The following passages of scripture were read—The 24th chapter of
Isaiah, from the 1st to the 6th verses, and from the 17th to the 23rd
verses; the 6th chapter of Revelation, from the 12th to the 17th
verses; the 34th chapter of Isaiah, from the 1st to the 4th verses;
and the 13th chapter of Isaiah, from the 6th to the 13th verses.
Elder Pratt then said—I have read these passages, not with the idea of
selecting from them any one passage, but more particularly to impress
upon the congregation the fact that something must take place which
never has been fulfilled.
Since the day that Isaiah lived and prophesied among the people, you
will admit, with me, that there never has been a universal destruction
of all the wicked and the transgressors from off the face of the
earth. There have been scores of millions of sinners upon the earth
since the utterance of this prophecy to the present time, but the
wholesale des truction spoken of has never taken place. You will all
admit with me also that the signs which are to appear in the heavens,
about the time of this universal destruction of the wicked, have not
yet taken place. We are told not only that the sun shall be darkened
in his going forth, but the stars shall refuse their shining. If only
the sun were to be darkened, the heathen nations, that could not
account for it, might say it had reference to some great eclipse, such
as has occurred in different ages; but when they find that all the
stars of heaven withhold their light, and there is not even so much as
a glimmer of light, and the sun too becomes as black as sackcloth,
they cannot impute it to an eclipse, for an eclipse would not destroy
the light of the stars that are scattered over the concave of heaven.
We are also told, in connection with this, that the earth is to be
afflicted as well as the heavenly bodies; it is to roll to and fro
like a drunken man, the mountains are to be broken down, and
the whole earth is to be dissolved. No such thing has ever taken place
since the day this prophecy was uttered; it is therefore yet to be
fulfilled.
Again Isaiah in the 40th chapter has said that "every valley shall be
exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together." Such an event as that has never occurred, for we have many
mountains in all parts of the earth, and the valleys are not yet
exalted, neither are the rough places made smooth. We are told that
not only are the mountains to be broken down, and the valleys exalted,
and the rough places made smooth, but the earth itself is to be
dissolved. This agrees with the prophecies of the Psalmist David. He
was permitted to see the great day of the coming of the Lord, and has
described it, in many of his psalms; among other things which he says
shall take place, is that the hills should melt like wax at the
presence of the Lord. They of course will fall down by the force of
gravity, and fill up the valleys; such an event has never taken place
since the day the prophecy was uttered.
We are told also in another place by the Prophet Isaiah, how that the
servants of God in those notable days should call upon the name of the
Lord, saying, "Oh that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou
wouldst come down that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.
As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil,
to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations might
tremble at thy presence," which prayer shall be answered.
Another thing is spoken of, besides all these changes that I have
named. There will be a great removal of certain portions of the earth.
"The earth is moved exceedingly," as contained in the 19th verse of
the 24th chapter of Isaiah, and in the following verse, still
referring to the changes that this earth is to undergo, it reads, "And
shall be removed like a cottage." We are still further told in the
same chapter that "the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it
waste, and turneth it upside down," etc.; that is, many portions of
the earth which now lie buried will be thrown to the surface, and many
portions which now are the upper crust of the earth will be turned
under.
The earth is now divided into continents and islands. We may ask, are
these to change their location? The answer is, yes. The Apostle and
revelator John, in the 6th chapter of Revelation, tells us that he
saw, in vision, after the opening of the sixth seal, among other
remarkable things, that "every mountain and island were moved out of
their places." Such islands as Great Britain will change their
location, as well as those of the Pacific Ocean and all others in like
manner; and I have no doubt there will be a vast change between the
location of continents and the location of the great oceans and seas
at that time. The earth will doubtless be rolled back to the position
it formerly occupied. We read that there is to be a restitution of all
things spoken of by the mouth of all the holy Prophets. If the earth
is to be restored to its former condition, as it once existed soon
after the creation, then, so far as continents and oceans are
concerned, there will be a restitution of those portions of the globe,
as well as many things not mentioned in prophecy.
These passages which I have read occurred to my mind principally after
I came to this house. I had nothing particular to present to the
congregation, nothing studied or prepared. I prefer to depend upon the
spirit of the Lord to direct me when engaged in preaching the Gospel,
and my mind seems to be directed to the great events that are to
transpire in the overthrow and destruction of the wicked nations—the
great events to transpire in which the sun will become black as
sackcloth, and every star withhold its light and cast themselves down
as the falling of figs from the fig tree, all of which will be very
remarkable in their nature.
The Prophet Joel says, "it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall
see visions." "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the
earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible
day of the Lord come," etc. Do you suppose, my brethren, that the Lord
would have inspired such men as the Psalmist David, the Prophets
Isaiah, Joel, John the Revelator, as well as many others, to speak of
events of this description, which were to take place in the latter
times, if no such thing would transpire? No, certainly not. These
things too are so frequently alluded to that we cannot have any
dubiety upon our minds in regard to the design of the Lord.
I have no doubt a great many changes have taken place upon our globe
since that great change wrought upon it at the time of the creation.
There certainly was a great change wrought upon it then, for we are
told that when the Lord organized the earth it was enveloped in a
great ocean of water, there being no dry land in sight. But the Lord,
by his power and word, or, in other words, by his immutable laws,
caused that the waters should be gathered together into one place, and
hence the dry land appeared. I do not suppose that this change was
effected in the twinkling of an eye; I believe the Lord has certain
established laws by which he accomplishes his wonderful works
pertaining to all his creations. How long this submerged earth had an
existence before the Lord commanded the great deep, that enveloped the
whole surface of the same, to be removed, is not for me to say; no one
can tell how many years, or thousands of years, or how many millions
of years, this earth may have existed in the form of partial or
imperfect organizations before this great event happened, of which
Moses gives an account. The periods mentioned in the history, as
recorded in the 1st chapter of Genesis, are represented as beginning
with the evening and ending with the morning. Seven such periods are
mentioned. How long these periods, called days, were, I cannot tell;
it is very evident they were not governed by the rotation of the earth
on its axis, because the sun did not give light during the first three
days or periods. It was on the fourth day that the Lord caused the
light of the sun to shine upon this little speck of creation. But
there were three days prior to that, when the sun did not shine upon
the earth. What then was to distinguish between the light and darkness
we of course cannot say. There was an eternity of past duration,
before the period, called "the first day." The materials we,
as Latter-day Saints, believe existed from all eternity, the materials
had no beginning; they were not created.
There is one particular to which I wish to call your attention. The
ocean seems to have been gathered by itself, when the dry land
appeared, and whether or not there were any islands at that period of
our globe's history, we are not informed. You might inquire—What has
occasioned two great continents and two great oceans intervening
between them, and how are we to account for the appearance of islands
and seas as they now exist? These are the results of other changes
since the days of the organization of this earth, as proclaimed by
Moses. The flood, no doubt, produced some changes on the surface of
our globe, but still I do not believe, for a moment, that it could
have produced the changes we now see. So far as the location of the
different islands and continents is concerned, we descend to a period
since the flood. In the days of Peleg, we are told, the earth was
divided. This is a very short historical notice of a very marvelous
event. If we had the whole account of this occurrence precisely as it
transpired, it would certainly be extremely wonderful. Supposing that
the one great antediluvian continent, which must have existed prior
to that time, were to be divided by several thousand miles of water,
would not that be a most wonderful event?
It may be enquired, what natural laws could have performed such an
event? I do not pretend to say that any regular, uniform laws exist by
which it was accomplished; but there are laws, perhaps, that finite
man does not comprehend and fully understand, which might occasion the
division of the earth. The Lord has under his control all the laws of
nature, whether uniform or not. It is just as easy for the Lord to
cause water to stand up as perpendicular walls, instanced in the case
of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, as it is to cause
these waters to settle to their common level. What causes water to
find its level? It is the power of God, and nothing else. We give it
the name of gravitation; but the power of gravitation is nothing more
nor less than the power God exercises upon the elements, producing
uniform laws.
Has the Lord no other laws in operation but the law of gravity? Yes,
he can cause the law of gravity to be in subjection to other laws. For
instance, a certain man was cutting down wood with the Prophet Elisha
when his axe fell into deep water, to all appearance lost; and the man
was somewhat exercised about it, because the axe was borrowed. The
Prophet, understanding the nature of certain laws higher than that of
gravitation, exercised the power of the Priesthood with which he was
endowed, commanding the iron to swim, and it did so.
Again, on another occasion, the Prophet Elisha, knowing that he must
succeed the Prophet Elijah in the ministry, and that Elijah was about
to be translated and taken to heaven, asked of him a certain favor
before he ascended, namely, that a double portion of his (Elijah's)
spirit might rest upon him. Elijah said in response, "Thou hast asked
a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou seest me, when I am taken from
thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so." It
pleased the Lord to grant unto Elisha his desire, for he beheld the
Prophet ascend to heaven in a chariot of fire, drawn by horses having
the appearance of fire. He then took the mantle of Elijah, that
fell from him, and with it he smote the waters of the Jordan, saying,
"Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" And they parted hither and thither,
and Elisha went over on dry ground. Here, then, we perceive a power
greater than gravitation.
As we have already observed, when the children of Israel had passed
over the Red Sea, the waters were thrown up like walls on either side
of them; the Lord caused the same waters to flow down upon their
enemies, totally destroying them.
Again, while Israel was journeying in the wilderness we are informed
that they came to the river Jordan, and that as the Priests who bore
the ark of the Covenant touched the water with the soles of their
feet, the waters rose up in a heap, and all Israel passed over on dry
ground.
From these simple testimonies we have shown that God controls the laws
of nature. Again, the fact of the Prophet Elijah being taken up to
heaven, records another instance of the laws of gravitation being
overcome by a more powerful one. Again, the ascension of Jesus, after
he had commissioned his disciples to preach the Gospel to all the
world, was another instance of the law of gravitation being overcome
by the power of God. Then let no person suppose that all the great
events that will hereafter transpire upon the surface of land and sea,
have got to take place by reason of some slow progressive changes,
occupying hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of years,
according to the ideas of modern geologists. Can they show the way the
Lord can govern and control these things, bringing about events, in
the course of a very short time, that perhaps would take millions of
years to accomplish by the mere progressive changes, such as are
recognized by geologists? How easy it would be for that same power to
be made manifest, in commanding the great ocean to leave its present
bed and to gather together in the polar regions in our globe. One may
ask, What would hold them there? They now occupy the common level
surface as near the center of gravity as they can, and sustain the
centrifugal force exercised by the rotation of the earth on its axis.
If they should be rolled back, whence they came; if a great equatorial
continent, in one continuous belt, encircled the globe, and the two
polar regions were covered with oceans, what would hold them in their
position? It might be done without infringing particularly on the laws
of gravitation. How easy it would be for the Lord to compress the
polar regions of our globe, and cause the equatorial regions to rise
higher, so as to balance the polar waters, and retain them in the
arctic and antarctic regions.
It may be objected, that should such a condition exist, even though we
should admit the power of God in thus dividing the waters, and giving
us an equatorial continent, yet this would not protect the inhabitants
of the equator from the burning heat of the sun, and it would be
utterly impossible for the inhabitants of the earth to inhabit the
equatorial region, if this should be the case. How easy it would be for
the Lord to alter the position of the earth's axis, giving it a
greater inclination to the plane of the ecliptic, so that the two
tropics should extend thirty-five or forty degrees north and south of
the equator. What effect would this have? It would have the effect of
giving greater heat to the poles, and also of giving less heat to the
equator.
The earth will be shaped into the form best adapted to the occupation
of a higher order of beings. Now, children of mortality occupy
this globe. In some portions of the earth we suffer extremes of heat
and cold. The Laplander has guarded against this in his snow house,
while the people of the torrid regions have to guard against intense
heat. And there is much suffering by the inhabitants of the earth, in
their present state of mortality, from the extremes of heat and cold.
But in relation to the great event I have named, I have no doubt but
what every motion and arrangement that the Lord will cause to take
place upon the surface of our globe, will have a tendency to prepare
it for the habitation of beings of a higher order of intelligence than
those who now occupy it. In testimony of this, we will refer you to
some few passages of Scripture. The inhabitants of the heavens, who
now reside in the presence of God the Father, and his Son Jesus
Christ, do not always expect to reside there; they have anticipations
as well as we. And they expect to receive another place or location
than where they now reside. Have you not read that peculiar passage
contained in the 5th chapter of the Revelation, in relation to the
inhabitants of heaven? The Revelator, John, heard them sing a new and
beautiful song, about the unsealing of a certain book—"Thou art worthy
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings
and priests: and we shall reign on the earth," etc.
What! The inhabitants of heaven coming to reign on this earth? Yes.
Some of you may say, "I should not think that heavenly people would
want to leave the presence of God and the Lamb, where all is peace and
happiness, where there is no sin to mar the peace of that blessed
abode. I should not suppose that they could anticipate joy in coming
back to this earth." But the earth is to undergo a change in which it
will be sanctified and made glorious when the sinners are destroyed.
When the Lord performs what I have read to you, namely, that the
inhabitants of the earth are to be burned up, and few men left; and
all the armies of the wicked slaughtered. And when the prediction of
Isaiah is fulfilled, that the slain will be from one end of the earth
to the other, and the earth changed in its position, and a beautiful
climate introduced, and all the dry ground made habitable, and the
rough places made smooth, the valleys raised, and the mountains
leveled down, I think they will then delight to come here. Because
this is their old home, where they once lived. "Thou hast redeemed us
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall
reign on the earth."
How will they reign? Will they come here as spiritual personages
without bodies of flesh and bones? No. There will be a resurrection,
and when these great events take place on the earth, which are so
clearly predicted by so many of the ancient worthies, who held
communion with God, the graves will give up the righteous dead. The
Saints who were heard singing that new and beautiful song, even the
spirit of the just, will come from the celestial paradise to claim
their resurrected bodies, no more to be subject to death—they will be
immortal and eternal. They will have intelligence in proportion to
that exalted condition of their spirits and bodies, and the
earth will be adapted to them as a dwelling place. This is the reason
why these changes are to take place.
Geologists say it would take some millions of years to effect any
changes of the earth in regard to the location of its continents and
islands, and a great number of intelligent readers are inclined to
this belief. But there is a God who will disappoint them all, who will
show forth his power, causing the earth to rock to and fro like a
drunken man; a God whose power is able to cause the mountains to be
cast down, and the valleys to come up. When it rains upon the exalted
valleys, it will wash down the rich soil upon the rocky mountains
which have sunk beneath, making them fertile; and thus the whole
surface of the earth will become a fit abode for man in his improved
and perfected state, whether immortal or mortal.
"Do you think," one may say, "there will be mortal beings living on
the earth, when these heavenly hosts come?" Yes, and they will dwell
together. What, people not subject to sickness, or to sorrow, or
punishment, people whose bodies are celestial and immortal, who will
endure in their bodies to all eternity! Will they mingle with mortal
beings? Yes. Have we any Scripture to sustain us in this? Yes. Our
Savior was immortal when he arose from the tomb, his body of flesh and
bones was no longer sensitive to pain; it was a glorified, immortal,
and eternal body. Could he mingle with the children of mortality? Yes,
for on a certain occasion the Apostles, doubtless thinking the Savior
to be dead, went to their nets, their former pursuit. But Jesus
knowing their hearts, went to the seashore and there made a fire. By
and by he called them to land, and they came. He took a fish and
broiled it on the coals, and gave it to them to eat, and he ate with
them. He was immortal, they were mortal. Was there any perceptible
difference between the appearance of the Savior on this occasion, and
his disciples? No; he did not permit his glory to shine forth, as he
did on the Isle of Patmos, when John received his heavenly
manifestations. His glory was withheld, and they had no difficulty in
looking upon his person.
I have no doubt there will be a certain degree of the glory of the
immortal beings withheld from the children of mortality, during the
whole period of the millennium. Kings and priests will come here to
reign, and will mingle freely among their children of whom they are
ancestors. And those who are mortal can receive instruction from those
who are immortal, that will prepare them for the time when the earth
is to undergo a still greater change. The children of mortality will
need this preparation in order to live when this earth is burning up,
which is to be its final destiny.
When Jesus comes, the events that I have named will take place. The
earth is destined to pass away; after these immortal beings have dwelt
upon it for one thousand years, after Jesus has been here reigning as
King of kings and Lord of lords, and people have become familiar with
him and all the ancients, by and by the earth will be burned up. You
may inquire, "What is the use of burning it up?" I tell you my reason
why I suppose the earth will be burnt up. It has been cursed by reason
of the fall. In the early ages God said, "Cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life," etc.
That curse has not been fully removed to this day, the earth
has groaned under wickedness. Its inhabitants have had to suffer all
the inclemencies of a rigid climate or the intensities of heat and
cold. Millions have thus suffered for many thousands of years, all in
consequence of the curse that came upon this creation. This curse is
not all to be removed at once, it will be removed, in part, during
the Millennium. The curse will not occupy the whole face of the earth
to the same extent during that time as it has during the days of
wickedness. But so great has been the curse that God decreed that it
should suffer death like unto man; it cannot escape it, the change
must come, the final change, which is equivalent to death itself. The
Prophet Isaiah speaks of the earth dying: "And they that dwell therein
shall die in like manner." As it shall die, so shall all who dwell
upon it. When shall it see death? Not until after the Millennium,
after the reign of righteousness for the space of one thousand years;
after, too, "the little season," during which period of time Satan
will be loosed out of his prison. It will continue in its temporal
state with a portion of the curse upon its face, until the devil shall
gather together his armies at the end of the thousand years, when he
will marshal them, bringing them up on the breadth of the earth, and
compassing the camp of the Saints and the beloved city. Then the Lord
will make the final change; then the last trump will sound, which will
bring forth all the sleeping nations; they will come forth with
immortal bodies no more to be subject to temporal death. They will
come forth from their sleeping tombs, and the sea will give up the
dead which is in it. The graves of the wicked will be opened, and they
will come forth; and a great white throne will appear, as recorded in
the 20th chapter of Revelation, and the personage who sits on it is
described. Jesus comes then in his glory and power, in a manner far
greater than has ever been manifested on this earth before; so great
will be the glory of him who sits upon the throne, that from before
his face the earth and the heaven will flee away, and no place shall
be found for them.
Will not that be a greater change than casting down the mountains,
etc., which is to take place at the beginning of the Millennium? The
earth is to be burnt by fire, returning to its original elements. It
does not say there shall be no place found for the elements, but there
shall be no place found for the organized world. Like ourselves, the
organization of the mortal body will cease, it will be finally
dissolved, and the elements of which it is composed will be scattered
in space; but that same God that controls the laws by which it exists
now will in due time, and when he sees proper, speak to these
elements, and by his Almighty power they will again come together, and
be formed into a new earth, as is clearly portrayed in the 21st
chapter of St. John's Revelation. The Apostle not only saw the heaven
and the earth pass away, but he saw "a new heaven and a new earth: for
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away."
How do you suppose this new earth will be made? Do you suppose the
Lord will go away into the immensity of space, and gather together new
materials and command them to be organized? No, he will take the same
materials, the elements which will have been dissolved by fire, and he
will command them again to be reorganized, adapting the resurrected
creation to the condition of the inhabitants that will occupy
it. It will then be far more glorious than it will appear, during the
thousand years of rest; it will then be reorganized by Almighty God in
the most perfect form, so that it shall be capable of eternal and
everlasting endurance, no more to be dissolved, no more to suffer from
the action of the elements one upon the other, as has been the case
with this earth, during its temporal existence. But it will continue
to all eternity, and who are to inhabit it? The Saints who have before
lived upon it, during the seven thousand years of its temporal
existence.
Have we any account to sustain us in this? Yes, for after John saw the
new heaven and new earth, the next thing he tells us of is the
population of the new earth. "I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and
they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be
their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away."
The earth then will be made new, immortal, eternal in its nature; and
holy beings that John saw come down in this holy city will be its
inhabitants. No more death, no more sorrow, etc.; in other words, this
earth, this creation, will become a heaven. The heavens that exist now
are innumerable to man. God has from all eternity been organizing,
redeeming and perfecting creations in the immensity of space; all of
which, when they are sanctified by celestial law, and made new and
eternal, become the abode of the faithful former inhabitants, who also
become immortal, through and by celestial law. They are the mansions
referred to by the Savior—"In my Father's house are many
mansions." In
other words, we may say, In our Father's dominions are many mansions.
They are not like mansions built by men, they are worlds of greater
and lesser magnitude. The first grade are exalted, celestial bodies,
from which celestial light will radiate through the immensity of
space.
We are anxiously praying to dwell in the presence of God the Father,
when we depart this life. Where will it be? He will dwell with man
upon the earth. Will this confine him to this earth? No, not any more
than the kings of the earth are confined to their palaces, or the city
in which they may dwell. They have the right to visit the different
portions of their dominions and even any parts of the earth. So will
God our Eternal Father, when he selects this earth as a habitation,
make it as one of his dwelling places, but he will have power to go
from one celestial world to another, to visit the myriads of
creations, as may seem to him good.
In thus referring to the changes that the earth must undergo we might
ask, Are we living now so as to be prepared for all the dispensations
of God's providence? Are we prepared to receive our inheritance upon
this earth, when it shall be made eternal? If we keep the celestial
law which God shall give to us; or in other words, if we are born
first of the water by baptism, and then of the spirit by the baptism
of fire and the Holy Ghost, and if we continue to walk in this spirit
in newness of life, being new creatures before the Lord our God, and
becoming sanctified by the celestial law, even the law of the
Gospel, we will then be prepared to inherit this creation, when it
shall be made new, and sanctified, and become immortal.
If we are not thus prepared, where shall we go? God is the author of
many creations besides those that are celestial. He will prepare a
creation just adapted to the condition of such people—those who are
not sanctified by the Gospel in all its fullness, and who do not
endure faithful to the end, will find themselves located upon one of
the lower creations, where the glory of God will not be made manifest
to the same extent. There they will be governed by laws adapted to
their inferior capacity and to the condition which they will have
plunged themselves in. They will not only suffer after this life, but
will fail to receive glory and power and exaltation in the presence of
God the Eternal Father; they will fail to receive an everlasting
inheritance upon this earth, in its glorified and immortal state.
Therefore how careful the Latter-day Saints should be in order to
merit the association of the happy throng whom John heard singing that
new song. We desire our inheritance on this earth as well as they. If
they could rejoice in anticipation of receiving an inheritance on the
earth, how much more can we who know comparatively nothing of the joys
of heaven, when our globe will be glorified, a fit habitation for
immortal, glorified beings.
Let us keep the commandments of the Most High; let us so order our
lives that we can have a claim upon the Father, looking forward to
that period of time when these mortal bodies, which must slumber in
the dust, will come forth from the grave, fashioned after the likeness
of his most glorious body, to inherit the same glory with him.
Amen.