Show 0 IS C O DELIVERED BY ELDER krel DUEL 11 WELLS in arn the tha assembly sait salt salt sall lake city friday morning homing Gen general cral crai conf conference cr crenco enco ence october fth 1882 reported BY a F GIBBS it is with a degree of pleasure that I 1 stand before you today to day to bear my testimony in regard to the truths thag that we have heard the truths of the everlasting gospel for I 1 know that cl mormonism is lust just as true today to day as it ever was and that god has not forsaken hib hia people we live it ia Is true la in an eventful age when the words of tho prophets are ro being fulfilled when the god of israel ingoing is going to fo establish and build urnia kingdom on 1 the he earth establish his government and his laws I 1 know tb that at this thia work will be accod pil hed bed through the instrumentality of his children that theoze who live in this day and age will have the privilege of being the honored in st tru ments menis in the hands bands of god of brin bringing gilig to pass his purposes of establishing his kingdom never more to be thrown downy down if we wl let the lord work with us if we will only work with him if it we WO will be obedient to his laws and work under hib hia direction we have been reserved from coming coining forth to in the spirit world until that day when the everlasting gospel should be established that we might have the privilege of bearing a hand in this great work this glorious work woric of the last days it is not a haphazard matter with the lord everything la Is in perfect order in regard to this matter he knew when ile he revealed his gospel to his servant joseph that joseph would receive it and he knew there were those spirits upon the earth that would also receive it when it should be presented to them it was rejected in the days of the savior they crucified him they drove the priesthood frona from the earth the hearts of the childr children enof of men are of the same na ture tare today to day days to a greater or bessex less ex tent but there are those that corn com forth in this day that receive t gospel when it it is presented them whether the people of th the ages when the gospel was not uro naoh the earth would have bave received reee rece ivea ived it 16 ft am not prepared to bay eay bunnice suffice it to say when if it was not revealed they had not net thui opportunity of rejecting it and that J in the economy of god those who vh would have received it when the oy oyt OP t port unity was not afforded them in the flesh flesh will receive it when it shall be presented to them in the spirit 1 wo we have been called and all peo pie are called to this work it is baid said that many are called and few are chosen bat all have been called and it is their blessed lege to bear a hand to help bear off this kingdom if they chose choso to do eo and if they will be faithful to the t 10 call that is made upon them the time will come when they will be chosen instruments to bear off his kingdom and in maintaining the principles of truth and as revealed to us through the influence c and spirit of the living god d because it ia Is the privilege of ot all to hear testimony now a mans judgment will be convinced by the weight ot pt testimony whether he be willing to admit it or not whether he la Is willing to acknowledge the lord publicly c y mak abt ing a public profession of h his belief or not there are many I 1 do believe belleve whose judgment has been colv convinced ced by the weight of testimony who have not been willing to admit the 1 of and make a public profess protes pro fesl slon blon bf falth faith fal in the holy gospel when a person embraces the enet evet evets s lasting Gospel which by the way dayi i seems to ba be very unpopular jowas in other ages whether it will continue eon con tinus to be BO so I 1 do not know it requires a good hood deal of moral courage to sacrifice his associations in life lire his property social standing and good name and everything that pertains to this life that is considered worth having still there are those spirits in the flesh that have the courage to do it those that have the hones ty of heart to receive this testimony and to stand up and bear it in the face of every opposing obstacle and every eveny opposing foe it is a lifes lifers labor for the latter day saint to live his religion to perform his duty to fill up tha tho measure of his ids creation onorato his god and d credit to 0 kimp kimu our Toli glon gion U feeo not taia a matia gf of cult mim bitow altow to w tip to a high pitch for an hour a day a week in some protracted meeting or under some peculiar but day by day week by week weeke month by month year by year as long iong ion lon as life shall last the latter day saint does not beo seo an hour nor a moment that he can afford to lay oss off the armor of righteousness or lay aside abide hisholm his holy religion it is be that endures to the end that Is a promised salvation the word endure Is there and we may naturally expect to have to endure some things god will have a tried people and all will be put to the test in one way or another bome borne things will try some people at one time and nf will III ili not try them at another agae time some bome things will try somo some people and they will have no such effect on others god leads his people through a great variety of changes chan gee that all might be tried and you may depend upon it that all who come to this point in their travels in the journey of life will be tested to the hearts core I 1 have heard some people say bay oh I 1 wish I 1 had been in zions camp and through the persecutions of missouri i a and nd I 1 wish I 1 had been with the saints in the days of 1111 lill nolia etc I 1 can promise every Latt erday saint that is faithful that he will baye have i sufficient to try him before he gets through and the nearer that he lives to his god the more sore perhaps tb e teai teat that will be made of him hu ho may rest assured that he will be tried tiled and tiled severely it he re t main faithful there is and there will be an opportunity for all people to prove their integrity to their god and their integrity to their bre brethren tb ren and to the principles of the gospel that we have espoused if a person Is going to fly the track the moment that difficulty arises which it la Is necessary to overcome what becomes of his integrity and where is it it proves to god and to angels and to all good men that he has not integrity does it not it is to stand firm and steadfast through every trial to overcome every obstacle that brings the prize allowing nothing to intervene between us and the lord bord or between the gospel that we have espoused or between us I 1 and hud the holy priesthood who under I god guides the affairs of his church and nd kingdom the earth it is to tand t up in defence of the truth and bear onn off the principles of the gospel in this wicked and unto wat d 91 generation it requires some test teat and the biord will have that kind bt bf r people deop a that he can rely on he could uld not bestow kia hia kingdom in its power an and fullness full nes in I 1 its might and glory upon a people whom w om he did not know had sufficient integrity to hold hoid sacred that which had been in trusted f to them for him and his cause 1 I 1 have ve 0 often ten been asked the question tu on 11 when hen will the kingdom be given into to the hands of the saints of the most ost high god and I 1 have always answered it in this W way Y BO so boonas soon eoon as the finds that tbt he haf a people upon the earth who will vill uphold and an d sustain that king dom who shall be found capable of maintaining its interests and of expending its influence upon the earth when he finds that he han ban such buch a people a people that will stand firm and faithful to him a people that will not turn it over into the lap of the devil then and not until then will he give the kingdom into the hands of the saints of the most high in its power and influence when it ift shall nii nil the whole earth she the promise is 19 that the kingdoms of bf this world shall become the kingdoms of oar god and his christ and it shall be given to the saints of the most high and it shall stand i forever that is when we may expect it and we could not reasonably expect it any sooner therefore it depends in a great measure upon the tho people themselves as to how soon the kingdom spoken of by daniel shall oha I 1 be he given into the hands of the saints of lod god lad when we shall prove ourselves ours elvea faithful in every emergency that may arise and capable to contend and grapple with every difficulty that threatens our peace and welfare and to overcome every obstacle that may gny tend to impede the progress of the church and kingdom of god upon the earth then our heavenly father will have confidence in usi us and then he will be able to trust us and it is the lorms will that should be se and if we as a people do not hold bold ourselves ours elvea on the altar ready to be used with our meana means and all that gob gou god has bestowed beb bei towed upon uby ue accordia accor according din diD to the masters biddins bid dinac rs for tho the building up of ha ma kingdom upon tho the guthi Hs HI I 1 in rais pain pas ras on oil gu wyl aul gat torribio somebody ut 0 it felss to because became he will get a people that will do it I 1 do not mean to say that he will pass on and leave this peo people pleno no there will come up from the midat midst of this people that people which has been talked BO so much about for the kingdom will not be taken from ns us and given glyen to another people e it Is too late in the day as it has already commenced to grow and it is growing and will continue to grow this kingdom of god has been of rapid growth although we may think sometimes that it is slow alow that the purpose purposes of the almighty are aro being icing slowly developed but the time will vill come that this people will look back bay eay forty years hence and exclaim how wonderfully how rapidly has the kingdom progressed and bow powerful has it become in the earth we can look back today to day from the time that we were located in Mis uis missouri and if any man had predicted tb the a progress that we have made since he would have been considered somewhat enthusiastic to say eay the least of it and be he could not possibly have foretold by his own natural foresight the progress and the prosperity that have attended the labois of the people and the strength and power rower that we have attained unto in so short a time therefore we may take courage and press onward and continue to sustain the holy principles that have been revealed reve aed in our day for our reformation and salvation for these principles tend to reformat reformation iou fou and they will produce the greatest reformation that god hat has undertaken to bring to pasa among the children or men when we consider the nature of this work and its results among men it would be quite proper to call it a reformation it is reformation and it is Js restitution it brings us back to first principles it brings us back to the purity of the most holy faith it is also reformation from the status of the evildoer evil doer and from the evils that are prevalent in the earth the world have forsaken god they have not the least true conception of the attributes of the deity they know no more about the true and living god than those lam law lamp p posts do they go blundering along worshipping shipping wor ping an imaginary udd a something that they know nothing at hll all about their teachers are blind as to his true character and the people are blinded by their teachers and they beem seem to be satisfied with their condition they talk about their colleges their theological bem eem maries marles and their institutions bt of learning they are simply machines the body without the spirit it is not possible for them to furnish a line of scripture they never have since the apostles fell asleep and they never will down to the end of time it is not in them it cannot come out of them why they openly denounce all belief in revelation from god the very life ilfe giving element of all as nothing but that can produce scripture tho the bible itself waa was made up by revelations to the servants of god from timeto time to time men spoke aa as they were moved upon by the holy ghost and it was written for the benefit of posterity bind and became the word of the lord to us ever since the apostles fell asleep there has baa been no further light the heavens have been clo cio closed oed ted and no communication has been made to the gentlemen of the cloth nor to anybody else of this generation until the lord revealed himself and spoke to joseph smith and why did he speak to him one reason was because he prayed to the lord in faith believing that he would hear him the religions of his hip hi time he saw were many they differed and each claimed to be the right way of the lord he did not know which to join jow and yet he wanted to espouse some one among the many that then existed and he was in this state of mind when reading the writings of the apostle james says if any of you lack wisdom let jet him ask of god that to all men liberally and u upbraid br aldeth aideth eth not and it iii shall be given him heap he ap pro preached ached the L lord rd with an honest heart and the lord heard his pray er he himself together with his son a appeared eared to him and among other tugs things that he was told on that occasion was to not join any of the sectarian churches that none of them were right that they were the systems of men and not the system of god and joseph had the temerity to tell it and of course that was enough to bring upon him the enmity of professing christian ity and especially of the gentlemen of the cloth craft was at once in danger and their animosity to this people G has continued from that dak day to this inar increasing n ins ing with oo 00 crowth growth and wrid s e spit epst that it will still continue to manifest itself against us until the kingdom of god shall triumph in the earth and god the Rigte righteous ous judge and his people be recognized and their rights acknowledged we well understand the reabon reason why this people are aren area a reproach to the world they are eo to high above them in morals and in the principles of truth and the world know that we are their superiors in every respect as far aa as the fundamental principles ples plea of life and intelligence are concerned the devil knows it and he puts it into the hearts 0 of the wicked and those who are deceived by his hia cunning canning to hate bate us for that reason their animosity is not enkindled kindled en against us because of our iniquity for they cannot put their finger upon a single line of iniquity chang able to the latter day saints as a people not but what there is many a one who does wrong for which he needs to repent and do his first works over again or be severed from the church but as for the church its enemies cannot lay their finger upon the brat first iniquitous thing brought aga against irist frist it that can be brought against as true fact is we are a reproach to them and they feel it their anger Is en kindled against us on that account and hence they taek lork to destroy the holy priesthood from off the face of the earth who Is it that invents the lies that are circulated about this people they are begotten by bli and become the weapons of the clergy of the present day and it certainly is aa as lt it was waa said it should be men will I 1 elleve a lie ile but reject truth and this thia class of persons par is engaged in trying to destroy the work of our gou goa and the righteousness of our god as mairi maril bested through hla hia people and through the authority of the holy priesthood that ia Is now among men satan is anxious to trample it under foot as |