Now follow our fathers further back and take those who first came
to the island of Great Britain, were they the same species of
beings as those who came to America? Yes, all acknowledge this;
this is upon natural principles. Thus you may continue and trace
the human family back to Adam and Eve, and ask, "are we of the
same species with Adam and Eve?" Yes, every person acknowledges
this; this comes within the scope of our understanding.
But when we arrive at that point, a vail is dropt, and our
knowledge is cut off. Were it not so, you could trace back your
history to the Father of our spirits in the eternal world. He is
a being of the same species as ourselves; He lives as we do,
except the difference that we are earthly, and He is heavenly. He
has been earthly, and is of precisely the same species of being
that we are. Whether Adam is the personage that we should
consider our heavenly Father, or not, is considerable of a
mystery to a good many. I do not care for one moment how that is; <----- Here
it is no matter whether we are to consider Him our God, or
whether His Father, or His Grandfather, for in either case we are
of one species--of one family--and Jesus Christ is also of our
species.
You may hear the divines of the day extol the character of the
Saviour, undertake to exhibit his true character before the
people, and give an account of his origin, and were it not
ridiculous, I would tell what I have thought about their views.
Brother Kimball wants me to tell it, therefore you will excuse me
if I do. I have frequently thought of mules, which you know are
half horse and half ass, when reflecting upon the representations
made by those divines. I have heard sectarian priests undertake
to tell the character of the Son of God, and they make him half
of one species and half of another, and I could not avoid
thinking at once of the mule, which is the most hateful creature
that ever was made, I believe. You will excuse me, but I have
thus thought many a time.
Now to the facts in the case; all the difference between Jesus
Christ and any other man that ever lived on the earth, from the
days of Adam until now, is simply this, the Father, after He had
once been in the flesh, and lived as we live, obtained His
exaltation, attained to thrones, gained the ascendancy over
principalities and powers, and had the knowledge and power to
create--to bring forth and organize the elements upon natural
principles. This He did after His ascension, or His glory, or His
eternity, and was actually classed with the Gods, with the beings
who create, with those who have kept the celestial law while in
the flesh, and again obtained their bodies. Then He was prepared
to commence the work of creation, as the Scriptures teach. It is
all here in the Bible; I am not telling you a word but what is
contained in that book.
218
Things were first created spiritually; the Father actually
begat the spirits, and they were brought forth and lived with
Him. Then He commenced the work of creating earthly tabernacles,
precisely as He had been created in this flesh himself, by
partaking of the course material that was organized and composed
this earth, until His system was charged with it, consequently
the tabernacles of His children were organized from the coarse
materials of this earth.
When the time came that His first-born, the Saviour, should come
into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and
favoured that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any
other man do it. The Saviour was begotten by the Father of His
spirit, by the same Being who is the Father of our spirits, and
that is all the organic difference between Jesus Christ and you
and me. And a difference there is between our Father and us
consists in that He has gained His exaltation, and has obtained
eternal lives. The principle of eternal lives is an eternal
existence, eternal duration, eternal exaltation. Endless are His
kingdoms, endless His thrones and His dominions, and endless are
His posterity; they never will cease to multiply from this time
henceforth and forever.
To you who are prepared to enter into the presence of the Father
and the Son, what I am now telling will eventually be no more
strange than are the feelings of a person who returns to his
father's house, brethren, and sisters, and enjoys the society of
his old associates, after an absence of several years upon some
distant island. Upon returning he would be happy to see his
father, his relatives and friends. So also if we keep the
celestial law when our spirits go to God who gave them, we shall
find that we are acquainted there and distinctly realize that we
know all about that world.
Tell me that you do not know anything about God! I will tell you
one thing, it would better become you to lay your hands upon your
mouths and them in the dust, and cry, "unclean, unclean."
Whether you receive these things or not, I tell you them in
simplicity. I lay them before you like a child, because they are
perfectly simple. If you see and understand these things, it will
be by the Spirit of God; you will receive them by no other
spirit. No matter whether they are told to you like the
thunderings of the Almighty, or by simple conversation; if you
enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, it will tell you whether they are
right or not.
I am acquainted with my Father. I am as confident that I
understand in part, see in part, and know and am acquainted with
Him in part, as I am that I was acquainted with my earthly father
who died in Quincy, Illinois, after we were driven from Missouri.
My recollection is better with regard to my earthly father than
it is in regard to my heavenly Father; but as to knowing of what
species He is, and how He is organized, and with regard to His
existence, I understand it in part as well as I understand the
organization and existence of my earthly father. That is my
opinion about it, and my opinion to me is just as good as yours
is to you; and if you are of the same opinion you will be
satisfied as I am.
219
I know my heavenly Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and
this is eternal life. And if we will do as we have been told this
morning, if you will enter into the Spirit of your calling, into
the principle of securing to yourselves eternal lives, eternal
existence, eternal exaltation, it will be well with you. But if,
after being put into a carriage and placed upon the road, after
having everything prepared for the journey that infinite wisdom
could devise, this people stroll into the swamp, get into the
woods among the brambles and briars, and wander around until
night overtakes them, I say, shame on such people.
I am ashamed to talk about a reformation, for if you have entered
into the spirit of your religion, you will know whether these
things are so or not. If you have the spirit of your religion and
have confidence in you, walk along and continue to do so, and
secure to yourselves the life before you, and never let it be
said, from this time henceforth, that you have wakened out of
your sleep, from the fact that you are always awake.
We talk about the reformation, but recollect that you have only
just commenced to walk in the way of life and salvation. You have
just commenced in the career to obtain eternal life, which is
that which you desire, therefore you have no time to spend only
in that path. It is straight and narrow, simple and easy, and is
an Almighty path, if you will keep in it. But if you wander off
into swamps, or into brambles, and get into darkness, you will
find it hard to get back.
Brother Cummings told you the truth this morning with regard to
the sins of the people. And I will say that the time will come,
and is now nigh at hand, when those who profess our faith, if
they are guilty of what some of this people are guilty of, will
find the axe laid at the root of the tree, and they will be hewn
down. What has been must be again, for the Lord is coming to
restore all things. The time has been in Israel under the law of
God, the celestial law, or that which pertains to the celestial
law, for it is one of the laws of that kingdom where our Father
dwells, that if a man was found guilty of adultery, he must have
his blood shed, and that is near at hand. But now I say, in the
name of the Lord, that if this people will sin no more, but
faithfully live their religion, their sins will be forgiven them
without taking life.
You are aware that when brother Cummings came to the point of
loving our neighbours as ourselves, he could say yes or no as the
case might be, that is true. But I want to connect it with the
doctrine you read in the Bible. When will we love our neighbour
as ourselves? In the first place, Jesus said that no man hateth
his own flesh. It is admitted by all that every person loves
himself. Now if we do rightly love ourselves, we want to be saved
and continue to exist, we want to go into the kingdom where we
can enjoy eternity and see no more sorrow nor death. This is the
desire of every person who believes in God. Now take a person in
this congregation who has knowledge with regard to being saved in
the kingdom of our God and our Father, and being exalted, one who
knows and understands the principles of eternal life, and sees
the beauty and excellency of the eternities before him compared
with the vain and foolish things of the world, and suppose that
he is overtaken in a gross fault, that he has committed a sin
that he knows will deprive him of that exaltation which he
desires, and that he cannot attain to it without the shedding of
his blood, and also knows that by having his blood shed he will
atone for that sin, and be saved and exalted with the Gods, is
there a man of woman in this house but what would say, "shed my
blood that I may be saved and exalted with the Gods?"
220
All mankind love themselves, and let these principles be known by
an individual, and he would be glad to have his blood shed. That
would be loving themselves, even unto an eternal exaltation. Will
you love your brothers or sisters likewise, when they have
committed a sin that cannot be atoned for without the shedding of
their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed
their blood? That is what Jesus Christ meant. He never told a man
or woman to love their enemies in their wickedness, never. He
never intended any such thing; his language is left as it is for
those to read who have the Spirit to discern between truth and
error; it was so left for those who can discern the things of
God. Jesus Christ never meant that we should love a wicked man in
his wickedness.
Now take the wicked, and I can refer to where the Lord had to
slay every soul of the Israelites that went out of Egypt, except
Caleb and Joshua. He slew them by the hands of their enemies, by
the plague, and by the sword, why? Because He loved them, and
promised Abraham that He would save them. And He loved Abraham
because he was a friend to his God, and would stick to Him in the
hour of darkness, hence He promised Abraham that He would save
his seed. And He could save them upon no other principle, for
they had forfeited their right to the land of Canaan by
transgressing the law of God, and they could not have atoned for
the sin if they had lived. But if they were slain, the Lord could
bring them up in the resurrection, and give them the land of
Canaan, and He could not do it on any other principle.
220
I could refer you to plenty of instances where men have been
righteously slain, in order to atone for their sins. I have seen
scores and hundreds of people for whom there would have been a
chance (in the last resurrection there will be) if their lives
had been taken and their blood spilled on the ground as a smoking
incense to the Almighty, but who are now angels to the devil,
until our elder brother Jesus Christ raises them up--conquers
death, hell, and the grave. I have known a great many men who
have left this Church for whom there is no chance whatever for
exaltation, but if their blood had been spilled, it would have
been better for them. The wickedness and ignorance of the nations
forbid this principle's being in full force, but the time will
come when the law of God will be in full force.
This is loving our neighbour as ourselves; if he needs help, help
him; and if he wants salvation and it is necessary to spill his
blood on the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it. Any
of you who understand the principles of eternity, if you have
sinned a sin requiring the shedding of blood, except the sin unto
death, would not be satisfied nor rest until your blood should be
spilled, that you might gain that salvation you desire. That is
the way to love mankind.
Christ and Belial have not become friends; they have never shaken
hands; they never have agreed to be brothers and to be on good
terms; no, never; and they never will, because they are
diametrically opposed to each other. If one conquers, the other
is destroyed. One or the other of them must triumph and utterly
destroy and cast down his opponent. Light and darkness cannot
dwell together, and so it is with the kingdom of God.
Now, brethren and sisters, will you live your religion? How many
hundreds of times have I asked you that question? Will the
Latter-day Saints live their religion? I am ashamed to say
anything about a reformation among Saints, but I am happy to
think that the people called Latter-day Saints are striving now
to obtain the Spirit of their calling and religion. They are just
coming into the path, just waking up out of their sleep. It seems
as though they are nearly all like babies; we are but children in
one sense. Now let us begin, like children, and walk in the
straight and narrow path, live our religion, and honour our God.
221
With these remarks, I pray the God of Israel to bless you forever
and ever, for you are the best people on earth. I can say that I
am happy that you are doing so well as you are. Continue to
increase in all the graces of God's Spirit until the day of His
coming, which I desire with all my heart, in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.