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This discourse was delivered years before Anthony W. Ivins was called as a General Authority.
"Wherefore behold, the days come saith the Lord, that it shall be no more said that `the Lord liveth that brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt."
It affords me a great degree of pleasure when I contemplate the conditions of the Latter-day Saints to be able to see in these conditions the fulfillment of the words of the Lord. This prediction which I have read was uttered some six hundred years before the birth of our Savior by the Prophet Jeremiah, indicating to us that the time would come in the history of the world when the great miracle which was wrought by the God of heaven in leading up Israel out of affliction and bondage, under the direction of His servants, Moses and Joshua, and establishing them in the land of their fathers, the land which had been given to them, promised to them, would be measurably forgotten in the greater work which would be accomplished when God should gather Israel from all of the different nations of the earth--not from Babylon, not from among the people where they had been held for a limited space of time, but from the north and south, and from all the nations of the earth whithersoever they might have been scattered. Those who are acquainted with the scriptures, who have studied the history of the descendants of Abraham, know how, after they had been led up by Moses and established in the Land of Promise, the House of Israel were taken captive by the Asiatic nations who came up against them, and, because of dissensions, and transgressions and their hard-heartedness, were scattered among all the different peoples of the world.
Now, my brethren and sisters, two things of particular import and interest in connection with this scripture attract my attention. The days will come when it shall be no more said, "The Lord liveth that brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from the south"--the Lord is He who must accomplish this work; the Lord is He who hath power through the instrumentality of His servants that He might call, to accomplish in the latter days a work which should be a "marvelous work and a wonder among the inhabitants of the earth." The testimony of the Elders of Israel to the world is--our testimony to you is--that we live in the day when these words of the Prophet Jeremiah, uttered hundreds of years before the birth of our Savior, are in course of fulfilment. Our testimony to the world is that this people, the Latter-day Saints, are a people of destiny; they are fulfillers of prophecy; and from the very inception of the work, from the very day that Joseph Smith received revelation from God, every movement that has been made, every act of this people under the direction of the servants of the Lord, has been by the guidance and direction of the Lord. Go back and review the history of the Latter-day Saints. Not when the Prophet Joseph Smith had received the revelations of the Holy Ghost, not immediately after heavenly messengers had appeared to him and ministered to him, did he presume to organize the Church of God in the earth. He did not even assume to preach repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. But the time came when through the grace of God, John the Baptist came, authorized by the Lord Jesus Christ, and conferred upon his head the keys of the Aaronic priesthood, which gave him the right to preach the gospel and to baptize with water for the remission of sins. But he could not then organize the church; he could not then have conferred upon the people the most priceless of all gifts, the Holy Ghost, by which they might be led into all truth; but the Lord sent others, and the keys of this power were conferred upon him and the organization of the church was perfected, and made so perfect that not in all the opposition that the church has been required to meet, not in all the criticisms of this faith, has anyone been able to indicate in one single instance, not in the most minute detail, any deviation from the plan that was established by the Savior of the world Himself when He ministered among the Jews. I ask you, my brethren and sisters, we ask the world--would it have been possible for man, no matter though he might have been educated, no matter how great might have been his learning--has any man who may have been a reformer, has any man who has established a religious creed based upon the gospel of Christ as it is found here in the scriptures, been able to evolve a plan that was so perfect in every detail? We know that they have not, and yet this prophet of the Lord, this untutored boy, under the direction and by the blessing of God, organized and established the church in perfection in every detail.
The one point in particular to which I wish to call your attention is this, that this is the work of the Lord, that God has set His hand the second time to gather Israel. It would afford me pleasure, were there time, to go into the details of the scattering of Israel, to trace their history, and then go on and read scripture after scripture to you showing that God's people must be gathered in the very manner in which they are being gathered today; and, furthermore, that they must be gathered to this place, in order that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled and His scripture verified. The work, my brethren and sisters, has only commenced. Think of its magnitude. When you reflect for a moment that upon the 6th of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized with only six members, and today there are assembled vast multitudes, probably more than twelve thousand Latter-day Saints in the two buildings which are occupied for this conference, it ought to be a living witness to the world that God is in this work, that He has made bare His arm in the eyes of all nations for the redemption of His people. Can the work be retarded? Can its progress by stayed? No, not more than the work of the Lord could be retarded in times that are past. Just so sure as the prophecies which have already been verified in the past history of the world, will all the predictions which have been made as they refer to the future of the world be fulfilled; and woe to him who raises his arm or his voice against Zion and attempts or endeavors to stay the progress of this work.
I know no more beautiful illustration of the weakness and inability of man to stay the progress of the work of the Lord than that which is given us in the history of Jerusalem. Jesus said to His disciples, when they asked him for a sign of his coming and of the end of the world, among other things, that Jerusalem should "be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled." He called their attention to the Temple which had been built by Solomon and said that not one stone should be left upon another that should not be thrown down. We know that later the army of Rome devastated the city of Jerusalem. We know that that temple was destroyed, and its very foundation stones were ploughed up, and not a vestige of it remains. We know that today the Mosque of Omar marks the spot on which it stood; and yet the Lord has said that the time will come when that temple shall be rebuilt, when Jerusalem shall be inhabited again by His people, when songs of praise and gladness shall be heard again upon her streets. But it was not to happen until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. Judea was under the dominion of Rome. Rome was at one time governed by the Emperor Julian the Apostate, a man who hated the Christian as he hated his bitterest enemy. His greatest desire was to show to the world that Christ was not a prophet, that he was not the Savior of mankind, that his words were no greater, and no more importance need be attached to them than to the words of any other man. In looking over the declarations of the Savior, he saw this prediction: "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled;" and this man, who had at his command the combined wealth of the then civilized world, who had at his command armies which had conquered almost the whole civilized world, issued an edict, promulgated a decree, in which he granted to the Jews the privilege of returning to Jerusalem, building up their city and reconstructing their temple. There has never been a time in the history of the world when the Jews were not wealthy enough to have rebuilt that temple. There has never been a time when they had not sufficient patriotism to have accomplished it, had the way been opened up by the Lord to have it done. When the decree was issued by Julian, the Jews went in great multitudes. They carried their treasure with them. They labored cheerfully, believing that the time had come when the words of the prophets would be fulfilled, that the blessings which had been promised to their fathers would be verified. Julian was not content with this. He said: "In order that I may make this thing sure, in order that I may demonstrate that my word is greater than the words of Jesus of Nazareth, I will go up myself." And he went, with his treasures, with his army, and his whole efforts were directed to the accomplishment of this work which he had set out to do. But the times of the Gentiles had not yet come in. Jerusalem was yet to be trodden under foot until that time should arrive, and that temple was destined not then to be built. It was utterly impossible for him to accomplish that work. Impediments were thrown in his way of such great magnitude, that he could not possibly overcome them, and that, after exhausting his treasure and exhausting his energy, he returned to Rome, broken in spirit and in health, and he was obliged to admit, when his end drew nigh and death claimed him, that the Galilieean had triumphed, had been greater than he; and so, my brethren and sisters, will the Galilieean prove to be greater than all the nations of the earth combined. So will Israel be gathered, despite the efforts of men to prevent it. So will Zion be built up, so will the centre stake of Zion be redeemed, and a temple be built there to the name of the Most High. That rock which was rejected by the workmen is to become the chiefest of the corners, and whosoever shall fall upon it will be bruised and smitten, and upon whomsoever it shall fall, he will be ground to powder. This fact ought always to be kept before the Latter-day Saints, that they are engaged in the work of the Lord, and not in the work of man; that as the borders of Zion are extended, as her stakes are strengthened, they see the development of the work of the Lord and not the development of the work of man.
My testimony to you is that the Gospel has been restored, that the Latter-day Saints are fulfillers of prophecy, that they are a people of destiny; that God's kingdom is established in the earth, just as John the Baptist said it was when he laid his hands upon the head of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, that the keys which he conferred upon them should not be taken from the earth again until the sons of Aaron should offer an offering in righteousness. There never was such a promise made in any other dispensation. Never was the Gospel upon the earth before when it was said by the Almighty in bringing it there, that it had come to stay, that it had come for the last time. This is the land of promise, this is the land that the Lord promised our fathers that he would gather Israel to in the latter days. He has brought us here to be taught in his ways, to learn to walk in his paths, to set an example before the world which shall ultimately convert it to the truth and conquer the whole earth. It is a great saying that a little handful of people--and we are only a handful yet--shall revolutionize the whole world, but it is a fact that such results will follow. No power on earth can prevent it. No one can realize the strength there is in a few men united together for a common purpose, and that is the condition of the Latter-day Saints. One purpose, inspired by one spirit, filled with one hope and desire, and that hope and desire the regeneration of mankind, that they may make them better, that they may overcome evil, a Christianity that makes real Christians of men and women. Not Christians who profess to save men in their sins, but to bring them out of sin, redeem them from it, make them better, make them happier, make them love one another, make them love the whole world, fill their hearts with charity and longsuffering and kindness toward the whole world--this is the religion of the Latter-day Saints. These are the blessings that will follow if we faithfully observe the commandments of the Lord.
May we live, my brethren and sisters, to see his work triumph and Zion established in the earth, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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