DISCOURSE OF THE PROPHET--HIS LOVE FOR MANKIND--PRESENTATION OF THE
DOCUMENTS OF THE LATE TRIAL TO GOVERNOR FORD--REVELATION ON THE
ETERNITY OF THE MARRIAGE COVENANT AND PLURALITY OF WIVES.
_Sunday, July 9, 1843_.--Meeting at the Grove in the morning. I
addressed the Saints.
[The following is a brief synopsis, as reported by Dr. Willard
Richards:]
_The Cause of the Prophet's Success--Love for His Fellow-Man_.
Joseph remarked that all was well between him and the heavens; that
he had no enmity against any one; and as the prayer of Jesus, or
his pattern, so prayed Joseph--"Father, forgive me my trespasses as
I forgive those who trespass against me," for I freely forgive all
men. If we would secure and cultivate the love of others, we must
love others, even our enemies as well as friends.
Sectarian priests cry out concerning me, and ask, "Why is it this
babbler gains so many followers, and retains them?" I answer, It is
because I possess the principle of love. All I can offer the world
is a good heart and a good hand.
The Saints can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for
my brethren. If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing
to die for a "Mormon." I am bold to declare before Heaven that I
am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian,
a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same
principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day
Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of
any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend
themselves.
It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul--civil and religious
liberty to the whole of the human race. Love of liberty was
diffused into my soul by my grandfathers[A] while they dandled me
on their knees; and shall I want friends? No.
[Footnote A: Revolutionary ancestors of the Prophet.]
{499} The inquiry is frequently made or me, "Wherein do you differ
from others in your religious views?" In reality and essence we do
not differ so far in our religious views, but that we could all
drink into one principle of love. One of the grand fundamental
principles or "Mormonism" is to receive truth, let it come from
whence it may.
We believe in the Great Eloheim who sits enthroned in yonder
heavens. So do the Presbyterians. If a skilful mechanic, in taking
a welding heat, uses borax, alum, etc., and succeeds in welding
together iron or steel more perfectly then any other mechanic, is
he not deserving of praise? And if by the principles of truth I
succeed in uniting men of all denominations in the bonds of love,
shall I not have attained a good object?
If I esteem mankind to be in error, shall I bear them down? No. I
will lift them up, and in their own way too, if I cannot persuade
them my way is better; and I will not seek to compel any man to
believe as I do, only by the force of reasoning, for truth will
cut its own way. Do you believe in Jesus Christ and the Gospel
of salvation which He revealed? So do I. Christians should cease
wrangling and contending with each other, and cultivate the
principles of union and friendship in their midst; and they will
do it before the millennium can be ushered in and Christ takes
possession of His kingdom.
"Do you believe in the baptism of infants?" asks the Presbyterian.
No. "Why?" Because it is nowhere written in the Bible. Circumcision
is not baptism, neither was baptism instituted in the place of
circumcision. Baptism is for remission of sins. Children have no
sins. Jesus blessed them and said, "Do what you have seen me do."
Children are all made alive in Christ, and those of riper years
through faith and repentance.
So far we are agreed with other Christian denominations. They
all preach faith and repentance. The gospel requires baptism by
immersion for the remission of sins, which is the meaning of the
word in the original language--namely, to bury or immerse.
We ask the sects, Do you believe this? They answer, No. I believe
in being converted. I believe in this tenaciously. So did the
Apostle Peter and the disciples of Jesus. But I further believe in
the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Evidence by
Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:38. You might as
well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the
remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water
is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other
half--that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
The Savior says, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." "Though we or an {500}
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed," according to
Galatians 1:8.
I am free today. Messengers have returned with offers of peace from
the governor.
[Sidenote: Markham Outwits Sheriffs Reynolds and Wilson.]
This morning, [the 9th of July] Esquire Patrick and Colonel Markham
returned from Springfield. Markham stated that on the 4th they drove
to Beardstown, hired fresh horses, and got to Springfield, 124 miles,
about seven on the morning of the 5th, about two hours in advance of
the Carthage mail, carrying Reynolds and Wilson, and ready with the
documents to see the governor. The affidavits were in the possession of
Cyrus Walker, who refused to give them up, on account of a political
squib in the _State Register_, charging Walker with making capital
stock out of my arrest to favor his election to Congress. Markham then
demanded them as my agent, telling him that, if he would not give
them up, he would take them from him. Walker then turned and said, "I
will do my duty, if it takes my head," and then went with Markham and
delivered the papers to the governor. When they received the decision
of the governor, they started on their return home. When they returned
to Rushville, they learned that General Moses Wilson[B] had been
staying there two or three weeks, with ten or twelve men, waiting for
an opportunity of transporting me to Jackson county, and had only left
there the morning previous, when they learned the decision of Governor
Ford.
[Footnote B: This was the Gen. Moses Wilson who was active in the
Missouri persecutions of the Saints, see Vol. II, pp. 46, 191. Also
Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt. Edition of 1874, chapt. xxi,
Affidavit. Hist. of the Church, Vol. III, Appendix.]
In the evening, Shadrach Roundy started for Springfield, to carry
further affidavits and see Governor Ford.
_Monday, 10_.--I rode out with Emma to the farm.
_Tuesday, 11_.--I rode out with my family in the carriage.
_Wednesday, 12_.--I received the following revelation in {501} the
presence of my brother Hyrum and Elder William Clayton:--
_Revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant, including
the Plurality of Wives. Given through Joseph, the Seer, in Nauvoo,
Hancock County, Illinois, July 11th, 1843.[C]_
[Footnote C: Doctrine and Covenants, section 132. For a treatise
on the date of publication and authorship of this revelation see
Introduction to this volume.]
Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that
inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand
wherein I the Lord justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
as also Moses, David, and Solomon my servants, as touching the
principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines;
behold and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as
touching this matter. Therefore prepare thy heart to receive and
obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all
those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same;
for, behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant;
and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one
can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory;
for all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law
which was appointed for that blessing and the conditions thereof,
as were instituted from before the foundation of the world: and as
pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted
for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness
thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith
the Lord God.
And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are
these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows,
performances, connections, associations, or expectations that are
not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise,
of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity,
and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment, through the
medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold
this power, (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold
this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the
earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this Priesthood
are conferred,) are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after
the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made
unto this end have an end when men are dead.
Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and
not a house of confusion. Will I accept of an offering, saith the
Lord, that is not made in my name? Or will I receive at your hands
that which I have not appointed? And will I appoint unto you,
saith the Lord, except {502} it be by law, even as I and my father
ordained unto you before the world was? I am the Lord thy God, and
I give unto you this commandment, that no man shall come unto the
Father but by me, or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord;
and everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of
men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name,
whatsoever they may be, that are not by me, or by my word, saith
the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are
dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your
God; for whatsoever things remain are by me, and whatsoever things
are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed.
Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry
her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as
he is in the world, and she with him, their covenant and marriage
are not of force when they are dead and when they are out of the
world; therefore they are not bound by any law when they are out
of the world: therefore, when they are out of the world, they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are appointed angels
in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for
those who are worthy of a far more and an exceeding and an eternal
weight of glory: for these angels did not abide my law; therefore
they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without
exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity, and from
henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God for ever and ever.
And again, verily I say unto you, If a man marry a wife, and make a
covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant
is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by
the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and
appointed unto this power, then it is not valid, neither of force,
when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me,
saith the Lord, neither by my word. When they are out of the world
it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are
appointed there, by whom they cannot pass: they cannot, therefore,
inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord
God.
And again, verily I say unto you, If a man marry a wife by my
word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant,
and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him
who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the
keys of this Priesthood, and it shall be said unto them, Ye shall
come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first
resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones,
kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and
depths; then shall it be written in the Lamb's book of life, that
he shall commit no murder, whereby to shed innocent blood; and if
ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby {503} to shed
innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever
my servant hath put upon them, in time and through all eternity,
and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they
shall pass by the angels and the gods which are set there, to their
exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their
heads; which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the
seeds for ever and ever.
Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall
they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue.
Then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto
them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the
angels are subject unto them.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye cannot
attain to this glory; For strait is the gate and narrow the way
that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and
few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world,
neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then
shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation, that where
I am, ye shall be also. This is eternal lives, to know the only
wise and true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. I am He.
Receive ye, therefore, my law. Broad is the gate and wide the way
that leadeth to the deaths; and many there are that go in thereat,
because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man marry a wife according
to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise,
according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin
or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever and
all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder, wherein
they shed innocent blood,--yet they shall come forth in the first
resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be
destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings
of Satan, unto the day of redemption; saith the Lord God.
The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven
in the world, nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder,
wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye
have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God;
and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory,
but shall be damned, saith the Lord.
I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my
Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father before the
world was. Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received by
revelation and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath
entered into his exaltation, and sitteth upon his throne.
{504} Abraham received promises concerning his seed and of the
fruit of his loins,--from whose loins ye are--viz., my servant
Joseph,--which were to continue so long as they were in the world;
and as touching Abraham and his seed out of the world, they should
continue: both in the world and out of the world should they
continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the
sand upon the sea shore, ye could not number them. This promise is
yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made
unto Abraham; and by this law are the continuation of the works of
my Father, wherein He glorifieth Himself. Go ye, therefore, and do
the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law, and ye shall be saved.
But if ye enter not into my law, ye cannot receive the promises of
my Father, which He made unto Abraham.
God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife.
And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar
sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other
things, the promises. Was Abraham therefore under condemnation?
Verily, I say unto you, Nay: for I the Lord commanded it. Abraham
was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written,
Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was
accounted unto him for righteousness.
Abraham received concubines, and they bare him children, and it
was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given
unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none
other things than that which they were commanded, and because they
did none other thing than that which they were commanded they have
entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit
upon thrones, and are not angels, but are gods.
David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon,
and Moses my servant, as also many others of my servants, from the
beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin,
save in those things which they received not of me.
David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the
hand of Nathan my servant, and others of the prophets who had the
keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against
me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and therefore he hath
fallen from his exaltation and received his portion; and he shall
not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another,
saith the Lord.
I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph,
an appointment, and restore all things. Ask what ye will, and it
shall be given unto you, according to my word. And as ye have
asked concerning adultery, verily, verily, I say unto you, If a
man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if
she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the
holy anointing, she hath committed {505} adultery, and shall be
destroyed. If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and
she be with another man, she has committed adultery; and if her
husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow, he hath
broken his vow and hath committed adultery; and if she hath not
committed adultery, but is innocent, and hath not broken her vow,
and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph,
then shall you have power, by the power of my Holy Priesthood to
take her and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery,
but hath been faithful; for he shall be made ruler over many; for
I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the Priesthood,
wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things in
due time.
And verily, verily, I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on
earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth,
in my name and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally
bound in the heavens; and whosoever sins you remit on earth shall
be remitted eternally in the heavens; and whosoever sins you retain
on earth shall be retained in heaven.
And again, verily I say, Whomsoever you bless I will bless; and
whomsoever you curse I will curse, saith the Lord; for I the Lord
am thy God.
And again, verily I say unto you, my servant Joseph, that
whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one
on earth by my word and according to my law, it shall be visited
with blessings, and not cursings, and with my power, saith the
Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth and in heaven;
for I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee, even unto the
end of the world and through all eternity; for verily I seal
upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the
kingdom of my Father, with Abraham your father. Behold, I have
seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins. I have seen
your sacrifices, in obedience to that which I have told you. Go,
therefore; and I make a way for your escape, as I accepted the
offering of Abraham of his son Isaac.
Verily, I say unto you, A commandment I give unto mine handmaid,
Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay
herself, and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer
unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did
Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by
covenant and sacrifice; and let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive
all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are
virtuous and pure before me: and those who are not pure, and have
said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God; for I
am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice: and I give unto my
servant Joseph that he {506} shall be made ruler over many things,
for he hath been faithful over a few things; and from henceforth I
will strengthen him.
And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto
my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this
commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the
Lord thy God, and will destroy her, if she abide not in my law:
but if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant
Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will
bless him, and multiply him, and give unto him an hundredfold, in
this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses
and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the
eternal worlds. And again, verily I say, Let mine handmaid forgive
my servant Joseph his trespasses, and then shall she be forgiven
her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me; and I the
Lord thy God will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart
to rejoice.
And again, I say, Let not my servant Joseph put his property out of
his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him, for Satan seeketh
to destroy; for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant; and
behold and lo, I am with him, as I was with Abraham thy father,
even unto his exaltation and glory.
Now, as touching the law of the Priesthood, there are many things
pertaining thereunto. Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as
was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of Him that sent
me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this
Priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law,
and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Let
no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; for I will justify
him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for
his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.
And again, as pertaining to the law of the Priesthood, If any man
espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give
her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins,
and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot
commit adultery, for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit
adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else: and
if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit
adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him:
therefore is he justified. But if one or either of the ten virgins,
after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed
adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to
multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and
to fulfill the promise which was given by my Father before the
foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal
worlds, that they may bear the souls of men, for herein is the work
of my Father continued, that he may be glorified.
{507} And again, verily, verily I say unto you, If any man have a
wife who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the
law of my Priesthood as pertaining to these things, then shall she
believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith
the Lord your God, for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my
name upon all those who receive and abide in my law. Therefore,
it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to
receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto
him, because she did not believe and administer unto him according
to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor, and he is exempt
form the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to
the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. And now,
as pertaining to this law, verily, verily I say unto you, I will
reveal more unto you hereafter; therefore let this suffice for the
present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.
Hyrum took the revelation and read it to Emma.
I directed Clayton to make out deeds of certain lots of land to Emma
and the children.
I extract from the _Neighbor_:--
_Editorial_.
Joseph Smith is at Nauvoo in peace, quietly pursuing his own
business; where we hope he will long remain free from the power of
his inhuman persecutors.
The testimony already given[D] needs no comment. It shows but too
plainly the inhumanity, recklessness, barbarism, and lawlessness
of the state of Missouri; and we could wish, for the sake of
humanity, for the sake of suffering innocence, and for the sake of
our honored institutions, that our nation's escutcheon had never
been stained by the inhuman acts and bloody deeds of Missouri, and
that the non-efficiency of the nation to execute law had not been
so fully developed. But it is too true, we have witnessed most
of the things mentioned by Mr. Smith, and we have also witnessed
the carelessness and apathy of Congress on this subject, or their
inefficiency to remedy the evil; the which, had it been fully
investigated, and the perpetrators of those damning crimes brought
to condign punishment, it would have exposed a blacker history than
ever was written of any pagan, not to say Christian nation, and
would have exposed half of that state to the charge of treason,
murder, robbery, arson, burglary, and extermination.
[Footnote D: This has reference to the testimony of Hyrum Smith
published in the same issue of the _Neighbor_ in which the
Editorial appeared. The late President John Taylor was the editor.]
{508} As it is, the blood of the innocent yet cries for vengeance;
and if it overtakes them not here, and God spares my breath, if no
one else does it, their deeds shall be handed down to posterity,
that unborn generations may execrate these anti-republico
cannibals, and tell that in the state of Missouri lived a horde of
savages, protected and shielded by American republican legislative
authority, who, in the face of open day, dragged the innocent to
prison, because of their religion,--who murdered the oppressed that
they had in their power, and fed the victims with their flesh; that
they glutted their diabolical lust on defenseless innocence, and
violated female chastity in a manner too horrid to relate; that
in their mock tribunals they refused all testimony in favor of
the accused, and thrust their witnesses into prison; that, after
robbing them of their property, they drove 15,000 persons from
the state; that they cried to the authorities of that state for
redress, and from them to Congress; but the echo from both was--"We
can render you no assistance."
Elders Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, and George A. Smith arrived
in Louisville, and visited Mr. Porter, the "Kentucky baby!" 7 feet 7
inches high, and weighing 250 lbs.
Sheriff Reynolds, having published a garbled statement of my arrest
in _The Old School Democrat_, [St. Louis] it was replied to by Esq.
Southwick in the same paper.
{509}