Remarks

If I ever felt thankful in my life for anything, I do this morning that I am alive, that I stand in the flesh and have again the privilege of assembling in the conference. I am thankful that I have the privilege of meeting in this capacity Prophet, Patriarchs, Apostles, Elders and Latter-day Saints. For the sixty-three years of the sixty-six since the organization of the Church I have been blessed to meet, when at home, with the general conferences of the Church. I have listened to the testimony of Prophets and Apostles and Elders of Israel, including that good and great man, the Prophet Joseph Smith, whom God raised up and appointed from before the foundation of the world to stand in the flesh in the latter days and organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to prepare the way for the coming of the Son of Man to warn the whole world as far as doors should be opened, and to prepare for the great events to transpire in the generation in which we live. The testimony of the Prophet Joseph has been a strong one concerning the great and last dispensation of God to man on the earth. Upwards of eighteen hundred years have rolled away since the dead of the Savior of the world and His Apostles, and the God of heaven knows what it cost the Jewish nation to shed the blood of their Savior and their Shiloh, and the blood of the Apostles. The blood of the Lord's anointed which was shed by that nation in that day cost more than the human family can comprehend. Well might the Savior say, while passing through that ignominious death upon the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Truly, they knew not what they did; but the effect of it has been manifest with the house of Israel now for eighteen hundred years, and the end is not yet. So I will say with regard to the Gentiles. The God of heaven knows what it will cost them for shedding the blood of the Prophet of God and his brother, and the Apostles and brethren who laid down their lives for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. It costs something to shed righteous blood. And the Gentiles have not got eighteen hundred years before them in which to pay the debt. The words of the Lord have got to be fulfilled upon them in the day and generation in which these holy men have been slain. ¶

I refer to these things because I know not how long I may have the privilege of bearing my testimony of the Gospel of Christ on the earth. The revelations that are in the Bible, the predictions of the Patriarchs and Prophets who saw by vision and revelation the last dispensation and fullness of times, plainly tell us what is to come to pass. The 49th chapter of Isaiah is having its fulfillment, as are the sayings of the Patriarchs and Prophets as laid down in records of divine truth. And they will be rapid in their fulfillment. I have often said in my teachings, if the world want to know what is coming to pass, let them read the revelations of St. John. Read of the judgments of God that are going to overtake the world in the last dispensation. Read the papers and see what is taking place in our own nation and in the nations of the earth, and what does it all mean? It means the commencement of the fulfillment of what the Prophets of God have predicted. In the Doctrine and Covenants there are many revelations given through the mouth of the Prophet of God; these revelations will all have their fulfillment, as the Lord lives, and no power can hinder it. In one of the revelations the Lord told Joseph Smith: ¶

Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; ¶

But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender, (for verily your faith is weak,) lest you destroy the wheat also. ¶

Therefore let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe, then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo! the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned. ¶

I want to bear testimony to this congregation, and to the heavens and the earth, that the day is come when those angels are privileged to go forth and commence their work. They are laboring in the United States of America; they are laboring among the nations of the earth; and they will continue. These things are at our doors, and neither you nor I can hinder them. We need not marvel or wonder at anything that is transpiring in the earth. The world do not comprehend the revelations of God. They did not in the days of the Jews; yet all that the Prophets had spoken concerning them came to pass. So in our day, these things will come to pass. I heard the Prophet Joseph bear his testimony to these events that would transpire in the earth. I have had the privilege during my life to see the beginning of the fulfillment of the words of the Prophet of God unto the inhabitants of the earth. He lived but a short time; but the Savior's life was much shorter after entering the ministry. He was put to death, as were all His Apostles, excepting John; and that blood has been paid for as far as time would admit. We cannot draw a veil over the events that await this generation. No man that is inspired by the Spirit and power of God can close his ears, his eyes or his lips to these things. I do not know that I shall live to see much more; it is not likely that I shall; but I have lived to see the commencement in the earth. I have lived to see the words of the Prophet of God being fulfilled concerning Zion, concerning the mountains of Israel, and the gathering together of the Lord's people to prepare for the coming of the Son of Man. We have been led to these mountains in fulfillment of revelation. We have laid a foundation for the gathering of the House of Israel and the Saints of the living God. I hope that we as a people may comprehend these things. I have listened to the testimony, not only of the Prophet of God, but also of many of the Apostles. I remember very well the last charge that Joseph gave to the Apostles. We had as little idea that he was going from us as the Apostles of the Savior did that He was going to be taken from them. Joseph talked with us as plainly as did the Savior to His Apostles, but we did not understand that he was about to depart from us any more than the Apostles understood the Savior. Now, I have heard of other parties rising up and pretending that the Prophet Joseph Smith gave unto them a charge to lead and direct the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I want to say that it is false; there is not a word of truth in it. When he delivered that charge to the Apostles he was filled with the power of God. His face was clear as amber, and the room was filled with the Spirit of God, like holy fire. In his address he told us that he had received at the hands of the Almighty God all the keys, and powers, and priesthood, and ordinances and gifts belonging to the dispensation in which we lived. "Now," says he, "I have sealed all these blessings upon your heads, upon you Apostles of the Lamb of God, who have been chosen to bear off this Church and kingdom on the earth;" and after making this solemn proclamation to us, he said, "Now, you have got to round up your shoulders and bear off this kingdom, or you will be damned." I never shall forget that. All of those Apostles today are in the spirit world, excepting myself, and they know that what he said is true; and those of us who have the Spirit of God know that it is true. ¶

I feel to thank God for the progress of the work. The Elders of Israel are abroad among the nations carrying the Gospel to the children of men, and the Lord is blessing them and opening the way before them. It is true, our doctrine is not popular. In fact, the Latter-day Saints as a body have been under a ban in a great measure, from the organization of the Church until of late. The doctrine of Jesus is an unpopular doctrine. But there is only one Gospel; never was but one Gospel ordained of God to man for the salvation of the human family. That Gospel was taught by the Savior and by His Apostles. It was taught Joseph Smith by Moroni, and the Priesthood was given unto him by John the Baptist and Peter, James and John. The first principle of that Gospel is faith. Well, the people of the world may say, we all believe in Jesus Christ. Yes, but there is something to do besides believing in Christ. We must repent of our sins, be baptized for the remission of them, and receive the Holy Ghost. This is the doctrine taught by Christ and His Apostles. The same Gospel was taught to Adam and by him to his children. These doctrines have been revealed to us by the administration of angels. The gifts, the graces, and powers that belonged to that Gospel are with this people, and have been from the organization of the Church. ¶

My brethren and sisters, we must be faithful, because the responsibility is great and mighty that rests upon us as bearers of the Holy Priesthood. You will see many strange things take place in the earth. We are at the end, so to speak, of the six thousand years. We are bordering on the millennium, when the Son of Man shall come in the clouds of heaven. Therefore, we cannot lay down our Priesthood and the work which the God of heaven has put into our hands. The eyes of the Prophet Joseph and all those sanctified spirits who have laid down their lives for the work of God and testimony of Jesus are upon us. Therefore, I feel this morning to bear my testimony to these things. The Lord has blessed me, so far as life is concerned, a long time. I have been connected with this Church while almost two or three quorums of Apostles have passed away. Let us lay these things to heart. Let us look at our position before the Lord. Let us be true and faithful in the work of the ministry and in doing the things God requires at our hands. God has blessed us. He has led us unto these mountains of Israel. The prophet of God was inspired to bring the people to this great American desert. There were no marks of white man here, no marks of agriculture and nothing to encourage any man to stop here; but President Brigham Young pitched his tent here, and laid the foundation of this city, with these broad streets and sidewalks, in the midst of sand and sagebrush. The Lord's Spirit was with him, and he saw what was to do here. We are in the midst of the mountains of Israel, prophesied of as the gathering place of the people of God in the last days, where they might stand in holy places while the judgments of God worked in the earth. Let us try to do our duty, and labor for the Holy Spirit. The devil and the fallen spirits have labored from the creation of the world to thwart the purposes of God. He did it in the days of Christ. He tempted even Him forty days and forty nights. His Apostles did not escape, either. We shall not escape any more than they did. The arch-enemy is laboring for the overthrow of this Church and kingdom. He knows something about it. Therefore, you and I ought to pursue a course wherein we can be justified before the Lord. There are many events before us and at our door, and they follow each other in quick succession. No power on earth or under the earth can stay the fulfillment of these things. You can hardly see them with your eyes, hear them with your ears, and feel them in your spirits. And when these strange things take place, no man should marvel and wonder at them, because they are in the great programme. They have been decreed by Almighty God, and these things are only the beginning of sorrows. ¶

I want to make a few remarks on another subject. Whenever the Lord has a people on the earth, no matter in what age of the world, they will dovetail right square into any other dispensation. You may see that throughout the whole history of the world. When Christ was born and entered into the ministry, and when He chose His Apostles, they acknowledged every revelation that had ever been given from Father Adam down to their day. They had the same Gospel, the same gifts, the same fruits. Now, if these Latter-day Saints are the saints of God, their works will be the same as were Christ's and the Apostles. I hold in my hand the Doctrine and Covenants, containing revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith while he dwelt in the flesh. Read those revelations, and from the beginning to end they unite with all dispensations God has had on the earth. And that is not all. When God has a people on the earth the fruits of the Gospel will be manifest. In my boyhood I went to Sabbath school, under old Dr. Porter. I read the New Testament; I read about the gifts and graces that Christ and His Apostles had; and I asked Dr. Porter why it was that they did not contend for this faith, and why they did not have these gifts and graces. "Oh," said he, "those things were given in the dark ages of the world, to convince the world that Jesus was the Christ. We live today in the glorious Gospel light of Christ, and we do not need them." Then, said I, for God's sake give me the dark ages of the world! That has been my spirit from that day to this. Here are thousands of men and women in this house, if they had the opportunity, could rise up and bear testimony that the fruits of the Gospel which the Apostles enjoyed are with these people. These Elders who have traveled thousands of miles can bear testimony that wherever this Gospel has been preached and wherever the Elders of Israel have administered, the gifts and graces have followed them. I bear testimony to this. My brethren can bear testimony to it. The sick have been healed, devils have been cast out, the lame have leaped, the deaf have heard, and all the gifts and graces that ever were manifest have been enjoyed among these Elders of Israel. Several years ago I met a man and woman here in the street. The woman said, "Do you know me?" I said I do not. "Do you know this man that is with me?" "No, I do not." "Why," said she, "you laid hands on this boy in Herefordshire fifty years ago. He was dumb—never spoke a word till you laid hands upon him and blessed him; and he has spoken ever since." We have no business to claim to be Saints of the living God without we have the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we have that, these gifts will be with us. You know this as well as I do. Joseph Smith had the whole spirit and power of this resting upon him while he lived. He taught these principles to us, and they have been realized, and will be until this scene is wound up. This work shows for itself. That Gospel was taught Joseph Smith by an angel, as John the Revelator says: ¶

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of the heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. ¶

Saying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to Him; for the house of His judgment is come. ¶

Yes, the hour of God's judgment is come, and we should be prepared. Who besides the Latter-day Saints, since the days of Christ and His Apostles, have ever taught the principle of the redemption of the dead? Here we have four temples reared in this State by the Latter-day Saints and tens of thousands of the dead have been redeemed by the administration of the Gospel of Christ to their posterity or friends. This is one of the evidences of the fulfillment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The prophet says, "Saviors shall come up on mount Zion * * and the kingdom shall be the Lord's." If we were not the saints of God, we could not do this. Whatever other dispensations may have done in this direction, we have no record of it. Jesus himself preached this doctrine. While his body lay in the tomb he went and preached to those who were in the spirit world, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh. This work is with the Latter-day Saints, and will remain with us. ¶

We lost one of our Apostles a short time since. He was about the youngest man in the quorum of the Apostles. He was called suddenly away from us. There is a meaning to this. Many times things take place with us that we do not comprehend, unless it is given to us by revelation. But there is a meaning in the loss of that young Apostle. I had a manifestation of that while in San Francisco recently. One evening, as I fell asleep, I was very much troubled with evil spirits, that tried to afflict me; and while laboring to throw off these spirit and their influence, there was another spirit visited me that seemed to have power over the evil spirits, and they departed from me. Before he left me he told me not to grieve because of the departure of Abraham Hoagland Cannon; for the Lord had called him to fill another important mission in the spirit world, as a pure and holy Apostle from Zion in the Rocky Mountains—a labor which would not only prove a great benefit to his father's household, but to the Church and kingdom of God on the earth. I feel to name this, because it is true. I have become acquainted with many things in our history that I have marveled at. While in the St. George Temple I had a son, who was in the north country, drowned. He was 21 years of age, and was a faithful young man. He had a warning of this. In a dream he was notified how he would die. We had testimony of that after his death. I asked the Lord why he was taken from me. The answer to me was, "You are doing a great deal for the redemption of your dead; but the law of redemption requires some of your own seed in the spirit world to attend to work connected with this." That was a new principle to me; but it satisfied me why he was taken away. I name this, because there are a great many instances like it among the Latter-day Saints. This was the case with Brother Abraham Cannon. He was taken away to fulfill that mission. And where we have anything of this kind, we should leave it in the hands of God to reconcile. ¶

Let us try as Latter-day Saints to qualify ourselves to do the will of God and bear off His kingdom, and be true and faithful to the end, which may God grant, for Christ's sake. Amen. ¶