Show AND HOW TO MEET IT THE PRESENT CONDITION foi WITH THE PAST truth that cabnet be daiB sayed by ie wisdom of men correspondence of tha wo aro in the midst of an epoch choso whoso existence is marked by turmoil and strife when the passions of religious intolerance rod persecution are rekindled by fanaticism and bigotry to a pitch which bids fair to rival the feriod of puritanism and the dark ays of the massachusetts colonies already has the government of the united states tacitly permitted large numbers of its citizens to bo unjustly expelled from the soil they had purchased their houses to be made into bonfires and the torch of assailing mobs to lighten the heavens as a witness to their tragic deeds and why all this we have often heard it kaid that religion has been the cause of more woodshed than anything else and what is due to religious tyrants is falsely applied to religious principles the grand and ennobling truths taught by jesus formed no part of the act of judas they were no incentive to that act nothing in the teachings of christ gave countenance to acts of betrayal on the contrary overa thing in his teachings condemned such acts the religion of jesus was not chargeable therefore with this wicked deed when jonah was sent to ninevah with the warning of jehovah that in forty days that famed city should be destroyed on account of its great wickedness the Nine vites repented which changed the purpose of god respecting them jonah however was displeased at this re version of the divine decree and therefore committed sin now what had the religious principles of that dispensation to do with jonass acl of was it the or the man that was at fault the jiles could not bo charged m any sense with jonass rebellion jonah alone was at fault and he alone suffered the consequences that there are two influences in existence the one antagonistic to the other every bible reader knows the spirit of the devil is opposed to the spirit of god from time immemorial the operations of these two are clearly traceable cains act of murder was an early evidence of the evil power so far as this earth ars concerned but if wo outstrip the bounds of time and pass over to the threshold of pro existence oven thoro this power of evil was present in lucifero Lu cifers act of rebellion against the divine plan of mans redemption evil even there sought the overthrow of good nor may we as latter day saints look for a final and full cessation of this power till christ shall subdue every enemy and the last foe to human existence death itself ibo swallowed up in divine victory the struggle of darkness against cigut of truth against error will con dinue it will bo stent every inch of the ground of progress will be contested every fabre fibre of the humar heart tried what is power professedly attacking a single religious principle will become a poor openly and avowedly assailing a religious system the battle for supremacy is already in array the e text for assault may and will change the present base of operations will be substituted by another and by others but the warfare will still rage the struggle is between god and satan the question no less than the redemption of p world and its inhabitants who will triumph Is there any certainty as to the result the question involves the power and m of the combatants which dhe two possesses these attributes in the highest degree god or lucifer how can wo reason but from what wo know from what is revealed god had power to cast out satan and his rebellious hosts they were hurled down to earth which has constituted the base of their warfare for 1000 years every soul of man has been subjected to their influence during this great period deprived of bodies for their acts of disobedience in a prior world they are unable to use physical force in the sense in which it is used by personages of flech and bone but they wage a spiritual warfare paul says wo wrestle not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickedness in high places but bo cause wo do not commonly witness outward demonstrations of diabolical power wo must not infer that satan cannot exorcise such power when permitted on special occasions to do so As an evidence of such power noto his act of letting loose the winds of heaven upon jobs house utterly demolishing mo lishing both it and hia sons and daughters and then adding tho scourge of a loathsome disease to jobs person after this train of calamities lami ties upon his children and property nor is this tho only instance of outward power manifested by him when so permitted after god appeared to moses in the burning bush satan was permitted to exercise power in a marvelous manner insomuch that had not god interposed moses must have us to quote the narrative verbatim pearl of groat price page 1 verse 3 roads and the ot god withdrew from that his glory was not upon kioses and boxes was jelt unto hemsell and as he wan left unto he foil unto tho earth nit it came to pass that it was for the pace ot ciany houra before mosea all receive his like unto man and he ald unto himself now for ihan cause I 1 know that roan IB nothing which elnel aa never aisup posed but now mine eyes ave becela god and now when bad aalde these words satan cried with a loud voice anil rent upon the and commanded saying I 1 am the only begotten me and it came to pass that kioses jan to fear exceedingly and as he ban 10 he saw the af hell nevar tl calling upon god he received has hence gaylae depart this only frill I 1 worship win i IT ici 01 bif now baian to tremble and earth shook and received h anil called upon ailie of the only nt gotten ns i atan depart hence and it came p it iti t baian cried with a loud voice elili walling and gnashing ol 01 leeth prom this extract wo learn that art only asis god power over satan si s i i hait when strengthened thu biord had power also to com him As another proof of the power of satan whilo acting under special permission wo instance his act of conveying the savior to a high mountain and showing him the kingdom of this world also that of carrying him up to the pinnacle of the temple when he so cunningly asked jesus to cast himself down An oither remarkable instance of his power took lace upon the person of joseph mith whose own description of it surpasses anything we can write says joseph IIA retired into lh place where I 1 had dehnad dehn fd ago having looted around me aad finding e f kneeled awn and bebian to ll r up the des rc s of my heair to god I 1 had done so when immediately I 1 wa apon by some power which entirely overcame nie and had such as influence over me as lo 10 bind rny moncue so that 1 could not thick darkness gathered abound me and it seemed for a time as if I 1 were to sudden destruction but exerting all my power to call upon god to deliver me out orthe power of this enemy which had seized upon me and at the very moment when I 1 was ready 10 sink into despair and abandon myse to not 10 an imaginary ruin but to power ot some aniual being from th world who had such mar power as 1 had never becore felt in any being no language could portray the wonderful power of Satan when ho is permitted to exercise it more than this description of the prophet josephs the difference in these two last manifestations of satanic power the one upon moses and the other upon joseph was that the latter occurred upon joseph while he was calling upon god for the first time and before the father and son were revealed to him the other upon moses after the father was revealed to him now this power will bo manifested in a more general manner soon than it has been in any past period and if the saints are not prepared to resist it by their increased purity and diligence they like the world will be overcome by it eov chap 13 verses reads satan boeth great wonders so that he alre come down from heaven on the earth in the sight or men and them that dwell on the earth by means of those he had power to do here then is satanic power which is to deceive all nations before the second coming of christ we are on the verge of the end of time we are treading upon the threshold of the seventh thousand year or millennial rest events are rushing forward to astonishing fulfillment fulfilment the elements aro disturbed tho decrees of jehovah with regard to the last days are verifying tumult and strife war and confusion and the worst forms of human depravity and passion are manifested society is unsafe recklessness and insubordination to national authority are moro apparent the foundations of national superstructure totter monarchs tremble on the throne anarchy threatens kings safety everywhere is imperiled dread of desolation renders rest itself unquiet the increase of destructive materials is appalling how different twenty years ago now an anarchist can carry in a hat material enough to destroy a city A handful of explosive a will rend to atoms the mightiest steamer science has placed power in the hands of tho lawless that never entered the dreams of the most sanguine san cuine philosopher of half a century back what dreadful issues are at the door of nations in confirmation of the signs of the times the boico of jehovah is heard calling the world to repentance ere divine vengeance adds to the already awful prospect ere thrones are prostrated in the dust and nations swept as by a flood 0 D E |