| Show IT T unan by elder josephm JOSEPHS suits SMITH deliver ed edin in the old tabernacle galt salt Kalt zake lake olty city nou nov 1868 REPORTED rUED BY DAVID 7 EVANS somewhat unexpectedly I 1 am called to stand before you I 1 buti do so with pleasure as I 1 have a testimony to bear to the work we are engaged in and it gives me pleasure when an opportunity la is afforded to give expression to my feelings in relation to that work tb that at behave we have the gospel and have enjoyed its blessings and that the ordinances of the gospel have been administered to us as latter day saints there are thousands brids of witnesses in this territory and in many places in the world the tes of the truth of this work is not riot confined to one or to a few but there are thousands who can declare that they know it is true because it has been revealed to them we as a people are increasing in numbers and the lord almighty is increasing his blessings upon us and the peo pie are expanding in their understand in ings and in the knowledge of the truth I 1 As feel el grateful to my heavenly father that I 1 have been permitted to live in this generation and have been permitted to become acquainted somewhat with the principles of the gospel I 1 am thankful that 1 I have had the privilege of having a testimony of its truth and that I 1 am permitted to stand here and else eise elsewhere whereto to bear my testimony to the truth that the gospel has been restored to man I 1 have traveled somewhat among the nations preaching the gospel and have seen something of the condition of the world and to a certain extent have become acquainted with the feelings of men and with the religions of the world I 1 am aware that the gospel as revealed in the bible can not be found in the world the ordinances of that gospel are not administered in any church except the theO hurch church of Jesus Christ of lat ter day saints if we mal mats e ourselves acquainted quain ted with the tenets of the religious world we shall find that they have mt rubt the gospel nor its ordinances they have a form of godliness and I 1 have DO no doubt are as sincere as we who have obeyed the gospel as revealed from heaven in these days but they are devoid of the knowledge which we possess and it is from the fact that they deny the source by which they might receive this knowledge namely revelation from jesus christ in their minds they have closed up the heavens they declare that goa god has revealed all that is necessary that the canon of scripture is full fall and that no more will be revealed believing thus they close up the avenue of light and intelligence from heaven and this will continue so long althey as they continue in ln their present course of unbelief thoy will not listen as wo we have heard this after afternoon noon noOD to the testimony of men who tell them that the lord lives and that he is as able to reveal his hid will to man today to day as ever they will not heed this testimony consequently they close the door of light and revelation they cannot advance nor learn the ways of god nor walk in his paths we testify that the barriers which separated man from god have been overcome that the tho lord again comma nicales his will to man but says saya one how shall we become acquainted with these things how can we know that you are not deceived to all such we say repent of your sins in all sincerity then go forth and be baptized and have hands laid upon you for the gift of the holy ghost and that spirit will bear record to you of the truth of our testimony and you will become witnesses of it as we are and will be able to stand forth boldly and test testify fy to the world as we do this was the path pointed out by peter and the apostles on the day of pentecost when the spirit of the lord almighty rested upon them with great grent power to the convincing of the hearts of the people who cried out men and brethren what shall shail we do and peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you yon in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost ay this was wag the counsel given them and inasmuch as they obeyed it they were entitled to the testimony of the holy spirit which would bring peace and happiness and reveal to them their duties and enable them to understand their relationship to god if we look at the condition of the world today to day we must come to the con elusion that peace pea ceis is not likely soon to be established on the earth there ia is nothing among the nations that tends to peace even among the religious societies the tendency ia is not to peace and union they do not bring men to a knowledge of god they do not possess that one god one faith one bap mandone hope of their calling that ai aie ale e spoken of in the scriptures every man has gone according to his own notions independent of revelation sand hence confusion and division exist their churches are broken up and they are quarreling and contending with each other and as it is in the re legious ligi ous BO so it is in the political world they are all divided and the more energy they put forth to make prose lytes the greater are their contentions and the further they go from the mark this is the condition they have been in and the course they have been pursuing for almost eighteen hundred years until today to day they have become so divided that I 1 think it would puzzle any one to tell how many religious denominations there are in christendom there are thousands too who in consequence of the strife annd arid contention among the religious sects have become entirely sceptical respecting religion of every kind and they have concluded that there is no god at any rate that there is no god among chrls christians that all religionists are pro fanatics and are deceived the sectarian systems of religion are calculated to lead men of reflection and intelligence into scepticism to cause them to deny all interference of god with men and aud their affairs and to deny even his right to interfere the lord almighty is the creator of the earth he is the father of all our our spirits he has the right to dictate what we shall do and it is our duty to obey and to walk according to his requirements quire ments this is natural and perfectly easy to be comprehended the gospe has been restored to the earth and the priesthood again established and both are enjoyed by this people but those unacquainted with the workings of the gospel and the priesthood rl estwood look upon u us s with wonder and n pd are astonished at the union that exists in our midst we move as a man almost we hearken to the voice of our leader we are united in our faith and in our works whether politically or religiously The world cannot understand this and they behold it with wonder let me tell my brethren and friends that this is one of the effects of the gos gel of jesus christ we have become united in our faith by one baptism we know that jesus christ lives we know that he is our savior and redeemer behave a testimony tes tos of this independent of any written books and we testify of these things to the world this unison in the midst of the people called la latter i ater day saints and their prosperity are hard bard for a great many to understand I 1 have however heard it said that we have not made such rapid advancement in material prosperity as we boast of and that we are not so wealthy as our neighbors but when our circumstances and the condition of the country when we came here are considered I 1 think this statement can not be sustained when we came here we were penniless and we have not had the advantage of wealth or commerce to help to enrich us but all we possess is the result of our own physical labor and the blessing of bf god we have labored under great disadvantages in freighting our goods and machinery over these vast plains and besides this we have had a barren soli koil and drouth to contend with and when all these things are considered I 1 think we have been prospered more than any other people and as it has been in the past so will it be in the future we will increase and extend ouri one borders for this is the work of god we are his people and he will continue to bless us as he has las has done hitherto our oar business is to learn our duties one towards the other and towards our leaders this Is a lesson that we seem rather slow to learn but it should be with us as br miller said this mornin when our leaders speak it is for us to obey when they direct we should go when they call we should follow hot not as beins bein beings s who are enslaved or in ahral dom we vi e should not obey blindly as instruments st or tools no latter day saint acts in this manner no man or bornau who has embraced the gospel has ever acted in this way but on the contrary they have felt to listen cheerfully to the counsels of the servants of god as far as they were able to comprehend them the difficulty is not in getting the latter day saints to do right but in getting them to compre comprehend hent heni what ia Is right we have obeyed the counsels of our leaders because we have known they have been inspired by the holy spirit and because we positively known that they have been given farour rood good we do know and have always know now that our leaders have been fathers to us and that they have been inspired with wisdom superior to that which we possess for this reason we take hold of everything they present to us for the good of zion we are engaged in the great latter day work of preaching the gospel to the nations gathering the poor and building up zion upon the earth we are working in for the of fo for the subjugation of sin and the errors of the age in which we live it is a great and g glorious work we believe it is right to love god with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves we believe it is wrong to lie steal com anit adultery or any act forbidden by the gospel of christ we believe in all the teachings of the savior and in everything that is good and moral and calculated to exalt mankind or to ameliorate their condition to unite them in doing good these are among the principles of the gospel and these principles have been taught to us flom the commencement of our career as members of this church these principles are carried out amongas among us to 1 an extent not to be found among any other people we do not believe in worshipping shipping wor god or being religious on the sabbath day only but we believe it is as necessary to be religious on monday tuesday and every day in the week as it is on the sabbath day we believe that it is as necessary to do to our neighbors as we would they should do unto us during during the week as it is on the sabbath in s shorb short orb ort we believe it is necessary to live our religion every day in the week every hour in the day and every moment believing and acting thus we become strengthened in our faith the spirit of god increases within us we advance in knowledge and we are better able to defend the cause we are engaged in to be a true representative of this cause a man must live faithful to the light that he has he must be pure virtuous and upright if he comes short of this he is not a fair representative of this work the gospel of jesus christ is the perfect law of liberty it is calculated to lead man to the highest state of glory and to exalt him in the presence of our heavenly father with chomis no variableness of fuming turning if there is any noll foll folly to be seen in tle the midst of this people ay iy atia t is the folly and weakness of man and is not because of any failing or lack in the plan of salvation the gospel is perfect in its organization it ift is for us to learn the gospel and to become acquainted with the principles of truth to humble ourselves before god that we may bring ourselves into subjection to his laws and be continually willing to listen to the counsels of those whom the lord has appointed to guide us we know that god has spoken we testify of this we stand as witnesses to the world that this is true we ask no odds of any man community or nation on the face of the earth in relation to these things we bear a fearless testimony that they are true we also bear testimony that brigham young younk is a prophet prophet of the living god and that he has as the revelations of jesus christ that he has guided this people by the power of revelation from the time he became their leader until the present and he has never failed in his duty or mission he has been faithful before god and faithful to this people we bear this testimony to the world wo we fear not neither do we ave heed their scorn contempt or sneers we are used to it As bro geo A has said we have seen it and heard it and aud have become inured to it we know in a whom we have believed we know he in whom we trust is god for it has been revealed to us we are not in the dark neither have we obtained our knowledge from any man synod or collection of men but through th the tire e revelations of jesus if there be any who doubt us let them repent of their sins Is there any harm barm in your forsaking your follies and evils and in bowing in humility before god for his spirit and in obedience to the words of the saviour being baptized for the remission of sins and having hands laid upon you for the gift of the holy ghost that you may have a witness for yourselves of the truth of the tho words we speak to you do talis humbly and honestly and as sure as the lord lives I 1 promise to you that you will receive the testimony of this work for yourselves and will know it as all the latter day saints know it this is the promise it is sure and steadfast it is sor something tangible it is in the power of every man to prove r ove for himself whether we speak ohp the e truth or whether we lie we do not come as deceivers or impostors before the world we do not come with the intention to deceive but we come with the plain simple truth and leave it to the world to test it and get arnow a knowledge for themselves it is the right of every soul that lives the high low rich poor great and small to have this thia testimony for themselves inasmuch as they will obey the gospel jesus in ancient times sent his disciples forth to preach the gospel to every creature saying they that believed and were baptized should be saved but they that believed not should bo be damned and said he these signs shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall bhail take up serpents and if it they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and ind they shall recover these are the promises made anciently ana and there are thousands in this territory and in this congregation gre gation who can bear testimony that tf ey have realized the fulfillment fulfilment of these promises in this day the healing of the sick among us has become so common that it is apparently but little thought of we have also seen the lame made to walk and the blind to receive their sight the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak these things we have seen done by the power of god and not by the cunning or wisdom of men we know that these signs do follow the preaching of the gospel yet these testimonies of its truth are but poor and weak when compared with i the whisperings of the still small voice of the spirit of god the latter is a testimony tony mony that none who enjoy it can deny it cannot be overcome for it brings conviction to the heart that cannot be reasoned away or disproved whether it ift can be accounted for on philosophical principles or not this testimony comes from god and convinces all to whom it is given in spite of themselves and is worth more to me than any sign or gift beside because it gives peace and happiness contentment and quiet to my soul it it assures me that god lives and that if I 1 am faithful I 1 shall |
