There are a few minutes more of time allotted to us for worship this
morning, which I will occupy for the consolation of my hearers, and
for my own.
I can bear testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true; and the
word of the Lord, whether written or spoken, is true.
Permit me to ask a question. Who are the individuals upon the face of
the earth, that can make this statement in truth? Who are the
individuals that can say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and
that he lives? Can the Christian world? They cannot. They may say that
they believe, and have all confidence that Jesus lives; they
may have all confidence in declaring that the Gospel of Jesus Christ
is true; they may firmly declare that the Bible (referring
particularly to the New Testament) is true; that therein contained is
the plan of salvation, and is true. This they may declare in all good
conscience, and with all soberness. But let me ask, where are the
individuals that can say that they know that Jesus lives? And who are
the individuals that can say that his Gospel is true, and is the plan
of salvation to man? I will let Christendom answer this question for
themselves; but to me it is certain, that no man lives on the face of
the earth—no woman lives that can say this, except those to whom
Christ has revealed himself.
Though others may say in all good conscience they believe he lives—who
knows the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ to be true? There is one
class of people, and one only, that live upon the face of the earth,
who do know it; and that class of men and women are those that keep
his commandments, and do his will; none others can say it. None others
can declare with boldness, and emphatically, that Jesus lives, and
that his Gospel is true. Upon the plain and simple principle of
logical and philosophical deduction, we learn this from his own words,
as written by one of his disciples—"They that do my will, shall know
of my doctrine, and they that love me will keep my commandments;" and
I will add, "they that know and love me," says Jesus, "will keep my
sayings."
This is my testimony. We have had the first principles of the Gospel
laid before us this morning, and we have heard the testimony of one of
the Apostles of the last days to confirm it. I am also a witness to
the truth of these sayings contained in the New Testament.
Permit me, my hearers, brethren and strangers, to say to you, there is
not that man that hears the sound of my voice this day, that can say
that Jesus lives, whether he professes to be his disciple or not; and
can say at the same time, that Joseph Smith was not a Prophet of the
Lord.
There is not that being that ever had the privilege of hearing the way
of life and salvation set before him as it is written in the New
Testament, and in the Book of Mormon, and in the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, by a Latter-day Saint, that can say that Jesus lives, that
his Gospel is true; and at the same time say that Joseph Smith was not
a Prophet of God. That is strong testimony, but it is true. No man can
say that this book (laying his hand on the Bible) is true, is the word
of the Lord, is the way, is the guide-board in the path, and a charter
by which we may learn the will of God; and at the same time say, that
the Book of Mormon is untrue; if he has had the privilege of reading
it, or of hearing it read, and learning its doctrines. There is not
that person on the face of the earth who has had the privilege of
learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ from these two books, that can say
that one is true, and the other is false. No Latter-day Saint, no man
or woman, can say the Book of Mormon is true, and at the same time say
that the Bible is untrue. If one be true, both are; and if one be
false, both are false. If Jesus lives, and is the Savior of the
world, Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, and lives in the bosom of his
father Abraham. Though they have killed his body, yet he lives and
beholds the face of his Father in heaven; and his garments are pure as
the angels that surround the throne of God; and no man on the earth
can say that Jesus lives, and deny at the same time my assertion about
the Prophet Joseph. This is my testimony, and it is strong.
Permit me to say, that I am proud of my religion. It is the
only thing I pride myself in, on the earth. I may heap up gold and
silver like the mountains; I may gather around me property, goods, and
chattels, but I could have no glory in that, compared with my
religion; it is the fountain of light and intelligence; it swallows up
the truth contained in all the philosophy of the world, both heathen
and Christian; it circumscribes the wisdom of man; it circumscribes
all the wisdom and power of the world; it reaches to that within the
veil. Its bounds, its circumference, its end, its height, and depth,
are beyond the comprehension of mortals, for it has none.
Permit me to remark, my hearers, as for the intelligence of the day,
and the knowledge that they have had in Christendom—how long will it
take a man of reflection, of deep thought, and of a sound mind, to
circumscribe every particle of it? It can be weighed and measured, as
easy as the gold dust. For instance, go to the "Mother Church," from
whence all the religions of Christendom have sprung; go back to the
time when she flourished in her glory; and how long would it take us
to circumscribe the religion of the "Mother Church," the "Holy
Catholic Church?" Cannot we learn the principles of that church in a
very few years? We can study her theology until we get all the
knowledge and wisdom to be had upon every point of doctrine contained
in her from first to last. Go then to the Church of England, and from
that to the latest and last reformer that lives upon the earth—and how
long would it take to circumscribe every particle of their religion
from first to last? Not long.
Why do I make these remarks and assertions? It is because I have an
experience. All the religion of the world, I have learned already. The
best and greatest divines that lived in my boyhood, I may say almost
in my childhood, children not as old as I was at the time, almost
babes and sucklings, would drown them in their own arguments, and
confuse them. Question them, and they cannot answer the simplest
question concerning the character of the Deity, heaven, or hell, this
or that, or the other; a sucking child would comparatively confuse and
confound them upon these subjects; and they would wind up all by
saying, "Great is the mystery of Godliness, God manifest in the
flesh." I would say, great is their foolery; they are profound in
their ignorance.
But I am proud to say of my religion, I have studied it faithfully for
twenty-two years, day and night, at home and abroad, upon the rivers,
and upon the lakes, when traveling by sea and by land; have studied
it in the pulpit; from morning till night; whatsoever might be my
pursuit, I have studied it with as close an application as any college
student ever did any subject he wished to commit to memory; and I can
say I have only just got into the A B C of it; it leads the vision of
my mind into eternity.
Suppose the Almighty should unfold the future destiny of the nations
to you, and wrap you in a sea of vision, and show you the eternity of
knowledge, with the history of worlds on worlds, and their destiny—you
can then have a faint idea of what it is like; and any other man, or
any other woman, whoever has received the promise of the Gospel,
knows that the Lord Almighty is in the midst of all His creatures that
are scattered abroad among the nations of the earth, and does His
pleasure among them. His scrutinizing eye will not suffer a hair of
your head to fall to the ground unnoticed; His attention is at once so
minute and so extensive.
He presides over the worlds on worlds that illuminate this
little planet, and millions on millions of worlds that we cannot see;
and yet He look upon the minutest object of His creations; not one of
these creatures escapes His notice; and there is not one of them but
His wisdom and power has produced. But that is no matter to me, I
speak with regard to you. Is there a man who believes, or professes to
believe in what Jesus says, where he declares by one of his Apostles,
or by more than one pointedly, there is no half way work in this
matter? Now if you can believe it, it is directly to the point; says
he, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments;" and if you do not
love me, you will not keep my commandments—this follows as a matter of
course; and that will show to my Father, and to my brethren that
follow me, that you do love me; and so say I, they that love the Lord
Jesus, will keep his commandments.
Why should I not be proud of my religion? If a man be permitted to
have pride at all; or if this people be permitted to indulge in it in
the least degree, why not be proud of their religion? For God loves
it, angels adore it, all the heavenly hosts delight in it; it is in
the midst of an eternity of intelligence, and forms a part of it;
while, on the other hand, all hell is opposed to it, all wickedness is
opposed to it, all men and women who desire to make sin their refuge,
hate it; and all hell, and all its votaries hate it, and the Lord
Almighty, with all His subjects, loves it; and He will yet rule
triumphantly over this earth. What shall we say, will not Jesus reign
and subdue the world? Is he not the Savior of the world, and the
only begotten Son of the Father, and will he not accomplish the work
he came to accomplish? Is not the earth the Lord's, the wheat, the
fine flour, the gold, the silver, the earth and all its fullness? Can
you imagine to your selves anything that pertains to this earth that
does not belong to its Redeemer? He is my master, my elder brother. He
is the character I look to, and the one I try to serve to the best of
my ability. Should I not be proud of my religion? I think if pride can
at all be indulged in, the Latter-day Saints should be proud.
I know there are a great many people who are not acquainted with the
history of this people; I am personally and most intimately acquainted
with the history of Joseph Smith and this people, for twenty-two
years. There are a great many people that are not; and they have
thought we have been persecuted from state to state, and from place to
place, because of our wickedness and lawless acts among the people. I
need not say it to my Father in heaven, to Jesus Christ His Son, or to
the holy angels, or the Prophets and Apostles, who have lived in
former, or in latter days; for they know it; but I can say to those
who do not understand and know our history, that we have been
persecuted because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and do just as
he has told us, and not because of the evil acts of Joseph Smith.
Joseph Smith was not killed because he was deserving of it, nor
because he was a wicked man; but because he was a virtuous man. I know
that to be so, as well as I know that the sun now shines. Every man
and woman who does the will of the Father, and will keep the
commandments of Jesus Christ, may also know, as well as myself—it is
their privilege. I know for myself that Joseph Smith was the subject
of forty-eight lawsuits, and the most of them I witnessed with my own
eyes; but not one action could ever be made to bear against him. No
law or constitutional right did he ever violate. He was innocent and
virtuous; he kept the law of his country, and lived above it; out of forty-eight lawsuits (and I was with him in the most of
them), not one charge could be substantiated against him. He was pure,
just, and holy, as to the keeping of the law. Now this I state for the
satisfaction of those who do not know our history; but the Lord and
the angels know all about it.
Let me ask another question; do the people know what we were driven
from Missouri for? An old friend of mine, called upon me the day
before yesterday. He said he had been watching my course, had looked
and inquired after me, and had endeavored to find out my history, for
we were friends. I asked him if he knew anything about the Latter-day
Saints, or not? I found he had been looking after me, and had learned
I had become a follower of Joseph Smith. I said, "Do you know anything
about our history?" By his reply, I found he knew nothing at all of it,
in comparison.
A great many are in the like situation. Now let me relate one item of
it, not for those who are wise, and pretend to be filled with
knowledge, and at the same time know nothing, but I relate it for the
information of those who know nothing about it. To my certain
knowledge, men and women left the counties of Davies and Caldwell, in
the upper part of the state of Missouri, set fire to their own
buildings, drove off their cattle killed and slayed (I know, and
could name the people), and then swore the "Mormons" had done it. Now
this circumstance came under my certain knowledge. Says I, can it be
possible that men can become so corrupt, and so sunken in wickedness?
I say this for the information of those who do not understand and know
this people from the beginning. From the first day I knew brother
Joseph to the day of his death, a better man never lived upon the face
of this earth.
From the days of my youth, and I will say from the day that I came
upon the stage of action to act for myself, there never was a boy, a
man, either old or middle-aged, that ever tried to live a life more
pure and refined than your humble servant. As I told my friend, says
I, Brother Brown, I have tried to make myself a better man from the
day of our first acquaintance to this. I have not infringed upon any
law, or trod upon the rights of my neighbors; but I have tried to walk
in the paths of righteousness, and live an humble life, that I might
gain eternal happiness. I make bold to speak thus, though in the
eastern world it is quite unpopular to speak in one's own praise; but
since I have become a western man, I can make stump speeches. Why am I
driven from my possessions? Why am I persecuted, and forced to leave
thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of property in Ohio,
Missouri, and Illinois? Though I have never looked back upon it, it is
as ashes under my feet. I am in the hands of God, He gave it, and He
took it away; and blessed be the name of the Lord.
I am in His hands; all men are in His hands; and He has turned the
enemy in his way, and held him by His power. It is not I, it is not
Joseph, it is not this people, nor the wisdom they possess, that has
delivered them from their enemies; but it is the Lord. He is our
captain, our pilot, and our master, and in Him do we glory, and will
glory. Let the world say what they please, we will glory in our holy
religion, and God will we serve. And furthermore let me remark, I am
not afraid nor ashamed to expose and oppose the iniquity of men,
though they may stand in high places; neither was Joseph Smith. Let
death come, no matter for that; who cares for it?
I am aware, as well as brother Kimball, if my body fall into the dust,
I am laying it down to abide the penalty of the law broken in the fall
of man; for dust I am, and unto dust I must return. It is all
right to me; I have seen a great many times that I would like to have
this body lie down, but as long as the spirit and body hold together,
my tongue shall be swift against evil, the Lord Almighty being my
helper. Though it may be in "Mormon" Elders, among the people in or
out of the Church, if they come in my path, where I can chastise them,
the Lord Almighty being my helper, my tongue shall be
swift against
evil; and if evil come, let it come. If for this my body shall fall,
let it fall; when they have destroyed the body, then they have no more
that they can do; that is the end of their power, and of the power of
the devil on this earth; but Jesus Christ has power to destroy both
soul and body in hell. I thank you for your attention. May the Lord
bless you. Amen.