Show ad I 1 S 0 0 UP S SS W BY PREST GEORGE Q cogon dogon in an the assembly 11 ruil hall all uli salt lake city sund sunday y afternoon jan 6 1884 t REPORTED BY johs JOHN joeln II E the testimonies of the servants of iod bod sod the illogical manner in which they are met the only true truc way to obtain a knowledge ot of the work of god the secret of the strength of the church of christ the work to be accomplished the struggle between satan and god the influence brought to bear against the people of god but the work of god cannot be stopped our safety Is ia in keeping the commandments of god conclusion itlie itile testimonies of the servants of god which we hear so frequently from ahls this stand ought to make an impression upon the minds of those who hear them they ought to have weight for the reason that those who bear bea arthem them declare in solemnity in the presence of god that they ther know andi that which they testify is true and when a man or any number of men arise in the presence of their fellow fely men and declare in words of truth and so bernes bennes that certain things are true that they know them to be true that they are willing to bear testimony of them before god goa and the people and to suffer all things for their truth even to death itself it should make an impression upon the human mind and inspire those who hear these testimonies with a disposition to at least investigate and withhold their condemnation because unless a man knows something to the contrary unless finies s he has had a testimony that these things are arc false lie he is not justified in condemning them there is only one way in which wh ich they can be fairly condemned and that is by proving their falsity by obtaining knowledge that is directly in contradiction to that which is borne orne testimony to in this consists the condemnation of the inhabitants of the earth at the present time as lt it has consisted of those in every age when god has had a work to do upon the earth certain men have gone gono forward in the midst of their f fellow ellow men and in solemnity and in truth have testified that god has spoken that god has given revelations thal thai that god is doing doln a certain work in the earth of which they are the witnesses they know this they say for themselves and bear testimony of it and land exhort their fellow men to seek for lor for knowledge in the same manner in which they have sought toi sol it with an as assur u erice ce that if they do so the they will obtain knowledge now notwithstanding it standing men have done aone this the world without pretending tend ngo to have any counter demonstration demons tion or testimony without being able to disprove bythe by the same sort of evidence I 1 condemn wholesale without discrimination or hesitation those testimonies and declare them to be false and assert that the men who bear them are either elther deceived themselves or are striving to deceive somebody else I 1 do not nob think this thi is fair it never was fair it is not a proper method of dealing with affairs of this character because if there is a god and one man says he has had communication with him and another who believes al also aiso 1 11 1 0 or professes to believe in god de denies 1 1 s that the firs thas had communication and yet does not pretend that god 1 told oid old him any such thing does not pretend to have had any communication f from rom god the contradiction of the one is not equal to the affirmation of theother the other it is the height of presumption for a man who professes roi rol esses to believe in god to rise up and at his own instance and of his own will vill because he chooses to take that view of god and of gods method of dealing with man and declare that the testimony of the man who says he has had revelation from god is f false alse why anyone at a gian glan glance cecan cocan can see that it isan is an improper way to deal with the subject if he does not have havi revelation himself from god he should at least be modest in conti contradicting addicting the testimony of others who declare that they have had revelation from him the whole religious belleve world in christe christendom nelom profess tobe to believe lieveld in god they declare that god lives and are arc continually preaching to the people a belief in him a belief in jesus I 1 saying that jesus is the son of god that he ife lived upon the earth in tile the flesh that ile he has gone to the father and that they are ills liis ministers shaving power to do certain things in his name and to teach his do doctrines ct rin es they say to the then theD people eople who do ten to them I 1 you will be vis visited cited with the most terrible judgments J if I 1 you do not believe what we sa say you will go to hell and you wilf will bum burn there throughout the countless ages of eternity if if you do not believe what we tell you au 1 now when men go to their fellow ta W men and make such statements as these and assume such prerogatives and powers as these and say that their fellow men will vill be condemned by wholesale to eternal hell for not listening to them they certainly ought to me have some method of communicating with the being they represent and ana whose ministers they profess to be and they ought to know more than other men more that common men at least about the being who they say sends them as his ministers but what are the facts here is brother woodruff who for the last half century has been testifying as he has this a afternoon rf in your hearing with all the energy of his soul for ne he has been a verv verr zealous man all 41 hl days data he ha has been testifying to all people to whom he could get access that god has spoken from the heavens and restored the plan of salvation in its ancient ju rity and the church as it was organized upon the earth in the days clays of of jesus with the plentitude of its gifts and powers and graces and that this condition of things now exists upon the earth and that he is a living witness of it that god has really revealed this to him so that he has become a witness through revelation from god of its truth ile he has declared this hundreds have made a similar declaration and hundreds are still testifying concerning these things to the inhabitants of the earth but christendom th through some of its principal representatives says we dont believe a word you say we dont believe god has spoken en to you we dont on t believe e eve god has given ven yen you vou any authority bedont we dont believe your doctrine to be from god we dont believe that the church that you have organized and that you declare is the charca churca church of christ is the church of christ and so confine confident t are arc we of this that we believe that it would be justifiable for you to be killed as a lot of impostors and dangerous men and you yon ought to be broken up if it should be necessary to do this and it cannot be done any other way we would be willing to have armies resort to vio violence lenee and have bloodshed rather than such a dreadful dreada ul heresy and such a wicked system should be perpetuated on the earth you turn to them to these men who profess profess to have the fate of their fellow mugs beings in their hands whose efforts as they trey state will send millions to heaven and millions to hell you ask these men who profess to have such awful power as this by what authority do you make these statements lias has god given you ou any testimony that the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is not the true church lias has god told you anything about it I 1 I 1 oh no they will say god has not spoken to us we do not believe lie ile talks to anybody anybody body we believe lie has stopped ani anT al all ali communication with manthai man that no living man has heard ills his voice or knows anything about ills his mind and will now this is their testimony you cannot get any of them at least I 1 have not and I 1 speak so far as my own personal knowledge goes to declare that god has revealed to them either by the spirit of prophecy or by the manifestations of the holy loly ghost that the doctrines taught by the mormon people are false or that the church of jesus christ ol of latter day saints is not af pf of god and yet jet notwithstanding th this 1 S they iney take tase course that I 1 now describe s here on one side Is knowledge at least it purports to be knowledge here are men who say they have actually received revelations from god that god has poured out the holy ghost upon men and women that jesus has actually visited the earth in person and been seen by living men and that angels have been seen and and conversed with by livan living men they state this in all solemnity and in all truth and as a test of the sincerity of their statements they say to their lellow fellow men it you will take a certain course that god has pointed out and that we are authorized to designate if you will take this certain course you shall know also of the truth of our testimony we do not make these statements expecting you to receive them simply because we make them but we say to you if you will take this course if you will accept the conditions that god has prescribed and comply with thealin in sincerity and humility you yo 11 shall receive these blessings and this testimony for yourselves and you then will be numbered as witnesses with us what can be fairer than this and this is the course that the servants of god have always taken with mankind and hence henge as I 1 have said the condemnation of the inhabitants of the earth because they will not receive that testimony they abuse the church of christ without having reason or foundation dation for doing so they abuse it without having any evidence that asat is at all tangible or that can be relied upon they have nothing more than their personal feelings personal prejudice leeana and their personal tradition that ivich they have inherited from their fathers upon which to base their thein tion now the church of jesus christ f latter day saints has been built up ii this manner its strength consists it this peculiarity that those who have embraced it as a rule there may be exceptions have taken the course that has been taught by the servants of god and the result lathat is that legions of witnesses it have been rai rat raised ed lip it is not confined con eon to one it is not confined to the original few but this testimony has extended itself until it has brought within its fold men and women of almost every race for it is not con confined fined tined happily to sex no more than it is to nationality but it is extended unto men of every race and unto women of every race and all these rise up as an army of witnesses unanimously bearing testimony meny of the same great truths declaring that it I 1 is s not from itis itts it Is not from tradition it is not from their teachers it is not from any human source that they have derived their knowledge but that god himself by Y his invisible power by ills his superhuman uman power by bv the outpouring of the holy ghost upon them has bone borne bo ne testimony to them so th that t they are thoroughly convinced and have llave a knowledge as strong as the knowledge that they themselves live that this is the work of god that lie he has established it and that ife he will vill roll it forth and to accomplish all that he ilg has as said laid it would it is in this peculiarity that the strength of the people consists if it was not for this we should be as weak as a rope of sand there would be no cohesiveness or strena streng strength th about us ua but with this there is A a power poser that makes hell tremble it makes the devil niad mad if makes every man that is afraid of the truth angry in his spirit because of that which he sees lf if men were not afraid of truth there would be no f fear ear car connected with this work what is there about it to create fear what is there in its manifestations fe in its fruits and in its operations erat ions upon the minas of the children of men to cause any man who loves truth to have any dread concerning it nothing whatever it is beneficent in its operations it elevates men and women it makes them better purer more godlike god like more orderly it bestows bestons blessings this system does upon all who espouse it and all who the range of its influence and this has been its characteristic ever since its organization until today you know it each of you who have espoused it you know its effects upon you you know it has made you better men you know it has made you yau men of purer lives of loftier desires of more godlike aspirations you all know this every man every woman and every child connected with this work is a witness of the truth of this if it has this effect upon you will it not lot have the tile same game enn eff effect act upon every human being who comes within the range of its influence and who bows in submission to its requirements certainly it will there is no numan human dem however low that it will not elevate it he ile will obey it it is the power and lever so to speak by which humanity will be elevated to the presence of god our eternal father for the very reason that the exaltation which god has attained to has been through obedience to these self same laws that are now taught to us that which obey etli etil law is preserved and sanc tilled by law the people who obe obey law 1 aw will be exalted by law they will b be e preserved by it they will be sanctified bait by it and that is the effect of the teach teaching ing of the gospel upon the latter day dav saints while brother woodruff wati wad talking I 1 thought what an immense labor it is to endeavor to accomplish that which the prophets have told us ns will be brought to pass in the last days I 1 look at this people so comparatively few in numbers and at the immense work that is to be accomplished and it seems an hercul herculean eai ear an impossible labor to the natural vision it seems as if no human could accomplish i it but god has concerning this work ills his word has gone fort forth and it cannot fail this work will be accomplished audit and it will be accod bushed by the operation of truth As rother brother woodruff has said there is a power connected with truth that when brought to bear upon human beings has the effect that he has described and has the effect that the prophets have predicted concerning the last days there will be a power exercised in our behalf increasing as we are prepared to receive it for this people with all their weaknesses and they are many are nevertheless drawing nearer and nearer to god every day and faith is increasing in their midst A generation of boys and girls are growing up who will vill have greater faith than their predecessors their parents have had and the work will continue to grow and spread and there is this to be taken into consideration god having predicted the ushering in of the last dispensation k owing knowing the odds that would have to be contended with in establishing it god knowing this has reserved in the heavens to come forth at this time the noblest of ills his spirits the men and women most capable of carrying out this work and achieving the grand results the tile prophets eave wave have predicted should bo be accomplished in the day and generation preparatory to the coining of the son of man hian god knowing this in ills his wisdom and foreknowledge has prepared the way beforehand and there will vill be men and women brought forth who will carry off this work in the way ile he designs step by step the adversary of god that is the adversary sar Y of all truth will vill have to recede the th c struggle Is between satan and god the struggle is for the supremacy of this earlw earth and you may depend upon it it will not be elven eiven up without a mighty wrestle the adversary has wielded this power now for nearly years 1400 years and upwards on this |