In rising to make a few remarks this afternoon I shall not attempt to
take any text, or to confine myself to any particular subject. My
impression about this is, that both speaker and hearer ought to be
under the guidance and direction of the Almighty, for unless a man
speaks by the dictation of the Spirit of the Lord, his discourse will
be of very little benefit to those who hear; and unless those who hear
also hear by the Spirit, and are prepared to receive correct
instructions, no matter how eloquent the discourse may be, or how
forcible and powerful the truths which are enunciated, it amounts to
very little. It is not the hearer of the word, we are told, who is
benefited, but he that doeth it. And Jesus says that many will say in
that day, "Lord, have we not spoken in thy name, and prophesied in thy
name, and in thy name done many wonderful works?" Yet he will say unto
them—"Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, for I never knew you;"
or I suppose, in other words, "I never approved of you."
There is one great principle by which, I think, we all of us ought to
be actuated in our worship, above everything else that we are
associated with in life, and that is honesty of purpose. The
Scriptures say—"If the truth shall make you free, then shall you be
free indeed, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation." We are told again that God requires truth
in the inward parts. It is proper that men should be honest with
themselves, that they should be honest with each other in all their
words, dealings, intercourse, intercommunication, business
arrangements and everything else; they ought to be governed by
truthfulness, honesty and integrity, and that man is very foolish
indeed who would not be true to himself, true to his convictions and
feelings in regard to religious matters. We may deceive one another,
and, in some circumstances, as counterfeit coin passes for that which
is considered true and valuable among men. But God searches the hearts
and tries the reins of the children of men. He knows our thoughts and
comprehends our desires and feelings; he knows our acts and the
motives which prompt us to perform them. He is acquainted with
all the doings and operations of the human family, and all the secret
thoughts and acts of the children of men are open and naked before
him, and for them he will bring them to judgment. These ideas are
believed in by men generally, who, with very few exceptions, whatever
their general conduct or ideas on religious matters may be, believe in
an All-seeing eye which penetrates and is enabled to weigh the actions
and motives of the children of men. This is an idea that will not be
disputed by any race of men now existing upon the earth, nor perhaps
by any who have existed heretofore, for whatever may have been the
theories or notions of men in former times, they have generally had a
reverence for, and a belief in, an Allwise, Supreme, Omnipotent Being,
who, they supposed, was greater than all of them, and who governed and
controlled all their actions. A feeling of this kind is frequently made
manifest in the Scriptures, and it is nothing new in our age to
believe in a God of this character.
When Paul was preaching at Ephesus he said, among other things, that
he saw an altar to an unknown God. Among the variety of gods which
they worshiped there was an altar to an unknown God. "Him," said he,
"whom ye ignorantly worship declare I unto you, the God who made the
heavens, the earth, the seas and the fountains of waters." If we
examine the pages, either of sacred or profane history, we find the
same ideas prevailing to a greater or less extent in former times.
Even Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of the great empire of Babylon, had a
knowledge, or an idea of a certain Being who ruled and governed the
universe, who was superior to, and ruled over all other influences and
powers; and was more intelligent than any of them; and when the
magicians and the soothsayers, the astrologers and wise men were
called upon to tell him the dream and its interpretation, they were
unable to do so, and they told him that it was beyond their science,
and that there was nothing connected with their systems that would
unfold anything pertaining to such things as those referred to; but
they said that if he would tell them the dream they had rules whereby
they could interpret it. He insisted upon the interpretation. Said
they—"that is unreasonable, O King—there is no being but that God
whose dwelling is not with flesh, who can reveal those things that
thou speakest of." They had their gods which they worshiped, their
deities in whom they had confidence; but they declared that there was
no God but that Being whose dwelling was not with flesh, who could
unravel those mysteries that he desired them to make known to him.
Hence, in those days we find the same principle existing, and you can
trace it out in various examples in holy writ, men had their theories
and ideas about God, generally speaking; but very few of them
understood anything about the true God whose dwelling was not with
flesh.
Our Bible purports to be the account given us of him by men who were
inspired by him, for we are told that, "holy men of old spake as they
were moved upon by the Holy Ghost." It is related within the lids of
this sacred volume that a great many of the ancients had dreams,
visions, the ministering of angels and revelations; and the accounts
of those visions, ministrations of angels and manifestations of the
power of God, together with a little history, is what this sacred volume is composed of. Hence Jesus said to the people in his
day—"Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life,
and they are they which testify of me;" they are they which unfold
many things concerning my mission, the circumstances with which I am
surrounded, and events which will transpire in connection with my
ministry. Holy men of God in former times had prophesied of him.
Isaiah, for instance, had said—"Behold a virgin shall conceive and
bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being
interpreted, is 'God with us.'" It is said of him that he came to take
away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and a great many things were
said and written of him in the holy Scriptures, before he came, while
he lived upon the earth and after he left it and ascended up to his
Father in heaven.
There is very little difference among mankind in relation to many of
these facts; men, generally, view these things alike—I mean in the
Christian world—especially the nation in which we live, the British
and French nations, the empire of Austria, Russia, Prussia, the
inhabitants of Scandinavia and most of the European nations; and some
of the Asiatic nations also have faith in what we term the word of
God, and hold its truths in reverence, according to the ideas they
entertain and the creeds they profess. There is little or no
difference among the men of these various nations in regard to the
existence of a Supreme Being, who rules and controls the destinies of
nations, as well as of individuals; and there was no difference, in
former times, between the magicians, and Daniel and those associated
with him in his faith relative to the true God. They all be lieved in
him, no matter what deities of an inferior nature they might have. But
there were very few who knew how to worship the true God; hence they
made to themselves all sorts of gods, some of wood, stone, ivory,
gold, silver, brass, iron, &c. They had deities of every imaginable
kind, and through these various forms and mediums they wished or
thought to propitiate the Deity, and to secure to themselves some kind
of happiness in the life hereafter.
We, in this generation, are a good deal like them. We think we are
very superior in intelligence and in religion. Men, everywhere, are
egotistical, they always think they are the smartest and most
intelligent that ever lived; and it must be confessed that in many
respects the generation in which we live are very far in advance of
many others, and in regard to the arts and sciences, and certain
branches of literature and mechanism, but how vague and uncertain are
the ideas entertained by men in general, about the Deity! Are we
intellectual in this? I think not. We have our bodies of divinity,
our schools of theology, our religious seminaries, and places where
ministers are manufactured and prepared to perform certain work which
they call preaching the Gospel, and these ministers, as well as the
people, have different ideas about the Deity and the proper modes of
worshiping him. Does the incongruity of this state of things ever
strike the minds of reflecting men, men of science, who are accustomed
to weigh the force of an argument and to solve knotty problems? When I
was a little boy I used to wonder, if there was a God who created man,
and who ruled and dictated the affairs of heaven and earth, why he had
pointed out so many different modes of worship. I think so
still. I know, and so do you, according to the principles of science,
that the laws which govern the operations of universal Nature are true
to themselves nine hundred and ninety-nine times, and then the
thousandth time; they are always true in all the various phases of
Nature's works. This is so under the most severe tests which
scientific criticism can apply; with every known principle in nature,
whether we refer to light, heat, the gases, or any and all of the
elements of which the earth is composed or by which we are surrounded.
In their operations they are governed and controlled by eternal,
unchangeable laws, and you cannot violate any one of those laws in
any particular without producing the inevitable result of such
violation. In the motions of the starry heavens, the sun, moon, earth,
day and night, summer and winter, and the various seasons as they pass
along, the wisdom, intelligence, prescience and power of a God are
manifested; and the same is true of the organization and operations of
all the myriads of organisms that exist upon the earth—symmetry,
beauty, order and law pervade and control all their operations, all
manifesting the wisdom, intelligence and power of God. You do not find
one man differing from another, only in certain respects, a little in
stature or strength. One is a little stronger than another, one has a
more beautiful face, perhaps; may be more exquisitely formed than
another; but all bear the same impress; all are governed by the same
laws, all possess the same properties, powers and faculties to a
certain extent, so far as the body is concerned, according to the
strength or weakness of the individual. You do not find men with four
arms, six eyes, ten heads, or fifteen feet or legs; they are alike,
and there is a uniformity in relation to their general organism. So
when you come to examine the properties of water, caloric or fire,
earth, air, the different gases, electric fluid, or any substance or
matter you please, you will find that they are governed by certain
specific laws, and those laws are universal in their application; and
furthermore that all the elements with which we are surrounded are
controlled by certain eternal and unchangeable laws which cannot be
departed from.
Now, what can God think of a people, placed here on the earth, the
most intelligent of his creations, possessed of reasoning faculties,
who, in many instances, have investigated and understand the laws of
Nature, I say, what can he think of men who set up every form, notion
and theory, every species of absurdity that can be imagined, and call
it the worship of God? Suppose we were to put ourselves in his place
for a little while, we should think there was something a little
strange in relation to these matters. He might reasonably say, these
men exhibit wisdom and intelligence in many respects. So far as
discovering the operations of Nature, and examining and testing the
laws thereof, they all agree, but in religious matters they exhibit
imbecility and weakness, in that there is no union. A philosopher in
America, France, Germany, England, Spain, Italy, Russia, Prussia, or
any other nation, will arrive at the same conclusions, precisely, that
all other men or scientists of all other nations do; that is, when
they examine the laws of nature and operate in the actual sciences. No
matter where they are, or in what language they may convey their ideas—for words are merely the signs of ideas—whenever correct
ideas exist, and these ideas are properly explained, whenever
submitted to scientific analysis and proper tests, they all arrive at
the same conclusions, no matter what nation it is you are among or
where you live.
This reasoning is correct, and in regard to nature and
its laws, the world and the elements with which we are surrounded, and
the laws operating in the world with which we are acquainted, all men
arrive at the same conclusions, and there is no difference, unless we
come to theorizing, and then there is always difficulty. Well, in
regard to all these things we all think alike, because our thoughts
are based on correct principles. But when we come to religious
matters, we discover that, though men are naturally intelligent, they
act like fools; they do not use their common judgment, reason or
intelligence. "Well," say they, "you know we are governed by the
Bible." Now that is exactly what we do not know, and therefore I doubt
it. "But our divines tell us we are." Oh, do they? Well, suppose
somebody was to tell you the result of some scientific analysis, you
would be very likely to say—"I believe you in part, but I would like
to test it for myself; when I have done that I shall know it. Yet
strange as it is, you are willing to take anybody's ipse dixit in
relation to religious matters, in relation to things of the most vital
importance, things pertaining to the immortal part of man, we act like
the veriest babies or consummate fools, while in regard to the affairs
of this life we act intelligently.
Is there a way of arriving at a knowledge of the things which pertain
to man's eternal welfare? Why yes, we are inclined to think there is.
God, we are told, "is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he
that fears God and works righteousness shall be accepted of him." Is
that true? Yes. God "has made of one blood all the families of the
earth," we are told. There seemed to be an idea of this kind
prevailing in ancient days, according to the sayings of some of the
inspired men mentioned in the Scriptures. We are in the habit of going
along like flocks of sheep—following our leader, no matter where he
goes. I have seen sheep sometimes, and perhaps you have, running along
a road, and one thought there was an obstacle—perhaps there was not
anything—and it would make a leap, and when the others reached the
same place they would all make the same leap; if one leaps they all
leap. It is so apparently among men.
If we would examine Christianity there is something peculiar about
that. We call ourselves Christians, that is, we Methodists, Baptists,
Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians and "Mormons," we all
call ourselves Christians. Well, perhaps we are, and then, perhaps we
are not; it is a matter that would bear investigation, I think; and,
then, I think, too, that it is very proper, as I said at the
commencement, that we should be honest with ourselves about all
things, and especially in religion and the service and worship of God.
"Well, but my father was a Methodist, and I am one;" "my father was a
Presbyterian, and I am one;" "my father was a 'Jumper,' and I am one;"
"my father was a Muhammadan, and I am one;" "my father was a worshiper
of Buddha, and I am one;" and among us Christians we are
Episcopalians, Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and members of the various
professional phases descended from that remarkable man, Martin
Luther or Catholics or Greeks. Let us examine these things for a
little while or, at least, try to go to the foundation. Believing in
the Bible, we will not go at once into these outside systems, but
examine our own for a little while, and see how it stands and how we
stand in relation to it.
Jesus, we are told, "brought life and immortality to light by the
Gospel." There was something peculiar about it—it gave men who lived
up to and honored its principles in their lives and actions, a
knowledge of life and immortality. They were not dependent upon the
sayings or doings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Moses, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Malachi or any of the Prophets; but the Gospel brought a
knowledge of life and immortality to all who obeyed it and lived
according to its precepts. It informed all such that they were
immortal beings; that they would exist after they had got through with
time; if they died they should live again; if they were buried they
should burst the barriers of the tomb and come forth to immortality.
Seeing, then, that man is both a mortal and an immortal being, having
to do with eternity as well as time, it is proper that he should
become acquainted with those principles that are so nearly concerned
with his happiness and well-being in time and in eternity. We will let
John Wesley, Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, Henry the Eighth, and any
other organizer of religion go, and we will come to the Scriptures of
truth and see what they say about it. Christ, we are told, brought
life and immortality to light, and he did it through the medium of the
Gospel. And what course did he pursue in doing this? The Scriptures
inform us that when Jesus commenced to preach the Gospel he called men
from the various avocations of life, among others from the occupation
of fishing; he called twelve men, whom he ordained as Apostles. He
inspired these men with the gift of revelation and with a knowledge of
God; he placed them in communication with God, so that they had
revelation from him and were enabled to teach the laws of life; he
breathed upon them and said—"Receive ye the Holy Ghost;" and they
received it, and that Holy Ghost took of the things of God and showed
them unto them, it drew aside the curtains of futurity, whereby they
were enabled to penetrate into the invisible world and comprehend the
things of God. This was the position they occupied and the kind of
Gospel they had.
Well, how did they operate with it? Jesus told them to go out and
preach it; and he called seventy men and inspired them too; and told
them to go out and heal the sick, cast out devils, and preach the
Gospel, they were furthermore to go without purse and scrip, he saying
unto them—"Freely ye have received, freely give." They went out in
this kind of a way, without purse and scrip, to preach the Gospel. By
and by a number of them returned, and he asked them how they had
fared. They told him they had been preaching, and healing the sick,
and even devils were subject to them in his name. Said he—"Rejoice,
not that devils are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names
are written in heaven," that you are the Lord's, that God is your
friend; rejoice that you have been brought into communication with
God, and that you have received the everlasting Gospel, which brings
life and immortality to light. This was their position, and they
listened to the teachings of Jesus, and we all—that is all these
various parties of which I have spoken—believe that Jesus was
the Son of God; we all believe that he was the Anointed, elect and
sent of God. And speaking of himself he said—"I and the Father are
one," and "he who has seen me has seen the Father." He taught them a
great many things pertaining to their present happiness and future
exaltation, and he spoke of a time that should come when the Saints
should inherit the earth. When he was about to be crucified, to be
offered as a sacrifice to do the will of his heavenly Father, and to
open up the way of life and salvation, that man might attain to
exaltation in the kingdom of God, he told his disciples that it
behooved Christ to suffer, and to be raised from the dead on the third
day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in
his name among all nations.
Now let us examine the position of those disciples. I believe a good
deal in first principles. I want to examine things candidly and
honestly, and to see what kind of a position they occupied in those
days. When Jesus was about to leave his disciples he told them that it
was necessary that he should go away; for said he, "If I go not away
the Comforter will not come." There was something remarkable about
this expression. "If I go not away the Comforter will not come; but if
I go away I will send you the Comforter." What was that Comforter? It
is important that we should understand this. That Comforter was the
Spirit of Truth. What should it do to them? It should "bring things
past to their remembrance, lead them into all truth and show them
things to come;" in other words it should bring life and immortality
to light; it should open the heavens to its possessors, enable them to
understand the designs of God and lead them into all truth, not into
one little truth or two little truths; but into all truth. What a
privilege, what a blessing, what a rich legacy to impart unto his
followers! Only think of men being in possession of a principle which
should enable them, under all circumstances, to discriminate between
truth and error, virtue and vice; between those principles which would
ennoble and elevate, and those which would overthrow and destroy, and
which should make them acquainted with God and the principles of
eternal life.
I pause here, and ask, will this principle or spirit lead one man to
be a Methodist, another to be a Presbyterian, another to be an
Episcopalian, another to be a "Mormon," another a Quaker, another
something else, passing through all the various phases, notions,
theories and ideas that prevail in the Christian world? Is this the
spirit that Jesus promised to impart unto his people, or is it
confusion and darkness? Scientifically it is not true, philosophically
it is not true, religiously it is not true. The spirit that Jesus
promised to impart to his disciples was to lead them into all truth,
and to enable them to comprehend all correct principles; and it is
said—"As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God,"
and says one, "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto
fear; but ye have received a spirit whereby you are enabled to cry,
'Abba Father, or my Father, my Lord and my God.'" They had received a
principle of that kind, and there was nothing uncertain, conflicting
or evanescent about it; nothing tending to error, confusion or doubt,
but everything tending to certainty, life, light and intelligence; to the blessing and happiness of the human family, and to a
knowledge of all things necessary for their welfare in time, and in
all eternity. Said he—"If I go away I will send you the Comforter,
which is the Spirit of truth, and it shall bring things past to your
remembrance, it shall lead you into all truth and show you things to
come;" in other words—"You, man, who are made in the image of God,
shall be brought into your proper relationship with him. That spirit of
intelligence which dwells in you shall be associated with God—the God
who dwells in eternity, communication shall be opened up between you
and him, you shall be placed en rapport with him, and you shall
realize and comprehend all things pertaining to your well-being. It
shall bring things past to your remembrance, it shall lead you into
all truth, and show you things to come. If there is anything behind
the veil that is mysterious; if there is anything that the Prophets
saw when the visions of eternity were unfolded to their view; if there
are principles of life and salvation; if there is anything tending to
exalt man in time and eternity, anything pertaining to eternal rewards
and everlasting exaltation, you are now in possession of a principle
which will unfold and develop these principles to your mind."
That was the kind of Gospel they had then. And did they see, enjoy and
possess these things? Yes, for says Paul—"Whether in the spirit or out
of the spirit I do not know; but I was caught up into the third
heavens, and I saw things that were unlawful to utter." We read that
John, while on the Isle of Patmos, banished for his faith in God and
the testimony of Jesus Christ, was in the spirit on the Lord's day and
the visions of eternity were unfolded, he gazed upon all things as
they existed then, and as they would exist in after ages, and until
the final winding-up scene. He saw and comprehended the position of
the various churches, and told them that unless they repented and did
their first works over again and obeyed the behests of the Almighty,
their candlestick would be removed out of its place. He saw that Great
Mystery Babylon, who "made all the earth drunk with the wine of her
fornication." He saw her fall like a millstone that was cast into the
sea and rise no more forever. He saw a great white throne and him who
sat upon it, and from before whose face the heavens and the earth fled
away; he saw the dead, small and great, arise and stand before him,
brought to judgment; he saw a new Jerusalem, descending, as a bride
adorned for her husband; he saw events that should transpire
throughout every subsequent period of time until the final winding-up
scene, and comprehended the whole matter. Why was this? He had the
Gospel that brought life and immortality to light. He had received
that Comforter that Jesus spoke of, which should bring things past to
their remembrance, lead them into all truth and show them things to
come.
Well, there was something interesting about that. It was not a kind of
lullaby story that we hear now-a-days—"Hush-a-by-baby on the tree top,
when the wind blows the cradle will rock." It was nothing of that kind.
There was something intellectual about it, something tangible, and
satisfactory to the human mind, and calculated to meet the capacious
desires thereof, and to make a man feel that he was an inheritor of
eternal life. It implanted within him a hope blooming with
immortality and eternal life. It produced a certainty in his mind and
made him feel that everything else was as dung and dross in comparison
with the life and light and power and intelligence which the Gospel
imparted.
What kind of ordinances did they have? They were very simple and
straightforward. We read that when the disciples were met together, on
a certain occasion in an upper room, the Spirit of God descended upon
them as a mighty rushing wind, and rested upon them as in cloven
tongues of fire; and they began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit of God gave them utterance. There were people there from the
surrounding nations who heard the Apostles speak, in their own
tongues, the wonderful works of God. They did not know what it meant?
Said they—"These men are drunk." Peter answered—"Oh, no, that is a
slight mistake you have made, they are not drunk, it is only nine
o'clock, the third hour of the day—people do not get drunk so early."
"Well, what is it then?" Said Peter—"This is that which was spoken
of by the Prophet Joel—'It shall come to pass in the last days, saith
God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your old men shall
dream dreams and your young men shall see visions, and upon my
servants and handmaidens will I pour out, in those days, of my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy;'" that is it shall place them in communion
with God and enable them to have dreams and visions, to prophesy and
see things to come; in other words, it will make them Prophets. This
is the kind of religion they had in that day.
I sometimes reflect and wonder whether the same effects would follow
if we had that religion today, or whether truth has turned into
fiction, or has falsehood turned into truth. How is it, if that was
the Gospel then, and God is the same yesterday, today and forever,
and, as they say in the Church of England—"As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be, worlds without end, amen?" If that is true,
then we ought to expect the same things today as they had then, that
is, if we profess the same Gospel. This is the way I reason, I cannot
get at it any other way, I cannot arrive at any other conclusion. It
is reasonable, rational and philosophical; it agrees with every
principle of science, with every principle of intelligence that God
has communicated to man.
Well having noticed a little of the results of the Gospel in ancient
days, let us inquire into the principles taught in those days. We have
a very remarkable account of affairs on the Day of Pentecost. The
Apostles had been waiting at Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
They had been promised it by Jesus and they expected it. Neither the
Church nor the Apostles had had time, from the ascension of Jesus, to
get corrupted, nor to introduce any false principles. They were the
recipients of the favor of God, and his Spirit finally rested upon
them as in cloven tongues of fire and when the people of the various
nations assembled at Jerusalem heard them declare the wonderful works
of God, many of them were pricked in their hearts, and they cried
out—"Men and brethren, what shall we do? We believe the statement you
have made; we believe that the Messiah, promised by our ancient
Prophets, has been taken by wicked hands and crucified and slain; we
believe what you say concerning his resurrection, and that although he
was placed in the tomb he has burst its barriers and has
ascended to the right hand of his Father; we believe all these things,
now what shall we do?" Said Peter—"Repent and be baptized, every one
of you, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive, the
Holy Ghost." Who were they whom he told to repent and be baptized? The
Jews and the Gentiles, the Pharisees, doctors, lawyers, rabbis, and
all men of every creed, profession and nation, "Repent and be baptized
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
your sins." "What, we doctors?" "Yes." "We lawyers?" "Yes." "We
divines?" "Yes, all of you." "What shall we receive if we do?" "The
Holy Ghost." "What is that?" "Just what you have seen here." "Shall we
all have it if we do this?" "Yes." And they went forth and were
baptized, and three thousand were added to the Church the same day.
The Apostle did not tell them to come to any class meeting, mourning
bench or anything of that kind. There was not anything of that sort in
the program. They were not so well educated in sectarianism then as
we are now, and had not invented so many systems of religion or bodies
of divinity then as now. In those days they had to take things as God
gave them, that was, to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
for the remission of sins, and they should receive the Holy Ghost.
Will obedience to that Gospel do the same thing for us? Yes. Why?
Peter said, "The promise is unto you and your children, and to all who
are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." This thing
was not confined to one, two, three, twelve or seventy individuals,
but said Peter, "It extends to you" —the vast concourse then before
him—"to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call." If you can show me a people that the
Lord our God does not call, I will show you a people to whom this
promise does not apply.
Here are things that are very simple and straightforward. Why can't we
investigate them. The same cause will produce the same effect now as
then. It is in vain for us to deny those things; we have no right to
do so until we have complied with the requisitions made and applied
the tests. If we were using any chemical tests, for scientific
analysis, we should go strictly by the rules laid down; why should we
not do the same with regard to the Gospel of life and salvation? Here
is the law laid down, plain and straightforward, in the word of God,
for it is in the Christian's Bible that these things are contained. It
is this very Jesus that they all believe in who talks about these
things, and his twelve Apostles bear him out, and bear testimony to
the same things. Here is a religious law plainly indicated, which we
have no more right to ignore than we have any scientific formula in
relation to earthly things.
But to proceed. We find his disciples baptizing; and after Jesus rose
from the dead he appeared to them, and he told them to go forth and
preach, not the theories and opinions of men, but the Gospel that
brought life and immortality to light. Said he—"Go and preach the
Gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, he that believeth not shall be damned; and these signs shall
follow them that believe, &c." They went forth and proclaimed his
word, in his name and by his authority, and whatever they did they did
in his name and by his authority. Jesus said unto them, "Whatsoever
you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Some
may say, "That is Catholicism." Well, then, so far, I am a Catholic,
for I believe in everything contained in the Scriptures pertaining to
these matters. "Don't you think this is a great heresy?" I think it
would be greater heresy to disbelieve it. I do not believe that
everybody has this authority and power; but only those whom God calls
and sets apart in the way here spoken of. They had power "to bind on
earth and to bind in heaven—to loose on earth and to loose in
heaven." That is Catholicism, is it? Well, let us see a little further
how it goes. "Peter, how did you forgive sins? Did you have power to
forgive sins?" "Yes." "How did you exercise it?" "I called upon the
people to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the
remission of sins, and promised them that they should receive the Holy
Ghost. That is the way that I forgave sins. And then I laid on hands
for the reception of the Holy Ghost; and when men received this Holy
Ghost it took of the things of God and showed them unto them."
These are some of the leading principles of the Gospel of Christ. I
might talk for hours on the subject. These are the kind of things God
has revealed to us. People say we are fanatics. Perhaps we are, but if
we are, Peter, James, John and Paul were fanatics, for they believed
in the very principles that I have been laying before you today; and
when God restored this Gospel, he simply restored what is called "the
everlasting Gospel." John said, "I saw another angel flying in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who
dwell on the earth." What do you mean by the everlasting Gospel? Why
the Gospel that Adam had, the Gospel that Noah, Abraham and the
Prophets had; the Gospel that Jesus brought—the everlasting Gospel,
the Gospel that existed from eternity to eternity, the system or
medium through which God saves the human family—the Gospel which
brings life and immortality to light. Why, say some, "I thought nobody
had the Gospel until Jesus came." You thought very foolishly if you
thought that, for Jesus, speaking of Abraham said—"Abraham saw my day
and was glad." He had communication with God and revelation from him.
And how did he have it? Through the Gospel. How do you know it? Paul
tells us so; your Paul, you know, that you believe in, he tells us so.
What, that Abraham had the Gospel? Yes, he says, "God, foreseeing that
he would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel
unto Abraham." Did he have it? Yes, it was through that medium that
life and immortality were brought to light. And Moses, in the
wilderness, had the Gospel, and preached it to the people. "What,
Moses?" Yes. "Well, I thought there was no Gospel until Jesus came."
You thought, I say again, very foolishly. "We," says the apostle,
"have the Gospel preached unto us as well as they; but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who
heard it; wherefore the law was added, because of transgression."
Added to what? Why, to the Gospel which they had before. What was the
law? The law of carnal commandments and ordinances which the Apostle
says—"neither we nor our fathers were able to bear." How long did the
law continue? Until Christ came. Who was Christ? A priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. Who was Melchizedek? A
greater than Abraham, for he had the Gospel and blessed Abraham. All
of those ancient worthies had a knowledge of the Gospel, and of life
and immortality through the Gospel.
This is the same thing that is communicated unto us. It is our
privilege, it is the privilege of all men who yield obedience to the
Gospel. It is your privilege, you Latter-day Saints, to live in the
enjoyment of this light and immortality. According to your
faithfulness you have experienced more or less of this spirit of
revelation, light and truth, and the power of God, and by living your
religion you can go on from strength to strength, intelligence to
intelligence, from revelation to revelation, until you can "see as you
are seen, and know as you are known." Having commenced in the
principles of truth and obtained the Spirit of light and intelligence
that flows from God through obedience to the Gospel, it is for us to
"purify ourselves even as God is pure," and purge from ourselves all
corruption, iniquity, fraud, lying and evil of every kind, all
adultery, fornication, seduction and lasciviousness; and everything
that would corrupt and destroy the human family, and seek after
everything that is high, noble, exciting and praiseworthy among men,
and among the Gods, that when we get through with this world we may
obtain an everlasting inheritance in the celestial kingdom.