Show kiso DISO OTTISS imma itea elez fles BY liel LDER WILFORD WOODRUFF rn the ae satt salt lake city sunday Aftem afternoon oon june 1881 1681 REPORTED BY JOHN irvine the object of assembling together the tho clament entAIl all ali people should have the fego lego ot gos god according to the tho dictates af their ow own clence why this coste r against aa alast the mon Mormon Mor mons sr mr coyte nees nerg statement before bedore a missionary society in chester rochester Eo delivery of tho the gospel to joseph smith boole dook ot of mormon and the bibie bible contain the same bame gospel it required an angel from heaven to tho the gospel the first principles order ordez of the church judgments what the blood of the mes mea iilah elah has cost the jows jews no tho gospel g given riven iven apostasy Apo stacy of the gentiles polygamy calling ot of tho latter laiter day saints sainta ahia whis the most Impo important runt of all increase of Wicked wickedness ness nees exhortation to bo be faithful V lwe WE have assembled ourselves ouma oura elves elvea as t latter tatter day saints for the purpose of worshipping shipping wor god gody of listening to in and administering one of the ordinances of the house of god the sacrament I 1 look upon tb the e sacrament cramen t as an ordinance of great im to us in fact from the days daks of adam down to the days of jesus jerus christ there therb were sacrifices offered not only bradam by adam but by his posterity mt erity by moses and the tho house of f t ismael rael and all tha the generations of peo pie who were led by the lord sa orifices were offered as a type of the great mt sacrifice to be made by the messiah they offered the blood of bullsn bull buil rams and doves aa as a type of the great and last sacrifice and death of the messiah whose blood was shed for the redemption of the world prior to the death of the savior the sacrament of the lords supper was administered to his dis 1 caples and they informed that they were to partake of the bread as P an emblem of the broken body of the lord lond and of the wine or whatever is made use of as a substitute in token of the shed blood of the lord jesus christ I 1 feel disposed here to make a rep ir mark and say that if I 1 were the emperor of the world and had control of every human being i that breathes the breath of life on eart earth hr I 1 would give to every man woman and child the right to wor iship god according to the dictates of their own conscience consciences and when lk I 1 ay this 18 I 1 speak k the sentiments of JosephS Josep hSmith mim mIr Brig brigham harn young the Frosi presidency dency of bf this church the twelve apostles and all the elders eiders elders of israel this is the sentiment of all the Latte latter roday day saints what wo would ld you grant the methodists bithis privilege certainly and the ba baptists fists yes yea certainly and ae the Ca catholics golles the shakers the quakers yes and everybody else under heaven I 1 would grant to all people the right to enjoy their religion without molestation I 1 would even extend this privilege lege to the latter r day saints I 1 would give them the t privilege of believing in the bible and the organization Uon of the church according to the ancient pattern with apostles and prophets christ jesus being the chief comer stone why would you do this I 1 would do it because god himself does it the god of heaven grants to all his children every sect and party of whatever name and denomination under the whole heavens their agency and the right to worship god according to the dictates of their own conscience the lord forces form no man to heaven he places before him life and death light and darkness truth and error and having havin before him all these principles he is at sit liberty to worship god and believe what he chooses he alone is re spon apon sible to god for his actions now low row when I 1 read the history of the world in days that are past when I 1 note the illiberal spirit that was manifested and the blood that has been shed upon the earth for the earth has been deluged with blood under what Is termed holy warm ware under the garb of holy rell reil religion glon gion I 1 look rook upon it as the most ungodly and unrighteous thing that was ever committed upon the earth I 1 look upon what is taking place today to day iu in the same way I 1 marvel sometimes sone Bone times when I 1 see the spirit of our nation and nd the feelings of the sects of t oday today to o day toward utah and the latter day saints have we ever stood in the path of any man beet sect or people with regard to their religion now have not we have been willing at all times that men should preach their doctrines and believe them by us and I 1 would say to express my roy own feelings that if a man believed he be had bad to clim a cottonwood tree three times a day for salvation I 1 would never hinder him no this liberty this freedom especially under the american government of a all nil I 1 nations under heaven ought to become universal no man or set of men should attempt to hinder their neighbors from enjoying their religion and while isay tsay this and while we grant a ali all men this ehg right and privilege as we have done here in this city this tabernacle and various olther buildings having been opened to the clergymen of the day behave been perfectly willing after we have heard all they have hadbo had to say to accept any truth they might have that we are not in possession of if is a man in this 9 Is who has one truth that I 1 have not got I 1 am willing to exchange all the errors I 1 have got for that truth but we aa as a people claim the same right we grant to others we claim the right to worship god clod unmolested by our fellow men the laws of god the decrees of god the oracles of god aa as well as laws of our country and the constitution of our govern ment grant this right to the human humah family yes even to the cormons mormons Mor mons 1 as we are called to the latter day saints as well as every other 0 ass then why this tremendous furor among the sects of the day with regard to these cormons mormons Mor mons and their I 1 religion the trouble is the world do not know anything about our religion they do not know what we believe iny ing in and if anybody forms an idea from what they hear abroad they hear anything but hut the truth I 1 have been amused sometimes I 1 have of late in reading the speeches delivered by gentlemen clergymen at that who profess to have lived in utah and to understand th this Is people one gentleman who professes to be acquainted here deliver eda speech in rochester before a missionary society in which he stated that there were in utah young persons persona in the mormon district and it was the youthful element that missionaries were working on well naw now how does this thia gentleman make malre out young people out of 1 I do not know by what process of mathematics or by what rulene rule ruie he arrives at this question that gentleman knew just as well weli when he made that assertion that ft it was falso as I 1 know our population is only about mr conyer who had lived here some six years stated that there were scholars in the mission and he wanted assistance to furnish his enlarged school 11 we well weil now you take scholars beho acho lars out of the total population of and I 1 do not think you will leave many for the mormons cormons Mor mons but all this is as near tru true 0 as anything you get abroad and I 1 really wish that gentlemen clergymen and everybody else who attempts to report utah would tell ell the truth that is ali all we ask of any persons who visit us but ent it seems impossible for anybody to speak of i utah and the latter day saints mormons Mor mons as they are termed with any degree of truth but I 1 wish they would it would be better for them better for us nod they would be under less condemnation now what are the principles in which the latter day saints believe what is the dreadful crime that we have been wen guilty of for the last fifty years why the lord has raised up a P prophet het bet joseph soseph smith he sent an angel from heaven in fulfillment fulfilment of the revelations of st john and that angel delivered the gospel to joseph smith delivered unto him power and knowledge to obtain the book of mormon a record containing the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent who dwelt here hundreds and thousands of years ago he translated it into the english language does the tho book of mormon ca contain a different gospel to that contained in the bible it does not it gives a history of the people who dwelt upon this continent anciently tells where they came from and h how ow they came here tells of the dealings of god with them and the establishment of the church of christ among them they were visited by jesus after his tion hence he said other sheep I 1 have which are not of this fold them also I 1 must bring and they shall hear my voice and there hero shall be one fold and one shepherd he also abo told the Nep hites when he established his church among them that he had other sheep they were the ten ton tribes of israel the book of mormon is a history of the dealings of god with that thai people the bible is a history of the dealings of god with judah Juda hand and with the jews and the twelve tribes of israel it contains in fact a short outline of the dealings of god with the Jarad ites and nep Kep hites from the building of the tower of babel down to the days of the savior and after his resurrection the bible is the stick of judah in the hands of judah and the chebook Book of mormon the stick of joseph in the hands of ephraim both books contain the same came gospel there was never but one gospel and there never will be any other revealed to the human family hence herce paul says cays though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel tinto unto you than that which we have preached reached unto you let lot him to be accursed now if joseph smith had established an any other gospel on the earth than the gospel that paul taught that christ and andris his ris apostles Apostle staught taught and that was taught to abraham noah and the antediluvian why we would have the curse of god resting upon us the tho great trouble I 1 with the so called christian world is that they have spiritualized spi ritualized the scriptures until there is not a semblance of the gospel left I 1 never could nind find it anever I 1 never nover a gospel sermon in my libeg life ilfe and I 1 sat under dr porter and dr hawes and other great divines of the day I 1 never could hear heat a gospel sermon according to the ancient pattern as was taught by joseph smith of course all sects have had some truth ail AI sects have professed to believe in the bloo dof jesus chhist christ more or less all sects and parties have their various roads to heaven and to he hell heil but none of them teach the gospel according to the pattern I 1 laid down in the new testament tt required an angel froni from heaven hengen n to fly in the midst of heaven having havink the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on tha the earth and to every nation and kindred and ton mongue tongue e and nd people 1110 to prepare them fot for the great judgments of our dur god before the winding up scene that angel has come that gospel has been delivered it was delivered to joseph joeeph smith he did not r receive e his power from man but from the revelations of jesus christ what did that gospel teach why faith in jesus christ yes oh yes say the methodist we believe in jesus christ all right then the next principle was repentance of our oun bins sins but say the sectarian 19 world f we also believe in repentance well what is next the revivalists reviva lists who visited this tills city sankey moody bell beli believed eyed in jesus christ and they said that if a person only oame came to christ he did not require to be a methodist bap tibt tiet mormon or auy anything thing else pro peets and Apostles were vere not required all that was required was to come to christ bit B it we desay say there is something more required besides believing k man has to be baptized for the remission of his sins in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven that law of baptism has never been altered many believe in baptism even by immersion abut but not particularly ticul arly for remission of sins what next having repented of our sins and been baptized for a remission of them we must have hands laid upon for the reception of the holy ghost and when we have received the holy ghost it will bo be unto us a principle of revelation a testimony of the father and of the bon son well what kind of a church are you going to have paul in speaking of the corinthians goes on to represent the church of christ to the body of a man he shows that every part of the body must act in unison the headtke head the eyes tho the ears the mouth the feet must all work together in order that the body may be perfect and that there may be no schism we are also told that god set in the church apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of chirst now we have had independence of mind enough to believe this doctrine this is mormonism 11 1 1 it Is faith in christ tence telice of our sins baptism for the remission of our sins and the reception of the holy ghost by the lay laying ing on of hands these are the principles which we a as latter day saints believe in we do not believe that god ever had a church on the earth without apostles and pro abets in it without inspiration in it to ro r do away with any of the principles of the gospel would cause calise a schism in the church of christ when you cut the head oss off a man he will die he may live if he be loses an arm or a leg but if jf you cut out the head off he will die precisely so with the church of christ we believe in the bible bibie 1 we believe in all the prophecies we bel bei bele eve e god meant just what he said and said just what he meant we believe that the prophecies of the scriptures sare are of no private interpretation we believe in the second comin coming of christ wo we believe belleve that the judgments of almighty god will be poured out upon this thia generation alithe all ali the unbelief of bf the world will not stay the fulfillment fulfilment of the decrees of the almighty the unbelief of the inhabitants of the world in the days of noah did not stay the deluge the unbelief und uno eilef elief of or the inhabitants of ot sodom gomorrah did not avert the destruction of tasse cities the unbelief of the jews jewa did not avert tho the destruction of jerusalem i we look for a Jk jeral teral fulfillment fulfilment of the decrees of gd god we know as a i people that he lias hag set his hand band to establish his church he has set his hand to WB warm warn rn all nation nations the holy priesthood has been restored not by the power of man but by the power of almighty god As I 1 haq haw said we believe in the rook book of mormon as containing a re cord ancient inhabitants of this titis continent and a clue to the ruins which haye have been discovered in various lous ious parts of the land and for which the world can find no origin the whole history of these things however is pointed out in the book of mormon and if the world would only take the trouble to zead that book they would understand these things perfectly the american indians are a remnant of the ancient inhabitants of this continent their forefathers were an enlightened people they had the gospel among them and the power of god was manifested in their midst but when they became wicked and turned away from god the judgments of the almighty fell tell upon tb them ein eln and they were overthrown and destroyed by war fares the Lama now a downtrodden people are a remnant of the house of israel the |