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.