Show D 3 lag kab C 0 S J by elder ORSON PRA TT deliver delivered 66 in salt lajti olty city Dec nee december erger erber 1870 I 1 REPORTED BY DAVID W EVANS I 1 will read a few passages of Scrip scripture tuie tupe which will be found in the psalm the tho the tho mighty god ezen eten the lord hath spoken and called the earth from the rising of tho the sun aun to the going down thereof out bout of zion the perfection of beauty god hath shined our dour god shall come and shall not keep silence a fire firo shall devour before him and it shall be re very verv tempestuous round about him he e shall shmil call to the heavens from abotsi and to the earth that he may judg judae e hia hla people gather my saints together unto me those that havo hare made a covenant with me by sacr bacr sacrifice itice ilice this congregation the members of which vre re generally speaking speake 13 g bible believers have no doubt in their minds but the ancient servants of god were inspired by the he gift of the holy ghost to utter many things concerning the rii fia future ture to deliver many predictions concerning events which should take place among mankind down to the latest generations david in a peculiar manner was inspired and composed his psalms by the spirit of prophecy he foresaw by that spirit that knows all things some of the grand events event of the future pertaining to tho the inhabitants of this world world and the purposes of god in relation to this creation these passives pas passages siges 9 which I 1 have read have reference to some of these great events a portion of which have already in a measure been fulfilled but the greater portion remain yet to be bb accomplished pil shed 64 the mighty god even the lord hath spoken broken has literally been fulfilled so far as this present generation is concerned jt A has been fulfilled also in relation to past generations but it is very evident from the tho meaning of the context that the speaking of the lord here referred to was a work of latter times when god should again speak to the Inhabitant inhabitants hof bof of the earth when he should again call upon all people far and near from the rising atthe ot sun as he expresses esp here to the going down the thereof 11 to show moro more fully that this was a latter day work he speaks or predicts that the lord our god shall come and not keep silence lenco ai this had no reference to his first coming for though he did then come and utter firth forth his doctrine and did not keep silence yet yot ye you will see by reading a little further that the psalmist had reference to another coming of the son of god very different in its character from his first advent oun onn gioan our god shall come and shall not keep silenced silence now mark in an especial manner the following sentence and you will seo see that it has as no reference to his first coming comingo mingA co A fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round avont HI hun m 11 this was not a characteristic of his first com coming ing there was nothing specially con cou necked with that event that would excite the attention lo n of mankind generally he cam came in a very meek and bumble lumble humble manner wanner his birth and advent into this ward were in a the most humble position born as it were in a stable laid down in a manger not born in kings palace not born porn among the g great groat and noble but in a very obscure manner he grew grow up from infancy to manhood engaged in the carpenters erlis business bustness some thirty years of his life ilfe were ware spent at home with his reputed father and with his mother mary dw dwelling comparatively r in obscurity occasionally breaking forth and arguing with the wisa wise and the great nothing character characterizing leing heing him as the great creator of this world or as its redeemer only to those who were well acquainted quain ted with the tho predictions of the pro peets but this last coming or the coming here spoken of by the psalmist represents him as coming with power A fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him ho shall call to the heavens from above says the next passage and to the earth from beneath 11 what object had he ile in lievi view in cailing calling upon the heavens above and upon the earth beneath what end llad he in view in again speaking and breaking the silence of ages and in giving a revelation t to 0 the heavens and then tb to tho the eartha earth it was ia in orlen order to bring abut ja a preparatory work before the oace face of his coming the second time when ho should come in flam fiam flaming bigfire nire fire A preparation was was wag needed and tilts preparation is ls mentioned in part in thelast the last verse which I 1 read which declares that he should call cail to the heavens from above and to the earth from beneath he gives ns us some basight insight into the nature of that call his call to his servants was waa j gather ye my saints together unto me they that have made mado a covenant with me by sacrifice this seems I 1 then thon to be a work nork preparatory to the coming of the lord la fa flaming fire he nature the firo fire that will be exhibited as at his gis seink sec mel mil i i coming oming in the clouds louds of heaven will be bd such that it will con uon the dand and ungodly and those who repent A not ot and aud who do not sanctify themselves before the lord our god in that I 1 day will be a consuming are the intensity of this fire will be lie GO so great that the very hills bills the psalmist david informs us in another place will melt like wax before his pre presence ence 11 the prophet isaiah in speaking of the fire or head heat that would accod accompany any the second advent advert of the son of goade god declares that the mountains shall flow down at his presence the elements that now constitute these rugged mountains which we see here on this continent and ana in ail parts pants of the earth where we travel will melt with fervent beat and will flow down before the presence of the lord the brightness of this fire will be greater than that of the sun in its glory imbeau I 1 mean our temporal literal sun from which we receive light and heat as you will find recorded in the last verse of the chapter of isaiah which says that when the lord of hosts shall come to reign in mount zion and in jerusalem and before his ancients gloriod gloriously sly siy the sun shall hide his face in shame and the moon shall be confounded with all the brightness of that luminary which lights this creation it will hide its face in shame and the bight bright luminaries of heaven will be confounded as it were so great will be the glory of his presence a afire niro firo devouring before dimand all nature feeling t the power ot 0 the almighty which will be exerted oil ori on that grand occasion will the wicked be able to endure this intense beat and not be consumed I 1 now have reference to their physical cal eal tabernacles their temporal bodies hear what prophecy bas has declared in relation to this heele rea read head the last chapter contained in the old testament that will answer the question for behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven ovena and all the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall shail be stubble and the day that cometh bhail shall bua bum them u up saith eaith the tho lord of hosts that it shall leave t them ent neither root nor branch 1 notice now how completely it will sweep the proad proud and those who do dd wickedly from froin the tho face of this creation the tire that proceeds forth from the presence of god athis at his second coming shall burn buin as an oven oven and shall not only affect the mountains and the elements so as to melt them betit but it will also consume the proud and them that do wickedly from the face of the globe gibbo what effect will this intense heat have ilsie upon the righteous no more than the heated furnace of had upon the hebrews who wera cast therein and though it was heated seven times hotter than thu ic it was wont to be heated and slew slow those who cast their fellows into it yet they who were thrown into it received no harm not even the smell of fire on their garments they wera were protected by a miracle and the fire that slew their enemies was their preservation so likewise when the son cf god shall burn up the tho wicked and consume their bodies to ashes both root and bri branch inch leaving no remnants of them among all people poodle nations and tongues the ri righteous will be joe prepared to enter into the them midst midst of this flaming fire without receiving any harm indeed they will be caught up into the very presence of god and they will be surrounded sith hith a ar pillar armillar of fire as moses was when he came down from mount sinai only to afar a far greater extent but it will have no power over them in fact it will be their protection and salvation their glory happiness annjoy to prepare the people for that great day it is necessary that the saints should be gailie gathered red rod together as predicted in the ath verse when he should give this thia great and grand revelation in the last days when the mighty god even even the lord shall speak he will call to the heavens to assist in the great latter day work and all the angels and the heavenly host who wiio do his bidding will go forth as swift messengers to execute his decrees and fulfill fulfil his purposes in bringing about this grand gathering of his elect from the four quarters of the earth who will they be those who have bave made a covenant with him by sacrifice what whit kind of a sacrifice the tho sacrifice of every earthly thing required their native countries their il lathers athers and mothers for in many instances those who obey the gospel are aro compelled to sever the nearest earthly ties parents from their children children from their parents and kindred from their kin in order that they may come forth and be i gathered into one grand body preparatory to the commo of the son of god in flaming fire there are many people who have believed that thai the coming of or our lord was near at a haud hand we might refer to many persons by name who teho have even set times for his coming certain particular days months i and years in which the lord would be re y sealed aed led from heaven heaven but they have entirely overlooked prophecies the tho of the great preparatory wark work for hin his co coming min g it they had bad read closely and instead of studying stud pr dates had bad carefully looked for the great purposes to be fulfilled before be comes cornea they would have known that their predictions were false there is to be a grand gathering of all his people from the four quarters of the earth into one body one family as it were one people consolidated in one region of country bel before bre he shall come let me refer to this great gathering of the saints from every jand laud and natio nation fl we find it predicted in various portions of the tho prophetic writings I 1 will first refer you to the prediction recorded if I 1 recollect aright in the chapter of isaiah there Is a prediction that before the great day of rest the lord will again speak and will say to the north give up to the south heo hee keep heep not at back baek bring my sons from afar an and ana my daughters from the ends of the earth carth rt the same thing that david has reference to this is not a work to be accomplished by the wisdom of man or by a combination of the wisest men that are uninspired among the nations but the lord is to speak and will say to the north give ivea up 1 A new revelation is to be given we he wilsay ay to the south keep not back and he will command that his sons and his daught daughters ers drs be brought from the ends of the earth has any such thing happened in our days has the mighty god even the lord spoken in our days yes and connected with this proclamation we are informed that the elect of godare to be gathered from the four winds of heaven and we have been called upon to perform this work how much have we accomplished during the forty years that have intervened since the lord spoke in the years 1827 28 29 and SO 30 the lord spoke and gaye gave many revelations among which was this record called the book of mormon unfolding to us not only the everlasting gospel in all its plainness simplicity and ancient purity as it was taught to the inhabitants of this continent eighteen hundred years ago but also many sacred predictions re ro lating to tho the great work which god would accomplish when he should bring this record forth in the tho latter days this thia book was translated by a mighty prophet who was inspired i red of god for the purpose and sinco it camo came thin dorthin for the short space of forty years it has been published in many of the languages of the earth it has gone forth in the german germa italian french fr en c h welsh and scandinavian languages a and nd also in the tongue spoken by the ithe sandwich islanders and it ha has been proclaimed as at it were bu fan the louie houie housetops tops tous in iii the streets dud aud ana and highways upon tipon the hicls and mountains and in all public places so far as the missionaries sio sion slon narles aries and elders of this church could find access and liberty to proclaim it and wherever the people have repented and turned from r sins and havo have desired to receive the ever evvi ev lasting gospel they have continued to gatner gainer together in this gathering has been going on for nearly forty years until the effects can caig now nob be seen in this territory by any person who will travel through it in the towns and cities which have been built bulit the settlements which have been formed the meeting abuses and school houses and public publio halls that have been erected and an fn in the fencing of farms and the opening of water canals and ditches for irrigating the soil I 1 say those who will travel through this territory may see some of ot the effects of the gathering out of the saints who have made a covenant with the lord by sacrifice if we had gathered together into a country that was well timbered where we could go out and get a load of fence poles or firewood before breakfast if we had settled in a country that was not comparatively a desert and that was wa blessed with the rains of heaven we could no doubt have accomplished far more than thau we now see buethe but nut the lord purposely led us into this desert to fulfill fulfil prophecy A great many people perhaps reflect upon and wonder at our coming into a sterile barren district of country inhabited by hostile savages and which to ail all natural appearance would not sustain a farming or agricultural population blit brit the lord brought us into a cout country itry of this description in order that he inight might fulfill fulfil prophecies that must com corn to pass before our god shall come in flaming fire in proof of this let me refer you to the nature of the tho country the redemption of the desert and so forth that is i to take place before the lord comes I 1 will refer you now to some of the sayings of the prophet isaiah in the last two verses of his chapter he says issek seek ye yo out of the book of the lord and read no one of these shall fall none shall want her mate for my mouth it hath commanded and his spirit it hath gathered them and he hath cast the lot for them and his hand hath divided it unto them by line they dball possess it for ever from generation to generation shall shau they dwell therein in the tho the sath chapter first and second verses you will find these words the the tho wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice ceaud and blossom as the rose gir ghr it hall bhail blossom abundantly and re olce olee even with joy and singing the glory mory ov of lebanon shall lo be 10 given unto it the excellency of |