And it shall come to pass in the

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. ¶

And many shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ¶

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ¶

How to Obtain Benefit From the Scriptures

We are told, my brethren and sisters, that all scripture is given by inspiration from God, and that we should search it carefully, because in it we think we have eternal life. ¶

To derive the greatest benefit from the written word, it is necessary that we be familiar with the entire text ; it is impossible to form a correct conception by the simple reading of an isolated passage ; we must be familiar with that which goes before, and follows after it, and more than all else, we must be able to discern whether that which we read is a definite declaration of the purposes of the Lord, or simply a condition which depends upon the actions of men for its fulfilment, or non-fulfilment. ¶

A very common error, and one which has led to criticism of the scripture, and lack of faith in the printed word, is the fact that men confound the word of the Lord, as it applies to his definite plans, and unchangeable purposes, with the words of the prophets, who, moved upon by the Holy Ghost, foretold events which were to occur among the inhabitants of the earth, many of which events were not decreed of God, but, on the contrary, were obnoxious to him, contrary to his will, and entirely due to the disobedience of the people, who, despite the word and will of the Lord, brought judgment upon their own heads. ¶

An Illustration

To illustrate that which I wish to express I will read from the Book of Mormon : ¶

And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people; and he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them. ¶

And now we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. ¶

For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God, or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decree of God, that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you, as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done. ¶

Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written. ¶

America Dedicated to Jesus Christ

In this scripture we have the definite, unchangeable decree of God concerning America. It is, and will always be a choice land, choice above all other lands. It will always be a land dedicated to the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ. The latter part of the prediction is entirely conditional. Whatsoever people inhabit this land shall serve the Lord ! and if they observe to do so, they are to be free from all other nations, and are never to be brought down into bondage, but the moment they depart from the truth, and turn from the Lord, the promise ceases to be effective ; they have no promise, but on the contrary the Lord says that when they are ripened in iniquity, they shall be destroyed, or in other words, they will bring destruction upon themselves, as it has come to all nations when the protecting power of the Lord is withheld. ¶

The word of the Lord, which I have read was delivered to the people of Jared, and they were given this land for an inheritance, on condition that they would serve the Lord of the land' who is Jesus Christ. They rejected the truth and were destroyed. The promise ¶

was repeated to the Nephites, they were warned that this was a land dedicated to the service of the Lord, and were advised of the destruction which had come to the former inhabitants, because of their lack of faith, but notwithstanding this fact, that their prophets warned them of the judgments which were to come to them, because of their iniquity, and that the Messiah visited them in person, and promised them redemption, through faith in him, they became faithless and wicked, and finally disappeared as a nation. It was not because the Lord decreed their destruction, or that he desired it. On the contrary, he desired their redemption, and provided a way by which they could attain to it, but they wilfully rebelled against God, and brought their own destruction. ¶

Purposes of God Accomplished by Other Means Than Men Expect

One great difficulty with mankind has been that they have expected the purposes of the Almighty to be accomplished by means different from that which he has used. The coming of the Messiah, and his mission to mankind, was taught in the very beginning of time. The Jews looked for their Redeemer, believed that he would come, but they refused to accept Jesus, because of the humility of his birth,' and the character which he assumed among men. They looked for one who would come in pomp and splendor, to tread down their enemies, and restore the kingdom, as it existed under their great king, David. The simple Nazarene, to them the son of an humble carpenter, they would not accept, notwithstanding the fact that the power of the Lord was manifest in his life and works. He was rejected by his own people, and persecuted unto death. ¶

At the time of his death light came into the world ; there was no darkness when the night came, angels upon the hills of Judea sang, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men." He bore witness that he came to bring salvation to his people, and wept because they rejected his offering. "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, * * * how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not ; Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. * * * Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." ¶

That the mission of the Christ failed, so far as the redemption of the House of Israel, at that time, was concerned, was not the fault of either the Father or the Son, but was because of the fact that the people rejected the truth, and wilfully sinned against light. Peace might have come to the world, and redemption to mankind at that time had the people desired it, and. been obedient to the voice of the Son of God. ¶

John, in the revelation given on the Isle of Patmos, saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell upon the earth, crying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come. Christ bore witness that in the latter-days the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world, as a witness to all people, before the end should come. ¶

These declarations have been preached from every pulpit in Christendom. Men have looked forward to a great miracle, a mighty angel with a trump, proclaiming, with a voice to be heard everywhere, the word of the Lord, but it did not come in that way, and when this scripture was fulfilled through the prophet of the latter days, the people were no more ready to accept it than they were to accept the Christ as the Redeemer of the world. In each instance they were praying for, and looking forward to, the coming event, but in both instances rejected it, because it did not come in the manner they expected and desired. ¶

Permanent Peace to Come to the Earth

The scripture which I read at the commencement of my remarks is a definite, positive statement, that peace will come to the earth, a peace which will be universal and permanent. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The manner in which this desired condition will be brought about, this condition for which all good men and women have prayed and waited, is not stated. It is urged by some that the nations will be so wasted, before peace is established, that they will be without power to wage war. By others that peace cannot come until the people are all converted to the gospel, -and that this will not occur until after the coming of the Redeemer. For myself I do not know just how or when peace will be established upon the earth, but of this I feel certain, that it will never be established until the people want it, and are willing to establish and maintain it. If the time of its establishment is to be deferred, it will be because we reject the offer which is now made to us, for the Lord himself cannot establish peace on earth, if the people are determined not to have it. I do not know whether it will be through the present league and covenant, or by some other means. It would be no more strange if it were accomplished through the present covenant than has been the accomplishment of the purposes to which I have referred, by the means which the Lord has used. ¶

THROUGH WHAT PLAN? ¶

The world has just emerged from the most destructive, devastating war it has ever known, so far as we are aware. War-weary, the people are crying for some plan which will make a repetition of that through which we have just passed impossible. For the first time in our history the strongest nations of the world have entered into a league, or covenant, by which it is hoped that peace may be established and maintained. It is said, as has always been said of every great forward movement, that the plan is not a good one, that it will not bring peace, but will be a fruitful source of discord and strife. It is urged that some better plan may be found, that the time for peace has not yet come, that the Lord will accomplish what we are trying to do, if we will only wait and leave the matter to him. ¶

Through Any Plan Upheld by a United People

I feel certain that no plan will succeed, no matter who is its author, or when it may come, to which the majority of the people are opposed. I am just as certain that the present plan, or any other like unto it, will succeed beyond our fondest hopes, provided the people of the world will unite in a determined effort to establish and maintain it. If the effort and energy which are being used to defeat the present league were united with the efforts of those who are seeking to establish and carry it into effect, there is no power that could stay it ; without the united effort, I fear that it will fail. I care not who is its author, whether its terms be those of the present covenant, or some other like unto it, there must be some such league, or covenant entered into between the peoples of the world, otherwise I can see only the mobilization of larger armies, the building of greater navies, the filling of war chests with gold, the means which Lucifer said he would use to dominate the earth, and war, war which will bring a carnival of bloodshed and suffering, compared with which the war just determined will be forgotten. ¶

Peace Will Come When the People Unitedly Want It

When referring to this question before I have been accused of talking politics, of tricky word-building, by which I may fool the people. Can a congregation of Latter-day Saints be deceived by tricky word-building? I do not believe it possible. The sheep know the voice of the good shepherd, and a stranger they will not follow. I speak for no party, for no candidate, but for the Master whom I serve, to whom I have given my life's work, to whose words and works my conscience is a captive, who has admonished me to live at peace with all men, to raise the standard of peace, and maintain it in the world, and with his help I will continue to follow him, to be guided by his words and works, regardless of the opinions of men. He has always held out the hope of peace, he does so today. The people of the world can have peace now, as they might have had it long ago, if they want it, we must choose whether we will follow Christ, or Moloch; if the former blessed are we, if the latter woe is our lot. May the Lord inspire us to choose the better way, at this time when his wisdom is so indispensible, is my humble prayer. Amen. ¶