| Show ad D tso ISO I 1 S 0 O 0 TJ wms ISS IS mes S E S nr BY APOSTLE GT ieso R flite TEASDALE DELIVERED in the assembly hali hail salt lake city sunday afternoon jan 13 23 1884 REPORTED BY johs JOUN IRV IRVINE ME the fhe testimony of joseph smith has never been proven false the primitive organization of the church of christ the work of chri christ was not completed when lie exclaimed it is finished why should so BO much fault be found with the latter iatter day saints the worlds objection to mormonism Ill lii history story of the apostles the authority to preach the gospel restored temples baptism for the dead book of mormon restoration of the priesthood the cause of persecution no surrender Bur sur render plural marriage conclusion I 1 can bear my testimony to the truth of this work that the world please to call mormonism the fhe mormon problem is very easily defined if we consider the pretensions of the people called 11 mormons cormons Mor mons 11 from the time that joseph smith first declared deci arec aree that he had had a vision of the father and the son from that time to the present I 1 know that the world have never been able to prove that his testimony was false I 1 know that they have never been able to prove that moroni did not give to him the plates of gold or that the translation called callec the book of mormon is false I 1 know that they have never been able to prove ro e that john the baptist did not visit joseph ajoseph smith and oliver cowdery and confer upon them the holy priesthood even the aaronie PI priesthood neither have I 1 ever heard that it has been proved that the Melchi meichi sedek priesthood and apostleship were not restored by peter james and john there has been a great deal said about mormonism quite a number of books written upon the subject a great deal of derision has been made of it but the tiie testimony of the latter day saints has never been proven to be false we have declared to the world that god has spoken from the heavens that angels have appeared to the children ol of men and that the keys of the priesthood hoogand and intelligence have been restored to the earth and we know it we have invited the people to search the scriptures to see if these things were ivere not predicted to find out if it had not been declared therein that it should come to pass in the last days that the god of heaven should establish ills his kingdom upon the earth there had to be a commencement we read in the nible bible that god set in the church firstly apostles then prophets then evangelists and teachers for the work ot the ministry and for the edifying of the body of christ paul declared that the saints were the body of christ members in particular and he bore the same testimony to the corinthians that he boreto boce bore to they theE the ephesians concerning the fact that god had set in the churell firstly apostles then prophets etc might I 1 ask where the revelation is that at any time set in the church firstly popes then cardinals archbishops Arch bishops and right reverend reve Keve rend fathers in god might I 1 ask where the revelation la Is authorizing the establishment of the episcopal church might I 1 ask where the revelation is authorizing thol thon izing the alteration of the order of government which god had set in the church we are calmly told that these things are done away with who says so men whose business it is to try and prevent people from thinking for themselves and to do the thinking fortham for them but as a responsible being I 1 lam iam am bound to do my own thinking and when it comes to a question of my eternal welfare I 1 take the liberty to think for myself I 1 am told that holy men of old wrote and spoke as they were moved upon by the holy ghost and that the scriptures were not to be understood by private interpretation pre tation I 1 believe as a child of god that I 1 have a right to receive intelligence for it was predicted ages ago that god would give to those who loved him line upon line precept upon precept here a little and there a little until they were perfected the object of the apostleship was the edification fi oi of the saints now I 1 can understand der stand the value of this apostleship those who hold it are to be taught by the revelations of god and have authority to call upon men everywhere ere to repent to believe in the living and true god to cease from their heresies her esies to cease from their heir 1 wie wic wickedness kenness and abominations to lemd perfect and pure lives and to give them the privilege of being bein baptized by b y immersion for the remission miss on ot sins and to have hands laid upon on them that they may receive the V boly holy oly ghost this we are given to understand der stand by the historians was the manner in which the kingdom of god was established in the days of the savior and if it h had bad ad remained upon the caran earth there would have been a continuation of the apostleship when jesus said I 1 1 1 it is finished he did not give us to understand that the whole work was finished so far as we were concerned as individuals because the last instructions that he gave to his Apost apostles iest lesk as recorded by the historian mark and which were given after his crucifixion and resurrection resu were go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature ho he that belleret belle beile bel bei levet gorl and is baptized shall bo be swed saved but he that bell beil eveth not be damned and taoso signs shau shan ou W thera them that tha allva I 1 in lit my name they shall cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall t they h ey shall lay hands bands on the sick siek and t they h ey shall recover and ive wa are arc told t that h at the apostles went and preached t this h is doctrine called everywhere to repent of their sins called upon them to repent of their false modes and manner of ii worship I 1 they rhey prea chei chel I 1 exclusive salv salvati atio atlo tm n they had the only wa way tobe to be saved this was what rendered ren rendered derey t them hem so unpopular this is what renders us scy iio unpopular to today day but if we vve preach the same doctrine doctrin dlf dif if we have similar power if god nas lias spoken from the heavens and has declared to ills his children the necessity of their repentance and has chosen men to hold tile the priesthood and to go forth to bothena the na eions of the earth if this is the case where will the wicked and the ungodly be I 1 think myself it should be a matter of interest to all classes of people especially rulers to make themselves acquainted with the doctrines of the latter day saints with the principles that they teach so that they may act in wisdom they have tor tot gli xii gibean 6 hn account of the deeds done in the body they will have to stand before the bar bayr of god their record will ivill be there and I 1 say it is to the individual interest of every man whether he be a kims kins or a beggar to make his record of such a character that he will dare to meet it because as sure as we live today to day we shall have to face the record upon earth now why should so much fault be found ith with alth the latter day saints right eight here I 1 would ask why should so much fault have been found with the lord jesus chrls chris christ chrisg why should so much fault have been found with the apostles and their followers why did they not when they found jound etwas dis tasteful to the majority of the people give up their belief and become one with them as we are kindly invited to do 10 why did they not in the midst of leir belr persecutions when they were ivere u ding tomato pieces by wild beasts etc alse kise up and say will it not be better beter t er seeing our religion is so distasteful f ua to mankind to stop our mode of worship and ivor worship ship with the majority why they never dreamed of such a thing I 1 have never llever heard of a t faithful man that ever lived who dreamed of such a thing as giving up that which he believed t to 0 D betrue true for I 1 or the sake of the approbation evanof even of millions joseph smith the prophet seer and revelator Reve fator stood alone lna una and ina declared that god had spoken eilf eiff froni rom the heavens and when people believed his testimony when they ther accepted the doctrines he taught god bore witness to them that he was a true prophet they discovered that the doctrine which he taught was ivas that which was vas taught anciently they discovered by the revelations of the lord jesus chhist ghrist that in the last days the lang lung kingdom of god was to be established upon u the earth and in their simplicity they believed that it had to be commenced with a few and that it had to commence wherever the gre great eternal de ter mined that it should commence ile he revealed himself that ile he might have a testator on the earth who knew that ile he lived who knew that jesus was the christ he ilc revealed himself to the boy joseph smith who had sought him and then in order that the world might he be left without excuse when ile he sent the tile angel moroni to reveal the history of the tile V house ouse of jacob on this continent ile he did not leave the fact of ills his visit dependent upon the tes simony of one man others were privileged to receive the visits of heavenly messengers that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word should be established when did the three witnesses oliver cowdery david whitmer and martin harris ever declare otherwise than that they saw an angel and that they heard the voice of god declare that the book called the book of mormon had been translated b by the power of god they were never t known though they left the church to have flinched from that testimony and their testimony is as good as the testimony of any bo body I 1 else it never has been im impeached bache ly and then again oliver cowdery and joseph smith both declared that john the baptist came and laid his hands upon their heads and ordained them to the aaronie priesthood who had any idea that there was any necessity for tor john the baptist to come where were there any records to that effect and yet we are told emphatically that john the baptist was the forerunner of christ but the world contend that he filled his mission as ane forerunner of christ in ills his first coming I 1 will tako take the privilege of questioning that if you please and will will tell you why I 1 do so by referring to the chapter of isaiah we vye there find these words comfort ye comfort ye e my people saith K your youn god speak ye comfortably to jerusalem and cry unto her that lier her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned for she hath received of the lords haud band double for all xer her ler bersins ier sins 1 I 1 it then goes on to say the voice of him that creeth in tile the wilderness prepare ye the way ivay of the lord make straight in the desert a highway for our god every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low 1 now nov when john the baptist came did ho he speak comforting words to jerusalem when the priests and pharisees Pharis phanis ees those professedly holy men came to blui to be baptized in jordan what ul lichay to them 0 generation of vipers who hath warned you to iq tice ogee f from rom row tho th ara rath h to come comme bring brino forth moot moet mot for tor nog act etoi H lit ws wis the f forerunner linner tinner of christ he declared so himself the lord jesus Jesua bora boro testimony of him lie said this thit lg ahe he of whom it is written send my messenger before thy face which shall shail prepare tho yay before bc fore forc tace elj ell now it is true that J john the 10 baptist came as the forerunner of desus jesus it is true that he tilled his mission so far but we vve know v very ery well that the people peo generally did liot not receive lilt him u and andul I 1 tit fit tin it they be headed him we ve know that they did not receive jesus jestis they cru crucified him lu instead stead of speaking comforting words to jerusalem ile he ex claimed 0 10 O jerusalem Jeru jerusalem jerushie saie shie in thou that gillest the tile prophets and soonest them which are sent unto t thee cc how bow often would I 1 have g gathered achere t thy y children together even evell as a hen gath at creth her chickens under her iler i wings and andye ye would not I 1 behold your tour hoase boase is left unto you desolate desola tf 11 were these comforting words to jerusalem I 1 think not it is very evident that john the baptist sas was vas not only th the forerunner of ills his first coining but also of ills liis second advent the scriptures are plain on this matter but let us follow the history of the apostles and what martyrdom for every one of I 1 them I 1 john the Reve revelator lator latof alone excepted what do we find concerning the tiie saints cruel persecution alid tind death until in consequence of the awful crime of the shedding of innocent blood god in ills his d displeasure dlf dif the priesthood from the earth and left it as it was before the tile coming of the median without divine authority was this state of things predicted I 1 most assuredly it was predicted by the prophets 0 of old it was foretold by sua vua ul who declared tiu tim after ills his departure grevious wolves would enter I 1 in among the flocks and destroy them he ile also bese beseeches ahe tessa tassa louland not to be soon shaken pr tron i bled in regard to the day of christ be at hand lle lie told them not to be deceived deceived by any means fon for th that pt day shall not come except thero there tlde come a falling away first has I 1 een a falling aitay aw ay why th the prediction is verified led by every sect in an christendom when they calmly tell us that the spiritual gifts of the gospel have been done a away way with and t that at they arelo are pio fio ion lon longer er needed I 1 argue that it ja as just juat as necessary tod today to d day 1 if god is an unchangeable goo god af if 1 he ac is the same yesterday today to day and forever that we should enjoy the spiritual gifts I 1 of the G gospel e I 1 as 8 I 1 in i 1 1 former formen ormer days dayl above all the osre oste fellowship 1 i lp of the holy ghost the spirit of truth by which I 1 may comprehend tile the relationship that cj 7 ests between meas nicas an individual here upon the earth parth and my eather rather who 0 1 ts in heaven by calef carefully ully reading the revelations of st john you wm will find the apostasy apo stacy foretold 4 you will find tile the church ep resented is as a noman woman surrounded by twelve stars you lil will ili also find the history of the bring bringing in forth of the priesthood I 1 and of the woman going into the wild wilderness erness for a season you will also aiso find the history of the establishment of the church of satan which is likewise represented by a woman oman sitting upon a scarlet colored or d beast east she was proclaimed the mother Mothe of harlots a church that tha tivis was to hold dominion over all the nations of the earth john also saw the restoration to of the everlasting gospel us as proclaimed in revelations chapter and eth verse and I 1 13 paw gaw w another angel fly in the midst of heaven having baying the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on tile the earth and to every nation and kindred and ton tongue ue and people ople opie saying with a loud voice dear pear fear eod god and give him for the hour of ills his j judgment is come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water now if the gospel was upon the earth there certainly would be no necessity of an angel anel bringing the gospel there would le DC no necessity for the restoration of any thin thing that had not been lost butice but seeing that this order of government had been |
