There are a few minutes remaining, which I am requested to occupy; and
while doing so I earnestly desire that I may be inspired by the spirit
that gives light and intelligence to the human mind and makes plain
the things of God, so that what I may say to you may be profitable and
edifying.
I rejoice very much that I have the privilege of living upon the
earth, at the time when God has commenced the great work spoken of by
all the holy prophets since the world began; when the times of
restitution have commenced; when God has begun to restore to the
inhabitants of the earth, the doctrine and principles which were
revealed to the people anciently, by which they were brought into
communion with the Father; when the holy priesthood, or the authority
given from God to man to act in his stead, has been restored to the
earth; when the gifts and blessings which were enjoyed by the ancient
Saints have also been restored; when the knowledge possessed by the
ancients of the manner in which God could be approached so that they
might learn of him, has also been made manifest to the Latter-day
Saints; in the day when the great work which will prepare the earth
and the inhabitants thereof for its Prince, its rightful lawgiver and
King, has commenced upon the earth. I rejoice and thank God with all
my heart that I am identified with this people, that I have received
the spirit of this work; that I have been able to understand these
principles and doctrines and that I have cast in my lot with the
people who are engaged in the work of preparing themselves for the
coming of the Lord.
The times of restitution which have been alluded to this afternoon by
Brother Morgan, and which the Apostle Paul speaks of in the words
which have been read in your hearing, are of the very greatest
importance to all people, who live upon the earth to understand. Every
prophet by whom God has spoken since the world began has had some
foresight in regard to this work. When we take up the Bible we find
all the prophets whose words are recorded therein speaking of the
great work of God in the latter days; of the great day of the
Lord; of the time when righteousness should prevail, and iniquity
should cease; of the time when misrule should be cast down, when the
kingdoms of this world that have ruled in unrighteousness should lose
their grasp upon the children of men, and in the place thereof the
kingdom of God should be established; of the time when the curse which
was placed upon the earth in the beginning should be removed, and when
instead of the thorn and the brier should spring up the fig tree and
the myrtle tree; of the day when the animosity between man and man and
between mankind and the brute creation, should be taken away; when the
lion and the lamb should dwell together; when the spirit of
destruction should cease and the Spirit of the living God prevail over
the face of the whole earth, and the way be prepared for the coming of
its rightful ruler, "He whose right it is to reign" and who will rule
"from the rivers to the ends of the earth;" of the time when that
wicked one "who tempted our first parents in the beginning, who
introduced evil and death into the world, and who has ever since made
it his aim and object to usurp the control of the earth, shall be
bound, and with all his hosts be banished from the earth and this
whole creation be rid of his influence, and when the Spirit of God
will be poured out upon all flesh. This period has been foreseen and
has been alluded to in much plainness by many of the prophets upon the
eastern hemisphere and also upon the western continent; their words
were recorded and have come down to us through the Bible and the Book
of Mormon.
The spirit which God has been pleased to pour out upon us in some
degree opens our minds to a com prehension of these same things. When
we take up the Bible or the Book of Mormon and read of the restitution
to come, we can see it as the prophets saw it; for the same spirit
that rested upon Isaiah and Jeremiah and upon Nephi and Moroni and
others of the prophets that lived upon this continent, rests upon the
people of God in these latter days. The same evidences are open to our
vision, and we know as sure as we know that God lives that the day is
close at hand when those events spoken of will transpire upon the
earth.
We are living in a time of great wickedness, of great corruption and
evil of numerous kinds; they are widespread upon the face of the
earth, and the inhabitants thereof have turned from the Lord in a
great degree, according to the Scripture which has been quoted: "They
have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the
everlasting covenant." God has withdrawn himself from the children of
men. Darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people.
While they boast of living in an age of Gospel light, they are really
and truly shut out from communion with the Lord. No prophet's voice is
heard in their midst; no seer discerns the things of God; no angel
from the courts of glory bears a message of glad tidings to man. The
heavens are as brass over their heads. They have no answer when they
pray, or rather when they say their prayers, for it may be truly said
of them in the words of the Lord through Isaiah, they "draw near me
with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed
their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precepts of men." "Therefore," says the Lord, "behold, I will
proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous
work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and
the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid," while to the
weak and despised and poor of the earth whom God has gathered from the
nations he has revealed his will and the precious things of his
kingdom; and they are preparing themselves for the great events that
are to transpire in the near future.
God has commenced the great work of restitution of all things by
restoring the Gospel in its primitive simplicity, and every principle
and ordinance belonging thereto, with the authority and power to
administer therein. Every man that has lived upon the earth in past
ages, who has held the keys in any dispensation of God's mercy to man,
has come down from the place whence he has gone, and restored those
keys; they have all brought their priesthood, their authority, and the
spirit and power belonging thereunto, and ordained living men to the
authority which they themselves held. And the reason why we know this
is true, is because God Almighty has made this manifest to every
humble soul who has bowed in obedience to this Gospel. Our testimony
does not depend upon Joseph Smith; it does not depend upon Brigham
Young; it does not depend upon John Taylor, or upon the council of the
Twelve Apostles, which is now the presiding quorum in the Church. I
pin my faith to no man's sleeve; I am a believer in the Scripture
which says, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh
his arm." I obeyed this Gospel because I believed it was true, through
reading the Scriptures, which I was taught from my early childhood to
believe in. When the sound of the Gospel reached my ears I
believed; and having bowed in obedience to its ordinances, I received a
testimony for myself of its truthfulness, and that testimony has never
departed from me. I know by the power and gift of the Holy Ghost that
God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
I know by the same Spirit that God Almighty has sent his angels in
these the last days to Joseph Smith and others, for the purpose of
commencing this work of the restitution of all things. I know that
work has begun to be ushered in. I know that the power of God is being
manifested on the earth, that the same power which rested upon the
former-day Saints, rests down upon the Latter-day Saints. I know that
the former-day ordinances have been restored, and the spirit and the
power thereof. I know it for myself, because I have experienced it and
realized it. I know there is a way to approach the Eternal Father and
learn of him. I know that those who seek aright in the way appointed,
find an answer to their prayers, and that the promise made by the
Savior is true: "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." And in bearing my
testimony to the truth of these things, I say what most of this
congregation know, and what the great majority of the people
throughout this Territory could testify to, as well as thousands more
who are scattered upon the face of the earth, who are longing to
gather to these mountain vales: We have not come here for the mere
purpose of enriching ourselves in gold and silver, in flocks and
herds, or houses and lands, things which perish in their
handling, but to become rich in the imperishable things of eternity,
which we can obtain here in the way appointed of God, and about which
the world know nothing.
People wonder why it is that the leaders of this people are still
upheld by the unanimous voice and vote of the Latter-day Saints, and
why it is that we have faith in them and cling to them, in spite of
all that is said against them. They do not understand the secret
spring that moves this work. The power that unites and guides us does
not rest in any man or any set of men, neither in this wonderful
organization, but in this eternal, unerring Spirit which God has shed
forth in our hearts through obedience to the Gospel, by which we can
approach Him and learn of Him for ourselves.
We have gathered to these mountains that we may aid in this great work
of restitution. We are building these Temples that the Lord may come
and restore further powers and keys and knowledge pertaining to the
holy priesthood, which has been held in reserve, for we have as yet
only received the droppings of the shower to come; we have but
received a few things compared with what remains to be revealed. There
is not a principle nor a blessing referred to in these Scriptures,
which has been enjoyed by the Saints of any former time, but what the
Lord our God will restore and bestow upon his people of the latter
times, the times of the restitution of all things. This doctrine of
celestial marriage that creates such a stir in the world, is only one
of the doctrines believed in and practiced by the ancients, and that,
too, under the immediate sanction and direction of the Almighty, that
God has com menced to restore in the latter days. The Lord has restored
that in connection with other principles, and it is a truth which this
people can testify to, whether others believe it or not. God is the
author of it, and if men choose to fight against the Lord, let them
fight; it is God and them for it. I bear my testimony that God
Almighty has revealed this doctrine of celestial marriage, or marriage
for eternity, including the doctrine of plurality of wives. He made
this manifest to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and has revealed it to
thousands by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. But these are only
the beginnings of things. We have come here to learn of God's ways and
to walk in his paths. "Our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and
things wherein there is no profit." They have been fed upon husks,
while the kernel was not with them. They have been taught by the
traditions of men; they have been led by theologians who knew not God,
who could not describe him or explain his laws to the people, for they
knew not of Him themselves, and how could they, when according to
their own admissions the voice of prophecy had ceased, and God would
no more speak to the children of men.
We have come out from the traditions and false theories of our
fathers, and gathered here that we may learn of God. And God has
organized his Church, and we are receiving line upon line and precept
upon precept, here a little and there a little, for our profit, to
prepare us for the things to be manifested in the future. And if we
would only live up to the things that He has revealed to us; if we
would be as pure and virtuous, and honest and upright, and
conscientious and patient, and long-suffering and charitable
as we are commanded to be in the revelations the Lord has given unto
us in these latter times, we would be better prepared for the great
things yet to be unfolded. If the people called Latter-day Saints
desire to receive further of these great things which have been kept
hid from the world for generations, let them live up to the principles
already revealed—let them be Saints in very deed. As they have come
out from the world bodily, let them be separated from the world in
spirit. Let them be temperate, chaste and true; let them be honest and
honorable with all men; let them live up to their agreements and fail
not to keep their promises one with another, always remembering, with
due regard, their sacred covenants and solemn obligations to the Lord.
And thus they will come up near to Him, and as a natural consequence
the Lord will draw near to them, his Spirit will be upon them, and God
will fight their battles and overcome their enemies, and break off
every yoke. For the Lord is nigh at hand and not afar off. He has
commenced the great work of restitution, and will roll it on to its
consummation. He will restore every power and every gift and grace,
every key, revelation and inspiration that has ever been enjoyed by
the ancient Saints. Is that all? No, my brethren and sisters, it is
not all; for after God has restored everything that has been lost, He
will, in this dispensation, reveal things kept hidden from the
foundations of the world. He will reveal them "to babes and
sucklings," to the children born in Zion who are heirs to the holy
priesthood, trained up in the way they should go, not trained up as
some of our children are, but in the way God has appointed. As we are
living in these momentous times, it behooves us to be what we profess
to be—Saints. We are called to be Saints; whether we are Saints or not
is another thing. Many are called, but few are chosen. And why are
they not chosen? Read the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; find out
your own weaknesses, your own failures, your own omissions as well as
commissions. Find out wherein you have ceased to do that which you
ought to do, and have done that which you ought not to have done, and
repent. Repentance is needed to be taught to the Latter-day Saints as
well as to the world; for we are called with a holy calling, and if we
do not live up to our professions, it were better we had never made
them. Let us return to the Lord, and the Lord will return to us; his
Spirit will he manifested in our midst to a still greater degree, and
His gifts and blessings will abound. Our sick will be healed as in
times past. We have seen the sick healed instantaneously. The lame
have been made to walk, the dumb to speak, the blind to see and the
deaf to hear, by the power of God through the administrations of the
servants of God. The gifts of tongues, prophecy, dreams, faith,
discernment, and every gift and blessing spoken of in the Bible as
having graced the primitive Church, have been enjoyed by the
Latter-day Saints in this latter-day Church, and we are witnesses
thereof. God has been near to us, and we have felt his presence in our
public assemblies and in our private abodes. Peace has reigned in our
hearts, and we have felt like praising Him with all our souls for His
goodness.
Now the Lord will be still nearer to us if we practice our religion and be Saints in very deed; and our own eyes will be open to
discern the work of God among the nations. We have already begun to
comprehend the purposes of the Almighty. God's hand is over all, and
he will smite down the oppressor and break every yoke. He will destroy
the tyranny that still exists in the world, and the way will be
open for the servants of the living God to go to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people, as messengers of the truth and to gather
out the seed of Israel, and the work of God will roll forth, and every
effort of our enemies will only tend to accelerate its progress. There
are societies formed here to oppose this work and to bring trouble
upon us. What have their efforts so far amounted to? Those that have
concocted their schemes to misrepresent us and to bear false witness
against us and to malign us, how much have they accomplished? They
have been the means of helping to kill one faithful youth, who, in
common with many of his brethren, was engaged publishing to the world
the principles of our religion. And besides this, they have been the
means of inciting mobocrats to drag a few inoffensive aged people from
their homes and beat them nearly to death, because of their belief.
Let those plotters look upon their work and see what they have
accomplished! How much satisfaction these ladies, these "Christian"
ladies and gentlemen must have in their labors! How much will this do
to stop the progress of the work of the Almighty? Not anything at all;
it will only tend to roll it on to its consummation and final triumph.
The Lord will so overrule in behalf of his people as to turn the
intended evil into good. Their efforts to overthrow "Mormonism," as
they term it will simply advertise our cause all over the world;
attention will be drawn to our Elders who are traveling throughout the
world preaching the Gospel, and they will be the better able to bear
their testimony and gather out the honest. They may fight this work as
they please; they may malign and stigmatize this people, and heap all
manner of reproach upon them; they may imprison and even kill the
bodies of some of its most faithful advocates, but the facts still
remain that we are engaged in the work of restitution; that God has
commenced it; that God is with us, and will remain with us as long as
we are true to him as his servants; and no power on earth or in hell
will stop his purposes. The nations of the earth are in his hands; the
governments of this earth he considers as a very little thing, and by
and by he will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear
cometh. The kingdoms of this world, with all their pomp and glory,
will, in the own due time of the Lord, be humbled in the dust and be
broken to pieces; and then will come the kingdom of our God, and he
whose right it is to reign will rule from pole to pole and from shore
to shore.
But let us not cherish animosity in our hearts against those who are
plotting against us. While we stand up for our civil rights and the
liberty to which we are entitled by virtue of the Constitution of the
United States, and stand firm, shoulder to shoulder, in vindication of
our religious rights, and help to maintain for others the rights which
we claim for ourselves, let us not cherish anger, or animosity, or
revenge, in our hearts. But let us take the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ for our guide, and try to be patient and long-suffering, even as
God is. And the Lord will fight our battles, and those who
fight against us by and by will be brought to shame and confusion as
they always have been. And let those who love to lie about the
Latter-day Saints, lie on; there is a place prepared for them, and we
will leave them in his hands. Ye who wish to lie, lie on! Do your
work, fill the mission you are engaged in as did Judas of old; but as
for us, we will serve the Lord; we will keep his commandments; we will
battle with the evils in our natures, entailed upon us through the
errors of our forefathers; we will learn to govern ourselves and our
households in the fear of God, and while we are engaged in battling
with evil and corruption God will be on our side, and who shall
prevail against him? "A little one shall become a thousand, and a
small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time."
Now, we are here in the valleys of these mountains to aid in this
great work of bringing to pass the restitution of all things; let us
take hold of the truths revealed to us and practice them in our lives,
that we may become a holy people unto the Lord, faithful, true,
honorable, upright, chaste and pure, fit for the companionship of the
angels. And the Spirit of the living God shall have free course among
us and the gifts of the Gospel will abound; truth will prevail and our
enemies will be confused. The time is not far distant when God will
sweep the earth, as with a besom of destruction, of all that rebel
willfully and intentionally against him and his work; he will cleanse
the earth from pollution and establish righteousness thereon. Men
shall then be found beating their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more, but every man in every
place shall meet a brother and a friend. And this same spirit of peace
will also produce a change upon the brute creation, according to the
words of prophets who lived centuries ago, and the earth itself will
be blessed, the curse be removed therefrom, and he whose right it is
to reign will come and rule in the midst of his people.
I have occupied sufficient time. I thank God, as I said in the
beginning, for the privilege of being a Latter-day Saint; I thank God
for the privilege of being here in the valleys of these mountains,
helping to bring forth this great work of restitution. And by the help
of God we will cleave together as a band of brethren and sisters, to
serve the Lord our God no matter what may come. Amen.
- Charles W. Penrose