Some of you have read the history
of the power of the devil in , when the fallen angels that
are upon the earth made war upon
Brother , Brother ,
Brother and Brother , who had all they could do to
live in the midst of that kind of
warfare. These evil spirits knocked
down Brother Russell and Brother
Hyde. They didn't Brother Kim-
ball; but that power fell upon him.
His eyes were opened. He saw the
spirits before him; he saw what
kind of beings they were. They
gnashed their teeth; they were mad;
they wanted to destroy the lives of
the brethren. These men held the
Priesthood. Brother Kimball held
the keys of the Priesthood, so far as
England was concerned. These
spirits had not, therefore, the power
to destroy them.
Brother Kimball, Brother and myself had a similar
experience in , at a house
where we were stopping. It seemed
as if there were legions of spirits
there. They sought our destruction;
and on one occasion, after Brother
Kimball had left, these powers of
darkness fell upon us to destroy our
lives, and both Brother Smith and
myself would have been killed, ap-
parently, had not three holy mes-
sengers come into the room and
filled the room with light. They
were dressed in temple clothing.
They upon our
heads and we were delivered, and
that power was broken, so far
as we were concerned. Why
did the Lord send these men to us?
Because we could not have lived
without it; and, as a general thing,
angels do not administer to anybody
on the earth unless it is to preserve
the lives of good men, or to bring
the Gospel, or perform a work that
men cannot do for themselves. That
is the reason and other
angels of God visited and taught
. They quoted to him
whole chapters in the Bible—in
, and —and
told him what must come to pass in
the last days. [Joseph Smith-History 1:30-47] It was necessary for
these angels to give him the Priest-
hood. There was no mystery at all
with regard to what was taught
him. He knew it was of God.
These very principles sustained Jo-
seph Smith from the hour the
Gospel was delivered to him until
he sealed his testimony with his
blood.
Now, I have had all these testi-
monies, and they are true. But
with all these, I have never had
any testimony since I have been in
the flesh, that has been greater
than the testimony of the Holy
Ghost. That is the strongest testi-
mony that can be given to me or to
any man in the flesh. Now, every
man has a right to that, and when
he obtains it, it is a living witness
to him. It deceives no man, and
never has. Lucifer may appear to
man in the capacity of an angel of
light; but there is no deception with
the Holy Ghost. We do not par-
ticularly need the administration of
angels unless we are in a condition
similar to that in which Brother
Kimball, Brother Smith and my-
self were placed, when we could not
save our lives without them.
I say to you, as Brother
has, the Kingdom of God is here.
The Priesthood is here. The of God are
here. They will remain here.
It makes no difference whether
Joseph Smith, ,
, Wilford Woodruff, or
anybody else, remain; while these
keys are here we have a right to
know the mind and will of God; and
when we do our duty, when we live
our religion, we shall have these
principles manifested to us. I know
what awaits this nation. I know
what awaits the Latter-day Saints.
Many things have been shown to me
by vision and by revelation. I know
that the Latter-day Saints have need
to repent of all their darkness, all
their unbelief and all their disunion
that they have in Zion. Our power,
our salvation, our exaltation, our re-
demption, our glory and our prepa-
ration for the of the Son of
Man, depend entirely upon our own
acts. As was said today, if we are
not united, we shall be chastised by
the power of God. But the Lord
said: "Fear not, little flock, the
kingdom is yours until I come." [Doctrine and Covenants 35:27]
No matter if earth and hell com-
bine against us, we are in His
hands, and He has said that He will
guide and direct the affairs of the
Kingdom. The Lord is no different
today from what He was in the days
of , of , of Christ, of
Joseph, of Brigham. The Latter-
day Saints should seek for the . We have great power and
great blessings given unto us. As
has been said here, look at our
condition today, and compare it
with what it has been in years
past. Some of you were ac-
quainted with our former condition.
Here is Brother . He
was in . He was
shot through the body; but his life
was preserved by the power of God.
We were driven away; our property
was burned and destroyed. The
Lord told us to importune at the
feet of the Judge and the Governor,
and if they did not heed us, to im-
portune at the feet of the President.
And if the President would not
heed us, then the Lord would come
forth out of His hiding place, "and
in His fury vex the nation, and in
His hot displeasure and in His fierce
anger, in His time, will cut off those
wicked, unfaithful and unjust
stewards, and appoint them their
portion among hypocrites and unbe-
lievers, even in outer darkness,
where there is weeping, and wail-
ing, and gnashing of teeth." [Doctrine and Covenants 101:86-91] Do
you think the Lord told the truth?
Yes, He did; and not one jot
or tittle will fall unfulfilled.
If our nation does not give us our
rights; if they continue to oppress
and persecute us, these things are in
the hands of God. More than 50
years ago the Prophet Joseph re-
ceived a revelation which said:
"Behold, verily I say unto you,
the angels are crying unto
the Lord day and night, who
are ready and waiting to be sent
forth to reap down the field." [Doctrine and Covenants 86:5] These
angels wanted to go and reap down
the earth. But the Lord said in
effect, "No; wait till the earth is
warned; wait till the nations of the
earth have the Gospel of Christ
preached unto them; wait till they
have a chance to repent and receive
the Gospel, if they will. When this
is done, then you may go down."
Brethren, the heavens are full of
judgment. And as the Lord told
the people at the commencement of
this work, "If the nation will re-
pent, if they will obey my law and
keep my commandments, I, the
Lord, will save these judgments;
otherwise they shall be poured out,
as I, the Lord, have spoken." These
things are true. The judgments of
God will increase from this hour,
until the land is deluged in blood.
War will overtake our nation. The
civil war, the war between the
North and the South, which laid in
the dust nearly a million of men
and cost the nation many hundred
millions of dollars, was only the be-
ginning of suffering. Had this na-
tion listened to the counsels of Jo-
seph Smith and heeded them, this
war and the terrible suffering which
it entailed would have been avoided.
But the judgments of the Lord are
not yet ended. He is going to fulfill
His work.
Now, my object, and your object,
is—at least it should be—to try to do
our duty. I have got to meet the
Apostles; I have got to meet the -
Some of you have read the history
of the power of the devil in , when the fallen angels that
are upon the earth made war upon
Brother , Brother ,
Brother and Brother Russell, who had all they could do to
live in the midst of that kind of
warfare. These evil spirits knocked
down Brother Russell and Brother
Hyde. They didn't Brother Kimball; but that power fell upon him.
His eyes were opened. He saw the
spirits before him; he saw what
kind of beings they were. They
gnashed their teeth; they were mad;
they wanted to destroy the lives of
the brethren. These men held the
Priesthood. Brother Kimball held
the keys of the Priesthood, so far as
England was concerned. These
spirits had not, therefore, the power
to destroy them.
Brother Kimball, Brother and myself had a similar
experience in , at a house
where we were stopping. It seemed
as if there were legions of spirits
there. They sought our destruction;
and on one occasion, after Brother
Kimball had left, these powers of
darkness fell upon us to destroy our
lives, and both Brother Smith and
myself would have been killed, apparently, had not three holy messengers come into the room and
filled the room with light. They
were dressed in temple clothing.
They laid their hands upon our
heads and we were delivered, and
that power was broken, so far
as we were concerned. Why
did the Lord send these men to us?
Because we could not have lived
without it; and, as a general thing,
angels do not administer to anybody
on the earth unless it is to preserve
the lives of good men, or to bring
the Gospel, or perform a work that
men cannot do for themselves. That
is the reason and other
angels of God visited and taught
. They quoted to him
whole chapters in the Bible—in
, and —and
told him what must come to pass in
the last days. It was necessary for
these angels to give him the Priesthood. There was no mystery at all
with regard to what was taught
him. He knew it was of God.
These very principles sustained Joseph Smith from the hour the
Gospel was delivered to him until
he sealed his testimony with his
blood.
Now, I have had all these testimonies, and they are true. But
with all these, I have never had
any testimony since I have been in
the flesh, that has been greater
than the testimony of the Holy
Ghost. That is the strongest testimony that can be given to me or to
any man in the flesh. Now, every
man has a right to that, and when
he obtains it, it is a living witness
to him. It deceives no man, and
never has. Lucifer may appear to
man in the capacity of an angel of
light; but there is no deception with
the Holy Ghost. We do not particularly need the administration of
angels unless we are in a condition
similar to that in which Brother
Kimball, Brother Smith and myself were placed, when we could not
save our lives without them.
I say to you, as Brother
has, the Kingdom of God is here.
The Priesthood is here. The keys
of the Kingdom of God are
here. They will remain here.
It makes no difference whether
Joseph Smith, ,
, Wilford Woodruff, or
anybody else, remain; while these
keys are here we have a right to
know the mind and will of God; and
when we do our duty, when we live
our religion, we shall have these
principles manifested to us. I know
what awaits this nation. I know
what awaits the Latter-day Saints.
Many things have been shown to me
by vision and by revelation. I know
that the Latter-day Saints have need
to repent of all their darkness, all
their unbelief and all their disunion
that they have in Zion. Our power,
our salvation, our exaltation, our redemption, our glory and our preparation for the coming of the Son of
Man, depend entirely upon our own
acts. As was said today, if we are
not united, we shall be chastised by
the power of God. But the Lord
said: "Fear not, little flock, the
kingdom is yours until I come." Doctrine and Covenants 35:27
No matter if earth and hell combine against us, we are in His
hands, and He has said that He will
guide and direct the affairs of the
Kingdom. The Lord is no different
today from what He was in the days
of , of , of Christ, of
Joseph, of Brigham. The Latterday Saints should seek for the Spirit
of God. We have great power and
great blessings given unto us. As
has been said here, look at our
condition today, and compare it
with what it has been in years
past. Some of you were acquainted with our former condition.
Here is Brother . He
was in . He was
shot through the body; but his life
was preserved by the power of God.
We were driven away; our property
was burned and destroyed. The
Lord told us to importune at the
feet of the Judge and the Governor,
and if they did not heed us, to importune at the feet of the President.
And if the President would not
heed us, then the Lord would come
forth out of His hiding place, "and
in His fury vex the nation, and in
His hot displeasure and in His fierce
anger, in His time, will cut off those
wicked, unfaithful and unjust
stewards, and appoint them their
portion among hypocrites and unbelievers, even in outer darkness,
where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." Doctrine and Covenants 101:86-91 Do
you think the Lord told the truth?
Yes, He did; and not one jot
or tittle will fall unfulfilled.
If our nation does not give us our
rights; if they continue to oppress
and persecute us, these things are in
the hands of God. More than 50
years ago the Prophet Joseph received a revelation which said:
"Behold, verily I say unto you,
the angels are crying unto
the Lord day and night, who
are ready and waiting to be sent
forth to reap down the field." Doctrine and Covenants 86:5 These
angels wanted to go and reap down
the earth. But the Lord said in
effect, "No; wait till the earth is
warned; wait till the nations of the
earth have the Gospel of Christ
preached unto them; wait till they
have a chance to repent and receive
the Gospel, if they will. When this
is done, then you may go down."
Brethren, the heavens are full of
judgment. And as the Lord told
the people at the commencement of
this work, "If the nation will repent, if they will obey my law and
keep my commandments, I, the
Lord, will save these judgments;
otherwise they shall be poured out,
as I, the Lord, have spoken." These
things are true. The judgments of
God will increase from this hour,
until the land is deluged in blood.
War will overtake our nation. The
civil war, the war between the
North and the South, which laid in
the dust nearly a million of men
and cost the nation many hundred
millions of dollars, was only the beginning of suffering. Had this nation listened to the counsels of Joseph Smith and heeded them, this
war and the terrible suffering which
it entailed would have been avoided.
But the judgments of the Lord are
not yet ended. He is going to fulfill
His work.
Now, my object, and your object,
is—at least it should be—to try to do
our duty. I have got to meet the
Apostles; I have got to meet the El-