Charles W. Penrose

“ If a man believes in God, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Scriptures, he will manifest his faith by receiving the doctrines laid down and the commandments given; and if he will ask of God he will receive a testimony. I can make bold to promise this blessing to every man and woman in this house—and I do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—if they will obey this Gospel which God has sent from heaven for the salvation of mankind. ”

“ This is another point of difference between our religion and that of the world. Our elders go forth with boldness, because they are not sent by men. They are not called to preach for hire. They are called of God to bear the holy priesthood and carry forth this message of glad tidings wherever they may be sent. It is their duty to proclaim this Gospel to the uttermost bounds of the earth, and their testimony is similar to that I have borne here to-day, and our witnesses are the Latter-day Saints—gathered from the nations—who dwell in the valleys of the mountains. ”

“ The Lord has revealed to us the glorious doctrine of redemption for the dead—a plan by which the living may aid the dead Not by saying mass over the soul of the departed, but by attending to certain ordinances for them which belong to the Gospel. Are all the thousands and millions of people who have passed away without a knowledge of the Gospel to perish? No. There is no name under heaven but the name of Jesus whereby man shall be saved. Ask our Christian friends if the millions of heathens who have passed away from this world have ever heard the name of Jesus. ”

“ John, has come to the earth with "the everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying, with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come." ”

“ The Lord will have a reckoning with that nation, no matter where it is, for all the nations of the earth are in the hands of God, and every human government that will not serve him shall be brought low, until his kingdom spreads forth and is established upon the whole earth with Christ the Redeemer, as King, whose right it is to rule.
May the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, rest in the hearts of the Saints, and also guide, all people who desire the truth, in the way of life eternal, through Jesus Christ. ”

“ Why, in every place, in every part of the world, among any people, no matter what their former customs or religion might have been, no matter what condition they might be in, no matter how they had been educated, no matter of what race they might be, wherever they heard the sound of this Gospel and obeyed it, they received a testimony of the truth of this work and therefore have gathered up to these mountains. ”

“ So the servants of God, bearing the same priesthood, go and minister to the spirits behind the vail whether Christian, heathen or pagan. No matter what clime or race they belong to, all must hear the same Gospel and be judged by it on the great day of judgment. They have therefore an opportunity of repenting in the spirit, if they did not hear the Gospel in the flesh. The Spirit can believe, can be informed and instructed in the ways of God, but the Spirit beyond the vail cannot attend to ordinances pertaining to the flesh. ”

“ When we go out to preach this Gospel, we do not advise the people to stay and erect great churches in the countries where they receive the Gospel. We bear testimony to them that this is the time of God's judgments. We say, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." We testify that the time is near at hand when great Babylon shall fall; when God shall smite terribly all the nations of the earth; when he will turn and overturn; when nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom ”

“ Millions of people who dwell upon the earth even in so-called Christian countries know nothing about the true Gospel. The so-called Christian churches lack this knowledge and light. By the confession of the Episcopal Church, in its homily of the perils of idolatry, the whole of Christendom, "clergy and laity, men, women and children of all ages, sexes and degrees, have been at the time the homily was written, buried in the most abominable idolatry for the space of 800 years or more. ”

“ To this end, therefore, we are building temples so that, when they are sanctified and accepted of God, the holy priesthood may administer both for the living and the dead. For this is the great dispensation of the fulness of times in which Christ will gather together in one, all things that are in him, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. ”

“ The people who belong to the various Christian sects all profess to believe in one Book—the Bible, and in one God; but their ideas in regard to religion and in regard to the manner in which God shall be worshipped and served are very different, and when we trace up the origin of their religion we find that in every case, with perhaps one exception, they have been started by men ”

“ We call upon the people to come out and help build temples in which ordinances can be administered for the benefit of the living and the redemption of the dead. The redemption of the dead! Can the living do anything for the dead? When people pass away from the earth, is not their condition settled? When the tree falls, does it not lie there? Yes, it does, till it is moved. In connection with the Gospel we have received glad tiding [s] of salvation which is preached to the living and to the dead. ”

“ They have not come up to the heights of these mountains to dig for gold or silver, to make themselves rich with the fruits and products of the earth, or to unite together to establish some socialistic system for the mere bettering of their temporal circumstances. They have come here from the east, from the west, from the north and from the south, from the different continents and from the islands of the sea, because in their own souls they have received a testimony similar to that which I have borne this afternoon. ”

“ We read about a man who thought he could purchase this power. He offered the apostles money for it. But Peter said unto him, "Thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." ”

“ That church professes to have the same authority which was in the ancient church, and that it has been handed down from generation to generation to our own times. The Church of England—or the Episcopal Church as it is called here—professes to have a portion of that same authority. The Greek Church also professes to have a portion of that authority. They are branches or offshoots from this Roman Catholic Church; but the rest of the Christian denominations repudiate any idea of a priesthood. They think there is no need for any priesthood. ”

“ It is popularly supposed that when our elders go out as missionaries to the different countries of the earth, they go for the purpose of inducing people to gather here to these peaceful valleys, that they might be made subservient to our leaders. ”