| Show D I 1 0 U EZ S S BY IN tuc THE tabernacle salt lahe lake city cily sunday afternoon ayune june oin gin 1880 REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE I 1 llave a desire to be heard in what I 1 say to this assembly I 1 know the difficulties there are in speaking here it requires not only attention but quietude the people I 1 feel disposed to read a few verses from this good ol 01 old oid d book the bibie biblo some of th the e sayin sayings ga of isaiah and add ezekiel irhe rhe fhe speaker then tilen read from tio the tho chapter of from the verse terse to the endom end of the chapter I 1 have the speaker continued i f a few reflections upon my mind that I 1 would like to lay before th latter day Sain saints tg especially those who bear the holy priesthood among the dho lessons which we are learning ilour in our day and time Is 19 this one rhin truth that weal we ali all of us need the spirit of revelation in order that we may teaell teach mankind of the things of go 1 1 conot do not believe myself there e c eraas a man lived in the tile flesh on the earb each earh in any day or a age ae 0 e of the world world no matter what his position c cal efing hig big name or age might be lio iio not believe any man ever had bad the power to do tile the work of god to build up bi his lis kingdom or to edify the souls of men without j inspiration mi ration and revelation for the lord d has near called milled any man in any age of the world to do any of this kind of work whether to preach the gospel to prophesy or to declare the tile word of tile the lord to the inhabitants of the earth or to administer in any erdl annee in in any temple or in any t tabernacle ber nacle naele without the holy priesthood there are no ordinances acceptable cep table in the sight of god of any force after death or in the eternal worlds except those ordinances that are performed by men bearing the holy priesthood our heavenly father himself has officiated by this principle in the creation of all worlds worlds in the redemption of all worlds and in all the work which he has performed it has all been dolle done b by the power of the godhead and the holy priesthood which is without beginning of days or end of years this priesthood has power powen with the heavens it has as with the heavens the heavens are connected with this illers priesthood let it rest upon the shou shoulders lifers or head of any man whether it he be jesus christ or those fishermen or the ancient patriarchs or prop prophets lieLs or joseph smith sinith or any other man jhb wigo is called 0 jf god as was waa aaron by revelation and hud prophecy to bear record of the name of god in any age of the world therefore 1 I occupy the same position myself I 1 ku know ow I 1 need the spirit of god I 1 know you do I 1 know any man does who rises on this stand and tempts attempts ent rat to teach the people you give a man min the ins inspiration atlon aaion of almighty god and the efer eternal al truths of b gaven caven and ile le can instruct and edify the t children bh hildre ildren lidren n of men upon tile the principles of ilfe life and salvation without this he cannot noldo do it and in order to present to iny my brethren and a nd sisters and friends the subject that 1 I have on oil my mind I 1 will just rener refer a little further to some words of the lord to tho the prophet ezekiel Ezek loi iol nie rhe hie rho speaker again referred to the tile book of ee kle klel and quoted from the ath and chapters all of parts quotel liali haing nig fig reference to the dealings of god with the wicked 1 Con continuing elder woodruff said now having quoted all these passages of seri serl scripture I 1 want to say to my brethren the he A apostles p the high tri iri priests ests the Se S ventie anti tile the elder eldera i of israel who bir bear the holy IV priesthood upon shoulders the god of heavun in hi this thie day and generation has placed the responsibility of the 21 and priesthood has placed d te responsibility irresponsibility of this great and la lat f dispensation and fulce of ti is eq ha haa placed the responsibility 0 0 tile the building up the great kin dim af i god which danuel daniel siw by rovela novela zion vision aad inspiration in his lav lay lay and gelle geile generation rAtion as proclaimed by all the apostles who hao brax 0 written in this book in the st k of judah ac well al a in tilds th tiel ajo uto ujo epif and other given to us through the tho mouth of th the e prophets and apostles in our day and aad aai ani rl generation I 1 want to ask in the face of or all this and 1 take it ho lio uto myself what position are ard i v in before high heavens heaven before god li the mather father before his son jesus carist C irist before the heavenly hosts boats before ail all justified spirits da madder er feet from orom the creation of the world to this day what condition are we in in as the servants of the living god men holding the holy preast hood into hato whose hands bands the god of israel has given this kingdom are we disseminating tho mighty flood of revelation and prophecy in these records and these books which are now to rest upon the gene generation ration as in the days of noah and lot in this respect are itte we justified in the sight of god ia in the sight of heaven jn in the sight t of hiigel and in in the sight of men can we wd fold our arms army in alicae cace alid and cry all is peace in zio n when volien so far as we have the power of the tho priesthood resting upon u we wo can see seo the condition of the world can we imagine that our gat garments ments will be cleall clean without lifting our voice before our fellow men inen and warning then op of the tile things that are at their doors nl no 0 wo cannot there thera never was a set of men since god made the world under tinder a stronger responsibility ir to warn this generation to lift up our voices long and loud day and night as far as we have the opportunity and declare the tho words of god unto tills generation we are required to do this this is our calling it is our duty itis it is our business behave had to perform this work gor for the last 50 years of oui oni our lives when mien the lord lond called joseph smith to lay the foundation orthis church churell he called him h im in fulfillment fulfilment of many revelations given in other dispensations of iriel he was preserved by oy tile tiie liand hand of god to come forth in the last ast days even in the dispensation of the ful ness of times he was a prophet of the tilo living god he was a prophet everand revelator the lord called upon him to do the work or which he was wag ordained before the foundation of this world he did all that was required of him and he was surrounded with thousands of men who were acq aca acquainted fainted with his life and with the spirit and power of god which rested upon him and who sustained him in life and in death we know he was a Iro prophet phet of god and we know lie he brought forth the stick of joseph the tho book of mormon which was given unto him by the angel of god this church and kingdom has been organized by the ie command of god and by the revelations of heaven i it has continued to grow and increase and has been upheld by the tile lord almighty from its organization until the present hour and when I 1 look at this tabernacle and think of the words of the prophet isaiah that the mountain of the lords house bouse shall be established in the t tops op s of the mountains when I 1 look at these everlasting hills and the land given by promise to father i jacob and his posterity when I 1 see this barren desert peopled by saints of the living god who haye have hye been gathered from nearly evelyna every nation under heaven through the proclamation cla mation of the gospel pf af jesus christ what can I 1 say abo about i lit uit it can I 1 say it isa dream can I 1 eay say it is all a vision can J X say that this work is of man and not of god can I 1 say these are revelations revelation s and prophecies which belong to some other genera generation I 1 1 tell teli you no hits hiis is the kingdom of god here nere are the saints of god these mountains are being filled with the latter day saints from every nation under heaven and with these things before me mg I 1 know that H ris his is my duty to preach the ibe gospel to warn saint and sinners wherever I 1 have havo nave navo the opportunity the lord told joseph smith ahal tha ha he would prove us in all ali thi things luigs whether we ye would abide il in his bis covenant even eyen unto death that we might be found worthy the prop proe prophet liet ilet sealed his mony rhony with his blood that testimony is in force 01 the world andrias been aroa trop tile the day of his hn death not one olie word of or the lord shail pass abay ayay unfulfilled theun th e un belief in this generation will make no difre difference rence with regard to the I 1 building up of the kingdom of ot god clod As M it was in iq the days of pf noah iloah eo shall also the coming of the son of man be therefore I 1 desire to ask my br brethren eMirch the elurs bjurs of israel isma and 4 y T myself at the sams same same time da dowe wa iander understand stand oil oll our oun position before the lord ocial nu sa s passed aulay he Is in tho the spirit world he has received his resurrected body and stands at the rl night right ht land hand or god uh other prophets and apostles who lived in in daix gong by tiley had their day alid and genera genena generation tin aln all thee thed the e patriarchs and prophets and apostles bad had a time to prophesy to preach to labor and to adil administer pini ster in the ordinances din ances of life and salvation eal hal now in last dispensation ye E iders elders of israel this tills work has been put into your hands therefore bre ure what shall shail wa we FV say add arid what shall we do are we wb acting as watchmen upon the walls of zion if we w e are arey are we justified j in clos cios closing i ng our mouths in closing our ear car stor mn in eltin elten setting 0 our ou r hearts upon anything else excepting the thle building up of af the tile kingdom of 0 god I 1 do not think WG are inina in my view our responsibility isery asery is very veny great we should live dive our zour religion we should practice ourselves what we preach we should treasure up the words of life we va should search the records of divine truth we should seek to comprehend the day and age in which we live this as is the gvay way I 1 look upon oar situation toda today to da day V I 1 I 1 do no not t I 1 look 0 0 k upon the revelations recorded in these books touching the disen digen dispensation a of the mines of fifles as something that will pass aay away aby unfulfilled I 1 we ve live in a generation when great changes are about fo to tae take place we jive live in a time tidie whon when darkness covers tb the Q whole earth and gross darkness the yape the rhe rho world are a great grat way from the troth infidelity overwhelms the tile earth in fact it ifju is a hard matter today to get either priest or people sect sector or party of bf any ans name or br denomination in tiodor heaven to believe jil hi the literal fulfillment fulfilment ent of orthe the ibie ible as translated in the days of pr acing jame which cont contains aills alris the revelations given from the days of father adam down to our own time and which point out to us its the signs of heaven and earth barth indicating to the them coming of the soil son of man we live jive in tile the generation itself when jesus jasus christ will come in the clouds ol 01 heaven with power and great glory we live lun iff the generation when the gosp gospel elof of jesus christ has bm been revealed in its falness to the gentiles and when the gospel of christ will go to the house of israel to the descendants ants of lehi iti in fulfillment fulfilment of that which is recorded in their records in the ath loth and lith chapters of 0 the last book of nephi these prop prophets liets by thet power powen of god and the inspiration of the holy ghost and as the apostle says no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation for the prophecy came not in old tinie by the will of man but holy men of god as they were moved by the holy hols ghost I 1 feel heel therefore to say to my brethren who bear the holy priesthood and I 1 say it to myself and to all I 1 do not think we have much time to jay down and slumber we have no time to speculate in trying to get rich in trying to accumulate gold and silver what we have gotto got to do is to build up the kingdom of god As apostles high priests elders eiders seventies and the lesser priesthood ri estwood est hood we are bound together ey by this liew new and everlasting gospel and boveia covenant nt we are called to perform the great and mighty work of building up zion of building temples wherein we may labor for the living and the dead and we shoula should yein jive vein in that way and manner that wo we may be governed oyer over ned and controlled at all times time s by the holy spirit I 1 know very well how the world look at these the thi things As I 1 said be fore the world is 15 bartrom falt fait the lord we ou ourselves aives are too far from the tile lord lora as 11 people wo ought to f draw near to the lord and labor to obtain the holy spirit so that when we read the tho revelations of god dod we may read them by the same spirit by which they were obre given then we can understand their purport when given to the children of men the lord has said by the mouth of the prophet isaiah that he be would proceed to do a marvellous marcellous marv ellous work and a wonder and when wilen I 1 lookyat look at the rise and progress of tills this ClI church urell urcil when I 1 behold the great work the lord has performed it is a marvel lous ious work and a wonder indeed there never has been in my view any generation in which the game kame amount of prophecies and important events have to be fulfilled as in the generation in which we live joseph 8 mith an au illiterate boy 3 was raised up by the power of god his teachers were the angels of heaven he wa was ad administered pain rain is tere d unto bythe by the son of god he received the priesthood strood of john jol in the tho baptist who was be headed for the tho testimony of jesus christ he ile received the apostleship and 1 priesthood udder under the hands bands of peter james and john rohn who were also put to death for the word and testimony of jesus christ he made use of thee thoe ordinances ordin orain anees by the corm corn command moan roan dment of gocho organized theCil the Church arli and alli kingdom of god ho did alid that which all ali the wisdom of the sectarian world could never have comprehended ho he established the only church on oil th the face of tit the e earth according to the ancient order of the church of jesus christ with a apostles es prophets teacher teach end erd giffe heps hops b er governments baptism for the remission of sins the laying on of hands for the reception of the holy ghost an organization which has not existed on the day ilay the ancient apo apostles stieg were purr put to death and the holy priesthood taken from the earth until the present this church has continued torne tonie torie it is the only true church upon the face of the whole earth its history is hi before the world it ilas lias cantin aed to grow and increase imola fram thie the day it was organized until I 1 the tild pros pres pros climtime ent clit time this is of god wo see seo eo all an embria of it in these valleys of he mountains and it is besl designed l 1 ned ty the thi most high god to stand I on thesa the earth h in power powei and glory and a as the prophets of or god clod saw it in i tf their ir day and generation era tion this is tho t the lie lip kingdom that daniel saw and it wall vai continue to roll forth until if it tills nils the whole earth |
