the Gospel. They are human marriages, or, in other words, marriages performed by human authority, marriages that are necessary in human governments, or governments established according to human laws, but all such marriages, and institutions, and ordinances will crumble away, with human governments, and after the resurrection they have no force. But that which is of God will endure forever and ever. Marriages that are ordained of God are eternal. What he has joined together never can be plucked asunder, if the two persons shall remain faithful to their covenants, and faithful to the Lord their God. Hence eternal marriage was ordained by him for the purpose of multiplying intelligent beings after we leave this world. No marriage in the next world. This is the world for all ordinances as well as the ordinance of marriage. If you want to be baptized, do it here. No such thing as being baptized for yourselves in that world. If you want to be confirmed, have it done here, for there is no confirming there. If you want to partake of any of the ordinances of the Lord our God, this is the place for us to attend to them. Hence it is written, that they neither marry nor give in marriage in that world. Why? Because it is supposed that people will have secured to them, in this life, all that pertains to their future exaltation and glory; and if that thing be neglected here, such place themselves in a condition not to occupy the fullness of the glory, ordained before the foundation of the world, to be given to the sons and daughters of the Most High. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered at the Thirteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Sunday Evening, August 25, 1878.

There is a sentence in the Book of Mormon, (p. 510) that has come to my mind, which I will read, “And whoso receiveth this record, and shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it, the same shall know of greater things than these.” This passage from the Book of Mormon is one that I do not remember having chosen as a foundation of any special remarks. It is one that applies directly to the present generation—the people that should live on the earth at the time that the Lord our God should bring forth this record, and affording them the opportunity of reading its contents. They were written by the Prophet Moroni, who was the only man of his nation—the Nephites, who was righteous; his nation having been destroyed a few years before he penned this sentence. It is true a few of his nation had deserted and gone to the opposite nation—the Lamanites, and a few had fled at the general destruction; but they were hunted by the Lamanites, and were destroyed as a people. Moroni, being a Prophet of God, would not join that nation in their wickedness and idolatry, and the only way he could preserve his life was to keep himself secreted and hidden from the knowledge of the Lamanites. While concealing himself from his enemies, he finished the record of the Book of Mormon. The latest date which he gives in the record is 420 years after the birth of Christ, according to the signs that were given on this American continent, concerning his birth. Thirty-six years prior to this time his nation was destroyed in what we term the State of New York, around about a hill, called by that people the Hill of Cumorah, when many hundreds of thousands of the Nephites—men, women and children, fell, during the greatest battle that they had had with the Lamanites. For 36 years this prophet of God kept himself hid, and wrote as he was prompted by the spirit of inspiration, and finally hid up the plates of gold, containing the records in the hill of Cumorah, with the promise which the Lord gave him that these records should come to light in the last days, that He himself would bring them forth by his own wisdom and power. And he also tells us his object, namely, to benefit the Gentiles who should occupy this American continent—the Promised Land, as they term it; and also for the benefit of other nations of Gentiles to whom the book should afterwards be sent; and when they should reject it, the Lord would cause it to be published to the remnants of the Lamanites inhabiting this country, whom we call American Indians, which shall be the means of revealing to them the history of their forefathers, and also certain promises made to them as a branch of the house of Israel, setting forth that many of their descendants should believe the record when it should be made known to them, and that they should be instructed in the things of God, and the curse, which has degenerated them to their present low condition, should be removed, and that they should lay down their weapons of war, and that they should cease to war and commit murders, and thefts and robberies, and that they should become a peaceable, and also a white and delightsome people. These are the predictions given in the Book of Mormon as some of the objects of the bringing forth of that record in the last days. And among other objects that the Lord had in view was, that he might enlighten the minds of the people in regard to the Gospel in all its plainness and fulness, with all its promises, blessings, gifts and ordinances; so that the people, the Gentiles, to whom this record should be sent, might have no excuse for rejecting it, and also that the Gospel might be established in the earth in its purity, according to ancient prophecies. Another object was, that he might build up his church among the Gentiles, if they should believe in this record and in the preaching of His servants when they should be sent forth in the last days among them, testifying to its truthfulness. In speaking of this work which the Lord is doing in the earth, we sometimes call it the Church of God, and we also speak of it as the kingdom of God. It is both, God himself being the King; not a civil power, not a civil government in the earth, for we already have established here upon this choice land a government wherein all classes of religious people may worship God as they please; but the Lord intended among these various religions and ecclesiastic denominations, to have a peculiar denomination, a peculiar people, a peculiar church, which he denominates his kingdom, and himself as the great lawgiver in this kingdom. Another object was that men might have more faith than what they had been in possession of in the former generations of apostasy and wickedness, and that the faith which the ancient Saints exercised might again dwell in the hearts of the children of men. For instance, a power of faith, through our repentance and through our obedience to the ordinances of baptism, to receive that greater and miraculous baptism of the Holy Ghost. And that this gift, this baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost which should be given to all the members of the Church of God, should put them in possession of certain gifts, which no other people on the face of the whole earth should have or know anything about, providing the members of the Church were worthy to possess them. I will name, in short, the various gifts that the Lord intended to be given to this people. In the latter days, when this record should be brought forth, he intended, in the first place, to raise up a great and mighty Prophet, to translate the divine book. This was fulfilled before the rise of the Church about 50 years ago. This Prophet who was raised up to perform this work was permitted to take these records out of the hill where Moroni had deposited them some 420 years after Christ. This Prophet was spoken of in the records, and the work that he should perform was also spoken of. And notwithstanding his youth and inexperience in regard to the learning and wisdom of the world, he proved himself a great and mighty man of God; he not only was the instrument in the hands of God of bringing to light the Book of Mormon, but also received numerous other revelations which are contained in this book called the Doctrine and Covenants, a book that contains nearly as much reading matter as the Book of Mormon; and besides these you will find that many of the revelations were given by him which are found in what is called the new edition of the Pearl of Great Price, published by the Deseret News Office, which gives a knowledge of things that took place in the creation much more fully than what is described in the book of Genesis, giving an account of a great many occurrences and events that transpired before the flood, also giving us much information of the Gospel that was taught in those early ages, and giving us some very important prophecies, reaching down to the present period of the world, and also prophecies that reach down still further, from the present day to the end of the world. These are not the only revelations, given through this great modern Prophet. The Lord brought to light sacred records from the Catacombs of Egypt. After several hundred men had wrought and toiled for many months in digging down one of these vast structures, they entered into its interior; they found a great number of mummies—the bodies of persons that had been preserved since the catacomb was built, and some eleven of these mummies, well preserved, were taken out by these men, and they finally fell into the hands of a person named M. H. Chandler. They were sent from Egypt to Ireland, where it was supposed he resided, but learning that he resided in America, they were sent to him. After receiving the mummies he began to take off some of the ancient covering or wrapping, and to his astonishment he found upon the breast of one of these mummies a record written upon ancient papyrus in plain characters, written both in black and red inks, or stains, or colors. And the mummies and the records were exhibited by Mr. Chandler, in New York, Philadelphia, and many of the Eastern States of our Union; and thousands of people saw them, and among them many learned men; and these characters were presented to them, and not infrequently was Mr. Chandler referred to “Joe” Smith as they used to term him, who, they said, pretended to have translated some records that he found in the western part of New York, and that if Mr. Chandler would go and see him perhaps he would translate those ancient characters. Many of these references were made with the intention of ridiculing Mr. Smith; but it so happened that in traveling through the country he visited Kirtland, Ohio, where the Prophet Joseph Smith resided, bringing the mummies and the ancient papyrus writings with him. Mr. C. had also obtained from learned men the best translation he could of some few characters, which however, was not a translation, but more in the shape of their ideas with regard to it, their acquaintance with the language not being sufficient to enable them to translate it literally. After some conversation with the Prophet Joseph, Mr. Chandler presented to him the ancient characters, asking him if he could translate them. The prophet took them and repaired to his room and inquired of the Lord concerning them. The Lord told him they were sacred records, containing the inspired writings of Abraham when he was in Egypt, and also those of Joseph, while he was in Egypt; and they had been deposited, with these mummies, which had been exhumed. And he also enquired of the Lord concerning some few characters which Mr. Chandler, gave him by way of a test, to see if he could translate them. The Prophet Joseph translated these characters and returned them, with the translation to Mr. Chandler; and who, in comparing it with the translation of the same few characters by learned men, that he had before obtained, found the two to agree. The Prophet Joseph having learned the value of these ancient writings was very anxious to obtain them, and expressed himself wishful to purchase them. But Mr. Chandler told him that he would not sell the writings, unless he could sell the mummies, for it would detract from the curiosity of his exhibition; Mr. Smith inquired of him the price which was a considerable sum, and finally purchased the mummies and the writing, all of which he retained in his possession for many years; and they were seen by all the Church that saw proper to visit the house of the Prophet Joseph and also by hundreds of strangers.

The Prophet translated the part of these writings which, as I have said is contained in the Pearl of Great Price, and known as the Book of Abraham. Thus you see one of the first gifts bestowed by the Lord for the benefit of His people, was that of revelation—the gift to translate, by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, the gift of bringing to light old and ancient records. Have any of the other denominations got this gift among them? Go and inquire through all of Christendom and do not miss one denomination. Go and ask the oldest Christian associations that are extant; go to Italy, headquarters, and ask the man that holds the greatest power and authority in the Romish Church, “Can you translate ancient records written in a language that is lost to the knowledge of man?” “No,” he would say, “we cannot, it is out of my power to do it.” Go to Russia inquire of the heads of the church of the Greek Catholics, if they can do this; and they will give you, substantially, the same answer. Then try the later, the present day denominations, inquire of every one of them, beginning with the Lutherans and the Calvinists, and the Church of England, and then put the same question to all of the branches that have sprung from them; as well as to those that have come into existence by other means; and the universal reply of the Christian denominations, numbering some 400,000,000, would be that they have not the power to do it. Ask them if they pretend to possess supernatural power from God, to accomplish a work of this nature; and they will all tell you that God has never bestowed such power upon any of their ministers. And then, if it were possible, ask the 400,000,000 of Christians, scattered throughout Asia, Europe, America and the islands of the seas, if a man can be found among them endowed, as ancient seers were, with the gift to see, or as ancient revelators were who told future events, what should befall men and nations and their final destiny; and the universal reply will be, O, no, such things are all done away. Here then the very first gift that the Lord set in his church, is a peculiar gift so far as the religions of the world are concerned, not peculiar so far as the Church of Christ is concerned, but so far as the religious world in the four quarters of the earth is concerned, we have something which they have not got, and something that is in accordance with the Bible. What man, I would ask further, among all the religions of the earth, for the last seventeen centuries, that has possessed the Urim and Thummim, the gift that would constitute him a seer and a revelator? There may have been some seventeen thousand million of people that have passed off from our globe without such gifts being among them; and they were gifts given to the people of God before the advent of the Savior, and that were enjoyed by his servants that lived contemporary with him and with those who lived after he had performed his mission to the earth, and ascended to heaven. Then, in speaking to strangers, I would say, you must give us credit of at least professing to have these great and important gifts, gifts which all the other religions of the world do not even profess to be in possession of. Let me candidly enquire, which is the most pleasing in the sight of God, for people to obtain the great and precious things which come through the operation of the Holy Ghost, or for people to have no information, no instruction for some seventeen hundred years, only what they could glean out of the writings of some of the ancient Seers, or Prophets, or Revelators, or Apostles, who have lived and who have died centuries ago? Perhaps strangers might claim that they have the writings of those favored men of God, and that they need no more, and that all the generations of men since the days that such men of God fell asleep needed no further instruction than that which was given to former-day Saints. The strangers present will readily concede this to be the sentiment, the belief and testimony of all, or nearly all the religious people upon the face of the whole earth. You also know if you have read the history of Christendom for seventeen centuries past, that their belief and testimony in this respect have been similar to those entertained by Christianity of today. Now, I ask again, which is the more Godlike, which is the more in accordance with the Bible, for a people to enjoy the same gifts that were enjoyed by the people of God in earlier dispensations, or to be obliged to depend upon some one else’s gift who has long ago passed away? Now, any consistent religious man will give his testimony on religious affairs independent of the traditions of his fathers, and would say in his own mind, it is more consistent for us to have Revelators, Prophets, Seers and Translators inspired from heaven in our Church, it is more in accordance with the Bible to be in possession of those gifts ourselves than to depend upon Reve– lators and Seers of former ages. I do not suppose for a moment that there is any consistent person but that, if left to his own reasoning, would say that this is certainly the more reasonable and the more consistent; and especially when the Bible is referred to, in which there is nothing limiting the generations that have lived upon the earth for seventeen centuries in regard to these gifts. It is more consistent then when God should raise up a Church he should have Prophets, Seers and Revelators in that Church, inspired men, men that can receive the word of the living God, upon all subjects that should come before them which might concern the people. How many millions of questions and matters of more or less magnitude might be cited for which no instruction could be found in the Bible that would be at all suitable to the circumstances. Take any one individual among the many of the human family, and you could find thousands of things, pertaining to his individual welfare and temporal circumstances, that he could never learn out of the Bible. The Lord guides and directs the temporal as well as the spiritual affairs of his people; he always has done so. How many thousands of things does a single head of a family need to know, in regard to his own temporal circumstances, what course he should take most pleasing to the Almighty, whether to pursue this course or that branch of business, or whether to pursue some other branch of business, wherein he might do the most good; and wherein he could glorify God most; and which would be the greatest blessing for his household and family, and wherein he could please the Lord and live more uprightly and more godly, and more consistently and honestly, by pursuing one branch of business rather than that of another. All these things concern every head of a family; therefore, if he had the spirit of revelation, if he could go and inquire of the Lord, if he found it to be the whisperings of his spirit which course to pursue in temporal matters, what a great blessing it would be for him; and then not for that one person only, but for all his sons as they grow up, and for his wives, if he have a number of wives. The Lord used to give revelation not only to the head of a family, but also to a man’s wives. Read, for instance, what the Lord revealed to the wives of Jacob, how he used to reveal a great many things to Rachel, a great many things to Leah, a great many things to Bilhah, and a great many things to Zilpah. These four wives were revelators; they were prophetesses; they were individuals that could inquire of the Lord, and obtain an answer from him; and we have their revelations recorded in the Scriptures. We call their revelations the Word of God to them. What a benefit it would be for a man who had three or four or half a dozen wives, who could receive the word of the Lord in relation to their several duties; how calculated it would be to produce peace, and union, and salvation in the family and household. And what great comfort it would be for a man if he had several wives, and knew by the spirit of revelation how to deal in relation to all his domestic and temporal affairs, according to the mind and will of God. Again, how great would be the benefit to a body of people—to say nothing of households and families—located for instance, in one region of the country, a people who were united together according to the law of God, desiring to advance each other’s welfare and happiness, and each man was required to love his neighbor as himself; a people who knew how to so conduct their, temporal affairs that each man’s neighbor might be benefited as well as himself; and each one looking not only for his own welfare or that of his own household, but for the welfare of the whole community, with whom he was associated, producing at last that unity and oneness which the Lord requires in the numerous revelations which he has given.

It requires revelation then; it requires revelation for one single branch of the church located in one region of the country; how much more necessary, when there are numerous branches, and that those branches should know their duties in regard to one another, that they might not work against one another’s interests in any way or manner, but on the contrary, labor for the mutual benefit of all the branches of the Church and Kingdom of God, and thus preserve means, even as Joseph did in Egypt. Joseph was a man that sought after riches, he advised King Pharaoh to seek after riches, by building storehouses, and procuring as much of the surplus grain as he could, during the seven years of plentiful harvests which he foretold, and to store it away for future use. Some people might have supposed, if they had lived in that day, that Joseph was a great speculator, and wanted to take advantage of the people, getting rich himself at their expense. But the Lord directed this; he gave a revelation, clearly showing what would be necessary for the salvation of the Egyptians and also the children of Israel who were sojourning in the land. Hence we perceive it was necessary to get revelation in regard to temporal matters, and that without it the famine would have come upon them unawares and destroyed hundreds of thousands of people, and they would have perished over all the land. Hence by a few words of revelation given through a Prophet of God, that lived in their midst, millions of people were saved alive.

If we trace the history of the people of God we shall find it a history of revelations of God to man given for the purpose of directing them as individuals, as families, as neighborhoods, as tribes and as peoples, directing them in regard to their temporal affairs, as well as concerning the great matters that pertain to a future state of existence.

I mention this in order to refer to the text which I have taken. He that receives this record, and shall not condemn it because of imperfections that are in it, the same shall know of greater things than these. That is, they shall know of greater things than what are contained in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon contains some wonderful things about the colonization of this country soon after the flood, the history of a certain nation that lived here some sixteen or seventeen centuries; then of another nation that succeeded it, and that lived here some 600 years before Christ, and down to the time that the records were hid up. Great things, historically, are revealed in this book; great things are revealed in it concerning prophecies that are yet to take place, and that have already taken place—when this record was translated. Not only this, but it contains the Gospel of the Son of God. I mean the first principles of the Gospel—the principles of faith in God and in his Son Jesus Christ; repentance—turning away from sin, from all unrighteousness; baptism by immersion in water for the remission of sins; the gift and power of the Holy Ghost to be shed forth upon those who should receive this record—that is, receive its truths and obey them. It does not mean those who should read this record and not perform the things that are contained therein; the promise is not extended to them. “Whoso receiveth this record,” that is, receives the Gospel therein contained, will assuredly believe in Christ; will assuredly repent of his sins; will assuredly be baptized for the remission of his sins; and will assuredly be confirmed by the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. No man or woman that fails to comply with these things that I have named—believes and receives the record; they may pretend to believe the record, they may say it appears to be a very good record, and it speaks as if it might be true; but unless they do receive it, by obeying its ordinances, and its institutions, and complying with the principles of the Gospel, they would not be entitled to the promise recorded in the words of my text, “They shall know of greater things than these.” I would ask, if the Latter-day Saints know of anything, greater than that which is contained in the Book of Mormon. What a wonderful thing the Book of Mormon is, to be brought forth by an angel sent from heaven to be translated from the ancient languages of this country into our English language, to have the Urim and Thummim given to the translator by which the words were translated. What a great and wonderful thing the Book of Mormon is so far as its prophecies are concerned, so far as its history and its doctrine are concerned; and so far as its predictions of those things which are immediately in the future are concerned, what a great benefit it has been to us Latter-day Saints to read our own history before it comes to pass.

I might take up a whole discourse in showing how the Book of Mormon has been fulfilled since it has been translated up to the present time, in the bringing forth of the Gospel from among the Gentiles The persecutions that they should endure are predicted in the Book of Mormon. It is a great thing, it is a wonderful thing. In fact it is just what Isaiah said it would be in prophesying of the Book; he said it should be a marvelous work and a wonder. But the people who should receive this record should know of greater things. What greater things have we learned? We might have searched the Book of Mormon from beginning to end, and we never could have learned the perfect organization of the Kingdom of God upon the earth, such as we now find it in the midst of this people. We might have read in the Book of Mormon about the Melchizedek priesthood, as it existed among the Nephites; we might have read of the Aaronic priesthood such as also existed in this land; and we might, too, have read about the first principles of the Gospel and about Twelve Apostles chosen among the ancient Nephites; but do we read of the manner in which the Nephites were organized after they were baptized and received the Holy Ghost? No. Why? Because the Lord saw proper to withhold this from us, deeming it proper to reveal it through the patriarch Joseph, whom he would raise up, as something greater than the Book of Mormon should contain; showing that there were to be Twelve Apostles in our day. Did the Book of Mormon inform us that we were to have Twelve Apostles? No. The Lord therefore gave greater things to this people who believed the record that had come unto us, by revealing directly that we were to have raised up in this dispensation twelve men, called Apostles, and that they should go forth and preach his Gospel, first to the Gentile nations, and, when the times of the Gentiles should be ful– filled, they should go forth and preach His Gospel to the scattered remnants of the house of Israel. This was taught when the revelation was given soon after the last part of the Book of Mormon was translated; that the Lord would raise up a Church; that he would call twelve men and send them forth as Apostles, that he would build up his Church among the Gentiles first; that he would, when their times were fulfilled, send them to the house of Israel, to bring that people back to a knowledge of the Gospel.

Now this was new information to the people. They at first learned the Book of Mormon, and having learned it, having been taught concerning what God taught ancient Israel on this land, then the Lord revealed unto them greater things according to the promise in our text by telling them what should be done directly in our midst.

Then again, what could we learn from either the Bible or Book of Mormon in regard to three glories—the celestial, the terrestrial and the telestial glories? What did we know concerning those that should inhabit these various worlds of glory? Nothing at all. It was merely referred to in Paul’s writings, that there were three glories, “one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” But Paul left us here; he did not tell us anything about the celestial, or anything about terrestrial, or telestial glories; he told us nothing about the inhabitants of these worlds, nor anything about the laws by which these different glorified worlds were governed, but merely referred to them in a few words and then dropped it. The people, to whom he was writing may have known all about the subject he so casually referred to, if they did, the knowledge they possessed was not handed down to us. But the Lord, on the 16th day of February, 1832, poured out His Spirit from on high while Joseph was engaged in the work of translating another record, and also upon his scribe, and they saw in vision the celestial world, and they were commanded to write a portion of the things which they saw; to write about the greatness and power and majesty and the knowledge of the people who inherit the celestial world. And they were also shown, in the same manner the terrestrial world and the inhabitants thereof and their glory, and what their condition would be in the eternal worlds; and then they descended also in their vision and beheld the lesser or telestial glory, and they saw the inhabitants that dwelt there and comprehended the laws by which they were governed. Some of these things they were commanded to write while there were things which they beheld which they were strictly commanded not to write, as the world was not worthy to receive them. Neither was the Church, at that time, prepared to receive a full knowledge concerning these things. But that portion which they were permitted to write they wrote, and it has been printed now some 40 years for the Saints and for the inhabitants of the world to learn concerning the future condition of all those that shall pass out of this state of existence behind the veil.

Here, then, were greater things made manifest than those in the Book of Mormon, or those in the Bible. Whoso receives this record and shall not condemn it because of imperfections, the same shall know of greater things. “But,” says one, “what imperfections could there be in the writings of an inspired man?” I will tell you. Imperfections may creep in through the printing press, unless there was some expert person to examine the printing of the Book. There might be imperfections creep in through the persons that recorded these things—Moroni and the various prophets that preceded him who wrote upon the plates. Imperfections might occur through the omission of some words. But one of the Prophets says, he knew of no imperfection in the record; nevertheless, the Lord knew all, therefore, he said, judge not, lest ye be judged; judge not with harsh judgment, lest ye be judged harshly—that is unrighteously. Probably the individual in reading the first edition of the Book of Mormon from the hands of the printer, knew of no error so far as the printing was concerned. But when we came to examine the first edition, and even all the editions, we found some few little imperfections that were introduced chiefly of a typographical nature. Well, those who will not condemn the work of God because of such little things, have the promise that they shall know of greater things than these. The Latter-day Saints are witnesses. You have upon your shelves the Book of Covenants and Commandments, the revelations of heaven; you also are in possession of the Pearl of Great Price, containing the vision of Moses, that great and glorious vision which he received on the mount, revealing to him the history of the creation of the world. The Lord saw proper to descend upon a certain mountain before Moses, and showed himself to him, and the glory of God rested upon Moses so that he stood in the presence of the Lord; and the Lord showed unto Moses the works of his hands in relation to the various creations that he had made. And when Moses began to inquire of the Lord, the Lord said unto him, No man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory and afterwards remain in the flesh upon the earth. Here, then, Moses began to understand that it was not for him as a mortal personage to cast his eyes forth and behold all the infinite creations of the Almighty dispersed through boundless space; but the Lord was willing that he should know in part. And Moses, when he saw the glory of God, and the things with which he was surrounded, pertaining to the planetary system, he began to wonder and marvel, as you and I would do if we had the privilege of gazing in vision upon the works of God. And while he was marveling at what he had seen, the Lord for some reason, withdrew from him, probably to try him, to see if he would be faithful to him. And when the Spirit of the Lord was taken from him, and the glory of God had withdrawn from him and the Lord himself had departed from before him, Moses was left to himself. O how weak! He fell to the earth, and for the space of many hours he did not receive his natural strength. And when in this weak, fallen condition he exclaimed, I know now that man is nothing; and he began to call upon the Lord to restore his strength. And Satan, we learn, took advantage of Moses on this occasion, while thus left to himself, and came and stood before him, and said Moses, son of man, I am the Only Begotten, worship me. Moses looked upon Satan and perceived the difference at once, between the glorious personage that had appeared to him a short time before, and the personage of Satan. And Moses in looking upon this strange visitor said, Where is thy glory that I should worship thee? Behold, I could not look upon God save his glory were upon me; but I can look upon thee in my natural state. Having said so much to him, he commanded him to depart; but being so weak his faith was not strong enough to prevail against Satan, hence he did not leave at his bidding. Moses then called upon God, and Satan began to tremble and the earth began to shake; and Satan went upon the earth, and commanded Moses, saying, I am the Only Begotten, worship me. But Moses still called upon God for strength, and the Lord heard and answered his prayers; and he then commanded Satan, in the name of the Only Begotten Son, to depart; and he was rebuked from his presence. And again Moses lifted up his voice to heaven and cried to the Lord, and the glory of God began to come upon him; and the Lord stood in his presence again, and Moses was again filled with his glory. And while he was filled with the glory of the Lord he beheld all the earth and the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a particle of the earth withheld from his vision; he saw every particle of it. He beheld it not by the natural vision, but by the Spirit of the living God.

Moses not only saw the whole of this beautiful creation in its entirety, but he doubtless beheld the laws by which every particle is governed by the law of gravitation or electricity or heat, Moses comprehended it. He was then desirous to know how the Lord created the earth, as well as other heavenly bodies; but would the Lord grant his desires in full? No; because it was not for mortal man to know so much. But Moses still plead with the Lord in this language: “Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.” He thought that if he could not behold other worlds, if he had not the privilege granted to him of looking upon more glorious creations, it would be a satisfaction for him to look upon this earth and also the heavens. But what was the Lord’s answer to him? “The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine, and as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.” But, said the Lord, “I will reveal to you concerning this earth upon which thou standest, and also the heaven belonging to the earth, and you shall write the words which I speak to you.” This is the way that Moses obtained what is now called the book of Genesis, which gives an account of the creation. How did we learn of these things? By way of fulfillment of this promise, contained in the words of our text: “Whoso shall believe in this record and shall not condemn it because of its imperfection, the same shall know of greater things than these.” Here then we have come to a knowledge of the great and grand vision given to the Revelator Moses. God communicated to Moses concerning the creation of the heavens and this little earth upon which we dwell. He tells us that darkness came upon the face of the great deep, after the earth was created. What was there before this darkness came upon the face of the great deep, after the earth was created? What was there before this darkness came, can anyone tell us? A great many religious people, without any reflection, have supposed there was no light, from all eternity, until about six thousand years ago; that then the Lord created the sun, moon and stars, they really think that that was the first time from all the endless durations of past eternity that there was any light. I mean a great many ignorant people. But according to the revelation given to Moses, there was light before the foundations of this world were laid, before God caused darkness to come over this great deep; after he created the heavens and the earth, then God spake and said, let there be light and there was light. And as we are told, the evening and the morning was the first day. Why does it begin with the evening and not with the morning? Because darkness reigned, the Lord having caused darkness to reign over the whole face of the earth. How he did it, in what way he produced it is not revealed. At any rate, it is not said in the book of Genesis that the sun was permitted to shine forth, or that the moon gave its light on the first day; but that was something which was permitted to take place on the fourth day instead of on the first day. What then was it that existed before darkness came over the face of the deep? Was it sunshine? I think not. It was that probably which is connected with all creations in their first formation—self-luminous matter. Darkness was then made, but how we know not; it might have been by causing the light associated with those materials to become latent in the substance—not permitted to shine forth. How long this darkness continued is not revealed. How long it was before the Lord said again, “Let there be light; and there was light,” is not revealed.

Again, we find that the solid portions of the earth were entirely covered with water, for the Lord commanded the waters to be gathered together to one place; and commanded the dry land to appear. The dry land he called earth; the gathering together of the waters called he seas. How did he do this? He may have done it by a direct miracle, or he may have done it according to certain laws which he controlled, and which were always under his control. How easy it would be for him to take this globe of ours that was entirely covered by water, and set it in motion, and cause it to rotate upon its axis. Would not this cause the waters to be gathered together from the equatorial regions to the two polar regions—the Arctic and the antarctic seas, and in the intermediate regions, and thus leave the dry land in the equatorial regions?

Then again how easy it would be for him to compress the solid portions of the earth at the poles and cause the same to bulge out above the equator. Or in other words, to do this also by law, by causing the earth to turn more swiftly than it does at the present time, which would give a greater diameter through the equator than at the poles.

There are many things in the new translation besides the vision and revelation in regard to the creation, written by Joseph Smith, which are far greater than anything contained in the Bible, or in the Book of Mormon, or in the Doctrine and Covenants. I bring up these things in order to show you that God has fulfilled his promises to the present time, by giving us greater knowledge concerning the creation of our globe.

The Prophet Joseph Smith revealed to us that all the materials of our globe, and all the materials of the universe, are eternal in their nature, that their substance is eternal, not created out of nothing, according to the vagaries and foolish ideas of the religious world. The Lord told us that he created the earth out of materials that previously existed; he told us that these materials were eternal in their nature, and of everlasting duration. In what condition have these materials been for the last, say millions of ages—for instance, as many millions of years as there are sands upon the seashore? Have they been lying dormant without any control of law? Were there no electric principles or laws to govern them, was there no heat connected with them, or was there no latent principle called light, neither a gravitating power in connection with these materials? I have no doubt in my own mind but what there have been laws from all eternity—or if you do not wish to call them laws, call them forces, call them powers, call them by any name which may suit you—that have controlled these materials; and then again these laws or forces have also been under the control of a wise, supreme intelligence from all eternity to the present time. How many organizations the materials of our earth have undergone before they were organized according to the revelations given to Moses, are not revealed. How many worlds they had entered into prior to that time; how many conditions existed through the millions of ages of past duration are nowhere revealed. A great many learned men are beginning to see that the materials of our globe have been in existence, as they say, for millions of ages. Some of them have made calculations in regard to how many millions of years since such and such phenomena took place, in regard to certain materials of which our earth is composed; and because they have discovered some of these things, they have, in the weakness and foolishness of their minds, began to doubt the Mosaic history, concerning the creation. I presume if I had never heard of the Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Covenants, or the revelations of which I am speaking, I suppose I should have been probably an infidel, so far as regards the religious sects; I could not have believed them, if I had suffered my mind to reflect. But when I come to learn and understand that God has nowhere spoken in all the revelations that he has given, that he ever made so much as one particle of this earth out of nothing; and when I found that God has never hinted or revealed any such thing; but, on the contrary, that he organized the world out of pre-existent materials that were eternal in their nature, then I could reflect back with our learned philosophers and suffer my mind to go back just as far as they dare go in their theories, and then go back to all eternity beyond that which they go, and say, these materials were in organization, and say worlds were being organized, and different conditions were taking place, and laws were being given for all these vast ages of the past, and still reconcile it with the revelations God has given in these latter times. Science and true religion never can possibly contradict each other. There never was any truth in science that would contradict any principle of revelation that God ever revealed to man. Why? Because true science is founded upon a true understanding of the laws and forces of nature. But who ordained from time to time these laws of nature in connection with the universe as we now behold them? It was the Lord whom we serve, the great Supreme Ruler of the universe, who organizes and disorganizes according to his own will and pleasure. He garnishes the heavens in his wisdom and builds the vast superstructure of the universe, as a very handiwork. He brings into life and being new worlds and disorganizes them, scattering the elements, and again brings them together by his power or by the laws he has ordained, and by his laws makes new creations, new worlds, and new universes, and inhabits them with myriads and myriads of intelligent beings. This is the work of the great Supreme Ruler of all things.

This we find out by reading the first two chapters of Genesis, as revealed anew, and many other things, of which we were profoundly ignorant, until God raised up this youth, this unlearned Prophet of the nineteenth century, to bring these things to light. By revelations given in ancient days, and renewed through this young Prophet of God, we learn that we, ourselves, did not begin to exist when we were born into this state of existence; we learn that we are of higher origin than that assigned by poor, unbelieving man. Contrast the ideas of the last few centuries with the ideas that God has revealed from heaven. They would make man look for his origin down to the very reptile and the worm that crawls upon the earth, and to the fish of the sea—as the first father, the first origin, the first oyster. Such is the reason of the learned of the last few centuries—the evolution theory; in other words, that which you learn from books, the creation of man’s folly and foolishness. But when we learn through the revelations of God that instead of man’s coming up from the poor worm of the dirt, he descended from that being who controls the universe by his power; that he descended from that being who is the fullness of all knowledge, and who sways his scepter over more planetary systems than there are sands upon the seashore. We are his offspring, we are his sons and his daughters, we are his children, he has begotten us, and we existed before the foundation of the world. Who among the wise, and the great, and those who have studied as far as human wisdom can at present reach; who among them can tell the origin of life? Who among them can tell the origin of this intelligence in man, this reasoning power, and this perceptive faculty, that enables man to grasp not only a great many things pertaining to the laws connected with their own little earth, but enables him to launch out into the regions of space for hundreds of millions of miles and find out and understand many things that govern worlds afar off. Is there no man that can tell the origin of this Intelligence? Let the trained collegiate mind, whose lifetime has been occupied in study, come forth and tell us how man obtains the first principle of knowledge, how came knowledge to be connected with matter, how came knowledge connected with flesh and bones, and blood, and skin, and sinew? That knowledge—that intelligence is Godlike; God is the author, he is father of our spirits, and we were begotten before this world rolled into existence. Once we dwelt in the presence of our Father; once we were enabled to lift our songs of praise in the celestial world, from which we emigrated; once we dwelt in the society of an innumerable convention of angels, upon a world that had passed through its stages, its ordeals, the same as this world is passing through its various mutations. That celestial world from whence we came, is more perfect than this earth, it is organized after a celestial order, a higher order and glorified by the presence of immortal, glorified, celestial beings. That is our home, from that world we came. Here is our dwelling place for a season; to that world we will return, to that being by whom we were begotten we will render an account; he who is our Father will require us to give an account of our doings in this probation. We must meet him, and behold him, in all his glory, in all his power, in all his majesty, and greatness, and superior excellency and with that infinite knowledge of which he is in possession; we must appear before him to give an account of our doings while shut out from his presence on this little world.

Here then is another thing in which the Lord has fulfilled our text. He has told us of our pre-existence; he has told us of the glory and the greatness of our ancestor, even the Supreme Being; he has told us when we existed, that it was before this world was brought into existence. Are not these greater things than are contained and explained in the Book of Mormon or the Bible? It is true the Book of Mormon barely alludes to the pre-existence of man, without explaining it. Jesus, before he appeared in the flesh, showed his spiritual form to the brother of Jared; it was not a body of flesh and bones; but a spiritual form, like the image of man. He said unto the brother of Jared, Seest thou, that thou art created after mine image? And he further says, All men in the beginning have I created after the image of the body of my Spirit; that is the spiritual form occupied by him. All men and women in the beginning were created by Him, and there never was a person, there is not anyone now living, and there never will be a man or woman, but what was in the beginning created in his image.

I do not know but what I am occupying too much time, I will briefly say, however, before closing, that certain records which God has promised to bring to light in his own due time, will far exceed anything that has been revealed through the Book of Mormon or the Bible, or that which has come to us through the Abrahamic record taken from Egyptian papyrus, or that which is contained in the vision of Moses, revealing to him the history of the creation of the world. All these will be as a drop in the bucket in comparison with the eternal knowledge that will yet flow down from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints before this generation shall pass away. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the great deep, and the things of all nations will be revealed. The records of old that were kept by the people of Asia, who have since dwindled into savages by reason of the transgressions of their fathers; and those that have been kept by the ten tribes of the north countries, where they have lived for over 25 centuries; and those records that have been kept by the people of the City of Enoch, giving an account of the dealings of God with ancient Zion, will all come forth to help fill the earth with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the great deep. And John, when upon the Isle of Patmos, saw things in vision, which were commanded to be sealed up, and they are yet to be unsealed; and in this way we shall receive knowledge upon knowledge, revelation upon revelation, concerning not only the six or seven thousand years of the earth’s temporal existence, but concerning the materials of the earth before it was made, and the elements and materials, and all things pertaining to the future earth that is to be created when the elements of this earth shall be dissolved and pass away into space. There is nothing too great to be withheld from the Saints of God in the last dispensation of the fulness of times. Hear what the Prophet Joseph Smith said, when confined in Liberty Jail. As well may the puny arm of man attempt to stop the waters of the Missouri River as to try to prevent the Almighty from pouring down knowledge upon the Latter-day Saints. It will come; it will come like a mighty flood, it will come like a mighty ocean, and there will be no mental darkness upon the whole face of the earth. The laws by which the earth is governed, by which the materials were governed, by which intelligence produces intelligence, by which one material cleaves to another, and by which all the various mechanisms are performed, will be revealed in their times and in their seasons. And then the Lord will not stop there; but he will unfold other systems and heavens that shall come into connec– tion with ours. How, I know not; in what way, I know not. There will be telescopes, microscopes and other instruments discovered in these systems, that will so far outstretch the discoveries made at the present time, that all these things will dwindle into insignificance, and when the inhabitants of one system can converse with those of another, and when there shall be communication between all the creations that God has made with the present creation we inhabit, and when the Lord shall bring forth Zion out of all the creations he has made; then, I think, we shall begin to look back in astonishment at the littleness of the discoveries of the learned of the 19th century. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, June 23, 1878.

I will call the attention of the congregation to a portion of a prophecy by Malachi, which will be found in the last chapter of the Old Testament.

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

“And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes un– der the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.”

On arising, and on opening the Bible, I happened to open to the words which I have just read, which were spoken through Malachi, one of the last of the ancient Prophets. They are words very familiar to the Latter-day Saints, for their attention has been often called to them. In reading the prophecies of the holy Prophets, we expect that that portion of them which has not already been fulfilled, will take place in its time and in its season. We do not read the Scriptures as most of the inhabitants of the earth do, thinking that they must be spiritualized. There are scarcely any of the prophecies but what this generation, as well as some of the past generations, interpret as meaning something altogether different from the reading of them. They look upon inspired men as saying one thing and meaning another, and the only way to ascertain what meaning they really wish to convey is to get an uninspired man to give some other meaning entirely different from the literal construction of the words of the inspired writer. There are but few individuals, comparatively speaking, among the nations of Christendom, who differ from the prevalent belief, namely, that the Bible is a book to be understood only by the learning and wisdom of man, that the uninspired preacher, who may be highly educated after the manner of men, is a great deal better qualified to interpret the things of God, than he or they through whom they were spoken. The Latter-day Saints, who may have been similarly trained, were more or less disposed to entertain such views; but when they embraced the everlasting Gospel, and received of the Holy Ghost, even that Spirit by which the Scriptures were written, they were corrected in their judgments, and learned that the word of God would all be fulfilled, which have not already come to pass, and that they are to be understood in the same light, and in the same sense as we would understand the writings of uninspired individuals, when plainly and clearly written upon any special subject. This is something that every ordinarily intelligent man, without any book learning whatever, is abundantly able to do, especially when simple language, easy of comprehension, is used. For instance, when we get letters and communications from our friends abroad, we never think of putting a different construction upon their sentences, and claim that they did not mean what they had written. When, therefore, the ancient Prophets predicted that “the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven,” and that “the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch”—we must believe that the Prophet meant precisely what he said. When we read in the Book of Genesis about the rains which fell from the heavens, causing a flood of waters to deluge the earth, in fulfillment of a certain warning message which had previously been preached to the people then living, by which they were swept away and drowned, we must believe that the inspired writer who penned the words, described the event as it occurred, so far at least as the general facts are concerned, and that the flood spoken of was a literal body of water, and that it did prevail upon all portions of the earth. I do not say that the flood did prevail, at the same moment, upon all the face of the earth; but before the floods abated, every part of the solid portions of the earth that were habitable, were covered by the waters. How this was accomplished is not given by the inspired writer, but is left for us to conjecture. The Lord has a great many ways and means by which he could bring about an event of this nature. For instance, how easy it would be to drown all the inhabitants of the temperate and arctic regions, by just merely stopping the earth from rotating on its axis. Unless there should be another miracle performed to prevent the waters that are heaped up around the equatorial regions from flowing to the polar regions, they would necessarily, as the earth began to cease or rotate more slowly in its axial revolutions, cause the waters of the equatorial region to flow towards the two polar regions. It is an easy matter for a mathematician to demonstrate the depth of the waters in any part or latitude of our globe, should such an event take place or happen. The waters in receding from the great equatorial region would cover up the great mountains on our east, and we, in this altitude, would be buried under water at least over a mile in depth. I do not say that this was the manner which the Lord took in “breaking up the fountains of the great deep.” There may have been other causes unknown to us; but to say there never was such an event is something entirely unwarranted. Still, it may be said, this would not cover all the solid portion of the earth, but leave the equatorial land still further elevated above the ocean, and if all the lands of the earth were to be under water, how could that be accounted for? Very easily. Cause the earth to rotate on its axis more swiftly than what it now does, say for instance, in one-half the time—in 12 hours instead of 24—and you would bury up all the equatorial lands of our globe. How easy a matter it would be for the Lord to cause the earth to rotate more swiftly, and then again to rotate more tardily, and produce the effects ascribed to the flood.

When therefore, we read that the earth was once depopulated, except a few individuals, who were saved in the ark, why should it be thought a thing incredible that the Lord should again depopulate our globe, not by a flood, but by devouring fire. It may be said that we cannot see how a universal fire can prevail over all the face of the earth. There are various ways by which this could be accomplished. How did the Lord cause fire in ancient times to break out among the children of Israel, when they transgressed his holy laws, and when they murmured and complained against God? Fire was sent forth from his presence we are told, and rested upon the tabernacle; he was in the tabernacle, and his cloud was over the tabernacle; and fire went forth from this center, or the place where the Lord chose to manifest and show forth his glory, and it destroyed many of the people. You may say, “But this was a supernatural fire that proceeded from the presence of God, from the tabernacle, consuming thousands of transgressors.” I would ask, cannot the same Being who was able to produce this destruction by fire upon a few thousand individuals cause it to be more extensive and more universal in its operation? Has he not the same power to produce a supernatural fire over all the earth; even to the consuming of “all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly;” burning them up literally, their bodies becoming as “ashes,” as a farmer would set fire to and burn up the stubble of his fields? Well, you say, “If we admit that the first was supernatural, that God did actually burn the transgressors among Israel by fire, we are willing to admit that the same Being that could do this upon a small scale, could perform a similar work on a universal scale.” That is very reasonable to admit. But then, perhaps the Lord may not see proper to do this work of burning in the latter days altogether upon a supernatural principle; he may, perhaps, bring it about by certain physical forces or laws, by certain changes that may be wrought upon our elements; for the Lord holds in his own hands all the elements, and not only those of this little globe of ours, but all the elements that compose the universe; they are in his hands, he can give instructions and they are made subservient in the accomplishing of his great and wise purposes. Now, there is in the very air which we breathe, and which all animated beings, more or less, breathe, and by which they live—a principle of heat; and when this heat in its latent form is evolved, or comes forth from the constituents of the atmosphere, would there not be a sufficient amount to produce this revolution upon the earth? Is there not sufficient heat not only to burn up the wicked and the proud, but to cause the very elements of our globe to melt by its intensity? thus fulfilling another prophecy which says, “the hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord;” and yet another prophecy, which says, the mountains shall flow down at His presence like melted substance; run like rivers, in consequence of the intensity of the heat, connected with the elements of which our atmosphere and mountains are composed.

Again, independently of the latent heat which is connected with the atmosphere of our globe, is He not able to cause the great center of our system, the sun, to give forth more heat, sufficient to consume the wicked and melt the earth by its intensity? Yes. I recollect reading in one of the prophecies of Isaiah, in relation to this matter. I recollect reading too in the revelations of St. John that men should be scorched with great heat. Rev. chap. 16, verse 8. It was to be one of the great judgments of the latter days, as seen by that inspired man. And Isaiah, in speaking on this subject, says, “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,” etc. Suppose the heat should be increased in the same proportion that the light is increased; or, in other words, supposing that our thermometers, when standing at a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, should be increased to 700 degrees Fahrenheit, what would be the effect? A general conflagration over the whole face of the globe would be produced, thereby fulfilling ancient as well as modern prophecy.

But we will pass on. It is not for us, unless we have some definite instructions by the word of God, to tell how He is going to accomplish His great purposes. It is sufficient for us to know that he will do it. We are told this burning is to be universal, so far as all the proud, and all that do wickedly are concerned. It seems, then, it is to be one of the last destructions of the wicked. Prior to this there will be numerous destructions, by way of earthquakes, plagues, hailstorms, wars, etc., that will prevail and that will sweep away millions from the face of our globe. But the great judgment that is to cleanse the earth from all sin, is to be by the element of fire, “But,” inquires one, “do you think there will be many in that day, that will be proud and wicked? Will they not be mostly converted, and consequently escape this great conflagration, as Noah escaped being drowned?” I will answer this by repeating another prophecy, that now occurs to my mind, recorded in the 24th chapter of Isaiah. This man of God saw the period of time when the earth should reel to and fro like a drunken man; and he saw that glorious day when the Lord of Hosts shall be about to reign in Zion and Jerusalem. And among other things he saw in vision was that the earth became defiled under the inhabitants thereof; “because,” says the Prophet, “they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” Plainly showing that they were to be a corrupt, people; a people who, for instance, would change the ordinance of baptism, from immersion to sprinkling or pouring, or doing it away altogether, and in the same manner changing the various ordinances of the Gospel from the original form in which the Lord revealed them. He says, through the mouth of His Prophet, that the people who should be guilty of this great wickedness should be visited with fire; “the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” This is a little more definite. We learned through Malachi, that they should be destroyed both root and branch—no branch of wickedness, no roots of wickedness left; but it does not give us the proportion, between the righteous and the wicked. But Isaiah gives us a little further clue to this matter. To the query, how many are to be overtaken by this last great and overwhelming judgment, Isaiah would answer, “the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” What, only a few persons to be converted, only a few to receive the true Gospel, and be prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom; only a few people to escape this awful desolation? So says the Prophet Isaiah; that is, few in comparison to the great and numerous population of our globe. Even some few millions would be few compared with the twelve hundred millions that inhabit the earth. Isaiah, in the same chapter, in describing the glory of his personal reign on the earth, says that “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed,” because of the superior light that will attend the presence of the being who is to reign in Zion and Jerusalem. The Lord causes the natural light of the sun and the heat thereof; he causes the natural light of the other luminaries that twinkle in yonder heavens, and also the heat which proceeds from their bodies. Now, if he can produce such intense heat by such bodies as our sun; if he can cause the surrounding worlds to be heated and to receive a certain temperature by the radiation of light and heat; if the sun can produce such a high temperature upon our earth, existing some 90 millions of miles away, why not the Lord be able to produce a greater light and heat if necessary, to sweep off the wicked, and to cause the earth in a moment, as it were, to feel the power of that heat, even to its melting like wax before his presence? But, you may ask, why not this heat destroy the righteous, as well as the wicked? Have not the righteous often times been burned at the stake? have they not been consumed to ashes, by the power of the wicked? And why should this intense heat, of which you are speaking, which is to destroy the wicked root and branch, not affect the righteous as well?” Let us explain. Before this day of burning, there will be no righteous on the earth. Not one? No, not one. “What is to become of them?” The Apostle Paul informs us that, “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” It seems, then, that the righteous that sleep in their graves are to arise at this time, to be caught up with those living on the earth, who will be sufficiently righteous. Now, suppose they should not ascend to meet the Lord, but should remain on the earth, and he saw proper to preserve them from this devouring fire, could he do it? Certainly, and on the same principle as he preserved the three Hebrew children in the midst of fire. We are told, in connection with this remarkable preservation of life, that there was not so much as the smell of fire on their garments, neither was a hair of their heads injured, while some of the wicked, when they were in the act of casting these young men into the furnace, which had been heated seven times hotter than was usual for them, were devoured themselves. Yet the righteous were spared, receiving no harm whatever. Now, that same God who did preserve the three Hebrew children in the midst of the most terrible ordeal which they passed through, could preserve the righteous on the earth if he saw proper to do so. But he will take them up into the cloud, and they will be with him when he comes. But, you may say, “Have you not said that when he comes the sun will hide his face in shame, etc., therefore will not that glory which surrounds the personage of the Savior consume the righteous after they are taken up? Not at all; they will not be subject to the devouring element of fire, even though they have not as yet been changed to immortality; for the time for the righteous who remain alive, to be changed, will be as much as a thousand years after they descend upon the earth; after there shall have been generation upon generation here upon the earth; then, at the sound of the last trump the Apostle Paul informs us, that those who are righteous shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye. They are not to undergo this change, when Jesus comes at the beginning of the thousand years’ reign, but after the thousand years are ended at the sound of the last trump, which shall awaken and call forth the sleeping nations of the wicked from their graves, then the righteous, who remain in the flesh, will be changed in a moment; and after that time there will be no more mortality upon the earth. “But,” you may say again, “we can hardly believe these great miracles will take place as you say, according to prophecy.” Supposing you cannot, does your unbelief make the predictions of the servants of God without effect? Supposing, for instance, we should disbelieve excepting eight souls, as was the case with the antediluvian world, would our unbelief subvert the word of God. No. The Lord is a God of miracles, or in other words, he is a God of power and he operates upon the materials of our globe, according to his own good will and pleasure. When he burns up the wicked, when he causes the elements to melt with fervent heat, when he causes the mountains to flow down and melt like wax before his presence, all this does not destroy one particle of matter, but only changes matter from one condition to another. There is not a particle of the materials of our globe that will be annihilated, they will all exist; and although the time should come that the intense heat should be such as to disperse the materials of our solid globe and convert the great and mighty deep into gaseous substances, and separate the elements, and the water should cease to exist as either steam or water; although the time should come when the hydrogen and the oxygen, which possess the great bulk of the water upon our globe, should become gasses, yet the Lord could reorganize these elements, so scattered in space, by his power, bringing them together again by his law and by his word, making a new world, and creating a new heaven, and a new earth, wherein, says the Apostle Peter, shall dwell righteousness. This new earth, which is to be created, is not to be inhabited by the disobedient and wicked, as is now the case with the present world; there will be an entire change in the condition of the earth, and also in the condition of the human family, the curses of the fall will not be found in either, and consequently there will be no more mortality upon the new creation, neither sorrow, nor weeping; neither will there be any more death; for the former things will have passed away, and all things will become new. There will be but one government, not several hundred different forms of government, but one form will prevail upon the new creation, inhabited by immortal beings. All these changes are what the Latter-day Saints are looking for. We do not read these prophecies and then undertake to change them, and tell our hearers that they must be understood to mean something else, in some spiritual sense. We do not tell them that this day of burning is a day in which wickedness is to be cleansed from the earth by the purifying influence of the Spirit of God, and that all the people are to be converted, and therefore, the earth will be inhabited by none except the righteous; and that that portion of the Scriptures referring to the wicked becoming ashes under the feet of the righteous, means something entirely different from the literal reading, and that their sins will all be consumed, and that they will be righteous and will all walk upon the new earth free from sin. No, but when we speak of devouring fire burning as an oven, we expect it will be fire; we expect it will be intense heat; and when he says it will consume all the proud and all that do wickedly, we do not expect there will be a wicked man or woman left upon the whole earth; and when it says there shall neither be root nor branch left of them, we do not expect there will be found a vestige of wickedness in any corner of the earth however remote; but that all will be consumed and none but the righteous left.

Our modern Prophet, Joseph Smith, when he delivered his prophecies the Lord spoke through him, and we do not need any uninspired man to get up and tell what the Lord meant, when He spoke through him. For instance, our Prophet spoke of this same day of burning; it is referred to by him in many places in the Doctrine and Covenants, which book I hold in my hand. Has the Lord undertaken to spiritualize, in giving these new revelations? No; but he has told us the facts in the case. For instance, in one place speaking of the Lord’s coming, it says the wicked shall be destroyed out of the earth, and that the righteous shall be caught up, in the same manner as the New Testament describes it. And then it speaks of the righteous also coming down after the wicked are destroyed. There is a promise made to the Latter-day Saints as well as to the former-day Saints. The Lord said, in 1831, to the Prophet Joseph, in a revelation given before a general conference, and written by a scribe in presence of the conference, that among other great things that should take place, the Saints should possess the earth for their inheritance in this our day, and that all wickedness should cease. I make a promise, saith the Lord, and this is my covenant with you, and your children after you, that you shall have a certain land that I will give unto you, for an inheritance, and you shall possess it in time, while the earth shall stand, and shall possess it again in eternity, never more to pass away. If the Latter-day Saints want to know where this promise is found, let them read the revelation given on the 2nd of January, 1831. It was a revelation given when we were but a small people, before there was any gathering of the Saints; and in fact, when there were only a few individuals gathered in the house of Father Whitmer, the place where the Lord first organized His Church. There, we were informed, that the Lord intended to give a certain portion of this continent to the Latter-day Saints, and to their children after them, for an everlasting inheritance. This was contrary to our former faith, when we were Methodists and Baptists, and when we were Presbyterians and professors of the different denominations, before we came into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; we were taught then, that our home was away in yonder heavens away in some distant part of the universe, beyond the bounds of space, if anybody can comprehend where that is; I never could. And yet enlightened Christians sing about it. Before I became connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I often attended the meetings of the Methodists, the Baptists and the Presbyterians; and I well remember that this sentiment was embodied in one of the favorite hymns sung by the Methodists. They had a very good tune to the words, and being but a boy at the time, I could not but think it the very best kind of religion. I never mistrusted the truthfulness of the sentiment, because I too had entertained the belief that we were going to take an everlasting farewell to earth, and that we were going to be wafted and wafted until we got beyond the bounds of space, there to find a heavenly place, adapted to our heavenly condition. But when I commenced to reflect and search the Scriptures for myself, I found that although the tune was sweet and the singing was beautiful, yet there was no truth in it; I found that the “Saints’ secure abode” was not beyond space, but that it was on this our earth. And for how long? For all eternity. But the earth has to under– go numerous changes. A partial change will take place when Jesus comes, at the beginning of the thousand years’ rest; then a still further change, after the Millennium should pass, when the great last trump should sound, awaking the nations of the wicked from their sleeping graves. I then read in the Scriptures of truth that God would create a new heaven, and a new earth, and that on this new creation should dwell righteousness. I also read of a holy city, called the New Jerusalem, which should come down upon this new earth, and that God himself should be among those righteous people who should inhabit that holy city. And I also read that the former things should pass away, and that all things should become new. I read, too, that not only the New Jerusalem should descend on this earth, but another city called the Holy Jerusalem, whose dimensions and architecture are described, and that because of the glory that should exist there, the inhabitants thereof should not have need of the light of the sun, nor of that of the moon, nor of the stars; for God himself should dwell there with them, and he would be their light and their glory. And that those two great cities which are to descend upon this new earth are to be the great capitals of this new creation, inhabited by immortal beings—the Saints of God that have lived in the various dispensations of this world. This was something new to us; and it was contrary to our sectarian notions and views, and the sectarian teachings about the future condition of man, and the earth we live in. Yet, when we come to compare the new doctrine of the new revelation, with that laid down in the Old and New Testament, we find a perfect agreement. For instance, let our minds revert back to the days of the Patriarchs, and we find Abra– ham, after leaving his native country, in obedience to a direct command of God, dwelling in a new land called Canaan, now known as Palestine; and while there, we learn of the Lord conversing with him, and promising him and his seed “the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.” What does this all mean? Did Abraham ever inherit any of that land? Not a foot of it. He did buy a place—a burying place for himself and kindred; but he did not realize this promise, the possession of the land of Canaan, but on the contrary, he counted himself a stranger and pilgrim in that very land. And not only Abraham, but his descendants have failed to realize this promise. The martyr Stephen, who lived many centuries afterward, just prior to his death, in bearing testimony to the people who stood before him, concerning Abraham, said, referring to this promise of the Lord, that he did not receive so much as to set his foot on, during his lifetime. Nevertheless, the Lord promised him the whole of the land, to be for an everlasting inheritance, for himself and his seed after him. The Apostle Paul, speaking of the same thing, says, that “they all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.” How far? Thousands of years after they should sleep in the tomb. They looked forward in faith to the vast futurity, being persuaded of the truth of the promise; but they saw that before they could inherit the promised land, they would have to seek a city, that was in the heavens, and there to dwell, until the due time of the Lord should bring them in possession of their inheritance. The Prophet Ezekiel saw the way in which they should come in possession of it, as is recorded in the 37th chapter of his prophecy. The Spirit of the Lord took him into the midst of a valley—a great cemetery, as it were, where he saw a vast quantity of bones which were very dry, the flesh having crumbled to dust. And the question was put to him, no doubt to try his faith, “Son of man can these bones live?” Ezekiel was not an infidel, he did not say it was impossible, nor that there could be no such miracle, but he said, “O, Lord God, thou knowest.” He was willing the Lord should know all about it, and that he should display his power provided he saw proper to do so. Then the Lord commanded him to prophesy, using these words: “Prophesy unto these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” And after he had thus spoken, the Prophet tells us that “there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.” They did not make any mistake, such as one bone belonging to a certain tabernacle uniting with that of another; but each bone joined its fellow bone, and sinews and flesh and skin covered them, and thus the tabernacles were formed. But there was as yet no life in them. Therefore he was commanded to prophesy again, and say to the wind: “Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” He did so “and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” This was a vision of the resurrection—the resurrection of the ancient patriarchs prophets of God, and all the righteous of Israel.

It seems from the record, that the Jews, in the days of Ezekiel, had formed an idea very similar to that of many of our Christian friends now living—they had got rather infidel in their views; they had begun to say in their hearts, referring to their fathers, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts;” or, in other words, our forefather, whose children we are, and whose names are held in sacred remembrance by us, are all dead. The promises have not been fulfilled and we are cut off from the part of our inheritance, and how is it possible now that they can come to pass? They were of similar mind to the Sadducees—they did not believe in the resurrection. But the Lord, in order to encourage them in the belief that it would be fulfilled, gives the interpretation of this vision. I have heard the Methodists give their version of this vision. Whenever there was a revival among them, I have seen them get down on their knees and exclaim, O Lord, make a shaking among these dry bones; believing that the sinners were the bones, and the resurrection, the conversion of sinners. The same interpretation is given by a great many of the Christian sects of the day. But hearken, O Latter-day Saints, to the Lord’s interpretation, and judge between them: “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” What can be plainer than that? And which is the better of the two, the Lord’s interpretation or that of the sects of the day?

This promise will most assuredly be fulfilled, the patriarchs, and their seed who are worthy, will come into possession of the inheritance. But, when? It will be about the time, or a little after, this great day of burning. The graves of the Saints will be open just before the fire sweeps over the nations to consume the proud, and all they that do wickedly; and they will be opened at the sound of the trump by the Archangel. And the Saints will come forth; for then the face of the Lord will be unveiled, then the heavens will be parted as a scroll, then will be seen the prophets of God, and all the righteous who have not yet arisen from their graves, and they will appear in the clouds of heaven with the Savior. Abraham will be there, Isaac and Jacob will be there, and all the ancients of whom the children of Israel, in Ezekiel’s days, said, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost,” will all be there, ready to enter into the possession of the earth as their inheritance. “Blessed are the meek,” says our Lord in his sermon on the mount. And what is the peculiar blessing of the meek? “For they shall inherit the earth.” Did they formerly inherit the earth? No; they wandered about, in the days of the Apostles, in sheepskins and goatskins, finding shelter from the inclemency of the weather, and concealment from their persecutors in the solitary dens and caves of the mountains. A great many infidels and sectarians cannot believe that this promise can ever be literally fulfilled, because they did not realize it in the day of their mortality. But Jesus says, they shall “inherit the earth;” this includes too, all the Gentile Saints that have, and that will embrace the gospel, among all peoples, and nations, and kindreds and tongues, for all such become Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. What promise? The promise made to Abraham. To inherit the earth. Hence all people who are baptized into Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female, and who are true and faithful to him, have Abraham for their father; and they, with him and the patriarchs, will inherit the earth, when wickedness ceases to exist.

It is then that the enmity of the beasts of the field as well as that of all flesh will cease; no more one beast of prey devouring and feasting upon another that is more harmless in its nature; no more will this enmity be found in the fish of the sea, or in the birds of the air. This change will be wrought upon all flesh when Jesus comes; not a change to immortality, but a change sufficient to alter the ferocious nature of beasts, birds and fishes. In those days the lion will eat straw like the ox; he will no more be the terror of the forest, but will be perfectly harmless, and gentleness will characterize all the wild and ferocious animals, as well as the venomous serpents, so much so that the little child might lead them and play with them, and nothing should hurt or destroy in all the holy mountain of the Lord; all things becoming, in some measure, as when they were first created. For it will be remembered that animals did not devour one another until after the fall, neither was there any death, until after the fall. What did they eat, then? The Lord said, “To every beast of the field, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat.” The grass, and the herbs, and every green thing were their food. And Adam and Eve ate fruits and vegetables, not animal flesh. The whole earth will be restored; and man will be restored; and not only upon man, but upon all flesh the Spirit of God will be poured out and they will eventually be restored to all that was lost by the fall of our first parents. Then the knowledge of God will cover the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep. And then the animal creation will manifest more intelligence and more knowledge than they do now, in their fallen condition. Indeed, we have a declaration, by John the Revelator, that when this time shall come, they will even know how to praise God. He says, “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” What? The animal creation endowed with language? Yes, a language of praise, saying something concerning the Lamb that was slain, and about his glory and excellency. What a beautiful creation this will be when all these things are fulfilled. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, June 16, 1878.

A very strange thing has happened in our day—a work that is considered by the Latter-day Saints, and by all people, to be a marvelous work and a wonder; something almost entirely unexpected by the great mass of the human family, something which our fathers were not looking for has happened in the land. What is it? God has sent an angel from heaven. What, an angel in the latter days come from heaven! Yes. What a strange thing! How different from the traditions of our fathers, for seventeen centuries past! Tell people of this generation that God has sent a holy angel communicating his will to man, and they will be ready to laugh you to scorn. They have formed an idea in their own hearts that angels were no more to minister to the human family. No messages from heaven to be sent by them; no voice of the Lord to be heard again speaking to man on the earth; no more revelations to be given; no more Prophets to be raised up, and no more Seers and Revelators to make known and proclaim the will of heaven to the people. Such were the traditions of our fathers; such were the traditions of some two or three hundred millions of people, calling themselves Christians. Speak to them about more of the word of God to be given to the human family, the universal idea and exclamation of the nations of Christendom would be, “the canon of Scrip– ture is full.” Who told them this? From what source did they get their information. Did the Lord ever reveal this to them, or is it a creation of their own imagination? Did you ever hear a single individual, even the most learned and wisest of them, prove this assertion by the divine writings? Did you ever hear of any lay member, minister or priest, having substantiated these ideas and traditions in accordance with Scripture and reason? Never, never. And the simple reason why is, because they have no proof or evidence to sustain their position. There is not a man living, however learned he may be, however familiar with the Scriptures of divine truth he may be, that can bring one idea, by way of proof, to support these traditions. And yet, how general and universal these things have been circulated among the nations, and imbibed by the human family as though they were real truths!

When the Latter-day Saints came forth forty-eight years ago, testifying that God had sent an angel from heaven, how unexpected, how strange to this generation! Say they, “The Lord once had a religion on the earth, and angels were included as part and portion of the blessings connected with it; but now we do not need them.” Why? “Because we are so enlightened. We have studied the Scriptures and become so effectually acquainted with them, and also with science and everything else, that we do not need further instruction from the Almighty; we do not need Prophets in our day to foretell the future; we do not need Revelators to come forth and manifest to us the word of God. Why, we are so enlightened! The blaze of Gospel light is shining forth so brilliantly, we can get along with human learning without any revela– tion from the heavens.” Have I not expressed before this congregation, the real ideas of the two or three hundred millions of Christendom, so called, that live in the various civilized nations?

Now let us go back to the real principles of the Gospel, to find out whether they countenance and embrace the visitation of angels. History informs us, that before the flood angels conversed with men, as one man would with another. And we find that Abraham and Enoch conversed with God; and through faith Enoch was translated from mortality to immortality. At the time of the deluge, we learn there was one man upon the earth that received new revelation from heaven, and that he and seven others who believed on his word, were the only ones worthy to be spared from the terrible judgment which, for the time being, put an end to wickedness upon the earth. A Revelator was spared—the only man among them who could commune with the heavens, and receive information from on high.

After the days of the flood, we learn that the Lord made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, great and most precious promises—promises concerning things of eternity and things of the earth. These men were called and esteemed the “friends of God;” they were perfect in their day, and they were Revelators, to whom angels came and ministered the words of eternal life. They were the only ones who received instruction from heaven by new revelation, and who were counted worthy in that day to enjoy the divine approbation, and to be called his friends.

So likewise we may come down to the days of Moses, and the children of Israel who were in Egypt. Did the Lord bless them? He did. In what way? By speaking himself, and also by sending angels to administer in their midst; by communicating revelation by day and by night while the children of Israel sojourned in the wilderness; by revelation they were taught in all the ordinances, and by revelation they journeyed; and when the Lord commanded them to pitch their tents, they remained in such a place until another revelation was given. Angels communicated the things of God to that people, after they were brought to the Promised Land, and from generation to generation the Lord sent forth his angels to minister among his people. Prophet after Prophet was raised up in their respective generations to declare the word of the Lord in the midst of all Israel; and such men were regarded as the mouthpieces of God. And so it was continued until a few centuries before Christ. Then came a day of darkness; then came a time when, because of the wickedness of the people, no angels were sent, no Revelators or Prophets were raised up in the midst of the people. The consequences were, the people were left to themselves without the guidance of new revelation, and instead of building up and establishing the kingdom of God, they created man-made systems, dividing off into sects and parties, such as Pharisees, Sadducees, Essences, etc., numbering a great many different denominations. And they estranged themselves so far from the ways of God, and became so wicked, and Satan had so much control over them, that when Christ came preaching to them the everlasting Gospel in all its simplicity and plainness, he found them in such a condition as to love darkness rather than light, and they were fully prepared to imbrue their hands in the blood of the Savior of the world.

We find that after Christ had established his Church, that angels continued to minister; and one of the Apostles, on a certain occasion exhorted the former-day Saints to be careful to entertain strangers; for in so doing some had entertained angels unawares. And we find that, during the first century of the Christian era, angels frequently appeared; and revelations were also given by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost which rested upon the Apostles, for the guidance of the Church. Paul also testifies of angels in this wise: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Showing to us clearly and plainly that these celestial inhabitants of heaven—these pure sanctified beings that dwell in the presence of God were sent forth as authorized ministers of God to those who should be heirs of salvation here upon the earth. But by and by, after the first century of the Christian era, the heavens became as brass over their heads again. The voice of inspiration was heard no more, neither did the voice of angels salute the ears of mortals. No visions among the people, the veil of darkness that hung over them, in consequence of the Lord’s withdrawing his ministering agency from the earth, so befogged their minds, that they could no longer gaze upon the glorious future.

This state of apostasy continued, until about the last half century of the Christian era, and it prevailed more or less among all people. And the priests, to whom the people looked for spiritual light and instruction, have persisted one and all in teaching the people, from generation to generation, that the Bible was full, that the canon of scripture was closed, and that it was no more necessary for angels to communicate with man, nor that the miraculous gifts and graces, that once adorned the Church, should be continued. The people settled down to this belief without any evidence or testimony of its truthfulness and it became a widespread and popular tradition: and the children even down to our day, have inherited these notions and traditions of their fathers without once questioning them; they are born in the children, as it were, and they are educated and trained in this belief, and hence it has become deeply rooted, and most difficult for them to rid themselves of.

But again the long, long silence has been broken, again the voice of angels has saluted the ears of mortal man, and that too in fulfillment of a prophecy uttered by John the Revelator, while under banishment upon the Isle of Patmos. While there suffering for the gospel’s sake, the Lord showed unto him by vision, things that should take place upon the earth. And among other things that passed before him, he saw that, after a length of time the darkness that would necessarily follow the rejection of the Gospel by both Jew and Gentile, and that must come upon the face of the whole earth, would be gradually dispelled by a heavenly communication from God to man. And from the 14th chapter of Revelation we learn the manner in which this message should come from the courts of heaven. John speaks of the event in this wise, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come,” etc. Strange as it may seem, this angel spoken of, has flown from heaven to earth, parting asunder the veil of superstition, ignorance and doubt, and bringing with him from his celestial abode, glad tidings of great joy, duly authorizing man on the earth to preach the same to all peoples of every nation. This Gospel committed by the angel has been preached among many nations wherever they would receive the bearers of this heavenly message, there the voice of inspired men has been heard; and this missionary labor has been faithfully prosecuted during almost one half of a century. And the Gospel will be preached until every nation and tongue and people upon the face of our globe shall have the privilege of hearing this glorious angelic message.

“But,” says one, “this is your testimony; you say that an angel has come, but we do not know it; you say that he has brought the everlasting Gospel, but we do not know it. What evidence have you to give us, that we may know for ourselves that an angel has really come bearing this message?” I will tell you how you may prove it, how every son and daughter of Adam now living may know whether there has been a divine message, called the everlasting Gospel, sent from heaven to the inhabitants of the earth by a holy angel. Do the will of your Father in heaven; call upon his name, and inquire of him, saying in your hearts: O Lord, hast thou indeed sent forth from the heavens thine angel, according to the prediction by thy servant John, bringing to man on the earth the everlasting Gospel? And hast thou commanded it to be preached to every people, nation and tongue under the whole heavens? If you do this in all honesty of heart and purpose, you may all know for yourselves. “What! does the Lord give us knowledge in our day by seeking unto him in prayer?” Why not? Did he not anciently, in every dispensation from the beginning down to the closing up of the first century of the Christian era, impart a knowledge concerning the truth? He did; and that same God that gave a knowledge to his people anciently, will give a knowledge to you, provided you will comply with his will. “But,” you may say, “in order that we may put such a question to the Lord, we would like to have some testimony, sufficient at least to encourage us in making this inquiry.” I do not know how much you want. So far as external evidence is concerned, he gave abundance of it before this Church arose. The Lord did not suffer the Book of Mormon to be sent forth to the nations to be published to all people, until he gave a testimony to certain individual witnesses. How many? Four persons at least—the translator of the book, Joseph Smith, and three other persons, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer. They knew of a surety, and have given their testimony in the beginning of this record. Here, then, are four witnesses. What does Jesus say? “That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” He saw proper, however, to give four. “But,” inquires one, “may not these four witnesses have been mistaken?” Let us examine into the nature of their testimony, to see if there is any possibility of their being mistaken. Joseph Smith, one of these witnesses, testifies that the angel came down from heaven, and that his countenance was like lightning, and the glory of God shone round about him. And the angel told him to go to a certain hill, not far from his father’s house, in the town of Manchester, Ontario County, in the State of New York, where he should find these ancient records—plates of gold, containing the everlasting Gospel, which was anciently preached among the inhabitants of this continent. He obeyed; he went and found the records in the very place which had been shown him in vision by the angel. Was there any possibility of Joseph’s having been deceived? We say, No; the circumstances were such as to preclude the possibility of any such deception. The angel also told him that with these plates there was an instrument called the Urim and Thummim, which would enable him to translate the records into our language. Joseph accomplished the work of translation between the years 1827 and 1830, through the use of this instrument, which had been hidden up with the plates. Could he be deceived, when he got the plates before him, intently looking upon the peculiar characters engraved upon them, and also upon that most singular instrument, the Urim and Thummim? Every man of common sense, possessing the least degree of judgment, will at once say that it was not possible, under these circumstances, for him to be deceived; that the testimony given is true, and the message divine, or else he was a bold impostor, a man that came forth purposely to deceive the people.

Now in regard to the other three witnesses. They testify that in the year 1829, after the plates had been translated, that an angel of God appeared unto them, clothed in light and glory, and holding these plates in his hands, turned them over leaf after leaf, showing them the characters engraved thereon. And they also say that while they stood gazing upon this heavenly being, clothed in his glory, in the act of showing them these gold plates, they heard a voice out of the heavens proclaiming to them that the plates had been translated correctly, by the gift and power of God. And what they saw and heard they bear testimony to, which is addressed to all peoples of every nation to whom this record—the Book of Mormon—should go. Let me ask, Was there any possibility of their being deceived? If there was, then we might say all men of ancient times who professed to have seen angels were deceived themselves. But I do not see that anything could be more positive. The promise had been given that there should be three witnesses raised up to bear testimony of the truth of these records, which purport to be a history of the aborigines, or the ancient Israelites, that inhabited this country. The Lord did send the angel; they saw him come down from heaven; they saw the light and glory that radiated from his countenance; they heard the words of his mouth; they saw the plates in the hands of this heavenly personage, and they could distinguish the characters engraven thereon; and they also heard the voice of the Lord commanding them to bear testimony to all peoples of what they had seen and heard. They could not have been deceived, it was utterly impossible.

Then here are four witnesses, all bearing testimony to the divinity of this work. And, as I have already quoted to you, the Savior has said, that every word shall be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. The Lord, therefore, did not raise up this Church, he did not commence the organization thereof until he had given sufficient evidence to a sufficient number of witnesses to commence the establishment of this work.

Again, Joseph Smith was commanded of the Lord to show these plates to eight other persons who, besides the three referred to, also became witnesses to this work. And their published testimony is, that they saw the plates and handled them, and they saw the peculiar writing thereon, which they say had the appearance of curious and ancient workmanship. And notwithstanding some of these witnesses have fallen by the wayside, having been overcome by the power of the Adversary, rendering themselves unworthy of the fellowship of the Latter-day Saints, not a single one of them has ever been known to deny the testimony which they have borne concerning this marvelous occurrence. Here, then, are twelve witnesses. Is not this external evidence sufficient to satisfy every inquiring soul whose heart is honest before the Lord? But, I will refer you to still more. When this work was first published, the Lord called upon these men to go forth among the people, proclaiming the Gospel which they themselves had received, promising that all who would yield obedience thereto should receive the Holy Ghost, which should confirm, to the entire satisfaction of the believer, the testimony of these Elders. And when this Holy Spirit descended upon such people, they knew for themselves that these men were servants of the living God, and that the power that rested upon them was indeed the Holy Ghost, of which they had read in the Scriptures. How did they know this? Because it manifested divers gifts. It enabled them to lay their hands upon the sick, rebuking in the name of Jesus the disease, and the sick were restored to health. You may say imagination had something to do with this; the sick imagined themselves better, and consequently they got better. But let me testify that little infant children, not capable of exercising the powers of ima– gination, have been healed in the same manner, and by the same power, which was the power of Almighty God manifested through his servants. And these first Elders of the Church were thus enabled to convert to a knowledge of our faith, multitudes of people who, like themselves, could bear testimony to the divinity and truthfulness of this latter-day work, having received the convincing assurances of this Comforter, which bears record of the things of the Father. And in this manner this whole community have received the knowledge they testify of, and hence we become, to use a Biblical term, a great cloud of witnesses, whose testimony is in force to the whole world, whether they receive it or reject it.

I have now laid before you evidence sufficient to excite the principle of faith in your hearts, provided you have a genuine desire to know of the doctrine we teach, as to whether it be of God or man. You have the testimony of twelve men to begin with, besides the testimony of scores of thousands of men and women that have received the Holy Ghost through obedience to the requirements of the Gospel, whose knowledge of this latter-day work enables them also to testify to the truth of it. And the testimony of this people speaks as with the voice of thunder to all nations and tongues, to the effect that God has spoken from the eternal worlds, and that he has sent his angels again to earth to commit to man the everlasting Gospel. If so remarkable a testimony of twelve men, together with the united testimony of a community so large as we are, is not sufficient to create faith in your hearts that God has indeed commenced his great and marvelous and strange work and a wonder in our day, then what would awaken up the people to a sense of the fact? There can be no excuse for those who hear and reject the testimony and teaching of the Elders of this Church, for the cry has been raised these many years, and it cannot but have a striking effect upon all honest-hearted people, because of its singularity and fairness, for the promise is, if you have sufficient faith to call upon God and ask him, you yourselves may obtain a testimony, and you can receive that which supersedes faith or belief—you can know of a surety that he has indeed visited the earth again in these the last days by his angels, and that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of the living God, and that the doctrines we teach are not of man but of God; and they will prove the savor of life to those who obey, and of death to those who reject them.

Therefore as I said in the commencement of my remarks, a marvelous thing has occurred in the land! A wonderful work has made its appearance! The heavens no longer keep silent! Prophets again are heard among the people! The inspiration and power of the Holy Ghost rests upon the servants of God, and his power is made manifest among the various nations again, as in olden time, in healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the deaf to hear, and in pouring out his Spirit upon the children of men, as he did in former dispensations of the world!

Is not this, then, sufficient to wake up the honest-in-heart among the people? If it is not, then I know of nothing that is likely to do it. Will it be by the fulfillment of the Prophets, that have been spoken of by the former speakers? When the hand of judgment shall be laid upon the nations, and the fierceness of his wrath be made manifest, wasting away the disobedient and the wicked, and the earth becomes depopulated of all excepting the righteous? This will be a testimony they cannot resist. But such testimony will not always be unto salvation. It will be the testimony of judgment that will overwhelm them, in a time, too, they think not of; a time when they will be crying all is peace and safety—lo! sudden destruction is at their doors; and thus the Scriptural saying will be literally fulfilled, “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be,” etc. When that unfortunate, but disobedient and wicked people, the Antediluvians, were sinking in the waters, they could then say, “I know that Noah is a Prophet, and that the message he has declared in our ears for these many years is divine.” But alas! it was too late; they rejected the message, paying heedless regard to it as well as to him who preached the Gospel to them; they would not call upon God in all honesty of heart, but they considered Noah deceived; they obeyed not, and were destroyed by the mighty flood. Amen.

Discourse by Apostle Orson Pratt, delivered at a Conference in Paris, Bear Lake, May 11, 1878.

I am pleased to have the opportunity and privilege of speaking to you this morning, and I hope to have your attention while I endeavor to lay before you principles pertaining to salvation and eternal life, and set forth those characteristics that mark the people of God in contradistinction to the people of the world. I hope to be so explicit that you may all understand, and that you may each receive your portion of the Bread of Life in due season.

The Church of Jesus Christ is a Church of order, in which it is necessary that some persons have authority to teach and counsel and preside. The authority of the church in this Stake, is held by President Wm. Budge, who represents the leaders of the church, and is expected to reflect their feelings and spirit upon the people under his presidency. And I must say I feel pleased with the spirit that seems to prevail in this Stake of Zion, which is an evidence that you have been blessed of the Lord, through the ministrations of His servants. And there are still greater blessings offered those who will seek after them with all their heart; some of which can only be received by earnest faith and prayer.

The Prophets, Patriarchs and Saints in olden times received great and glorious blessings, and why should we not be blessed, the same as they were blessed? But some will begin to doubt, and say, such and such blessings were truly given to persons many years ago, but perhaps they are not promised to me. Do we not worship the same God, that they worshipped? Have we not obeyed the same Gospel and received of the same spirit? When you Elders have gone forth on missions, have not the promises of the Lord been fulfilled in your behalf? It depends on ourselves whether we will receive the glorious blessings of the Gospel or not. If we are faithful and diligent in serving the Lord, His promises are sure, and His blessings will certainly be poured out on the humble and obedient.

Those who have been sent on missions to the nations of the earth have had abundant proof that the Lord is ready and willing to pour out His blessings upon them. You were promised that the angels should go before you, and open the hearts of the people to receive you; and when you have gone among a strange people, some of them have recognized you through the dreams and visions given them from the Almighty, and they have said: “I know you are a servant of the Lord, for you were shown to me in the night vision.” These and other blessings are given to us on condition that we are diligent and faithful. If we fail to receive them, the failure is not on the part of the Lord, nor in His servants who preside over us, but the fault lies in ourselves alone.

This failure to realize all the blessings and powers of the Priesthood does not apply to the elders and lesser Priesthood only; but it applies to the higher quorums, and comes home to ourselves, who are Apostles of Jesus Christ. We are presented before the Church, and sustained as prophets, seers and revelators, and we have received oftentimes the gift of prophecy and revelation, and have received many great and glorious gifts. But have we received the fullness of the blessings to which we are entitled? No, we have not. Who, among the Apostles have become seers, and enjoy all the gifts and powers pertaining to that calling? Still it is our privilege to become prophets, seers and revelators, for these blessings were promised us through the Prophet Joseph, in the year 1836. Now I don’t think many of us have attained to these gifts, but it is not the fault of the Almighty, but the fault is in ourselves. And can they be realized by us? Certainly they can, if we are faithful in seeking for them. The Prophet Joseph would not have attained to these glorious gifts if he had not lived for them, and he would not have held out these inducements to us, unless they could have been obtained. These things were renewed at our last fall Conference, and they are brought home to us, and it is our privilege to live for them and enjoy them in their fullness, according to our faith. Brother Charles C. Rich has had visions from the Lord, and revelations through which he has been forewarned of dangers that threatened him; by which means his life has been preserved from time to time. And these are some of the gifts of God, and should be cultivated in our feelings and in our faith, for God is no respecter of persons, but is willing to give to all men liberally, and upbraid not. But all cannot be Apostles. Some have to take the presidency in different ages. Enoch was chosen in his day, and Abraham and Moses in theirs, and Joseph in our day, and unto him was given the power to translate the ancient records, and to bring forth abundance of revelations. And those who are called to perform special missions in opening up dispensations of the Gospel to the children of men, as Joseph and others were called of the Lord, He endows more fully with these gifts; but this does not hinder others from enjoying similar gifts according to His promises, and according to our faithfulness. And I have thought the reason why we have not enjoyed these gifts more fully is, because we have not sought for them as diligently as we ought. I speak for one, I have not sought as diligently as I might have done. More than forty years have passed away since these promises were made. I have been blessed with some revelations and prophecies, and with dreams of things that have come to pass; but as to seeing things as a seer, and beholding heavenly things in open vision, I have not attained to these things. And who is to blame for this? Not the Lord; not brother Joseph—they are not to blame. And so it is with the promises made to you in your confirmations and endowments, and by the patriarchs, in your patriarchal blessings; we do not live up to our privileges as saints of God and elders of Israel; for though we receive many blessings that are promised to us, we do not receive them in their fullness, because we do not seek for them as diligently and faithfully as we should.

The work in which we are engaged has occupied the attention of the Prophets in all ages, and they have prophesied concerning it, and have rejoiced in contemplating the day and age in which we live. The Prophet Isaiah says: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that bringeth good tidings, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.”

It is through faith we are made partakers of these glorious blessings, for by faith all the blessings promised are to be obtained; by faith the holy men of old obtained promises pertaining to future generations, and by faith the Gospel has been restored to the earth, with the gifts and powers of the holy Priesthood, with the promise that it shall never be taken from the earth. Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, through his righteousness and faith obtained great promises concerning his seed who should dwell upon this land. And through faith a portion of his seed was brought from Jerusalem and led by the Almighty on the borders of the Red Sea, and brought over the great deep unto a land that is choice above all other lands. By faith the Nephites received the ministrations of the Savior after His resurrection from the dead, through the covenants made with their fathers. By faith the brother of Jared saw the wonders of eternity, and saw the time when the wicked would be destroyed from the face of the earth; and like Enoch, Abraham, Moses and others, saw all things that were to take place upon the earth to the end of time. This latter-day work which occupies our attention, was shown to the prophets thousands of years before we were born. Don’t you suppose they prayed for it, and sought unto the Lord to know when these things should come to pass, and what should be the sign of His coming, and the end of the world? Through faith covenants were made with the Nephite prophets, that the sacred records should be preserved and should come forth in the last days for the blessing and salvation of their posterity, and all others who would receive them. It has been our privilege to receive these sacred things, and have withal the fullness of the Everlasting Gospel, and if we have the faith that was in them, and live as Saints of God, we shall not be careless and indifferent, but our souls will be filled with joy and gladness, because of the many mercies and blessings that are promised to us, in our calling as elders and priests, and as seers and revelators. If we lived fully up to our privileges, and attained to all the blessings and powers that are promised, and were filled with the spirit of the Lord, we should have more influence, and our ministrations would be of more benefit to the people of God.

I am glad the Lord has spared my life to behold this day, and that I am numbered among His people, a people who have been acknowledged of the Lord as His chosen people. We should all feel thankful for living prophets and apostles, who have been given for the work of the ministry, and for the perfecting of the Saints. I rejoice, moreover, that the First Presidency of the Church has again been organized, for by the more perfect organization we receive greater strength and wisdom, and more abundant blessings from the Lord, and I think this increase in faith and union, and other manifestations of the spirit are felt in this Conference. Every man and woman can feel a renewed influence and power, and it is felt in all the quorums of the Priesthood. And it is our privilege to so live that we may come into possession of all the promised blessings. Among the blessings promised by our Lord Jesus Christ, unto those who humble themselves, and seek unto Him, is that “You shall see my face, and know that I am.” This does not mean the Apostles only, but the promise is to every Latter-day Saint who will comply with the conditions, that such person “shall see my face, and know that I am.” These are some of the promises that have been made to the Latter-day Saints through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The same promise was made to ancient Israel, through Moses, the great lawgiver and Prophet who promised that they should all hear his voice, and see his face, if they would hearken to his counsels, and obey all His commandments. The promise was not to the Priesthood only, but every son and daughter of God had the same promise, because all are destined to come into the presence of God, and behold the glory of His countenance. If we would attain to these blessings, and enjoy the fullness of the promises made unto the people of God, we must cleanse ourselves from all unrighteousness, that we may endure His presence in the world of glory.

For this reason it was ordered that a tabernacle be built in the wilderness; but such was the wicked– ness of the people, that while the glory of the Lord was resting on the mountain, and Moses was holding communion with Jehovah in the interests of the people, they had induced Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship, in place of the true and living God. And the consequence was, they were deprived of the presence of the Lord in their journeyings, for He made a decree that He would not go before the camp, “but mine angel shall go before them, lest I consume them in the land.”

The Lord has been very kind and merciful unto His people in these last days. He has known the hearts of this people, and that we are willing to serve Him. He saw that we were willing to suffer persecution for His sake, and the Gospel’s sake, and for this cause He has poured out His blessings upon us in great abundance, and I hope when these Temples shall be built, and we minister therein, and receive the blessings promised us for ourselves and for our dead, that we shall be more united, and that we shall receive more fully the gifts and endowments that pertain to the sons and daughters of God. And then peradventure He will condescend to bless us with His presence, as He blessed His Saints in the Temple at Kirtland, and the presence and glory of His holy angels. It has been promised to Israel in these latter days, that the Lord Himself will go before them, and lead and guide them, and fight their battles and deliver them from all their enemies. What a glorious promise! And we may be assured that there will be nothing lacking on the part of our Eternal Father, nor in Jesus Christ, His Son, and the holy angels, for all are interested with us in the progress and consummation of this great and glorious latter-day work, for it is the dispensation of the fullness of times.

How great will be our joy when we attain to these blessings, and realize these promises that have been made to us. The Lord will dwell in the midst of His people, and the angels will be with us, with the ministrations of our Father in heaven; these are privileges and blessings indeed, that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and the glory thereof hath not entered in the heart of man to conceive, but the Lord hath revealed them unto us by His spirit. Then we shall hear His voice, and see His face, and know that He exists, for we shall see His glory and participate with the sanctified in the powers of the world to come, for being heirs of God we shall be joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ, and having suffered with Him for righteousness’ sake, we shall also reign with Him in glory.

In conclusion, let me exhort you to turn to the Lord, and serve Him with full purpose of heart, and be willing to consecrate yourselves and all you have unto His service, and so live that you can perfect the bond of union that will secure unto you eternal life, and bring honor and glory to Him that sitteth upon the throne forever and ever. That this may be your happy lot, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.