Righteousness Brings Peace

My brethren and sisters, with you I have rejoiced exceedingly in the services of this Conference, and my heart has been made glad by reason of the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon His servants—I have felt for myself very much encouraged by the words that have been spoken, and have felt reproved when reproof has been administered—I rejoice that my spirit has been so far responsive to the spirit manifested through our brethren who have ministered unto us—Great truths have been spoken; great testimonies, far reaching in their effects in the earth, have been delivered; and it does seem to me that the voice of warning is being sounded through this Conference to the nations of the earth ¶

While the brethren were speaking this morning the following passage in the Doctrine and Covenants came very forcibly to my mind—It is found in the 88th section—The Lord addresses the revelation to His servants who were engaged in the ministry, and it contains instructions to them; and in this particular part the Lord said: ¶

"Abide ye in the liberty wherewith ye are made free; entangle not yourselves in sin, but let your hands be clean, until the Lord come; ¶

"For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man, and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light, and the moon shall be bathed in blood and the stars shall become exceeding angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree. ¶

"And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people, for after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground, and shall not be able to stand. ¶

"And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea, heaving themselves beyond their bounds. ¶

"And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people." ¶

This revelation was given in the year 1832—66 years ago; and has been God's voice unto the nations of the earth—If it was wisdom in Him so long ago to place upon record this His word, how much more important it is, after the lapse of more than half a century, that it should be repeated, and especially in view of the commotion that exists among the children of men, when great dynasties seem to be crumbling to pieces, and when nations have been arming and equipping themselves for war, and when there is evidence of the elements being disturbed, and when by experience the inhabitants of the earth may know that destructive elements may sweep over the land at the will of God ¶

I wish to bear testimony to you that the testimony of the Spirit of God to my heart is that there is a wonderful significance in the opening of the way for the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the nations—The Lord hath softened the hearts of the children of men, and in fulfillment of the prediction of His servant, President, Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church of Christ, hath broken down the barriers and opened up pathways for the servants of God, that they might cry repentance unto this generation, and that the warning might be sounded in their ears before judgment shall be poured out upon them—The Lord in this generation hath not left Himself without witness unto the children of men—He has not only given this word that I have read to you, for His servants to make proclamation of among the inhabitants of the earth; but He has gathered together a people from every land, brought here by the proclamation of this warning message, and hath in this manner builded a monument of warning unto this generation—It seems to me that He has taken more pains to proclaim unto the present generation of men the judgments that are in store for them than He did in the days of Noah; for if the teachings of Noah and the building of an ark were a witness unto that generation of the destruction that was threatened, surely the gathering together of this people, together with every temple that they have erected, and every mighty Conference that they have held, is God's witness and voice unto the inhabitants of the earth that the controversy He hath with them is most surely to take place ¶

I want to bear my testimony to you, in connection with my brethren, that the Gospel is true; that there is virtue and power in the work of God, and that my confidence in its accomplishing that which hath been decreed concerning it is most supreme—And I would, if I could, join with you all in sounding this warning unto the inhabitants of the earth, that the hour of God's judgment is at hand; and He is vindicating His word and hath given unto the people due warning and an opportunity to repent—I trust that He will continue to do so — continue to soften the hearts of the children of men and to leave open the gateway to their hearts until this work of warning shall be thoroughly completed to His own great satisfaction—I ask it in the name of Jesus—Amen. ¶