It is truly joyful to my feelings to assemble, Sabbath after Sabbath,
with the Latter-day Saints, to hear the testimonies of the servants of
the living God, and to hear the words of eternal life preached by the
power of the Holy Ghost.
It is now nearly twenty-nine years that I have enjoyed this privilege
in this Church; and I esteem it as one of the greatest privileges to
be still alive and in your midst, and I acknowledge the hand of God in
preserving me for so many years in this kingdom. I believe most firmly
that if it had not been for the mercy, power, and goodness of God, I
should not be numbered among the living at the present time. When I
cast my reflections back upon the past history of my life, and
contemplate the numerous scenes through which I have passed, in
connection with hundreds of others that have traveled to and fro
among the nations, I feel that it has been the hand of the Lord that
has delivered me from the hands of enemies and lawless mobs which have
often beset my path.
It has been the hand of the Lord that has delivered this people
through all the dreadful persecutions that we have endured, and it
will be the hand of the Lord that will deliver us in all future time.
I oftentimes reflect back upon the early period of my experience in
this Church, having been baptized into the same only about five months
after its first organization, when there were but a very few
individuals numbered with the Saints. I presume that all who belonged
to the Church at that time might occupy a small room about the size of
fifteen feet by twenty. I then became intimately acquainted with the
Prophet Joseph Smith, and continued intimately acquainted with him
until the day of his death. I had the great privilege, when I was in
from my missions, of boarding the most of the time at his house, so
that I not only knew him as a public teacher, but as a private
citizen, as a husband and father. I witnessed his earnest and humble
devotions both morning and evening in his family. I heard the words of
eternal life flowing from his mouth, nourishing, soothing, and
comforting his family, neighbors, and friends. I saw his countenance
lighted up as the inspiration of the Holy Ghost rested upon him,
dictating the great and most precious revelations now printed for our
guide. I saw him translating, by inspiration, the Old and New
Testaments, and the inspired book of Abraham from Egyptian papyrus.
And what now is my testimony concerning that man, founded upon my own
personal observations? It is the same today as it was when I first
received the testimony that he was a Prophet. I knew that he was a man of God. It was not a matter of opinion with me, for I
received a testimony from the heavens concerning that matter; and
without such a testimony it is difficult for us always to judge; for
no man can know the things of God but by the Spirit of God. I do not
care how much education a man may have—how learned he may be—how much
he has studied theology under the eyes of teachers that are
uninspired; I do know there is no man living that can know the things
of God for himself only by revelation. I could form some kind of an
opinion about Joseph Smith as a natural man, without receiving any
communication or revelation for myself. I could believe him to be a
man of God from his conversation, from his acts, from his dealings; I
could believe him to be a Prophet by seeing many things take place
that he prophesied of: but all this would not give me that certain
knowledge which is necessary for an individual to have, in order to
bear testimony to the nations.
If I bear testimony to others that I know this Church and this kingdom
to be the Church and kingdom of God, and that Joseph Smith was really
raised up as a Prophet, and as a Seer, and as a Revelator, I must bear
that testimony from some certain information and knowledge I have
derived independent of what can be learned naturally by the natural
man. The testimony I have borne for twenty-nine years past upon this
point is that the Lord revealed to me the truth of this work; and
because the Lord revealed this fact to me, I have the utmost
confidence in bearing testimony to it in all the world. It is true I
was then but a youth; I was ignorant and am still ignorant in many
points and in many respects: but I was then very ignorant so far as
the religion of heaven is concerned, until the Lord made manifest his
truth, and taught, informed, and instructed my mind.
For about one year before I heard of this Church, I had begun
seriously in my own mind to inquire after the Lord. I had sought him
diligently—perhaps more so than many others that professed to seek
him. I was so earnest and intent upon the subject of seeking the Lord,
when I was about eighteen years of age, and from that until I was
nineteen, when I heard this Gospel and received it, that I did not
give myself the necessary time to rest. Engaged in farming and
laboring too by the month, I took the privilege, while others had
retired to rest, to go out into the fields and wilderness, and there
plead with the Lord, hour after hour, that he would show me what to
do—that he would teach me the way of life, and inform and instruct my
understanding. It is true I had attended, as many others have done,
various meetings of religious societies. I had attended the
Methodists, I had been to the Baptists, and had visited the
Presbyterian meetings. I had heard their doctrines and had been
earnestly urged by many to unite myself with them as a member of their
churches; but something whispered to not do so. I remained, therefore,
apart from all of them, praying continually in my heart that the Lord
would show me the right way.
I continued this for about one year; after which, two Elders of this
Church came into the neighborhood. I heard their doctrine, and
believed it to be the ancient Gospel; and as soon as the sound
penetrated my ears, I knew that if the Bible was true, their doctrine
was true. They taught not only the ordinances, but the gifts and
blessings promised the believers, and the authority necessary in the
Church in order to administer the ordinances. All these things I
received with gladness. Instead of feeling, as many do, a
hatred against the principles, hoping they were not true, fearing and
trembling lest they were, I rejoiced with great joy, believing that
the ancient principles of the Gospel were restored to the earth—that
the authority to preach it was also restored. I rejoiced that my ears
were saluted with these good tidings while I was yet a youth, and, in
the day, too, of the early rising of the kingdom of God. I went
forward and was baptized. I was the only individual baptized in that
country for many years afterward. I immediately arranged my business
and started off on a journey of two hundred and thirty miles to see
the Prophet. I found him in the house of old father Whitmer, in
Fayette, Seneca County, State of New York—the house where this Church
was first organized, consisting of only six members. I also found
David Whitmer, then one of the three witnesses who saw the angel and
the plates.
I soon became acquainted with all the witnesses of the Book of Mormon,
with the exception of Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer, who had
started westward, and whose acquaintance I formed a few months
afterward. I heard their teachings, saw their course of conduct, saw
their earnestness, their humility, and diligence in prayer, and their
faithfulness in warning one another and in warning their neighbors.
I called upon the Lord with more faith than before, for I had then
received the first principles of the Gospel. The gift of the Holy
Ghost was given to me; and when it was shed forth upon me, it gave me
a testimony concerning the truth of this work that no man can ever
take from me. It is impossible for me, so long as I have my reasoning
faculties and powers of mind, to doubt the testimony I then received
as among the first evidences that were given, and that, too, by the
gift and power of the Holy Ghost. And while I am speaking upon the
subject, let me say that the gift and power of the Holy Ghost given to
an individual is the greatest evidence that he can receive concerning
God, godliness, and the kingdom of heaven set up upon the earth. There
is no evidence equal to it. A natural man may see all the signs that
Jesus has promised should follow the believer; he may see them in
exercise by the faithful Saints of God. He may see them speak in
different tongues and languages, and then he may have his doubts in
regard to it, if he has not received the testimony of the Holy Ghost
himself. He may hear the sounds of these tongues; but how is he to
judge or know whether they do speak in another tongue or not? It is
true he hears sounds put together which resemble languages he has
heard foreigners speak; but it is not a testimony that imparts a
knowledge to his mind: he wants something greater than this. Again, he
hears others, who are ignorant and unlearned, by the gift and power of
the Holy Ghost interpret these tongues, and unfold the things spoken
by the power of the Spirit of God in another language: but how does he
know that they give the true interpretation? His own understanding
will not testify that they have. He must, therefore, have a testimony
independent of this—a higher, a greater testimony—even that of the
Holy Spirit. Again, he might see individuals, professing to be
followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, go forth and lay their
hands upon the sick, and pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus,
that they may be healed. He may see them raised up and apparently
restored to health and soundness; but then, how does he know that
these persons were really as sick and as much afflicted as they
pretended to be? Seeing these things as a natural man, how is
he to know that the administration by the laying on of hands has
imparted power or virtue to heal them? Or is it the work of
imagination? Here would be left room for doubt. This testimony alone
is not sufficient to rest upon. He should have the gift and power of
the Holy Ghost resting upon himself to convince him that they were the
servants of God, and that the gifts they exercise were from heaven. He
might hear them prophesy many things that are to take place years in
the future; but he would not wish to wait for their fulfillment to know
whether they were of God; or, while he was waiting, he might be laid
in the dust. He therefore needs something to convince him, beyond all
doubt, that the individuals prophesying were filled with the Holy
Ghost, and that their predictions were true and could be depended
upon; and then, whether they come to pass or not in his day, he knows
they will be fulfilled in their times and in their seasons; and so
with all other gifts. He might see a miracle of any kind; he might see
the laws of nature apparently overcome by a person calling himself a
servant of God. How does he know he is the servant of God, or that he
performs that miracle by the power of God? Have not devils and fallen
angels power? Did they not have mighty power in ancient days? Yes.
Could they not smite the earth with plagues, and turn water into blood
anciently, as Moses the servant of God did? Yes. Could not the wicked
magicians of Egypt perform great signs by casting down their staves,
and causing them to appear like serpents, performing great, and
marvelous things similar to those the Prophet Moses performed?
How is the natural man to judge? There is God on the one hand, and the
Devil on the other; and if one is to judge naturally of these things,
he would not be sure that the person performing a miracle before him
was really inspired of God. The gift and power of the Holy Ghost, as I
have already observed, is the greatest evidence any man or woman can
have concerning the kingdom of God. It is given expressly to impart to
mankind a knowledge of the things of God. It is given to purify the
heart of man, that he may by its power not only be able to understand
its operations upon himself, but be able to understand its operations
upon others also; and, indeed, if I could by any possible means
independent of the Holy Ghost ascertain that a miracle was wrought of
God, what particular benefit would it be to me?
Scores of miracles were wrought in ancient times; but how did they
benefit the children of Israel? When they saw the waters of the Red
Sea divided and the Egyptians overthrown in its depths—when they were
brought up before mount Sinai and heard the voice of the trumpet out
of the midst of the cloud and from the flaming mountain, proclaiming
the ten commandments in their ears, and saw Moses go up in the midst
of the fire—when they beheld all this display of the power of God,
what effect did it have on the great majority who saw? Did it affect
their conduct? No. Miracles had become a little common with them, and
said they, What has become of this Moses? Perhaps they thought he had
perished in the mountain. They might have imagined a volcano on the
mountain, belching out its fires, accompanied by thunder and
lightning; and that some person had artfully concealed himself, having
a great trumpet, and through it pretending to give laws to Israel.
They might have said, We will not be cheated by this pretended
miracle; but while this thunder and storm is lasting on the
mount, and while it is in this terrible convulsion, we will have a god
that we can see; we will cast our gold into the fire, and make one
that will just suit us. And so they did, and fell down and worshipped
it, and said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, &c." Here, then, we
perceive what effect miracles have upon a people, without the power
and gift of the Holy Ghost to bear testimony that these miracles are
of God. The Holy Ghost bears testimony to the man who receives it, and
not to somebody else; and if he is pure enough to receive this gift,
he has power enough in his heart to regulate his actions according to
the law of God, instead of building golden calves.
I have deviated from my experience, and perhaps it will not be
necessary to say any more on that subject; for it is about the same in
many respects as the experience of all the rest of the Saints of God.
It is true, I have traveled perhaps more by far than any other man in
the Church who is now living; but what of this? I expect to travel a
great deal more, if I am called upon; for my mission is to travel:
that is the command I received in connection with the Twelve and the
Seventies. We have been called upon to go into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature, as they were in ancient days; and
inasmuch as we cannot go personally and preach to every creature, we
have the responsibility upon us to see that it is preached to every
creature, to every nation, tongue, and people. And inasmuch as we do
not fulfil this responsibility placed upon us, we shall have to
suffer. In connection with others, I have gone forth and endeavored
to fulfil in some little measure the great mission the Lord our God
has given us to the nations of the earth. I have borne testimony all
the day long, first to my own nation, the people of the United States,
in the New England, Middle, Western, and Southern States, and in the
Territories, and also in the Canadas, Upper and Lower. For many years
my voice has been heard throughout the land, warning the people to
repent. And I most assuredly know that all the testimonies I have
borne are recorded in the heavens, and it is a comfort to me to think
they are not lost and forgot; and all the people that have heard them
will have to meet them in the great and coming day.
I have not only borne testimony to my own nation on this continent,
baptizing believers, building up churches, traveling on foot
thousands and tens of thousands of miles without purse or scrip, being
mobbed and driven to and fro, and hunted by the enemy; but I have also
had the privilege of crossing the Atlantic Ocean ten times for the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus, to bear his name among the
nations afar off; and I have endeavored in those distant lands, as
well as on this continent, to bear my testimony faithfully among the
people. And my testimony is this, that God has in his infinite mercy
and goodness sent his angel from heaven to restore the same Gospel
that was preached eighteen hundred years ago—that he has borne
testimony, by his angels, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by his
own voice, of the fact that he has restored his Priesthood and his
kingdom upon the face of the earth, and that the kingdom now
established will continue to roll on until all the nations and
kingdoms of the earth shall see and hear of the power and glory of the
Almighty magnified and made manifest in it. This has been my
testimony, and I rejoice in it. I am not fatigued—don't feel like
retiring to private life; but I feel to continue in this holy calling
and ministry as long as the Lord my God shall permit me to
have a being here upon the earth, be it long or short.
How long I shall stay here I know not: that is among the hidden things
of futurity, so far as I am personally concerned. I look forward with
joyful anticipation to the glory that shall follow in the rolling
forth of this kingdom, and in the fulfillment of the purposes of the
Most High God in relation to this last dispensation he has introduced
upon the earth. There are a great many things that are taking place
and have taken place that I have rejoiced in, because I have known
them, from diligent research, to be the fulfillment of modern prophecy.
I have not been backward about searching both ancient and modern
prophecy that I might learn something about the events of the last
dispensation, and understand the signs of the times in which we live.
I have seen prophecy after prophecy fulfilled, not only among the
people of the Latter-day Saints, but among the nations of the earth,
that were uttered years and years before they came to pass; and there
are prophecies contained in the Book of Mormon which remain to be
fulfilled, and I am looking with joyful anticipation to the day of
their fulfillment. The prophecies are of great interest to the Saints
and to the world. As an instance, I will give you the substance of a
prophecy contained in the Book of Mormon. About six hundred years
before Christ, a Prophet was raised up in Jerusalem, by the name of
Lehi, and another one by the name of Nephi; and the Lord commanded
them to leave Jerusalem and go to a land he would give to them, and
he brought them forth by his miraculous power upon this American
continent. Before they arrived here, however, Nephi had a vision, and
saw all the great events from his day down to the winding-up scene of
all things. Among other things, he saw the Jews would be carried away
shortly after the departure of himself and his father's family into
Babylon, and he saw they would be afflicted for a length of time, and
then be restored to Jerusalem. After their return, he saw the Messiah
would make his appearance, and they would crucify him, and then they
would be dispersed among all nations.
He saw that the Gospel would be preached among all nations and
kingdoms, first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. He saw that
after the Gospel should be preached by the Twelve Apostles of the
Lamb to the Jews and to the Gentiles, there would arise a great and
abominable church, the most corrupt of all churches upon the face of
all the earth, and that that great and abominable church should have
power given unto them over the Saints of the Lamb to destroy them,
&c., and that they should corrupt the Jewish Scriptures which should
issue from the mouth of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, and take away
from them many parts that were plain, and precious, and easy to the
understanding of all men; and by reason of this great stumblingblock,
the Scriptures being in such a state, there should be many among the
nations of the Gentiles in the latter times that should exceedingly
stumble and build up numerous churches after the forms of different
doctrines, and they should deny miracles and the power of God, saying,
"They are done away."
After seeing all these things on the Eastern continent, he saw the
promised land to which he and his father's family were about to be
led; and he beheld his descendants in their various generations, and
he saw wars, &c., among them; he saw that Jesus, after his
resurrection, made his appearance bodily among them: this took place
on the promised land, which we call America. He saw the
Israelites on this land become righteous, and he saw three generations
pass away in righteousness; then the more part of them fell into
wickedness and were destroyed, and the records kept among them
contained the fulness of the Gospel and many prophecies and visions
that were great and precious. He saw that a remnant of the nation
should dwindle more and more in unbelief, and have wars and
contentions among themselves, and become a degraded people, and be
scattered upon all the face of this continent.
Then he saw in the latter days the nations and kingdoms of the
Gentiles who should discover this land, and send forth their emigrants
and form a great nation of Gentiles upon this continent; and he saw
that they should have power to free themselves from every nation under
heaven. Then he saw that by the power of God the records of his people
should come forth; and he saw that a Church of the Saints should
arise, and that it should spread itself upon all the face of the
earth, among all the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles; and he saw
also that the great and abominable church that was among all the
nations of the Gentiles, having dominion among all peoples and
tongues, should gather together in multitudes among the nations of the
earth and fight against the Lamb of God and against the Saints of the
Most High and his covenant people, and he says—"I beheld the power of
the Lamb, that it descended upon the Saints of the Most High that were
scattered among all the nations of the Gentiles, and they were armed
with righteousness and the power of God in great glory. And then he
said, I saw the mother of abominations begin to have wars and rumors
of war among all the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles; and the
Lord spake unto him, saying, Behold, the work of God is upon the
mother of harlots, &c."
This vision continued down to the end of time. But what I wish to call
your attention to at this time is one event which has been in a
measure literally fulfilled. It is an event that no man, unless he
were a Prophet inspired by the Most High God, could have had a heart
big enough to prophesy of with the least expectation of its
fulfillment; and that is, the Church of the Lamb of God that was to be
raised up after the coming forth of these records of the ancient
Israelites should be among all nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles.
This was uttered and printed before the Church of Latter-day Saints
was in existence. How could a young man, inexperienced as Joseph Smith
was, have had all this foreknowledge of future events, unless he was
inspired of God? How did he know that any Church believing in the
Book of Mormon would arise? He was then in the act of translating
these records; the Church had not yet an existence; and he was young,
inexperienced, and ignorant as regards the education and wisdom of
this world. How did he know that, after his manuscript was published,
a church called the Church of the Lamb would arise and be built upon
the fulness of the Gospel contained in the book? How did he know
that, if it did arise, it would have one year's existence? What
wisdom, education, or power could have given him this foreknowledge
independent of the power of God? How could he know, if a church should
arise, that it would have any influence beyond his own neighborhood?
How did he know it would extend through the State of New York, where
it was first raised? How could he know that it would extend over the
United States, and much more, that it would go to all nations and
kingdoms of the Gentiles? And how did he know that the
dominions of this Church among all the nations and kingdoms of the
Gentiles should be small, because of the wickedness of the great
"mother of abominations?" How did he know that the "mother of
harlots"
among these Gentiles would gather together in great multitudes among
all the nations and kingdoms of the earth to fight against the Saints
of the Lamb of God? Common sense tells us that this would be taking a
stretch far beyond what any false prophet dare take, with any hope of
fulfillment.
To prophesy that a church would arise and have place in all the
nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles, and then to prophesy that the
"mother of harlots" would gather together vast multitudes among all
these nations and fight against the Saints, is taking a step far
beyond what an impostor would undertake, if he were disposed to
successfully impose upon mankind. How far has this been fulfilled?
Only in part; so far, however, as to give us no possibility of
doubting that the balance will be fulfilled, every jot and tittle. It
is true, the Saints of the Lamb of God are not among all the nations
and kingdoms of the Gentiles yet; but there are very many of the
nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles where this little Church that was
organized in 1830 actually has a dominion and place.
If we go anywhere throughout the nation of the Gentiles called the
United States, we shall find in almost every State and Territory the
Church of the Saints of the Lamb of God, that the world call
"Mormons," "fanatics," "impostors," &c. If
we go into Canada, we find
them there. If we go across the great ocean to the island of Great
Britain, we find them there numbering seven or eight hundred churches
organized, and some four thousand Elders and Priests ordained to
preach the Gospel contained in the Book of Mormon, as well as in the
Bible.
The Saints in that country are scattered throughout England, Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland. Tens of thousands of them have shipped for
America, and tens of thousands still remain. Then cross the sea into
that inhospitable country called Norway, and there we find many
churches of the Saints. Then return a little south into Denmark, where
thousands more will be found. Then go to the northeast of Denmark into
Sweden, and we still find Latter-day Saints. Then go into Germany, and
we find them scattered, more or less, throughout that confederation. I
do not know that there is any Branch of the Saints in Prussia; neither
do I know that they extend through all the German States; but we find
them in several. Next, go into Switzerland and Italy, and we find them
there. Then go to France, and we find a few there. Then go upon some
of the islands of the sea, and a few thousands are found rejoicing in
this Church. In Asia and Africa a few will be found. They are not
among all the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles, but they are
scattered here and there among them; and their dominions are really
small, because of the wickedness of the great and abominable church.
There may be many nations of Asia where the feet of Latter-day Saints
have not trod. I do not know that any of the Elders of this Church
have gone to Japan. If we go into the South Sea Islands, the Friendly
Islands, the Society Islands, and the Sandwich Islands, we find
Latter-day Saints on almost all of them.
Go into the various governments and kingdoms of South America, and we
find the Latter-day Saints scarce. I don't know but there may be now
and then an Elder that has found his way there; but suffice it to say
that the dominions of the Saints in South America are very
small. But we must look for the day when this prophecy shall be
fulfilled, that the dominions of the Latter-day Saints shall be upon
all the face of the earth among all the nations and kingdoms of the
Gentiles: and has there not been enough already fulfilled to show that
the man that uttered that before the rise of this Church was indeed
truly a Prophet of the Most High God?
Again: Although the great "mother of abominations" has not gathered
together in multitudes upon the face of the earth among all the
nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles to fight against the Lamb of God
and his Saints, yet there has been enough fulfilled to show that the
balance will be accomplished. Has this great and abominable power,
under the name of "the mother of harlots," popularly called
Christendom, fought against the Saints in this country? Let the
history of this Church answer that question; let the scenes we have
passed through in the land of Missouri testify; let the tribulation
this people had to endure in the State of Illinois bear witness. We
will not refer to persecutions in Utah, for here we have had but
little, compared with scenes we have passed through in former years.
Suffice it to say multitudes have been gathered together—under the
influence of what? Under the influence of that great and abominable
church or system called "the mother of harlots."
When we come to search to the bottom of this matter, we find that has
been the great influence which has produced all the persecutions that
have come upon the Latter-day Saints since the organization of this
Church. How many preachers were gathered together in the western part
of Missouri at the time we were driven from the State to give their
advice in a pretended court-martial to have some fifteen or twenty of
the leaders of this people taken out and shot on the public square the
next morning? There were not less than seventeen priests who advised
the measure.
When we come to hunt for the great influence that has existed on the
multitudes that gathered to persecute the Saints of the Lamb of God,
we find it proceeding from the pulpit. Through the falsehoods of
priests and the publishing of false principles, they have endeavored
to set on the frenzied multitude to put to death the Latter-day Saints
and deprive them of citizenship.
It is not necessary to speak of the scenes of cruelty and bloodshed
caused to the Saints by this influence. I can read you in this book
(Book of Doctrine and Covenants), before we went to Missouri, that it
should be the land of our enemies—that they should seek to destroy our
lives; and it has been fulfilled to the very letter. We were told in
revelations printed in this book, and before the prophecy came to
pass, that we should be persecuted from city to city, and but few of
those who went up to Jackson County, Missouri, should stand to receive
their inheritance. It has been fulfilled to the very letter.
Here, then, was the beginning, as it were, of the fulfillment of that
saying in the Book of Mormon. That abominable church, among one of the
nations of the Gentiles at least, was gathered together under a
religious influence to persecute the Saints contrary to the
Constitution of our country. They could not do it legally; they could
not be upheld in it by true and legal authority: but they could do it
illegally, under the sanction of priestcraft, under the advice of
those who proclaim from the pulpit.
Let us now go into Canada, and there a religious influence existed,
mobs arose, multitudes were gathered together, and the Saints were
stoned, hunted, and driven to and fro, and had to flee from
place to place. This persecution was raised up by the "mother of
harlots," the "mother of abominations" —because of what? Because
we told them the Lord had revealed the same kind of religion in our day
that he had eighteen hundred years ago. Go to England, and the same
has happened there. Multitudes and multitudes started up against us.
The Elders have had forty or fifty police to guard them from their
meetings to their homes, to keep them from being destroyed by the tens
of thousands of people that blockaded the streets for miles in length.
I know these things to be facts from actual experience. I have passed
through them. I have had tens of thousands rush upon me with all the
fury of tigers, and they were only restrained by the power of God: but
as yet the Lord has spared me, and so he has the most of the Elders
that have traveled abroad. Go to Denmark, and we find the same
opposing power; and whenever this Church has been organized, or a
Branch established, the "mother of abominations" has marshaled her
host. So far the prophecy has been fulfilled in part, but not in full.
I will tell you what will come to pass before it is all fulfilled.
There must be the interposition of the Almighty to make a change among
the nations of the earth before this Church can be established among
all the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles. This change will
probably be brought about by war overturning all the governments and
kingdoms of the Gentiles.
A few years ago, many of the Saints, for want of a correct
understanding of prophecy, thought that the war between Russia and
France, England and Turkey, was the great war of extermination
foretold by the Prophets. There are prophecies of this kind that the
great "mother of abominations" will go to war, and not a nation under
heaven will escape, as they will use each other up by millions. They
imagined that perhaps the time had come for the nations of Christendom
to be nearly exterminated by their great and terrible wars. But I
lifted up my voice in England, and put it in writing also, that the
war then commencing would not thus terminate. It was for another
purpose: it was for a chastisement, and in some measure to ameliorate
the condition of mankind, that the Gospel might more fully go forth
among them.
How is it with regard to the war now taking place between Austria and
the allied powers of France and Sardinia? How extensive the present
European war will be we do not know; but this we do know from
prophecy—it will not result in the downfall of the "mother of
harlots." There will be a time of peace—a time that will be more
favorable to the promulgation of the Gospel, that you and I and
whosoever of the servants of God he pleases may be sent to these
European nations to fulfil the prophecy which I have referred to in
the Book of Mormon, and establish the kingdom of God among all the
nations of modern Europe. Where tyranny and oppression and all the
horrors of despotism now reign, will be heard the Gospel of peace.
Saints must be established in all those countries. Even in Russia,
that place where they would almost put you to death if you brought a
printed work of a religious nature into the empire—in that country,
where they will not suffer you to propagate the Bible unmolested,
whose religion is established by law, has the Gospel of Jesus Christ
to be preached. Yes, the Church of the Saints is to be established
there; and after it is established, there they are to gather
together in multitudes, like other nations, to fight against it; and
so they will in Austria, Spain, Portugal, and in all the modern
nations of Europe, as well as those nations that inhabit Asia and
Africa. This war that is now taking place will not result in that
dreadful extinction that is foretold in the Book of Mormon, and which
will rage among all the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles, or, in
other words, among the nations of Christendom. The one is a war
preparatory to the proclamation of the Gospel; the other is a war of
terrible destruction, which will not better the condition of those who
escape. The wars that are now taking place will have a tendency, in
some measure, to open the way for the Elders of the Church of Jesus
Christ to go and establish the Church and kingdom of God among those
nations.
A great many have prayed unwisely, and no wonder they cannot get faith
to fulfil their prayers. How have they prayed? "O Lord, gather out all
thy Saints from those European countries, and bring them to Zion with
songs of everlasting joy upon their heads, that there may be none left
abroad upon the earth."
If the Lord should do this, it would prove the whole system false.
When the time comes that the Saints of the Lamb of God are scattered
upon all the face of the earth, among all nations and kingdoms of the
Gentiles, and the multitudes gather against them to battles, we shall
not find such unwise prayers answered. The Saints, instead of being
all gathered out, will still be among the nations, for the power of
the Lamb of God to descend upon the Saints of the Most High that are
among all the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles, and not only upon
these, but also upon his covenant people, the descendants of Jacob;
and they are to be armed with righteousness and the power of God in
great glory. But gather them all out, and where have you got your
Saints? It would completely falsify this saying.
The day will come when the nations of Europe will have warred among
themselves sufficiently long, and those despotic governments are torn
down, and when the hand of oppression and tyranny has been eased up,
and when the principles of religious liberty have become more fully
and more widely spread, that the Elders of this Church will traverse
all these nations; and then we shall have use for these Seventies that
have been organizing so long. They have apparently been resting upon
their oars, waiting to be called out into the vineyard of the Lord.
Then will be the time for missions and callings to be given to you.
There are some sixty Quorums of Seventies: these have been organizing
for years, being instructed by their Presidents—being taught in the
things of the kingdom of God. What is your mission? The Book of
Doctrine and Covenants tells me it is among the nations of the earth;
that the Twelve are to open the doors; and wherever they cannot go,
they were to send; and when they send, they shall call upon the
Seventies in preference to any others, because it is more particularly
their mission to go and preach to all people under heaven. You have
not yet had an opportunity to magnify your calling; your mission has
not yet begun, only in preparation; your great mission is still in the
future among the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles. Some may have
thought that the times of the Gentiles was almost fulfilled. If the
Lord has fulfilled the times of the Gentiles, your calling is good for
nothing—it only exists in name. But let me tell you, you have been
called to this high and holy calling, and you will have your
hands full yet; and the Lord God of Israel, by his power, will bear
you off among the nations; and He it is that will gird up your loins,
and give you power among these nations; and He it is that will enable
you to go forth from nation to nation, and from kingdom to kingdom,
and no power will be able to stay your progress. That has all got to
be fulfilled as sure as you have that calling upon your heads. And you
have got to do a great deal of preaching before the times of the
Gentiles are fulfilled; you have got to go and build up the Church of
the Lamb of God among those nations, and set ministers over them, and
go and build up more; and the High Priests that preside over them have
got to purify their own hearts, and the Branches over which they
preside to be prepared for the power of God that shall rest upon them
in great glory, that when the multitudes gather to fight against them
they may be armed with the power that comes from heaven, that will
cause their thrones and their kingdoms to shake to their very center.
By-and-by, after you have fulfilled your missions to the nations of
the Gentiles, and there will not any more of them repent—that is,
when you have fully accomplished all that is required of you in
relation to them, you will have another mission, and so will the
Twelve, and that is to the house of Israel that may be among those
nations; I mean the literal descendants of Jacob—the Jews, and the
descendants of the other tribes that may be scattered among those
nations. There are some from the ten tribes among them; but the body
of the ten tribes are in the north country. You will find a few among
all these Gentile nations: you will have to direct your attention to
them after you have fulfilled your mission among the Gentiles, and
their times are fulfilled. You will have something to do among the
Jews, and then will be a time of great power, such as you and I have
not dreamed of. Indeed, we could not, with our narrow comprehensions
of mind, perceive the power that will then follow. The Lord has told
it in a revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. He has told
us, before the rise of this Church, that in bringing forth this
Gospel, it is a light that could not be hid in darkness: therefore, he
says, I must bring the fulness of my Gospel from among the Gentiles to
the house of Israel; or, this light of the fulness of my Gospel will,
as it were, be covered up and hid in darkness in many respects, and
will not shine with that brilliancy, power, and greatness: it will not
appear in that magnitude that it will when I bring it from the midst
of the Gentiles to my people, O house of Israel. Again, the Lord says,
in another revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that when
we have preached the Gospel faithfully to the Gentile nations, then
cometh the day of my power; and we already know what the Psalmist says
in regard to that day—"My people shall be willing in the day of my
power." The house of Israel have been unwilling in many generations
past to receive the Gospel; but in the day of his power, you
Seventies, that will go forth among the nations of Gentiles to hunt
out the literal descendants of Jacob, will be armed with that glory,
power, and majesty, and clothed upon from on high to that degree that
no power on earth can stay you; and then, in that day, the seed of
Jacob will be willing to receive the testimony of the Gospel. Then
many of the Jews will believe, although many of that nation will
gather to Jerusalem in unbelief. But the Book of Mormon has told us
that the main part of them will believe while yet scattered. They will
receive your testimony and gather to Jerusalem; and because of
your testimony, the Gentile believers will gather to Zion; and because
of your testimony, all the elect of God, of whatever nation, tongue,
and people, will be gathered out year after year; and by-and-by, the
great and last gathering will be done through instrumentality of
angels. There will be two, as it were, grinding at a mill; the
faithful one will be taken, and the other will be left: there will be
two, as it were, sleeping in one bed; one will be picked up by the
angels, and the other will be left; and the remnant of the children of
God scattered abroad on all the face of the earth will receive their
last gathering by the angels. But between this and that day there will
be shipload after shipload gathering continually of the elect of God,
of the Israel of God, and of the covenant people of the Lord to Zion
and Jerusalem.
By-and-by, when the Lord has made bare his arm in signs, in great
wonders, and in mighty deeds, through the instrumentality of his
servants the Seventies, and through the instrumentality of the churches
that shall be built up, and the nations and kingdoms of the earth have
been faithfully and fully warned, and the Lord has fulfilled and
accomplished all things that have been written in the Book of Mormon,
and in other revelations pertaining to the preaching of the Gospel to
the nations of the Gentiles and to the nations of Israel, by-and-by
the Spirit of God will entirely withdraw from those Gentile nations,
and leave them to themselves. Then they will find something else to do
besides warring against the Saints in their midst—besides raising
their sword and fighting against the Lamb of God; for then war will
commence in earnest, and such a war as probably never entered into the
hearts of men in our age to conceive of. No nation of the Gentiles
upon the face of the whole earth but what will be engaged in deadly
war, except the Latter-day Kingdom. They will be fighting one against
another. And when that day comes, the Jews will flee to Jerusalem, and
those nations will almost use one another up, and those of them who
are left will be burned; for that will be the last sweeping judgment
that is to go over the earth to cleanse it from wickedness. That is
the day spoken of in this book—And I saw there were wars and rumors
of wars among the Gentiles, and the angel said to me, Behold the wrath
of God is upon the mother of harlots; and when that day comes, then
shall the work of the Father commence in preparing the way to gather
in all his covenant people, and then great Babylon will come down.
We have been telling you about modern prophecy delivered by Joseph
Smith. Is it false, or is it true? The Latter-day Saints know it to be
true, we have seen enough of its fulfillment to know that the balance
will come to pass; but the world perceive it not: they know it not;
they do not understand the future; they have not that spirit spoken of
this forenoon by brother Taylor, that was not only to take of the
things of the Father and show to the disciples, but show them things
to come. They do not understand the spirit of prophecy. They do not
perceive that which is written by the ancient Prophets, much less will
they understand that plainly written by the latter-day Prophets;
consequently, all these things will overtake them unawares. Even the
coming of Christ, so great an event as that is, will be to them as a
thief in the night. After the kingdom of God has spread upon the face
of the earth, and every jot and tittle of the prophecies have been
fulfilled in relation to the spreading of the Gospel among the
nations—after signs have been shown in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath, blood, fire, and vapor of smoke—after the
sun is turned into darkness, and the moon shall have the appearance of
blood, and the stars have apparently been hurled out of their places,
and all things have been in commotion, so great will be the darkness
resting upon Christendom, and so great the bonds of priestcraft with
which they will be bound, that they will not understand, and they will
be given up to the hardness of their hearts. Then will be fulfilled
that saying, That the day shall come when the Lord shall have power
over his Saints, and the Devil shall have power over his own dominion.
He will give them up to the power of the Devil, and he will have power
over them, and he will carry them about as chaff before a whirlwind.
He will gather up millions upon millions of people into the valleys
around about Jerusalem in order to destroy the Jews after they have
gathered. How will the Devil do this? He will perform miracles to do
it. The Bible says the kings of the earth and the great ones will be
deceived by these false miracles. It says there shall be three unclean
spirits that shall go forth working miracles, and they are spirits of
devils. Where do they go? To the kings of the earth; and what will
they do? Gather them up to battle unto the great day of God Almighty.
Where? Into the valley of Armageddon. And where is that? On the east
side of Jerusalem.
When he gets them gathered together, they do not understand any of
these things; but they are given up to that power that deceived them,
by miracles that had been performed, to get them to go into that
valley to be destroyed. Joel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Isaiah, Ezekiel,
and nearly all of the ancient Prophets have predicted that the nations
shall be gathered up against Jerusalem, in the valley of Jehoshaphat
and the valley of Megiddo—that there the Lord shall fight for his
people, and smite the horse and his rider, and send plagues on these
armies, and their flesh shall be consumed from their bones, and their
eyes from their sockets. They will actually fulfil these prophecies,
with all their pretension to Bible and prophetic learning.
But the Latter-day Saints are not in darkness; they are the children
of light, although many of us will actually be asleep. We shall have
to wake up and trim up our lamps, or we shall not be prepared to enter
in; for we shall all slumber and sleep in that day, and some will have
gone to sleep from which they will not awake until they awake up in
darkness without any oil in their lamps. But, as a general thing, the
Saints will understand the signs of the times, if they do lie down and
get to sleep. Others have their eyes closed upon the prophecies of the
ancient Prophets; and not only that, but they are void of the spirit
of prophecy themselves. When a man has this, though he may appeal to
ancient Prophets to get understanding on some subjects he does not
clearly understand, yet, as he has the spirit of prophecy in himself,
he will not be in darkness; he will have a knowledge of the signs of
the times; he will have a knowledge of the house of Israel, and of
Zion, of the ten tribes, and of many things and purposes and events
that are to take place on the earth; and he will see coming events,
and can say such an event will take place, and after that another, and
then another; and after that the trumpet shall sound, and after that
certain things will take place, and then another trump shall sound,
&c., &c.; and he will have his eye fixed on the signs of the times,
and that day will not overtake him unawares; but upon the nations it
will come as a thief upon the mighty men and upon the chief
captains, who will gather up their hosts upon the mountains, hills,
and valleys of Palestine, to fight against the Jews; and they will be
as blind as the dumb ass; and right in the midst of their blindness
the Lord will rend the heavens and stand his feet upon the Mount of
Olives, and all the Saints will come with him, and the wicked will be
destroyed from off the face of the earth.
I meant to be short this afternoon; but really, when I get to studying
on these things, I forget myself, and oftentimes weary the patience of
the people.
God bless you! Amen.