In the year 1832 the Lord gave a revelation concerning the calling and
sending forth of his servants, the missionaries, among the nations. I
will read you a few paragraphs or verses in relation to their calling,
commencing at the 64th verse of the revelation that was given on the
22nd day of September, 1832. "Therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your
words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall
receive the Holy Ghost. And these signs shall follow them that
believe—In my name they shall do many wonderful works; In my name
they shall cast out devils; In my name they shall heal the sick; In my
name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the
deaf; And the tongue of the dumb shall speak; And if any man shall
administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them; And the poison of
a serpent shall not have power to harm them." That is a very curious
commission to be given in the nineteenth century of the Christian era
to those that are called in our day; very curious. If Joseph Smith,
through whom this revelation was given, was not called of God, the
promises here made would not be fulfilled. On the other hand, if God
is the author of this revelation, then all the world may prove for
themselves the divinity of His word. An impostor would take very good
care to so word his language in the promises that there would be a
double meaning to them, and if they were not fulfilled in one sense
they might perhaps be fulfilled according to a second interpretation,
and thus he would escape the obloquy of being an impostor. But the
Lord does not deal with the human family in this double kind of
dealing. All his promises are yea and amen, plain, pointed, definite,
no two meanings about them. Here we are told that inasmuch as the
servants of God, the missionaries, should go forth "that every
soul" —meaning every person among all people, languages, nations and
tongues—"who believeth in your words" —believeth on the
testimony of
these mission aries that go forth—"and is baptized by water for the
remission of sins shall receive the Holy Ghost." Now can you make out
two meanings to that? Or is there only one meaning? "They shall
receive the Holy Ghost." And then in order that every soul in all the
world might know whether they were true believers or not there were
certain signs promised to them. "And these signs shall follow them
that believe." Believe what? Believe in your words, the words of you
missionaries. What shall they do? "In my name they shall do many
wonderful works; In my name they shall cast out devils; In my name
they shall heal the sick; In my name they shall open the eyes of the
blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; And the tongue of the dumb
shall speak; And if any man administer poison unto them it shall not
hurt them; And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm
them." Is there anything indefinite in that? Does it say that these
signs possibly may follow those that believe? Does it say perhaps you
will receive the Holy Ghost, perhaps you may have power to heal the
sick, perhaps you may have power to open the eyes of the blind, etc.
No, that is not the language. Here is a definite promise made to them.
To the missionaries alone? To whom was this promise made? To every
soul in all the world that would believe and receive the testimony of
these missionaries. Here we see something very similar to the
commission that was given—and referred to by Brother Reid in his
remarks—in the last chapter of Mark. The ancient-day servants of God
were sent forth to all the world, to every creature, and the language
of our Savior to them was that all, in every part of the earth that should believe their testimony should be saved. Then in order
that there might be no mistake in regard to believers and unbelievers,
he told them that certain signs should follow them that believe. Do
you discover any difference between the former-day commission, 1,800
years ago, and the latter-day commission? I do not discover the least
difference between the two. Did the Lord verify and fulfill his
promises to the former-day missionaries? He did. In the same last
chapter of Mark we are told that the servants of God, the Apostles,
went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the word with signs following. How did he confirm it? By
fulfilling the promises in the last chapter of Mark, that they in all
the world might know whether they were Gospel believers or not. Well,
what was to become of all other sects that did not believe? They shall
be damned, says the Savior. He did not say, "If you are sincere in
your belief you will get into heaven whether you receive the message I
sent you or not." He did not say, "If you come across any sincere
people don't baptize them, don't try to get them to believe your
message, for they will get into heaven anyway." They had only one
proclamation to deliver to all people whether that people were sincere
or insincere; whether that people worshipped idols or worshipped
something else, whether they were infidels or whatever might be their
profession, the commission was—tell them that if they do not believe
your message they shall be damned. No halfway business about it, it
was not half a commission. Does the latter-day commission testify of
the same things? Let me read a little further. "Verily, verily I say
unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in
water in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may
receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my
Father's kingdom where my Father and I am." Just the same as the
ancient commission. It did not excuse the ancient commission; it did
not excuse one person in all the world however sincere, whatever the
profession might be, every man, every woman among all nations,
kindreds and tongues, all were to be damned if they did not receive
the message that these servants of God took to them. Just so it is in
the latter days. If it was anything else, we would not believe it, we
could not look upon it as divine. God only had one message for the
people to receive, and all that received it were to be blessed, and
all that would not receive it were to be damned. That is our charity,
that is the charity of the ancient Apostles and servants of God, that
is true charity. If we should come and tell you that you Protestants,
and you Methodists, and you Baptists, and you Campbellites, and you
Church of England members, and you Roman Catholics, that if you are
only sincere you would all get to heaven we should have no charity for
you; but when we come and tell you that if you do not repent of your
sins—you Catholics, Protestants, and all other denominations—and
receive the message that God has commissioned his servants to declare
in your hearing that every one will be damned. This is true charity,
just as it was in the ancient days. But is this in force upon all
people, says one? Yes; we will read the next verse. "And this
revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour
upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not
received it." It is a witness unto all nations that they may receive
the truth and be prepared for the great day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord, in relation to sending this mission forth among the
inhabitants of the earth, did not desire that the people should have
any dubiety upon their minds. He did not want them to hope merely that
they were right and to be all the time trembling and quivering for
fear they were not right; but in order that they might be sure, as the
ancient believers were, he tells every soul that will receive this
work that these signs shall follow them.
Now, then, here in this house, probably are many hundreds of believers
that have manifested their faith by receiving the message of the
Gospel, and they have further manifested their faith by gathering out
from the various nations and coming here to Utah Territory. They are
believers. Is there any chance for them to doubt? How can you doubt if
you yourself heal the sick, cast out devils, open the eyes of the
blind, or cause the lame to leap? If you yourselves have received the
Holy Ghost, and these signs are following you, is not this a testimony
that you are Gospel believers? And if these signs do not follow you,
on the other hand, you know that you are not Gospel believers. No
dubiety, no uncertainty, no hanging our heads down and doubting
whether we are believers or not. Here is an undoubted testimony to
every Latter-day Saint that if they are true Gospel believers these
signs shall follow them, and if these signs do not follow them they
are not true Gospel believers. Does this apply not only to Latter-day
Saints but to all people? Yes. If the Methodists want to know whether
they are true Gospel believers let them ask themselves the question if
the signs follow them that are promised to believers; if they do not,
they know they are not Gospel believers. So with the Presbyterians, so
with the Baptists, so with every Christian denomination under the
whole heavens. They can all prove themselves by the word of God; they
can all know whether they are true believers according to the true
Christian religion, or whether they have false hopes—merely something
that is leading them along in a crooked path. When people have the
signs they have a good foundation for their hopes; their hopes are
built upon something that is like a rock; they stand firm and
steadfast. But when they have not the signs and the promises are not
fulfilled to them, where are their hopes? They are gone, they are the
hopes of those that are flattering themselves they are Christians when
they are not. And they are afraid to compare themselves with the New
Testament and the Gospel contained therein; they are afraid to come to
the light of the Gospel; they are afraid to read the promises of
Jesus, or if they happen to read them exclaim, "We must do away with
these. It won't do for us to acknowledge that the promises of God made
to believers can be enjoyed in our day." Let us read the first promise
in the last chapter of Mark. Not only were these signs promised, but
Jesus said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he
that believeth not shall be damned." Do you Christians believe that
you will be saved? Do the various denominations among the four hundred
millions of Christians in America, in Europe, and in other parts of
the earth—do these four hundred millions of Christians expect
to be saved? Oh, yes. What makes you think so? You don't have the
signs which follow the believers, and how can you hope for salvation?
Why should you hope for it? Why expect to be saved in the kingdom of
God? The promises are made to believers, they were not made to those
that have not the signs. One promise was just as sacred as the other,
and if you have not the signs of believers you have not the promise of
salvation. Very curious Gospel, says one. Well, there is no mistaking
that gospel, we can all of us know on what ground we are placed. If we
cannot obtain the promises made to the people anciently, namely the
signs, how shall we obtain the greater promise of eternal life and
salvation in the world to come? Surely if the people cannot have faith
to get the little promises, how can they expect to get the greater
promise? All their faith is foolishness, their faith is all founded
upon sand, and they go blindfold to the other side of the veil to wake
up and find they never had received the Gospel. But, says one, we have
received the Gospel. Our ministers have preached it long and loud
generations before "Mormonism" came upon the earth; we and our fathers
have heard it. It is one thing to hear the Gospel as recorded in the
New Testament, and another thing to enjoy the blessings of it. It is
one thing to read about people receiving the Holy Ghost, and it is
another thing for you to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. It is
one thing to be baptized by a man holding authority from God who has
the right to baptize, and another thing to be baptized by one holding
no authority from God, and no right to baptize. Do you suppose that
the signs would follow those that had the ordinance of baptism
administered by a man that had no authority? No. For instance there is
the Methodist baptizer, the Presbyterian baptizer, and the baptizers
of the various religious denominations—most of them baptize, some of
them for the remission of sins, and some because they suppose their
converts have already received a remission of sins. Perhaps they may
perform the ordinance by immersion—the true mode of baptism; but can
an unauthorized man baptize his neighbor and that be called baptism in
the sight of heaven? No. A man that is not called of God, a man that
has no revelation, and says there has been none since the close of the
first century of the Christian era, all his administrations are as
invalid as it would be for a heathen priest to baptize you, or for any
person upon the face of the whole earth to come and baptize you. Such
baptisms are not good; they are illegal; they are unlawful; they are
not accepted of God unless the administrator is a true servant of God,
and if he be a true servant of God, the signs will follow him, and if
the signs do not follow him he has no authority to baptize. No wonder
then that four hundred millions of people have been without the signs.
There has been nobody authorized to baptize them to begin with. A true
believer is a man that receives the ordinances, and not only believes
in them but manifests his faith by his works. He obeys the ordinances
and the blessings follow. The blessings do not follow the four hundred
millions because they have not obeyed, and they cannot obey without
there is a man authorized to administer the ordinances.
Well, says one, what do you Latter-day Saints say about the authority
to administer these ordinances? We say, and have said from the
beginning of this Church, that the Lord God Almighty, who sits upon
His throne in yonder heavens, has spoken again to the inhabitants of
the earth. He has called by name his servants. He has sent forth
angels in glory from his holy presence, and they have administered the
authority of the apostleship, and bestowed it upon the heads of men to
administer again among the children of men in all the ordinances of
the Gospel. This is our testimony. Has it ever been that since the
rise of the Church? It has. We never have varied from that testimony.
What further do we say? We say that among all people, nations,
kindreds and tongues, Christians, heathens, Mahommedans, and the savages
upon the islands of the sea—that among all these nations there is no
authority, not one person among all their denominations that has the
least particle of right to baptize you, or to administer the
sacrament, or to lay on hands that you may be baptized with fire and
with the Holy Ghost, according to the ancient pattern and order of
things; not one of them; they are all powerless, they are all without
authority, without revelation, without any knowledge that comes from
God direct to themselves in this age. No man among them has been
called of God, as was Aaron. Everybody knows that Aaron was called by
new revelation. He did not have to go back to revelations given 1,800
years before he was born to tell him how God commissioned somebody
before the flood; he did not have to do that; but says he, "I have
been ordained" —how?—By a revelation from God. "Moses set apart
Aaron.
He is thy brother. I call him by name. Set him apart to the
Priesthood, ordain him, let him be clothed upon with priestly
garments, let him administer and his administration I will accept."
This was the substance of the revelation, and calling and commission
that was given to Aaron, the servant of God. Is it true what Paul
said, that no man can take the honor of the Priesthood to himself
unless he was called of God as was Aaron? If that be true there must
be more revelation in order that there may be a calling. You that say
the canon of scripture is full, that no more scripture has been given
since John the Revelator left the earth, what becomes of your
callings? You have none—that is, that are divine. No wonder, then,
that while the world were wandering in darkness without God, without
any true knowledge from the heavens direct to themselves, without the
gift and power of the Holy Ghost, without the organization of any true
church, without prophets, without revelators, without inspired men—no
wonder that God has again commissioned an angel from the heavens to
begin the work on the earth. Brother Reid spoke during his discourse
about Joseph the Prophet—how he was called, that the Lord appeared to
him, that Jesus appeared to him, and that angels appeared to him and
conferred upon him authority and power. There is no wonder that the
Lord should send his angels and thus appear in order to begin the work
on the earth where so much darkness reigns. It is called a day of
Gospel light by these four hundred millions of people. A day of Gospel
light! Well, all the Gospel light they have is the history of a Gospel
preached 1,800 years ago. They have no power to administer in it. They
have the history of something, without any power to partake of
it; that is, you cannot be baptized, you cannot receive the Holy Ghost
by the laying on of hands, you cannot receive the Lord's Supper for
want of administrators; but can read about it, you can read how the
authority was once on the earth. That is some satisfaction, is it not?
How much satisfaction I do not know. It is something like the case of
a man who, after traveling a long journey, arrived at a place where he
knew there was a splendidly spread table. But the door was locked and
the key was lost—nobody could introduce him to that table to eat that
he might appease his hunger. How very satisfactory it must be to that
man to know the history of such a good spread table, and yet no power
to get to the table. Just so it is with these four hundred millions of
Christians. It is so much satisfaction to read how the believers in
ancient days were baptized by one holding authority to baptize, and
how they could distinguish themselves from unbelievers; but, alas, say
they, "We cannot partake of it; no blessings of the Gospel for us; no
one to let us receive the same Gospel. We would like to feast like
unto the ancient Saints, but is it not enough—our priests say it is—to
know how others enjoyed these blessings?" Now that is precisely the
situation of this generation.
This is true charity. If I were to come and tell you that you are all
in the right path inasmuch as you are honest and sincere, and walk in
your various doctrines and principles, it would be false charity, it
would be flattering you to walk in paths that were wrong, it would be
flattering you that you had hopes of salvation when you had none. But
we do not do this. This flattery we leave to other portions of the
world, we leave that to the Christian denominations that are without
any of the powers and gifts of the ancient Gospel. Let them flatter,
let them occupy this position, let them have this false charity; but
as for us we have the plain naked truth—plain as words can make it—to
tell unto all people, namely, if you will believe and receive the
Gospel you shall be blessed, not with commonplace blessings, but with
the supernatural gifts of the Gospel, and on the other hand that every
soul of you that do not receive it shall be damned. Amen.