| Show discourse BT iry BM mm sw at i ae the general cona conf conference erenee held in the tabernacle wednesday morning octoba s sah 1879 REPORTED BY GEO OEO F tre THE prophet isaiah in speaking of the latter day Z zion zeon ton made this singular remark now also many nations are gathered against thee that bay say let her be defiled denied and let jet our oje eyb look upon zion bud nud but bat aney know not the thoughts of the lord leither understand they his counsel counsels etc again it hag haa been said concerning the disobedient who reject and set at nought the counsels of the almighty through his servants who are sent unto them 1 I also will laugh at your calamity I 1 will mock when your fear cometh 11 the wicked comprehend not the the things of god goa they cannot know them for they are spiritually discerned the things of god says the apostle paul no man only by the spirit of god or in other words carnal man knows not the things of 0 god neither can he understand them the unbelieving world cannot see as the saints see they walk in darkness dark oark neba nesa but the saints are the children ot or light even as many as keep sacred their covenants with god the wicked love darkness dark nest nesa rather than light because their deeds are evil tais was true of the first century of the christian era when the savior uttered it it is true today to day As the light shone in darkness and the dark nesi comprehended it not so might the same be said today to day we are called to be the children of light blessed aro ara they who continue in the light for onn the day of the lord will not over overtake take tahe them as a thief in the tho night but woe woo unto them that depart from or reject that light that shines in the midst of the darkness for tor the day cometh and that speedily when they will be overtaken as by A a whirlwind the command of the lord to the sainta saints is to watch for we know not the day nor the hour when the son of man shall come the precise time of his coming has not been revealed the prophets were ignorant of it it could not be declared A to the apostles of the lamb iamb and in de edthe savior said baid that not the angels nor even ho he himself knew the day or the hour of this important event and arid on taking his final leave of the twelve on the mount blount of olives the question wag waa put to him lord glord wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to israel they it seems were wont to regard the savior as that being that was wag to establish himself upon the throne of david and bring to pass all that they had been so anxiously expecting but he told them it was not for them to know the times and the seasons which the father had bad put in hla hia power these things have been spoken that the saints should watch and not fall asleep the same idea ia Is also aleo set forth in the parable of the ten virgins who were represented as having gone forth to meet the bri bridegroom degro om five of whom were wise and five foolish rhe rhe the wise virgins virgina took oil in their ves vessel belp and were prepared to meet tha the bridegroom and to go with him into the marriage feast uhe the tookah virgins virgina took no oil they were unprepared and were consequently abut out our thib thia parable is expressly applicable to the time of the second coming of the savior showing us that however reluctant we may feel to admit it we are plainly given to understand that a great portion of those who are counted the virgins or the lords people who believe belleve in hig big coming anaw anuw anu ana who hogo go forth to meet him will slumber and sleep and be locked out when be he shall come and it behooves all saints to ask themselves the question which tha tho disciples asked the savior when he told them the startling truth that one of them should betray him lord Is it I 1 and all those who are very anxious upon this point will be likely to be on the watchtower watch tower and bering boring in that fatal hour and again in the of matthew matthaw he be speaks of that wicked servant who shall begin to say eay my lord dela yeth his coming and shall begin to smite his fellow servants and eat and drink with the obe drunken the lord of thai servant shall come in a day aheu be fie not for him and in ao an hour that he is not aware of and arid shall cut him asunder and appoint him his hia portion with the hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth fie expects this of or hi hla he bas baa appointed over Us house to give his hla chil dren meat in due season it be comes cornea the apostles apo atles and presidents ind bie ble bishops hops hopp andall and all who are called ai a i watchmen upon the walls of i zion to read the and 0 oi 1 natthew matthew giving due attention ther thereto eto tto and to beware least the be found among those unfaithful servants vanta who have been a appointed to mini minister step in his bis house and give meat in due season but who smite their fellow follow servants and who wh 0 ea eav tend ind drink with the drunkard and otherwise neglect their high and holy calling fon lor cespon responsibility ability position and station will not be an protection or safeguard in that day but on the contrary the greater the responsibility neglected the greater their fall chagrin and dis appointment and woe woo when they nind find their allotted portion among the hypocrites and unbelievers believers un and the enemies of zion who want to penetrate our sacred and holy places and who say may in thel hearts let her temples be defiled iet let adventurers profligates and alb libertines mingle in their family circles and break them asunder and defile the daughters of zion and break up the holy institution of sacred and holy matrimony by which they are bound together in the new and everlasting covenant for time and eternity yes they say says let this covenant ba be broken let all who believe and will not apt deny the lawsond laws nd commands command s of god be excluded from the jury box from the ballot box and from official al station and here comes another wail wall from a member of the cabinet in the form of a decision to the effect that all plural wives who will not break their covenants with their god and their husband shall be excluded from froni the right of homestead and preemption pre emption and I 1 doubt not but what everything will be done that satan can put into their hearts to do to block the wheel wheels to hedge up the way in order to test the faith of the righteous and their integrity to each other and the principles of truth but it must be remembered that god permits it that themay they may fill up the cup of their iniquity that the righteous may be proven and tested even to the chore for god will have have bave a tried people and those only who will abide in hla hia covenant even to the death if necessary will be found worthy of that glory and exaltation alt ait al tation atlon in his kingdom which we seek after itis a day of warning not of many words it is also a day of sacrifice god has a controversy contro veray with the nations but first with those unto whom the fullness of the gospel has been sent he will work in his own wondrous roub way his purposes to perform it becomes us to be very humble bumble that we may be worthy to be his instruments in accomplishing his designs I 1 rejoice in the testimony of the spirit manifested by the previous speakers during daring this conference my earnest desire is to that this spirit may spread abroad among all ail thu thi people and take deep root in their hearts not only throughout the stakes of zion but throughout the earth dark clouds may gather around us from time to toulme time then i is the time not to fear but to watch and pray and patiently a wait await the lord of hosts to dispel them and cause the sun to thine again upon ue remembering the vision of no nephi in which he baw saw the rod lod of iron which led to the tree free of life along the turbulent stream of muddy water and aud through mists and clouds which at intervals beset his pathway and that those who clung to it were led jed safely through and reached the tree and partook of the fruit thereof while those who ceased their hold to the rod of iron wandered off and were lost I 1 have felt the greatest concern for the rising generation among usa ue they are far more numerous than thau our foreign immigrants secretary kvarta evarta and the cabinet need have far less lees fear concerning conr foreign immigrants than of those these that are constantly coming from the spirit world the enemies of zion olon fear this doctrine of the saints that children are an heritage of the lord and happy Is the man that bath his quiver full fall of them this doctrine permits the latter day saints to fulfill fulfil the first great command given to father adam and mother eve instead of adopting that abominable and soul destroying lestro ying doctrine of devils infanticide fant icide and foet foel loide which Js Is ed to no little littie extent in the Cb christian ristian world which ia is ii open violation to the laws of nature and ancl the law of or god to our first parents to multiply bad sad replenish ghe the earth faith ll 11 and the practice of thib thie ame doctrine is tabt tast some of our older states it tends to encourage prostitution and strange as it may appear a future day will yet reveal reve althe the fact that among the foremost and prominent votaries vot aries of this doctrine of devils are those who fight against zion and her institution of marriage riligh under the hypocritical cant or of such men as schuyler colfax in his utterance from the balcony of the townsend house houge in this city and attorney general De deven devon veng in bis his argument in the reynolds caie cate cae in effet effect that the plural marriage of if the mormons cormons cannot be toler abed because the burning ot of widows upon the funeral pile of their husbands was wrong there ir ib about as much relevancy and consistency sis tency in the argument as there would be to say that the practices of 0 the multitudes of families of this christian land who are destroying their own ond off spring offspring and taking vil lienous compounds to induce barrenness and unfruitfulness ne must be tolerated and encouraged because the practices of the latter day saints are filling these mountains with a thrifty population it shown by the statistics that our children under the age of eight years are already nearly as numerous as the lay members of the church I 1 feel that too much attention cannot be bestowed upon the rising generation our oar youn young peoples improvement associations association 9 our sabbath schools and quorum meetings are all ep so many aids in the training and education du catlon of the young in all that is elevating and praiseworthy and may god bless biess them in their earnest efforts to improve the spirits of their fellow men there is one thing I 1 wish to call the attention of our presiding officers toy tog to more especially that of the presidents of stakes and their thein counselors and the bishops as their aids and assistants and that is to give more diligent heed to the temporal condition of the families of the saints over whom they pres preside 1 d 0 seeing to it that they arm are sult suit suitably ably an and d profitably employed it is an old adage that an idle brain is the dev ll fib IKs s workshop and we all know kno w that the lack of useful and proper employment am is the source of numerous evile it should be our study to introduce new branches of au siness devise means of emalos employment that none nono maybo may bo idle this la Is an important duty required of the leading men in israel ard aad so earnest should they be in its performance for mance that they make it a matter of faith and prayer using their to seek it out by thoughtful study and by consulting each other and by inviting the aid of inventive minds it is important that our school teachers should not merely be automatons or parrots in the schoolroom by way of impressing a lesson upon the minds of the children but strive in an eminent degree to di cb their minds in a moral and religious sense inculcating by precept and example due respect for virtue and everything that is pure and noble having aiso also as much as practicable a it wate watch licare care over ever them oue of school as us well as in school laboring to enforce punctuality and an honest report thereby helping their patents to look after them BO so that they may not squander away their time foolishly as many do in our lour towns and cities lounging around stores and other places acquiring habits that are calculated to lead away and defile the minds of the youth the schoolteacher school teacher who la is alive to the true spirit of his bia becomes a valuable auxiliary in improving the minds and conduct of our children and his bis or her influence when properly excited might be of incalculable good there has been in times past and still is a great tendency among our youth to seek easy berths and sometimes the acme of their ambition seems beems to be realized upon a high stool in a counting room or behind 9 counter coun ter tei they desire desir to shun the harde hardships hips through which their parents passed 1 that is is a vain delusions delusion and it is simply fool fahne fib fis on tb the e part pak of parent or child who indulges in it it is unwise ton tor parents to entertain this spirit to be anxious to shield their children from the trials of life through which they themselves have passed BO no really mally sensible man or woman would do it anere is no sensible man or woman in the land ind and that would exchange their expedience experience nce for all the wealth ot of turu world it any would do it they bave have failed to learn their jesson lesson ind and profit from their experience i dereul is a good wooi tou tot 9 all mil few can fear the presidents of stakes with their counselors and the bishops as their assistants should when they know of any unoo coupled land lind within their borders that ought to be improved and possessed by the latter day saints get together and select you young ag and middle aged men who are not already provided with good suitable homes or means of sustenance eustena nce oce organize them with good and efficient lea iea leader dere and send them out to occupy those new valleys teaching them to do as their fathers have bave doue teach them to take out the mountain grist mille mule sawmills sawmills and factories raise breadstuff she epand cattle anu aou prepare to live instead of craving easy norths and be ail all the days of their laiq lives es dependent upon the will of an employer empl empi oyer for a livelihood there are many places in our out territory east of us on both bides aides of green greta river also in sanpete San pete plute pluto and kane cul antles counties and in the adjoining states and territories that ought to be occupied for the latter day saints cannot be confined to utah everything indicates the fulfillment fulfilment odthe of the declaration of the ancient prophet nho who said enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations spare not lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes for thou break forth on the right hand band and on the left etc in the very nature of things this must mast be the case for we are an aggressive people not to trample on the rights of our fellow man but to fulfill fulfil the purposes of tha the almighty and possess and make fruitful the waste places and as the wicked are wasted away through disease war and bloodshed murder infanticide foat feat icide and the judgments of an offended onnen ded god he requires his people p is to 0 go fort forth has hns as he shall prepare the w way a y and possess the land and hold it for god and his kingdom 1 whose it is and who will come 1 in duo due time to reign over it fear not to take |
