| Show TROUBLES OF THE TIMES THIS Is ie an extraordinary year for great calamities the elements seem to be under a malefic influence in addition to the horrors of flood and fire railroad and other accidents attending travel murders suicides and personal per soral mishaps startle the world with their frequency aitel aid atmospheric mo disturbances are peculiar aud and unusual this is noticeable oy by persons of different views and notions A feeling of uneasiness pervades the world people are looking for further disasters and wondering what will come next it is a time of singular and unwonted agitation to the people who settled and built up this territory these events are not unexpected they have been looking for them for years they have every reason to believe that troubles and calamities will increase in the world if it were not so one of jf the evidences of the truth of the work in which they are engaged and of the prophetic mission of its founder would be lacking the judgments of the latter days have been proclaimed ever since the organization of this church chuich where ever its missionaries have penetrated and the warning of the world of impending woes boes has formed one of their prominent duties connected with the preaching of the gospel people who have no faith in ancient or modern revelation are looking for some natural cause or causes for rhese commotions and calamities and even they who believe implicitly in the predictions of the ta prophets concerning these things and who look for their fulfillment fill ment in and through the operations of nature understanding that god works by and through his own laware la cogitating upon the philosophy of these occurrences occurrence a some like the heathen kings of old call for the astrologers and soothsayers to explain the phenomena but the masses move along without more 0 1 than a pawing passing interest occasioned by each shocking catastrophe which forms less than even a nine days daya wonder astrology has tried its hand at figuring out the influences of the planets under certain combinations at given dates its eions while appearing to bear a grain or two of truth abound with errors and form neither a guide to coming events nor an explanation of the causes of the troubles which afflict mankind and appear to be impending even if astrology were foun founded dedon on correct principles there are conditions and influences in the astral universe of which it gives up no particulars and on which it cannot calculate it is therefore unreliable and delusive and usually leads its into the swamps of discomfiture and disappointment 9 if the solar system is so organized that each member affects the others and the beings who inhabit them are there not other systems to which this is subordinate while the planets with their moons revolve around the sun does not the whole system revolve around greater luminaries and move through space as a family of worlds coming into other conditions and un derother influences with the procession of the ages anamay and may not these stronger stellar powers counteract the alleged forces of the planets and derail derange ge the influences n fluen ces they are supposed to exercise upon each other it will not do to depend on the theories of so called astral science whether ancient or modern even if they contain germs of truth while the order of the universe is 18 so imperfectly comprehended by the best astronomers and by the star gazers whom they treat with derision joseph smith the seer of this century like enoch and abraham of old was permitted by the great architect of the heavens to gaze upon the worlds on high and learn something of their relations as to time magnitude and space to him was also revealed many things concerning coming events some of which have already happened and others are now occurring the calamities of the times werf were shadowed foreshadowed fore to him and those manifestations harmonized with those of prophetic minds of ow od the book of mormon and the doctrine and covenants abound in warnings of these disasters both of these books came to us through him but their inspiration flowed from the same saine source and through the same channel as the divine light and knowledge revealed to the anc ancients lents in n the preface to the covenants adu the troubles of the latter times are predicted and the cause is explained in the fact that the anger of the lord is kindled and the lord knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth called upon his servant joseph smith and revealed to him the book of mormon and the commandments afterwards given to him for the world that all people might be warned of judgments to come in sending out the th elders for this purpose the lord said De december dember 1832 and after your testimony cometh wd ath and indignation upon the people le pep for r after your test testimony emony cometh the testimony of earthquakes earthquake i that shall emme groa groan ninga ingis in the midst of her and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand and also cometh the testimony bf the voice of rings and the voice of and the voice of tempest sand the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds and all things shall be in commotion and surely mens hearts shall fall fail them for foj fear shall come upon all deore people i 1 doctrine and covenants see sec v 88 91 in september of the same year he said for I 1 the almighty have laid my hands upon the nations to scourge them for their wicked wickedness new and plagues shall go forth and they shall not be taken from the earth until I 1 have completed my work which shall be cut short in righteousness ibid see sec v 96 7 berels here is another re reference terence to the calamities of the period how oft have I 1 called upon you by the mouth of my servants and by the ministering of angels and by mine own voice and by the voice of rings and by the voice of and by the voice of tempests and by the voice of earthquakes and great hall hail storms and by the voice of famines and pestilences pestilence of every kindard kin kind dand and py by the great sound of a trump and by the voice of judgment and by the voice of mercy all the day long and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation but ye would not see sec alili v 25 in the revelation concerning the civil war given dec 25 1882 1832 and which has been partly fulfilled we are told and thus with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn and with famine and plague and earthquakes and the thunder of heaven and ana the fierce and vivid also shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath and indignation and chastening cha hand of an almighty god until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations 1 see sec v 6 the book of mormon asvery is very plain in n predictions concerning the latter day calamities and in giving the reasons for their infliction mor inon himself describes the situation jon of the world when the book should come forth from the dust lit this wise and it shall come in a day clay when ike blood of saints shall cry unto the fae lord fjord because of secret combinations eions and the works of darkness yea it shall come in a d day when the power of god shall be denied fand churches become defiled and hall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts yea even in aday day when leaders of abw churches thee auz and teab teachers hers in the pride of their hearts even to the envying of them who belong to their chare chareles cho hes yea it shall hhall come in a day when there shall be heard head pf af aims ano and te tempests m and vapor of smoke in for foreign e ragn I 1 lands ads and there shall also be heard herrdon heRr dof of wars rumors of wars ware and earthquakes in divers places yea it shall come in a day www when there shall be great ions upon the face of the earth there shall be murders and robbing and I 1 lying edg and dece ivings and abo whore doms am and all manner of abominations when there shall be many who will say do this or do that and aia it mat bereth not toi for the lord will uphold such at the last day B but u wo unto SUC such h for they are in therall the gall of alb berness ter ness and in the bonds of iniquity 11 chap viii vii v 27 31 nephi prophesied as follows but behold in tle the lat days baysor sor or in the days of the miles ea be hold all the nations of the gentiles and aad also thew both those who shall come upon this land and those who shau shall be upon other lands yea upon all the a lands of the earth behold beho lathey they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations and when that day shall come they shall be visit visited edof of the lord of hc hosts with thunder and with earthquakes and with a great noise and with storm and with tempest and with the flame of dev devouring we a f fite fil 11 II nephi chap v 18 and they that kill the prophets td and the saints the depths of the eth earth shall swallow them mem up uh poueu the lord of frosts ff and mou stains EJUS shall carry them away and build ings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind bom to powder and they shall be visited WA with ith rings and andi earthquakes and all manner of i for the fire of the anger lot of the lord shall be kindled against thew them and they shall beas stubble and thia the day that cometh shall consume them saith the lord of hosts chap all V many other quotations might be given showing that these troubles have been foretold and that the reason for them is the wicked wickedness now of 0 mankind and their re rejection ef ettae the message sent from to ta the aeration era tion this may not explain the matter in such sequence of cause and effect as aa will satisfy minds that claim to be scientific the me WS idea I 1 that the supreme being takes any practical part in the affairs of mani men they repudiate with same time dawn upon them that the creator ia an important factor in all solent ntine problems ani that casting him out cortous COR tOws all ons tile u universe ni great questions and its inhabitants but is it not beason reasonable able to believe that the mater material itil elements lid iti nature are affected ow ay by the and feelings and sentiments of efin human be in ings 9 s Is it not a fact which may be said gaid to be demonstrated that atmospheric and other material conditions affect the feb feelings lIngs emotions temperament pe and actions of mankind particularly of those who are supersensitive if the inward nature of men is so affected by outward form forces that murder suicide pasion passion tumult and crime of various kinds are to some extent attributable to their influence upon the ahe mind to is it not probable that those elements from which such forces proceed are affected by themen the mental and spiritual conditions of mankind and that thus the effects produced are reciprocal we believe that the matec material lal is primarily affected by the spiritual for the spirit of things is their life wickedness of spirit intent hud and desire culminating in evil deeds has its ito effect upon surround ing elements and produces or foste fosters malefic I 1 B cc conditions on amae di dit ions tiong this is an ev emi and perverse generation the spread of intelligence has not been accompanied by a corresponding spread of righteousness but the power of evil has been Inc increased reaped with the acquisition of knowledge the more light the greater sin sift when deeds sf f darkness are done that wickedness is increasing in the world at a rapid rate all but optimists who blind their eyes to facts which disfavor their theories admit here is an extract from the churchman an organ of the american episcopal church the present is a critical time in the history of religion and of morals the christian faith is assailed as never before on the ground of alleged conclusions of science and of a criticism which is almost wholly destructive the mind of the people e at large is affected by a prevalent e nt spIr spirit Itaf of indifference and unbelief the church itself is subtly infected by worldliness and mammon worship society is given up to a fierce pursuit of wealth and pleasure the nation is shamed by a depravation of public morals which could hardly exist without a terrible lowering of the standard of private morality the foundation of society the family is daily loosened by fa false theories which are but too easily reduced to practice the whole social framework is threatened by systems of social esmand communism and even of anarchism which are ope openly y preached reache dand and eagerly brecel received ved by the the masses of the people patriots as well as christians flud find good grounds not for despair nor even for too gloomy forebodings but for the most earnest consideration of the problems of this present time and of the fast coming future these are facto which cannot be denied and ought not to be ignored corruption Is spreading religion is derided god is rejected disbelief prevails and the judgments beginning to some come as the consequence make no impression upon a world drifting to its doom when the johnstown flood was bursting upon its victims they had bad three hours warning but heeded it not on a small scale it was like the Noa chean deluge As it was in the days of noah so it will be bein in the thelast last days the voice of warning will be uttered in vain except to a few infatuated they will smile at the enthusiasts who utter it while the more de depraved paved will treat with violence even unto murder the heralds and evangelists who sound the alarm As sure as god lives we are nearing the time of the great consummation the signs in heaven and on earth are those given by the savior as tokens of the approaching end ap their gradual manifestation is such that the boasting defiant skeptical world make light of them and say they were always suffered not perceiving the coincidence of so many calamities with the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom as a witness to all nations and the fulfillment of other sayings of the savior which were to be sure harbingers of his advent now let the latter day saints give heed to the word of the lord and stand in holy places that they may not be moved when god shall shake terribly the earth let sympathy and help go out to the afflicted it does not follow that they who suffer most are greater aj sinners in ners than their fellows the troubles impending invoke solemn reflections and sad feelings which are only relieved by the saviors injunction to his saints when ye see these things lift up your heads and rejoice for your redemption nigh and when the evil minded mock and ruffians revile remember the saying of daniel concerning the time of the end the wicked shall lo io wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand but uz the uese shall 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