Show DISCOURSE I 1 I 1 I 1 by elder orson pratt tabernacle acla october 22 1854 1 ON LANGUAGE OR THE MEDIUM ME OF communication IN THE FUTURE STATS AND ON THE INCREASED POWERS OP OF LO LOC C emotion i I 1 I 1 by the request of president kimball I 1 arise this all afternoon for the purpose of speaking to the saints upon whatever subject may ills v be presented to my I 1 at the same time earll earnestly estly desiring that the prayers of tile the saints who sit before me may ascend up before the lord in roy my beli behalf alf th that at I 1 may be ablo able to speak those things that will be calculi I 1 1 ted toi to edify you and do y you on good 1 it is delightful to me ine to speak of the things till njg that th at I 1 beigun to the salvation of the human farby faro cli fly to speak of f god ga abo of ills his works plans and pur boies poses so far as they a are ie revealed for the I 1 salvation I 1 and benefit of man but agthe at the same time I 1 realize that there is but I 1 a small degree a very a small mail degree indeed of th the purposes of god unfolded to the midd bf man ich tw e amount of knowledge which we anwar pre i sel sent f state are iu ili possession of is extremely limi I 1 1 ted so that compared with that vast amount of knowledge that fills eternity w we e might say sav that man in his highest attainments bere cre in ili ifil anis ante ile is is as it were eucla nucla ng g however io wever tar far ie ho way may expand his intellectual powers and faculties faculty by aiudi studying ii by meditation I 1 by seeking peeking unto cinto ta the e L lord 0 fe dill diligently I 1 atly fo for r the inspiration of the spirit yet all th that at te he can possibly re receive iv e and 1 attain to here is co comparatively in ively speaking frothing moses was a mari possessed of like passions with other dier then men he wasa was a mail maii similar to 0 lie he had by his perseverance arance erance diligence atad W faithfulness ith obtained great favor sand power with god so that by tin this s favor and through this power he was war enabled to ob lait greater ili information format io n and kii knowledge chii thaia tp rest of the human family I 1 that were I 1 ou on t the he earth at that period and ana far i gr greater eker in one than what we have attained t tri awis ge generation iteration at the a me time when the grand arid afia wande wonderful ifal intelligence of heaven was portrayed before the mind of moses and knowledge was poured 0 out at from the heavens upon him he exclaimed before the lord I 1 vow now I 1 know for this once that man is nothing 11 i if there were a being then upon the leface face of alie earth that had a reason to suppose that man was ething th ing I 1 it was moses but yet in the midst of Em e visions 9 of f and the vast vas field of the I 1 knowledge low now ledge that was was opened to his mind ni lud while he was yet gazing upon the workmanship of the hands of goo god and looking into the intricacies of I 1 the construction of this world worl worlden din in tile the midst of aall all this he be considered himself nothing that is I 1 jast apat the way dav eifel and I 1 presume it is the way that film almost estev every one feels who wh contemplate the grea greatness I 1 I 1 1 of god T ano and ohp of knowledge that ahe there reas is f far ar beyond bayou d our reach in this Pre present of existence af the same ume time k nhep heba wa we compare bur aur oga inte powers with the glimmering af 19 ht that hat we see manifested in the brute created ive we may I 1 ince exclaim laith that alai mau man is something 1 that hat hw he is advanced farbo beyond yorA the apa apparent reit manifestA manifestations or of I 1 I 1 knowledge cledge that exist among the lower orders of beings he is indeed something ething compared I 1 with the small glimmerings glimme rings of light that exist in the brute creation in the beasts of the field in ili the fowls of the air and in ill the fishes of the sea all these have some degree of knowledge and understanding and some of them have some degree of information and knowledge that mau ia is not in possession of man designates such intelligence by the he naine of instinct they seem to be guided by a principle that man mail naturally speaking is not in possession of but butet yet when we e contemplate the reasoning pow powers era and faculties of man the rational faculty the abstract ideas that axe are capable of dwelling in his mind and then I 1 look at the brute creation we see a vast difference J between the two mankind in one sen seare far above the brutes and not only this but they are above even some of the angels for there are certain orders of angels that are far beneath man mail they have not pr progressed greased 0 in the great scale of being la in the scale of wisdom knowledge and intelligence to the same extent as we have and consequently ire are us they are lower than we are they have not attained to the same degree of tion that we are in posses possession aoh of hence we e read that hat man shall judge angels the saints are to I 1 judge not only the world the wicked world hild and I 1 also one another but they are to j judge angels why wh I 1 because they aie are superior 0 or r will be at the lie t time t they shall sit before in nj judgment and decide upon the cases brought before them by the angels they will rule over the angels or in oth other er words the angels will be subject to them this thi we read in in the laws jaws that god hae ha revealed to this church we read that there are a certain class thio of f beings who because they have not fulfilled the law or of god will in the next state enjoy no higher privileges than thesle of the all angels gels th they ey will remain main anges angels while others who have kept the celestial celestal I 1 law in all ftp its bearings in in its ordinances and and have claimed the privileges legs of the saints of god willbe will be exalted to a higher sphere they will aill have greater knowledge and information and those angels being of a lower order older of intelligence will be subject to the them in evl id will minister for them ili in carrying out their purposes and designs in ili the wide field of action in li t the lie e eternal t erna I 1 w worlds all these theu then in one sense of the word are something instead of being bothin nothing for all of the works of god are intended to allow show forth his wisdom power and goodness go whether it is in the formation of man mail in tile the formation of the brute creation or in tile the formation of the highest or lowest order of intelligence god is there his intelligence and power aro are there his wisdom and goodness are there and all his works are marked or by his great and glorious attributes there is something calculated to give g greal re a enjoy joy and happiness to the mind of man mail in ill tile the idea id adf of improvement so long as there is anything to he be learned in the idea of progressing and expanding those principles of light and intelligence that already exist within these tabernacles there is J ajoy a satisfaction existing in the mind of the righteous man in the discovery of every additional truth troth it matters not whether he himself at t tins this this ti truth by experience by reason by reflection by immediate revelation from higher powers or by a revelation from rom his fellow man inan it matters ers gothow not how or ol in ili what way 0 or r manner lie he obtains tin this s new truthie tru iru thit is calculated to inspire ins h is heart with joy and happiness we see this illustrated in income some small degree in it the scientific dis coneiles cov eiles of modern agenas well as those of ancient G times in ea WWI um onu luns CUIR onit olne Je sedell u v vz v z v I 1 ea eran er some fioden truth at length have ob dined bained tile the key hey that leads to that triet truth h they mako use of it the door of knowledge and wisdom is is I 1 unlocked to them and they find out aud and discover demonstrated t b their api minds I 1 it is tl something 11 new ew 3 nd they low know it to be true th there ereis is a 11 11 acuity culty existing in the bosom of mt man r 11 that Is is capable capa 1 rg le f light and truth when it Is is C learly clearly manit ted such truths are as certain as pure to him as any ny other truths when whan he obtains the knowledge which chich lie has long hunted I 1 after and spent years pera perhaps 1 9 iu in close reasoning and study in older ter to obtain it gives liim such a joy satisfaction and e ecstacy that lie he is hardly capable of retaining himself liim self in ili the lie body the mind of that great man sir isaac N ewton atou one of the great discoverers in modern times was exercised in a wonderful maii manner iier about the time lie he u unfolded ti folded the great law that governs tile dodies I 1 in ill the universe which lie he tei termed med the law of universal gravitation his mind was so eff effected acted so full I 1 of joy and so overcome when he lying laying bare the great truths this law that he had t to 0 obtain the assistance of some one ode pre sent in carding ot out it the calculations if these scientific truths will have such an effect upon the mind of man how much greater ought the joy to be in the hearts of the children of men in relation to those still greater truths that pertain to eternal life and exaltation of mail in the eternal world if those truths which only have a beiring bearing upon the present stae slate of existence are calculated to impart joy and happiness happi 1 less so intense as almost to overpower over poKer the mortal tabernacle berli acle of man are not those still greater truths ahat that proceed from heaven by the ministration of angels by the power of the holy ghost and by the visions of the almighty calculated to impart still greater joy and happiness to the mind of man they certai certainly tily ire arc there is glorious in tile con contemplo tion of that period dof of time when we shall come in possession n of greater truths egemo eten be foreL we do obtain them em for we have tile the promise giden gif en to us by the almighty that more truths will w ill be revealed aad unfolded and just the bare antiel pati on of those these tru therefore this before they are revealed rev evIeO are calculated calculate a to give greaf great joy and happiness to tile the mind of man N now 0 ahat do we brethren ren arid add sisters what are we looking for I 1 stated to you yon last sabbath that we we were cooki looking ing fora for a future existence after this mortal body shall orn back to its mother element I 1 also endeavored deavo red last sabbath to inquire into int atho diio nature or af this future state of existence in ia a some 0 me small degree at we life same time ro minding you that in one short discourse it wo ld id be utterly impossible 1 le to point out tile the apparent differences or at least the real ind and a supposed up posea differences difference i that will exist ast between tWell be man man ill in his As I 1 present state and in ins hiss future ture state there will be a great dif in many me ny respects and in other respects a very little difference I 1 now let us touch a fv foia moments upon a principle in ili regard to tile the communication of knowledge between man and man mail in hiis future state we know how we knowledge one to altot a mothr hr here it is b by speaking by writing b by y arbitrary sounds that we ve convey our ideas one to another and ald reveal knowledge instruction and truth one to another this is a ver very imperfect medium of f communication consequently consequent lyman than progresses progresses slowly very slowly iff indeed deed iu obtaining truth but supposing that we could leavere healed to us from on lith high a language more pure and heavenly that is a perfect language so far as it can be made perfect and be adapted to our present ste of existence let such a language be I 1 revealed to us let I 1 us iq learn it let us obtain a I 1 knowledge of all the various i symbols of the same salme by chic which 1 we could communicate ofir our ideas abne one I 1 to another perfectly without any ambiguity or uncertainty in the ideas aou would id not this be a in medium e by which mankind could greatly en enlarge harge ideas and knowledge of th things I 1 ng s co could old not those that have pro progressed greased iq in tb abe principles of truth troth and righteousness more re readily odily imp their ide ideas t to 10 0 thersa now noh we find in ili consequence of inz or of our language 0 o thit that it is very difficult indeed io to communicate lf readily dily our ideas to others so go that we have to spend years and year to instill into tile tha in minds aids of children and e 4 t I 1 1 ft f 1 4 too youth routh 3 ame awne v vary vy easy and simple a principles pr plea of knowledge ivis its I 1 in n on oua le wab sense owing to the weakness of vis thir c capacity and intellect in but it i is still more to the owing imperfection t j a h of Is language by w which loose are cammilli com communicated milli incited id cited bready Thes the speaker here hebi asse sid d a blessing 8 upon the tha we were speak tug dij upon the nn perfect medium here in ill this lit life by ay which we convey conr ideas deas on to another let us nd now w compare our present means of obtaining knowledge with the facilities w which will are no doubt in ili store fox for the people of god will there be a pure language restored there will the testimony Guv of tile the prophets we are also told that tongues shall cease we wa iare are to understand by this thia that the great varieties of languages and tongues that have existed on oil I 1 the earth for man many ly ages are to be done away they are to cease now something Y must take fake the th place placa of those imperfect confused confuse languages and i tongues es what is that something it is a language I 1 th that at is spoken by higher orders of beings than 1 ourselves that is beings that have progressed further than ourselves e bitis itis that same language that was spoken for nearly two thousand years after the tha creation that was spoken by adam and by his children from generation to genera generation that came down to the flood and was taught extensive exten extensively siv illy among the children of noah until the lord by a direct miracle caused the people to forget their own mother tongue and them gave a variety of new tongues that they had no knowledge of slid and by this means scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth and now that same being that destroyed the memory of the people at the building of the tower so that they could not remember their the irown r own mother and the same being that gave to them new languages and toi guce will operate again by his power to do away a W ay this curse for I 1 consider it a curse and the blessing will be as great and as extensive as tile tha wy curse in ili destroying it il from the face of the earth this is a poor medium of communication between man ana man whether chii tin s pure ure language hero bere spoken of which is to be b spoken here upon apon the earth among mankind in their mortal state to is to be as perfect as the langu language ager that has to be in our immortal state is not for us to say but bat still we may draw some conclusions upon thu this matter froth the fact that things in a the he eternal world will ju jn some measure be different from what they are a here for instance how do yon suppose that sp brits after they leave these bodies communicate an with another I 1 do they communicate their ideas by the actual vibrations of the atmosphere the same as we do I 1 think not I 1 wak think if we could be made aca acq acquainted with tile the kind of language by which spirits converse with sp friis we w would find that they do not communicate their ideas in this manner they have a more inore refined way I 1 mean |