| Show adi SO 0 DELIVERED BY WILFORD iiii BUFF v f 0 f aau wit jit aag beneral Cwi ference thursday ewt oct m ath 1880 lee iee mn 3 A ly fa RU REPORTED fryy BY bys jonn JOHN lir irr irvlie 1 ilc kr pleased to have the opportunity of again meeting with any brethren and sister sisters in general conference there is one thing that is very clear tomy to my mind with regard to myself and everybody else who attempts etem apts to teach the latter day saints and hud that thai M igwe all need the spirit bf t the e 1 lord ord nf and without It libut it carvub bd anybody h body neither can we adri or do the thel work of god with without tho the holy spirit the p prophets roped the a apostles sties and all men w who ho hi have ve been heen il called in every age of t the e world ai to labor for t the kingdom king dom acm of god have had bad t to be actuated by this principle and that idolie is one ope reason as brother carrington rington arington has ha s said why the weak things shingi of this world whom the lord has chosen chose n have confidence in god to togo go forth to hitup their voices and preach reach the tho gospel of christ zina zinc and do the work which is required at their hands f it is certainly interesting to any reflecting mind to io contemplate the dealings of god with the inhabitants of the earth in th tha various ages agns and dispensations s almost from the creation of the world as far as we have any knowledge I 1 have bave often been struck in reading rading ancient history ory with the dealings of god with some of the ancient cities mies of which fa twe ba hae have bae e some account in tHe bible I 1 BibIe 1 and other histories pido mido aside from 4 that book for instance there is tyre and sodom nineveh and babylon the great these hese mighty cities that were built as to defy all time and abdill chill power but god himself justas just as quick as isaiah el joel or any other prophet whom god raised up to VL lift up his volee voice and declare the word of theford concerning the destiny of any of these cities all ali the power of and nel belf 4 f sh aizar azzar azzan 1 brany other king or priest dwelt i in these cities ruled them governed and controlled them had no power to stay the ful the words of the servants I 1 tji til tse cities lave haye been ed hane have been n laid in the jan fulfillment af pf of tb the Q word of oa 04 whenever they were ripened in iniquity the lord senta sent a poor w pak p rak ak man named jonah to nineveh h a great and mi mighty fits hits fity city to go and warn the tho inh inhabitants 10 tivi ts thereof to re ackt be a over ovet overthrown th rown jonah thought it was blittle ittle ittie too much fo an obscure man togo unto a agrest 5 reat city ikes 0 wili nineveh andy ands and tell the inhabitants that in a few days uie the ci city ty should be overturned henen hence lie he fled this he ird a peculiar kind hie tie of 0 experience near nean or thread 1 l ys adu add three I 1 night ayou you ar are nil all acquainted biffl with the history wory th that a fl I 1 allude allado to y V 11 aen hen J jonah iho ipe n ah however got on dry he went and fulfilled ful filed li 11 is mission idil loti to the inhabitants of nineveh and I 1 have many times thought that if this generation was ike unto tha Nine vites the world would jb different ia 0 o what atut it I 1 it fd day when WUen word agod they fhy dt jt they ahey winf to work and repented and called MUM upon the lord gord and we hire hare are mola told that god withheld til the tho evil ethil tt mathe rathe h ad okho said baid he would woula do unjiro unit did au lil ell il lo 10 aay bay gay ahat that in all these thing when theford thel ord has called upon ve d to la a iw or in in the bufi bifi building up of hl his king dom lie things world anil Q if it jias ilai been th ulu uit whole generations of men me n in the days of jesus chrls christ illiterate illi iiii emen in a good maw many of hem win but gave tho iho ap lie he gave them the 0 priesthood rio rie and they were vere co idao gato go eo forth and preach the tile gospel 6 to suffer death for zuheir testimony tes tea ja ine lne ire to 6 refer to onri ouri ourselves elves in yi reflecting upon ancient days let r praised ip smith his history 4 ans ilfe life ha ins work shi 3 deih deth Js ji beford the corid today to day ay jeseph joseph math mith was M as far as W thi eid eld I 1 buu but raised up by the lord dord to td lay the foundation of or K las dispensation tiie tile L jose joseph smi I 1 the responsible M b 3 for or 1 the t kingdom Df go god d for i the of heaven for every overy th 0 fo 0 libra giura had bad revealed td him joseph joserh smith was waa a great creat man that is before the lord bedfor the heavens and before this generation he was ordained of god to lay the foundation of this thi church and ind i nd Kingdo kingdom kingdoms mr truet truel and faithful thith ful fui un unto ato ito death and when we look at what has follow followed edthe the laying of the foundation of this church fifty yram years ago t with as ir members it is ya a marvel it is a mystery in the eyes of the world an and d it is evern evert toa tor us as latter datter day saints to nota the progress of this ell cli ehu chu uroil urell roil roll and hud kingdom from that day ai atil the pres present Ht the revelations given through th the e prophet joseph gi smith nith as i recorded corded in the bookoff book of doctrine and covenants have alf all had their fulfillment fulfilment ai as far as time would admit jose joseph h I 1 ta smith lived until he be laid the foun foundation af pf this church and kingdom he lived until he ber received every uy key and principle arnd arid id priesthood which belong to this h eisa elsa d dispensation s d nd and h be e lived ived until he sealed sealed the knie same upon the heads of other men everyman every man that ha t ear ever knew him every elder ier or every saint of god that ove eve traveled with him or have heard him converse tean ican forni form some little idea of df the tile spirit frit irit that filled his bosom I 1 have baa seen him from time to time in my early eady acquaintance with him in kirtland smite ilia breast and say ay 1 iy I would ouid to I 1 could uffa tsoi my feelings ta could noldo not do it it seems keenig it was impossible for him to reveal to the elders eiders what god had revealed to him wever Never nevertheless theles s he accomplished the tha work vork to fo which he had been ordained and set apart a rt by y the power of god ho ere ll lived veTas as I 1 have already said sald until hi he organized Iz edthe the church in all its various oi organizations he chose ghose the apostles seventies high council high priests and all the various officers in the church and kl kingdom of C god 10 d barev by revelation and when he had finished this work nie pie the lord called him home bonte ho he sealed his testimony with his blood and went to the ifie othe other r side of the vail vall he holds the keys of the kingdom of god on both sides of the v vail vall ail all and v will wili jil ill hold t them he m to the endless ess ages of eternity apostles were called and set apart to carry carny on the work which he dommen commenced ced many of them who whoa were associated with him have passed med away others remain here in the tha flesh if J Z could tell you the feelings of myown heart I 1 would say to the apostles seventies high priest sand all the officers of this C church and king kingdom doni donl the god of heaven heaten has raised you up according to my fal fai faith falth th anday and my view and placed you here on the earth and watched over you until you have baye received the ordinances of the tiie gospel you are raised up as a kingdom of priests you hold the power of the priesthood in and I 1 say you coif are held cespon responsible before high heaven before the fods pods f of eternity before the heavenly hosts and will be held accountable to the judgment day for the mannet manner you make use of this priesthood antl anil power which is put into your hands this ia is the con won of all of us from the apostle wl w r l down through every depart mm at church and king kingdom com there thore never was a generation since iod lod god made the world that have had greater power greater responsibilities amaer greoer blessings or that have ever iia lia had d the kingdom 0 of I 1 god placed upon meir mein til ein eln shoulders t ti remain on the earth until the coming of the son of mau man therefore how great the res pons lut but luy resting ur on us as apostle as ei ier jer and in evera capacity in which we ra called to net act this is the way I 1 view our oun position and when I 1 have guijo enjoyed aved axed a portion of the spirit of god when h en the vision of my mind mast last h been open to comprehend in aw niu measure cur relationship to god and the heavenly hosts and the responsibility lity wie are under here to the lord and to this generation I 1 have felt that I 1 would to God that the vail vall might g bt be lifted to the vision af the atter after day sain bain t ts thalme that we amigh t see ourselves as god Goci sees us and ani as the heavenly hosts see us if we could only comprehend this we would feel in many respects dimm diff merent different to what we do at present we would be diligent we would not have our hearts set on the things of this lifes life as they many times are oun our labors are am very great very veny extensive the th e lord requires of us that which he lias has hardly ever required of any other generation we have the kingdom we have got to establish it and maintain it by faith and good works with the help of god while wo we dwell here in the flesh wo we have these tem temples les ies to build hero here in these valleys arhe of the moun mountains talus this is one of the most important branches of the responsibility resting upon latter da day saints the redemption of our deady dead I 1 have often referred to this subject because my mind has been opened omenea to it my desires have been exercised upon this principle nearly 1800 1800 years have passed away and over 50 generations of men who have never seen a prophet or an apostle who have nev never neven er heard the gospel of jesus christ have gone into the spirit world They th ey llave Eave gone there without the gospel they are under no responsibility to that laia law because they never came under it there are therefore some fifty thou thousand san d million ion lon people today to day in the spirit world that have tobe to be preached to by the elders eiders of israel there was nobody to preach to th them ei until oseph joseph smith went into the spirit world with the keys of the kingdom of god and U unlocked n the prison rison door the prophet joseph had this subject of the redemption demotion demp tion of the dead in his heart until the day of his death he labored a most diligently to this end these millions will be preached to and many luany will receive the truth while those who wiio dwell in hi the flee flesh have this duty to per perform forni as their descendants on the earth to go and build these thise temples that bomay we may attend to ordinances for the dead which the dead cannot attend to themselves god requires this at our hands it is our duty to tn enter into these temples and aud redeem our dead as far as we ire ean can that we may be beju justified stifled when wego we go into the th e spirit world we have nil all the branches temporal and spiritual of this church and kingdom to carry 0 out ut we have got to tb build these cities towns and villa villages oes aes we have got to cultivate the tho earth earh educate our children train them tip up in the nurture and ad monition admonition of the lord and it is our duty a as a people to unite ourselves together according to the law of god we should not set our hearts moo too much upon the thino thing things s of this world the earth and the riches there thereof ofis is theloris the Lords cewill he will glye them to the latter day saints as fast as they are prepared to receive them but I 1 tell teli you I 1 haye have thought many times that it it is a calamity fora for a man to become rich in the midst of this people it is a hard matter for fon a rich man to enter into the kingdom of god men bien when they are poor can labor for their bread and feel thankful to the god who gives it but when we become millionaires our hearts begin r to set upon the things of this word world not but what such men ma may Y keep the commandments of god do what js s right and be justified I 1 do not make these remarks because I 1 wish to speak against the wealthy of the lat latter ter day saints or anybody y else eise but I 1 speak peak of this that we should not permit our hearts to be set upon riches to deprive us of magnifying our calling before the lord tord we have got to become rich some come time or other the saint saints s of god will yet possess the earth but the lord holds us responsible as a people for the build building ipg up of his kindom kingdom I 1 we have got to 1 build ui the these term temples ples pies and redeem our dead we vve have got to pay y our tithing ng thesis this is a law which chic if has been given antous unto us we should obey the tho ladof law of tithing as a people so that we may be qualified to inherit eternal life when I 1 come to realize that my destiny on the tile ot other beralde side bide of the vail depends upon the little time I 1 have to spend liere here 1 I feel that I 1 have no time to throw tilrow awa away y we should seek for the holy spirit we should magnify our calling this kingdom given unto you eat Lat latter latten enday erday day saints is the kingdom iiii dom of god it is the kingdom that daniel saw it is ls the ever kingdom which has been spoken 0 by all the holy prophets since the world was made the little stone cut out of the mountains without hand hands will roll until it fills the whole earth the heavenly hosts arel are 1 I to tb nobody else eise upon theodot tool oi 01 god but the latter day saints to accomplish this work other people have got the kingdom no other people have hecei received v the priesthood but the latter day saints and we will be held responsible pon sible for the use we make of it therefore I 1 think we should be dl diligent li we should be faithful to our gur duties we should look to td the position which we wo occupy before the lord our blessings blessing sare are great the tile revelations of heaven have llave been given unto us we possess the holy ahot it has been given to this people been gathered by it from among the nations of theearta the earth through the instrumentality of weak and humble men who have been called upon to preach the tile gospel wo we regard this as is being 9 one of tile the strongest evidences of this tin s bein being th the tho a work of god the tile world however ier ver hate us this wo we re gard ird as another evidence of ce ie divinity of this work said the savior in his day if the world hate you ye yo know that it hated me before it hated you if ye were of the world the world would love III ili his 8 own but because because ye are not of the world but I 1 have chosen you out of the world therefore the world habeth you the world hate this people the Z pr priests ests of t the he day especially and if they thoy th ey had the power they would waste them away from off the face odthe of the earth but the ibe izord lord bassali has bas eaid said sAld eald that lie tic would break in pieces seve every eveny ry wea weapon that is fo formed against zion W when the wicked stretch out their hands to destroy this kingdom of god will they thep prevail I 1 think not we have got the kingdom of god idd the lord is looking tous to us tb the h heavenly ea hosts are I 1 looking to us joseph smith and und the whole ef the th espirit spirit world who are rioh righteous are ard watching this people arth with intense i |
