Show DISCOURSE BY BT BISHOP ORSON F WHITNEY DELIVERED In Itt the Tabernacle Salt Lake City Sun bun Sun Sun- Sundar Sunday day dar Afternoon June 21 1885 REPORTED BY JOHN JOUN IRVINE HAVING been called upon my my brethren and sisters and friends to address adress you this afternoon I feel as though I would like to read a portion 0 of the word of God I will therefore read to you a part of the chapter of the Book of Revelations from the Bible known as Kin King James translation And I looked and lo 10 a LaD Lamb b stood on the mount Sion Slon and with him a hundred forty and four thousand having his Fathers Father's name written in their foreheads And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder and I heard the voice of harpers harping harpin with their harps And they sung as it were a new song be- be before be before fore the throne and before the four tour beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song Bong but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth These are they which were not defiled with women for they are virgins These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever ever ever he goeth These were redeemed from among men being the unto God and aud to the Lamb And in their mouth was found no guile for lor they are without fault before the throne one of God And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue ngue and people Saying with a loud voice Fear God and give glory to him fir TOI- the hour of his judg judg- judgment judgment ment mont is come and worship him hum that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters And there followed another angel saying saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great CIty because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication It has been charged t to the Latter day Latter Saints that they set but little val value ue up- up upon upon up upon on the Christian Bible that they criticise Its translation and the revis- revis revisions revis revis- revisIons revisions ions through which it has passed and that it is our endeavor to belittle the importance of this holy book The words which I have read are a portion of that sacred record which we are charged with undervaluing and I choose them as a basis for my r remarks marks iu in order to show how groundless is that charge with many others which are made falsely against this include people The words you have heard include a prophecy uttered some 1800 years a ago o oby by an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ one of the Twelve whom whom He chose in the days of His personal ministry upon the earth He had delivered unto them the keys of the kingdom of heaven promising them that whatsoever they bound on onearth onearth onearth earth should be bound in in heaven whatsoever the they loosed upon earth should be loose loosed in heaven ever ever sius sins the they should remit should be remitted and and sins they should retain should be retained He gave them power to go forth to all na- na na nations and preach the Gospel of life and salvation telling them among amon among the last things thin he said that Re He that and is baptised shall be saved but he that believeth not sh shall ll be damned and that certain signs should follow them th than tha t believed The Apostles went forth baptising in the name of the Lord and confirmed His word by signs fol- fol following following lowing On a certain occasion towards the close of the career of the Son of God Godin Godin Godin in the flesh His disciples asked him if lie He would at that time restore the Kingdom to Israel braE and what would be bethh signs of His second coming and of the end of the world Among other things He told them that this G Gospel of the Kingdom should be preached in all the word world as a witness unto all nations and then should the end come The Apostles set out upon the mission which had been given them and we read in the Acts of the Apostles and andin andin andin in their Epistles contained contained within the lids of this holy book of the adventures adventures adventures tures which befell them and the tile persecutions perse- perse which they endured It had been said of them by their Lord and they should be hated bated of all allmen allmen allmen men for His names name's sake but blessed are ye said He when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all ah manner of evil you falsely for my sake ReJoIce an and be exceeding glad for great is your re- re reward reward ward in heaven for so persecuted they the which before prophets were you And the day would come He said when they that put pat His disciples to death would think they were doing Gods God's tf t-orl t ft service Thus were the minds of the Apostles prepared for the fate which afterwards befell them They embraced the truth knowing that it might cost them their lives for tor the they had been told that if 11 a aman aman aman man loved his life or loved earthly poss of any kind more than he more than did id his God more than he loved e work of that God he was in no wi wise fit for His kingdom They Went into it with their eyes open they knew what would befall them but being men of inte integrity ty men who loved truth who based themselves upon principle and thought more of doing the will 0 01 Him who sent th them m than they did of doing their own they embraced their glorious mission and were willing even evento evento evento to lay down their lives for time the sake of that Kingdom for fop which they were laboring Their were j The wu was popular Alth h devi devil were subject to these theae file O J y y ym m 04 d miracles in the name of Jesus yet they were despised persecuted or ig- ig ignored ignored ig ignored nored by the great mass of humanity A few believed believe in their words a few rejoiced r exceedingly that the Church of God was established ed on the earth that the Savior who had been promised as a lamb slain from before the foun foun- foundation foun- foun foundation foundation dation of the world had at last come comein comein comein in fulfillment of the prophecies of old Their minds were prepared to receive Him and and they rejOiced rejoiced in the work of God Churches were formed in in differ ditter- different d ent ent lands The Apostles went from Jerusalem after after they had been endued with power from on high and built up churches in many of of the surrounding nations pep haps in all the nations that then existed But al fl although al although though they were Wire successful in plant plant- planting in ing we the tree of life upon the soil ofa ofa of a fallen world world it seems seem that the time had not come for it to remain there i and bear fruit throughout the ages of eternity It was destined to be up- up uprooted uprooted up uprooted rooted and there was to come another time when the truth should be trans trans- transplanted transplanted transplanted planted once more and should bear the fruits of righteousness forever The glory of God was not destined in that day to cover the earth as He lie has said it would in the latter days as the waters cover the mighty deep The Apostles labored faithfully they went forth baptising in the name of 01 the Father ather and the Son Ion and the Holy Ghost but the power of sin t the e power of the evil one was so great that it did not please the tae Almighty to es- es establish establish es establish upon the earth in that day a work which should endure forever He permitted it for a wise purpose to tobe tobe tobe be thrown down clown and of this tact fact we weare weare weare are well assured by the prophecies ot of the Apostles which they have left on record Paul one of the tile most faithful laborers in the vineyard of our Lord in that day said the time would come when the people would not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts should heap unto themselves teachers and having itching ears should turn awn away their ears from the should should be hp turned unto fa- fa fables fables fa- fa fables bles If we follow the history of the Apostles we will see how their words fulfilled t lir f were fu tilled Nearly everyone every r T-f T one y Q of the Twelve whom Jesus chow chose met with a tragic death in defence of the principles which the they proclaimed Some were dragged to death some be- be beheaded beheaded be beheaded headed one was crucified with his head downward others were thrown into cauldrons of boiling oil and others to wild bea beasts ts so that at the end of the second century after Christ the Church of God in its purity no longs r existed upon the face of the earth It had been torn it had apostatized from the truth they who were faithful had been put to death and in iu their place sprang up a race of compromis compromisers mis- mis misers ers who were willing to barter away avy to the world the principles of truth being too weak and cowardly to stand and die for fol their convictions as their fellow lab laborers had done They were willing to give ive up this principle and concede that point to amalgamate for the purpose of making them t hem lar popular and palatable the doctrines of the pure Christian faith with the pa- pa pagan pagan pa pagan gan ideas of ancient Rome So that the temporal body of Christ the Church became corrupt deformed by this de departure de- de departure departure from first principles Apostles prophets were done away with spiritual al gifts guts became extinct and were said to be no lon longer er needed Bishops were put into the places of a multitude of new offices unknown to the original created Fin Fin- Fin Finally ally two Bishops appeared the Bishop of Rome and the Bishop of Constanti Constantinople nople contending as to which was the greatest and striving in a church professing to regard unity and brother brother- brotherly ly loveto divide the dominions of the Christian world between them More attention was paid to outward f forms to grand and imposing ceremonies than to the simple beautiful principles of the Gospel and anG in course of time were fulfilled the words of Isaiah who said that they would transgress tile the law change the ordinances and break the everlasting covenant The result of this wide-spread wide departure thIS from the primitive r faith faith- was was wasI the withdrawal withdrawal of the power of the I Priesthood typified d by the man man child child of the Apocalypse which was taken into the heavens to preserve it from the mouth of the Dragon which sought its life to remain until amore amore a more ous us time should arrive forthe forthe for fori i the establishment of nf the work ot of God inri and the win winding ting up of the great plan of human redemption But one of these original ori inal Apostles was left The Latter-day Latter Saints are taught that Jesus on a certain occa- occa occa to the Twelve wished to bestow upon them each a gift ift to rant the desire of their hearts and He asked them what they would He should do for them They all aU but one requested to be taken home to Him in heaven when they should have tilled filled the allotted age of man But one turned away sorrowful feeling that the wish he cherished in bis his heart was too great to be granted Peter asked the Savior What Savior What shall shaH this man do doand and received the reply If I will that he tarry till I come what is that Then went this saying abroad amon among the brethren that that disciple pie should not die It is vaguely given eiven I admit in the Bible from which I have quoted out but modern revelations has made it plainer and and shown us that the Apos Apos- Apostle Apostle Apostle tle John obtained a promise from the av r that he should remain upon the earth to witness the downfall and the therise therise rise of nations n that he be should live to perform a mighty mission in the midst of the toe children of men that be hf sh should uld s and rulers andRO and RO 14 t mY t l w th w eai b aatU he Son of God came in His gl glory ry This Apostle W was 8 the only one who escaped the tie tragic fate of his bis fellows He was the only one of ot th the ori original ihal Twelve who was not put to death An attempt was made upon his life by throwing him into a cauldron of boiling oil but buthe he be escaped miraculously and his fais l ene- ene enemies enemies ene enemies mies not having the power to put him to him to the desert island ot of It wits was was during his exile upon this lonely spot that God to reveal to him what should come to pass in the last days and aud the book which Is called the Apocalypse Apocalypse Ap- Ap is a record which the Apostle left of the great thin things 8 that were shown which which he should r remain main upon the earth to see An angel appeared unto l him lm John mistook him it seems for the Lord and fell down at his bis feet to worship him him nim his person was so glorious But the angel reproved him and said See thou do it not for I am thy and of thy brethren the prophets Here was one of the prophets who had been slain for the testimony of Jesus who was o no O glori glori- glori- glori glorious glorious ous ous when he appeared that perhaps had labored with him did not net recognize him bim He had had- been SE sent nt un- un unto to cn-to to him to show him what should come cometo cometo cometo to pass thereafter But not only was John shown what should occur after the time in which he be was living but he was shown what had already imperfect taken place not as the imper imper- records of profane history have given it to us but he saw it typified in its fullness The The events of the seven years of the worlds world's existence passed before him like the scenes of a mighty panorama li It 1 t you wIll read the book which he be let lett i you will there find tind portrayed symbolically each of the seven thousand years year He saw the events which had bad followed the creation down until one had passed he then saw the events of the second thousand nd years or until two periods had passed and then the third and the fourth four n periods at the end of which Jesus came as the Savior of mankind to perform a personal work in the flesh John saw further the events of the fifth thousand years He saw the great that was to take place in the Christian church when they put to death every inspired man when they did away with the gifts and blessin blessings s of the Holy Ghost when they said they were no longer necessary when they engrafted upon the olive tree of the Christian faith the wild branches of paganism He saw sawall sawall aU all this taking place down to the sixth thousand years and after the world had wandered in darkness s for centuries centuries ries des he says And I saw another angel anel fly in iu the midst of heaven having the he everlasting everlasting ing ing Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation Wand and kindred and tongue and people Saying Saving Sa with a loud voice fear God and give glory lory to him tor for the hour of His judgment is come ann ana worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the foun fountains ains of waters Showing conclusively as well as language can show that this was to be bean bean bean an event of the last the days days the hour of Gods God's judgment which Christianity itself in its perverted state will ad- ad admit ad admit mitis mit is at the end emt of the world John saw the angel restoring the Gospel shortly before the hour of af Gods God's judg jud judg- judg judgment judgment ment saying with a loud voice to aU all I nations kindreds ton tongues ues and peoples not not only to the heath heath- heathen heathen heathen en nations but to those who professed to have the true ChristIan faith Fear Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of his augment j is come This to us is another proof of the of the Christian world for if they had |