Show mi mi 0 ua U IRI 0 BY lieb lilb OR B H ROBERTS of centerville Cent erville under U ader the auspices 0 oj f the mutual improvement association in the fourteenth ward assembly booms salt lake city nonday monday evening january 2 ath 1884 REPORTED BY JAMES D STIRLING I 1 AT THE request of the presidency of davis stake of zion I 1 have delivered two lectures in each of the wards of that county being a young man I 1 have addressed myself to the young falt people aogle with a view to strengthen their faith falth tn in the gospel of jesus christ which has been revealed anew to the earth tn in this age e of the world and in con considering tie aie t the S subject u abject before us to tonight night jose Joseph ato 9 smiths mission I 1 desire to show to my young brethren and sisters that our fathers have not been following cunningly devised fables but that they have and so have we good and sufficient reasons for b believing e ge ie v n in the mission of joseph smith as a divine one in considering the thep subject of our lecture the question naturally arises what was joseph smiths mission it was the mission of joseph smith under gods direction to establish the church of christ and the kingdom of god upon the earth and to the accomplishment ment of this work he devoted the whole energy of his life and was faithful f ul unto death but this statement of what his mission was gives birth to another question Js there any necessity for such a work as ascribed is to joseph smith being performed the christian world believe that when christ was upon the earth in the flesh that he then established his church and kingdom and what it has continued among men from that time until the present and although many changes have taken place in regard to principles and doctrines anif and divisions and subdivisions have llave distracted the religious world yet they claim that those things which are essential to the existence of chris chrls christs ts church and kingdom have remained among men this is their theory we have havea a theory theor y which Is opposite to theirs the first revelation that joseph smith received from the lord was that men were teaching for doctrine the commandments and precepts of men and that he the lord did not acknowledge their institutions as his church or kingdom and told joseph to join none of them here then you see we have two propositions presented to us if one is true the other must be false both cannot be correct if the theory held by the christian world be true then there appears no necessity for such a work as we ascribe to joseph smith being performed er formed for if the kingdom of god E has as continued upon the earth from the days of jesus until the present then there would be no need of any one be wg luig raised up to establish that which was already here and proving that there was no necessity for such a work ascribed to joseph smith would be a big stride towards proving that he was an impostor but if we can show that the theory held by the christian world Is incorrect if ff we can prove that there has been an apostasy that men have been f lowing following ol for doctrine the commandments of mehi mefi men if we can prove that christs church and the earth atthe time joseph smiths mission commenced then the necessity of such a work as we claim he performed becomes apparent and if there is a necessity for such a work as the restoration of the eln ein kingdom dom of god to the earth may not boseth joseph smith have been the instrument in t the e hands of god in performing that work let us consider the question then has there been an oo apostasy stasy we ve cannot examine this subject in detail all we shall be able to do is ilg to briefly refer to some of those prophecies which relate to the subject we begin by calling your our attention to the chapter of isaiah isaiah commencing with the ath verse the earth mour neth and eadeth away the world languis heth and eadeth awa away t the he b haughty a ug lity people of the earth do 1 ilig languish rag ui sh the earth a also aiso I 1 so I 1 is s defiled under the inhabitants thereof because they have transgressed the laws chan changed ed the ordinances broken the everlasting covenant therefore hath the curse devoured the earth and they that dwell therein are desolate therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men are left I 1 have had men in the world try to reason away the force of this prophecy in the following manner they reminded us that isaiah lived in the mosaic dispensation when the law of carnal commandments was in f force orce and claim that it was of this carnal law of which isaiah it was the law of moses that was to be transgressed the mosaic ordinances which chic h were to be changed th the e covenant which was to be broken these assertions however are incorrect from the fact that the mosaic law llev never e r was consid ered cred by those 1 who v ho uve understood stood it an everlasting cov covenant e nant 1 II 11 was given for a special purpose a and when it had accomplished that burp purpose e it was laid 1414 aside we read from galatians 0 chapter i and 8 verse vense and the scriptures foreseeing that G god d would ouid justify R s the heat heathen through tat tai falth faith at preached e d b betone before tbt the abi p e 1 u unto 11 to abrahami abra am saying ay n in t wl au 0 trolls tl onsbe 0 esq itt iti from this it appears that the gospel was preached unto abraham abraham in the ath chapter of hebrews and 2 verse paul in speaking of ancient israel says 66 for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them s but theford the word preached did nonprofit not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it 1 I 1 not only then was the gospel preached unto abraham but also unto the children of israel now let us go back ard chapter of galatians for paul having stated that the gospel was preace preached pre tle tie d unto abraham asnass this question 19 verse 4 wherefore then the law it was added because of transgression trans ruslon till seed should come to whom acol the promise was made added to what added to the gospel which before that time had been panch ed unto abraham and also to alent israel but the israelites under noses moses were unable to live the perfect law uw of the gospel were not strond strona enough to overcome evil with good as the gospel requires so a law of carnal comma nd ments was added to the gospel a law which included the principle oa an eye for an eye a tooth fohr fees f or a tooth t a law which was suited to te their capacity paul still speaking of this subject in the same chapter of 0 galatians lal ready quoted 23 verse saas says before falth faith came kept der the law shut up unto the fantl fanth faith falth which should should afterwards be revealed wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto christ that we wc might be justified by faith I 1 but af after ter that faith has come we are no longer under a schoolmaster schoolmaster from these passages of scripture wt we learn this the gospel was pre preached to abraham and also to ancient israel the israelites were unable to livette law of the gospel so a law of carnal commandments known as the law of moses was given as a schoolmaster school master to bring them up to the higher law christ came and introduced that higher law the gospel explained its precepts and pointed out the difference between it and the law of moses the gospel took the place of the law of moses which was wasl laid aside having fulfilled the object for which it was at added ded to th the gospel if then the law of moses was not an everlasting covenant this prophecy of isaials Isaia hs which we are arc considering does net not relate to it as the pro chec checy ty ng of covenant isaiah was concerning an everlasting we find in hebrews aill 20 the following now the god of peace that brought again from thie the dead our lord lora jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect etc from this we learn that christs blood is called the blood of the everlasting covenant paul in writing to titus gives us to understand that he lived in hope of eternal life w which god that cannot lie promised b before the world began 11 and this immortal life which god had promised this everlasting covenant which god had made with man before the world began was sealed by the blood of christ and ana this life and immortality were brought to light through the gospel and is called Inthe in the scripture the everlasting gospel or covenant and isaiah says that the laws of the everlasting covenant or the gospel laws shall be transgressed the gospel ordinances shall be changed and in consequence of these serl seri serious transgressions the earth is to be burned and few men left which judge ment still Is hanging over the inhabitants of the earth having proven then that this prophecy of isaials Isaia hs refers to the gospel and not the law of moses let us remember that jesus said though heaven and earth pass away not one jot or tittle of my word shall fall fail but all shall be fulfilled 11 either isaiah was mistaken when he as moved upon by the holy ghost in relation to the world departing fro from in that order of thin thins things s inaugurated by the savior or eise else gise else the christian world is theor incorrect in maintaining that the gospel in all that is essential has continued from the days of jesus to the present time some five noted christian writers more candid than their fellows have freely admired the apostasy dom we will wiil introduce their testimony john wesley wesleyan in ln uis bis gith says the reason why the extraordinary gifts of the holy ghost are arc no longer in the them church is because the love of many waxed cold and the Chri stains had bad turned he athens again and had only a dead form left the following quotation is taken from page of smiths dictionary of the bible this wr work rk is indorsed endorsed Indor sed by the names of 63 divines of both europe and america all noted for their schol say we must not expect to see the church of holy scripture actually existing in its perfection perfection upon the earth it is netto ge be found this perfect either in the collected fragments oi of christendom or still less in any one of those fragments 11 this is a frank acknowledge ment of all that we claim as to the a apostasy of the primitive church alst mist christ and his apostles e established th the 0 church upon the earth in the days of their ministry and now we ar are e told that it is not to be f found even in the collected fragments of christendom that is take the principles of truth which each sect possesses and put them all together and yet from this collection of truths we would not find t the tha e gospel of chrls chris let us then take toeman at their word woid t they ty havo have but a deab form left I 1 the fie hurch church of christ a not t t p be ba to fo nd on oil iko ike he earth thesa d 14 S lis ils 01 the pa of the tho pi I 1 nellt wa 17 tors chiq e dom afie sat 4 oplies ph 0 isaiah arces ordes us to the conclusion that men have corrupted the gospel as taught by christ and the apostles that there has been an apostasy and it must needs be that god set up ills kingdom Kingdo pi again upon the earth by examination we shall find that the scriptures predict the restoration of the gospel it pleased the almighty while ills lils servant john was on the isle of patmos to show him many things that would transpire in the future while wrapped in heavenly vision he saw among other things another angel fly in the midst of heaven haying having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell dimi upon the earth to every nation kin kindead deed tongue and people savin saving with a loud voice vote fear god and give glory to him for tor the hour of ills his judgment Is come it appears from this passage ot ol scripture which you will find in the chapter of revelation vel vei atlon that the angel who is to come with the gospel will make his appearance just prior to the judgments of god being poured our upon the children of men in the last days davs in the hour of gods jud judgment ment 11 this gospel was not to be preached merely to one nation or people but to every nation every kindred every tongue and land every deorle people it Is evident to my mind that a all ali I 1 nations tongues and peoples must have been without the gospel orthy or why would it be necessary for the lord to restore it by the minis mints ter tery yolan ot an angel to all peoples and tongues if any of them possessed it there is another prophet who has predicted the setting up of gods kingdom upon the earth in the last days I 1 refer grefer to daniel the hebrew prophet who was among aifong the captive jews who were taken from jerusalem to babylon by kin king about six hundred years B C the lord gave unto this same sime same king ot babylon a wonderful wondern ul dream but he had forgotten it he assembled all his wise men and magicians and demanded that they tell him his dream and the interpretation thereof if they failed to do so death was to be the penalty this produced great consternation among the wise men but the lord revealed the thing to daniel who came before the king with the bream dream and the interpretation of it the king saw a great image the head of which was gold the arms and chest of silver the trunk of brass the legs of iron the feet and toes part of iron and part of potters clay he also saw a little stone cut out ot of the mountains without hands which smote the image on the feet and toes and brake them in pieces then was the iron the clay the brass the silver and the gol goi gold broken to pieces and became as the chaff of the summers threshing floors and the wind carried them away but the little stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth such was the dream daniel in giving the interpretation thereof said unto thou 0 king art a king of kinus kings for the god of heaven hath bath given thee a kingdom power and strength and glory thou art this head of gold daniel 2 verses 37 and 38 the head of this great image therefore was the babylonian kingdom which flouris fiouris flourished e in the sixth and seventh centuries B C 9 but in B C it was destroyed de stroye DanieL danlek continues and after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee verse 39 the medio persian empire succeeded the babylonian kingdom and continued from to B 8 C and is represented by the criest and arms of silver in irl the great image again we quote and another third kingdom of brass which shall bear rule over all the earth verse 39 the macedonian empire succeeded the medio med to persian being founded by alexander the great ann aun and did bear rule oyer the then known world continuing until lol loi B C and the fourth kingdom says daniel shall be strong as s iron for as much as iron brea keth in pieces and sub dueth all things and as iron break eth all these thines shall it the fourth kingdom break hi pieces and bruise 11 verse 40 the macedonian empire founded by alexander the great was pushed out olit of existence by the remau empire which entirely supplanted jt t in B 0 the roman nation is the fourth great nation seen by in in the image and Is represented by the legs of iron and as iron brea keth in pieces all other metals so the roman nation broke in pieces the other kingdoms of the earth we still have left the feet and toes of the image which are part of iron and martof pant pann of clay what kingdom arki or kingdoms oms do they represent luthe inthe in the year wa A D the roman empire was divided between and valens the western part ot the empire wis assailed by the goths goehs vandals huns and other tribes inhabiting the north part of europe until it wa utterly itterly destroyed A AD D from its ruins arose those kingdoms and empires which today to day occupy the western part of europe the eastern part of the |