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work; but when He does call men
to do His work they have to trust
in Him.

I marvel today, in my own mind,
why I stand before you as the Presi-
dent of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. I have been
associated with some forty Apostles
in my day and time. Twenty-four
of them—two quorums—are today
in the spirit world. There is a
quorum of young men, many of
them the sons of Apostles who have
passed away, with us today. Well,
when I look at this and see that I
am still in the midst of Israel, and
realize that I have been called to
this position, I marvel at it. But it
is the business of the Lord and not
of man. It is not a position that I
have sought. On the other hand,
the eternal truth of this responsibil-
ity stares me in the face. I
know that I am responsible,
for the position that I hold today, to
the God of heaven, who has chosen
me, as are these apostles before me
and these tens of thousands of
Elders of Israel who now dwell in
the flesh on the earth. I attended
a Priesthood meeting here last
evening with quite a number of
those bearing the Priesthood. I
look upon the responsibility of these
people as being very great. We
have been called upon in this day
to receive the Priesthood and to go
forth and preach the Gospel of Je-
sus Christ to this generation—to the
Gentiles first, and then to the House
of Israel. This has been my lot.
It has been the lot of these Apostles,
and many, yea thousands, of the
leaders of the Latter-day Saints.
We have been called upon to preach
the Gospel of Christ to this genera-
tion and to warn them of the judg-
ments which are to come.

There has been a great deal said
at this conference. We have had
strong testimonies borne by the
Elders of Israel who have addressed
us. I remarked at the commence-
ment of this conference (there were
comparatively few people here then)
concerning our position and revela-
tion. I remarked that Moses gave
revelations to Israel. We have the
Bible—the stick of Judah—contain-
ing the law of God through Moses
and through the ancient prophets
and patriarchs. [##Ezekiel 37:19##] It has been handed
down to us through the thousands of
years that are past and gone. While
libraries, like the library of Alexan-
dria (which was destroyed by an
Arab chief and took days and days
to burn, it being one of the largest
ever gathered together in the world)
have perished, the Bible has been
preserved unto us, and we have it
to read. It gives unto us the law of
God given to the ancients. But
there has been no change in that
law, so far as the gospel is con-
cerned, from that day until this.
The Bible—the Old and the New
Testament—gives unto us the law
whereby we may be exalted and go
back again into the presence of God
and dwell with Him for ever and
ever. It gives unto us the course
we should pursue in order to receive
a part in the first resurrection, that
we may come forth clothed with
glory, immortality and eternal life.
It also gives us the history, not only
of what is passed with the Jews, but
of what is to come to pass. Then
we have the Book of Mormon—the
stick of Joseph in the hands of
Ephraim—that was written upon
this continent by apostles and
prophets. It contains, among other
things, the teachings of Jesus Christ
when he appeared, after his resur-
rection, in his immortal and glori-
ous body, and taught the gospel
here. Those revelations contain a
great many principles. They show
unto us the final winding-up scene,
the situation of great Babylon and
the judgments that were to come to
pass in the last days before the com-
ing of the Son of Man. We have
also the Book of Doctrine and Cov-
enants, which you have in your
houses and which you can
read. This code of revela-
tion was given through the
mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
by the Urim and Thummim and
otherwise. That book contains
some of the most glorious and most
sublime revelations God ever gave
to man. It shows unto us what lies
before us, what awaits this nation
and the nations of the earth and
what is at the door of the inhabitants
of the earth. These things are
clear, they are pointed, they are
strong, and they are the revelations
of God, and they will be fulfilled,
whether men believe it or not.

Now, with regard to present reve-
lation. President Young led us a
great many years. He led us to these
valleys. He was a man of God,
filled with revelation. His teachings
were attended by the inspirations of
Almighty God. He laid the foun-
dation of the building of this whole
Territory. He governed and con-
trolled this Tabernacle we are in,
the Temple we are building, and
other Temples that we have built
in this Territory; and in all his
counsels the word of the Lord was
with him. He had but few revela-
tions that were written and pub-
lished to the world. But we had
the word of the Lord through him day
by day. The same with President
Taylor. We have already got, as I
said before, this code of revelation,
which we can read every day, and
which is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for in-
struction, to guide us in the way of
life from day to day and from year
to year while we dwell in the flesh. [##2 Timothy 3:16##]
When the Apostles and Elders of
Israel are called to teach you, when
they are called to go abroad and to
teach the inhabitants of the earth,
they are commanded of the Lord to
speak as they are moved upon by
the Holy Geost; [##Doctrine and Covenants 68:3##] and when a man
speaks as he is moved upon by the
Holy Ghost, it is the word of the
Lord, it is the mind of the Lord, it
is the will of the Lord, it is Scripture,
it is the power of God unto salvation
unto every one that believes. If we
do not have the Holy Ghost we have
no business to teach. But when the
Elders of Israel do teach you by the
Holy Ghost, you have the revela-
tions of God to you. We have these
revelations lying before us for our
guidance day by day, as well as the
living oracles.

I would say to the President of
the United States, to the Congress
of the United States, to the Cabinet,
and to all the inhabitants of this
land, as well as to all the na-
tions of the earth—kings, emperors,
princes and people—do not worry
about these Latter-day Saints. I
would say to all nations under
heaven, if these people are not the
people of God, if this work has not
been established by God Almighty,
they will fall of themselves, they
will be swept from the face of the
earth by the judgments of God,
when Great Babylon falls. But if
they are of God, what can you do
about it? What can the nations of
the earth do about it? Have the na-
tions forgotten that there is a God in
Israel? Have they forgotten that
there is a God who created the hea-
vens and the earth, and that He gov-
erns and controls all these things? If
He has set His hand to perform this
work, there is no power on the face
of the earth, or in hell, that can de-
stroy it, because Jehovah holds it in
His own hands. He holds our des-
tiny and the destiny of all the world
in His hands. But the great diffi-
culty with this nation and with all
nations is, as it has been in every
age, they do not acknowledge the
hand of God in any of these things.
You see it in the history of the
whole world and in the dealings
of God with men and cities and na-
tions, from the creation of the world.
I have referred to these things be-
fore in my remarks. Whenever a
nation is ripened in iniquity, the
Lord raises up prophets and inspired
men and they are sent forth to warn
that nation, and when they have
warned the people and given unto
them the word of the Lord, that
word will not fall unfulfilled. We
have before us a great many instan-
ces of the dealings of God with men.
We have a fair example in Babylon
the Great. King Nebuchadnezzar,
surrounded with the city walls a hun-
dred feet high and wide enough for
several chariots to ride abreast upon
the top thereof, with brazen gates and
with a power to defy all but God
himself, what did he say: "Is
not this great Babylon, that I have
built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power, and for
the honor of my majesty?" [##Daniel 4:30##] The
prophet might have told Neb-
uchadnezzar that the God of heaven
had proclaimed a man before he was
born that would come and take that
great city and destroy its ruler. Cyrus
was named by the Lord before he
was born, through the mouth of the
prophet; [##Isaiah 44:28##] and when the time came,
as King Belshazzar and his princes
were feasting and drinking wine
out of the cups that had been
brought from the temple at Jerusa-
lem, he took possession of the city
and carried off the treasures. [##Daniel 5:1-4##] The
army of Cyrus turned the river out
of its course and walked in under
the walls of the city. Belshazzar
was taken prisoner and slain, and
the city went into the hands of
people they were not looking for. [##Daniel 5:30-31##]
What did Cyrus do when he took
the city of Babylon? He took the
riches—cattle, horses and property—
there was in that city and offered
them as a sacrifice to the great God.
This is the course that a heathen
king took; and we understand, from