It is with peculiar feelings that I arise to address this congregation
who are assembled this afternoon. An event in regard to myself has
this day happened that generally only happens once in the course of a
man's life. Fifty years ago today I was baptized into the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hence, it might be said that it is
in reality a year of jubilee, so far as I am concerned—I mean that the
past year, which is the fiftieth year of my membership in the Church,
closing with today, has been, indeed and in truth, a year of jubilee.
There is another thing, connected with these fifty years in the
Church, that is also pleasing to your humble servant. Sixty-nine years
ago today I was born into this world, making this day a double
birthday to myself. How very thankful I ought to be for this great
privilege which has been bestowed upon me. The hearing of the fulness
of the everlasting Gospel, yielding obedience to the same, and
entering into the Church and kingdom of God, in my early youth,
certainly is a blessing that is worthy of all thanks and praise to my
Father who is in heaven, who granted this privilege to me in my youth.
There were many scores of millions—yes, hundreds of millions of the
inhabitants of our globe that did not enjoy this privilege.
It seems that the Lord our God, some fifty years ago and a little
upwards, saw proper to organize his kingdom, to establish it on the
earth by the ministration of holy angels, and by the revelations of
his Spirit, and by sending down authority from the heavens to minister
here on the earth, and by bringing forth that great and precious
record, the Book of Mormon, and causing the same to be printed for the
benefit of all mankind. How great a privilege conferred on me, to come
to the understanding of the contents of that book when I was but
nineteen years of age! How great a privilege to live in a day and age
of the world when God has again revealed himself to the children of
men! There have been many periods of time since the creation
in which the heavens, in an especial manner, have been favorable to
the children of men, by sending communications and revelations from on
high. But a long time had intervened, during which no such privilege
had been granted to mortal man. So far as the nations of the Eastern
Hemisphere were concerned, upwards of seventeen centuries had passed
away, during which they were left in darkness, having no legally
authorized minister, no one that could legally baptize, or administer
the Lord's Supper, or build the Church of God, or administer in any of
the ordinances of his Gospel; that was a long time for the nations to
be left in darkness. So far as our Western Hemisphere is concerned,
they were not left quite so long a period without information from the
heavens. Some fourteen hundred years and upwards had passed away, on
this Western continent, during which the people were left in darkness;
hence, the whole earth for fourteen centuries, at least, had no Gospel
preached by divine authority, no Church of the living God in any
quarter thereof—so far as we are acquainted. It is true, that during
these fourteen centuries the nations had a book that contained the
history of the Gospel as it was preached in ancient times—a book
called the Bible. But a book containing the history of the Gospel is
one thing, and the power and authority to administer the ordinances of
the Gospel is another thing; they are entirely distinct. A book,
itself, authorizes no man, under the whole heavens, to build up the
Church of Christ; it authorizes no man to preach the Gospel. No man
ever receives divine authority by means of an ancient book that was
given to prophets and inspired men centuries before he was born. We
never knew of the Lord's calling men by ancient books. If the Lord
calls anyone in this day, it is by a new revelation, not a revelation
given 1,800 years ago. How inconsistent it would be to suppose that a
man is now called to sit in the presidential chair of the United
States, because we have the history that Washington once sat in that
chair. Would that authorize any person, among the scores of millions
of the population of these States, to go and take possession of that
chair, and undertake to administer in the office of a president over
this great people? The thing would be so ridiculously absurd, that the
people would rise up universally and condemn any such imposition. So
in regard to the things of God. God is a God of order. And if mankind
have an order in relation to authority to administer in governmental
affairs, how much more the Lord? Has he not as much wisdom as his
creatures? Is the Lord so much beneath his own creation that he would
prefer illegality to legality? That he would let anyone assume the
authority and power without calling him to an account in the great
judgment day? "But," inquires one, "how do you know, Mr. Pratt, but
what the Lord has called some one during the many centuries that you
say the people have lived in darkness? How do you know but what he has
authorized servants and ministers, to proclaim his Gospel among the
children of men?" Now this is a very important point. I do not blame
those who have not considered this subject, in putting such a
question. It is perfectly reasonable that they should inquire how a
person may know what grounds we have for supposing that there has
been no one commissioned with divine autho rity, during the
fourteen centuries that have rolled over the heads of the people,
until the Lord sent his angel, upwards of fifty years ago, and
restored the authority. There are various reasons that can be advanced
to prove that the earth has been destitute of any such authority. One
reason is, that among the three or four hundred millions of
Christendom, or those who profess to be the followers of Christ, we
find one universal belief among them, and they have acted upon that
belief, namely: that God gives no new revelation to the inhabitants of
the earth during their day. That is enough for me; it is all the
evidence that I would want, although there is an abundance of other
evidence; but that is sufficient for me to know that God never sent
them. "But," inquires one, "may not a person be sent of the Lord, be
divinely commissioned, and yet no revelation be given in his day?" I
answer, impossible, impossible! "But," you may still further inquire,
"may not others who received divine revelation in ancient times, have
communicated that authority to their contemporaries who outlived them?
And may not those contemporaries, thus receiving divine authority, have
conferred it upon others still younger, and they upon others? And
thus, may not the authority have been handed down by a regular
succession of ordination, from the days of the apostles to our own
period of time?" I will say that would be possible, just the same as
the Church of God, in the first century of the Christian era,
delivered the authority to preach and administer ordinances from one
to another, among the various nations of the earth; it was continued
along during the whole of that century—just as easily it could have
continued, the second century, and the third, and each succeeding
century down to our own time.
Here, then, arises another question—may not the authority have thus
been transferred? I answer—where has there been an unbroken succession
of that same authority that was administered in the first century? I
will tell you where the succession was broken. In the very period that
new revelation ceased to be given to the human family, no further
succession could be continued. It would be impossible for any person
to be ordained with divine authority, for instance, to the
apostleship, unless there was some person that had authority, and had
really obtained divine intelligence, by new revelation, from the
heavens, that such authority should he conferred upon some other
person. When did divine revelation cease? Where shall we go for
testimony upon this subject? So far as the inhabitants of the eastern
portions of our globe were concerned, divine authority ceased about
the close of the first century of the Christian era. Why did it cease?
Because we have no account of any new revelation having been given
after the close of that century; and when new revelation ceased:
divine callings ceased; divine authority ceased; persons ceased to
confer that authority in succession; because, for this obvious reason,
they, without new revelation, did not know whom to call; they did not
know who should be authorized to receive the apostleship, or any other
calling. Every person, during the first century of the Christian era,
who was ordained with authority and power to administer in the
ordinances of the Gospel, was ordained by the spirit of prophecy and
revelation. Timothy was a young man, compared with many of the
apostles. He only received the calling, be stowed upon him
through the laying on of the hands of the servants of God, or of those
who were authorized, by new revelation, to administer and to confer
authority upon him. Thus it is written in this good book (the Bible)
that Paul, who was authorized as an apostle, called Timothy by virtue
of the spirit of revelation and prophecy. "Neglect not," said Paul,
"the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the
laying of the hands of the presbytery." And when we speak of missions,
in those early periods of Christianity no person assumed to go on a
mission among the inhabitants of the earth, unless he was sent, unless
he was set apart. Even as great a man as the Apostle Paul had no
authority to go forth as a missionary, only by the laying on of the
hands of the persons who administered to him. Hence, it is written in
the Acts of the Apostles, that the Holy Ghost said unto certain
prophets that were in the Church at Antioch, "Separate me Barnabas and
Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Here is a new
revelation. Saul could not be separated and set apart to any work of
the ministry, only as the Lord called him; and that calling was made
known to the prophets that were in the Church at Antioch. If
peradventure, a man had been called by the spirit of revelation and
prophecy, and set apart by the laying of the hands of a prophet or
apostle, to be an especial minister to the nations of the earth, there
would arise still another great question to be solved, in regard to
whether that man, thus set apart, could fulfil the object of his
mission without new revelation? I say that it would be utterly
impossible. No man can fill a mission acceptably before the heavens,
unless God should give to him revela tion, from time to time, to direct
him in all his missionary labors. We have abundant testimony in the New
Testament concerning this matter. Even when some of the very greatest
revelators that we have any record of undertook to do things of their
own accord, they were led directly different from their own judgments,
in regard to their missionary labors. Paul had, at a certain time, a
great desire to visit a certain place; such desire arose from his own
natural judgment; but the Holy Ghost forbade him. Here it required a
new revelation to know whether his own inclinations should be followed
or not. Again, we find that the revelations of the Most High were very
necessary in the case of the travels of these missionaries, among the
inhabitants of the earth, Philip had done a great work in the city of
Samaria. He had succeeded in convincing large numbers, concerning
Jesus, and had baptized them, and organized a great church in the city
of Samaria. One would have thought that after having performed labors
of such magnitude, he would be required to stay among that people, and
administer to them; but no; the Lord gave a new revelation to the man
Philip. He said, "Arise and go toward the south unto the way that
goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert." In other words,
"leave your present field of labor; you can do more good somewhere
else." Now, a man left to his own judgment, without new revelation,
would not want to go somewhere else; his own inclinations would be to
stay where so many had received his testimony. But no; the Spirit of
God thought differently. "Arise Philip, go unto the south country." He
was not told what he should do in the South country, but he started
off according to the new revelation. And after journeying a
short distance, he saw a chariot before him, probably driving along at
a slow pace, and it required another revelation. The old one that he
got awhile before, requiring him to go to the south, he had already
begun to fulfil. But while he yet journeyed, he did not know his
further duty; and if God had not given him new revelations, he would
have gone forth blindly in his missionary labor. But another
revelation came, "Go near, and join thyself to his chariot." He
therefore obeyed, and when he arrived at the chariot, he found a man
reading not the new Testament, but the law and the prophets. Philip,
being wrought upon by the Holy Ghost, said unto this man,
"Understandest thou what thou readest?" "How can I," said the
man in the chariot, "except some man should guide me?" And Philip began to
explain unto him the things that he happened to be reading from the
prophecies of Isaiah, concerning Jesus, and Philip was invited into
the chariot. They rode along until they came to where there was water
of sufficient depth to attend to baptism, for it seems that Philip had
converted, or, in other words, had proved by his arguments that Jesus
was the very Christ, and the man desired baptism and the chariot stood
still, and Philip went down into the water and baptized him. Now
Philip had no authority to confirm by the laying on of hands, as is
evident, in the case of those who were baptized in the great city of
Samaria. There was great rejoicing there because Philip had baptized
them, but none had received the Holy Ghost, till another authority,
higher than that of Philip, came and laid hands upon them for the
reception of the Holy Ghost; having baptized these peo ple, he could go
no further; he could not administer the blessing of the Holy Ghost;
and hence, having fulfilled the object of the two revelations on this
subject, the Lord had another place for him. He did not go there of
his own accord, but it required a very powerful manifestation to get
him away from that water; the scriptures testify that "the Spirit of
the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he
went on his way rejoicing." Have you ever heard anything of the kind
in these days, where men, in fulfilling their missions, have been
caught away to some other place? "But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with the wings of
eagles;" says the Prophet Isaiah. Philip must have been borne, as it
were upon eagle's wings. Now if a person—a man light enough, I
mean—could get on an eagle's wings and be carried through the air, it
would be a very good representation of some of those that wait upon
the Lord.
I mention these various circumstances—and might mention scores of
others—to show, that without the Spirit of the living God, to impart
revelations, no man could administer to his fellow man, no man would
have the authority to administer. This brings me back to the statement
I have already made. You recollect the question is, can it be proved,
or is there any evidence that there has been any man called to the
ministry among all the nations during the long period to which I have
referred? We take their own testimony. They say that there has been no
revelation since the first century of the Christian era. Who says so?
The whole Catholic church to begin with, and the Greek Church, another
branch of the Christian church so called, and then the
Protestants that protested against those two branches, and came out
from among them, have continued the same false traditions, that no new
revelation is needed—that the last revelation which was intended for
the human family was given towards the close of the first century of
the Christian era; They do not seem to know how such an expression,
if admitted, cuts them off from all authority and power which are
divine; they do not seem to know that they cannot possibly be ordained
by proper authority, unless God speaks again; they do not seem to know
that the writings of men who are dead and gone, centuries ago, do not
authorize them to preach the Gospel, nor give them any divine
authority to administer its ordinances. Hence you see the
impossibility of there being a regular succession from generation to
generation, because of the want of new revelation. A great many other
testimonies might be brought to prove this fact, but this one is
sufficient. "Well then," says one, if your arguments be true, if your
belief be correct, there has been no Christian church on the earth
for many generations." We can come to no other conclusion; there is no
half-way business about it. We come to testify that there has been no
church on the earth that God has recognized as his church for the last
fourteen centuries, at least; and among the European nations and the
nations of Asia and Africa there has been none since the close of the
second century of the Christian era. What a woeful condition it is for
the inhabitants of the earth to be in. We would be in the same
condition that they are, if God had not condescended again to give new
revelation; and this brings me to the subject of the Book of Mormon.
Fifty-three years will have passed away, next Wednesday morning, the
22nd day of September, since the gold plates of the Book of Mormon
were delivered into the hands of a boy, by the name of Joseph Smith, a
farmer's boy, an illiterate boy, uneducated in the higher branches of
learning, uneducated in regard to what is contained in the Old and New
Testament, uneducated in the dogmas and creeds of men, uneducated in
all branches of science, except it be some of the first principles,
the rudiments of education, as taught in the common schools of the
State of New York. I say, fifty three years have almost expired since
this great, this marvelous, this wonderful event happened; since an
angel of God delivered sacred records into the hands of an illiterate,
common youth, not yet twenty-two years of age. Such was the beginning,
as it were, of a great revelation. I will not say the precise time of
the beginning; for God prior to this time had given revelation to
this youth on many occasions. The first one that he gave to him was
in the spring of 1820, before Joseph Smith was of the age of fifteen.
Then a wonderful revelation was given to him, the first one he ever
received. In a great and glorious open vision, in answer to his
prayers, there was the manifestation of two of the great personages in
the heavens—not angels, not messengers, but two persons that hold the
keys of authority over all the creations of the universe. Who were
they? God the Eternal Father and his Son Jesus Christ, through whom
God the Father made the worlds! These glorious personages descended
from heaven; two personages whose countenances outshone the sun at noonday; two personages clothed with a pillar of light round
about them, descended, stood before this lad, and revealed themselves
to him. He saw their countenances; he saw the glory of their
personages; he heard the glorious words that proceeded from the
Father, as he pointed to his Son and said, to Joseph, "This is My
Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." This was a new revelation;
something different from what had been made manifest for a great many
centuries, according to the declarations of the articles and creeds of
men. How often I have read the declaration of King James' translator
of the Bible, wherein King James is represented as the head of the
church, and wherein the Bible, as translated by those that were chosen
and appointed for that purpose, was intended for the light and benefit
of the children of men; and for fear that mankind would cavil on the
subject these uninspired men, the translators, in connection with
those who were in their council, concluded to tell the people that
this was the whole canon of scripture; in other words, we have
translated sixty-six books, and they are compiled, or about to be
compiled and printed for the benefit of mankind; and these sixty-six
books of the Old and New Testament are the only books that Christians
should receive, the only revelation that they should have to guide
them in all their future lives. The people were just simple enough to
believe what they said—just simple enough to take it for granted,
because learned men, that were not inspired of God, had made this
unqualified, unproved declaration. Now, "we, the Church of England,
must get up, besides these 66 books, some 'Articles of Faith'—some
thirty-nine Articles we will invent. We have got no pro phets among us
to write these Articles—no inspired revelator sent from God; and
therefore, we will originate out of our own hearts something that will
prevent the people from receiving any new revelation. We will
cunningly tell them that these 66 books, called the Bible, contain all
the revelation that God ever gave to man." What further have you to
say in your thirty-nine articles? "We say that every person that does
not limit and confine his faith to the sixty-six books of the Old and
New Testament, or if he undertakes to receive any other revelation, he
is to be expelled from our church. That is what is said—not directly,
but indirectly. In other words, every person who pretends to be a
prophet, he is not to be a person considered worthy of belonging to
our church." Has any other church but the Church of England adopted
these false, soul-destroying delusions? Yes, a great many others. They
have invented articles—not exactly thirty-nine, but articles of faith,
creeds they are called in some instances, and disciplines in others,
and so on. What are the objects of these? They are not revelation; God
had nothing to do with giving them, men wrote them out of their own
uninspired hearts, but they were all very careful to take up the ideas
inculcated in the days of King James, namely, that the sixty-six books
of the Old and New Testament were to be their rule of faith, and be
their guide and nothing else was to be received as inspired. Oh, how
blind! If they did but know it these very declarations in these
articles and creeds would cut them off from all authority. But they
were just simple enough to receive such a false doctrine; just simple
enough to accept their want of authority before God; and thus by their own acknowledgement, by their own printed works they prove to
the whole world that God did not establish their churches, that God
did not establish among them the ancient order of things; for the
ancient Church of the living God was never destitute of the spirit of
revelation.
If the Lord had left us in this condition, we would have been
wandering in darkness to this day. The people who are here assembled
this afternoon, would be no better off than the Protestant
denominations, no better off than the Greek and Roman Catholic
Churches that have existed from generation to generation, during many
long centuries of apostasy. But God having looked upon the darkness
that covered the earth, and the minds of the people, having looked
upon the people that were honest in heart, and seeing the dilemma in
which they were placed—without inspiration, without any knowledge that
comes from heaven in their day, without anyone who has the right and
the authority from heaven to baptize—concluded to fulfil that which
was predicted by the ancient apostles, namely, to send an angel again
to the inhabitants of the earth. It was a long time for the earth to
be left without angels. Perhaps some of you may inquire, "Why did the
Lord leave the people so long? Why did so many generations pass away,
and no Church of Christ on the earth, no prophets, no revelators,
etc.?" It was because of the apostasy of the people; and then after
the apostasy commenced, near the close of the first century, they
killed off the apostles, prophets and revelators—killed off the Saints
who embraced the true Gospel, and the world became so exceedingly
wicked and corrupt that the Lord did not see proper to send them any
other message. But perhaps you may inquire, must all those people who
have lived so many generations ago, go down to an endless perdition in
the eternal worlds, because no one had authority on the earth to
administer Gospel ordinances to them? No; the Lord is more just than
this. Every man and every woman that has not had the privilege of
hearing the Gospel in this life, preached by one holding divine
authority, will have the opportunity of hearing it in the world to
come; so that there is no partiality, so far as the preaching of the
Gospel is concerned. But, says one, there is a little partiality, it
seems to me; for some have the privilege of hearing the Gospel in this
life, instead of waiting till the next. But the Lord in looking upon
the various generations upon the earth, judges after this wise: that
when a people become so darkened, through their own apostasy, through
their own wickedness, through their shedding the blood of righteous
men, the Lord sees proper, because of this, to make them wait. If the
true authority had been revealed, during the time of the
administration of these corrupt men, the Gospel would have been
banished again from the earth. For instance, if God had sent the
angel in the second century of the Christian era, to renew his church
on the earth, what would have been the consequence? There would have
been no place upon all the face of the globe, where the people would
have suffered such a church to exist. If he had sent the angel in the
third century, or in the fourth, or in any of the centuries
intervening, before religious liberty was established, the
consequence would have been the shedding of the blood of apostles,
prophets and saints again, and in order that they might not bring upon
themselves this great condemnation the Lord saw that it was far better to postpone the sending of the angel, until he should
prepare, among the political governments of the earth, a nation where
the church could exist, and have a little degree of safety. And even
our nation, the best nation on the earth, having the wisest laws, laws
that are calculated, if put into execution, to protect all religious
denominations, laws founded upon justice and principles of equity—even
in our nation, it has been just as much as the Lord could do, without
destroying the agency of man to get his Church once more established
on the earth. See what persecution has attended it! See what hatred!
See the Saints fleeing before infuriated mobs; men, women and
children, murdered; prophets, patriarchs, apostles and revelators
martyred. The Saints could scarcely find a resting place for the soles
of their feet, after all the preparation that was made by the
establishment of a great and free government. No wonder, then, that
the Lord did not begin it two or three centuries ago; no wonder that
he did not begin it in the days when Catholicism and the Greek church
had universal sway over the eastern continent. The Church of the
living God, if it had been established then, would have been
immediately rooted out from the earth; and great would have been the
condemnation resting upon the nations if such had been the case. But
now it lives. Circumstances have changed, and though the saints have
been driven from their homes, and from their farms, though they have
been persecuted, and the lives of many of the Saints destroyed, and
their prophets put to death, yet, notwithstanding all this the Lord
has preserved his Church, until the present time; Fifty years have
rolled away, and upwards since the Lord commenced this great work.
Now, then, a few words on the future. Years are to come, as Brother
Angus Cannon said to me while sitting upon the seat this morning. He
came to me, and I mentioned to him that this last year was my fiftieth
in the Church—in other words—that I had been in the Church fifty
years. A peculiar kind of answer was made by Brother Cannon. Said he,
"Brother Pratt, I hope you may have millions of days or anniversaries
of your birthday." I thanked him very much. Well, now, let me begin to
speak upon this subject. God has promised eternal life to his
children. "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life." Now, I can see a consistency in the good wishes of
Brother Cannon, upon this subject. I hope for eternal life, I have had
this hope for the last fifty years. If I obey the commandments of
heaven, if I receive his sayings, and abide in his word, I hope never
to die, as it is promised in the New Testament. But, says one, did not
Jesus die? And he kept all of his Father's sayings. Did not the
apostles die? And they kept the Father's words. And were not all the
ancient Saints subject to death? And they kept the sayings of the
Lord. Yes, they suffered what is termed the death of the body. There
is, however, quite a difference between the death of the outward
tabernacle, and the death of the spirit. In other words, the spirit
that God has placed within the tabernacle will live forever, and those
who have the opportunity of dwelling in the next world, in light, in
glory and in a fullness of happiness, get what is termed eternal
life; there is no end to it. Consequently it cannot be expressed fully
in the language of brother Cannon that millions of such
anniversaries might be enjoyed. But there is something still greater
in the expression of eternal life, than that of a few millions of
years. It is something that has no end. It may have a beginning. A
person may begin to exist in this fleshly tabernacle as I commenced my
existence here on this earth sixty-nine years ago today. That was the
beginning of my existence here in this world; but there is such a
thing as a person having a beginning to his existence in the flesh,
and yet have no end. Those persons that were translated in the
twinkling of an eye in ancient days did not have a separation of body
and spirit. They were changed; they were, by the power of Almighty
God, wrought upon instantaneously; they were changed from mortality to
immortality; but still retain their flesh and bones. Now, I would ask,
is there any end to their immortal tabernacles when thus changed?
There is a beginning but no end. Their spirits are combined with their
bodies forever. I have this hope. You Latter-day Saints have the same
hope, so far as eternal life is concerned. You expect it, you pray for
it, you desire to have a life that is endless; figures are unable to
express the endless duration of ages that are to come. Eternal life is
said to be the greatest gift of God unto the human family. There are
many gifts of God, but this is the greatest of all. In the first
place, God has given his Son to die for the human family. What a great
gift! If it had not been for this gift of our Heavenly Father to the
inhabitants of our fallen world, the consequence would have been that
we should have had eternal death. What are we to understand by the
term eternal death, supposing that there had been no atonement made?
What is the meaning of the term? Could you multiply figures enough if
you were to take the figures that are now in use and extend them in a
line—extend them in a series so that the figures themselves would be
as numerous as the particles of the globe—would that express eternal
life? Or would it express the duration of eternal death, provided
there had been no atonement? No; it cannot be expressed. Hence the
atonement of our Savior, which is the gift of God to the fallen
inhabitants of this creation, lies at the foundation of all the other
gifts given unto the children of men. It is because of this gift that
we are permitted to repent of our sins. How could there have been an
individual upon all the face of the globe who could have repented,
provided there had been no atonement? Hence you see that repentance is
the gift of God, purchased by the atonement. Again, could baptism have
been a holy ordinance if it had no saving power in it? Could it have
been for the remission of sins, had it not been for the blood of the
atonement? No. Baptism, then, is a gift to the children of men as well
as repentance. Would the laying on of hands have had any effect upon
any person of the human family, in bestowing the gift of the Holy
Ghost had there been no atonement? No. Then that is also a gift—the
gift of God to man, that his servants should lay their hands upon
baptized believers, and that they should be baptized with the Holy
Ghost and with fire. Could we have been permitted to partake of the
Lord's Supper with any effect whatever? No. Then it is also a gift of
God unto man. And thus we may go through all the ordinances, that God
ordained from before the foundation of the world unto the present
time, and all of them can be called the gifts of God unto man
on conditions, and some of them without conditions. The atonement came
without any condition on the part of man. It was without repentance,
without faith on the part of man. The atonement was something given
through the pure love of God to fallen man, without any acts of good
works on the part of man. There are some of the blessings, then, that
God has ordained for the fallen inhabitants of our globe which come
independent of our works, and this is one of which I have been
speaking. Would there have been any light or intelligence, or goodness
or happiness, to be partaken of by fallen man, if it had not been for
the atonement? None at all; there could have been no righteousness.
But then, all the other gifts that we receive are through works, and
by faith and works combined, and it is because of the distinction
between these two separate gifts that many of the inhabitants of the
earth have erred. Some of them profess to believe that they can obtain
all the gifts of God without works, because of some of the sayings of
the ancient apostles; while others consider that work must be combined
with faith. Now both of these ideas are true when taken in their true
light. Eternal life is among all those gifts that are promised of God;
such as the gift of repentance, baptism, laying on of hands, etc. All
these are not to be compared with the greatness of the gift called
eternal life. I hope that all the Latter-day Saints under the sound of
my voice may attain to this, the greatest of all the gifts of God.
Now, I wish, before taking my seat to bear my testimony before the
people here assembled. I do know by the power of God, by the shedding
forth of the Holy Ghost upon my heart, by the revelations of the
spirit, by the many manifestations of the goodness of God to me, I do
know that God has sent his angel from heaven. I do know that he has
raised up the great latter-day kingdom predicted by Daniel. I do know
that he has called apostles and prophets; that he has sent forth his
servants divinely commissioned, with power from on high, to declare to
the nations of the earth the great and last message of mercy unto the
inhabitants thereof, to prepare all those that are willing to be
prepared, for the great day when the heavens shall be opened, and all
the heavenly hosts shall descend with power and with great glory, to
reign here on the earth. I do know that God by his power has gathered
together his people from the various nations of the earth, and
established them here in these mountains for a little season, for an
especial purpose. And what is that purpose? To prepare you while
dwelling here in these mountains, territories and regions, that you
may receive the blessings ordained for you in a future time, which
time is not far distant. I do know that this people will return and
will possess the land that God has promised to them, even in Missouri,
and in Kansas, and in the regions round about. I do know that God will
build up in Jackson County, Missouri, a great, and wonderful, and
beautiful city, that shall be called "the Perfection of Beauty," the
New Jerusalem. I do know that God will light up the habitations of
that city by his power, by his glory, by a cloud in the day time, and
by a pillar of fire in the night. I do know that when the people shall
gather together in their religious assemblies, as you are here
gathered this afternoon, that God will light up your assemblies, by
his divine power even in the night time, making your
habitations, where you meet, glorious in the extreme. I do know that
God will fulfil all that which he has spoken, by the mouths of his
holy prophets, since the world began, pertaining to this last
dispensation of the fulness of times, which will come to pass in their
times, and in their seasons, and that this dispensation will be far
more glorious, than all the other dispensations combined together,
before everything shall be completed, for the bursting heavens to
reveal the Son of God, and all those that are with him. These things,
and scores of other things that I might name, I know will be fulfilled
in their times and in their seasons, and that all who are faithful
will be made partakers of these blessings. Amen.
Remarks By Elder Wilford Woodruff.
It is not my purpose at all to detain this congregation, but before
dismissing I feel that I would like to say a few words. We are not in
the habit of flattering any man, but I want to say a few words
concerning Brother Pratt. If there is any man dead or alive who has
dwelt longer in this church and kingdom than he has I do not know him.
If there is any man that has traveled more miles in preaching the
Gospel of Christ, in bearing testimony of the kingdom of God on the
earth, I do not know who he is. When Brother Pratt embraced this
Gospel he was a boy—in one sense of the word illiterate and unlearned,
the same as Joseph Smith and the most of us. Whatever knowledge
Brother Pratt has obtained, either of the learning of the world or of
the kingdom of God, he has obtained it by diligence and labor since he
embraced this Gospel. I have been associated with Brother Pratt myself
for 47 years. I have traveled with him by sea and by land, in foreign
countries and at home, and I never saw a man in my life that I know of
that has spent as few moments idly as he has. I have never seen a
storm at sea so heavy—even when shipping seas over the bow, side and
stern but what he would read his book. Whenever the breakers became
too heavy he would simply shut up the book until they were over. If
there is a man on this continent who is more at home in the starry
heavens, in the astronomical world than Brother Pratt I do not know
who he is. If there is a man more deeply versed in mathematics than
Brother Pratt, I do not know who he is. There may be many men equal to
him in these things, but if there are, I do not know them. How has he
obtained his knowledge? He has obtained it since he embraced this
work. He has improved his time. Brother Pratt is the only living man
today that was in the first quorum of the Twelve in its first
organization, and I am pleased to listen to his testimony of the
Gospel of Christ; for I want to say to Brother Pratt and to all other
men we all have to acknowledge this; Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, the
Apostles, and, all men in this Church and kingdom, if there is
anything to us, if there is anything about us, if we have any
knowledge, or any power, or any influence, we have to give God the
honor of it. It is not of ourselves. Joseph Smith always acknowledged
this, as have all men in this Church and Kingdom. We have been called
from the plow, from the plane, from the hammer—ignorant, illiterate
boys, and thrust into the vineyard; and all the power we have, or
ever had, in building up the Kingdom, we have to acknowledge
it as coming from the hand of God. Brother Pratt was one of the
earliest men who shouldered his knapsack and traveled through the
American continent to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this
nation. Frequently he would suffer from ague all day and go along and
preach his sermon at night. These are experiences that he and others
have passed through in the early rise of this Church, and I feel to
thank God that we can still hear his voice and the voice of others who
have been long in this Church and Kingdom. I hope the Lord will
preserve his life until he is satisfied with it. He has lifted up his
voice long and loud, according to the commandment of God to him, in
bearing record of this Gospel and kingdom to the nations of the earth.
I was struck, in contemplating our own experience, with some of the
remarks he has made today with regard to the Apostle Philip—how our
own experience has agreed with that of the ancient apostle. How many
times have we been called by revelation to go to the right and left,
here, there and the other place, contrary to our expectation?
I will here relate what took place in my own experience. I was in
Staffordshire in the year 1840. I was in the town of Stanley and held
a meeting in the City Hall. I had a week's appointments out in that
town. Before I rose to speak to the people, the Spirit of the Lord
said to me, "this is the last meeting you will hold with this people
for many days." I told the congregation when I arose what the Spirit
of the Lord had manifested to me. They were as much surprised as I
was. I did not know what the Lord wanted, but I saw the purpose of God
afterwards. The Spirit of the Lord said to me, "Go south." I traveled
eighty miles; went into the south of England. As soon as I arrived, I
met John Benbow. It was clearly made manifest to me why I had been
called thither. I had left a good field, where I was baptizing every
night in the week. When I got to this place, I found a people—some 600
of them—who had broken off from the Wesleyan Methodists and formed
themselves into a sect called the United Brethren. I found that they
were praying for light and truth and that they had gone about as far
as they could go. I saw that the Lord had sent me to them. I went to
work amongst them and ultimately baptized their superintendent, forty
preachers and some 600 members; I baptized every member of that
denomination, but one. Altogether some 1,800 were baptized in that
field of labor. I suppose some of those then baptized may be in this
congregation today. I name these things to show how we have to be
governed and controlled by the revelations of God day by day. Without
this we can do nothing. Many of our brethren who were with us at that
time and who came to this valley, have passed behind the veil. Eight
of the quorum of the Twelve who were in the flesh and most of them
with the pioneers, today are in the spirit world. We are passing away.
I know as Brother Pratt has said, that this is the kingdom of God.
Israel is being gathered together. The revelations of God are being
fulfilled, and nothing will be left unfulfilled. Therefore, as Saints
of the living God, let us be faithful to our testimony. We have the
kingdom of God. We are called of God by inspiration and commandment to
warn this generation, to preach the Gospel, to gather the
people, to build up Zion, to build temples, to redeem the living and
the dead, and to carry on the great work which is laid upon our
shoulders; and may God enable us to accomplish these things for Jesus'
sake. Amen.