Signs of the Times (J. Smith)

Joseph Fielding Smith

Deseret Book Company
Salt Lake City, Utah


1952 Joseph Fielding Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company,
P.O. Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein
are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company.

Deseret Book is a registered trademark of Deseret Book Company.

Foreword

These six talks on The Signs of the Times were delivered at the request of the sisters who have charge of the Lion House Social Center. The first talk was given
October 14, 1942, in the large recreation rooms in the Lion House, but the attendance was so great that it was decided that the five other talks should be given in
Barratt Hall each Wednesday night until the six were completed. It was very gratifying to see that building filled to its capacity each night with people who were all
greatly interested in the development of events which are unfolding in these days of fulfillment of the words of the prophets. It is true that the hearts of men are failing
them while the whole world is torn asunder by vicious, deadly strife, indicating that the great day of the Lord is near, even at our doors. Under these conditions the
Saints have been commanded to stand in holy places and be not moved and to turn their hearts in humility and faith and look for the fulfilling of the promises of the
coming of the glorious reign of Millennial peace.

There have been so many requests for these articles that it becomes necessary to have them produced in pamphlet form. Let it be understood that much more might
have been said of the deepest interest in relation to the Signs of the Times, than could be said in six limited public discourses. I have taken the liberty to add a few other
vital thoughts to help round out what had previously been said. In these discussions speculation and uncertain conclusions I have tried to avoid and merely present the
facts as they have been predicted by the seers and as we see them unfolding each day before our eyes.

I wish to acknowledge the kind help extended by the Deseret News Staff, and the excellent reporting of these talks by Miriam E. Parker.

Very sincerely,

Joseph Fielding Smith The Signs of the Times

LESSON ONE

The End Known From the Beginning

Made By Elder Joseph Fielding Smith October 14 1942 in the Lion House.)

I have been invited to give a number of talks on the subject of "The Signs of the Times."

This subject is of the greatest importance today, especially to all members of the Church. It is my purpose tonight to begin at the beginning, and show that the Lord
knew the end from the beginning, and that the events which are taking place in the world today, as well as all things that have taken place in all ages, were known to
Him and that He has revealed through His servants the Prophets these things which were to be in all ages of the history of the world.

The first things, therefore, that we will discuss will be what I am pleased to call "The Lord's Blueprint of the Creation." We read in the scriptures in several places that
all things are before Him, and He has said in one of the revelations:

"Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of
eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes; I am the same
which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me."-D. and C. 38:1-3.

Again he has said:

"By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven
and earth, and all things which are in them."-D. and C. 20:17.

Again we read: "He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before Him, and all things are round about Him, and He is above all things, and in all things, and is
through all things, and is round-about all things; and all things are by Him, and of Him, even God forever and ever."-D. and C. 88:41.

The Lord's Blueprint of Creation

In the very earliest ages the Lord made known to His servants, the prophets, the history of this earth, its destiny and also the destiny of its inhabitants to the end of time.
I feel sure that all of this was revealed to Father Adam and we know that it was later recorded by Enoch. This story, as far as it has been given to us by Enoch we will
speak of a little later.

At this point I wish to call attention to the account of creation given to Abraham. I call this the Lord's "Blueprint," because it is different from the account in Genesis and
also in the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, in one respect. The accounts of creation in the Bible and in the writings of Moses seem to be the story of
creation after the events portrayed had taken place. In the Book of Abraham we have the account of creation as it was determined upon in the heavens before the earth
was formed. The three accounts in the main agree in detail, but there are some few things in the writings of Abraham, which are just a little more specific and we are
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                                                  events before the actual building of the earth and the placing of life upon it. Let me read a few passages from   this1 / 41
account:
At this point I wish to call attention to the account of creation given to Abraham. I call this the Lord's "Blueprint," because it is different from the account in Genesis and
also in the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, in one respect. The accounts of creation in the Bible and in the writings of Moses seem to be the story of
creation after the events portrayed had taken place. In the Book of Abraham we have the account of creation as it was determined upon in the heavens before the earth
was formed. The three accounts in the main agree in detail, but there are some few things in the writings of Abraham, which are just a little more specific and we are
informed that this account was a record of the events before the actual building of the earth and the placing of life upon it. Let me read a few passages from this
account:

"And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered;

"And the Gods pronounced the dry land, earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they great waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed."

Creation Story Told

Here again we learn that in the beginning all the water was in one place and, naturally then, all the land surface was in one place, just as we read in Genesis. Now to
continue the reading:

"And the Gods said: Let us prepare the earth to bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own
likeness upon the earth, and it was so, even as they ordered.

"After His Kind"

"And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth
to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed."

Then after concluding this account we read showing that this was the contemplated organization and not the finished product:

"And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from evening
until morning they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and they numbered the sixth time.

"And thus we will finish the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of them . . . On the seventh time we will end our work, which we have counseled; and we will rest
on the seventh time from all our work which we have counseled."

You will see from this account that all this is the record as the organization was counseled before the earth was. Moreover, you will see in this account, a much clearer
statement to the effect that each plant and animal was destined to bring forth after its kind, and could not come forth in any other manner, for that was the definite law as
it was given.

Story of Enoch

We now come to the story of Enoch. For some good purpose, I think that those who are willing to believe might have knowledge of some of these events, the Lord
revealed to Enoch the history of this earth and its inhabitants from the beginning to the end, but only a part of this has come to us because of our hardness of heart and
unbelief. If the Lord should reveal to us all that He taught Enoch and other prophets, there would be many members of the Church who would rebel and turn away in
opposition to it. We have the assurance, however, that some day, when we are willing to approach the Lord with a contrite spirit and in full faith, that all of these things
will be made known to us, but they cannot come in the days of wickedness. In the Doctrine and Covenants Section 107, verse 57, the Lord has said: "These things
were all written in the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time."

Let us, then, consider some of the things that have been revealed to Enoch which we are permitted to have, and which the world does not have because of their
unbelief. Because of his righteousness and his ability to lead others in truth and obedience, Enoch gathered out from among the people all those who were willing to
keep the commandments of the Lord. They became so righteous that in course of time the Lord translated them and took them from the earth. Most of this knowledge
revealed to Enoch about the earth, he received after he had been taken up and could look down upon the earth, and the Lord opened to his vision and showed him all
the inhabitants of the earth, and what should befall them to the latest generation.

As Wicked Today

Now I believe that the world today is just as wicked, just as corrupt as it was in the days of Noah. You know the Lord said that the days preceding his second coming
would be like the days of Noah, that is, "all flesh has corrupted its way upon the earth." Naturally someone will wonder why, when in the days of Noah he and his
family were the only ones saved and yet today there are thousands of people who have obeyed the commandments and come into the Church from all parts of the
world, that I make a statement such as this. Let me call your attention to a condition which prevailed in the days of Enoch which makes all the difference in the world. In
his day the Lord gathered together all the righteous and they with Enoch were taken from the earth, and later before the flood if any repented and accepted the truth
they too were caught up to the people of Enoch, so that when the time came to cleanse the earth with water, only Noah and his family remained of the righteous, and
they were left that the race of mankind might be perpetuated after the flood. This we learn from the record we have obtained.

The flood was nothing more or less than the cleansing of the earth by baptism. Once again in the near future the earth will be baptized, not by water, for the Lord
covenanted with Enoch that He would not again destroy the world by water, but at the coming of our Lord the earth is to receive a baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost.

If the Lord should do today what He did before the flood, and remove from the earth all the righteous, I am convinced that the condition would be just as bad as it was
before, and that among the ungodly the wickedness is just as great as it was in the days of Noah.

History Revealed to Enoch

To get back to our story: The history of the world was revealed to Enoch from the beginning to the end. All the wickedness both in the days of Noah, in the Meridian
of Time and in the last days, was shown to him. He saw all of the inhabitants of the earth. He saw the days of the flood and then again the earth peopled with inhabitants
over all its face and again men forgetting God and rebelling against light and truth, setting up their own governments in defiance of the laws of God. The days of the
Meridian of Time were shown to him, and he saw the Son of God lifted on the cross as a sacrifice for the transgression of Adam and for the redemption of all who
were willing to accept the Gospel and endure to the end. When these things were presented before him Enoch wept and he was greatly astonished to see the Lord
weep and he said:

"How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains? How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy and from all eternity to
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The Lord answered him by saying that He and the hosts of heaven wept because of the rebellion of mankind. The Lord does not delight in seeing people suffer, but
when they break the commandments of the Lord and rebel against all that is good, they must suffer, and this is the vengeance which is meted out to them all because of
weep and he said:

"How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains? How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy and from all eternity to
all eternity?"

The Lord answered him by saying that He and the hosts of heaven wept because of the rebellion of mankind. The Lord does not delight in seeing people suffer, but
when they break the commandments of the Lord and rebel against all that is good, they must suffer, and this is the vengeance which is meted out to them all because of
their own iniquity.

Suffering Explained

Furthermore the Lord said to Enoch in explanation of this suffering:

"Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden,
gave I unto man his agency.

"And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are
without affection, and they hate their own blood.

"And the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in My hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them.

"Behold I am God; Man of Holiness is My name; Man of Counsel is My name; and Endless and Eternal is My name also.

"Wherefore I can stretch forth Mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and Mine eye can pierce them also, and among all the workmanship of Mine
hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren."

This is a terrible arraignment against the inhabitants of this earth. Perhaps this is the reason Jesus Christ was sent here instead of to some other world, for in some other
world they would not have crucified Him, and His presence was needed here because of the extreme wickedness of the inhabitants of this earth.

The Earth Mourns

Enoch looked down upon the earth and we read:

"He heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall
I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest and righteousness for a season abide upon
my face?"

And when Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept again, and he plead with the Lord to hearken to the pleading of the earth and have compassion upon her and he said:
"When the Son of Man cometh in the flesh, shall the earth rest? I pray thee, show me these things."

"And the Lord said unto Enoch: Look, and he looked and beheld the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, after the manner of men;

"And he heard a loud voice, and the heavens were veiled; and all the creations of God mourned; and the earth groaned; and the rocks were rent; and the saints arose,
and were crowned at the right hand of the Son of Man, with crowns of glory.

"And as many of the spirits as were in prison came forth, and stood on the right hand of God; and the remainder were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment
of the great day."

Enoch Pleads Again

Then Enoch beheld the Savior ascend up to the Father, and again he plead saying:

"Wilt thou not come again upon the earth? Forasmuch as Thou art God, and I know Thee, and Thou hast sworn unto me, and commanded me that I should ask in the
name of Thine Only Begotten; Thou hast made me, and given unto me a right to thy throne, and not of myself, but through Thine own grace; wherefore, I ask Thee if
Thou wilt not come again on the earth.

"And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfill the oath which I have made unto you,
concerning the children of Noah.

"And the day shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall
shake, and also the earth; and great tribulation shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve."

Then these days were shown to Enoch and again we read:

"But before that day he saw great tribulations among the wicked; and he also saw the sea, that it was troubled, and men's hearts failing them, looking forth with fear for
the judgments of the Almighty God, which should come upon the wicked.

"And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world; and he saw the day of the righteous, the hour of their redemption; and received a fulness of
joy."

A Day of Preparation

To me this has always been of the greatest interest. I am glad that the Lord revealed this to Enoch and that we have it, for it will tend to prepare us to meet the situation
as we find it in these days of "wickedness and vengeance," and to be prepared through faithfulness, to be worthy when that great day shall come, after the wars,
commotions and tribulations have passed away and righteousness proclaimed and the pleading of the earth has fully been accomplished that peace and rest and
righteousness may dwell upon her face for a season.
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Once again the Lord revealed to an ancient prophet this history from the beginning to the end of time. When the brother of Jared went up in the mountain with the
as we find it in these days of "wickedness and vengeance," and to be prepared through faithfulness, to be worthy when that great day shall come, after the wars,
commotions and tribulations have passed away and righteousness proclaimed and the pleading of the earth has fully been accomplished that peace and rest and
righteousness may dwell upon her face for a season.

Revealed to Brother of Jared

Once again the Lord revealed to an ancient prophet this history from the beginning to the end of time. When the brother of Jared went up in the mountain with the
sixteen small stones and asked the Lord to touch them so that they would shine and give light in the barges as the Jaredites crossed the great waters, so great was his
faith that he saw the finger of the Lord. Evidently before this visitation he did not know as much about the person of the Lord as we do today. He fell to the ground with
astonishment and after he gained control of himself and had been assured by the Lord, he asked that the Lord reveal His whole body to him, and this Jesus did, for it
was Jesus Christ who touched these stones. Now if any one present thinks for a moment that our Savior had a body of flesh and bones before He was born a babe in
Bethlehem, I want to say to you that this was the body of His spirit which the brother of Jared saw and it was in the same form and likeness which His body received
when He came in the flesh upon the earth.

Our Redeemer had no body of flesh and bones until He came upon this earth, and all the mighty works that He did before that time were done while He was a spirit.
When the brother of Jared saw the body of the Lord and conversed with Him, the Lord commanded Him to write in a language which no man could read all that the
Lord revealed to him, and this revelation was the history of the earth by prophecy from the beginning to the end thereof.

Saw All Things

Like Enoch, the brother of Jared saw all things, but he was commanded to seal up this record, the Lord saying unto him that He would give to him two stones which he
should also seal up with this record and in the due time of the Lord these stones would be the means by which the record would be translated.

Nephi speaking of this record said:

"And behold, the book shall be sealed and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.

"Wherefore because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people.
Wherefore the book shall be kept from them."

However, the promise is made that the day will come when the contents of this book will be revealed from the house tops, "and they shall be read by the power of
Christ and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth."

The Wicked Would Mock

The world in its wickedness would only mock at these things and say that they are not true, if they were revealed, for the wise men of the earth would say such things
are foolishness and contrary to their worldly theories. Yes, even members of the Church, unless their hearts are pure and free from all evil would not be able to receive
them. For this reason they cannot be had until that day arrives when we are all willing to abide in the truth with full confidence in the revelations of the Lord. After the
Lord appeared to the Nephites, these things were revealed and they had them in those days when they were of one heart and of one mind and had "the Love of God in
their hearts," but after they began to transgress the laws of the Lord the prophets were commanded to seal them up again, and the Lord said:

"They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

"And in that day that they shall exercise faith in Me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in Me, then will I manifest unto
them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all My revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of
the earth, and all things that in them are."

Revealed to Ether

A few of the things that were seen and which have a bearing upon our day have already been mentioned in the revelations given to Enoch. Another ancient prophet,
Ether, also a Jaredite, had the heavens opened to his view, and the Lord made known to him many things that the brother of Jared saw, but not all. Ether saw our day.
He saw the wars, bloodshed, tribulations following the coming of Jesus Christ and the Lord revealed to him the people of Israel and the building of the city of Jerusalem
and even the name of the city was made known to him. The redemption made by Jesus Christ was shown to him and he saw in the last days the coming of our Lord in
power and great glory to establish His reign upon the earth after the great days of tribulation and suffering poured out upon the wicked. He saw the City Zion, or "New
Jerusalem," and declared that it would be built upon this western continent. He saw the coming of the new heaven and the new earth, which means the restoration of the
earth to its primitive cleanliness and condition at the coming of Jesus Christ, which is to be a part of the great restoration of all things. He saw the reign of peace for a
thousand years and the final destiny of the earth when it shall be celestialized to shine as the sun, and Moroni who recorded this history says he was about to write more
but the Lord forbade him, and therefore the members of the Church as well as the rest of the world which shall be spared when the cleansing comes, will have to wait
until that day to have the fulness of these records. Surely we will be greatly astonished, if we are found worthy to receive them, for we will find these things very
different in many respects to the philosophies and theories of the world.

Conclusion

Perhaps you think this that I have said has very little to do with the signs of the times as they concern us today. However, I feel that it is well to get this fact before us as
the starting point, that the Lord knew the end from the beginning that He has revealed His secrets to His servants the prophets and while much that was revealed in the
beginning is still sealed up and cannot come forth in these days of wickedness, nevertheless the Lord has made known His purposes from time to time, and He has
declared many things which have been proclaimed as a warning to us, and to help us that we may be prepared to endure these days of tribulation and be worthy to
stand before Him at the last day when He comes.

In the talks which shall follow we will try to discover in the prophecies, the predictions in relation to the restoring of all things to their primitive condition, and the
judgments which are to precede the coming of our Lord.

May the Lord bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

LESSON TWO

The Restoration of All Things
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(Remarks Made By Elder Joseph Fielding Smith October 21 1942 in Barratt Hall.)
LESSON TWO

The Restoration of All Things

(Remarks Made By Elder Joseph Fielding Smith October 21 1942 in Barratt Hall.)

One week ago we endeavored to show that the Lord knew the end from the beginning and that He had revealed to His prophets from the very beginning the history of
this earth, and I read from the Scriptures to show that such a record had been kept and was hidden and the Lord would not let us have it until we can reach that
condition of faith that we will be willing to accept the things that He has recorded. Until we can get out of our hearts those things that harden our hearts and make us
skeptical and prevent us from believing the simple truths as the Lord has revealed them we need not look for those great hidden revelations to come.

Tonight I think what I am going to say will have a bearing upon the signs of the times. I intend to treat the subject of The Restoration of All Things.

We very often hear our preachers say-and we read it in the revelations-that this is a day of restoration. Now, let's find out just what that means. What is to be restored?
What has been taken away? What is it that existed in the beginning that has been changed?

When the Savior was on the mount of transfiguration certain things were revealed to Peter, James and John which set them to thinking. They got a vision on that
mountain of transfiguration of things as they were going to be when the earth is brought back to its primitive condition. The Lord has revealed the following:

"He that endureth in faith and doeth My will, the same shall overcome, and shall receive an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come;

"When the earth shall be transfigured, even according to the pattern which was shown unto mine apostles upon the mount; of which account the fullness ye have not
received."-D. and C. 63:20-21.

The Earth to be Restored

This transfiguration is the same spoken of in our Tenth Article of Faith and has reference to the restoration of the earth to its previous condition in the beginning when
Adam was in the Garden of Eden, and not to the final change that shall come to the earth when it is celestialized.

These disciples began to question the Lord about the restoration and wanted to know when it would be, for they were a little puzzled. He said to them that Elias must
first come and restore all things, and then He said Elias had already come and the people would not receive him, having reference to John; but when John came in the
Dispensation of the Meridian of Time he did not come to restore all things. He came as an Elias to prepare the way before the ministry of our Lord, but the Savior
taught His disciples that there must come a restoration of all things and that prophets would have to be sent to bestow the keys of that restoration in the last days.

Now, we will refer to some of these prophecies and these statements in regard to the restoration a little later, but first let's see if we can find out what changes have
taken place and what there is to be restored.

All Things Were Good

We read in the Bible that when the Lord had completed the building of this earth He pronounced all things good. "And I, God, saw everything that I had made, and,
behold, all things which I had made were very good; and the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

I said in the beginning of the first talk that I base everything I say upon these Scriptures, that the Standard Works of the Church are the measuring rods the Lord has
given us by which we are to measure every doctrine, every theory and teaching, and if there is anything that does not conform to that which is given to us in the
revelations, we do not have to accept it. Whether I say it or anyone else says it, whether it comes through the philosophy of men, or whenever a statement is made, that
is in conflict with what the Lord has revealed, you should know what course to take. So far as I am concerned, I will just put it aside. And I don't care how many men
may believe it. I don't care how much backing it has in the world of so-called science or philosophy. If it does not harmonize with what the Lord has revealed, to me it
is not worth anything.

Now, the Lord says when He had finished these works He pronounced them "very good." All right. If everything was very good-and can you imagine the Lord creating
anything that was not good? What in the world are you going to do with these theories of men that place this world for millions of years in a condition of trouble, of
death, of change, of strife; what are you going to do about it? I ask you that question.

The Waters in One Place

Let us find out what the conditions were as the Lord reveals them. In the book of Abraham we read: "And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry, and it was so as they ordered."

As I said in the first talk, all the water was brought together in one place. That means the land was in one place, does it not, and you did not have a variety of islands
and continents, Now, if that is true, then we ought to be able to show from the Scriptures that the condition which prevailed in the beginning will be restored, or else it is
not a restoration of all things, and then what I am saying to you would not be true. As we go along we will see if we can prove these things.

In the Historian's office we have a volume of several hundred pages written by Dr. Reginald A. Daly, Professor of Geology of Harvard University in 1926, and the title
of it is "Our Mobile Earth." In that volume he proves, or attempts to prove, that at one time all the land surface was together, and the water was all together. That's just
what the Scriptures say. But, of course, being a geologist and wise man, he puts that condition way back millions of years ago when all of this took place.

I have here a clipping from "Believe It Or Not" by Ripley which I cut out of the paper January 15, 1941; it is too small for you to see, but I will gladly pass it around. In
this Ripley shows that you could take all the land surface of the earth, if you had the power to do so, and fit it like a jigsaw puzzle altogether again. You hang a map up
on the wall and take a look at it; and if you have one you do not care much about take your scissors and clip out along the coast of South America and North America
and see if you cannot fit them together with the coastline of Europe and Africa."

In the restoration of all things this is going to be accomplished. I am not saying that because of any statement that is made by some scientist. I am not saying it because I
have imagined such a thing, because I have looked at a map. I am saying it because the Lord Himself has said it. If you are willing for me to depart from the standard
works of the Church and present to you some of the sayings that have been made by some of the leaders of the Church, I would like to read one or two things to you;
at least, to show that I am not so far off the track. I have good company, anyhow. When I have the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and Parley P. Pratt and
Orson Pratt and John Taylor and others all on my side, I think I have some pretty good company, and I would rather have that company than this uncertain company
that has an idea that things began way back millions, no, billions of years ago in the sea and have developed to what they are now. Here's a statement from President
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Brigham Young.

Testimony of Brigham Young
works of the Church and present to you some of the sayings that have been made by some of the leaders of the Church, I would like to read one or two things to you;
at least, to show that I am not so far off the track. I have good company, anyhow. When I have the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and Parley P. Pratt and
Orson Pratt and John Taylor and others all on my side, I think I have some pretty good company, and I would rather have that company than this uncertain company
that has an idea that things began way back millions, no, billions of years ago in the sea and have developed to what they are now. Here's a statement from President
Brigham Young.

Testimony of Brigham Young

"Who placed the dark stain of sin upon this fair creation?"

Now, before I read any more, do you get a thought there, that we had a fair creation before the blot of sin was placed upon it? That was in his mind, was it not?

"Who placed the dark stain of sin upon this fair creation? Man. Who but man shall remove the foul blot, and restore all things to their primeval purity and innocence?"

What did he mean by "primeval purity"? Did not he have reference to what I have read to you, what the Lord said, that everything was good? Now to continue the
quotation:

"But can he do it independent of heavenly aid? He cannot. To aid him in his work, heavenly grace is here. Heavenly wisdom, power and help are here, and God's laws
and ordinances are here. The angels of just men made perfect are here. Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, with prophets, apostles, and saints, ancient and modern, are
here to help man in the great work of sanctifying himself and the earth for final glorification in his paradisiacal state. All of this will be accomplished through the laws of
the Holy Priesthood. Some may regret that our first parents sinned. This is nonsense. If we had been there and they had not sinned, we should have sinned. I will not
blame Adam or Eve. Why? Because it was necessary that sin should enter into the world. No man could ever understand the principle of exaltation without its
opposite. No one could ever receive an exaltation without being acquainted with its opposite. How did Adam and Eve sin? Did they come out in direct opposition to
God and His government? No! But they transgressed the command of the Lord and through that transgression sin came into the world."

Mark that: "Sin came into the world." That does not quite harmonize with the philosophy of the world does it? Because according to the philosophy of the world that
we get in our schools sin was always here; that is what we call sin was always here. They do not call it sin. But let me finish reading what President Young said:

"The Lord knew they would do this, and He had designed that they should. Then came the curse upon the fruit, upon the vegetables, and upon our mother earth, and it
came upon the creeping things, upon the grain in the field, the fish in the sea, and upon all things pertaining to this earth, through man's transgression." Discourses 157-8.

Now, that's President Brigham Young, so do not go off and condemn me for repeating it. I have been condemned for saying that sort of thing, and that's why I am
going to fortify myself by letting someone else say it.

Franklin D. Richards' Testimony

Now in our little Compendium I read:

"The word atonement signifies deliverance through an offering of a ransom from the penalty of a broken law. The sense is expressed in Job 33:34, 'Deliver him from
going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.' As affected by Jesus Christ, it signifies the deliverance through His death and resurrection, of the earth and everything
pertaining to it, from the power which death had obtained over them through the transgression of Adam."

These brethren declare that not only Adam but the earth and everything upon it partook of the fall through man's transgression. So said President Brigham Young. So
says Franklin D. Richards, who compiled this little book.

Death Would Not Have Entered

Now, here again from President Young:

"It is very true had not sin entered the world and opposition been introduced death would not have entered. From that time to this death, opposition, selfishness, malice,
anger, pride, darkness, and wickedness of every description that could be confronted by the children of men as they have multiplied and spread abroad on the earth
have increased." J. of D. 1:234-5.

President John Taylor

I am going to quote from Parley P. Pratt, but I am not going to take it from Parley P. Pratt's writings for this good reason. I am going to quote what Parley P. Pratt said
from a little work prepared by President John Taylor called "The Government of God," and when he was writing it he said Parley P. Pratt stated this so much better
than he could, so he just took what Parley P. Pratt said and put it in the body of his book. So that is a testimony from both of them.

"Now, restoration signifies a bringing back, and must refer to something which existed before, for if it did not exist before, it could not be restored. . . "

Will anybody dispute that? How can you restore something that did not exist before?

"Now we can never understand precisely what is meant by restoration, unless we understand what is lost or taken away. For instance, when we offer to restore
anything to a man, it is as much as to say he once had it and had lost it and we propose to replace it, or put him in possession of that which he once had; therefore,
when a prophet speaks of restoration of all things, he means that all things have undergone a change and are to be again restored to their primitive order even as they
first existed."

Now that's perfectly clear, is it not?

Creation As It Was

"First, then, it becomes necessary for us to take a view of creation as it rolled in purity from the hands of the Creator; and if we can discover the true state in which it
then existed and understand the changes that have taken place since, then we shall be able to understand what is to be restored; and thus our minds being prepared, we
shall be looking for the very things which will come and shall be in no danger of lifting our puny arm in ignorance to oppose the things of God.

"First, then, we shall take a view of the earth as to its surface, local situation, and productions. When God had created the heavens and the earth and separated the light
from  the darkness,
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" 'And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.' From this we learn a marvelous fact,
which very few have ever realized in this benighted age. We learn that the waters which are now divided into ocean, seas, and lakes were then all gathered together into
shall be looking for the very things which will come and shall be in no danger of lifting our puny arm in ignorance to oppose the things of God.

"First, then, we shall take a view of the earth as to its surface, local situation, and productions. When God had created the heavens and the earth and separated the light
from the darkness, His next great commandment was to the water." (Gen. 1:9)

" 'And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.' From this we learn a marvelous fact,
which very few have ever realized in this benighted age. We learn that the waters which are now divided into ocean, seas, and lakes were then all gathered together into
one vast ocean; and consequently, that the land which is now torn asunder and divided into continents and islands almost innumerable, was then one vast continent or
body, not separated as it is now.

"Second, we hear the Lord pronounce the earth as well as everything else very good. From this we learn that there were neither deserts, barren places, stagnant
swamps, rough broken hills, nor vast mountains covered with eternal snow; and no part of it was located in the frigid zones so as to render its climate dreary and
unproductive, subject to eternal frost or everlasting chains of ice . . . but the whole earth was probably one vast plain or interspersed with gently rising hills and sloping
vales well calculated for cultivation. * * *

Man First to Fall

"First man fell from his standing before God by giving heed to temptation, and this fall affected the whole creation as well as man and caused various changes to take
place. He was banished from the presence of his Creator and the veil was drawn between them, and he was driven from the Garden of Eden, to till the earth, which
was then cursed for his sake, and should begin to bring forth thorns and thistles; and with the sweat of his face he should earn his bread and in sorrow eat of it all the
days of life and finally return to dust."

Erroneous Views

I have much more here, some very fine things said by some of the other brethren, but this answers my point. Let us contrast these with what some wise men of the
world have had to say.

This is from the celebrated John Fisk:

"Theology has much to say about original sin. This original sin is neither more nor less than the brute-inheritance which every man carries with him."-The Destiny of
Man, p. 103.

This from Dr. E. W. MacBride at the Oxford Conference of Modern Churchmen:

"If mankind have been slowly developing out of ape-like ancestors, then what is called sin consists of nothing but the tendencies which they have inherited from these
ancestors; there never was a state of primeval innocence, and all the nations of the world have developed out of primitive man by processes as natural as those which
gave rise to the Jews."-The Modern Churchman, Sept. 1924, p. 242.

This reminds me of the following. It is recorded that Frederick the Great once asked his chaplain to give him the shortest possible proof of the inspiration of the Bible
and the chaplain replied-"The Jews, your Majesty." Surely the persistence of this race under all the vicissitudes through which they have passed is a miracle.

Doctor H. D. A. Major said: "Science has shown us that what is popularly called 'original sin' . . . consists of man's inheritance from his brute ancestry."

Correct View of Wesley

So you see, according to the teachings of these men-and this is the teaching the world is giving you-Adam did not transgress a law and bring sin into the world, as the
Scriptures say he did. Now, let me quote a saying from John Wesley. He just hits this thing squarely on the nose.

"The fall of man is of the very foundation of revealed religion. If this be taken away, the Christian system is subverted, nor will it deserve so reasonable an appellation as
that of a cunningly devised fable."-Wesley's Works, Volume 1, Page 76. Then he said, "All who deny this, call it original sin or by any other title, are but heathens still in
the fundamental points which differentiate heathenism from Christianity."

Good for John Wesley.

A Blasphemous Doctrine

You have all heard of Sir Oliver Lodge. See how his teachings strike at the very fundamentals of our faith.

"As a matter of fact, the high man of today is not worrying about his sins at all, still less about his punishment. His mission, if he is good for anything, is to be up and
doing, and insofar as he acts wrongfully or unwisely he expects to suffer. He may unconsciously plead for mitigation on the grounds of good intention, but never either
consciously or unconsciously will anyone but a cur ask for the punishment to fall on someone else nor rejoice when told that it has already so fallen."-Man and the
Universe, p. 204.

Now, this is a wicked thrust at our doctrine of the Atonement. We are curs because we believe that Adam transgressed; Christ came into the world to atone for that
transgression and give us again life, that we might have it more abundantly, and this man said if you believe that you are a cur. There is no sin. It's just what we have
inherited from our brute ancestors.

What the Scriptures Teach

Let's go to the Scriptures. I would like to call your attention to this passage, because it was quoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith by Moroni. When Peter was talking to
the Jews, he said this: "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord;

"And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

"Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts
3:19-21.)
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Now, Moroni quoted these verses to the Prophet Joseph Smith and said that this time was about to be fulfilled, the restitution of all things, spoken of by Moses,
repeated here by Peter to the Jews, and again by Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
"And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

"Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts
3:19-21.)

Now, Moroni quoted these verses to the Prophet Joseph Smith and said that this time was about to be fulfilled, the restitution of all things, spoken of by Moses,
repeated here by Peter to the Jews, and again by Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Paul wrote to the Ephesian Saints:

"Having made known unto us the ministry of his will, according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him."

Now, these prophets of old, understood this matter of the restoration, and here Paul points out very clearly that the time of the restoration was to be in the dispensation
of the fulness of times, and the Prophet Joseph Smith was instructed by angels and by the Lord Himself as you find it written in Section 27 of the Doctrine and
Covenants that the dispensation we are in is the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which all things are to be restored.

Let me refer you to the Tenth Article of Faith. We have accepted these Articles of Faith as doctrine. "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration
of the Ten Tribes, that Zion will be built upon this-(the American) continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth will be renewed and
receive its paradisiacal glory."

Paradisiacal Glory to be Restored

Now, how is it going to be renewed if it is not going to be brought back to some condition which one time prevailed? The earth is to be renewed and is to receive its
paradisiacal glory. Somebody may be thinking right now that the Prophet had reference to the celestialized earth when he wrote that article, for this earth is going to be
celestialized, but that is not what the Prophet had reference to in the Tenth Article of Faith. The earth, to be renewed, is to be restored to something that was, not to
something which is yet to come which never was before. This earth never has been glorified as a celestial body. It is going to be restored to the condition which
prevailed in the beginning, and it will not receive its resurrection and celestial body until after the millennium, but I call your attention to this statement which we have
accepted as a revelation. This is in the Doctrine and Covenants.

"What are we to understand by the book which John saw, which was sealed on the back with seven seals?

"We are to understand that it contains the revealed will, mysteries, and works of God; the hidden things of his economy concerning this earth during the seven thousand
years of its continuance, or its temporal existence." (D. and C. 77:6)

What is a temporal existence? And what was the earth before it became temporal?

Words of Isaiah

I find a passage of Scripture in the book of Isaiah, in the 65th chapter, beginning with the 17th verse, I want to read to you.

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." That is, the earth as it is now, this mundane earth
covered all over its face with wickedness will not be remembered when this change comes. We will be glad to get rid of this condition, and we will not bring it up to
mind. Remember, in speaking of the heavens he is not referring to the sidereal heavens. He is speaking of that which pertains to our own earth, the heavens in which the
birds fly.

"But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

"There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred
years old shall be accursed." (Isaiah 65:17-20)

You can see that does not have any reference at all to the earth when it is celestialized. This new heaven and earth has nothing to do at all with this earth as it will be
after it dies and is raised in the resurrection to be a celestial body because then there will not be any death at all. It is going to be restored as nearly as possible to what
it was in the beginning. This is coming to pass when Christ comes, and that's part of this restoration. Now, I am very grateful that the Lord made this known. Let me
finish this chapter in Isaiah.

"And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

"They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the
work of their hands.

"They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 65:21-25)

Every Corruptible Thing Consumed

In the 101st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants we get a little further light on this, and I want you to see that this is not the celestialized earth. This is the restored
earth. This is a thing we are talking about in that Tenth Article of Faith.

"And prepare for the revelation which is to come, when the veil of the covering of my temple, in my tabernacle, which hideth the earth, shall be taken off, and all flesh
shall see me together.
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"And every corruptible thing, both of man, or of the beast of the field, or of the fowls of the heavens, or of the fish of the sea, that dwells upon all the face of the earth,
shall be consumed;
earth. This is a thing we are talking about in that Tenth Article of Faith.

"And prepare for the revelation which is to come, when the veil of the covering of my temple, in my tabernacle, which hideth the earth, shall be taken off, and all flesh
shall see me together.

"And every corruptible thing, both of man, or of the beast of the field, or of the fowls of the heavens, or of the fish of the sea, that dwells upon all the face of the earth,
shall be consumed;

"And also that of element-" that is, corruptible element-"shall melt with fervent heat; and all things shall become new, that my knowledge and glory may dwell upon all
the earth."

This is when Christ comes. This is the beginning of the Millennium when this takes place. This is part of that restoration, and we are getting today some of the signs in
fulfillment of this.

"And in that day the enmity of man, and the enmity of beasts, yea, the enmity of all flesh, shall cease from before my face.

"And in that day whatsoever any man shall ask, it shall be given unto him."

What did Isaiah say? Before you get through asking, I will answer. The lion, as well as the lamb, these animals that now are so filled with vicious habits will then be at
peace, and so it says here there will be no enmity between man and beast, and we will not delight to go off and kill deer when that time comes.

"And in that day whatsoever any man shall seek, it shall be given unto him.

Children Shall Not Die

"And in that day Satan shall not have power to tempt any man.

"And there shall be no sorrow because there is no death."

Oh, no, this is not the resurrection. This does not mean we will pass from mortality to immortality. You will see that now in the verse I am going to read.

"In that day an infant shall not die until he is old. And his life shall be as the age of a tree;

"And when he dies he shall not sleep, that is to say in the earth, but shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and shall be caught up and his rest shall be
glorious." (Doc. & Cov. 101:23-31)

So during the Millennium there will be no death. Children will not die. Disease will be banished. This is part of the restoration. But that child, when it has reached a
certain age, the age of a tree, a hundred years we read in Isaiah, will be changed like that. It will die when it is old. It will pass from the mortal to the immortal state,
suddenly and so they will not need to make graves, and that is bringing us back again to that original condition just as near as we can. Of course, the Lord could not at
that time do away with mortality. We have got to have mortals upon the earth. All during the Millennium we have got to have mortals here to do the work for those who
have passed on because they cannot do the work for themselves in the Temple. All these ordinances pertain to the mortal life.

Telestial Conditions Until Christ Comes

Now, I want to make an explanation. When Adam was in the Garden of Eden he lived in the presence of God. I told you that last week. He was taught His language,
and so Adam had a perfect language. It was not a bow-wow language, as some will tell you. It was the Lord's language, but Adam transgressed the law. He was
driven out of the presence of the Father and became mortal. The seeds of death were planted in his soul. Before that he was not subject to death at all.

Well, from the time of Adam's fall until now, and so it will continue until Christ comes, this earth has been subject to telestial conditions, and the telestial dominates the
earth. The inhabitants of the telestial world, have most of all the good things today. And so I say, when I have to sit in the bus or in a car going to a conference and
some dirty, filthy man or woman sits right near and begins to puff smoke in my face, I say to myself, Oh, well, it's your world. This is the telestial world. I am in it. I am
not of it, but I am in it, and you are having your day."

And so it will continue until Christ comes.

A New Heaven and Earth

Now, when Christ comes, we will get a new heaven and a new earth and all of these corruptible things will be removed. They will be consumed by fire; and somebody
said, "Brother Smith, do you mean to say that it is going to be literal fire?" I said, "Oh, no, it will not be literal fire any more than it was literal water that covered the
earth in the flood."

Now, when Christ comes, we will get a new heaven and a new earth and every corruptible thing will be destroyed. Everything that pertains to the telestial Kingdom,
every person that has lived a telestial law will be swept off. You read the first verses of the last chapter of Malachi. He tells you that the inhabitants of the earth will be
burned when Christ comes and all the wicked who are not destroyed before he comes shall be as stubble and they will be consumed. They can't stay here. Why?
Because this earth is going to pass from the telestial to a terrestrial order. That is why. It will be a terrestrial world for a thousand years, and that's why death is
suspended.

We learn now from the revelations that John the Disciple is still on the earth. He has not died. He was translated, and the inhabitants of the earth will have a sort of
translation. They will be transferred to a condition of the terrestrial order, and so they will have power over disease and they will have power to live until they get a
certain age and then they will die; and if a man does not keep the commandments and will not obey the Gospel, when he dies it is going to be pretty tough for him
because under those conditions every man ought to receive the truth, and eventually they will, because Isaiah tells you that the time will come when the knowledge of
God will cover the earth as the waters do the sea.

Now, do you know how the waters cover the sea? Why, everybody knows that. That's an easy one, isn't it? And so for a thousand years we are going to have a lovely
world restored to the conditions which prevailed before death came into the world.

How Death Came
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In order to clinch this matter about how death got into this world, I am going to read to you from these Scriptures again. Here is what the Lord taught Adam right in the
beginning. "Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can
dwell there, or dwell in his presence.
world restored to the conditions which prevailed before death came into the world.

How Death Came

In order to clinch this matter about how death got into this world, I am going to read to you from these Scriptures again. Here is what the Lord taught Adam right in the
beginning. "Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can
dwell there, or dwell in his presence.

"Therefore, I give unto you a commandment to teach these things freely unto your children, saying:

"That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I
have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even
the blood of mine Only Begotten."

Here we have a plain statement by the Lord Himself, that by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death. Well, if the fall brought death, then death
was not here before the fall, was it?

I will give you another quotation: "For as death has passed upon all men to fulfill the merciful plan of the Great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection
and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall." I don't care what Sir Oliver Lodge says. "And the fall came by reason of transgression and
because men became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord." That is the teachings of the Gospel.

Now, to come to some of these signs of the times of our own day and what the Lord has said about the restoration:

To the Lord All Things Spiritual

In the 29th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, we read-"Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto
you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created."

What do you get out of that? Adam was not created temporally. Neither was anything else.

The Lord tells us in the 133rd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants how the Jews are to return to Jerusalem. That's where they are going. How the tribes of Israel are
to come here, to the children of Ephraim to receive their blessings. We will have more to say perhaps later about the gathering of Israel, both of the Jews to Palestine
and Israel here, and the coming of the ten lost tribes. You know, a lot of people have an idea that these tribes that are lost are not lost at all, they are just coming in
among us all the time. They are not coming in among us all the time. We are gathering scattered Israel, but those tribes have not come yet. They will come when the
Lord gets ready. You know, they are building a highway up here through Canada to Alaska. I do not know just what they are doing it for-presumably to fight the
Japanese. This is only a thought; don't go away and say I state it as a fact-I have just wondered if they are not building that road to fulfill the promise the Lord made, as
a highway for those lost people to eventually use when they come to the children of Ephraim? The Lord does a lot of wonderful things in a mysterious way. Let us see
what He says.

In the North Countries

"And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and
they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.

"And an highway will be cast up in the midst of the great deep.

"Their enemies shall become a prey unto them." (Doc. and Cov. 133:26-28.)

They are going to come in a body wherever they are. Somebody will come along and say, "Brother Smith, they can not be in the north country because men have been
up to the North Pole." I did not say they were up at the North Pole. The Lord has not said they were up at the North Pole. I don't know where they are. If I did, they
would not be lost. But, now, here are some of the things the Lord has revealed that throw light upon those things that I called attention to in the beginning of my
remarks, the condition that prevailed upon this earth before the transgression of Adam. Listen to what the Lord says here:

"Wherefore, prepare ye for the coming of the Bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him.

"For behold, he shall stand upon the mount of Olivet, and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, and upon the land of Zion.

"And he shall utter his voice out of Zion, and he shall speak from Jerusalem, and his voice shall be heard among all people;

"And it shall be a voice as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, which shall break down the mountains, and the valleys shall not be
found." (Doc. and Cov. 133:19-22)

Islands to Become One Land

"He shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land." (Doc. and Cov. 133:23.)

How can it go back if it was not there before? You answer that for me. "And the islands shall become one land." That's part of the restoration. Did not the Lord tell us
in the beginning that land was in one place and the water in one place? Naturally, if the lands are to go back again there will be an awful shaking.

"And the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into their own place and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided."

"And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh." (Doc. and Cov. 133:24-25.)

This is going to come when Christ comes. That's part of the restoration. If the keys of the Priesthood were not here first, it would not be done.

Here is another statement in Section 49, verse 23.
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   Not Deceived                                                                                                                                          Page 10 / 41

"Wherefore, be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness, looking forth for the heavens to be shaken and the earth to tremble and to reel to and fro as a drunken man,
This is going to come when Christ comes. That's part of the restoration. If the keys of the Priesthood were not here first, it would not be done.

Here is another statement in Section 49, verse 23.

Be Not Deceived

"Wherefore, be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness, looking forth for the heavens to be shaken and the earth to tremble and to reel to and fro as a drunken man,
and for the valleys to be exalted, and for the mountains to be made low, and for the rough places to become smooth-and all this when the angel shall sound his
trumpet."

This is in our modern Scripture. There is a lot like it, in the old Scriptures. This one is from Ezekiel:

"For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

"So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the
face of the the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the
ground." (Ezekiel 38:19-20).

After the thousand years are ended, the earth is going to die. It will die because it is a living mortal thing and then it is going to be raised in the resurrection, by the
power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, just the same as the resurrection of any human being upon its face. This earth will be restored, and finally it will be a
celestialized body. When that time comes, all those people upon the face of the earth who have lived in a terrestrial law and been privileged to stay upon the face of the
earth, will have to move out. They can not stay here, for when this earth is exalted and becomes a celestial body nobody is going to live on it but celestial beings; so if
you want to go somewhere else, you can live the terrestrial law or the telestial law, but if you do live a telestial law you have no inheritance here.

The Lord bless you I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Footnotes

    1. To my great astonishment this has been misunderstood by some, who failed to recognize the irony of this remark. For the benefit of such I will say I do not know
of any other kind of water except literal water-H20, the kind we drink, bathe in, and which makes floods and drowns people. I think fire which consumes will also be
literal when it comes. J.F.S.

LESSON THREE

Restoration of Israel and Judah

(Remarks Made By Elder Joseph Fielding Smith October 28 1942 in Barratt Hall.)

In our discussion tonight I hope we may have a profitable time in considering again other phases of the restoration of all things. I intend to show tonight some prophetic
utterances which are today being fulfilled. One of the strange things to me is that men can read the Bible and consider themselves experts in its history and
interpretation, and yet fail to comprehend the fact that the prophets of old spoke, as the Scriptures say, as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, predicting many
things that would take place in the days in which we live, and these things are actually taking place, but these great scholars seemingly do not see them.

I do not know whether I will get through with all I have to say tonight or not. First, I will speak of the restoration of Israel and Judah. We could spend all the time
tonight on that alone, and if we have time we will speak of the building of the Temple in the city of Zion, and the building of the New Jerusalem, the return of the lost
Tribes, and the second advent of our Savior in power.

Interprets Isaiah

I will read from the 18th chapter of Isaiah because this has to do with this latter day work. I think I will present it all. The way it begins in the King James version is:
"Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." This is a mistranslation. In the Catholic Bible it reads: "Ah, land of the whirring of
wings, beyond the rivers of Cush," and in Smith and Goodspeed's translation it reads: "Ah! Land of the buzzing of wings, which lies beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." The
chapter shows clearly that no woe was intended, but rather a greeting, as indicated in these other translations. A correct translation would be, "Hail to the land in the
shape of wings." Now, do you know of any land in the shape of wings? Think of your map. About twenty-five years ago one of the current magazines printed on the
cover the American continents in the shape of wings, with the body of the bird between. I have always regretted that I did not preserve this magazine. Does not this
hemisphere take the shape of wings; the spread out wings of a bird? Now to continue the reading:

"Hail to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.

"That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes"-and the word "bulrushes" is also wrong. The meaning is vessels of speed. "That sendeth
ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their
beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!"

The Holy Land

Do you know of any land like that? Terrible in the beginning and later meted out and scattered, peeled and a curse upon the land? That land is Palestine. I have a
clipping I took out of a newspaper in 1925, which portrays this condition before and shortly after the end of the first "World War." I do not call it the "first World War,"
but this opinion does not enter into this discussion now. This article is entitled "Planting in the Holy Land," and is as follows:

"The treeless slopes and valleys of Palestine are gradually being reforested, according to an official statement which states that nearly 3,000,000 trees and 1,000,000
vines have been planted in the Holy Land between 1920 and 1924.

"Palestine became denuded of its forests owing to Turkish misrule and neglect, which resulted in the abrasion of some of the best soil from the hillsides and in the
accumulation of malaria swamps in the valleys.

"The work of afforestation began 40 years ago, when the first Jewish settlements were founded, but received a great impetus after the war, when, under the British
mandate, greater opportunities for development were opened for Jews. The government department of agriculture has planted 1,285,062 trees during the past four
 Copyright
years;      (c) 2005-2009,
       the Palestine         Infobase
                     foundation          Media Corp.
                                fund, affiliated agencies of the World Zionist organization, 672,933 trees; the supreme Moslem council, 14,700; whilePage    11 /were
                                                                                                                                                     the balance   41
planted by individuals, mostly settlers in the Jewish agricultural colonies."
accumulation of malaria swamps in the valleys.

"The work of afforestation began 40 years ago, when the first Jewish settlements were founded, but received a great impetus after the war, when, under the British
mandate, greater opportunities for development were opened for Jews. The government department of agriculture has planted 1,285,062 trees during the past four
years; the Palestine foundation fund, affiliated agencies of the World Zionist organization, 672,933 trees; the supreme Moslem council, 14,700; while the balance were
planted by individuals, mostly settlers in the Jewish agricultural colonies."

Trees Swept Off

We read in the Scriptures of the great cedars of Lebanon, and the trees upon the mountains. These were swept off when the curse came upon the land, and the rains
have washed down the soil into the valleys where the rivers have spoiled the land as Isaiah predicted. If you wish to read more about this curse which came upon
Palestine, you will find it recorded in the 26th chapter of Leviticus, the 4th and 28th chapters of Deuteronomy, and many other places, where Moses and the prophets
predicted that it would come. Now to return to our reading:

"All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when He (that is the Lord) lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when He bloweth a trumpet,
hear ye."

Where was an ensign lifted up? Here in America, and the Lord calls upon all the world to take notice when this ensign is lifted upon the mountains, and He was to send
ambassadors by vessels of great swiftness to this nation scattered and peeled, whose land the rivers had spoiled.

"For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

"For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the springs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut
down the branches.

"They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth; and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall
winter upon them."

"In that time (the last days) shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning
hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion."

Refers to Missionaries

This chapter is clearly a reference to the sending forth of the missionaries to the nations of the earth to gather again this people who are scattered and peeled. The
ensign has been lifted upon the mountains, and the work of gathering has been going on for over one hundred years. No one understands this chapter, but the Latter-
day Saints, and we can see how it is being fulfilled.

There are a great many passages on the scattering and gathering of Israel. I am going to read one or two of them. First from the 4th chapter of Deuteronomy, because it
goes back to the days before Israel ever possessed the land of Palestine. You know Moses was not permitted to cross the river Jordan but had to remain with all the
adults who came out of Egypt, because he too murmured and complained on one occasion. This is what Moses said to Israel:

"And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations (that is to say, if you reject the commandments the Lord has given you), and ye shall be left few in number among the
heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

"And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

"But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

"When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord they God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice:

"For the Lord thy God is a merciful God; He will not forsake thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them."

In this chapter there is a promise that they will be scattered if they rebel, and a promise that in the latter days, when they repent and turn from their evil ways, the Lord
will gather them again. The very time when this should be, is pointed out in this chapter.

To the Mountain of the Lord's House

We are all familiar with Isaiah chapter two, at least the first five verses.

"And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and
all nations shall flow unto it.

"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and
we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

We have frequently quoted these verses, but we have failed to study the verses which follow, and they all have to do with our present day. One significant thing in it is
that the Lord says we would throw our idols of gold and silver which men worship in these days, to the moles and the bats, and we have nearly done this, have we not?
You do not have much gold and did not the Government take it and bury it? This is close to giving it to bats and moles.

I will also read this passage from Jeremiah, in the 16th chapter:

"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall not more be said, the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

"But, the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them; and I will bring them again into
their land that I gave unto their fathers.

"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and
from every hill,
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"For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from My face, neither is their iniquity hid from Mine eyes."
their land that I gave unto their fathers.

"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and
from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

"For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from My face, neither is their iniquity hid from Mine eyes."

A Great Gathering

The Lord said to Israel, when you repent, when you get ready to do My will, I will bring you back from your long dispersion, and it shall no longer be said that the
people came up from the land of Egypt, because this gathering will so greatly overshadow the exodus from Egypt that it will be forgotten.

If I should ask you who are here tonight to raise your hands and tell me where you or your parents came from, we would discover that some came from Scotland and
some from England, some from Scandinavian countries, Germany, Holland, and most other parts of the earth. We have come to Zion, but we have only seen the
beginning of the gathering. When the Ten Tribes return and when the Lord breaks down the mountains at their presence, and the everlasting hills tremble, and an
highway is built for them, it will be greater than the journey out of Egypt. This is all yet to be; but we see how we have been gathered out from the nations in fulfillment
of these prophecies. It is not necessary for me to go any more into the details of the gathering of the House of Israel.

Gathering of the Jews

I want to spend a little time now, because I think it is important, on the gathering of the Jews. I will read from the Book of Mormon:

"Behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they (that is the Jews) shall believe in Me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that
they shall be restored in the flesh upon the earth, and unto the lands of their inheritance.

"And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth; and the nations of the
Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of Me, saith God, in carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.

"Yea, the kings of the Gentiles shall be nursing fathers unto them, and their queens shall become nursing mothers; wherefore, the promises of the Lord are great unto the
Gentiles, for He hath spoken it, and who can dispute?"-2 Nephi 10:7-9.

Isaiah says this same thing, but I prefer to take it from the Book of Mormon. One more passage of Scripture, from 2 Nephi 30:7.

"And it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many
as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people."

Will Begin to Believe

Perhaps that is all I need to read in regard to this question, but I wish to say something now about the Jews and see if they are beginning to believe in Christ or not, and
if they are now commencing to gather to their promised land in fulfillment of these predictions. One hundred years ago if the name of Jesus Christ had been favorably
mentioned in a Jewish synagog, the entire congregation would have been greatly offended. If you have the History of the Church, Volume 3, turn to page 356, and you
will find a letter written by Rabbi Landau to his son who had become a Christian. It is a letter from a heartbroken father to a wayward son, and the father says that this
is the hardest blow that he ever received and the punishment was almost more than he could bear.

We have seen that the Book of Mormon states that in the last days the Jews will begin to believe in Christ. You know that some of the critics of the Book of Mormon
declare that it is a stupid work written by Joseph Smith or by someone for him, but how could Nephi say that in the last days the Jews would be gathered again and
they would begin to believe in Christ? How could Joseph Smith say it, even, one hundred years ago, when the Jews so bitterly rejected all things that were Christian?

I have several statements here depicting the present day attitude of the Jews concerning Jesus Christ. Isaac K. Funk, of the publishing house of Funk & Wagnalls, got
out an edition of George Croly's work on the "Wandering Jew," in 1901. The first edition of this work was published in 1827. Dr. Funk gathered from leading Jews
their opinions concerning Jesus and published them in this work, which he gave the title "Tarry Thou Until I Come." Some of these expressions I will read.

Rabbi Henry Berkowitz of Philadelphia:

"This Jew, Jesus, is the greatest, noblest rabbi of them all."

A Jew of Jews

Isadore Singer, Ph.D.:

"I regard Jesus of Nazareth as a Jew of the Jews, one whom all Jewish people are learning to love. His teaching has been an immense service to the world in bringing
Israel's God to the knowledge of hundreds of millions of mankind. The great change in Jewish thought concerning Jesus of Nazareth, I cannot better illustrate than by
this fact:

"When I was a boy, had my father who was a very pious man, heard the name of Jesus uttered from the pulpit of our synagog, he and every other man in the
congregation would have left the building and the rabbi would have been dismissed at once. Now it is not strange in many synagogs, to hear sermons preached
eulogistic of this Jesus, and nobody thinks of protesting-in fact, we are all glad to claim Jesus as one of our people."

Morris Jastrow, Jr., Ph.D.:

"From the historic point of view Jesus is to be regarded as a direct successor of the Hebrew prophets. His teachings are synonymous with the highest spiritual
aspirations of the human race. Like the prophets, He lays the chief stress upon pure conduct and moral ideas, but He goes beyond the prophets in His absolute
indifference to theological speculations and religious rites. It has been commonly said that the Jews rejected Jesus. They did so in the sense in which they rejected the
teachings of the earlier prophets, but the question may be pertinently asked, Has Christianity accepted Jesus? . . . The long hoped-for reconciliation between Judaism
and Christianity will come when once the teachings of Jesus shall have become the axiom of human conduct."

Acclaim Jesus
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Max Nordau, M.D.:
and Christianity will come when once the teachings of Jesus shall have become the axiom of human conduct."

Acclaim Jesus

Max Nordau, M.D.:

"Jesus is soul of our soul, as He is flesh of our flesh. Who, then, could think of excluding Him from the people of Israel? St. Peter will remain the only Jew who said of
the son of David, 'I know not the man.'

"If the Jews up to the present time have not publicly rendered homage to the sublime moral beauty of the figure of Jesus, it is because their tormentors have always
persecuted, tortured, assissinated them in His name.

"The Jews have drawn their conclusions from the disciples as to the Master, which was wrong; a wrong pardonable in the eternal victims of the implacable, cruel hatred
of those who called themselves Christians. Every time a Jew mounted to the source and contemplated Christ alone without his pretended faithful, he cried with
tenderness and admiration, putting aside the Messianic mission, 'This man is ours. He honors our race, and we claim Him as we claim the Gospels-flowers of Jewish
literature, and only Jewish.' "

Nephi's Prophecy Fulfilled

This shows the changed feelings of the Jews today, and we see that Nephi's prophecy is being fulfilled. Now what about the return of the Jews to Palestine? We find
recorded in the book of Luke, chapter 21, a very important prophecy made by our Lord:

"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

"Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto."

Permit me to fly off on a tangent. A very strange statement this is, made by our Lord, to tell the people in Jerusalem that when they saw that city compassed by armies,
then they were to flee, but the Savior meant just what He said. When Titus came and laid siege to Jerusalem, of a sudden he withdrew again. This was the signal to all
who remembered the words of the Lord and they fled as He had commanded. Then Titus came back and continued the siege, and it was perhaps the worst siege the
world has ever known. The Lord has said:

"For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

"But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and the wrath upon this people.

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled."

In the Hands of "Infidels"

We have seen this fulfilled in our day. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews were scattered over all the earth, and there were scarcely 8,000 Jews left in
Palestine. Jerusalem became a prey, and so did Palestine, to the Gentile nations. Many times the fanatical Christians of Europe attempted to wrest the Holy Land from
the grasp of the "infidel." in the so-called "crusades." In all these attempts they were defeated and the Holy Land remained in the hands of the "infidels." They were not
infidels any more so than the so-called Christians who went to fight them. Until 1917, Jerusalem was trodden down of the Gentiles. In December, 1917, General
Allenby, the British general, took his forces into Palestine and captured it almost without opposition, and this land fell into the hands of the British where it has been ever
since.

I forgot to say something I intended to say earlier, but it fits better here. When I read the Book of Mormon and the Book of Isaiah and learn that the Lord predicted
that the kings of the Gentiles would be nursing fathers to the House of Israel I am greatly impressed. Have they not been nursing fathers to scattered Israel? Have they
not carried them in their ships both to this land and to Palestine?

A Jewish Ruler

After England got possession of Palestine and after the armistice they received the mandate of Palestine, they sent a Jew down there to be governor of that land, Sir
Herbert Samuel, and he had more power down there than the King of England has in England. From the days of our Lord until Sir Herbert Samuel was sent to
Palestine, there had never been a ruler in that land who was a Jew. This was a sign to us that the words of the Lord were about fulfilled, and the days of the Gentiles
were coming to their close. The Lord does not do many things in an instant, but the sign was given for the transition of authority from the Gentiles to the House of Israel.
This will naturally take some years.

When England received the mandate of Palestine, Mr. Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent this written communication to Lord Rothchild:

"I have much pleasure in conveying to you on behalf of His Majesty's Government the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionists aspirations, which has
been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet:

"His Majesty's Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the
achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

"I would be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation."

Here was a proclamation inviting the Jews to return to Palestine which was made a Jewish state. The American Congress ratified this act a short time later. Is it not
significant in regard to this that our missionaries have been withdrawn from practically all lands except on this continent? In the Third Book of Nephi, Chapter 16, the
Lord said He would withdraw His Gospel from the nations of the Gentiles, if they would not repent. The day for the House of Israel is now at hand.

Dedicated for Return

The  land of(c)
 Copyright   Palestine was dedicated
                2005-2009,     Infobasefor the return
                                         Media  Corp.of the Jews, October 24, 1841, by Orson Hyde, but the time had not come, then, for the return of Page
                                                                                                                                                      the Jews.
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President George A. Smith again dedicated the land, in March, 1873. In 1878 an organization of Jews was formed called the Lovers of Zion, the purpose being to
establish the Jews in Palestine. The Zionist Federation was commenced in 1896, and the first conference of this organization was held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897,
and the old nationalistic spirit was revived.
Lord said He would withdraw His Gospel from the nations of the Gentiles, if they would not repent. The day for the House of Israel is now at hand.

Dedicated for Return

The land of Palestine was dedicated for the return of the Jews, October 24, 1841, by Orson Hyde, but the time had not come, then, for the return of the Jews.
President George A. Smith again dedicated the land, in March, 1873. In 1878 an organization of Jews was formed called the Lovers of Zion, the purpose being to
establish the Jews in Palestine. The Zionist Federation was commenced in 1896, and the first conference of this organization was held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897,
and the old nationalistic spirit was revived.

To return to the saying that the Gentiles should be nursing fathers to the Jews, do you know that Great Britain has spent-well, I do not know how much, but up until
some ten years ago, that nation had spent upwards of 50,000,000 pounds. A pound is about five dollars. I have here the official report of the Palestine Royal
Commission. It is filled with interesting information. Great Britain has spent millions in rehabilitating Palestine, making farms, planting vineyards, orchards, building
canals, reservoirs, hydro-electric plants all over the country and establishing industries. Other forces have also been at work. The ships of Great Britain and the United
States have carried these people back to their ancient home. While the Lord is permitting England to be punished for her sins, yet He will, I believe, not let her wholly
down, for she still has a mission in carrying on the work of the Lord in this great restoration.

Palestine Today

At the beginning of the war in 1914, there were about 80,000 Jews in Palestine. They have been returning rapidly ever since. In 1925, there were over 121,000, and
ten years later there were upwards of 400,000. The progress in agriculture, manufacturing of numerous products, the development of the natural resources, has reached
remarkable proportions. Schools and a university have been established; vineyards, orchards and farms have been developed all over the land of Palestine. The amount
of land in Jewish ownership has risen from 844,000 dunums in 1925, to 1,332,000 dunums in 1936. A dunum is about a quarter of an acre. There are now more than
200 agricultural settlements containing 100,000 people on these plots. Yet the urban population is more impressive in its development. Tel Aviv, a strictly Jewish city,
with more than 150,000 inhabitants had less than 200 houses and 2,000 inhabitants in 1914. Other cities have also sprung up and old cities have been developed anew.
Haifa in 1936 had a population of 100,000 inhabitants.

Jews Returning Home

So we see that since the armistice in 1918, the Jews have been returning in great numbers, encouraged by both the United States and the nation of Great Britain, the
latter taking over the great responsibility in this gathering movement. The prophecies are rapidly being fulfilled. The Jews are returning only partly believing in Jesus
Christ. They are willing to accept Him as a great prophet among the prophets of Israel and Judah, but not as their Deliverer, or Messiah. When our Lord shall come to
them in the calling of Deliverer, the whole land will be in siege. Jerusalem will be at the mercy of its enemies. There will be a great earthquake and the Mount of Olives
will cleave in twain forming a great valley into which the oppressed people will flee from the city for safety. At that time the enemies of the people will be destroyed.
Christ will appear to the Jews and show them His hands and His feet and then will they accept Him as their Messiah. Then, as Zechariah has predicted, every family
will mourn apart, and there will be weeping and wailing because they rejected their King. After those days there will come peace and Israel will come back into his
own. As Ezekiel has proclaimed:

A Glorious Day

"Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them
into their own land:

"And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall
they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

"Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their
dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them so shall they be my people, and I will be their God . . .

"Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary
in the midst of them for evermore.

"My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

"And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore."-Ezek. 37:21-23 and 26-28.

That will be a glorious day. Let us pray that it may speedily come. The Lord bless you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

LESSON FOUR

The Predicted Judgments-I.

(Remarks made by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, November 4, 1942, in Barratt Hall.)

Tonight I intend to take up some phases of the restoration. First, the necessity for the preaching of the Gospel before judgments can be poured out upon the world, and
then to consider some of the predicted judgments as they are given to us in the revelations of the Lord.

When the Savior met with His disciples shortly before His crucifixion they asked Him a great many questions about His second coming and the destruction of
Jerusalem; and after explaining to them that Jerusalem would be destroyed, the temple would be torn down, not one stone left upon another, He said: "And again this
Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked." (P. of G. P. p.
44.)

One of the ancient prophets stated, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing until He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Now, this is not the way it reads
in the King James version, but it is the way it ought to read and it is the way the prophet has given it.

It would not be reasonable for the Lord, according to His justice and His wisdom, to bring destruction upon the people of the earth without offering them some means
of escape, and that escape is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the people of the earth had listened to the testimony of the Elders of the Church, these calamities
today would not be upon the earth.
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A Proclamation
It would not be reasonable for the Lord, according to His justice and His wisdom, to bring destruction upon the people of the earth without offering them some means
of escape, and that escape is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the people of the earth had listened to the testimony of the Elders of the Church, these calamities
today would not be upon the earth.

A Proclamation

In the preface to the Doctrine and Covenants we have a proclamation given by our Lord, first to the Church and then to the world. He says: "Hearken, O ye people of
My church, saith the voice of Him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the
islands of the sea, listen together.

"For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall
not be penerated.

"And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.

"And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of My disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days." (D. and C. 1:1-4)

World Condemned

In rejecting the testimony of the Elders of Israel condemnation has come upon the world. In Section 84, verses 74 and 75, the Lord says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in water in My name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned,
and shall not come into My Father's kingdom where My Father and I am.

"And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not received it."

In Section 88, verses 80 to 82, I find this: "That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the
mission with which I have commissioned you.

"Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.

"Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads."

Responsibility Placed

So the Lord not only sends out his messengers to preach the Gospel, but He has placed the responsibility upon every soul who hears that testimony, not only to believe
it and receive it but to go with that message and warn his neighbor. It would not take very long if the people of the world would do that before every soul upon the face
of the earth would hear the Gospel message; and when they refuse to hear the Gospel and they refuse to take it to their neighbors, they stand condemned before the
judgment seat of God, according to that which I have read to you.

The Lord says in this very same Section, verse 73, "Behold, I will hasten My work in its time."

Again in another revelation, Section 52, verse 11, "For thus saith the Lord, I will cut My work short in righteousness, for the days come that I will send forth judgment
unto victory."

Maybe I have a wrong idea and maybe other members of the Church have incorrect ideas in regard to the preaching of the Gospel. The Lord said it should be declared
to every creature. In the passage that I have already quoted to you, the Lord said this Gospel should again be preached in all the world as a witness. How is that
Gospel being preached? Are we depending solely upon the missionaries of this Church to carry this message of salvation to the people of the world? If so, it would
take us two or three thousand years at the rate our missionaries are going from door to door, delivering their literature and doing as they have been doing for a hundred
years, for them to reach all the people.

Small in Numbers

Insofar as numbers are concerned we are insignificant. We have kept out in the mission field about 2,000 missionaries. What are 2,000 missionaries among the billions
of humanity? Not very much. So, if the Lord was dependent solely upon the missionaries, it would take a long time to get this message to all the world; but I think the
Lord is using other means and has been using other means in order to help carry this message to the world. Some of us might have to modify what we have thought
about the Gospel being preached. I remember here some years back in what we are pleased to call the Reed Smoot case. Reed Smoot was not on trial-it was the
Church-and our brethren were called to Washington and had to testify, the Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon were placed in evidence and the doctrines
of the Church were telegraphed to every part of the world and many things were said in regard to the organization of the Church, Joseph Smith, his claim that angels
came to him, that he saw the Father and the Son, and that he organized this Church by command of holy messengers that came from the presence of God, and all of
that was put in the official record.

Don't you think the Lord was doing something to get this message before the world in fulfillment of that prediction that the Gospel should be preached? I think so.
People come to me sometimes and say, "Have we ever had missionaries in Russia?" Yes, but they did not do very much. "Have we ever had missionaries in China?"
Yes, but they did not accomplish very much. "Have we ever had any in Spain?" I do not know, but everywhere in these countries people have heard of the Mormons.
It is true a lot of things went out in the press in those days that were evil. The enemies of the Church got their words in, too, but nevertheless the attention of the world
was called to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and its claim as having been established by the opening of the heavens and the coming of angels.

Press and Radio

Then, again, we have the privilege occasionally of using the press. We have had the telephone. We have had the telegraph, and in more recent years we have had the
radio and twice a year or more, we get a chance to give our message to the world on the Church of the Air. Every week our Tabernacle Choir is broadcasting. Don't
you think it is preaching the Gospel? I think it is.

Just what the Lord is going to expect in regard to the fulfilling of this prediction that the Gospel must be preached in all the world for a witness I am not prepared to say,
but I do know that He is using many agencies to bring to pass his prophecies, so this will suffice so far as the messages of the missionaries are concerned.

Here we have
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                                tonight people
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come into this Church because of things they have seen and heard that have been published when there was no Elder within a thousand miles.

Power of Missionaries
Just what the Lord is going to expect in regard to the fulfilling of this prediction that the Gospel must be preached in all the world for a witness I am not prepared to say,
but I do know that He is using many agencies to bring to pass his prophecies, so this will suffice so far as the messages of the missionaries are concerned.

Here we have in this building tonight people who have come-you or your parents-from all parts of the earth where you or they heard the gospel message. Many have
come into this Church because of things they have seen and heard that have been published when there was no Elder within a thousand miles.

Power of Missionaries

Here is another thing, something that perhaps we ourselves have overlooked, and I am sure our missionaries who go out to preach the Gospel in large measure have
overlooked it. We have not realized the extent of the power which these missionaries possess, and that is the power to seal that testimony against the world, that it may
stand against them in the judgment. I want to read one or two passages of Scripture in regard to that, first from the Doctrine and Covenants.

"Wherefore, fear and tremble, O ye people, for what I the Lord have decreed in them shall be fulfilled.

"And verily I say unto you, that they who go forth, bearing these tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth, to them is power given to seal both on earth and in heaven, the
unbelieving and rebellious." (D. & C. 1:7-8.)

Yes, sir, they have that power; and when they go before the people and bear witness of the restoration of the Gospel, to the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and
the people refuse to hear them, their testimony is sealed in the Heavens against the rebellious.

Here is another passage in the 75th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, verses 19 to 21.

"And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you, leave your blessing upon that house.

"And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you not, ye shall depart speedily from that house, and shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony against them.

"And you shall be filled with joy and gladness; and know this, that in the day of judgment you shall be judges of that house, and condemn them."

Two Purposes

Whenever I go in the mission field I try to impress this truth upon the missionaries. They are sent into the world for two definite purposes; to gather out the scattered
people of the House of Israel who are willing to repent and receive the Gospel, and to leave all others without excuse; but it is a mighty hard thing to get into the heads
of some missionaries.

I read to you a little while ago from Section 88, verses 80 to 82, and I should have read this also;

"Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry to go forth among the Gentiles for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord
shall name, to bind up the law and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come." (D. & C. 88:84)

For the Last Time

The Lord in several of the revelations speaks of sending the missionaries out for the last time-meaning, of course, that this is the dispensation of the Fulness of Times.
The Gospel is here for the last time. It is never going to be taken away again, and for the last time they are sent out to preach this Gospel to the world. The world has
rejected the message, and in Section 133 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord says something more of importance. "And upon them that hearken not to the voice of
the Lord shall be fulfilled that which was written by the prophet Moses, that they should be cut off from among the people."

And also that which was written by the prophet Malachi: "For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall
be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

"Wherefore, this shall be the answer of the Lord unto them;

"In that day when I came unto Mine own, no man among you received Me, and you were driven out.

"When I called again there was none of you to answer; yet My arm was not shortened at all that I could not redeem, neither My power to deliver.

"Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink, and die for thirst.

"I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering.

"And this shall ye have of My hand-ye shall lie down in sorrow.

"Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver you; for ye obeyed not My voice when I called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not My servants, and when they were
sent unto you ye received them not.

"Wherefore, they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness.

"These shall go away into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." (D. & C. 133:64-73.)

Testimony of Destruction

I read these to you to show the authority the Lord has bestowed upon His missionaries when He sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the world. Then following their
testimony was to come the testimony of destruction. I will have more to say about the destructions a little later, and this brings me down to number two on this outline
that you have in your hands, "Why Destruction Comes Upon the Wicked." The Scriptures say:

"And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

"And  God said
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                                                 is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with
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earth." (Genesis 6:12-13)

Just keep that in mind a minute. The Lord said He would do that. You read in Genesis, the 18th and 19th chapters, the story of the conversation between the Lord and
that you have in your hands, "Why Destruction Comes Upon the Wicked." The Scriptures say:

"And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the
earth." (Genesis 6:12-13)

Just keep that in mind a minute. The Lord said He would do that. You read in Genesis, the 18th and 19th chapters, the story of the conversation between the Lord and
Abraham over two very wicked cities, Sodom and Gomorrah; and the Lord said to Abraham, "I am going to destroy them for their wickedness," and Abraham plead
with the Lord, "If we can find fifty righteous there, will you spare the city?" "Yes." "Well, now if we can find forty righteous, will you spare the city?" "Yes." And he
brought it down to ten, and he could not find ten righteous in the city, and so the Lord said, "Get Lot out of that city and his family." His family was composed of Lot,
his wife, and two daughters, so they did not have even five righteous in these cities. So Lot and his family left the city, and the Lord rained down fire upon those cities
and destroyed them.

Promise to Abraham

Remember, the Scriptures say the Lord did it. Then let me read this also. This is the 15th chapter of Genesis and I shall begin with the 13th verse.

"And He said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred
years;

"And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

"And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

"But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Genesis 15:13-16)

When Israel did come out of Egypt the Lord gave Moses, and after him Joshua, a commandment to destroy some of these people-sweep them off the face of the earth.
The Scriptures tell us the Lord did that. You know we have some very, very wise men among us, very devout, very merciful, very kind men, filled with all the mercy in
the world; and so they cannot believe that God ever commanded any of these things. So they maintain that the belief in God is a progressive idea. I am going to read
you something on that in a minute. Yes, to believe in God is a progressive idea, and these wise men teach that the God of the old Scriptures was man-made and
therefore the God of our day is man-made. We are most intelligent today so we have a higher concept of Deity than men had anciently. We have men in the Church
and men who are teaching in this Church who hold to those contemptible views and they say they do not accept the God of the old Scriptures.

Jesus Destroyed Cities

In the Book of Mormon we find, if you will turn to the 9th chapter of the Third Book of Nephi, where Jesus Himself, speaking from the Heavens, declares that He
destroyed cities-let me read one or two of these:

"And it came to pass that there was a voice heard among all the inhabitants of the earth, upon all the face of this land, crying:

"Woe, woe, woe unto this people; woe unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the
slain of the fair sons and daughters of My people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!

"Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof.

"And behold, that great city of Moroni have I caused to be sunk in the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned.

"And behold, that great city of Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face, that
the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto Me against them.

"And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth." (III Nephi 9:1-6)

The Lord's Critics

And so it goes on, and it was Jesus Christ speaking!

These good, wise men of our day cannot stomach the God of Israel, and so they have got an idea of a progressive God because they say we have progressed and as
we get a little more intelligent naturally our God becomes more intelligent and more merciful.

I will come to this point, "The Lord's Critics Answered." I am answering them right now, and the time is going too fast. I have here a book, and I am not going to give
you the name of it because I don't want you to buy it. I am not going to advertise it by name, but it is written by a professor in one of the great colleges of our country,
and I think in the school of divinity. I will not be positive as to that, however. I do not know whether I dare tell you the title of the chapter from which I am going to
quote, for fear you will find out what book it is in and get it, and I think it is a disreputable thing. Well, here goes, the chapter is "How the Gods Change."

This author is telling how the gods change in character, and how the idea of God developed down through the ages until today people have a god who is merciful and
kind. The last chapter in this book-I fear I am revealing too much-has to do with the death of the gods. We have become so intelligent now, and we know so much that
we have outgrown the need of guidance by the gods. Such is the substance of this book. Here is a quotation, borrowed from a poem, which heads this chapter. The
poem is "Dreams and Dust." I will not give you the name of the author of this either, but this is what he says:

"As the forehead of man grows broader, so do his creeds;

And his gods they are shaped in his image, and mirror his deeds;

And he clothes them with thunders and beauty, clothes them with music and fire;

Seeing not, as he bows by their altars, that he worships his own desire."
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Changing Gods

Do you grasp that? So man makes his own god, and I believe it is written in the same book, if not I have read it in other places-this very smart saying which portrays
And he clothes them with thunders and beauty, clothes them with music and fire;

Seeing not, as he bows by their altars, that he worships his own desire."

Changing Gods

Do you grasp that? So man makes his own god, and I believe it is written in the same book, if not I have read it in other places-this very smart saying which portrays
the philosophy of the present day-"Man has created God in his own image." I want to tell you that the world today is teaching this kind of philosophy. It is found in our
schools. This author says, "The vitality of the gods is most clearly manifest in their ability to change."

In section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants and elsewhere in the Scriptures, the Lord declares that He is "unchangeable," the same "from everlasting to everlasting,"
but these wise men will not have it so.

Now to continue the quotation: "They (the gods) draw their qualities from roots stuck deep into the social lives of their peoples. As the most exalted members of the
community, higher than chief or kind, they bear heavy responsibility for the welfare of the folk. So intimately are gods bound to the men they serve, that each group puts
its own individual stamp of cultural coloring upon its gods. Line after line, their characters are etched in as they share the joys and sorrows, triumphs and defeats,
dreams and frustrations of those who trust them. All significant changes in the restless human scene are reflected in the lives of the gods. As long as they are alive they
take on new forms, with this advantage over their mortal devotees that they belong to the unseen world and are able to develop without restraint in the forcing soil of
human need . . .

"The great personal gods have grown in moral character through the centuries following the development of the ever nobler social idea of their peoples. No god could
hold his place for long if he were less moral than the ethical standard of his worshipers. Rarely do deities die, however, because men outgrow them in morality. They
adjust themselves to the ideals of each new age. There is often a striking transformation in the character of a god at different periods of his history. All the supreme,
personal deities must grow to perfection in justice and moral goodness . . .

"Successful prophets are the great artists in the transformation of their gods. They come in times of social disorder, when the old securities are crumbling and the well-
worn ways of thought and behavior become useless in the presence of new problems. Then these great sages point out the path to salvation, and the gods, accustomed
to bear the burden of their devotees, take on the character necessary for the new task."

Speaks Plainly

I need not read more. This gives you a good idea of the spirit of the times. This man ridicules the idea of God. God is man-made and therefore we do not need Him any
more in this enlightened age. We have such a wonderful advanced civilization-which is today being shot all to pieces.

I wish to speak to you plainly. I am going to quote to you something that was written and delivered by a man who belongs to the Church, an educator. Perhaps it is
good that I do not have authority to do what I would like to do. This is part of what he said:

"Take the idea of God. Have we not all felt the impossibility of reconciling a number of Old Testament situations, in which Jahweh figures, with Jesus' conception of
God the Father? Consider the reports of the conquest of West Jordan in the early chapters of Joshua. In the tenth chapter, seven times repeated in various forms, is the
'dire refrain': 'He (Joshua) sacked the place and massacred all within it, leaving not a single soul alive.' One may by a certain kind of rationalizing justify wholesale
massacre, I suppose, but when the old writer summarized it all (Joshua 10:40) and makes God responsible for the pitiless business the reader need not be a sentimental
fool if he feels a thrill of horror at the imputation. Neither should he be thought a heretic if he deliberately judges that the Jahweh of the Book of Joshua is not the
Father-God of Jesus."

The Same Spirit

Does this not smack of the same spirit as that expressed by the writer I have not named? Now to continue this man's writing:

"What criteria of interpretation are available here? Clearly one is the conception referred to, that of God as Father, in the intimate way in which Jesus thought of Him. A
father, even a normal, earthly father, could not command such wholesale slaughter. How much less the Heavenly Father! So we take the God of Jesus as our norm, not
the God of Joshua. But some bright student might interpose, 'Is not God the same in all ages?' Without raising the theological point of a developing deity, we might-to
get on-agree that he is. But the answer by no means carries with it the admission that man's ideas of God are the same in all ages. These have undergone change, even
within the Old Testament period, from God as a tribal deity, with all that this conception involves, to the New Testament representation of Him as a universal Father.

"So with this tremendous problem of the God of the Old Testament, the development view of human society supplies us with the help we need. And why should we not
use it?"

A man holding these views certainly does not accept the inspiration of the ancient prophets. He frankly states that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the
New. Do you want such a person teaching your children and destroying their faith in the revelations of the Lord? If the Old Testament is not true; if these ancient seers
were misled and the conception of God which they held was made-made, then we must likewise discard what is written in the New Testament, for Our Lord accepted
what was written and recommended it, even to these points in dispute. Do you believe that the God of the Old Testament was merely a "tribal God" and therefore
merely the creation of the imaginations of the prophets of those times?

Wickedness of World

When I came home from Europe I was asked to speak before the Sons of the Pioneers about my experiences. In my remarks I said that the present trouble had come
upon the world because of its wickedness and that we in the United States were just as wicked as the people of Europe, and, therefore, we could not escape. That
was in January, 1940. One of our wise men who knows far more than I ever expect to know, took me to task. I hope he is here. I do not know who he is, and it
seems I cannot find out. He wrote to another brother condemning what I said and the other brother sent me a copy of the letter-all but the name. I wish to read you a
part of this letter:

"It seems to me . . . that the time has come when all L. D. S. teachers and preachers should teach that our Savior was a Man of peace, and His Father a loving God,
and that surely there was enough blood-letting in the World War to satisfy the most exacting scriptural literalist who insists that wars and bloodshed are inescapable in
these 'last days.'

"I shall always teach students that prophecy is conditional (as taught by Jeremiah and the Book of Jonah), that we are free agents, and that human beings have a
capacity to bring into existence a just and peaceful social order. I try to teach my students that the Gospel was 'good news' in the days of Jesus and is 'good news'
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today. But I(c)
             find2005-2009,   Infobase
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                                 of our teachers Corp.thrown off the old theological pessimism of Calvin regarding fatalism and predestination of the individual
                                                                                                                                                          Pageman,
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                                                                                                                                                                        the
same time some hold to these doctrines of devils as far as they can be applied to nations. I not only detest such teaching and try to keep my students from it, but so far
as I am personally concerned, I keep God out of the present conflict, and all past wars. I do not believe that God has anything to do with the dropping of bombs on
these 'last days.'

"I shall always teach students that prophecy is conditional (as taught by Jeremiah and the Book of Jonah), that we are free agents, and that human beings have a
capacity to bring into existence a just and peaceful social order. I try to teach my students that the Gospel was 'good news' in the days of Jesus and is 'good news'
today. But I find that while all of our teachers have thrown off the old theological pessimism of Calvin regarding fatalism and predestination of the individual man, at the
same time some hold to these doctrines of devils as far as they can be applied to nations. I not only detest such teaching and try to keep my students from it, but so far
as I am personally concerned, I keep God out of the present conflict, and all past wars. I do not believe that God has anything to do with the dropping of bombs on
women and children in Finland, Poland, Germany or China. The God I worship does not 'decree' death upon farmers or factory hands from Finland, Russia, or England
regardless of who 'sinned.' In brief, I refuse to bring the God I worship into any of these bloody conflicts.

"I write this to you as an expression of the feeling that rose up in me when I read that material in the News predicting war for America and explaining the tragedies of
the little nations of Europe on the basis of 'sin' and the will of God."

"Doctrines of Devils"

According to this, what the Lord says in Chapter 9 of the book of Third Nephi is a doctrine of devils, and I hold to it, and the Lord holds to it, so we are both teaching
the doctrine of devils.

Did not the Lord say to Abraham, "I will destroy these cities because of their wickedness?" Did He say when He spoke of these Nephite cities, "Behold the great city
Zarahemla have I destroyed with fire? The great city Moroni have I caused to be sunk in the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned?" "The great
city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities?" and so on about numerous other cities? Did he say these things or did he
not? Now were there any children in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? What is the difference, whether the Lord destroys a city by fire, by burying it in the depths of
the sea, or on a mountain top, or by sending forth his army to destroy? Does it create in us a feeling of shocked horror to read that Moses, or Joshua or Samuel, sent
forth the armies of the Lord to destroy the iniquitous inhabitants of cities, but we can read with perfect calm and complacency the account of the burying of a wicked
city with all its inhabitants in the earth or the depths of the sea, because Jesus said He did it? If we are to condemn one event then to be consistent we must condemn
them all. And if we condemn them all we must reject Jesus Christ as our norm, as well as the Jehovah (Jesus) of the Old Testament! Is this not so! you tell me?

Quotes President Taylor

Now I want to read to you what President John Taylor said as to why the Lord slays the wicked:

" 'If thy brother, the son of thy mother; or the son, or the daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us
go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers, namely, of the gods of the people which are around about you nigh unto thee, or far off from
thee; from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither
shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him: thine hand shall be first upon him, to put him to death and afterwards the hand of all the
people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die, because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, from the house of bondage.' (Deut. 13:6-10)

"Here, then, it is stated, that if brother, son, wife, or any one, wish to lead thee from God, thou shalt destroy them: and why? Because in forsaking God, they lose sight
of their eternal existence, corrupt themselves, and entail misery on their posterity. Hence it was better to destroy a few individuals, than to entail misery on many. And
hence the inhabitants of the old world and of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, because it was better for them to die, and thus be deprived of their
agency, which they abused, than entail so much misery on their posterity, and bring ruin upon millions of unborn persons."

A Merciful Lord

Does this sound terrible? The Lord is merciful, always merciful, and do you not think it is a merciful act, if people become so filled with disease and corruption through
sin, and when they have turned away from God, and they are teaching their posterity all the evil which they themselves know, for the Lord to remove them from the
face of the earth so they will not contaminate the generations yet to come and lead them to eternal destruction? What is life, anyway? We are here for a little while in
this world, to receive experience. We are taught to keep the commandments of the Lord. We are here to be tried and proved to see what kind of stuff we are made of;
and here is a people rebellious, and filled with corruption brought upon them through iniquity. Should they be permitted to corrupt the souls of unborn generations which
would come through their lineage? Should they be permitted to rob their posterity of the greatest gift of God-eternal life? Is it not better to sweep the wicked and
cleanse the earth rather than to bring eternal destruction upon thousands, yes millions, and have them shut out of the kingdom of God? In the destruction of the wicked,
God is merciful both to them and to the unborn generations.

Instructions to Abraham

The Lord said to Abraham, "I will give you all of this land, as far as you can see, even to the River Euphrates, for your posterity forever, but they cannot have it now. I
am going to send you into a strange land and keep you there 400 years, and you will serve another people, and then you will come out. I cannot give you this land now
because it is possessed by the Canaanites and the Philistines and the Amorites, and, therefore, when their cup of iniquity is full, I will sweep them off the face of the
earth."

When Israel came out of Egypt the cup of iniquity of these people was full, and so the Lord said to Moses, "Send your armies out and clean this land so that these
people will not corrupt Israel."

I want to tell you that the worst death a man can die is a spiritual death. To die the mortal death is nothing. We have all got to do that; but what right has anybody to
corrupt the souls of men, and is he not entitled to be swept off the face of the earth when he does corrupt the souls of men? And yet these wise men, these modern
Pharisees are going to keep God out of it. Yes, they are going to keep Him out. They will not let God have a hand in this mess. I want to tell you He has a hand in it,
and He has hold of the reins. If you think He is not doing something, let me read you a few passages of Scripture; and this is Scripture the Lord has given to us in our
own day. These men say of the God of the old Hebrews, "Of course, he was a tribal god"-that means he was not God at all and we do not believe him; we will not
accept the Jehovah of Joshua; we are going to accept Jesus Christ, the meek, the lowly. The man who said that, if he had any sense at all, would know that Jehovah is
Jesus Christ, and the Lord has confirmed those ancient revelations in our day. You will have to excuse me for getting a little warm on this. It is time somebody was
getting warm on it.

"And verily I say unto you, that they who go forth, bearing these tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth, to them is power given to seal both on earth and in heaven, and
the unbelieving and rebellious:

"Yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure." (D. & C. 1:8-9)
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What? Is He going to pour out His wrath upon the wicked without measure? What did this man say right here? He does not believe in a God like that, and so he cannot
believe these revelations.
the unbelieving and rebellious:

"Yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure." (D. & C. 1:8-9)

What? Is He going to pour out His wrath upon the wicked without measure? What did this man say right here? He does not believe in a God like that, and so he cannot
believe these revelations.

"Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has
measured to his fellow man.

"Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear:

"Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh;

"And the anger of the Lord is kindled, and His sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth." (D. & C. 1:10-13)

I will give you another.

"Wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered unto one place upon the face of this land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in
all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked.

"For the hour is nigh and the day soon at hand when the earth is ripe; and all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, saith the
Lord of Hosts, that wickedness shall not be upon the earth;

"For the hour is nigh, and that which was spoken by Mine apostles must be fulfilled; for as they spoke so shall it come to pass;

"For I will reveal Myself from heaven with power and great glory, with all the hosts thereof, and dwell in righteousness with men on earth a thousand years, and the
wicked shall not stand." (D. & C. 29:8-11.)

Vengeance on Wicked

"And there shall be a great hailstorm sent forth to destroy the crops of the earth."

Who is going to send it?

"And it shall come to pass, because of the wickedness of the world, that I will take vengeance upon the wicked, for they will not repent; for the cup of Mine indignation
is full; for behold, My blood shall not cleanse them if they hear Me not.

"Wherefore, I the Lord God will send forth flies upon the face of the earth, which shall take hold of the inhabitants thereof, and shall eat their flesh, and shall cause
maggots to come in upon them.

"And their tongues shall be stayed that they shall not utter against Me; and their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from their sockets;

"And it shall come to pass that the beasts of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them up." (D. & C. 29:16-20)

Now, the Lord said that, not a "tribal god" of ancient Israel, but the Lord, Jesus Christ, in the 19th Century of the Christian era.

Gives Reference

Here is another. I can't take time to read all this, but I will tell you where it is. It is Section 43 of the Doctrine and Covenants. I was going to begin to read with verse 17
and read it through to the end, but when you go home you may read it.

I will turn now to Section 63.

"I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked; I am holding My spirit from the inhabitants of the earth." (D. & C. 63:32.)

And I want to tell you when the Lord withdraws His spirit from the inhabitants of the earth it is a terrible thing. Then men are left unto themselves, and what happens?
The devil steps in, and he takes possession of them. That is what he has done today. Peace has been taken from the earth, and peace will never return to this earth until
Christ comes to bring it. Again the Lord has said:

"I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man;

"And the saints also shall hardly escape; nevertheless, I, the Lord, am with them, and will come down in heaven from the presence of My Father and consume the
wicked with unquenchable fire." (D. & C. 63:33-34.)

Who is going to consume them with unquenchable fire? Oh, you miserable hypocrites, posing as righteous servants of God, I want to tell you, you need to repent!

Troubles on World

Now, the Lord says after the testimony of the Elders, then would come the troubles upon the world, so I will read now from Section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants,
and then I think maybe we had better call it a day and let a lot of these things I have down here go because we haven't time to consider them.

"And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.

"For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to
stand.
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                                     voice of                                                                                                      Page
                                              thunderings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their21 / 41
                                                                                                                                                           bounds.

"And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people." (D. & C. 88:88-91.)
"For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to
stand.

"And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

"And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people." (D. & C. 88:88-91.)

Seeing Destruction

We are seeing these destructions. I am going to say more about that next week, and I am going to try to show you how this prophecy has been fulfilled and is being
fulfilled.

In the 16th Chapter of Third Nephi the Lord predicts that the time would come when He would withdraw the Gospel from the Gentiles, and then the time would come
for it to go to the Jews. He withdrew it from the Jews and gave it to the Gentiles, once. We know when. We have already had the sign when the beginning, at least, of
the withdrawal from the Gentiles started, and that was the close of the year 1917.

Now, of course, the Lord does not do anything in a minute, one of our minutes. It takes a number of years to adjust things, and we sometimes think it does not work
quite fast enough. Do you know that nearly all the Elders have been called home except upon this Continent, and a few that are out in some of the islands of the Pacific?
Perhaps that is significant. I have a statement here by President Young. Perhaps I can read it next time, in which President Young predicted the withdrawal of the
Elders of Israel, and then he said the Lord would preach unto them a discourse.

Because of Wickedness

Turn to Section 43 of the Doctrine and Covenants which I asked you to read, and you will find the Lord repeats much of this, and He speaks of the calamities that will
come; of the lightnings flashing from the east to the west-we have never seen that-and the great destructions and trouble coming upon the people because of their
iniquities; and I want to tell you that all these things do come because of iniquity. They do not come because people are righteous; and then a man says, "I will leave the
Lord out of this," yes, he commands the Lord to step aside. You cannot shut the Lord out of it. His hand is in it, not because He likes to see bloodshed, not because
He likes to see His sons and daughters swept off the face of the earth, but in justice He does permit them to be swept off the face of the earth because of their iniquities,
and He decrees that when their cup of iniquity is full.

Let me just say one more word, present one more passage from the book of Ether.

"And He had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the
true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them." Who is going to sweep them off?

"And now we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be
swept off when the fulness of His wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of His wrath cometh upon them, when they are ripened in iniquity." (Ether 2:8-9.)

Do you not think He has a right to sweep people off the face of the earth when they are ripened in iniquity? Well, I do, and those things we see today taking place on
the earth are because of iniquity; and when I said to these Sons over here that all this trouble came upon these nations because of their transgression of the laws of God,
I meant every word of it, and I said we are just as corrupt in this land here as they are over there and we cannot escape, and some one rises up to put me in my place.

May the Lord bless you, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Footnotes

  1. We read in the Book of Mormon (I Nephi 4:9-14) the account of the slaying of Laban by Nephi. Naturally Nephi shrank from taking Laban's life, but he was
obedient to the voice of the Spirit of the Lord who said to Nephi:

"Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands;

"Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in
unbelief."

On the same principle, it is better that a people perish than a generation perish in unbelief, and that the wicked be swept off than to remain to contaminate the unborn
millions who are yet to come.

LESSON FIVE

The Predicted Judgments-II.

(Remarks Made By Elder Joseph Fielding Smith November 11 1942 in Barratt Hall.)

The Wheat and the Tares

We will continue tonight the topic of the predicted judgments, and the first thing to be considered will be the parable of the wheat and the tares. I think we are all
familiar with this parable, which is found in the 13th chapter of Matthew, but nevertheless I am going to read it.

"Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

"But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

"But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

"So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in the field? from whence then hath it tares?

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                                             The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?                                    Page 22 / 41

"But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
"But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

"So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in the field? from whence then hath it tares?

"He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

"But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

"Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them:
but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matthew 13:24-30.)

Not Understood

Naturally, the Disciples did not understand this parable, so afterwards they came to the Savior and asked Him for an explanation, and here is the explanation.

"He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

"The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world! and the reapers are the angels.

"As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

"The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity." (Matthew 13:37-41.)

Further Light

Now, in reading this I put a little stress on two parts of it. "The harvest is the end of the world," and "The reapers are the angels." We have a little more light upon this
parable revealed in Section 86 of the Doctrine and Covenants, and I am going to read that.

"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares:

"Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed;

"And after they had fallen asleep, the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts
the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign-behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.

"But behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender-

"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 fields." (D. & C. 86:1-5.)

Seed Sowed Twice

Now, in the parable as we have it in the book of Matthew we do not have this distinction drawn between the sowing of the seed in the dispensation of the Meridian of
Time and again the sowing of the seed in the dispensation of the Fulness of Times, but here the Lord makes that clear. If we had the parable just as He gave it, I am
sure that this distinction would be in it. The sowing of the seed occurred twice, once by our Lord and His Apostles at the time of His ministry. The wicked one sowed
the tares, and drove the Church into the wilderness. That has reference to the apostasy. Then again in this, our day, when the Gospel is again restored, this same thing is
repeated. The good seed is sowed. The wicked one comes along and sows the tares, and the angels are now waiting, pleading with the Lord to reap down the earth.
Now, here is another verse I want to read.

"But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.

"Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of
the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned." (D. & C. 86:6-7.)

Now, that is much clearer than the account as we get it in the Bible. Again in the 38th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord says, speaking of our day:

"For all flesh is corrupted before Me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven-

"Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be
burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined." (D. & C. 38:11-12.)

Spirit Withdrawn

Again, one more passage that I want to read to you, this from the 63rd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants. In verses 32 and 33 of this Section the Lord says:

"I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked; I am holding My Spirit from the inhabitants of the earth.

"I have sworn in My wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man."

Now, the Lord has withdrawn His Spirit from the world.

Now, do not let this thought become confused in your minds. The Spirit He has withdrawn from the world is not the Holy Ghost, for they never had that, but it is the
light of truth, the Spirit of Christ, which is given to every man that comes into this world, as you find it so recorded in the 84th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Now, because of the wickedness of the world that Spirit has been withdrawn; and when the Spirit of the Lord is not striving with men, the spirit of Satan is. Therefore,
we may be sure that the time has come spoken of in the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, wherein the Lord says:

"For I am no(c)respecter
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the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion." (verse 35.)

Peace Taken From Earth
light of truth, the Spirit of Christ, which is given to every man that comes into this world, as you find it so recorded in the 84th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Now, because of the wickedness of the world that Spirit has been withdrawn; and when the Spirit of the Lord is not striving with men, the spirit of Satan is. Therefore,
we may be sure that the time has come spoken of in the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, wherein the Lord says:

"For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from
the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion." (verse 35.)

Peace Taken From Earth

Peace has been taken from the earth. The devil has power over his own dominion, and the Spirit of the Lord has been withdrawn. Not because the Lord desires to
withdraw that Spirit; but because of the wickedness of mankind, it becomes necessary that this Spirit of the Lord be withdrawn.

I would like to read verses 53 and 54 of Section 63.

"These things are the things that we must look for; and, speaking after the manner of the Lord, they are now nigh at hand, and in a time to come, even in the day of the
coming of the Son of Man.

"And until that hour there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked; and in that day will I send
mine angels to pluck out the wicked and cast them into unquenchable fire."

Those days are here.

Quotes President Woodruff

One theme that was on the mind of President Wilford Woodruff more than any other for a number of years before his death-in fact, from the time of the dedication of
the Temple until his death-was this theme of the parable of the wheat and tares, and I want to read to you something President Woodruff said. He repeated it a number
of times. I heard him say it, and I want to say that I was greatly impressed because of what he had to say.

"I refer to these things because I know not how long I may have the privilege of bearing my testimony of the Gospel of Christ on the earth. The revelations that are in
the Bible, the predictions of the patriarchs and prophets who saw by vision and revelation the last dispensation and fulness of times plainly tell us what is to come to
pass. The 49th chapter of Isaiah is having its fulfillment. I have often said in my teachings, if the world wants to know what is coming to pass, let them read the
revelations of St. John. Read of the judgments of God that are going to overtake the world in the last dispensation. Read the papers and see what is taking place in our
own nation and in the nations of the earth, and what does it all mean? It means the commencement of the fulfillment of what the prophets of God have predicted. In the
Doctrine and Covenants there are many revelations given through the mouth of the prophet of God; these revelations will all have their fulfillment, as the Lord lives, and
no power can hinder it. In one of the revelations the Lord told Joseph Smith: '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 fields."

"Day Is Come"

And then President Woodruff quoted what I have already read to you, so I do not need to repeat it.

"I want to bear testimony to this congregation, and to the heavens and the earth, that the day is come when those angels are privileged to go forth and commence their
work. They are laboring in the United States of America; they are laboring among the nations of the earth; and they will continue. We need not marvel or wonder at
anything that is transpiring in the earth. The people of the world do not comprehend the revelations of God. They did not in the days of the Jews; yet all that the
prophets had spoken concerning them came to pass. So in our day these things will come to pass. I heard the Prophet Joseph bear his testimony to these events that
would transpire in the earth . . . We cannot draw a veil over the events that await this generation. No man that is inspired by the Spirit and power of God can close his
ears, his eyes or his lips to these things." (M. S. 58:738-9.)

Knows Judgment

Now, he said this in 1896-the first time he said it was at the time of the dedication of the Temple in 1893. What I am going to read now he said at Brigham City in June,
1894, when he was on an excursion with the Temple workers.

"When I have the vision of night opened continually before my eyes, and can see the mighty judgments that are about to be poured out upon this world, when I know
these things are true, and are at the door of Jew and Gentile; while I know they are true, and while I am holding this position before God, and this world, can I withhold
my voice from lifting up a warning to this people, and to the nations of the earth. Over the millions of people on this earth, there hangs a cloud of darkness almost
entirely upon their shoulders. Can you tell me where the people are who will be shielded and protected from these calamities and judgments which are even now at our
doors? I'll tell you. The Priesthood of God, who honor their Priesthood, and who are worthy of their blessings, are the only ones who shall have their safety and
protection. They are the only mortal beings. No other people have a right to be shielded from these judgments. They are at our very doors; not even this people will
escape them entirely. They will come down like the judgments of Sodom and Gomorrah. And none but the Priesthood will be safe from their fury.

"God has held the angels of destruction for many years lest they should reap down the wheat with the tares. But I want to tell you now, those angels have left the portals
of heaven, and they stand over this people and this nation now, and are hovering over the earth waiting to pour out the judgments. And from this very day they shall be
poured out. Calamities and troubles are increasing in the earth, and there is a meaning to these things. Remember, this, and reflect upon these matters. If you do your
duty, and I do my duty, we shall have protection, and shall pass through the afflictions in peace and safety. Read the Scriptures and Revelations. They will tell you about
these things. Great changes are at our doors. The next twenty years will see mighty changes among the nations of the earth. You will live to see these things whether I
do or not. I have felt oppressed with the weight of these matters, and I felt I must speak of them here. It is by the power of the Gospel we shall escape." (Era, vol. 17,
p. 1164.)

That was said in June, 1894. Twenty years later, plus one month, the great war broke out. President Woodruff says twenty years would bring changes. We have had
trouble and calamities ever since.

One day while I was sitting in the presence of my father back about 1908 or 9, somewhere in there, I called attention to these statements of President Woodruff, and I
said I would like to go over the records from the time of the dedication of the Temple up until now and see what we can find in regard to calamities, destructions,
plagues; and he encouraged me to do it, and so I did. So I went over the newspapers and over the magazines and jotted down year by year the destructions, the
commotions among men, everything in the nature of a calamity, and to my great astonishment each year they increased, and they have been increasing ever since I quit
making that record. I was greatly astonished by it; and when I called the attention of one of my neighbors to it, he almost got angry at me and he said, "Oh, well, we
have  got better
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            (c) 2005-2009,      for discovering
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                                                Corp.things. I don't believe it." And he is a member of the Church, too, but seemed to lack faith in these Page
                                                                                                                                                           predictions.
                                                                                                                                                                   24 / 41
Tells of Destruction
said I would like to go over the records from the time of the dedication of the Temple up until now and see what we can find in regard to calamities, destructions,
plagues; and he encouraged me to do it, and so I did. So I went over the newspapers and over the magazines and jotted down year by year the destructions, the
commotions among men, everything in the nature of a calamity, and to my great astonishment each year they increased, and they have been increasing ever since I quit
making that record. I was greatly astonished by it; and when I called the attention of one of my neighbors to it, he almost got angry at me and he said, "Oh, well, we
have got better facilities now for discovering these things. I don't believe it." And he is a member of the Church, too, but seemed to lack faith in these predictions.

Tells of Destruction

Now, in 1893 and 4 and 5 and 6 and on we had the telegraph. We had communications from all parts of the earth. The newspapers were published daily, the news of
all the world, and year by year these troubles increased. I have here another paper that covers the years 1928 to 1930, this was prepared in the Smithsonian Institute in
Washington, D. C., and I can not take time to go over this to tell you what it contains. It says here, "A list of major calamities caused by earthquake, flood, wind, fire,
and other destructive agencies during the years 1928 to 1930," and we have six pages closely typewritten of calamities-and these are the major calamities. Destruction
by earthquakes, whole cities being destroyed; plagues and troubles of great magnitude that have come upon the various parts of the world during these years.

Now, this paper is very interesting, but I cannot go into the details of it.

I have something here also, that is very interesting. First, in a book that has been recently published by Robert Gordon Collier, he says this: "The Bible says the earth is
to be visited by earthquakes, dust storms, floods, plagues, and disease. Science reports that from 1914 onwards there have been more freakish weather, earthquakes,
floods, and diseases than any other similar sustained period in history."

Great Armies

Here is something that I published in 1936. The facts that I have here were taken largely from the Literary Digest. "The world's armed forces in 1913"-that is the year
before the war broke out-"were 29,095,288 men. In 1934 there had been an increase to 38,473,994, not including aircraft. At that date Germany, Austria, Hungary
and Bulgaria were limited by treaty in their air forces and Germany in her army to 100,000 men, but these treaties were not kept. Since 1934 this number has been
materially increased."

Now, those are statements upon the information I got from the Digest, but this will be astonishing to you, I am sure, and I copied this from the Digest of January 20,
1934.

"Two scientists charting the European record find that the indexed number of Mars rose from 2.678 in the twelfth to 13,735.98 in the twentieth century.

"Does war tend to decline as nations become more civilized? Many philosophers have said so; but now two sociologists of Harvard University have turned the cold and
dispassionate eye of science upon the question, and have decided that future wars, fiercer than any ever fought before, apparently can be avoided only by a miracle.
Far from declining, wars increase in number and intensity as nations progress, and the worst flareup since the dawn of history has occurred in our own century."

Tells of Source

Now, of course, he had reference to the war from 1914 to 1918.

"These scientists are Professor Pitirim A. Sorokin, chairman of the Department of Sociology at Harvard, and Nicholas N. Golovin, formerly Lieutenant-General in the
Imperial Russian army. They have reached their conclusions through a study of all the wars known to have taken place in Europe since Greece and the Western Roman
Empire over a period of more than 2,400 years-from 500 B. C. to 1925 A. D. During this period in Greece, Rome, Central Europe, Germany, Italy, France, Great
Britain, Spain, and the Netherlands and Russia, there occurred 902 wars (not battles).

"Each was studied from five points of view, the duration of the war, the size of the fighting force, the number of casualties, including killed and wounded, the number of
countries involved, and the proportion of the combatants to the total population of the belligerent nations.

"From these five 'variables' a total indexed number was computed for each war, in order that they might be reasonably expressed in terms of a common denominator."

Makes Comments

Now, that's the quotation. Then I made these remarks.

"Out of this study these scientists declare that they have discovered that war has tended to increase over all Europe in the late centuries. They say they have learned that
in these countries war grew from 2.678 in the twelfth century to 13,735.98 in the first twenty-five years of the twentieth century. Their tables show the growth by
centuries. Up to the seventeenth century the wars were comparatively insignificant. Beginning with that century war increased during the eighteenth, with a lull in the
nineteenth, yet in that century they were more than 100 times greater than in medieval times.

"These men conclude that 'all commendable hopes that war will disappear in the near future are based on nothing more substantial than hope of a belief in miracles.' "

And then I made this prediction:

"If prophecy is to be fulfilled, there awaits the world a conflict more dreadful than any the world has yet seen." (Progress of Man, pp. 402-404.)

Now I want to make some comments in regard to the statement by President Woodruff and this parable.

Angels Sent Forth

The Lord said that the sending forth of these angels was to be at the end of the harvest, and the harvest is the end of the world. Now, that ought to cause us some very
serious reflections. And the angels have been pleading, as I have read it to you, before the Lord to be sent on their mission. Until 1893 the Lord said to them no, and
then He set them loose. According to the revelation of President Woodruff, the Lord sent them out on that mission.

What do we gather out of that? That we are at the time of the end. This is the time of the harvest. This is the time spoken of which is called the end of the world, and I
am glad of it. I want to see the world come to an end.

Now, do not get frightened when I say that. I am praying for it every day; and when I said that here three or four years ago, that I was praying for the end of the world
and if it came
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                 2005-2009,      be glad,
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                                      Media   Corp. sitting on the front seat in the meeting house spoke out and she said, "Oh, I hope not." Do you notPage
                                                                                                                                                         want the
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the world to come?

Most people have the wrong idea of what is meant by the end of the world. They are thinking of something else entirely. They are thinking of the end of the earth. I do
am glad of it. I want to see the world come to an end.

Now, do not get frightened when I say that. I am praying for it every day; and when I said that here three or four years ago, that I was praying for the end of the world
and if it came tomorrow I would be glad, a woman sitting on the front seat in the meeting house spoke out and she said, "Oh, I hope not." Do you not want the end of
the world to come?

Most people have the wrong idea of what is meant by the end of the world. They are thinking of something else entirely. They are thinking of the end of the earth. I do
not know why we should be worried about that either. I will be glad-I hope-to see the end of the earth.

A Better Earth

Now, I paused when I said that because if I am wicked I will not be glad; but if I keep the commandments of the Lord, I will be glad even when the end of the earth
comes because we will get a new earth, a better earth. We will get a celestialized earth. I will be glad to see the end of the world, but it does not matter whether I live
to see it or not. It is not very far off.

What is meant by the end of the world? The Lord gives you that definition. The disciples came to the Savior and asked Him to explain to them things regarding the
destruction of Jerusalem and His second coming and the end of the world, and they understood-and here is what they said. "Tell us when shall these things be which
Thou hast said concerning the destruction of the temple and the Jews, and what is the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world, or the destruction of the wicked,
which is the end of the world?" That is the end of the world. The world is the people who dwell upon the face of the earth, and when Christ comes there will be an end
to the world, this world, and then we will get a new earth and a new heaven just as Isaiah declares in the 65th chapter, beginning with the 17th verse, so you can look it
up. The Lord will give us a new heaven and a new earth, a cleansed earth, a restored earth, the one we sing about and preach about; as stated in the tenth Article of
Faith, the earth renewed to receive its paradisiacal glory, cleansed from wickedness. For a thousand years we will have that kind of an earth and there will not be any
war, any turmoil, envying, lying; there will be no wickedness. Men will learn then to love the Lord and keep His commandments, and if they don't they will not stay
here. That's the end of the world, and that is what the Savior prayed for when His disciples came to Him and said, "Teach us to pray." What did He do? He taught
them, "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

That's what I'm praying for. The Lord was praying for the end of the world, and so am I.

Full of Calamity

Now in regard to the calamities that have been taking place, if you have been reading the papers during the last three or four years you have discovered that this world
we are living in is full of calamity. You have been reading in your papers of the terrible distress, plague and famine, that have been taking hold of some sections of this
world. Over in China and various other parts, they have been dying by the thousands. If you have been reading your papers you have discovered-and it is true because
I am a witness to some of this myself: I have seen some of it-these countries that have been over-run by the German army have been robbed of practically everything
they possess. The German trains, the German trucks have gone in and taken away the food supplies from these people and left them to do the best they can. So there is
distress, and the people have not fuel to keep themselves warm in these countries. They have not food enough to eat, and they are dying by the thousands.

This that I call attention to is in Time of October 26, 1942. I just want to call attention to one or two things written here: "The mortality among children in Belgium is
now as bad, if not worse than in Greece." And we learned, and so it states here, that they are dying at the rate of 500 a day with starvation in Greece. Starving to
death. They have been robbed of everything, and all the time they were trying to mind their own business. In Warsaw-that is, in Poland-"The Germans have left only
black crusts of bread for Poles and there is no longer bigos brewed of wild game and cabbage." That is in Poland. In Greece there is no clothing for children, no fuel for
winter. The death rate from starvation is at least 500 a day. What did I say? 500 a day!

Now, like conditions are in various parts of the world. These occupied countries are in that condition. Don't you think that President Woodruff was right and that the
calamities are sweeping over the earth?

Modern Prophecy

Now, let us turn to some modern prophecy. This is from the Prophet Joseph Smith.

"The plain fact is this, the power of God begins to fall upon the nations . . . and the nations of the Gentiles are like the waves of the sea, casting up mire and dirt, are all
in commotion, and they are hastily preparing to act the part allotted them, when the Lord rebukes the nations, when He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and break
them in pieces like a potter's vessel. The Lord declared to His servants, some eighteen months since, that He was then withdrawing His Spirit from the earth"-and I
read that passage to you tonight from Section 63 of the Doctrine of the Covenants-"and we can see that such is the fact, for not only the churches are dwindling away,
but there are no conversions, or but very few; and this is not all, the governments of the earth are thrown into confusion and division; and destruction, to the eye of the
spiritual beholder, seems to be written by the finger of an invisible hand, in large capitals, upon almost everything we behold.

"You must make yourselves acquainted with those men who like Daniel pray three times a day toward the House of the Lord. Look to the Presidency and receive
instruction. Every man who is afraid, covetous, will be taken in a snare. The time is soon coming, when no man will have any peace but in Zion and her stakes."

Quotes Joseph Smith

I wish I had time to read all I have here. This is also from the Prophet. You want the references. You will find that in the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages
11 and 12.

"I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mothers. I
saw armies arrayed against armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother shall be against the daughter, and the daughter against the
mother. These things are at our doors. They will follow the Saints of God from city to city. Satan will rage, and the spirit of the devil is now enraged. I know not how
soon these things will take place; but with a view of them, shall I cry peace? No! I will lift up my voice and testify of them. How long you will have crops, and the
famine be kept off, I do not know; when the fig tree leaves, know then that summer is nigh at hand."

You will find that in the "Teachings" on page 161.

Now, let me make a comment here.

President Wilford Woodruff and the Prophet Joseph Smith declare that it was their duty and should be the duty of every righteous man to raise the warning voice and
proclaim the fact that these calamities are at our doors, and I have been condemned because I have done that. I heard one good man say, "There are too many good
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                                             these                                                                                                     Page
                                                   troubles, these plagues, or worrying about the coming of the Lord." Here is what the Lord says in Section 4526  / 41
                                                                                                                                                               of the
Doctrine and Covenants, verses 39 to 43.
Now, let me make a comment here.

President Wilford Woodruff and the Prophet Joseph Smith declare that it was their duty and should be the duty of every righteous man to raise the warning voice and
proclaim the fact that these calamities are at our doors, and I have been condemned because I have done that. I heard one good man say, "There are too many good
things to think about without talking about these troubles, these plagues, or worrying about the coming of the Lord." Here is what the Lord says in Section 45 of the
Doctrine and Covenants, verses 39 to 43.

"And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.

"And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath.

"And they shall behold blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke.

"And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven.

"And the remnant shall be gathered unto this place." That is, the Jews to Jerusalem.

Claims Justification

Now, when the Lord says that, don't you think I am justified in raising my voice and do you think I am doing wrong when I am looking forward to the coming of Christ,
and watching the signs of the times and these calamities and troubles that are coming? Am I doing wrong? And yet one good brother said that. Too many things to do.
We haven't time to worry about the coming of Christ. I hope he is here.

Now, here is something from President Brigham Young.

"Do you think there is calamity abroad now among the people? . . . All we have yet heard and all we have experienced is scarcely a preface to the sermon that is going
to be preached. When the testimony of the Elders ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, 'come home; I will now preach My own sermons to the nations of the
earth,' all you now know can scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached with fire and sword, tempests, earthquakes, hail, rain, thunders, and
lightnings and fearful destruction. What matters the destruction of a few railway cars? You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the
earth, entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds, engulfing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nations, and nation will rise up against
nation, kingdom against kingdom, and states against states, in our own country and in foreign lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood and lives
of their neighbors, of their families, or for their own lives. They will be like the Jaredites who preeeded the Nephites upon this continent, and will destroy each other to
the last man, through the anger that the devil will place in their hearts, because they have rejected the words of life and are given over to Satan to do whatever he listeth
to do with them. You may think that the little you hear of now is grievous; yet the faithful of God's people will see days that will cause them to close their eyes because
of the sorrow that will come upon the wicked nations. The hearts of the faithful will be filled with pain and anguish for them."

Quotes Early Leader

I don't know whether I can take time to read more of this or not. That depends upon you. Here is one by President Jedediah M. Grant.

"We see it in the revolutions of our own continent; we see it in the scattering and scourging of the house of Israel; in the fading away of nations on the right and on the
left. . . . We see it in the preparations of war, and the framing of treaties of peace among strong nations. The world is in commotion and the hearts of men fail them for
fear of the impending storm that threatens to enshroud all nations in its black mantle. Treaties of peace may be made, and war will stop for a season, but there are
certain decrees of God, and certain bounds fixed, and laws and edicts passed by the high courts of heaven beyond which the nations cannot pass; and when the
Almighty decrees the wicked shall slay the wicked, strong nations may interfere, peace conventions may become rife in the world and exert their influence to sheathe
the sword of war, and make treaties of peace to calm the troubled surface of all Europe, to no effect; the war cloud is still booming o'er the heavens, darkening the
earth, and threatening the world with desolation.

"This is a fact that Saints have known for many years-that the Gods in yonder heavens have something to do with these revolutions; the angels, those holy beings who
are sent from the heavens to the earth to minister in the destiny of nations, have something to do in these mighty revolutions and convulsions that shake creation almost
to its center."

Nation Against Nation

I read to you what one wise man said here in one of the talks not long ago, that he would keep God out of this, and Jedediah M. Grant says that the Lord and His
angels are pretty much in it. To continue the quotation:

"Consequently, when we see nation stirred up against nation, and on the other hand see other nations exerting a powerful influence to bring about negotiations of peace,
shall we say they can bring it about? Do we expect they can stay the onward course of War? The Prophet of God has spoken it all, and we expect to see the work go
on-and see all things fulfilled as the prophets have declared by the spirit of prophecy in them.

"Three days before the Prophet Joseph started for Carthage, I well remember his telling us we should see the fulfillment of the words of Jesus upon the earth, where He
says the father shall be against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against
the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law; and when a man's enemies shall be those of his own household.

"The prophet stood in his own house when he told several of us the night the visions of heaven were opened to him, in which he saw the American continent drenched
in blood, and he saw nation rising against nation. He also saw the father shed the blood of the son, and the son the blood of the father; the mother put to death the
daughter, and the daughter the mother; and natural affection forsook the hearts of the wicked; for he saw that the Spirit of God should be withdrawn from the
inhabitants of the earth, in consequence of which there should be blood upon the face of the whole earth, except among the people of the Most High. The Prophet
gazed upon the scene his vision presented, until his heart sickened and he besought the Lord to close it up again." Journal of Discourses, Volume 2, pages 146 and
147.

Reason for Anger

Why is the Lord angry? Why are all these things coming upon the world? President Young said in this article that I read and the Lord says in the revelations I have read
to you, it is because they have turned away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because they have rebelled against God, and because they have refused to hear the
testimony of those who have been sent to preach the Gospel to them. That is why. They have rejected the message. The nations are full of iniquity. I have read these
things. I have
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                                         Media      to you. I published this in this book (The Progress of Man) by permission, and this is part of a talk that
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the students of the Agricultural College by their President, Elmer G. Peterson. He went to Europe and visited all these countries in 1936; and when he came home, he
spoke to that student body. What he said is gospel truth. I asked him if I could publish it, and he said I could, so here it is:
Why is the Lord angry? Why are all these things coming upon the world? President Young said in this article that I read and the Lord says in the revelations I have read
to you, it is because they have turned away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because they have rebelled against God, and because they have refused to hear the
testimony of those who have been sent to preach the Gospel to them. That is why. They have rejected the message. The nations are full of iniquity. I have read these
things. I have something here that I wish to read to you. I published this in this book (The Progress of Man) by permission, and this is part of a talk that was made to
the students of the Agricultural College by their President, Elmer G. Peterson. He went to Europe and visited all these countries in 1936; and when he came home, he
spoke to that student body. What he said is gospel truth. I asked him if I could publish it, and he said I could, so here it is:

"In any case, two or three hundred million people are now living under dictators, dictators with scientific weapons at their disposal of such destructiveness that
civilization conceivably could be wiped out if they are ever loosed, and under a political organization which gives men no choice. It is impossible for anyone who has not
seen it to sense fully the degree to which democracy and human liberty have been crushed on the continent of Europe. The Scandinavian countries, Czechoslovakia and
a few other small areas are glorious exceptions.

Decline of Christianity

"May I say one other thing? There is a definite correlation between the decline of freedom and democracy and the decline of Christianity in these countries. There is not
one among us pharisaical enough to condemn these people struggling not only to maintain that standard of living which our civilization presumes as its objective but
struggling to live, for the very bread with which to feed themselves and their children. They are caught by a great and evil matrix which binds them to forms and usages
which in many cases must express the opposite of their heart's desires.

"In the centers of learning and power the idea of a personal God, as revealed to us in the New Testament, and to whom every individual and every nation is
accountable, has almost if not entirely disappeared. Philosophy, probably I should say not philosophy which the Greeks so glorified, but rather half-baked philosophers,
and our incomplete interpretation of a developing science, have been factors in this uprooting. In the quest for wealth and power rulers perforce must deny the validity
of a doctrine which would invalidate them if their followers ever accepted it. In any case and whatever the causes, in critical and important places any real sense of
individual relationship to a Supreme Being has disappeared and these nations no longer believe that they are accountable to this Just Judge for their acts. Christendom,
so called, has to a marked degree everywhere in it become Godless. This, I believe, is the root of the world's ills. Christianity, under the benign influence of which our
civilization has developed, is now denied by the very nations it made great and powerful. This is treason, probably the most serious treason ever committed upon earth.
And who can believe that we can escape the penalty for such an act."-The Progress of Man, pp. 411-412.

The Right Key

He put his finger upon the right key to the whole situation-Rejection of the Gospel; Rejection of Jesus Christ; and when you reject the Gospel, when you reject the
Author of our salvation, what have you to rely on? Why, nothing, but the devil's plan; and what is the devil's plan? To force men, to take away from them their agency,
to compel them to do the bidding of somebody else, whether they like it or not, and that is the feeling that has spread over the world. Naturally, the Lord says the time
was near at hand, and He said that over 100 years ago-111 years ago-the time was near at hand, and that time has now come, when the devil has power over his own
dominion. Well, if the devil has power over his own dominion, what is he teaching? Despotism, the destruction of agency. That is what he is doing; and if we will not
keep the commandments of God, that is what we are coming to.

If we turn away from these principles of eternal truth, principles established by the fathers of our country as they were inspired to lay down these laws and give us this
Constitution under direction of our Father in Heaven, if you please, if we turn away from that and if we trample those sacred things under our feet-some have been
trying to do it-then we, too, will be subject to the devil's plan. It will come gradually. We hear a great deal about the thought that we are fighting now for liberty, the
liberty of the people, the liberty of the nations. I hope so; but if we want to insure the liberty of the people, then we must turn back again to Jesus Christ, who is the
God of this land. I say, "we." I mean the people of the United States, the people of this continent. We cannot afford to forsake the God of this land, who is Jesus
Christ. If we do, we lose our strength. The Lord has promised to protect this nation, this whole continent; this whole hemisphere. He would fortify it against all other
nations. He would fight our battles, on one condition, and that is that we would keep His commandments.

Scores Corruption

When I see, as I have, our young men who are from all parts of this country going into the forces of our country, drunken, filled with liquor, filled with tobacco,
carousing, corrupt in their lives and there is nothing much being done about it, I am pained. I have seen it, I have been out in some of these camps. I have been among
these young fellows. I have seen the condition; and if we are going to permit that sort of thing, it is just going to be too bad for us, and it is time those at the head were
taking a stand. They have a right to take a stand, and they are the ones who should take a stand to prohibit that sort of thing.

When a man rises up in the Senate of the United States and presents a bill to remove from our armies liquor and the temptations that are before them, he is ridiculed;
and when we write to the men who represent us in Congress and ask them to stand for that, what answer do we get back? There are men sitting here in this
congregation who have the answers that these men have made, and there is no assurance at all that they would stand for the thing that is right.

Cites Danger

Now, there is our danger. We must not forsake God. If we are not on His side, you may be sure He is not going to be on our side. He will leave us to ourselves.

Now, these calamities are here. They are upon us. The whole world is in commotion.

I have had to leave unsaid about two-thirds of what I have prepared to say, but next week, which will be the concluding talk, I am going to turn to these Scriptures and
show you what the old prophets have said in regard to our day. I have told you now what the Lord said and what the prophets of our own day have said. I have shown
you the fulfillment of the prediction by President Wilford Woodruff, that the angels are sent forth to reap the earth. They are on that mission. This I have presented to
you tonight, and we will get the other things next time.

The Lord bless you I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

LESSON SIX

The Lord's "Controversy With the Nations"

(Remarks Made By Elder Joseph Fielding Smith November 18 1942 in Barratt Hall.)

The subject for tonight's talk is "The Lord's Controversy With the Nations." We hear a great deal and we see a great deal in the prints today about this great second
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                                               I did not call it the second world war. This is the first world war. It is only a part, a continuation of the warPage
                                                                                                                                                                of 191428  / 41
                                                                                                                                                                        to 1918,
and even that was not the beginning. I have been asked a great many times if I thought this present war was the great last war before the coming of Christ, and I have
said yes; but I do not mean when I say that that we will not have another spell, another armistice, when they may lay down their arms for a season only to get ready to
(Remarks Made By Elder Joseph Fielding Smith November 18 1942 in Barratt Hall.)

The subject for tonight's talk is "The Lord's Controversy With the Nations." We hear a great deal and we see a great deal in the prints today about this great second
world war. I think in a previous talk I said I did not call it the second world war. This is the first world war. It is only a part, a continuation of the war of 1914 to 1918,
and even that was not the beginning. I have been asked a great many times if I thought this present war was the great last war before the coming of Christ, and I have
said yes; but I do not mean when I say that that we will not have another spell, another armistice, when they may lay down their arms for a season only to get ready to
take them up again, although I hope that will not be the case. I think the great world war commenced in April, 1861. At any rate, that was the beginning of the end, and
I am going to read to you this prophecy on war given to the Prophet Joseph Smith on Christmas Day in the year 1832.

"Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death
and misery of many souls:

And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place.

"For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States and the Southern States will call upon other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it
is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations.

"And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war.

"And it shall come to pass also that the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceedingly angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a
sore vexation.

"And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the
fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the
consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations;

"That the cry of the saints, and the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.

"Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen." (Doctrine & Covenants,
Section 87.)

Now, that's the revelation. You find here written, then that the Lord said that beginning with the rebellion of South Carolina eventually war would be poured out upon
all nations. That was a very bold thing to say; that is, if the Lord had not said it. Some people think that the Prophet said it, not the Lord, but he would not have dared
to have made a statement of that kind of himself because in 1832 there was no thought in minds of men that eventually, beginning with the rebellion of South Carolina,
the time would come when the whole world would be in conflict.

I only want to refer to this briefly because I want to go on to other things, but let us consider some things that grew out of the war of the rebellion.

Up until the rebellion of South Carolina, warfare was very crude, judged from the standpoint of warfare today. They had no machine guns. They had no submarines.
They had no armor-clad vessels, and a great many other things that we have today that men are using in this terrible destruction were unknown. In all of the wars up to
that time and largely even in that war the vessels that were used were wooden vessels. The guns would not shoot so very far. They were made to penetrate wood, but
out of that war we call the Civil War there came the ironclad. There came the submarine. There came the machine gun. There came the use of balloons. Of course, they
did not have airplanes, but they used balloons, and a great many other things that are now used had their beginning in that conflict.

We are familiar with the great battle which played such a great part in the Civil War between the Monitor and the Merrimac, the two iron clads, and the Monitor was
the first iron vessel with a turret. From that time the nations have had to revise their method of warfare, and I maintain that war has been going on in this world ever
since, perhaps not open conflict, and yet I am not so sure that there has not been somewhere upon the face of the earth open conflict constantly since that day. It would
be a nice thing some day to go into our history and find out if hostilities have not been going on somewhere upon the face of the earth ever since the Civil War, but
whether so or not it makes little difference.

Out of that war came the modern instruments of destruction. The nations had to build stronger guns. They had to build steel vessels. Then they built great guns that
would penetrate steel, and then thicker armor for their vessels so that the guns could not penetrate, and then still more powerful guns to penetrate the armor, and this
warfare has been going on ever since, and from that very day until the outbreak of the present war, nations have been preparing, increasing their armaments, and almost
everything that we have today-not everything but nearly everything-has developed from that which was discovered or invented during the Civil War. They did not have
the radio, but they had the telegraph.

And so what the Lord says is absolutely true. Would the Prophet of himself dare say that eventually war would be poured out upon all nations? I do not think he would
dare say that because he would not have inspiration enough without the help of the Lord to declare that the time would come when peace would be taken from the
earth and the whole world would be in conflict.

It was only a few months before the outbreak of the war in 1914 when David Starr Jordan said in a number of places, and he said it right here in the Salt Lake
Tabernacle, that the nations could never go to war again. It was too expensive. The financiers would not finance a war and, therefore, we could not have a war, and
almost before his words quit echoing the great conflict broke out.

The Voice of the Lord to All Men

I want to read to you one or two things from the revelations. The Lord proclaimed to all the world the restoration of the Gospel. He called upon the nations of the earth
and upon the Church to heed this warning, and I will read to you from the Doctrine & Covenants, Section 1, beginning with the first verse.

"Hearken, O ye people of My church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and
ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.

"For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall
not be penetrated.

"And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed."
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So this proclamation as we explained in other talks was made. The missionaries went forth to preach this Gospel to the nations of the earth crying repentance and / 41
calling upon them to repent and turn to God and keep His commandments, and the nations have refused. They did not want the message.
not be penetrated.

"And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed."

So this proclamation as we explained in other talks was made. The missionaries went forth to preach this Gospel to the nations of the earth crying repentance and
calling upon them to repent and turn to God and keep His commandments, and the nations have refused. They did not want the message.

I want to read to you a few words from Section 133. In verses 17 and 18 the Lord says:

"For behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the
hour of his coming is nigh-

"When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads."

And so He sent the Elders forth with that message.

The Wicked to be Cut Off

The verses that I want to read to you contain a declaration from the Lord of judgment upon the nations because they refuse to hear.

"And upon them that hearken not to the voice of the Lord shall be fulfilled that which was written by the prophet Moses that they should be cut off from among the
people.

"And also that which was written by the prophet Malachi: For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall
be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

"Wherefore, this shall be the answer of the Lord unto them."

To make clear what I shall read I will make a comment at this point.

The people, when they see the judgments of the Lord and when His sign is given, the sign of His coming according to these words and according to the words of
Isaiah, will want to know what it is all about. They will say, "Who is this that comes with dyed garments," because we understand the Lord will come in red apparel as
one that has trodden in the wine vat. And so they will ask, "What do you mean by all of this?" And so the Lord will say unto them, "This shall be the answer."

"In that day when I came unto mine own, no man among you received me, and you were driven out.

"When I called again there was none of you to answer; yet my arm was not shortened at all that I could not redeem, neither my power to deliver.

"Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink, and die for thirst.

"I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering.

"And this shall ye have of my hand-ye shall lie down in sorrow."

Lie down in sorrow, why? Because you have rejected the message of the Gospel which was sent unto you. Now to continue.

"Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver you; for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not my servants, and when they were
sent unto you ye received them not.

"Wherefore, they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness.

"These shall go away into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

"Behold the Lord your God hath spoken it. Amen."

The Lord's Controversy With the Nations

So we see that the Lord had a controversy with the nations because they have rejected His servants; because they rejected Him first; and when He sent others unto
them, they treated them the same way they treated Him and refused to receive the truth, therefore, in this day of judgment when the cup of iniquity is full they shall lie
down in sorrow and there shall be none to deliver them.

Don't you forget it was the Lord who said that!

In the book of Matthew, 24th chapter, and again in the book of Luke, the 21st chapter, we have the teachings of the Savior to His disciples in regard to events as they
are unfolding in this present day, and I am going to read a few of these verses from the 21st chapter of Luke, beginning with the 25th verse.

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

"Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

"And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

"When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
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"So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

This Generation Shall Not All Pass
"And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

"When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

"So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

This Generation Shall Not All Pass

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."

That passage of Scripture has been a puzzle to the Christian world. One minister wrote a letter to a great many ministers and said, "Unless we can find a suitable
solution to this remark, we might just as well quit. 'Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.' "

Now, this man, like almost every other man in the so-called Christian world, had an idea that the Savior was speaking of the generation in which He lived. He was not
speaking of that generation at all. He was speaking of the generation in which these signs should be shown forth, and in the revision of the 24th chapter of Matthew as it
was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith the Lord makes that very clear in the 34th verse on page 44 in the Pearl of Great Price. The Lord says:

"Verily I say unto you, this generation in which these things shall be shown forth shall not pass away until all I have told you shall be fulfilled. Although the days will
come that heaven and earth shall pass away, yet my words shall not pass away but all shall be fulfilled."

This ought to cause us to do a little thinking, because today we see all these things taking place. The signs of the times point to these difficulties, these dangers, these
troubles spoken of here in these two chapters, so we know as we might know when the fig tree begins to put forth its leaves that summer is nigh.

You know, that old fig tree is a pretty wise tree. It is not foolish like the apricot tree and the peach tree. The first few days it begins to get warm the peach tree and the
apricot tree put out their buds and then a frost comes along and there is trouble; but that wise old fig tree waits and does not get in a hurry, and when you see that tree
putting forth its leaves you know summer is just about there. And so the Lord used this as an illustration. So we know when we see all these signs that are taking place
in the earth that summer is nigh; the coming of the Lord is nigh. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that the signs of the coming of the Son of God were even in his day
being made manifest.

Based upon what the Lord says in this Section 87 of the Doctrine & Covenants-the Section on war which I read-I place the time of the beginning of the end at the
rebellion of South Carolina. I say I place it there. I beg your pardon. The Lord places it there because it says beginning at this place these things would take place.

The Words of Isaiah

I am going to read to you from the prophets, these Old Testament prophets, some of the things that have been written and that have a bearing upon this present world
condition in this very day. I am going to go through these Scriptures, beginning with Isaiah through to Zechariah, and take them in order.

In the 34th chapter of Isaiah we read this:

"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

"For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

"And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine,
and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

"For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment."

Now, some Bible commentators, because the name of Idumea, a little country east of the Jordan, is mentioned, have an idea that this had reference to that little country;
but the term Idumea is one that the Lord uses to mean the world. You will find it so recorded in Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants. He is speaking of the world.
That is very evident from these words that I have read to you.

The Day of Vengeance

Now to continue:

"The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a
sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

"And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

"For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion."

We will learn more before I get through about what is meant by the controversy of Zion. Here is a thought conveying to our minds the fact that this has reference to our
own day, because the Lord says, "And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll." That is to take place in the
dispensation of the Fulness of Times, and this prophecy had nothing to do with that little country called Idumea but to the nations of the earth.

I will read from the 25th chapter of Jeremiah, and it is from this that I get the text for tonight's remarks.

"For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

"And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
 Copyright
"Then took (c)
           I the2005-2009,   Infobase
                 cup at the Lord's    Media
                                   hand,     Corp.all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me:
                                         and made                                                                                                              Page 31 / 41

"To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing and a curse; as it is
"For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

"And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

"Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me:

"To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing and a curse; as it is
this day;

"Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

"And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of
Ashdod,

"Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,

"And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,

"Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,

"And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,

"And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

All Kingdoms of the World

"And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall
drink after them.

"Therefore thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the
sword which I will send among you.

"And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

"For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all
the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.

"Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall
mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

"A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the
sword, saith the Lord.

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

"And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried;
they shall be dung upon the ground.

"Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished;
and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.

"And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

"A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture.

"And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

"He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger."

Now, can't you see the picture of the world today here told by Jeremiah? And yet people ridicule Jeremiah and ridicule Isaiah and other prophets, and what they said is
coming to pass right now.

We Should Understand the Warnings

I know these are unpleasant things. It is not a pleasant thing even for me to stand here and tell you that this is written in the Scriptures. If the Lord has a controversy
with the nations, He will put them to the sword. Their bodies shall lie unburied like dung upon the earth. That is not nice, is it, but should we not know it? Is it not our
duty to read these things and understand them? Don't you think the Lord has given us these things that we might know and we might prepare ourselves through humility,
through repentance, through faith, that we might escape from these dreadful conditions that are portrayed by these ancient prophets? That is why I am reading them. I
feel just as keenly as you do about the condition, and I pray for it to come to an end, but I want it to come to an end right.

We have two chapters of Ezekiel-I am not going to read them-chapters 38 and 39. If you want to know about these two chapters, I advise you to get a copy of Parley
P. Pratt's "Voice of Warning." It was published first in the year 1837 and received the endorsement of the Prophet Joseph Smith and was published in several editions
during the lifetime of the Prophet. If you want to know about the great battle of Gog and Magog-sometimes we say Armageddon-you read these chapters. They are
too long for me to read, and so I am just calling attention to them; and if you want the explanation, Brother Parley P. Pratt has given it in a very excellent manner, so we
will pass them by.

Then we come to Daniel. Today a great many people are talking about Daniel and what Daniel has said, the whole 11th chapter of Daniel and some things in the 12th. I
am  not going
 Copyright   (c)to2005-2009,
                   read it all, maybe noneMedia
                                 Infobase   of it, but I make this comment. The opening of this chapter 11 of the book of Daniel begins in the days of the Page
                                                   Corp.                                                                                                     Medes and
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Persians, and Daniel saw in vision the conflicts between Persia and Grecia, as he calls it-that is, the Macedonian empire-and also that which followed at least the
dividing of Alexander's kingdom among his four generals. These chapters contain history from that day down to the coming of the Son of God. A lot of people like to
point to this and read it and say it fits Hitler to a T. If you want to think that, that is your privilege. The only comment I want to make on it, and you can read it for
will pass them by.

Then we come to Daniel. Today a great many people are talking about Daniel and what Daniel has said, the whole 11th chapter of Daniel and some things in the 12th. I
am not going to read it all, maybe none of it, but I make this comment. The opening of this chapter 11 of the book of Daniel begins in the days of the Medes and
Persians, and Daniel saw in vision the conflicts between Persia and Grecia, as he calls it-that is, the Macedonian empire-and also that which followed at least the
dividing of Alexander's kingdom among his four generals. These chapters contain history from that day down to the coming of the Son of God. A lot of people like to
point to this and read it and say it fits Hitler to a T. If you want to think that, that is your privilege. The only comment I want to make on it, and you can read it for
yourselves, is that the latter part of this revelation is to take place just preceding the resurrection. So if Hitler is the man, we are getting pretty close; and whoever the
man is, he is going to be destroyed in a certain time and place.

A Time of Trouble

In the 12th chapter and in the first verse Daniel says:

"And at that time"-that is, when this destruction comes-"shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time
of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the
book.

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

So you see this chapter comes right down to the time of the siege of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ, the opening of the graves and the coming forth of the dead.
Now, you can put your own interpretation upon it. I have not time to read it.

Next I come to Joel. Of course, we have all read part of the second chapter of Joel, the last part of it. "And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am
the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh," and so forth. We are all familiar with that. But we are not so familiar with the first part
of this chapter, and I want to read it to you. If you want to picture the German army when I read this to you, that is all right with me.

Day of Lord Nigh At Hand

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand."
This is going to be in the last days.

"A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

"A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and
nothing shall escape them.

"The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

"Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

"Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

"They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks.

"Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded." Perhaps that has reference to
tanks. I don't know.

"They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

"The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Rend Your Heart Not Your Garments

"And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
and who can abide it?

"Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

"And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him
of the evil.

"Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

"Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and
the bride out of her closet.

"Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach,
that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

"Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
 Copyright
"Yea,      (c) 2005-2009,
      the Lord              Infobase
               will answer and        Media
                                say unto      Corp. Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more
                                         his people,                                                                                                    Page   33you
                                                                                                                                                             make / 41
                                                                                                                                                                     a
reproach among the heathen:
that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

"Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

"Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a
reproach among the heathen:

Will Remove the Northern Army

"But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward
the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things."

Now, do you understand it? Well, here we have a great, terrible army, marching with unbroken ranks and crushing everything before it, finding the garden like Eden
before them, leaving the wilderness behind, causing mourning, causing suffering; and so the prophet raises the warning voice, and that voice is to us, if you please, that
we might turn unto the Lord and rend our hearts.

You know, they used to rend their garments and sit in sack cloth when they were repentant. So the Lord says, "Rend your heart and not your garments." Humble
yourselves. Prepare yourselves, oh Israel, that you may receive My blessings, that you might be protected from this condition that is going to come. And then the last
words that I have read from this part of this chapter, the Lord says that He will take that great army in hand, that He also has an army. His army is terrible, just as
terrible as the other army, and He will take things in hand. When I say the other army, the Lord's army, do not get an idea He is thinking about England or the United
States. He is not. He is not thinking about any earthly army. The Lord's army is not an earthly army, but He has a terrible army; and when that army marches, it will put
an end to other armies, no matter how terrible they may be; and so He says in these closing words I have read to you that He would do this thing. He would drive this
terrible northern army into the wilderness, barren and desolate, with his face towards the east sea and his hinder part towards the utmost sea. He would do that, and
then He would bless His people-having reference, of course, to Israel. If you want to figure that out in your own imagination as the German army, it is all right with me.

All Nations to be Gathered

Joel has more to say in the third chapter.

"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem." There you got it pictured. That is, when I bring back from
captivity Judah and Jerusalem. That is when this is going to take place.

"I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom
they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land."

I am going to skip some of these verses because I do not want to take all the time to read everything here, so I go down now to the ninth verse.

"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

"Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

"Assemble yourselves, and come all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.

"Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

The Valley of Decision

"Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

"The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

"The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the
strength of the children of Israel.

"So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any
more.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters,
and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

"Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their
land.

Jerusalem and Zion

"But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

"For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion."

Now, do you understand that? There are other passages I had better read first before I make any explanation.

Now we will turn over to Zephaniah. This is the third chapter, and I am reading beginning with the eighth verse.

"Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to
pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
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"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.

"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
Now we will turn over to Zephaniah. This is the third chapter, and I am reading beginning with the eighth verse.

"Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to
pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.

"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.

"In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in
thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.

"I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord."

And then he goes on to say more about the gathering of Israel, but I will not take time to read it.

Prophecy of Zechariah

Now we come to Zechariah.

All of these prophecies that I am reading to you by these ancient prophets have a bearing upon what is taking place right now.

The 12th chapter of Zechariah, beginning with the first verse:

"The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man
within him.

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces through all the people of the earth be
gathered together against it.

"In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah and will smite
every horse of the people with blindness.

"And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.

"In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round
about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

The Defense of Judah

"The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the Glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against
Judah.

"In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God,
as the angel of the Lord before them,

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

"In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

"And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives
apart.

"The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

"All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart."

What Are These Wounds?

Now, in the 13th chapter, I will just read this one verse because it has a bearing upon the same time.

"And one shall say unto him. What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."

Now, we turn to the 14th chapter of Zechariah. These prophecies are from the Old Testament.

"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

"For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished and half of the city shall go forth into
captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle."

That is where
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Christ Shall Stand on Mount of Olives
captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle."

That is where He is going to bring His army.

Christ Shall Stand on Mount of Olives

"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward
the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

"And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the
days of Uzziah King of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

"But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in
winter shall it be.

"And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one."

Then later on in this same chapter the Lord tells us what is going to happen to these armies that come against Jerusalem. I will read a verse or two of it beginning with
the 12th verse.

Destruction of Armies

"And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their
feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his
hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

"And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

"And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague." (Compare D. & C.
29:17-20.)

Now I have read these passages of Scripture from these various prophets. Here you will find Isaiah saying the Lord will pour out war upon all the world; Jeremiah
saying the same thing and speaking of these terrible things; Daniel saying so; Ezekiel saying so. We find Joel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, all proclaiming that in this last day,
the day when the sun shall be darkened and the moon turned to blood and the stars fall from heaven, that the nations of the earth would gather against Jerusalem. All of
them speak of it; and when that time comes, the Lord is going to come out of His hiding place. You can see what a terrible condition it is going to be; and the Jews
besieged, not only in Jerusalem but, of course, throughout Palestine are in the siege; and when they are about to go under, then the Lord comes. There will be the great
earthquake. The earthquake will not be only in Palestine. There will not be merely the separation of the Mount of Olives, to form a valley that the Jews may escape, but
the whole earth is going to be shaken. There will be some dreadful things take place, and some great changes are going to take place, and that you will find written in
the book of Ezekiel (38:17-23), which I did not read to you.

Now, this is very interesting. You can take your Doctrine and Covenants and turn to Section 45 and read what the Lord says about it, confirming what is written here in
the book of Zechariah. During this siege, when the nations are gathered and the Lord comes, there will be a great destruction. The armies will become so confused they
will fight among themselves. There will be great slaughter. Then the Lord comes to the Jews. He shows Himself. He calls upon them to come and examine His hands
and His feet, and they say, "What are these wounds?" And He answers them, "These are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am Jesus
Christ."

Then Comes Building of Jerusalem

Then they will accept Him as their redeemer, which they have never been willing to do. Then is the time as spoken of in this passage from Zechariah when every family
will go and mourn apart; the house of David, the house of Nathan, the Jews. They will fall down. They will rend their garments, and they will mourn and they will weep
because they were not willing to accept the Son of God but accepted the teachings of their fathers and rejected their Redeemer and Messiah. Then they will fall down
at His feet and worship Him. After these days will come their redemption and the building of Jerusalem. They will be given their own land again, and every man will live
under his own vine and his own fig tree and they will learn to love the Lord and keep His commandments and walk in the light, and He will be their God and they will
be His people, and that is right at our doors.

I read to you here in one of these other talks the words of Ezekiel in chapter 37 where it speaks of the two sticks, the stick of Judah and the stick of Ephraim being
joined together; and when the people ask, "What do you mean by the joining of these two sticks; what do you mean by preaching this Gospel anew again among us," in
that day these things are to take place:

"Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them
into their own land:

Israel Shall be One Nation

"And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall
they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

"Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their
dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
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"And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

"And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children,
they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

"Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their
dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

"And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

"And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children,
and their children's children forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.

"Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary
in the midst of them for evermore.

"My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

"And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." (Ezekiel 37:21-28.)

A Glorious Ending

And that is a glorious ending for Israel, very glorious ending.

Now, I will conclude, if you will permit me to take that much more time, by reading the last verses of this 14th chapter of Zechariah, which has to do with the same
time.

"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of
hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

"And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

"And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the
feast of tabernacles.

"This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

"In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

"Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that
day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts."

These things are right before us.

We see the great things that are taking place in the earth today-all this turmoil, all this trouble, men's hearts failing them, the commotion, but we have only seen the
beginning of it. The elements have not yet become angry as they shall become angry, and the sea heave beyond its bounds; and the earthquakes and the sinking of cities
and the great destruction by plague and by famine and pestilence and all the rest of it will have to come first, and bloodshed, war, destruction.

So I pray everyday of my life that the Lord will hasten His work; and while all this has to take place, I hope He will hasten it, that it may soon come to an end, that
peace may come; and so I repeat, as I said in one of the talks sometime ago, I am praying for the end of the world because I want a better world. I want the coming of
Christ. I want the reign of peace. I want the time to come when every man can live in peace and in the spirit of faith, humility and prayer.

The Lord bless you I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

LESSON SEVEN

The Spirit of the Lord Poured Out

There are many interesting events predicted in the Scriptures which have a bearing on the signs of the times in this the greatest of all the dispensations, that could not be
considered in the six talks that were given before the groups in Barratt Hall. Numerous requests have been made that other important predictions and their fulfillment,
be presented in another article.

That we are now living in a very wonderful age is conceded by all, irrespective of belief or unbelief in the Holy Scriptures. It is the view of many that we have among us
today minds that are far superior to those of former ages and this accounts for the wonderful flood of inventions, discoveries and developments in the field of science,
art and mechanics during the past one hundred years. It is also admitted by many that we, today, are benefiting by the experiences of all past ages, but that all of the
experiences and knowledge of the past cannot, when summed up, equal the wonderful accomplishments of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Lord Has Willed It

We, who accept the word of the Lord and have faith in the predictions of the prophets, hold to the view that the great outpouring of knowledge and scientific
discovery, is due to the influence and guidance of the spirit of the Lord upon the minds of men, more than to any other cause. The time has come for this wonderful
development in science, art, mechanics, medicine, etc., to be made known and given to the world for the benefit of man, and this is not due to the superiority of
intellect, but because the Lord has willed it. With all our learning and inventions, man has not drawn nearer to his Maker and has not partaken of the divine truths which
bring exaltation. Faith in the Lord has not increased, but to the contrary man has removed himself farther away from the revealed plan of salvation. Many of the
discoveries of these modern times, have brought the world nearer than ever to the unseen spiritual forces, yet men have hardened their hearts and taken the honors to
themselves, rejecting the source of the inspiration which has been given them. How any person can be a witness to these marvelous forces, such as radio, television and
many other discoveries, and then deny the influence and power of the Almighty in the unseen world, is a mystery almost beyond normal understanding.

Intelligence No Greater Now

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                                                                                                                                                           possessed
the worthies who lived in the very earliest times. Men in past ages were just as intelligent; they exercised wisdom just as great as can be found on the earth today. The
Lord inspired their minds and revealed to them his commandments and opened to their vision things of future generations to the end of time. In the first talk of this series
many other discoveries, and then deny the influence and power of the Almighty in the unseen world, is a mystery almost beyond normal understanding.

Intelligence No Greater Now

These wonderful discoveries and developments have not come into the world because men are possessed of greater intelligence, or wisdom, than was possessed by
the worthies who lived in the very earliest times. Men in past ages were just as intelligent; they exercised wisdom just as great as can be found on the earth today. The
Lord inspired their minds and revealed to them his commandments and opened to their vision things of future generations to the end of time. In the first talk of this series
this matter was discussed. Jesus Christ was the framer and builder of this earth, and a multitude of other earths. He gave to this earth its laws by which it is governed
long before He came into this world a babe in Bethlehem. When He came among mortal men He subjected Himself to the laws and conditions among men that were
current in His day. He had power to turn water into wine, to give eyesight to the blind, to make whole a withered hand and a crooked body, to call forth from the dead
one who had been in the tomb for several days. The elements were subject to His command, yet when He traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem He walked or rode on the
back of some humble beast of burden, and the journey consumed several days. There was no newspaper, no telegraph, no quick communication between city and city.
He knew there was a western hemisphere peopled by a nation of the House of Israel. Is it reasonable to suppose that He, who said He knows the end from the
beginning, did not see our day with all its wonderful and convenient aids and developments? Is it reasonable to suppose that Enoch, Moses, or the Brother of Jared,
unto whom the Lord revealed the history of the earth, did not see these things which are commonplace with us today? How can we doubt this to be the fact?

Prophets Saw Our Day

Is it not true that some of the ancient prophets have spoken of these very things? Isaiah must have seen our great ships propelled by steam or electricity. Nahum must
have been shown the railroad train or the automobile, or both, when he spoke of the chariots raging in the streets, travelling like lightning and with lights like torches.
John the Revelator describes the airplane, and the battles in the air which are now taking place over the greater surface of the earth. The fact is that the Lord withheld
from the inhabitants of the earth all of these things and inspired men in the last days to discover and make use of them. It is also true that every good thing that comes
from above Satan takes and utilizes for evil, thus turning what is intended for a blessing into a cursing, to bring to pass the spiritual as well as temporal destruction of
mankind. He does this because men love darkness and evil rather than that which is good.

Knowledge Increased

The angel revealed to Daniel many things concerning our day and said to him: "Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: Many shall run to and
fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Paul added a significant truth to this thought when he said, speaking to Timothy, that in this day people would be, "ever learning,
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Surely these two predictions are being fulfilled on the earth today. Joel, also, was shown the last days and
predicted many things that would take place preparatory to the second coming of our Redeemer. Among other things he said, "And it shall come to pass afterwards,
that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And
also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit." This does not have reference to the bestowal of the Holy Ghost, but to the spirit
of Christ, or light of Truth, which we are informed is given to "every man that cometh into the world." The predictions are made that through the inspiration of this Spirit,
wonderful things are to be accomplished in the latter days. Surely we have seen the fulfillment of many of these promises made by Isaiah, Daniel, Joel, and others, yet
with all the knowledge and inspiration, men continue to boast in their own strength and refuse to give to the Lord the credit for their accomplishments.

It is a very significant thing that most of the modern discoveries and inventions have come to the world since the opening of the heavens to the Prophet Joseph Smith. It
is true that the Lord began to pour out His spirit upon men when despotism and religious tyranny ruled the world. In the very beginning Adam had a correct
understanding of astronomy and the power of the Almighty ruling in the universe. It was revealed to Joseph Smith that Kolob "signifies the first great grand governing
fixed star which is the farthest that has ever been discovered by the fathers, which was discovered by Methuselah and also by Abraham."

Knowledge of the Ancients

Moreover, Abraham records that he received by revelations the fact that Kolob is the "first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God," and its time is the
Lord's time and by it he reckons. These ancient prophets knew not only of the revolutions of the earth and the planets, but they had superior knowledge of the fixed
stars. Abraham and Methuselah were astronomers with knowledge revealed through higher powers than the telescope. They knew more about the heavenly bodies
than all the astronomers of this age put together. These men were not ignorant, superstitious old fogies, with minds prejudiced by false notions and imaginations and
traditions inherited from ancestors who came down from the monkey stage. The knowledge of God and the things of God were known in the beginning. Men were just
as intelligent then as they are now. Michael, the prince, whom we know as Adam, the Progenitor of the human family, holds the keys of salvation under the direction of
Jesus Christ. He was chosen to be at the head and a ruler over his posterity because of his worthiness and intelligence. He had a perfect language, both spoken and
written, for it was given him by the voice and finger of God!

The Nephites on this continent also had a clear understanding of the universe. Without question the great Mexican, or Mayan, calendar stone, is the development of the
teachings of inspired leaders among the Nephites. The decline of knowledge both spiritual and temporal, including the false notions regarding the earth and the universe,
came about through rebellion and rejection of the commandments of the Lord.

The Dark Ages

The so-called "Dark Ages" came about through apostasy and rebellion and rejection of the plan of salvation revealed through the prophets of Israel. This deep spiritual
darkness is always manifest in lands where the people have turned away from the Lord and have rejected His servants. The spirit of the Lord withdraws from men
when they rebel, and then the spirit of Satan takes possession of them and gross darkness enters their souls. Ignorance follows in the wake of rebellion and the light of
truth goes out when men turn from the guidance of heaven. This darkness, spiritually and mentally, reached its deepest shade shortly preceding the period known as the
"Renaissance," or revival of learning. This revival did not come by chance. The time had come for the preparation for the restoration of the Gospel. It took several
hundred years to complete this restoration. The despotism of the middle ages had to be broken down and religious as well as political freedom come to the people. The
action on the part of the Barons in 1215 A. D., when they forced King John to sign the Great Charter, was not a thing of chance. There had to come a break to the
despotic hold which ruling kings had upon the people. The development of the English Constitution also was a work of gradual inspiration. The coming of John Wycliff
in Great Britain, with his translation of the Bible, and the coming of John Huss in Bohemia, was a part of the divine plan. Without question they were given inspiration in
the very morning of the reformation. Later the Lord raised up Martin Luther and numerous others who aided in breaking the shackles which bound the minds and
consciences of men. All of this was preparatory to the opening of the heavens and the restoration of the fulness of the Gospel.

Nothing Is By Accident

Henry George Bohn said, "Nothing in the great world which concerns the well being of man takes place by accident, but is brought forward by divine will, precisely at
the moment most suitable to our condition. So it was with astronomy, the mariner's compass, the steam engine, gas, the electric telegraph, and many other of those
blessings which have progressed with civilization. The elements were there and known, but the time had not arrived for their fructification." The art of printing along with
the other inventions and discoveries which preceded the coming of Moroni and the restoration of the Gospel, had to be revealed before the Church could be
established
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                                         the American
                                              Corp. Constitution, we well know, was by divine inspiration. And thus, revealing line upon line and precept Page upon
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precept, the Lord prepared the way for the restoration of His work in fulness in the earth. All of these things are signs of the times, even though some of them date back
several hundred years. The discovery of America, we learn from the Book of Mormon, is a sign that the Lord is preparing for the reclamation of His ancient scattered
people-Israel.
Henry George Bohn said, "Nothing in the great world which concerns the well being of man takes place by accident, but is brought forward by divine will, precisely at
the moment most suitable to our condition. So it was with astronomy, the mariner's compass, the steam engine, gas, the electric telegraph, and many other of those
blessings which have progressed with civilization. The elements were there and known, but the time had not arrived for their fructification." The art of printing along with
the other inventions and discoveries which preceded the coming of Moroni and the restoration of the Gospel, had to be revealed before the Church could be
established in the earth. The framing of the American Constitution, we well know, was by divine inspiration. And thus, revealing line upon line and precept upon
precept, the Lord prepared the way for the restoration of His work in fulness in the earth. All of these things are signs of the times, even though some of them date back
several hundred years. The discovery of America, we learn from the Book of Mormon, is a sign that the Lord is preparing for the reclamation of His ancient scattered
people-Israel.

Matters pertaining to the establishment of the Church, the vision of the Father and the Son, the coming of heavenly messengers to restore the keys of all the former
dispensations, the testimony of the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, are matters with which the members of the Church are very familiar. It is not necessary,
therefore, to go into the details concerning matters of this kind which are so well understood. There are, however, many important events recorded in the Scriptures
which are yet to take place to complete the preparatory work before our Lord comes to reign. All of these things which we see developing are signs which point
unmistakably to the fact that we are in the last days and that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is at our doors.

The Lost Tribes

First let us say something further about the restoration of the ten "lost tribes of Israel." Strange to say, notwithstanding all that has been written, there are many members
of the Church who think that these "lost tribes" were scattered among the nations and are now being gathered out and are found through all the stakes and branches of
the Church. They reach this conclusion because the general opinion is that these tribes went into the North, and it is the northern countries from whence most of
gathered Israel has been found. Then again, explorers presumably have been to the north pole; they have passed over the pole in their air ships and no land or people
comparable to the ten tribes has been discovered. Whether these tribes are in the north or not, I am not prepared to say. As I said before, they are "lost" and until the
Lord wishes it, they will not be found. All that I know about it is what the Lord has revealed, and He declares that they will come from the North. He has also made it
very clear and definite that these lost people are separate and apart from the scattered Israelites now being gathered out. If this be not true, then the commission of
Moses to the Prophet Joseph Smith is without meaning, wherein we read: " * * Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel
from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north." The statement that the tribes are to be led from the north harmonizes
perfectly with the words of Jeremiah (Jer. 16:14-15) and Section 133, verses 26 to 34. Surely there must be a time when this great body of people will come to the
children of Ephraim to receive their blessings. At their presence the mountains will tremble; they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down. They will bring forth
their rich treasures to the children of Ephraim, at whose hands they shall receive the rich blessings which the Gospel and its ordinances offer them. Speaking of this,
Elder Orson F. Whitney has said:

"It is maintained by some that the lost tribes of Israel-those carried into captivity about 725 B. C.-are no longer a distinct people; that they exist only in a scattered
condition, mixed with the nations among which they were taken by their captors, the conquering Assyrians. If this be true, and those tribes were not intact at the time
Joseph and Oliver received the keys of the gathering why did they make so pointed a reference to 'the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north?' This too,
after a general allusion to the 'gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth.' What need to particularize as to the Ten Tribes, if they were no longer a distinct
people? And why do our Articles of Faith give these tribes a special mention?" (See Saturday Night Thoughts, p. 174.)

Another striking statement pointing to the fact that these people are now in a body in preparation for their return is the statement by the Prophet Joseph Smith at the
conference held in Kirtland, June 3 to 6, 1831. At this conference the Prophet said: "John the Revelator was then among the ten tribes of Israel who had been led away
by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, to prepare them for their return from their long dispersion." The Savior also bore witness that these tribes were in a body like the
Nephites and he would visit them. (3 Nephi 15:20 and 16:1-4.)

The Keys of Elijah

Other extremely important events now being fulfilled are based on the coming of Elias, Moses and Elijah with the keys of their dispensations. We have considered
rather fully the mission given through the keys of Moses, which is the gathering of Israel. The keys of Elias had to do with the peculiar blessings given in the days of
Abraham, by which all who receive the Gospel are numbered with and of the seed of Abraham and entitled to all the blessings promised to that worthy prophet in
ancient times. The keys of Elijah's work and ministry are extremely interesting. His coming was the fulfilling of the promise made through Malachi. It is the planting in the
hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers, that in these last days, the children should do the work which was denied the fathers upon which their salvation
depends. Many members of the Church have thought that the keys restored by Elijah were keys pertaining to the dead, and therefore Elijah practiced in his day
ordinances in behalf of the dead. This is an error. There was no work performed for the dead by Elijah or any other prophet before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The
keys held by Elijah were the keys of the sealing power by which all ordinances are sanctioned and approved and upon which the eternal seal of authority is placed.
These powers were exercised in early dispensations in behalf of the living. Elijah exercised such authority, and we learn from the Prophet Joseph Smith that he was the
last of the prophets in old Israel to hold this divine authority in this fulness. It was for this reason that he was sent to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in April, 1836,
to confer that authority. Since our Savior opened the door for the dead, this power becomes valid for the dead who accept the Gospel as well as for those who receive
the Gospel in this mortal world. I will not go into details and quote scripture bearing on this point, but you will find the evidence recorded in the words of Isaiah,
chapters 42:6-7 and 61:1-2; also in Moses 7:38-39; John 5:25-26; Luke 16:20-31; 1 Peter 3:18-21 and 2 Peter 4:6. The gulf spoken of by the Savior in the story of
Lazarus he bridged when he went to the world of spirits. This is made very clear in the vision of the Redemption of the Dead given to President Joseph F. Smith.
President Brigham Young has said this in relation to the preaching to the dead;

"Jesus was the first man that ever went to preach to the spirits in prison, holding the keys of the Gospel of salvation to them. Those keys were delivered to him in the
day and hour that He went into the spirit world, and with them He opened the door of salvation to the spirits in prison." (Discourses-479.)

The Hearts of the Children

The significance of the restoration of the keys held by Elijah, embracing the turning of the hearts of the children to their fathers, is clearly defined and readily observable
in the work that is being done today for the dead. Not only have the hearts of members of the Church turned to their dead fathers, but this same influence has taken
hold of the hearts of people in various parts of the world. There are today thousands of individuals who are working in the preparation of their family genealogical
records. This has come to pass since Elijah came, and is one of the most significant signs of the times. The Prophet Joseph Smith could not by any power vested in
himself, force the people everywhere to take an interest in their dead and compile their records at great expense. Before the restoration of these keys April 3, 1836,
there was no great interest in any part of the world among the professed believers in Christianity, in the compiling of genealogical records. A brief statement in relation
to what has been done since is in order here.

The year following the coming of Elijah, Great Britain passed laws requiring the proper recording of vital records and filing them in a central place. In the year 1844, the
New England Historical and Genealogical Society was organized in Boston, although some steps were taken previously in this direction. In 1869 the New York
Genealogical and Biographical Society was incorporated in New York. Since that day many other societies have been organized in many of the other cities and states,
principally in the older settlements along the Atlantic where the people first settled when they came to this country. In more recent years societies for the research and
compilation  of genealogical
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                               Infobase Media  come into existence in most of the states from Maine to California. It is but natural that the first societies of this kind
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country would be formed in the New England and Atlantic states, for there is where the oldest settlements are found and the beginning of family history in this country.
There have been also in several parts of the country special bequests provided in wills for the purpose of geneaogical research. Some of the older states have also set
aside funds by legislative enactment for the gathering, compiling and publishing of vital records of their several towns. In the past fifty years organizations of this nature
The year following the coming of Elijah, Great Britain passed laws requiring the proper recording of vital records and filing them in a central place. In the year 1844, the
New England Historical and Genealogical Society was organized in Boston, although some steps were taken previously in this direction. In 1869 the New York
Genealogical and Biographical Society was incorporated in New York. Since that day many other societies have been organized in many of the other cities and states,
principally in the older settlements along the Atlantic where the people first settled when they came to this country. In more recent years societies for the research and
compilation of genealogical information have come into existence in most of the states from Maine to California. It is but natural that the first societies of this kind in this
country would be formed in the New England and Atlantic states, for there is where the oldest settlements are found and the beginning of family history in this country.
There have been also in several parts of the country special bequests provided in wills for the purpose of geneaogical research. Some of the older states have also set
aside funds by legislative enactment for the gathering, compiling and publishing of vital records of their several towns. In the past fifty years organizations of this nature
have been formed in most of the countries of Great Britain and the spirit of this work has crossed to the continent into all lands from whence have been gathered the
scattered sheep of the House of Israel. Thousands of genealogical records have been compiled at enormous expense by individuals and family organizations. The
compilers do not seem to know what force it is that impels them onward in this work. They think they are doing it as a matter of family pride and the desire to have
some record of their ancestors, but back of it all is the inspiration which comes from the restoration of the keys of this turning of the hearts of the children to parents and
parents to their children. A detailed report of this labor would prove very interesting but it cannot be given here.

A Fascinating Work

One gentleman, a lawyer of Salem, Massachusetts, who was spending most of his time in the field of genealogical research at his own expense, and without hope of
monetary remuneration, told me, in 1902, when I was seeking information along genealogical lines, that he was endeavoring to compile all the family histories of every
family where the ancestor came to Essex County before the year 1700. He did not know whether he would ever get the work finished or not. He was spending more
time in this labor than he was in his profession. When I said to him, "Why are you doing this great work?" he answered, "I do not know. I got started and now I cannot
stop, something is impelling me to do it." This was on his part an unselfish work for he could not expect any financial returns for his labor. I said to him, "I can tell you
why you are doing it, but if I do you will only laugh at me and will not believe it." He became curious to know what I had in mind, and when I told him of the restoration
of the authority vested in Elijah, and that the time had come spoken of in Malachi that the hearts of the children should turn to their fathers and the hearts of the dead
fathers to their children, he did laugh and said it was a very interesting story, but he could not accept it. As far as he was concerned he was doing this work because he
got a great joy out of it. So it is with thousands of others.

Work of Genealogical Society

They get started and cannot stop until the work they have in hand is finished. Then we collect these records and place them in the Library of the Genealogical Society of
Utah for the benefit of thousands who are members of the Church so that they can find the records of their dead. We have in our archives and library today 25,000
volumes, pamphlets, etc., that have been compiled and gathered from many parts of the world, and are being used by the members of the Church in their preparation of
their records of the dead.

Does anyone wish to tell me that this influence of the spirit of the Lord has not influenced these people to engage in this work? Is it not a very strange thing that such
research was not being carried on except in a few individual cases where affairs of some estate were involved, and the search was for the purpose of laying claim to
property? The research today is far from this thought and is done because of the joy and satisfaction people receive in preparing such records; and then back of all of
this it is because the time has come and the keys of this power have been restored by divine manifestation and authority. The evidence all around us is so
overwhelmingly clear on this point that it is marvelous that men shut their eyes to its truth.

The City of Zion

Other matters of great interest to us in relation to our times, is the promised building of the City of Zion, or New Jerusalem on this continent, and the restoration of
Jerusalem of old as an holy city. These matters evidently are under preparation. I have already spoken of the return of the Jews and the gathering of Israel. Zion on this
continent will be built according to the promise. When that time will commence we do not know. That it is very close at hand all the signs indicate. It is true that the land
will first be cleansed of its evil before that day can come. The word of the Lord shall not fail. Had the members of the Church been willing to give heed to the
commandments and walk in the light of truth as it has been revealed, the Lord said that Zion could, even now, have been redeemed. Thus has the Lord spoken:

"There is even now already in store sufficient, yea, even an abundance, to redeem Zion, and establish her waste places, no more to be thrown down, were the
churches, who call themselves after my name, willing to hearken to my voice." (D. and C. 101:75.)

"Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgression of my people, speaking concerning the Church and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now.

"But behold they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I require at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as
becometh Saints, to the poor and afflicted among them;

"And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom;

"And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself." (D. and C. 105:2-5.)

Blessings Withdrawn

Because the people were not ready, or able, to abide in the laws which had been given them, the blessings were withdrawn, and the Lord said that they must wait for a
little season for the redemption of Zion. In the meantime the people were to be chastened until they learn obedience, through the things which they suffer. After much
tribulation would come the blessing and Zion would be redeemed, her Temple would be built, and "they who have been scattered shall be gathered." Zion was not to
be moved out of her place. There are indications in the revelations that Zion is not to be built up or redeemed, until the indignation of the Lord shall be poured out
without measure upon all nations; and "This will be when the cup of their iniquity is full." (D. and C. 101.)

Some members of the Church have been greatly troubled because the Lord said that the Temple in the City Zion was to be built before the passing of this generation
(D. and C. 88:4-5), but have we fully understood what is meant by a generation? The Lord said in His day, "Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that
stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." Since then nearly two thousand years have passed, yet this will be
literally fulfilled. I have confidence in the words of the Lord, although some questions have been raised regarding Zion. The fact remains that this holy city and its
Temple will be built. This will come after tribulation, and after the nations have been punished for their sins. So it seems to be recorded in the Scriptures. There must
also come the reclamation of old Jerusalem and the building of a Temple there. This too, must wait, so it would seem, until the earth is cleansed of its wickedness.

Saints to Come Forth

There are many things yet to take place concerning Zion. Many of these are to come to pass after the "arm of the Lord" has fallen upon the nations. Of that day we
read:
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"But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel will sound his trumpet, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud.
Saints to Come Forth

There are many things yet to take place concerning Zion. Many of these are to come to pass after the "arm of the Lord" has fallen upon the nations. Of that day we
read:

"But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel will sound his trumpet, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud.

"Wherefore, if ye have slept in peace blessed are you; for as you now behold me and know that I am, even so shall ye come unto me and your soul shall live, and your
redemption shall be perfected; and the saints shall come forth from the four quarters of the earth.

"Then shall the arm of the Lord fall upon the nations.

"And then shall the Lord set His foot upon this mount (Mount of Olives), and it shall cleave in twain, and the earth shall tremble, and reel to and fro, and the heavens
also shall shake.

"And the Lord shall utter His voice, and all the ends of the earth shall hear it; and the nations of the earth shall mourn, and they that have laughed shall see their folly.

"And calamity shall cover the mocker, and the scorner shall be consumed; and they that have watched for iniquity shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.

"And then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet?

"Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who
was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God.

"And then shall they weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament because they persecuted their king." (Doc. & Cov. 45:47-53.)

Several Appearings

We learn from various scriptures that there are to be several appearings of our Savior before the final appearance and the full cleansing of the earth. The Lord has said
that "every man that will not take up his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety. And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under
heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war with one another."

The interpretation of this is not made fully clear. It is, evidently, something which is yet future. It may be the aftermath of the present world struggle. It appears from the
revelation, that there must be a time when Zion-the pure in heart-will be isolated from the rest of the world, and in the world there will be bloodshed and wickedness.
The wicked will say in that day, "Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand. And it shall come to pass
that the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy."

Today this nation is at war, in the most bloody, vicious, cruel and inhuman conflict that the world has ever seen. Not only are the armies at war, but blood and
destruction, death and misery, are being poured out upon men, women and children who are not under arms. It is, so far as the combatants are concerned who seek to
enslave the world, a war of extermination. Our own boys are called to enter this struggle. It cannot be, therefore, at least in its present stage, the time spoken of when
Zion shall be terrible. That is yet future. Moreover, there must come a time, for the Lord has spoken it, when by some miraculous manner, he will gather from the four
ends of the earth his people in a gathering which does not have to do with that which has already taken place.

City of Enoch to Return

This seems to be a time to come-near the great day of resurrection (D. and C. 45:46 and Moses 7:62-63), and just preceding the time when the "arm of the Lord shall
fall upon the nations." In that day the City of Enoch-the other City of Zion-will return and men shall again exercise perfect faith and have the guidance of divine power.
Moreover, the thousand years of peace shall be ushered in, but the Lord has said, "until that hour there shall be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh
an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked; and in that day will I send mine angels to pluck out the wicked and cast them into unquenchable fire."

This day, the Lord has said, is near at hand. We are therefore warned to watch and pray:

"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you
unawares.

"For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.




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