A SERMON DELIVERED BY ELDER P. P. PRATT, BEFORE THE CONFERENCEAT GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, APRIL 7, 1853.
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I was led to reflection on this subject, not only by my acquaintancewith the present state of the world, and the movements and powers whichseem new to many, but because this text, written by Isaiah so many centuriessince, and copied by Nephi ages before the birth of Jesus Christ, seemedas appropriate, and as directly adapted to the present state of things,as if written but yesterday, or a year since.
"Should not a people seek unto their God, for the living to hearfrom the dead?" is a question by the Prophet, and at a time when theyshall invite you to seek unto those familiar with spirits, and to wizards,&c., or in other words, to magnetizers, rappers, clairvoyants, writingmediums, &c. When they shall say these things unto you, then is thetime to consider the question of that ancient Prophet-"Should not apeople seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead?"
We hear much, of late, about visions, trances, clairvoyance, mediumsof communication with the spirit world, writing mediums, &c., by whichthe world of spirits is said to have found means to communicate with spiritsin the flesh. They are not working in a corner. The world is agitated onthese subjects. Religious ministers are said to preach, editors to writeand print, judges to judge, &c., by this kind of inspiration. It isbrought into requisition to develop the sciences, to detect crime, and inshort to mingle in all the interests of life.
In the first place, what are we talking about, when we touch the questionof the living hearing from the dead? It is a saying, that "dead mentell no tales." If this is not in the Bible, it is somewhere else;and if it be true, it is just as good as if it were in the Bible.
The Sadducees in the time of Jesus, believed there were no such thingsas angels or spirits, or existence in another sphere; that when an individualwas dead, it was the final end of the workings of his intellectual being,that the elements were dissolved, and mingled with the great fountain fromwhich they emanated, which was the end of individuality, or conscious existence.
Jesus, in reply to them, took up the argument from the Scriptures, orhistory of the ancient fathers, venerated by reason of antiquity, in hopes,by this means, to influence the Sadducees, or at least the Pharisees andothers, by means so powerful and so well adapted to the end in view.
Said he, God has declared Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.Now God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living; as much asto say that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not dead, but living; that theyhad never been dead at all, but had always been living; that they neverdid die, in the sense of the word that these Sadducees supposed, but wereabsolutely alive.
Now if intelligent beings, who once inhabited flesh, such as our fathers,mothers, wives, children, &c., have really died, and are now dead inthe sense of the word, as understood by the ancient Sadducees, or modernAtheist, then it is in vain to talk of converse with the dead. All controversy,in that case, is at an end on the subject of correspondence with the dead,because an intelligence must exist before it can communicate. If these individualsare dead, in the sense that the human body dies, then there is no communicationfrom them. This we know, because of our own observation and experience.We have seen many dead bodies, but have never known of a single instanceof any intelligence communicated therefrom.
Jesus, in his argument with the Sadducees, handled the subject accordingto the strictest principles of ancient and modern theology, and true philosophy.He conveyed the idea in the clearest terms, that an individual intelligenceor identity could never die.
The outward tabernacle, inhabited by a spirit, returns to the elementfrom which it emanated. But the thinking being, the individual, active agentor identity that inhabited that tabernacle, never ceased to exist, to think,act, live, move, or have a being; never ceased to exercise those sympathies,affections, hopes, and aspirations, which are founded in the very natureof intelligences, being the inherent and invaluable principles of theireternal existence.
No, they never cease. They live move, think, act, converse, feel, love,hate, believe, doubt, hope, and desire.
But what are they, if they are not flesh and bones? What are they, ifthey are not tangible to our gross organs of sense? Of what are they composed,that we can neither see, hear, not handle them, except we are quickened,or our organs touched by the principles of vision, clairvoyance, or spiritualsight? What are they? Why, they are organized intelligences. What are theymade of? They are made of the element which we call spirit, which is asmuch an element of material existence, as earth, air, electricity, or anyother tangible substance recognized by man; but so subtle, so refined isits nature, that it is not tangible to our gross organs. It is invisibleto us, unless we are quickened by a portion of the same element; and, likeelectricity, and several other substances, it is only known or made manifestto our senses by its effects. For instance, electricity is not always visibleto us, but its existence is made manifest by its operations upon the wire,or upon the nerves. We cannot see the air, but we feel its effects, andwithout it we cannot breathe.
If a wire were extended in connection with the equatorial line of ourglobe in one entire circle of 25,000 miles in extent, the electric fluidwould convey a token from one intelligence to another, the length of theentire circle, in a very small portion of a second, or, we will say in thetwinkling of an eye. This, then, proves that the spiritual fluid or elementcalled electricity is an actual, physical, and tangible power, and is asmuch a real and tangible substance, as the ponderous rocks which were laidon yesterday in the foundation of our contemplated Temple.
It is true that this subtle fluid or spiritual element is endowed withthe powers of locomotion in a far greater degree than the more gross orsolid elements of nature; that its refined particles penetrate amid theother elements with greater ease, and meet with less resistance from theair or other substances, than would the more gross elements. Hence its speed,or superior powers of motion.
Now let us apply this philosophy to all the degrees of spiritual element,from electricity, which may be assumed to be one of the lowest or more grosselements of spiritual matter, up through all the gradations of the invisiblefluids, till we arrive at a substance so holy, so pure, so endowed withintellectual attributes and sympathetic affections, that it may be saidto be on a par, or level, in its attributes, with man.
Let a given quantity of this element, thus endowed, or capacitated, beorganized in the size and form of man, let every organ be developed, formed,and endowed, precisely after the pattern or model of man's outward or fleshlytabernacle-what would we call this individual, organized portion of thespiritual element?
We would call it a spiritual body, an individual intelligence, an agentendowed with life, with a degree of independence, or inherent will, withthe powers of motion, of thought, and with the attributes of moral, intellectual,and sympathetic affections and emotions.
We would conceive of it as possessing eyes to see, ears to hear, handsto handle; as in possessions of the organ of taste, of smelling, and ofspeech.
Such beings are we, when we have laid off this outward tabernacle offlesh. We are in every way interested, in our relationships, kindred ties,sympathies, affections, and hopes, as if we had continued to live, but hadstepped aside, and were experiencing the loneliness of absence for a season.Our ancestors, our posterity, to the remotest ages of antiquity, or of futuretime, are all brought within the circle of our sphere of joys, sorrows,interests, or expectations; each forms a link in the great chain of life,and in the science of mutual salvation, improvement, and exaltation throughthe blood of the Lamb.
Our prospects, hopes, faith, charity, enlightenment, improvement, inshort, all our interests, are blended, and more or less influenced by theacts of each.
Is this the kind of being that departs from our sight when its earthlytabernacle is laid off, and the vail of eternity is lowered between us?Yes, verily. Where then does it go?
To heaven, says one; to the eternal world of glory, says another; tothe celestial kingdom, to inherit thrones and crowns, in all the fulnessof the presence of the Father, and of Jesus Christ, says a third.
Now, my dear hearers, these things are not so. Nothing of the kind. Thrones,kingdoms, crowns, principalities, and powers, in the celestial and eternalworlds, and the fulness of the presence of the Father, and of His Son JesusChrist, are reserved for resurrected beings, who dwell in immortal flesh.The world of resurrected beings, and the world of spirits, are two distinctspheres, as much so as our own sphere is distinct from that of the spiritworld.
Where then does the spirit go, on its departure from its earthly tabernacle?It passes to the next sphere of human existence, called the world of spirits,a vail being drawn between us in the flesh, and that world of spirits. Well,says one, is there no more than one place in the spirit world? Yes, thereare many places and degrees in that world, as in this. Jesus Christ, whenabsent from his flesh, did not ascend to the Father, to be crowned, andenthroned in power. Why? Because he had not yet a resurrected body, andhad therefore a mission to perform in another sphere. Where then did hego? To the world of spirits, to wicked, sinful spirits, who died in theirsins, being swept off by the flood of Noah. The thief on the cross, whodied at the same time, also went to the same world, and to the same particularplace in the same world, for he was a sinner, and would of course go tothe prison of the condemned, there to await the ministry of that Gospelwhich had failed to reach his case while on the earth.
How many other places Jesus might have visited while in the spirit worldis not for me to say, but there was a moment in which the poor, uncultivated,ignorant thief was with him in that world. And as he commenced, though late,to repent while on the earth, we have reason to hope that that moment wasimproved by our Saviour, in ministering to him that Gospel which he hadno opportunity to teach to him, while expiring on the cross. "Thisday shalt thou be with me in Paradise," said Jesus, or, in other words,this day shalt thou be with me in the next sphere of existence-the worldof spirits.
Now mark the difference. Jesus was there, as a preacher of righteousness,as one holding the keys of Apostleship, or Priesthood, anointed to preachglad tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken hearted, to preach libertyto the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound. Whatdid the thief go there for? He went there in a state of ignorance, and sin,being uncultivated, unimproved, and unprepared for salvation. He went thereto be taught, and to complete that repentance, which in a dying moment hecommenced on the earth.
He had beheld Jesus expire on the cross, and he had implored him to rememberhim when he should come into possession of his kingdom. The Saviour underthese extreme circumstances, did not then teach him the Gospel, but referredhim to the next opportunity, when they should meet in the spirit world.If the thief thus favoured continued to improve, he is no doubt waitingin hope for the signal to be given, at the sound of the next trump, forhim to leave the spirit world, and to re-enter the fleshly tabernacle, andto ascend to a higher degree of felicity. Jesus Christ, on the other hand,departed from the spirit world on the third day, and re-entered his fleshlytabernacle, in which he ascended, and was crowned at the right hand of theFather. Jesus Christ then, and the thief on the cross, have not dwelt togetherin the same kingdom or place, for this eighteen hundred years, nor havewe proof that they have seen each other during that time.
To say that Jesus Christ dwells in the world of spirits, with those whosebodies are dead, would not be the truth. He is not there. He only staidthere till the third day. He then returned to his tabernacle, and ministeredamong the sons of earth for forty days, where he ate, drank, talked, preached,reasoned out of the Scriptures, commissioned, commanded, blessed, &c.Why did he do this? Because he had ascended on high, and been crowned withall power in heaven and on earth, therefore he had authority to do all thesethings.
So much then for that wonderful question that has been asked by our Christianneighbors, so many thousand times, in the abundance of their charity forthose who, like the thief on the cross, die in their sins, or without baptism,and the other Gospel ordinances.
The question naturally arises-Do all the people who die without the Gospelhear it as soon as they arrive in the world of spirits? To illustrate this,let us look at the dealings of God with the people of this world. "Whatcan we reason but from what we know?" We know and understand the thingsof this world, in some degree, because they are visible, and we are dailyconversant with them. Do all the people in this world hear the Gospel assoon as they are capable of understanding? No, indeed, but very few in comparisonhave heard it at all.
Ask the poor Lamanites who have, with their fathers before them, inhabitedthese mountains for a thousand years, whether they have ever heard the Gospel,and they will tell you nay. But why not? Is it not preached on the earth?Yea, verily, but the earth is wide, and circumstances differ very greatlyamong its different inhabitants. The Jews once had the Gospel, with itsApostleship, powers, and blessings offered unto them, but they rejectedit as a people, and for this reason it was taken from them, and thus manygenerations of them have been born, and have lived and died without it.So with the Gentiles, and so with the Lamanites. God has seen proper tooffer the Gospel, with its Priesthood and powers, in different ages andcountries, but it has been as often rejected, and therefore withdrawn fromthe earth. The consequence is that the generations of men have, for manyages, come and gone in ignorance of its principles, and the glorious hopesthey inspire.
Now these blessings would have continued on the earth, and would havebeen enjoyed in all the ages and nations of man, but for the agency of thepeople. They chose their own forms of government, laws, institutions, religions,rulers, and priests, instead of yielding to the influence and guidance ofthe chosen vessels of the Lord, who were appointed to instruct and governthem.
Now, how are they situated in the spirit world? If we reason from analogy,we should at once conclude that things exist there after the same pattern.I have not the least doubt but there are spirits there who have dwelt therea thousand years, who, if we could converse with them face to face, wouldbe found as ignorant of the truths, the ordinances, powers, keys, Priesthood,resurrection, and eternal life of the body, in short, as ignorant of thefulness of the Gospel, with its hopes and consolations, as is the Pope ofRome, or the Bishop of Canterbury, or as are the Chiefs of the Indian tribesof Utah.
And why this ignorance in the spirit world? Because a portion of theinhabitants thereof are found unworthy of the consolations of the Gospel,until the fulness of time, until they have suffered in hell, in the dungeonsof darkness, or the prisons of the condemned, amid the buffetings of fiends,and malicious and lying spirits.
As in earth, so in the spirit world. No person can enter into the privilegesof the Gospel, until the keys are turned, and the Gospel opened by thosein authority, for all which there is a time, according to the wise dispensationsof justice and mercy.
It was many, many centuries before Christ lived in the flesh, that awhole generation, eight souls excepted, were cut off by the flood. Whatbecame of them? I do not know exactly all their history in the spirit world.But this much I know-they have heard the Gospel from the lips of a crucifiedRedeemer, and have the privilege of being judged according to men in theflesh. As these persons were ministered to by Jesus Christ, after he hadbeen put to death, it is reasonable to suppose that they had waited allthat time, without the knowledge or privileges of the Gospel.
How long did they wait? You may reckon for yourselves. The long ages,centuries, thousands of years which intervened between the flood of Noahand the death of Christ. Oh! the weariness, the tardy movement of time!the lingering ages for a people to dwell in condemnation, darkness, ignorance,and despondency, as a punishment for their sins. For they had been filledwith violence while on the earth in the flesh, and had rejected the preachingof Noah, and the Prophets which were before him.
Between these two dispensations, so distant from each other in pointof time, they were left to linger without hope, and without God, in thespirit world; and similar has been the fate of the poor Jew, the miserableLamanite, and many others in the flesh. Between the commission and ministryof the Former and Latter Day Saints, and Apostles, there has been a longand dreary night of darkness. Some fifteen to seventeen centuries have passedaway, in which the generations of man have lived without the keys of theGospel.
Whether in the flesh, or in the spirit world, is this not hell enough?Who can imagine a greater hell than that before our eyes, in the circumstancesof the poor, miserable, degraded Indians and his ancestors, since the keysof the Gospel were taken from them some fifteen hundred years ago? Thosewho had the Gospel in the former dispensations, and were made partakersof its spirit, its knowledge, and its powers, and then turned away, andbecame the enemies of God, and of His Saints, the malicious and wilful opposersof that which they knew to be true, have no forgiveness in this world, neitherin the spirit world, which is the world next to come.
Such apostates seek, in all dispensations to bring destruction on theinnocent, and to shed innocent blood, or consent thereto. For such, I againrepeat, I know no forgiveness. Their children, who, by the conduct of suchfathers, have been plunged into ignorance and misery for so many ages, andhave lived without the privileges of the Gospel, will look down upon sucha parentage with mingled feelings of horror, contempt, reproach, and pity,as the agents who plunged their posterity into the depths of misery andwoe.
Think of those swept away by the flood in the days of Noah. Did theywait a long time in prison? Forty years! O what a time to be imprisoned!What do you say to a hundred, a thousand, two thousand, three or four thousandyears to wait? Without what? Without even a clear idea or hope of a resurrectionfrom the dead, without the broken heart being bound up, the captive delivered,or the door of the prison opened. Did not they wait? Yes they did, untilChrist was put to death in the flesh.
Now what would have been the result, if they had repented while in theflesh at the preaching of Noah? Why, they would have died in hope of a gloriousresurrection, and would have enjoyed the society of the redeemed, and livedin happiness in the spirit world, till the resurrection of the Son of God.Then they would have received their bodies, and would have ascended withhim, amid thrones, principalities, and powers in heavenly places.
I will suppose, in the spirit world, a grade of spirits of the lowestorder, composed of murderers, robbers, thieves, adulterers, drunkards, andpersons ignorant, uncultivated, &c., who are in prison, or in hell,without hope, without God, and unworthy as yet of Gospel instruction. Suchspirits, if they could communicate, would not tell you of the resurrectionor of any of the Gospel truths, for they know nothing about them. They wouldnot tell you about heaven, or Priesthood, for in all their meanderings inthe world of spirits, they have never been privileged with the ministryof a holy Priest. If they should tell all the truth they possess, they couldnot tell much.
Take another class of spirits-pious, well-disposed men; for instance,the honest Quaker, Presbyterian, or other sectarian, who, although honest,and well disposed, had not, while in the flesh, the privilege of the Priesthoodand Gospel. They believed in Jesus Christ, but died in ignorance of hisordinances, and had not clear conceptions of his doctrine, and of the resurrection.They expected to go to that place called heaven, as soon as they were dead,and that their doom would then and there be fixed, without any further alterationor preparation. Suppose they should come back, with liberty to tell allthey know? How much light could we get from them? They could only tell youabout the nature of things in the world in which they live. And even thatworld you could not comprehend, by their description thereof, any more thanyou can describe colours to a man born blind, or sounds to those who havenever heard.
What, then, could you get from them? Why, common chit chat, in whichthere would be a mixture of truth, and of error and mistakes, in mingledconfusion: all their communications would betray the same want of clearand logical conceptions, and sound sense and philosophy, as would characterizethe same class of spirits in the flesh.
Who, then, is prepared, among the spirits in the spirit world, to communicatethe truth on the subject of salvation, to guide the people, to give advice,to confer consolation, to heal the sick, to administer joy, and gladness,and hope of immortality and eternal life, founded on manifest truth?
All that have been raised from the dead, and clothed with immortality,all that have ascended to yonder heavens, and been crowned as Kings andPriests, all such are our fellow servants, and of our brethren the Prophets,who have the testimony of Jesus; all such are waiting for the work of Godamong their posterity on the earth.
They could declare glad tidings if we were only prepared to commune withthem. What else? Peter, James, Joseph, Hyrum, Father Smith, any, or allof those ancient or modern Saints, who have departed this life, who areclothed upon with the powers of the eternal Apostleship, or Priesthood,who have gone to the world of spirits, not to sorrow, but as joyful messengers,bearing glad tidings of eternal truth to the spirits in prison-could notthese teach us good things? Yes, if they were permitted so to do.
But suppose all spirits were honest, and aimed at truth, yet each onecould only converse of the things he is privileged to know, or comprehend,or which have been revealed to his understanding, or brought within therange of his intellect.
If this be the case, what then do we wish, in communicating with theeternal world, by visions, angels, or ministering spirits? Why, if a personis sick they would like to be visited, comforted, or healed by an angelor spirit! If a man is in prison, he would like an angel or spirit to visithim, and comfort or deliver him. A man shipwrecked would like to be instructedin the way of escape for himself and fellows from a watery grave. In caseof extreme hunger a loaf of bread brought by an angel would not be unacceptable.
If a man were journeying, and murderers were lying in wait for him ina certain road, an angel would be useful to him in telling him of the circumstance,and to take another road.
If a man were journeying to preach the Gospel, an angel would be usefulto tell the neighbors of his high and holy calling, as in case of Peterand Cornelius. Or would you not like to have angels all around you, to guard,guide, and advise you in every emergency?
The Saints would like to enter a holy temple, and have their Presidentand his assistants administer for their dead. They love their fathers, althoughthey had once almost forgotten them. Our fathers have forgotten to handdown to us their genealogy. They have not felt sufficient interest to transmitto us their names, and the time and place of birth, and in many instancesthey have not taught us when and where ourselves were born, or who wereour grandparents, and their ancestry. Why is all this? It is because ofthat veil of blindness which is cast over the earth, because there has beenno true Church, Priesthood, or Patriarchal order, no holy place for thedeposit or preservation of the sacred archives of antiquity, no knowledgeof the eternal kindred ties, relationship, or mutual interests of eternity.The hearts of the children had become estranged from the fathers, and thehearts of the fathers from the children, until one came in the spirit andpower of Elijah, to turn the keys of these things, to open communicationbetween worlds, and to kindle in our bosoms that glow of eternal affectionwhich lay dormant.
Suppose our temple was ready, and we should enter there to act for thedead, we could only act for those whose names are known to us. And theseare few with the most of us Americans. And why is this? We have never hadtime to look to the heavens, or to the past or future, so busy have we beenwith the things of the earth. We have hardly had time to think of ourselves,to say nothing of our fathers.
It is time that all this stupidity and indifference should come to anend, and that our hearts were opened, and our charities extended, and thatour bosoms expanded, to reach forth after whom? Those whom we consider dead!God has condescended so far to our capacity, as to speak of our fathersas if they were dead, although they are living spirits, and will live forever. We have no dead! Only think of it! Our fathers are all living, thinking,active agents; we have only been taught that they are dead!
Shall I speak my feelings, that I had on yesterday, while we were layingthose Corner Stones of the Temple? Yes, I will utter them, if I can.
It was not with my eyes, not with the power of actual vision, but bymy intellect, by the natural faculties inherent in man, by the exerciseof my reason, upon known principles, or by the power of the Spirit, thatit appeared to me that Joseph Smith, and his associate spirits, the Latter-daySaints, hovered about us on the brink of that foundation, and with themall the angels and spirits from the other world, that might be permitted,or that were not too busy elsewhere.
Why should I think so? In the first place, what else on this earth havethey to be interested about? Where would their eyes be turned, in the wideearth, if not centered here? Where would their hearts and affections be,if they cast a look or a thought towards the dark speck in the heavens whichwe inhabit, unless to the people of these valleys and mountains? Are thereothers who have the keys for the redemption of the dead? Is any one elsepreparing a sanctuary for the holy conversation and ministrations pertainingto their exaltation? No, verily. No other people have opened their heartsto conceive ideas so grand. No other people have their sympathies drawnout to such an extent towards the fathers.
No. If you go from this people, to hear the doctrines of others, youwill hear the doleful sayings-"As the tree falls, so it lyeth. As deathleaves you, so judgment will find you. There is no work, nor device, norknowledge in the grave, &c., &c. There is no change after death,but you are fixed, irretrievably fixed, for all eternity. The moment thebreath leaves the body, you must go to an extreme of heaven or of hell,there to rejoice with Peter on thrones of power in the presence of JesusChrist in the third heavens, or, on the other hand, to roll in the flamesof hell with murderers and devils." Such are the doctrines of our sectarianbrethren, who profess to believe in Christ, but who know not the mysteriesof godliness, and the boundless resources of eternal charity, and of thatmercy which endureth forever.
It is here, that the spirit world would look with an intense interest,it is here that the nations of the dead, if I may so call them, would concentratetheir hopes of ministration on the earth in their behalf. It is here thatthe countless millions of the spirit world would look for the ordinancesof redemption, so far as they have been enlightened by the preaching ofthe Gospel, since the keys of the former dispensation were taken away fromthe earth
Why? If they looked upon the earth at all, it would be upon those CornerStones which we laid yesterday; if they listened at all, it would be tohear the sounds of voices and instruments, and the blending of sacred andmartial music in honour of the commencement of a temple for the redemptionof the dead. With what intensity of interest did they listen to the songsof Zion, and witness the feelings of their friends. They were glad to beholdthe glittering bayonets of the guards around the temple ground, and theylonged for the day when there would be a thousand where there is now butone. There wish to see a strong people, gathered and united, in sufficientpower to maintain a spot on earth where a baptismal font might be erectedfor the baptism for the dead.
It was here that all their expectations were centered. What cared theyfor all the golden palaces, marble pavements, or gilded halls of state onearth? What cared they for all the splendor, equipage, titles, and emptysounds of the self-styled great of this world, which all pass away as thedew of the morning before the rising sun? What cared they for the struggles,the battles, the victories, and numerous other worldly interests that vibratethe bosoms of men on either side? None of these things would interest them.Their interests were centered here, and thence extended to the work of Godamong the nations of the earth.
Did Joseph, in the spirit world, think of any thing else, yesterday,but the doings of his brethren on the earth? He might have been necessarilyemployed, and so busy as to be obliged to think of other things. But ifI were to judge from the acquaintance I had with him in his life, and frommy knowledge of the spirit of Priesthood, I would suppose him to be so hurriedas to have little or no time to cast an eye or a thought after his friendson the earth. He was always busy while here, and so are we. The spirit ofour holy ordination and anointing will not let us rest. The spirit of hiscalling will never suffer him to rest, while satan, sin, death, or darkness,possesses a foot of ground on this earth. While the spirit world containsthe spirit of one of his friends, or the grave holds captive one of theirbodies, he will never rest, or slacken his labours.
You might as well talk of Saul, king of Israel, resting while Israelwas oppressed by the Canaanites or Philistines, after Samuel had anointedhim to be king. At first he was like another man, but when occasion calledinto action the energies of a king, the spirit of his anointing came uponhim. He slew an ox, divided it into twelve parts, and sent a part to eachof the tribes of Israel, with this proclamation-"So shall it be doneto the ox of the man who will not come up to the help of the Lord of Hosts."
Ye Elders of Israel! you will find that there is a spirit upon you whichwill urge you to continued exertion, and will never suffer you to feel atease in Zion while a work remains unfinished in the great plan of redemptionof our race. It will inspire the Saints to build, plant, improve, cultivate,make the desert fruitful, in short, to use the elements, send missions abroad,build up states and kingdoms and temples at home, and send abroad the lightof a never-ending day to every people and nation of the globe.
You have been baptized, you have had the laying on of hands, and somehave been ordained, and some anointed with a holy anointing. A spirit hasbeen given you. And you will find, if you undertake to rest, it will bethe hardest work you ever performed. I came home here from a foreign mission.I presented myself to our President, and inquired what I should do next."Rest," said he.
If I had been set to turn the world over, to dig down a mountain, togo to the ends of the earth, or traverse the deserts of Arabia, it wouldhave been easier than to have undertaken to rest, while the Priesthood wasupon me. I have received the holy anointing, and I can never rest till thelast enemy is conquered, death destroyed, and truth reigns triumphant.
May God bless you all. Amen.