In other words, the spirit without the body is not perfect, and the body without the spirit is dead. Man was ordained in the beginning to become like Jesus Christ, to become conformed unto his image. As Jesus was born of woman, lived and grew to manhood, was put to death and raised from the dead to immortality and eternal life, so it was decreed in the beginning that man should be, and will be, through the atonement of Jesus, in spite of himself, resurrected from the dead. Death came upon us without the exercise of our agency; we had no hand in bringing it originally upon ourselves; it came because of the transgression of our first parents. Therefore, man, who had no hand in bringing death upon himself, shall have no hand in bringing again life unto himself; for as he dies in consequence of the sin of Adam, so shall he live again, whether he will or not, by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection. Every man that dies shall live again, and shall stand before the bar of God, to be judged according to his works, whether they be good or evil. It is then that all will have to give an account for their stewardship in this mortal life. The word of God is spoken to the children of men. It has been revealed from the heavens. It is extant in the world. It is in force upon the people. Those that reject it will have to answer for it before God, the judge of the quick and the dead; while those that receive and obey the word of the Lord and keep his commandments, as I have read, shall not only come to a knowledge of the truth, but shall look upon the face of the Redeemer and shall see and know him as he is. Furthermore, they will acknowledge that it is through the atonement and power of the Savior that they are brought again unto life immortal, to enjoy eternal felicity in the celestial kingdom of God, provided they have been obedient to his commandments. The Lord continues:
The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.
The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
Light and truth forsake that evil one.
Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning, and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again in their infant state, innocent before God.
And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.
The word of the Lord is truth. You ask, What is truth? It is the truth that God lives. What more is truth? It is the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world; that he atoned for the sin of Adam, and that through our repentance and obedience to him we shall receive a forgiveness of our own sins, and shall be cleansed therefrom, and exalted again in the presence of God, from whence we came. It is truth that God has revealed to the world that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. It is eternal truth that except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. These are the Almighty's truths that he has revealed to the children of men, and upon these we will stand. We propose to bear our testimony to these truths, and to declare these principles to the children of men, as long as God will give us his Spirit, and we are entrusted with this mission to declare Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen from the dead, and Joseph Smith raised up by the power of God to restore the fulness of the everlasting Gospel and the authority of the Holy Priesthood to the earth in the dispensation of the fulness of times. We bear this testimony to the world, and we know that our testimony is true; for we have received of that Spirit of truth which is of God, and of which Jesus speaks here through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Therefore, our testimony is in force upon the world. Especially is it in force upon those who have yielded obedience to the message of salvation as it has been restored to the earth and declared unto you.
Personal Testimony.
Now, my brethren and sisters, I know that my Redeemer lives. I feel it in every fiber of my being. I am just as satisfied of it as I am of my own existence. I cannot feel more sure of my own being than I do that my Redeemer lives, and that my God lives, the Father of my Savior. I feel it in my soul; I am converted to it in my whole being. I bear testimony to you that this is the doctrine of Christ, the Gospel of Jesus, which is the power of God unto salvation. It is "Mormonism." But there is much more that could be said in relation to these matters. "Mormonism" has been interpreted by one who was inspired to mean "more good." We have accepted the term "Mormon." It having been applied to us by our enemies simply because we believed in the Book of Mormon, and we are not ashamed of it—we are not ashamed of "more good." We believe in every principle and precept of the Gospel, and in all the law of God. We believe that every principle is essential. We believe that we should do our duty to God and to our fellowmen. We should do unto others as we would have them do to us. We should observe the laws of chastity, honesty and uprightness, deal justly with our neighbors, and kindly and mercifully with the erring. We should seek to do good at all times and under all circumstances. The feeling should predominate in our hearts that we are here, not to do evil, but to do good; not to increase error, but to diminish it and to increase the knowledge of the truth; to make men happy, and to spread happiness abroad in the world by persuading men to do that which is right. There is no real happiness in wickedness. There is no real enjoyment in sin and transgression. The only source of real enjoyment and perfect happiness is in the observance of the laws of truth and righteousness.
The Lord bless you and help us all to live our religion and to keep the commandments of God, that we may look upon his face, and that we may see the Redeemer when he shall come to the earth again; for he will come, and when he does come again he will not come as the meek and lowly Nazarene, without "where to lay his head," and without respect and honor, but he will come as God out of heaven, clothed with power, glory, justice, judgment and truth. He will come with the hosts of heaven, and he will receive those who have kept his commandments in the earth as the church prepared for the Bridegroom, while he will take vengeance upon the ungodly.
This is not my doctrine; it is the declaration of the Bible, of the ancient prophets, and also of the modern prophets, who have spoken by inspiration. I am but repeating their words, and I tell you nothing new. God bless you and keep you in the path of duty, and deliver us all from evil, and help us to be steadfast and faithful to the covenants that we have made, and to the cause of Zion and of redemption for the living and the dead, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Transcriber's Note
Some apparent printer's errors, especially spelling errors and unclosed quotation marks where a correct reading was obvious, have been resolved as seemed reasonable. (The 'scanctity' of the Pharisees was a personal favorite.)