Orson Pratt

“ Was this the only penalty pronounced upon father Adam? No: this was only a part of the penalty. There was dwelling in each of the tabernacles of Adam and Eve a personage of spirit, formed of more refined materials than flesh and bones—materials that were intelligent, immortal, and eternal. Immaterialists of the present day may object to this: but we do not believe in an immaterial substance. ”

“ It is a sin for which there is no forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come. It depends altogether how much light a murderer has before he commits the deed, as to his chance of forgiveness; but you have to suffer the penalty that is attached, which is death.
I am now preaching the first principles of the Gospel, and some of the most prominent sins of this generation I have named over before this congregation. Look abroad among the nations of the earth, and see the spirit of murder and bloodshed that exists in the hearts of millions towards their fellow-men. ”

“ The united response of all the world in this and all generations of man would be—"We were not there." You are not condemned for a sin you did not commit. Can you repent of something you never have done? I defy the whole world to repent of Adam's sin, for they never committed it. ”

“ And when we come up to years of understanding and accountability, we transgress the holy law and commandment given us from heaven, even as Adam transgressed the first law in the garden of Eden.
Now let us consider the consequence of this second transgression. God has given a law to the posterity of Adam, after coming to a knowledge of good and evil by the fall, that they should not do evil. If he has given a strict law that we shall not do evil you may depend upon it he has affixed a strict penalty to it; for what would a law be good for without a penalty? ”

“ Will this faith alone save a person in the kingdom of God? No. This is only faith without works, such as devils have; and yet it is necessary in a true believer, to precede the works which he must perform. Devils believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and they believe it on good substantial testimony. Mankind are required to believe the same fact as well as the devils; but such faith will never save an individual without works: there are other conditions to be connected with it before he can be saved. ”

“ Jesus has done his part: he has died for us—has got the plan all laid; his blood has been shed, and he has suffered the pains of all the children of men, and in their behalf, if they will only accept the conditions.
What is the first condition required of the human family? It is to believe in Jesus Christ as the true Redeemer, and in his Father as the true God. This condition stands before repentance, baptism, the sacrament, or keeping the Sabbath day holy; for no person can keep the Sabbath day holy until he complies with the Gospel. This faith or belief is the first principle of the Gospel. ”

“ Is it to be done by free grace alone, without any works on the part of the creature? or are there required on the part of the man certain conditions by which the atoning blood of Christ can have effect upon him. I will answer this question. The atonement of Jesus Christ redeems mankind, so far as the fall is concerned, unconditionally. Now, I want you all to understand this clearly. There is no faith, repentance, baptism, or works of any kind required on the part of man to be redeemed from the fall, or from the sins committed by our first parents. ”

“ You would find these prostitutions become as rare as murders, if you have the same penalty attached. Death was the penalty for the sin of adultery in ancient days, and the enlightened of Europe and of all Christendom pretend to found their criminal laws, more or less, on the Bible. All these sins and crimes need to be repented of.
After a man has repented, will his faith and repentance bring the forgiveness of sins through the atonement? Are these all the conditions required? ”

“ No man came forward to accuse the Prophet; and if there is no just accuser in time, there will be none in eternity but God and your conscience. If you know that you have wronged a man, your conscience will accuse you in the day of judgment. Repent of that sin, for repentance has got to be connected with your faith, or your faith is good for nothing. Again: Is there any man in this congregation who has committed adultery? That is against the law thundered by the voice of the trump of God in the midst of the lightnings and quakings of Mount Sinai. ”

“ If we become subject to a being, we are under his dominion and power, and he controls us and exercises authority over us, whether good or bad. Adam and Eve had placed themselves in a condition that the Tempter had complete control over their spirits: they became servants to the fallen angels, to do according to their bidding.
Let us now examine how the fall affected their posterity. We do not inherit Adam's transgression, but the consequences of it. There is a difference between inheriting the original sin and feeling the consequences of it. ”

“ Now I want to tell you of something that will come a little closer home than Adam's sin. Every man or woman upon the face of this globe, that has come to the years of understanding and accountability, has committed sin himself or herself. ”

“ If the original sin extends its effects to the latest generations of Adam, so the atonement will extend its effects to all his posterity, and redeem them from these consequences. But you may inquire, If we are to be redeemed from Adam's sin and its consequences, unconditionally, by the atonement, shall we not be restored into the condition Adam was in before he fell? I answer, You will be. What condition was he in? He was an immortal being, and you will be restored to immortality, whether you be Saints or sinners. The decree has gone forth that every man is to be raised to immortality. ”

“ And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying, Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so, when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good. And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves. And I have given unto you another law and commandment; wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men everywhere must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence ”

“ God could not exhibit the attribute of mercy on any principle whatsoever, only for a sinless being to suffer in behalf of sinful man. Inasmuch as the sin was against an infinite being—a transgression of of a law issued by an infinite being, the atonement must be an infinite atonement. Hence God sent forth his only begotten Son in the meridian of time, who took upon himself the form of fallen man: that is, he entered into a tabernacle of flesh and bones, although he had not been guilty of the original sin. ”

“ What is the penalty? It is, that if the posterity of Adam shall do evil they shall, after the resurrection, be banished again from the presence of God, and from the glory of his power; they shall endure the pains of the second death. ”

“ And it came to pass that Noah called upon men that they should repent; but they hearkened not unto his words; and also, after they had heard him, they came up before him, saying, Behold, we are the sons of God. Have we not taken unto ourselves the daughters of men? and are we not eating and drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage? Our wives bear unto us children, and the same are mighty men, which are like unto them of old, men of great renown. ”

“ The evidence he produced began to beget in the hearts of the people a true faith, which was founded upon true evidence; and since his day many demonstrations have been given to prove the great fact that it is the earth which moves, instead of the starry firmament. Upon that subject the world now have true faith, founded upon true evidence demonstrated to them. ”

“ Perhaps, after they have suffered in the eternal worlds, there may be a possibility of some of those murderers who were not enlightened to find redemption at a certain period, and some degree of glory. This applies not only to those who put forth their hands to shed the blood of the servants of God, but to those who have sanctioned the deed: they are guilty also. ”

“ Many definitions have been given, but there is nothing more easy to be comprehended than faith. It is simply an act of the mind—a belief in those things that are true. It is also a simple act of the mind to believe those things which are not true. You may have a false faith or a true faith. Faith should be founded upon evidence. Where substantial evidence is presented to the mind, it should be received, and should produce faith in our minds. We should be very careful in regard to our faith, that we do not receive false evidence, for this would give us a false faith. ”

“ You recollect King James's translators render it—"And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth;" but the translation given by inspiration says—"It repented Noah, and his heart was pained that the Lord had made man on the earth. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Noah that I have created them, and that I have made them, and he hath called upon me, and they have sought his life." ”

“ You heard the servants of God bear testimony in your native countries, that holy angels had been sent from heaven, clothed with authority and power, who laid their hands upon chosen vessels, and restored the authority and Apostleship again to the earth, in order that people might be baptized; for they could not be born of water unless the administrator had authority to administer If a man undertake to administer the ordinance of baptism, and he is only called by his fellow-men, it would not be worth anything. ”

“ This is carried on not for one year only or two years, but for a whole generation, and from generation to generation. Then step across into the European governments. Go into France, into Germany, Prussia, and all those old countries of the East, and you will find in many of those nations, as the statistics show, one-half of the children that are born to be illegitimate; and that is only a beginning of the corruptions that exist. There are more that are covered up in the dark, that are not made so publicly manifest, than what are made manifest by the births of illegitimate children. ”

“ If there are, you are the persons I mean: you are the individuals who have need of repentance. You are the persons that must reform from this sin, or else your faith that Jesus is the Christ will do you no good. Are there any persons under the sound of my voice who have cheated their neighbour, and who have been dishonest in their dealings generally? Look within your own hearts ”

“ We say to infidels—you who do not know whether there is a God or not, test our words and prove them whether they are true or not. If you do as we tell you, you shall know there is a God—that this is his work—that these testimonies given by the servants of God are testimonies given for your benefit, to prepare you for the great day of his coming. ”

“ A person cannot be born again legitimately without a, legal administrator. If you are born of the Spirit, there must needs be a man authorized to administer that Spirit. Paul says, "Who hath also made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." ”

“ Though they partook of various kinds of fruit in the garden, yet there was no fruit in that garden, except one called the forbidden fruit, which would have the least tendency to destroy the principles of immortality that reigned within them. They were organized to endure, bodies and spirits united, millions of ages. By the transgression of that simple law given to them, they fell from immortality to mortality: their bodies partook of disease ”

“ There are probably a hundred sins that are dark and hidden from the gaze of the public to one that comes to light. Then realize that these things have existed for generations that are past upon our earth, and then all reflecting men will think there is a necessity for the people to repent. ”

“ These principles have been revealed to the human family in various ages of the world,—not only revealed in the meridian of time by Jesus and the Apostles, but to generations and ages before the Apostles lived on the earth. ”

“ Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and to all the principal cities of the American Union, and you will find the same proportion of prostitutes among those cities who are sunk in the lowest depths of degradation, daily and hourly prostituting themselves, and disobeying one of the most strict and holy commandments of God ever issued from his throne ”

“ I think I have pointed out, as clearly as my feeble language will permit, the condition of the whole human family, so far as it regards their fallen state, and so far as it regards their own individual transgressions. ”

“ Neither have we anything on record showing that Jesus or his Apostles opened their meetings by singing, and then praying, and then singing again, and then preaching. We frequently conform to the present-day custom in this respect, and we often do not conform to them, as we feel led by the Spirit of truth. ”