| Show DISCOURSE BY EIDER eidet GEORGE 0 CAM cal cil 10 ly 1 e at the funeral services of elder ttomas williams Wllliam 8 in the thil uth uh ward A assembly koomsa rooms sunday morning july REPORTED BY DAVID W EVANS WHILE elder taylor was speaking of the future condition of the departed the words of a writer in the book of mormon came to my mind and I 1 think that probably reading it will be as appropriate on the present occasion to refresh the minds 5 of the saints in relation to their faith and if there should be strangers present it will give them an idea of the faith of the tile latter day saints in relation to the resurrection I 1 think I 1 say it would be as appropriate as anything I 1 could say they are the words of jacob the brother of nephi nepal and are recorded in the second book of nephi and ileth chapter speaking to te a people who were there s jacob says behold my moved beloved brethren I 1 speak unto von vou these thesa things may rejoice and lift aft up your heads for ever because of the blessings which the lord god shall be stow upon your children for I 1 know that ye have searched much many of you yon to know of things to come commet commer wherefore I 1 know that ye know that our flesh must i waste away and die nevertheless in our bodies we shall shail see god yea I 1 know that I 1 ye know that in the body ho he shall show himself unto those at jerusalem from whence we came for it Is expedient that it should be among them for it beho bebo yeth veth the great creator that he ereth himself to became become subject unto man in thi th flesh 1 and die for all men that all men might become subject unto him for as death hath passed upon all men to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Cre creston crestar ster sten there must needs be a power of xe resurrection and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the failand the fall came by reason of transgression and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the lord wherefore it must needs be an ln infinite alte atonement save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put lint on ancor incorrupt p tion tiou wherefore the first judgment which h came upon man must needs hate hare remained to an endless duration and if so this flesh must haye have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth to rise no nd more 0 the wisdom 0 f godt godl his mercy and grace tor eor behold if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel wild who fell from before the presence of the eternal god and became the devil to rise no more and our spirits must hate hare become like ilke urto unto him and we e become devils angels to a devil to be shutout from the presence of our god and to reman with the father of iles lies in misery like ilko unto himself yea to that being who beguiled our first drat parents who transform eth himself nigh unto an angel of light and etil etli up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and a ell eil 11 mannerow mannen manner nor of secret works of dark ness nees 0 how great the goodness of our god who pre a way for our oun escape from the crisp crasp of this thie monster rea jea es that m monster on ster death and hell heli which nali nail I 1 call cali the death of the body and also the death cath eath of the spirit and because of the tho way of the deliverance of our gad god the holy one of iame israel this death of which I 1 haye hate sp spoken which is the temporal shall dellver deliver dellver up its dead which death is the grave and this death of bf which I 1 have spoken which la Is the spiritual death shall shill deliver up its dead which spiritual death Is bell wherefore death and hell heli must dei acl deliver lter iver up thele their dead and hell heli must deliver dellver up its captive spirits and the tho graye fraye must deliver up its captive bodies and ind the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to th the other and it Is b by the power of at the resurrection of the 11 holy OT Y one of ism ibm irrael israel tl 0 how bow great tho plan of our oar godl tor for on the ather band hand the ahe paradise of god must deliver up the spirits of the righteous and the grave deliver up the body of and the spirit and the body Is ift restored to itself again and awid all men become come como incorruptible and immortal and they am are living souls bouls having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh save bave it be that our knowledge shall be perfect wherefore wo we shall have a perfect knowl edge of all our guilt and our ancie ancic aline allne a 8 p and our nakedness and the righteous u s shall have a perfect knowledge of enjoyment and their righteousness being clothed with purity yea even with the robe of righteousness and ana nd it shall rhall come to pass that when all m men shall have passed from this first death unto as mortal they must appear before the judgment seat of the holy one of israel and then comein the judgment and ubi thi ihen then en must they be judged according to the holy judgment jentof of god and assuredly as the lord llord liveth for the lord god hath spoken it and it is his eternal word which cannot hannot pabs pass away that they who ari arg are righteous shall be righteous still and they who are filthy shall aae ate filthy still wherefore they who are filthy are the devil and his angels ingels and they chair go away into everlasting fire prepared sor cpr them and their torment la Is as a lake of fire and brimstone whose flamo flame ascend eth up for lor eter etee and ever and has hsi no end 0 the greatness and the justness of our oar godl for he exe execute cutet th 4 all his words and anil they haye have gone forth out of his ahls his mouth and hib his law must mast be fulfilled but bat behold the righteous the saints of the one of israel they who have believed in the holy one of israel they who haye have endured red the crosses of the world and desia deslA despised sed bed the shame of it they shell inherit the king kifle dom of god which was prepared for them from the foundation of bf thes the world kud and their otie otte loy oy shall batall detail be tuli tuii forever fore forc ren 0 the gic atness of the mercy of our god the holy one of lof israeli for he dell deli y ereth creth his saints from that awful monster r the devil and death and bell and that lake of fire and brimstone which is endless torment 0 how great the loll holiness ness nesa of our godl for he air alf things and there is not anything baye bate he be knows it and he cometh into the world that he be may save all men it if they will hearken into unto bik his voice tor for behold he ereth the pains vains of all men yea the pains of every living creature both men women and children who belong to the family oAl kaldam dam and he be ereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men that all ml might ht stand before him at the great reat and judgment a dg day and he comm com mandeth anderhalt ait ali men that they must repent repents and be baptized in his name having perfect faith in the holy one they cannot be bb saved sated in the kingdom of f god andia and if they ahey will not repent repeat and believe in his name and be baptized in his name and endure to the end they must be damned for the lord god the holy one of israel has spoken it wherefore he has given i a law and where there is no law given there Is no punishment and where there esno punishment ish ment there Is no condemnation and where there Is no condemnation tile tiie mercies of the holy one of israel hate hae claim upon lupori them because of the atonement for they are delivered by the power of him for the atoni atonement ment the demands ot of his justice upon all those who have hate not the law liw given to them that they are delivered from irom that awful monster des dea death th and hell nd the devil and the lake of fire and brimstone which Is endless torment and they are restored to that god vh who gave them breath which is the holy one or of israel there is much more in this chapter of A similar character very instructive tive to those who read reat and have faith to believe the testimony of this man in speaking to you my brethren and sisters who are familiar with the life of him whose remains are in our midst this morning I 1 need not say to you scarcely what our views and hopes are concerning him we know when a man dies inasmuch as he dies faithful to the truth having kept the commandments of god and obeyed the ordin auces ances of the house of god as far as they have been revealed and as he has had an opportunity that he is secure that his future is assured he goes as we are taught to the paradise of god there to await the morning of the first resurrection we know that his body will be called forth from the dust and from the tomb and that his bis spirit will reanimate it and he enter upon that glorious condition of exl exi existence stence concerning which have been made in this respect the tho faith of the latter day saints is not a chimera it is something tangible while I 1 sat bat here and listened to the words of our brother the reflection came across my mind how often we are called upon tp to participate in sad scenes like the tho present and yet throughout through jut iut all this territory anong among all the latter day saints there is this peculiarity which was not witnessed in the ease ewe of our brother because of the suddenness of his taking kofl ou but I 1 have never yet found iu in any instance where people have been summoned hence uy death that there W were ere death and sorrow and feelings of pain and anguish and dread concerning the future as I 1 have witnessed elsewhere e in the early day days of this church god promised unto the latter day saints that their deaths should be peaceful and that the dread of death should be taken away from them and after forty four years experience we today and in all the years that are passed have realized realize the truth of this promise there is something tangible about the faith which god has reve revealed aled if I 1 go forth believing in the lord jesus christ and am baptized for the remission of my sins and receive the holy ghost I 1 know that I 1 have done that which god requires audres at my hands and if I 1 should die dle 16 at sueh such a time what have I 1 to feal it if the tile holy ghost has de scented upon me it is 19 a witness and evidence to me that I 1 have received a remiss remission lob iob or of my sins and that the promise of god has been fulfilled to me and that the tile man who administered that holy ordinance to me was an authorized cpr servant of jesus christ that was the case with brother williams billiams Yi lliams his testimonies were of the ilia most remarkable character I 1 have heard him speak about the evidence evidences of its truthfulness he had bad when he joined this church and I 1 have been almost overpowered with joy foy that I 1 lived in a day and age of the world when god revealed his mind milid I 1 and will unto man as he did in ancient days A moria more powerful testimony probably could not be heard beard than has been borne so repeatedly peat edly by our deceased brother and then what why the spirit of god rested upon him and impelled him to leave his friends and his former home and associations and gather with the saints did he do this because bome iome some mormon elder told him it was right to ti dolt doit do it no he did this because beca tise lise the spirit and power of god rested upon him and impelled him to do it he was filled with joy and peace in obeying this commandment of god and it was so after he came here ere in all the works that devolved upon him only the day before ho he died we had llad a long conversation verba terba tion tinn about these things together get herand and I 1 trust I 1 shall never forget the spirit that rested upon him and myself while talking speaking about the unfaithfulness of men he did not say in these exact words but he conveyed the idea to me that he would rather die rather lay jay down his ethan life lif than pro prove ve recreant to the principles of the gospel which he had espoused he valued them so highly more than life and everything else on the oace face of the earth he hs done all that he could do that power bowe which god promised or which h jesus tather rather gave unto Peter when he said that he should have the power to hind bind on earth and it should be bound in heaven and the thep they power ower to loose orr on earth and it should be loosed in heaven has been exercised in behalf of our deceased brother he took a wife and she was sealed to him by the power ower of the holy priesthood and 1 1 E he entered into this holy ordinance and obeyed celestial mar marriage ringe as it was revealed to him in the falness of his faith although it was a trial to him buthe but he was impelled todo to do so by the power which rested down upon him and he knew he did that which was wag right he went forward in obedience to the commandments mand ments putting his trust in god and I 1 know as he knew and still knows though gone behind the vail all ali that he has secured to himself so far as his own works work s could secure through the grace and atonement of jesus christ his eternal exaltation in tile tiie presence of god our heavenly father it is not a strong assurance or h hope opo that the tile latter day have that they will receive thesel these blessings in the eternal worlds buti but when the promise is sealed upon their heads that they shall conie comi forth in the morning of the first resurrection and be crowned with glory immortality and eternal jives there is a testimony from god our eternal father in the heavens above which rests down upon them and confirms the truth of these words upon the soul of a faithful man or woman and they know when words word sare are pronounced upon them by a man who has the upton upion au authority hority bority sealing upon them blessings keys thrones principalities powers and exaltations in t the e eternal kingdoms of god our father I 1 say they know by the testimony of the spirit of god which rests down upon them at such times that these words are not the words of men but that they are the words of the spirit of god inspiring that man and that god takes a record of that ordinance in the h heavens eav ens and that jt it is sealed upon them and upon their child ren and that they will actually come forth in the morning of the tile first resurrection according to the promise hence there is no fear of death in the minds of the latter day saints if the stake was standing before us prepared for our execution if we had that falth faith that ziab we should have and which anicat animated e d the saints saint of god in ancient days we would walk as calmly to that stake and be bound to it as aa we would walk to eat a meal of victuals knowing that god our heavenly father will bestow all tho the blessings nes Wes sings that have been sealed upon us this was the faith which animated the ancients and sustained I 1 them in the midst of persecutions t and this is the faith that we should shoula cherish and cultivate as a people and as individuals woe woo to the man who has lost that faith dreadful is his condition if he has not that faith living jiving within him woe to that man for his condition is ii nar far worse than his first condition that is before he had these blessings sealed selled upon him liim my MV associations with our brother who has roner goner gone haye have been of the most tender character 1 I have known him as I 1 have known a brother brothe r our associations im have ve been very intimate from the day I 1 first made his acquaintance on the tho missouri river in 1860 until the present time I 1 T have watched his course and have been pleased with his faithfulness A more amiable more kind spirited or more loving man I 1 scarcely ever met i I 1 do not know that I 1 ever me |
