Te "these men, these elders of Israel, have it all their own way." That is not so, and we are not going to have it all our own way, unless our way is to do just right. And the man and woman who set up their will against the providence of God, will be found wanting when accounts are squared. They will have to say, "the summer is past, the harvest is ended, and we have not received our crowns." Will you think of this, sisters, you who are not married as well as you who are? I have a good many daughters, but it would be better for every one of my daughters, and for every female in this Church, to marry men who have proved themselves to be men of God, no matter how many wives they have, than to take these miserable characters who are running around here. For myself, I desire to please God, whether it is ever to see another wife or child while I live or not. Have I proved it? Yes, God, the heavens, and the Saints know it. When Joseph called upon me and my brethren here, we were always ready. We made it a point ever to be ready to leave fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, wives and children to go and preach the gospel to a perishing world, and save as many as would hearken to our counsel. We have proved this years ago. We have been willing to leave all for the sake of the gospel, and therein the Lord has made us rich. But who is going to complain about it? I want the daughters of Israel, both old and young, to remember that part of my sermon intended especially for them; and I want our friends who come here, who are not of us, to hear what the Latter-day Saints have to say. If we have the words of eternal life for you, and you will not receive them at our hands, we want you to be left without excuse. The Lord has spoken from the heavens; He has sent His delegation to the earth, and He has commissioned men on the earth to preach this gospel and to bring people into the Church. If they disobey they must take the consequence; it is they and the Lord for it. As we have always told them, the gospel of Jesus which we believe and preach, which they call "Mormonism," is the doctrine of life and salvation, and if they do not believe it, they can pray to the Lord and ask Him for knowledge. All this they can do if they please. We do our duty in telling them what they should do, and the result is with them and their God. May God bless you. Amen. REMARKS by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 17th, 1867. [REPORTED BY G. D. WATT.] THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT-HOW TO CONTINUE ΤΟ BE SONS OF GOD NECESSITY OF PRAYER. We have great reason to be thank- myself to embrace the gospel, there ful for the blessings we enjoy as in- were great reformation meetings, and dividuals and as a people. There is many professed to be converted. no other people on the earth, that we Those were very stirring times. The have any knowledge of, who are cause of religion was the great topic blessed to the same extent as this and theme of conversation, and people called Latter-day Saints. If preachers were full of zeal to bring we are blessed more than others, we souls to Christ through repentance should be more thankful than others. and faith in His name. I recollect The blessings and bounties of the very distinctly that if I permitted Lord upon us are bestowed according myself to speak in any of their meetto our faithfulness and obedience to ings, the spirit forbade me mentionthe requirements made of us. We ing or referring to the testimony of have seen times in our history as a Jesus, only in a superficial way. A people, that if the hand of God had few who believed in the everlasting not been immediately over us, we gospel which had been revealed must have perished. But to secure through Joseph, the prophet, testified His blessings the Lord requires the in their meetings that they knew by strict obedience of His people. This the spirit of revelation that God had is our duty. We obey the Lord, done thus and so, and they were Him who is called Jehovah, the hooted at immediately by those reGreat I AM, I am a man of war, formers. If I spoke at all in their Eloheim, etc. We are under many meetings, I had to guard every word obligations to obey Him. How shall I uttered, lest I should offend those we know that we obey Him? There who professed to understand the gosis but one method by which we can pel of life and salvation, but who did know it, and that is by the inspira- not. Gradually we broke through tion of the Spirit of the Lord wit- this fear, and ventured to utter the nessing unto our spirit that we are sentiments of our hearts, in faith beHis, that we love Him, and that He fore God, delivering that to the peoloves us. It is by the spirit of reve- ple which the Lord had revealed to lation we know this. We have no us. Such is the condition of the witness to ourselves internally, with- professed religious religious portions of out the spirit of revelation. We have Christendom to-day. They refuse no witness outwardly only by obe- to receive the testimony of Jesus. dience to the ordinances. through revelation from His spirit; but they believe in the mutterings, About the time I was preparing Thus whisperings, and rappings of low, His apostles that they were sincere foul, degraded spirits, who delight to and honest in their belief. lead astray rather than to guide to they were entitled to the spirit of the truth. They "Seek unto them revelation through their obedience. that have familiar spirits, and unto They asked and they did receive, wizards that peep, and that mutter; "not the spirit of bondage again to should not a people seek unto their fear, but the spirit of adoption, God for the living to the dead ?" | whereby we cry Abba, Father. The Unless we are willing to be guided spirit itself bearing witness with our by the revelations of the spirit of the spirit that we are the children of Almighty, by obeying and living up God." While the same Holy Spirit, to the principles of His gospel, we or comforter, becomes the testimony are as apt to believe one thing as of Jesus to all true believers, "He another, and to be influenced by, and will reprove the world of sin, and of follow the dictations of a bad spirit righteousness, and of judgment;" for as a good one. We have the same in the days of the Savior many who testimony as the faithful followers did not receive the gospel were of the Lord Jesus had anciently. pricked in their hearts, and they did perish, although convinced of its truth. And so it is to-day; wherever the gospel is preached by the Elders of this Church many are pricked in their hearts, and they testify in their own conscience that it is from heaven, and yet they will not receive the gospel, and perish in their sins. They smother the spirit of conviction within them, and go into greater darkness than before. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." When a man or woman anciently renounced the Jewish religion, or any of the sects of it that then existed among the Jews, forsaking every mode of worship excepting that which Jesus introduced, it was regarded as a sufficient testimony that they were honest— that they were born of God—and all the sincere and honest believers received the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, and received power to become His sons. No. No. was The scriptures made use of by Elder George A. Smith this morning, show the way in which the former Saints became the sons of God. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." Who did receive Him and believe on His name? Did the Jews as a nation? Did the Gentiles as nations? A few Jews and a few Gentiles only received Him and believed on His name. When the gospel preached to the Jews and to the Gentiles, a few had ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts that understood by the spirit of revelation; they believed the sayings of the Savior, and received the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. It is written, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth." Again, it is written, "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me." The disciples believed the words of the Savior, and proved to Him and to I think, however, that the rendering of this Scripture is not so true as the following, namely: "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to continue to be the sons of God." Instead of receiving the gospel to become the sons of God, my language would be-to re- | ceive the gospel that we may continue to be the sons of God. Are we not all sons of God when we are born into this world? Old Pharoah, King of Egypt, was just as much a son of God as Moses and Aaron were His sons, with this difference-he rejected the word of the Lord, the true light, and they received it. For "this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." Then we receive not the gospel that we may become the sons of God, but that we may remain the sons of God without rebuke. Inasmuch as all had apostatized, they had to become the sons of God by adoption, still, originally, all were the sons of God. We receive the gospel, not that we may have our names written in the Lamb's book of life, but that our names may not be blotted out of that book. 66 For," saith the Lord, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life." Why? Because he had overcome through his faithfulness. My doctrine is that there never was a son and daughter of Adam and Eve born on this earth whose names were not already written in the Lamb's book of life, and there they will remain until their conduct is such that the angel who keeps the record is authorized to blot them out and record them elsewhere. These are my views on that intricate point, but we are satisfied to use this Scripture as it is rendered by our translators. shall they know that they believe in Him? By yielding obedience to the gospel as it is revealed to us in this generation, at the same time believing in all that has been revealed to others until now, concerning the children of men, the character of God, the creation of the earth, the ordinances of the Lord's house, the oracles of truth-believing in all things that have been revealed to mankind from the time that the Lord first began to reveal His will to them. Now, we say to the people of the nineteenth century, and we speak the truth and lie not, whosoever believes that Joseph Smith, jun., was a prophet sent of God, and was ordained by Him to receive and hold the keys of the Holy Priesthood, which is after the order of the Son of God, and power to build up the kingdom of God upon the earth, to gather the house of Israel, to guide all who believe and obey to redemption, to restore that which has been lost through transgression-whosoever believes this, believing in the Lord, and obeying His commandments to the end of their lives, their names shall not be blotted out of the Lamb's book of life, and they shall receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal life. I This is for the nineteenth century, for the generation of people now living, and who lived thirty or thirty-seven years ago. am not now preaching to a congregation of unbelievers, but to the Saints; and I now say to you, Saints, and to the unbelievers, that all who reject the gospel, who despise the principles of life and salvation that have been delivered to us, they must I now wish to make an application taste of the second death if they do of this to our own day. By what not repent. There may be some, means shall the people of this gene- however, who are so ignorant that ration become the sons and daughters repentance is yet left for them. This of the Almighty? By believing on is the gospel that we preach, the testhe Lord Jesus Christ? Yes. Howtimony which we send forth to the word of the Lord through the pro- I have sent, time world, inculcating strict obedience to | few tarried in Missouri and apostathe requirements of heaven, which is tized. When the persecuted and expected from all who embrace this driven Saints reached Illinois, the gospel. For example, Joseph, the prophet, said to the Colesville branch, "sell your farms.' So he said to other branches, "gather up and let us go to the Ohio," and they went, and from the Ohio to Missouri. Before we went to the Ohio, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer jun., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson started in the fall of 1830 to visit the land where the centre take of Zion was afterwards located. When Joseph went up he located the city. Those who had farms and stores were instructed to sell out, to forsake all, to give to the poor, and to impart of their substance to sustain this elder, clothe another elder, and to send another on his mission, which they did, and up they got, and to the Ohio and to the Missouri they moved. What other people would have done this? They are not to be found in Christendom. While in Missouri they moved from county to county, and then back east into Illinois; for, thus said the Lord, through the prophet Joseph, return to Illinois, and there the prophet was killed. Then the word of the Lord to us was: gather up my people, and flee to the mountains, and hide yourselves, and there wait until you shall see the hand of the Lord made bare, and the wrath of the Almighty poured out upon the wicked nation that has consented to the death of my prophets. Impart of your substance, was the word of the Lord to them, and who were there in all those trains of Saints that did not impart of their substance? When we left Missouri we covenanted before the Lord that we never would cease our endeavours until the last man, woman, and child should be brought out of Missouri to Illinois who wanted to be moved. A Who believes Joseph Smith to be a prophet? These my brethren and sisters who are now sitting before me. They entertain no doubts on this subject. They may sometimes be tempted and tried, and neglect their prayers, until they hardly know whether "Mormonism" is true or untrue. The cares of the world, we know very well, flood in upon them; but let me tell you one thing-and I want you to seriously remember it if you are in darkness, and have not the spirit of prayer, still do not neglect your prayers in your families in the morning. You, fathers and husbands, get down on your knees, and when the cares of this world intrude themselves upon your devotions, let them wait while you remain on your knees and finish your prayers. Brother Daniel D. Hunt's blessing over a dinner in Missouri, |