[Elder Pratt read the 7th, 8th, and 9th paragraphs of the Book of
Ether.]
I have read, from the Book of Ether, a portion of what is
written concerning that great and wonderful vision, shown to a man in
all respects just like unto ourselves, so far as his nature was
concerned, all men being subjected to certain evil influences, through
the transgression of our first parents. At the same time, if it had
not been for their transgressing the commandments of the Lord, in the
garden of Eden, this congregation would not have been here.
Because Adam and Eve transgressed we are here with mortal tabernacles;
and these mortal tabernacles are subject to vanity, through the power
which the adversary has on account of our organization in the flesh;
he has power over the spirit, and to bring us into captivity and
bondage, and subject us to the yoke of bondage, of sin, of the fallen
and corrupt nature; but by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was
prepared before the foundation of the world, we have hope of being
redeemed from that which is a yoke upon us in the economy of this
probation, for mortality was instituted by the Lord to give us an
opportunity of proving ourselves.
Our first parents thorough transgressing the law of God, brought death
into the world, but through the death of Jesus Christ, life and
immortality were introduced. The one brings into bondage; the other
gives us hope of escape, of redemption, that we may come forth with
the same kind of body that Adam had before the fall, a body of
immortal flesh and bones.
Adam and Eve were immortal, the same as resurrected beings, but
previous to their transgression they had no knowledge of good and
evil.
After the redemption we will not only have the same kind of bodies
that they possessed in the garden of Eden before the fall, but we will
have a knowledge of good and evil through our experience. For this
purpose we are made partakers, through our agency, of the knowledge of
evil in this life, that we all may know how to appreciate good when we
are put in possession of it.
Hence in our immortal tabernacles, when brought forth from the grave,
we shall have a knowledge of our past experience, a most perfect
knowledge. There will be no imperfection of memory, but we
shall remember, as the Prophet tells us in the Book of Mormon, all
things that have taken place during our mortal lives; everything that
we have thought and done.
We shall remember that we have been made free from sin through the
ordinances of the Gospel; we shall remember the new birth that we
received while in this mortal state, the being cleansed from sin
through the blood of Jesus Christ, and made new creatures; all those
things will be plain and clear before the mind of the immortal man.
There is a great lesson of instruction given in the short history
which I have read before you; it shows the privileges pertaining to
our religion in some respects, and it shows how much there is to be
received, and how much we have not received in mortality.
We also learn from the history we have read, the principle upon which
these blessings are to be received, viz., by faith in Jesus Christ. The
brother of Jared did not receive these blessings without faith; he
exercised faith in the Lord, in the revelations previously received,
or which the Prophets had spoken in former days; he exercised faith in
the promises given to the fathers.
All the circumstances through which they were called to pass, had a
tendency to create a great amount of faith in those ancient men of
God. It is true that the brother of Jared had been a Prophet for many
years; faith had been centered in his heart, and he could lay hold of
the promises of God. He was a Revelator at the time the tower of Babel
was built; he was a man capable of receiving instructions from heaven;
and hence his brother said, at the time the language was confounded,
"Enquire of the Lord if He will take us out of the land, and if it
please the Lord to let us go by ourselves, let us be faithful, that we
and our posterity and nation may be blest."
From these few sayings of Jared we find that he had the utmost
confidence in the revelations of his brother, for he knew him to be a
Prophet and a Revelator. While wandering many years in the wilderness,
the Lord continued to reveal Himself unto them in the wilderness; He
had shown forth to them His glory, had come down and talked in a cloud
and shown them many things which were to come to pass, and instructed
them to build barges and cross large bodies of water, before they came
to the ocean.
Being taught for many years in the things of the kingdom of God, their
minds were somewhat prepared for the journey before them. They were
instructed to build eight barges with which to cross the great ocean;
and after being fully informed upon those matters, and having finished
the barges, the company saw that there was no light in them, and it
would have been very difficult to carry fuel such a long distance, in
order to have produced light.
Now reflect upon the faith of this man of God; rather than be tossed
upon the bosom of the great deep for many days excluded from the light
of sun, moon, and stars, and rather than be under the necessity of
taking wood to make fires, without any outlet for smoke, and before he
knew how the Lord was going to provide light, he carved out sixteen
stones, which, though white and clear like unto glass, gave no light.
He carried those stones into a great mountain, and called upon Him who
at the beginning said, "Let there be light and there was light," to
touch those stones that they might have them for lights upon the bosom
of the deep. This would be sufficient if there was not another word
written, to convince any person that he was a man of great faith, and
that when in difficulty he called upon the Lord, and the Lord
hearkened to his voice, and put forth His hand. And because of this
man's faith he beheld the finger of the Lord when He touched the
stones, and those stones were filled with the principle of imparting
light.
This was a miracle to those that beheld it, and why so? Because it was
contrary to the general laws with which they were acquainted, though
in fact it was no more of a miracle for the Lord to show His finger
than to do anything else, or than the falling of a stone to the
ground. The same Supreme power that causes the fall of a stone, can
cause a stone to give light, and in this instance did perform that
operation, and they beheld it, and had constant day until they had
crossed the sea. One may enquire, "Brother Pratt, why do you refer to
those old historical events, why don't you refer to that which belongs
to our everyday duties?" Because there are those around me here who
are better qualified to teach you in relation to your everyday
duties; they are able to instruct you from Sabbath to Sabbath, and are
constantly pouring forth instructions for your edification and
benefit.
These ideas came into my mind, and are calculated, if properly
understood, to be used as examples for our good; they are written for
our edification and that of our children. The heed that we give to the
everyday duties which are pointed out to us, will determine in a
great measure our reward. It may be asked, "Do you think that it is
really our privilege, as the children of God in this dispensation, to
attain to the same blessings which were received by those ancient
people of God?" Yes, and far greater; for you will find in this same
history, in a part which I have not read, that a portion of the same
things should be given to the Latter-day Saints through their faith.
The Lord says, "Then will I show the great and marvelous things of my
kingdom unto them, as I did to him."
But it all depends, recollect, upon the great principle of faith, and
you are to obtain these things upon condition of practicing those
everyday duties which you are hearing proclaimed from day to day.
With such wisdom, and by continuing steadfast therein, your faith will
increase in those great and heavenly principles, until you can lay
hold by faith upon all the great and marvelous things that were
communicated to him.
What were communicated to him besides what I have read? It may not be
amiss to read a few more words, for I fear that we are too careless in
relation to those things which pertain to our welfare, which, with the
various duties and cares of life, make us careless in listening to the
Living Oracles. It is my belief that if this people more carefully
read the oracles of the ancients, they would be directed more
diligently to attend to the Living Oracles.
We are commanded to search the Scriptures for instructions, but I fear
that we neglect this counsel too much, and become careless. In
consequence of such neglect, the Lord reproved this Church some years
ago, and said that the whole Church was under condemnation, because
they had neglected the Book of Mormon; and He told them that unless
they would repent, they should be held under condemnation, and should
be scourged, and judgments should be poured out upon them. If you
would read these things in the Spirit, and call upon God to give you
His Spirit to fix the sayings of the Prophets upon your minds, you
would do good and derive benefit therefrom. If the Saints will give
most earnest and diligent heed unto the instructions given in those
books which have been pre served, and especially to the
instructions which are given by our President, they will prosper and
be blest in all things.
I will again read, "And because of the knowledge of this man he could
not be kept from beholding within the veil." Says one, "That is a
curious saying; I thought the Lord could do whatever He pleased." This
was because the Lord had given His word that He would do according to
the faith of the Saints—righteous sons and daughters of Adam—hence He
could not restrain the brother of Jared from looking within the veil.
When there is sufficient faith in the hearts of the children of men,
it is impossible to withhold blessings from them, if that faith is
exercised, for if the Lord should do so, He would forfeit His own
word, and we read that it is impossible for God to lie.
I will now read as follows: "And it came to pass that the Lord said
unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things
which ye have seen and heard to go forth unto the world, until the
time cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye
shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and show it
to no man. And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them
and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall
write them in a language that they cannot be read. And behold, these
two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also, with
the things which ye shall write. For behold, the language which ye
shall write, I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due
time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men these things
which ye shall write."
Now notice the words of Moroni, upwards of 400 years after Christ:
"And when the Lord had said these words, the Lord showed unto the
brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and
also all that would be; and withheld them not from his sight, even
unto the ends of the earth. For he had said unto him in times
before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him
all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not
withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him
all things. And the Lord said unto him: Write these things and seal
them up; and I will show them in mine own due time unto the children
of men."
You recollect that when the Book of Mormon was translated from the
plates, about two-thirds were sealed up, and Joseph was commanded not
to break the seal; that part of the record was hid up. The plates
which were sealed contained an account of those great things shown
unto the brother of Jared; and we are told that all those things are
preserved to come forth in the due time of the Lord. The 11th
paragraph informs us respecting the interpreters. I will read it—
"And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should seal
up the two stones which he had received, and show them not, until the
Lord should show them unto the children of men. And the Lord commanded
the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of
the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were
forbidden to come unto the children of men, until after that he should
be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep
them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ
should show himself unto his people. And after Christ truly had
showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made
manifest."
These interpreters, the two stones that were given to the brother of
Jared, were the two stones that were found with the plates. Again, the
Lord says in the next paragraph a portion of which I will read—
"Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater
things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief. Come unto
me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how
great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of
the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief. Behold,
when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to
remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and
blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which
have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when
ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a
contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered
the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel. And
then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my
servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember,
when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that
they shall be made manifest in very deed. Therefore, when ye shall
receive this record, ye may know that the work of the Father has
commenced upon all the face of the land. Therefore, repent all ye ends
of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be
baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall
follow them that believe in my name. And blessed is he that is found
faithful unto my name at the last day, for he shall be lifted up to
dwell in the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the
world. And behold it is I that hath spoken it. Amen."
I have felt disposed to read these paragraphs, for I highly esteem the
Book of Mormon, as I presume do all the Latter-day Saints. But many
lay it upon the shelf and let it remain there for a year or two,
consequently they become careless concerning the dealings of the Lord
with the Former-day Saints.
You are not to suppose that you are going to be jumped into the midst
of revelations, and by one great and grand step are to burst the veil,
and to rend it from your eyes, do you think that you are to step into
the celestial kingdom and see it all at once? No, these blessings are
by far too precious to be attained in such a way; they are to be
attained by diligence and faith from day to day, and from night to
night. Hence you are to become habituated to do good in your thoughts
and conduct, in all that you do, until you become perfectly initiated
into the great principles of righteousness, and continue to live
uprightly until it becomes a kind of second nature to be honest, to be
prudent, to govern all your passions, and bring all of the influences
of the flesh, of the fallen nature, into the most perfect subjection
to the law of God.
I know that it is necessary for you to keep the commandments of the
Lord, and not only to keep those found in the written revelations, but
to strictly observe all the words of wisdom, counsel, and advice that
He has given through His Spirit and His servants. And when you have
given diligent heed to counsel, it becomes a second nature to pay the
strictest attention to the covenants made and the counsel given by the
Living Oracles of God.
These principles are not to be learned by one or two days', or one or two months' humility and obedience, for that would be like a
child's going to school a week and being kept six weeks at home, where
there is no one to instruct him. It is obvious that a person keeps
retrograding, if he does not progress; you are called upon to increase
and progress in knowledge and truth until they influence all your
actions and doings, until your conduct is rightly influenced, not only
in relation to your neighbors, but in relation to all that belongs to
your neighbors. When you have learned righteous principles be careful
that they never escape your minds, and that your conduct never severs
you from them. This is the time and this is the day that your faith
should lay hold of this great and good Spirit, and that you should
strive for the rich blessings of heaven, concerning which I have read
in your hearing this morning.
Latter-day Saints, are not these things worthy of living for? Suppose
that you could have the privilege, by living only one week in strict
obedience to all the laws of the kingdom, to have these blessings; I
verily believe that there are not many Latter-day Saints, but who, if
they knew that they could enjoy all the blessings of the ancients and
have the visions of the heavens laid open to their minds, so that they
could have before them the past, the present, and the future, so that
they could understand the things of God, would live very faithful, and
be of one heart and of one mind.
Would not everyone who heard such promises try to obtain the prize,
to enjoy the blessings promised? The counsels and instructions of
those whom God has appointed would be fresh before them every moment;
when they arose in the morning it would be the first thing they would
think of, and it would be the last thing at night. They would be able
to do twice as much labor as when their minds are not upon the things
of God. Their minds would be so entirely swallowed up that they would
feel like Alma and others, while among the priests of king Noah, when
they had burdens upon their backs; their burdens were made light so
that they were able to bear them cheerfully, and so it would be with
the Latter-day Saints. Let them have that Spirit one week, and they
would find their bodies stronger and more active, and they would
almost forget whether they had been to their breakfast, dinner, or
supper, their minds would be so completely swallowed up with heavenly
things, and everything would prosper.
You are to claim blessings by your conduct, you are so instructed;
some are apt to be so neglectful and remiss in their duties that they
are not able to claim them. They forget what is in store for them, and
do not pray for the Spirit to impress those blessings upon their
minds, but suffer their minds to be drawn out too much upon temporal
business instead of the things of God, and become weary in mind and
body, so that they feel like neglecting the more prominent duties,
such as family prayer and many others.
This is because they do not enjoy sufficient of the Spirit of the
Lord, for it is able to strengthen everyone of you. Look at the
promises made to the missionaries, "He that shall go forth to preach
the Gospel without purse or scrip shall not be weary, nor darkened in
spirit nor in body."
What is it that strengthens them so that they do not become weary in
body and in mind? The Elders abroad are called upon to labor
diligently, and many times to sit up almost all night to teach the
pure principles of eternal life, and when they lie down they rest
perfectly calm as though they were not weary, and arise invigorated
with faith, intelligence, and power; their minds and bodies
are strengthened by the power of God.
So it would be with you, if you were sent on a mission, as well as
with those who now go to preach the Gospel of salvation for the
gathering of the honest in heart.
The Elders go forth in faith and with prayer for the gathering of
Israel; to bring them to Zion, to plant vineyards, to build houses, to
help build up the cities of Zion, and beautify the earth.
You are all on a mission to make yourselves of one heart and of one
mind before the Lord, and if you are faithful you can claim the
promises that He will pour out His Spirit upon you, and that Spirit
will be poured out upon those who are faithful from morning until
evening, and they will be quickened and invigorated to perform
whatever is necessary.
If you come to this house with your minds upon the things of this
world, and hear the servants of God speak upon the great things of the
kingdom, their words will go in at one ear and out at the other, your
minds will be darkened, the devil will step in and tempt you, and you
are liable to be prostrated in body and mind by his power, because you
have given way.
While we are here there is a chance for every Latter-day Saint, and I
feel to say, set yourselves in order, ye heads of families, and then
set your families in order; regulate your lives one towards another in
your families, in your neighborhoods, and in all your communications
and dealings one with another.
In this way the enemy will not have power over you, and all your works
of light and righteousness will be regulated by the principles which
you have received, and by the order which should govern the Saints of
God; showing that you are sick of your old traditions, confusion, and
discord, and that you are contending for the faith once delivered to
the Saints; believing that the same blessings which they enjoyed may
be poured out upon your heads.
Perhaps, before I again return to behold the Saints in these valleys,
a great temple may be reared upon this Block, upon the foundation
already laid. Before that time, perhaps, the services of the Lord may
be administered therein, with baptism for the dead, as the Lord has
promised, and other sacred and holy ordinances pertaining to the last
dispensation; ordinances that have been kept sacred from the
foundation of the world, things kept to be revealed in this last
dispensation.
If the time is so near at hand when a temple shall be completed for
these sacred and holy purposes, there is none too much time for you to
prepare yourselves in the holy course of righteousness.
You cannot expect to live as many have lived, and then be able by one
tremendous great effort to at once call down the powers of heaven into
your midst. All, who will enjoy the privileges which it is the
prerogative of the Latter-day Saints to enjoy, must live for them.
Why not Saints have these blessings? Is it because God is partial, and
willing to bestow greater blessings upon some than upon others? No, it
is because you do not sufficiently prepare yourselves before Him, for
you have to become sanctified; hence it is said in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, speaking of the Temple which shall be built in
Jackson County, "That those that enter therein shalt behold the face
of God."
The promise was not made to the impure, to those who had not
sanctified themselves before the Lord, but to the pure in heart. It
naturally follows that similar blessings are prepared to be poured out
by the Most High upon the Temple that shall be built upon this
Block, and upon the people who shall go therein. How many of this
congregation would be prepared to receive such blessings?
The Lord might say to the angels, such and such ones have been
faithful to all the calls that have been made upon them; they have not
turned to one side; they have not given way to their passions; they
have not neglected the counsels of my servants; they have exercised
faith in me and have lived to it and by it; and now do you messengers
go forth and show yourselves unto them in that Temple, that their eyes
may be opened, that they may become as the brother of Jared—to see and
taste the joys of the other world. But let the eyes of those who have
not been diligent be dark, let them not have sufficient faith to
behold your or my glory, let the veil that is over the nations remain
between them and my glory. I will venture to say that there are at
present comparatively few that would be prepared to receive the great
blessings which are in store. I feel anxious upon this point, my
brethren and sisters, not only for your sakes but for my own.
When you shall rend the veil that is between you and the heavens, it
will be by your works of faith and obedience. Do you realize that you
are the individuals to rend that veil? Jesus has done his part, and he
is willing that the veil should be rent; he has made intercession
before the Father; he has offered his own life, and what more can he
do? When you shall have faith to rend that veil which is over your
minds, you will find that the heavens are ready and waiting to bestow
the blessings promised, just as soon as you are prepared to receive
them.
Here let us reflect a little upon the principle by which the brother
of Jared was capable of seeing things that are behind the veil, and by
which Moses saw every particle of this earth, inside as well as
outside. How did they see these things? The revelation says, "By the
Spirit of God." If Moses had the Spirit so that he could discern all
things in the earth, while he was quite a finite being like the rest
of us, why should not we have that same gift imparted unto us?
The brother of Jared was so filled with the Spirit that he was enabled
to behold the person of Jesus Christ, and all the inhabitants of the
earth that had lived previous to his day, as well as those who should
live afterwards. They rent the veil between them and the heavens by
their faith and obedience to the commandments of the Lord; they saw
the history of past events from the beginning of the world, and all
the inhabitants that ever had been.
There is such a thing as a natural man's looking into the past, but
their power is very much restricted. Lord Ross constructed a very
powerful telescope, having an object glass six feet in diameter, and
by it a man can see a vast distance into space, and behold what
existed ages ago. With this mighty instrument it has been determined
that other worlds exist hundreds of thousands of millions of miles
distant from us, and that the light from them which reaches the eye
through the telescope must have been traveling several hundred
thousand years before it reached the eye, hundreds of thousands of
years before Adam was placed in the garden of Eden.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago the distant bodies of the universe
were lighted up by the glory of God, and the light thereof has at last
entered the tremendous telescope of Lord Ross, and thus individuals
have been enabled to see—what? Not those bodies as they exist at the
present time, but to see them as they existed tens and scores
of thousands of years before this world was made.
Here, then, is looking at the past, and that naturally, independent of
the mind's being waked up by the power of God, as were the minds of
the brother of Jared and Moses.
Again, this glorious and heavenly principle, with which a righteous
man is endowed, reaches forward into the future for thousands of years
to come, as far as the Great God will permit the sceneries of ages to
be opened to mortals. It is not the fault of our organization that we
do not enjoy this principle, but because we do not entirely get rid of
those erroneous traditions which we have received from our fathers.
The faith of the Gospel is what is required to lead us on until we
burst the veil asunder; for this faith will enable us to burst off the
shackles by which we are bound, and prepare us to enjoy the holy
Priesthood, with all the blessings guaranteed to the Saints of God,
and to gaze into the hidden things of eternity.
Reflect upon past experience and upon the workings of the Spirit of
God, and you will discover that you have often been forewarned of
events long before they took place; and if you cast your minds into
the book of the Spirit of God, and behold the acts and doings of the
Lord in ages to come, you will find that the same principle that
exists in the bosoms of the Gods is with you, though in a very
undeveloped condition. Let your minds be set upon the will of God and
upon His kingdom, and what will be withheld from your sight?
There are many principles contained in the words which I have just
read. Jesus, for instance, stood before the brother of Jared, not in
his body of flesh and bones, not as an infant, not as a small spirit
one foot or two feet high, but a full-grown spirit; and when the
brother of Jared beheld the finger of Christ he beheld a full-sized
finger as of a man, for says Jesus, "When I shall take a body of flesh
and bones and redeem my people I will appear as thou now seest me, but
this is the body of my spirit; I show myself in the spirit, you behold
it, you see that it is of the size of a man."
"All men in the beginning have I created after the body of my spirit,"
as much as to say that "you, the brother of Jared, did not receive
your existence a few years ago here in the flesh, that was not your
origin, but all men, all those that I will show you that have existed
or will exist upon this earth, in the beginning have I created after
the image of the body of my spirit." They were all spiritually
organized before they came here.
This is the only place in the Book of Mormon where pre-existence is
clearly spoken of, and this was revealed before the organization of
this Church, and is a doctrine which was not in the possession of the
Christian world, hence it shows that it was dictated by a Spirit
capable of revealing a doctrine unknown to the Christian world—the
pre-existence of man.
There is much doctrine in the Book of Mormon and Book of Doctrine and
Covenants that would be instructive to the Saints, if they would not
let them stay upon their shelves. Knowledge of truth would not harm
you, though it may be better for some to let their books remain shut,
rather than to transgress against greater light, for then greater
would be their damnation and punishment. In proportion as we advance
in the knowledge of the things revealed from the heavens, and in the
powers and keys that are conferred upon us, the greater will be the
condemnation, if we fall therefrom. This shows the propriety of every
man and woman's habituating themselves, as I have already said, to
righteousness.
If you were, within one week from this time, to be let into all the
visions that the brother of Jared had, what a weight of responsibility
you would have upon you; how weak you would be, and how unprepared for
the responsibility; and after the vision had closed up in your minds,
and you left to yourselves, you would be tempted in proportion to the
light that had been presented before you. Then would come the trial,
such as you never have had. This is the principle upon which the devil
is allowed to try us. We have a circumstance in relation to Moses'
being tempted; when the vision withdrew, and the heavens closed, the
devil presented himself and said, "Moses, son of man, worship me."
Moses replied, "Who are you?" "I am the son of God," was the
answer.
Then said Moses, "You call me son of man and say that you are the son
of God, but where is your glory?" Could Moses have withstood that
terrible manifestation, if he had not practiced for many years the
principles of righteousness? A mere vision would not have strengthened
him, and even to show him the glory of God in part would not have
enabled him to combat with the powers of darkness that then came to
him. It was by his knowledge of God, by his perseverance, his diligence
and obedience in former years, that he was enabled to rebuke the
devil, in the name of Jesus Christ, and drive him from him.
So it will be with you, whether you have the necessary preparation or
not, for the Lord will say to the powers of darkness, you are now at
liberty to tempt my servants in proportion to the light that I have
given. Go and see if they will be steadfast to that light; use every
plan so far as I permit you, and if they will yield they are not
worthy of me nor of my kingdom, and I will deliver them up and they
shall be buffeted. You, Satan, shall buffet and torment them, until
they shall learn obedience by the things that they suffer.
Hence the propriety of preparing for these things, that when they come
you will know how to conquer Satan, and not want for experience to
overcome, but be like Michael, the archangel, who, with all the
knowledge and glory that he had gained through thousands of years of
experience, durst not bring a railing accusation, because he knew
better. And when Moses withstood Satan face to face, he knew who he
was and what he had come for. He had obtained his knowledge by past
trials, by a long series of preparation; hence he triumphed.
So it must be with Latter-day Saints, and if we prepare ourselves we
shall conquer. We must come in contact with every foe, and those who
give way will be overcome.
If we are to conquer the enemy of truth his power must be made
manifest, and the power which will be given of the Lord through
faithfulness must be in our possession. Do you wish to prevail—to
conquer the powers of darkness when they present themselves? If you
do, prepare yourselves against the day when these powers shall be made
manifest with more energy than is now exhibited. Then you can say, the
evil powers that have been made manifest, the agents that came and
tempted me, came with all their force, I met them face to face and
conquered by the word of my testimony, by patience, by the keys which
have been bestowed upon me, and which I held sacred before God, and I
have triumphed over the adversary and over all his associates.
Brethren, pray for me, that I may accomplish the mission that has
been given to me acceptably in the sight of the Lord, acceptably to
these my brethren that are presiding over me, acceptably to the
nations, to the Saints here in Great Salt Lake Valley, that I may be one of the Saints that shall be perfected in righteousness, in
long-suffering, in patience, in humility, and return in joy and peace
to rejoice again in your midst. I ask the Lord to bless us, one and
all, with his Holy Spirit, and to guide us in the way of life. Amen.