Show TP eadies madfes M 1 M A az 1 UT by APOSTLE ERASTUS EMS snot SNOW 1 I ji in taj ie ifal salt sald lake city 40 ree KEE pEED BY jonn JOHN I 1 IT I 1 allotted to ine inc to occupy a few minute minutes min utes and alid it is a privilege which I 1 ought to esteem and ahia which I 1 do esteem teil teki to stand before my iny brethren and sisters as a witness of the truth which we vve hate have embraced tiie tile truth troth as it is revealed in christ the truth that is confirmed in the hearts of the saints by the holy ghost the truth as testified to by ancient patriarchs and apostles Apo stes andrt and by oun our nim him upon the earth among the jews and among tho the on tile tiie continent of america line vinc rica 1 the work in which the tile latter day saints are engaged tho the work whereunto god has called ills llis peoples people in this day Is ia the work which has engaged the attention of the prophets and saints from the beginning of the world till the present dicent binici time that portion of the worra world tuf of mankind who have ave been heen bebenin inspired s lied tied from aboyo to look forward through trough the vista of opening years and contemplate the future jil Iii history stony story of mankind have had bad their eyes directed erected to the reat and last dispensation of the fullness of times in which tile the lord would perfect ills his work op the eurth earth and alla bring in everlasting righteousness wilen when lie he would establish a reign of bace when wickedness wick edne edre would bel bes subdued N aed when satan would be cur pur curtailed curt ailed jailed in his po influence among aanon the childr enof enot men mer the time represented in the vision of st john when he declared 1 I shw saw saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottom less pit and a great chain chain in Iii lit shand and he laid hold an the dragon that old serpent which is the devil and satan and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless S pit pi litand tand gna shut hii hi m a up and set seta a seal at upon him that bo tie should deceive the nations no korep more till the thousand ye years r s should be fulfilled and after that ll 11 he e must be loosed a little season and I 1 saw thrones ani and they sat upon them and jud judgment ent was wa s given unto them and I 1 saw paw the soul soui souls of them thein that were be headed for the witness of jesus and an adfor for the word of god and which had not worshiped ted led the least beast neither r his imago imago neit nelt neith neither ej 7 had his mark upon their thein foreheads or in their hands i and they lived and aud reigned with christ a thousand years u but athe the rest of the dead doad lived not again until the thousand shousan thou tho usan sani sanT years were finished ahls this jq s pc ithe first resurrect tion blessed and holy aishe is he that hath part in the first re resurrection on such tsuch the second death I 1 dath eath hath no no power aivar but i the they y shall be priests of god and anhof of christ C and shall reign with him a thousand years years vears no ty V this thousand years i ig spoken of among modern christians agthe a the millen millenna nl um iga i that period arloa ol of all other periods will as we tp speak of bf the sabbath be a day of rest on tile the sabbath the seventh day otay the lord rested from his labors and he has commanded his people to rest from their labors dil on shift that day to meet together and had worship him to of forup gieir sacraments sacrament aud and their oblations brigand baft and aud another and a id before the lord alidas andas they ask to be forgiven ardd arid feel to fa forgive rai c one another so god forgives the theat ofir ssi vio gafa e us clearly to understand this when jieva Ji elx eix he ile taught his disciple ge to pray and to say fay us imi our debts as we wc forgive our debt ors orsi 11 for said he uye lye if ye forgive forgiven forg ivet mgt mat men meli their trespasses neither loll loli your fathel eather forgive jonn joun trespasses this thid day of rest is a day to forgive and to be forgiven and to make peace with oud ond one another and arid with our god and is a thousandth L type t ype af he millennium or the seventh sey elith erith thousandth year in the which universal peace will be established upon udon the earth and the kingdom of our god prevail inal lands a ody dby lay whenn the servants of god may be aTthe glad tia tta tidings to all ali people e nations na lons ions kindreds upon all the face of the earth alia alla and there shall be none to mo ino lest iest them or make them afraid the truth will abound I 1 and light and lundel linder standing come to the people it will i be a day of great light in every corner of the land the day spoken of by the prophet isaiah wherein he lle says the knowledge of the lord shall cover tile tiie earth as the waters cover th the 9 sea the da day when tha they shall shail teach no more le every man his nei neighbor abor 1 and every man his his brother paying saying know the lord jord for sor they shall shail allenow all ali knoW the least ot of them to the greatest 0 of f hem a day when every man maii shall see eye to eye 11 pro prophets bets and saints sainta have looked 10 for r such s act a feriod period have longed for it have prayed praye for it have sung sun about it have prophesied of it and and they have spoken of the work that should bring it about ariail argall arp ali ail all these prophecies rohe I 1 cies cles fallacious are arc all these ropes topes hopes vain will all these exPect ions lons come to naught or are alc they to be fulfilled with the latter day saints there is but one answer to this question the lord has opened their understanding der standing I has touched their eyes has ricke nicke in the tho ear car has bas comforted f them and has given to 40 to 40 them the holy ghost they have been enabled to see and to discern the signs of the times and in a measure he lle age a c in chwe we live it isa burc tf 1111 of h unbounded il bounded joy unto those who possess this testimony and are arc living living for the blessings promised to the faithful ua these events are arc dawning upon us A preparatory work has been begun in the thie earth As foretold in phe he scriptures I 1 an angel has flown in the ml midst t of heaven having the everlasting gospel to deliver to them that dwell on the earth and which shall be preached unto every nation kindred tomme tongue and people before the end comell cometh but will every nation and kindred and ton ue and ana and people receive e it not at all alt it has not been so written but it is written that the time cometh when all who will wiil not hear that prophet whom Mos moses essaid sald gald god would raise up unto the bepple people should be cut off rom among his is people copie this prophet was jesus chrtt chrtt the savior of the world raised up lap in the meridian of time and in the midst of the house of israel from the seed deed of abraham that seed which god said would be a blessing unto all nations when jesus jesu s showed himself unto the Nephi teson on the merican american continent lie ile quoted this scripture this prophecy prophecy of moses and said to them 11 t am that prophet of whom moses 11 now we have this assurance that the time will come when all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cutoff cut off fromia froila mong inong the people it is grievous to reflect upon the darkness that shrouds the minds of the people mople upon the unbelief that prevails among mankind at the present time upon phe the JuIl infidelity delitY elat that stalks abroad that is manifested mani feste in church and state with high and low it t Is grievous to contemplate how statesmen and the would be wise men of our age despise god or ignore ills his counsels ignore his word ills liis right to rule his ability to counsel to teach and to regulate the affairs of men how little they trey acknowledge ills his I 1 land how unwilling willin they are arc to allow and him imao to have any voice in the affairs of state audit is equally sorrowful to contemplate how little are christian sects willing to acano acknowledge led ge him or allow him to interfere in their affairs or acknowledge him ili in any way f further ur than in a sort of what shall I 1 say a sort of mystical way true there re many who affect to believe that they must be born again and teach the doctrine of the new birth the spiritual birth but how little they seem to comprehend what is meant by that birth and the effects that follow it t yet there are some yea ya there arc are many in the christian wolla world that profess ro to believe what jesus said to me nicodemus in the third chapter of johns gospel that a man must be born of the water and of the spirit in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven and that that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that that which is born of the spirit is spirit yet when WP we come to read the tile new ned testament and learn of the fruits the influence and effects of that spirit upon those who possess it how wonderful h how ws strange estrange it appears to those christiam A the latter day saints strive to bring home to the mind of those modern modem christians that the holy spirit S irit when overshadowing the people p F c born of the water and of the spirit produces certain fruits certain effects that are the same today to day as anciently t y and will be the same among all pepo people p ife lie in all ages and times when people receive that ilat spirit but most of the christian sects of our time ignore those fruits of the spirit the spiritual gift and blessings that followed the outpouring of that spirit upon the saints of god in all former a ages aes es brother lyman has well said slid that it is this spirit shed abroad upon the latter day saints bearin bearing witness unto anto them of the truth which is isahc the witness of the holy ghost of the father raud aud and of tile the son that makes them steadfast and immovable they cannot returned be turned away so long as they en joy coyhis this his spirit they cannot be turned away from the light of tile the gospel go and the liberties the they te enjoy in christ jesus ds they cannot be converted to catholicism oll oli cism nor methodism nor any other isan sin but if they fall into sin if they violate their holy covenants if they grieve the holy spirit from them then thell they are arc left ill in great darkness As the savior said sald to ills uis disciples the light lit of the body is the eye if therefore fo e mile mlle eye be single thy whole body 0 shall be full 01 ol lle liu lie light but if thine eye ye be e evil thy whole body shall be full fuli ull uli of darkness if therefore that which islin thee be darkness how great is that darkness it may seem geem to some a wonder how it is that hn any man or set of men iuen after having once tasted of tile the good word of god of the heavenly gifts gift sand and the powers of the world to come aud and having been made to know and understand the things of god and been able to bear witness of them should af afterwards ter wards fall away lose their testimony and the light of the truth fall into darkness and apostatize it is 1 a maivel and a wonder un how this can be and to some portion of t the h e christian Chri world it has seemed impossible and they have affected to espouse the dogma and to make it a part of their religious creed that once on cc in grace always in grace and that it if the they Y are the elect of god they cannot f fall fail away this is a doctrine of men it is not of christ and it is not true the savior constantly exhorted ills his disciples to watch and pray lest they should fall into temptation and cautioned them that they who once put their hands to the plow and looked back or turned away were not fit for the kingdom of heaven but thattie that they y who endured unto the end the r ame same should have eternal life he warned var nd them thein pg against alast i falling into darkness andas I 1 quoted ile he assured them that the light that was iva s in them might wl become darkness and if it did how great should be that darkness brother lyman has well said also that when men apostatize from the truths of heaven and become infidel to the things of god it is ig because of sin and transgression it is because they have given way to evil it is because they have corrupted their ways defiled their tabernacles defiled their spirits violated their own consciences or given given themselves up to work sin an and wickedness all this they may roay have done in the dark or in secret and not upon the housetops but the time cometh when the secrets of ali ail all hearts shall be revealed and everise every e arct thing shall be made known upon the housetops then it shall be knowland known know nand and read of men the causes that operated to take away the light and the truth from the hearts of men and left them to go into outer and adut utter darkness none are proof against the attacks of the enemy against tile the powers of evil against t the he evil devices of the wicked one none are proof against or safe from the influence and power thereof without watch f ulness and prayer without so living that the spirit will will have pleasure to abide with them to be their monitor and protector that spirit will not dwell in unholy temples irwill it will not continue to dwell with those who violate their own conscience corrupt their ways defile their spirits and tabernacles and defile denile themselves with their fellow creatures for god will have a pure people ills his kingdom is holy ills liis dominions are pure and no impure thing can inherit the kingdom of god and without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers whoreson ers and murderers and idolaters idol aters and alyd whosoever loveth and mabeth a lie he brother lyman asked tile the question and answered it beautifully pertaining to the preservation of the latter day saints from the combined efforts of their enemies ene enc lules luies lie ile answered well the safety and protection of the lat ter day saints lie in their preparing I 1 for peace ili in other words it is to make peace with their god and with one another and to proclaim peace unto all mankind and so live and deport themselves that they will encourage extend and maintain peace to the utmost of their ability but and if the wicked continue to oppress to war against and annoy the people of god and to deprive them of and political privileges es and other rights that belong to them tiem as the children of god as human beings as citi zens of the commonwealth those unalienable li rights of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness if I 1 say the wicked combine to abridge these immunities muni ties privileges and rights and trample them under foot and aud au d to wage wac wa wae c war ar against a a dinst the saints for the purpose se 0 of de destroying them what may we do to vert avert a it t it t lias has been be en well answered do the will of the lord keep his llis commandments do good to one another forgive one another and ask to be forgiven of each other and of our god walk humbly before him day and night trust in him believe in him and go forward in the discharge of every duty fearing only god fear not them says the savior which kill the body but butare are not able abie to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell let our fear centre upon him let our trust and our faith centre upon him let us maintain our confidence in him that he rules in the heavens and among the armies of men and that ile he turns the hearts of the children of bf men as the rivers of water are turned and if at one time their hearts are arc softened as was pha rachs of old and then a again aln ain their hearts arc harde nedas was pharaohs Phara oils olus we may bear in mind that all these tild alid things s are |