page_0004

their heads? They do not, no more
than t[h]e people did in the days of
Noah, in the days of Lot, and in the
days of the Jews when they put to
death the Messiah.

You have embraced the Gospel.
How came you to be gathered here
in these valleys of the mountains,
in this once barren desert? Where
did you come from? You came
from England, from Norway, from
Sweden, from the various nations of
the earth and from the isles of the
sea. How was it that you came
here? You reply: An Elder of
Israel called. I heard him preach.
He told me if I would repent of my
sins, I should receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. I believed him. I
went forth and was baptized. I had
hands laid upon me for the reception
of the Holy Ghost, and I did receive
the Holy Ghost. There was no de-
ception about this. I was moved
upon to gather with the Saints of
God to the mountains of Israel, that
I might stand with them and be
taught in the things of the Kingdom
of God, that I might stand in holy
places while the judgments of God
were poured forth in the earth.

That is why you are here. We
might have preached to you till we
had been as old as Methusaleh, and
if the Almighty had not backed up
the testimony of these Elders of
Israel, Utah today would be as bar-
ren a desert as we found it as far as
the Latter-day Saints are con-
cerned.

This is the work of Gok, and we
are called upon to labor, no matter
what may appear around us, or what
persecutions we may be called upon
to pass through. This is the great
last Kingdom of our God that Daniel
saw. [##Daniel 2:26-47##] It is the Zion of God that
Isaiah saw. [##Isaiah 60##] It is the Church of
Jesus Christ that the Revelator
John saw. [##Revelation 14##] The angel of God has
come and delivered his message, in
fulfilment of the commandments
of God, and the cry has been, Pre-
pare ye for the coming of the Son of
man; behold the day of God's judg-
ment is come. This is the procla-
mation to the whole world today—
Jew and Gentile. And this is why
we are here. We have been led
here by the inspiration and power of
God, and we have come here to ful-
fill the volume of the book of the
revelations of God to the inhabitants
of the earth. Therefore, I say, let not
your hearts be troubled. It is your
Father's good pleasure to give you
the Kingdom. [##Luke 12:32##] These Latter-day
Saints are where they should be—
where the Lord has called them;
and if we do our duty, if we
unite together and keep the
commandments of God, all will
be well in Zion. The Lord has
said: "Verily I say unto you, that
I, the Lord, will contend with Zion,
and plead with her strong ones, and
chasten her until she overcomes and
is clean before me; for she shall not
be removed out of her place. I, the
Lord, have spoken it." [##Doctrine and Covenants 90:36-37##] We have
got to do right and keep the com-
mandments of God. If we don't,
we shall be chastened, there is no
doubt about that. But while the
world are looking for the destruction
of this Church, they will look in
vain. They do not realize that the
judgments of God are being pro-
claimed by sword and by fire, and
that the Lord is pleading with all
flesh. The sword is bathed in
heaven; it will fall upon Idumea
and the world, and who is able to
stand the judgments of the Al-
mighty? [##Isaiah 34:5##] Those who are striving
for our overthrow, if they have not
faith today in this and in God, they
will have faith whenever they come
to judgment; for the whole of
them have got to go to judgment,
and they will be judged according
to their deeds done in the body.

Brethren and sisters, let us look
at these things as they are. We are
under great responsibity. In every
dispensation God has called men and
placed them as watchmen on the
walls of Zion. He told Ezekiel: "I
have set thee a watchman un-
to the house of Israel; there-
fore thou shalt hear the word at
my mouth, and warn them from
me. When I say unto the wicked,
O wicked man, thou shalt surely
die; if thou dost not speak to warn
the wicked from his way, that
wicked man shall die in his iniqui-
ty; but his blood will I require at
thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou
warn the wicked of his way to turn
away from it; if he do not turn from
his way, he shall die in his in-
iquity, but thou hast delivered thy
soul." [##Ezekiel 33:7-9##] We have been called upon
to warn this generation. We have
tried to do it in our weak way. I
have for the last fifty-seven years of
my life. So have these brethren
here. We have traveled thousands
of miles without purse or scrip. We
have lifted up our voices and
preached the Gospel of Christ to this
dispensation.

We are also called, brethren and
sisters, to perform some work in our
day and time that no other dispen-
sation of men have been called to
do. We have been called to rear
temples and to go into those temples
and redeem our dead. It takes as
much to save a dead man as it does
a living one. If the dead have not
heard the Gospel, the Lord is not
going to send them to hell because
they have not received it. The
Lord is the Father of all. He is
merciful to all, and He will save all,
except the sons of perdition. Every
man will have a glory. Our "Lib-
eral" friends here will have a glory.
A man will have a celestial glory
if he abides the law of the celestial
kingdom; he will have a terrestrial
glory if he abides the law of the
terrestrial kingdom; he will have a
telestial glory if he abides the law of
the telestial kingdom. That is the
law of God unto us.

Brethren and sisters, I have de-
sired to know the truth from the
day I was a child. I read the Bible
in my boyhood. I attended Sabbath
school under old Dr. Porter and Dr.
Haws. I read in this New Testa-
ment about Jesus Christ. I read of
what kind of a Gospel He preached
and what kind of a man He was. I
read about the Apostles and of the
power they had; how they laid hands
upon the sick and they recovered;
they could cast out devils, and, in
some instances, raised the dead. In
my boyhood I longed that I might
live on the earth till I could find a
servant of God, an inspired man,
who would teach me these princi-
ples that I read of in the New Testa-
ment. The Lord promised me, in
fulfilment of my prayers, that I
should live to see that day. I have
lived to see it. The Lord has called
a people from the nations of the
earth, from every sect, party and
denomination, to receive the fulness
of the everlasting Gospel. There is
but one Gospel. There never was but
one Gospel; there never will be but
one. Millions of people have been
born in the flesh, have lived and have
gone to the grave, who never saw the
face of a prophet in their lives; never
saw a man that was called of God and
had power to administer in one of the
ordinances of the House of God.
Will God condemn them because
they did not receive the Gospel?
Not at all. They are in the spirit
world—our fathers. We are called
upon, as saviors on Mount Zion,
while the kingdom is the Lord's, in
the latter days, to go forth and re-
deem our dead. We hold in our
hands the keys and power of their
redemption, by attending to the ordi-
nances of God for them. It is a work
that the Lord has blessed us with.
I thank God for this privilege. It is
one of the blessings that the Latter-
day Saints enjoy. When I go into
the spirit world I expect to meet my
fathers, my mothers, my relatives.
I have been in the Temple of the
Lord. I have received endowments
for over three thousand of them on
my father's and my mother's side,
all that I could get access to. I do
not want to go into the spirit world
to meet these people and have them
say to me, "You had power to enter
into these Temples to get redemption
for me, but you have not done it."

Lay these things to heart. Be not
afraid with regard to the work; only
serve God and trust in Him. You
cannot serve man, nor make flesh
your arm, for your salvation. If we
are saved, if we are delivered, if we
have redemption, it will be by the
power of the God of Israel. He
sent His Son into the world to lay
down His life for the redemption of
the children of men.

I feel to thank God that I have
this privilege of bearing my testi-
mony to the work. I know it is
true. I know Joseph Smith was
one of the greatest prophets that
God ever raised up in the earth,
save Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith
holds the keys of this great and last
dispensation and fulness of times;
he will hold those keys to the end-
less ages of eternity. He sealed his
testimony with his blood. And if
we have to do the same, what of it?
Thousands and thousands of the
children of men lay down their
lives in going to war for the sake of
worldly honor. Is it any more for
a man to lay down his life for the
gospel's sake than it is for him to
lay it down for some other cause?
I say no. It makes no difference
what we are called to pass through,
if we are united and do our duty all
will be well. I want salvation when
I get through. I want to go where
my Heavenly Father and the Savior
are, if I can. I want to go where
the Apostles and Prophets are who
have borne the heat and burden of