Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, June 15, 1873.

I will call your attention to the first two lines in the first hymn that was sung this afternoon—

“Arise, O glorious Zion, Thou joy of latter days.”

In connection with these two lines, I will cite the attention of the congregation to the first verse of the 60th chapter of Isaiah—

“Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee.”

The passage which I have quoted from Isaiah has reference to the latter-day Zion, about which the choir sang at the opening of the meeting. That there may be no misunderstanding about the people to whom the Prophet had reference, I will read some other passages connected with it—“And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” The Zion that is here spoken of is called upon to “arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” There is no one thing more fully revealed in the Scriptures of eternal truth, than the rise of the Zion of our God in the latter days, clothed upon with the glory of God from the heavens—a Zion that will attract the attention of all the nations and kindreds of the whole earth. It will not be something that takes place in a corner on some distant island of the sea, or away among some obscure people; but it will be something that will call forth the attention of all people and nations upon the face of the whole earth. The rise of Zion, the latter-day Zion. What are we to understand by the meaning of Zion? What I understand, and what the Scriptures have portrayed in regard to the meaning of Zion is, a people who shall receive the law of God, and who shall be acknowledged of the Lord as his people—a people who shall be gathered together from the nations of the earth, and build a house to the name of the Lord in the latter days. A people who shall have their abiding place in the mountains, and who shall build a city that shall be called Zion. All these things are clearly portrayed in prophecy. The people of God must be a people who give the most diligent heed to his word; they will be guided by revelation from him, and among them his power will be made conspicuously manifest. These are characteristics concerning this latter-day Zion, spoken of by the ancient Prophets, which, if the Spirit of the Lord will enable me to clearly comprehend the subject, I will endeavor, this afternoon, in my simple language and in my simple manner, to lay before this congregation.

We find, in the 40th chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah, that the people of Zion are to be raised up preparatory to the second advent of the Son of God. Isaiah uses an exclamation something like this—“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain.” It seems by this, that the people called Zion, wherever they might be, were to be removed from the regions they originally inhabited, and were to be located in a high mountain, or in a very elevated region. If you wish to know the time which this prophetic exhortation to the people of Zion had reference to, read the whole of the 40th chapter of Isaiah, and you will find that, at that period, the glory of God is to be revealed and all flesh is to see it together, evidently referring to the great day when the Son of God shall come in his glory, when every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him, and all people, nations and tongues under heaven, who are spared unto that day, shall behold him descend in power and majesty to this earth. In his 40th chapter, the Prophet Isaiah has told us that then the mountains shall be broken down, the valleys exalted, the rough places made smooth, the glory of the Lord revealed and all flesh see it together. Then the iniquities of ancient Israel will have been sufficiently punished, for the Lord will have rewarded them double for all their sins. When that time arrives the people called Zion will be required to go into the high mountains, and they shall bring good tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth.

Those who have heard the proclamation of the Latter-day Saints, can judge whether we have brought good tidings to this generation or not. We were called upon by the Almighty and his holy angels to go forth and declare to the nations of the earth, that God had again spoken from the heavens, and that by holy angels sent down from heaven, he had again revealed the everlasting Gospel in all its fullness, and for forty years past we have declared this to the world. We have also testified that many of the servants of God have been ordained by holy angels and sent forth to publish these tidings among the inhabitants of the earth, and that others have been ordained by those who received their ordination from heavenly messengers.

What greater or more glorious tidings could be proclaimest to the fallen sons and daughters of men than the everlasting Gospel the same Gospel that was proclaimed anciently by Jesus and his Apostles? In the sixth verse of the 14th chapter of the Revelation of St. John, we read of the Gospel being revealed by an angel, and that, after it was revealed, it should be published to all people, nations and tongues under the whole heavens, saying that the hour of God’s judgment was come, showing clearly that the day in which the angel should be sent forth with the everlasting Gospel, should be specially characterized by terrible judgments poured out upon the nations of the wicked.

When the Prophet said, O Zion, thou that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain, he no doubt beheld in vision the great work of gathering the children of Zion, from the various nations of the earth, into a mountainous or elevated region upon our globe.

Prior to the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord predicted through him that this people should be gathered out from all the nations under heaven, and should be established in the mountains, or elevated regions of this continent; and two or three years after his death—twenty-six years ago, this coming season—this prediction began to be fulfilled, for in the year 1847, the pioneers made a journey of 1,400 miles from the Mississippi River, and, by the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God, they rested upon this mountainous, and then wild and desolate region. They commenced a settlement where the site of this city now stands, and since that time this people gathered from every nation by the preaching of the everlasting Gospel, revealed in these latter days through the Prophet Joseph, have extended their borders, and have built towns and cities over an area many hundred miles in extent. In obedience to the command of the Almighty, this people left their native countries and the graves of their ancestors, and came forth by thousands each succeeding year, and peopled this high and elevated region of our country. We came here because modern Prophets opened their mouths by the spirit of revelation and declared these mountains to be the abiding place of the latter-day Zion. We came to fulfill modern prophecies as well as the predictions of the ancient Prophets. Have you not read, Latter-day Saints and strangers, in this good old book, a prediction, uttered some twenty-five hundred years ago, by the mouth of Isaiah, concerning the house of the Lord that was to be built in the latter days in the tops of the mountains? I presume that you have read it many a time; indeed I have heard Christian denominations of almost every sect, in their psalms and anthems, refer to this prophecy. They have spoken of the mountain of the house of the Lord, that should be established in the latter days upon the mountains.

Let me now refer you to that prophecy, which is recorded in the second chapter of Isaiah, and which reads thus—“And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exhalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it; and many people shall go and say, ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and 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.’”

It seems, then, that the people who would build this house of God in the latter days in the mountains, are called Zion, and from them should go forth the law. What law? Does this mean the civil law of the country, to govern all people? No. The people of this American republic, by their representatives in Congress, have enacted civil laws and formed a great and free government upon the face of this continent, by which the people in a civil capacity are governed. This, therefore, must have reference to the law of the Gospel, that God would reveal in the latter days unto Zion. From Zion shall go forth the law, says the Prophet, and then, to show more fully the nature of this great latter-day work, be exclaims in the next verse—“And he shall judge the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

It is very evident from this last prediction which I have read, that a very great and important work should be done in the last days upon the mountains. The Lord has to prepare or build a house in the mountains. Will it not be a marvelous work and a wonder for the Lord to have a house in the latter days upon the earth? I think it will, especially when we remember that the earth has been without a house of God for a great many generations. If there had always been a house of God on the earth, the Prophet would never have uttered this prophecy; but for the last 1,600 years we might have gone from east to west, and from north to south, in the four quarters of the earth, and then into the islands of the sea, seeking for a house of God, and we could not have found one. What I mean by a house of God, is one which God himself commanded to be built. I know that there are many houses built in all the great cities of this Republic, as well as in Europe, by the different religious sects, many of them superb buildings, and you will find written upon them generally, “The house of the Lord,” “The house of God,” “The church of Jesus,” the house of God called “St. Paul’s church,” the house of God called “St. Peter’s church,” or “St. John’s church.” We can find plenty of them in New York, and in all the great cities and towns of our nation, also in Great Britain, and all the Christian nations of Europe, very grand, superb edifices, which have cost an immense amount of money. Did God command the building of any of these houses? If he did not, then they are not his houses, and they are nicknamed houses of the Lord by the builders or proprietors, while he, really, has nothing to do with them. Did he ever send an angel into any of these houses? No. When did he ever appear in his glory in these houses? Never. Did he ever say to the people, “You have built them according to the pattern which I gave unto you, and I now accept them.” No such declaration was ever heard among all these Christian nations. The Lord has had no house on the earth for a great many centuries, and for that very reason the Prophet Isaiah was wrought upon by the Spirit of revelation to declare that such a great event as the Lord having a house on the earth in the latter days should be accomplished, and its location should be in the mountains. From this we may draw the conclusion that it must be in a very elevated region, when compared with the general level or surface of the country whereon it will be built.

There is one thing that will characterize the Zion of the latter days: its people will not only be commanded to get up into the high mountain, but they will also be commanded to build unto the Lord a house in the mountains, the pattern of that house being given by inspiration, everything pertaining to it being dictated by the power of prophecy by the servants of the Most High God; and when the house is built, if no unclean thing is suffered to enter therein to defile it, God will come into his tabernacle; but if there be any unclean thing come into that house and defile it, he will not enter, for he dwells not in unholy temples, and he will not accept such a house, as an offering at the hands of his Saints. But we read that in the latter days God will accept the house that shall be built, and not only the house erected to his name, but also the dwelling houses of his people, showing that they must be a very pure people, or he would not accept of their private dwellings.

In order to prove this, I will refer you now to the 4th chapter of Isaiah. There we read—“And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” I believe this building is called a Tabernacle, and it will accommodate from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand persons, and it is a tolerably cool place for the people in the heat of summer, especially to be a shade in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge and a covert from storm and from rain and tempest. I do not think that storms or tempests would affect a congregation that might be assembled in the Lord’s Tabernacle; but I wish particularly to call your attention to the preceding verse—“The Lord shall create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flame or pillar of fire by night.” I do not see any cloud covering this house, or the congregation that is before me. What is the reason? The time has not yet come. The time is to come when God will meet with all the congregation of his Saints, and to show his approval, and that he does love them, he will work a miracle by covering them in the cloud of his glory. I do not mean something that is invisible, but I mean that same order of things which once existed on the earth so far as the tabernacle of Moses was concerned, which was carried in the midst of the children of Israel as they journeyed in the wilderness. Did God manifest himself in that tabernacle that was built according to the pattern which he gave unto his servant Moses? He did. In what way? In the day time a cloud filled that tabernacle. The Lord intended his people to be covered with the cloud continually, and he intended to reveal himself unto them, and to show forth his glory more fully amongst them; but they sinned so much in his sight that he declared—“My presence shall not go up with this people, lest I should break forth upon them in my fury and consume them in a moment.” Because of their wickedness he withdrew his presence, and his glory in a great measure was taken from them; but still Moses was permitted to enter the tabernacle, and to behold the glory of God, and it is said that he talked with the Lord face to face—a blessing which God did intend to bestow upon all Israel had they kept his law and had not hardened their hearts against him. But in the latter days there will be a people so pure in Mount Zion, with a house established upon the tops of the mountains, that God will manifest himself, not only in their Temple and upon all their assemblies, with a visible cloud during the day, but when the night shall come, if they shall be assembled for worship, God will meet with them by his pillar of fire; and when they retire to their habitations, behold each habitation will be lighted up by the glory of God—a pillar of flaming fire by night.

Did you ever hear of any city that was thus favored and blessed since the day that Isaiah delivered this prophecy? No, it is a latter-day work, one that God must consummate in the latter times when he begins to reveal himself, and show forth his power among the nations. This is what the words of our text mean, the first verse of the 60th chapter of Isaiah—“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”

Now, to show you that this is not some spiritual thing, something that will be invisible to and not discerned by the Saints of the latter days, or by the inhabitants of the earth generally, let me refer you further to the 60th chapter of Isaiah. The Prophet, in the first verse, uses the words of our text, “Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee; and in the following verse he says—“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” It will be something that will be discernible. And now, to show that it will be discernible by all people on the earth, when they come to visit Zion, read the next verse—“And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising;” showing clearly, and plainly that the Gentiles, and even the kings of the earth, will in that day be excited by the glory of God, that will shine forth upon Zion, which will be as a city set on a hill whose light cannot be hid.

We will go back again to the second verse of the second chapter of Isaiah. When the Lord shall fulfill the words that the Prophet has spoken, by causing a house to be built to his name in the tops of the mountains, he says, “Many people shall go and say, ‘Come ye, let us go up into the mountains 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!’” What causes this great excitement among the nations of the earth of that day? They will hear of the glory and power of God, as manifested among his Saints in Zion. The Lord for a score or two of years has been working in order to establish among men, facilities for conveying knowledge to the uttermost corners of the earth. Within the memory of many now living, the discovery of the electric telegraph has been made, by means of which news of the doings of men in any country can be sent round the earth in less than twenty-four hours. And, if there was no intervention the electric fluid would carry news from any one point to the most distant nations in one second of time, and now, the earth is almost covered with a great network of wire to facilitate expeditious communication among the various nations. What is all this for? Is it simply to satisfy the greed of men in their commercial affairs? No, the Lord had a grander object in view. Men use the telegraph for the purpose I have named, and in many respects it is used to good advantage, and it has been the means of bringing the nations into much closer relationship than formerly, and of extending among them a knowledge of the arts and sciences; but the great object which the Lord had in view when this great invention or discovery was brought forth, was to enable knowledge to be sent from the mountain tops, from the midst of Zion, when his glory should begin to be manifested in the midst of his people in the latter days. The inquiry, will then be, among the distant nations, “What news from Zion;” “What is the Lord doing among that people?” Do you suppose they will hear with unconcern about a city which, with every dwelling place it contains, will be lighted up with a supernatural light? No; this is one of the things which will make the people afar off, and their kings, say, “Let us go up to Zion,” “let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.” What for? “That he may teach us of his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.” They will begin to discern the difference then between God’s house and houses made by men, between that which God is doing in the earth and that which will be done by the wisdom of men.

Some people have supposed that the manifestation of the glory of God in the latter days would not take place until Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven; but that is a mistake, it will take place before that time. Before the second advent of the Redeemer, the people of Zion will be acknowledged by God, as the great latter-day Church, that will be prepared for his coming, and they will hold the keys of power to teach mankind in the ways of the Lord. What will the rest of the people be doing? Says Isaiah, “Behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” That will be the distinction between Zion and the rest of the nations. The Lord will arise upon Zion, and his glory shall be seen in her midst, and Isaiah says—“The Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes around about and see: all they gather themselves, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.” “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows?” Sure enough we come with great speed. As Isaiah has said in the fifth chapter—the Lord should hiss unto thee from the ends of the earth, he should lift up an ensign for the nations, and they should come with speed swiftly; just as you emigrants do when you get on board of these railroads, when, instead of being ninety or a hundred days coming to this elevated region, as was the case for several years, you come in two or three days. “They shall come with speed swiftly, and he shall lift up an ensign from afar.” Not in Palestine, where the Prophet was delivering his prediction, that would have been nearby. Not an ensign that was to be raised up in Jerusalem, or anywhere in that land; but, God was to begin the great latter-day work afar off from Jerusalem. This ensign is spoken of in the 18th chapter of Isaiah, which I will now refer to. The third verse of that chapter says: “All ye inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth, see ye when he lifts up an ensign on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.” That was not a proclamation to a few thousand people assembled on some small tract of country, but all ye inhabitants of the earth. Nobody escapes this proclamation, but all ye inhabitants of the earth, see ye when he lifts up an ensign. Where? Upon the mountains. There is the place where Zion is to be reared when the standard of truth is revealed from heaven in the last days.

As this ensign was to be lifted from afar, as is predicted in the 5th chapter of Isaiah’s prophecy, let us inquire now where it is to be located, and what kind of a country it is in which it is to be reared. It is a land afar off from Jerusalem recollect, and in order to ascertain something about the character of the country, we will read the first verse of the 18th chapter—“Woe to the land shadowing with wings which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.” Where are the rivers of Ethiopia? Southwest of Palestine, where Isaiah delivered this prophecy. Supposing that you had the map of North and South America, and of the whole world spread out before you, and then imagine yourself alongside the Prophet, in Palestine, when he said, “Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,” and you should cast your eyes, if you had power to do so, beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, what kind of a land would you behold, if you could grasp in your vision the land of North and South America? You would see a land that looked like the two wings of a bird. I seldom look at it, as laid down on our maps, without being reminded of the two wings of a great bird. A land shadowing with wings—in other words, having the appearance of wings. A land afar off, away beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, there, in that land, shall the ensign be raised for the nations; not for a few individuals, but for all nations. No wonder that the Prophet said the proclamation should be universal—“All ye inhabitants of the world, all ye dwellers upon the earth, see ye when he lifteth up this ensign.”

That the Lord intends it to be for the benefit of the Gentiles as well as of Israel, let me refer you to the 22nd verse of the 49th chapter of Isaiah. “Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and I will set up my standard to the people, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms and their daughters shall be carried on their shoulders, and kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers,” &c.

This is a great latter-day work also for the gathering of the house of Israel—a work which shall commence among the Gentiles. In ancient days the Lord commenced his work among Israel. The kingdom of heaven was preached among the Jews, but they proved themselves unworthy, and says Paul, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles,” and the kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. The natural branches of Israel were broken off, and the branches of the wild olive tree—the Gentiles—were grafted in. But the Gentiles, since they were grafted in, 1,800 years ago, have fallen after the same example of unbelief that the ancient Jews did, and they have lost the power and authority which they once possessed; and for many centuries they have had no apostles, no prophets, no angels from heaven, no power of godliness made manifest among them, and nothing but the teachings and precepts of uninspired men. But in the great latter-day work, the Lord begins where he left off—“the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” As the Jews, in ancient days were first, and the Gentiles last, so in the great latter-day work, the Gentiles will be first and Israel will be last. Hence the Prophet says, “Behold, thus saith the Lord God, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters upon their shoulders, and I will lift up my standard to the Gentiles.”

What is a standard? The same as an ensign—an ensign that is to be lifted up upon the mountains, upon a land afar off. It is the standard of the Almighty, the same standard that was spoken of in connection with the great highway that was to be cast up over this continent. I will not turn to it, but I will endeavor to repeat the substance of the prophecy in relation to it. Isaiah in speaking of this great highway, or railway, says, “Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way of the people. Cast up, cast up a highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people.” The same work that God intended to perform in the mountains, and he wanted a highway cast up, that the people might go with speed swiftly to that land.

But says one, “what does the Pro– phet mean when he says, go through the gates?” I think if I had been Isaiah, and had had the vision of my mind opened to see the railroad and the great trains of cars without any apparent animal life attached to them, going with speed swiftly, if I had seen them dart into the mountain and, after watching a few minutes, had seen them come out on the other side, and then wished to describe what I had seen in words, I do not think I could have found any more applicable than those used by the ancient Prophet—“Go through, go through the gates, cast up, cast up a highway, gather out the stones, and lift up a standard for the people.” Then, to show that this standard and highway were connected, the Prophet, in the very next verse, says: “Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed to the ends of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation cometh, and his reward is with him. Behold, they shall be called a holy people, the redeemed of the Lord; and they shall be called, sought out, a city not forsaken.” The people of Zion will not be an unholy people. The world look upon the Latter-day Saints as the most corrupt of all people on the face of the earth. But according to the words of the Prophet, the people who dwell in the mountains where the standard is to be raised, are to be a holy people. “Behold, thy Redeemer cometh, behold, the Lord shall come.” This has been the proclamation of the people of Zion, ever since we commenced, about forty years ago, to declare that God was about to come in his glory, power and majesty, in the greatness of his strength, with all his holy angels with him, in the clouds of heaven, to reign upon the earth. This proclamation will go to the ends of the earth, all people will be invited up to these mountains, and they will flock here as clouds, and as doves to their windows.

This will fulfill Daniel’s prophecy. Read the second chapter of Daniel if you want to know about the latter-day kingdom. Study it thoroughly. I do not know that I have time to dwell upon it, but I will refer you to some few things in relation to the latter-day kingdom. Daniel, in interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, describes the various kingdoms of the earth from his day down, as long as there should be any human kingdoms on the earth, under the form of a great image, with the head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, feet part iron and part of potter’s clay. They represented the several kingdoms of the world, and more especially the four great kingdoms that should hold universal dominion. After seeing this image in all its completeness, from the gold down to the last remnants of the nations of the earth, represented by the feet and toes of the image, he then sees a kingdom and a government entirely distinct from and forming no part or portion of the image, but it was entirely separate therefrom. It was represented as a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and it rolled forth, and before the power of this new kingdom all the kingdoms of the earth were broken in pieces by the power of the Almighty. What became of them? They were to be as the chaff of the summer threshing floor—the wind carried them away and there was no place found for them.

You can draw your own conclusions about all human governments. Daniel says this kingdom that was to come out of the mountain, should be the kingdom of God, which God himself should set up in the latter days, and it should stand forever and ever, it should never be broken in pieces, neither should it be given to any other people, while all these earthly kingdoms should pass away and be forgotten like the chaff blown away before a tremendous tempest, and no place found for them.

The former-day kingdom of God, set up in the days of the Apostles, was overcome, in fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy. He saw that the powers of this world would make war upon and overcome the kingdom that was set up then. John, the Revelator, also predicted that a certain power should arise and make war with the Saints and overcome them. That is the reason that kingdom did not continue on the earth: it was overcome and every vestige of it destroyed. No prophets, revelators or inspired apostles were left to build up the kingdom; not an inspired man among all the nations, but after a long time had passed away; God would send an angel from heaven with the everlasting Gospel. What for? To organize his kingdom again on the earth; and when God should set it up in the latter days, after the toes and feet of the great image were formed, then there should be no breaking in pieces of that little stone, but as it rolled it should gather strength and become greater and greater, as Daniel has said, until it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. And the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens should be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High God.

That kingdom is called Zion—the latter-day Zion, about which our choir sang in their first hymn this afternoon. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday Morning, May 18, 1873.

Having been requested to speak this forenoon, and to continue the subject upon which we were addressed yesterday afternoon, I cheerfully do so, hoping that I may have the attention of the congregation, as far as possible, that I may be able to make all hear.

The subject upon which brother Taylor addressed the congregation yesterday afternoon, and upon which a few words were said by those who followed him, is one of very great importance in its bearings upon the present generation; for all things that have once been revealed, and which are now lost, will be revealed anew, in order to fulfill that passage of Scripture recorded in the 11th chap. of Isaiah and 9th verse, “The knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.” Things of all former dispensations will be made manifest and revealed anew in the great dispensation of the fullness of times. And in order to understand more clearly the things that are to be revealed and made manifest again to the inhabitants of the earth, it may not be amiss for me to refer to some of the past records of antiquity that were revealed from heaven for the benefit of past generations. The first one that occurs to my mind will be found in the Book of Covenants, page 79, paragraph 29:

“And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation, and notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest genera– tion. These things were all written in the Book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time.”

Adam was the first personage placed on the earth, in the Garden of Eden, and having transgressed, and having been cast out of the Garden of Eden, and having fulfilled a long probation, amounting to almost a thousand years, he concluded to gather together his children, which he did three years previously to his death. As recorded on the same page, he gathered Seth, Enos, Cainaan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, who were successive descendants, making eight generations in all, including himself, into the valley of Adam-ondi-ahman. This was nearly a thousand years after Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, seven generations of his children, or the righteous portion thereof, were gathered together in that valley. And here it may not be amiss for me to say a few words in relation to the location of that interesting meeting or conference.

The valley of Adam-ondi-ahman, according to the views and belief of the Latter-day Saints, was located on the western hemisphere of our globe. (I would here say, that as the greater portion of this congregation are Latter-day Saints, the proofs and evidences which I shall bring forth, in relation to the matters before me, will be selected from those books which are believed by them, which may not be particular evidence to strangers, but to the Latter-day Saints they will be undisputed evidence.) Adam-ondi-ahman, the Valley of God, where Adam dwelt, was located about fifty miles north of Jackson County, in the State of Missouri. The Lord has revealed to us that Adam dwelt there towards the latter period of his probation. Whether he had lived in that region of country from the earliest period of his existence on the earth, we know not. He might have lived thousands of miles distant, in his early days. It might have been upon what we now term the great eastern hemisphere, for in those days the eastern and Western hemispheres were one, and were not divided asunder till the days of Peleg. Adam might have migrated from the great east, gathered up with the people of God in connection with the Church of Enoch, and formed a location in the western boundaries of Missouri. This is not revealed.

The object of this grand meeting of our great ancestors, was that Adam might bestow a great Patriarchal blessing upon his descendants. Hence the righteous of his posterity were gathered on that occasion. He pronounced upon them his last blessing. They were favored on that occasion, for the Lord appeared unto them. This meeting was very interesting in its nature, and the Lord was very much interested, as well as the people. He appeared to this vast congregation, and imparted comfort to Adam in his old age. And Adam was filled with the Holy Ghost. Notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being filled with the Holy Ghost, he predicted what should come to pass among his posterity to the latest generations. Hence he must have spoken concerning all the following dispensations, that were to be revealed from time to time to the children of men. He must have spoken concerning the spreading of his posterity after the days of Noah, and of the great work of God being established on the earth in the latter days, and concerning the second advent of the Son of God, concerning the great day of rest, the period when Satan should be bound. All these things were written in the Book of Enoch, who was present on that occasion. And this book is to be testified of, in due time, to the Saints of the last days. This will be one of the means by which God will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, that “the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep.”

Saying nothing about the prophecies of Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel and Jared, we will next come down to the days of Enoch. Enoch prophesied of all things, as well as his great ancestor, Adam. A few of his words are translated, and brought to light by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and published in the various publications of this Church—in the “Evening and Morning Star,” the “Pearl of Great Price,” etc. This prophecy, though very short, as far as it has been revealed, unfolds marvelous principles, showing that his eyes were opened to see things that were past, and things in the future, all of which were recorded in the Book of Enoch, which is to be brought to light and revealed in the latter times. Among the things revealed to Enoch was the knowledge of the flood, which was to take place. And the Lord made a covenant with Enoch, that He would set His bow in the clouds—just as it afterwards was given to Noah—not as a mere token alone that the Lord would no more drown the world, but as a token of the new and everlasting covenant that the Lord made with Enoch. The words of this covenant I will repeat, as far as my memory will serve: “I will set my bow in the clouds, and I will look upon it, and remember the everlasting covenant I have made with you. That in the latter days, when men shall keep all my commandments, Zion shall look upwards and the Heavens shall look downwards,” etc. The bow that was set in the clouds was to be a token, between God and the inhabitants of the earth, of the bringing again of Zion, and of the assembling of the Saints of all dispensations. Therefore, when I have seen the bow in the clouds, it causes me to remember the covenant that God made in those early ages, and which is soon to be fulfilled in the last dispensation of the fulness of times. How great and how important is this covenant with the Zion which was built up by Enoch, which was to be taken up into heaven and remain sanctified as a place of the Lord’s abode forever! Where he should dwell in the midst of his people, and where he should behold their faces, and they should behold his face. That this ancient Zion, and all the inhabitants thereof, should come from heaven and reign on the earth, and that Jesus should come with them. And for fear that the Saints should forget this, a beautiful bow was placed in the clouds, that they might remember that the Lord was looking upon them, and that he would remember his covenant with Enoch in regard to bringing his Zion again. This we find in the periodicals of the Church. When this time shall come that the Lord will bring again ancient Zion, this will assist in filling the earth with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the great deep; and will serve to put us in possession of the history of Zion, of the order of that ancient people, when they walked in righteousness three hundred and sixty-five years before they were prepared for a translation to heaven.

When we come to converse with Enoch and his city face to face, and hear from their own mouths the declaration of their own history, and the preaching of the Gospel in that age of the world, it will unfold a vast amount of knowledge in regard to the events before the flood.

We come down to the days of Noah. He was a righteous man, and called of God to preach the Gospel among the nations as it was revealed to his forefathers, and before the days of the flood, so great was the faith of many of the people, after the days that Enoch’s city was caught up, that the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and they were caught up by the power of heaven into the midst of Zion—the Zion of Enoch. Thus we have further knowledge revealed to us.

Noah, after having preached the Gospel and published glad tidings among the nations, was commanded to build an ark. He had a Urim and Thummim by which he was enabled to discern all things pertaining to the ark, and its pattern. He was a great Prophet, and predicted many things, and his records, no doubt, were hidden up, and will come forth in due time, when the Lord shall cover the earth with his knowledge as the waters cover the great deep.

Many people have supposed that Moses was the first man, and the people of his day the first generation that knew anything about written characters, and that all the people, from the days of Adam down to Moses, did not know how to put their thoughts in the form of writing; but let me inform you how writing commenced. We read in the Book of Enoch, in the “Pearl of Great Price,” that the Lord taught Adam how to write records by the inspiration of his Spirit. And it was given him concerning the mode of placing his thoughts in the form of writing. This is recorded in the Book of Enoch, and the “Pearl of Great Price.”

The people before the flood did not lose the art of writing, but they wrote their revelations, visions, etc., in the language of Adam—the first language given to man. This knowledge was retained through the flood.

We come down to the days of the building of the Tower of Babel, soon after the flood. About the time of Abraham the Tower of Babel was built. The people being of one language, gathered together to build a tower to reach, as they supposed, the crystalized heavens. They thought that the City of Enoch was caught up a little ways from the earth, and that the city was within the first sphere above the earth; and that if they could get a tower high enough, they might get to heaven, where the City of Enoch and the inhabitants thereof were located. They went to work and built a tower. They had this tradition, that there had been a translation of people from the earth, and they were anxious to become acquainted with them; but the Lord saw that they were one, and that they all had one language, and that nothing would be restrained from them which they imagined to do; and, as a curse, he sent a variety of tongues—took from them their own mother-tongue. The language of Adam was all forgotten in a moment; and independently of taking away from them the knowledge of their own tongue, he gave them a multitude of other tongues, so that they could not understand one another. In those days there were a few righteous individuals living at the Tower, among whom was Jared, a very good man, and his brother. When they understood, by the spirit of prophecy, that the Lord was about to scatter the people to the four corners of the earth, the brother of Jared called upon the Lord, by the request of Jared, that the Lord might lead them to a choice land. Did they come upon this great western hemisphere without a knowledge of God? No. Without any written record? No. Read the Book of Mormon, page 530, or, in other words, the Book of Ether, and you will find there recorded, several generations after the Israelites came from the Tower of Babel and landed upon this continent, that there was a certain woman, the daughter of one of the ancient men of note, that referred her father to those records which their fathers brought from the Tower of Babel; told her father what was recorded in them. “Hath my father not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old; that they, by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory.” She put it in the heart of her father, Jared, to follow those wicked acts which were entered into by Cain. It shows that the Jaredites did not come here without a record of the things from the days of Adam, down; they had it with them. They kept it with them, and multiplied copies in the midst of their nation. But you may ask, how do we know about this first colony that came to this continent? How came we in possession of this knowledge? It was by the records which they themselves kept. The Jaredites, acquainted with the art of writing, kept their records. And among the host of records kept by them, were twenty-four plates of pure gold, which were kept by the Prophet Ether, some 1,600 or 1,800 years after their colony came to this land, from the Tower of Babel. He kept a record. These records were carried by Ether from the hill Ramah, afterwards called Cumorah, where the Jaredites were destroyed, as well as the Nephites. He carried them forth towards South America, and placed them in a position north of the Isthmus, where a portion of the people of King Limhi, about one hundred years before Christ, found them. I will read you a little description of their being found. On page 161, Book of Mormon, it appears that the people of Limhi were a certain colony that had left the main body of the Nephites, and had settled in the land where Nephi built and located his little colony, soon after their landing on the western coast of South America. After landing, and after the death of his father Lehi, Nephi was commanded of God to take those who would believe in the Most High, and flee out from his brethren. And they traveled many days’ journey to the northward, and located in a land which they called the Land of Nephi, and dwelt there some four hundred years. And then because of the wickedness of the people they were threatened with a great destruction. The Lord led Mosiah out of the Land of Nephi, and led him still further north, some twenty days’ journey, and they located on the river Sidon, now called Magdalena, which runs from the south to the north. And there they found a people called the people of Zarahemla. And some of the Nephites desired to return to the Land of Nephi, which they did. In about a century afterwards, there being no communication between the colonies, they sent out a number of men to see if they could find the people of Zarahemla. And they were lost, and came to a part of a country covered with bones. This is what I am going to read. And as a testimony that these things were true they brought twenty-four plates of gold, and breastplates of brass and copper, and swords, &c.

Book of Mormon, page 161:

“And it came to pass that after King Limhi had made an end of speaking to his people, for he spake many things unto them and only a few of them have I written in this book, he told his people all the things concerning their brethren who were in the land of Zarahemla. And he caused that Ammon should stand up before the multitude, and rehearse unto them all that had happened unto their brethren from the time that Zeniff went up out of the land. And he also rehearsed unto them the last words which King Benjamin had taught them, and explained them to the people of King Limhi, so that they might understand all the words which he spake. And it came to pass that after he had done all this, that King Limhi dismissed the multitude, and caused that they should return, every one unto his own house.”

“And it came to pass that he caused that the plates which contained the record of his people from the time that they left the land of Zarahemla, should be brought before Ammon, that he might read them. Now, as soon as Ammon had read the record, the king inquired of him to know if he could interpret languages, and Ammon told him that he could not. And the king said unto him: Being grieved for the afflictions of my people, I caused that forty and three of my people should take a journey into the wilderness, that thereby they might find the land of Zarahemla, that we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver us out of bondage. And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with the ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel. And for a testimony that the things that they have said are true they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold. And behold, also, they have brought breastplates, which are large, and they are of brass and of copper, and are perfectly sound. And again, they have brought swords, the hilts thereof have perished, and the blades thereof were cankered with rust; and there is no one in the land that is able to interpret the language or the engravings that are on the plates. Therefore I said unto thee: Canst thou translate? And I say unto thee again: Knowest thou of anyone that can translate? For I am desirous that these records should be translated into our language; for, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of a remnant of the people who have been destroyed, from whence these records came; or, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of this very people who have been destroyed; and I am desirous to know the cause of their destruction.”

“Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not, and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer. And behold, the king of the people who is in the land of Zarahemla is the man who is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.”

I have read this to give you an idea how the Israelites that inhabited this continent, before the days of Christ, came to the knowledge of the first colony that came from the Tower of Babel. This company, that was lost in the wilderness, brought these plates, with breast plates and swords, the hilts thereof having perished, and the blades thereof having cankered with rust.

Now Mosiah, the king, that dwelt in the land of Zarahemla, was the man that was called of God to translate. He had the gift and power given to him to translate these twenty-four plates. We have an account, on another page of the Book of Mormon, of his translating these plates; and that it gave an account of the people from the days of Adam down to the flood—to the days of the Tower of Babel, and down to the days they were destroyed.

Now will this record ever be brought to light to help fill the earth with the knowledge of God? Let me refer you to what is recorded in the Book of Ether, page 516—

“And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country. And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether. And as I suppose that the first part of this record, which speaks concerning the creation of the world, and also of Adam, and an account from that time even to the great tower, and whatsoever things transpired among the children of men until that time, is had among the Jews—Therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of Adam until that time;” (Now notice the next sentence;) “but they are had upon the plates; and whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account.”

They are not yet found. We have the Book of Ether, that is not one-hundredth part of the contents of those twenty-four plates. But a very short account. Whose findeth these twenty-four plates will have power to get the full account; for they give a history from the days of Adam through the various generations to the days of the flood, from the days of the flood down to the days of Peleg, and from the days of Peleg to the Tower, which was very nearly cotemporary with Peleg. And from that time for some sixteen or eighteen centuries after they landed on this continent. The prophecies of their Prophets in different generations, who published glad tidings of joy upon the face of all the northern portion of this continent. Their records and doings are all to come to light, and these will help to fulfill the words of our text that the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep.

But we will pass along and come to the second colony, that the Lord brought out of Jerusalem, six hundred years before Christ. Did they bring any records with them? Had they the art of writing? Yes. When they lived among the Jews the art of writing was extensively known among the Jews. It was their art to write in the Egyptian language, as Nephi testifies on the first page of the Book of Mormon. “Therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days; yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.” A language which their forefathers learned, while they dwelt in Egypt, and which they were familiar with, but probably lost it in some measure, but still re– tained a portion of it, and wrote their records in the same.

Now if you will appeal to Biblical history you will find that the Israelites did write their records, in ancient times, upon metallic plates, and that these plates were connected together, with rings, passing through the leaves. Through the whole a stick was placed for carrying the record. This description we have given by those who have deeply studied concerning the Scriptures and the ancient doings of the Israelites. When Lehi left Jerusalem, there was a certain man that lived in Jerusalem, that had kept records upon brass plates. And these records, we are informed had been handed down from the early ages of the Israelites, until Lehi left Jerusalem. They contained a copy of the genealogy of the tribe of Joseph in the land of Palestine. Laban being a descendent of Joseph, the records had fallen into his hands. Lehi was commanded to send his sons to obtain these records; for he had pitched his tent on the eastern borders of the Red Sea. The history of his obtaining them you will find recorded in the Book of Mormon. On the 10th page it reads—“And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel. And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning. And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents; And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah; And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.”

“And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the Son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father Jacob and all his household from perishing with famine. And they were also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had preserved them. And thus my father Lehi did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records.”

“And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed—That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people who were of his seed. Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.”

I have read this in order to come to another thing that has a bearing upon our text. These plates of brass, contained the prophecies of all the holy Prophets from the beginning—from the days of Adam; hence they must have contained the prophecies of Enoch, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in Egypt. The prophecies of Isaiah and many others of the holy Prophets were contained upon these plates of brass.

Notwithstanding brass is a metallic substance capable of being dissolved and crumbling back, in a few years to the elements, yet there was a miracle wrought upon these plates of brass. The Prophet said that these plates of brass should not be dimmed by time, that God would preserve them to the latest generations. What for? In order that they might come forth and their contents be translated by the Urim and Thummim, that these contents might be declared to all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and people, who were the descendants of Lehi upon the face of all this continent, from the frozen regions of the north to the very utmost extremities of South America. That all these nations should come to a knowledge of the things contained on those plates of brass.

Now the Lord did many things of this kind in ancient days. If there should be any strangers present let me show you how the Lord can do many wonderful things. Let me refer you to the pot of manna, the substance of which would not keep over twenty-four hours, except on Sunday, and then it was preserved from becoming nauseous. But on a certain occasion the children of Israel were to collect a pot of this manna, and it was placed in the Tabernacle of the congregation, and instead of becoming nauseous, it remained just as fresh in future generations, as on the morning it was gleaned up.

Certain rods were gathered up to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, and Aaron’s rod budded and blossomed in one night; and that was handed down from generation to generation. And hence we see that God did work miracles for his people on the eastern continent. Is it any more marvelous that he should preserve the brass plates from being dimmed by time? No. They exist, and in the own due time of the Lord, he will inspire a mighty seer, and give him the Urim and Thummim, and enable him to bring forth these sacred scriptures.

Now, to show you the value of the scripture of the brass plates, over the Jewish records, translated by King James, let me refer you to the Book of Mormon. On the 24th page, speaking of the coming forth of these records, the angel said to Nephi, “The book that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews, which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy Prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many.” That is, there are not so many prophecies and revelations contained in the Jewish Bible of our day as there were upon the plates of brass. Nevertheless they contained the covenants of the Lord, which he has made with the House of Israel; therefore they are of great worth unto the children of men.

If you will turn to the Book of Jacob in the Book of Mormon, page 122, you will find a lengthy prophecy, or parable of the olive tree, quoted from the brass plates, by which the house of Israel is represented—a parable of their being planted in the Lord’s vineyard; a parable of the great work of the Lord in the last days, when his servants should be called to labor and gather these young branches and graft them into their own olive tree. This parable was revealed to the Prophet Zenos, and gives great instruction. We could also refer you to some four or five other places where Zenos and Zenock prophesied concerning the restoration of all the house of Israel in the latter days; and concerning the descendants of Joseph. And Lehi, being of the seed of Joseph, was interested in relation to his future generations, and therefore understood the whole history of these remnants of Joseph, and prophesied concerning them; a few quotations being given in the Book of Mormon. They understood concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus in the flesh, his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead; and the signs shown forth to the remnants of Israel scattered to the four corners of the earth and the islands of the sea; and the great destruction which should come upon the people because of their wickedness.

I will refer you to the prophecies of Joseph in Egypt. In order to show you what is said concerning him, as a Prophet, I will refer you to page 62, Book of Mormon. “And now, I, Nephi, speak concerning the prophecies of which my father hath spoken, concerning Joseph, who was carried into Egypt. For behold, he truly prophesied concerning all his seed. And the prophecies which he wrote, there are not many greater. And he prophesied concerning us, and our future generations; and they are written upon the plates of brass.”

Search all the records you can find, and you will find that Joseph has prophesied concerning as great things as any other prophet that ever lived. Now these plates of brass were handed down. We have an account of them by Alma, the Prophet. And concerning the Urim and Thummim, they were also handed down.

But we will now come down to the days of Jesus. From the time that Lehi left Jerusalem to the days of Jesus, there were a great many records kept by the remnant of Joseph, upon this land. The book of Mormon does not contain one hundredth part of the records of these prophets. Now did they keep all of them on plates, or did they multiply them by thousands of copies on this land? Let me refer you to page 388, of the Book of Mormon. “Now behold, all those engravings which were in the possession of Helaman were written and sent forth among the children of men throughout all the land, save it were those parts which had been commanded by Alma should not go forth. Nevertheless, these things were to be kept sacred, and handed down from one generation to another.” What period of time was this? Only fifty-two years before the birth of Christ. Fifty-four years before Christ as we find on page 387, (Book of Mormon), there was a large company of men, 5,400 with their wives and children, went out of the land of Zarahemla, to the land northward, and in a few years afterwards, as you will find on pages 393 and 394, they went forth by thousands, and also sent forth colonies by sea, and timber to build cities; and they built houses of cement; and many cities of timber. And the people became very numerous. Now to confine the sacred records in one place, and to keep the people in ignorance in regard to their contents, would not be reasonable. Hence we are informed that they were written and sent forth throughout all the land, and this will account for the extracts from the Scriptures written in ancient Hebrew, discovered in the mounds that have been opened in Ohio, among which were the ten commandments. The people of this land were well acquainted with the Scriptures.

Go to the City of Ammonihah in the northern part of South America. They had become wicked, yet they had the Holy Scriptures; and they brought them forth and burned them with fire, and all that believed in them were burned in the fire. (See Book of Mormon, page 249.) Showing that the people had many copies of the Scriptures. And, again we find that the Nephite missionaries who went among the Lamanites, carried with them copies of the Scriptures; and that by the means of these copies they convinced the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers.

When Jesus came to this continent he taught the people several days. And these things were written upon the plates of Nephi. But Mormon made an abridgement of these writings, and he states, on page 484: “And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; but behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people; and these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people, and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken. And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it so be that they shall believe these things, then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation. Behold I was about to write them all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbid it, saying, I will try the faith of my people; therefore I, Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things that have been commanded me; therefore I would that ye should behold that the Lord did truly teach the people, for the space of three days; and after that, he did show himself unto them oft, and did break bread oft, and bless it, and give it unto them.”

Thus we perceive that we have not the one-hundreth part of the teachings of the greatest of all prophets, even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—the words that he delivered to the ancient Nephites. The Nephites understood all these marvelous things. No doubt there were many instructions—a vast amount of instructions—in regard to their property; for they had all things common, both in North and South America, among the millions of this land, for one hundred and sixty-seven years. After which, in the year two hundred and one after the birth of Christ, they began to withdraw from this order, and began to be divided into different classes, &c. Now, if we had all the teachings of Jesus, we would find the order of things that preserved equality upon this continent during all that period of time; which would give us a vast amount of knowledge concerning the things which we must enter into.

But will these things be brought to light? Yes. The records, now slumbering in the hill Cumorah, will be brought forth by the power of God, to fulfill the words of our text, that “the knowledge of God shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the great deep.”

Again, Jesus, on the last visit to the Nephites, called up his twelve disciples and pronounced a certain blessing upon them, and especially upon three of them. Mormon says, concerning these three that were to tarry, that great works shall be wrought by them before the great day of the Lord shall come. Then he says, that if you had all the Scriptures, you would know that these things would be fulfilled. We would know a great many things if we only had these Scriptures and revelations. They are to be revealed to fill our earth with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the great deep.

Not only the records of the ancient inhabitants of this land are to come forth, but the records of those who slept on the eastern hemisphere. The records of John, him who baptized the Lamb of God, are yet to be revealed. We are informed in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, page 245, that the fullness of the record of John, is to be revealed to the Latter-day Saints.

But shall we stop with these records? No. Let me repeat to you the words of the Lord. The Lord said to Nephi, speaking of the latter days, that the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews, and the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews; and I will gather the people from the four quarters of the earth; and my words shall be gathered in one, (See Book of Mormon, page 108), the records of the Nephites upon this land. And the numerous people that have been planted on the islands of the sea, are to be gathered in one; for they were righteous in some of their earlier generations; and that knowledge is yet to be brought forth; and when these islands shall deliver up their people, their records shall be gathered in one.

And again, concerning what the people say, “we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible.” “Know ye not that I am the same God, yesterday and forever; and it shall come to pass, that I shall speak to the Jews, and they shall write it. I shall speak to the lost tribes of Israel, and they shall write it. I will speak to all the nations of the earth, and they shall write it. And by my words that are spoken, shall the children of men be judged according to their deeds.” All these things shall come forth to fill the earth with the knowledge of God.

We go to the book of Doctrine and Covenants, where we find that the Lord is to reveal many of his great and marvelous purposes, that have been kept hid from the foundation of the world; and things that have not been revealed to any former generation. It is not enough that these different records referred to should be revealed, and that the islands of the sea should deliver up their knowledge, but it is necessary that the heavens should give the knowledge which was before our earth was created. And you are students in this great university, which God has established, to study concerning God, and get a knowledge of things in the heavens and things that are past and present, and things that are to come—a knowledge that comes through the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

But this is not all; God has said that he “will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” Young men and old men shall receive knowledge from the heavens. Again, it is written in Isaiah: “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” It will not be necessary for one man to say to his neighbor, know ye the Lord, for all shall know him. Then it will not be necessary for us to preach so much, because the Lord our God will teach them from on high. Old and young, male and female, will receive knowledge; and our little children will utter forth their voices, and speak forth that which is not now lawful to utter, but it will be uttered to the human family by the mouths of babes and sucklings. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered at the General Conference, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning, April 7, 1873.

It is a pleasure to me to bear testimony to the great work which God has revealed, and which he is establishing on the earth. It has been a pleasure for me to do so for nearly forty-three years. In the early rise of this Church, when I was but a youth of nineteen, God revealed to me the truth concerning this great latter-day work, and I have felt from that day until the present time to bear my testimony to the same, being commanded so to do. I have esteemed it above all other things. The things of this world have been nothing to me, when compared with the ministry, or declaring the truth to mankind. We have one of the most important messages to deliver to the children of men that has ever been communicated to mortals—a dispensation of the same Gospel as was committed to men in the early ages of the world, and in the different dispensations down to the coming of Christ. In addition to this, which renders our message of still more importance to the human family, is the fact that we are living in the last dispensation that will be given to mankind, called the dispensation of the fullness of times. All preceding dispensations have come to an end, apparently, and those who have embraced the doctrines or principles communicated to them have passed away, and darkness has intervened. But in this last dispensation which God has given to man, there will be no uprooting and destruction of his kingdom from the earth—it is established never more to be thrown down, in fulfillment of ancient prophecy. This is what makes this dispensation of greater importance than all which have preceded it.

Here in these mountains is established a kingdom, not earthly or transient in its nature, with officers who are called by uninspired men but a kingdom that is divine, and which acknowledges the Great Redeemer and Savior as its King and Lawgiver. It must endure forever.

I look back with great pleasure upon the history of this people from the commencement down to the present time. I see what God has wrought in their behalf; I see what he has accomplished among the nations. It is true that we have not continued as faithful in all things as we should. We have not made that progression in this kingdom that we ought. We have been perhaps slow to hearken in all things to the counsels which God has given, and the order which he has revealed, and which was intended to be of the greatest advantage to, and to produce the greatest amount of happiness among the Saints of the Most High. I say that, in some respects, we have been slow to obey the order of Heaven. In many things we have done well. When the doctrines of faith, repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost through the laying on of the hands of the servants of God, were taught to us, we laid hold of them with full purpose of heart. We covenanted before high heaven that we would keep the commandments of the Lord according to the best of the ability which we had. We did well in embracing these heavenly principles.

When God spake to us some forty-two or forty-three years ago, and commanded us—then scattered about in the State of New York—to gather up to Ohio, we did well in hearkening to that commandment, and coming together in Kirtland—then in Geauga County. Again, when God gave a commandment through his servant, the Prophet Joseph, to gather up from all parts of the United States and form a nucleus in Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, we did well in obeying that commandment. When God, by the mouth of his servant, commanded that we should go forth and officiate and be baptized for and in behalf of our dead kindred, we did well in performing that which we were commanded to do. When he commanded his Saints, scattered abroad in foreign countries, to gather to this continent, all who gathered in obedience to that requirement, with full purpose of heart to do his will, did well. When we were driven from our inheritances in Jackson County, Missouri, and our lands and houses and goods were spoiled, we did well in being faithful to God. When our enemies, a few years after, rose en masse and drove us from our beautiful city of Nauvoo into these inhospitable western wilds, where to all human appearance we must perish of starvation, we did well to brave the dangers of the desert, and the difficulties we had to encounter in coming to these mountains. In many other things, too, we have done well. There are some few things, however, which I wish to name, wherein I think a great reformation is needed among the people of God. I read in this book, called the Book of Mormon, of a certain order, in regard to temporal things, which existed soon after the days of Christ, which was revealed and established by him for he benefit of the Saints who lived on this Western Hemisphere. It was the highest order and law of the kingdom of God in regard to temporal things. I read that the ancient Saints upon this continent entered into that order with all their hearts. They were not a small handful of people like the Latter-day Saints, but they were spread over the whole of North and South America. Millions on millions of people dwelt in large and populous cities in the four quarters of this great Western Hemisphere, and they all entered into this heavenly order which God had established on this continent and continued therein for 167 years.

What was that order? They had all things in common. Not an isolated few where Jesus ministered to them; not a few individuals who dwelt in a certain region of country, but the Savior having chosen twelve disciples from among the multitude to whom he appeared, they were sent forth upon all the face of the land, and so great were the evidences given, concerning the appearance of Jesus, that the whole people were converted unto the Lord, and they were willing to be guided by those servants who were called and ordained to administer in their midst.

Prior to that time there were rich and poor among the people, and, from the history given, no doubt an order of things existed on this continent in those days resembling that which now exists among all the nations and kingdoms of the earth—some lifted up in pride and popularity because of their great wealth, others bowed down in the dust because of their poverty, and class distinctions prevailed until this new order of things was established. What a blessed people! How happy they must have been! No poor either in North or South America. No beggars in the streets of their great cities, but all the property—the gold and silver, the flocks and herds, and everything that was calculated to make life happy in the possession of and enjoyed, as stewards, by the whole people. No inequality, so far as this was concerned, for the pattern was after the order of heavenly things.

Now let us ask the question—has God ever revealed to the Latter-day Saints the necessity of entering into this heavenly order in regard to their wealth? He has. When? When we gathered up to Jackson County in the State of Missouri. In the year 1831, the land was consecrated and set apart by revelation for the erection thereon of a great and heavenly city unto the Most High God. Not the old Jerusalem, but a new Jerusalem, a city of Zion. God, by the mouth of his servant Joseph, who for a short space of time dwelt in the midst of the people there, revealed the law of consecration, not the law of tithing, but the law of consecration. Let me repeat that law, Latter-day Saints, for as it is a law which will come in force at some future period of our history, it will not be amiss for us to understand its nature and to prepare to approximate to its requirements, so that when it is introduced amongst us we may take hold of it with all our hearts. When we went up to that country in 1831, the commandment of the Most High to the Saints was that they should consecrate all that they had. Not one-tenth merely, not the surplus of their property, but, all that they had, whether it was gold, silver, household furniture, wearing apparel, jewelry, horses, cattle, wagons, mechanical tools, machinery, or whatever wealth or property they possessed, they were to consecrate the whole and deliver it unto the Lord’s judge in the midst of Zion. Who was he? The Bishop. In those days we had not the necessity of so many Bishops as now. We were a small people then, and the Bishop in Zion, under the direction of the highest authorities of the Church, he being guided and inspired by the Holy Ghost, was to take charge of all the consecrations of the people of the Most High. This made them all equal, every person stood upon the same platform, possessing nothing to begin with. All was consecrated and became the common property of the Church.

Now how was this common property to be used? First, the Saints needed land, they needed means to build habitations; they needed farming utensils; they needed flocks and herds; they needed manufacturing establishments; they needed mercantile and all kinds of mechanical business to be introduced into their midst, just as fast as they procured means sufficient. By whom were the stewardships of the Saints laid off? The Lord’s judge or bishop in Zion purchased land from the United States, and then laid off to each man his stewardship according to the number of his family. Those who were mechanics received the tools necessary to work with; those who were called upon to engage in some business wherein a greater amount of capital was needed had a capital accordingly. That is, that was the intention as the common property of the Church should increase.

Perhaps the question may be asked, could this equality be maintained from that time, henceforth and forever? If there had been no law given instructing us how this equality could be maintained the people, before twelve months had passed away, would have been unequal again. Why? Because a man, perhaps, of small talent or ability, might mismanage his stewardship or inheritance, and instead of gaining anything he would lose. Another man, having a little more talent and industry, and perhaps a little more wisdom, would gain a little. Another man’s business tact and knowledge were perhaps such that he could carry on a large manufacturing establish– ment, and in a short time he would gain his thousands, and thus in the course of a year we would again have had rich and poor if God had not provided against it.

What provisions did the Lord make in order to maintain this equality among his Saints permanently? He made this arrangement by law—that every man should be considered a steward first, and prove himself a wise steward before he could be entitled to an everlasting inheritance. These stewards were to render an account to the judge in Zion of their stewardships, or in other words, as it is written in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—“It is required of every steward to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and eternity.” (Doc. and Cov., Sec. xc: Par. 1.)

To whom does he render this report or account? To the Lord’s bishop or bishops, as the case may be; he reports what he has done with the means entrusted to his care. If a man has been entrusted with fifty or with a thousand dollars, or with a million, to carry on some branch of business he must, at the end of the year, render an account of that stewardship. If a man is only entrusted with a small farm, he renders an account of his stewardship at the end of the year, and thus all those who are occupied in these different branches of trade, render accounts of their stewardships, consecrating, at the end of the year, all that they have gained, excepting what it has cost to feed and clothe them. Are they not equal? Yes, and this maintains a permanent equality; for the man who has gained a hundred thousand in his stewardship consecrates all that he has not used; and the man with a smaller stewardship who in the whole year, has only gained fifty dollars over and above what he has used, consecrates that fifty. The man who has gained most consecrates most, the man who has gained least consecrates the least. This reduces them yearly to the same position and condition as they were in when they commenced this heavenly order.

Did the people carry out this law? No. Why? Because they had imbibed the notions which had prevailed among the people of the whole earth, and these notions were in direct opposition to the order of heaven. The notions and traditions of the world were that every man must be for himself, every family for themselves, and they must labor with their might, mind and strength to gain all they possibly could gain, and use it only for themselves and their generations after them, caring nothing at all about their neighbors. These traditions had been instilled into our minds, and we were too full of covetousness and of false notions about property to carry out the law of God, and hence many, when they came up to Zion, looked abroad upon that beautiful, rich soil, and the excellent groves of timber, and the fine prairies and meadows, with springs breaking forth in numerous places, as they do in Jackson County, and their souls lusted after these things, and the rich man said, “No, I will not consecrate all my property, I will go to the General Land Office and purchase for myself, and I will buy largely in order that I may sell to my poor brethren when they come up here. I will buy land and speculate upon it, and make my fortune.” That was the feeling which existed in the hearts of some of the Latter-day Saints. God saw this, and reproved us by revelation, and he said to the people in Jackson County, by the mouth of his servant Joseph, that if they did not repent of this covet– ousness he would pluck them up and send them out of Zion, for said he, “The rebellious are not of the blood of Ephraim, wherefore they shall be plucked up, and sent away out of the land.” God fulfilled this revelation—he did pluck up the people; he did cast them away out of that land in the year 1833. Some two years and a few months after we first began to settle that country we were cast out of the land—plucked up, just as the Lord had predicted, and we were told that it was because of our sins and covetousness that we were sent away.

Did the Lord forsake us? No; he had compassion upon us, as he had upon ancient Israel, when they were cast away out of their land from time to time. In what respect did he have compassion upon us? When he saw the hold that the traditions in which we had been trained had upon our hearts, he revoked, for the time being, the law of full consecration. Says one, “What! God revoke a commandment?” Yes, that is the way he did in ancient times, and he is the same God yet. He did it for our good; for if that law had been in full force this people would not have been in these mountains this day. Our selfishness and covetousness are so great that, as a people, we never would have complied with it. A few amongst us might have done so, but as a people we should have been overcome and ruined; but owing to that law being revoked, many of us will now, perhaps, be saved.

In the year 1834, a few months after, we were driven out from that goodly land. God said unto us in a revelation, given on Fishing River, “Let those laws and commandments which I have given concerning Zion and her properties, be executed and fulfilled after her redemption.” Thus you see, Latter-day Saints, that we are not under the law of full consecration, and if not under the law we are not under the penalty thereof. Where there is a law there is a penalty, and when we transgress the law we incur the penalty; but having been relieved, for a period, from the execution of that law, we were placed under another law, which, in some respects, may be considered an inferior law. When was that law given? In 1838, some five years after we were driven forth from our stewardships. What is that law? It is called the law of tithing. What is the law of tithing? Part of that law enjoins it upon the Saints as a duty to pay into the Lord’s storehouse one-tenth of all their annual income. But let me refer you to the fulness of the law of tithing, for, although an inferior law, I fear that as a people we have not kept it. The first part of that law requires every man, when he comes into the midst of the people of God, to consecrate all his surplus property, reserving to himself a certain portion. This is not a full consecration like the higher law. Latter-day Saints, have we kept this inferior law? Has the man who possessed great riches, when he came to these mountains and numbered himself with the people of God, consecrated all his surplus property, and afterwards paid a tenth of all his annual income? I will tell you what we have done—as a general thing we, rich and poor, have kept all the property we had when we came here, and some have consecrated one-tenth part of their income, and so far as this is concerned the people have no doubt done very well, with some few exceptions; and I am happy to be able to state, from information I have obtained from some of the Bishops of the Church, that the Latter-day Saints, now, are showing more determination to pay their tithing, than they ever have done heretofore.

But let us come back to the other portion of this inferior law. Have we felt a disposition to consecrate our surplus property? Go east, west, north and south, into all our settlements, and you will find that the men are few and far between who consecrated their surplus property, when they came here. In the first place, there have been but few wealthy persons who have come amongst us, and the people have been their own judges. Every man thought that he had no surplus, when he came here. If he had a hundred thousand dollars on his arrival he has said or thought, “O, I have made such and such calculations. I wish to become a merchant in the midst of the people, and I need thousands and thousands of dollars to set me up. I wish to make thirty, forty, fifty or a hundred percent out of these poor people, and to enable me to do so I do not think that any of this hundred thousand dollars can be called surplus property. I need it all, I cannot carry on my merchandising unless I have it all to set me up.

Another man who wishes to start some other branch of business makes his calculations so as to cover up all his property, for he thinks he will need it all to enable him to carry out the particular branch of business which he wishes to introduce into these mountains, for he wants to get exceedingly rich before the law of full consecration comes. When they are thus left to be their own judges, where is the man who is honest enough in his feelings to say, “I think I can spare fifty, twenty, ten, five or one thousand dollars as surplus property?” This in my opinion is wrong. They should not be their own judges: Who should be the judges in this matter? The Bishops whom the Lord has appointed in Zion, under the counsel of the First Presidency of his Church and the counsels of the Holy Ghost which rest upon them to guide their minds. The people should be honest enough when they come up here with means, to say to the Bishops—“Here, I have so much means, judge ye, how much of this shall be surplus, and how much I shall retain.”

The reason I make these remarks is that I want this people to fully understand that there is a law given, a law inferior to that of full consecration, and for every man to enquire whether he has carried out this law according to the letter thereof. Perhaps the time has not come even for this law to be fulfilled in all its exactness. At any rate we are drifting along in about the same channel that the world does, so far as our property is concerned, with the exception of paying one-tenth of our annual income into the Lord’s storehouse, and the consequence is, there have become rich and poor in Zion, some possessing their hundreds of thousands, and others digging, in the dust, as it were, from year’s end to year’s end.

How shall this be remedied? Is the time come for us to execute the higher law of consecration? In undertaking to do so in the settlements of this Territory, what a revolution it would produce! How many would apostatize and go away from the Church? How many of those who are comparatively wheat would be plucked up with the tares if we were to undertake to enforce the higher law of consecration, or the law of tithing in all its fullness? And it would produce the same revolutionary results in most of the old settlements, because we are not prepared for it. I do not see, for my part, how we can begin to approximate to that law of oneness in regard to our property unless we commence in some new place, where the Church and the settlers might be gathered together and set a pattern for all the rest. I do not know but we might accomplish it in that way. I hope that we shall see something that will do away with these distinctions of classes. I hate to see them in the midst of the people of God.

There are many men of wealth, good, honest, upright men who would be willing to do anything that the Lord required at their hands; while there are others who hug their property close to their hearts, as though it were dearer to them than anything either in this world or in the world to come. There are certainly existing now among us distinctions of classes which if not checked, may prove the overthrow of many. For instance the rich can educate their sons and daughters in the best schools, academies and universities; others cannot do this, because of their poverty. This makes the children of the rich feel themselves above the children of the poor. Have we not seen in our gatherings for amusement these distinctions manifested? I have. I have seen those who were poorly dressed come into our parties and take a back seat, and there they would sit, as the old saying is, like “wallflowers,” during the whole party. Who would be out on the floor enjoying themselves? The rich. But in many instances there are parties of pleasure and amusement got up among the Saints, to which the poor are never invited; they are got up only for those who can dress in fine style, who can sweep the floor of the ballroom with two or three yards of their dresses dragging after them.

With the feelings engendered by these distinctions of classes, there is not that fellowship that should exist among the Saints of the living God. If we wish, brethren and sisters, to go back and build up the waste places of Zion, and to see the New Jerusalem erected upon the consecrated spot, let us endeavor to approximate more nearly to the celestial law, that when we do get back there, and that law more fully comes in force, we may be able to enter into it; for thus saith the Lord, in this Book of Covenants, “Zion cannot be built up only according to the law of the celestial kingdom, otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.” We have got to come to that, and it is well for us in my opinion, that we begin to approximate as fast as possible, that when the time shall come, we shall be prepared for full consecration.

How long our President has labored in the midst of the people here to get them to introduce home manufactures? How long and loud he has lifted his voice, in connection with his counselors, and the Twelve Apostles, to bring about this thing; but the people, instead of hearkening to their counsel, have imported from abroad almost everything they needed. The President is willing, but some of the people are not. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 16th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, March 9, 1873.

On page 235 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants there is a revelation given to this Church on March 9, 1832, which contains these words:

For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion—For a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church, to advance the cause, which ye have espoused, to the salvation of man, and to the glory of your Father who is in heaven; That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things; For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.

We will next read a passage which is contained in the latter part of the 3rd paragraph of a revelation given in March, 1831. It will be found on page 218 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.

But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.

I will now read a portion of a revelation given on the 22nd of June, 1834. It will be found in paragraph 2, Book of Doctrine and Covenants, page 295. Speaking of the Church, it reads as follows—

But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them; And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself. And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.

I have read these passages of new revelation for the benefit of the Latter-day Saints who are here this afternoon, and it is well enough for us to examine ourselves, to see whether we are living in strict accordance with them, and if we are not, to see whether there are any persons throughout all the Territory of Utah who are complying with them. In one of these revelations, given in March, 1831, before the Lord had led this people to Jackson County and before we knew where the New Jerusalem was to be built, or where the great central gathering place for the Latter-day Saints was to be, the Lord informed us, “That it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.” Now let me inquire of the Latter-day Saints, Are we all equal in the bonds of earthly things, or have we rich and poor in our midst? The answer that all would give to this question is, every person and every family has accumulated just as much wealth, as he or they could, for his or their own use only, and this order of things has existed amongst us since the Church was organized, nearly forty-three years. How much longer will this continue? How long will every family be for themselves, every man’s energy and ability be exerted only for himself and his family, every man grasping to enrich himself? He does not care about his neighbor, and if he thinks about him at all, the inquiry rises in his mind, “Have I got as much wealth as my neighbor, or as this or that person? If I have not I must strive to obtain as much; for if I have not as much as my neighbors I can hardly think to crowd myself into their society; for I have noticed that our wealthy citizens are creating distinctions of classes among us. If they get up a party in their own private dwellings, or a nice luxurious supper, for instance, it is generally only those who are wealthy in appearance who are invited, and unless I can accumulate as much wealth as they have, I shall be cast out and fall below into some other class.”

I am now talking of facts as they really exist. When do you see a rich man among the Latter-day Saints who, when he makes a great feast, invites the poor and the lame, the halt and blind, and those who are in destitute circumstances? Such events are few and far between. The Savior has strictly commanded us that when we make our feasts, instead of inviting those who have abundance and roll in the good things and luxuries of life, we should invite the poorest among us, the lame, blind and infirm, and those who perhaps have not enough food to eat. Do you Latter-day Saints do this? No, I fear not. There may be persons who are doing these things; if so, blessed are they if they observe this and all the other commandments of the Lord.

What kind of a revolution would it work among the Latter-day Saints if the revelation given in March, 1831, were carried out by them—“It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin?” How much of a revolution would it accomplish in Salt Lake City if this order of things should be brought about? I think it would work a greater revolution among this people than has ever been witnessed amongst them since they had an existence as a Church.

Again, in another revelation, given in 1832, soon after the place of location for the city of Zion was made known, the Lord declared that the time had come to establish an order among his people requiring certain persons, whose names were mentioned, to consecrate a portion of their property. They were to put so many dollars into the treasury, and that was to be a common property among those individuals, for their own benefit, and for the benefit of the Church. Among the persons called to enter into this order was the great Prophet and seer of the last days.

This order was entered into partially by the individuals who were named, but even they were not all prepared for this partial order pertaining to the celestial kingdom of God. It was too sacred, too much in opposition to the traditions of the age, and which had existed for many generations. We all know that, since the days of the Apostles, the whole world, except the Nephites and Lamanites on this continent, have been divided in regard to their wealth and property. Among whatever nation you might travel on the eastern hemisphere, and on this hemisphere too, since it was discovered by Columbus and settled by Europeans, this individualism has existed among all classes of people, with a very few exceptions. Among these exceptions we may mention the Shaking Quakers. This sect is in great error in many respects, but its members did enter into a community of property. Their properties were consecrated and put into a storehouse, and were controlled by certain men who were chosen for that purpose. How wisely they used this property or how they lived on this common stock principle is not for me to say; but suffice it to say, that so far as consecration and a community of property were concerned they carried them out. But the great mass of the human family have sought for ages past, and are still seeking, to accumulate dollars and dimes, houses and lands for themselves, to bequeath to their heirs or to whomsoever they see proper. This individualism that has existed all over the world has been one of the principal means of introducing almost all the crimes that exist among men, for as the Apostle Paul has said—“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

The Apostles endeavored to introduce the common stock principle in their day among the Saints, but the people, even then, had been so long accustomed to accumulating wealth for themselves and their families instead of having it in common, that the Apostles found it impossible to establish this principle on a permanent foundation, and it did not continue. It might have been carried out a year or two and perhaps a little longer; but according to the writings of the Apostles to the early Christians, this principle seems to have been done away with, and individualism prevailed amongst them.

Let me inquire now, how this selfish principle produces the great variety of evils that exist in the world? I will refer to some that have sprung from it, and have made their appearance among the Latter-day Saints, and which will increase unless we reform in this respect. For instance, wealthy persons have the power to educate their children more thoroughly than the poor man can. They can send them to the very best schools and institutions of learning, and they can keep them there year after year until they have acquired what is termed a thorough education. Then, their fathers think, “Our sons have been trained in various branches of learning and business, they understand bookkeeping and other branches necessary in following mercantile pursuits; they know how to accumulate means and how to keep everything straight. We can therefore entrust them with the means we shall leave them, and knowing how to make good use of it, they will be able to keep themselves at the head of the heap,” or in other words, they will be above the poor who have not had the education they have had.

A rich man can educate his daughters, and have them taught music and everything calculated to make them refined, polite and genteel. This enables these daughters to fascinate the rich, and should a poor man come along, and knock at the rich man’s door and tell him he desires to keep company with his daughters, he is told that he has no business there. Says the rich man, “My daughters must marry wealthy men, they must be exalted and be with the upper class among the Latter-day Saints.”

The poorer classes, seeing that they have neither the means nor the business education and information to compete with the rich ones, grovel along in poverty and ignorance, and a distinction of classes arises. By and by these rich young men come along with their fine carriages and if a poor man happens to be crossing the street, they look down with scorn and contempt upon him, and cry, “Out of my way there,” when if it had been a wealthy man they would have turned their carriage out of the way until he had passed; but the “poor scrub,” as they term the poor man, must be blackguarded and ridiculed, and treated as a slave or as a person who has no right to be seen in the society of the wealthy.

What kind of feelings does this produce in the hearts of the humble poor who desire and are striving to serve the Lord? They feel in their hearts that they do not fellowship these rich persons, and this causes hard feelings between these classes. Is this right or is it wrong? It is wrong, materially wrong, and we have continued in this wrong over forty years. When shall it come to an end? When will we learn to keep the commandments of God and become one, not only in doctrine but in “the bonds of earthly things?” Such a time must come, and if we do not comply with it, we shall fall behind. I will prophesy to this people on this subject. The Lord commanded me to prophesy when I was about nineteen years old, but I seldom do it, for fear I should prophesy wrong. But I will prophesy concerning this Church and people, that all who will not come into that order of things, when God, by his servants, counsels them so to do, will cease growing in the knowledge of God, they will cease having the Spirit of the Lord to rest upon them, and they will gradually grow darker and darker in their minds, until they lose the Spirit and power of God, and their names will not be numbered with the names of the righteous. You may put that down and record it.

We find, a few years after these revelations that I have read were given, the Lord saw that we were so covetous and filled with the selfish principle instilled into our minds by our forefathers, that we would not give heed to the law which he gave concerning the consecrations that were to be made in Jackson County, Mo., and he determined in his own mind that that should not be a land of Zion unto the present generation of people, take them as a people; and he made this decree, after giving them revelation upon revelation, warning them by the mouth of his servant Joseph, who went in person and warned them, and sent up his revelations a thousand miles from Kirtland and warned them. After they had been sufficiently warned, for some two years and upwards, after their commencement of the settlement of Jackson County, Missouri, the Lord fulfilled that which he had spoken concerning them—that they should be driven out of the land of Zion. This was literally fulfilled. Why? Because of covetousness. You will recollect my reading, I think last Conference, a letter written by the Prophet Joseph Smith. I think it is in the 14th volume of the Star, in connection with the history of this Church published in that periodical. That letter was written to one of the brethren in Zion in relation to the consecrations of the properties of the people. The Lord said in that revelation that the principle which he had revealed in relation to the properties of his Church must be carried out to the very letter upon the land of Zion; and those individuals who would not give heed to it, but sought to obtain their inheritances in an individual way by purchasing it themselves from the Government, should have their names blotted out from the book of the names of the righteous, and if their children pursued the same course their names should be blotted out too, they and their children should not be known in the book of the law of the Lord as being entitled to an inheritance among the Saints in Zion.

We find, therefore, that the Lord drove out this people because we were unworthy to receive our inheritances by consecration. As a people, we did not strictly comply with that which the Lord required. Neither did they comply in Kirtland. Many of those persons were called by name to enter into an inferior order, afterwards called The Order of Enoch, in which only a portion of their property was consecrated, and even they did not comply, but some of them broke the most sacred and solemn covenants made before high Heaven in relation to that order. The Lord said concerning them that they should be delivered over to the buffetings of Satan in this world, as well as be punished in the world to come. He also told them that that soul that sinned and would not comply with the covenant and promise which they made before him in relation to their properties, should have his former sins returned to him, which had been before remitted in baptism.

This ought to be an example for us who are living at a later period in the history of the Church of the living God, and who ought, by this time, to have become thoroughly experienced in the law of God. It is true we are not now required to consecrate all that we have; this law has not been binding upon us since we were driven from the land of Zion. The reason why this law was revoked was because the Lord saw we would all go to destruction in consequence of our former tradition in relation to property if this law had continued to be enforced after we were driven out, hence he revoked it for the time being, as you will find recorded in one of the revelations given June 22nd, 1835, after we were driven from Jackson County. I will repeat the words—“Let those commandments which I have given concerning Zion and her law, be executed and fulfilled after her redemption.” Here you perceive that, for the salvation of this people and of the nations of the earth among the Gentiles, God saw proper to revoke this commandment and to lay it over for a future period, or until after the redemption of Zion. Zion is not yet redeemed, and hence we are not under the law of full consecration. But is that any reason why we should not be under some other law differing from the one we were formerly required to practice? Do we live up to the law called the Order of Enoch, which is inferior to that law requiring full consecrations? No we do not. Let us go down another scale in the ladder of obedience, and inquire if we are carrying out a law inferior to the Order of Enoch, that is, the law of Tithing? Do the Latter-day Saints comply with that, and, to begin with, when they come from the nations of the earth, do they consecrate their surplus property to the Lord, placing it in the hands of the Bishop of his Church, and after that pay one-tenth of their annual income into the treasury of the Lord? Where is there a person carrying out this law which was revealed in the year 1838 and which has never been revoked? It is one of the most simple and inferior laws, far below the order of full consecrations and far below the Order of Enoch, but have we as a people complied with this? I think not. Can you find one out of a hundred persons in Salt Lake City who has carried out this law? Have you done it? The Bishops, whose duty it is to collect the tithing can answer this question better than I can, but I very much doubt whether the records of the Bishops would show that the people have complied with the latter clause of this law—namely to pay one-tenth of their annual income, to say nothing about their surplus property. Are we under condemnation or are we not? Judge ye for yourselves. What will become of this people unless we reform, and repent of our sins in these respects? That which I have already spoken will be fulfilled upon their heads—they will lose the spirit of the Gospel.

We are looking for the redemption of Zion. What would be our condition if the Lord were to say unto us this season, “Arise, my Saints, arise, go back to the land which I promised to give to you and to your children for an everlasting possession; go back and build up the New Jerusalem according to the law of the celestial kingdom,” as recorded in the revelation in which the Lord says unless she be built according to that law he cannot receive her unto himself. What kind of a Zion would we build if called this present season to go back to Jackson County? We would have to begin altogether a new order of things. Are we prepared for it? I think not. If the people had faithfully complied with these inferior laws they would be better prepared: but, when I see the backwardness of many of the people of this Territory calling themselves Latter-day Saints, about paying their tithing, refusing to do so or being careless about it, I say in my heart, “Oh Lord, when will thy people be prepared to go back and build up the waste places of Zion according to celestial law?”

The Lord has said in this book, (B. D. C.) that the time is to come when Zion shall be redeemed. I will read the passage. It commences on page 292, and is as follows—

Behold, this is the blessing which I have promised after your tribulations, and the tribulations of your brethren—your redemption, and the redemption of your brethren, even their restoration to the land of Zion, to be established no more to be thrown down. Nevertheless, if they pollute their inheritances they shall be thrown down; for I will not spare them if they pollute their inheritances. Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by power; Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel. For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched-out arm. And as your fathers were led at the first, even so shall the redemption of Zion be. Therefore, let not your hearts faint, for I say not unto you as I said unto your fathers: Mine angel shall go up before you, but not my presence. But I say unto you: Mine angels shall go before you, and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land.

In a revelation given June 22nd, 1834, the Lord tells us that before the people of Zion shall be redeemed the army of Israel must become very great. What he meant by this, was “great” compared with the few individuals to whom this revelation was given. It will be recollected that a certain number were required as the strength of the Lord’s house to go up to redeem Zion, as they supposed. They gathered together, some one or two hundred and went up for this purpose; and the Lord said that the strength of his house did not hearken to his voice, and did not come up according to his commandment and revelation, but had said in their hearts, “If this be the work of the Lord, the Lord will redeem Zion, and we will stay at home upon our inheritances.” They made excuses and would not go up. The little handful that did go up were called the Camp of Zion. Some few of them are still living. When we arrived in the neighborhood of the Land of Zion, the strength of the Lord’s house not having hearkened to his voice, the Lord gave a revelation and said first, “Let my army become very great, and let it be sanctified before me, that it may become fair as the sun, and clear as the moon, and that her banners may be terrible unto all nations.” How do you suppose we are going to fulfill this, preparatory to the redemption of Zion? Are we now taking a course to sanctify ourselves before the Heavens? It is true that the army of Israel is very great even now when compared with that little handful that went up with the Camp of Zion, but though blessed with numbers, we are not blessed with that sanctification which the Lord has spoken of in that revelation. How much faith have we now, in our disobedience to the law of tithing, and to many other principles? Blessed are they who have faithfully paid their tithing all the time, and blessed are their children, they will receive their inheritance in the Land of Zion, when the Lord shall come. The Lord will bless them and their generations forever. But those who have not complied with this law are not sanctifying themselves before God, neither are they preparing themselves for the redemption of Zion. Their hearts are set upon the foolish things of this world, they are grasping after riches to aggrandize themselves.

This is plain preaching, and perhaps some of you will not like it. I cannot help it, these are the things that present themselves before my mind. There must be a reformation, there will be a reformation among this people, for God will not cast off this kingdom and this people, but he will plead with the strong ones of Zion, he will plead with this people, he will plead with those in high places, he will plead with the Priesthood of this Church, until Zion shall become clean before him. I do not know but that it would be an utter impossibility to commence and carry out some principles pertaining to Zion right in the midst of this people. They have strayed so far that to get a people who would conform to heavenly laws it may be needful to lead some from the midst of this people and commence anew somewhere in the regions round about in these mountains. Ask this people if they are willing to abide by the law of God, and how would they vote? The hands of everyone would be up almost without exception, but when it comes to the very point, when consecration in part might be required at their hands, that is the time to prove them and to see whether they would or would not be obedient. “Oh, I have such a fine house, and such a fine carriage and horses, such an abundance of merchandise and good things. It has taken me years and years to get these things, and it is hard to give one-half, three-fourths or nine-tenths of them to establish another order of things, and I rather think I had better keep on the background, and see how the order flourishes. Let others try it first, and if they get on very well and become wealthy, then perhaps I will venture to give a little of my property.” These are the feelings that exist in the hearts of some individuals among the Latter-day Saints, but they have got to be rooted out, or those who give way to them will lose the Spirit of the Lord.

I do not know how many will stand up and obey the law of the Lord unto the sacrifice of all their earthly goods, or how long it will be before people will be called upon to make this sacrifice. I do not know how long it will be before this people are brought to the trying point to see who is and who is not for the Lord; but I would advise the Latter-day Saints to prepare for this, for it may come sooner than some of you expect. If the Lord should undertake to bring about an order of things different from that which now exists, and establish it not exactly in the midst of this people, but in some place where they can commence anew, I hope the people will begin to pray to the Lord, reckon up with themselves and examine their own hearts, and see whether they are willing and prepared, if called upon, to place all that they have, or as much as they are required in that order of things, and carry it out.

When we go back to Jackson County, we are to go back with power. Do you suppose that God will reveal his power among an unsanctified people, who have no regard nor respect for his laws and institutions, but who are filled with covetousness? No. When God shows forth his power among the Latter-day Saints, it will be because there is a union of feeling in regard to doctrine, and in regard to everything that God has placed in their hands; and not only a union, but a sanctification on their part, that there shall not be a spot or wrinkle as it were, but everything shall be as fair as the sun that shines in the heavens.

In order to bring about this, who knows how many chastisements God may yet have to pour out upon the people calling themselves Latter-day Saints? I do not know. Sometimes I fear, when I read certain revelations contained in this book. In one of them the Lord says, “If this people will be obedient to all of my commandments, they shall begin to prevail against their enemies from this very hour, and shall not cease to prevail until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ.” That promise was given almost forty years ago. In the same paragraph it says—“Inasmuch as this people will not be obedient to my commandments and live by every word that I have spoken, I will visit them with sore afflictions, with pestilence, with plague, with sword and with the flame of devouring fire.” Is it not enough to make a person fear when God has spoken this concerning the Latter-day Saints? I do not know all things which await us. One thing I do know—that the righteous need not fear. The Book of Mormon is very express upon this subject. In the last chapter of the first book of Nephi, the Lord, through the Prophet, speaks concerning the building up of Zion in the latter days on the earth. He says his people should be, as it were, in great straits, at certain times, but said the Prophet, “The righteous need not fear, for I will preserve them, if it must needs be that I send down fire from heaven unto the destruction of their enemies.” This will be fulfilled if necessary. Let the righteous among this people abide in their righteousness, and let them cleave unto the Lord their God; and if there are those among them who will not keep his commandments, they will be cleansed out by the judgments of which I have spoken. But if the majority of this people will be faithful, the Lord will preserve them from their enemies, from sword, pestilence and plague, and from every weapon that is lifted against them. God will shield us by his power, if we are to be led forth out of bondage as our fathers were led, at the first. This indicates that there may be bondage ahead, and that the Latter-day Saints may see severe times, and that unless we keep the commandments of God, we may be brought into circumstances that will cause our hearts to tremble within us, that is, those who are not upright before God. But if this people should be brought into bondage, as the Israelites were in ancient days, Zion must be led forth out of bondage, as Israel was at the first. In order to do this God has prophesied that he will raise up a man like unto Moses, who shall lead his people therefrom.

Whether that man is now in existence, or whether it is someone yet to be born; or whether it is our present leader who has led us forth into these valleys of the mountains, whether God will grant unto us the great blessing to have his life spared to lead forth his people like a Moses, we perhaps may not all know. He has done a great and wonderful work in leading forth this people into this land and building up these cities in this desert country; and I feel in my heart to say, Would to God that his life may be prolonged like Moses, in days of old, who, when he was eighty years old, was sent forth to redeem the people of Israel from bondage. God is not under the necessity of choosing a young man, he can make a man eighty years of age full of vigor, strength and health, and he may spare our present leader to lead this people on our return to Jackson County. But whether it be he or some other person, God will surely fulfill this promise. This was given before our Prophet Joseph Smith was taken out of our midst. Many of us no doubt thought when that revelation was given that Joseph would be the man. I was in hopes it would be Joseph, for I had no idea that he was going to be slain, although I might have known from certain revelations that such would probably be the case, for the Lord had said unto him, before the rise of this Church, that he would grant unto him eternal life even though he should be slain, which certainly was an indication that he might be slain. But we still were in hopes that he would live and that he would be the man who, like Moses, would lead this people from bondage. I do not know but he will yet. God’s arm is not shortened that he cannot raise him up even from the tomb. We are living in the dispensation of the fullness of times, the dispensation of the resurrection, and there may be some who will wake from their tombs for certain purposes and to bring to pass certain transactions on the earth decreed by the Great Jehovah; and if the Lord sees proper to bring forth that man just before the winding up scene to lead forth the army of Israel, he will do so. And if he feels disposed to send him forth as a spiritual personage to lead the camp of Israel to the land of their inheritance, all right. But be this as it may, whether he is the man, whether President Young is the man, or whether the Lord shall hereafter raise up a man, for that purpose, we do know that when that day comes the Lord will not only send his angels before the army of Israel, but his presence will also be there.

Do you suppose that the Lord will suffer any unclean thing to be in that army? Not at all, for his angels and he himself are to go before us. God will not dwell in the midst of a people who will not sanctify themselves before him. That is the rea– son why he withdrew his presence from ancient Israel. Moses sought diligently to sanctify that numerous people and to bring them into subjection to the law of God; he endeavored to teach them the higher Gospel ordinances and law, which would have exalted them into the celestial kingdom of God, but he could not do it; they were a hardhearted, stiffnecked people and they would not give heed to his words or to the words of the Lord; and in the absence of Moses they made to themselves a golden calf and worshipped it as the God who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt. If we follow in the same track and make to ourselves golden gods, and heap up the treasures of the earth and worship and think more of them than of the laws of heaven, we may fall under the same example of unbelief and transgression, and under the same judgment that came upon ancient Israel. But Moses was not to blame, for he sought diligently to sanctify them, but when they transgressed time after time, God became so angry with them that he finally swore in his wrath that he would not go up in the midst of that people, lest he should break forth in his anger and fury and consume them in a moment. That was the way he felt towards them because of their sinfulness, and in order that they might not be consumed, but that a remnant might be spared, and that seed might be raised up to old father Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, he withdrew his presence from the midst of the camp of Israel. But he did not forsake them entirely. Said he, “Mine angel may go before you. You may have an angel and you may have Moses for a season, but I will not go with you.” He swore that that people, in the wilderness, should not enter into his rest, which rest is the fullness of his glory.

It is to be hoped that there will be nothing of this kind among the armies of Israel in the latter days. We have the promise of the Almighty, and I hope that it will never be revoked, that “I say not unto you as I said to your fathers, my angel shall go before you, but not my presence, but I say unto you that my angel shall go before you and also my presence.” In order for the presence of God to go with us we must retain the higher Priesthood, for without that and the ordinances thereunto pertaining, no man can behold the face of God and live; therefore if we would retain this higher Priesthood we must sanctify ourselves through obedience to the higher laws. If we do this, we can then claim the fulfillment of this promise which the Lord has made and which I have repeated, that his presence shall go with us.

I expect that when the Lord leads forth his people to build up the city of Zion, his presence will be visible. When we speak of the presence of the Lord we speak of an exhibition of power. His presence was with the children of Israel as a cloud by day, and as the shining of a flaming fire by night. Though Israel were not worthy to enter the tabernacle and behold the personage of the Lord and to talk with him, yet Moses, not having forfeited that right, could enter into the tabernacle of the Lord while his glory rested upon it, and he could talk to the Lord face to face. Why? Because he held the higher Priesthood and had been obedient to the higher law and had attended to the higher ordinances. He was not subjected to the law of carnal commandments, he had sanctified himself so that he could endure the presence of the Lord and not be consumed.

We shall go back to Jackson County. Not that all this people will leave these mountains, or all be gathered together in a camp, but when we go back there will be a very large organization consisting of thousands, and tens of thousands, and they will march forward, the glory of God overshadowing their camp by day in the form of a cloud, and a pillar of flaming fire by night, the Lord’s voice being uttered forth before his army. Such a period will come in the history of this people, and when it arrives the mountains and the hills will be ready to break forth with a loud voice before the Lord’s army, and the very trees of the field will wave to and fro by the power of God, and clap like hands. The everlasting hills will rejoice, and they will tremble before the presence of the Lord; and his people will go forth and build up Zion according to celestial law.

Will not this produce terror upon all the nations of the earth? Will not armies of this description, though they may not be as numerous as the armies of the world, cause a terror to fall upon the nations? The Lord says the banners of Zion shall be terrible. If only one or two millions of this people were to go down and build the waste places of Zion, would it strike the people of Asia and Europe with terror? Not particularly, unless there was some supernatural power made manifest. But when the Lord’s presence is there, when his voice is heard, and his angels go before the camp, it will be telegraphed to the uttermost parts of the earth and fear will seize upon all people, especially the wicked, and the knees of the ungodly will tremble in that day, and the high ones that are on high, and the great men of the earth.

We shall in due time walk forth into Jackson County and build up the waste places of Zion. We shall erect in that county a beautiful city after the order and pattern that the Lord shall reveal, part of which has already been revealed. God intends to have a city built up that will never be destroyed nor overcome, but that will exist while eternity shall endure; and he will point out the pattern and show the order of architecture; he will show unto his servants the nature of the streets and the pavement thereof, the kind of precious stones that shall enter into the buildings, the nature of the rock and precious stones that will adorn the gates and the walls of that city; for the gates will be open continually says the Prophet Isaiah, that men may bring in the force of the Gentiles.

The nature of the city of Zion is nowhere fully described. John the revelator has described in his 21st chapter, two cities coming down from God out of heaven. The first one is the New Jerusalem. That will come down on the land of Joseph. After John had seen that, one of the angels who had one of the vials of the seven last plagues came to him and said, “Come hither, John, and I will show you another city, that is that great city, the holy Jerusalem.” He took him to the summit of a high mountain and showed him that great city descending from God out of heaven, and John describes that city, the height of its walls, the number of its gates, the names that are to be upon the gates, and a great many particulars in relation to that city are clearly revealed. But the New Jerusalem is nowhere so fully described, only as the Psalmist David says, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” David also says, in speaking of this same city, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” From these declarations we can at least believe that Zion will be a very beautiful city—“the perfection of beauty,” whether it is constructed after the order of the old Jerusalem or not. Suffice it to say that God by revelation will inspire his servants and will dictate to them the order of the buildings of that city—the number and width of the streets, the kind of houses, the character of the Temple that is to be built therein, the kind of rock, timber and the various materials that will have to be brought from a distance to enter into the composition of that beautiful city.

When the Temple is built the sons of the two Priesthoods, that is, those who are ordained to the Priesthood of Melchizedek, that Priesthood which is after the order of the Son of God, with all its appendages; and those who have been ordained to the Priesthood of Aaron with all its appendages, the former called the sons of Moses, the latter the sons of Aaron, will enter into that Temple in this generation, or in the generation that was living in 1832, and all of them who are pure in heart will behold the face of the Lord and that too before he comes in his glory in the clouds of heaven, for he will suddenly come to his Temple, and he will purify the sons of Moses and of Aaron, until they shall be prepared to offer in that Temple an offering that shall be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. In doing this, he will purify not only the minds of the Priesthood in that Temple, but he will purify their bodies until they shall be quickened, renewed and strengthened, and they will be partially changed, not to immortality, but changed in part that they can be filled with the power of God, and they can stand in the presence of Jesus, and behold his face in the midst of that Temple.

This will prepare them for further ministrations among the nations of the earth, it will prepare them to go forth in the days of tribulation and vengeance upon the nations of the wicked, when God will smite them with pestilence, plague and earthquake, such as former generations never knew. Then the servants of God will need to be armed with the power of God, they will need to have that sealing blessing pronounced upon their foreheads that they can stand forth in the midst of these desolations and plagues and not be overcome by them. When John the Revelator describes this scene he says he saw four angels sent forth, ready to hold the four winds that should blow from the four quarters of heaven. Another angel ascended from the east and cried to the four angels, and said, “Smite not the earth now, but wait a little while.” “How long?” “Until the servants of our God are sealed in their foreheads.” What for? To prepare them to stand forth in the midst of these desolations and plagues, and not be overcome. When they are prepared, when they have received a renewal of their bodies in the Lord’s Temple, and have been filled with the Holy Ghost and purified as gold and silver in a furnace of fire, then they will be prepared to stand before the nations of the earth and preach glad tidings of salvation in the midst of judgments that are to come like a whirlwind upon the wicked.

I intended to lay before you some things pertaining to the order of full consecration that will be observed when we get back to Jackson County, but time will not permit to enter into that now.

May God bless you, Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, January 26, 1873.

If I feel the liberty of the Spirit to do so, I shall read a number of quotations, this afternoon, from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and from the Bible, and perhaps from the Book of Mormon in relation to some of the great events which are about to take place on the earth, more especially the judgments that are coming to pass speedily. The first that I will read will be the 9th and 10th paragraphs of a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, July 23rd, 1837—

Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face. Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.

And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name, and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.

I will make a few remarks upon these passages as I read them. It seems that this is a dispensation peculiar in its nature, differing from former dispensations. It is a dispensation of mercy and of judgment—of mercy to those who receive the message of mercy, but of judgment to those who reject that message. In other words it is a dispensation in which the Gospel has been revealed from heaven, the servants of God called to labor in the vineyard for the last time, and in which the Lord intends to pour out great and terrible judgments upon the nations of the wicked after they have been warned by the sound of the everlasting Gospel. We are told in the revelation I have just read, that vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth; that it is a day of wrath, burning, desolation, weeping, mourning and lamentation, and that as a whirlwind these things shall come upon the inhabitants of all the earth.

Where shall these great and severe judgments begin? Upon what people does the Lord intend to commence this great work of vengeance? Upon the people who profess to know his name and still blaspheme it in the midst of his house. They are the ones designated for some of the most terrible judgments of the latter days. This should be a warning to the Latter-day Saints; and not only those who are parents, but those who are children should diligently consider whether they are numbered among those who are mentioned in the 10th paragraph, which I have read. Upon my house, saith the Lord, shall it begin, first upon those among you who have professed my name and have not known me and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house.

There are some who have been baptized into this Church, baptized, perhaps, when they were eight years of age, entered into a covenant with the Lord to keep his commandments according to the best of their ability and understanding, some of whom, when they have been brought into temptation, have turned away from that covenant. Have they blasphemed the name of the Lord? I do know that as I walk along the streets of Salt Lake City, I often see boys from six or eight up to fifteen, sixteen, eighteen, and perhaps twenty years of age collected together, and so far as my ears are concerned, I can bear testimony that they have no regard nor respect for the word of the Lord nor for the covenants into which they have entered, for they blaspheme his name in the midst of his house or kingdom. Will the Lord hold them guiltless? Can they escape his wrath and indignation? Can their parents escape the judgments of the Almighty if they have neglected to teach them the wickedness of taking the name of the Lord in vain? If the parents have not done this the sins of their young and inexperienced offspring will rest more or less upon their heads. If the children are lost the parents who have not properly instructed them may be lost also, for the Lord has said in one of the revelations which this book contains that inasmuch as they who are parents do not teach their children the doctrine of repentance, and faith in Christ, and the doctrine of baptism, that they may be baptized when they are eight years old, and be confirmed by the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, the sins of the children shall be upon the heads of the parents. Again he says, “You shall teach your children to walk uprightly before the Lord, and teach them to pray to and have faith in God, and if you do not these things, the sins of your children shall rest upon your heads. And this shall be a law unto my people in Zion, and in all the stakes of Zion that shall be established.”

Do we teach our children to walk uprightly and keep the commandments of the Most High? Do we read to them the revelations of God, and show them how wicked it is to take his name in vain? Do we point out to them how that we should not curse ourselves, nor one another, nor anything that is about us? Do we not often hear children in the streets of our city heaping curses upon the heads of their fellows? “D—n your soul,” is often used by them; “d—n my eyes,” and d—n this thing, and d—n that thing, as though they had no fear of God before them. Is this wicked or is it not? Every person who reads the word of the Lord, knows that it is wicked; and these children growing up thus in our midst go from one degree of sin to another until they finally lose, altogether, the Spirit of the Lord. What will be the consequences? There is a day of reckoning and judgment coming, and it shall begin at the Lord’s house, and from there it shall go forth among all the nations of the earth. Let parents awake and see to it lest the same destruction that will overtake their children because of their apostasy come upon them also.

To show what the Lord has said further in relation to some of the judgments which are coming upon the earth, I will read the third paragraph of a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in March, 1829, before this Church was organized. It will be found on page 173 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and is as follows—

“Behold, verily I say unto you, I have reserved those things which I have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations; 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.”

Here we see what the Lord promised unto his servant Joseph concerning the testimony that should go forth unto this generation. Those things which the Lord had entrusted Joseph Smith with were the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, Joseph being then engaged in that work. The Lord gave him a promise that there should be three witnesses raised up who should know from heaven of the truth of those plates. Joseph, at that time, had no knowledge who these witnesses should be, but a promise was made that they should be raised up. Before that year expired—the year 1829—there were three witnesses raised up, namely Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer. They saw the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and they were commanded to bear record of them to all peoples, nations and tongues to whom the work should be sent. These three witnesses saw the Angel of the Most High God, and after the work had been published with their names contained therein, the Lord began to raise up his Church and to bring it out of the wilderness. It was in April, 1830, that, the Church was organized, a little over a year after this revelation was given, and those who believed in the Book of Mormon and in the things here spoken, were visited by the manifestations of the Spirit of the Lord—they were born of the water and of the Spirit—and their testimony went forth in connection with that of the three witnesses, and the Lord says that through the united testimonies of those who believed in this work he would condemn this generation, that he would send forth a desolating scourge, and it should be poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth until the earth should be empty and desolate inasmuch as its inhabitants would not repent of their sins. The Lord informed us on that occasion that it should be with the inhabitants of the whole earth as it was with the inhabitants of Jerusalem in ancient times, that is, as he spoke concerning their destruction and his word was verified, so should they be verified at this time in relation to the inhabitants of the earth in the latter days. Consequently we see from these revelations, that the judgments of the Almighty are to be universal—upon all the earth desolation and destruction, a day of vengeance and burning and sore calamity until the inhabitants are wasted away and the earth made empty and desolate.

We will now read other revelations confirmatory of the same thing, so that we can judge a little concerning the nature of the judgments which will be poured out. In a revelation given in February, 1831, the Lord thus speaks of his servants, in the fifth paragraph, near the middle—

Lift up your voices and spare not. Call upon the nations to repent, both old and young, both bond and free, saying: Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord; For if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice and call upon you to repent, and ye hate me, what will ye say when the day cometh when the thunders shall utter their voices from the ends of the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying—Repent, and prepare for the great day of the Lord? Yea, and again, when the lightnings shall streak forth from the east unto the west, and shalt utter forth their voices unto all that live, and make the ears of all tingle that hear, saying these words—Repent ye, for the great day of the Lord is come?

And again, the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven, saying: Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the words of that God who made you. O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not! How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not! Behold the day has come, when the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full.

Here we perceive how long the Lord will bear with the people—all the day long, stretching forth his hand, pleading with them by the voice of lightnings, thunders, earthquakes, great hailstorms, famines, pestilences of every kind, and by the voice of mercy and judgment, yet they will not repent, but will harden their hearts when all these things go forth among them, from nation to nation, people to people, and from kingdom to kingdom, and they will refuse the message of salvation. It is true that the Lord has not yet spoken by the voice of thunders, calling upon the people from the ends of the earth, saying, “Repent and prepare for the great day of the Lord,” but such an event will come; and when it does come it will not be a mere ordinary, common thunderstorm, such as we experience occasionally, extending only over a small extent of country, but the Lord will cause the thunders to utter their voices from the ends of the earth until they sound in the ears of all that live, and these thunders shall use the very words here predicted—“Repent O ye inhabitants of the earth, and prepare the way of the Lord, prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord.” These words will be distinctly heard by every soul that lives, whether in America, Asia, Africa, Europe, or upon the islands of the sea. And not only the thunders, but the lightnings will utter forth their voices in the ears of all that live, saying, “Repent, for the great day of the Lord is come.” Besides the voices of thunder and lightning, the Lord himself, before he comes in his glory, will speak by his own voice out of heaven in the ears of all that live commanding them to repent and to prepare for his coming. I do not know how the Lord will send forth his voice so as to make all the people on the four quarters of the globe hear it, for the loudest sound that we can produce only extends over a small area, a few miles at most; but the Lord has power to make his voice heard by all that live on the four quarters of the earth, and when he fulfills this prediction, all that live will literally hear the words that are here named; and the wicked will perish out of the earth as they did in the days of Noah, and so far as they are concerned the earth will be made empty and desolate.

I will now read a paragraph, testifying in different words to the same things in a revelation given in August 1833. Speaking of Zion that is to be built up in Jackson County, Mo., and of the Temple that is to be reared there unto his name, the Lord says—

And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it; Yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God. But if it be defiled I will not come into it, and my glory shall not be there, for I will not come into unholy temples.

And, now, behold, if Zion do these things she shall prosper, and spread herself and become very glorious, very great and very terrible. And the nations of the earth shall honor her, and shall say: Surely Zion is the city of our God, and surely Zion cannot fall, neither be moved out of her place, for God is there, and the hand of the Lord is there; And he hath sworn by the power of his might to be her salvation and her high tower. Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART; therefore, let Zion rejoice while all the wicked shall mourn. For behold, and lo, vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly as the whirlwind; and who shall escape it? The Lord’s scourge shall pass over by night and by day, and the report thereof shall vex all people; yea it shall not be stayed until the Lord come; For the indignation of the Lord is kindled against their abominations and all their wicked works. Nevertheless, Zion shall escape if she observe to do all things whatsoever I have commanded her. But if she observe not to do whatsoever I have commanded her, I will visit her according to all her works, with sore affliction, with pestilence, with plague, with sword, with vengeance, with devouring fire. Nevertheless, let it be read this once in their ears, that I, the Lord, have accepted of their offering; and if she sin no more none of these things shall come upon her; And I will bless her with blessings, and multiply a multiplicity of blessings upon her, and upon her generations forever and ever, saith the Lord your God. Amen.

Here we perceive what the Lord intends to do both for Zion and for the wicked. Zion shall spread herself if she will only keep the commandments of God, and she will become great, glorious and terrible; or as one of old said—The church will come forth out of the wilderness, leaning upon the arm of her beloved, and she will be as fair as the sun, as clear as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners. So will Zion be clothed upon with the glory of her God and armed with the panoply of Heaven, and the nations will fear and tremble because of her, for God will be in the midst of Zion, and he hath sworn by the power of his might that he will be her refuge, her high tower and her strength, and he will uphold and sustain her, if she keep his commandments in all things; but if not, here is another declaration to all— fathers and mothers, middle aged, old and young—who transgress the commandments of God, “If Zion does not observe to do all things whatsoever that I have commanded her, I will visit her according to all her works, I will visit her with sore tribulations—with pestilence, plague, vengeance, sword, with the flame of devouring fire,” &c.

The Lord means what he says. He has told us in one of the first revelations published in this book, that though the heavens and the earth should pass away, not one of the prophecies and predictions contained in these revelations should go unfulfilled; therefore if Zion sins, if her people suffer pride to arise in their hearts, and follow after the foolish fashions of the Gentiles who come into their midst, and are lifted up one above another, the rich and wealthy looking down upon the poor with scorn and derision because they cannot clothe themselves in the same costly apparel as the rich, and begin to make distinctions of classes among themselves, behold the Lord will visit Zion according to all her works, and he will purge her and pour forth his judgments upon her, according to that which he has spoken.

I hope that we shall take a course to prevent these things coming upon us. It is better to be chastened and receive judgment in this world, even if it be sword, pestilence, famine and the flame of a devouring fire, if we can be brought to repentance thereby, than to remain unchastised and go down swiftly to the pit. If we, because of our sins, need chastising by the Almighty, let the chastisement come while we are in the flesh, that we may repent; and I would say still further, and pray in the name of the Lord, “Oh Lord, if chastisement must come, may it come from thine hands.” When the Lord through the Prophet gave David the choice of one of three terrible judgments—first to fall into the hands of his enemies, and for the people of Israel to be afflicted many years; second, a lengthy famine, and third, three days’ pestilence, he chose the three days’ pestilence, for he said it was better to fall into the hands of the Lord, who was full of tender mercy, and who might repent and withdraw the chastisement, than to fall into the hands of the wicked who have no mercy. I would say the same so far as my feelings are concerned, and if it be needful let the Lord chasten those who need it, and not suffer us to continue in our sin, and to grow and flourish like the green bay tree, as the wicked do until we are cut off finally from the earth and cast away in the eternal worlds. It is better for us to be saved there if we are punished here.

The scourge of the Lord, we are told in this revelation, shall go forth by day and by night, and the report thereof shall vex all people. Among all those revelations concerning the scourges that were to go forth, the one which I have read was given long before the cholera broke out. The first year that we have any knowledge of that terrible plague, if I mistake not, was 1837, some four years after this revelation was given that the Lord would send forth scourges. He did send forth a scourge that seemed to sweep over all the nations of the earth. Did it come among the Latter-day Saints? It did. Why? Because they did not keep his commandments, and as the Destroyer was abroad laying waste the nations, the Latter-day Saints had to receive their share, I mean those among us who did not keep the commandments of the Lord. When we were journeying between Ohio and the State of Missouri, Joseph told us if we did not keep the commandments of God and hearken to his counsel we should die off like rotten sheep in that camp. There was no sickness among us at that time, and probably some in the camp did not believe that the words of the Prophet would be fulfilled; but after we had traveled a few weeks, and did not do that which we were told, we learned to our sorrow that the hand of the Lord was upon us, and found the words of the Prophet verified to the very letter, and numbers were laid low by cholera.

The Lord has told us in this book that he would scourge this people, and would not suffer them to go on in wickedness as he does the world. He will make a difference in this respect between those who profess his name and the world. The world may prosper. They have not the religion of Heaven among them; they have no revelators and prophets among them; they have not the baptism of the Holy Ghost, nor the gifts and blessings of God among them, and consequently though they transgress the revealed word of God, he suffers them to go on, apparently without checking them, until they are fully ripened in iniquity, then he sends forth judgment and cuts them off, instead of chastening them from time to time. Not so with the Saints. God has decreed, from the early rise of the Church, that we should be afflicted by our enemies, and by various afflictions, and he would contend with this people and chasten them from time to time until Zion should be clean before him. He has done this, and more especially while we were in the States. We were inexperienced, and did not then under– stand the necessity of strictly obeying every word spoken by the mouth of God, and we had to suffer because of this. We were first driven from Kirtland, in the State of Ohio; driven again from Jackson County, in the State of Missouri; again from Clay County into other counties in Missouri; again from Far West and Caldwell County; driven from the State of Illinois, though we were prospered there until the people waxed wealthy through their industry, then we were driven again. We have been literally fulfilling the prophecies contained in this good old book, the Bible. Zion has been tossed to and fro and not comforted. She has been driven from place to place and from State to State, until finally she was driven into the wilderness. What have all these afflictions been for? To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of the Prophets. Joseph Smith told us, or the Lord did through him, and it is printed here in this book, that when he first planted this people in Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, if we did not take such and such a course, our enemies would come upon us, our blood would be shed by them, and we should be scattered and driven from place to place, and this has been literally fulfilled upon our heads.

I do not know that it is necessary to say any more about the new revelations, let us turn now to some of the old ones. I might refer you to many prophecies contained in the Book of Mormon, as well as those contained in the Book of Covenants relative to the great judgments of the latter days, but I perceive that I shall not have time to do so, and also to refer to some that are in the Bible. I will turn now to the revelations of St. John, and will refer first to a few sayings contained in the 14th chapter, commencing at the 6th verse—

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.

It seems that the dispensation in which the Angel should fly was to be characterized as a dispensation of judgment. Immediately after the Angel brought the Gospel judgment was to be poured out on the nations of the earth. In the 8th verse we read, “And there followed another angel, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ And a third angel followed, saying with a loud voice, ‘If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’”

To show that this preaching of the Gospel and the pouring out of these judgments upon spiritual Babylon the Great, was a work which should precede the coming of the Son of Man, I will read the 14th verse and to the end of the chapter

And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

You see then from this what is to follow the coming of that Angel with the Gospel. The one representing the Son of man is to thrust in his sickle and reap the earth, then the Angels are sent forth to thrust in their sickles and also to reap. These Angels are to gather the clusters of the vine of the earth into one place that they may be punished and the judgment which will overtake them who are thus gathered together will be so severe as to cause the blood that is shed to reach to the horses’ bridles. That is called the winepress of the Lord. Would you like to know where that spot is, and why the people are gathered there? The Lord will suffer three unclean spirits, John tells us in another place, to go forth about that time, spirits of devils working miracles, and they shall gather together the kings and great men of the earth and their armies to a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon, the Lord calls it a great wine press. Where is this Armageddon? It is a little east of the old city of Jerusalem.

In order to show you that that is the wine press where the Lord will pour out these judgments, let me call your attention to the third chapter of the prophecies of Joel, where this same thing is alluded to, the valley of Jehoshaphat mentioned by Joel, and the valley of Armageddon spoken of by John, being very near together, in the same neighborhood. Joel says—

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

In the 9th verse he says—Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

The Lord will come with all his Saints in the clouds of heaven just about the time this army gets into the valley of Jehoshaphat.

Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

“Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe”—the same harvest mentioned in the 14th chapter of John.

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

If you want to know about the time when the sun and moon are to be darkened, and when the stars will no longer give any light, and when there will be total darkness over all the face of the earth, here is an event predicted so that you cannot mistake. When you see the nations of the earth, especially the heathen nations, and also those north of Jerusalem—the great nation of Russia and other nations on the continent of Asia, together with many in Europe, gather up against Jerusalem after the Jews have returned and rebuilt their city and Temple, and when their armies become exceeding great multitudes in the valley of decision, then you may look for the Lord to come down with his mighty ones, and for the constellations of heaven to be darkened.

The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

The children of Israel as well as Judah will put their trust in the Lord God of their fathers in that day, and they will look for deliverance from his hand. They will know that they cannot stand without the aid of the Lord against all those from the north quarters—Gog and Magog, all the hosts of Russia, and of the various nations round about that come up there and cover the land like a cloud. They will know that unless God helps them they cannot obtain a victory over this mighty host; but they will put their trust in the Lord, and he will “roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem,” and he will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel.

So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and the fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water, the valley of Shittim.

Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.

Let me make a few remarks here in relation to the difference between Zion and Jerusalem. Zion will be favored with the presence of the Lord before the Jews are permitted to behold him. The Lord will come to the Temple of Zion before he comes to the Temple at Jerusalem. Before he comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, he will manifest himself in the city and Temple of Zion; or in other words all the pure in heart who are permitted in those days to enter into the Lord’s Temple in Zion, which will be built on this continent, the Lord will reveal his face onto them, they will see him and he will dwell in the midst of Zion. His throne will be there. This land—the land given to the children of ancient Joseph, now called the American continent—will be the land of Zion, and the great central capital on this land will be the New Jerusalem; and the inhabitants of that city and their habitations and Temple will be overshadowed by the glory of God. But after he has come to and roared out of Zion, after he has “suddenly come to his Temple,” and visited his people there in the character of a Shepherd, and dwelt in their midst for a long space of time, he then goes with all his Saints to visit old Jerusalem, the last work before the day of rest shall come being to visit those nations that are gathered together in the great winepress to be trodden without the city on the east side of the city, and there the blood of horses, camels and men will be mingled together, and in those small valleys, so great will be the number slain that the blood will reach to the horses’ bridles, for a certain distance, according to the words of the Lord.

I do not know that I have time to enter into a full investigation of some other terrible judgments that are to come, but I will refer to a few of them mentioned in the revelations of St. John. Before doing so, however, let me say for your information that the Lord gave through the Prophet Joseph Smith what is termed a key to John’s revelation. The Prophet on one occasion asked the Lord what was meant by the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels, and the Lord answered him in this language, as near as I can recollect: “As the Lord made the earth and the heavens in six days, and on the seventh day finished his work and made man out of the dust of the earth, so in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth and redeem man, even all that is within his power, and shall seal all things unto the end of all things. And the sounding of the seven trumps is the preparing and finishing of his work in the morning of the seventh thousand years.”

This gives a clue to the time when the seven angels will sound. They will not sound their trumpets in the evening of the sixth thousand years, but when the six thousand years shall have passed away from the creation, and the morning of the seventh has commenced, then these great events will happen. Jesus does not come immediately at the commencement of the seventh thousand years, but as there was a work in the beginning which he performed on the seventh day, such as planting the garden and placing men therein, so there will be a certain work to be performed in the beginning of the seventh thousand years, namely, the resurrection and redemption of man, including the heathen nations and those people in prison who have died without the law and have been punished for their sins. When the Lord has caused these seven angels to sound their trumps, he will bring about all these purposes which he has ordained, and which must be accomplished in that morning. Before Jesus appears in the clouds of heaven they are to sound to prepare the way of the Lord before his coming. What will take place when they sound? I will tell you some few things.

When the first angel sounds there will come upon the inhabitants of the earth a great hailstorm mingled with fire and blood, and so severe will be this storm of fire and blood, that one-third of the trees will be destroyed, and all the green grass will be burned up. The second angel will sound his trump, and the Lord will pour out his judgments upon the water, and a third part of the sea will become blood, and in consequence of the corruption thereof one-third part of all the animals living in the sea will die.

When the third angel sounds his trump, John says he saw a star fall from heaven to earth, burning as it were like a lamp, and it fell upon the fountains and rivers of water, and they were turned into bitterness, and the name of the star was called “Wormwood,” and great were the numbers of the people who perished and died because of the bitterness of the waters.

The fourth angel will sound his trump and certain judgments will follow. By and by the fifth angel will sound his trump, and an angel will descend holding the key of what is termed the bottomless pit, and he will open the door of this pit, and there shall issue therefrom certain terrible creatures called locusts. And it will be given unto them to torment men five months—the time which is to intervene between the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets, and during that time these awful creatures, such as neither we nor our forefathers, in all the generations before us, have ever seen on the earth, will torment the wicked. These creatures have wings, hair like women, teeth like lions, tails like scorpions, and with their stings they will torment the wicked for five months. But it will not be given unto them to destroy men, only to torment them. That will be a terrible judgment. They will have a king over them, whose name in the Greek tongue is “Apollyon,” in other words the devil. He has power over them and with them, and commands these awful beings, and they go forth and torment the inhabitants of the earth, but are not permitted to kill them. Men in those days will seek for death, but it will flee from them, although they will greatly desire it on account of the terrible torment they endure.

When the Lord permits the devil to go forth and torment people he has considerable power. You can see this in the case of Job. When the devil stirred up the Lord to torment Job, the devil was permitted to go and strike Job with pestilence, with sore boils, and to make him feel sorrow, pain and distress. Said the devil to the Lord, “He will curse you to your face,” and to prove whether he would or not Job was sorely smitten and afflicted; and so will men be afflicted by these awful creatures which will issue from the bottomless pit, and are under his command.

By and by the sixth angel sounds his trumpet, and what will take place? The powers around the great river Euphrates in Asia will be loosed, and they will come forth riding on horses, and the number of them is two hundred thousand thousand, that is two hundred millions—a great and tremendous army, greater than the inhabitants of the earth ever saw before. Who will be with them? This same class of beings with animals such as the earth never saw nor heard of, only as they heard of them in the revelations of St. John. Animals with brimstone and fire issuing from their mouths, having tails like serpents, and heads to their tails, and with these one-third part of the inhabitants of the earth are to be destroyed. How long will it be before they are destroyed? There will be at least a year pass away between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets. This great army is prepared for a day, and an hour, a month and a year. Now I have named some of the judgments, not all, that will transpire before the coming of the Son of Man. Let me refer in a few words to some of the last ones that will come before Jesus makes his appearance, called the seven last plagues. I shall only refer to a few of them.

One of the four beasts gives seven vials filled with the wrath of God to the seven Angels that came out of the Temple and Tabernacle in heaven, and these vials are to be poured out upon the earth. We find that the inhabitants are to be visited with greater judgments than what they have been heretofore, so much so that when the second Angel pours out his vial upon the great waters, instead of a third part of them becoming blood, they all become as the blood of a dead man; and there shall not any living thing be preserved in the great mass of waters on our globe, but everything living in the sea will perish, the whole ocean becoming as the blood of a dead man. Quite a difference between the blood of a dead man and the blood that comes from a living man—one is very nauseous when compared with the other. No wonder then that everything having life in the sea should perish.

A third Angel pours out his vial on the fountains and rivers, and they also become blood. You have already learned that when the third Angel sounded his trump, the third part of the waters become bitter with wormwood, and it was accompanied by certain judgments not universal, but when the last plagues are poured out the fountains and rivers of water, and the ocean become blood. Does this cause the people to repent? One would imagine that all the earth would repent when they see judgments of this kind; yet we are told that for all this the people will blaspheme God, because of their plagues, sores and pains, and the calamities they have to endure. They are given up to hardness of heart, the Spirit of God is withdrawn from them, and instead of repenting of their evil deeds, their murders, sorceries, whoredoms, idolatries, thefts and various crimes that are mentioned, they continue in their wickedness, and judgment after judgment is poured upon them until they are consumed.

When the rivers and fountains are turned into blood, a certain Angel cries out saying, “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and wast and shall be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy.” This shows that there will be Prophets in those days and that these people will shed their blood. A great many people think there are to be no more Prophets; but the Prophets have their blood shed in those days, and God will give the wicked blood to drink.

There are many other things on my mind that I would be glad to lay before you concerning the terrible judgments of the last days, but I have already occupied too much of your time. We are living in this Territory, comparatively at peace, but unless the Latter-day Saints live according to the light which God has revealed to them, they cannot escape. If God sends judgments upon the nations, he will send them upon us. If he cuts off the horses of the nations, as he has said in the Book of Mormon that he will, upon the face of this land, unless we keep his commandments he will cut off ours. If he visits the inhabitants of the earth with pestilence and blood, he will visit us in a similar manner unless we keep his commandments. If the inhabitants of the earth who know not God are to perish because of their wickedness, how much more will he visit those who have greater light and knowledge if they will not keep his commandments? The Lord sent forth the destroyer in ancient times to lay waste the firstborn of the Egyptians, pointing out the means by which his people might escape, and those who failed to do as they were commanded had no promise of being preserved; so in these days when judgments come, they will begin among his Saints, and those who have not attended to the word of wisdom and the laws of life that he has pointed out and have no claim to mercy and favor, God is no respecter of persons. They who have great light and yet sin will endure tribulation and indignation from his hand unless they repent. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 14th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Evening, Jan. 19, 1873.

I do not know when I was more edified and instructed than I was this afternoon in listening to the discourse of Elder Hyde. According to my judgment it was certainly calculated in its nature to edify and instruct every person who listened to it with attention. It was delivered in eloquent language, was plain and simple, pointed and definite, and, if obeyed, was calculated to do good to all.

The Lord has appointed a variety of gifts in his kingdom, some having one and some another, and especially in the Quorum of the Twelve, of which Brother Hyde is the President, there is a great variety of gifts and talents, and it gives me great pleasure to listen to them, and it would be with great satisfaction that I would listen more than I do. But I am frequently called upon to address the people when I would prefer to listen to others.

What subject I may present before you tonight I do not know. Sometimes a subject will open to my mind while I am listening to the singers, and sometimes I rise without having the first thing before my mind to speak to the people, and I trust in God to give me what is needful at the very moment. This is the case with me this evening, and I do humbly pray to my Father in heaven, in the name of his beloved Son, that he will grant unto me the Spirit to discern what to say and what would be most adapted to the wants of those who are present. There is such a vast field of light and truth which God has revealed in different ages of the world, and more especially in our times, that the great difficulty with the servant of God, I have often thought, is to distinguish and discern what portion of the great variety would be most pleasing in the sight of the Lord to lay before the people.

There are a great many peculiarities in our religion, but the generality of the Latter-day Saints are well acquainted with them. Sometimes strangers attend our meetings who would be glad to have us dwell upon certain subjects, which they think would greatly interest them. We are willing to do so, but still we study to have the Spirit to edify all, whether they be in the Church, or whether they be strangers who are here on a visit.

Among the peculiarities which God has revealed directly to the Latter-day Saints may be mentioned the various degrees of happiness and glory which exist in the eternal world, also the various degrees of punishment upon the different classes of individuals. Formerly, before we became Latter-day Saints, we were instructed by our fathers and mothers, and by the ministers whom we heard, that there were but two places in the eternal worlds, one or the other of which was intended for all the human family; that all that happened to miss heaven would be sent to the other place, which they called hell. This subject was dwelt upon very lengthily and very interestingly by Brother Hyde this afternoon, and during his remarks he told about the different mansions that God had in reserve for all the human family, some of which are glorious, and others intended as places of punishment. These things were dwelt upon very fully by Brother Hyde, in some respects, but there were some items connected with them that were not fully investigated and laid before the people.

The way that we obtained a more perfect knowledge of the future condition of the children of men was by revelation; indeed all the knowledge that ever mankind did obtain in relation to this matter was by revelation. We read in Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians something about the different glories connected with the resurrection of the dead. We are told in the reasoning of Paul that when people come forth from the dead, some will inherit one glory and some another; and these glories are typified by the various creations which the Lord had made. Paul says, “there is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, and that as one star differs from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.”

We are also told in the Scriptures that there is a great variety of punishments as well as glories—these punishments differing in nature according to the works of the children of men. For instance we read of some persons who are to be punished for sins they have committed without any chance of forgiveness either in this world or in the world to come. This plainly indicates to us that certain classes of sins cannot be forgiven in that world, while other classes of sins may be forgiven on certain conditions. He that sins against the Holy Ghost, we are told, shall not receive forgiveness. Men can sin against God the Father, and if they repent in this world, they may be forgiven; if they sin against Jesus his Son, and repent and work the works of righteousness, these sins may be blotted out; but if they sin against the Holy Ghost after having received the same and been baptized by him, there is no forgiveness for that sin, neither in this world nor in the world to come.

Now if there is to be a variety of punishments as well as a variety of glories, there must be a variety of places of punishment. It would look inconsistent to us, even here in this life, to see a person guilty of but a small crime against the laws of our country thrust into the same dungeon with the murderer. It would be unjust, for instance, according to our notions, for a person who has committed but a trifling offense against the law to be thrust into the darkest and deepest dungeon along with him who has shed innocent blood. We have sufficient justice in our own bosoms to classify these individuals and to point out to each the apartment in which he is to dwell. Is the Lord less just than man? Is he not filled with the great principles of justice far beyond that which any man ever did receive? From him have emanated all our ideas of justice, consequently we cannot look upon him as a being who would consign the poor heathen who died without a knowledge of the law, and others who have led moral lives but who have not obeyed the Gospel of the Son of God, to the same punishment as the murderer and him who sheds innocent blood. We should regard it as unjust if all these classes were to be thrust into one place, there to welter under the same conditions of punishment throughout the endless ages of eternity without any hope of redemption. I could not look upon this as just, and I pre– sume that no other reflecting being could, especially if he was acquainted with the Scriptures. Jesus, in speaking upon this subject, says—“He that knows his master’s will and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes;” while he who is ignorant of his master’s will and does things that are worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. I have not quoted the saying of Jesus, word for word, but I have given you the sentiment; the Lord, therefore, in judging man, judges not by the act in all cases, but according to the understanding and knowledge of the individual who performs that act. If two persons were each to commit a murder—shed innocent blood—and one had a full knowledge of the revealed law of God, and the other was in entire ignorance of it, there would be a distinction in judging these two characters. We would say at once that he who had sinned against knowledge should receive a heavier punishment than he who had not this knowledge.

Suppose that Saints, who have not only heard the law of God, but have embraced the Gospel of the Son of God, have been renewed in their minds by the power of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, should be so far overcome as to shed innocent blood, would there be any forgiveness for them? Not at all. Would it be our duty, if such a person were judged, and condemned by the laws of our country to be hanged by the neck until dead, to visit him and pray that God would forgive his sins? No, we would be sinning against God in doing so. Why? Because God has revealed to us that persons who have this light and knowledge, and shed innocent blood, cannot be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come, and we should not ask him to do that which he has decreed that he will not do. Such a person commits the unpardonable sin—he sheds innocent blood after having the light of the Holy Ghost, knowing that in so doing he is not only sinning against God the Father and against his Son, but against the convictions of the Holy Ghost.

Supposing, again, that persons outside of this Church, that have heard the Gospel of the Son of God, but have refused to obey it, should murder, they sin against great light and knowledge, but not against the Holy Ghost. Here is the difference between the two classes of murderers; the Latter-day Saint would never be forgiven, but he would become a son of perdition.

Now let me bring up some instances from Scripture in regard to these different classes of individuals and the light and knowledge which they had. Some may be forgiven, as I have already stated, in the world to come. Let me refer you to a certain class that are named in the Scriptures that will be forgiven on certain conditions. You recollect that the Apostle Peter, having gathered around him a large congregation of Jews, the murderers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who had shed innocent blood, delivered to them a discourse, but it was a very different one to that which he preached to the mixed multitude who had gathered from the different nations on the Day of Pentecost. When he preached to the latter he said, “Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you and your children, and unto all that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call.” That was a true Gospel sermon, preached to individuals that were not guilty of murder. They were all required to repent, believe in Jesus Christ, to be baptized in water for the remission of sins, and they and all who were afar off, who would receive the Gospel, were promised the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. But come to the other sermon to which I have referred, the one preached to the wicked and corrupt Jews who crucified Jesus. Peter said, we wot not but what you have done it through your ignorance—in other words, you have not received the Holy Ghost, and because you have not had the Spirit of the Lord resting upon you, you have shed the blood of the Innocent One, you have murdered the Son of God, the Messiah; but you have done it through ignorance. Now the question is, was there any hope for them? Could they have their sins forgiven in this life? No, Peter, after first telling them that they had shed the blood of the Just One in their ignorance, then tells them how and when they may obtain forgiveness. I will repeat the words: “Repent ye, therefore, and be converted”—no baptism here—“repent ye, therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, when he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restitution of all things spoken of by the mouth of all the Holy Prophets since the world began.” He did not tell them to be baptized for the remission of their sins. Why? Because he understood too well the nature of their sin to tell them to be baptized for the remission thereof. He knew they had lost that privilege in this world, because they had shed the blood of the Holy and Just One. He said to them, If you will repent now, you murderers, you who have killed Jesus, the Just and Holy One, there is one hope that even your sins may be blotted out. Not in this life, not by baptism for the remission of sins, but when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and he shall send Jesus Christ, whom the heavens will receive until then, and not even then unless they repent while here in this life. This must have been sorrowful news to those to whom it was communicated, if they believed it.

“Repent and be converted.” Notice now what this sentence means. The word “converted” has been construed to be “born of God,” or to become a new creature; but the true meaning of the word is to reform our lives, converted from doing that which is evil to do that which is good—turning from sin and transgression to that which is righteous before God. If those Jews would repent and turn or be converted from their sins to do that which was right, they had a hope of having their sins blotted out when Jesus should be sent from the presence of the Father in the times of restitution; but until then they must remain in torment, suffering for their sins.

Let me bring up another instance. There was a man in ancient times named David, and because he was a man after God’s own heart, the Lord chose him to be king over Israel. The Lord also greatly blessed this man, and poured out richly upon him the spirit of prophecy and revelation, and many of his psalms, which we now sing with so much pleasure in our meetings, contain prophecies relating to the most remote generations of the human family. This man was a Pro– phet and Revelator, he was filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke as he was moved upon by that Spirit. God loved him, and said that he was a man after his own heart. God also blessed him, while but a ruddy youth, fleeing from cave to cave, and from mountain to mountain to escape from the persecutions of Saul, who sought to take his life, with eight wives. This was before he was placed upon the throne. But after Saul had been cut off and David had been elevated to the throne of Israel, the Lord also gave him all the wives of Saul his master. So says Nathan the Prophet, and he was sent to reprove David. What had he done to need reproof? Why he had taken his neighbor’s wife, a person he had no claim upon, and he not only committed adultery by thus taking the wife of another, but by his order her lawful husband was placed in front of the battle that he might be destroyed, and he was destroyed, hence, though he himself did not thrust a dagger to his heart, he became a murderer in the sight of heaven by having this man placed where his blood would be shed. After all his goodness, and after all the light and knowledge which God had given to this man, he committed these two great crimes. Nathan the Prophet was sent to reprove him for them, and he did so by means of a parable. He told David, the king, that a certain poor man had but one ewe lamb, and his rich neighbor, close by, had a great flock, and there came along a stranger, and the rich man went to this poor man’s fold and took the only sheep he had and dressed it in order to make a sumptuous feast for the stranger. This kindled David’s wrath, for though he had transgressed, the principle of justice was not extinct in his bosom, and he said, “He who hath done this thing shall surely die.” Nathan said, “Thou art the man.” God hath given to thee a great number of wives, among the rest all the wives of thy master Saul. All this great flock of sheep, as it were, has been given unto you from the Lord, yet you have gone and taken the only one that a poor man had, and committed adultery with her, therefore said the Lord, I will punish you. With what kind of punishment was this man punished? Amongst them was that of suffering in the eternal worlds. How long? I cannot say exactly, but a good many centuries, a thousand years at least; this man, once righteous, now wicked, had to suffer the penalty of that crime. Did he repent? He did. Did he cry unto the Lord? He did. Was he sorely troubled? He was, and he was perhaps as repentant as anyone could be; but the decree had gone forth, and hence that man had to endure the penalty of his crime. Peter, when referring to this subject on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, quotes from the Psalms of David, and says, “Thou hast not left my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” It seems that after all, though David’s repentance could not wipe away his sin, yet he had a hope, and he looked forward to the time when he would be liberated from hell; when that time arrived he would come forth and receive some kind of a glory, how much I do not know, for it is not revealed; but suffice it to say, he sinned against great light and knowledge and because of his sin he fell from a very high position. That he had received many of the principles that are now understood by the Lat– ter-day Saints, under the new and everlasting covenant, I doubt; for if he had he never could have been redeemed, he never could have said, “Thou wilt redeem my soul from hell,” etc.

Let us refer to some other instances. There were the Lamanites, a people who, according to the Book of Mormon, had dwindled in ignorance on this American continent before Christ came. They had dwelt here for centuries, and before the coming of our Savior they were sunk in the depths of ignorance. They had lost the knowledge of the principles of salvation, and they had become a very ignorant, wicked, idolatrous people. The Nephites, an enlightened nation which dwelt on this continent at the same time, sent missionaries to the Lamanites to convert them, if possible, from their sins. They went amongst them and had much success, bringing a great many thousands of them to a knowledge of the truth. This nation had been taught, in their ignorance and wickedness, that there was no harm in murdering the Nephites, and they had murdered them while in ignorance of the law of God; but when the Gospel was laid before them, could they obtain forgiveness for these murders? On certain conditions, and one of them was that they would lay down their weapons of war, and they did so, burying them deep in the earth as a testimony before God that they would no more shed innocent blood; and through their great sorrow and repentance the Lord had compassion upon them, and he forgave in this life the sins they had committed in ignorance. That showed that murderers, under certain conditions, could be forgiven here; but there are other classes of murderers for whose forgiveness in this life it would be very wrong to pray, even if they never had received the Holy Ghost—I mean those who have read and understood the revealed law. To pray for present forgiveness would be contrary to the mind and will of God, and hence it would be sinning against him. I believe I have said sufficient to show the principle upon which the Lord acts in punishing the sins of the children of men. Now let me say a few words in relation to their coming forth and redemption.

I will here ask, will many of these individuals who have sinned against God come forth and inherit that high degree of exaltation in the celestial world? This is a great question. Can they inherit the same glory that will be enjoyed by the Saints who have lived in different ages of the world and endured faithful to the end? Can they receive that full exaltation and shine forth in the kingdom of God? No. Why not? Because they are not prepared for it. I do not say but what they may in some future age, according to the purposes of God, be led along from one step to another, until, finally, some of them attain to celestial glory. We Latter-day Saints believe that when the Lord comes he will redeem the heathen nations, not into his presence, into celestial glory, but they will come forth from their graves; not with celestial bodies and prepared to wear a celestial crown, to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. No; such a glory they cannot have, but they will have a glory adapted to the light and knowledge which they have had, and that glory is typified by the moon. “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, and as one star differeth from another star in glory, so also in the resurrection of the dead.” Now, there is quite a difference among these celestial bodies that shine in the firmament. The sun is far more glorious than the moon, so much so that astronomers tell us it would take several hundred thousand full moons to make a light equal to the light of the sun; in other words, if all our visible firmament from the horizon was just one glare of moons, all this would not be equal to the light of the sun, consequently you can form an idea of the difference between the glory of the sun and the glory of the moon.

Again, when we look upon those twinkling stars in the firmament of heaven, we see some shining with a much greater brilliancy than others, and they are divided into classes by astronomers, and ranked according to their magnitude, or according to the intensity of the light they shed forth upon our world, not according to the real nature of the stars, because they are too far off for us to judge of that, only we know that they are suns, the centers of systems, and that they shine by their own radiance; and if we were as near to them as we are to our sun, many of them would be far more resplendent in their glory, and would shed forth more light than our sun does. But the Apostle Paul in speaking on this subject had reference to the glory of the stars as they appear to us, and to the amount of light which they seem to send forth.

Now those persons who receive a glory like that of the stars, or as the light of the stars appears to us, will not come up to that glory enjoyed by the heathen, for their glory will be like that of the moon, and all the stars put together do not shed forth as much light upon our world as one moon, and hence the glory of that class of beings whose glory differs as the stars will be lower than that of the heathen, for they will receive the glory of the moon. But all who go into the glory typified by the sun will have to obey certain principles of law, and that law is a celestial law. What is that law? It is the law of the Gospel. All persons in these days who enter celestial glory must not only be acquainted with the Gospel as taught in ancient times, but they must be acquainted with it as it is taught and administered by men having authority to administer it now. If they do this, they will be entitled to the blessings of the Gospel, to the forgiveness of sins in this world, and being thus made the sons and daughters of God, they will be entitled to all the fullness of the glory of that plan of salvation, and Jesus says that they shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of my Father.

As we have not time to enter fully into the investigation of all these different glories, I wish more particularly to inquire concerning the nature of this higher state of glory called celestial. Will there be any difference among those who are redeemed into that glory? There will, in some respects. They will all be equal in the enjoyment of some blessings, and so far their glory will be the same, but yet in some respects there will be a difference. Some who will inherit a portion of that glory will have no families, they will be deprived of that blessing to all ages of eternity, while others will receive an exaltation and kingdom, and will have wives, children, dominion, greatness and power far above those I first referred to.

Now why should there be this distinction in the celestial kingdom, and what is the cause of it? It is because certain persons who have obeyed the Gospel have become careless and indifferent in regard to securing that high exaltation which was within their reach. God has revealed to this people what is needful for an exaltation in his kingdom. He has revealed to us, as we heard from Elder Hyde this afternoon, that marriage is destined for eternity as well as time—that the marriage covenant between male and female must be entered into in this life, and the ordinance performed here by those whom God has appointed and ordained to hold the keys and authority to seal on earth that it may be sealed in heaven; for in heaven there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage; no such thing can be attended to there. Now persons among the Latter-day Saints who do not enter into this covenant of marriage but prefer to lead a single life cannot enjoy all that fullness of exaltation which will be possessed by those who have had this covenant sealed upon them. They might not have forfeited the blessing of celestial glory altogether, but they have forfeited the right to have wives by which only they could have a posterity in the eternal worlds. Who will be the subjects in the kingdom which they will rule who are exalted in the celestial kingdom of our God? Will they reign over their neighbors’ children? Oh no. Over whom then will they reign? Their own children, their own posterity will be the citizens of their kingdoms; in other words, the patriarchal order will prevail there to the endless ages of eternity, and the children of each patriarch will be his while eternal ages roll on. This is not according to present customs, for now when a young man reaches the age of twenty-one years he is free from his parents, and considers that he is no longer under the necessity of being controlled by his father. That is according to our customs, and the laws of our country. It is a very good law and adapted to the imperfections that now exist; but it will not be so in the eternal worlds. There will never be any such thing there as being from under their father’s rule, no matter whether twenty-one or twenty-one thousand years of age, it will make no difference, they will still be subject to the laws of their Patriarch or Father, and they must observe and obey them throughout all eternity. There is only one way by which children can be freed from that celestial law and order of things, and that is by rebellion. They are agents, and they can rebel against God and against the order of things he has instituted there, just as Satan and the fallen angels rebelled and turned away. The increase of those who are exalted in that kingdom will endure forever; and the bringing forth of children will not be attended with sorrow, pain and distress as it is here: these evils have come in consequence of the fall of man and the transgression by him of God’s holy laws. But when men are redeemed to immortality and eternal life there will be no pain, sorrow or affliction of body, and yet children will be brought forth, and to their increase there will be no end. Hence the promise of God to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that their seed should be as numerous as the stars of heaven, or as the sands upon the seashore. We all know that the sand on the seashore is innumerable to us. If we take a handful it numbers its tens of thousands of grains, and if Abraham’s seed are to become as numerous as the sands on the seashore they will fill a great many worlds like this of ours. There is to be no end to the increase of the old Patriarch, and, as his posterity increases, world on world will be created and brought into existence, and those children will be sent forth from the presence of the Patriarch to take upon themselves bodies, as we have done here in this world. I mean their spirits. Understand me now, resurrected parents are the parents not of bodies of flesh and bones, but of spirits the same as we were before we came and took these mortal bodies, that is, when we lived up in yonder world in the presence of our Father, and in the company of the thousands of millions of our brother and sister spirits. They will be of the same class and nature, and they will have to take their position in worlds that will be created for them the same as we came from heaven to this world, that we might gain knowledge and experience that we could not gain in any other way. Thus will the Lord continue his work and purposes, and there will be one eternal round in creation, and redemption, in the formation and redemption of worlds, and bringing them back into his presence.

We read that God is the Father of our spirits, the Father of the spirits of all flesh Moses calls him. The Apostle James tells the Saints in his day, that we have fathers in the flesh who have corrected us, how much more ought we to be obedient to the Father of our spirits and live?

What will become of the old bachelor who refuses to obey the ordinance of marriage? We have preached to the young men of this Territory, and laid before them the sacredness of the marriage covenant. We have told them and the young women that it is their duty to enter into this covenant as much as it is their duty to be baptized for the remission of their sins. The same God that commanded the latter gave the revelation concerning the marriage covenant, yet there are some who will give heed to one ordinance—baptism—but will be careless and indifferent about the other. By taking this course they do not altogether forfeit their right and title to enter that kingdom, but they do forfeit their right and title to be kings therein. What will be their condition there? They will be Angels.

There are many different classes of beings in the eternal worlds, and among them are angels. Who are these angels? Some of them have never yet come to take upon them bodies of flesh and bones, but they will come in their times, seasons and generations and receive their tabernacles, the same as we have done. Then there are others who were resurrected when Jesus was, when the graves of the Saints were opened and many came forth and showed themselves to those who were then living in the flesh. Besides these there are angels who have been to this world and have never yet received a resurrection, whose spirits have gone hence into celestial paradise, and there await the resurrection. We have now mentioned three classes of angels. There are others, among them some redeemed from former creations before this world was made, one of whom administered to our first parents after they were cast out of the garden as they were offering sacrifices and burnt offerings, according to the commandments which they received from God when they were driven from the garden. After they had done this many days an Angel came and ministered to them and inquired of them why they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings unto the Lord. The answer was, “I know not, save it be that the Lord commanded me.” Then this angel went on to explain to our first parents why these offer– ings were made and why they were commanded to shed the blood of beasts, telling them that all these things were typical of the great and last sacrifice that should be offered up for all mankind, namely the Son of the living God. These angels that came to Adam were not men who had been redeemed from this earth—not men who had been translated from this earth—but they pertained to former worlds. They understood about the coming of Jesus, the nature of these sacrifices, &c.

Some of these angels have received their exaltation, and still are called angels. For instance Michael has received his exaltation. He is not without his kingdom and crown, wife or wives and posterity, because he lived faithful to the end. Who is he? Our first, great progenitor, Adam, is called Michael, the Prince. I am mentioning now things that the Latter-day Saints are acquainted with. Many of these things I have just been quoting are revelations given to us, as those who are readers will recollect. Some of these angels have received their exaltation. They are kings, they are priests, they have entered into their glory and sit upon thrones—they hold the scepter over their posterity. Those other classes I have mentioned have neglected the new and everlasting covenant of marriage: They cannot inherit this glory and these kingdoms—they cannot be crowned in the celestial world. What purpose will they serve? They will be sent on errands—be sent to other worlds as missionaries to minister, they will be sent on whatever business the Lord sees proper; in other words, they will be servants. To whom will they be servants? To those who have obeyed and remained faithful to the new and everlasting covenant, and have been exalted to thrones; to those who have cove– nanted before God with wives so that they may raise up and multiply immortal intelligent beings through all the ages of eternity. Here is the distinction of classes, but all of the same glory, called celestial glory.

But how about these terrestrials, can they come up into the celestial? No, their intelligence and knowledge have not prepared and adapted them to dwell with those who reign in celestial glory, consequently they cannot even be angels in that glory. They have not obeyed the law that pertains to that glory, and hence they could not abide it. But will there be blessings administered to them by those who dwell in celestial glory? Yes, angels will be sent forth from the celestial world to minister to those who inherit the glory of the moon, bearing messages of joy and peace and of all that which is calculated to exalt, to redeem and ennoble those who have been resurrected into a terrestrial glory. They can receive the Spirit of the Lord there, and the ministration of angels there.

Now let us come to still inferior glories. I have mentioned those who inherit the glory of the stars. Who are they? They are not the heathen, for they come up higher—into the terrestrial glory. Who are they, then, who are permitted only to inherit a glory typified by the stars? They are the general world of mankind, those who have heard the Gospel of the Son of God but have not obeyed it. They are to be punished. How long? Until Jesus has reigned here on the earth a thousand years. How much longer? Until the “little season” has passed away after the end of the thousand years, and then when the final end shall come and the trump of God shall sound, and the great white throne shall appear and the heaven and the earth shall flee away; when that time shall come, the sound of the trump shall call forth those sleeping millions of all ages, generations and nations who have heard the sound of the Gospel and have not obeyed it, but until then their bodies must sleep. They are not worthy of “the first resurrection.” “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, for on such the second death has no power.” But those who will not give heed to the law of the Gospel have no claim on this first resurrection, and their bodies must sleep through all these long centuries that are to intervene between the time of their death and the end of the earth. Where will their spirits be all that time? Not in any glory; they cannot inherit a glory until their punishment is past. They are not permitted to enter into prison. A great many people, and perhaps some of the Latter-day Saints, have supposed that these characters will go into prison. I do not know of any revelation anywhere intimating that anyone of this class of persons will ever be put in prison. Where do they go? To another place altogether different from a prison. A prison is designed for those who never heard the Gospel here in the flesh, but yet have committed a few sins without the knowledge of the revealed law, and who have to be beaten with few stripes in prison. But these persons who hear the Gospel, as the nations of the present dispensation are doing, cannot go to prison, it is not their place. They fall below a prison, into outer darkness or hell, where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There they have to remain with the devil and his angels in torment and misery until the final end, then they come forth. Can they come where God and Christ dwell? No, worlds without end they cannot come there. Can they go into the presence of the heathen where the glory is that of the moon? No, they cannot even come there. When they are delivered from the power of Satan and endless death and brought forth, where do they go? If they do not go into the presence of God the Father, if they are not counted worthy to enter into the terrestrial world among the heathen, where will they go? God has provided mansions for them according to their works here in this world. Having suffered the vengeance of eternal fire for the space of a thousand years and upwards, and suffered the extreme penalty of the law of God, they can now be brought forth to inherit a place where they can be administered unto by terrestrial beings and by Angels holding the Priesthood, and where they can receive the Holy Ghost.

Those in the terrestrial world have the privilege of beholding Jesus sometimes—they can receive the presence of the Son, but not of the fullness of the Father; but those in the telestial world, still lower, receive only the Holy Ghost, administered to them by messengers ordained and sent forth to minister to them for glory and exaltation, providing they will obey the law that is given unto them, which law will be telestial law. That will finally exalt them. How far I know not, but where God and Christ are they cannot come, worlds without end.

Now I think I have set forth these glories and these different degrees of punishment, and the different classes of people that are to be judged according to the knowledge that they have here in this world. I have set these things forth as plainly as I am capable of doing in one short dis– course; and will bring my remarks to close in a few moments.

We are what the Lord calls Latter-day Saints—we have received light and knowledge to that degree from the heavens that will, if obeyed, exalt us to these high privileges of which I have been speaking. On the other hand, if not obeyed, that very light and knowledge are sufficient to sink us below all things. Hence we stand on dangerous ground in some respects, and we have need to fear lest we sin against this light and have not the privilege of even the telestial world. He that rejects this covenant, (let me quote the word of the Lord given in these last days)—“He that rejecteth this covenant and altogether turns therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.” Do you hear it, Latter-day Saints? If you do, then strive with all your hearts to be faithful. Strive to abide in the covenant that you have received. There is no halfway business with us—we have got to remain faithful to this covenant, for if we turn away from it we cannot even claim the glory that the world will have when the last resurrection shall come, but our doom is fixed—we have to dwell with the devil and his angels to all eternity. Why? Because they once had light and knowledge, dwelt in the presence of God, and knew about the glories of his kingdom. But they rebelled, and kept not the law that was given to them—they sinned against light and knowledge and were thrust down in chains of darkness, there to remain until the judgment of the great day. If we do not wish to be placed in their society for all eternity we must abide in the covenant that we have made. If we do this, Latter-day Saints, glory and honor and immortality and eternal lives, and thrones and kingdoms and dominions and creations and worlds will be given to us, and our posterity will increase until, like the sand on the seashore, they cannot be numbered.

Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Dec. 29, 1872.

We are, this afternoon, commemorating according to our usual custom, one of the most important events that has ever transpired in our world, and one which most concerns the whole human family, namely, the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ for the redemption of the human family. No other event can be compared with this in its importance, and in its bearings upon the human family. Everything else is but of a secondary consideration, when compared with the atonement that has been wrought out in behalf of man by the great Redeemer, yet, strange to say, there are those in the Christian world, so called, who profess to believe in Christianity and yet deny the efficacy of the atoning blood that was shed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. More especially has this been the case for a few years past. I suppose there are many thousands who deny this now, where there were but few at the time of the rise of this Church. This has arisen, probably, from the multiplication of spiritual influences, which now prevail to a very great extent in the Christian world—influences that are evil, revelations, false visions, spirit rappings and mediums. Almost without exception these false spirits have taught those who have listened to them, that there is no efficacy in the Atonement.

There is no subject more fully developed and made manifest to the children of men in modern revelation than that of the atonement. Much is said in relation to other doctrines, all of which have a bearing on the atonement, that lying at the foundation of the whole. If the evil one can prevail over the human family so as to get them to deny this fundamental doctrine, he knows that they are safe, so far as serving him and failing of their salvation are concerned. If they can only be wrought upon and deluded so as to disbelieve in the doctrine of the atonement, it does not matter to Satan what else they may believe. It is not my intention, however, this afternoon, unless so led by the Spirit of the Lord, to dwell much on this subject. It is one that has been so thoroughly taught to the Latter-day Saints, that I esteem it almost unnecessary to repeat that with which they are so familiar. By partaking of the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper every Sabbath day, we commemorate that great event. If we do not preach so much about it by word of mouth we certainly fulfill the commandment which God has given requiring us to remember unto the Father the crucified body and shed blood of his Son, without which there would have been no remission of sin, and no redemption, and mankind would have remained in their fallen state. No light could have penetrated the hearts of the children of men, and there would have been no resurrection, no exaltation in the kingdom of God without the atonement. When we speak of total depravity, it has reference to certain conditions. Man is not totally depraved now, and the reason is, there has been an atonement; but do away that, as many do, and total depravity would reign, and men would live and die totally degraded beings. All the light that has come into the world, and that lights every man that comes into the world, has come by reason of the atonement. It is an event that all Christian societies commemorate more or less, or at least they did in former times. They are getting more lax now since the devil and his angels have given so many revelations against the atonement.

The Roman Catholics, about 532 years after Christ, set apart a day called Christmas, which they no doubt believed at that time was the day of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The reason why they set apart Christmas and have kept up its commemoration from that day until the present time, was because a certain monk, a member of their church, named Dionsysius commenced a calculation to ascertain, if possible, the period of time from the birth of Christ to the time the calculation was made; and from all the information that he could glean he set it down at 532 years. They had not printed works in those days as we have now; they had not access to the abundance of historical and chronological information then that we have; but from all the information that Dionysius could glean, and making a calculation thereon, he came to the above result.

He also made a calculation in regard to the day on which he supposed the Savior to have been born, and that was set down as a day to be celebrated by the Roman Catholics church. They have certain ordinances in regard to that day, which you may see observed in their church in this city. People, prior to this time, did not date their documents from the birth of Christ. If they were writing a letter they did not say, in the year of our Lord 520, in the year of our Lord 416, and so on; this was never done until the calculation of Dionysius was made, then it was adopted by the Roman Catholics and by all nations among whom they had power and influence. By and by other chronologists made calculations as to the time of Christ’s birth, and from the information they could gather together, they discovered that Dionysius had made a mistake, and that Christ was born about one year before the time set by him. But by this time there were great numbers of important State and other documents and papers in existence, all dated according to the incorrect calculation of this Romish monk. How to remedy this the people did not know, for it would not do to alter all these dates.

Another set of chronologists made calculations, and they discovered that Dionysius had made a mistake of two years in regard to the time of the Savior’s birth. Four others, very learned men, sought diligently, and from the information they obtained they found that Jesus was born three years before the time published by Dionysius. Five others made it four years; some few made it five years before, and some seven years before the time specified by this Romish monk. All modern chronologists who have taken up the subject, agree that Dionysius was incorrect, at least several years. But did the people alter the dates of their documents and manuscripts when his error was fully made manifest? Not at all; they have continued that old, erroneous reckoning down to this present year. But they have attached the name of vulgar era to it, in order to indicate that it is incorrect. Vulgar era! I think the name is inappropriate, for there are thousands of people at the present day, including the youth of our land, and perhaps many who have had a collegiate education, who never knew or inquired into the meaning of vulgar era, or why the term was introduced. Its real meaning is, incorrect era or date. For instance, we write a letter today, and we call it the 29th day of December, 1872. This is according to the vulgar era, or erroneous date, or the reckoning of Dionysius; but this is not the true date. The probability is, independent of the Bible or Book of Mormon, from the great mass of testimony that has been accumulated for generations past, that Jesus was born nearly four years prior to the commencement of this vulgar era, so that our present year, 1872, should be 1876. You will find a full account of these matters in the writings of the learned, in encyclopedias, and in various works touching upon chronology, so that you have no need to take my testimony alone on this subject, for you have access to our library here in this city, and you can examine works on chronology and see that I am correct. There may be those here who would like me to cite some works on this subject. I will cite one that I read while I was in England, a Bible dictionary, by a very learned author named Smith. This subject is treated very plainly and fully in that work. I think that Mr. John W. Young of this city has this work in his private library. The reason why I make these remarks is, that this is the first Sabbath after Christmas, and the day on which I believe the Roman Catholics in this city are celebrating certain ordinances in their church in commemoration of this event.

Having found out that there is an error in regard to the year of Christ’s birth, now let us inquire if the day observed by the Christian world as the day of his birth, the 25th of December, is or is not the real Christmas Day? A great many authors have found out from their researches that it is not. I think that there is scarcely an author at the present day that believes that the 25th day of December was the day that Christ was born on. Still it is observed by certain classes, and we, whether we make any profession or not, are just foolish enough to observe this old Roman Catholic festival. The boys and girls all look forward with great anticipations to Christmas. Many of them, it is true, do not know the meaning of it, or why it is celebrated; but when we come to reflect on the matter, it is all nonsense to celebrate the 25th day of December as the birthday of Jesus. It will do for a holiday, so you might select any other day for that purpose. It is generally believed and conceded by the learned, who have investigated the matter, that Christ was born in April. I have seen several accounts—some of them published in our periodicals—of learned men in different nations, in which it is stated that, according to the best of their judgment from the researches they have made, Christ was crucified on the 6th of April. That is, the day on which this church was organized. But when these learned men go back from the day of his crucifixion to the day of his birth, they are at a loss, having no certain evidence or testimony by which they can determine it. I intend this afternoon to give light on this subject from new revelation, which we, as Latter-day Saints, can depend upon. I will read to you from the Book of Mormon, some things that happened, at the time of the crucifixion, on this great western hemisphere, and I will say we have a date given there in connection with these events, showing how old Jesus was at the time of his crucifixion. It may not be amiss, however, for me to make a few remarks before I commence reading, to inform strangers who may be present, that the inhabitants of ancient America, and those who wrote the Book of Mormon were Israelites! That when they came from the city of Jerusalem, 600 years before Christ, they were a righteous people, and had prophets among them, and that they kept the law of Moses. Now the sacrifices and burnt offerings of that law were typical of the great offering that was to be made by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ancient inhabitants of this continent, to whom I have referred, understood the nature of these ordinances, and they looked forward to the coming of the true Messiah and celebrated it by these ordinances, the same as we look backward and celebrate his death and sufferings by partaking of the symbols of, as we have done this afternoon.

Now if God led a company of Israelites from Palestine to colonize this continent, and taught them to keep the law of Moses with its sacrifices and burnt offerings, typical of the great sacrifice that was to be made at Jerusalem, it would not be at all strange for him to give to them a sign concerning Jesus, when he should be born, and when he should die. He did this by the mouths of prophets. Numerous prophets were raised up on this land, and they prophesied to the inhabitants thereof, and taught them about the coming of Jesus, and what signs should be given at the time he should come. They taught them that the night before Jesus should be born there would be no darkness on this land, but that it would be perfectly light. They would see the sun set in the evening, and that, during the night, until it should rise the next morning, there would be no darkness; that great signs and lights would appear in the heavens, and that they were to be to them indications of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. These signs were given, and by them the people on this continent knew the very day that Jesus was born.

Some years after this, before the crucifixion of Jesus, they fell into great wickedness. They persecuted the prophets, shed their blood, stoned them to death, and cast them out of their midst, and they were full of wrath and indignation and sinned against great light, so that the Lord was under the necessity of sending other Prophets to them, telling them that at the time of the crucifixion, if they did not repent, many of their cities should be burned with fire, many destroyed with tempests, and that they should be visited with sore judgments and calamities; and that during the time Jesus should be lifted up on the cross, there should be tremendous earthquakes upon all the face of this continent, and that after that there would be three days and three nights of darkness, and that this darkness should come immediately after the execution of the Savior. Now let us read what the Prophet says on page 450 of the Book of Mormon concerning these events, which transpired just as they had been predicted.

“And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, in the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as had never been known in all the land.” From what period was this date reckoned? We are informed on page 435 of this book, that the Nephites began reckoning the beginning of their year from the sign given them at the birth of the Savior—the night without darkness. Previous to that they had reckoned from the time of their leaving Jerusalem, 600 years before Christ, and they continued this some five centuries, until they changed the form of their government on this continent, and introduced judges; then they reckoned their time from the beginning of the reign of the judges. This mode of reckoning lasted ninety-one years. Five hundred and nine years having passed away before the reign of the judges commenced, and ninety-one added to that made 600 years from the time that Lehi and the colony came out of Jerusalem. Then they changed their mode of reckoning, and reckoned from the time this great sign was given in the heavens, so that we know what this date means—“in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, and in the fourth day of the month.” Now I think this gives us a clue to the age of Jesus when he was crucified, but we will read on, and see about the storm.

“There arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder. And there were exceeding sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land. And the city of Zarahemla did take fire.”

Zarahemla was their great capital city. It was located in the north part of South America, on one branch of that river that we call the river Magdalena, that runs down from the mountains to the northward, and empties into the Caribbean Sea. On the west side of that river was located the great city of Zarahemla. We will now read further:

“And the city Zarahemla did take fire. And the city Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned. And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city thereof there became a great mountain.”

Now if our miners, those who go into South America, should happen to dig in a few thousand feet, and should come across old buildings, they need not be astonished, for the Lord made a terrible revolution in the land. There came a great mountain in the place where this city stood; “and there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward”—what we term South America.

“But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward”—North America—“for behold the whole face of the land was changed because of the tempest, and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the exceeding great quakings of the whole earth; And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough. And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great, and there were many in them who were slain. And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away. And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth. And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land.”

You can see from this, what terrible convulsions have taken place on this continent, even here in these mountains. In the mountains west of this valley, you will find the strata of rock set up almost perpendicular; that was not the way they were first formed. You will also find there, as elsewhere, strata dipping at a greater or less angle into the earth. The cause of all this has been the terrible convulsions that our globe has undergone, and more especially at the time of the crucifixion.

“And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours— and then behold there was darkness upon the face of the land.”

I might go on reading, if it were necessary, in regard to the weeping, wailing and mourning of the people during these three days of intense darkness—no sun, moon, nor stars were to be seen, and the vapor was so great that the inhabitants of the land could feel it, the same as the darkness was felt in the land of Egypt. It was not, of course, the darkness that was felt, but the vapor that was so thick. There is one thing, however, to which I wish to call your special attention, before I make any further remarks in regard to the date that is here given. When this darkness dispersed, it is said to have been morning. You will find it on page 454. “And it came to pass that thus did the three days pass away; and it was in the morning, and the darkness dispersed from off the face of land, and the earth did cease to tremble, and the rocks did cease to rend.”

You might say that this was not three days and three nights, for Jesus was crucified and died on the cross at 3 o’clock in the afternoon at Jerusalem, and consequently for it to have been just three days and three nights, you might suppose that the darkness must have dispersed in the afternoon. But this book tells us that when the three days and three nights of darkness had passed away it was morning. Now why this discrepancy—for it seems to be one—between the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Can you account for it, and tell why it should have been morning in America? The reason is because of the difference in longitude. The writer of the account in the Book of Mormon resided in the northwestern portion of South America. Now you take a map of the world, and see the difference in longitude between the place where. Jesus was crucified, and that where the writer of the Book of Mormon lived, and you will find that it is about seven and a half hours. Now you subtract seven and a half hours from 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and what time would it be when the three hours of quaking and the destruction of cities expired, or when the darkness commenced? Would it not be in the morning? Take away seven and a half hours longitude from 3 o’clock—the time that Jesus expired—and would it not be half past seven o’clock in the morning with the inhabitants of this land, while it was afternoon with the inhabitants in Jerusalem?

I presume that Joseph Smith, being an unlearned man, never saw this to the day of his death; that is, he never understood it. I never heard him, or any learned man refer to it until after his death; but reading it over myself, I saw, at first, there was an apparent discrepancy between this book and the New Testament; one placing it in the morning, and the other in the afternoon. When thinking of this seeming discrepancy, the difference in longitude occurred to my mind, and that is just what it should be to account for the difference in time given in the two books; and this, though not direct, is incidental proof that the man who translated this book was inspired of God. I do not think that Joseph Smith, to the day of his death, knew that a difference in time at different places on the earth was caused by their difference of longitude.

We will now go back to the date, at the commencement of the extract I have been reading—“in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, and on the fourth day of the month”—that would make him thirty-three years, three days and part of another day old, at the time of his crucifixion, according to the account given in the Book of Mormon. But this does not decide his age exactly, unless we can learn what kind of years the Nephites reckoned. Did they reckon their years as the English and Americans do? No, I presume not. How can we learn the length of their years? I do not know of any better method than going back to the early Spanish historians who lived contemporary with Columbus, the discoverer of America. When they penetrated into Mexico, and conquered that country, they found that the Mexicans were partially civilized, so that they had many records, although their mode of keeping them was very different from those of other nations. The Mexican calendar gave their views and ideas with regard to the length of the year, and their mode of reckoning them. This was about the close of the fifteenth century, for Columbus discovered America in 1492. Soon afterwards these Spanish historians became extensively acquainted with Mexican literature, their form of writing, and the half civilization that existed among them. I have in my possession nine large volumes, got up soon after the Book of Mormon was translated, by Lord Kingsborough, on Mexican antiquities. The nine volumes will probably weigh over two hundred pounds. Five of them contain nothing but plates of antiquities, the other four contain translations, in English, Spanish and French, of the declarations of historians concerning Mexican literature and their knowledge concerning the length of the year. They reckoned 365 days to the year, but did not add what is termed the intercalary day every four years, to make what we call leap year. They did this only once in fifty-two years, and then they added thirteen days, which made one day for every four years. This shows that they had a very good idea of the length of the year.

When Jesus was crucified, at the age of about, thirty-three years, if the Nephites reckoned according to the Mexican portion of the Israelites, they had not added the eight days that we would add for leap year, consequently this would shorten their years, and instead of being thirty-three years, three days and part of the fourth day, it would bring it, according to our reckoning, eight days less than the Book of Mormon date, or thirty-two years, three hundred and sixty days and fifteen hours. This, then, it is highly probable, must have been the real period that existed between the birth and the crucifixion of our Savior.

Now we have a clue in the New Testament to the time of his crucifixion, but not of his birth; that is, we know that he was crucified on Friday, for all of the Evangelists testify that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, and that on Friday Jesus was hung on the cross, and according to the testimony of the learned, that was on the 6th of April, consequently by going back from the crucifixion 32 years, 360 days and 15 hours, making allowance for the longitude, it gives Thursday for his birthday. Again, making allowance for the errors of Dionysius the monk, adding four years or nearly so to the vulgar or incorrect era, it would make the organization of this Church take place precisely, to the very day, 1,800 years from the day that he was lifted up on the cross.

This is something very marvelous in my mind. Joseph Smith did not choose the 6th of April upon which to organize this Church: he received a commandment from God, which is contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, setting apart that day as the one upon which the Church should be organized. Why did he set up his kingdom precisely 1,800 years from the day on which he was lifted up on the cross? I do not know why. The Lord has his own set time to bring to pass his great purposes. If Joseph Smith had been learned in chronology and in the writings of the world; if he had been a middle-aged or an old man of experience, or a man who had access to libraries, instead of a farmer’s boy, then we might have supposed that perhaps he had studied chronology, sought out the true era, found out how to distinguish between the true and the vulgar, and then find out the true date of the birth of Christ and his crucifixion, and got it all arranged together nicely and harmoniously, and then have pretended that he had had a revelation to organize the Church precisely 1,800 years from that great event. This is what we should have to concede if we wanted to make out the work an imposition: but the very fact that God commanded that boy to organize the Church on that day, ought to be regarded as strong collateral evidence of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

Perhaps I have said all that is needful on this matter. If I were to celebrate Christmas, or the birthday of Christ, I should go back a little less than thirty-three years from his crucifixion, and it would bring it to Thursday, the 11th day of April, as the first day of the first year of the true Christian era; and reckoning on thirty-two years, 360 days and fifteen hours from that, it would bring it to the crucifixion, and bring it on Friday also.

In saying that “it was the thirty-fourth year, first month and fourth day of the month” on which the great storm and earthquakes took place, there is another thing to be noted—that it must have taken place on Friday, according to the Nephite reckoning in order to bring his crucifixion on Friday. If Tuesday was the first day of the 34th year, the second day would be Wednesday, the third Thursday, and Friday would have been the fourth day of the month, just as the Book of Mormon says, bringing it correct according to the reckoning of the days of the week.

There is another thing that, perhaps, a great many of the Latter-day Saints and many of the world have not reflected upon; that is; that the beginning of our present New Year is incorrect, reckoning the years from the birth of Christ, for the first day of January was not the day of his birth. We call it the first day of the year, but it has no reference to the day of Christ’s birth. The first day of the year of the true Christian era should be the day of the Savior’s birth—the 11th day of April. About 122 years ago we did not have the first day of January for New Year. At that time, or thereabouts, everybody in America and England reckoned New Year’s Day on the 25th of March. That had been the first day of the year for many generations. How came it to be changed to the first day of January? In 1751 the Parliament of Great Britain passed a law that the year should be moved backwards from the 25th day of March to the 1st day of January, making the year 1751 some eighty-four days shorter than all the other years had been. Why did they do this? In order to place New Year in connection with a certain event in astronomy. Those who are acquainted with the earth going round the sun, know that the path in which it moves is not a circle but an ellipse, or elongated circle. You make a wire into the form of a circle and then pull it out, and that is the form of an ellipse. The sun is situated in one of the foci of this ellipse, and is nearer to the earth on the 1st day of January or the 31st day of December, by about three millions of miles, than it is on the 1st day of July. The object of placing the year back was to have the year begin when the earth was in its perihelion in going around the sun. This was not the only alteration that has been made, but this accounts for the phrases “new style” and “old style,” with which you occasionally meet in historical documents, the former having reference to the new mode of reckoning, the latter to the old mode.

I have said that this was not the only change made in time. In the year 1752—when the second day of September had arrived, in order to bring the year to correspond with the seasons, it was found necessary to set the time forward so that the 3rd day of September should be called the 14th, eleven days being dropped out of the calendar. This was also established by parliamentary law; and in this way the seasons have been brought to correspond, in some mea– sure, with the length of the year. All these things should be taken into consideration in our dates; and when we read the saying in the Book of Covenants that the Lord organized his Church in the year of our Lord 1830, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month, the Lord made his language to correspond with our present mode of reckoning, that is, he adopted the reckoning of the English, established by parliamentary law. Instead of reckoning the year to begin on the 25th of March, he says, “It being in the year of our Lord 1830, the fourth month, and the sixth day of the month that the Church was organized.” We are not on this account to take this as the real date, but it is adapted to our present mode of reckoning. I have made these remarks, that no persons, if they should feel disposed to search into chronology, might be misled in relation to this matter. Being so near Christmas and New Year, I have deemed it appropriate to dwell on this subject, for the purpose of enlightening the minds of all who may be present, so far as I have information in regard to it.

Now, if I have not already occupied too much time, I desire to dwell a little upon the subject of the chronology of our world. We have no dates on which we can depend as to the period or history of our globe from the creation down to the present time. Chronologists differ in regard to the history and age of the world. Some make the age of the world, from the creation to the coming of Christ, to be four thousand years. Archbishop Usher has introduced this chronology into King James’ Bible; and in that you will find all the dates adapted to that particular reckoning; and according to his reckoning you will find that Christ came in the year of the world 4004. Is this to be depended upon? Not at all. Many chronologists equally as learned, and who have made deeper researches than he has on this subject, differ with him materially. There are many who place the birth of Christ at 5500 years from the creation; others place it at 5490, others at 5508 or 9 years. There are about two hundred chronologists who all differ in regard to this matter. Many Jewish chronologists make it over six thousand years from the creation till the birth of Christ, so that you see when we attempt to take up the subject on the learning of the world, we are in the midst of confusion—no person knows anything about it. It is not really necessary that we should know, but we have some little light on this subject.

We know that it was not six thousand years from the creation to the birth of Christ. How do we know this? God has told us in new revelation that this earth is destined to continue its temporal existence for seven thousand years, and that at the commencement of the seventh thousand, he will cause seven angels to sound their trumpets. In other words, we may call it the Millennium, for the meaning of the word millennium is a thousand years. Six thousand years must pass away from the creation till the time that Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven, and he will not come exactly at the expiration of six thousand years. When the Prophet Joseph asked the Lord what was meant by the sounding of the seven trumpets, he was told, “That as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man, and judge all things and shall redeem all things, except that which he hath not put into his power, when he shall have sealed all things, unto the end of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels is the preparing and finishing of his work, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years—the preparing of the way before the time of his coming.” This quotation will be found in the Pearl of Great Price, p. 34.

Neither of these trumpets have sounded yet, but they shortly will; and this gives us a little clue to the period and age of our world. We know that six thousand years have not yet elapsed since the creation, but we know that they have very nearly expired. We know that God set up and established this kingdom 1,800 years from the date of his crucifixion, preparatory to his coming in the clouds of heaven to receive the kingdom that he sets up here on the earth, and to rule and reign over all people, nations and tongues that are spared alive. Perhaps this is sufficient on the history and chronology of the world; but for the benefit of the Saints, and it will not hurt the strangers, although they do not believe in our revelations, I will refer to some further evidence and testimony on this subject.

In the new translation which Joseph Smith was commanded to make of the Old and New Testament, we find that some of the dates given in King James’ translation of events before the flood are incorrect, but they are corrected in the new translation. For instance, the age of Enoch, as given in King James’ Bible, is incorrect. The new translation gives a lengthy prophecy which was delivered to him before the flood, and this prophecy relates to generations in the future as well as to things that were past. Enoch, in his vision, saw the great work that he was destined to perform on the earth, in preaching the Gospel among the nations, and gathering out a people and building up a city called Zion. He saw that in process of time the people of Zion would become sanctified before the Lord, that the Lord would come and dwell in their midst and that by and by, after the city had existed 365 years, it with all its people, would be taken up to heaven. And all the days of Zion in the days of Enoch, says the new translation, was 365 years, making Enoch 420 years old when he and his people were translated, which is older than the age given him in the uninspired translation.

In this new translation we have also a much greater history of the creation of the world than is given in the uninspired translation made by the forty-seven men employed by King James. In that book we have a very short history of that great event; but the inspired translation shows that the periods of time called days, in which the several portions of the work of creation were performed, were not by any means of such limited duration as the days we speak of, but from what is revealed in the Book of Abraham, they were probably periods of one thousand years each. God might have been for the space of a thousand years in organizing a certain portion of this creation, and that was called the evening and the morning of the first day, according to the Lord’s reckoning, one day being with him as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. By and by another day’s work was performed, which I do not suppose was a day of twenty-four hours, but an indefinite period of time, called the second day—the evening and the morning of the second day. By and by the third day’s work was done, and then there was the evening and the morning of the third day. Three thousand years probably, passed away in the performance of these three days’ work. In the fourth day the Lord permitted the sun and moon to shine to give light to the earth. What regulated the evening and the morning the first three days we do not know, for neither sun nor moon were permitted to shine until the fourth day. I have no doubt, the Lord has a variety of methods of producing light. The new translation gives us some information on this subject, for there we read that, “I the Lord created darkness on the face of the “great deep.” In King James’ translation it says darkness was on the face of the great deep, and I, the Lord, said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” Now how did the Lord create this darkness? He has a power, the same as he had in causing darkness three days and nights over this American land. But before that darkness was created what produced light? It must have been light here on this earth, and probably was so thousands of years before the Lord created darkness; and then he had the means of producing darkness, and afterwards of clearing it away, and then called it morning. But how long that morning had existed we do not know, unless we appeal to the Book of Abraham, translated by Joseph Smith from Egyptian papyrus. That tells us in plainness that the way the Lord and the celestial host reckoned time, was by the revolutions of a certain great central body called Kolob, which had one revolution on its axis in a thousand of our years, and that was one day with the Lord, and when the Lord said to Adam, “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” the Book of Abraham says it was not yet given unto man the true reckoning of time, and that it was reckoned after the Lord’s time that is one thousand years with us was a day with him, and that Adam, if he partook of the forbidden fruit, was to die before that day of a thousand years should expire. Hence when we go back to the history of the creation, we find that the Lord was not in such a great hurry as many suppose, but that he took indefinite periods of long duration to construct this world, and to gather together the elements by the laws of gravitation to lay the foundation and form the nucleus thereof, and when he saw that all things were ready and properly prepared, he then placed the man in the Garden of Eden to rule over all animals, fish and fowls, and to have dominion over the whole face of the earth.

There is another very curious thing revealed in Joseph Smith’s translation, and one that explains some mysterious passages in the first and second chapter of Genesis. In the first chapter of Genesis in King James’ translation we read that on the fifth day the Lord made the whales, the fish and the fowls of the air. On the sixth day he made the animals, beasts and creeping things, and last of all he made man, male and female. Now read along in King James’ translation to the seventh day, and we are told that there was not a man to till the ground, yet he had made them male and female on the sixth day. Now, where were they made? They were made in heaven first. All the children of men, male and female, all the spirits of beasts, fowls, fish and creeping things were made spiritually in heaven before they were placed temporally here on the earth, and the spiritual creation differs from the temporal creation. The new translation says that man was the very first flesh made here on the earth; whereas, according to the account in King James’ translation, the flesh of beasts, fowls and fish was made on the fifth day, before man was made. But in the great temporal work of placing man on the earth, he was the first flesh formed and placed here among all the works of God. He had made the spirits of fish, fowls and beast, but none of them were permitted to come to the earth in their fleshy tabernacles until man, the great masterpiece, was placed here—then they were brought before him—for him to give names to them.

In the work of creation the first is last and the last first. God made the spiritual part of this creation during these six days’ work that we read of; then he commenced the temporal work on the seventh day. He planted the garden on the seventh day; he placed man in that garden on the seventh day; formed the beasts and brought them before the man on the seventh day, all this being the temporal work, the first being spiritual. Not so in the last of his work—the great work that is to come. When the seventh millennium shall arrive the Lord will redeem man and bring him forth from the grave, and he will begin to redeem this creation not making it entirely immortal and spiritual, like a sea of glass. It will exist for a thousand years in a temporal condition, as it was before the Fall. This will be the first of his temporal work in the last days. By and by when the millennium has passed, and the earth passes away and dies and its elements are melted with fervent heat, and there is no place found for it as an organized body, he will again speak and there will be another creation—a creation of this earth out of the old materials; in other words a resurrection of the earth, a literal resurrection. That will be the last of his work. In the morning of creation spiritual first, and lastly temporal. But in the ending temporal first in the redemption, and lastly spiritual, which will be the perfection or ending of his work.

There are a great many things that God has revealed to us as Latter-day Saints, and it would be well for us, for our Elders and for all, to search these revelations, to prepare their minds to understand what God intends to do with our creation, and those who are prepared to inherit it, when it is made new. We, if faithful, shall inherit it in its temporal condition before the millennium passes away. Though our bodies may go down to the grave, God will bring us forth. He will redeem us and bring together bone to its bone, organize the flesh, sinews, muscles and every part of the body in its proper place, cover it with skin, cause the breath to enter into us, and the Spirit from on high to quicken us, and the human spirit, that will dwell in a celestial paradise, to return and take possession of the body. Then we shall inhabit the earth, not at first in its glorified state—that state which eventually awaits it, but in the beginning of its redemption in its temporal condition during the thousand years, of which the work before the Fall was typical.

God bless you. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 14th Ward Assembly Rooms, Sunday Afternoon, Dec. 15, 1872.

It would have been my choice this afternoon to sit and listen to others, but having been requested to address the congregation I cheerfully comply, having a desire in my heart that God will pour out his Holy Spirit upon me and upon the hearers, so that we may be mutually edified. We call ourselves the children of the Most High God. It is a term that is Scriptural in its nature, and that has been applied to the people of God in all ages. In the hymn that was sung, at the opening of this meeting, this subject was more fully portrayed, according to the views of the Latter-day Saints, than is generally expressed by religious people in the world, for I believe that all religious people claim to be, and term themselves, the children of God. It may not be amiss to investigate, for a little while, the reality of this title, and see if we can come to some kind of an understanding in regard to our being the sons and daughters of the Most High God. It is said by some that we are his sons and daughters only by adop– tion, or through obedience to the Gospel; that we become his sons and his daughters, through being born of the water and of the Spirit. Now I admit that it is necessary for the human family to be thus adopted; there would, however, have been no need of this adoption if mankind had never become wicked and corrupt. If there had never been any sin in the world, I do not think that adoption would have been necessary. According to my views, and I believe, according to the views of the Latter-day Saints, and also of the ancient Saints, we were at one period legitimately his sons and daughters independent of adoption, and this will carry us to the first ideas manifested by revelation, in regard to the origin of man. Many people suppose, when Adam was placed in the garden of Eden, that then the first of the human family originated. I admit that that was the origin as far as man’s temporal existence here on the earth is concerned; but had we no prior existence? Was that the beginning of man? Was it, in reality, his origin? This is a very important question, and a correct answer thereto would certainly be calculated to cheer the hearts of the children of men. That man had a secondary origin here on this earth, and was placed in the Garden of Eden, are Scriptural facts, which we all believe; but did not our first parents, and all their descendants have an existence, before there was any Garden of Eden on this earth? I think it is admitted by the whole Christian world, that man is a being compounded of body and spirit, at least all the Christian societies with which I am acquainted believe this. They all believe that within man’s body or tabernacle of flesh and bones there dwells an immortal spirit. All Christian societies, with perhaps very few exceptions, believe that this human spirit, which dwells within the tabernacle, will exist after the dissolution of the body. There may be some few Christians who believe that the spirit is disorganized or dies between the time of death and the resurrection. I think this view is entertained by some few individuals, but the great mass of the human family believe that when this body falls asleep and crumbles back again to its mother earth, the spirit still survives as an organized being or personage. Some, however, do not believe that the spirit is a personage. They think it is something which cannot be defined, something that has neither the shape nor the properties which we give to any kind of material substance. The views of the immaterialist are that the spirit occupies no space, and has no relation to matter, something entirely separate and distinct from matter. There are however, but few in the Christian world who have worked themselves so far into the depths of these mysteries, as they term them, as to believe in such absurdities as these. I could not believe it for one moment—I never did. To suppose that there is a spirit in man and that that spirit has no shape, no likeness and occupies no space, as the immaterialists inform us in their writings, is something that I do not believe, and never could believe, unless I became perfectly beside myself, and deranged in my mind.

We, as Latter-day Saints, believe that the spirits that occupy these tabernacles have form and likeness similar to the human tabernacle. Of course there may be deformities existing in connection with the outward tabernacle which do not exist in connection with the spirit that inhabits it. These tabernacles become deformed by accident in various ways, sometimes at birth, but this may not altogether or in any degree deform the spirits that dwell within them, therefore we believe that the spirits which occupy the bodies of the human family are more or less in the resemblance of the tabernacles.

Now a question arises, If this spirit can exist separate and independent of the tabernacle, when the tabernacle dies is it unreasonable to suppose that it could exist before the tabernacle was formed? This is an important question and in my estimation there is nothing absurd or unreasonable in the least degree, in believing that that personage that we call the intelligent spirit, which can exist between death and the resurrection, separate and distinct from the body, could also have had an existence before the body was formed, that is, a pre-existence. This is a Scriptural doctrine, for there are many passages in Scripture which, in my estimation, prove that man had a pre-existence. If we turn to the first and second chapters of Genesis, we shall find it clearly indicated that man had an existence before he was placed in the Garden of Eden. In the first chapter of Genesis we are told that God made the earth, and the seas, and the grass, and the herbs and the trees in about six days of time. We also read that on the fifth day of the creation he made the fish and fowls; that on the sixth day he made the animals, and last of all that he made man, male and female created he them. This seems to have been the last work of creation on the sixth day. Read on still further, in the second chapter of Genesis, and we are informed that on the seventh day there was not yet a man to till the ground. Now how are we going to reconcile this with that which is stated in the preceding chapter—on the fifth day he made the fowls and the fish, and on the sixth day he made the animals before he made man, and on the seventh day there was not yet a man to till the ground. And then we are informed about man’s being placed in the garden on the seventh day; and also that on that day the beasts were formed and brought to the man to see what he would call them. This seems to have been another department of work that the Lord accomplished on the morning of the seventh day. He planted a garden on the seventh day in Eden, he placed the man in that garden on the seventh day; and then we are informed that he brought the beasts of the field and the various animals that he had made before the man, and man gave names to them on the Sabbath day; but on the sixth day they were made male and female. I reconcile this by giving a pre-existence to man; such is my faith. I believe that man had an existence before the Lord commenced the great temporal work of creation, so far as this planet is concerned. How long he had existed prior to the formation of this planet I do not know, but it is certain God seems to have formed the spiritual part of it in the six days, and when it comes to the temporal part that seems to have been the work of the seventh day. On the seventh day the Bible says that God ended his work. He did not altogether end it on the sixth, but he ended it on the seventh day.

When we come to new revelation which God has vouchsafed to give to his people in these latter times, this subject is made very plain; and on these new revelations in connection with the old, what little light we can gain through the hymn that was sung at the opening of the meeting, was founded, “When shall I regain thy presence,” as expressed in the first verse, showing that we once were in his presence and existed where he is, but for some reason we have been banished therefrom, and that when we are redeemed we shall return again, or as one of the inspired writers has it—“the spirit shall return to God who gave it.”

This returning of the spirit to God who gave it, clearly shows to my mind that the spirit once existed with God and dwelt in his presence, otherwise the word “return” would be inapplicable. If I were going to China it would be inapplicable for me to say I am returning to China. Why? Because I never have been there, consequently the word “return” would be an improper word. So in regard to the saying of the prophet, it would be entirely improper to say that, after the body crumbles to dust the spirit would “return” to God who gave it, if it never had been there.

Jesus seems to have been a pattern in all things pertaining to his brethren, and we find that he had a previous existence—his spirit existed before he came and tabernacled in the flesh. This is abundantly proved in the Scriptures. In the prayer which he offered to his heavenly Father beseeching him to make his disciples one, he says, “Father, glorify thou me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Now if Jesus dwelt with the Father before the world was, why not the rest of the family, or in other words, the rest of the spirits? It certainly was not his tabernacle which dwelt there before the world was, for he came in the meridian of time, and his spirit entered a tabernacle of flesh and bones, and was born of a woman, just the same as all the rest of the human family. What then is the meaning of that Scripture which speaks of Jesus being the elder brother? It certainly could not have reference to him being the eldest so far as his natural birth on this earth was concerned, for he certainly was not the eldest, for generation after generation had preceded him during the four thousand years which had passed away, from the time of creation until he was born; but yet he is called the “elder brother.” In another Scripture it is said of him that he was ‘” the firstborn of every creature.” This would imply, then, that Jesus, so far as the great family of man is concerned, was the firstborn of the whole of them. How and when was he born? He was born in the eternal world, not his flesh and bones, but that intelligent spirit which dwelt within his tabernacle was born before this world was made, and he seems to have been the first spirit that was born, and for this reason he became the elder brother; and we are told in many Scriptures in the New Testament, that we are his brethren, and that he is not ashamed to call us his brethren. I look upon him as having the same origin as we had, only he was the eldest; and if he was born in the eternal world thousands of years ago, why not all the rest of his brethren, so far as their spirits are concerned? I know that the objection will immediately arise in the minds of individuals who have not reflected on this subject, if we were intelligent personages thousands of years ago, and dwelling in the presence of God, and of Jesus, our elder brother, how is it that we have no remembrance of anything that transpired in our pre-existence? I answer this question by saying, that when we came into this world from our former state of existence, and had our spirits enclosed within these mortal tabernacles, it had a tendency to take away our memories so far as the past was concerned. It did so in relation to Jesus. He had great knowledge before he was born into this world—sufficient to create the heavens and the earth, hence we read in the Hebrews that God, by his Son, made the worlds. This was before Jesus came here, and he must then have been the possessor of great knowledge to have been able to do that; but when he took upon himself flesh and bones did he forget this knowledge? We read in the Scriptures, speaking of Jesus coming here and taking a body of flesh and bones, that “in his humiliation his judgment was taken away.” What humiliation? His descending from the presence of God his Father and descending below all things, his judgment was taken away, that is, his remembrance of things that were past, and that knowledge which, while in the presence of his Father, enabled him to make worlds, and he had to begin at the first principles of knowledge, just the same as all his brethren who came here in the flesh. We read that Jesus, as he grew in stature, grew also in wisdom and knowledge. If he had possessed all wisdom, and had not forgotten that which he formerly possessed, how was it that he could increase in wisdom as he increased in stature? It shows clearly that the wisdom which he had possessed thousands of years before, had for a wise purpose been taken from him. “His judgment was taken away,” and he was left, as it were, in the very depth of humility, beginning at the very first principles of knowledge and growing up from grace to grace, as the Scriptures say, from one degree to another, until he received a fullness from his Father. Then when he did regain all his previous knowledge and wisdom, he had the fullness of the Father within him, in other words, “in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

Now if his knowledge was forgotten, and his judgment taken away, why not ours? We find this to be the case. What person among all the human family can comprehend what took place in his first existence? No one, it is blotted from the memory, and I think there is great wisdom manifested in withholding the knowledge of our previous existence. Why? Because we could not, if we had all our pre-existent knowledge accompanying us into this world, show to our Father in the heavens and to the heavenly host that we would be in all things obedient; in other words, we could not be tried as the Lord designs to try us here in this state of existence, to qualify us for a higher state hereafter. In order to try the children of men, there must be a degree of knowledge withheld from them, for it would be no temptation to them if they could understand from the beginning the consequences of their acts, and the nature and results of this and that temptation. But in order that we may prove ourselves before the heavens obedient and faithful in all things, we have to begin at the very first principles of knowledge, and be tried from knowledge to knowledge, and from grace to grace, until, like our elder brother, we finally overcome and triumph over all our imperfections, and receive with him the same glory that he inherits, which glory he had before the world was.

This is the way that we as a people look upon our previous existence. There is something truly cheering in contemplating the previous existence of man, much more so than in the old idea of the sectarian world—that God is constantly creating, that he did not finish his work some five or six thousand years ago, but that he is creating all the time. They will tell you that they have spirits in their bodies capable of existing after the bodies have crumbled back to mother earth. Ask them the origin of these spirits, and they will tell you they originated about the time the infant tabernacles of flesh and bone originated. Hence, according to their ideas, God has all the time been creating about one person every twenty seconds, which I believe is about the average rate that persons are born into the world; in other words, about three a minute, and according to their ideas the Lord is engaged in making spirits with this rapidity, and sending them here to this world.

I cannot, for my part, see that there is any more absurdity in believing that he made them thousands of years before they came here, than to suppose that he made them just before they came here, and entered into the tabernacle. One can certainly not be more unreasonable than the other.

Because we cannot recollect our former existence is no proof whatever that we did not have one. I can prove this. In regard to this present existence, what person is there in this congregation who can remember the first six months of his or her infancy? There is not a man nor a woman on the face of the earth, I presume, who can remember this; but no person will argue, on that account, that he did not exist at that time. Oh no, says the objector, that would be an improper method of arguing. Our memories have nothing to do with a previous existence. If we remember it, all good; if we do not, it does not alter that existence.

If we were born in heaven before this world was made, the question might arise as to the nature of that birth. Was it by command that the spiritual substance, scattered through space, was miraculously brought together, and organized into a spiritual form, and called a spirit? Is that the way we were born? Is that the way that Jesus, the firstborn of every creature, was brought into existence? Oh no; we were all born there after the same manner that we are here, that is to say, every person that had an existence before he came here had a literal father and a literal mother, a personal father and a personal mother; hence the Apostle Paul, in speaking to the heathen at Ephesus, says, “We are his offspring.” Now I look upon every man and woman that have ever come here on this globe, or that ever will come, as having a father and mother in the heavens by whom their spirits were brought into existence. But how long they resided in the heavens before they came here is not revealed.

We will refer now to the 19th chapter of Job, to show that there were sons of God before this world was made. The Lord asked Job a question in relation to his pre-existence, saying, “Where wast thou when I laid the cornerstone of the earth?” Where were you, Job, when all the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy; when the nucleus of this creation was commenced? If Job had been indoctrinated into all the mysteries of modern religionists, he would have answered this question by saying, “Lord, why do you ask me such a question? I had no existence at that time.” But the very question implies the existence of Job, but he had forgotten where he was, and the Lord put the question as though he did exist, showing to him in the declaration, that, when he laid the cornerstone of the earth, there were a great many sons of God there, and that they all shouted together for joy. Who were these sons of God? They certainly were not the fleshly descendants of Adam, for he had not then been placed in the Garden of Eden. Who were they then? They were Jesus, the elder brother, and all the family that have come from that day until now—millions on millions—and all who will come hereafter, and take tabernacles of flesh and bones until the closing up scene of this creation. All these were present when God commenced this creation. Jesus was also there and superintended the work, for by him God made the worlds, consequently he must have been there, and all felt joyful, and shouted for joy. What produced their joy? It was foreknowledge. They knew that the creation then being formed was for their abiding place, where their spirits would go and take upon them tabernacles of flesh and bones, and they rejoiced at the prospect. They had more knowledge then than the world of mankind have now. They saw that it was absolutely necessary for their advancement in the scale of being to go and take tabernacles of flesh and bone; they saw that their spirits without tabernacles never could be made perfect, never could be placed in a position to attain to great power, dominion and glory like their Father; and understanding that the earth was being created to give them the opportunity of reaching his position, they sang together for joy. They composed a hymn, and if we could have a copy of it, we should no doubt find that it was a hymn in relation to the construction of the earth and its future habitation by those spirits in the form of men. I should like to see that hymn myself, and if we had it we would get our choir here to sing it. I think it would impart a good deal of information to us, and perhaps we would shout for joy again.

It is very evident that this was the belief of the people in the days of the Savior. Even the Apostles and those with Jesus evidently believed in the pre-existence of man. This is manifest from a certain question which they put to Jesus on the occasion of a blind man making his appearance before him. They said to him, “Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” In other words, did this man sin before he was born, and in consequence of his sin was he born blind? Or was it that his father sinned that he was born blind? This question would have been very foolish to put to the Savior, unless they had believed in the pre-existence of man. But they not only did believe it, they also believed it possible for man to sin in that pre-existence, and that the penalty of that sin might be carried down to this state of existence, and be the cause of blindness at birth, and with that belief they put the question to the Savior. That would have been a very favorable opportunity for him to have corrected them, if their ideas about pre-existence had been false. He could have turned to them and said, he could not have sinned before he was born, and that be the cause that he was born blind, because he had no previous existence. But he said no such thing, he replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the glory of God might be made manifest.”

In the first and second chapter of Genesis, in the new translation given by inspiration through Joseph Smith the Prophet, this subject is made very plain. After Joseph had translated the Book of Mormon from the gold plates, the Lord commanded him to translate the Bible. Now you know that we have no inspired translator at the present day among any of the nations. We have translations of the Bible made by the wisdom and learning of men, but as each translator has differed in his views, no two of them agree. Indeed, when we go back in the history of the Bible, we find that about four hundred and fifty years before Christ, Ezra compiled into one volume the different books of the Old Testament so far as they were given. Previous to that they had been in scattered manuscripts. The five books of Moses were kept in the Ark of the Testament. The writings of Joshua and others who followed Moses were kept here and there, and but very few copies were to be had in those early days. Indeed, so scarce were the copies of the Bible, that in the days of the kings of Israel they had lost almost all knowledge of any written copy of the Bible. They retained many of their ordinances, their Temple worship, and so on, but written copies of the Bible had so nearly disappeared, that on repairing the Temple at a certain time they found a copy of it hid up, but they did not know whether it was true or not. They had nothing to compare it with, and the only way they could ascertain whether it was a true copy of the Bible was to send for a man of God—a Prophet—and get him to inquire of the Lord whether it was genuine or not. Thus we see that the people in those early ages were not favored as we are in these days with copies of the Bible. But Ezra, according to the history, gathered up these fragments as far as he could.

Two hundred years before Christ there were seventy-two Israelites, said to be six out of each tribe, met together in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, and they translated the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms from such Hebrew copies as they happened to have possession of, into the Greek. This was called the Septuagint translation. Jerome, a staunch Roman Catholic, translated this Greek version called the Septuagint into what was termed the Vulgate—a Latin translation. That, and copies of it made by scribes for many generations, became the Bible of the Roman Catholics; and even to this day, so far as they use Latin they appeal to that edition of the Scriptures called the Vulgate.

In the year 1610 the Vulgate edition was translated into English. This was called the Douay Bible, because it was published at the town of Douay in France, and it is the Roman Catholic Bible, so far as the English translation is concerned, to the present day. It differs materially from the Protestant Bible.

About the same time that the Douay translation was published—in 1607, King James the First appointed fifty-four men, some six or seven of whom did not serve, to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew, and they gave us that version called King James’ translation.

All these translators that I have spoken of translated by their own wisdom, according to the best understanding they had. None of them were prophets or revelators, and not one of them understood the meaning of the original text like a man of God filled with the Holy Ghost. But they have made a very good translation notwithstanding, especially the forty-seven who labored under the appointment of King James. Different parts of the Scriptures were portioned out among six different classes of translators, and they, I believe, have given us the very best copy of the Bible in existence, so far as translations by human wisdom are concerned.

But to come back again, as I said before, after having translated the Book of Mormon, this young man, Joseph Smith, a man of no education or learning, comparatively speaking, was commanded to translate the Bible by inspiration. He commenced the work, and the first and second chapters of Genesis containing the history of the creation are very plain and full. In the first chapter the Lord speaks about the spiritual creation of all things before they were made temporally. In the second chapter he goes on to state that there was not yet a man to till the ground, “for in heaven created I them.” That explains the mystery about the work previously spoken of in the first chapter, and shows that it had reference to the great work which God had performed in the heavens before he made this earth temporally. This same doctrine is inculcated in some small degree in the Book of Mormon. However, I do not think that I should have ever discerned it in that book had it not been for the new translation of the Scriptures, that throwing so much light and information on the subject, I searched the Book of Mormon to see if there were indications in it that related to the pre-existence of man. I found them in a great revelation that was given to the prophet who led the first colony to this country from the Tower of Babel at the time the language was confounded. This great prophet had a remarkable vision before he arrived on this continent. In this vision he saw the spiritual personage of our Savior as he existed before he came to take upon him flesh and bones; and Jesus, in talking to this great man of God, informed him that as he appeared to him in the spirit so would he appear to his brethren in the flesh in future generations, and said he, “I am he that was prepared from before the foundation of the world, to redeem my people.” He furthermore addressed himself to this great man saying, “Seest then that thou art created in mine own image?” That is, man here on the earth is in the image of that spiritual body or personage of Jesus, so far as we are not deformed. “Seest thou that thou art created in mine own image, yea even in the beginning created I all men after mine own image.” This is about the only place that refers pointedly to the pre-existence of man in the Book of Mormon. I think there are one or two other passages in which it is just referred to.

Now admit, as the Latter-day Saints do, that we had a previous existence, and that when we die we shall return to God and our former habitation, where we shall behold the face of our Father, and the question immediately arises, shall we have our memories so increased by the Spirit of the living God that we shall ever remember our previous existence? I think we shall. Jesus seems to have gained this even here in this world, otherwise he would not have prayed, saying, “Father, glorify then me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was,” showing plainly that he had obtained by revelation a knowledge from his Father of something about the glory that he had before the world was. This being the case with Jesus, why not his younger brethren also obtain this information by revelation? And when we do return back into the presence of our Father, will we not there also have our memories so quickened that we will remember his face, having dwelt in His presence for thousands of years? It will not be like going to visit strangers that we have never seen before. Is not this a comfort to persons who expect to depart this life, like all the rest of the human family? They have a consolation that they are going not among strangers, not to a being whose face they never saw, but to one whom they will recognize, and will remember, having dwelt with him for ages before the world was. Looking upon it in the light of reason, independent of revelation, if a person were to form a system of religion according to the best light that he had, would it not be more happifying and calculated more in its nature to give joy and peace to the mind to suppose that we were going back to a personage we were well acquainted with, rather than to one we had no idea of? I think I should prefer, so far as reason is concerned, to be well acquainted with people I am going among.

These are the expectations of the Latter-day Saints: we do not expect to go among strangers. When we get back there we expect this place to be familiar to us, and when we meet this, that and the other one of all the human family that have been here on the earth, we shall recognize them as those with whom we have dwelt thousands of years in the presence of our Father and God. This renewing of old friendships and acquaintances, and again enjoying all the glory we once possessed, will be a great satisfaction to all who are privileged to do so.

If we ever dwelt there, it is altogether likely that God made some promises to us when there. He would converse with us, and cheer us up. Being his offspring—his sons and daughters, he would not be austere and unwilling to converse with his own children, but he would teach them a great many things. And all this will be familiar to us. We read in the New Testament that God did make promises to us before this world was made. I recollect one passage in one of the epistles of Paul, either to Timothy or Titus, the Apos– tle says, “In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.” To whom did he make that promise? I contend that we had the promise of eternal life before the world began on certain conditions—if we would comply with the gospel of the Son of God, by repenting of our sins and being faithful in keeping the commandments of God.

There are many Scriptures in the New Testament that have relation to the previous existence of man, which I do not at this time feel disposed to quote. They can be searched up by the Latter-day Saints, and by all who are curious enough to enquire into these things. There are some other things, however, which I feel anxious to bring forth in connection with the pre-existence of man. One thing is our origin more fully. I have already stated that the spirits of the children of men were born unto their parents. Now who are the parents of these children?

There are certain promises made to the Latter-day Saints, one of them being that when we take a wife here in this world, it is our privilege by obedience to the ordinances of heaven, to have that wife married to us for time and for all eternity. This is a promise which God has made by revelation to his Church, hence the Latter-day Saints believe in the eternity of the marriage covenant. This is one of our fundamental doctrines. We consider that a marriage for time alone is after the old Gentile order, and they have lost all knowledge of the true ordinances and order of heaven. They marry until death separates them. I believe that almost every religious society, in their marriage ceremony, use this phrase, “I pronounce you man and wife until death shall part you!” This sort of a marriage never origi– nated with God; the marriage that originated with him is the same as that of which we had an example in the beginning—the first marriage that was ever celebrated here on the earth. Do you enquire what was the form of that first marriage between Adam and Eve? I will explain it in a few words. They were united as husband and wife by the Lord himself; when they were united they did not know anything about death, for they had not partaken of the fruit of the tree that was forbidden, and they were then immortal beings. Here were two beings united who were as immortal as you will be when you come forth from your graves in the morning of the first resurrection. Under these conditions Adam and Eve were married. I do not believe that the Lord used the ceremony that is now used—I marry you until death shall separate you. By what means did death come into the world? After this marriage by partaking of the forbidden fruit, they brought death on both male and female, or as the Apostle Paul says, “By one man sin and death entered into the world, even so shall all be made alive, and every man in his own order.”

It seems then, that if there had been no sin, death never would have come upon Adam and Eve, and they would have been living today, immortal, nearly six thousand years after being placed in the Garden of Eden, and would they not still be husband and wife? Certainly, and so they would continue if millions and millions of ages should pass away, and you could not point out any period in the future, when this relation would cease; no matter how many myriads of ages might pass away, unless they by sin brought death into the world. All will admit, who reflect on the subject, that this marriage was for eternity, and that death interfered with it only for the time being, until the resurrection should bring them forth and reunite them.

The “Mormons,” or Latter-day Saints, believe in this kind of marriage, and the first one ever performed on the earth is a pattern for us. Moreover God has revealed to us the nature of marriage, and that its relationships are to exist after the resurrection, and that it must be attended to in this life in order to secure it for the next life. For instance, if you wish to obtain a great many blessings pertaining to the future world, you have to secure those blessings here. You cannot be baptized in the next state of existence for the remission of sins; that is an ordinance pertaining to the flesh, which you must attend to here. And so with all other ordinances which God has ordained, you have to partake of them here in order to have a claim on the promises hereafter. It is so with regard to marriage; and this agrees with what Jesus has said in relation to their not marrying nor giving in marriage in that world. There will be no such thing there. Why? Because this is the world for all these ordinances to be attended to. Here is the place to secure all the blessings for the next world. We have to show in this probation that we will be obedient in obeying the commandments of heaven so that we may have a claim on every blessing pertaining to the next life. Consequently, we have to secure this marriage for eternity while in this world. When a female in the Latter-day Saint Church marries a person outside the Church it is not a marriage in our estimation, in the scriptural sense of the word, it is only a union until death shall part them. When a person does this we really consider them weak in the faith; indeed it is equivalent in my estimation not only to being weak in the faith, but since these revelations were given on the subject, if people with their eyes wide open will still reject these important things, and marry a person outside the Church, it shows to me very clearly that he or she has no regard for the word of God, nor for their own salvation. They are lacking not only in faith but in the principle of obedience. They have no hope when they marry outside the Church, but when they marry in the Church according to this order, and the persons who officiate in declaring them husband and wife, being commissioned of God and having authority to administer in all the ordinances of his kingdom, that marriage is not only for time, but for all eternity.

Another question. Having been married for eternity, we die and our spirits go into celestial paradise. We come forth in the morning of the first resurrection as immortal males and immortal females. Our wives, married to us for eternity, come forth, and they are ours by virtue of that which God has pronounced upon them through those whom he has appointed, and to whom he has given authority. We have a legal claim upon them at the resurrection. But here comes forth a person that is married outside. She comes up without a husband, he without a wife, or any claim upon any of the blessings. Here is the difference between these two classes of beings. One dwells as an angel, without any power to increase their species, family or dominions, without the power to beget sons and daughters. This class will be angels. Perhaps many of them will be worthy of obtaining a degree of power, glory, and happiness, but not a fullness. Why? Because they have not come up to that position of their Father and their God. He has power to beget and bring forth sons and daughters in the spirit world; and after he has brought forth millions and millions of spirits, he has power to organize worlds, and send these spirits into these worlds to take temporal bodies to prepare them in turn to be redeemed and become Gods, or in other words, the sons of God, growing up like their father, possessing all his attributes, and propagating their species through all eternity. Here then is the difference between these two classes of beings—one having lost what they might have obtained and enjoyed if they had had faith in God and been willing to obey his commandments. But the others are worthy, as the Apostle Paul has said, to obtain a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while the others will be angels or servants, to go and come at the bidding of those who are more exalted.

This is what Paul meant when be said that in the Lord the man is not without the woman, neither is the woman without the man; as much as to say that in order to be in the Lord and to obtain a fullness of his glory and exaltation, you cannot be separated; or in other words, to speak according to the common phrase, you cannot live old bachelors or old maids and go down to your graves in this condition. That is not the order of heaven, why? Because marriage is essentially necessary to qualify them to propagate their species throughout all eternity, that they in their turn may have worlds created on which these sons and daughters of their own begetting may receive tabernacles of flesh and bones as we have done. This is the order by which all worlds are peopled by spirits that have been born in the eternal worlds; and these worlds are organized expressly for them that they may go and have another change, another state of being different from their spiritual state, where they may possess bodies of flesh and bones, which are essentially necessary to the begetting of their own species. Spirits cannot bring forth, multiply and increase. They must have bodies.

We have said this much on the hymn that was sung in the morning, and these ideas are fully inculcated therein, and they are established and founded on the revelations God has given in different ages. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Nov. 24, 1872.

I have, through upwards of forty years’ experience in the public ministry, learned some few lessons in regard to public speaking. In the first place I know that the wisdom of man avails but very little, and that our own judgment, thoughts and reflections are not what the Lord requires; but he does require, and has required, ever since the rise of this Church, that his servants should speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. A revelation given to the Elders of this Church in the year 1831, says, “My servants shall be sent forth to the east and to the west, and to the north and to the south, and they shall lift up their voices and speak and prophesy, as seemeth me good; but if you receive not the Spirit you shall not teach.” This is a commandment that the Lord gave to his servants over forty years ago. I have seen a few times from the commencement of my ministry, when my mind seemed to be entirely closed up, and when what few words I could stammer forth before a congregation, were altogether unsatisfactory to my own mind, and I presume to those who heard me. But I do feel thankful to God that lately, from year to year, he has favored me with a liberty of utterance and with the power and gift of the Holy Ghost. I acknowledge his hand in this, for I know it has come from him, and having experienced the two conditions of mind I know the difference. I know that, not only as public speakers, but as individual members of the Church of the living God, there are many things pertaining to our everyday duties, which if we clearly understood by the light of the Spirit, we would escape many things which cause unhappiness. It is the want of clearly understanding the will of the Lord under all circumstances that causes us to fall into many of the evils that we pass through in life. I can look back on my past life and can speak from experience in these matters. I can remember many times when, if I had been guided by the Spirit of the Lord in regard to temporal matters, it would have been well with me; but not altogether understanding what the mind of the Spirit was, the course I have taken at times has been very disadvantageous to me. I will relate one circumstance of this kind as a sample. Some few years ago, I had a few hundred dollars in goods and property, and I expended all that I had in a store. Not one of these cooperative stores, but in a store kept at Fillmore. Being requested by the merchants in that place to purchase a bill of goods for them, and to give my own note until they could settle it; and being anxious that their business should go on and prosper, I was foolish enough to do as they wished, by which I brought myself into great difficulties, and lost over two thousand dollars by the transaction. I had the bill of goods to pay for, and lost all I put in besides. If I had understood the teachings of the Spirit—and I did have some impressions in relation to the matter, but if I had fully understood them I should not have fallen into these unpleasant circumstances. I have no doubt that there are many others among the people of God, who can see where they have erred, because they did not have the Spirit of God upon them at the time.

I can see, also, many times when the Spirit of the Lord whispered to me, and I scarcely knew whether it was my own thoughts and imaginations or whether it was the revelations of the Spirit; yet it seemed to be the Spirit of the Lord, and I followed the teachings, and was prospered in so doing.

If we, as a people, would live up to our privileges, how many difficulties might be avoided! How many Latter-day Saints would constantly live in the light of revelation! This puts me in mind of a text which I have often heard quoted, but I do not know that I have said much in relation to it. Neither do I know where it is recorded, but I think it is somewhere in the writings of Solomon. The passage I refer to says that there is a spirit in man and the Spirit or candle of the Lord, I do not remember which, giveth it understanding. The idea is that in these tabernacles of ours we have an intelligent spirit which God has placed there, and he has ordained that the Spirit of the Lord shall light up these human spirits of ours, that we may follow in the paths of light, truth and righteousness and obtain eternal life.

This text also puts me in mind of one that is recorded somewhere in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, in which the Lord, speaking directly to this people, says that the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit. I cannot tell you on what page nor in what section of the Book of Covenants this can be found; but you who are in the habit of reading that book will find these words, as I have quoted them. “Whatsoever is truth is light, whatsoever is light is Spirit,” consequently, if we could always follow in the light, instead of following in the channel of darkness, we would always follow in the path that would lead to peace and happiness, and we would avoid ten thousand difficulties which beset our pathway.

Another revelation that agrees with this will be found in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, in a very lengthy communication made by the Lord to this Church, which shows very plainly that light is the principle and law by which everything is governed. I will quote the revelation as near as I can remember it. Speaking of his presence, he says, “As he is in the sun, and is the light thereof, and the power thereof by which it is governed; and as he is also in the moon, and is the light and the power thereof; and in the stars; and the light which shineth is the same light which quickeneth your eyes, which is the same light which quickeneth your understandings, the light which is in all things, and which giveth life to all things, and which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sits upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things, which light proceedeth forth from his presence to fill the immensity of space.” When we put all these texts together, we find that this great principle of light which should enlighten the mind of man, and by which he should be led continually, is something that is not confined to one little part of space; it not only lights the sun, moon and stars and all the heavenly bodies, but it is in and surrounds all things, and gives life to all things.

Here is something that we do not perfectly understand. The principle of life by which we are able to move, think and reason; the principle of motion and of power is a principle of light. And there seems to be a connection or relation between these principles that govern the motion of living beings and the light that proceeds forth from the sun. But we do not understand that relation. God has told us that it is the law by which everything is governed; and we cannot find a law throughout universal space, but what light has something to do with it. But we do not know in all cases how it operates. We do not know, for instance, how light operates in making a blade of grass grow out of the earth. We cannot understand how particle comes to its particle, how it is organized in a certain form, and finally produces the complete blade of grass. We do not know how this is carried on, but the Lord has told us that it is done by the principle of light. We do not know, either, how it is that we can communicate with different and distinct parts of the earth almost instantaneously through the medium of the electric wires. We understand that this phenomenon exists, but we do not know the cause of it; if we did we should find, according to the revelation which God has given, that it is accomplished through the medium of light. How that light operates we do not know, God has not revealed that. He has only told us that light is the cause and the power by which everything is governed.

We see a stone, and when we hold it in our hands and let go of it, it does not stand still, neither does it fall upwards, neither does it go horizontally, but it falls downwards to the surface of the earth. We have named this gravitation. But what is the cause? No one knows. No person can tell why that stone does not stand still. We see it fall and we see all terrestrial bodies fall to the surface of the earth, but we cannot tell why this is so. The cause, however, is light, but how that light operates we do not know.

We see the sun shine, and we know that it illuminates the face of this world and of many other worlds. Its light proceeds forth from that center and radiates to immense distances. We see all this, but what connection is there between this and the understanding or light that is in man, that assists him in his power of thought and motion? What connection is there between the shining of that light and the light that is within us? We do not know, and yet God has said that the light which proceeds forth from these heavenly bodies is the same light that quickens the understanding of man and that gives life to all things. We do not understand all these things which God has spoken and given. For instance we see a candle set on a table; we apply a match to that, and immediately there is light where before existed darkness. Chemists tell us that this is a chemical operation; that the light proceeds not from the tallow but from a principle called oxygen—a certain portion of the atmospheric air which we breathe; that that principle has a great tendency to unite with the materials of the candle, and in so doing it gives out its light. But how this light is produced and sustained by a combination of the elements of the candle and the oxygen of the atmosphere we do not know, only we know that it is the power of God, we know that it is the light which is in all things. But what I term knowledge, and what we should all term knowledge, is to understand not only the phenomena but the cause of these things. We endeavor to distinguish between the natural and the spiritual light, but is there any such thing as drawing a line of distinction between the two? Who can do it? Where is the man or philosopher that can tell the distinction, and where one ends and the other begins? They cannot do it. If we take the revelation which God has given we learn that there is no difference; it is the same light that produces both effects, and the light which darts along the electric wire is the same as that which comes from the distant bodies of the universe, only it has a different name, and operates a little differently. The time will come when the Latter-day Saints, if faithful, will have an understanding of all these things. We have made a commencement in the right channel; we have placed ourselves in an attitude to learn the first principles in this great, divine university called the kingdom of God. God has given us his Holy Spirit, which is the commencement of knowledge, light and intelligence. But unless we walk according to the light and the mind of that Spirit, wherein are we benefited? We are not benefited at all. “If my words abide in you,” says Jesus, “you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be given unto you.” This promise is given unto every Latter-day Saint. The Book of Mormon, however, qualifies this saying a little. It says, “Whatsoever we ask in faith, which is right, believing that we shall receive, it shall be given unto us.” These words—“which is right”—greatly qualify the promise. The Lord has not bound himself by promise to give to the children of men whatsoever they ask for, unless it is absolutely right that they should ask for that thing. If what we ask for in faith is right, then he is bound.

This puts me in mind of a passage in the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants in relation to prayer. He says, “You shall receive whatever you ask for in prayer which it is expedient for you to receive; but if any among you shall ask for that which it is not expedient for him to receive it shall turn to his condemnation.” We must, in the first place, try to have light enough to discern what is right or expedient for us; in the second place, to ask God the Eternal Father in the name of his son Jesus Christ, for the things which we know he is willing to bestow upon us. Then we can ask in faith, for we have the promise that we shall receive.

The great difficulty with me, and I presume it is also the experience of almost every man and woman in the Church of the living God, is, we are not so faithful as some of the servants of God have been in former days. Some of them were so faithful that they lived constantly in the light of revelation. Their minds were opened to it, and scarcely a thing could transpire but what they understood it beforehand. They did not need the news or intelligence to be brought to them from a distance, but there was a spirit within them and the candle of the Lord gave that spirit understanding in regard to things that were transpiring thousands of miles distant. They lived for this; they walked before the Lord so faithfully that they were entitled to know, not only things that were present with and that would benefit themselves and the people among whom they dwelt, but also things in the future—ages and ages to come were opened up to their minds, and their minds comprehended them by permitting this candle of the Lord to shine upon and illuminate them.

It is my most earnest desire to live so as to discern under every condition and circumstance in life precisely what would be most pleasing in the sight of God for me to do, and when I comprehend this I can act as a person who does not grope in the dark, like the blind man who gropes for the wall; but if I live for it, the path in which I should walk will be plain, the Spirit of God being as it were a lamp to my feet, and my guide and instructor by day and by night. Do you not desire Latter-day Saints to be instructed in this way? Every honest-hearted person will answer yes. Every one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and who desires eternal life will acknowledge that he does desire to be thus guided and led.

But now having spoken so much about the benefits of this light, and how good it would be to be continually guided and instructed by the spirit of revelation, there is another thing connected with it which we perhaps do not all fully understand. Supposing a person were thus guided all the time, from waking in the morning until they retired to rest at night; and then when asleep if his dreams were given by the same spirit, and this should be the uninterrupted condition of an individual, I ask, where would be his trials? This would lead us to ask, Is it not absolutely necessary that God should in some measure, withhold even from those who walk before him in purity and integrity, a portion of his Spirit, that they may prove to themselves, their families and neighbors, and to the heavens whether they are full of integrity even in times when they have not so much of the Spirit to guide and influence them? I think that this is really necessary, consequently I do not know that we have any reason to complain of the darkness which occasionally hovers over the mind. I recollect that Lehi had a very great and important dream communicated to him, and his son Nephi had the same renewed to him. While Lehi was on his way to this country he dreamed that he wandered many hours in darkness; that there was a certain rod of iron, notwithstanding this darkness that seemed to gather around him, on which the old man leaned steadfastly. So great was the darkness that he was fearful he should lose his way if he let go the rod of iron; but he clung to it, and continued to wander on until, by and by, he was brought out into a large and spacious field, and he also was brought out to a place where it was lighter, and he saw a certain tree which bore very precious fruit. And he went forth and partook of the fruit of this tree, which was the most precious and desirable of any fruit that he had ever tasted; and it seemed to enlighten him and fill him with joy and happiness. Lehi was a good old man—a man who had been raised up as a great prophet in the midst of Jerusalem. He had prophesied in the midst of all that wickedness which surrounded the Jews; and they sought to take away his life, because of his prophecy. But notwithstanding this gift of prophecy, and the gifts of the Spirit which he enjoyed, the Lord showed him by this dream that there would be seasons of darkness through which he would have to pass, and that even then there was a guide. If he did not all the time have the Spirit of God upon him to any great extent, there was the word of God, represented by an iron rod, to guide him; and if he would hold fast to that in his hours of darkness and trial, when everything seemed to go against him, and not sever himself therefrom, it would finally bring him where he could partake of the fruit of the precious tree—the Tree of Life. Con– sequently I am not so sure, that it is intended for men of God to enjoy all the time a great measure of his Spirit.

I will refer to another example—one that I have often quoted. It will be found in the “Pearl of Great Price.” It is a revelation that was given renewedly to Joseph Smith, concerning what God revealed to Moses, before he was permitted to go down and be a deliverer to the children of Israel. The Lord severely tried Moses, as well as enlightened him. He had to pass through both conditions of experience—a condition of great light, truth, knowledge and understanding in the ways of God, and a condition of darkness and great temptation. Hence we find that on a certain occasion God called Moses up into a very high mount, where he bowed down before the Lord and cried mightily unto him, and the Lord heard his prayer, and the glory of God descended and rested upon him, and he beheld many great and wonderful things. His mind was opened to things that he never had understood before—things that were great and marvelous. Yet the Lord showed him but very few of his works, for he told Moses on that occasion that no man could behold all his works except he beheld all his glory; and no man could behold all his glory and afterwards remain in the flesh. To behold all the works of God was more than any mortal man could endure.

Moses, after receiving this remarkable vision, had such great knowledge and intelligence unfolded unto him that he marveled exceedingly, and while gazing upon the works of God, the Spirit of God withdrew from him, and he was left unto himself, and he fell to the earth, for his natural strength departed from him. “Now,” said Moses, “I know for this cause that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” But he had learned by the contrast that man, in and of himself, was as nothing, and comparatively speaking, less than the dust of the earth, which moves hither and thither by the command of the great God; but that man, being an agent unto himself, and God not having a disposition to control this agent contrary to certain laws and principles, when this agent was left to himself he found that he was nothing. The Lord then permitted Satan to appear in a personal form and visit this great man of God. Here, now, was a contest. Satan came up before Moses, not in all his ugliness and maliciousness, but assuming the form of an angel of light. Satan said, “Moses, son of man, worship me!” Moses looked upon Satan and said, “Who art thou, that I should worship thee? For I could not look upon God except his glory should come upon me, but I can look upon thee as a natural man.” Here was the difference. He could look upon this individual who came to him pretending to be an angel of goodness and light, and have none of the glorious feelings that he had before. Hence said Moses, “I can discern the difference between God and thee. Get thee hence, Satan!” Satan did not feel disposed to give up the attack, and he commanded him again to worship him, and he exerted a great power and the earth shook and trembled, and Moses was filled with fear and trembling, but he nevertheless called upon God for he was convinced in his own mind that his visitor was one from the infernal regions, a personage of darkness, and he felt to rebuke him, and in his fear he saw the bitterness of hell, that is, the fear and trembling that came upon him, and the darkness that surrounded him, gave him an experience of the bitterness and misery of those who are in torment. After a certain period of time in which Satan tried to overpower him, Moses gained strength from God, and commanded Satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, to depart, and he departed. Moses then received strength, and he continued to call upon God, and the glory of God again rested upon him, so that he beheld the works of the Creator, and he began to inquire very diligently concerning the earth upon which he dwelt. The Lord saw proper on that occasion, after severely testing Moses with the opposite power, to show to him the whole earth. Not merely portions of its surface, but he showed the whole of the inside as well as the outside, for the revelation says, “There was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.” If we go to the top of a very high mountain, we can only behold a very limited landscape, for the most distant portions of our view are generally obscured by the vapors of the earth or by smoke, so that we only see a dim outline. But here was a man of God, having the Spirit of God lighting up his mind to that degree that he could see every particle of the earth. This was a wonderful development of the mind and powers of man. I do not suppose that the mind of Moses was constituted any different from the minds of the congregation now before me; every one of us has the same kind of human spirit that he had. Though not called with the same calling, yet we have the same kind of spirit, and are the children of the same Father. Now if Moses had within him a certain undeveloped principle, which for the space of some eighty years he did not know that he possessed, until God on that occasion lighted it up and brought it forth, so that he was capable not only of looking upon the surface of our globe, but of looking into its interior, I do not know why each and every one of those now present before me have not the same faculty and gift, if it were only developed.

I bring up these things to show how God deals with his children—his sons and daughters—by lighting up the mind, and then leaving them awhile in darkness. It is not likely that many of us, with the little experience that we have, could resist such great temptations as Moses did. If such powers were brought to bear on our minds they might overthrow and destroy us, but he was prepared beforehand; he had beheld the glory of God, and had received strength from the heavens, consequently when the opposite powers assailed him, his previous experience strengthened him, and he held fast to the rod of iron notwithstanding the darkness he had to contend with.

When Moses received this great light and saw the whole earth, he felt a very great anxiety to know how the earth was formed. It would be very natural for a man suddenly endowed with the power to behold every particle of the earth, to ask, “How was this made?” and Moses said, “Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and show me concerning the heavens and the earth, and then thy servant will be content.” The Lord told Moses that there were many heavens, and many worlds that had passed away by his power, and that as one heaven and one earth should pass away, even so should another come, and there was no end to his works and to his words. Then Moses limited his desires.

Here we see something asked of the Lord by Moses that was not expedient, it was not wisdom in the Lord to reveal it to him, he could not know all about the many heavens. Then he asked the Lord, saying, “Show unto thy servant concerning this earth and this heaven, then will thy servant be content.” The Lord then gave him what we term the Book of Genesis, one of the first books of Moses, telling him, in answer to his prayer, how he formed and created this earth and this heaven, and the various stages thereof, as performed in the several days, until on the sixth and seventh it was completed. This, according to new revelation contained in the “Pearl of Great Price,” is the way Moses obtained a knowledge of the history of this creation. Other men, before his day, also obtained it. Abraham, who lived several hundred years before Moses, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord God gave unto him in the land of Chaldea, and by the aid of this instrument he also obtained a knowledge of the history of this creation, and not only of this, but of many others, God also giving the names of many of them, such as Kolob and others, which it is not necessary for me to repeat. But the Lord, in various ages, has manifested these great things to the children of men. But all these great Prophets, Seers and Revelators had to experience their seasons of darkness and trial, and had to show their integrity before God in the midst of the difficulties they had to encounter. Shall the Latter-day Saints despond, then, because they may have seasons of darkness, and may be brought into trials and difficulties? No! Let us be steadfast, holding fast to the rod of iron—the word of God—and to our honesty, integrity and uprightness, that God may be well pleased with us whether we have much or little of the Spirit. I do not know how we could have many trials, if we were all the time filled with the Spirit and continually having revelations.

This puts me in mind of the experience of our Prophet Joseph, and of David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and others. You are familiar with many things contained in the history of Joseph, about his hours of trial. He had some before the Lord permitted him to take the plates from the Hill Cumorah. God showed him where those plates were, and he was commanded by the angel to go and view them. He did so, and when he first saw them he put forth his hand to take them. But was he suffered to do so? No. What was the reason? He had not had the trials necessary to prove his integrity, and this must be proved before he could be entrusted with so sacred a treasure. Hence he was told to go and be obedient to the Lord, and to come there from time to time, as he was commanded by the angel of the Lord; and when the time had fully come he was permitted to take them.

Do you suppose, from the time he saw the plates first, to the day when he was permitted to take them, being some four years, that he had no temptations, trials, darkness or difficulties to grapple with? We are told in his history that, besides the glories of heaven that were opened to his mind, the powers of darkness were also portrayed before him. The Lord showed him the two powers. What for? To give him the experience necessary to enable him to discern between that which came from God and that which came from the opposite source. He saw, as Moses did, these evil beings personally. They were manifested before him in their rage, malice and wickedness. He had also many seasons of sorrow, tribulation, difficulty and temptation; and when he had proved himself be– fore the Heavens, and before the Saints in Paradise who once dwelt on this continent, and had shown that he was full of integrity, God permitted him to take the plates, and he translated the record thereon into the English language.

Perhaps I have spoken sufficient in relation to these two powers. What I have said has been with the design to comfort and encourage the Saints, that they may not think, because some are tried this way, and some that way, and some another, that something has befallen them different to what has taken place upon the human family before, and that they are more tried than any other individual that has ever been upon the earth. Do not think this, Latter-day Saints, but strengthen yourselves in God, and in the hour of your trial call upon him, and he will impart strength and faith to you, light up your understandings, and bring you through victoriously, and your blessings will be still greater than before your temptations came upon you.

By and by the time will come when the veil, which hides this earth, and shuts out its inhabitants from the presence of God, will be removed. We read this in the Book of Covenants. The earth is now shut out from the presence of God, and all the inhabitants, and the animal creation, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea, and everything wherein there is life, all are shut out from the presence of God. Because of the fall of the great head and being who was to have dominion over this creation, it is banished, a veil is let down which hides us from the presence of God. This veil or covering will soon be taken away, and the earth will roll back again into the presence of God. When I speak of the earth’s rolling back again, I do not mean that the Lord is going to translate it from its present orbit around the sun; I do not mean that it is going to be moved from its present position, which it has occupied for six thousand years; but I mean that the veil which shuts us out from the presence of God will be removed.

Those who are sufficiently pure to abide that day have great promises made to them. You will find these promises recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. We are told that when that day arrives, God’s people, whether those who have died and are resurrected, or those who are living on the earth, shall know all these things that I have spoken of. They shall know about the earth, and all things in, under or around about it, and all the power thereof and the materials that enter into its constitution. All these things will be open to the mind of man, and it will be one of his natural gifts apparently. I say natural, because it will be so frequent. That which we call natural is something, generally speaking, that takes place all the time, and the frequency of the thing makes it to us natural. Well, when this covering of which I have spoken is removed, the knowledge that the people will then have of the mysteries and wonders of creation will be such that they will many times be in about the same condition that Moses was in during the short interval of light and glory that was manifested to him. If that man of God could retain his existence as a mortal being after that great manifestation of the power of God unto him on that occasion, I do not know why the minds of all who are counted worthy to live, when the Lord removes the veil, cannot be developed the same as the mind of Moses was, that they may grasp and comprehend the things of God the same as he did. I cannot, in my own mind, see so much difference, as many people suppose, between the ancients and the moderns. I believe that God is willing to bless all his children, ancient or modern, if they live before him worthily.

We read in Isaiah of a time when a certain people called Zion should be clothed upon with the glory of God, and their city be lighted up with a cloud by day and the light of a flaming fire by night, and they should be so highly favored that, so far as light was concerned, they should not need the light of the sun by day, nor the moon by night, for the Lord their God would be their everlasting light, and the days of their mourning would be ended. We also read in the same connection that when that day comes, “thy children,” speaking of Zion “shall all be righteous;” that is, they would be a people upon whom and to whom God could manifest himself as he did to Moses and others; that the knowledge of God would cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. Jeremiah has said that the time would come when the new covenant should take its full effect here upon the earth; that there would be no more need of ministers and priests to teach the people, although there would be need for ordinances to be administered, and for the priesthood to administer in other capacities; but so far as teaching the people to know the Lord was concerned it would be unnecessary. In that day no man would need to say to his neighbor, “Know ye the Lord.” Why? Because all would know him, from the least unto the greatest, for Isaiah says they should all be taught of the Lord, all be righteous, all receive revelation and visions, all prophesy and dream. That is, God would reveal by his Spirit in different ways, at different times and by different methods to his people those things that would comfort and build them up in their most holy faith.

When we see the great necessity there is at the present time to teach, and see how prone men are to forget that which they are taught, we say, they are like him who beholds his natural face in a glass and turns away, and straightway forgets what manner of man he is. It is just so with regard to teaching the people; they need to be stirred up continually, because of the weakness of their minds and memories; and naturally viewing this weakness, it seems almost impossible to believe that it will ever be different, as long as men are in a mortal state. Yet I do not look at it in this light. I look for a great change and revolution among the inhabitants of our globe. I look for the veil to be taken not only from the earth, but from every creature of all flesh that dwells upon the face thereof; and all will be in the presence of God. God himself will be their God, and they will be his people. God himself will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, no more sorrow nor crying, for all things will become new, and God will be with his people from that time henceforth and forever.

Does this mean that God will all the time dwell upon the earth? No. There will be a connection, an opening between man and God, that will bring us into his presence, and whether he shall be far distant or near it will make no difference. Here is a principle that none of us fully comprehend. We speak oftentimes of going to and returning from God, of going to heaven, and so on. I have no doubt that many of us will be counted worthy to approach near to him so far as distance is concerned. But then, when we come to reflect that distance will be comparatively annihilated, between God and the worlds he has made, so that it will make no difference, as far as his presence is concerned, whether he is close by or millions of miles distant—there will be a mutual communication between the Creator and his children all the time, consequently there will be union and fellowship with him, and rejoicing in his presence, though he be in a world far beyond Kolob, of which Abraham speaks.

As an illustration of this principle, let me bring up some temporal phenomena here on the earth. A few years ago, when I was a boy, no such thing was dreamed of as conversing with our neighbors two or three hundred miles distant. And if such a thing had been thought of and it had been mentioned, the dreamer would have been at once set down as a fanatic or enthusiast, or as one beside himself, crazy or weakminded. That was the idea our fathers had, and the idea that some of us old men had when we were boys. But since that period God has seen proper to inspire certain individuals with information and knowledge, to erect telegraph poles, and through the medium of wires attached to these poles, placed upon nonconductors of electricity, we are enabled to converse instantaneously, almost, with the most distant parts of the earth; and if there is proper wire connection we can send our message to the other side of the globe in one or two seconds and get a return as quickly. Is not this making neighbors of the nations? So far as this one means of communication is concerned, it is quite neighborly. We in Salt Lake City can sit down by the side of our warm fires and converse with persons sitting by their fires. The people of these two cities can talk together, though it is quite expensive as yet to do so.

Supposing now that it were possible to invent something still further, by which we could see our neighbors in London, and the people in London could see us in Salt Lake City, then we could both converse and see. And if we could do this, do you not see that, so far, distance would be almost annihilated?

Again, suppose that by some medium now unknown to us, we could absolutely be able to hear, not by the vibrations of this coarse atmosphere of ours, but by the vibrations of some fluid spread through space, more refined, operating upon the organs of the immortal ear, transferring sounds at an immense distance, say millions and millions of miles, conveying them with the rapidity of the electric fluid itself and perhaps with a velocity a thousand times greater, then we could both see and hear, and also converse with our neighbors at long distances from us; and if such means of communication were opened among the different nations of the earth, they would all be neighbors.

Now extend this principle, and let us suppose that there was a medium of communication by which immortal beings could see, hear and communicate from the earth to the sun, and from the sun to the earth; from the earth to Jupiter, and from Jupiter back again to the earth; from the sun to the most distant planetary bodies of our system, and back again from those bodies to the sun; and then from the solar system itself to some of those starry spheres, and from one sphere to another, taking in whole groups of systems, until finally we had means of communication with all the different worlds of the universe, as we have now between Salt Lake and London, only through a more refined and perfect medium, would it be necessary under these circumstances that our Father and God should be directly here on the earth in order for us to be with him? Not at all. He could be situated on a world as far distant as some of the fixed stars from us, and there he could sway his scepter over millions of worlds and systems, and all of them be in his presence, the veil having been removed; while those powers that are latent, now as it were, in the mind of fallen beings like man, being developed among all the inhabitants of these worlds, they could communicate with him and he with them. Would it not be said, under these circumstances, that they were all in the presence of God? Yes, and it would obviate the necessity of traveling and spending millions of years on long journeys through space in order to get into his presence.

I expect that in future ages all these things will be made manifest to the children of God. If we are to grow up in light, intelligence and truth, and become gods, even the sons of God; if we are to be filled with light, understanding and knowledge; if we are to understand all things pertaining to our earth and to other worlds, then it seems to me that we must approximate very nearly to the fullness of the blessings that are now enjoyed by him who is our Father and our God. I do not consider that man has all of his senses developed here, and because we have not yet exercised some of our senses that have slept unknown to us ever since our birth, that is no argument that we do not possess such senses, no evidence at all. You might take a man that had the faculty of seeing in perfection, and if he was born where not a glimmer of light ever entered his eye, he would not know that he had such a faculty, and you could not by talking instill the idea into his mind, he could not comprehend it. He would say, “I have the sense of feeling, and the sense of smelling, and the sense of hearing, but this sense of seeing that you talk about I have no idea of, what is it?” He would have to experience it in order to find out what was meant by seeing objects at a distance, defining their colors, and so on. But when he looked on the surface of nature by the aid of light, when it was once brought to bear upon him, what a world of knowledge would rush into his mind, not all at once, but by degrees. So it will be with the Saints of God, when their latent faculties begin to be developed and brought forth, so that they can gaze upon the works of God.

This great future reward is worth living for, and this is what we should seek for, even for the enlightenment of the Spirit. This is what we should endeavor to cultivate in all our business transactions, and in all our concerns here in life. If we cultivate this Spirit, it will increase upon us, and it will grow brighter and brighter, until the perfect day, and we shall rise by degrees into that high position that God intends for his children, to make them gods, to dwell in his presence forever and ever. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Sept. 22, 1872.

Having been requested to address the congregation this afternoon, I do so with the greatest cheerfulness. There is one passage of Scripture I would like very much to take as a text, if I knew where to find it. It is somewhere in the book of Jeremiah or Ezekiel. I have not time now to look it up, and perhaps it would be better to take some other text having a bearing on the same subject. The text to which I would like to direct the attention of the people has reference to the colonization of this country by one of the descendants of Zedekiah, king of Judah. It reads something like this: “Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: in the mountain of the height of Israel, will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.”

We read of the fulfillment of this prophecy in the Book of Mormon; but because I cannot direct your attention to the passage, I will read another text, which will be found in the 11th verse of the 85th Psalm: “Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.”

Forty-five years ago this morning this prophecy, so far as it relates to “truth springing out of the earth,” was fulfilled. Forty-five years ago, early this morning, plates resembling gold were taken from the earth, the morning, if I recollect right, of the 22nd of September, 1827. Owing to that great event the Territory of Utah is now settled by the people called Latter-day Saints. Owing to the fulfillment of this prophecy this Tabernacle has been built here in these mountains; and had it not been for that event, it is probable that Utah Territory would still have been a desert, a barren, solitary, uninhabited district of country. Sometimes great things are accomplished and grow out of things that appear very small in their nature. It has been so in relation to this prophecy—“Truth shall spring out of the earth.”

In order that the meaning of these words may be more fully understood, it may not be amiss to read the context or the passages preceding. The Psalmist commences—

Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

Wilt thou be angry with us forever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

Thus reads the 85th Psalm. It is very evident that the Psalmist David, being filled with the spirit of prophecy, saw the condition of the people of Israel, saw also that they would be under the displeasure of the Almighty for many generations, and he prays that the Lord would look upon them in compassion, and turn himself from the fierceness of his anger, that it might not be drawn out towards them to all generations, and he utters this prayer: “Turn us, O God of our salvation, and show unto us thy mercy,” etc. The Lord, in answer to this prayer, promised to speak peace to his people, but said he, “Let them not turn again unto folly.” And then he informs them how he would speak peace unto them, and how he would turn himself from the fierceness of his anger, that his anger might not be drawn out unto them to all generations. He informs them that he would commence this great work, that should result in peace and salvation to Israel, by causing truth to spring out of the earth, at which time righteousness should look down from heaven. Righteousness and truth and peace should kiss one another, and the Lord should cause the land of Israel again to yield its increase. We know how barren, sterile and uninhabitable is the land that was once promised to that chosen people. The Lord has not only cursed the people and made them a hiss and a byword among all the nations whither they have been driven, but his anger has also been upon their land. He has withheld the rains of heaven, and has cursed it with barrenness and sterility; and the cities which once covered its face and reared their lofty spires to heaven, now lie in ruins, and scarcely a vestige of some of them can be found. But when the Lord should cause truth to spring forth out of the earth, he would speak peace to his people and to their land, and it should yield its increase; and truth should go before him and should set them in the way of his steps.

We have been proclaiming for forty-two years this Book of Mormon, which we have declared has sprung forth from the earth by the power of the Almighty, for the benefit, first of the Gentile nations. The proclamation, according to the words of the book, must go forth to all people, nations and tongues under the whole heavens, called the Gentile nations, after which the Lord has promised in numerous places in this record that it should go to the remnants of the house of Israel. But that which the Lord intends to accomplish first by the bringing forth of this book, is the redemption of as many as will hearken to its words in all the Gentile nations of the earth, and to gather them together in one; for not only are the house of Israel and the house of Judah to be gathered back to their own lands, but all Christians throughout the whole earth are to be gathered in one in the latter days, according to a prophecy which you will find in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah: “I will bring them from the east, and gather them from the west. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name.” This has reference to the sons and daughters of the living God, to the people called Saints; not particularly to the literal seed of the house of Israel, but to all those who believe in him, and who are called by his name. All must be gathered; all must come from the ends of the earth. No Christians will be left, scattered abroad over the nations, as many suppose will be the case so long as time lasts. A complete and full gathering together of the people of God must take place in the latter days, called, by Paul, the dispensation of the fullness of times. You will find this prediction in the first chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians. Paul there declares that a new dispensation must come in, and he denominates it the dispensation of the fullness of times. He tells us that in that dispensation the Lord will gather together in one all things in Christ. Every person that believes in, and has put on Christ by baptism and by repentance of sin, must be gathered in one in that dispensation; not only those on earth, but those in heaven—all the congregations who are in Christ, who have dwelt on the earth in former ages, are to be united with those who are in the flesh on the earth. One great, vast, general assembly of all that are in Christ—the dead as well as the living—from the days of Adam down until the work is completed.

In order to commence this great work the Lord has brought forth truth out of the earth. He will speak peace to his people, and they are requested by the Psalmist, when the Lord undertakes to do this work, never to turn again unto folly.

Now I will attempt to give a brief account to my hearers of how Joseph Smith obtained the plates of the Book of Mormon from the earth. He was but a lad, a farmer’s boy, when the Lord began to speak to him and send his angels to him, being not quite fifteen years of age. He was almost too young to be a brazen-faced impostor, was he not? Cast your eyes around on this congregation for the youth of fifteen, and see if you think it would be possible for one of that early age to become one of the most barefaced impostors that the world ever heard of, for Joseph Smith was thus regarded by the world at large with few exceptions; and he must have been so, at a very early age, if this work be not true, for he could not be deceived, himself, in relation to it. There was no possible chance for any deception, so far as he himself was concerned. Why? Because the circumstances were of such a nature that he could not be deceived. God revealed to him that there were certain plates deposited about three miles from his father’s house. He saw, in vision, the place of their deposit. He heard the holy angel declare to him in relation to these records. But first, about four years prior to this, the first vision that he had was in answer to prayer. Being but a youth, and anxious for the salvation of his soul, he secretly prayed, in the wilderness, that the Lord would show unto him what he should do, what church he should join. The Lord heard and answered this prayer. Do not be astonished, good Christians, because the Lord hears prayer in the 19th century. I know it is very popular to pray to the Lord in Christendom; but, when you talk about the Lord answering prayers, by giving revelations, visions, or sending angels, it is very unpopular. But unpopular as it was, this youth ventured to go and ask the Lord for wisdom, having, in the first place, read a passage in the New Testament, which says, “If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given unto him.” Joseph Smith was not so full of tradition that he could not lay hold of this promise. I do not know that he had been taught long enough, the idea that the Lord would not hear prayer. At any rate, having read this passage, he prayed, really believing in his heart that the Lord would answer him, for he wanted wisdom, he wanted to know which was the true Christian Church, that he might be united with it; and while pleading with and praying to the Lord for this information, which was a matter of great concern to him, the heavens were opened, and two personages clothed in light or fire descended and stood before him. As soon as this light surrounded him, and he was enclosed or enveloped in it, his mind was caught away from earthly objects and things, and he saw these two glorious personages, their countenances shining with exceeding great brilliancy. One of them, while pointing to the other, addressed him in this language, “Behold my beloved son, hear ye him.” All fear was taken from this boy during the progress of this wonderful event, and he felt happy, but anxious to know concerning the things about which he had been praying, and he repeated his request, that he might be told which was the true Christian church. He was informed that there was no true Christian church on the earth, that there was no people established or organized according to the Apostolic order; that all had gone out of the way and had departed from the ancient order of things; that they had denied the power of Godliness, the gifts, miracles, the spirit of revelation and prophecy, visions, that all these things had been done away with by the unbelief of the children of men, and that there were no prophets or inspired men on the earth, as there always had been when there was a true Church upon the earth. He was strictly commanded to join none of them. The Lord also informed him that, at some future period of time, if he would be faithful in giving heed to the instructions which were then imparted to him, and in his prayers to the Lord, he would impart to him his own doctrine in plainness and simplicity.

Some four years passed away from this time, making this boy not quite nineteen years of age, and on one Sunday evening he returned to his bedroom, pondering upon the promise that had been given to him, and he began praying earnestly again that the Lord would show him the true Gospel of his son, according to the promise; and while he was thus praying in his father’s house in his chamber, a light burst into the room, becoming brighter by degrees, shining and then partially withdrawing, so that fear did not take possession of his bosom to any great degree. As he continued praying the light became brighter and brighter, and finally a personage clothed in a white robe stood before him. This personage was a little above the size of common men at the present day, and his arms and feet were partially bare. His feet did not stand on the floor of the room, but a certain distance above, and his countenance shone like lightning. This Angel appeared so pleasant, beautiful and glorious, and his countenance radiated such happiness on the mind of this young lad that all fear was taken from him as on the former occasion. This personage told him that he was an Angel of God, and that he had been sent, in answer to his prayer, with a very important message to deliver to him; that God designed to accomplish a great work on the earth, and that he was to be a chosen instrument in laying the foundation of, and establishing this work. He commenced telling him about the ancient inhabitants of this continent. He told him that the present American Indians were the descendants of Israel; that their forefathers were brought here from Jerusalem about six centuries before Christ; that when they came they were a righteous people and had Prophets among them; that when they landed on this continent they commenced, by the commandment of the Lord, keeping a record of their history, their prophecies and sacred doings upon metallic plates; that that nation, after having dwelt here about a thousand years, fell into great wickedness; that they divided themselves into two great nations; that the portion that had these plates, the Nephites, had so far apostatized from the Lord, that he threatened their overthrow, and to destroy them if they did not repent; that the Prophets went forth among them prophesying that if they did not repent, the other nation, called Lamanites, would destroy them from the face of the land. But they would not repent, and Mormon, a Prophet who lived at that time, was commanded of the Lord to take all the plates that were kept of the records of his fathers, and make an abridgment of them upon a new set of plates. So he commenced and abridged their history, from the time they left Jerusalem until that period, incorporating therein many of the prophesies and revelations given during that thousand years. After having made this abridgment he committed it into the hands of his son Moroni, knowing that his nation would be destroyed, and that Moroni, according to the revelations God had given him, would be spared to keep the records, and to behold the downfall of his nation. Mormon hid the records from which he made this abridgment in a hill, called the hill Cumorah, that being its ancient name, and this hill was about three miles from where this young man resided, in the town of Manchester, Ontario County, State of New York. There all the records were deposited, and according to the Book of Mormon they must have been very numerous indeed. The history of the ancient inhabitants of this land was kept by their kings, and the records became very voluminous; and they were all deposited by the Prophet Mormon in that hill; but the abridgment from which the Book of Mormon was taken was given into the hands of his son Moroni, to finish out the record. The last date given on these records was 420 years after Christ.

You may inquire how the people on this land knew about the birth of Christ. I will say that they understood Christianity on this western hemisphere as well as on the eastern hemisphere. They were not left in darkness here concerning the Savior of the world and his atonement. They knew all about it. How? Jesus, who is the God of the whole earth, appeared to them after his crucifixion, and resurrection from the dead. He showed them the wounds in his hands, feet and side, and delivered to them his Gospel in its plainness and fullness, and they were commanded to write it on plates. They knew also, of his birth, in the land of their forefathers, by the signs which God gave to them on this land. They were told that at the time of the birth of Jesus there should be two days and one night without any darkness at all; they should see the sun go down at night and rise in the morning, and that during the whole of that time it should be light as day. They commenced the reckoning of their time from that period. Previous to that time they had reckoned their time from the date of their leaving Jerusalem, precisely six hundred years before the birth of Christ. Four hundred and twenty years after that great event the Prophet Moroni informs us that he also was commanded to hide up this abridgment in the same hill, but in another part of it, in which his father Mormon hid up the sacred records. And the Lord made a promise to Moroni, also to Mormon, and to many other Prophets who dwelt on this land in previous generations, that these plates should never be destroyed, but that they should be preserved by his hand, and that they should be brought forth out of the earth in the latter days, for the purpose of bringing about the gathering of his people from the ends of the earth, and the bringing in of the fullness of the Gentiles and fulfilling their times, after which the translation of these records should go to all the remnants of the house of Israel, scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth; and that these records should be instrumental in the hands of God in gathering Israel from the four quarters of the earth.

These were the promises of God to the ancient Prophets of this continent, and the angel told Joseph Smith concerning these plates, and where they were deposited. At the same time, the vision of the Almighty was open to the mind of Joseph, and he saw the very spot. After the angel had conversed with him sometime on this subject, and had opened up to him the prophecies of the holy Prophets concerning the great work that was to be accomplished in the latter days, he withdrew, and Joseph continued praying. Some, perhaps, might think that this was a dream; but it was not, he was wide awake. As he continued praying, the angel came again the second time, and gave him still further information concerning the rise of the latter-day kingdom of God upon the earth, and the great work the Almighty intended to accomplish preparatory to the coming of his Son from the heavens with all his Saints. The angel then again withdrew, but in answer to Joseph’s prayers he came the third time, and imparted to him still more information. After his withdrawal the third time Joseph arose, and it was early in the morning, he having been awake all night receiving instruction from the angel of God. In the morning he went out into the field to work with his father. He had not yet told his father of the remarkable things that he had seen during the night; but his father noticed that he looked weak and feeble, and advised him to go to the house. He started to do so, and while on the way, the angel again appeared to him, and commanded him to return to his father and tell him all about it. He did so, and his father, on hearing it, burst into tears, and said, “My son, be not disobedient to this heavenly vision!” The angel, when he appeared to him in daylight, told him not only to tell his father, but also to go to the place shown him in vision the night previous, and see the plates. His father told him by all means to be obedient and faithful. He went according to the instruction of the angel and visited this hill. The hill runs north and south some three quarters of a mile, and on one end of it, or near the end of it, was where he saw the plates. The surface of the stone which covered the plates was bare; around its edges was a thick greensward of grass or turf. He knew the place as soon as he saw it, and procuring a lever he lifted off this principal or crowning stone, and found that it was cemented on the top of four stones that sat on edge, forming a stone box. After having lifted off the stone he saw the plates, just as he had seen them in vision the night before. These plates rested upon three little cement pillars that ran up from the bottom, and the stones that formed the sides of the box were cemented together at the corners.

With the plates was an instrument, called the Urim and Thummim, used by Seers in ancient times, and which enabled them to understand the things of God. The great High Priest used such an instrument in the midst of Israel on the other continent, and inquired of the Lord to receive sentence of judgment in difficult cases that were brought before him to be judged. Aaron had a Urim and Thummim in the center of his breastplate; and when the cases were brought before him, the breastplate of judgment, containing the Urim and Thummim, was consulted, and whatever sentence the Lord gave, Aaron gave to the people of Israel. The Prophets who deposited those plates in the hill Cumorah were commanded of the Lord to deposit the Urim and Thummim with them, so that when the time came for them to be brought forth, the individual who was entrusted with them might be able to translate them by the gift and power of God. Joseph put forth his hands to take the plates, but upon doing so the angel immediately appeared to him and said, “Joseph, the time has not yet come for you to take the plates; you must be taught and instructed, and you must give heed to my commandments and to the commandments of the Lord until you are fully prepared to be entrusted with them, for the Lord promised his ancient servants on this land that no one should have them for the purpose of speculation, and that they should be brought forth with an eye single to the glory of God; and now, if you will keep the commandments of God in all things, and prepare yourself, you will in due time be permitted to take these plates from their place of deposit.” He would not suffer him to take them at that time. Four years from that day—on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1827—having been commanded of the Lord to come to that place at that special time, he went and was met by the angel. I will state, however, that during these four years he was often ministered to by the angels of God, and received instruction concerning the work that was to be performed in the latter days. But when the time had fully arrived he went to the hill Cumorah, according to appointment, and took the plates, and the Urim and Thummim with them, and took them to his father’s house in a wagon, which he had brought near to the hill for that purpose. He was then nearly twenty-two years old—twenty-two the following December.

Soon after this a certain portion of the characters on these plates were copied off by the Prophet, and the manuscript sent, by the hands of Martin Harris, a farmer who lived in that neighborhood, to the city of New York, to show them to the learned, to see if they could translate them. Among those to whom they were presented was Professor Anthon—a man noted for his learning in languages—but he could not translate them.

You may here inquire, What was the particular character in which these plates were written? They inform us that they wrote in two separate characters. Some of their plates were written in Hebrew and some in the Egyptian; but both the Hebrew and the Egyptian, after they came from Jerusalem, were reformed by them. I mean the alphabets were altered or changed. If they had not done this by design, we know that in the course of a thousand years languages will greatly change, and sometimes new characters will be added to alphabets. We know that none of them, at the present time, are precisely as they were anciently; they have been added to from time to time. The Hebrew, on the eastern continent, had the points representing the vowels added to it after the Nephites left Jerusalem; and no doubt the Egyptian, understood when they left, has been greatly changed since. They wrote, therefore, in the reformed Egyptian—a language that the learned Professor Anthon did not understand. He requested Martin Harris, however, to bring the plates to him, telling him, if he would, that he could perhaps assist him in the translation. Joseph translated the few characters that were sent to Professor Anthon, and when the translation and the original were shown to him, and he had compared them, he expressed the opinion that the translation was correct, and he gave a paper to that effect to Martin Harris. As Mr. Harris was leaving the room, Mr. Anthon said, “How did this young lad obtain the plates?” Said Martin Harris, “He obtained them by the ministration of an holy angel.” Professor Anthon immediately requested him to return the paper that he had given him, and as soon as Mr. Harris had done so, he tore it to pieces, saying, “Angels do not appear in our day.”

I do not know that Joseph Smith, at the time that he sent these words to the learned, knew anything about the prophecy that is contained in the 29th chapter of Isaiah, a few words of which I will read; but at any rate, whether he knew it or not, it was a literal fulfillment of it. Isaiah speaks of a time when deep sleep should be poured out upon the nations of the earth, and they should be drunken, but not with wine; they should stagger, but not with strong drink; and the Prophets and the Seers, &c., should be covered; in other words, they would not have any Prophets or Seers. Every one will bear me witness that that was the case at the time these plates were brought forth. Where was there a people who received revelation? Where were their Prophets and Seers? Gone, covered, “and the vision of all has become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, ‘Read this I pray you;’ and he saith, ‘I cannot, for the book is sealed.’ And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, ‘Read this I pray thee,’ and he saith, ‘I am not learned.’ Wherefore the Lord says, ‘Inasmuch as this people’—the people to whom these words should be delivered—’draw near to me with their mouths and with their lips do honor me, but remove their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men, therefore I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.’”

This prophecy was fulfilled in the transaction I have already related. The words of the book, Isaiah says, are to be delivered to the learned, not the book itself. I have had people rise up and say, “Why did not Joseph Smith send the plates to the learned?” Because that would have been a violation of this prophecy. The words of the book, not the book itself, were to be delivered to the learned, requesting him to read them—“Read this I pray thee.” But he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Martin Harris told him a portion of these plates were sealed and were not to be translated during the present generation; but the portion that were unsealed were to be translated. He replied, “I cannot read a sealed book,” thus fulfilling the words of Isaiah.

The book itself, we are informed in the next verse, is to be delivered to him that is not learned. Now in regard to Joseph Smith’s qualifications or attainments in learning, they were very ordinary. He had received a little education in the common country schools in the vicinity in which he had lived. He could read a little, and could write, but it was in such an ordinary hand that he did not venture to act as his own scribe, but had to employ sometimes one and sometimes another to write as he translated. This unlearned man did not make the same reply that the learned man did. For when the book was delivered to this unlearned youth and he was requested to read it, he replied, “I am not learned.” I suppose he felt his weakness when the Lord told him to read this book; for he thought it was a great work. But the Lord replied to Joseph in the very language of this prophecy—“Inasmuch as this people”—meaning the present generation—“draw near to me with their lips, &c., therefore I will proceed to do a marvelous work, even a marvelous work and a wonder.”

Now, did the unlearned man read the book? Some might suppose, if they were to read no further, that the book was not read at all. Let us read what is prophesied in the 18th verse: “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book.” Indeed! Then it seems that the book must have been read, or they could not have heard its words. “And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” Does this mean those who are spiritually deaf, and those who are spiritually blind? Or does it mean literally, those who are blind and cannot see and those who are deaf and cannot hear? It may mean either way, for it is well known by thousands and tens of thousands now on the earth that the eyes of the blind—those who have been born blind—have been opened, and that the ears of the deaf have been opened by the power of God, through the preaching of this book, so that the prophecy has had a literal fulfillment, for those who were physically and spiritually blind and deaf have been made to see and hear by the power of God, and they have gathered themselves from the nations.

Now let us read a little further in this prophecy, and see whether this corresponds with the words of our text. You recollect it refers particularly to the ingathering of the house of Israel, and when the Lord would cause the land of Palestine to yield its increase, that he would cause truth to spring out of the earth,” and so on. Does this prophecy of Isaiah correspond with David; so far as the events predicted to transpire in the days when the book comes forth? We will see. “Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob; Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.” Why should they no longer be ashamed? Why should not their faces still wax pale? The reply is, “But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel.”

Do you not see how these two Prophets harmonize in their prophecies? One says, “Wilt thou not turn to us again, O Lord, and bring back again the captivity of thy people, Jacob, that we may rejoice in thee? How long, O Lord, will the fierceness of thy wrath continue? Will it continue to all generations?” And the answer is that he will bring truth out of the earth, that it should set them in the way of his steps; and the land of Israel or Jacob should again yield its increase. While the other says Jacob shall not be ashamed, neither shall his face wax pale. It seems then, that both these Prophets beheld that truth out of the earth, or a certain book, would bring about the gathering of that long-dispersed people.

We find also, other events described, of a very remarkable character. One is that the meek should increase their joy in the Lord. There have been a great many meek people among all the religious denominations, who have no doubt lived, with all the desire of faithfulness that we Latter-day Saints have, and some perhaps have been more faithful than some of us. “The meek, also, shall increase their joy in the Lord.” When will they do this? In the day that the deaf should hear the words of the book. For what reason? Because of the instructions, counsel, perfect doctrine, and prophecies contained therein; because of the knowledge it gives to the children of men concerning the great work which is to be accomplished before the coming of the Son of Man. All this knowledge would cause the meek of the earth to have their joy increased.

“The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” This is a very important item. When we wander over the nations of the earth, at the present day, what do we behold? Millions on millions groaning in worse than African slavery. Our American slavery here, never compared with the slavery of those millions in the old countries. They were very pointed there, against what they termed African slavery, but they did not look at the slaves at home—the millions of people who were obliged to work fourteen or sixteen hours a day for a sixpence, their bones sticking out of their skin, as it were, and they having the appearance as if famine had been gnawing at their vitals. This is the condition of millions now. But here is a book, the coming forth of which should make the poor among men rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

I would call upon this congregation, and upon the inhabitants of Utah Territory, I mean that portion called Latter-day Saints, and ask of them, Have you experienced the fulfillment of this prophecy, in the deliverance of yourselves and children from the oppressions that you endured in the mother country? If a response were given to this it would be a united affirmative from scores of thousands that this prophecy has been fulfilled to the very letter in their deliverance from the bondage which they and their fathers before them had been compelled to endure by the cruel hand of the oppressor.

Another event is spoken of in connection with the bringing forth of this book—“For the terrible one is brought to naught, the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off.” Has that ever been fulfilled? No, but it will be in its time and in its season; but not until they have heard the words of the book, and have been thoroughly warned by the coming forth of truth out of the earth. When that has been sounded in their ears, if they hardened their hearts against it the decree of the Almighty is that all that watch for iniquity shall be cut off. All who persecute the Saints of the living God, all who would make a man an offender for a word, that will lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, that will turn aside the just for a thing of naught, are to be consumed.

Another very pleasing thing is mentioned, which you can bear me witness has been fulfilled. “They also who erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” Oh, how my heart has been pained within me when I have seen the blindness of the Christian world, and I knew that many of them were sincere! I knew they desired to know the truth, but they scarcely knew whether to turn to the right or to the left, so great were the errors that were taught in their midst, and so strong the traditions which they had imbibed, the fear of the Lord being taught them by the precepts of men instead of by inspiration and the power of the Holy Ghost. “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding” when this book comes forth, and “they that murmur shall learn doctrine.”

It would seem, then, that there is something connected with doctrine in the contents of this book, or the people could not learn doctrine therefrom and have their errors done away. But those who have read this book will bear me record that their minds have been forever set at rest in regard to doctrine, so far as the ordinances of the kingdom of God are concerned. Those who erred, and did not know whether sprinkling, pouring or immersion was the true method of baptism, now know? Why? Because the Book of Mormon reveals the mode as it was given to the ancient Nephites on this continent. So in regard to every other principle of the doctrine of Christ—it is set forth in such great plainness that it is impossible for any two persons to form different ideas in relation to it, after reading the Book of Mormon.

You may ask, Why this plainness? Because it was translated by the power and gift of God; because it came from a proper source—from him who is truth itself. God has brought it forth from the earth, and as the Psalmist David says, “It will set us in the way of his steps.” If we have murmured because we did not understand doctrine, we now have a revelation that will show us the true Gospel, with all its ordinances, principles, gifts and blessings, and we may enjoy them inasmuch as we will seek them according to the promises of the Almighty.

I know that I am sometimes lengthy in my teachings, and may be tedious to some, but bear with me a few moments longer, for there are some other prophecies connected with the coming forth of this book that it seems to me should be understood by the people. I will refer you to one now, which will be found in the 37th chapter of the prophecies of Ezekiel. We there have a declaration of the means that God will use to gather the house of Israel from the four quarters of the earth. I have not time to turn to it, but I will repeat it. Speaking to the Prophet, the Lord says—“Therefore, son of man, take one stick and write upon it for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim; and then take another stick and write upon it for Judah, and join these two sticks together in thine hand, and hold them up before the Children of Israel in thine hands.” Now here were two sticks. I have no doubt that they were literal sticks in Ezekiel’s hands. The question is what did they mean? Two sticks written upon, one for Judah, and the other for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim. And after they were written upon, Ezekiel was to take the two sticks and join them into one, and then hold them up before the children of Israel as one stick. Then the Lord proceeds, “And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, What doest thou mean by this?” Now, notice the interpretation—“What dost thou mean by these two sticks that are written upon for Judah and for Joseph?” “Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, and I will put it with the stick of Judah, written upon for Judah, and they shall be one in mine hand.” The two sticks in Ezekiel’s hands were a representation of what the Lord was going to do, when he would do it and what events should follow the joining of these two sticks together. In reading the next verse we see how it harmonizes with what David and Isaiah have said on the subject. “The sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes; and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone. I will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land upon the mountains of Israel. They shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. But they shall dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children’s children forever, saith the Lord.”

Has that been fulfilled? No. When will the work commence that will bring it about? When the Lord takes the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, and puts it with the Jewish record, written upon for Judah, and makes them one in his own hand, and not until then. You might raise millions of dollars, and form missionary societies for the amelioration of the condition of the Jews; you might form Christian societies and raise funds until they are ever so great, and go to the nations of the earth and try to convert Israel, but you cannot do it. Why? Because God Almighty has decreed that that work shall be brought about after the union of the two records, and not till then. When he brings forth the record of the tribe of Joseph—his sacred writing and puts it with the record of the Jews—the Bible then and not till then may we look for the restitution of the house of Israel; and not even then, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Now let me say a few words about the times of the Gentiles. You know that Jesus predicted, in the 21st chapter of Luke, that Jerusalem should be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled, and from the day of the dispersion of the Jew, seventy years after Christ, until the present year—1872—that land has been trodden down by the Gentiles, and the house of Israel have not enjoyed their former location, their beautiful city nor their land of promise, and they cannot enjoy it—God will not permit them until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The question is, How will he bring about the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles? I answer, by sending forth to them the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, in connection with the Bible, by his servants who go forth to the nations of the earth. They will proclaim to all people, nations and tongues, to the Gentiles first, the fullness of the Gospel of the Son of God, contained in these two records. The testimony of two nations running together and growing into one is stronger than the testimony of one nation; and when the Lord makes the ancient continent of America bear record to the same great truths; when he unites the Bible of the Western hemisphere, with the Bible of the East, and sends it forth to the nations of the earth, it will be a witness, an evidence and a testimony sufficient to bring about what is termed the fullness of the Gentiles, or to fulfill their times.

This is the reason why, during forty-two years, God has restricted us to the Gentile nations, and would not suffer us to go with the Book of Mormon to the house of Israel until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled. How much longer the Lord will bear with the Gentile nations I know not; but I do know that when they count themselves unworthy of eternal life, when the servants of God have thoroughly warned them by preaching to them the fullness of the Gospel of his Son, then the commandment will go forth from the Almighty to his servants—“Turn from the Gentile nations and go to the dispersed of Israel. Go, ye fishers and ye hunters, and fulfill that which I spake by the mouth of mine ancient Prophets, that Jacob may no longer be made ashamed, that his face may no longer wax pale. Go and say to the house of Israel in the four quarters of the earth that the God of Jacob has again spoken. Go and tell them that that which he spake by the mouths of their ancient Prophets is being fulfilled.” And they will go, and their proclamation will be to Israel the same as to the Gentiles, with the exception of gathering the Jews to old Jerusalem, instead of to the land of Zion.

I might quote many other passages that have a bearing on this subject, but let this suffice. The work is before the nations, and they can examine it. It has received its foundation and start, and there is no power beneath the heavens that can stay the hand of the Almighty. His work will roll forth, whatever the conduct of the unfaithful may be. The work of the Almighty is onward, and will progress in its majesty and power until every prophecy is fulfilled that has been spoken by the mouth of his ancient servants. It will come to pass, and the people will be gathered, for the powers of the earth cannot stay the hand of the Almighty. Amen.