Show DISCOURSE by jedediah M grant in the tabernacle feb 19 1854 p TO I 1 have been pleased with the remarks of elder hyde this afternoon I 1 am myself more or less familiar with the doings of the spirit rappers having had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with them when I 1 was last in new york and philadelphia Phil idelphia and I 1 am satisfied now and was then that they are manifestations of spirits and startling are the sentiments and doctrines they have made known it has been treated as a bubble upon apon the wave that soon would burst asunder but I 1 lam am satisfied the result of tile the manifestations of the spirits wicked spirits will be to combine their forces in ill as systematic an order as they are capable to success fully resist the priesthood upon the earth I 1 am aware that even some of the latter day saints are slow to lo believe in relation to the power of lucifer the son of the morning who was thrust from the heavens to the earth and they have been slow to believe in relation to the spirits that are associated with him but from the first revelations of the almighty to br joseph smith not only revelations in relation to the deep things of the kingdom of god and the high things of heaven and the depths of hell bell but revelations showing him the power of lucifer the opposite to good that lie he might be aware of the strength of his opponent and the opponent of the almighty I 1 say from perusing these revelations I 1 have always been specially impressed with the doctrine relating to the power of satan as well as with the doctrines relating to the power of god I 1 have always felt that no saint fully comprehends the power of satan as well as gods prophet and again I 1 have thought that no saint could fully understand the power of god unless they learn the opposite I 1 am not myself acquainted quain ted with any hap happiness that I 1 have not learn ed the opposite of you may perhaps enjoy a great deal the opposite of which you know nothing of you may be constituted different to me your feelings may be different you may have learned to enjoy enjoy without first experiencing the opposite but I 1 may say with safety nearly all the blessings I 1 enjoy and highly prize are after I 1 have learned their opposite and I 1 am of opinion that all saints sooner or later will have to learn the opposite to good they will have to partake of the bitter in order to properly appreciate the sweet they will have to be impressed with pain that they may appreciate pleasure in relation to spirits for it seems to be the subject introduced today to day I 1 have this idea that the lord our god absolutely gave Luci fier amis a mission to this earth I 1 will call it a mission you may think it strange that I 1 believe so good a being as our father in heaven would actually send such euch an odd missionary as lucifer you may call him a miss missionary conary or ai any ay iy thing else you please but we learn he was thrust out of heaven heave ii the place where the lord dwells to this earth and his mission and the mission of his associates who were thrust down with hima of those whom he is successful in turning away from gods children who have tabernacles is to continue to oppose the almighty scatter his church wage war against his kingdom and change as far as possible his government on the earth he could take the savior upon the of the temple and show him the kingdoms of this word and could perform many wonderful works in the days of jesus when the priesthood of god is upon the earth then the priesthood of the D devil evil may be seen operating for he has got one when the kingdom of god is on the earth you may expect to see a special display or manifestation of tile the opposite to the gospel of the kingdom or of the priesthood of god if you read the book of mormon the bible and the book of doctrine and covenants you read about the power of satan upon the earth the manifestation of wicked spirits when was this special power of satan more particularly made manifest it has always been when the power of alie holy priesthood and the kingdom of god was upon the earth in the days of moses in the days of the patriarchs in the days of the prophets and in the days of jolla jesus and his apostles and while his church remained upon the earth the opposite of the principles of heaven were specially made manifest causing a lull in the public mind the world is more or less controlled oled all the time by influences that lucifer evidently is not opposed to he has little objection to the present organization of human society from the fact that every thing passes along in the wake that agrees with his religion and rather tends to forward his purposes now some suppose if they can see a miracle as they call it that is something beyond that which is ordinary with man they are bound to believe but 1 am of opinion that lucifer and his associates can show as many miracles as the people desire to see they can show as many as were exhibited in egypt in the days of king pharaoh I 1 believe lucifer has just as much power to make lice now as ever he had he has just as much power to display his bis power in making a serpent to oppose a moses as ever has he lost his power during the last two twos three or four thousand years we do not believe he has if then he possesses the same power he once did why is he not able in this dispensation to make manifestations corresponding to those in previous ones I 1 wish to come down to our own day fot you know I 1 am fond of rooting grubbing building fencing and doing the things needed right here at home let us then confine our remarks to this dispensation when the prophet joseph smith was visited by an holy angel clad in robes of light who authorized him to sound the trump of the gospel of peace and receive the sacred records from the earth and the arim and Thum mim and who laid hands upon him and gave him the holy ghost and authorized him to baptize for the remission of sins and organize the kingdom k of god on the earth what do we see at this time we see the manifestations of the power of satan salan after the revelations of the angel abigel to joseph for instance there were spirit mediums in kirtland when the church was first organized there by br parley P pratt and others but when joseph went with the priesthood the devil had to leave for he had learned the power of lucifer and jose joseph h organized the church established the priest lioom hoot and and set every thing right I 1 might go on with a long routine of manifestations of the power of god and of the power of the devil but you who have come from the old country and some of the first elders that went over there president young kimball hyde and others recollect manifestations of the spirits of the devil in that land they attacked those brethren by hundreds and by thousands and the spirits were actually visible if you could call up br willard snow and converse with him I 1 have no doubt that he would tell you lie he was attacked with them and they overcame his body I 1 am not surprised to see these manifestations increased upon the earth but where is the anchor to the faith of the saints where is the surety of of the saints against these manifestations inas inae C 5 r I 1 f I 1 much as the world would not listen to the prophet joseph J e h and receive the word of god through him I 1 tok look for the lord to fulfil fulfill his wo word rd and send them a strong delusion inasmuch as they believe not the truth and will permit them now to believe a lie that all who have pleasure in unrighteousness may be damned I 1 anticipate seeing strong delusion among the wicked in the day in which we live but where is the anchor for the faith of the saints I 1 will tell you where mine mine is when joseph smith was alive his declaration to rue me was as the voice of almighty god why because he had the die priesthood of god on the lout earth the priesthood that is without father without mother without the beginning of days or end of years which is gods authority the eternal power and right of the government of god upon the earth I 1 was subject to that government in the days of joseph men used to talk on this wise but would you believe in the prophet if he should demand all your property lucifer would suggest this idea to them no says saya an another other 1 I would not 41 suppose he should come to you and tell you you must sell your farm in tle the east and go to kirtland and consecrate your property to the lord would you do it no answers his neighbor the lord has no use for my property I 1 would not do it well says one do you think joseph is right to dictate in temporal matters no there was quits quite a majority I 1 believe in the days of joseph who believed he had no right to dictate in temporal matters in farms houses merchandise merchandize dize gold silver etc and they were tried on various points when the family organization was revealed from heaven the patriarchal order of god and joseph joseh began on the right and on the fhe left to add to his family what a quaking there was in israel says one br to another joseph says all covenants are done away and none are binding but the new hew covenants now suppose joseph should come and say he wanted your wife what would you say to that 1 I would tell him to go to hell this was the spirit of many in the early days daya of t this church if you maintain the fact that the priesthood of god is upon the earah and gods representatives are upon the earth the mouth of jehovah the head of the kingdom of god upon earth and the will of god is doner done upon earth as it is in heaven it follows that the government of god is upon the earth I 1 allude tor to the church which it dictates nd then to the whole earth which it will dictate satan may succeed for a season to curtail the extent of this government and the free working of its machinery but if the lord almighty has organized a government upon the th earth and has committed the keys and priesthood of it to his prophet that prophet holds jurisdiction over the earth the same as adam did in the beginning and righteous men in every dispensation since the creation if they had any keys had the keys of the kingdom of god and thel they extended over this wide world where ever go god had a people and a government and just as far as the priesthood exercised its authority just so BO far tho the rule of the almighty reached if joseph had a right to dictate me in relation to salvation in relation to a hereafter he had a right to dictate me in relation to all my earthly affairs in relation to tile the treasures of the earth and in relation to the earth itself he had a right to dictate in relation to the cities of the earth to the tha natives of the earth and in relation to every thing on land and on sea that is what ho he had a right to do if he had any right at all if he did not have that right he did not have the priesthood of god he did not have the endless priesthood that emi nates from an eternal being A priesthood that is clipped and lacks length is not the priesthood of god if it lacks depth it is not the priesthood of god for the priesthood in ancient times extended 1 ae over the wide world and coped with tho the universe and had a right to govern and control the inhabitants thereof to regulate them give them laws and execute those laws that power looked like the priesthood of god this same priesthood has hais been given to joseph smith and has haa been haddad down to his successors I 1 do not care how many devils rap it is no trouble to me I 1 say rap away and give as many revelations as you please whether you are good spirits or bad ones it does not trouble my cranium rap away for I 1 trust in the anchor of my soul that is sure and steadfast in the priesthood of god upon the earth what would a man arnan of god say who felt aright ari glit when joseph asked him for his money he would say yes and I 1 wish I 1 had more to help build up the kingdom of god or if he came cama and said 1 I want your wife 0 yes he be would say here she is there are plenty more there is another main thread connected with this that I 1 have not brought out you know in hi fishing with the hook and line if you yon draw out suddenly on the line when you have got a large trout you may break your line you must therefore angle a little and manage your prize carefully I 1 would ask you if ff jehovah has not in all ages tried his people by the power of lucifer and his associates and on oil the other hand has he not tried them and proved them by his prophets prophets die did I 1 the lord actually want abraham to kill ill isaac D did id the prophet joseph want every mans wife he asked for he did not but in that tiling thing was the tha grand thread of the priesthood developed the grand object in view was to try the ther people of god to see what was in them if such a man of god should come to me and say 1 I want your gold and silver or your wives I 1 should say here they are I 1 wish I 1 had more to give you take all I 1 have got t A man who has got the sp spirit it of af god and ge the light fight of eternity in him has no trouble about such matters I 1 am talking now of the present day there has been a time when we could be tried pretty beverly upon these points hut but I 1 now could pick you out hundreds of men that cannot be tried in this way but they will hand over every thing they possess they understand the nature of such doctrines and the object of such requirements they know it is to prove the people both men and women and to developed dev delo elope lope what they will do how can the priesthood judge the people if it does not prove them if ever you are brought atto the presence of god and exalted to a seat in his celestial kingdom it will be by virtue of the holy priesthood therefore you have got to be prove proved dl not only by being tempted by the devil but the priesthood will try you yon it will try you to the core icona if one thing wont try you something else will be adopted until you are like the passive clay in the hands of the potter jf if the lord our god does not see fit to let the devil loose upon you and mob you he will employ some other means to try you as aa in a cruc crucible lle to prove you as gold is tried seven times in the fernanco fur nanco the world philosophizes philosophises philosophy philo sophi ses about the mormons cormons Mor mons about their leaders and the life they are living there are a thon thousand sand conjectures among them in ia relation to the mormons cormons Mor mons the grand secret is told in a few words the fact is tile almighty god has spoken from the heavens sent heavenly messengers and organized his church rest restored oreo the holy priesthood established his government on the earth and exerted his power to extend it and send forth liis his word and that priesthood understands the principles and motives by which men are actuated and it understands the workings of the devil on the earth that priesthood knows how to govern when to strike and when not to strike some things in this church start up at times that you would think the whole church would be rent asunder like the clans of scotland Clan ism and mormonism are like that putting his fingers across mormonism is one it is governed by one on head one president and that head representing god on earth if joseph smith held the keys of kingdom of god on earth of the apostleship does not his successor possess the same does he not have a right to give laws to instruct to control and rule the people of god I 1 might still to go 0 on n a and n d ex explain plain to your understandings exact exactly y w what h at I 1 mean by rule if this priesthood is upon the earth and you are controlled led thereby and listen to its counsels you will be united as one people I 1 know the time has be been enthat that mandof many of this people believed bellev edif if a man was adopted here and there that one man would hold |