May 14, 1843 ~ Sunday 14th Sunday The meeting was opened by singing, & Prayer by w woodruff Then Joseph the Seer arose & said It is not wisdom that we should have all knowledge at once presented before us but that we should have a little then we can comprehend it. He then read the second epistle of Peter 1st ch 16 to last vers & dwelt upon the 19: vers with som remarks ad[d] to your faith knowledge &c. The principle of knowledge is the principle of Salvation the Principle can be comprehended, for any one that cannot get knowledge to be saved will be damned. The Principl of Salvation is given to us through the kno- wledge of Jesus Christ. Salvation is nothing more or less than to triumph over all our enemies & put them under our feet & when we have power to put all enemies under our feet in this world & a knowledge to triumph over all evil spirits in the world to come then we are saved as in the case of Jesus he was to reign untill he had put all enemies under his feet & the last enemy was death perhaps there are principle here that few men have thought of. No power ^person^ can have this Salvation except through a tabernacle

Good and righteous men will administer justice & rebuke evil & the church should be clensed from bad men & the Lord will take his own way to clens the Church, we should lift up our voice against wickedness of all kinds, but will the rulers of our land do it no they will not, they will be cowards untill their is no man to fight & then be brave when goverment will not do it some man should take the helm of government that will do it, will it be called treason if the God of heaven should set up a kingdom, may the Lord give you more & more of his spirit light & intelligence untill you are cemented together in union & love Amen

I ask did I ever exercise any compulsion over any man. did I not give him the liberty of disbelieveing any doctrin I have preached if he saw fit, why do not my enemies strike a blow at the doctrin, they cannot do it, it is truth, And I am as the voice of one crying in the wilderness repent of your sins & prepare the way for the coming of the son of Man, for the kingdom of God has come unto you and henceforth the ax is laid unto the root of the tree, and evry tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, God Almighty (and not Jo Smith) shall hew down & cast it into the fire.)

If a man gets the fulness of God he has to get [it] in the same way that Jesus Christ obta- ined it & that was by keeping all the ordin- ances of the house of the Lord.

Men will say I will never forsake you but will stand by you at all times but the moment you teach them some of the mysteries of God that are retained in the heavens and are to be revealed to the children of men when they are prepared, They will be the first to stone you & put you to death. It was the same principle that crusified the Lord Jesus Christ.

Br Smoot related the news to me from Br Patten which was glorious in the first degree he gave me an account of the endowment at Kirtland Ohio the heavens was opened unto them Angels & Jesus Christ was seen of them sitting at the right hand of the father

had the keys of the priesthood been retained & handed down from father to son throughout all generations up to the present time then there would have been no nece[ssity] of the law of adoption for we would have all been included in the covenant without it & would have been legal heirs

The Lord is performing a marvelous ^work^ indeed in this generation & although I sometimes mourn to look upon the a [page torn] earth & see the darkness error & pollution that covers this generation & the destruction that awaits them yet I again rejoice to see the Church of Christ travling out of the wilderness leaning upon her beloved Yea it gives me Joy to know that the little stone cut out of the mountain that hath began to roll forth in these last days will fill the whole earth & the Saints will possess the kingdom

Phebe I know you have made sacrafices, & great ones to, you have made them for Jesus Christ & his cause, & you have made them for me: some of them have been of such a nature that it hath required all the powers of the soul to pass through them, & those sacrifces still continue, even our seperation is required for a season in order to do the will of God, but I think you are sensible that no worldly honour or Earthly gain would cause this our seperation No nothing but the commandment of God. Notwithstanding the gate is strait & the way is narrow O! do not shun it, walk in it, yes walk in it for my sake, & seek not death, but livie, yes live for me. Our sorrows, our trials, our sacrafices soon will end, & in that rest that remains for the people of God thou shalt be comforted. Stand by me & maintain thine integrity untill we enter those glories that are to be revealed at the comeing of Christ & thy joy shall be full. O! the glories of a celestial Kingdom I long for thee, for thee I pay my sacrafice. O! kind hearer seal my prayer, grant my request, give me an enterence with my rib my child within thy gates, & glorify our souls with Eternal light & truth & united pow- ers inseperable. Ah Phebe I have had to much of a taste of those Eternal & Almighty truths appertaining to the Celestial Kingdom of God, to let go my grasp I have put my hand to the plough I cannot look back, I must finish my work that My father hath given me to do, & I have confidence to believe that I shall have your assistance unto the End.

Should it be our lot to enjoy a long Eternity together in that society whare tears are wiped from all faces & sorrow & sighing are known no more, we should not regret having passed through trials here in the flesh. All the ancient Saints & Jesus Christ not excepted had their trials to pass through but they are now glorified, & as it is now our turn & we are living in this last dispensat ion & have a great work to do, then should we not act nobly, walk by faith & do our work in patience untill we can say it is finished. We are not alone in this great cause, the Heavens are deeply interested in our welfare, our cause, & our work.