that occasion the Prophet Joseph rose
up and said to us, "Brethren, I have de-
sired to live to see this temple built. I
shall never live to see it, but you will. I
have sealed upon your heads all the keys
of the Kingdom of God. I have sealed
upon you every key, power, principle
that the God of heaven has revealed to
me or sealed upon me. Now, no matter
where I may go or what I may do, the
Kingdom rests upon you."

Now don't you wonder why we, as
Apostles, could not have understood
that the Prophet of God was going to be
taken from us? But we did not under-
stand it. The Apostles in the days of
Jesus Christ could not understand what
the Savior meant when He told them "I
am going away; if I do not go away the
Comforter will not come!" [John 16:7] Neither did
we understand what Joseph meant.
"But," he said, after having done this,
"ye Apostles of the Lamb of God, my
brethren, upon your shoulders this
Kingdom rests; now you have got to
round up your shoulders and bear off
this Kingdom." And he also made this
very strange remark, "If you do not do
it you will be damned."

I am the last man living who heard
that declaration. He told the truth, too;
for would not any of the men who have
held the keys of the Kingdom of God or
an Apostleship in this Church have been
under condemnation, and would not the
wrath of God have rested upon them if
they had deserted these principles or de-
nied and turned from them and under-
taken to serve themselves instead of the
work of the Lord which was committed
to their hands?

When the Lord gave the keys of the
Kingdom of God, the keys of the Mel-
chisedeck Priesthood, of the Apostle-
ship, and sealed them upon the head of
Joseph Smith, He sealed them upon his
head to stay here upon the earth until
the coming of the Son of Man. Well
might Brigham Young say, "The keys
of the Kingdom of God are here." They
were with him to the day of his death.
They then rested upon the head of
another man—President John Taylor.
He held those keys to the hours of his
death. They then fell by turn, or in the
providence of God, upon Wilford Wood-
ruff.

I say to the Latter-day Saints the keys
of the Kingdom of God are here, and
they are going to stay here, too, until
the coming of the Son of Man. Let all
Israel understand that. They may not
rest upon my head but a short time, but
they will then rest on the head of an-
other Apostle, and another after him,
and so continue until the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven
to "reward every man according to the
deeds done in the body."

I want to add another thing, because
I feel it my duty to say it to the Latter-
day Saints. There is a feeling—it was
so in the days of Joseph Smith—that he
was not the man to lead the Church.
Even his bosom friends, men with whom
he saw the angels of God, Oliver Cow-
dery and others, considered him a fallen
Prophet and thought they ought to lead
the Church. This history is before you
and before the world. The same feeling
was manifest in the days of Brigham
Young when he was called to hold the
keys of the Presidency of the Church.
There were other men who thought they
should be appointed to that office. But
the God of heaven manifested to you,
and to me, and to all men, who were in
Nauvoo, upon whom the mantle had
fallen. Brigham Young took his place,
and led the Church and Kingdom of
God up to the day of his death.

There are men today, there will be
men till the coming of the Son of Man,
I expect, who feel as though they ought
to lead the Church, as though it is not
going on right—that this, that, and the
other is wrong. I say to all Israel at this
day, I say to the whole world, that the
God of Israel, who organized this
Church and Kingdom, never ordained
any President or Presidency to lead it
astray. Hear it, ye Israel, no man who
has ever breathed the breath of life can
hold these keys of the Kingdom of God
and lead the people astray.

We talk of revelation. There has
been a feeling of wonder many times as
to why Brigham Young did not have

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM.

that occasion the Prophet Joseph rose up and said to us, "Brethren, I have desired to live to see this temple built. I shall never live to see it, but you will. I have sealed upon your heads all the keys of the Kingdom of God. I have sealed upon you every key, power, principle that the God of heaven has revealed to me or sealed upon me. Now, no matter where I may go or what I may do, the Kingdom rests upon you."

Now don't you wonder why we, as Apostles, could not have understood that the Prophet of God was going to be taken from us? But we did not understand it. The Apostles in the days of Jesus Christ could not understand what the Savior meant when He told them "I am going away; if I do not go away the Comforter will not come!" Neither did we understand what Joseph meant. "But," he said after having done this, "ye Apostles of the Lamb of God, my brethren, upon your shoulders this Kingdom rests; now you have got to round up your shoulders and bear off this Kingdom." And he also made this very strange remark, "If you do not do it you will be damned."

I am the last man living who heard that declaration. He told the truth, too; for would not any of the men who have held the keys of the Kingdom of God or an Apostleship in this Church have been under condemnation, and would not the wrath of God have rested upon them if they had deserted these principles or denied and turned from them and undertaken to serve themselves instead of the work of the Lord which was committed to their hands?

When the Lord gave the keys of the Kingdom of God, the keys of the Melchisedeck Priesthood, of the Apostleship, and sealed them upon the head of Joseph Smith, He sealed them upon his head to stay here upon the earth until the coming of the Son of Man. Well might Brigham Young say, "The keys of the Kingdom of God are here." They were with him to the day of his death. They then rested upon the head of another man -- President John Taylor. He held those keys to the hours of his death. They then fell by turn, or in the providence of God, upon Wilford Woodruff.

I say to the Latter-day Saints the keys of the Kingdom of God are here, and they are going to stay here, too, until the coming of the Son of Man. Let all Israel understand that. They may not rest upon my head but a short time, but they will then rest on the head of another Apostle, and another after him, and so continue until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven to "reward every man according to the deeds done in the body."

I want to add another thing, because I feel it my duty to say it to the Latterday Saints. There is a feeling -- it was so in the days of Joseph Smith -- that he was not the man to lead the Church. Even his bosom friends, men with whom he saw the angels of God, Oliver Cowdery and others, considered him a fallen Prophet and thought they ought to lead the Church. This history is before you and before the world. The same feeling was manifest in the days of Brigham Young when he was called to hold the keys of the Presidency of the Church. There were other men who thought they should be appointed to that office. But the God of heaven manifested to you, and to me, and to all men, who were in Nauvoo, upon whom the mantle had fallen. Brigham Young took his place, and led the Church and Kingdom of God up to the day of his death.

There are men today, there will be men till the coming of the Son of Man, I expect, who feel as though they ought to lead the Church, as though it is not going on right -- that this, that, and the other is wrong. I say to all Israel at this day, I say to the whole world, that the God of Israel, who organized this Church and Kingdom, never ordained any President or Presidency to lead it astray. Hear it, ye Israel, no man who has ever breathed the breath of life can hold these keys of the Kingdom of God and lead the people astray.

We talk of revelation. There has been a feeling of wonder many times as to why Brigham Young did not have