Woodruff Journal	Book of the Law of the Lord
A pleasant morning A large Congregation of Saints met at the grove President William Law addressed the assembly for about 1 hour Then Joseph the Seer arose in the power of God reproved & rebuked wickedness before the people in the name of the Lord God He wished to say a few words to suit the condition of the general mass And I shall speak with authority of the priesthood in the name of the Lord God which shall prove a savior of life unto life or of death unto death.
Must Behave with Principles of Godliness ¶ Notwithstanding this congregation profess to be saints yet I stand in the midst of all characters and classes of men If you wish to go whare God is you must be like god or possess the principles which God possesses for if we are not drawing towards God in principle we are going from him & drawing towards the devil, yes I am standing in the midst of all kinds of people Search your hearts & see if you are like god, I have searched mine & feel to repent of all my sins, we have theives among us Adulterers, liars, hypocritts, if God should speak from Heaven he would Command you not to steal, not to commit Adultery, not to covet, nor deceive but be faithful over a few things Sin Causes Loss of Knowledge As far as we degenerate from God we descend to the devil & loose knowledge & without knowledge we cannot be saved1 & while our hearts are filled with evil & we are studying evil their is no room in our hearts for good or studying good, is not God good, Yes then you be good. if he is faithful then you be faithful Add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge. & seek for evry good thing the church must be cleansed & I proclaim against all iniquity.	Sunday 10 Preached in the grove after Elder Wm Law. had spoken. a pronounced a curse upon all Adulterers & fornicators & unvirtuous persons. & those who had made use of his name to carry on their iniquitous designs.
Salvation Comes from Knowledge A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge for if he does not get knowlede he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world as evil spirits will have more knowledge & consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. hence it needs Revelation to assist us & give us knowledge of the things of God. What is the reason that the Priest of the day do not get Revelation They ask ownly to consume it upon their lust their hearts are corrupt & they cloak their iniquity by saying that their is no more Revelations But if any Revelations are given of God they are universally opposed by the priest & christendon at large for it reveals their wickedness & abominations many other remarks of interest were made by the speaker I truly felt in my own heart that it was a profitable meeting.

1. This is a theme which runs through Joseph's Nauvoo sermons. See for example 21May43. The idea points to the soon to be introduced temple rituals.