| Show DISCOURSE sy 57 eider elder ORSON dratt PRATT sunday I 1 afternoon june 24 1860 REPORTED by J T V LONG I 1 arise by the request of br kimball to speak to the congregation what I 1 may say ado I 1 do not know at the present time but one thing I 1 do know and that is I 1 earnestly delire desire the 06 gift of the holy spirit to enable me to speak to the edification of 0 those present and I 1 then hen whatever is said will be right and we shall shail be mutually instructed and our minds informed one of the great fundamental principles of our reli rell religion ion lon is the divine authority which god hai has has hag sent down from he heaven avenand ani and conferred upon man it lies at the foundation of the great work that we have embraced without it we ive are nothing we are mere cyphers we are no better off than tha the rest of the world so mo matter hov how many truths we might embrace in our faith and how bow many principles w we e might ad advance vitrice for the instruction of one another nor however much knowledge we might gain and impart one to another yet if gewere we were not in possession of 0 this principle of authority from heaven all would be vain all would be useless all we could do would be like the turning to and fro of the door upon its binges our ordinances would be in vain our baptisms would be in vain our confirmations would be in vain our preaching and our testimonies would be in vain and finally there would be nothing pertaining to our religion that would be serviceable or save able in its nature but iet lot authority be sent down from heaven and arid conferred upon man so that he will have the right to act in the name of the lord and so that he be will have the right to administer ordinances in his name and to act to preach to testify and exhort in the name of the lord then what ia is done will stand it will be lawful it will be eternal it will be reco recognized 9 in the heavens in the day of judgment and it will be sanctioned by all the pure and holy beings that are saved when therefore we teach this generation we ive teach this as one of the great fundamental principles of our religion anat authority has been given not from man not from any individual or combinations of men but it has been given from a superior source burce and a superior power and eventually it has been conferred upon us giving ua us the legal right to administer to the human family this authority when acted upon and when properly received is save able in in its nature and without it we may despair of obtaining 1 salvation al in the k egdom of god we might as 9 well give up first as 33 last but we do verily know for with us it is not belief or guess work but we have a knowledge that god has given this authority we know it for ourselves we know inov it as individuals and not for the rest of mankind but each individual for himself provided he has received the gift of the hoi hot holy ghost 0 an and if hhas not 0 receive received that gift lift and b blessing ess irig tild be e does not know it for no man can know t the e things of god but by the spirit of god no 0 man raan can know by his natural eye si ht nar even see sec the things of god they are to be spiritually discerned no man can know by the hearing of the ear car by the testimonies that are given to other individuals nor by the miracles that are performed in shore no man min can know the things of gd god unless he haa baa received the gift of the holy ghost the egyptians did not know when moses and aaron performed miracles that they were the servants of god they saw water apparently turned into blood they saw frogs and insects come before their eyes but they saw the magicians do the same things and they had not sufficient knowledge to know the difference between the powers of the children of god and those possessed by themselves although th hey they be believed eved yet they did not know for want ef fahie the holy spirit their hearts were not r prepared to receive that heavenly I 1 light t that divine gift by which that power ava enra among them I 1 irow ow easily we may be operated upon and how how bow liable we are to be led astray by the opposite how easily the children of israel were led their minds darkened and their faith destroyed because they did not retain this authority and power in their hearts the th thunders inders inderB of mount sinai the cloudland cloudia cloudy and nd dir darkness kness and all the magnificent that surrounded them did not create within hem that living abiding testimony that comes by the he holy ghost there in the midst of all these scenes they could build a calf fall down aown bedore before it and acknowledge it to be their god they could say not only in their own hearts but to one another these be thy gods 0 Israel israeli py while mountains were covered with vast clouds while the were yet striking down and while the whole mountain of sinai was wag trembling because ot of ottha the tha power of god yet that power vas waa not recognized it was not respected but a 1 golden cd cat caf was considered to be de the god hurat that brought them out of the land and of egypt ilo flo HoW irvain vain then without the holy ghost hris bris bi abiding hig this big authority that comes from heaven and the knowledge of it by this authority sent down from heaven we obtain a knowledge of future events by it we obtain a knowledge as the fathers did we receive that which js is promised upon our heads even that which is promised in regard to our posterity to the latest generations by it we shall obtain all that was pi pr misad in relation to our ancestors also that which is promised in relation to priesthood power greatness an and glory all these things are given through t the tha e athol authority ity that god has ordal ordained ried tied and b bestowed e on man here upon the earth blessed the sacramental cup mankind have assumed to themselves various degrees of authority mankind have assumed to themselves from the earliest ages after our creation to establish by their own authority civil governments and also to establish by their own authority ecclesiastical or church governments these governments that have assumed authority to rule ruie rule ruie and reign and govern the people will crumble to ashes before 1 t the e might the strength and power of the kingdom bour of our god one perhaps has assumed authority after one method another has assumed it after another one has established one form of government government overn ment and another another form one tas has erected a standard of religion to guide the human mind in relation to their welfare and happiness and another has set up a separate c reed creed and we find that our world from ages immemorial has been under all kinds of authority and government civil and ecclesiastical and the nations of the earth have honored them these governments more or less perhaps it may be said that the lord is the author of all these governments that we may admit in one sense and in one sense only because he control rl those governments to a certain extent as we have been told from this but is the lord the author of a government that admits ot 0 no authority from heaven he may permit those governments to exist and he may control the result of their actions for the glory of his name and for his own benefit but to suppose that the lord has directly established the monarchial governments that have existed for ages that are past and the republican governments that have existed through or in dif dlf different generations and the various other governments some of which hav havo stood the the test of centuries to suppose that the she almighty organized all of them I 1 say would be inconsistent but some might say is it not nob better to have these forms of government than to have none at all admit that it is better than to let every man go which way he pleases and therefore when the lord saw that the people were so far departed from heaven and from him I 1 and from the form given from heaven he may have suffered those forms of government to be I 1 established and that too for the benefit of the inhabitants of the earth and he may have had and may still hold his hand indirectly over the wise men of the earth and move upon their hearts to establish many good and wise principles for the benefit of the people all this he has done for his names glory glor therefore we acknowledge the hand of the lord lord ford in con broling all the governments and kingdoms of the earth but where is that heavenly divine authority that comes down from above where is it to be found in the present generation among all the nations and kingdoms in the four quarters of our globe except it be in thes these e mountains where has it been in ases that are past since the apostles fell asleep you may traverse our earth from one side to the other to find a government established by the almighty and you cannot do it or if you do not want to find a people eople who will say that god was at the foundation foun foundation lation of the establishment lish ment of their governments find a people who will say bay that god directs in their movements in by t their air councils in their senates in their houses of parliament find a nation that will acknowledge that god governs them by bv the spirit of revelation you cannot find such an one there are none such in existence among the nations abroad for they all say bay they do 0 not acknowledge the principle if you go over to the old world and travel from one end to the other and ask the question do you acknowledge god in your movements in making war one with another does god give you revelation to guide you have you xou ou any prophets that are appointed by divine authority rity who can say thus saith raith the lord god concertin con concerning cernin thi this s people you will find the united testimony of icings kings and senators to be that god does not speak in this our day there is no such buch thing as revelation in this generation then go to the ecclesiastical gov governors erners and ask the same question go to the pope that pretends to occupy the chair of st peter and he will say 0 1 I occupy the same position as peter the same apostle apostleship shi P and calling do you act in the same duties ile he will answer gro 0 yes P guide gulde and direct my people as peter did but there is no revelation now for since the days of john the revelator the canon of scripture has been closed up and we are to be guided by their we arg are are arg toot ot to have any ant moril more this is what the pope would tell you it is what the cardinals would say and the bishops and clergy would all tell you that the canon of scripture is for ever closed they have no god to decide relative to their principles and doctrines and to correct errors that may creep into their church in the next place you may go to all the reformers and other branches of the ecclesiastical government and with one united voice the they will all tell you the same thin thing 0 viz that the he bible contains all that is n necessary PC essary and that can conduce to the benefit of the people mb no prophet no inspired man in our day and has not been for many generations past and hence there has been no additions to our scriptures this is the state of the whole world apart from this divine authority that is claimed by the latter day saints in these mountains if the question be asked us by all the nations and kingdoms upon the earth do you profess to be guided in your councils by revelation from the heavens there woul would d scarcely be a voice in the negative I 1 believe they would all answer in the affirmative and say we believe in revelation from on high we believe that angels have come and administered to the apostles and prophets that intelligence tell telli gence ence has been sent down from heaven that prophets and revelators revelatory have been in our midst and that revelations have been given liven from the commencement of the church and that we know that the counsels and great movements of our church have been dictated by on and here is where we differ from the whole world it must be remembered that this is not one of those points that are generally supposed to be nonessential non essential it is as dif dlf different derent from many of those disputed questions as the sun at its meridian splendor is from the moon making L her appearance in midday mid day this is a great and an important question where is there power to govern civilly or ecclesiastically I 1 mean the power of god will he not bring all their thrones to an end where is there a law lav passed by human authority that will stand the searching glance of the almighty where is there a kingdom or council organized among the nations that now exist that get the counsel of the almighty to direct them all that do not obtain this direction will be rooted up in the great day to come the they will v i 11 be overthrown and brought to naught 2 ani and d even their domestic institutions are wrong where is there a nation among those governments where the people have been brought into the bonds of matrimony according in to the order of god when the great day ofa of the lord comes it will wilt come to end their marriages there will be nothing but good feelings left between man and wife between parents arents and children because they have not been been begotten neither have their marriages been solemnized by that authority which is known on high then children can no longer rec recognize nize their fathers and mothers as suc buc such buch b I 1 neither can men and women any longer dwell together as husband and wife when that great lay day shall come for all things that is established by human authority must come to an end and cease forever but when on the other hand band we consider the he authority that is given to us from heaven we see something that will never come to an i endl there will be something something that will endure when the mountains and hills ills lils shall melt like wax and the elements shall melt with fervent heat at that day there will be among the latter day saints those holding that authority that is from on high that inspiration that comes from heaven then when the great eternal son of the father shall come in in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory we shall stand firm upon the rock that will endure forever even by the authority that god has ordained how great reason the latter day saints have to rejoice when they contemplate these great privileges and blessings and when they contemplate that the same authority that god established in the begin beginning nin nID when our eara first parents were upon the earth the same authority that proceeded from the great eternal in the morning of creation is again restored ours is an ecclesiastical church and an ecclesiastical state we have so something methin that is enduring and this rejoices my soul when I 1 think upon it this ills present state of existence is as the apostle says but a shadow and our probation ends in death mant many of the latter dy D y saints have been properly property instructed in regard to this authority that is gent sent from god where is there an individual that has been united in the order of god who would like these bonds to be severed and henceforth be left in conjecture what would the world give if they were ac acquainted lecause fainted with these divine principles it is because they are ignorant of them that they are contented to marry in the way they do at the present time we can see that they are principles that we need and that are ordained by andt the almighty m agh ty implanted in the bosoms of men ani and women 0 m n they are principles that minister to our happiness then why should thosa tic be bi thill torn nhep this bodt body dies why should the pursuance of that course which sustains us in this life be broken up forever in that which is to come would t this M is be consistent |
