My brethren and sisters, how many of you have fathers and grandfathers who went through those trying days? My grandfather went through it all. My father was born in Nauvoo and came down through trials and tribulations; and now, after having established the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and after having come here and President Young declaring the whole of the Gospel, are we going to give it up? In the first place, the Lord said to the Prophet Joseph: D. C. 132 1. Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines? [2. Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter. 3. Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same. 4. For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory. 5. For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world. 6. And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.] That is what the Lord said about it. Joseph said: Joseph Smith Contributor 5:259 ?They accuse me of polygamy, and of being a false Prophet, and many other things which I do not now remember; but I am no false Prophet; I am no imposter; I have had no dark revelations; I have had no revelations from the devil; I made no revelations; I have got nothing up of myself. The same God that has thus far dictated me and directed me and strengthened me in this work, gave me this revelation and commandment on celestial and plural marriage, and the same God commanded me to obey it. He said to me that unless I accepted it and introduced it, and practiced it, I, together with my people, would be damned and cut off from this time henceforth. And they say if I do so, they will kill me! Oh, what shall I do? If I do not practice it, I shall be damned with my people. If I do teach it, and practice it, and urge it, they say they will kill me, and I know they will. But,? said he, ?we have got to observe it. It is an eternal principle and was given by way of commandment and not by way of instruction.? President Young said: JD 11:268-269 Brigham Young August 19, 1866 SLC It is the word of the Lord, and I wish to say to you, and all the world, that if you desire with all your hearts to obtain the blessings which Abraham obtained, you will be polygamists at least in your faith, or you will come short of enjoying the salvation and the glory which Abraham has obtained. This is as true as that God lives. *** The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Others attain unto a glory and may even be permitted to come into the presence of the Father and the Son; but they cannot reign as kings in glory, because they had blessing offered unto them, and they refused to accept them. All right, let us come down a little further. President Taylor said Joseph taught them that law, and afterwards told him to obey that law. He prayed to the Lord and found out it was true, and if we didn?t live it, the Kingdom of God couldn?t go on. Wilford Woodruff said, ?God has given us a law whereby we may have our wives and children sealed to us and there is no other law under heaven that we can do it.? In talking to Mr. Bierbower in court, President Snow said: Lorenzo Snow Millennial Star 48:111 Though I go to prison, God will not change His law of celestial marriage. But the man, the people, the nation, that oppose and fight against this doctrine and the Church of God will be overthrown. Joseph F. Smith said: JD 20:31 Joseph F. Smith July 7, 1878 SLC I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this Church, who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not, shall be damned, I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less, and I testify in the name of Jesus that it does mean that. At the death of William Clayton, he said: JD 21:10 Joseph F. Smith December 7, 1879 SLC And as he has here stated, as having come from the mouth of the Prophet, this doctrine of eternal union of husband and wife, and of plural marriage, is one of the most important doctrines ever revealed to man in any age of the world. Without it man would come to a full stop; without it we never could be exalted to associate with and become gods, neither could we attain to the power of eternal increase, or the blessings pronounced upon Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fathers of the faithful. President Grant said that whenever a law is given, we should obey it and be like the three Hebrew children. Those were the words of President Grant. Now they come and tell us we have got a revelation stopping it. Heber C. Kimball, one of the greatest prophets we have had in this dispensation, said: JD 5:203-204 Heber C. Kimball October 12, 1856 SLC You might as well deny ?Mormonism,? and turn away from it, as to oppose the plurality of wives. Let the Presidency of this Church, and the Twelve Apostles, and all the authorities unite and say with one voice that they will oppose that doctrine, and the whole of them would be damned. Now, my brethren and sisters, what are we going to do? They say they are going to wipe it out. They also said they were going to send an army out here to kill the Mormons. Let me tell you now as a servant of God, if they set a trap and undertake to do that, it will fall on their heads, and this law will go on as Brigham Young said, and triumph over all. It was given before the foundation of the world for this very purpose, that we might have eternal increase and men may become Gods. That is why the law was given. Then they come forth with a flimsy thing like the Manifesto, and try to say it is a revelation from God. Does it sound like God speaking? He never sounded like that, that I ever heard. He always says, ?I, the Lord,? or, ?Verily, verily thus saith the Lord.? At the Conference where the Manifesto was presented, Brother Snow got up and bore witness. Is that necessary in the case of a revelation? No! They got scared. Any religion that does not ask for the sacrifice of everything earthly has no saving principles in it. We voluntarily give them up. Sometimes it makes my blood boil to think God has raised up sons and daughters of parents like we have them, and then for us to go back on the very principles that will exalt us. Don?t think but what we have to live the other principles, too. But this is the principle that is being fought. They can?t do anything to us if we are prayerful and united. The lions couldn?t touch Daniel when he was united. Let us be like that song ?Awake, Ye Saints of God, Awake!? We have asked for redress. President Young said if they would keep the commandments of God, they would never have to live except in the Kingdom of God. God will fight our battles of we keep His commandments.