I will call the attention of the congregation to a few verses,
contained in the 50th Psalm, and the first six verses: "The mighty
God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising
of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfec tion of
beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep
silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very
tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above,
and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints to gether unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by
sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is
judge himself." It is very evident that the Psalmist, when writing
these words, must have been inspired of the living God; for the
events, here foretold, are clearly set forth in many other parts of
the sacred scriptures. Two very important events are announced here;
one is, the gathering of the Saints—those who have made a covenant
with the Lord by sacrifice—and another is the coming of the Lord, not
his first coming, but his second advent, when a fire shall devour
before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him; when he
shall, in other words, come in his majesty, in his power, in great
glory, or, as the apostle Paul expresses it in one of his epistles to
the Thessalonians, "he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty
angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." There seems to
be connected with this advent of the Lord from the heavens, great
power; his arm is to be made manifest before all people. Preparatory
to this great event, there will be a universal gathering of the Saints
from the four quarters of the earth. It is one of the signs preceding
the second advent. It is clearly foretold by many of the prophets.
David alludes to it, not only in this Psalm, but in many parts of his
Psalms. The Spirit of God seems to have moved upon him to portray more
or less the great work of the gathering of the Saints in the last
days. Many suppose that he will come and find the Saints scattered
all over the world, not gathered into any special country, but it is
evident that those who have taken this view of the subject don't
understand the Scripture writings. Nothing is plainer in all the
sacred Scriptures than the gathering of the people of God. The apostle
Paul, in the first chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians, prophesies
"that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth." It seems to be a new dispensation, a dispensation
that is characterized by the words "fulness of times." When these
times shall be fulfilled: when the day shall come for this great
preparatory work to take place, the Lord will signify it by speaking
from the heavens; or, as it is here stated, in the fourth verse of
this Psalm which I have just read, "he shall call to the heavens from
above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my
saints together unto me: those that have made a covenant with me by
sacrifice." From this we draw the conclusion, that when the
dispensation shall be fully ushered in: when the time for the great
preparatory work shall take place, the heavens will no longer be
sealed up, but the Lord will again speak, will call to the heavens,
call upon his angels, call upon the ancient prophets who have died and
gone the way of the whole earth, and are dwelling in the heavens, to
do the work assigned to them, in the great and last dispensation of
the fulness of times, in bringing about the gathering and restitution
of his people upon the face of the earth. David, in the 107th Psalm,
has very clearly portrayed this wonderful and great event. Perhaps it
may be well for us to read the exact words. He commences the Psalm
thus: "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy
endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom
he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." Now notice the
gathering—"And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from
the west, from the north, and from the south." It seems to be a
gathering from the four points of the compass, out of all lands. You
might inquire if the prophets have said anything special in relation
to the country where these Saints, or people of God are to be
gathered. Let us read the next verse. After gathering them out of the
different countries and lands, from the east, west, north and south,
the Psalmist says, "They wandered in a wilderness in a solitary way;
they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted
in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he
delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the
right way," etc. Now this cannot refer to any former dispensation of
gathering. When the children of Israel in ancient days were collected
together as a body, they were not taken from the east, west, north and
south, but they were taken from one little country—the land of Goshen
in Egypt. From there this handful of people, about twenty-five hundred
thousand were taken, and in the course of time were permitted to
inhabit the land of Canaan. But this gathering that is here spoken of
informs us that they are to be gathered out of all lands. Who? The
redeemed of the Lord—people who have heard the message of redemption,
obeyed the ordinances of redemption, received the Gospel of
redemption, and were the people of God, the people of Christ; they
were the ones that were to wander in the wilderness, after they were
thus gathered, and that wilderness would be a solitary way. Now, in
gathering from Egypt to the land of Canaan, they wandered, it is true,
in a small wilderness, on the east side of the Red Sea, but instead of
bringing them forth where there was no city or habitation, he brought
them forth to large and populous cities. The first city that they came
to, after crossing from the east side of Jordan to the land on the
west side, was the great city of Jericho, which the Lord delivered
into their hands; and then there were numerous other cities that are
mentioned in the Book of Joshua, which were delivered into the hands
of the people. The children of Israel gathered out of one land; but
this latter-day gathering was to be a people called "the redeemed of
the Lord;" they were to go into a wilderness country. They were
called, in many parts of the Scripture writings, "the people of Zion,"
and "the Zion of the latter days." The Lord calls them by this special
name in the 51st chapter of Isaiah, and these are the words that are
used: "For the Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste
places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like
the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving and the voice of melody."
When I was a boy. I was inclined to attend very frequently the
meetings that were held by the different denominations in the State of
New York, my native State. I often heard this prophecy of Isaiah sung,
by those who were singing anthems of praise to the Lord, "The Lord
shall comfort Zion," etc., but little did I know, in my boyhood or
youth, what was meant by these predictions of Isaiah. It seems that
the people of Zion are to be gathered out from all lands, from every
nation under heaven, from the four points of the compass, and are to
be brought into a solitary place, a wilderness, and when they
arrive in that solitary place or wilderness, they will, at first, be
greatly afflicted, sorely distressed, so much so that they will be
under the necessity of crying unto the Lord, and he will deliver them
from their distress. "They found no city to dwell in," says David.
Now, this was the case with the Latter-day Saints, whom the Lord
commanded to gather together. When we started forth over the great
desert plain, where there were no settlements, no cities, no towns,
traveling hundreds of miles without any track to guide us, it was a
"solitary way," and rendered more terrible by the wild beasts that
roamed over the plains. We could hear the sound of the wolf in his
howlings; we could hear the sounds of the buffalos in their
bellowings, but the sound of the human voice, from any village, or
town, or settlement was unknown for hundreds of miles.
We commenced this journey in the year 1846, leaving the great
Mississippi River in the cold month of February. After a portion of us
had crossed the river in boats, the river was frozen over, and the
rest of the company crossed in wagons on the ice. We had no grass to
sustain our teams. Our teams depended upon the cottonwoods, and barks
of trees, and a little corn that we could occasionally get by sending
down to the settlements, and purchasing it for that purpose. We
wandered in the wilderness "in a solitary way," and when we had
traveled some fourteen hundred miles, we found no city to dwell in,
just precisely as the Psalmist said would be the case. We entered this
valley in the month of July, 1847, having been detained during the
winter, by sending over 500 of our people—young and middle-aged men—to
help the United States in their war against Mexico. That detained us
during the winter, so that we could not journey any further than
Council Bluffs, or the regions a little above Omaha, where we built up
a temporary residence. The next spring we started off, traveling over
the plains "in a solitary way," and entered this valley just about
where Fort Douglass is now established on the bench; we called it
Emigration Canyon. We came down here upon this plot of ground in the
month of July, and commenced planting a few potatoes. It was very late
to put in any corn, but we wished to try the soil to see whether there
was any virtue in it. We found it, however, like an ash heap. It
seemed as though there had been no rain upon the land for years. We
could dig down a great depth in many places, where this city now
stands, without finding scarcely any moisture, but we succeeded by
taking the water from the creek—City Creek we call it—in flooding a
small portion of ground, and put in our potatoes, and planted corn, a
few beans, garden seeds, etc., to see if there was any virtue in the
soil. What were the results of our first crop? We found that there was
fruitfulness in the soil; but of course it was too late for anything
to be matured. The same fall, or autumn of 1847, several thousand of
the Latter-day Saints followed up our track. They came upon the land
in the fall of the year, bringing with them a little breadstuffs to
sustain them during the winter, and also our farm utensils, and
everything in the shape of wearing apparel that could be brought. We
had not much to bring, for we had already been driven four or five
times in the United States, from our houses and from our lands; much of our bedding was burnt; our stores torn down, and the
goods carried into the streets and destroyed. Hence, we had not much
to bring with us: but we came trusting in our God, and we found that
the Lord really fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, and made the
wilderness to blossom as the rose, made the desert to bloom like the
Garden of Eden—literally fulfilling that which our Gentile religious
denominations had been singing in my ears, when I was a youth. Very
pleasant song to those who did not understand it, but much more
pleasant to those who do understand and are fulfilling it. We made
great calculations in laying off this city. We did not lay it off
merely one square mile, as if we were doubtful as to whether there
would be any inhabitants to occupy it, nor two miles square, but we
laid it off, covering an area of about five square miles. We expected
that there would be a great emigration. Upon what did we found our
expectation? Was it upon our own natural judgment? No; we founded our
expectation upon that which God had spoken in the modern revelations
which he had given to us as a people. He told us, by revelation,
before our prophet was martyred, that we would have to leave the
United States: go beyond the Rocky Mountains, and seek our home in the
wilderness, and that we would have a great people gather with us. We
believed his words; we laid out this city accordingly; and now all
that remains for us or strangers to do, in regard to the fulfillment
of these expectations, is to ride from one end of this city to the
other, and see if there is much spare ground: see if the lots are not
pretty generally occupied, and the city pretty well filled with
inhabitants. "And he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her
desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found
therein." At first, before the joy and gladness came, this other
prophecy was fulfilled: "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in
them," then they cried unto the Lord in their afflictions, and the
Lord heard them, and delivered them out of their distress. It is not
necessary for me to enumerate all our privations, such as the
shortness of provisions, and how many had to live on the roots that
sprang out of the ground; how many had to boil up the hides of their
cattle that had transported them across the plains; it is not
necessary to enter into all these particulars. I do not know that it
is necessary for us even to speak of a great trial of our faith, that
we had after we had been here many months. We planted our crops in the
spring, and they came up, and were looking nicely, and we were cheered
with the hopes of having a very abundant harvest. But alas! it very
soon appeared as if our crops were going to be swallowed up by a vast
horde of crickets, that came down from these mountains—crickets very
different to what I used to be acquainted with in the State of New
York. They were crickets nearly as large as a man's thumb. They came
in immense droves, so that men and women with brush could make no head
way against them; but we cried unto the Lord in our afflictions, and
the Lord heard us, and sent thousands and tens of thousands of a small
white bird. I have not seen any of them lately. Many called them
gulls, although they were different from the seagulls that live on the
Atlantic coast. And what did they do for us? They went to work, and by
thousands and tens of thousands, began to devour them up, and still
we thought that even they could not prevail against so large
and mighty an army. But we noticed, that when they had apparently
filled themselves with these crickets, they would go and vomit them
up, and again go to work and fill themselves, and so they continued to
do, until the land was cleared of crickets, and our crops were saved.
There are those who will say that this was one of the natural courses
of events, that there was no miracle in it. Let that be as it may, we
esteemed it as a blessing from the hand of God; miracle or no miracle,
we believe that God had a hand in it, and it does not matter
particularly whether strangers believe or not.
We found no city here to dwell in. What did we do? Went to work and
began to build a great city. This also was foretold in this same
Psalm, "He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings
into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of
them that dwell therein. He turneth the wilderness into a standing
water, and dry ground into watersprings." We found that when we came
and began to irrigate the land, and the rains began to descend from
the heavens, the earth began to take on a fresh appearance, and the
dry ground became like water springs. "And there he maketh the hungry
to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation." Now when the
Israelites went into Canaan they found cities already prepared, but
we had to prepare our own city, "And sow the fields, and plant
vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesseth them also,
so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to
decrease." Now, the Latter-day Saints who have been here, since the
arrival of the first companies in the year 1847, can rea lize how much
the Lord has multiplied this people. We are as it were overrun with
children. If strangers will take the opportunity of going to some of
our oldest towns, and through our various settlements, they will find
vast numbers of children, perhaps more children in our country than in
any other country in the United States of the same population. This is
very clearly spoken of here, "He blessed them also, so that they are
multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease." Again
he says, in the 41st verse, "Yet setteth he the poor on high from
affliction, and maketh him families like a flock." Those that are
acquainted with some of our poor men, and when they go and look at one
man's family; for this is in the singular number—"he maketh him
families like a flock" —when we see one man's family like a flock, we
may know the Lord has fulfilled this prophecy in regard to the
gathering of the Saints in the latter days. "The righteous shall see
it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth." The latter
part of the sentence is not yet fulfilled, but the fore part is
fulfilled; the righteous hath seen these "families like a flock," and
the people greatly multiplied upon the face of the land. "Whoso is
wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the
lovingkindness of the Lord." That is, they are the children of the
light. They can see that the Lord our God is fulfilling that which he
had purposed to fulfil, when the day for the gathering of his Saints
should commence. They can see that that which has occurred corresponds
with that which was predicted. Again, they can see how the righteous
prosper and flourish; how their cattle increase, and how the Lord has
made this wilderness, this desert, this waste country, like the garden of Eden.
Paul, I have no doubt, saw this dispensation of the "fulness of
times," or he never would have predicted the great gathering that
should then take place, namely "all things in Christ" —notice that
expression; not those who are out of Christ, not those who have not
been baptized into Christ; but "all things in Christ; both which are
in heaven and which are on the earth; even in him."
This forcibly puts me in mind of the parable of our Savior concerning
this great latter-day gathering. In the 24th chapter of Matthew he
speaks of his second coming "in the clouds of heaven, with power and
great glory," and how the Gospel should be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations, before he should come in his glory. In
the next chapter, in order that his disciples might fully understand
his sayings, he goes on to explain that at that particular period the
kingdom of heaven should be likened unto ten virgins; not the former
kingdom that was to be built up, when he came on the earth in the
flesh; that was not likened unto ten virgins; but at the time he
should commence the great work of gathering, that wheresoever the main
body of the kingdom is gathered together, from the four quarters of
the earth, preparatory to his second coming, then, at that time,
should the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took
their lamps and went forth—(signifying that they did not remain in
their native lands) to meet the Bridegroom. It was a literal gathering
out; and after they had gathered out, taking their lamps with them,
they began to be sleepy, and it is written, "they all slumbered and
slept." It was a time to sleep, a time of drowsiness; it is called
midnight; but when all was silent, and when probably the world outside
was not looking for anything very great, was careless and indifferent,
a voice was heard in the depth of this silence, saying, "Behold, the
bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." Then all those virgins
awoke, both the wise and the foolish. The wise ones trimmed their
lamps, and had some oil left; but the lamps of the foolish had gone
out, because there was no oil in them. It seems that they had been so
careless, that all the Spirit of God—which may be compared to the oil
that gives brightness to the lamps—had gone out of them, and their
lamps would not burn. "Well," said they, "what shall we do? We
have been expecting the Bridegroom as well as you that are wise; we
believed the Gospel, but really we have been too careless; the spirit
has been withdrawn from us; there is no oil in our lamps; cannot you
give us some? Won't you sell us a little?" "Oh, no," say the wise
ones, "we almost fear we have not got enough for ourselves; if you
want any, you had better go and buy of those who want to sell." Hence,
five that had gathered were foolish, and five were wise. The wise
entered in with the Bridegroom, and the door was shut before the
foolish ones could get in. But they afterwards arrived and begged to
be admitted; and the question was asked. "Who are ye?" "We have been
here among your people for a long time. Have we not cast out devils at
a certain time? Have we not been on missions? Have we not healed the
sick and done many wonderful works in your name?" What is the reply?
"I know you not." Why? Because they have apostatized; they have lost
the oil out of their lamps; they failed to be prepared for the
coming of the Savior. Therefore they were bound, as it were, hand and
foot, and delivered over to the wicked world, to suffer the same
punishment as those that would not receive the truth, and perhaps even
greater.
There is another parable concerning this gathering dispensation. You
recollect the Savior, in speaking of the end of the wicked world, in a
parable, calls it a time of harvest. Before the time of harvest, there
seemed to be a gathering together, and by and by, after this
gathering, the tares were plucked out from among the wheat, and cast
out in bundles, ready to be burned; but those that were not tares,
those that were really wheat, were the ones that were prepared to
enter in and partake of the blessing of the Lord. This was spoken, not
concerning the former dispensation, but that dispensation immediately
preceding the end of the world.
In another very plain parable, concerning the gathering in the last
days, the kingdom of heaven is compared—that is the kingdom which
should exist in the last days—to a net that should be cast into the
sea, and gather of all kinds, both good and bad. They are brought up
to the shore, not left in their native ocean or native waters, but
brought up to the shore. The bad are cast away, and the good were cast
into the vessels. Now, this had reference also to the end of the
world. This had reference to the great and last dispensation, when the
servants of God will go forth, being commissioned of the Lord of Hosts
to gather out his Saints, those that have made a covenant with him by
sacrifice, and in the gathering out of these Saints from all the lands
of the earth, and from the four quarters thereof, they will gather up
a great many that are not good, that will not stand the test; but the
bad will be cast out, those who have not on the wedding garment, they
will be cast away, and bound hand and foot, as it were, until the end
shall come, that is, the final judgment, which will be more than a
thousand years after the time of the coming of the Savior.
This same great gathering is characterized also by Daniel, as a stone
cut out of the mountain without hands. This stone is represented as a
kingdom, and its location is represented as a mountain, showing that
there is to be a kingdom of God set up in the last days by the
gathering together of his people in an elevated region of country,
called a mountain. By and by that stone will roll forth, until the
kingdoms of this world are broken in pieces, and as the Prophet Daniel
said, the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but shall stand
forever; all those other earthly kingdoms, that Nebuchadnezzar saw in
his dream, will vanish away, like a night vision, or, in other words,
become "like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind
carried them away, and no place was found for them." There are many
politicians that are trying to foretell the future. They speak of what
this government, and that government, and the other government will
be, several hundred years hence, or perhaps in ages hence, as though
they could see and understand, naturally, the condition of the various
governments and kingdoms of the earth, for a long time to come; but
Daniel, who was filled with the Spirit of the living God, saw that all
these earthly governments—with the setting up of which God had nothing
to do particularly, that is, their founders were neither prophets nor
revelators so as to found them upon the principles of the
everlasting Gospel—were to vanish away, like the chaff of the summer
threshingfloor. And you know how that vanishes, especially when the
wind blows strongly. So shall it be with all the governments,
kingdoms, powers, republics, and empires upon the face of this globe,
except one government, namely, that government which the God of heaven
shall establish in the latter days upon the mountains. This is the
work of God. It is God that causes these kingdoms to vanish away. It
is our God that will cleanse the earth from wickedness. "A fire shall
devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him."
He it is that will speak and the wicked shall melt away. He it is that
will cause violent whirlwinds to go forth and destroy this, that, or
the other city, according to his own will. He it is that will send
forth pestilence and plague, and will perform all that has been spoken
by the mouth of his prophets, concerning the destruction that is to
take place in the latter days.
To prove still more clearly the nature of this great latter-day work
of gathering, read the writings of John the Revelator. He saw the
introduction of the Gospel in the latter days. He saw "another angel"
should bring it. He saw that it should be published to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people. He saw that following that angel there
would come great and terrible judgments. He saw that after that angel
should come with the Gospel, there would come a voice from heaven,
saying, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have
reached unto heaven, and God hath remem bered her iniquities." This
voice from heaven, this new revelation, that was promised by the mouth
of John the Revelator, and the sound to all is: "Come out from among
these nations. Come out from the four quarters of the earth. Come out
from Great Babylon, 'Mystery, Babylon the Great,' that you may escape
the desolation and plagues that will soon overtake her." Read
concerning the coming of that angel with the Gospel. Read the
declaration that that should be the hour of God's judgment. When the
Gospel is preached, it is the last message to the human family, the
last warning voice that they will hear before the coming of the Lord.
If they receive it, they will flee out from the nations; if they
receive it not, then know assuredly that the hour of God's judgment is
come, and God himself will judge the people, as written in this 50th
Psalm.
But we will not detain you longer. May the Lord bless you. May he pour
out his Spirit upon all the faithful of the Latter-day Saints, and if
there are any unfaithful ones, numbered with the people of God, may
the Spirit of the Lord strive with you, until you shall repent of your
unfaithfulness, and become pure, upright, virtuous, and holy before
the Lord, that you may be entitled to his Holy Spirit. And if there be
any strangers present, this afternoon, who desire to know the truth,
we would ask them to search the sacred Scriptures, call upon the name
of the Most High God, and he will show you whether these Scriptures
are true or not; he will reveal to you whether he has sent his angel
from heaven or not; he will give you a testimony that is greater than
the testimony of men, provided you will go humbly before him, and call
upon him, with all your hearts. Amen.