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THE DESERET WEEKLY.

When men have faith, then they are
required to repent of their sins and
be baptized for the remission of sin.
This is what Jesus Christ taught,
and He set the example himself.
Though He committed no sin, He
went unto John the Baptist and de-
manded baptism of him. John the
Baptist said he was not worthy to do
it. But Jesus said, "Suffer it to be
so now; for thus it becometh us to
fulfill all righteousness." [##Matthew 3:15##] After be-
ing baptized it is necessary that we
should have hands laid upon us
by men holding the Holy Priesthood,
for the reception of the Holy Ghost.
Now, if you have the Holy Ghost
with you—and every one ought to
have—I can say unto you that there
is no greater gift, there is no greater
blessing, there is no greater testimo-
ny given to any man on earth. You
may have the administration of an-
gels; you may see many miracles;
you may see many wonders in the
earth; but I claim that the gift of
the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift
that can be bestowed upon man. It
is by this power that we have per-
formed that which we have. It is
this that sustains us through all the
persecutions, trials and tribulations
that come upon us. We also have
the gifts of the Spirit among us. I
can bear testimony that the sick
have been healed, the blind have
been made to see, the deaf to hear
and the lame to walk, and devils
have been cast out, by the power of
God. These gifts and graces have
been with this people from the or-
ganization of the Church until the
present hour. There sits a man
-[pointing to Brother Philo Dibble ]-
who, fifty-five years ago, while in
Jackson County, Missouri, was shot
through the body because of his re-
ligion. If it had not been for the
power of God, which was manifest-
ed in his behalf, he would have gone
to the grave. Other men have been
in like circumstances. The Lord has
taken whom He pleased and when
He pleased, and preserved in life
those whom He would preserve, ac-
cording to the counsel of His own
will. I bear record that these gifts
are enjoyed by this people, according
to their faithfulness before God. If
we lack these things, it is because
we do not live our religion; for if we
do our duty before the Lord, those
blessings will be with us.

Brethren and sisters, the Lord has
set His hand, in fulfillment of the
words of the Prophet Daniel, to es-
tablish His Kingdom once more and
for the last time on the earth, and to
prune His vineyard with a mighty
pruning. He has called men and
ordained them and sent them forth
to prune the vineyard for the last
time, before the judgments of God
overtake the world. These princi-
ples are true, and if we will do our
duty, the blessings of God will at-
tend us. The Lord has set His hand
to call forth His Church out of the
wilderness. The world has been in
darkness and error from the day that
Jesus and His disciples died. The
Lord took the Priesthood to Him-
self. He left the Christian and the
Jewish world without the Gospel of
Christ, without a solitary man who
had power to administer in the or-
dinances of the Gospel. These are
the truths of heaven, and I bear re-
cord of them to all men, and you
will find that they are true when
you go into the presence of God. If
the Lord ever fulfills His predictions,
it is quite time that He began to
have a people on the earth who will
acknowledge His name. The time
has come when God is going to per-
form His work. If you want to
know what is going to take place,
read the Bible. Let the Christian
world read the Bible; they don't be-
lieve the Book of Mormon or the
Doctrine and Covenants. Let them
see what the Revelator St. John says
is going to take place in the last days.
Read of the opening of the seals,
the pouring out of the plagues the
turning of the rivers and the seas into
blood, and of the death and judge-
ment that are going to overtake the
world. John wrote these things as he
was moved upon by the Holy Ghost,
and his words will come to pass. [##Moses 6:8##]
We are living in a great day.
These mountains are filled with Lat-
ter-day Saints, in fulfillment of
the revelations of God. The Lord
has commenced this work, and He
is not going to leave it. I warn all
men of that. Zion is going to be
built up. Zion is going to be establish-
ed. Zion is going to be clothed with
the glory of God. And the Kingdom
of God will be like the little
stone cut out of the mountain with-
out hands; it will fill the whole
earth, and prepare the way for the
coming of the Son of Man.

Brethren and sisters, this is my
testimony. This is the religion that
I believe in. Have not I a right to
believe in it? I say I have. I say
to every Methodist, to every Catho-
lic, to every Presbyterian, and to all,
you have a right to your own belief.
We have a little time to dwell here
in the flesh. I shall soon be called
to go into the presence of God,
and I am willing to meet all the
world there with regard to my testi-
mony. I know my testimony is
true. I know Joseph Smith's testi-
mony is true. I know he sealed his
testimony with his blood. It re-
quired his blood, apparently, to
seal this dispensation, as it did the
blood of Jesus and the prophets of
old, to seal their dispensations.

Brethren and sisters, I want to see
you faithful. I want you to be
saved in the Kingdom of God. I
want to be saved, too. What is gold,
what is silver, what is honor, what
is the glory of this world? It all per-
ishes with the using. Where are the
ancient prophets and apostles? They
have fallen asleep. Where are the
generations that have existed before
us? They have gone to sleep. Our
forefathers are in the spirit world. I
shall very soon follow them, I ex-
pect. So will you. Our future des-
tiny lies on the other side of the
vail. When I die I want the priv-
ilege of going where God my
Heavenly Father is, and where
Jesus Christ, the Savior of the
world, is—He who taught the doc-
trines that Brother Cannon and I
are teaching you today, and that the
Elders of Israel have taught from
the commencement of this work. I
want to dwell with them, and with
our people who have been true and
faithful to God. I believe God will
save all people, except the sons of
perdition, in some glory. There is
a glory of the sun; there is a
glory of the moon, and a glory of
the stars, as one star differeth from
another star in glory, so is the resur-
rection of the dead. [##1 Corinthians 15:41-42##]All sects, all
parties, all people, except those who
shed innocent blood or commit un-
pardonable sin, will have a glory ac-
cording to their condition and the
lives they have lived on the earth.
As Brother Cannon has said, God
offers the Gospel to a generation, and
if they reject that Gospel it will
cost them dearly. It is a serious
thing for any dispensation to reject
the Gospel of Christ and to shed the
blood of the prophets. What did it
cost to shed the blood of the Savior?
He came to His Father's house—the
Jews. He brought the Gospel to
them, and warned them of the
wrath to come. But they rejected
the Gospel; they crucified Him and
put Him to death. What did it cost
them? Jesus told them himself what
it would cost them. He said: "And
they shall fall by the edge of the
sword, and shall be led away cap-
tive into all nations; and Jerusalem
shall be trodden down by the Gen-
tiles, until the times of the Gentiles
are fulfilled." [##Luke 21:24##] That yoke has been
upon the Jewish nation until the
present day, and it is not broken