This is the only dispensation that God has ever established that was foreordained, before the world was made, not to be overcome by wicked men and devils. All other dis- pensations have been made war upon by the inhabitants of the earth, and the ser- vants and Saints of God have been mar- tyred.

The Lord gave that good old prophet Enoch, President of the Zion of God, who stood in the midst of his people three hundred and sixty-five years, a view of the earth in its various dispensations, showing him that the time would come when it would groan under the wickedness, blasphemy, murders, whore- doms and abominations of its inhabitants. The prophet asked the Lord whether there would ever be a time when the earth should rest; and the Lord answered that in the dispensation of the fulness of times the earth would fill the measure of its days, and then it would rest from wickedness and abominations, for in that day he would establish his kingdom upon it, to be thrown down no more for ever. Then a reign of righteousness would commence and the honest and meek of the earth would be gathered together to serve the Lord, and upon them would rest power to build up the great Zion of God in the lat- ter days. These things were also shown to Abraham, and many others of the an- cient servants of God had glimpses of them by vision, revelation and the inspi- ration of the Spirit of God, and what they saw, or an account of what they saw, has been left on record. This dispensation is one that all the pa- triarchs and prophets had their eye upon, and the Lord has commenced it, and has carried it on now for more than forty years, since this Church was organized with six members. We have not alto- gether traveled on beds of ease, we have had warfare and opposition from the com- mencement until this day; but we and the world may set our hearts at rest concern- ing "Mormonism," for it will never cease until the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. This nation and other nations will war with the Saints of God until their cup is full; and when they be- come ripened in iniquity the Lord Al- mighty will cut them off, and the judg- ments of the Most High God will follow the testimony of the Elders of Israel.

There have been too much selfishness and division and every man for himself amongst us, and the devil for us all. Eternal life is worth more to a Saint of God than all things else put together, in fact it is the greatest gift God ever gave to man, or that he can give to him, and whatever the Lord requires at our hands we should be ready to do, indi- vidually and collectively.

I was called to take my life in my hands and go up to Missouri, and a little hand- ful of us went up to redeem our brethren. We certainly had to go by faith. My neigh- bors called upon and plead with me not to go; said they—"Do not go, if you do you will lose your life." I said to them—"If I knew that I should have a ball put through my heart the first step I took in the State of Missouri I would go." I went, and I did not get shot, neither did any of the rest of us, but we fulfilled the command- ment of God.

It does not make any difference what we as a peo- ple may be called to pass through. Men can go no further than they are permitted by the Lord. I have often remarked, and I repeat it, your destiny, the destiny of this nation, and the destiny of every king, prince, president, statesman and ruler un- der heaven are in the hands of the God of Israel. He made the world and all its inhabitants, and they can go no further than they are permitted. If we unite our- selves according to the law of God we shall have far more safety than if we turn away from the commandments of the Lord and set our hearts upon the things of this world. If we forget God we are liable to be scourged; that is my feeling this morn- ing.

The world has had its dispensations: we are at the end of the sixth thousand years, and are bordering upon the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, to reward every man according to the deeds done in the body; and whatever the feel- ings of the world may be the Lord has de- creed a woe upon that man, that house, that nation or that people that rejects the testimony of his servants.

The Lord never raised up a better set of men and women since the world was than are they who have embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days. They have the testimony of Jesus Christ with them, and they have been called to pass through many trials thus far in the history and progress of the work of God. It is true that many have broken their covenants and turned away from the Lord, and the reason is that they stopped serving God and undertook to serve themselves, and that led them into darkness.

With regard to our present position I want to say that it is the duty of every Saint of God in these valleys of the mountains to let his prayers ascend into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, day and night in the season thereof, in the fam- ily circle and in private places, for the Lord to sustain his people, build up Zion and fulfill his promises. We are in duty bound to fulfill ours, and the Lord will not fail now any more than he has any other time. He did not fail in the days of Jesus Christ, not a bit of it.

As some of our brethren have said, there is need for us to repent and humble ourselves before the Lord our God, that we may have and en- joy more of the Holy Spirit to prepare us for that which lies before us. It is our duty to unite together as a people; our temporal salvation lies in this, and we should not be backward in this matter. We should not only preach it, but be also ready to practise it; as leaders and as people, all should unite in carrying out that which is required of us.

Our prayers should go up day and night in behalf of our Pesident, and the Presi- dency whom God has sustained from the beginning, and also for the leaders of the people and for each other. We should labor and pray for this. We are making history. The travels and experience of the Latter-day Saints have been as inter- esting as the history of any people in any dispensation since the world began.

The travels and experience of the Latter-day Saints have been as inter- esting as the history of any people in any dispensation since the world began. Jo- seph Smith was a Prophet of God, and he was called to lay the foundation of this kingdom; he was raised up from be- fore the foundation of the world for this purpose, and he came forth, through the loins of ancient Joseph who was sold into Egypt, and dwelt in the flesh, and noth- ing failed in its fulfillment as far as he was concerned. He lived until he planted the Gospel, until he received the apostle- ship, and every branch of the priesthood of Aaron and Melchizedek, all the keys of the kingdom of God, everything that was necessary in order to lay the founda- tion of this Church and Kingdom, which God, through the mouths of holy prophets, declared should be established in the lat- ter days, to be thrown down no more for ever. Under these circumstances, of course, faith is required on the part of the Saints to live their religion, do their duty, walk uprightly before the Lord and build up his Zion on the earth. Then it requires works to correspond with our faith.

the world never did like the truth. We can not help that, it is our duty to bear a true and faithful testimony to the work of God, and to preach the Gospel which has been revealed to us in our day by the ministration of angels out of heaven. That Gospel is the same as was taught by Adam, and the ancient patriarchs, Abra- ham, Isaac and Jacob, Noah, Enoch, Me- thuselah and all the ancient prophets, also by Jesus and the Apostles. There never was but one Gospel, and never will be but one delivered to the children of men, and that never changed and never will change in time or eternity. It is the same in every age of the world; its ordinances are the same.

Believers in the Gospel of had faith in Jesus before he came in the flesh, and re- pentance of sin was preached before his day as well as since; they also practiced baptism for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and they had the organization of the Church with inspired men therein. Saith the Lord Jesus,-- "I have set in the church, first, apostles, second prophets, third teachers, pastors, gifts, helps, and gov- ernments." What for? For the work of the ministry, for the perfecting of the Saints, &c. These things are necessary in every age of the world, and they have been restored in these last days, and they are true and will have their effect upon the children of men.

It is our duty as a people to unite to- gether and not to be slothful in welldoing. As I have already said, we should let our prayers ascend before the Lord. I have more faith in prayer before the Lord than almost any other principle on earth. If we have no faith in prayer to God, we have not much in either him or the Gospel. We should pray unto the Lord, asking him for what we want. Let the prayers of this people ascend before the Lord con- tinually in the season thereof, and the Lord will, not turn them away, but they will be heard and answered, and the king- dom and Zion of God will rise and shine, she will put on her beautiful garments and be clothed with the glory of her God, and fulfill the object of her organization here upon the earth.

Then we should go to and do our duty in building the Temples of our God, that we may magnify our calling, and be saviors on Mount Zion, for the living and the dead.

When the apostles were put to death the priesthood went from the earth, and the church went into the wilderness, or, in other words, there was a falling away among the Gen- tiles, as there had been before among the Jews. Those generations are in the spirit world, shut up in prison; they have got to be visited by men who held the priest- hood in the flesh, that they may preach the gospel unto them, the same as Jesus did when he went to preach to the spirits in prison during the three days and nights when his body lay in the tomb. This is our duty. And I will here say that every elder of Israel who lays down his life, whether he dies in his bed, or is put to death by the enemies of truth, when he goes into the spirit world his works follow him, and he rests in peace. The priest- hood is not taken from him, and he has thousands more to preach to there than he ever had here in the flesh. But it de- pends upon the living here to erect tem- ples, that the ordinances for the dead may be attended to, for by and by you will meet your progenitors in the spirit world who never heard the sound of the gospel. You who are here in Zion have power to be baptized for and to redeem your dead.

Let us, therefore, try and do our duty. Let us attend to the ordinances of the house of God, and unite ourselves accord- ing to his law, for Jesus will never receive the Zion of God unless its people are united according to celestial law, for all who go into the presence of God have to go there by this law.

It has been promised that the New Jerusalem will be built up in our day and generation, and it will have to be done by the United Order of Zion and ac- cording to celestial law.

I always have said and believed, and I believe to-day, that it will pay you and me and all the sons and all the daughters of Adam to abide the celestial law, for celes- tial glory is worth all we possess; if it calls for every dollar we own and our lives into the bargain, if we obtain an entrance into the celestial kingdom of God it will amply repay us. The Latter-day Saints have started out for celestial glory, and if we can only manage to be faithful enough to obtain an inheritance in the kingdom, where God and Christ dwell, we shall re- joice through the endless ages of eternity.

I pray God my heavenly Father that he will inspire our hearts as Latter-day Saints, that we may become one and, not having the fear of man before our eyes, but the fear of God, that we may be ready to do whatever is required of us, and to carry out the counsels of the servants of God. When we do this we shall be happy, and we shall be saved whether in life or in death. I pray that we may pursue this course, and that we may overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, and inherit eternal life, for Jesus sake. Amen.