| Show a f rdv D DI 1 RS E r BY ny ELDER ORSON PRATT DETECTED 1 14 c S in the 2 mew new tabernacle ab er n acte acle sait salt zate late city sunday morning april 11 lla lih th 1875 joan john juaa ajeh REPORTED DY BY DAVID W EVANS IF iv the congre I 1 1 ion ton I lii give their attention I 1 biti x d 1 a few dew JA passages from the last chapter of isaiah commencing in the middle of the verse ethe the speaker read from the verse verso commencing rr agit it shall come ac unto the end of the 2 verse there are some very great and important eve events ns P predicted redic ted in these few lines mies which I 1 have read concerning the gathering of all nations and tongues but more especially the gathering of the house of israel a sign being bein prom promised t s ed that when that per period 01 oi 01 shall arrive in the purposes of god a sign shall be given to the children of men that they may know when these great events are to take place in this passage wo we are not told what the sign shall be we merely haye have it promised romi sed but we wp would naturally craw draw the conclusion that it will be something ofa of a peculiar character something that can ban be distinguished by the nations kindred and tongues of the earth pr preparatory e para to 0 the great gathering that is promised in the scriptures of truth RI 1 I will set a sign among them and after setting this sign ho he will send missionaries to tubal to javan to the isles that are afar off to pul and lud and to them that draw the bow and it is said concerning the missionaries who are thus sent forth tha that t f they shall declare my glory among the gentiles then fyhen the sign is set the are bent sent forth and the glory of god begins to bet be declared among the gentiles the lord will bring about the gathering of his big people israel brinig bringing ih them upon horses in chariots in in litters upon swift b beasts and u upon pon mules to his idoly mountain tinli in jerusalem and cewill gather all ail nations and tongues when th at dispensation pensa tion shall come the Theli thell lord lond ord ond has set that sign the lord has sent forth the messengers here spoken of to the various nations as predicted and already the voice of these messengers is heard in the uttermost parts of the earth declaring the word of the lord among the gentiles preparing them for the great event predicted by the mouth of isaiah the prophet do this people desire to know what the sign predicted by the mouth of isaiah means do you wish to know the nature of that sign let me refer you to the words of the everlasting god that have been uttered from the hea vens declared in brought forth in the last list days dayi the tho book of mormon let net iet bet us refer to a prediction uttered by the mouth of ot our lord and saviour jesus christ when he appeared personally upon this great western continent and taught the thedr theae ancient nations of america he ite has told ais kis ils uis by his own mouth what tho the sign should bo be for the gathering of all the dispersed per sedof of hl his people the house of israel I 1 will read the words olour of our saviour to the ancient inhabitants of this western continent verily verily I 1 say unto you all these things th the i things in g s which lie had bee been speaking ki n about 1 b u t to the multitude tu d hali hail hall shall shirely su rely come conie ah as the voice of tho thel father hath bath coin coln commanded me then shall this covenant which the father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled and then shall jerusalem begin to be inhabited withey with my people eople and it shall be the theland landof of their their inherit tanco tance and verily isay I 1 say unto you I 1 will give unto you a sign thai that voll you voli may know the tho time tima when trie tege these se things shall be about to take that I 1 s shall shail h all ail gathe gather in from their long dis dispersion arsion my people 0 house ahouse of israe israel and shall shail establish again among them my zion and behold this Is the thing which I 1 will give unto you for a sign align for verily ja say bay unto nto you ou that when these things which which I 1 declare unto you and which I 1 shall declare unto you hereafter of myself and by the power of the holy ghost which shall be given unto you 0 u of the father sh shallie all ail be made in known own unto the gentiles 2 that isa la when whon this book called the book of mormon mo n should be made known un unto to the gentiles anat they friny may know concerning athis this my people who remnant of the tho house of ja boband concerning ning this my people pie who shall be scattered by them in the latter days verily I 1 say unto you when these things shall bo be gnader known unto them of ol 01 the aw Father and shall norn come forth of ol 01 the father from them U unto to you ou 11 now such is the sign first i arst this work will be made known to and will come forth from the gentiles unto the indians for it is wisdom in the fathel father eather t that hat they should be established in t hiland thirland lid ild and iid be set iet up tip AS a free P people eople by the power of the father t that bat these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed that the coyen coven covenant ant of the father may be fulfilled which he has covenanted with his people 0 house of israel therefore ther eforo when these works and the works which shall bo be wrought among you hereafter that is the works which were performed during tile the first three or four centuries of the christian era on this american continent recorded in their records called the book of mormon when these works and the works which shallie sh allbe wrought among you hereafter shall shail come forth from th the 13 gentiles unto your seed which h shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity northis now this dwindling I in unbelief lf of the american indians ia very evident even fo to the antiquarians of our country all of whom will admit th that at once a civilize nation dwelt on this continent no learned man living jiving dis disputes disputed this why V hy do they suppo suppose e any such thipa tho ruins of their ancient cities palaces and in the ears earb of all living that once there dwelt on this hemisphere a great and powerful people who were civilized and understood the art constructing of beautiful and substantial buildings bu bubnow bub But now mow 0 how degraded fallen and sunk into th the eVery very depths of darkness darene ss are the descendants of that once great powerful and exalted people they shall shail dwindle in unbelief because of af iniquity because they rejected the gospel in the fourth century othe the christian era they anosta sized the religion of their fathers ahey were cursed by the almighty a skin of darkness came upon them they were cursed in all that they set their thein hands bands to do and th the 6 withering curse of the almighty bas has been upon them from generation to generation until the present day they were to dwindle in ubi unbelief bellef belief because of inqui inequity ty for thus it behoove th 1 the father that it should come forth from the gentiles that he may show foith his power powen to the gentiles dorthis for this cause that the gentiles es if they will wilt not harden their hea hearts rt s that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name pame and know of the truth of my doctrine that they may be numbered among my py people 0 house of israel y such is the object of bringing ibis work forth to the gentiles first thatis that Is ia why god prepared the way for a great and powerful nation free from all other nations under hia heaven to be gsg established here on this continent the great purpose which god had id inlew gniew view was to set up a Ring kingdom dom in the latter C lays days in which there should be full and arid complete religious liberty and freedom of conscience nee that choking the kingdom might go forth forth unto the ends of the earth and gland when these things shall shail come to 0 pass flat that thy seed the anie Anid american amerlean rican indians shail shall begin to know these things it sh shall allbe be a sign unto them that they may know that the work of the tho fallier father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the ho bouso yusoof of israel I 1 now then here i is s a prediction in isaiah salah that before th theford eLord tho the lord gathers israel he bd would set up a sign showing not only to us but to all ali people nations and tongues in 6 tile alio ho four qu quarters arttra of the batth that ho he ia Is about to gather together all the people of the house of israel that sign is phen when these american indians hail hall begin to know the gospel taught and practised practiced by their ancient fathers when aben that day shall come it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their the mouths for that which had not bee been n told told them they beey isee that thit which they had not nt heard shail they con sider for i in ti that day for my sake shall he 14 athen father work a work which shall be a great at and arid marvellous marcellous marv ellous work among elte iree them m and there hall shall bo amsili among them which will n not ot believe it although a man shall ahall declare it unto them khelu but behold the life of my servant is in mine hand hafid ft L we will vill now pass on to the next baxt page and then shall the work of the father commence at that day even when this gospel shall be preached unto the remnant of this peopled ile lie unto the indians verl verily feo fee y ap I 1 say unto vou you ou at that day T shall the work of t the a father commence among all the dla diA dispersed persed of my keople people yea even the tribes w which have been lost which the the father hath led away out of cje jerusalem ru yea jea he the work shall commence amone amond amon all the dispersed of if my people with the father to pr prepare P parette the way whereby they may come unto me that they may call can upon the father fath er I 1 in in my name mame and then shall the work commence with ohp ather father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the jand land of their inheritance and land la nd they shall not go out in haste nor go by flight for I 1 will go before them saith the father and awili be their rearward 7 0 forty five years hu have passed away since god brought forth this sign the book of mormon arld and sent missionaries to the nations to pul pol imd lud tubal javan and lo 10 the islands afar arar off that have not heard lizard chis fame famo neither have seen lils his glory and these missionaries sidn sion aries have declared his glory among the gentiles forty five years of proclamation to the of the gentiles forty five years of warning to all nati nations onil and angues on gues no now w after 0 so o ion lon long iong 9 a period iod lod has elapsed since god te nought rought rought forth this wonderful sign he has begun to work among the remnants of the house of israel the american indians upon this continent by his own power what is it that has stirred them up to believe in this work has it been your exertion not altogether yet no doubt you in some sm small smail all ali degree degre as far as your faith falth would permit have helped on the tile work among these waid tribes you bavo have sought to recover them you sou have fed and clothed them to some c extent you have told them 0 o occasionally casio caslo nally about the fe records cords of their fathers you have tried to bring aring them to repentance but after years of laker lalor you bave have aid saiu said ald cc alas alas alaa for them what can be done to reclaim a people so far fallen into the depths of ign ignorance branze and corruption your hearts have been almost discouraged so far as al your own labors were concerned but how soon and how marvel when the time had come I 1 harthe has the lord our god to operate upon them as nations and as tribes Vr bringing Inking the them m in hiyrom from hundreds of miles distant to inquire after the elders of this ch church what for what do they wa want lit rit with the elders they want to be baptized who told them to come and be baptized they say that men came to them thorn in their dreams and spoke to them in their own language and told them that away yonder was a people who had authority from god to baptize them but that they must repent of their sins cease cise their evil habits and lay aside the traditions of their fathers for they were false that they must cease to joam roam over the face fue of the tife land robbing and plundering and learn to live as tile the white people who vilo are these men who have llave been to the indians and told to repent of their sins and ami be baptized by the mormons cormons Mor mons they are men w who he obtained the pro promise of theford the thet lord nord ord upwards of eighteen centuries ago that they sh should uldie be instruments in his hands of bringing about the redemption of or their descendants the lord god promised ased them tho the privilege of working for and in behalf of their descend ants in the latter days and they hao havo begun the work all this was foretold in this record the book of mormon nov NOT I 1 will read road a little fai t tho the of oi the the tho latter day saints sainte for fai though they have this record lying ii upon ont oft their e helyes shelves I 1 fear there are booro lib who are careless about reading its ils cont conten contents cn aur perhaps do not understand ther tb signs of 0 tee tho tunes lunes and aad the tho fulfillment of tho the purposes of god which aro here EO so clearly cleanly get forth jesus appeared on this liis american continent soon eoon after his ills resurrection three different lerent dla dlf times that ruc are recorded and how bow many other times timea hatire not tot rot not re corded recorded ido I 1 do not know but he showed owed himsel himself to them and brake brako bred bread with them dat dut the third timo time he be cameto fmc to the twelve whom ho he had cho chosen nen sen 06 on this land acho as ho was about to leave them he puh put a ye ry important question to them lie ile said sald id unto nto uto his unto them one by one what Is isit it t thet that you desire of me after that I 1 aia ata zole zolo unto the eather father and they all save it were three wo we desire that utter nijer a her we ve havo have lived unto the R of meu me a that our ministry thou hast hist C us 1 6 4 may haye have an end and that wo we may speed unto thee in thy kingdom and lie he said bald tinto muto them blessed aleye are ye because ye have desired this thing of me therefore after that ye te are seventy two years yearb old oid ye shall come colde unto tn me in my kin kingdom dom and with mo me ye shall find rest and an g when he lie bad spoken these words unto the nine he then turns to the jah ree reci and said unto them what will je y that I 1 shall do unto I 1 yoa yon yoo you when I 1 am gone to the father and they sorrowed sor rowed in their hearn heart for they da speak unto him hila the thing which bieh bleh they Ides desired lied and be said unto tiem them behold I 1 know your thoughts a and iid rid you have desired the t thing hin bin which john my beloved who was with maln main my ministry bedora iras I 1 was lifted up by the jews desired of me therefore more blessed blessed ara are ye for yb ye shall never taste pt di death ath 11 these three men had the tile promise r lse ibe that they should never taste pa ab nt W the saviour unto nto them ye shall live to behold all the doings of the father unto the children of men even until all things shall be fulfilled ftc Ite according cordin to the wll wall othe otha father cheni I 1 sha shall shail come in my myTR lory viory with the powers of hea ren ven ien ven ye shall never |
