Afternoon, , 1882.
REPORTED BY G. F. GIBBS.
I feel disposed to read a few verses
from section 43 of the Doctrine and
Covenants, a book containing the
revelations of God to the Latter-
day Saints, communicated through
the prophet Joseph Smith.
(The speaker then read the whole
of the section, commencing at the
17th verse.)
There is one thing I wish to say
to the congregation, and I would say
the same to the whole world if I
had the power; it is this: I have
heard the Prophet Joseph Smith
say on several occasions when
speaking on the agency of man, and
the liberty and rights of men, that
if he were emperor of the earth,
having control of the whole human
family, he would give every man,
woman and child the right to wor-
ship God according to the dictates of
their own conscience, leaving them
to be responsible alone to their Cre-
ator for their individual acts. These
are my sentiments, and they are the
sentiments of this people to-day,
and have been from the beginning
of the organization of this Church,
and I trust will be to the end of
time. And this we believe to be a
principle emanating from heaven;
and while we accord this right to
our fellow men, and while we de-
clare it to be a heaven-born right
guaranteed unto all American citi-
zens through the Constitution of
our country, we claim the exercise
of the same right ourselves; and we
claim this right and privilege under
the Constitution under which we
live, and we claim it by the laws of
God to man. And whenever any
people rise up and attempt to make
war upon the rights of men because
of their religion, they go beyond
their right, they transcend their
own powers, whether their power
be derived either from God or man.
You may wish to know why I
make these remarks. I will tell you.
Because God himself grants this
right to every human being upon
the earth irrespective of race or color;
it is part of the divine economy
not to force any man to heaven, not
to coerce the mind but to leave it
free to act for itself. He lays before
His creature man the everlasting
gospel, the principles of life and sal-
vation, and then leaves him to
choose for himself or to reject for
himself, with the definite under-
standing that he becomes responsi-
ble to Him for the results of his acts.
It is upon this principle that we
as Latter-day Saints assert our rights
and endeavor to enjoy our privileges.
And we are accorded this right in
accepting the Gospel dispensation in
which we live, and in believing in
the old and New Testaments, the
record's of God's people who lived in
what is called the old world, as well
as in the Book of Mormon, the his-
tory of the ancient inhabitants of
our land, which records are in har-
mony with each other, bearing wit-
nes of the one great Head and of the
gospel which He taught in Jerusa-
lem and Judea, and which His
Apostles preached after He left
them. It is, in fact, the same Gos-
pel that has been taught to man in
every age and dispensation, as there
is but the one Gospel, and that Gos-
pel is adapted to the wants and con-
ditions of all men. It is the Gospel
of Truth, and truth alone can make
us free, free from sin and from the
power of the adversary. And this is
the Gospel which we have received,
and which we take the liberty of
preaching to our fellow men.
I do not suppose that there has been
any dispensation upon the earth in
which a greater variety of evidence,
or important evidence of the divini-
ty of the latter-day work has been
given than that which is occurring,
and that will continue to occur until
the second coming of the Son of
Man. There is no man upon the
earth who believes in the literal ful-
fillment of prophecy as contained in
the Old and New Testament, but
who must in his heart believe that
the God of heaven will in the latter
days set His hand to perform a great
work and a wonder in the earth; that
He will call forth His Church out of
the wilderness of darkness and es-
tablish it upon the foundation of
Apostles and Prophets with Christ
Jesus as the chief corner stone.
There is no man that believes in the
Revelations of St. John who does
not believe in his heart that in the
last dispensation the angel as seen
and described by John in his vision,
will fly through the midst of heaven
having the everlasting Gospel to
commit to man again upon the
earth, and that this Gospel is to be
preached in plainness and power to
every nation, kindred, tongue and
people upon the whole earth. [Revelation 14:6] There
is no man that believes in the literal
fulfilment of the revelations of God
through the Prophets who does not
believe that the Lord will in the
latter days gather a people together
out of every nation under heaven;
and that He will also gather the dis-
persed of Judah—the Jews—that
have been trodden under the feet of
the Gentiles for the last 1,800 years
for shedding the blood of the Mes-
siah.
I wish to bear my testimony to all
men within the sound of my voice
and those to whom my words shall
come, that we are living in that dis-
pensation of God to man that every
Prophet and Apostle that has ever
breathed the breath of life has
pointed to. I bear my testimony
that God, in fulfilment of the Rev-
elations of St. John, has sent the
heavenly messenger to communicate
to man the everlasting Gospel. And
why did the Lord reveal to John
that this would be done? Because
the "falling away" spoken of by
Paul had already commenced; be-
cause John in his exiled condition
sensed keenly that the Church
would be overcome and driven from
the earth, and by way of encourage-
ment to him and information to all
who would believe his word, the
Lord showed him what should take
place in the future. [2 Thessalonians 2:3] The Jews had
rejected the Messiah, they had cru-
cified the Lord of life and glory and
they had also persecuted and taken
the life of the Apostles and others
who were left to represent His cause;
and John only was left, and they
tried to take his life; but, in conse-
quence of the promise he had re-
ceived from the Savior prior to His
death, they could not do it: and
hence they exiled him on this
island—called Patmos. [Revelation 1:9] When
they rejected the Gospel, they
rejected it in all its power and
glory, its blessings, its gifts and
graces, and also the ordinances of
the Holy Priesthood—Aaronic and
Melchisedek. With regard to Priest-
hood we differ from the Christian
world. We believe there is no man
in heaven or upon earth that ad-
ministers in the ordinances of the
Gospel without the Priesthood, and
we defy the whole world to point to
a single passage of scripture from the
time of father Adam down to Jesus
Christ, showing that any man had
power to administer in any of the
ordinances of the Gospel without the
Priesthood. And we say as Paul
said, in referring to this delegated
power of heaven, that "no man tak-
eth this honor to himself, but he
that is called of God, as was Aaron:"
and he was called of God through
Moses with whom He communicat-
ed. [Hebrews 5:4] Therefore men cannot legally
and authoritatively go forth to
preach the Gospel until they are
sent; and men cannot hear the word
and be converted by the same unless
they hear it through the mouth of a
preacher who is sent, and who has
power to administer in the ordi-
nances of the Gospel.
The Lord has established His
Church and His kingdom; and we
have been laboring now fifty years
and upwards in carrying out the in-
structions which he has revealed
unto us in connection with this
work. And as men were formerly,
so we have been commanded to go
forth and call upon men to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to
repent and be baptised for the re-
mission of their sins; and as they
were authorized, so have we been
authorized to say to all men who
comply with these requirements,
that they shall receive the Holy
Ghost. But say the Christian sects,
these things are no longer necessary,
these outward ordinances are not
now essential to salvation. We be-
lieve they are. In this, of course,
we differ from them, and we have a
perfect right to. Jesus himself went
to John when he was baptizing in
Jordan, and requested baptism of
Him. But Jesus satisfied him by
saying, "Suffer it to be so now; for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness. Then he suffered
him." [Matthew 3:15]
Baptism by immersion is one of
the ordinances of the Gospel, and
the law had to be complied with,
and hence Jesus set the example.
But the Jews, as a nation, rejected
Him and His teachings; and the
Apostles were commanded to turn
to the Gentiles. I say Gentiles, we
are all Gentiles in a national capaci-
ty; and the same Gospel that was
taught to the Jews was preached to
the Gentiles. It never varied one iota;
it was sent to them with all its gifts
and graces, its priesthoods, powers
and ordinances without any change
whatever. And Paul in warning
the Gentiles, told them to take heed
and fear lest they fall, through the
same example of unbelief; for if God
spared not the natural branches,
which were the Jews, why should
He spare them who were the wild
branches grafted into the olive tree.
We all understand that the blind-
ness in part which happened to Is-
rael and which, Paul said, should
continue until the fulness of the
Gentiles come in, did befall the
churches which had been built up
by the Apostles, and that the Gos-
pel, with its gifts and graces, its
Prophets and Apostles, has long
since ceased to exist among men.
The Gentiles fell through the same
example of unbelief, until to-day a
man is looked upon as a deceiver
who will rise up and declare himself
a believer in the same Gospel that
Jesus and His Apostles preached.
Paul told the people in his day
that God hath set in the
Church first, Apostles, sec-
ndarily prophets, thirdly, teachers,
after that miracles, then gifts of
healings, helps, governments, diver-
sities of tongues; [1 Corinthians 12:28] and they were for
the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ, for
the perfecting of the Saints, until
all come to a perfect man in the
stature of Christ. [Ephesians 4:11-13] But the Chris-
tian world do not believe in these
things; they say they are done away,
as not being needed. We believe
differently, and we have a right to;
we say the Lord has restored the
Gospel as it was preached to the
Jews and the Gentiles by Jesus and
the Apostles, and we know whereof
we speak. Joseph Smith received
the ministration of angels, in fulfil-
ment of the revelations of St. John,
and we know it. He received the
keys of the Holy Priesthood under
the hands of John the Baptist, and
under the hands of Peter, James
and John, and from that day,
through the preaching and admin-
istrations of the Elders of this
Church, God has given a testimony
to hundreds of thousands, of the
truth of this work. [Joseph Smith-History 1:72] We believe
this, and we have received the tes-
timony for ourselves of its divinity.
In looking upon this congregation
assembled in this beautiful building,
I am reminded of the mercy and
goodness of God to us as a people.
On the 24th of July, 1847, I came
here in company with the pioneers.
At that time Utah was a barren de-
sert, there was no mark of the
white man, everything was wild
and barren. To-day you may travel
thousands of miles through this
country, and you find towns and
cities, farms, gardens and or-
chards, temples, and tabernacles and
schoolhouses and large con-
gregations of the people and hosts of
children. And where did all these
people come from, and what prompt-
ed them to come here? You came
from your native lands, from the
different civilized nations, impelled
by the spirit of the gathering which
God has restored in connection with
the Gospel; and you came in fulfil-
ment of the prophecies of Isaiah,
Ezekiel, Jeremiah and David and
others of the Prophets who have
spoken of you. The question that
arises in the minds of persons who
pass through our country and see
the labors of this people is, are we
the dupes of impostors? Was Joseph
Smith a deceiver? There is a way
to the test this, and we have tested
it to our satisfaction. The great
promise made to us when we first
heard the preaching of the Elders of
this Church was, that if we obeyed
certain requirement of the Gospel,
we should receive the Holy Ghost;
and this same promise is extended
to the world of mankind by our El-
ders who are still proclaiming these
glad tidings of great joy. If that
promise had failed we, my brethren
and sisters, would not have been
here to-day; and Utah would doubt-
less be as barren as it was when we
found it in [18]47. There is no question
in our mind, as to the divinity of the
work in which we are engaged. The
Christian world questions it. This,
of course, we cannot help.
I want to say to the Latter-day
Saints, you are living in an
important and interesting time in
your history, a time when the
principles of the everlasting Gospel
are being brought prominently be-
fore the world, and it is but natural
that they should find their opposite
in misrepresentation and persecu-
tion. Jesus himself, together with
every servant of God of every age,
while endeavoring to bless and save
mankind through teaching correct
principles, made themselves un-
popular and became the subjects of
hatred and persecution. And there
is no doctrine so unpopular to-day
as the principles of life and salva-
tion as God has revealed them; and
there are none so unpopular as those
who believe in and practice the
same. Truth revealed from heaven
for the salvation of mankind al-
ways was unpopular, and always
will be so long as the world exists in
its present state. Men do not want
truth, and therefore they reject it,
and they reject it to-day for the
same reason that men rejected it
formerly, because they love dark-
ness rather than light. If the Lat-
ter-day Saints expect to become
popular in this day and generation,
they will find themselves greatly
mistaken. There is a warfare going
on between truth and error, and
this warfare will continue until He
shall reign, whose right it is to
reign.
I also want to say to the Latter-
day Saints, you should exercise
faith in God; you should make your-
selves acquainted with the revela-
tions of God, and with the promises
He has made to His people, fully be-
lieving that all will come to pass as
He has spoken it. And each
man claiming a standing among this
people should do his duty to the
trust committed to our charge. Our
responsibility is great before God
and man. Any people into whose
hands is committed a dispensation
of the Gospel has a great responsi-
bility. And Joseph Smith, Brigham
Young and the Twelve Apostles
would have been under condemna-
tion and would have rendered them-
selves liable to the curse of God if
they had not gone forth into the
world and borne record of this work.
Paul was placed in the same posi-
tion and he sensed it, as is inferred
from these words: "Woe unto me
if I preach not the Gospel." And
this is our position to-day in relation
to the world.
I have been with this Church al-
most from its organizaiion, and have
passed through the various scenes
of its early history. I have seen its
rise and progress, and have witness-
ed the power of God manifested in
behalf of this people; and I want to
bear my testimony that
the God of heaven has,
in fulfilment of the prophecies,
set His hand to establish His Church
and Kigdom in the earth, which
means no more and no less than
His rule and His government, and
that He will accomplish it, and
there is no power upon the earth or
under the earth that can stay the
progress of Almighty God. But not
notwithstanding this, we expect to
meet with opposition, with the
hatred of the world; this, in fact, is
the legacy of the Latter-day Saints.
Said the Savior to His Apostles, I
have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you; if you
were of the world, the world would
love you as its own. It hated me,
before it hated you. [John 15:18-19] And what are
we going to do? We are going to
trust in God. I have no fears my-
self; I have never had since I heard
the first Gospel sermon by the El-
ders of this Church; for I know that
God lives, and that He has set His
hand to establish His kingdom, and
it will continue to grow and in-
crease until it shall fill the whole
earth. He has called upon
us to proclaim to the whole world
the Gospel of Christ, and we are do-
ing it as fast as circumstances and
wisdom permits; and we promise all
men what the first Elders promised
us, that is, if they yield to the re-
quirements they shall know for
themselves whether this work is of
God or man. Is there, I ask, any
man or set of men dare make such
promises to their fellow men? I
answer, nay; neither could we do
it did we not know that God would
back up the word by imparting the
Holy Ghost. He has done so from
the beginning, and these people can
bear me witness.
The question may be asked, What
about the course our government
is taking with us? Whatever our
nation does or may do, it will be
held responsible before God; and
every emperor, king and ruler will
be held responsible for the use they
make of the power committed into
their hands. The Lord inspired the
men that framed the Constitution
of our country and has guarded
the nation from its foundation,
in order to prepare free people in
which to establish His kingdom.
Columbus was inspired of God to
persevere as he did to discover this
continent, and thus prepare the way
for a class of people upon whom the
Spirit of the Lord moved to follow;
and when they were oppressed hard
enough they declared themselves in-
dependent, and by the help of God
they established and have maintain-
ed the government which God gave
our forefathers, which is one of the
best constitutional governments
ever known among men. One of its
chief and prominent characteristics
is its guaranty of religious liberty,
permitting every man to worship
God according to the dictates of his
own conscience. This is a sacred
right granted by God himself to all
men; and when the rulers or legis-
lators of any land undertake by en-
actments of law to step between
man and his God, they by that act
become responsible, and must
sooner or later be made to answer
for interfering with a divine law.
This is the light in which we
regard the position of our own
nation in the steps they have
recently taken against us, as a peo-
ple. However, if I were to express
my feelings to Congress and the
leading men of our nation, and to
our enemies and the whole Chris-
tian world, I would say, do not weep
for us—and we are sensible of the
fact that they will not—but rather
weep for yourselves and your chil-
dren, for as sure as the Lord lives
the evils that men seek to bring up-
on us will return in due time upon
their own heads, heaped up, pressed
down and running over. For it is
an eternal law, and a law by which
we are governed, that what mea-
sure we mete, shall be measured
back to us again. Our nation knows
not what awaits it; the Christian
world knows not what awaits it,
and the blind guides that lead the
people cannot tell them, and the
result will be that both the people
and their guides will fall into the
ditch together.
I will say another thing. The
Lord never did bring judgment up-
on any people of any generation
until He raised up prophets to warn
them of the impending danger. You
may read the history of the great
and ancient cities of Tyre and
Sidon, Ninevah and Babylon and
other cities th[a]t were built to defy
all time and every power but that
of God; but when they were ripened
in iniquity they were cut off, the
Lord raised up men to warn them
and to call upon them to repent;
but when they rejected them the
Lord brought judgment upon them
and they were cut off in their sins.
And so it will be with our nation
and all others, when they shall be
fully warned and they reject the
message that is sent to them. The
heavens are full of judgment, and
as the prophets have said, they will
commence at the House of the Lord
and then go to the nations of the
earth. These things are beginning to
make themselves manifest and the
righteous and pure in heart can see
it.
I want to see the Latter-day Saints
live their religion, keep their faith
and do their duty, and trust in God.
And if men persecute you for the
sake of your religion, what can you
do? You can go to God, and make
your wants known to Him; and that
is our duty as Latter-day Saints.
And as to our nation, they, as well
as we, are in the hands of God; and
I have nothing to say about them.
God will deal with them; and what
they sow they will reap, and He will
deal with us upon the same princi-
ple. The history of the ancient in-
habitants of this land, as it has come
down to us through the mercy and
goodness of God, fully testifies to
this principle; as long as they did
what was right the blessings of God
followed them, but after they be-
came disobedient and wicked the
hand of God rested upon them. At
times when I reflect upon the great
change that has raken place in our
own land in the morals of the peo-
ple during my time, I feel in my
spirit to mourn and to fear as to the
consequences. I was between 20
and 21 years of age before I heard of
a murder having been committed
in the whole of the New England
States. The first murder that was
committed in our land from this
time I could remember until I gain-
ed my majority, was committed in
New Haven; and I well re
member how the news of it shocked
all New England. What effect has
such news upon the people of the
same region to-day? Throughout
the whole of Christendom to-day,
murder, whoredom, blasphemy, and
their kindred evils and vices are in-
dulged in, and unbelief reigns in
the hearts of men. Men profess to
believe in the Bible; but confront
them with the doctrines and prophe-
cies it contains, and they will at
once either raise a doubt as to their
real meaning or they will openly
deny them; and the few that accept
the literal meaning of God's word,