We have heard, this afternoon, the testimony of one of our young
brethren, Elder Mathoni Pratt, who has just returned, rejoicing in the
truth, from his first preaching mission abroad.
When speaking of his late experience, my mind was carried back to the
days of my youth, when, at the age of nineteen, I went forth to the
world to preach the great principles embraced in the faith of the
Latter-day Saints. I, too, felt my weakness, being then very timid and
bashful, never having been accustomed to public speaking. But the
Lord, in whom I placed my trust, gave me strength according to my
faith and perseverance, to proclaim the truth to the people. The Holy
Ghost, which had been given me, brought to mind the Scriptures of
eternal truth, in the very moment needful to present them to the
people. Passages which I had merely read, in my early school days,
came as vividly to my mind as though I had committed them to memory.
This was in fulfillment of a promise of God to all his faithful
servants. The Lord, through new revelation, has commanded his
servants, who go forth as missionaries in this last dispensation, to
take no thought before hand what they shall say, for it shall
be given them in the very moment what they shall say. This has been
verified in very deed in my experience. Sometimes, in consequence of
my weakness, I would take forethought upon some few subjects, but
after rising to express these things to the people, they would be
taken from me.
There are many promises which God has made to his servants in these
latter times, and in connection with these promises he has given many
commandments which we are required to observe and keep. One of these
commandments, given to his missionary servants in the year 1832, reads
as follows: "Verily I say unto you, let no man that goes forth to
preach my Gospel, from this hour, take purse or scrip." We therefore
went forth, as the ancient Apostles, taking no thought for the morrow
what we should eat, or what we should drink, or wherewithal we should
be clothed. For, said the Lord, consider the lilies of the field, they
toil not, neither do they spin, and the kingdoms of this world, in all
their glory, are not arrayed like one of these. There was another
promise made in connection with these commandments: "They who go forth
without purse or scrip, and are faithful in all things, shall not be
weary in mind, neither in body, limb, nor joint, neither shall they go
hungry or athirst."
This is another great promise which has been verified upon me to the
very letter. I have gone to foreign nations, without one farthing to
either procure food or a night's lodging, and God has opened up my
way, so that I have lacked no needful thing. This is not only my
experience, but the experience of thousands who have also tested, in
like manner, the truth of this promise. In the early rise of this
Church, I sometimes had to sleep out in the open air, the same as our
Savior had to do, as he said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of
the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His
head." And so it hath been with many of his latter-day servants. Yet
we experienced no particular inconveniences by being obliged to sleep
at night on the ground; neither have we suffered when calling on the
people from time to time, as servants of God, to obtain food, any more
than Elijah did, when he fasted forty days, or Moses when he was forty
days and forty nights without eating or drinking. There was a power
over and in those ancient servants of God, that satisfied the cravings
of the appetite, in passing through such circumstances, and such power
was not withheld from us.
After the Lord told us how to go forth to the world with this Gospel
message, he said, He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he that
receiveth me, receiveth my Father; and he that receiveth my Father,
receiveth my Father's kingdom. He also said, He that rejecteth you,
and your words and testimony, rejecteth me; go away from him and
cleanse your feet with pure water, and bear testimony of it to your
Father, and return not again to that man or house; and whatsoever
village or city you enter do likewise. And another great promise, made
in connection with this, is that every soul that believes on your
words, and is baptized in water for the remission of sins, shall
receive the Holy Ghost, and these signs shall follow them that
believe. In my name they shall cast out devils, heal the sick, open
the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, and the tongue of
the dumb shall speak; and if any man administers poison to
them, it shall not hurt them.
The promise, therefore, unto all who receive this Gospel, is that they
shall not only receive remission of their sins, but they shall also
receive the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands; a promise which
God alone can fulfil. Suppose this Church was an imposition, and this
Gospel message not divine, would not the people who have rendered
obedience to its requirements have proved it long ago to be false?
Certainly they would, and the message itself, with its advocates,
would have died away and come to nought. Would they have continued, as
many have done, for over forty years in this Church; and would the
people, numbering in this Territory about one hundred and fifty
thousand, have gathered as they have done from nearly all the
civilized nations, to the great interior of this continent, if the
promises made them through this Gospel had not been fulfilled. No, you
might have preached and promised, but it would have been of no effect.
There is a vast cloud of witnesses, not only these of this
congregation, but I speak of the entire people.
Do you know, Latter-day Saints, that this work is true? You do. How do
you know it? Not merely because the men who proclaimed it told you it
was true. How then do you know it? You know it by virtue of your
obedience to the message; you have done the will of the Father, and
you have realized the fulfillment of the promise; so that it is not a
matter of guesswork, of mere opinion; you know beyond a single doubt
that it is the work of the living God.
Suppose an impostor was to undertake to preach this Gospel, offering
the same promises to believers, which of course would not be
ful filled. Do you not therefore see that it would be impossible to
gather such people together from the different nations? But, when the
promises are realized, the people receiving something they never
before experienced, when those effects are strictly in accordance with
the words of God, then they have a testimony that cannot be denied.
But says one, "We hear people belonging to the different Christian
sects and denominations say that they receive the spirit of God; you
say the same. How are we to judge between you and them?" I would
answer in the language of the Apostle John, who, in the first verse of
the fourth chapter of his General Epistle said, "Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because
many false prophets are gone out into the world." The true spirit
imparts signs to all believers. Do the Methodists, the Baptists, the
Presbyterians, or any of the Christian sects receive a spirit of this
kind? Do they lay their hands on the sick, and are the sick healed? If
they do then they are true believers; but if they do not, it shows
that they have been deceived. Do they even profess to have these
signs? No. Why? Because they know they are not in possession of them;
and in order to excuse themselves with a view of making everybody
believe they are true believers, they say these signs were only to
follow the servants of God in the first age of Christianity. Let us
examine carefully the written word, to see whether this is so or not.
Jesus, as is shown in the 16th chapter of St. Mark, commencing at the
15th verse, said to the Eleven Apostles, "Go ye into all the world, and
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And
these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast
out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them:
they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Were the
believers here referred to confined to certain individuals? No, this
Gospel message was to be preached to every creature in all the world,
and the promise was to everybody that believed and obeyed. Some argue
that when the Gospel was first introduced, it was necessary that these
signs should follow the believers, in order that all the world might
be convinced of its divinity; but that when the Gospel had been fully
established, by signs and wonders, they were no longer needed. This is
believed in and accepted as truth by the great majority of the
Christian world. This being the case, I have often wondered why there
were not more infidels in the world, than we have a knowledge of.
Because a man inclined to infidelity might say, "If you do not believe
in one part of the Gospel, what use is there in my believing any of
it? If you can take upon yourselves the right to do away with a part
of the Gospel, why may not I do away with the whole of it?" The signs
which the Savior promised should follow believers are just as much a
part of the Gospel as salvation itself is.
But how shall we "try the spirits?" I do not know of a better and
surer way than to follow the word of God. In ancient times hands were
laid on the head of the baptized believer and the Holy Ghost was
given, and it produced certain effects, insomuch that when the hands
were taken from the heads of the individuals thus blessed, often times
they would speak with other tongues, and prophesy, foretelling future
events, etc. And the effects of the Holy Ghost were so miraculous and
manifest that a certain sorcerer, named Simon Magnus, doubtless
thinking it would be a great acquisition to his catalogue of wonders,
offered the Apostles money, if they would empower him to perform the
same. But Peter said unto him, "Thy money perish with thee; repent of
this thy wickedness," etc. "For I perceive that thou art in the gall
of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." There was a power
attending the demonstration of those men of God, in ancient days, that
left no doubt in the minds of those who experienced it; they knew that
it was a power not from man.
After the Lord had commissioned the Elders of this Church, some
forty-four years ago, to preach this Gospel to all nations, he
promised that to those who would believe and obey their words, should
be given power to do many wonderful works, they should open the eyes
of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf, and the tongue of the
dumb should be made to speak, and the lame man should be made to walk,
etc. Has this promise been fulfilled, Latter-day Saints? Yes, you know
it has been literally fulfilled. You yourselves when living in a
scattered condition, in places where the Gospel found you, have laid
your hands upon the heads of your little children and others, who were
sick, and, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by virtue of the holy
Priesthood, you have rebuked the sickness, and you have seen the sick
restored to health. You have also witnessed the deaf restored to their
hearing, and the blind receive their sight. By these and other
manifestations of the power of God, you knew that we were the servants
of God, and that our message was divine. The world say that Joseph
Smith was an impostor. I would ask, Can there be any more effectual
means of detecting an impostor, of determining the truth or falsity of
his profession, than for him to make to public promises of this kind?
If he were an impostor, the signs spoken of would not follow
believers, and the power to perform these wonderful works would not be
given to those who obeyed his words. Do you not know, strangers, that
an impostor would carefully avoid giving such unmistakable proofs of
his impositions? Yes, he would be as cautious as the Methodists, and
the rest of the so-called Christian denominations, for they do not
even profess a belief in them, much less to declare themselves to be
in possession of them. But the fact that these signs do follow
believers, that this power does exist, is testimony sufficient, and it
is a testimony to all the world, that this Gospel message which we
preach is divine, and that God is able to do today the same as he did
anciently; and you, Latter-day Saints, are witnesses concerning these
things.
Having examined the message that these missionaries proclaim, let me
speak a little upon another subject. If you now travel over the broad
face of the Christian world, and ask the several Christian sects if
they have inspired Apostles in their church, who receive revelation as
they of old did? The answer will be positively no. Why do you not have
them, are they not part of the Gospel? Hear what the Lord has said
upon this subject through the Apostle Paul—"God hath set some in the
Church, first Apostles, secondarily Prophets, thirdly teachers, after
that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities
of tongues." And these are members of the body called the Church. Yet
you say you have not the first member necessary to constitute the
body. God has certainly set in his Church Apostles. Where are they,
and where are their revelations? When there happens to be some
difficulty on points of doctrine among you, do you go to the ministers
you profess to have, requesting them to inquire of the Lord concerning
the matter? Oh no, you say, the canon of Scripture is full, and there
is to be no more revelation. No wonder, then, you have not the first
officer of the Church; he would be to you a superfluous member, if
there is to be no more revelation. But how do you know this? Has the
Lord ever said that the time would come when he would have no more
inspired Apostles in his Church? Says one, My minister says so. I
would advise you to go to your minister and ask him where he obtains
his evidence to prove that the canon of Scripture is full. You will
find that he will appear dumb, because no man can put his finger upon
a single passage of Scripture proving such an assertion. Perhaps some
have tried to believe it, by quoting certain verses from the last
chapter of the Revelation of the Lord to St. John, when on the Isle of
Patmos; I have had them quote it to me. You will recollect that John,
while on the Isle of Patmos, ninety-six years after the birth of
Christ, received wonderful revelations, the Lord commanding him to
write them. He wrote them on parchment, and upon the closing up of the
scroll the Lord says, "If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." This is
often quoted, per haps without knowing or considering that
John, after his release from Patmos, as history informs us, wrote the
Gospel of St. John. Supposing that John was questioned on this point,
how do you think he would have explained himself? He would have said
that that caution had reference to the book written on Patmos. He
would have said further, that the caution was against man's adding,
but that God has the right to give to his people line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, book after
book, yea, even ten thousand revelations, or more as he may deem
proper; and he never pronounced a curse against himself, but that man
has not the right to add a single word. The same language may be found
in the book of Deuteronomy, which of course has a direct bearing to
the five books of Moses, without any reference whatever to the
succeeding books of the Bible. May not the same objection be just as
consistently raised against all the books of the Old and New Testament
which follow the last book written by Moses, containing the same
caution, as against the new revelation of today? Surely the people
who lived in and after the days of Moses might just as consistently
have objected to receiving any further revelations from the Lord,
because of the caution referred to appearing in the Book of
Deuteronomy, as the people of today have for objecting to receive any
new revelation, because the same caution appears in the last chapter
of the revelation on Patmos. Both have reference to particular books
only, and it is absurd and folly in the extreme for men claiming to
have any knowledge of God, and the great plan of salvation to
interpret it otherwise. And it can be for no other reason than to
attempt to cover up the state of apostasy which the whole world is in,
that causes the ministers of the various sects to quote this passage
as they do.
There is another passage of Scripture which I will refer to, in
connection with this; it reads as follows: "When Christ ascended up on
high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. And he gave some
Apostles; and some, Prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers; for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," etc. It is
acknowledged that you have not Apostles as part of your Gospel. Let us
inquire further. Have you got Prophets? No, you assert there is to be
no more Prophets. Have you workers of miracles or healers of the sick?
No. Have you discerners of spirits, or speakers with tongues, or do
angels minister to you? No, you assert that these are all done away.
Do you not know that all these constitute the body of the Church of
the living God, and that all these are necessary to form the whole, so
that one part or member cannot say to another, "I have no need of
you?" What then have you got? You reply, We have teachers and pastors.
Then you consider that you have the body of Christ among you? You
reply, "O yes; we are the Church of Christ." Who authorized you to do
away with these essential parts of the body or Church of Christ? Have
you not been instructed of the Lord through the mouth of his Apostles,
that "If all were one member, where were the body?" If pastors and
teachers are the only members you have, how is it possible that the
body can exist among you? The Apostle, in thus comparing the human
body complete with all its members to the body or Church of Christ, said—"The head cannot say to the foot, I have no need of you,"
etc. By what principle of right, therefore, can the legs or feet,
which may be said to represent pastors and teachers, say to the head,
which represents the Apostles, "I have no need of you?" You say you
have only a couple of the members of the body, and that you have
received no further revelation from God, the canon of Scripture being
full, authorizing you to do away with the other members. Where then is
the Church organization as established by the Savior? Nowhere, among
the sects, upon the whole earth, neither has it been for many
generations past. You say, we are uncharitable. We are only comparing
your church organization with that of the Bible. We are told to "Try
the spirits," and I know of no better way than to do so by the Word of
God. Remember that he who dwells in the heavens will judge you by his
words in the great day of judgment. You pastors and teachers, you who
profess to be authorized of God, how will you feel in that great day,
when you shall appear before him to be judged out of the books? When
you hear him declare that he placed in his Church, first Apostles,
then Prophets, etc., and when he shall ask you the reason why you did
away with them, how will you feel, what will you say? Your only answer
can be that "we did away with them, because they were unpopular, and
because we had not faith sufficient to obtain revelations ourselves,
and in order to hide our apostasy we said they were no longer needed."
Remember, all ye, the testimony of the Savior—"My words shalt judge
you in the last day."
The Lord has restored his everlasting Gospel, with all its gifts and
blessings, and in all its fullness, and has called men and commanded
them to publish it among the inhabitants of all the earth. Judge ye
whether it be the Gospel, or whether it be a man-made system. If it be
false, prove it to be so; bring forth your strong reasons; otherwise
lay your hands upon your mouths, and let your tongues be dumb. There
may be imperfections in some of the people who represent this Gospel,
for the wheat and tares are to grow together until the second coming
of our Lord, when he will separate them; but there are no
imperfections in the Gospel; it is perfect so far as God has seen
proper to reveal himself to the human family. Will an imperfect system
save the people in any part of the world? No. If the Gospel we preach
is not true, there is certainly among you none true; and we,
therefore, are only one among the others; for we know they are not
true, because the written word testifies against them. But we present
to you a system which is perfect, and which we know to be true,
because the promised signs follow the believers.
This Gospel must be preached to all peoples everywhere, fulfilling the
prophecy of John the Revelator, contained in the 14th chapter of
Revelation. Judge ye whether that day has come or not. We declare
that the angel referred to there has flown, and we bring forth the
evidence of the witness who saw and conversed with him. And we are
commissioned of God to carry the Gospel to all nations under heaven,
bearing testimony that it is the eleventh hour—the last time that God
will ever send laborers into the vineyard. We testify that when this
Gospel is preached faithfully to all the world, then will the end of
the wicked world come; then shall the Son of Man come, sitting upon a
white cloud, as predicted in the same chapter. Then woe to the
nations that reject this warning message, for they shall be visited
with consuming fire, and all that shall be found doing wickedly shall
be burned up. This is the dispensation of the fullness of times that
should come in the last days, gathering out the Lord's elect from the
four winds of heaven; a dispensation of the Lord's judgments spoken of
in connection with the flying of the angel in the midst of heaven; and
these judgments are nigh, even at the door. Amen.