Brigham Young's Sermon on the Gathering of Saints to Utah - 2/16/1868
I am thankful that I have the privilege of meeting with you; I am
thankful for the blessings of this day, and that I live in this age of
the world. The beginning of this dispensation of the fullness of times
may well be compared to the commencement of a temple, the material of
which it is to be built being still scattered, unshaped and unpolished,
in a state of nature. I am thankful that the way is being prepared, and
that we have the privilege of erecting a spiritual and moral
superstructure - a temple of God. (1)
I am happy to be a member of this community; it is my joy, my delight
to perform the little services which God has given me ability to do for
the temporal and spiritual welfare of the children of men, for the
establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and for the
bringing forth of His laws. (2)
We have been gathered to the valleys of these mountains for the express
purpose of purifying ourselves, that we may become polished stones in
the temple of God, for it is written, "Him that overcometh will I make
a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." (3)
Christ is represented as a living stone, chosen of God and precious,
and the Apostle represents the Saints "as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." We "are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of
God, and are built upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord." Then my
brethren, "what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are
the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them,
and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and be a
father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty." (4) We
are here for the purpose of establishing the kingdom of God on the
earth. To be prepared for this work it has been necessary to gather us
out from the nations and countries of the world, for if we had remained
in those lands we could not have received the ordinances of the Holy
Priesthood of the Son of God, which are necessary for the perfection of
the Saints preparatory to His coming. (5)
The great work of the gathering in the last days was plainly seen by
the ancient Prophets and Apostles, and the glory of Zion was portrayed
to them by the Spirit; but the sufferings and labors and toils and
travels of the Saints to bring about the grand results which they saw
they have not particularly described, for very likely the minutiae were
not revealed to them; still they plainly saw by the spirit of
revelation that the Saints would be gathered in the last days to be
perfected and sanctified to become the bride, the Lamb's wife. (6)
I suppose that the visions of the Lord and the revelation of His Spirit
given to His faithful people in former times, relating to the Zion of
the last days, were much the same as they are when given to His people
in our days. When we first receive the Spirit of the Gospel we receive
great joy therein, great peace, and great satisfaction to our minds;
and we are carried away in the Spirit to behold the beauties of Zion,
and to contemplate the mysteries of the kingdom of God. (7)
Our brethren and sisters far away among the nations, when they received
the gospel, and the spirit of revelation came upon them, delighted to
contemplate the gathering of the Saints, it was a matter of joy to them
to dream about it and think about it when they would awake from their
slumbers. They would reflect upon it through the day, and talk about it
in their prayer meetings, and in their prayer circles at home, the
subject of gathering to Zion was constantly before them if they lived
so as to enjoy the spirit of their religion. This spirit caused their
hearts constantly to rejoice; it was not the journey across the sea and
across the plains that gave them joy, but it was the contemplation of
Zion in its beauty and glory, for they could not see the troubles and
disappointments, perplexities and vexations they would have to pass
through in gathering to Zion, nor did they think of the hardships they
would have to endure after they were gathered. So the ancients viewed
the glory of Zion in the last days. (8)
We cannot now administer the further ordinances of God in the fullest
sense of the word legally unto the people, neither shall we be able to
do so until we have a temple built for that purpose. Some may consider
that I am notifying our common foe in saying this, but it is true,
notwithstanding, and our common foe knows it. We must be situated in
local circumstances wherein we can efficiently administer in those
ordinances of the house of God that cannot be administered to a people
while they are scattered abroad among the nations of the wicked. (9)
The Apostle John no doubt saw in vision, by the spirit of revelation,
Zion in her beauty and perfection, and that Zion would have to be built
up by the gathering of God's people out of Babylon. Under the influence
of the same spirit the Psalmist exclaims - "Out of Zion, the perfection
of beauty, God hath shined." "He shall call to the heavens from above,
and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather my Saints
together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by
sacrifice." The High Priest Caiaphas, under the influence of the same
spirit of prophecy, foretold that Jesus should die for the nation;
"and," as John says, "not for that nation only, but that also he should
gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad."
The gathering previously foretold is now being accomplished, and
wherever the children of men are, if there are individuals among them
who would delight to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, forsake sin and
sinful company and practices, they are called upon to gather out from
the wicked and assemble themselves together at some place designated by
the finger of the Almighty. This work the Lord commenced over thirty
years ago, and it is still progressing; the call is still to His people
among the nations of the earth - Gather out of her my people, be not
partakers of her sins lest ye receive of her plagues. When the
righteous are thus gathered they will then be prepared for the coming
of the Messiah. (10)
It was remarked by Elder Woodruff that he did not think it would be a
hundred years before the Savior will come. It is no matter about when
he will come; I do not think the Father has yet been pleased to reveal
it to any man upon the earth, and I do not know that He has revealed it
to the angels. He had not done so in the days of the Savior, and I do
not think that He has yet revealed it. Whether He comes to-day,
to-morrow, this week, next week, this year, or next year, it matters
not; we should be prepared for His coming, and this should satisfy us. (11)
It is our duty to make a close application of the requirements of
heaven to our lives, and qualify ourselves to accomplish the work which
the Lord has committed into our hands. How can we perform this work?
Can we do it by every man turning to his own way, and by following the
vain imaginations of his own heart? No, we will all decide at once that
we never can perform this labor without being guided and directed by
the Lord himself, through the means which it pleases Him to use to
bring about the perfecting of His people, to prepare them for the glory
which is to follow. I would not question the truth of the statement
that the people ordered their lives before the Lord and their neighbors
while they were scattered among the nations more perfectly than they do
here in many instances, for there they had nothing to try them only the
common enemy, and the finger of scorn pointed at them by unbelievers,
which made them cling closer to their God; they had not the trials to
undergo which the Saints have here. If it is necessary for us to be
tried in all things, then weep not, mourn not because we are tried,
neither let us object to the Lord directing our course in that path
wherein the trials necessary for our perfection lie. If it is in
sailing across the sea in ships, in being sick and cast down, in
witnessing the sorrow of our dear friends, in receiving temptations and
trials to which we have before been strangers; if it is in crossing the
country from the United States to this place, by railroad or by ox
team, no matter how, the Lord leads His people in this way expressly to
give them trials which they have not passed through before, and which
it is necessary they should have. While it is necessary that we should
be tempted and tried, it is not necessary that we should give way to
temptation. (12)
The Latter-day Saints are often drawn into circumstances that are most
peculiar, and sometimes very trying, yet there exists no other people
on the earth who enjoy the privileges and the freedom that we do. Our
laws are often trampled upon with impunity, and the offender goes free.
The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often
commit sins that if they were to commit in the world would cut them off
from the church anti-christ, yet we retain them as members of the
Church of Christ in mercy, and in consideration of the weaknesses of
poor human nature, and they pass along unscathed, receiving the
fellowship of their faithful brethren and sisters with the hope that
they will reform and learn to live their religion more faithfully. (13)
It is absolutely necessary that the Saints should receive the further
ordinances of the house of God before this short existence shall come
to a close, that they may be prepared and fully able to pass all the
sentinels leading into the celestial kingdom and into the presence of
God. (14)
Our brethren and sisters who are scattered abroad must be gathered to
be tried, and then to be blessed with a preparation for a glorious
reward. This people will be tried more or less while they remain in the
flesh; they may even be called as Abraham of old was to offer up that
which is the most dear to them of all earthly objects for the Gospel's
sake. Some have already forsaken all and followed Christ; they have
left their children, their husbands, their wives, their brothers and
sisters and dear friends, some hoping again to see them, and many never
expecting to see them again in this life. We shall be tried in all
things, and the Lord is now disposed to try us by calling upon us to be
of one heart and of one mind, to submit to be guided and dictated,
governed and controlled by Him through the constituted authorities of
His kingdom. We should not consider this a trial above what we can
bear. (15)
Is the wife tried because her husband wishes to dictate her and give
her good and wholesome advice? Is somebody tried because his bishop
wishes to control him for his good? Your bishop is very likely doing
the best he can to advise the members of his ward for their best good.
Does he advise you to do wrong? All the members of that ward who are
full of faith and the power of God will be of one heart and mind with
their bishop, and will go with him in all things, and while union
continues in the Lord He will cause every move they make to culminate
for the greatest good to that people and the cause of truth. If a
bishop counsels the people of his ward to swear shall they swear? No.
If he counsels them to steal shall they steal? No. If he counsels them
to lie and bear false witness shall they do these wrongs? No. If he
teaches them to break the Sabbath shall they break the Sabbath? No. If
a bishop or any other officer in this Church shall counsel the people
to violate any of the laws of God, and to sustain and build up the
kingdoms of this world, I will justify them, and the Lord will justify
them in refusing to obey that counsel. But if they counsel you to do
right, which they do, take their counsel. Instead of supporting
anti-christ we have agreed to give our time, our talent, our substance,
our all, for the building up of the kingdom of God. (16)
Do right, and you will be tried all you wish to bear, and if you
overcome, being made perfect through suffering, your rewards will be
eternal life in the kingdom of God. (17)
Do wrong, and continue in doing wrong, and you will have trials more
than you can bear, and be damned at last. When we receive chastisement
let us not be discouraged, but be more faithful, enduring temptation,
hardship, and perplexity, trusting in God, and walking in the light of
His countenance day by day and hour by hour. By pursuing this course
our life will be a cheerful and happy one even in the midst of severe
trials. We have now some little trial to endure, but not much. We are
part of a great nation; it has been one of the happiest and best
nations that has ever existed with regard to liberty, the greatness of
its institutions, and the land which it occupies. The Lord says - Let
my servants and handmaidens be sealed, and let their children be
sealed. This great and happy government under which we have lived so
long says we shall not perform the ordinance of sealing. This may be a
small trial to us for the moment. We shall see who will conquer -
whether God will have His way in making manifest His purposes and
having them fulfilled, or whether the wicked will have their way. They
have had it, and have succeeded many times in overcoming the Saints and
destroying them to that degree, causing them to apostatize, and putting
them to death, that the Priesthood was taken from the children of men;
but this is the last dispensation, and we shall see whether they
succeed in this kind of proceeding now as they have formerly done. (18)
The Lord has revealed His will for His servants to take more wives than
one. Our government says that a man shall not have but one wife, though
he may have as many mistresses as he pleases; he may ruin and destroy
as many of the daughters of Eve as he pleases; but his is forbidden to
acknowledge but one as his wife. The government says you shall only
have one wife; the Lord says take unto yourselves wives; and Saints
obey the Lord, and we shall see who will come off victorious. The
ordinance of sealing must be performed here man to man, and woman to
man, and children to parents, etc., until the chain of generation is
made perfect in the sealing ordinances back to father Adam; hence, we
have been commanded to gather ourselves together, to come out from
Babylon, and sanctify ourselves, and build up the Zion of our God, by
building cities and temples, redeeming countries from the solitude of
nature, until the earth is sanctified and prepared for the residence of
God and angels. (19)
Our enemies say we shall not do this, and here will be a trial, as it
has been for a long time past. One of the first objections that was
urged against Joseph Smith was that he was a money digger; and now the
digging of gold is considered an honorable and praiseworthy employment.
They are hunting for gold all over the country, doing the very thing
which they condemned in him. (20)
The next fault they found with Joseph and the Saints was that they were
stirring up the slaves to rebellion against their masters; and this was
published abroad. Have they not done, and are they not now doing, the
very thing for which they falsely blamed the Saints? (21)
The next accusation was that the Saints took more wives than one.
Whether they will make one grand sweep of it in the future, and all
conclude to take more wives, I cannot say. I wish they might; I do not,
however, wish this for any private benefit it will be to me or to God's
people, but that they may make women honorable wives whom they now
destroy, and conduct themselves more like human beings who bear the
image of God than they now do before Him. (22)
It is for their own sakes that I wish this, and for the sake of the
unfortunate females whom they outrage. I would like you to behold your
little darling sisters and daughters here throwing themselves in the
way of the Gentiles. Any Mormon brother or father who can suffer this
to go on without reproof or advice must be ignorant of the
consequences. The Lord says to the sons Israel, take the daughters of
Israel to wife, and make them honorable, and let them multiply and
replenish the earth, and fill up the measure of their creation, that
their names may be had in honorable remembrance to the latest
generation on earth and in eternity. Supposing that the Latter-day
Saints had possessed the city of New York for the last twenty years, as
they have these valleys of Utah, and the young women of that city from
sixteen years of age to twenty-one had been in the hands of Mormon
Elders as wives, how many would have now been living and honorable
mothers of a bright, intelligent, and vigorous race of men and women,
that have met an untimely grave, husbandless, childless, friendless,
disgraced, and forgotten? Under such circumstances there would have
been now living in honor, according to moderate calculation, from two
to four hundred thousand females, whose filthy and corrupted remains
are now mingling with the dust of that sinful city. (23)
This is a waste of life. Who will be answerable to God in the day of
judgment for such acts? The voice of the Lord is gather out from her,
my people, that ye partake not of her sins nor of her plagues, and
build temples to My name, and seal up My sons and daughters to eternal
life, to prepare them for My coming, for "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; and also the Lord shall have
power over His Saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come
down in judgment upon Idumea, or the world." For, behold, the days are
coming in which they shall say - "Blessed are the barren, and the wombs
that never bore, and the paps that never gave suck. Then shall they
begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us.
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the
dry?" Devouring flames have already taken hold of the dry tree, and the
hand of God in judgment is beginning to be felt by this nation, and
soon will be upon all nations under heaven. Who will acknowledge
the hand of God in the sufferings, travails, and deliverance of this
people from the hands of their persecutors, and His handiwork in
sustaining them in the wilderness, through sorrow, affliction, poverty,
and wretchedness? All the faithful Saints will do it; but how few
outsiders, as we call them, will stop to pray to God in the name of
Jesus to know if this work is true; they pass it by as a thing of
nought, as unworthy of their attention; they are so absorbed in the
affairs of this world that the preparation for the next scarcely enters
into their thoughts, and many of this class are honorable men. (24)
I rejoice when I contemplate the work of the last days, and survey the
Saints in their possessions in Utah. I have but one text which I desire
to keep before them - it is to forsake their sins and become united as
one man in the purpose of all their temporal acts, that their labors
may all centre in the building up and sustaining of God's kingdom
instead of building up the kingdoms of this world. (25)
For their consolation I will say to my brethren and sisters that we
have had a very happy time on our short visit in the south, and I think
I never experienced greater peace, sweeter peace, than I have done on
our short visit to Provo a week ago. We left the city a week ago last
Friday, and returned again to this city on the Tuesday following. We
had a most excellent meeting at American Fork, and everybody and
everything seemed to cry peace on earth and good will to men. (26)
When we returned home we found rumors that there had been difficulty in
Provo, and some of the brethren had been killed. Br. Heber C. Kimball,
in conversing upon this subject in the School of the Prophets, remarked
that the brethren voted that we should go to Provo and that the angels
of the Lord should accompany us, but he did not expect that they would
all go with us and leave you without any. There are good Saints in
Provo, and they want to be better Saints; they may have committed
errors, but when you arrive at the truth of the matter, they wish to be
Saints. (27)
We are all called to be Saints, to be filled with the purity of God,
and with the power of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus - the spirit of
revelation - we are called from darkness into light, from error to
truth, from the power of Satan to the living God, we are called from
the kingdoms of darkness to the kingdom of God and light, and, by and
bye, we shall be chosen because we are worthy, and it will be said to
us: "You have lived the life of a Saint, now you are chosen to be an
heir of the celestial kingdom of our Father and god." Let us not
forget, my brethren and sisters, the gathering of the Saints for
sanctification and preparation to inherit all things. Let us live
closer to our duty, that we may be sanctified and be prepared to dwell
together in the celestial kingdom, which may God grant. Amen. (28)
1) Christians do not approach God via a man-made temple.
God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of
heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He
worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He
gives to all life, breath, and all things. Acts 17:24-25.
2) Christians do not approach God through laws.
But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for
the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our
tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But
after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all
sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:23-26.
3) Christians are looking forward to being in heaven not Utah.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and
he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the
name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of
heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. Revelation
3:12.
4) Christians will not confuse themselves with a physical temple in Utah.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of
God dwells in you? 17If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will
destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1
Corinthians 3:16-17.
5) Christians will not confuse the Kingdom of God for a bogus church based in Utah.
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would
come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with
observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed,
the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21.
6) Christians are not sanctified by moving to Utah to be in a bogus church.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom
of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by
the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
7) Christians do not receive peace and joy belonging to a bogus church based in Utah.
Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of
God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:16-17.
8) Christians will not confuse Zion for a bogus church based in Utah.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to
God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus
the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that
speaks better things than that of Abel. Hebrews 12:22-24.
9) Backlash to Mormon antagonism should never be construed as persecution.
And thus, even as I have said, if ye are faithful ye shall assemble
yourselves together to rejoice upon the land of Missouri, which is the
land of your inheritance, which is now the land of your enemies.
Doctrines and Covenants 52:42, June 7, 1831.
10) Christians are prepared to meet Jesus Christ through their trust in Him not by moving to Utah.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:7-12.
11) Christians will not speculate when Jesus Christ returns to the earth.
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” Acts 1:6-7.
12) Christians will scatter into the world to preach Jesus Christ not gather to a bogus church based in Utah.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
13) The LDS church by harboring criminals in the 19th century did not practice Christianity.
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-12.
14) The presence of God is not achieved through pagan rituals in a Mormon temple.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:15-18.
15) Christians are governed by the Holy Spirit not be a false prophet based in Utah.
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20.
16) Brigham Young practiced treason by proclaiming the United States as being anti-christ.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. Romans 13:1-4.
17) Christians are rewarded with eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ not by works.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.
18) Brigham Young practiced treason by proclaiming the United States as being wicked.
Therefore you must be subject, not only
because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.
For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending
continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom
taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom
honor. Romans 13:5-7.
19) Abraham Lincoln made Brigham Young a career criminal by signing the Morrill Act in July, 1862.
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 1 Peter 2:13-14.
20) Joseph Smith was found guilty of fraud not of mining for gold.
While fortune seeking, in and of itself, is not illegal, fraudulent behavior is. A legal problem arose when Joseph Smith claimed that he could find buried treasure by means of a stone, accepted money in return for his abilities, and yet was unable to provide what he promised. In 1826, Joseph Smith was brought to trial and convicted of fraudulent activity with a “peep stone.” It was proven in court that Joseph Smith on numerous occasions took money in exchange for his “seer” abilities. Ashamed of Joseph, page 51.
21) Inviting free blacks to the slave state of Missouri in 1833 was not smart.
Worst crime of all, the Mormons were Northerners who owned no slaves. Previous to their arrival the bulk of the immigrants had come from Kentucky and Tennessee, many with a retinue of Negros. The population of Missouri in 1830 was over one-fifth slave. Early in 1832 the old settlers accused the Mormons of “endeavoring to sow dissensions and raise seditions” among their slaves, and the church elders promised to curb the offenders. In the following year a handful of free Negroes who had been converted to the church tried to emigrate to Independence. No Man Knows My History, pages 131-132.
22) Brigham Young was fully aware of the Mormon polygamy revelation.
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. Doctrines and Covenants 132:61.
23) Young women were continually trying to escape old Mormon men practicing polygamy.
A daughter of Brigham Young attempts to elope but is cruelly torn from your lover by Salt Lake police and is restored to her parents. The New York Times, September 19, 1869.
24) The disputer of his age, Brigham Young, never preached the Christian message.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:20-24.
25) The work of God is sincere belief in Jesus Christ not working for a bogus church based in Utah.
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:28-29.
26) Peace is found in Jesus Christ not earthly locations.
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
27) There is no peace in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Before the meeting closes, I want to make a few remarks. My feelings are so complicated that I want to say a few words, and I do not want to; I want to talk, and I do not want to talk. You recollect hearing one of the Elders state upon the stand, not long since, that he came into the Church mad, and had been mad ever since. And I am too angry this morning to preach. Sermon delivered by Brigham Young on September 13, 1857.
28) Christians are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ and are sent out not gathered to Utah.
And He said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” Acts 26:15-18.