| Show TO tiie THE WORLD THE NATION AND THE SAINTS AN AX appropriate expression erom FROM APOSTLE WILFORD WOODRUFF WOODi ruff tUFF A THE LESSONS OF STORY HISTORY ni SALT LAKE CITY may ath 1885 editor deseret news jesus asked the jews the he t question 41 while ye observe the face of the sky can ye not discern the signs of the times what nation kingdom power or people on the face of the whole earth has power to stay the hand band of 4 almighty god in the fulfillment fulfilment f of his purposes in the destiny of any work which he has set his bis hand to perform it is something that has never been accomplished c complis 0 m dished hed heretofore it is something t h 1 g that cannot be performed hereafter to the reflecting mind it seems strange that the inhabitants of the earth in our day do not learn wisdom from f rom the history of the dealings of god with men cities nations and peoples for the last years witness the final overthrow and destruction of thebes memphis nineveh tyne tyre and sidon babylon the great and jeru salem itself the holy city those cities and nations all fell and were destroyed b by the chastening cha hand of almi aimi almighty aty bod god when they were ripened in in iniquity they fell in fulfilment fulfillment of the declaration aulty ecla ration of the word of god through the mouths months of inspired mentho spoke as they were moved upon by the inspiration of eternal truth who am I 1 1 the lord that I 1 command and am not obeyed who am I 1 saith the lord that I 1 promise and do not fulfill though heaven and earth pass away not one jot or tittle of my words shall shill fall unfulfilled yet the inhabitants of ot the earth in our day seem deter mined to pay no attention to former examples but out fight against god and rush on to their overthrow and utter destruction john the baptist and jesus christ came in the meridian of time and the son of god organized the church in the midst of the jews with apostles and prophets pastors pastor ra stor teachers and evangelists for the perfecting of the saints and the work of the ministry as god the father had ordained but the jews had departed from the lord and they put to death their messiah and IT T the apostles consequently the gos pel pei P e 1 was taken from f rom them and given to the gentiles and the jews had to pay the debt for putting to death the lords lord Ps anointed and fighting against against god the judgments of god had bad ha been proclaimed against them by moses their lawgiver law giver by christ their thein silo Shilo and by the tile apostles and prophets and every word which they proclaimed against the jews as a nation has been filled to the tile very letter so far as time has permitted their temple and city were thrown down and destroyed the inhabitants fell feil by the sword famine fam ine and pestilence and aud and aud a remnant was taken captive scattered among all nations and rind trampled under the f feet beet of the gentiles the jews have been a hiss and a byword among all nations until the present day jesus of nazareth whom they put to death will come again and reign over all the earth until he puts all enemies under his feet the apostles whom the jews and others slew will sit upon twelve thrones and judge the house of israel they were raised up in their day and generation to perform the work unto which they were or bained OUR OWN TIMES let us look at atou our own rown day we belive live in itt the last dispensation the dispensation of the fullness of times the christian world profess to belleve believe in the bible translated by king Kl kleames james which is the record or stick of 0 jud judah ah Is there nothing written in that record to be performed in the last days da has the god of israel finished his Is work he has not there is no generation of men who have ever lived on earth who have been called to pass through 1 more important events than await this th s generation in which we live that bible declares that the god of heaven will set up his kingdom upon the earth in the latter days to be thrown down no more forever that bible declares that god will budd up zion upon the mountains of israel and gather his people ople opie into it irom from every nation under heaven eaven that bible declares that righteousness will look down from heaven and truth shall spring forth out of the earth and that god will bring forth the stick of joseph in the hand of ephraim Ephr alm aim and it shall be put with the stick of judah aa as an instrument in bi the hands of the lord for the gathering together of the twelve tribes of israel in the latter days and the jews shall be gathered home and rebuild their thein city and temple that bible declares that in inthe the last days afian an angel of god shall fly through the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation kindred tongue and people ae crying with witha a loud voice fear xe god 0 botand and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come that A same bible declares that in the I 1 last ast days the lord will cause the seals to be opened and the plagues to be poured out and will bring fire sword famine and pestilence upon the inhabitants of the earth that the several rivers shall be turned to blood and to ali gall gali all that zion shall arise and be clothed with the glory of god that babylon shall fall to rise no more forever that sav lors tors shall stand upon mount zion that the kingdom shall be the lords and that the lost tribes of israel shall return from the tile north country A great number of other prophecies have been proclaimed which aro arc recorded in the bible in which the christian world profess to believe those prophecies must be f fulfilled ulm ulf filed TESTIMONY Y TO ALL TILE THE WORLD WOULD now we testify and bear record to all the world that the god of israel has set his hand to accomplish the fulfill fulfil ment of these great and important events the lord has raised up a prophet in the last days the angels of god have been sent unto him and have delivered into his hands the record or stick of joseph in the hand of ephraim Ephr alm aim according to the chapter of ezekiel it has been translated into our laug lang language gage through the arim and Thum mim by gy the gift and power of god and has been publish published publisher eq in many languages and scattered abroad through the ibe nations of the earth the lord ordained ills prophet joseph smith to the priesthood under the hands bands of john the baptist the lord also ordained him unto the Melchi meichi sedek priesthood and apostleship with all the tile keys thereof under the hands of the apostles peter james and john elijah sealed scaled upon his head the keys of sealing or turning the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children moses sealed upon the head of this prophet of god the keys and powers of the gathering of the house of israelson Isra elsin the last days in fine the lord has sealed upon the head bead of joseph smith the prophet every eveny key and power necessary to to build up his Is church church his zion and llis his kingdom upon the earth in these last days these are hard sayings who can hear them nevertheless av they are true as the work has manifested itself and will manifest itself unta theand of the world the prophet joseppi smith by the commandment of lod od did organ organise org anile anise ilbe the church of jesus christ of latter day saints on the oth day of april apall ap rii ill 1830 with six members and anid elders were ordained and commanded to 1 go 0 forth and preach the gospel 0 of f christ to the inhabitants of the earh earth As the church grew and in increased creasea creased it was more f fully ully organized in isz ibn with twelve apostles and two quorums of seventies with all the quorums of the two Priest hoods organized and set in order thus the work of the lord grew grow and multiplied and hundreds of ot o f elders have been preaching the gospel of christ for half a century to all nations under heaven so far as doors could be opened and tens of thousands of believers have been gathered home to zion in f fulfillment fulfilment of the prophets as recorded in the bible THE RECORD BROUGHT fortu PORTH THROUGH JOSEPH josepn SMITH ETC joseph smith received the record the stick of joseph from the angel of god which record record contains the history of the ancient inhabitants of america the administration of the savior upon tais this continent and the establishment of ills his church hereon after his resurrection it contains the history of lehl lehi and his family their travels from jerusalem their crossing g the ocean and arrival upon this continent with their subsequent growth progress prosperity and adversity also their woes boes tribulation and final overthrow when they were ripened in iniquity in in f fui ful ul ailment of the word of go god to the brother of jared concerning every nation that should inherit the american continent which is tile tiie land of zion all aust must keep the commandments of god or they would be cut off when they were ripened in iniquity the record shows that two great peoples les ies have already been cut off in f ful fui ua ariment ailment of the word of god and the end is not yet from the day that joseph smith received tiie the record from the tile hand of th the e angel of god it has seemed as khouth though all earth and hell we were moved removed T the e millions of fallen angels cast out of heaven with lucifer the son of the morning became alarmed what was t the he matter if all the religions of the christian jewish aedan sedan and pagan pa an world were of god and the mii mif millions millions lions of people who inherit the earth were all ri right ht and the little ignorant b boy bov calvil caned oid old joe smith was the only ot y one deceived why need all earth and hell be stirred up why need the priests aud and the editors wherever the sound came run to and ana fro ro and cry aloud down with the false alse prophet kill old joe smith 1 here ire I 1 lies ites es fao mlle important question if the priests editors and people did not believe thattie that the god ot of heaven had inspired joseph smith to lay the foundation of the church and kingdom of god on the earth f for or the last dispensation and falness of times and prepare the way for the coming of the son of man the devils did know it and they understood perfectly well that if it the foundation of the work joseph smith wasl laying z was not broken up and destroyed the kingdom of god that daniel saw would lc be set up in the last days would nill fill te tae whole earth and break in pieces leces feces all other kingdoms and stand forever forever they also knew it would end in that bame hame jesus of nazareth whom they had inspired tile the jews to crucify coming forth in the clouds of hea heaven en holding in his hands the keys of death and hell I 1 and that he would bind them in chains and cast them into the bottomless pit uit it aud and shut them up that they gouyd would have no more power to deceive the nations for a thousand years Is it any wonder then that the priests and editors and the christian world generally are stirred up by the evil one to make war upon the saints and seek to stop stol their testimony and destroy them from off the earth but it cannot be done the lord has ordained otherwise but tiie the same spirit that was manifest against jesus christ and the apostles in ancient days has been manifested against the latter day saints from the organization of the church until the present hour the lord has set his bis hand to prune his vineyard once more and for the last list time and no power will sta stay stay stav v ills his band the gospel of christ will be preached to all nations and then the end will come THE SPIRIT OE OR persecution the s spirit to r it of persecution increased against joseph s eph smith and the saints as bastas sast fast as the tile work extended and they were aven from town to town and from state to state until ten thousand of the saints were driven from missouri into illinois under the edict of governor boggs was that for polygamy no that doctrine was not then revealed to the world or the body of the church the worst persecutions we have ever endured were before polygamy was known to the world joseph oseph smith continued to labor as the inspired prophet of the living god for fourteen years ear after he organized the church ol 01 of jesus christ of latter day saints until the day of june I 1 1814 1844 when he was martyr edwith his B brother other hyrum in carthage jail illinois for the word of god and the testimony of jesus christ and as the founder of the church churchard Chur chand and kingdom of god on the earth for the last d dispensation and f ful fui ua ness of times president john taylor at the same time was shot with five balls and mingled his blood with that of the martyred marty red prophets but his life was preserved for a wise purpose in god for his hour had not then come joseph smith sealed with his own blood the truth of the book of mormon and the doctrine and covenants and the establishment of the church and kingdom of god on the earth before his death he sealed scaled upon the he head ad of the tel tei twelve ve apostles all the priesthood keys and powers which had been sealed upon him by the power of god revelations AND prophecies OF JOSEPH SMITH the doctrine and covenants is a record of pages and contains the doctrine and principles of the gospel and the revelations of jesus christ through the mouth of ills his servant joseph smith the prophet this record contains some of the most sublime sub lime ilme revelations which god ever gave to man it unveiled the final destiny of the whole world both for time and eternity jew and gentile zion and babylon the kingdom of god and the kingdom of the devil it also contains a te revelation given in 1832 of the late rebellion and civil war almost thirty years before it took place it pointed out the very place where it would commence that portion ot of the revelation relating to the united states has been partly fulfilled sufficient to satisfy all parties and that relating to great britain and other nations soon will be probably joseph smith did not know that this war would be brought to pass in consequence of the shedding of his own blood and that of ot his brother hyrum and others but I 1 am satisfied that the records will show in the day of judgment that that war was in consequence of the shedding of the blood ot of the prophets As we have the example that the shedding of the blood of christ and the apostles cost the jews the destruction of their city and temple and their dispersion among the Gentiles for eighteen hundred ye years ars so 60 IL the shedding of the blood of th the prophets in our day it cost the american government a four years war and laid in the dust a million of men of the bone and sinew of the nation it cost the northern states above according to the report of the secretary of the trell treasury sury Gaskell Ga ts encyclopedia this is without saying what it cost the southern states and the end is not yet THE WORK STILL ONWARD notwithstanding mat hat the prophet of god and the patriarch was dead the work did not stop forit for it was of god and not of man neither did the per cease the saints sains were led voting by the twelve apostles with brigham young as their president they the were driven out of the united sta State esi sand an C fled to the rocky al mountains 0 ains th the land I 1 na d then owned by mexico exico Al the pioneers of that persecuted people arrived in a the valleys of the rocky mountains on on the of july 1847 led by president Brig brigham liam llam young the successor of the prophet joseph josep smith and there planted the american flag in this barren desert of the tile rocky mountains they commenced to cultivate the earth sow and plant seeds dig canals to ca carry r the water of |
