Show ar IM DJ iho A ar R IS lre S oat ort lad lae ie death deca of efelder eider elder ezra T benson by ay elder cr fond FORD WOOD dood WO ode ODB RUFF edff delivered in the new tabernacle sait salt lake city sept ath 1869 BY DAVID W EVANS iam tam J am called upon this afternoon to make some remarks upon the life and d death cath of brother ezra taft benson who has been suddenly taken out of our midst from time into efern eternity ity I 1 have long since considered it unnecessary S to make any excuses for performing my duty upon any occasion in public but if there is any position where a man might have doubts about satisfying his own mind or the minds of his friends perhaps it is on an occasion loil like this it is well known at least to the latter day Saints that the elders of israel rise to speak without any written sermon or preparation of any kind many ofus of us have been engaged the greater portion of our lives in preaching the gospel to the world and on every occasion we depend for assistance and preparation upon the spirit of god this is my position this at afternoon ter noon I 1 rise before you yon with no prepared sermon and with no particular principles that I 1 have settled ilmy mind to address yoa you upon depending as on all occasions upon the spirit of or god and the faith falth and and prayers of my friends this dispensation of providence causes canses me many reflections and I 1 presume it is the case with every latter day saint present res nes in the first place I 1 will as ask the question what position did bro benson occupy while in the flesh and how many have ever held the same position on the face of the earth the words contained in the rth verse verso orthe of the prophecies decies of isaiah are brought to my mind wll wil while lille contemplating the great work of building up the zion of god in the last days he says ho rot HOT w lul lut upon the mountains tre are ire the feel feet of him lial that lunt britie eth good udini tiding i that thul peace that uri brI ngeth gool of rood gool n dat bat salvation salva balva tiou llou mat unto al zion thy god reig neth what position can any man occupy on the faco face of the earth that is more noble god lik ehigh and glorious than to bo be a m messenger essen of salvation unto the human family what more responsible position can a man occupy than to be an apostle of the lord jesus christ I 1 do not know of any in this arany or any other generation the thought also arises arises in in my mind how many individuals have ever held hold this position on the earth I 1 nind find in the history recorded in the bible from the days of adam down through the different dispensations and generations that prophets prop hela heia have existed on the tho earth adam himself was a prophet and he ordained bained his sons to the ANI priesthood the gospel of chhist christ was taught to him after the th e fall arid he attended to the ordinances din ances of tho the house of god he ile was a high priest and as a high bloh priest held the keys of the kingdom of god there thero were many sons who were high priests pries tsy having been ordained to this office by their father adam three years before his death ith he called together seth enos jared cainan mahaleel aleh and many others of his descendants in chevalley the Valley ondi Ahm anand there rose up and blessed them with his great and last patriarchal blessing this has been given to us by revelation and these mon men were prophets and high priests tracing down the sacred history through the tho different ages and dispensations we learn that many prophets existed among the children of men moses moles was a lawgiver in israel and held ther the office of a prophet seer and revelator when I 1 say that many prophets have existed it probably needs some qualification the number of persons thus honored of or god has not been many when compared with the whole of the people who have lived but in every f gospel age and dispensation god harshad ha shad ahad his is pr prophets peets and servants tsi upon the earth to nil nii make known his will to its inhabitants in the days of moses elders were chosen as his counselors and seventy elders were ordained to bear record of tho things of god G 0 d a and nd to assist moses in the work to be performed in his day but we do donot not read of apostles being chosen under mosess dispensation pensa tion jesus in the flesh to establish the tho kingdom of his father upon the earth and when h he was thi thirty arty years of age he went forth administering in the ordinances of the house of god and ho he chose twelve apostles to assist hi and lie he gave to them the keys of the tho kingdom of god and the highest office that any man has ever held hold on the face of the earth in this or any other generation is that of an apostle we read that god set in his church first apostles then prophets evangelists pastors teachers gifts graces and elps helps and the office afan of an apostle entities entitles him to held hold the keys of the kingdom of god and what he her binds on earth is bound in heaven and what he looses on earth is loosed in heaven the history of the twelve whom jesus chose is to be found in the new testament within the lids ids of that book their travels the course they pursued and the doctrines they taught are publish ed to the tho world nearly the whole of them blood some were crucified as their master was some were be headed and all except john suffered martyrdom in some way for the word wora of god and the testimony of jesus christ this was the fate of the first quorum of apostles we have any history ot of after the death and resurrection of the savior when he ministered to his disc dise disciples the last time on earth he informed them that he had other sheep not of this fold whom he was going to visit and minister unto the book of ml mormon ormon is a re record I 1 cord cora of or the descendants of the house of israel who dwelt on this continent anciently it gives us utie ifie history of the jar edises who came from the tower of babel of loh lob and his family who came cama from jerusalem and also of the Lama and ana anane ne philes nemuel the descendants and lemuel sons gons in that record we find that christ after his death and resurrection visited that branch of the house of israel which dwelt on this continent on the occasion of that visit we are informed that jesus chose twelve apostles and gave to them the same power keys gife and graces that he had given to his apostles on the eastern continent nent and they went forth and magnified their callings all of this quorum of the twelve apostles had the promise ra mise miso of departing and being with christ wh when whon 6 they were seventy two years old except three of them to these three jesus gave a promise similar to that which he gaye kave to john the revelator namely that save gave th they should shoula tarry in the flesh until ile he came history informs us that the wicked tried to kill john in various ways placing him on one ionio a cauldron cauldren caul dron of boll boiling oli uil ll 11 but his life was preserved and that finall finally yin in the reign of dom man caeser he was banished to the isle of patmos to work in the lead mines while there he was blessed with visions revelations kno ledge ight and truth a portion of wb which ich we have recorded in what are called the revelations of st john in the reign of nerva norva john was recalled and afterwards wrote his epistles the first quorum of apostles were all put to death except john and we are informed that ho he still remains on the earth though his body ha hag doubtless undergone some change three of the ne philes chosen here by the lord jesus as I 1 his apostles had erad the same that they should not cot taste death until christ camean canno canne A and they still remain anthe on tho the earth in the flesh thus we have an account in the B and book of mormon of but two quorum a of twelve apostles being chosen previous t to 0 this dispensation butin these last days the lord called upon joseph smith gave him power and authority to organize his chur church h and kingdom again upon tho the earth and a ad gave him vim the holy priesthood and the keys of the kingdom of god joseph was ordained to th the apostleship under the hands of men holding the keys of the kingdom of god in the days of jesus jesuse namely peter james and john I 1 shall not occupy time with entering into the details of these things I 1 have referred to them to show the importance of the office held by brother benson he was a member of one of the three quorums of apostles that have ever over been chosen on the face of the earth since jesus christ erna cled in the flesh that we have any knowledge of the first chosen when jesus us commenced his public labs in the flesh the second after his resurrect resurrection on here hero on this continent and the third since the revelation of the gospel in our own day here we find only thirty thirty six men mon ni en chosen at al various times and dispensations in six thousand years to hold this order of priest hoo unless they were chosen in the days 0 of f enoch and at times in which the bible does not inform us this number has been increased however by others who havo have been beon chosen to fill vacancies in these quo rums arums as in the case of judas and others but it is safe to say that the entire number who have held this office from the days of adam adani until today to day has been very limited As to the number of inhabitants who have dwelt on the earth during that period i it is a pretty difficult matter to form any correct idea in la to it I 1 do not think that any statistician could tell this to any degree of correctness it is a kind of a given iven point in these days to say that the pa population pula puia of the earth is about a thousand millions and that this number pars pass away every generation it is also estimated that about three generations pass away in a century this gives three thousand millions in a century thirty thousand millions in a thousand years an and d one hundred and el eighty thousand millions in six thousand years about the period that is supposed to have er elapsed p Is ed since the creation of man upon the earth t whether these statistics are anything thin 9 like correct it is not of much importance to discuss but it is an important reflection that brother benson thohas been associated with us so many years is one of the chosen few of all the immense numbers who have hane dwelt on the face of the earth who have been called to hold tho the office of apostles well might the prophet say how beautiful upon the mountains are aro the feet it kec kee ac fec I 1 will sa say that in my while attending sabbath school in m my y native natly state eState connecticut there seemed something glorious rious rions to me about the apostles of jesus christ who were called to preach the tho gospel ph el of of god to the inhabitants of t the earth and I 1 have many times felt that 1 I would willingly walk wilk a thousand miles mi lesto to see a prophet an apostle or anaman any man called of god who could teach me the way ivay to bo be a man mau in his hands the power of the priesthood who could command the elements and they would obey j him and who could declare declaim the words of liffin life ilfe in their truth and ana purity to the inbae stants of the earth I 1 always looke looked dupon upon the lives and missions miss lons I 1 of these men meri though tho h despised by the world generally as t the tho e most important of af any men who over ever ever over dwelt in the flesh jesus jesu himself was called master of the house of beelzebub Bel bei and trav elied through a constant scene of poverty ridicule persecution and affliction yet yett there was something great good grand and glorious in the me lile of the savior of the world this was the fate of him and his apostles and though they descended below all things they held in their hands the destiny and salvat salvation loni ioni not only of that generation but of all the human race and woo woe be to that house nation king dred tongue or people who rejected their their words and testimony for they will rise in judgment against them from the days of my childhood until I 1 heard the falness of the gospel as taught by the latter day saints I 1 had a great desire ti to live to seq see a prophet or apostle 71 have lived to see this day I 1 have lived to seo see the church and kingdom of god on the earth with all its gifts graces power fiory flory glory and dominion m anlon revealed and organ ased zed by y the ministrations of ange angels 1 9 from god in in heaven and by the revelations of the lord jesus christ I 1 have lived to see apostles and tho the full organization of the priesthood again aguin officiating offic lating in and administering the ordinances of salvation to tha 9 children of men brother ezra T benson whose death hat bat occurred so unexpectedly was one of the few called in this day to bear testimony v to the nations of the earth of the restoration of this gospel and he has traveled many thousands of miles to do so he has been heen true and faithful unto death and he will receive a crown he has gone from our midst to the spirit world to mingle with the gods or at least with his brethren who whoa have gone before him whether he will mingle with the gods until after the resurrection perhaps it is not for me to say he has gone home to receive his reward what a cloud 0 of f reflection it brings to the mind I 1 it speaks iu lu loud lan laD language guage to every apostle prop prophet be elder and sont saint of or god goa and to all ail li ii 11 thi th i inhabitants or if tie tio tio tle oarth earth lle ke ile ye ve aio alo also ready thad that is what it says hays to all men it if you have anything to do an antwork vvo rk to perform that is of consequence to yourself or friends living or dead do it Is there auy any sorrow or ino mourning in my heart beart with reppard reni to the departure of of brother benson I 1 would rather follow a thousand apostles and prophets to the grave and see thor lifeless remains deposited in the dark and silent tomb than see one inan man who has tasted the good word of god and the powers of tho the world to come make shipwreck of his faith lose ills liis crown and go to perdition I 1 have had llad inora sorrow in seeing men with whom I 1 have traveled and preached the gospel turn from the tho truth commit wickedness and lose their standing in the church than over all the tiie faithful latter day saints I 1 have seen laid in the tomb when I 1 see seo a man dehait who like brother benson has been over willing to go and aud come anz and and do the bidding of those over him I 1 look forward with ireat great joy to his reward ino ito is the first man iu in the quorum of the twelve who for the last forty years has had the privilege of dying a 1 natural death depth for most of the apostles who ever in tho the flesh have died as martyrs we have had two in our quorum who have died thus besides our prophet and patriarch true they will i octive a martyl marlyis mar tyis Is crown so will all men who are true and faithful unto death and lay down their lives for the work of god and the te testimony of jesus christ brother benson has died among his bis friend she had not been in pain or suffering or endured a lingering sickness thank god he died in the harness and has gone home to receive his reward during the time he has been a member of the church he has been on many missions I 1 will hero remark without entering into details that at the time the saints were driven from illinois to this land he was called upon and sent east cast as one of the agents of the church to prove the eastern country our puritan fathers and friends in new england after we had been driven from our homes country countr and the tho graves of parents barents wives and children to see if |