Show DISCOURSE DELIVERED RED BY hider dro Q in the tabernacle salt lake cit city y on sunray sunday morning august 3 1879 REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE I 1 WILL read a portion of the chapter of st matthew commencing at the verbe verse and wherefore behold I 1 send unto you prop prophets liets and wise men and scribes arid isome of them j ye 0 shalli kill and crucify and some bome of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city that upon you may co the righteous bloodshed upon the earth dearth 1 from the blood bloo dof of righteous abe abel 1 unto the blood of 0 zacharias son of barachias Bara Barac hias chias whom tye 0 o slew plow bei bet the tempie temple and me altar there la Is another portion of scripture which I 1 will re read ad it will be found in ln the sixth chapter of the B of st john johp and when chehad he had opened the fifth firth beli seal I 1 baw under tho the altar the ghe souls bouls of them that were blain slain for the word of god and for the testimony mony which they heid held and they cried wi with th a loud voice saying how long 0 lord holy and true doat doab thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth very unexpectedly I 1 have been called upon to make a few remarks to you this morning naturally Na turay re I 1 would prefer to bit sit still and to reflect upun upon the sad event that hab has called ua us together it is plain from the reading of these passages of scripture that you have beard heard that innocent blood the blood of t the he servants of god of 0 the prophets of the wise men of the scribes all those who have the testimony of jesus jesua who are the bearers of the word of god when r hen ben shed wickedly remains as a heavy debt to be atoned for at some period bythe by the inhabitants of the earth aleo ajeo that in the day days of john the Bev revelator elator one of t the he apostles apostle 3 of the lord in the visions which he saw it was wasi made manifest that there were wore yet more lives to be offered up for the causa of truth before the blood that had been shed could be avenged upon these that dwelt upon the earth it doubtless seemed strange to the inhabitants of jer jerusalem 12 when jesus said unto them that all the righteous blood that had been shed in from the blood of righteous abel to zacharias Zachar faa laa bon eon of barachias Bara Barac hias chias should be required et of that generation there were reasons for this which he well wall understood thore there are reasons existing now and that will swill continue to exist and operate why the blood of those who hare have been slain elain for the word of god goil and the testimony of jelus jeans in ancient days should be avenged upon some bome generation in the future from the time that john and wrote the revelation that he had received jesus sald eaid when he was upon the earth and this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men nieu jove darkness dark darb ness nesi rather than light they were held to a strict accountability after light was revealed the generation in lix which he jived were held to a stricter accountability than any preceding generation because he himself tho the son of god was in to their midst performing mighty work preach preaching I 1 ug the gospel of the kingdom kingdo m in its purity and in its power and aud communicating unto them the mind and will of heaven every generation gone ration who have the privilege ie 0 of hearing the pure gospel of jesus preached in its falness are held to a similar accountability their position is different to that of tile the who u do hot havo dive that privilege the generations that intervened between the time that jived and tho coming of the fion son of man in tho flesh were hoh boh not held to the same strict accountability count ability as ascho of the why was thia be caus ethey did did not lavo the truth in its revealed ad unto them they did not hot have the prophet prophets sand and apostles les ies and righteous men in jn the their ir midst to eato unto ihorn them the will of heaven heavun as the generation tio n in which the me savior lived had and for the sams sama reason the generations that have lived alace the detthof death of the cavior and aud since the visions tbt john tho lator had bad are not held to the same accountability count ability as this thia generation unto whom the falness of the everlasting gospel has been revealed when god communicates hla hia mind and will unto his children by the medium of angels by the medium of prophets by the med medium kunf of holy men whom ho he has raised up those who hear that thai testimony those unto whom that message is communicated are held to a strict accountability to obey the same oame or be held in great condemnation for their rejection of it if you will read the history of gods ways of dealing with the children 0 of o men throughout all ages you will nind find that it is invariably the case that judgments and calamities the fiery indignation of the almighty always follow the rejection of nia hia truth when that truth is proclaimed by his authorized servants ser buchas sach such as are apostles and prophets if it nineveh had had bad not heard the voice of 0 jonah the nin devites could not have been held to the same accountability as those to whom the word of the lord had been proclaimed and when prophets arose in the midst of israel prophets whom god raised up to declare his word when the tho children of israel repented of their sins and obeyed athe the warning voice of the ser sar servants vanis of god then the blessings of god always followed their obedience but on the other hand when the children of israel rejected the testimony teb tea of the servants of bf god when the prophets preached la in vain when they testified and warned the people without the peo pie obeying the testimonies or their warnings then invariably the judgments of god follow followed eJ his ane anger and indignation were kindled against that people or generation it created down upon them and in many instances to their destruction this is ou on position today to day in this the latter day saints occupy a unique position in the midst of the inhabitants of the earth men wonder very frequently at the testimonies that we bear they express that a people so few in number a as we dr 43 8 hould imagine that there is so m much u e h importance attending the testimonies that we bear bi brine rhe the gospel that we preach betit but nut it is 14 a i remarkable fact abundantly sustained in the history ol 01 gods deall deail dealings riga with the children ahm he does not mot bold hold mankind mankina guiltless because there are aie 6 only a few who aro are the oracles of tru thin their midst and who have the authority to td por claim that thab truth if there wab was but one prophet on the face of the earth and no tie had hod no followers but stood alone in the tho midst odthe of the nations of the earth his bis warnings would be fil oil followed by terrible results if they were disregarded by those who heard them the lord does doe abot ahot hoti boti look upon men according to their numbers the importance of his work and sod his dealings alinga de with the children of bf men is not to be men mon measured by the number of those who adhere to the principles that he proc proclaims lalmer when joseph smith stood alone when be he had only two or three followers and he declared unto those by whom ho was as surrounded that god had spoken to him from the heavens that udd god had revealed th the e everlasting gospel in its ancient purity and pow power er that god had bad sent bi his hia holy angels to him anu ana that those angels hau haa laid their hands upon his head and upon the head itoliver of ot oliver cowdery and ordained them to the everlasting priesthood his testimony was as binding upon those who henru heard it ai agi if millions minions of men had testified to the his testimony y was binding from the moment that he commenced to bear it to those by b whom he was waa wis surrounded aud and the accountability of tho the people who list listened ened eDed to him and hoard hll hia voice anti and heard hib his testimony began from the moment that hew he opened his lila mouth and bore testimony of theto thing 1 and so it has from that ilay unto tinto this wherever rever reler the tho E eidels ideis df of this church haid hav faone gone add have i borno testimony ta t the In inhabitants habItan ts of the earth respecting spec ting the work that god hak hal ha commenced from that very mo po moi mol i ment went the condemnation of tue the ibe generation commenced if they did not obey these testimonies and warnings this beema seems to some minds minda scarcely what it ought to be that is it seems te to many that we wp attach too much importance to what one or two men might say aay when we assert that condemnation folio followay aji th their eli testimony but bat there is this to td be bd considered connected with the testimony of gads gods servants in ancient din ria ada as in la iha tha days in which we riv liv god has liot riot lert left the inhabitants of the earth without m witness god has not left them without some testimony which they can obtain to tt assur assure a them that the words of gods goda servants ants auts that la Is the true servants of god which they hear henr are from him when he hei called joseph smith and oliver cowdery and when he fent sent his angels to lay jay their bands hands upon their heads to ordain them to mat priesthood which had brien baen withdrawn from the earth ho he also sent his holy spirit to accompany their words aud and to seal the teti testimony mony mouy with power upon the hearts of all that were honest bonest and who prayerfully sought form forn for u knowledge from god concerning the truth of their words when joseph smith and oliver cowdery laid their bands hande upon other heads neada ander and ur bained anem to the same bame priesthood which they had received from heaven god confirmed the ordination by bestowing the hol ghost upon them and when they the y went forth and proclaimed the truth the holy ghost accompanied their word and thosa those who were desirous of knowing from god respecting the truth of ot their teis EvIs testimony had the opportunity of receiving j n knowledge direct from heaven that it was of god bud and on this very account condemnation condemn atton atlon commences because light hath come into the worl dand when men ri reject eject it they reject it because they lo 10 love iove edar darkness kuess kness rather than light god does not nol hold people accountable for that which they do not know or that which they have not had an opportunity of knowing where there Is colaw no jaw there bisno is no tran transgression egression transgression commences commenced when the lawis law is received and men reject it what is the duty of the in jn habitants of the earth when they beara benr bear a man stand up and proclaim in the power and sod authority of the priesthood hood and in all solemnity that god has spoken from the hea vent hat bat G od has revealed the everlasting gospel that god has hai his church in its ancient power and in its ancient purity that chat god has endowed man to go forth fort forehand hAnd and administer in the ordinances ot life and salvation as in n ancient days what is the duty of he the inhabitants of the earth under such circumstance situated as the tho world is today to day days there is no voice from god you travel the tho whole of christendom and there is an unbroken silence reigning between heaven and earth no voice to disturb d Is the solemnity of eternity gu go visit all the different churches and all the if the vailous denominations and talk to them who profess to be the followers tol toi lowerd of jesus forist ask them do you know anything about god has god communicated his bis mind aud und will to you and the tuni universal versal answer from all sects is no revelation has ceased god no longer speaks speake to man mau we depend upon his written word lu the bible tor for our knowledge of god we are divided into we are split u up into parties we have all our own way of worship ping god but there is no voice rom god werd has been no nd revelation from to disturb di sturla the silence ot of ages since the death of the tho apostles and our knowledge concerning the plans and purposes sem seB of god is de derived rived flom flow the bible this being the cuse case c use tse then what is the duty of the tho inhabitants of the earth when a diaan man comes as joseph lilith did and aa the ibe elders of this tins church ar are doing going proclaiming the I 1 haqq alluded to t why ibey they being in ignorance or god they having no revelation rom god they not having heard the volca voica of angels they being up into parties and and divid edana 0 and quarrelling respecting the points ol 01 dec doctrine trine thich which carlat re they being in this thia post ion should humble themselves and ask bodin the thena thenn jiame jiamo mc of jesus and in allo alio gaty praye prayer r to reveal unto them whether the testimony af ft these men who como come with this now revelation bo true bir or false that is the duty duly of eve every t y living soul soui upon tho the face of the earth who hears bears the testimony of 00 goca da Feri bier fier abts vanta concerning this truth and there never has baa been froin from the time thal that joseph smith made his bis first proclamation until 11 this thi s day the ard 3rd of august augut ti 1879 atlie a time lime chena man who I 1 ook look this bouls bouis course i e did not receive a witness frola from on high iho testimony of jesus aistis christ that these pro l by the servants of god are divine and from heaven wherever the eldeta eldera othis chuich church have 4 stev pap up in humility in mr ean easeal ling upon of th the earth to repent pent aud and they have gone gono to many lands nud and spoken in many languages and the people have re dented add and sought unto god I 1 in ail fil the name of jesus christ for a testimony of the truth there has never been a single instance where they have failed to receive that testimony not one oner have ed eel this gospel the indifferent those who would not tube the trou brou ble blo to investigate it those thom who not take the tumbler to bow in I 1 before the lord and ask his bis ony concern concerning toc loW tit it those who though L uit lit it bei ber raath rAuth them those who have been too or too rich or too well situa situated teu or who for some other reason have haxe have bave falka to tike t ike any interest in athla work worn these are aro they who are nofu not m members umbers embers of this and who bave have failed thib this gospel when they heard beard it prebi preached ched in its its simplicity and IN its purity amongst the nations of the eaith earth well now will this genera geDera escape colis condemnation dem nation I 1 say unto you nay liay phere will be a heavy condemnation fall upon this thid generation because of their inattention to these jud judgements Judge g ments ants and cala caia calami rill till its tit ii is wili will be vl visited 8 upon the inhabitants stants bof of thee the earth arthin in consequence of neglect neglecting luk lug lle llo uco tie word of digou goil written in the and aiho alio ako the word of god tu to his hii servants in thee them d dys dyb ys the prophet joseph smi smith th hla hia brother hyrum and numbers of others have been slain what foi why said the mob who killed billed him because they could not reach ibea them by law they were brought before court courts joseph smith panic barly as you all kno know w from rom time to time but they failed to dind lind auy any cause of condemnation against him and at last his blod was shed he sealed his testimony with his blood like other apostles and pro prophets he laid down his I 1 ife life as a witness before god |