Inspired Prophetic Warnings To All Inhabitants of the Earth

What is an ensign? It is not only something unto which the people will gather, but it is something of divine appointment, something that the Lord organizes, something that will be a pattern to all peoples, nations and governments erected in the mountains, and He calls upon all the inhabitants of the earth to see it. In another place the Prophet Isaiah says: "And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Can you hinder it? Can you oppose the almighty hand of Jehovah that he shall not accomplish His purposes? It cannot be done. You may afflict, you may pass laws, you may call upon distant nations to help you, you may shut down the emigration against the Latter-day Saints, you may drive them, you may burn their houses--you may do all this, but they will continue to live and to stretch forth in spite of all the powers beneath the heavens, and become a great people under the Constitution of this great land. We never want to be freed from the Constitution of our Country. It is built upon heavenly principles. It is established as firm as the rock of ages, and when those that abuse it shall moulder in corruption under the surface of the earth; the American Constitution will stand and no people can destroy it, because God raised it by our ancient fathers, and inspired them to frame that sacred instrument.

The Constitution is one thing; corrupt politicians are another thing. One may be bright as the sun at noonday, the other as corrupt as hell itself; that is the difference. Because we have a good Constitution that is no sign that the strong arm of the law, rounded upon that Constitution, will protect the minority as well as the majority. The politicians may suffer the majority to trample upon the rights guaranteed by that Constitution to the minority. They have done it before, and perchance they will continue to do it until they are wasted away. Then will be fulfilled another saying in this same chapter which I have read--"For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." Now, there are a great many cities in the United States that will not be totally destroyed when the inhabitants are swept off the surface of the earth. Their houses, their desolate cities will still remain unoccupied until Zion in her glory and strength shall enlarge the place of her tents, and stretch forth the curtains of her habitations. That is the destiny of this nation, and the destiny of the Latter-day Saints. Amen.

-- Journal of Discourses, Vol. 24, pp. 31-2.

In this life all Saints have not an equal degree of knowledge and wisdom to manage property, yet such may be equally faithful in all the commands of God. Now, is it right for these faithful ones to suffer for the good things of this life, because circumstances, or the want of experience, has prevented them from accumulating property? No. They are just as much entitled to the good things which the Lord has made, and which He owns, as those whom circumstances have favored. And for one part of the Saints to retain these blessings from another part equally faithful is sin, and not according to the celestial law which requires them to be one. If then all are to share alike, it is proper that the property of the whole Church should be placed under the management of those who have wisdom, and who are ordained of God to manage temporal things; for this purpose, God has appointed Bishops, whose duty it is to appoint every family their stewardships, and to receive the avails of these stewardships, not to aggrandize themselves, but as the agents of the Church, and the Lord's agents, to regulate the temporal affairs of the Saints, by the revelations of the Holy Ghost, and the counsels and voice of the presidency of the Church. We are now speaking of what ought to be, and what must be when Zion is built up according to the celestial law.

The First Presidency and the Twelve, and other authorities, are doing all that they can, under present circumstances, to prepare the people for this more perfect law of consecration, which we know must, sooner or later, be brought into full force and operation. Is a bishop any more honorable, or any better in the sight of God, because he is called to direct in temporal things, than the humble, private citizen who consecrates the avails of his stewardship into his hands? No. If they are equally faithful, they are equally beloved of the Lord; and they are equally entitled to food and raiment, and to the good things of the earth. And the bishop has no more claim upon the Lord's storehouse, than the least member of the Church, only as his time may be more occupied in public matters, which may prevent him from cultivating the earth or engaging in other business avocations. And the same is true in regard to the Twelve, or the First Presidency. The highest officers and the lowest are all one in Christ -- children of the same great family; God is their father, and He looks upon His children without partiality; if they serve Him equally, He loves them equally, and He will make them equal; or, in other words, joint owners of all the property and riches which He thinks proper, in this life, to confer upon them.

An inequality in riches lays a foundation for pride, and many other evils. A family who are rich can build comfortable houses, purchase inheritance, and fine carriages, clothe themselves in splendid attire, and educate their children in every branch of useful learning; while those who are poor labour and toil from morning until evening to procure a scanty subsistence; their families are coarsely clad, their children are not so highly educated. These opposite circumstances produce distinctions; the rich family do not feel to associate with the same degree of familiarity with the poor as they do with the rich; the sons and daughters of the rich seek for companions among those that are wealthy; the poor feel themselves slighted, and feel envious because they are not rich. Besides the great inequalities in regard to the actual comforts of life, it produces great inequality in education, in the social circle, in marriage associations, and in almost every other respect.

Hence, an inequality in property is the root and foundation of innumerable evils; it tends to division and to keep asunder the social feelings that should exist among the people of God. It is the great barrier erected by the devil to prevent that unity and oneness which the Gospel requires; it is a principle originated in hell; it is the root of all evil. Riches are not a curse, but they are a great blessing: it is inequality in riches that is a great curse. God has made all the riches of the earth, and the riches of all worlds. He made the gold, and the silver, and the precious metals: He formed the flocks and herds, and all useful animals: He has made the earth exceedingly rich; and He has given man dominion over all these things: the more His people enjoy of these things the better He is pleased; it is impossible for His people to become too rich; if the whole world, with all the treasures thereof, were in the hands of the Saints, the Lord would still be delighted for them to have more. But these blessings have become a great curse to man, because they have been unequally possessed. We again repeat the word of the Lord to this Church:

"It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another: wherefore the world lieth in sin." Unequal possession of that which God has made for the benefit of all His children, is sin. All nations, kindreds, and people, are in sin because of this inequality. The Saints are still in sin so far as they approve this unequal possession; and we shall remain in sin until we make exertions to put this inequality away from us. We must be one, not only one in heavenly riches, but one in earthly riches.

-- The Seer, pp. 293-4.

Do you enjoy as great a measure of the spirit of God as when you were first baptized into this kingdom? Or are your minds barren? Your understandings unfruitful? Your souls in darkness? And your feelings cold and indifferent towards the great work which you have embraced and which once made you joyful and happy? If this be your condition, it is of the utmost importance that you know the causes of these unhappy changes in your feelings. Is it because the Lord has changed and forgotten to be gracious? Is it because the fullness of His Gospel does not produce the same effects or happiness now, as it did in ancient times? Is it because the Book of Mormon, or any of the revelations given through Joseph the Seer have failed to accomplish its purposes for which they were sent. (The Seer, pp. 2-3)

The signs of the times are portentous, and clearly indicate the approaching downfall of the nations, and the overturning of kingdoms, empires and republics, preparatory to the coming of Christ, and his personal reign on the earth. Every individual, therefore, of the Saints should be awake to perform quickly and in righteousness every duty required of him. Among other things, there are many of the Saints who give no heed, in the least, to what God has said in a revelation entitled "The Word of Wisdom;" they treat it with perfect indifference; yea, worse, some even boast of their disobedience to this advice, and laugh at those who attempt to obey it. Poor creatures! The day will come when they will mourn and lament, and that too, when it is too late to retrieve an illspent life; when the destroying angel will teach them that every word of God means something, and that none of His sayings can be neglected with impunity. There must be a great reformation among all the Saints in regard to this thing, as well as in many others before they can expect to enjoy many of the great blessings of the last days. There are others, who call themselves Saints, who neither pray in their families nor in secret, but are as cold as the northern blast, in regard to their duties towards God, towards their families, and towards the church. Such had far better be out of the church than in it; for God will spue them out of His mouth, as corrupt fruit which has lost its flavor.

Finally, dear brethren, let me exhort you, with all the earnestness of a humble servant of God who is deeply interested for your salvation, to refrain from every evil--to be examples of righteousness before saints and sinners. Read the Book of Mormon, and the revelations and prophecies given through the Prophet Joseph and obey the same. Give the most earnest heed to the counsels of the First Presidency, to the Twelve, and to all the faithful authorities of the church. Use every exertion to flee out from the corruptions of the Gentiles, and to obtain for yourselves an everlasting inheritance among the people of God; for the day of the wicked is far spent, their sun will soon go down in the midst of clouds and thick darkness--a long and dreary night awaits them; but upon such as fear the Lord, and keep His commandments the sun of righteousness will arise, and their day will be glorious; and their sun shall no more go down; for God will be unto them an everlasting light; which shall shine for evermore. (The Seer, pp. 268-9)