Show I 1 DISCOURSE by prest P rest nest lieber heber C tabernacle january 25 gl 1357 by J v f E when br was speaking he be was the centre anchen and an when dhen br wells was speaking gaking sp he lie was the centre and anit the speaker should draw every mind and feeling to the centre for foi this is buway you yon get your reformation atlon where there is so large a congregation it is impolitic to bring little children here ber e I 1 am perfectly diling VI ling thant children to six years of atre alre age should come because a great many of them have more sense than some grown persons parsons I 1 I 1 know now that mine have I 1 i I 1 want to speak as br wells wem says just what comes to my my mir d that is if the spirit thinks proper 1 god says my aly housein hou seig seis d a house of older order and bind lotof not lof jot confusion the holy ghost will not dwell where e is confusion I 1 dg not ask you whether you yon know I pow this or not because every one knows that confusion does not come hom the father nor from th son son SOD does it come from the holy ghost everyone every one of you will answer no where does it come from it comes from the author a r of confusion and is produced by hose those wh who re rebel agai agal against hist fist god and against his authority there were many who did this formerly and thy form part of that hell which br wells was talking about althou although gh those men and women are dead a good deal of powei their spirits have power over us when we render ourselves subject ab act to them their spirits are busy at work th tiley ey are re diligent in performing the work of destruction st and confusion they go at that work the very moment their spirits leave their gieir bodies on tile the other oilier hand when righteous persons die their spirits also go into the spirit world but they go to work with the servants of god to help to do good and to bring about the purposes of the almighty pertaining to this earth while wicked spirits those who have been wicked in this proba tion take the opposite course aist the same as they did here 1 have said sali a great many times that that spirit which possesses us here will possess us when our spirits leave our bodies bodied and we shall there be bevery very much the same as we are here if you are subject to re belious rebellious spirits or to a spirit of apostasy apos apo tacy Sacy here will vou you you not have the same spirit beyond the vail tat hat you had bad on this side you will and it will have power over you lo 10 lead you to do wrong and it will control your spirits it if then tilen yol yoi ou 1 are opposed lo 10 the truth while you are here y you 0 u will be occupied in that opposition hereafter for the spirit that is opposed to the work of god here will anvill be opposed to that when beyond the vail I 1 do n not hot iguess guess at this because I 1 have aten at the other side of the vail vall in vision and have seen a degree of its condition with the eyes eves that god gott gave me I 1 have hare seen it and have seen those that lived in the faith and had bad the thep p of seeing jesus peter james and the rest of the ancient apostles and of hearing ing them preach the gospel I 1 bave have also seen those who rebelled belled le against them and they still bada had hada a rebellious spirit fi against god and ui H servants br wells has been explaining to you the spirit len ien it of apostasy apo stacy that is 13 apt to possess persons when ih they vey feel that they have been heen een injured by any an of thein their brethren doubtless some bome have felt grieved and hurt with some of my remarks darini during last weir several men came tome to make confes confessions lons ions for having talked about me because I 1 was too hard upon them in this stand I 1 told them that they had not injured me because they were not partaking of the sap and spirit of the vine while they were finding fault with me it if they had een deen I 1 should have felt the effects of it when faulting a it n me they were branches bran lies lles that bad withered a and I 1 athe the sap t the nourishment was not in them for while indulging in those feelings it had withdrawn to him who gave it of course their conduct would not affect me much but it would affect them at the tho junction of that branch with the vine or of that limb with the tree iree they did not hurt me and I 1 told them to make their consciences clear by going and making a confession to those thosa that they bd hed talked to against me and whose minds they had bad perhaps prejudiced against ma rile rrie t I 1 rn mention antion this to shor r you that you need not come to me not one of you who have talked against me but acknowledge to your god and those that you have injured for you cave have not injured me nor br brigham nor br wells because you cannot get let high hilgh enough to do it you cannot reach higher than your length and if your length does not reach high enough you cannot reach us it is the spirit of stacy when any one takes that course as br wells has said I 1 knew br wells in nauvoo before he lie came into this Cli ch and apostates apo stites and wicked men inen used to go to him and to lewis robison and tell them every thing they knew or imagined to bo be transpiring in regard to this people do those characters take the s sime bime me course here yes mr arr bell and mr gerrish Gerri sli sil know everything that is done almost if not quite as well as its you know if they are hearing things all the time and from whom from those who profess to be our brethren have haye I 1 any ill feelings towards mr gerrish or mr bell no for they have been our friends all theotime the time but have all who have come here been our friends no they have not there are i ses sei several teral terai who would mould destroy br brigham Brig liam llam br daniel and myself in ina iua a moment if it they had the power how does this feeling come about the apos apostates tates in our midst they go to work to destroy men and women and to make themselves reckless and miserable this is their condition many men then and women unfold everything they know and carthina car can think hink of and that too while professing to be good saints faints have they injured me or kr br brigham Brig liam no for they cannot reach us they cannot destroy us they can only destroy the tho honse house that we live in or our tabernacles and sall ball not wo we hold the priesthood hereafter yes we shall hold it forever if you will hearken to the tha teachings of or br woodruff br franklin br bathuel and br wells you will lil ill also receive my words and if you will receive my w words 1 you will receive br brig hams and if you abu will receive his you will also receive br josephs and so on until you get back to the root or to the tree or to the trunk from whence that priesthood came should you ou go into iron county you would there find a branch of this tills church Chur cli cil a branch of the vine which is figurative of jesus so it is with the general authority of this church here are the first presidency the twelve the iii ill high h priests tile llie seventies elders bishops and lesser priesthood aud abd they are branches all ail of the vine now new if the tho people in iron county are connected to the tho main branch that is there president and his counselors there and if they will hearken to their words then they will hearken to our words and if bey they hey w ont hear the words of those who are authorised authorized to teach them do you not comprehend that they cannot remain in the tho vine but if they will hear our words then there is a junction of the lesser with the larger branches to which they are connected and if men hearken to our words wolds the they y will also hearken to the words of their heir bishops and presidents and what is the tho result they will partake of the same sap and nourishment that are in us br brigham is our head and we will say by way of comparison that br heber and br wells are the arms and you can see that there are several members springing from the arms these arms are for defending the head and should there bearty be any disunion or should anything step stop in between them or should any one try to make a separation between them no for they should be agreed in nourishing and cherishing the head or the branch to which th they ey belong reflect upon the union that should exist between those men they should be of one heart and of one mind should not I 1 know the tha mind of br bf brigham 7 yes just as much as ashe lie lle should hould know the mind of br joseph and br joseph the mind of peter and peter the tha mind of jesus and jesus the mind of the father I 1 should know t the he mind of br brigham and br wells should know my mind and the mind of br brigham thesis this is why that in my counsel I 1 never run against mm aid ald lie he knows it and speaks of it and lie he never gave give me any commandment but what I 1 was ready to sustain him then here is a it quorum that is of one heart and of one mind in all things and just as the father the Bonaud son and aud the hol hoi holy y ghost are one so we are one and aas ans ais always alway als ats s should be the twelve apostles come next are they a separate and independent body no for they sprang from those three and are branches that are connected to the ilia same stock and we sprang from froin joseph and joseph from peter and peter from jesus and jesus from his father the twelve may nuy enquire should not we have the same mind as the tha first pre presidency have yes they most certainly should if the twelve have hive the same spirit they will speak our mind and will not summer suffer any person to get between us nor between us and them nor between them for no person has the right to tb dictate to them except br daniel br heber and br brigham because they form a quorum next in authority to the first presidency and hold the keys pf af the kingdom to all men and nations upon the earth they should be one in spirit with the tha first Pre presidency and the Se seventies ventie s should be one with the tha twelve and with us the first presidency of tila the seventies joseph young yung and his six counselors form another body holding power and authority and where du they receive their power and authority from they sprang from the twelve then there are ara seven presidents to each seventy and each seventy is a branch and they are all joined to the vine their seven first presidents are the junction iju liu action by which the Seventies are ara connected to that vine even evan to the very last and they should all ail have the same saine power and faith falth that the first have if it the nourishment and connection are good and the junctions of those branches or limbs are all alive arlve then the farthest seventy has got the ilia spirit of the first and all will go gi 0 on right why because they will wi 11 all be in intimate connection with the vine I 1 use the figure of the tho vino vine to show you the tha connection of this people with each other and had when tile the codine corine cllon clion 1 is is unobstructed you will find excel excellent fent feut fruit even on tiie the farthest if thal that be true no matter how low far he be from the head he be m may ay h q as a member of this church bri bright lit and useful in his sphere asare any of the members who are nearer again g most moat of tile the members of those seventies have wives and children and from five to ten branches branche s from each of thema them and nl still the last child is ii as goodly as the first k because it receives the same nourishment the same care and attention for it sprang out of the v ne arid and abides in its fatness there has got g ot to be that connection and it must go to the farthest pel pet son sob in this kingdom and if there is jio no obstruction what can hinder its proceeding to the minutest branch and tendril but should ai a obstruction occur what will be done in such a case dearoy destroy the branch or limb causing the obstruction and the other part of the tree will wili thrive I 1 have been over many parts of this earth and the power that is in me me extends to the uttermost parts of gods creation but do you not see that I 1 must be connected to the vine or tree we also have to gee that the fruit is gathered so as to ba be saved and preserved because there is a stor storm in coming coming and if the fruit is gathered lathered up and properly stored it can he be preserved on natural principles d if there should be disorder in cheroot the root vine and aad branches branc hee bcE what would be bethe the result if there should be confusion and men should be opposed in their faith and feelings there would not be much good done but if every man was acting in his authol authority ity and the power of the calling placed upon him there would be no obstruction suppose that city creek extended into ten thousand branches through this city and that no obstruction or filth is thrown into them then the ten thousandth stream would be just as good as pure and as wholesome as the rest reat it is just the same i with men and women in this church and kingdom t how long is it going to take you to become men and women women of god and ando to honor your callings when you fight against your leaders or against tile tiie head of a branch do you not see that you are fighting against your lead head it is the same as a childs nigh figh fighting ting tinZ against its mother for when it does so it Is fighting against its own existence I 1 want to show you the propriety of cleaving to the vine othe or branch to which you are connected for if you do not you will be cut off as man many have been are they cleaved off yes with wull all the roots and ariff branches that are in them that is supposing that they should afterwards have ten thousand children they will not be acknowledged in this kingdom except they are taken and grafted back into the priesthood I 1 I 1 want t to o present these ideas to 0 o you brethren and sisters 0 that you may lead new lives I 1 have not a wife bilt but wha taken from another mans family and grafted into a space i that I 1 had got in my amily family now if 1 I 1 1 have a woman who says ilat liat that she has no love for plurality I 1 do not think tuat luat thele thel e could be much affection towards her and when there is such a woman would ouid soon banish it all suppose she lle ile lie has lias no love no attachment can she expect the affection of 0 her husband can a graft grow to a tree unless its nature is congenial to that of the tree in which it is grafted graf grat ted sy say S y that one man roan gives me a graft from his tree and that I 1 get hundreds I 1 of grafts from other trees and that ther they are aie all I 1 grafted into my tree then if hey they bey partake of the nourishment and fatness that are in in the tree they will certainly grow grow but if it they alienate themselves they wilC wiil will wither and drop off perhaps some of you y on jr dc not believe that the spirit of the lord 9 goes oes and comas comes throughout every portion of the vine even t to 0 the smallest lest and farthest extremity thereof but it does how could the members of my body exist if the blood did not pass to the extremities then it has to turn and go back to the vitals now say that I 1 ain aln am a branch how am I 1 to partake of br brig liams hams spirit and know his mind unless I 1 also partake of the fatness of the ai tiu fiu up evine vine and permit its sap or es e essence s ence or spirit spi ritto to flow through me without obstruction that my mind and will may rhay become amalgamated and arid run together with the mind and wil will of br brigham Brig ham bam that our spirits may rray freely and fully unite through the same genial influences of the spirit of guth ruth truth alid if my wife wants to be one with me m she must let her will and affections cente centre in me |