Journal of Discourses Volume 24
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24
Journal of Discourses,
Volume 24
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, February 11, 1883
John Taylor, February 11, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City,
Sunday February 11, 1883.
WHY THE SAINTS MEET TOGETHER--THEIR PRETENSIONS--WHAT THEIR
PROFESSION
IMPLIES--NO RIGHT TO SIT IN JUDGMENT ON THE WORLD--ALL CHILDREN
OF A
COMMON FATHER--MANY GOOD MEN INSPIRED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD WHO
DID NOT
POSSESS THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST--HOW JOSEPH SMITH OBTAINED
KNOWLEDGE--THE GOSPEL--WHAT THE SAVIOR REQUIRED--OPERATIONS OF
THE
HOLY GHOST--WHAT IS REQUIRED OF THE SAINTS--THEIR FEELINGS--DUTY
OF
MISSIONARIES--NATIONAL FEELINGS BURIED IN EMBRACING THE
GOSPEL--RELATIONSHIP TO GOD--DESTINY OF THE FAITHFUL--WHAT HAVE
RELIGIONISTS OF THE WORLD TO OFFER?--CHARACTER OF THE WOULD-BE
REFORMERS--RIGHTS TO BE CONTENDED FOR--CORRUPT PRACTICES
CONDEMNED.
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 376 JOURNAL DISCOURSES.)
3
to assist us? The Lord, and if He does not I am sure we cannot do
it, and if He does not show us how we cannot do it. Well, some
people come and try to convert us. Very well, let them convert
away. If they have anything to convert you to, I say for God's
sake take it, if they have something that is more intelligent
than that which has been communicated to you. We are desirous to
obtain all truth from whatever quarter it comes, and every good
thing that can be made manifest, and if anybody has got any
truths that we have not we are prepared to embrace them, but we
have no truths to barter away for the fictions, ideas, theories
and opinions of men. It is written: "They shall be all taught of
God." Have those men received anything from God to communicate?
If they have let them state it, and if they have not let them
hold their peace. "They shall be all taught of God." He will be
their instructor, their judge, their guide, their director and
their lawgiver, and he will give them the light and intelligence
which they require. We are operating with and in possession of
principles that are great, grand, glorious and intelligent, that
have existed in ages past, that exist to-day, and that will exist
for ever and ever, worlds without end, Amen. We are building up
the Zion of God, and He is to be our instructor. We are building
up the kingdom of God, and He is to be our guide. We are building
up the Church of God, and unless we are under the guidance and
influence of the Spirit of God, we neither belong to the Church
of God, the Zion of God, nor the kingdom of God. And hence it is
necessary that we should comprehend the position we occupy.
3
We have been in the world and we have preached the Gospel to the
world and are doing it, and that is part of our duty, and we are
fulfilling it as fast as the Lord opens the way. We have done a
great deal. I think that at an assembly some little time ago
there were twenty-five nationalities represented. Is there any
difference of sentiment among these diverse people? No. In
speaking with a gentleman recently on some of the difficulties
between the English and the Irish people, I told him that it was
lamentable that such a feeling should exist. Well, said he, they
are two different races and they cannot affiliate, one being
Celtic and the other Anglo-Saxon, and their sympathies and
feelings are dissimilar. Their ideas and feelings differ; their
education and their instincts differ. That is very true so far as
it goes. But what of us? We are gathered here under the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and that as I before said,
produces a unity of feeling and spirit, a oneness and sympathy
that does not exist in the world and Jesus has said, By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one
another. We have people among us from all part of the United
States, from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, from England, France
and Germany, from Denmark, Norway and Sweden; also from Iceland,
Australia, New Zealand, from the islands of the sea, and in fact,
from nearly every civilized country. And how is it brethren? Are
we Scandinavians; are we English; are we Scotch, Swiss or Dutch,
as the case may be? No; the Spirit of God, which we obtained
through obedience to the requirements of the Gospel; having been
born again, of the water and of the Spirit, has made us of one
heart, one faith, one baptism; we have no national or class
divisions of that kind among us.
3
What, then, are we aiming at? We are aiming to introduce among us
the principle of virtue, integrity, honesty, and a knowledge of
God and of His laws. This is what we are seeking to do. And do we
injure any man or set of men in so doing? I think not. I will say
to the credit of our merchants, that they are spoken of as
honorable men, as men who pay their debts better than the
majority of mankind. Such is the report I hear from gentlemen
with whom I communicate. This is pleasing to hear. It is pleasing
to see the principle of honor introduced in our trading; and we
ought to be honorable one with another and with all men, treating
all with the respect they deserve and merit at our hands. But
because we do this are we to submit to every kind of indignity;
are we to submit to be outraged, to be traduced; are we to
permit, in a social capacity, evils and crimes to be introduced
in our midst, and never lift up our voice against them? Are we to
permit our sons and daughters to affiliate and associate with
corrupt men and women? No. But if our youth choose to pursue a
course of that kind, all well. No, I will not say it is well; it
would be better if they did better. We are here to introduce
correct principles; and we profess to be moving on a more
elevated plane; we profess to be under the influence of the
inspiration of the Almighty; and God cannot look upon sin with
the least degree of allowance.
5
Let me read that prayer a little more: "Our Father, who art in
heaven." What, is He indeed my Father? Yes. Is He our Father?
Yes. "Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name." We
are children of God; that is the relationship that we sustain to
Him. Being born of the Spirit, we become the sons of God. And
what else? The heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ
our Lord. Is this the position we occupy? So say the Scriptures.
And what is the difference between those who have been born of
the water and the Spirit, and those who know not the Gospel, and
who possess none of the gifts thereof? Let us stop and inquire.
You have sons, have you not? Yes. What will the boys be when they
are grown up. They will be men, will they not? They are now the
sons of men. If a man be inducted into the family of God, and
becomes a son of God, what will he become when he gets his
growth? You can figure that out yourselves. It is said, "Now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be;
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like Him; for
we shall see Him as He is." What shall we be? Heirs of God. What
else? Joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What, joint heirs with Jesus
Christ our Lord? Yes. What do a man's heirs possess when he
leaves this world? They inherit the possessions of the deceased
father or benefactor. We say that God is the God of the universe,
the Maker of heaven and earth, the Sustainer of all things
visible and invisible. And are we to be joint heirs with Him? So
the Bible states. Well may the Lord say in one of the revelations
given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, "He that hath eternal
life is rich." Jesus said to the Samaritan woman when asking her
to give him a drink of water, "If thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that sayeth to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst
have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water."
"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him
a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Again; Jesus
said to His disciples: "In my father's house are many mansions;
if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you." Where? In heaven, of which we have very little
knowledge, and about which we comprehend very little. "And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also." What was
there in His Father's house? Many mansions. What! Mansions in
heaven? Yes? What else? He declares He was going to prepare a
place for them--mansions, that where he was there they might be
also. It is very plain, if we could only open our eyes and
understand it as it is. There is a great difference between this
principle and the ideas that men entertain regarding earthly
things. The first is in accord with the eternal duration and
exaltation of man, and is in consonance with his highest and most
exalted aspirations; the other is momentary, transient, fleeting
and evanescent. Men are grasping and grabbing at the world, and
at the riches of the world. I might mention the names of
prominent men of this nation--no matter, I do not like to deal in
personalities--men who gather together their millions. By and by
they drop down into a little place just about two feet by six,
and that is all there is of it. And what of their
riches?--anything pertaining to the future? No. Such men are
foolish, if they could comprehend it; but they cannot. They,
however, think that we are big fools. There was a prominent man
whose name I have forgotten, but I remember some lines that he
wrote. When I am gone, he said, men will erect a splendid
monument to my memory, upon which they will write: "Here lies the
great!" If I could rise and speak, I would say, "False marble,
where? Nothing but poor and sordid dust lies here." Has any man
ever taken anything out of the world? No. Naked they come into
the world, and naked they return; they leave all their wealth
behind them. Then if, as intelligent beings, made in the image of
God, we disregard the teachings of our heavenly Father, and are
led by influences that are wrong, improper, impure and incorrect,
and suffer ourselves to make shipwreck of our faith and our good
consciences, shall we not be the veriest fools when we stand
before the Judge of all the earth? But if we can succeed in
securing eternal life and exaltations, thrones and
principalities, powers and dominions, which we sometimes talk
about and which are as true as anything can be--if we can succeed
in doing this, we shall be amply repaid for all the
inconveniences that we may have to put up with, and all the
trouble that we may have to endure.
5
Now we will return to the old prayer again. "Our Father who art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come." What kingdom?
The kingdom of God. What does that imply? Government, rule,
authority, dominion. "Thy kingdom come." What, that God shall
dictate affairs upon the earth? Yes. That His word, His will, His
law shall go forth? Yes. One of the ancient Prophets in speaking
of these things said, "The law shall go forth from Zion, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem." You will find those things
written in your Bible, and can look for them at your leisure. Now
if we are to expect a thing of this kind to take place, when the
knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the
sea, and when the will of God is to be done on earth as it is
done in heaven, ought we not to try as citizens of the kingdom of
God to introduce it and be governed by and to be under its
influence? I think we ought. Are we then to yield ourselves to
the false traditions, ideas, notions and opinions of men? I think
not. We want to strive in all the relations of life, in our
family relations, in our individual relations, in our marital
relations, and in our associations with men, to conduct ourselves
in that way that God would have us do if He were here Himself to
speak on that subject; and to seek to place ourselves in
conformity with His law, His word and His will.
6
Now, people take a great deal of pains to try to interfere with
us in our marital relations. What have they got to give us in
exchange outside of these things? O you Gentiles, present us
something superior to that which God has revealed, and we will
embrace it. But you cannot do it. We are at the defiance of the
world to bring forth any better, purer or more exalting
principles. What would they give us in return for that of which
they seek to despoil us? Would they introduce all the
institutions of a pseudo-Christianity, with its prostitution, the
houses of assignation, its social evil, its foeticide and
infanticide and the political and social hypocrisy and depravity,
and its debauching, demoralizing, and corrupting influence, and
call this a fair return for virtue, purity, honor, truth and
integrity? Would they induct us into some of their leading
ministers of using the sword, the bayonet, and the cannon to
extirpate what they term heresy, set man against his fellow-man
and deluge the nation in blood? What do they tell us? They set
themselves up as our exemplars, and among other things say, we
must marry as they do. And how is that? Let me ask some of you
venerable, white-headed men that were married in various places,
what kind of a covenant did you make? You were asked if you would
take the woman to be your lawful wedded wife, for how long? Until
death did you part. What a miserable thing. And this is what they
have to offer. A woman takes a man as long as he lives, and then
when he dies all is gone into oblivion; no eternal unity, no
claim pertaining to heaven or the future; no sons, no daughters,
no wife, no husband. That is nihilism, I think. This is the
condition they would put you in to-day, if you would listen to
them. But we are told that we should remember the rock from
whence we are hewn, and the pit from whence we were dug. God has
shown us principles that are ten thousand times more exalting and
ennobling than anything they have to offer. No; you may continue
in such operations; that is your business. You may revel in the
idea of living with your wives in time, and then dropping into
the grave without hope of any further union. But let me have my
wives and children, and my associations in the eternal world. Let
me have a religion that will live in time, and exist whilst
eternal ages roll along. That is the kind of religion I want, and
if you like the other, all right, take it. But give me, if you
please, the liberty to pursue happiness in my own way; if not I
shall try to take it. I want none of those evanescent principles
that vanish when time ceases. I profess to be an immortal being,
as we all are. A spark of Deity, struck from the fire of His
eternal blaze, dwells in us, a portion of that intelligence that
dwells with the Gods; which, if we will follow out through the
influence of the Holy Ghost, of which I have spoken, will bring
us back again into the presence of God; and with us our wives,
our children, and our associations. Godliness, indeed, as stated
by the Apostle Paul, "is profitable unto all things, having the
promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come,"
and despite the ideas, the opposition and the contumely of
ignorant and unenlightened men, we will rule and reign and
triumph, not only in time but throughout the countless ages of
eternity. That is the kind of religion that I want. I would not
give a straw for the other; if other people like it, all well and
good. I do not want to interrupt them. But they want to interrupt
us; and they do it, many of them, though we treat them never so
kindly. They seem to have a perfect mania on these points; they
run wild about our private affairs.
7
Now, there are certain inalienable rights that some men in this
nation consider belong to all men, one of which is, the right to
live. The government of the United States did not give men life;
they received it from another and higher source. God himself is
the author of life and existence, more so than we ourselves
sometimes think. There is not one of you could leave this place
to-day unless God permitted it, and not only permitted it, but
sustained you and empowered you to do so. We live in Him, we move
in Him, and from Him we have our being.
7
Do you believe that these men are sincere when they allege that
we are so very wicked and that they desire to improve our morals?
It would be something like their marriage--it ends in death, and
sometimes even before that. What has been the proceeding here?
Who are the authors and abettors of the iniquities that prevail
in our midst? Wicked and unscrupulous men, the professed
advocates of reform and a hypocritical civilization, such as
ministers, politicians and others. Who are the introducers and
originators of our gambling hells, or bagnios, and of the open
and flagrant acts of debauchery and corruption that prevail in
our cities where Gentiles reside? Who are the protectors of
drunkenness and other vices? Our professed Christian reformers.
These are their institutions; and their emissaries have been
trying to introduce the murder of the innocents in the shape of
foeticide and infanticide. Can we believe in the sincerity and
truthfulness of such hypocritical, corrupt and degraded men? They
tell us it is contrary to law for a man to be married as we are,
especially if he has more wives than one. They talk about
polygamy; but that is not the thing which they are aiming at. I
will mention these things some other time.
8
There are one or two statements that I wish to make before I
close. Have they manifested a desire to rid us of lasciviousness?
Where are the bagnios? Who are they kept for? For our good
neighbors who love virtue so much. Again when thousands of men
withdrew from the polls that they might not be considered
obstructionists, what did they crowd upon us? You have heard a
statement about Mayor Little and his son. Talk about purity! Was
there any purity about that! The young man was obliged to object
to his father, who was an honorable man, registering, because he
had what? Broken any law? I do not think he had ever broken a
polygamic law, but he had two wives some time ago when there was
no law against it. Some of these things we mean to contest yet.
We have not laid aside our franchise. If any think so they make a
great mistake. There is not one man or woman in twenty who have
refrained from exercising their franchise at the polls who, if
the law of the United States was carried out and constitutional
principles sustained could be interfered with according to the
most rigid interpretation of the so-called polygamic laws, and we
shall contest these rights. We are not going to give up
everything. In the interests of peace some of us hold our
franchise in abeyance at the present time; but as I stated at
Conference when I spoke of these things--we mean to contend for
our rights legally and constitutionally, inch by inch to the last
end, and to maintain the principle of human rights in the
interest of ourselves, in the interest of our children, in the
interest of the honorable men of this nation, and in the interest
of the freedom of man throughout the world. So do not think we
are giving up everything: we have not given up one solitary iota.
Yet we thought it better to withdraw until we had a fair
opportunity to contest all these things peaceably and quietly,
and to contend for our rights legally and constitutionally as
American citizens and as men. Can we think that men are very
sincere who pursue the course that has been adopted toward us?
And what on the back of the refusal to let Brother Little
register? It is purity they are after; is it? Here comes along
the keeper of a bagnio and its inmates? Can they be registered?
Yes! Because, according to a ruling, not a law, but a perversion
of law, an oath is prescribed to American citizens, wherein
loathsome, damning vices are protected. And they can register
while the honorable and virtuous are rejected. And our good,
Christian folks try to crowd these things down our throats. Well,
we can bide our time.
8
I will prefer to another affair that took place. Another man,
when he came to be registered, after looking at the oath said: "I
don't think I can take it, because I have got a wife and keep a
mistress." But he was requested to read the oath. After having
done so, he said: "I see the crime is here, in it being in the
marriage relation, and though I have a mistress as well as a wife
the mistress is not in the marriage relation, and I can take it.
This man was said to be candid. Of course he was, and people say
that he was honorable to tell his feelings. Yes, he was
honorable, if it can be honorable for a man to pledge himself
before the altar to be true to his wife and to the covenants he
had made before God and witnesses--and then break those
covenants; if that is honor, he may be called an honorable man,
but we do not call it very honorable amongst us. This shows that
lascivious cohabitation can be tolerated and protected by men who
would seek to be our teachers and our reformers. Such men and
women under the old Mosaic law would have been stoned to death. I
say, my soul, enter thou not into their secrets, and, mine honor,
be thou not with them united.
9
Furthermore, there is a little thing which I wish to refer to
that has lately come to my knowledge; I have a knowledge of a
great many things--for men come to me with all kinds of affairs.
It is a circumstance that is to be deplored. A married man
considered here an honorable man, an upright man, a man that has
taken an active part in some of the schools, who has given
considerable to the building of churches and it has been thought
that he was really seeking to do good amongst us--has lately
sought to abduct an honorable young lady, or tried to persuade
her to leave her home clandestinely with him and go to a distant
land. How can we trust these people? These are facts; I have the
letters; I know what I am talking about, and yet these are
reformers, identified with churches, schools, and other places of
improvement, who do not shrink to associate themselves with those
infamies. A very low state of morality exists among them, as we
know. How is it with us? Do we have men that sometimes do wrong?
Yes. Do we sanction the wrong? Can an adulterer have a place
amongst us? I tell you No, he cannot, and any Bishop who would
permit anything of that sort ought himself to be removed. We are
in favor of chastity, purity and virtue, not nominally but
really, and we should make a distinction between one thing and
the other and maintain virtue and correct principles in spite of
the hypocrisy and corruption that exists, for it is among us and
around us. And it is for us to look after our wives, our sons and
daughters, and preserve our chastity, our honor and our virtue in
all these matters. Let us seek the blessing of God, and He will
help us and direct us. But because some of these men do wrong,
and act iniquitously, shall we condemn the whole? By no means.
There are thousands and hundreds of thousands of honorable,
upright men and women in this and other nations, who outside of
religion, would scorn to be associated with such infamies. Treat
all men aright; but be careful of that loose system of morals
that exists in the world; be careful how you associate with such
people or permit them in your habitations. Look well to
yourselves and to your families, to your sons and to your
daughters; and let us seek to do right and cultivate the
principles of truth and God will sustain us, and Zion will go
onward, and our enemies will be confounded, from time to time,
and salvation will flow to Israel if Israel will be true to
himself, and we will try and carry out the things that god has
ordained, and accomplish the work that He has given us to do. For
if ever the will of God is done on earth as it is done in heaven,
it ought to commence in the land of Zion. May God help us to do
it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Joseph
F. Smith, October 29th, 1882
Joseph F. Smith, October 29th, 1882
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH,
Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, October 29th, 1882.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
GREATNESS OF THE WORK INAUGURATED AND ACCOMPLISHED BY THE PROPHET
JOSEPH SMITH--SKETCH OF THE PROPHET'S EARLY LIFE--REFUTATION OF
THE
FALSE CHARGES MADE AGAINST HIM AND THE LATTER-DAY
SAINTS--CHARACTER
OF OUR TRADUCERS--DIVINE NATURE AND VALUE OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.
F. Smith
Brother Woodruff in the course of him remarks made the assertion
that Joseph Smith was the greatest Prophet that has ever lived of
whom we have any knowledge, save and except Jesus Christ Himself.
The world would say that he was an impostor; and the Lord said
that his name should be had for good and for evil among all the
nations of the earth, and this much, at least, so far as his name
has become known, has been fulfilled. This prediction was made
through the Prophet Joseph Smith himself when he was an obscure
youth, and there was but little prospect of this name ever
becoming known beyond the village where he lived. It was at an
early period of his life and at the beginning of the work that
this prophecy or revelation was given, and it has been truly
verified. To-day there is not another man, perhaps, who has
figured in religion whose name is so widely known, and the report
of whom has gone so far and is so wide spread among the nations
as that of Joseph Smith. In connection with the work of which he
was the instrument in the hands of God of laying the foundation,
his name is spoken of in nearly every civilized nation upon the
globe for good or for evil. Where it is spoken of for good; it is
by those who have had the privilege of hearing the Gospel which
has come to the earth through him and who have been sufficiently
honest and humble to receive the same; they speak of Him with a
knowledge which they have received by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, through obedience to the principles which he taught as a
Prophet and as an inspired man. They speak to his praise, to his
honor, and they hold his name in honorable remembrance. They
revere him and they love him as they love no other man, because
they know he was the chosen instrument in the hands of the
Almighty of restoring the Gospel of life and salvation unto them,
of opening their understanding of the future, or lifting the veil
of eternity as it were from before their eyes. Those who have
received the principles which he promulgated know they pertain
not only to their own salvation, happiness and peace, spiritual
and temporal, but to the welfare, happiness, salvation and
exaltation of their kindred who have died without a knowledge of
the truth. The work in which Joseph Smith was engaged was not
confined to this life alone, but it pertains as well to the life
to come and to the life that has been. In other words, it relates
to those that have lived upon the earth, to those that are living
and to those that shall come after us. It is not something which
relates to man only while he tabernacles in the flesh, but to the
whole human family from eternity to eternity. Consequently, as I
have said, Joseph Smith is held in reverence, his name is
honored; tens of thousands of people thank God in their heart and
from the depths of their souls for the knowledge the Lord has
restored to the earth through him, and therefore they speak well
of him and bear testimony of his worth. And this is not confined
to a village, nor to a State, nor to a nation, but extends to
every nation, kindred, tongue and people where the Gospel, up to
the present, has been preached--in America, Great Britain,
Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and upon the islands of
the sea. And the Book of Mormon, which Joseph Smith was the
instrument in the hands of God of bringing forth to this
generation, has been translated into the German, French, Danish,
Swedish, Welsh, Hawaiian, Hindostanee, Spanish and Dutch
languages, and this book will be translated into other languages,
for according to the predictions it contains, and according to
the promises of the Lord through Joseph Smith, it is to be sent
unto every nation and kindred and people under the whole heavens,
until all the sons and daughters of Adam shall have the privilege
of hearing the Gospel as it has been restored to the earth in the
dispensation of the fullness of times.
F. Smith
The world presume that we have not received a knowledge of the
truth. Those who are in ignorance in regard to the character,
life and labors of Joseph Smith, who have never read his
revelations or studies or investigated his claims to divine
authority and are ignorant of his mission, revile him, sneer at
his name, and ridicule his claims to prophetic inspiration, and
call him an impostor. Jesus was also called an impostor in His
day, except by a few that hearkened to His instruction, and
believed His testimony. The great majority of mankind then living
who knew of Christ, deemed Him an impostor, and considered him
worthy to be put to death; precisely the same feeling existed
towards Joseph Smith.
F. Smith
The disciples of Jesus Christ anciently were regarded in the same
light as their Master, the Savior; so it is not at all surprising
that the people of the world to-day, who know not the truth,
should pronounce Joseph Smith an impostor and try to ridicule the
doctrines which he taught; but in so doing they make themselves
ridiculous, for they know little or nothing about them; indeed,
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred where the doctrines of the
Latter-day Saints--which are no other than the doctrines which
were taught by the Savior himself or contained in the Bible--are
ridiculed and pronounced false and evil, they are so pronounced
by a class of people who, being ignorant of, or wilfully
perverting the truth, build aerial castles in order that they may
tear them down, or "make a man of straw" to shoot at so that they
can create a great noise and excitement about the "Mormons," and
thus we are often charged by those who abuse us and write and
preach against us with believing and practicing the most absurd
things--things which no Latter-day Saint ever dreamt of believing
or accepting as a principle of his faith. As I have said, in
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the Latter-day Saints are
accused by their enemies of believing doctrines which they do not
believe, and which are not the doctrines of the Latter-day Saints
at all. They accuse us of every abominable thing. They call us
murderers; they say we are immoral, ignorant, superstitious; they
call us dupes, they say we are deceived, that we are enslaved by
the Priesthood; that we are fettered and in bondage. Now, is it
true that the Latter-day Saints are ignorant? If so, then I am
sorry for the great majority of mankind, for millions of them are
in a far worse condition than we are, in this respect. I will say
here, and not without good and sufficient proof to back it, that
the Latter-day Saints will compare favorably with any other
people upon the face of the earth for good, sound common-sense,
and every other good thing. Hence, to say that the Latter-day
Saints are an ignorant people is saying only what may truthfully
be said of the whole world. Taking the best evidence that we have
to prove the facts, the statistics of the schools as compared
with the statistics of the schools in the various States and
Territories and of European countries, it appears that the people
of Utah stand in the front ranks in relation to education, and
are in advance of many of their neighbors and stand equal with
many who have far greater advantages than they have. Yet we do
not boast of being very intelligent; and only claim the credit
which belongs to us, that we stand on a par with our neighbors
and with our fellow-citizens throughout the United States; and
for that matter, will compare favorably with any people on the
face of the globe.
F. Smith
But we are called an "immoral people." Well, is the world so very
moral? Are our accusers so very pure and holy and so extremely
righteous that they should accuse us of being immoral?
Consistency would demand that he that is without guilt should
throw the first stone. But it is a fact that in our case our
bitterest accusers--and this has been well demonstrated hundreds
and perhaps thousands of times--are themselves reeking with
corruption. Generally those who are the most immoral themselves
are the first to make the charge of immorality against the
Latter-day Saints! But I deny the charge in total, and I assert,
without fear of successful contradiction--that there is not an
equal number of people upon the face of the globe to-day who
present to the world as much pure and simple morality and virtue
as do the people called Latter-day Saints. In other words, there
is not a more moral people upon the face of the earth to-day than
the Latter-day Saints, taking them all in all. Not but what there
are some "black sheep" among them. But who can fathom the depths
of crime and corruption which exist in all the great cities of
the world? You may go to the rural districts throughout the
United States, and gather therefrom the most virtuous of our
country to the number that are gathered together as Latter-day
Saints, and I will venture to say that there are half as many
children murdered among them annually, either before or after
their birth, by their own mothers or fathers, as are born to the
Latter-day Saints in the same period. The Latter-day Saints are
proverbial for NOT murdering their children. They have hosts of
them, and they do not try to destroy them neither before nor
after birth, but endeavor to rear them to manhood and womanhood,
that they may teach them the principles of the Gospel of
Christ--the highest code of morals known, that they may be able
to bear off the kingdom of God upon the earth, and to regenerate
the world. This is the object for which the Latter-day Saints are
raising children, that God may have a pure and a righteous
people. How much the Latter-day Saints neglect their
opportunities or privileges or fall short of their duties in
regard to training their children, and instructing them in the
principles of morality, virtue, purity and uprightness, is
difficult to say; but of this I feel sure that while they are the
best people that I know of there is great room for improvement in
this direction.
F. Smith
But, it is said, the immorality of the Latter-day Saints consists
in their marrying more wives than one! We are not charged with
the crime of frequenting houses of ill-fame, of fostering illicit
intercourse, of infidelity to our wives--of child murder, of
drunkenness, profanity, dishonesty, cruelty or indolence, or if
we are the charge is utterly false, but our great offence is in
marrying our wives and protecting them and our children as all
honorable men should God forbid that I should undertake to
compare the honorable marriage of the Latter-day Saints with the
debauchery and sexual crimes of our accusers! If our actions and
our faith in regard to marriage are called wicked and immoral by
them, in the name of God and humanity what will you call the
crimes of those that accuse us? There is no adequate term in the
dictionary of the English language with which to make a
comparison, hence "Mormon" plural marriage cannot be degraded to
the level of a comparison with the sexual crimes and iniquities
of the world; there is no similitude between them. One is the
antipode of the other--one is virtuous, pure and honorable, and
the other is corrupt, treacherous and debasing to the utmost
degree. Our system of marriage promotes life, purity, innocence,
vitality, health, increase and longevity, while the other
engenders disease, disappointment, misery and premature
death--that is the difference. Hence there is no resemblance for
they are not allied to each other at all.
F. Smith
The people of Utah are charge with having committed terrible
murders and robberies. "Danites" or "Destroying Angels" are
talked about by sensational writers and believed in by the
uninformed. Now, what is the fact? Utah stands head and shoulders
above every other Territory in the United States so far as the
crime of murder is concerned. You cannot find a western Territory
or State within the United States where there has not been a
hundred per cent more murders, lynching and lawlessness than can
be found in the annals of Utah. Take the State of California, the
State of Nevada, and all the surrounding Territories, and it will
be found that there has been less violation of law, fewer murders
and less lynching in Utah than in any one of these from the
beginning. There is no man that knows anything about the history
of the western States and Territories for the last thirty years
but knows this to be absolutely the fact. But because a few horse
thieves and murderers have per chance been summarily dealt with
by officers of the law--who were the appointees of the United
States, and acting under the authority of the parent government
and the laws of the Territory--the whole people of Utah are
accused of being murderers. I attended a Methodist revival
meeting held in a big tent in this city a few years ago by some
itinerant preachers, who had spent but a few days in Utah, and
were totally ignorant of her history, and it fairly made one's
blood run cold to hear them relate their pious suspicions of the
horrible murders that had been committed in Utah. They thought,
or pretended to believe, that if the rocks of these mountain
gorges could only speak, that nearly every rock could some
terrible tale unfold of horrible secret murder and rapine. The
most damnable nonsense that was ever uttered by man. But this is
the sort of preaching that is generally done against the
Latter-day Saints by this class of men, and as I have said, those
who denounce the doctrines of this people as heresies and as
abominable, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred know nothing
whatever of the facts. If the Latter-day Saints had not been
Latter-day Saints, if it had not been for their religion, and
their faith in God and in His omnipotence to deliver them from
the power of their enemies; or if the Territory of Utah had been
inhabited by the same number of people composed of the various
sects and denominations of Christianity, so-called, and the
one-thousandth part of the infamies that have been perpetrated
upon this people had been perpetrated upon them, many of the
perpetrators of these infamies would have been long ago summoned
to their final abode by "Judge Lynch." But the patience of the
Latter-day Saints, and their willingness to leave their cause in
the hands of God has spared them from shedding the blood of their
enemies, and preserved them from violence or harm. Men that have
not deserved to live, and would not have been suffered to live in
any other community under the same circumstances, have equal
protection with the very best citizens, and no man would harm a
hair of their heads. We have too much good sense to make martyrs
of such characters, and consequently they are left alone to
pursue their nefarious course. Sometimes it seems rather hard to
bear it, but it is the best to do so, I suppose. We are engaged
in the work of the Lord, and He will bear it off victorious.
F. Smith
Let us return to the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was accused of
nearly everything that was vile, by his enemies, who, as is well
known by the Latter-day Saints, were generally entirely ignorant
of his true character and mission. What did Joseph Smith do? Was
human blood found upon his hands? No, verily no. He was innocent.
Was he a slanderer and vilifier? No, verily, he was not. Did he
wrongfully and unjustly accuse men of wickedness? No, he did not.
Did he institute an order of things that has proven injurious to
the human family? Let the people who have become acquainted with
his doctrines, and with the institutions which he established
upon the earth and his own life's labor answer. He was born
December 23, 1805, in the State of Vermont. His parents were
American citizens, as had been their ancestors for generations.
In the Spring of 1820 he received the first supernatural or
heavenly manifestation. He was then fourteen years of age.
Ordinarily we do not expect a very great deal from a boy who is
only fourteen years of age, and it is not likely that a boy of
that tender age could have become very vicious or wicked,
especially when he was born and reared on a farm, apart from the
corrupting vices of great cities, and free from contact with the
debasing influences of vile associations. It is not likely that
he spent many idle moments during the working years of his life
up to fourteen years of age; for his father had to labor for his
living and earn it from the soil by the labor of his hands, being
a poor man with a large family to support. In 1820, as I have
said, Joseph Smith received a revelation in which he claimed that
God had declared that He was about to restore the ancient Gospel
in its purity, and many other glorious things. In consequence of
this, Joseph Smith became very notorious in the neighborhood
where he resided, and people began to regard him with a great
deal of suspicion. He was at once called an impostor, and a few
years later he was styled by his enemies, "old Joe Smith." His
fame became known throughout the United States. He was called "a
money digger," and many other contemptuous things. If you will
look at his history, and at the character of his parents, and
surroundings, and consider the object of his life, you can
discover how much consistency there was in the charges brought
against him. All this was done to injure him. He was neither old
nor "a money digger," nor an impostor, nor in any manner
deserving of the epithets that they applied to him. He had never
injured anybody, nor robbed anybody--he never did anything for
which he could be punished by the laws under which he lived. When
he was between 17 and 18 years of age, he received another
heavenly manifestation, and some great and glorious things were
revealed to him, and for four years subsequently he received
visits from a heavenly messenger. He did not claim he was in
communication with wicked men or demons from the lower regions.
He claimed he was in communication with Moroni, one of the
ancient Prophets who lived upon this continent. He was a good man
when he lived here and it is not likely that he had become wicked
since he went away. This personage, he claimed, revealed to him
the mind and will of the Lord, and showed him the character of
the great work that he, in the hands of God was to be
instrumental in establishing in the earth when the time should
come. This was the labor that was performed by the angel Moroni,
during the four years intervening between 1823 and 1827. In 1827
he received from the hands of the angel Moroni, the gold plates
from which this book [Book of Mormon] was translated by him
through the inspiration of the Almighty, and the gift and power
of God unto him. I heard it read when I was a child, I have read
it many times since, and I have asked myself scores of times,
have you ever discovered one precept, doctrine, or command within
the lids of that book that is calculated to injure anybody, to do
harm to the world, or that is in contradiction to the word of God
as contained in the Bible? And the answer invariably came, No,
not one solitary thing; every precept, doctrine, word of advice,
prophecy, and indeed every word contained within the lids of that
book relating to the great plan of human redemption and salvation
is calculated to make bad men good, and good men better. Did
Joseph Smith, during the three years intervening between 1827 and
1830, while he was laboring with his hands for a scanty
subsistence, dodging his enemies and trying to evade the grasp of
those who sought to destroy him and prevent the accomplishment of
his mission, struggling all the while against untold obstacles
and depressing embarrassments to complete the translation of this
book, have much chance of becoming wicked or corrupt? I do not
think he had. When he had finished translating the book he was
still only a boy, yet in producing this book he has developed
historical facts, prophecies, revelations, predictions,
testimonies and doctrines, precepts and principles that are
beyond the power and wisdom of the learned world to duplicate or
refute. Joseph Smith was an unlearned youth, so far as the
learning of the world is concerned. He was taught by the angel
Moroni. He received his education from above, from God Almighty,
and not from man-made institutions; but to charge him with being
ignorant would be both unjust and false; no man or combination of
men possessed greater intelligence than he, nor could the
combined wisdom and cunning of the age produce an equivalent for
what he did. He was not ignorant, for He was taught by Him from
whom all intelligence flows. He possessed a knowledge of God and
of His law, and of eternity, and mankind have been trying with
all their learning, wisdom and power--and not content with that,
they have tried with the sword and cannon--to extirpate from the
earth the superstructure which Joseph Smith, by the power of God,
erected; but they have signally failed, and will yet be
overwhelmed by their efforts to destroy it.
F. Smith
Again, the world say that Joseph Smith was an indolent person.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized
April 6th, 1830. Joseph Smith was martyred in Carthage, Illinois,
on the 27th of June, 1844--14 years after the organization of the
Church. What did he accomplish in these 14 years? He opened up
communication with the heavens in his youth. He brought forth the
Book of Mormon, which contains the fullness of the Gospel; and
the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants;
restored the holy Priesthood unto man; established and organized
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an organization
which has no parallel in all the world, and which all the cunning
and wisdom of men for ages has failed to discover or produce and
never could have done. He founded colonies in the States of New
York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, and pointed the way for the
gathering of the Saints into the Rocky Mountains; sent the Gospel
into Europe and to the islands of the sea; founded the town of
Kirtland, Ohio, and there built a temple that cost about a
quarter of a million of dollars; he founded the city of Nauvoo in
the midst of persecution; gathered into Nauvoo and vicinity some
20,000 people, and commenced the building of the temple there,
which when completed cost one million dollars; and in doing all
this he had to contend against the prejudices of the age, against
relentless persecution, mobocracy and vile calumny and slander,
that were heaped upon him from all quarters without stint or
measure. In a word, he did more in from 14 to 20 years for the
salvation of man than any other man save Jesus only, that ever
lived, and yet he was accused by his enemies of being an indolent
and worthless man! Where shall we go to find another man that has
accomplished the one thousandth part of the good that Joseph
Smith accomplished? Shall we go to the Rev. Mr. Beecher or
Talmage, or any of the great preachers of the day? What have they
done for the world with all their boasted intelligence,
influence, wealth, and the popular voice of the world in their
favor! Joseph Smith had none of their advantages, if these are
advantages. And yet no man in the nineteenth century, except
Joseph Smith, has discovered to the world a ray of light upon the
keys and power of the Holy Priesthood or the ordinances of the
Gospel either for the living or the dead. Through Joseph Smith,
God has revealed many things which were kept hid from the
foundation of the world in fulfillment of the Prophets--and at no
time since Enoch walked the earth has the Church of God been
organized as perfectly as it is to-day--not excepting the
dispensation of Jesus and His disciples--or if it was we have no
record of it. And this is strictly in keeping with the objects
and character of this great latter-day work, destined to
consummate the great purpose and designs of God concerning the
dispensation of the fullness of times. The principles of baptism
for the redemption of the dead, with the ordinances appertaining
thereto, for the complete salvation and exaltation of those who
have died without the Gospel, as revealed through Joseph Smith,
is alone worth more than all the dogmas of the so-called
Christian world combined. Joseph Smith is accused of being a
false prophet. It is, however, beyond the power of the world to
prove that he was a false Prophet. They may so charge him, but
you who have received the testimony of Jesus Christ by the spirit
of prophecy through his administrations are my witnesses that
they have not the power to prove him false, and that is why they
are so vexed about it. In my humble opinion many of our enemies
know that they lie before God, angels and men, when they make
this charge, and they would only be too glad to produce proof to
sustain their accusations, but they cannot. Joseph Smith was a
true prophet of God. He lived and died a true prophet, and his
words and works will yet demonstrate the divinity of his mission
to millions of the inhabitants of this globe. Perhaps not so many
that are now living, for they have in a great measure rejected
the Gospel and the testimony which the Elders of this Church have
borne to them; but their children after them and generations to
come will receive with delight the name of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, and the Gospel which their fathers rejected. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Moses
Thatcher, March 7th, 1883
Moses Thatcher, March 7th, 1883
SYNOPSIS OF A TEMPERANCE LECTURE,
Delivered by Elder Moses Thatcher, before the Young Men's Mutual
Improvement Association of Hyrum, March 7th, 1883.
(Reported by C. C. S.)
PROHIBITION ADVOCATED--EFFECTS OF DRUNKENNESS ILLUSTRATED,
STATISTICS, ETC.
17
In responding to the invitation of the Young Men's Mutual
Improvement Association of Hyrum, I beg to say that press of
other matters has prevented me from preparing myself to speak
upon this subject as its importance demands, but I can submit
some statistics which show the effects of intemperance on the
human body and soul more forcibly than anything I can say.
18
Intemperance, license and prohibition have recently been somewhat
fully discussed through the columns of the Utah Journal. Those
who advocate strict prohibition as a means of checking
intemperance among our people, seem firmly impressed with the
idea that every possible safeguard should be thrown around the
youth and those of mature age who have not, within themselves,
the power to resist temptations that are fast sapping the
foundations upon which have rested the prosperity, morality, and
purity of great Christian nations, that are now wallowing in the
filth and degradation of intemperance. Holding that there are
some, even among the Latter-day Saints, too weak to resist the
tempting cup when pressed to their lips by the hands of false
friends, yet who are too good to be left to destroy peace and
happiness, desolate home, and die, perhaps, in the gutter, I am
an uncompromising advocate of prohibition. No man is permitted to
sell poisoned food. Who does so knowingly, to the destruction of
life, answers the law on the charge of murder. Why should any be
held less guilty of crime for dispensing liquid poison?
18
Put the essence of tobacco into the mouth of a rattlesnake and
see if the venom which makes its fangs the instrument of death,
possesses neutralizing force sufficient to counteract the more
deadly poison of the vegetable drug. And yet I have seen tobacco
in pieces larger than my hand in barrels from which my brethren
and friends had drank the whisky that extracted from that tobacco
its deadly narcotic properties.
18
I have beheld with horror the effects of double-distilled,
tobacco-poisoned whisky. Untainted by it, I have seen man face
perils that spoke of death, and under the sway of reason and calm
judgment offer his coat to save the life of his companion; when
the fierce blast of a winter storm was searching the marrow of
his bones, chilling his vitals and clutching with icy hand the
benumbed, almost frozen spark of life. That was the natural man,
whose generosity the fear of death could not conquer.
18
Driven wild with whisky, the heart beating like the quick throb
of an overworked engine, reason dethroned by distilled poison
burning like living coals in the brain, he who offered the coat
to save, sped the ball which pierced the heart of his friend,
whose warm blood, rushing through the murderous rent, curdled in
crimson clots on the frozen snow, and the hearts of two mothers
broke.
18
Who shall declare that to be a legitimate business which, in its
effects, makes man a demon, dyes his hands in blood, and
sacrifices tender and loving hearts upon the altar of
intemperance? How can any man with one spark of the milk of human
kindness in his heart, offer to his fellow-man that which he
knows may destroy the body and ruin the soul? How can any father
or brother ask our lawmakers to legalize and thereby become
responsible for the crimes of those who seek to lead the weak and
unsuspecting into temptations, which if yielded to, generally end
in misery, pauperism, and ignominious ruin?
18
Look at the home of the drunkard who would move heaven and hell
in order to secure the means for gratifying his unnatural
appetite! Is it a cheerful, prosperous, beautiful and healthful
home? Does he educate his children and feed and clothe them well,
or does he permit them to go bare-footed, half-clad, and
otherwise exposed to disease and suffering? Does he not pay
whisky bills while denying wife and children the means with which
to keep the wolf of want from his door? Look at the waste of
property all around him! If he has a house, look at the tattered
rags hanging from the broken windows, the leaking roof, creaking
doors, fireless hearth and general cheerlessness of the place he
calls home. Gaze through the sorrowful eyes down into the
painstricken heart of his wife, and see if you can find a
sentiment there which calls for a single blessing upon the head
of the man who has assisted in the degradation of her husband.
Look at his lean horses and starving cattle, if he has any left,
as they perish in the pitiless storms that chill their marrowless
bones, and say that no act of prohibition should be enforced to
assist in checking such an one in his downward course.
19
Is it possible for the inebriate to confine the results of his
intemperance to himself? No, it is not possible! It extends to
others in spite of all he can do, and in so far as it injures
them, his agency should be curtailed. With kindness and long
suffering, with gentleness and good will? Yes! and if necessary,
by removing with every legitimate and lawful means the temptation
which he cannot resist unaided.
19
Should the acts--the agency of the brother who, short time ago,
left exposed, by reason of his engendered love of liquor, a
hundred thousand dollars' worth of property intrusted to his
care, be in any way restrained?
19
Do intemperate men usually stand at the head of banking,
railroad, manufacturing and commercial affairs? Do they stand at
the head and control matters in which the Lord and good men have
delight?
19
Contrast the intelligent look, the energy, the mental and
physical endurance of the temperate man with those of the
intemperate. Contrast the difference between their surroundings,
homes and families, and then say which you prefer, and which you
will imitate.
19
I will now submit for your consideration an account of some of
the evils of intemperance in England, and its cost: In the year
1879, the inhabitants of the United Kingdom expended for
intoxicating drinks, $640,716,320. The names of 3,000,000 persons
were registered on the books of the "Poor Law Unions" during that
year, and $4,000 lunatics were in the asylums. In 1877, 320,000
were apprehended for drunkenness; 75,000,000 bushels of grain--an
amount equal to what Utah, at our present rate would produce in
forty years--is used yearly in the manufacture of intoxicants,
which cause there annually 120,000 premature deaths. "It is the
opinion of the best informed individuals that the cost of the
mischief resulting from drinking, viz., Pauperism, Crime,
Disease, Waste of Grain, Accidents, Loss of Labor, &c., amounts
to fully as much as the cost of the drink itself, and, therefore,
if the direct and indirect cost of the drink be added together,
it will give about thirteen hundred millions of dollars as the
amount the nation loses yearly through intoxicating liquors."
19
In return for this stupendous outlay the nation reaps a harvest
of crime, misery, destitution, vice, disease, ruin and death. If
the money was paid to rid the nation of such evils, it would be
proof of common sense, "but to buy them at such a price, is
supreme folly," and would seem utterly impossible to an
intelligent people. "During the seven years ending in 1877 the
inhabitants of the British Isles spent for drink, $4,820,189,180,
and paid for Poor and Police Rates $505,723,590. During the same
time, 3,334,110 persons--nearly ten per cent of the entire
population--were convicted of crime, and 1,271,838 were
apprehended for drunkenness.
19
From the above tables (taken from Parliamentary returns) it will
be seen what an enormous amount of money is spent on intoxicating
liquors. Side by side we see the crime and drunkenness with the
consequent taxation, &c. How we suffer in other ways from the
liquor traffic can never be realized.
20
The money paid for drink during those seven years would cancel
England's national debt, and leave $1,000,000,000 to spare. It
would pay for 26,082 miles of railway which is 10,000 miles more
than was then being operated in the United Kingdom. Had the money
been invested in building houses it would have erected a new one
for every family there, and built schools to accommodate all the
children in that country.
20
Had the money spent by the English people during the past 50
years for liquors, been invested in securities realizing five per
cent per annum, principal and interest would now exceed by
$5,000,000,000 the entire capitalized value of all the wealth of
the United Kingdom, including its money, lands, railways,
collieries, ironworks, quarries, mines, houses, mills, and every
other description of property.
20
Now all these things have grown and developed under the fostering
care of legalized crime. In other words, intemperance in England,
and intemperance in the United States, if not the offspring of
legalized crime is at least the bloated pauper of a system of
license that encourages drunkenness. And for this reason, having
shown you some of the fearful effects of intemperance, I
unhesitantly condemn the system of license under which it has
grown to such proportions. In contrast I cite you to statistics,
compiled by the best authority, showing that drunkenness has
decreased from 40 to 90 per cent, in the State of Maine, where
prohibition has been enforced. [The lecturer here read from the
writings of Hepworth Dixon, a beautiful description of the happy
condition of the people of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, who had
adopted "prohibition," and concluded by adopting as his
sentiments the following sound principles of Dr. Albert Barnes,
enunciated in his sermon, "The Thorne of Iniquity."]
21
"I lay it down as a sound principle in regard to legislation that
society should not by its law protect evil. This, perhaps, is
sufficiently clear from the remarks already made; but the
importance of the principle in itself, and the application which
I intend to make of it, require that it should be made a little
more distinct and prominent. The position is that the purpose of
society in organizing a government, and the purpose of a
government under such organization, should not be to protect evil
in any form. The law is made for the lawless and disobedient, for
the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for
murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind,
for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons (1 Tim. 1:9,)
and not to protect those who practice these vices, or protect
anything which will give facility in practicing them. The true
object of legislation is to prevent, not to protect evil. God
never instituted a government on earth with a view to its
throwing a protecting shield over vice and immortality. He has
never commissioned men to sit in high places to accomplish any
such work. The end of government, so far as it bears on that
point at all, is to suppress crime, to punish wrongdoers, to
remove iniquity, to promote that which is just and true. And it
matters not what the evil is, nor how lucrative it may be, nor
how much capital may be invested in it, nor how much revenue may
be derived from it, nor how many persons may have an interest in
its continuance--the business of the lawgiver is to suppress
it--not to protect it; to bring it to as speedy an end as
possible, not to become the panderer to it, or the patron of it.
What would be thought of a government that should, under any
pretext whatever, take under its protecting care thieves,
counterfeiters, and burglars? A third principle in regard to
legislation is equally clear, and equally important: It is that
society should not undertake to regulate evil by law. Its
business is to remove it--not to regulate it."
21
Having an abiding faith in prohibition, backed by local option, I
would have the Y. M. M. I. A. of Hyrum, use their influence to
have illicit liquor dealers here, discontinue their degrading,
unlawful traffic. This failing, rise up and help the city
authorities to enforce the law.
21
If there are any in favor of license to sell liquor in Hyrum,
please manifest it. [Not a hand was raised.] Who are in favor of
temperance and prohibition? [Every hand was raised.] May God
bless and preserve you from the blight of intemperance and the
sin of drunkenness.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Orson
Pratt, October 26, 1879
Orson Pratt, October 26, 1879
DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the Tabernacle,
Salt Lake City, October 26, 1879.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
EXHORTATION FROM ISAIAH--THE SAINTS OBEYING IT--GLIMPSE AT THE
SETTLEMENT OF UTAH--FULFILLING ANCIENT PROPHECIES--JACKSON
COUNTY,
MISSOURI, THE DESTINATION OF THE SAINTS--THE TEMPLE TO BE BUILT
THERE--NEW JERUSALEM--HOW IT WILL BE PRESERVED FROM DECAY--ITS
DESCRIPTION--THE WICKED POWERLESS TO PREVENT THE SAINTS FROM
FULFILLING THEIR DESTINY.
21
I will read a few passages of Scripture which will be found in
the 54th chapter of Isaiah. (The speaker then read most of the
chapter referred to.) Continuing, he said:
21
I hope that the congregation will pardon me for undertaking three
Sabbaths running to instruct them when there are so many of our
brethren--those who are ordained and filled with the spirit of
truth--who would be glad, no doubt, to speak to the people; but a
great many of my younger brethren, younger than I am, may perhaps
have a great many opportunities after I may pass away, provided
that the Lord sees proper in His wisdom to call me hence.
22
I feel a great pleasure in standing before a congregation of
Latter-day Saints, or a mixed assembly of those who belong to the
Church and those who have not received the great message which
the Church has received. It gives me great joy and great
satisfaction to speak to them in the name of the Lord, and
unfold, as far as the Spirit will give me utterance, that which
the Lord has said concerning His people in the latter days. I had
nothing upon my mind when I arose and walked into the stand, but
upon opening the Bible my eyes fell upon this chapter, and I
thought that I would read it--and perhaps something might occur
in relation to this chapter that would be interesting in regard
to the latter days, for certainly what I have read relates to
future times--times that have not yet come.
24
"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the
curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords and
strengthen thy stakes" is the exhortation of the prophet to some
class of people that should dwell on the earth. If we wish to
know what class of people the Prophet had reference to, read the
last verse of this chapter: "This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."
It would seem then, from the declaration given in that clause of
the seventh verse of this chapter, that the Prophet was speaking
of his servants and their heritage--that is, the heritage that
his servants should occupy--that they were not to be narrowed and
contracted in their feelings in regard to their inheritance as
though it were to be in a small tract or region of country. The
Lord had otherwise determined according to the words of this
chapter. He intends they should inherit a great land, that they
were to stretch forth the curtains their habitations, and for
fear that they would be limited in their views and contract
themselves to a small region of country, the Lord says expressly,
"Spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes." Well,
we are trying to do this as Latter-day Saints. When we first came
here we located this city in the month of July, 1847, some 32
years ago this last summer. Then it was thought by many that had
not a knowledge of prophecy, that we were too expanded in our
views to lay out a city--being only a handful of pioneers--to lay
out a city covering several miles of ground, when there was not
yet a house built; when comparatively there was before us a great
dry, barren desert. It seemed almost folly to even some of the
Latter-day Saints to see the surveyor with his measure line,
others with their instruments of observation, getting the height
of this land above the sea level--making great preparations,
while we yet camped, a little handful of us, in wagons and in a
few tents. It seemed folly to lay out a city covering an area of
several square miles; but those who did this work were under the
direction and inspiration of the Almighty. We knew that this
people would become a very great people. We knew that the words
of Isaiah would be fulfilled which are recorded in the 60th
chapter, "A little one shall become a thousand, and small one a
strong nation." Now we believed that. It was not merely an
opinion such as might be formed by the enlightened judgment of
the human family, but by the inspiration of that Spirit which
knows all things, we laid out a city sufficiently large in extent
to accommodate and gather together an extensive population for
this inland country and desert. Have we been disappointed? Has
the Lord disappointed us in our expectation? Go over the area of
this whole city, over these northern wards and western wards, and
travel and traverse all the different lots and streets, and see
if you find many vacant places. Is not the land generally taken
up? Is it not generally occupied? Are there many vacant lots,
where there are no houses or habitations? Are there many places
where there are no fruit trees, no gardens? Are there many
streets where there are no ornamental trees, no water ditches? We
find after we have traveled several days and traversed nearly all
the streets of this city, gone for miles each way, that all the
lots with some very few exceptions, seem to be occupied, and not
only so but some of the lots originally intended only for one
family are now split up, divided and subdivided, and contain
several habitations in the same lot, and scarcely room enough at
that. We find the population coming into this city so great that
there seems to be scarcely room, and even our water in dry
seasons seems to be very scarce, not sufficient to water even the
trees that are so necessary to be kept alive, to say nothing of
gardens and flowers and shrubbery. "Enlarge the place of thy tent
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations;
spare not;" that is don't be stingy, don't be contracted, don't
limit yourselves to a small area of country but break forth on
the right hand and on the left. Already within the last 32 years
we have been fulfilling this commandment. We have stretched forth
the gardens of our habitation several hundred miles in the south
especially, and one or two hundred miles in the north, into the
Territory of Idaho. Utah does not seem sufficient for us, hence
we have built many large towns and villages in Idaho. We have
spread forth our towns, our villages and our settlements to the
south for some 300 or 400 miles, and even after doing this we
find the place is too strait, and the saying is: "give place to
me that I may dwell." We would scarcely suppose that a work of
this great and important magnitude would have been accomplished
in so short a time as scarcely one-third of a century, when all
this great basin--nearly all with the exception of one or two
small portions of the country traversed by Fremont and a few of
his followers--was explored and considered an unprofitable
desert, considered unfit for the habitation of man, in
consequence of the dryness and parched condition of its soil. But
the Lord when He begins to fulfill and accomplish a work among
His people does so by degrees. He did not convert this great
American desert, several hundred miles in extent, into a fruitful
garden in one day, nor in one year; but in a few years,
comparatively speaking, He has accomplished this work and has
done it too with an eye to the predictions that were uttered by
His servant Isaiah, the Prophet, and His servant, David, the
Psalmist.
27
The Sabbath before last I addressed the congregation and spoke of
the people inhabiting the great mountain territory, removing. You
will recollect this. You know our enemies have had a great many
speculations about our moving. A great many have supposed that we
would remove to an island of the sea; others have pointed out
Vancouver's Island, others Russian American, as it used to be
called; others have pointed out Mexico; others the islands of the
Indian Ocean; and others South America, as the future destination
of the Latter-day Saints. But Sunday before last I endeavored to
point out to you our hopes, our views as contrasted with the
views of our enemies, in relation to our future destination. I
will repeat again, to bring to the remembrance of the Latter-day
Saints, and those who might have been present on that occasion,
what was then said. We expect that these mountains will not be
the residence of all the Latter-day Saints; we expect that the
great majority of the people will emigrate. We want to tell you
where our eyes are fixed. As stated in our former discourse, they
are fixed upon a land--not in the distant islands of the Indian
Ocean, nor in the Pacific Ocean, nor in South America, but our
eyes are fixed upon a land on the western boundaries of the State
of Missouri and the boundaries of the State of Kansas. We expect
to go there just as much as we expect the sun will rise and set.
We have no other expectation. We expect to return there just as
much as the Jews expect to return to old Jerusalem in the latter
days. Perhaps you may inquire if we expect to return as a
majority. Yes. Do we expect to return as a great people? Yes. Do
we expect to return with our wives and our children? Do we expect
to return in a peaceable manner? Of course. Have you ever seen
any other feeling on the part of the Latter-day Saints, only to
promote peace wherever they may settle? What has been our object
from the commencement? Peace and goodwill to all men. But perhaps
you may still further inquire concerning our emigration to the
eastern boundaries of the State of Kansas, and to the western
boundaries of the State of Missouri, what we intend to do in that
part of the country? We expect to be farmers, a great many of us.
We expect to introduce all kinds of machinery and manufactures.
We expect to build mills. We expect to become a very industrious,
frugal, economical people. We expect to have our merchandise and
our stores and storehouses in that land. We expect to build a
great many hundred school-houses in that country, just as the
same as we have already done in this country and in the two
adjacent Territories, Idaho in the north and Arizona in the
south. We do not calculate to neglect our children in regard to
their education. We expect to build a great number of academies
or the higher schools, and besides a great many school-houses. We
expect to erect universities for the still higher branches to be
taught. We expect to build many hundreds of meeting houses, and
we expect to be a people very densely located there--not one man
taking up six or eight miles of land, and calling it his farm; we
don't expect to settle a very dense settlement in that region of
country. We expect to own the land, too. How? By purchase. We
expect to purchase the land that we have not already purchased.
We have already purchased a great deal of land in Jackson County
and Clay County, Missouri, and our purchases are on record if
they have not destroyed the record; but we were driven from that
land, from our farms and homes; our houses were burned down, our
merchandise that we had in our store was taken and strewn through
the street; our printing office--one of the most distant western
offices in the Union--was also destroyed; the type was taken out
and scattered through the streets; our hay stacks were burned,
our cattle were shot down, and we were driven in the cold month
of November from our houses and lands purchased of the general
Government, and we fled before our enemies. "Well," says one,
"are you not afraid to go back again to purchase land in that
country when you were thus treated in the early settlement in
1833, when you were driven from your homes, some of you
massacred, your property destroyed--are you not afraid to
return?" O, I expect they are more civilized now. Do you think
civilized people would murder now? Do you think they would drive
people from their homes now? We may give them a chance to see. At
any rate we shall fulfill our part, purchase the land, gather
together upon our own purchased land, and we calculate to obey
all the laws of the State of Missouri, and all the laws of the
State of Kansas that are constitutional in their nature. But,
says one, suppose the people should rise up and say you should
not possess the land, what would you do? We would leave the
matter in the hands of the Lord, just the same as we did at first
when He led us by revelation to where the great central stake of
Zion should be built. We went there because the Lord told us to
go. We settled upon the very spot where the Lord commanded us. We
commenced to lay the foundation of a temple about three-quarters
of a miles from Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. It was
then a wilderness, with large trees on the temple block. I
visited that place 47 years afterwards, namely, a year ago last
September, and not a tree was to be found on that temple
block--not so much as a stump--everything seemed to be cleared
off, and one would scarcely know, unless very well acquainted
with the ground, where the temple site was located. There,
however, we expect to build a temple different from all other
temples in some respects. It will be built much larger, cover a
larger area of ground, far larger than this Tabernacle covers,
and this Tabernacle will accommodate from 12,000 to 15,000
people. We expect to build a temple much larger, very much
larger, according to the revelation God gave to us forty years
ago in regard to that temple. But you may ask in what form will
it be built? Will it be built in one large room, like this
Tabernacle? No; there will be 24 different compartments in the
Temple that will be built in Jackson County. The names of these
compartments were given to us some 45 or 46 years ago; the names
we still have, and when we build these 24 rooms, in a circular
form and arched over the centre, we shall give the names to all
these different compartments just as the Lord specified through
Joseph Smith. Now, our enemies do not believe one word of this.
They think we are enthusiastic, they think that this is all
nonsense, and I do not know but there may be some of the
Latter-day Saints that begin to partake of the same spirit, owing
to their assimilating themselves so much to the fashion of the
world, that they have lost their strong and powerful faith in
that which God has predicted by the mouth of his servants.
Perhaps you may ask for what purpose these 24 compartments are to
be built. I answer not to assemble the outside world in, nor to
assemble the Saints all in one place, but these buildings will be
built with a special view to the different orders, or in other
words the different quorums or councils of the two Priesthoods
that God has ordained on the earth. That is the object of having
24 rooms so that each of these different quorums, whether they be
High Priests or Seventies, or Elders, or Bishops, or lesser
Priesthood, or Teachers, or Deacons, or Patriarchs, or Apostles,
or High Councils, or whatever may be the duties that are assigned
to them, they will have rooms in the Temple of the Most High God,
adapted, set apart, constructed, and dedicated for this special
purpose. Now, I have not only told you that we shall have these
rooms, but I have told you the object of these rooms in short,
not in full. But will there be any other buildings excepting
those 24 rooms that are all joined together in a circular form
and arched over the center--are there any other rooms that will
be built--detached from the Temple? Yes. There will be
tabernacles, there will be meeting houses for the assembling of
the people on the Sabbath day. There will be various places of
meeting so that the people may gather together; but the Temple
will be dedicated to the Priesthood of the Most High God, and for
most sacred and holy purposes. Then you see that, notwithstanding
all these Temples that are now building in this Territory, and
those that have been built before we came here in Kirtland and
Nauvoo, the Lord is not confined to an exact pattern in relation
to these Temples building in the different Stakes any more than
He is confined in the creation of worlds to make them all of the
same size. He does not make them all of one size, nor does He set
them rolling on their axes in the same plane, nor does He
construct any in many respects alike; there is variation as much
as there is in the human form. Take men and women. There are
general outlines that are common to all, but did you ever see two
faces alike among all the millions of the human family? What a
great variety, and yet all are constructed in general outline
alike--after the image of God. So in regard to the building of
Temples. The Lord will not confine Himself to any one special
method to be so many feet long, so many feet wide, and so many
places for the Priesthood to stand, but He will construct His
Temples in a great variety of ways, and by and by, when the more
perfect order shall exist in yonder heaven. And when I speak of
yonder heaven I do not refer to that kind of heaven the sectarian
world sings about, beyond the bounds of time and space. I have no
reference to any heaven beyond space, but I have reference to the
heaven that the Lord has sanctified and made heaven in other
worlds that he has created, consisting of all kinds of materials
the same as our world is, and when this world passes through its
various ordeals, it, too, by and by, will pass away and die like
the body of man and be resuscitated again, a new heaven and a new
earth, eternal in its nature. The new worlds that are thus
constructed and quickened by the fullness of the celestial glory
will be the heavens where the Gods will dwell, or in other words,
those that are made like unto God, when their bodies are changed
in all respects like unto His glorious body, changed from
materiality and cleansed from sin and redeemed, they will then be
immortal and dwell in a heavenly world. Now, in this world there
will be Temples, and these Temples will be constructed according
to the most perfect law of the celestial kingdom, for the world
in which they are built or in which they stand will be a
celestial body. This last Temple that I am speaking of, or this
last one to be built in Jackson County, Missouri, will be
constructed after that heavenly pattern in all particulars. Why?
Because it will never perish, it will exist for ever. "What! Do
you mean to say," says one, "that the materials of that temple
will not wear?" "Do you mean to say," some of you may inquire in
your hearts, "that age will have no effect upon the walls and the
materials of that temple" This is what I mean--I mean to say that
not only the Temple, but all the buildings that shall be built
round about that Temple, and the city that will be built round
about it, which will be called the New Jerusalem, will be built
of materials that never will decay. "But," says one, "that will
be contrary to the laws of nature." You may cite me to some of
the buildings that existed before Christ that were built out of
the most durable materials that could be found, and yet when the
storms of hail, rain and snow came, these buildings began to
waste away until they could scarcely be recognized. Well, I do
not ask you to think that this temple and the city round about it
will defy the rough hand of time and the work of the elements of
our globe, and exist for ever, so far as natural laws are
concerned; but there is a principle higher than these natural
laws. Did you never think of it--a higher principle, a higher
kingdom that governs all these laws of nature, such as you and I
have been accustomed to understand ever since our youth. I say
there is a higher law, a controlling power over all the laws of
nature, that will prevent these buildings from decaying; and I
wish while dwelling upon this subject to say a little about
another subject; that is, the building up of Palestine with the
new Jerusalem. It will be the old Jerusalem rebuilt upon its
former site. Now, will that city ever be destroyed, will it ever
decay? Will the Temple to be built in Palestine ever be thrown
down or ever be furrowed with hail, rain, snow and frost--will
these ever have any effect upon it? No, not in the least.
33
Why? Because God will be there. So He will be in the temple of
Zion on this continent, and by His power, by His laws--which are
superior to all those grosser laws of nature--He will preserve
both of these cities, one on the western hemisphere, and one on
the eastern hemisphere, from any decay whatever. Now, we have it
recorded here in this book, in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah, that
this city on the eastern continent shall not be thrown down any
more forever. It seems, therefore, to be an eternal city, never
to be destroyed. "But," says one, "I cannot believe that; I
cannot believe but what these cities will be subject, just as
much as anything else to decay." Do you believe this good
book--the Bible? If you do, you are obliged to believe that such
things are possible. Do you want to know some of them? I will
mention one instance. You will recollect that Moses commanded
Aaron to take a pot of manna and lay it before the Lord, to be
kept for their generations. Now it was a noted fact that if the
children of Israel gathered more manna than would last them until
after the next morning, it would decay, but on the last day
before the Sabbath they gathered manna for two days, and they
found that on the Sabbath day it was preserved. Who preserved it?
Why did it last two days instead of one? Because God counteracted
those lesser laws, or laws of nature, by His divine power, which
is greater than them all, and He therefore preserved for two days
that which would not last longer on the other days of the week
than twenty-four hours. Well, we find that the Lord ordered the
manna to be placed in the tabernacle to be kept for their
generations, that they might see the bread wherewith He had fed
them in the wilderness, when He brought them forth from the land
of Egypt. Did that manna decay? No, it remained fresh and pure in
the tabernacle. Why? Because God was there; His divine power was
there; a miracle was wrought to counteract the general laws of
nature such as we generally understand them to be, and this manna
was preserved from generation to generation. Now the Being that
could produce this effect upon a small quantity of substance on a
pot of manna could He not do the same in regard to whole
buildings, or is His arm so limited that He has to work in a
little narrow corner and preserve a little handful of manna from
spoiling through decay. I would say that the same Being that
could perform this, which we might term a lesser miracle, could
extend the same power to stone, wood, and to all kinds of metal
and material that might enter into the construction of a Temple.
Shall I limit that power to the preserving of a Temple! No. The
same Being could preserve the city round about the Temple, hence
it is a city that shall never be destroyed nor thrown down from
that time henceforth and forever. God will be in the city. He
will take care that the building materials suffer nothing from
the laws of nature. He will take care that the city is
illuminated by His divine power, and especially the Temple, the
most sacred of all the Temples, where He will have His throne,
where the Twelve Apostles will have their thrones, as the judges
of the twelve tribes of Israel; He will take care that there is
nothing in that Temple that shall decay in the least degree. So
it will be in the New Jerusalem. Zion upon this great western
hemisphere will have a city called the New Jerusalem (because it
has never been built before) and God will preserve it by His
divine power. Read what the Psalmist, David, has said in the 50th
Psalm: "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall
devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about
Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth,
that He may judge His people. Gather my Saints together unto me,
those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." Perhaps
you may ask why it is called "the perfection of beauty." Shall I
read from the chapter I opened with? In the 11th verse of that
chapter we read: "O though afflicted, tossed with tempest, and
not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors,
and lay thy foundation with sapphires. And I will make thy
windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy
borders of pleasant stones." Now any person that has studies
these things to any great extent, knows concerning these precious
stones how very precious they are esteemed, and how a small
portion of these stones is very frequently valued at more than
its weight in gold, some of them one hundred times their weight
in gold, and yet the Lord will bring or create, or form, as the
case may be, or tell His children how to form those precious
stones in great abundance, sufficiently pure and crystalized in
order to complete the foundations and also the temples and the
public buildings of that great city called the New Jerusalem. But
before this shall commence, the Lord has addressed them as a
people afflicted: "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not
comforted." Just as the Latter-day Saints have been now for
upwards of forty years driven from place to place before we
emigrated to this great mountain desert, persecuted by our
enemies, our cities taken from us, our villages taken from us,
our farms taken from us, our flocks and herds shot down; we were
robbed of all these things, and yet without any redress from the
Government under which we live. We then came forth beyond these
great rocky chains of mountains, hoping that in the distant
desert, where no other people would have thought of locating
themselves, we might live undisturbed. We have been greatly
prospered in this desert. We have lived here long enough to
fulfill a great many of the prophecies that are contained in this
good Jewish Bible. But we have not yet got through with
fulfilling prophecies. We are designed as a people to fulfill a
great many prophecies. We shall move however, as I have already
stated, down into that region of country. But you may say--that
is, some of the weak Latter-day Saints may say--that it will cost
so much; we will have to purchase all that country sufficiently
extensive to give place to all this people. How are you going to
obtain means enough to purchase a country large enough for all
this people to dwell in? Well, now, the Lord has that in His own
hands, don't you know it? Is it a difficult thing for the Lord to
make his people rich when they are prepared for it, after days of
tribulation, after passing through a great many afflictions and
difficulties, tossed to and fro; would it be a difficult matter
for the Lord to open up whenever He pleases, means of
unmeasurable riches, more than all the Latter-day Saints would
know how to use? Hear what the Lord says: "For brass I will bring
gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and
for stones iron. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
wasting nor destruction within thy borders." Who were the people
here spoken of? They were people that should be clothed upon with
this light that I have been speaking of, this glorious light; the
presence of the lord will be in their midst, and it will radiate
over their temples, it will light their city by night and by day.
"But are you sure." says one, "that such a thing will take
place?" I have no time to read all the Lord says on the subject,
but if you read the 60th chapter of Isaiah, you will find that
the sun shall be no longer necessary by day, nor the moon by
night, to give light to a certain people. Why? Because "the Lord
shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down." Not like our sun which arises in
the morning and exists above the horizon for a few hours, then
descends, and darkness covers the earth. Not so with this light,
the glorious divine light that will lighten up the heights of
Zion. It will never go down, it will be a standing miracle by day
and by night, from one week to another, month after month, year
after year, until the one thousand years shall have rolled away
over the heads of the people that dwell on the earth. But let us
see what more is said. That same God that has spoken of these
great riches, brass for gold, iron instead of silver, for wood
brass, and for stones iron--I say that that same God has exhorted
the latter-day people called Zion to "Arise, shine, for thy light
is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." I do not
mean something that never can be discerned. I mean that true
light that emanates from the great fountain of light, the
Messiah, the Redeemer; that true light that lighteth every man
that cometh into the world; that true light which is in all
things and giveth light to all things; that true light that
lighteth up the understanding of the children of men and
quickeneth their memory; that true light that quickens the eyes
of this mortal tabernacle, that we are able to discern objects
round about us; that true light which is of God, will be rendered
visible to the eyes of all the inhabitants of that city. And
shall I limit it there? No. The light will shine so conspicuously
from that city, extending to the very heavens, that it will in
reality be like unto a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid,
and it will have quite a tendency to strike terror to all the
nations of the earth. Will all see it? No, some may be too far
off, beyond the ocean, to behold that miraculous light that will
shine forth in this city, but I will tell you the effect it will
have upon the kings, queens, rulers, congressmen and judges of
the earth--they will hear of it by telegraph; the news will be
flashed over the civilized nations of the earth, but they will
not believe it. They will say, "Let us cross the ocean, and let
us see this thing that is reported to us by telegraph; let us see
whether it is so or not." Well, when they get within a day or
two's journey of the city they will be alarmed. Some of these
kings and nobles, when they see the light shining forth like the
northern lights in the arctic regions, illuminating the whole
face of the heavens--when they see this light shining forth long
before they reach the city, fear will take hold of them there,
says the Psalmist, in the 48th Psalm, they will become weak, and
their knees will smite together like the knees of Belshazzar.
They will try to haste away from the glory of God and from the
power of God, and to get out of the country as soon as possible.
Fear and terror will be upon them. It will have an effect upon
many other kings and nobles, more pure in heart, more honest,
that are willing to receive the truth; it will have a different
effect upon them, so much so, that they will say with Isaiah,
"Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord
is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness covers the earth and
gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee,
and His glory shall be seen from thee. And the gentiles shall
come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."
These are the different effects which it will have upon the
rulers of the various nations, some believing, some trembling,
some humbling themselves and willing to forsake their thrones and
their kingdoms and their empires to come and dwell with the
people of God, while others more wicked, more corrupt, will not
be able to endure it. This shining light will be seen for many
miles distant, and the wicked will flee away; they will be
fearful lest they be smitten by that power that illuminates the
people of God, hence the terror of the Lord will be there. Terror
will take hold of the wicked when Zion becomes as fair as the sun
and as clear as the moon, and her banners will be terrible to all
nations. One would naturally suppose when we see the present
hardness of heart that exists among our enemies, when we see our
Elders waylaid, young peaceable boys that are taking their first
mission abroad to proclaim the Gospel of the Son of God--when we
see them shot down and their murderers tried by a jury and
acquitted of that--one would naturally suppose that a people so
hard in their hearts would not be converted to believe even if
they should see the power of God manifested. But do you suppose
that among these people where such things are carried on in the
light of day, where murderers go free and where judges say,
"commit murder, commit riots, take the life of the innocent; we
will free you"--do you suppose that there are no honest hearted
among the people that are allowed to do this? If you do you are
mistaken. There are many of the honest in heart deceived by the
cunning craftiness of the children of men, by priestcraft which
lies at the foundation of all the persecutions endured by the
Latter-day Saints. Priests, afraid of their craft, afraid of this
little one, afraid that the little one will become a thousand,
and the small one a strong nation, say: "let us down upon them,
let us drive them from their homes, let us burn their houses, let
us persecute them from city to city, let us fall upon their
missionaries and put them to death." We would hardly suppose that
there could be found an honest person among such a people, but
there are. There are good-hearted people all through the States.
In Missouri, where they first drove us? Yes, many. In Ohio, where
we were also driven? Yes, many which are honest before God, and
will receive the testimony of the Gospel, and unto this Zion that
I have been speaking of such will gather together, to swell the
numbers of the Latter-day Saints, and we will become a strong
nation and they cannot help themselves, and this is what makes
them feel so bad. But, says one, we can help ourselves. We have
got the Secretary of State, Mr. Evarts, and he in connection with
others of the Cabinet, have published a circular unto the nations
of Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, asking
their help; "Will you not step forward," say they, "and put a
stop to the emigration of the Latter-day Saints. We are afraid
they are growing too strong. We are afraid there are too many of
them in yonder hills. O, Great Britain, help us! O Germany, help
us! Let your arm stretch forth and allow no more of these
Latter-day Saints to gather to the mountains of Utah! O keep them
back. Shut up the ports of Liverpool, of Europe, and let no more
emigrate to that land!" Do you think they can shut the ports of
heaven? Do you think that yonder spirits that dwell in the
presence of God the Father, will be kept back, and will not come
here and take infant tabernacles to swell the borders of Zion?
Think you, you can shut down the gates of heaven and control this
matter? Stretch forth your arm and try to stay the arm of the
Almighty, that He send no more spirits here to swell the borders
of Zion! Would it not be well to pass laws to prevent these
spirits coming, to prevent this heavenly emigration? Think you,
you can stay the purposes of the Great Jehovah? No; these spirits
will come and our streets will be full of children, sons and
daughters, and they will say, as they crowd up: "The place is too
strait, Give place to me that I may dwell," and they will stretch
forth the curtains of their habitations, they will lengthen their
cords and strengthen their stakes in spite of all the powers of
earth and hell combined. "A little one," says the Prophet Isaiah,
"shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation."
Daniel caught the same spirit. He saw a little one planted in the
mountains. He saw a kingdom organized, an ecclesiastical
government called the Kingdom of the God of Heaven. He saw it
organized--not in the lower countries of the earth, but he saw it
organized in a high and lofty region; in other words, as is
recorded in the 18th chapter of his prophecies, he saw an ensign
lifted up upon the mountains. What is an ensign? "Why," says one,
"according to our dictionary, and according to our opinion upon
this subject, I should suppose an ensign, or standard, to be
something unto which the people will gather." You have thought
right. This ensign, says the Lord, shall be lifted up upon the
mountain. What is an ensign? It is not only something unto which
the people will gather, but it is something of divine
appointment, something that the Lord organizes, something that
will be a pattern to all peoples, nations and governments erected
in the mountains, and He calls upon all the inhabitants of the
earth to see it. In another place the Prophet Isaiah says: "And
He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the
outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth." Can you hinder it? Can you
oppose the almighty hand of Jehovah that he shall not accomplish
His purposes? It cannot be done. You may afflict, you may pass
laws, you may call upon distant nations to help you, you may shut
down the emigration against the Latter-day Saints, you may drive
them, you may burn their houses--you may do all this, but they
will continue to live and to stretch forth in spite of all the
powers beneath the heavens, and become a great people under the
Constitution of this great land. We never want to be freed from
the Constitution of our country. It is built upon heavenly
principles. It is established as firm as the rock of ages, and
when those that abuse it shall moulder in corruption under the
surface of the earth, the American Constitution will stand and no
people can destroy it, because God raised it by our ancient
fathers, and inspired them to frame that sacred instrument. The
Constitution is one thing; corrupt politicians are another thing.
One may be bright as the sun at noonday, the other as corrupt as
hell itself; that is the difference. Because we have a good
Constitution that is no sign that the strong arm of the law,
founded upon that Constitution, will protect the minority as well
as the majority. The politician may suffer the majority to
trample upon the rights guaranteed by that Constitution to the
minority. They have done it before, and perchance they will
continue to do it until they are wasted away. Then will be
fulfilled another saying in this same chapter which I have
read--"For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the
left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the
desolate cities to be inhabited." Now, there are a great many
cities in the United States that will not be totally destroyed
when the inhabitants are swept off the surface of the earth.
Their houses, their desolate cities will still remain unoccupied
until Zion in her glory and strength shall enlarge the place of
her tents, and stretch forth the curtains of her habitations.
That is the destiny of this nation, and the destiny of the
Latter-day Saints. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, January 21st, 1883
John Taylor, January 21st, 1883
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
Delivered at Ogden, Sunday,
January 21st, 1883.
(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
THE CHURCH BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF PERFECT FREEDOM--WHEN
A PRESIDENT RESIGNS, HIS COUNSELORS GO OUT OF OFFICE--HIGH
PRIESTS
TO PRESIDE--PRESIDENTS CHOOSE THEIR OWN COUNSELORS--ALL
AUTHORITIES
SUSTAINED BY VOTE OF THE SAINTS--POSITION OF PRESIDENTS CANNON
AND
SMITH IF PRESIDENT TAYLOR SHOULD RESIGN--SAINTS NOT TO INTERFERE
WITH THE RELIGION OF OTHERS.
34
We convene in Conference in the various Stakes that everything
pertaining to the interests of the Stakes may be considered in
those conferences, and that all matters may be properly
represented, and all the Saints have the privilege of voting for
or against those officers who are presented to the Conference for
their acceptance. It is also usual to vote for the officers of
Wards in the Wards over which they preside, such as Bishops and
their Counselors, with all the Lesser Priesthood, so that there
may be perfect unanimity in all our acts. Because the Church of
God is based upon the principle of perfect freedom of action. And
while, as was said this morning, we have a Priesthood and an
organization, and proper authority in the Church and Kingdom of
God, it is proper that all of these authorities should be
presented from time to time before the people, that all the
people everywhere, not only in a Stake, but in all the Stakes, as
well as at the General Conference, may have the opportunity if
they know of anything wrong, anything immoral or unrighteous
associated with the acts of any of the leading authorities of the
Church, of speaking of it, that everything and everybody may be
properly presented and that the conduct of all men may be
intelligently scrutinized; for, if we cannot bear the scrutiny of
our brethren upon earth, how shall we be able to meet the
scrutiny and investigations of our heavenly Father when we shall
stand before Him. And if there is anything immoral or
unrighteous, of any kind, it is proper and expedient that it be
righted; and this applies quite as much to the Presidency, the
Twelve and the leading authorities as to any other individual in
the Church; in order that everything may be presented in its
proper form, and everybody have a full opportunity of offering
their ideas and views in regard to these matters.
34
Now I want to say a little on some of the votes that have been
taken this afternoon, in order that we may comprehend the
situation. You have had a new name presented before you for the
President of your Stake. Brother Peery, who was your former
President resigned his office, which he had a perfect right to
do; and we have nothing to say about it. It was according to his
own feelings freely expressed to me and to others. It was
necessary that his place should be filled. We selected Bishop L.
W. Shurtliff, for whom you have just voted; and that is all
right, and having done so you ought now to sustain him. In regard
to the Counselors of the President, when he resigned and his
place was filled, they also ceased to act as Counselors; they
were dropped as authorities of the Stake with the President of
the Stake, not because of any act of theirs. These brethren are
good men. Here is Brother Herrick, for instance, he has
maintained a good reputation, and a good position in the Church;
but he was Counselor to a man who resigned his office; and as I
have said, when the President resigned to whom they were
Counselors they also ceased to act as such. The question arises,
who shall be the Counselors to the new President? That rests with
the new President and those that put him in office; and it seems
that he has retained one of the old Counselors, Brother
Middleton, and has chosen a new one; and that is right. Is there
any disposition to hurt Brother Herrick? Not in the least. I
speak of these things for your information, in order that all may
comprehend the true position. For instance, supposing that I, as
President of the Church, were to resign, or anything should occur
to me, what would be the result? My Counselors would drop into
their former place in the Quorum of the Twelve; and whoever
succeeded me would have the selection of his own Counselors with
the approval of the General Conference. He might and he might not
retain as his Counselors those whom I have chosen. It is proper
that we should understand these things in order that the right
kind of feeling may exist, and no improper reflection be cast
upon any person.
35
The High Priests occupy a position in their Priesthood whereby
they are enabled to perform the various duties that they may be
called upon to fill. You will find in reading the Doctrine and
Covenants the following statement regarding the quorum of High
Priests: "Which ordinance is instituted for the purpose of
qualifying those who shall be appointed standing presidents or
servants over different Stakes scattered abroad." That is, it is
the duty of High Priests to preside; the principle of Presidency
is connected with them. You have a High Priest's Quorum over
which Brother Farr presides; what is the duty of that quorum? To
meet together to instruct one another in regard to the principles
of the government of the Church and kingdom of God; that its
members may understand the various organizations of the Church,
the laws and the principles of government thereof, and the
various duties they may be called upon to fill; it may be to
occupy the position of a President of a Stake; it may be a
Counselor to the President; it may be a High Counselor; it may be
a Bishop or his Counselor. There are divers positions that High
Priests are called to occupy, as deaths and other changes often
transpire, and new Stakes and Wards are being organized. But the
changes do not affect the status of the individual at all, as in
the case of Brother Herrick, referred to. Here is Brother
Shurtliff called from acting as Bishop to be the President of a
Stake; have we a right to do that? Yes. Who is the Bishop? A High
Priest. His place being vacated, that position needs supplying,
and who shall supply it? These things are left for the counsel
and the deliberation of the proper authorities to operate in for
the welfare of the Church as far as they know how, and according
to the best judgment they possess; and then they should be
presented to the people for them to vote upon. But in dropping a
President it drops his Counselors. They were selected to be his
Counselors, not somebody else's; and when some one else takes his
place, then he should have his own Counselors. These are the
views entertained on this subject, and they are correct and very
proper. The order of the Church is for us to fulfill and magnify
the calling to which we are called, and do it with an eye single
to the glory of God, each man fulfilling the various duties and
responsibilities of his office. I referred this morning to the
feelings that prompted the acts of the Savior while upon the
earth. He came not to do His own will, but the will of His Father
who sent Him. It was a hard thing for Him to do. Did you ever
think of it? When He found the accumulated weight of the sins of
the world rolling upon His head, his feelings were so intense
that He sweat great drops of blood. Could I tell it, or could
you? No. Suffice it to say that He bore the sins of the world,
and, when laboring under the pressure of those intense agonies,
He exclaimed, "Father, if it be possible, let his cup pass." But
it was not possible. It was the decree of God; the fiat of the
great Jehovah, and he had it to do. And on the cross He was heard
to exclaim, "It is finished." And he gave up the ghost; and went
to move in another sphere, having atoned for the sins of the
world and fulfilled His mission given Him in the flesh.
35
We also have been called and set apart to perform a certain
mission; and the Holy Priesthood has been conferred upon us that
we may be enabled to perform the various duties devolving upon
us. And many of our duties are not of the most pleasing nature,
and yet we cannot shrink from them any more than Jesus could; we
have them to do. It is not a very pleasing thing for our Elders
to go forth to the nations of the earth to preach the Gospel
without purse or scrip, and then to be opposed, persecuted,
maligned and abused, and even outraged in many instances. Yet it
is a duty placed upon us by the Almighty, and we have to perform
that duty as Jesus performed His, and our Elders go forth
weeping, bearing precious seeds, the words of life and salvation,
carrying in some instances their lives in their hands. This is
required of us. Why? Because all men are the offspring of God, in
whom He is equally interested.
37
Then we are Saints of God have duties to perform. We have to
build up His Church according to the plan which He has appointed,
and according to the order that He has revealed. Those of you who
heard Brother Lyman yesterday, heard him describe the manner of
entering into the Church of God, also the power and privileges
associated therewith. Those who heard Brother Joseph F., this
morning, heard him speak about the organization of the Church,
and the various orders and principles, powers and authorities
associated therewith. These are so many principles introduced by
the Lord. None of us, as was remarked, introduced any of them;
none of us know them, neither do the world know them to-day. God
introduced and put in order those principles that have been
communicated to us in regard to the Gospel and in regard to the
organization of the Church, and the various offices thereof, and
everything pertaining thereto. And this Church and kingdom has
been placed in communion with the kingdom in the heavens, with
the Church triumphant, as it is sometimes called. And the Church
is a living principle, a living power, a living communion; and as
in former times God placed in the Church Apostles and Prophets,
Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints, for the
work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ,
until we all come in the unity of the faith, and a knowledge of
the Son of God; so it is in these latter-days. He has revealed
His will, His law, His power and His Priesthood; and He has been
pleased to receive us as members and officers of His Church. And
it is for us to magnify our calling and honor our God in any and
every position that we may be called upon to fill. Paul said on a
certain occasion, that a dispensation of the Gospel had been
committed to him, and it was woe unto him if he preached it not.
So we may say, that a dispensation of the Gospel has been
committed to us; and woe be unto us if we preach it not; woe be
unto us if we fulfill not the duties and obligations that are
devolving upon us. I would say that this Priesthood is not for
the honor of man, not for his exaltation alone; but it is
imparted to man in order that he may be made the medium of
salvation to others. It is true it is honorable to be a servant
of God; it is true it is honorable to hold any office in the
Church and kingdom of God; it is true there is not a more
honorable position that a man can hold than to be found in the
family of faith and the household of God, to belong to the Church
and kingdom of God--there is nothing more honorable than that.
Talking of the Elder, why he is a herald of salvation; he is a
legate of the skies; he is commissioned of the great Jehovah to
bear a message to the nations of the earth, and God has promised
to sustain him. He has always sustained His faithful Elders, and
He always will. And what of the Elder? He is commanded to call
upon men to believe in Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins, and
to be baptized for the remission of sins, promising them the gift
of the Holy Ghost; and all who obey the requirements receive this
divine gift. Is that true? Do you Elders not know that to be
true? Does not this congregation know that it is true? And when
you obeyed the Gospel, when you had hands laid upon your heads
for the reception of the Holy Ghost, did you not receive it? If
you were honest, you did; if you were true and sincere you did,
and you are my witnesses as to the truth of these things of which
I speak. What does it prove? It proves that God is with the
Elders of Israel; it proves that God lives. Is not that a great
witness to the Latter-day Saints, and is it not a witness to the
world? Who dare come before the world with such a statement?
Nobody but those that have the authority, as the Lord sanctions
and acknowledges none excepting those that are authorized of Him.
37
Is there are any greater position that man can occupy upon the
earth than to be engaged as a herald of salvation, commissioned
of the great Jehovah to proclaim the words of life to a fallen
world, and to call upon them to repent and be baptized in the
name of Jesus for the remission of sins, promising them if they
do it that they shall receive the Holy Ghost? This is the
position occupied by our Elders, as well as that occupied by
Seventies and High Priests. They go forth in the name of the
Lord; and people believe their testimony and gather here. And
why? Because they would not allow you to worship God in the world
whence you came, and they will scarcely do it here.
39
We talk a great deal about the religious liberty that is
guaranteed unto us in this land of the free, home of the brave
and asylum for the oppressed; yet men are contriving all the time
to deprive us of the rights of conscience, and of religious
liberty. And what of it? Would we treat them as they treat us?
No, no, no; a thousand times no. Why not? Says Jesus, "The
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me,
they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they
will keep yours also." On the same occasion He said to His
disciples, after commanding them to love one another, "If the
world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If
ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because
ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you." There was then, and there is
to-day, and there always has been, a spirit of antagonism between
the powers of light and the powers of darkness. There has been a
conflict in the world ever since the creation of man to the
present time. And that spirit of antagonism to the truth that
existed in former ages exists in this age, and we have reason to
know it. Is it because we are wicked that we are opposed? We are
not as good as we might be by a great deal, it is true; we ought
to be better than a great many people, and we are; and our lives
and conduct prove it, notwithstanding there are a great many
evils among us that we ought to repent of and put away. Yet, do
we injure anybody? I do not know that we do. Do we wish to
deprive anybody of his rights? Not that I know of. We are accused
a good deal of this and everything else, in fact. Do we wish to
interfere with anybody's religion? I hope you do not do it here.
You have Methodists and Presbyterians and Catholics, as well as
other different sects; would you want to interfere with them? I
do not think for a moment that you would. We may think that their
ideas are foolish in many respects, but then they have a perfect
right to entertain them, and there are none, I think, that
recognize that right sooner than we as Latter-day Saints. We
believe in freedom of conscience; we believe that all men should
be guaranteed the right to worship God according to the dictates
of their conscience. Some may want to worship a God without body,
parts or passions; a God that sits on the top of a topless
throne; although to me the idea of worshiping such a God would be
most ridiculous, if other people desire to do it, all right, and
they should be protected in that right. But while we accord to
all men the right to think, and the right to worship as they
please, we claim the same right for ourselves. And then we do not
want to have a set of men placed over us in a governmental
capacity who do not recognize the rights of humanity; men who
want to control the human mind. We want to maintain correct
principles; and we want to sustain all men that do maintain them.
We have a right to do that. Some, however, think that we have not
that right even; and they are frequently trying to introduce
principles that are at variance with our constitutional rights.
But it is our duty to maintain our rights; it is our duty to
stand up for those principles which guarantee freedom to man, and
we intend to do it, God being our helper; and not permit the
wicked and ungodly, the corrupt and depraved to deprive us of our
rights. But I shall be talking about politics if I keep on much
longer; what I have said, however, is correct, and it affects us
as American citizens. We posses just as many rights as any other
American citizens; and if there is anything contrary to this, it
is contrary to the genius of the institutions of our country. We
are all free and equal, at least, we are supposed to be; but we
are not. We may as well laugh as cry about these things though,
as it makes but little difference. We are engaged in doing the
work of God; and we are seeking to do the will of God; and He has
established a Church, which we, in the name of Israel's God, will
help to sustain. And we should not be concerned about the
consequences of our acts. The Lord has all men in His keeping,
and He has us in His keeping; and we cannot do anything only as
He permits us. How could you Elders, who have been out preaching
and baptizing, and confirming members into the Church, have
imparted to them the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on
of hands, excepting God were with you. And if God were not with
Israel to-day, Israel could not be sustained. But God is on the
side of Israel; and He will sustain His people if they will
observe His laws and keep His commandments. And no man can
successfully fight against Jehovah, for He will say to any that
oppose Zion, as He did to the waves of the mighty ocean,
"Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shalt thy
proud waves be stayed." We are in the hands of God; and the
nation is also in the hands of God; and we can do nothing unless
He permits us; neither can this or any other nation. He controls
them according to the counsel of his own will; and He
manipulates, manages and directs the affairs of the children of
men. He has appointed us to do a work. It is not our work; but we
are willing to do it with His help. Will He be thwarted in His
designs? I tell you, No. The Kingdom of God will roll forth, and
no man can stay it. And woe to that man who lifts up his hand
against it; for the Lord is managing this work, not us, and it is
His business to take care of His Saints. Therefore, we feel easy,
comfortable, joyous and happy. And I feel all the day long like
singing hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth; and He will reign until all His enemies are
put under His feet. And Zion will progress and triumph, and the
work of God will go forth, and the kingdom of God will be
established, and the Zion of God built up, and all things spoken
of by the holy Prophets will be fulfilled; and the kingdom of God
will progress until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom
of our God and His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever,
and unrighteousness and wickedness, corruption and evil will be
trampled under His feet. God bless you, and lead you in the paths
of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, June 25, 1882
George Q. Cannon, June 25, 1882
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday, June 25, 1882.
(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
HOSTILE FEELING TOWARDS THE SAINTS--THEIR MORALITY COMPARED WITH
THAT
OF THE WORLD--LAXITY OF LAWS AND IMMORALITY IN WASHINGTON--OBJECT
OF
THE EDMUNDS' BILL--CAUSE OF FORMER HOSTILITY--SAINTS TO CONTEND
FOR
LIBERTY--RIGHTS OF CONGRESS--OTHER THINGS TO BE DREADED MORE THAN
HOSTILE LEGISLATION--SHAME OF CONGRESSMEN--DESTINY OF THE SAINTS.
40
I am exceedingly thankful to have the opportunity once more of
being with you and of partaking of that peaceful and sweet
influence which prevails in the midst of this much despised and
terribly abused people. The contrast, to me, is exceedingly
marked between the circumstances in which I have been placed and
the influences that I have had to meet, and those which surround
me to-day. There have been some things which have transpired
which have not been very pleasant; but on the whole, I can
truthfully say, that I have enjoyed myself better than I
expected, and probably much better than many of you would suppose
that one under the circumstances could do. At no time, in my
experience--in my life, have I ever seen a more embittered
feeling manifested against the Latter-day Saints than prevailed
during this past winter. You have had opportunities of
understanding this to some extent, for you have felt that
influence here, and you have seen its effects in the results that
have been wrought out. And I suppose if we were like other people
we should have been terribly alarmed at the manifestations we
have witnessed. There was a time when it seemed as though all
hell had broken loose, and that nothing less than the entire
destruction of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints would satisfy popular clamor. A most
extraordinary manifestation, especially when we consider the
absence of all provocation for such an outburst of wrath. If a
person last winter had come into Utah Territory and traveled
through our settlements, visiting the houses of the people and
examining the condition of affairs here, he would have found it
difficult to understand the cause of all the excitement that was
raging throughout the United States concerning this people. If
there are those who do not believe in the existence of spiritual
powers and influences, let them examine into this Utah question
and the effects of its agitation upon the public mind, and it
seems to me they must be convinced that there are unseen powers
which operate upon the minds of the people at large, to produce
such extraordinary outbursts of prejudice and passion as we have
witnessed--fifty millions of people stirred up from one end of
the land to the other by a tornado of passion, unreasoning,
blind, besotted, bloodthirsty, which has carried men and women
before it, and has dethroned reason, concerning a people who were
quietly pursuing their avocations, molesting none, doing nothing
that could be construed by any reasonable person into anything
that would be offensive.
41
It is generally supposed that we are living in an enlightened
age. Popular preachers claim that this is the crowning generation
for light, and knowledge, and truth; that we are living in fact,
in the full blaze of Gospel light and glory. Politicians also
claim that this republican government of the United States is the
fruit of the ripened experience of all the ages; the product of
the accumulated wisdom of the centuries; that human aspirations
finds the fullest development under our form of government. This
is the boast of the press, and these are the teachings of the
pulpit. And yet, through agencies which boast of their
enlightenment, this whirlwind of passion to which I have
alluded--this spasm of feeling that has convulsed the nation, has
swept over the land, and everything has been done that was
possible to make it destructive in its effects upon the objects
of its wrath. I have thought, and have sometimes expressed
myself, that if lies could destroy a people, we should have been
buried out of sight long ago. The basest and most malignant and
most cruel, the most unfounded and causeless misrepresentations
and falsehoods have been circulated, and men and women who knew
nothing about us, preachers who had no idea of our real belief,
and editors who had no conception of the true condition of
affairs in this Territory, have all lent themselves, sometimes
understandingly, and other times ignorantly to do everything in
their power to destroy an innocent people. And what has been the
crime? We have been accused of immorality. God knows if that were
to be a crime sufficient to evoke destruction, there would be
other communities visited with wrath beside ours, even if we were
all that we are painted. But the fact is, there is no other
Territory or State in the United States--and I say this knowingly
and understandingly--where virtue is respected, revered and
protected as it is in Utah. There is no other community in the
United States in which more young men grow up to manhood pure, in
proportion to the population than in the Territory of Utah.
41
As I have repeatedly said, we believe in marriage, we have opened
the door in that direction, and we say to the sexes marry; but we
close the door in the other direction, and say, you shall not
commit adultery, you shall not seduce, defile, prostitute or lead
astray innocent beings; if you do, and we had the power, we would
punish you. It seems like a paradox that those who do that which
is according to their religion should be punished, while those
who trample upon their religion should go free. And yet this is
really true. All that we can be accused of is, we have embodied
in our religion practices that belonged to the Patriarchs, which
we believe, and so declare, God has revealed to us, for the
purposes of salvation and of producing greater purity and of
checking the flood of vice that is sweeping through the land and
sapping the foundation of this nation and all the nations of
Christendom. We have adopted the principle of plural marriage as
part of our religion. We have not led women astray, we have
protected them. We have not coerced them or used violence, but
have thrown around them a shield of protection, and at the same
time have left them to exercise the fullest liberty and the most
extensive right of free choice in every respect. But this is a
sin; this shocks, we are told, the moral sense of the nation.
While, on the other hand, there are communities who say they do
not believe in adultery or in seduction--that is, their religion
teaches them that these things are wrong; but many of whose
members practice these crimes, and yet they pass along unnoticed
and undisturbed.
42
Salt Lake City is 2,400 miles from Washington--a remote place; it
might be supposed the effect of our examples, if they were bad,
would not reach that distance; that if there was any contagion
flowing from our practices it would have expended its force
before traveling that far. But in Washington City, at the head of
the government, where Congress has unquestioned jurisdiction,
there is no law against adultery; no one can be punished in the
District for violating the marriage vow; that escapes the
attention of Congress. So with fornication; its goes unpunished,
unless it should be of so flagrant a character, done in so open
and indecent a manner as to excite public condemnation. Now if
morality were to be achieved it might be thought that Washington
would be a fine field for the exercise of the power that is
unquestionably invested in the Congress of the United States. I
presented this view of the question to Senator Edmunds, when this
bill, which has since become a law, was being discussed. I called
his attention to the fact that it was not an unfrequent thing, in
taking up an evening paper in Washington City, to read accounts
of the finding of two or three infants that had been cast away or
deserted by their inhuman mothers, found in vacant lots and in
out-of-the-way places, and that too in the most elegant city to
be found in the United States. It appeared to me, as I said to
him, that Washington was a splendid field for the exercise of the
power of Congress. If it was a sincere wish to check immorality,
and to put down vice that prompted the Edmunds' bill, however
mistaken its author might be in his ideas respecting the
existence of these evils in Utah, the best place to commence was
at the head. But it was plain to be seen that nothing in that
bill was designed to reach real vice, to strike down immorality;
it was a blow at our religious practices. To be sure, however, as
to what the intent of the bill really was, and to know this from
his own lips, I asked him if adulterers could be punished in Utah
Territory under the provisions of the bill. His reply was that if
a man who had one wife were to live openly and continuously with
another woman he could be punished under it; but adulterers would
not be very likely to expose themselves to the operations of the
law in that manner. He said that "sporadic cases of adultery
could not be punished by this bill." I thought the reply one of
which a Senator of the United States should be ashamed. I have
known Senator Edmunds for some time, and have had some admiration
for him, but I declare I blushed for him when he made the reply
that "sporadic cases of adultery" could not be punished under the
provisions of this bill, now become law.
42
Now, you can see what the design is. It is not to punish
immorality. If immorality were the object to be reached, that law
would have been made broad enough for every case, whether they be
practices, what they term under religious guise, or practices in
violation of religion. What then is the object of the measure? It
is to strike down a prominent feature of our religion; that is
its object, and there is no other object to be achieved. It is
the fact that we make marriage a part of our religion that
excites animosity, and they are determined to destroy us.
42
"If you were to protect immorality and not call it religion," I
have been told many and many a time, "we should not object to it;
but you are sanctioning by the forms of religion that which we
cannot endure, and which is hateful to our civilization." It is
the marriage ceremony, that is the offensive part of it; it is,
in other words, the marrying that excites dislike and hatred.
42
Now, is this to be wondered at? I do not wonder at it; I am not
surprised at all at this feeling; for the reason that I have
always expected that this doctrine, like every doctrine connected
with this Church, would excite the bitter hatred of those who
oppose the work of God. It was the fact that the Prophet Joseph
Smith, and the Elders of this Church declared that revelation had
been received from God, that excited animosity in the first
place. The Elders of this Church might have preached any
doctrines they pleased and not said they had been taught them by
revelation, nor by special divine assistance, nor by angels
having come from heaven, but preached them as the speculations of
men, as doctrines discovered, framed and arranged by men, by some
theologians of eminent ability, and they would have had no
particular difficulty. In preaching precisely the same doctrines
we now preach, that is, the first principles of the Gospel, a
church might have been made one of the most popular churches upon
the face of the earth.
43
But what was it that excited animosity? It was the declaration
that God had spoken from the heavens and had restored the
primitive Gospel in its original purity and power, and that we
had the power and authority to administer in the ordinances of
the Gospel through which had been restored the gifts and
blessings and powers that pertained to the Gospel in the days of
Jesus. It was this declaration that excited animosity throughout
the religious world against the Latter-day Saints in the
beginning. Every preacher felt that he was condemned by this
declaration. If we had stood upon the same platform as they,
saying that our organization was the result of man's wisdom, we
should then have had some sympathy from them. But because our
Elders declared that God had spoken, and that we preached that
which had been revealed to us, animosity was excited, and mobs
rose against us, entertaining the most bitter feelings, and
committing the most terrible outrages.
43
It is interesting reading now, in this year of our Lord, 1882, to
go back to that which occurred fifty years ago, in Missouri, soon
after this Church was organized. The charges against us then were
that we believed in Prophets, that we believed in revelation,
that we believed in healing the sick, according to the pattern in
the New Testament, that we were so credulous as to believe that
God would work miracles; and the crowning accusation was that we
were Yankees and abolitionists, and therefore were unfit to live
in the State of Missouri. I say, it is interesting in these days
to go back and read the documents issued by the mob in 1832-3 in
Jackson Country, Missouri. There was no plural marriage then to
cause offense. The cry against us then was, that we believed that
God was a God of revelation as He was in ancient days; that He
was the same God in this, the 19th century, that He was in the
first century of he Christian era, when Jesus and the Apostles
ministered among men. This was considered sufficient cause for
mobs to organize themselves and drive our people from their homes
and lands, and to kill some of them.
43
If we were to practice plural marriage in some other manner, and
not sanctify it by the forms of religion; if we were to be guilty
of anything of this character, separating it entirely from all
religious ceremonies and ordinances, there would be little, if
anything, said about us. To judge from expressions I hear, I do
not suppose it would excite any particular animosity.
44
We, as a people, have to pass through these ordeals. It is a
great consolation to me, it has been while I have been absent, to
know that we are fighting the battles of religious liberty for
the entire people; it might be said, for the entire world. And
there is no people on this continent in so good a position to do
this to-day as we are, for there is no people so well organized
as we are. No man, single-handed, could do what we are doing; no
half dozen could do it; they would be crushed. Let any man go out
from this place and attempt, single-handed and apart from any
other organization, to fight the battle that we are fighting, and
he would soon be overwhelmed. But we are an organized community;
we can live here as we did in the early days without help from
any other source except God. We can raise our food; we can make
our clothing. If it be necessary we can pinch ourselves, dispense
with luxuries, and can live on those things which are barely
essential to life. We do not necessarily have to depend upon
other people for support. If grasshoppers come and sweep our
fields, as they have done, there is no cry from Utah to the
general government for help. We have borne these afflictions
unassisted by our fellow-citizens; and we have proven to our own
satisfaction, if not to the nation at large, that we are capable
of sustaining ourselves. Therefore, when wrath is excited against
us, we do not lose employment, we do not lose food, we are not
turned out of our houses nor otherwise impoverished; because we
have the elements in our own midst from which we can draw a
living; and we know how to use them for our own sustenance, and
for the preservation of those who are dependent upon us. Hence we
are in an excellent position to fight the battles of freedom; and
it is the most glorious warfare that men or women were ever
engaged in. I expect we shall continue to contend for liberty,
not with physical weapons but with steadfast moral courage,
despite the Edmunds' law, despite the Poland law, despite the law
of '62, or any other law that may be made in violation of the
Constitution, and of the Bill of Rights. We shall have to contend
unceasingly for those principles, without wavering or yielding
one iota in our determination. I claim this not for Latter-day
Saints alone, but I claim it for every man and woman in this
Republic; for I say that the men and women in this great nation
have the right to worship God according to the dictates of their
own consciences, as long as they do not, in so doing, interfere
with the rights of their fellow-citizens; and I claim that they
have the right to do this, despite the Supreme Court decisions,
despite the action of Congress, despite the expressions of pulpit
and press; and I am willing to contend for that liberty for every
man and woman whether they be of the Methodist, the Presbyterian,
the Episcopalian, or any other persuasion, or whether they be
believers in the doctrines or views of Col. Robert Ingersol. God
has given us this right, and He has given unto us our agency. If
we violate His will He will punish us; He has threatened us with
punishment if we do so, and we are responsible to Him, and not to
the Congress of the United States, not to the President of the
United States, nor to any human being; we are responsible alone
to our God, and there is no power upon the earth that can justly
deprive me or deprive you of this right. They may, by force of
power, by illegal measures and unconstitutional laws do this; men
may be imprisoned or slain; but the principle that I now declare
is a fundamental, a constitutional principle, and it will endure.
And the day will come in this land when every man will have this
right, regardless of his profession. Are we to be dictated to by
popular preachers? Such men say to the Congress of the United
States, "You must enact certain laws; we demand it of you; our
congregations demand it; you must put down 'Mormonism.' We do not
want that religion. We are Methodists; we are Presbyterians, or
we are somebody else, and we call upon you to maintain orthodoxy
and to put down heterodoxy." I would just as soon be dictated to
by the Pope of Rome, by Mr. Ingersol or by a "Mormon" Bishop, as
to be dictated to by popular preachers, as to what I must accept
as religion.
45
Fault is found with us in this Territory because it is said the
hierarchy dictates legislation; but you know this is not true. I
wish we could dictate it more than it is done. We have our views
like other citizens, but who has ever known them to be forced
upon any? And, yet, this is the head and front of our offending,
namely, that in Utah there is a theocracy dictating legislation.
Now, who is it that has demanded of Congress this Edmunds' law
against Utah? It has been the pulpit of our nation, the orthodox
pulpit. It is at their behests this legislation has been enacted.
They would destroy us; and if they could do this then they would
turn their attention to somebody else--the Catholics, the
Infidels, the Spiritualists,--they would not be satisfied until
they obtained what they call "uniformity." They do the very thing
themselves that they charge us with doing, and which they pretend
they desire to prevent in this Territory.
45
It is this principle of freedom of which I have been speaking
that we are determined to maintain; we shall contend for it to
the very uttermost as long as life remains. This is the feeling I
have. Do you not feel the same? I am sure you do; I know you all
do; I need not call for any expression of your feelings. We
cannot fight law; we must submit to law, the law being more
powerful than we are; but we can do as John Bunyan said: "I
cannot obey, but I can suffer." We cannot renounce our religion;
we cannot throw it aside; we cannot trample upon the commandments
of God; but we can endure the penalty of obeying God's law, even
if it be imprisonment. It is part of the contract. We know what
others had to endure for the religion of Jesus, and if we expect
to obtain the same glory as they, we must be prepared to endure
the same consequences.
45
I do not make these remarks to stir up feelings of defiance. It
would be a most unwise and a most unfortunate position for us to
occupy, to place ourselves in an attitude of defiance against the
laws of the land; but while we do not defy, we at the same time
shall maintain, I hope, the principles of liberty, and claim them
for every man and woman as well as ourselves. We shall never
cease our effort, I hope, until from one end of the land to the
other men and women can worship God whether they be Mormon or
infidel, or whether they believe in Buddha, or are believers in
the God of Israel, the Lord of the whole earth, or worship a
wooden god, without interference or interruption from others as
long as they do not trespass upon or interfere with the rights of
their fellow-citizens. All ought to have this right, and no one
should seek to deprive them of it.
45
The most nonsensical arguments have been used against us in
consequence of our claiming liberty of this kind. Say some men:
Suppose there were Thugs in this country, or Hindoos who believed
in burning widows as they did in India, shall the government not
have the right to put down such murders and such ceremonies of
cremation? Suppose that human sacrifice was deemed proper by some
religious ordinance, do you mean to say that government has not
the right to interfere with and to stop the taking of life in
such a way?
46
Certainly, I have never said it had not, neither have I claimed
it when I have said that we had a right to practice this feature
of our religion. There is a very wide distinction, but many do
not seem to understand the difference. There are certain acts
that are crimes in and of themselves; they are not made so by
statutory law; one of these is murder. It always was a crime
against nature and always will be. He who takes the life of a
fellow being commits a crime, even if it should be in a land
where there is no law; it is in and of itself a crime--malum in
se. It needs no statutory law to make it so. Marriage occupies a
very different position from this. Before the law of 1862 was
passed by Congress a man might have married in this Territory two
or more wives, there being no law--human nor divine--that we had
any knowledge of, prohibiting it. There was no law of the United
States against it; there was no law of the Territory against it,
and it was not in and of itself a crime. It was made a crime by
the law of July 1, 1862, which, we assert, was in violation of
the first amendment to the Constitution. It was malum
prohibitum!--a crime made so by statutory law. There is a wide
distinction between the two; and every ordinary mind must, I
think, readily admit that there is no comparison between marriage
and murder, robbery, theft and crimes of a kindred character.
Still there are a great many people who do not seem to understand
this. They say, "Suppose you believed in murder, in human
sacrifice, do you mean to say that we would not have the right to
interfere with you; that we could not do anything to check that
practice?"
46
Certainly they could and should. They could check any practice
that we might be guilty of that would interfere with the rights
of our fellow men. Government has the right, and owes it to its
citizens, to protect them in their rights--to protect their
lives, to protect their property, to protect them in all their
civil rights and in their religious rights also, and to prevent
others from doing them violence. Beyond this it should not go.
And they call our system of marriage, bigamy. Such confusion of
terms! The essence of the crime of bigamy is that a man, already
married to one wife, clandestinely marries another. Both women
are wronged and deceived; the first by his marrying a second time
during her lifetime; the second by his concealment of the fact
that he already has a living wife. In the anxiety to attach odium
to our system of marriage, our enemies call it bigamy, ignoring
the fact that, according to our rules, a man who has one wife
does not take another wife without the consent of the first wife;
no advantage is taken of her by keeping her in ignorance. The new
relationship has been entered into by common consent. There is no
element of crime about this--that is, of the crime of bigamy. It
is, as I have said the concealment that makes it a crime; it is
the fact that both women are deceived and wronged by the act of
the man. And such a man ought to be punished. That which has been
done has been done in the face of high heaven, in the light of
day, believing, as we did, that it would be the means of
preserving this community in purity, that if every means were
used to provide for marriage there would be no margin of
unmarried women left for lust to prey upon.
46
Men have said to me: "Mr. Cannon, we cannot understand why it is
that women will consent to such arrangements."
47
"My dear sirs," I have said, "do you not think that the ladies
who occupy questionable relationships to gentlemen in this city
(Washington) would be very glad to have that relationship
sanctified by marriage; do you think they would object to it?
Would any true woman, if she loved a man, put herself in such a
false position in society, and yet not marry him if she could do
so honorably? Which relation would be the better and more
honorable?"
47
I do not wish to convey the idea that plural marriage can be
universal. In the very nature of things as I have often said, it
is impossible; the equality of the sexes would prevent this, were
men ever so desirous to make it so. Take our own Territory: the
males outnumber the females; it cannot therefore be a practice
without limit among us.
47
No one need be afraid of the extensive spread of this system even
if the Edmunds' law were not in operation. Besides all this, it
should be borne in mind, that God did not give this revelation
and commandment to us to urge upon the world for its practice.
47
The greatest foe we have to contend with is ignorance. We are not
known. We are lied about most extensively, and every avenue is
blocked against us. Popular journals are afraid of injuring their
circulation by speaking the truth concerning us. The publishers
are affected by the same influences as the politicians--the
pulpit and this popular clamor cause men to be afraid. If we
could be known as we really are--not in Salt Lake alone, for this
city is not a fair sample of Utah; if it were possible for the
people generally, who reiterate these popular cries against us,
to travel through our settlements north and south, and see our
people, there would be a very different public feeling in regard
to us. But we have been inundated by falsehood, we are nearly
covered by its waves, and people who know nothing about us are so
startled at this idea of polygamy, as it is called, that they are
prepared to believe anything that may be said about us. We have
this to contend against. In the end, however, we shall be
abundantly successful, for a people possessing the qualities that
the people of Utah do, can and will live--a people who are
united, a people who are honest, a people who are frugal, a
people who are temperate, a people who are orderly in their lives
and who are virtuous, truly virtuous, can withstand a tremendous
amount of pressure. There is only one way in which this people
can be checked and that is by extirpation. Otherwise, the
qualities they possess are bound to live in the struggle. The
doctrine of "the survival of the fittest," applies to us, and
insure us a long, a prosperous, an uninterrupted and a glorious
career. We can live in spite of adverse legislation, in spite of
commissioners, in spite of governors, in spite of acts of
persecution; we can live and still flourish, and still grow and
still increase; and we shall do it. I am not at all afraid as to
the result. Of course legislation of the Edmunds' kind can pinch
us; it can be made excessively disagreeable to us. It may test us
in ways that may be new to us; but sincerely I say to you, my
brethren and sisters, that I dread other things that exist in our
midst more than I do hostile legislation.
47
I dread the increase of luxury; I dread the increase of class
distinctions which I see growing up. The disintegrating
influences of wealth are far more to be dreaded than any outside
pressure of this character. All that is being done in this
direction is to hoop us up, as the copper hoops up barrels. This
has been the case already. During the last five or six months I
have had letters from all parts of our Territory, and they
uniformly bespeak a determination to cling together.
48
But watch the effect of wealth; look at its effects. Communities
get wealthy and they begin to think about their wealth. Where
their treasure is there is their heart also. Especially is this
the case if they are divided into classes. Then the rich are in a
position to be tempted and tried far more than they would be if
they were on the same plane with their fellows. If we are nearly
alike temporally we feel alike. In this has consisted much of our
strength in the past. We were not divided into classes, with
interests diverse one from the other. The sacrifices we had to
make fell pretty equally upon all, and there was no temptation
offered one class because of its greater wealth, to compromise
with principle, or to question the policy of standing up
unflinchingly for principle, or to feel different from the bulk
of the community.
48
The increase of wealth, therefore, and the consequent increase of
fashions are more to be dreaded than hostile legislation. Let a
wife follow all the fashions of the day, and then let her
children do the same, and a man must have a deep pocket to
sustain such a family. Give him two or more wives and their
children of this kind, and how long can he keep up? Introduce
fashions among us, and make women fashionable, and make their
daughters fashionable, and what is called "the problem" will not
be long in being solved. If a man then had more than one wife he
would need a large income to sustain them. Some women might be
shrewd enough to understand this, and if not wanting their
husbands to have another wife, might take pains to consume all
the income.
48
Well, our enemies never have had and never will have wisdom
enough to adopt any plan that will hurt this work. Why, instead
of injuring this people in what they have already done against
us, they are only advertising us. The effect of this
persecution--I cannot call it anything else--has been to call
forth three able productions by men who personally knew little or
nothing about us. One man had visited here and the other two were
prompted in the interest of justice to write and speak as they
did, feeling that a great injustice was being done to us, and
that Constitutional rights were being trampled upon. One of
these, a gentleman in Boston, delivered an able lecture; and
another Bostonian wrote an able pamphlet; another gentleman in
New York, wrote one of the best pamphlets on life in Utah, that I
have seen for many years; and besides these there have been many
correspondents who have written upon the subject, and the result
is that men and women have been awakened to the consideration and
examination of this question. But if they had been silent
concerning it, many never would have thought of it. We must be
advertised, and I do not know any better way than that which has
been adopted.
49
As far as my own case in Congress is concerned, I have not
allowed myself to be annoyed. Remarks have been made very
frequently about my bearing the attacks upon me so pleasantly. I
have replied, "why should I not feel so--I am the wronged man? I
had a larger majority in my favor than any other man upon the
floor of the House. I am the representative of the people of
Utah, properly elected, and fully qualified and eligible for the
position. This the committee of the House, after the close of the
strictest examination--and it might be said, the most prejudiced
examination, have decided. Fourteen out of fifteen of the
committee on elections, after making a full examination of the
case, have decided that I was properly entitled to the
certificate, and as a consequence to the seat. If the
consciousness of being right ought to make a man feel pleasantly,
then I am entitled to the feeling. I feel as one who is called to
make sacrifices for a glorious cause."
49
Great pressure was brought to bear upon republican members to
have them vote solidly on this question. One somewhat prominent
man purposed to make a speech denouncing the wrong which was
being attempted against me. He told me that Speaker Keifer heard
of his intention and "bulldozed" him out of making it. One member
said to me: "Mr. Cannon, in voting against you as I did, I told
those around that I did the most cowardly act of my public life."
Another said, "Mr. Cannon, I wrote to my wife and told her that I
had done the meanest thing I ever did since I have been a member
of Congress, in voting as I did against you." "But," said he,
"what could I do?" These are samples of expressions made upon the
subject. You can understand that my position was one not to be
ashamed of. The man that is wronged has no occasion to feel the
blush of shame on his cheeks; it is those who commit the wrong
who ought to have that feeling; and they cannot help feeling that
they are inferior to the one they have injured. But
notwithstanding the pressure of which I speak that was brought to
bear upon members, the conspirators against the liberties of Utah
dared not trust my case to the House till the Edmunds' bill had
passed. There were some strong men who could not see their way
clear to vote against my taking my seat. It was felt therefore
that the only way my case could be reached was by the Senate and
House passing a law and having it signed by the President of the
United States. In this way, by using all the power of the
government, except the judiciary, the case was reached; but then
they had to trample upon the Constitution to do it; for the law,
as applied to me, was ex post facto.
49
I had gone to Washington eight years previously; I had been at
the bar of the House four times to be sworn in, the same man in
every respect. It was not charged that I had violated any law
since that time, or rendered myself ineligible. After a
determined contest I had been confirmed in the seat by the 43d
Congress--a Republican Congress--also by the 44th Congress--a
Democratic Congress; also by the 45th and 46th Congresses. Now by
what law could a man in my position, having the majority of the
votes, and the fact being conceded that the election had been
fair and that there had been a full expression of the people's
will, according to the forms of law--I ask, upon what principle
of right could such a man be excluded from a seat in the 47th
Congress? Legally he could not. There is only one way in which
that could be done, that is by trampling upon the principle of
representative government and the Constitution of the United
States. This was done in my case, and this action will stand on
the books as a precedent that will cause men to feel ashamed of
it in days to come.
50
Now, my brethren and sisters, I return here feeling, as I have
said, excellently, and cheerfully, full of courage and hope, not
at all weakened in my feelings. I feel exceedingly hopeful and
joyful and am satisfied that we are in the right path, that we
are on the winning side, because we have right, we have justice
and we have truth on our side. The only fear I have is that we
shall fail to make use of the opportunities God has given unto us
of maintaining our integrity and being true and faithful, for God
has said, "I have decreed in my heart that I will prove you in
all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto
death, that you may be found worthy; for if ye will not abide in
my covenant, ye are not worthy of me." He has also told us,
"whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake,
shall find it again, even life eternal: Therefore, be not afraid
of your enemies."
50
This exhortation God has given unto us. And we may as well
prepare ourselves, if we are not already prepared, for everything
of this kind. The time must come when the principles of truth and
righteousness will prevail over the land; and it is our destiny
to maintain them and make them universal. The prophecies that
were made by the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning this nation and
us will be fulfilled. He said that the time would come when the
Latter-day Saints would be the only people that would maintain
constitutional principles upon this land. I have been taught from
my youth that that was the destiny of this people; that this
nation would drift away from the Constitution and Constitutional
principles; that mobocracy would reign, and the principles of
right would be sacrificed to the power of might. And we can see
this coming to pass.
50
In former times mobs came against us with cannon and muskets,
with powder and ball, and the torch, and life and property alike
fell sacrifices to their violence. That was the expression of the
popular will; it found vent in illegal forms, the laws being
trampled upon to satisfy its demands. But matters have changed.
Mobocracy to-day assumes the forms of legality, and, therefore,
in meeting this power you have to wrestle with it under the form
of law. In the early days when the mob came upon us we could take
our guns and meet it, but when a mob comes backed up by law,
clothed in the garb of the law, claiming shelter under the
Constitution, it is very different; and that is our position
to-day. We have fought mobs from the beginning; there have been
times when we have held our own, determined to stand our ground;
at other times we have been driven; until, at last, we found
refuge in these mountains.
51
Now we are subjected to another sort of test, and I look upon it
as necessary to develop us and to prove us. I accept this, in the
providence of God, as a means to school this people. It will make
statesmen and legislators of us; it already shows the necessity
of education; it will have the effect also to broaden our views,
to enlarge our intellects, and to stir up our young men and our
young women to prepare themselves for usefulness. We have to be a
superior people; we have to educate our children, and make them
the peers, and I may say, the superiors of all others, for we
have the principles which will make us a superior people. And in
order to become such a people, I do not know any better training
that we could have than that which we are now receiving,
unpleasant though it may be. Read the history of New England and
you will see that we are passing through precisely the same
training that the colonists there did. It developed them, and was
the means of making them the great people that they have since
become.
51
I pray God to bless you and fill you with His Holy Spirit, and
help you to remain faithful and true to Him and to one another,
that you may never lose your courage or falter for a single
moment, but maintain your integrity to the last, and teach your
children to do likewise, that you and yours may be found among
those who shall be recognized as having been valiant in the cause
of God upon the earth. Let us be wise and prudent in all our
talk, and cautious in everything we do, feeling to submit to
wrong rather than to do wrong, trusting the Lord to overrule the
intentions of our enemies for our good and the final triumph of
truth over error, and good over evil. There need be no rashness,
no defiance or manifestation of feeling. Let us show the world
that God has given unto us principles which lift us up above
these clouds that now envelope us; and that we have not been
taught in vain, that we have not passed through the scenes of the
past fifty years without having learned many valuable and
excellent lessons. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Wilford Woodruff, January 27, 1883
Wilford Woodruff, January 27, 1883
DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE WILFORD WOODRUFF,
Delivered at Nephi, Saturday Afternoon, January 27, 1883.
(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK OF GOD--"THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR
NOTHING"--APPARENT INSIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHURCH AT FIRST--ITS
GROWTH--ANCIENT MEN OF GOD--PERSONAL REMINISCENCE--WHAT IS
REQUIRED OF THE SAINTS--HOW JOSEPH SMITH'S PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED.
51
We meet with the Saints of the several Stakes at the Stake
Quarterly Conferences for the purpose of giving instruction which
all need in order to qualify themselves to magnify their callings
as Saints of God, engaged in establishing and building up the
Church and kingdom of God. And I will here say, as I have often
said, that all men, and all women, regardless of the position
they occupy, or the office they hold, are dependent upon the Lord
for His Spirit to assist them in their labors.
52
I made a covenant with the Lord, years ago, that whatever He
would impress me to say, I would preach to the people. If we are
not able to speak to your edification, it is not because there
are not truth and knowledge, principles and laws sufficient
within the pale of this Church, and connected with the work in
which we are engaged. I look upon the cause of God and the
mission that He has given each of us connected with it, as
requiring the whole attention, the might, mind and strength of
each one of us, in order to magnify our calling and accomplish
the work committed to our hands.
53
The Lord raised up Joseph Smith specially to do the work that he
performed. He was ordained and appointed before he was born to
come upon the stage of action in this age of God's mercy to man,
through the loins of ancient Joseph who was a descendant of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to lay the foundation of this great and
glorious dispensation--a dispensation that will be marked and
distinguished in the annals of human history for its grand and
mighty, and also its serious and awful events. The day has
already dawned when the light of heaven is to fill the earth; the
day in which the Lord has said that nothing should be kept
hidden, whether it be things pertaining to one God, or many Gods,
or to thrones, principalities or powers; the day in which
everything that has been kept from the knowledge of man ever
since the foundation of the earth, must be revealed; and it is a
day in which the ancient prophets looked forward to with a great
deal of interest and anxiety. It is a day in which the Gospel is
to be preached to every nation, tongue and people for a witness
of what shall follow; a day in which the Israel of God who
receive it in their dispersed and scattered condition are to
gather together to the place appointed of God, the place where
they will perform the "marvelous work and wonder" spoken of by
the ancients who, in vision, saw our day; and where they will
begin to inherit the promises made to the fathers respecting
their children. The work that is to be so marvelous in the eyes
of men has already commenced, and is assuming shape and
proportions; but they cannot see it. It will consist in preaching
the Gospel to all the world, gathering the Saints from the midst
of all those nations who reject it; building up the Zion of God;
establishing permanently in the earth His kingdom; preparing for
the work of the gathering of the Jews and the events that will
follow their settlement in their own lands, and in preparing for
ourselves holy places in which to stand when the judgments of God
shall overtake the nations. This is truly a good work; and it is
a marvel (when we look at it with our natural eyes) how this
people are sustained in their faith and hope of accomplishing it,
besides having to provide for the wants of themselves and
families, which is of itself as much as most men can accomplish.
We cannot do the work which God through us intends to have done,
unless we place ourselves under His care and direction, and take
the sentiment, "The Kingdom of God, or nothing," for our motto,
as well as the end and aim of our life. This we must do to be
truly the servants of God. We cannot serve God and mammon. We
cannot build up the Kingdom of God and withhold our hearts from
Him. We must either come under the dominion of God, and be led
and directed by Him, or under the dominion of Satan, and be ruled
over by him. It is for us, through our faith and works, our
desires and course of life, to choose which we will take, as we
must take the one side or the other.
53
Nobody in this world has cause to rejoice as we have. None have
the encouraging future before them that we have; for Zion is not
to be moved out of her place, neither is "the kingdom" to be
given to another people. God rules and reigns, and we are His
people, and He is our God.
53
This work, this marvelous work and a wonder, the work that will
eventually fill the whole world--and neither man nor the devil
can prevent it--commenced, as all the works of our God begin, in
a small way. It was likened by the Savior to the mustard seed,
the smallest of all seeds, put in the soil, which grew until the
fowls of the air could lodge in the branches thereof. This
certainly is the characteristic of this Church and Kingdom,
commencing as it did on the 6th day of April, 1830, with only six
members. But the Lord told Joseph in one of the revelations that
he was laying the foundation of a great work, how great he knew
not. Joseph was young at that time, and could not comprehend
fully the nature of the work which he had been called and
appointed to commence in the earth.
54
When Joseph presented to the Christian world the principles that
God had communicated to him, he at once aroused their prejudices;
he had to struggle against traditions which they had inherited
from their fathers who knew not God nor His ways, traditions
which had come down to them through the ages, which were
antagonistic to the saving truths of heaven. And hence his life
was one continual struggle, meeting with opposition on every
hand, especially from the priests of the day; but he lived
through it and rejoiced greatly in his labors until he finished
his testimony in the flesh, after laboring some fourteen years to
that end. He had to wade through deep waters; but he never was
discouraged or disheartened, notwithstanding he had to contend
against foes without and foes within. He never lost sight of the
majesty of his calling, nor the divinity of this work; but spake
and acted in the midst of the people under all circumstances the
man that he was--the Prophet of God, the Seer and Revelator of
the last dispensation. He left us under painful circumstances,
sealing his testimony with his blood; but his works follow him.
The Gospel of the Kingdom which he preached, flourished under the
wise administration of God's servants who followed him. The Lord
blessed and sustained His Apostles, and led them to this land,
where the standard of Zion has been planted, which begins already
to attract the notice of the nations afar off. And here in this
land, notwithstanding the difficulties we have had to wrestle
with, incident to settling a new country a thousand miles from
civilization, having also to protect ourselves against the raids
of the wild and untutored Indians, the Lord has prospered us, and
blessed us on every hand; and we are to-day a blessed people. Yet
the Christian world is opposed to us, and the Christians
generally hate us. The Savior himself had the same spirit and
feeling to contend against. There was no man more unpopular than
He; no man more persecuted than He. And why? Because He preached
false doctrine? No. The real reason was, as He himself declared,
because they loved darkness better than light, because their
deeds were evil. There are but the two powers, that of God and
that of the devil. There is but the one true and living God, and
He is our Eternal Father, the creator of this earth: and He will
give it to His children to inherit.
54
We are nearing the end of the 6th thousand years. We have the
history, or a partial history, of the dealings of God with the
nations from the day of Father Adam down as contained in the
Bible and the Book of Mormon, from which we may learn many
valuable lessons. God has raised up at different ages certain men
to do a certain work, as He raised up father Abraham. He was a
noble spirit, we are told, before he left the realms of glory to
come and tabernacle in the flesh. He had the spirit of the Gods
with him when he was born; and he was faithful to God, and He had
confidence in him; and whatever God required at his hands, he
performed. So with Enoch. He stood at the head of the
dispensation in which he lived. He, in the course of time, some
350 years, built and perfected the city called Zion. He, however,
met with all kinds of opposition from the people among whom he
labored; but the power of God was manifested to such an extent
that his enemies stood and trembled through fear; and through
that power he was enabled to perform the mighty work which he and
his people did; it was not because the devil and his party were
any more kindly disposed towards the Saints of God, but because
they could not help themselves; and in the wisdom of God Enoch
and his people and their city were taken away from the earth.
54
The devil in different ages has made war against the Saints and
overcome them; and he has tried his best to destroy this Church
and Kingdom. As I have said, Joseph and the first Elders met with
the fiercest kind of opposition; but, with some exceptions, we
have stood it all, and are the better to-day for having passed
through the fire. When we went upon our first foreign mission,
Joseph said to us, "No matter what may come upon you, round up
your shoulders and bear it, and always sustain and defend the
interests of the Church and Kingdom of God." When we took our
departure his demeanor in parting was something that I had never
noticed or experienced before. After crossing the Mississippi
River I crawled to the side of a house and lay down upon a side
of sole leather, while suffering from the chills and fever. While
resting there the Prophet Joseph came along and saw me. He gave
me some parting advice in answer to some remarks made, and then
told me to get up and go on, and all would be well with me. That
is the way I parted with him upon that occasion. From that day to
this I have noticed the steady growth and increase of this
people. We have nothing else to do but to build up the Kingdom of
God. If we do this He will keep us and provide for us. We want to
labor as a body of Priesthood, to enter into the holy of holies;
we want to come before God, and pray until we get the spirit of
this work, until we comprehend our calling before God.
55
There has never been such a dispensation upon the earth as the
present one. In other dispensations men had to lay down their
lives, and others to hide up in dens and caves of the earth, and
wander in sheep skins and goat skins, for the word of God. We
have had a taste of the same treatment in our day. And we have
also seen days of poverty. When for instance, we left to go on
our first English mission, two dollars would have bought
everything I left to feed and clothe my wife and children. I
hardly had a day's provisions in my house. It was a good deal so
with my brethren; but we did not stay to nurse our wives. Those
were the days of our poverty; and we never knew what it was to be
comfortably well off until we came to these valleys of the
mountains. We had a great many trials in those days or what we
called trials. I want to get this principle into your minds, that
God Almighty is guiding the course of this Church and Kingdom,
and not we; and He has organized it for this day and generation
and it never will be rooted out of the earth again. The Prophet
Joseph knew what he was doing; in fact, he knew much more than he
dared to tell on account of the prejudice, traditions, and
unbelief of the people. I used to have peculiar feelings about
his death and the way in which his life was taken. I felt that
is, with the consent and good feelings of the brethren that
waited on him after he crossed the river to leave Nauvoo, Joseph
could have had his desire, he would have pioneered the way to the
Rocky Mountains. But since then I have been fully reconciled to
the fact that it was according to the programme, that it was
required of him, as the head of this dispensation, that he should
seal his testimony with his blood, and go hence to the spirit
world, holding the keys of this dispensation, to open up the
mission that is now being performed by way of preaching the
Gospel to the "spirits in prison." But those who shed his blood,
and the people and nation who sanctioned it in their hearts, have
that to meet, and they can more escape the death of the body. My
views and feelings in regard to the Twelve and leading men of
this Church have been this, that when they leaven this stage of
action they will be permitted to lie down in peace surrounded by
their families and friends; and also, that God will never require
them to stain their hands with the blood of their fellow men, in
order to protect themselves from violence; but, that the Lord
will fight our battles, and frustrate the measures that would
lead to such an issue. And the wisdom of this is manifested in
the fact that part of our duty is to build Temples, and officiate
in the same; and this we could not do so acceptably to God if our
hands were stained with the blood of our fellow-men, even in our
own defense. Hence I believe that God will cause the wicked to
slay the wicked; and that He will cut off our enemies by judgment
from time to time, as it shall be deemed prudent by Him. All is
peace in Zion, and I thank God for it. I am reminded of a saying
made by Brother Cannon upon entering the well furnished parlor of
one of President Merrill's houses, of Richmond, in Cache County.
"What," he said, "all this and heaven too?" Yes, God intends to
give to His Saints the good things of the earth, as well as the
blessings of heaven, as they shall become able to use them
properly.
56
The Lord intends to build up His Zion through us His weak and
feeble creatures. He intends to make Zion strong and powerful in
the earth. He will bless us with means and He will put it into
our hearts to build Temples to His name, in which His Saints may
perform the work that is required at their hands in redeeming
their dead.
56
Brethren and sisters, you should live by faith, realizing every
day that all power rests with God, and that it is through Him
that we are able to live in peace and enjoy plenty; that it is
through Him the wrath of our enemies is turned aside from time to
time, and that it will be through Him that the remainder of their
wrath will be restrained. You should enter your secret closets,
and call upon the name of the Lord. Many of you have learned how
to pray; then fail not to let your prayers ascend up into the
ears of the God of Sabaoth; and He will hear you. I think
sometimes that we do not fully comprehend the power that we have
with God in knowing how to approach Him acceptably. All that
these men holding the Priesthood, and all that our sisters need
do, is to live near to God, and call upon Him, pouring out their
soul's desires in behalf of Israel, and their power will be felt,
and their confidence in God will be strengthened. But the
blessings of heaven can only be obtained and controlled upon the
principles of righteousness. I have heard the Prophet Joseph pray
when the power of God rested down upon him, and all who heard him
felt it; and I have seen his prayers answered in a marvelous
manner almost immediately. Governor Reynolds on one occasion
employed men to try and kidnap Joseph, and they almost
accomplished their designs, but Joseph had some Gentile friends
as well as his brethren, through whom he was rescued, and was
taken to Nauvoo and released under a writ of habeas corpus. But
the Governor continued to harass him with writs, and was
determined to destroy Joseph. Joseph and the Twelve went before
God in prayer, offered up prayer, and asked God to deliver him
from the power of that man. Among other things he told the Lord
that he was innocent before Him, and that his heart was heavy
under the persecutions he endured. In about forty-eight hours
from that time word reached Joseph that Reynolds had blown his
brains out. Before perpetrating the deed he left a note on his
desk stating, that as his services were not appreciated by the
people of the State, he took that course to end his days.
57
There is another instance that occurs to my mind. A certain man
took a stand against Joseph, and endeavored to bring persecution
on him. He went to his God and laid the matter before Him, asking
to be delivered out of the hands and power of that wicked man.
Joseph was a Prophet, a Seer, a Revelator. He was acquainted with
God; he knew the voice of the Spirit when it spoke to him. After
offering up his prayer, the whispering of the still small voice
came to him saying, "Wait with patience." The next day that man
was taken sick with cholera, and died in a few hours. See how
quickly the Lord answered his prayer offered up while a prisoner
in Liberty Jail. At that time, Presidents Young, Taylor and
several of the Twelve were on their way through Clay County to
lay the corner stones of the Temple, in fulfillment of the
revelation given in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 118.
Joseph had no sooner called upon God than he was liberated; and
his prayer answered to the very letter. The voice of the Spirit
again spoke to him, speaking peace to his soul, and telling him
that his troubles should be of short duration. It was but a few
days when he had the pleasure of shaking hands with his brethren,
and enjoying the society of his family and friends. Joseph lived
to accomplish the work that was required of him notwithstanding
the persistent and determined opposition that he had to contend
against. And after his death the work still went on, God and His
angels all the while guiding and sustaining by His Spirit the
Prophet Brigham. And He will continue to sustain His servants;
and through them and His people Israel He will bring to pass the
greatest and grandest work that the world has ever known. It is
for us to wake up to a sense of our duty, and call upon the Lord
in humility, and live near to Him; and our eyes will be opened,
as in the case of the young man the servant of the ancient
Prophet Elisha, and we will see that there are more for us than
against us; and that the element of opposition tends only to
hasten the fulfillment of the purposes of God. Put your trust in
God and rely on His promises, living up to the light and
knowledge you possess; and all will be well with you whether
living or dying. God bless you, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, March 18th, 1883
George Q. Cannon, March 18th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, March 18th, 1883.
PECULIARITIES OF PUBLIC PREACHING AMONG THE SAINTS--A
COMPREHENSIVE
RELIGION--EQUALITY OF MAN--SAINTS THE CHAMPIONS OF RIGHT--A
PROVIDENCE
OVER THE SAINTS--LEAVEN OF TRUTH AT WORK--TRUTH TAUGHT BY JOSEPH
SMITH
NOW BEING VERIFIED--IGNORANT POLITICIANS--EFFECT OF JUDGE BLACK'S
ARGUMENT--EFFECTUAL PRAYER.
57
I am glad to have the opportunity once more of meeting with my
brethren and sisters in this place. And while I speak to you this
afternoon I trust I shall have the assistance of the Spirit of
God. I have had excellent health since I have been gone. But this
morning, from the effect of a cold which I have taken, when I
arose I felt worse than I have done since I left home, and as
though I could scarcely come to meeting. The ride in the air,
however, has helped me, and I feel better than I did.
59
There is a natural curiosity on the part of the Latter-day Saints
to know everything connected with our political affairs as well
as everything connected with our religious operations throughout
the earth. Everything of this character is so intimately blended
in the work in which we are engaged, that it is an exceedingly
difficult thing to draw the line of distinction between the
temporal and the spiritual, between that which pertains to the
body and that which pertains to the spirit, or which pertains to
the dissemination of the Gospel and the welfare of the people in
political matters. It has been a cause of frequent comment in
newspaper articles and in works that have been published
concerning us and our organization, that we are a peculiar people
in this respect, and that this intimate blending of the practical
and the theoretical, of the temporal the spiritual, in our
meetings and in the addresses of our Elders, is a marked
peculiarity. The reason of this is very apparent to those who are
familiar with the character of our work and with our belief
concerning these matters. We attach an importance to the physical
organization which God has given unto us, greater, I believe,
than any other religious people that I have ever met with. In
like manner our religion extends its ramifications into every
department of our lives, leaving nothing untouched, nothing
connected with our earthly existence uninfluenced by its power
and its teaching. I am thankful that this is the case, because it
gives religion full scope, it gives it an opportunity to exercise
its proper influence upon the man and to make him more perfect
and more godlike. Our God is not a religious God alone. The God
we worship does not confine himself to religious matters,
so-called, in contradistinction from those that are secular. He
is not a God that concerns himself alone with the spirit of man,
but He is a God of science, He is a God of mechanism, He is a God
of creative power, a God of government, a God who attends to all
the departments of human life and progress, as we see them
exemplified here upon the earth. The first acts that are recorded
of Him in the record that has come to us were creative acts, acts
of organization, labors that might in one respect be termed
temporal labors. Among the first communications He had with man
He taught him how to live practically, to make himself clothing,
and to perform other necessary labors connected with his comfort
and his happiness upon the earth. And where they have been
willing to be taught He has taught men government, the principles
of government, from the beginning. He has established the best
forms of government where men have listened to His
teachings--governments best adapted for the person for whom they
were intended and for the objects that were to be accomplished;
and He knew in the days of Moses, as He did in the days of Enoch,
the principles of government that were best calculated for the
happiness of those peoples. So far as they listened to Him, so
far as they were governed in righteousness and in truth, each
received the laws and the necessary instructions that were best
suited to their condition and circumstances, for the progress
that they had made and the progress that it was anticipated they
would make. And He knew all that was necessary to be known,
without the benefit of the experience that each nation has
received from their labors and from their progress under the
forms of government that they have had. Our government to-day is
considered the ripened fruit of the ages of experience that men
have gained upon the earth. Yet there is not a principle
connected with it that was not known to God, that was not taught
by the Almighty in the earliest days, and that has not been put
into operation under His instruction at one time or another among
men. And these principles are embodied in what we call the
Gospel. It has been truthfully and very forcibly said many time
in our hearing that there was no principle connected with man's
existence upon the earth that is not a part and parcel of that
Gospel which God has revealed unto us and commanded us to obey;
that that which the world call "Mormonism" embraces within its
scope every good thing upon the face of the earth, leaving
nothing outside. Every true principle of science, everything
connected with the cultivation of the earth, with the government
of cities and of nations, with the management of all the
multiplied affairs of men in their great and varied
diversity--that everything of this character comes within the
scope of the Gospel which God has revealed, in the system of
salvation that He has commanded us to receive.
59
There is one great principle connected with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ as it has been taught among all the people who have ever
received it, as we find from their teachings in the records that
have come down to us, the same principle that lies at the
foundation of our form of government, and makes it the most
valuable feature connected with it, and that is, the equality of
man before God. No man can be a true follower of Jesus Christ; no
man ever could be--anterior even to His coming--a true follower
of God, without embodying in His faith and practice and in every
feeling of his heart this principle to which I have referred, the
equality of man. There could be no class distinctions wherever
this Gospel was received and put into practical operation. Every
man who received it became the equal of his fellow-man; he would
be recognized, a proper place be assigned unto him, and he would
have his proper influence in the society of which he was a
member. It is this principle of the Gospel that will make us,
also, a thoroughly free people, a thoroughly great people, a
people who shall have place in the earth, and have influence in
the affairs of the children of men.
60
There have been fears indulged in many times, and expressions
have been given to those fears, that the growth of the Latter-day
Saints was a menace to surrounding peoples and to the government
under which we live. There can be no menace in the growth of such
principles as are taught and as are recognized and enforced among
such a people as we are. It would be impossible for tyranny to
flourish for any length of time in our midst. Oppression of every
form would sooner or later have to disappear, or else there would
have to be apostasy from the true principles of the Gospel on the
part of the people. Oppression, tyranny, misrule, cannot co-exist
with the principles of the everlasting Gospel as they are taught
in our midst and received by us. There must be the greatest
possible liberty of thought, of expression and of action in our
midst--that is the greatest possible consistent with good order,
and the preservation of the rights of others. Liberty cannot be
permitted to degenerate into license, but the utmost liberty can
be enjoyed so long as it does not overstep that boundary. It
becomes, therefore, a natural duty devolving upon us, with our
views concerning these eternal principles that have come down
from God, that were taught by God in the early ages unto man,
that have been re-enforced from time to time by Him through the
silent, unseen agency of His power in various ages--I say it
becomes our natural duty to see that these principles are carried
out and maintained in the earth. We become their natural
champions. Besides advocating and maintaining them, it becomes
our province to struggle for their supremacy.
60
As I have said these principles were taught in the very
beginning. If we had the records we would find that they were
taught to our father Adam, because they are consistent with man's
agency. God gave unto man when He placed him upon the earth, the
fullest agency--the power to do that which was right in his own
sight without let or hindrance. He taught those principles to
Enoch, and He taught them from time to time to all the men of
note who would be taught by him. Abraham became in his turn the
great expositor of those truths; and you will find by tracing the
lives of these men in the record that has come down to us, that
in every instance they were men who were champions of the right,
who stood out boldly and fearlessly in the midst of their fellow
men, contending for those God-given principles which they
believed to be the inalienable right of every human being. You
will find that the opponents of truth, or, to speak more plainly,
according to our phraseology and our methods of expressing ideas,
the followers of Satan--you will find that whenever there was
persecution upon the earth, they were its authors. Whenever men
were trampled upon and their rights were denied them, when men
fell victims to violence and the mal-administration of the laws,
it was those who were led by Satan's influence and yielded to his
power, who were the instruments in committing those evils. Hence
you find that good men never persecuted bad men; never destroyed
wicked men when they had power. They were not oppressors, they
were not tyrants, they were not persecutors, they did not
infringe upon the rights of their fellow men, upon the liberty of
conscience, nor upon its proper exercise, nor upon the exercise
of man's agency; they never sought to restrain it. If wicked men
were disposed to do wickedly, so long as they did not transcend
certain well-defined bounds that found their expression in law,
you will find no account of good men interfering with bad men.
You will not find them, as I say, taking upon themselves the role
of oppressors, nor saying that men shall not do that which their
conscience and that which they in their agency think it is their
right to do. God does not do it. Jesus did not do it, and no
servant of God ever did it that had a true conception of his
calling. God has given to every man his agency, and he respects
that agency. He might grieve over its exercise, angels may weep,
and the heavens themselves may weep over the wrong exercise by
man of the agency that God has given unto him, but he
nevertheless has it to its fullest extent; but the devil and
those under his influence would, if possible, destroy man's
agency and prevent him from exercising it to suit himself.
61
I am thankful that we are surrounded by such delightful
circumstances to-day. We have escaped another peril, and we still
are a free people. Is there anyone in this congregation who
professes to be a Latter-day Saint who is not filled with
profound thankfulness to God for that which He has done for us?
Is there any man or woman, or child of age sufficient to
comprehend these things, who has not come this day to this house
of worship with a feeling of profound thankfulness to our God for
His mercy and His loving kindness, as manifested unto us His
people? Though I have been taught and always have believed that
not one word of His promises would fail, still I say that I am
almost amazed myself when I see how wonderfully God hath wrought,
when I look at our circumstances, when I see the liberty that we
enjoy, knowing as I do the plans and the concerted efforts which
have been made to deprive us of our liberty, and to bring us into
a bondage that would be intolerable to us. A paean of rejoicing
went up from all quarters of the land about a year ago, that is,
on the 22d of March. Every man who desired to see the overthrow
of the Latter-day Saints, to see their system obliterated,
rejoiced from one end of this land to the other--there were among
them preachers, politicians and journalists, and the rabble
everywhere, who rejoiced that a deadly blow had been struck at
the Latter-day Saints. Men, while they admitted that the
Constitution had been violated, justified the act in
consideration of the great good that they supposed would be
accomplished. Yet we to-day have all the happiness, the peace,
the enjoyment, and the quiet that we could reasonably desire. If
it were not for God's power; if it were not for His overshadowing
protection; if it were not for the promises that He has made unto
us, how long could we endure? How long could we maintain
ourselves in our present position?
62
But God made promises unto His people; and those promises have
been abundantly fulfilled thus far, and they will be fulfilled to
the very letter. And this Church and this people, and this
organization will continue to grow and spread, and gather
influence and power in the earth, until every word that has been
spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost will be fulfilled,
and not a single word fall. It cannot fail, for God has spoken
it. Already the influence of this work is being felt to an extent
that none without the eye of omniscience can comprehend. We can
see little glimpses of it here and there where our eyes are open
to perceive; but the full extent of the influence that is being
wrought in the earth through this work that God has established,
is impossible for man to comprehend. I do not believe that any
power short of omniscience itself can comprehend it. The
principles of this Gospel which God revealed through the Prophet
Joseph, have been like a little leaven, and they have been
gradually leavening the whole lump. The effects have gone forth
and the influence is being felt in every direction throughout the
world. Though we are but a small people, but a handful, so to
speak, and in some respects quite insignificant, yet an influence
has gone forth from this people, from the teachings of the Elders
of this Church that is being felt everywhere. It has invaded
every domain of thought, and gradually made itself felt--the
leaven of truth has; and men begin to acknowledge principles as a
part of their faith which but a short time ago they denied and
scouted at. In this way the work of God is being carried on far
beyond that which we can see with our natural eyes. The work of
the preparation of the earth, and of its inhabitants, is pressing
forward with a rapidity that we who are taking part in it do not
realize. We look at ourselves too much, we think that God's
operations and labors are confined to us who comprise this Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In doing so we make a great
blunder. He is operating among the nations of the earth. His
spirit has gone forth; and it is accomplishing that which He said
should be accomplished. And this great work of the last days will
be cut short in righteousness. It is not the conversion of men
and women and their baptism into the Church that is alone to be
accomplished. The work of God is not to be measured by the number
of souls that are brought into the Church. The progress of events
connected with this last dispensation cannot be thus gauged; and
when we think so we make a great mistake. Look abroad in other
realms. Look at the religious world, and see how fast the
principles that we believe in are being received. It may be said
that they are not received properly. True, but notwithstanding
truth is progressing; and the mind of man is being emancipated
from many errors.
62
Repentance after the grave is now taught--you have heard it, and
read about it in the newspapers. Prominent preachers talk about
it and receive it; and actually preach as scriptural doctrine,
that it is possible for spirits to receive the Gospel in the
spirit world.
62
Another step has been made in advance, through the preaching of
the Elders of this Church, or rather by means of the revelations
of God through the Prophet Joseph Smith, in scientific truth
which is astonishing; I refer to the doctrine of the eternal
duration of matter. When first this was made known it was
ridiculed everywhere by religious people, who viewed it as a
principle, the teachings of which detracted from the dignity and
glory of God. The popular idea was that this earth was created
out of nothing. This was the almost universal belief among
Christians. Joseph Smith said it was not true. He advocated the
doctrine that matter always had an existence, that it was eternal
as God Himself was eternal; that it was indestructible; that it
never had a beginning, and therefore could have no end. God
revealed this truth to him. Now who is there that does not
believe it?
62
So with regard to the periods occupied in the creation of the
earth. Joseph taught that a day with God was not the twenty-four
hours of our day; but that the six days of the creation were six
periods of the Lord's time. This he taught half a century ago; it
is now generally received as a great truth connected with the
creation of the world. Geologists have declared it, and religious
people are adopting it; and so the world is progressing.
63
Again: It is not an uncommon thing at all now to hear of faith
being exercised, of healings being produced through the prayer of
faith. The daily papers frequently publish accounts of people
being healed in this way. The adversary is trying, of course, to
take advantage of it to rob God of the glory. He is determined
that God shall not have any credit for these things. But it
matters not how much he may struggle, mankind are receiving these
truths, and progress is being made and error is being overcome.
63
So it is with regard to religious liberty. We are contending
to-day for liberty on the old platform. God, as I have said, gave
it in the beginning, and we stand on that platform, and are
contending for those rights, and we will achieve the victory, and
this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be
recognized as occupying the foremost rank in this work. The
principles of liberty, the rights of man will be established, and
will be guaranteed to every man as in olden times; but there will
be a struggle first.
64
The effect that the defence of our system, this last winter, had
upon one of the great political parties of the United States was
most remarkable. I was amused at it, and it afforded me a great
deal of interesting reflection. There are a great many members of
this Church who do not seem to have a thorough comprehension of
their own doctrines, who nevertheless call themselves Latter-day
Saints; and they are Latter-day Saints so far as their profession
goes. But if asked about the principles of their belief some of
them are ignorant of the extent of their application. It is in
politics as in religion. There are a great many men who make a
profession of politics, professing to understand, to act upon,
and to stand upon certain political principles, which are
embodied in their platforms, or which, however, they are really
ignorant. You may have thought it very strange that any members
of the democratic party, for instance, which professes to be the
champion of home rule, as well as other great fundamental
principles, should be found so oblivious to their own principles
as to take any part whatever in attacks upon us for the purpose
of depriving us of our rights as citizens. But so it has been. If
it had not been for the recreancy of some Democrats the Act of
March 22, 1882, known as the Edmunds' law, would never have
become one of the statutes of the United States. Mr. Edmunds
succeeded in cajoling some of the Democrats. An astute man is
Senator Edmunds. In their action towards us these Democrats
seemed to be blind to the fact that they were apostatizing from
their own principles; and that in doing so they were striking a
deadly blow at the platform on which the party stood. We had been
reasoning against this action; but our voices were unheard; we
were considered heterodox upon religious matters, and it was
supposed that we were heterodox upon political matters: therefore
all that we said upon this subject fell heedlessly upon their
ears. But we succeeded in getting an apostle of democracy to aid
us, one of the old leaders of democracy--Judge Jeremiah S. Black.
He began to preach the true doctrines of democracy to his
Democratic brethren; and to their amazement, some found that they
had, in voting for this law, been trampling upon their own
principles. And he proved it to them so thoroughly, that some of
them became ashamed of it; and they said, "We have gone far
enough." He explained the principles of the Constitution and the
rights that men had under that instrument when properly
administered. Good doctrine for every politician, and every
class, not for democrats so-called alone, but for republicans
also. There is something in such doctrine that strikes a chord in
every freeman's breast. It calls forth a response from every
lover of liberty by whatever name he may be called. He says, when
he hears the rights of man explained by an authority that is
entitled to respect: "There is something in that which I cannot
but accept." Such men hesitate before flying in the face of
principles expounded in this way, to commit acts, the effects of
which are to deprive people of liberty. The effect of Judge
Black's argument upon some of the Democrats was to stiffen their
backbone so much that they could not consent this time to have
other measures enacted as were proposed.
64
I was very much struck by a statement made to me by President
Taylor since my return, showing that faith when connected with
works accomplishes wonderful results. Brother Caine and myself,
with some other Utah friends, were in the Senate chamber on the
23d of February last, watching Senator Edmunds' attempt to get
through his special legislation of which you have read. It seemed
as though nothing could prevent it. Senators with whom we had
conversed said that they saw no possible chance of stopping it;
that its passage seemed inevitable. But a Cabinet minister gave a
dinner party that evening, and one by one those who were invited
stole from the Senate Chamber while the bill was under discussion
to the dinner party; and the first that was known when a vote was
called was that a quorum was not present. In the absence of a
quorum, you know, a legislative body is powerless to act. For
four hours Senator Edmunds did all in his power to get action on
his bill; but every attempt was resisted by the Democrats upon
the ground that there was no quorum, and they accordingly
fillibusted until Edmunds, disgusted and tired, called for an
adjournment.
64
President Taylor told me upon my return that, on the 22d of
February, feeling exercised in his mind about our political
affairs, and that it was a time of peril, he called a few of the
brethren together and they met at the Endowment House according
to the holy order, and besought God, in the name of Jesus, to
baffle the plans of our enemies and frustrate them in their
designs, and put them to confusion and shame. In watching Senator
Edmunds that evening, I thought that if ever there was a man
confused, chagrined and confounded at the futility of his own
attempts, it was he. And there is no doubt in my mind that the
prayers of President Taylor and the brethren ascended favorably
unto the ears of the God of Sabaoth, and were heard and answered.
The dreadful wrong was defeated and failed, and it may be said,
it met with its death blow; for every attempt afterwards made to
bring it up, was unsuccessful. In this way God has wrought out
deliverance for Zion.
65
I mention this because there are a great many people who think
that prayer is not effective. It is effective in not only
producing desired results, but in increasing faith in the hearts
of those who exercise it in that manner. If you pray to God--as I
have no doubt you did, that He would baffle the attempts of our
enemies to injure us--you have had the satisfaction of knowing
that He heard your prayers, and that your prayers were answered;
and you can go before Him now with increased confidence and ask
again, because you see the fulfillment of your prayers, and you
share in the gratification and joy and thanksgiving in which
answers to prayer always bring to those who offer them in faith.
65
I have talked longer than I expected. I rejoice with you, my
brethren and sisters, to-day; and I bear my testimony, as I have
so often done in your hearing, that God lives; that He is the
same God to-day that He was in days of old, and that if he will
continue faithful to Him, He will lead us back to His presence,
there to reign with Him eternally in the heavens, which may God
grant, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Erastus Snow, April 6, 1883
Erastus Snow, April 6, 1883
DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE ERASTUS SNOW,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Friday Afternoon, (Annual Conference), April 6, 1883.
(Reported by Gibbs and Irvine.)
THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT--THE LAW OF THE
LORD
AND THE LAW OF THE LAND--THE EFFORTS OF OUR ENEMIES TURNED TO OUR
ADVANTAGE--LIGHT AND LIBERTY OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS--THE WORK
OF
THE LORD AMONG THE NATIONS--JUDICIAL FOLLY AND INJUSTICE--FAITH
INSEPARABLE FROM WORKS--PARABLE OF THE TALENTS EXEMPLIFIED.
65
If the Lord gives me strength to make myself heard, I shall feel
it a pleasure to occupy a little time this afternoon, accorded to
me by my brethren.
66
I feel to express unto my heavenly Father, and to my brethren and
the people, my gratitude for their prayers and faith for the
blessings of God to me in permitting me to appear before you on
this occasion, and to feel the degree of health and strength
which is vouchsafed to me, thus enabling me to continue my
efforts and labors with my brethren and the people of God. For
some two or three months my health has not been of such a nature
that I could labor with the satisfaction which has attended me
heretofore; and I fully realize what Elder Woodruff said this
morning concerning the aged Elders of Israel passing away, and
that the responsibility and labor of bearing off this kingdom
will soon rest upon the generation which is growing up in our
midst, upon which will devolve the work of carrying the Gospel to
those who have not heard it among the nations of the earth, and
gathering Israel and establishing Zion and building up and
maintaining the Kingdom of our God upon the earth, which must be
done through faith, by righteousness, and by defending and
maintaining the rights of man and the liberty and freedom which
God has ordained for the welfare of all flesh, for the protection
and blessing of the human family, and which it has been His
purpose to establish and maintain upon this American Continent.
Latter-day Saints, especially those who have grown up with this
people, as I have done from my childhood, and witnessed the
manifestations of the overruling providence of God in guiding the
destinies of this people, inspiring His servants who have led and
directed the movements of this great people, and in defending
them and fighting their battles by the sword of His Spirit, and
the invisible power that have labored with us and for us--I say
to those who are able to see and comprehend these things, it is
clear and plain that God has had His eye upon this American
continent as the place where He first commenced His great work on
the earth, where the greatest manifestations of His power were
exhibited in the days of the fathers before the flood, when the
fathers were gathered in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman and
received their last instructions and blessings from Father Adam,
the Patriarch of this earth, and where Enoch gathered his people
and established Zion, and where Noah preached righteousness to
the people and prepared the ark of safety, and where He has
determined ultimately to establish His Zion and gather together
His people, establish, maintain and defend His government and the
Priesthood which he has revealed for the salvation of the human
family, where He will bring again Zion that He has taken away,
even the Zion of Enoch; for when He shall bring again Zion, says
the Prophet, the Lord will appear in His glory. And He has long
been laboring in His own marvelous manner among the nations of
the earth, turning and overturning, to bring to pass His purposes
and to gather together His elect; and He has moved upon the
oppressed of many lands and climes--those who sought for enlarged
freedom and liberty whose minds reached out for more light and
more truth, and whose understandings were expanded--to gather
upon this American continent, and implanted in the hearts of our
fathers a love of freedom and liberty and equal rights. He led
them through schools of oppression. They passed through many
difficulties, and endured the rule of tyrants. They bore
oppression and suffered until they learned how to appreciate
freedom and liberty, and how to detest misrule, tyranny and
oppression; they struggled to burst the shackles that bound the
human soul; they struggled for freedom of thought, of speech, of
action; they struggled unitedly to burst the bonds, to break the
yoke, from off their necks; they vied with each other in this
labor of love from north to south, from east to west, in all the
colonies which were early planted upon this continent. The Lord
guided their labors to a successful issue, resulting in freedom
from the tyranny of the effete governments of the old world; He
directed the combined efforts and labors of those men in
consolidating the result of their labors and framing the system
of government under which we are now permitted to live.
67
[At this point part of the congregation moved from the body of
the Tabernacle to the gallery causing a stay in the proceedings.
Quietness having been obtained the speaker continued.]
67
I was saying that God our heavenly Father had moved upon the
nations and sent out from the nations of the old world streams of
emigration to the new world, who were panting for freedom and
liberty, and who struggled to burst the bands with which they
were bound, and the yoke from off their necks, and were striving
to learn how to be free. And in penetrating the new world and its
wilds, and in grappling with and overcoming the difficulties
attending the forming of new settlements and planting colonies in
the new world, they learned the value of freedom, and therefore
studied to preserve it; and they labored to establish a form of
government under which it might be maintained. In all these works
and labors we discern an overruling providence, and
manifestations of the mercy and loving kindness of God to His
people, and the revelations of His Spirit imparted, to a greater
or less degree, unto the wise and patriotic fathers of our
country, who were thus enabled to unite upon the best form of
government existing among men, or which, perhaps, ever has
existed, unless it has been those which God himself directly
revealed through the Patriarchs and Prophets of older times. But
so far as any political organizations of government upon this
earth, the Republican or Democratic form of government
established in these United States--(the foundations of which
were laid by our fathers over a hundred years ago), is the best
calculated to promote the objects sought, and to maintain the
rights of man, and the guarantees of religious and political
freedom, of any form of government known to mankind. But that it
or any other form, in this imperfect and sinful world, is
altogether perfect is not to be expected, and therefore cannot
endure for ever. But we regard the present form of government of
this nation as embodying the greatest amount of virtue and
principles best calculated to maintain and preserve the rights of
man.
67
In the early history of this Church a revelation was given
through the Prophet Joseph in which the people are commanded to
observe the Constitutional laws of the land, and to uphold by
their votes and sustain upright and honorable men to administer
them [.] which also stated that He had inspired the fathers to
establish this form of government for the good and benefit of
man. I will read a few paragraphs found on the 342d page of the
Doctrine and Covenants, new edition:
67
"And now, verily, I say unto you concerning the laws of the land,
it is my will that my people should observe to do all things
whatsoever I command them;
67
"And that the law of the land which is constitutional, supporting
that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges,
belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me;
67
"Therefore I, the Lord, justify you and your brethren of my
Church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law
of the land;
67
"And as pertaining to the law of man, whatsoever is more or less
than these, cometh of evil.
67
"I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed;
and the law also maketh you free.
67
"Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn.
68
"Wherefore, honest men, and wise men should be sought for
diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to
uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil."
68
I deem it of much importance that these principles should be well
understood and thoroughly impressed upon the minds of the
Latter-day Saints throughout the world, and especially those
dwelling upon this American Continent and within the pale of this
government, that they may implant in the hearts of our children a
love of freedom and human rights, and a desire to preserve them,
and to aid in maintaining a defending them in all lawful and
proper ways; and to study the constitutional laws of the land,
and make others acquainted with them; knowing the principles
contained therein, and of learning how to apply them to
ourselves, to our children, and to our fellowmen who are willing
to be governed thereby; study them that we may also learn how to
use them in suppressing tyranny, misrule and other evils that
affect mankind; for God has ordained this form of government in
this age of the world, and has chosen His own instruments to
further His great purposes on the earth--the organization of his
Church, the proclamation of the everlasting Gospel, the
establishment of His Zion, and bringing to pass His wonderful
works which He predicted by the mouths of the ancient Prophets.
And this political system and order of government is a power in
His hands established, preserved and defended thus far by Him,
which He will continue to use as long as the people are worthy of
it, as long as they will maintain their integrity, uprightness
and virtue; and at no time will the Latter-day Saints, as a
people, ever stand approved before God in violating those
principles or slackening their efforts to maintain and defend
them. They are closely allied to the teachings of the ancient
Prophets and Apostles, to the doctrines, practices and teachings
of the Savior and His disciples, and they are the best means and
aids of extending and promoting those principles on the earth.
Whatever some may have thought of the mal-administration in our
government and of the efforts of individuals and sometimes of
large faction, to abridge the rights of the people, and of their
blind zeal and efforts to reach the Latter-day Saints, and to
stamp out the religion we profess--whatever may have been thought
of the efforts of such individuals, cliques, or factions, and of
their warfare trample under foot constitutional provisions of our
Government--undermine the foundations upon which it rests--we
must never in our feelings charge any of these things to this
system of government, or to the principles enunciated is the
Constitution, which we are commanded to observe and keep. We must
charge it always where it belongs--to the bigotry, the ignorance,
the selfishness, ambition and blind zeal of ignorant and corrupt
politicians, their aiders and abbettors, and all this should only
serve to make us try more earnestly, anxiously and faithfully to
combat such efforts upon constitutional grounds, calling upon God
to help us therein.
70
We were told this morning by Brother Woodruff--quoting the word
of the Lord given through the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning the
promises He has made to His people--that inasmuch as we will be
true to ourselves, true to God, true to our covenants and to our
holy religion, that He will fight our battles, defend and
maintain our cause, make it triumph and flourish, so that the
wicked shall have no power to prevail against us. These promises
have often been repeated to us, and last October we had a renewal
of this assurance and this promise in the word of the Lord given
unto us through His servant President John Taylor, and at a time
and period, too, when many in our midst were weakening and their
knees were beginning to tremble a little, and there were others
who were inclined to falter and doubt, and fear was upon some.
Our enemies--especially the bigot, the hypocrite, the demagogue,
the political quacks of the country--rejoiced, thinking that they
were succeeding in their efforts to weave webs around us, to
forge fetters for our feet and yokes to place upon our necks, and
to lash us into obedience to them. But the great majority of the
Latter-day Saints were calm in their feelings as a summer's
morning, trusting as they have ever done in the promises of God,
inspired with faith and hope in his overruling providence; and
while we were doing what we might do properly under the
Constitution and institutions of our country for the maintenance
of our freedom and liberty, leaving the rest with God, exercising
faith in His promises, continuing to pray for His blessing to
attend our efforts and to hedge up the ways of our enemies, yet
we have waited calmly for the result of the promises of God, and
the answer to our prayers and the fulfillment of those things
that have been spoken to us; and how signally have we seen them
fulfilled. We have seen the very means which the enemies of this
people have devised and intended for their enslavement become
before us as chaff, as thorns crackling under the pot, as a
broken yoke to be used to kindle the fires of freedom and
liberty. In former times the efforts that have been made in
Congress and out of Congress to press the representatives of the
people to hostile and unconstitutional legislation as a means to
help religious bigots to suppress the doctrines of Christ, the
ordinances of life and salvation, the rule and reign of
righteousness among the people of God--I say, in their efforts to
reach our religious principles and faith, and the exercise of
those principles under that faith, and to crush it out from the
earth--in their efforts to do so, they have moved upon statesmen
to violate the Constitution of our country and the principles of
human freedom on which our government has been founded in order
to accomplish this purpose. But all those who have thus
stultified themselves before the world, and before the heavens,
and have done violence to their oath of office and to the
Constitution, to the rights of man, and to the principles of
freedom and liberty, have weakened, have gone down, the sceptre
of their power has fallen from their grasp, they have been
dishonored before the heavens and before their people as a rule,
and sooner or later we will witness others going down into the
pit of forgetfulness as their predecessors have done. For the
Lord has decreed it. And to-day the young men of Israel who are
assembling in their Improvement Associations in all the Stakes of
Zion, in all the Wards and settlements of the people throughout
the land, and in their quorum meetings, and in their political
assemblies, are all learning and cultivating these principles of
liberty in their minds, introducing and extending them among the
rising generation, the sons of Zion, and not only the sons, but
the daughters that are coupled with the sons, the wives that are
coupled with the husbands, in this labor of love, the struggle
for the maintenance of freedom and liberty. It is a source of
satisfaction to me that the Lord has moved upon His servants and
the Legislature of our Territory to be among the first to lead
the van of human progress in the extension of the elective
franchise to women as well as men, and to recognize the freedom
and liberty which belongs to the fairer sex as well as the
sterner; for the Gospel teaches that all things are to be done
among us by common consent, and the Prophet Joseph commanded and
introduced in our midst the custom we are following to-day, that
of presenting to all the congregations of Israel, at our General
Conferences, and our local or Stake Conferences, the General
Authorities of the Church, to be justified or condemned by the
voice of the people, to be upheld and sustained by the
confidence, faith and prayers of the people; or otherwise to be
reproved by the votes of the people for the misdeeds or
mal-administration. These are things continually before the
people, as well as the revelations which God has given unto us,
and which are written and taught in our Sabbath schools and
public gatherings, and to all who come within the scope of these
instructions, viz., a love of freedom and liberty.
70
The leaders of this people are charged with being blind, leaders
of the blind; and the people are charged with being blind, led by
the blind. I deny the charge and brand it false. We know and
understand perfectly that our leaders are neither blind nor are
the people blind. On the contrary, we have received the light,
the light of truth, the light of God. We have come to the
understanding that every soul of man, both male and female, high
and low, is the offspring of God, that their spirits are
immortal, eternal, intelligent beings, and that their entity
depends upon their agency and independent action, which is
neither tramelled by God himself nor allowed to be restrained by
any of His creatures with His sanction and approval; that the
whole theory of God's rule and government in heaven and on earth
is founded upon this principle of agency--self, independent
action. And it is upon the free and independent exercise of this
agency that the decree of God is founded, that all men shall be
judged according to the deeds done in the body, none having it in
his power to say that he was not at liberty to exercise this
agency untramelled.
71
So far as relates to the administration of government and the
exercise of political power, or the exercise of any manner of
influence--political, religious or social--every man and every
woman will be held accountable to God for the manner in which
they exercise it. Kings and emperors, presidents and statesmen,
judges and all officers of the law, will be held responsible for
the administration of the power reposed in them. And if, while
acting officially, they disregard their oath of office and
violate the principles that should govern them, they become
guilty of mal-administration, and will be held accountable unto
God, and should be strictly accountable to the people who place
them in power. But every individual capacity, will be held
answerable to God for all his acts of whatsoever character, and
so far as, in the exercise of that agency, men trespass upon the
rights of their fellow-men they must be held answerable to their
fellow-men for such trespass and wrong. And for this purpose
human government is instituted, approved by the people, to hold
each other responsible unto each other or unto the community, for
the abuse of their freedom and liberty, and for this purpose laws
are enacted and judges provided to judge according to the law,
and to administer the law when it becomes necessary to punish
transgressors. And God has commanded us in the revelation which
He gave to us, that in case Church members violate a law of the
land, they shall be delivered up to be dealt with according to
the law of the land; that if they shall murder, rob or steal, or
commit perjury or any other crime of which the law of the land
takes cognizance, they shall be delivered up to be dealt with for
their offence. But that for all manner of iniquity they shall be
delivered up to the law of God to be dealt with according to the
law of God; and those laws which are given unto you, as the laws
of God, for your government in the Church must be treated as
such. And it becomes our duty as good Saints, as those that are
bound together by the ties and in the fellowship of the Gospel,
as those that have covenanted to serve God and to keep his
commandments, to work righteously and to deal justly one with
another, that if we violate the principles of the Gospel and the
laws which God has given unto us, that we shall be delivered up
to the judges in Israel, and the Teachers shall labor with such,
and their labors of love shall be directed earnestly to the
reformation and repentance of all persons that have done wrong
and done violence to the feelings, faith and fellowship of their
brethren and sisters. And for every manner of sin shall they be
held accountable unto the Councils of the Church, to the Bishops
who are common judges in Israel; and to the High Councils. And
though we may succeed in winning them to repentance, and they
turn away from evil and will do so no more, and succeed in
eliciting the sympathy and forgiveness of their brethren, still,
if they have violated a law of the land, they must be made
subject to that law, and to endure the penalty. And if they pay
the penalty with patience, which is but the legitimate fruits and
testimony of genuine repentance, satisfying all that they
appreciate their wrong and determine to do so no more, when the
penalty is paid, they may with renewed determination begin to
serve their God, and prove to their brethren that their
repentance was genuine and sincere. And although we are required
to forgive whomsoever He will, because he searches all hearts and
knows, as we cannot know, how far their repentance is genuine,
and how far they ought to be forgiven.
71
It is important that we as Latter-day Saints, understand what God
requires of us towards each other in the Church of Christ, and
also what He requires of us towards the State. For the
constitutional laws of the land are for the protection of the
rights of all flesh; the liberties of Saints as well as those of
sinners. And if sinners can afford to dishonor the law, surely
Saints cannot, neither can they justify others in so doing;
neither can Saints afford to override the laws of God, or to wink
at others who may do so.
72
God will not hold us faultless if we do. He requires us as
Elders, as Apostles, as Presidents, as Bishops, as Seventies, as
parents, to teach (wherever it is our prerogative and duty,)
correct principles, and observe them ourselves and seek to
enforce them upon others. And it is not alone the duty of High
Councils and Presidents of Stakes, and of Bishops and their
Counselors to labor to correct the errors of the people, but it
is the duty of every Elder, High Priest and Seventy--and
especially the Priests, Teachers and Deacons that are appointed
and called to be standing ministers in the Church, to visit the
house of each member and become familiar with every family, and
every individual member of the family, and their daily walk and
life and conversation; and ascertain whether they are living as
Saints should live; whether the heads of families preside in
righteousness in their houses; whether their houses are set in
order; whether they have an altar erected whereon are offered up
their daily, morning and evening devotions; whether every member
is taught to reverence and respect that altar; whether each
individual prays in secret as well as responds to the calls made
upon him to pray in the family circle and in public; whether each
one that has enrolled himself in a quorum attends his quorum
meetings and is obedient to the President of his quorum, his
counsels and instructions; and if they are enrolled in the Mutual
Improvement Associations, whether they sustain that institution
and the leaders thereof, and are performing well their part;
whether the parents are faithful in sending their children to
Sunday school and to other institutions of learning; whether they
teach their children to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,
etc. These are duties and obligations that we cannot ignore, that
God will not justify us in neglecting, and those who are called
to bear a part of the Holy Priesthood cannot be justified if they
neglect all these duties, or any portion of them; for the Lord
has said, "blessed are they who hear my sayings and shall keep
them all, for the same shall be great in the kingdom of heaven;
but if any one shall fail or neglect to observe and keep the
least of these my sayings and teach others to do so, the same
shall be least in the kingdom of heaven." For the Lord is not to
be mocked; and though we may excuse ourselves in many ways for
carelessness and neglect, and we may supplicate for forgiveness,
as we are in duty bound to do for all our transgressions and
shortcomings, yet we cannot in any wise plead justification, or
suppose that God will justify us, for He has said He cannot look
upon sin with the least degree of allowance, and yet He showeth
mercy and kindness unto thousands of those who repent and seek to
turn away from their follies.
73
Over fifty years have passed away since the light of the glorious
Gospel in its fullness began to dawn upon us, and still we are
measurably walking in darkness. Yet the Lord has said that we are
the only people and the only church--speaking as a whole--upon
the face of the earth with which He is well pleased. As a whole
we are the best people He can find. He has sent out His word
throughout the earth. He has sent His servants abroad carrying,
as it were, a torch in their hand--the light of the Gospel,
inviting all to come to it, that as many as love the light may
see it and follow it as one would follow a light in a dark place,
or until the dawn of day. The Holy Spirit has been upon His
servants and in the gathering together of this people. It is the
Holy Ghost that has moved upon the people in the islands of the
sea, in all the different nations of Europe, in the various parts
of America, and in all lands where the light of the Gospel has
been carried and the testimony of Jesus has been sounded. It is
the testimony of the Spirit from on high bearing witness to and
moving upon the hearts of the people that has drawn them into the
light of truth and that has gathered them together with the
Church of Jesus Christ. It was not worldly prospects held out
before them that induced them to gather. I speak now of the
people as a whole and not individually; for there may be
individuals who have been influenced by worldly considerations,
by personal, selfish motives. But all such, sooner or later, get
their eyes open and see their folly and sin and wickedness, and
repent, or they are purged out from among the Latter-day Saints.
They apostatize, they turn away from us; they go back into
Babylon, and they strike hands with our enemies and fight against
God, and go down into perdition; for none can remain and continue
to stand among the Saints of God, and hold fast to the principles
of the Gospel, and enter into life only on the pure principles of
virtue, integrity and righteousness, as we heard this morning,
and as we are told by the Lord in certain revelations to the
Church, namely, that the powers of the Priesthood are inseparably
connected with the powers of heaven, and the powers of heaven can
in no wise be used except on the principles of righteousness. And
no man or woman can continue long in sin in the midst of the
Saints, where the Gospel is preached in power, and where those
who minister, do so in the power of their Priesthood and by the
Holy Ghost, without being purged out from their midst. For that
spirit will reveal and make manifest what sort they are. If the
law of the Lord is properly administered among them and they are
found violating it they will be judged according to the law of
the Lord, and be separated from the Saints. And although we do
not look for entire separation of the sheep from the goats, of
the tares from the wheat, until the Great Judge Himself shall
come to complete the separation, it is nevertheless expected that
all men who act as judges in Israel should be helps in separating
the sheep from the goats, the tares from the wheat, as fast as
they are made manifest, and the tares may be plucked up without
destroying the wheat; and it becomes our duty to do it. But He
enjoins us to be wise lest we in our zeal and anxiety destroy or
pluck up some of the wheat that may be growing under the shade of
the tare, whose roots may be intermingled with it. We must
therefore be prudent. It is better in some instances to allow the
tare to remain until its character be more fully developed and
made manifest, until it can be plucked up without endangering the
wheat.
74
I testify unto all Israel, and unto all the world, that God has
called us, and required us to observe and practice these things;
and that it is not the work of man, and that the institutions of
this Church are not the institutions of man. And when we speak of
the institutions of our common country, we say in the main,
though God has used man in instituting this form of government,
and in establishing its institutions and maintaining freedom upon
this land, they are nevertheless the institutions of heaven; and
God has revealed unto us that He did establish them by the hands
of wise men, whom He raised up for that special purpose, and
redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. It is therefore part
of His great work, as much so as the part of revealing the keys
of the Priesthood to Joseph, and the ordinances thereof, for the
salvation of His people. For the political organization upon the
land was designed by heaven to be a protection to the righteous.
"But," says one, "is it not designed to protect the wicked?" No,
not in wicked acts, but in their freedom and liberty, to think
and to speak and to act, and to choose for themselves; for in
those rights all must be protected. God has always protected
them, both in heaven and on earth. And he designed that all men
should protect one another, and if necessary be united for the
protection and welfare of all flesh. Not that the laws of the
land or the laws of God will protect the wicked in doing
wickedly, but on the contrary, will condemn and judge them. They
are left to choose for themselves their course of life in
exercising their agency in all things pertaining to themselves
and the service of their God, and to use freedom and liberty in
doing good, that which is right; but there is no such thing as
liberty to do wrong and be justified in that wrong, neither on
earth nor in heaven, neither by the laws of God, nor the just
laws of man.
75
Now, the Supreme Court of the United States, in its great zeal to
establish and maintain monogamy upon this American continent, and
to strike a blow at the patriarchal order of marriage, believed
in by the Latter-day Saints, in its decision in the Reynolds'
case announced the doctrine that religion consists in thought and
matters of faith and concerning matters of faith, and not
actions, and the government is restrained by the terms of the
Constitution from any efforts to curtail this freedom and
liberty. Wonderful doctrine! A wonderful strain of judicial
thought to announce to the world, this wonderful doctrine that
the government should not attempt to restrain the exercise of
thought, or the exercise of faith! I would like somebody, that
knows how to defend this doctrine, to tell me how any one man, or
any set of men on the earth could go to work and catch a thought
and chain it up and imprison it, or stop its flight, or root it
out of the heart, or restrain it, or do away with it. Let them go
to and try to chain the lightning, stop the sun from shining,
stop the rains from descending and the mist from arising from the
ocean, and when they have done this, they may talk about
restraining men's faith, and exercising control over the thoughts
and faith of the people. The fathers who framed our Constitution
were not such dunces, I am happy to say, as Attorney-General
Devens, who put that nonsensical language and doctrine into the
mouths of the chief justices of the Supreme Court of the United
States--the fathers who framed our Constitution, I say, were not
such dunces, they did not attempt to place constitutional
restrictions upon the law-making power from any effort at making
law for the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof. And the exercise of religion implies something
more than mere faith and thought. I may think about being
baptized for the remission of my sins, I may believe it is right
I should do it, I may be convinced that God has required it of
me, and I may think I ought to do it, and think I will; but all
this faith and all this thought don't amount to as much as you
can put in your eye, until I arise and go forth to be baptized,
and when I do this, then I exercise the faith which is in me, and
it produces the works. This principle may be equally true of
everything else pertaining to the exercise of religion. I may
believe it is right for me to be enrolled with a religious
community that meets to worship, and I may believe it is right
and a religious duty to meet with them from time to time to
celebrate the supper of the Lord and partake of bread and wine,
and when I partake of the bread and of the wine in commemoration
of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, it is but the exercise of
that faith which is in me. I may believe that God meant what he
said when he gave that general commandments to His children to
multiply and replenish the earth, and I may think about it; but
it is my duty, if I want to raise potatoes, to plant the seed; if
I desire to raise fruit I must go to and plant the fruit trees;
if I desire to cultivate the earth I must use the proper means
necessary to cultivate and improve it before I can gather the
fruits of it. And then to do the other thing, to form a union as
God has enjoined in the holy bond of matrimony, we must enter
into that bond for the purpose of multiplying our species and
thus bring forth the fruits of our bodies. I may believe this
doctrine, as contained in the revelations of God; but what will
this amount to unless I exercise myself in it. I shall remain a
bachelor, worse than a hermit--a parasite in the
commonwealth--unless I rise up and put my faith in practice and
exercise myself in my religious belief.
76
I say also, when the time comes that God sees in the midst of His
people an increase of the female element, and the wicked ready to
devour that element and appropriate it not in the way to
"multiply and replenish the earth," but for the gratification of
fleshly lust, and will actually take and employ hellish means to
prevent the increase of their species, and show that they are not
only beneath the brute, but beneath the vegetable creation, by
refusing to bear fruit, thereby placing themselves in the
category of the trees that are dried up, fit only to be cast into
the fire, he can take measures to counteract this evil. And I say
before God, angels and men, that every man and woman who joins in
unholy wedlock for the gratification of fleshly lust, and
studiously plan to frustrate the command of God in the
multiplication of their species, show that they are
unworthy--what shall I say?--unworthy to be classed among the
honorable of the earth. And we have reason to believe that many
have done, and are to-day, in the great cities of Babylon, taking
steps to destroy their own offspring, committing infanticide and
foeticide, all of whom, and their aiders and abettors, are but
ripening for the damnation of hell. And when God sees this
damnable doctrine taught, and taught by such men as Mr. Henry
Ward Beecher and other modern divines falsely so-called, who
teach the world that it is a positive evil to multiply and
increase so greatly in the land--when such doctrine is taught by
leading lights, and so readily accepted by the masses, the Lord
says, the time has come for Him to take measures to counteract
this great evil, by introducing laws in the midst of those who
fear Him and work righteousness and live according to the
principles of life; men who are upright, honest and faithful, men
who are willing to assume the responsibility; to take the
daughters of Eve to wife and multiply and replenish the earth,
for those men are unworthy of them. It is as Jesus said
concerning the man who hid it in a napkin; he laid it carefully
away, and by and by brought it out, saying, here it is as I
received it, not having increased at all; in other words, we are
just where we were when we started. Another one says I received
two talents; and have increased to four, another says I received
five talents, and now have ten: the master says to the one who
hid his talent, who perhaps laid it carefully away and kept it
nice, watching over it with the greatest care; or in other words,
to him who did not multiply and increase, but on the contrary
took pains to avoid doing so, "Take from him that which he seems
to have and give to him that has ten; for he that has and
improves upon that which he receives, shall receive more
abundantly.
76
May God bless and keep us in the way in which He can sustain and
defend us, and lead us onward, as He has done hitherto, is my
prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Joseph
F. Smith, February 2d, 1883
Joseph F. Smith, February 2d, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH,
Delivered at the Funeral Services of the late James Urie,
in the Sixteenth Ward, Salt Lake City, February 2d, 1883.
CONSOLATION WHICH THE BEREAVED HAVE--OTHER CALAMITIES WORSE THAN
DEATH--EFFECTS OF SIN--WHAT IS TO BE GAINED BY FAITHFULNESS--HOW
ALL
WILL BE JUDGED--THE RESURRECTION--PROOFS OF CHRIST'S
RESURRECTION--THE
SPEAKER'S TESTIMONY.
F. Smith
It is a very difficult matter to say anything at a time of sorrow
and bereavement like the present that will give immediate relief
to the sorrowing hearts of those who mourn. Such griefs can only
be fully relieved by the lapse of time and the influence of the
good spirit upon the hearts of those that mourn, by which they
can obtain comfort and satisfaction in their hopes of the future.
For the loss of a father or mother in the family there is no
adequate reparation; no remedy in this world which will supply
such a loss, and about the only consolation we have is in the
hope that we may so live that we may be permitted to meet again
with our beloved, faithful and true friends who go before, or who
come after us, and enjoy their society once more in another
sphere or state, which will be immortal. If we can only be
satisfied in our minds by the witness of the good spirit, to know
that the course we pursue in this life is such a will secure to
us this privilege, then, in this reflection there is a degree of
comfort and satisfaction, if not of joy, notwithstanding our
separation, in time, from those that we have loved and cherished,
for although they are gone from us, we know we shall meet them
again in a better and more enduring sphere. I remember my
feelings when first called upon to part with one of my
children--my first born. It seemed to me to be an irreparable
loss--a calamity, and if I had not restrained my feelings I
should have felt that it was cruel for the Lord to suffer one so
bright, so pure and innocent to be taken away by the hand of
death, after remaining with us just long enough to become the joy
of our hearts and the light of our home. Indeed it was a severe
trial of our feelings to part with one who seemed so
indispensable to our happiness, and for a time it seemed that the
substance of our joy and hope had fled forever; but I have
learned that there are a great many things which are far worse
than death. With my present feelings and views and the
understanding that I have of life and death I would far rather
follow every child I have to the grave in their innocence and
purity, than to see them grow up to man and womanhood and degrade
themselves by the pernicious practices of the world, forget the
Gospel, forget God and the plan of life and salvation, and turn
away from the only hope of eternal reward and exaltation in the
world to come.
F. Smith
Far better, in my judgment, follow them to their graves before
they have commenced such fearful acts, or fall into such fearful
errors. I would rather a thousand times die while I have the
faith of the Gospel in my heart and the hope of eternal life
within me, with the prospect of becoming worthy of inheriting a
crown of eternal life which is the greatest gift of God unto man,
than to live in possession of all the world affords and lose that
gift.
F. Smith
It would be far better for me and my whole family to die in the
faith than to live and deny it and bring shame, disgrace and ruin
upon us for ever.
F. Smith
The Gospel has been revealed to us in this dispensation. The
revelation of the Gospel is a reality; there is no fiction about
it. It is a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. The
plan of salvation has been revealed for the redemption of the
world. Shall we deny it after we have become acquainted with its
glorious truths?
F. Smith
No person can turn away from the truth into darkness and error
and into "by and forbidden paths," and continue in that course
without forfeiting all claim to the blessings and privileges of
the first resurrection.
F. Smith
If the truth had not been revealed to the world and mankind had
been left in ignorance in relation to these principles, it would
have been a very different thing; there would have been some
excuse for them; but the fact that light has come into the world,
that the truth has been revealed and the way of salvation marked
out and made plain and simple for all to walk in it, makes it
absolutely necessary for all to come to the knowledge of the
truth, to walk circumspectly, and to keep the commandments which
the Lord has given. It would be immeasurably better for us to lay
down our bodies now, in the faith of the Gospel, than to live to
ripe old age and turn away from it, thereby forfeiting our claim
upon eternal life.
F. Smith
If we live and turn away from the truth we will be separated
throughout the countless ages of eternity from the society of
those we love. We will have no claim upon them, and they will
have no claim upon us. There will be an impassable gulf between
us over which we can not pass, one to the other. If we die in the
faith, having lived righteous lives, we are Christ's, we have the
assurance of eternal reward, being in possession of the
principles of eternal truth and shall be clothed with glory,
immortality and eternal lives. While we sojourn in the flesh we
pass a great portion of our life in sorrow; death separates us
for a short time, some of us pass behind the vail, but the time
will come when we will meet with those who have gone, and enjoy
each other's society forever. The separation is but for a moment
as it were. No power can separate us then. God having joined us
together we have a claim upon each other--an undeniable
claim--inasmuch as we have been united by the power of the
priesthood in the Gospel of Christ. Therefore it is better to be
separated in this life for a little season, although we have to
pass through deprivation, sorrow, trouble, toil, widowhood,
orphanage, and many other vicissitudes, than to be separated for
all eternity. By complying with the principles of the Gospel we
become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. The
anticipation of these great privileges brings happiness to us
now, and strengthens our hopes of exaltation and eternal reward
in the kingdom of God hereafter. No other power but that of God,
through the knowledge of truth, can give such enjoyment, peace of
mind, consolation and happiness to the sorrowing hearts of
mortals. The Gospel has been revealed for the salvation and
exaltation of the children of men, and if they would only receive
it, it would bring, finally, unalloyed and perfect happiness to
all, even a "fullness of joy."
F. Smith
Let us look into the future. We should not brood over the
hardships which we have passed through. This is a world of
sorrow, of care, of probation; a world of disappointment, anxiety
and toil. We find it as it is, and many of us help to make it no
better. When God organized the world, he pronounced it good, but
men have transgressed the laws and departed from the paths of
life. Mankind do not live by principles of justice, truth,
righteousness and equality. They are violators of the law, and
will come under its condemnation. I am sorry to say that mankind
bring evil and therefore suffering upon themselves. Men rise up
and oppress their neighbors. Many take delight in oppressing
their fellow creatures, and they do it because they have not the
Spirit of God or the love of the Gospel in their hearts. They
hate justice and righteousness and are strangers to mercy,
because they know not God nor His law, nor comprehend the results
of their own acts. Whereas, if they were imbued with the good
spirit, they would comfort and elevate those by whom they are
surrounded. Were men to use properly the blessings which God has
given them for the good of all mankind, we would soon see the
effects in the amelioration of the world; but many are so fallen
and degraded that they care nothing for themselves nor for
anybody else.
F. Smith
Many are lovers of pleasure and lust more than lovers of God.
They delight in the lusts of the flesh, the gratification of
their appetites, having virulent desires, living in corruption,
debauchery, revelry and all manner of wickedness. Many people do
not know how to be happy, not knowing how to use the blessings
that God has given unto them. If they had all the world, they
would use it for the gratification of their own base passions and
desires, to their own destruction. But if they possessed the
right spirit, they would seek to promote the peace and happiness
of mankind and extend the influence of the Gospel of light and
truth to all the world. They would love purity, virtue, honesty,
sobriety and righteousness. We should use the blessings that we
receive to the glory of the Lord. We should comfort the mourner
and provide for those who are in need. If we were to use the
blessings that God has given unto us to His honor and glory, all
would be happy; but we do not all see nor do alike. Inasmuch as
we do not use our gifts or talents that are given unto us of God
for the elevation of mankind, we know too well the sad results.
They are misery and ruin for time, and perhaps for all eternity.
F. Smith
Every man will have to render an account of his stewardship, and
every one off us will be held responsible for his own works,
whether good or evil. We will be judged for the deeds done in the
flesh; if they have been evil we will have to pay the penalty and
satisfy justice and the demands of a broken law. Those that have
sinned against the Holy Ghost will have no redemption. All will
be saved with this exception, and come out of the "prison" and be
exalted and receive a reward and an inheritance in the mansions
prepared for them in the house of God. God does not judge men as
we do, nor look upon them in the same light that we do. He knows
our imperfections--all the causes, the "whys and wherefores" are
made manifest unto Him. He judges us by our acts and the intents
of our hearts. His judgments will be true, just and righteous;
ours are obscured by the imperfections of man. We are required to
obey the laws of God revealed unto us in the Gospel. It is for
Sister Urie and her little ones to comply with these laws
throughout their lives. It is for the widow and the fatherless to
live to the principles of the Gospel, be faithful and keep the
covenants they have made. If they do this, they will be exalted
in His kingdom, and they will receive all that their hearts can
rightfully desire. They will receive the reward, if they are
faithful, and will lose nothing. God will not suffer the
righteous to be deprived of the blessings they justly merit; they
will gain their exaltation. No eye hath seen, no ear heard,
neither can the heart of man conceive of the glory and exaltation
that is laid up in store for the faithful.
F. Smith
This is my testimony in relation to this matter. I have known
Brother Urie for quite a number of years; he was a man who had a
good heart; he was a friend to mankind, so far as it lay in his
power to be, which he has proved by many acts of kindness to his
fellow man. He has acted sometimes unwisely towards himself and
family. I am sorry to say this, but we can not ignore the fact,
it is too well known. I do not believe that he has injured any
individual but himself and family. They will forgive him, we will
forgive him, and I trust God will forgive him for this folly. I
do not believe that he would have harmed a hair of any man upon
earth, or raised a finger to injure any one. He has befriended
the cause of Zion and the Elders of Israel. He will receive his
reward if he has been true to his covenants with God. I do not
believe for a moment that he forsook them or ever denied the
faith. He will answer for the wrong which he has committed
against himself and family. God will not forsake him, inasmuch as
he forsook Him not and was true to Him, and he will be preserved,
but he will have to suffer the consequence of his folly and pay
the debt. This I will say, if I had the power, as a savior upon
Mount Zion, I would forgive him, and nothing would give me more
joy and pleasure than to administer reclamation, salvation and
exaltation to Brother Urie.
F. Smith
Let us obey our religion. Keep the commands of God, and bring up
our children in the way of life and salvation, teach them the
principles of the Gospel, to be virtuous, honest and pure, that
they may lead pure and holy lives and cleave to the faith, that
they may all come off victorious and receive the crown and the
blessing of endless lives. Bishop Kesler was saying that we are
mortal beings. It is true all of us are clothed with mortality,
but our spirits existed long before they took upon them this
tabernacle that we now inhabit. When this body dies, the spirit
does not die. The spirit is an immortal being, and when separated
from the body takes its flight to the place prepared for it, and
there awaits the resurrection of the body, when the spirit will
return again and re-occupy this tabernacle which it occupied in
this world.
F. Smith
This great and glorious principle of the resurrection is no
longer a theory as some think, but it is an accomplished fact
which has been demonstrated beyond all successful contradiction,
doubt or controversy. Job, who lived before the resurrection of
Christ, possessing the spirit of prophecy, looked forward to the
time of the resurrection. He comprehended the fact. He understood
the principle and knew the power and design of God to bring it to
pass, and predicted its accomplishment. He declares:--"I know
that my Redeemer liveth and that He shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth;" he further says, "and though after my skin,
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." He
looked forward to something not yet done, something which had
never been done in this world before his day. It was not
accomplished till long after this time. Having received the
spirit of the Gospel and of revelation, he was enabled to look
down into unborn time and see his body which had mouldered and
crumbled into dust raised from the dead. What we saw by the eye
of faith has become actual history unto us, and we possess not
only the history of the fact but a knowledge by the testimony of
the Holy Ghost of its truth. We are not therefore situated as Job
was, we live in the "latter times which are pregnant with grand
and glorious events, among the greatest of which is this glorious
principle of the resurrection of the dead, which is no longer a
mere prediction, a cherished hope, or a prophetic promise, but a
reality; for long before our day it has actually been
accomplished. Christ Himself burst the barriers of the tomb,
conquered death and the grave and came forth "the first fruits of
them that slept." But says one, how can we know that Jesus was
put to death or resurrected? We have plenty of evidence to show
that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. We have the testimony
of His disciples and they produce irrefutable evidence that they
did see Him crucified, and witnessed the wounds of the nails and
spear which He received on the cross. They also testify that His
body was laid away in a sepulchre wherein no man had lain and
they rolled a great stone to the door and departed.
F. Smith
Now the chief priests and Pharisees were not satisfied with the
crucifixion and burial of our Lord and Savior, they remembered
that while living He had said that after three days He would rise
again, so they established a strong guard to protect the
sepulchre and set a seal upon the stone lest His disciples should
come by night and steal the body away and say unto the people,
"He is risen from the dead," and thus perpetrate a fraud upon the
world.
F. Smith
Lo and behold! by this act those unbelieving guards became actual
witnesses to the fact that a heavenly personage came and rolled
away the stone and that Jesus came forth. The disciples witness
and testify to the resurrection, and their testimony can not be
impeached. It therefore stands good, and is true and faithful.
F. Smith
But is this the only evidence we have to depend on? Have we
nothing but the testimony of the ancient disciples to rest our
hopes upon? Thank God we have more. And the additional evidence
which we possess enables us to become witnesses to the truth of
the testimony of the ancient disciples. We go to the Book of
Mormon; it testifies of the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ in plain and unmistakable terms; we may go to the book of
Doctrine and Covenants containing the revelations of this
dispensation, and we shall find clear and well-defined evidence
there. We have the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the
testimony of Oliver Cowdery, and the testimony of Sidney Rigdon,
that they saw the Lord Jesus--the same that was crucified in
Jerusalem--and that He revealed Himself unto them. Joseph and
Sidney testify to it, as follows:--
F. Smith
"We, Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the spirit of
the sixteenth of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand
eight hundred and thirty-two, by the power of the spirit our eyes
were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to
understand the things of God--even those things which were from
the beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the
Father, through His Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of
the Father, even from the beginning, of whom we bear record, and
the record which we bear is the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, who is the Son whom we saw and with whom we conversed in
the heavenly vision." (Doc. and Cov., sec. 76, verses 11-14.)
They were called to be special witnesses of Jesus Christ and His
death and resurrection.
F. Smith
We have also the testimony of the ancient disciples who lived on
this continent of the crucifixion and resurrection. You will find
their testimony recorded in the Book of Mormon. The disciples who
lived upon this continent knew what transpired at Jerusalem; the
Lord shewed them these things. After His resurrection He
manifested Himself to His disciples on this continent, and shewed
them the wounds He had received on Calvary. They were convinced
that Jesus was the Christ and the Redeemer of the world. They
beheld Him in the flesh and they bear witness of it, and their
testimony is true. We have the testimony of many witnesses. We
have the testimony of eleven special witnesses to the divine
authenticity of the Book of Mormon, which book testifies of
Christ's resurrection, containing as it does the records of the
ancient prophets and disciples of Christ on this continent, thus
confirming their testimonies.
F. Smith
Is it all the evidence we have? No. Joseph Smith boldly declared
to the world that if mankind would sincerely repent of their sins
and be baptized by authority they should not only receive a
remission of their sins, but, by the laying on of hands, they
should receive the Holy Ghost, and should know of the doctrine
for themselves. Thus all who obey the law and abide in the truth
become witnesses of this and other equally great and precious
truths. To-day there are thousands of Latter-day Saints living in
Utah and throughout the world who have attained to the possession
of these things, both men and women. If we witness by our acts,
and from our hearts our determination to carry out the mind and
will of the Lord we shall have this double assurance of a
glorious resurrection, and be able to say as the Prophet Job
said--his was a glorious declaration--"For I know that my
Redeemer liveth and that He shall (again) stand at the latter day
upon the earth; and though after my skin, worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my
reins be consumed within me." Thousands have received this
testimony and can witness unto God and testify from their hearts
that they know these things.
F. Smith
I bear my testimony, and surely it is of as much force and
effect, if it be true, as the testimony of Job, the testimonies
of the disciples at Jerusalem, the disciples on this continent,
of Joseph Smith, or any other man that told the truth. All are of
equal force and binding on the world. If no man had ever
testified to these things upon the face of the globe, I want to
say as a servant of God, independent off the testimonies of all
men and of every book that has been written, that I have received
the witness of the Spirit in my own heart, and I testify before
God, angels and men, without fear of the consequences that I know
that my Redeemer lives, and I shall see him face to face, and
stand with Him in my resurrected body upon this earth, if I am
faithful; for God has revealed this unto me. I have received the
witness, and I bear my testimony, and my testimony is true. The
testimony of the Latter-day Saints is in addition to and
consonant with that of the disciples of Jesus Christ who lived at
Jerusalem, those who lived on this continent, the Prophet Joseph,
Oliver, Sidney and others, of our crucified and risen Redeemer,
because they received it not of them, but by the same spirit by
which they received it. No man ever received this testimony
unless the Spirit of God revealed it unto him.
F. Smith
We will see Brother Urie again. Sister Urie will meet him on the
other side of the grave. The spirit and body will be re-united.
We shall see each other in the flesh, in the same tabernacles
that we have here while in mortality. Our tabernacles will be
brought forth as they are laid down, although there will be a
restoration effected; every organ, every limb that has been
maimed, every deformity caused by accident or in any other way,
will be restored and put right. Every limb and joint shall be
restored to its proper frame. We will know each other and enjoy
each other's society throughout the endless ages of eternity, if
we keep the laws of God. It is for us to remain true and faithful
and keep our covenants, and to train our children up in the paths
of holiness, virtue and truth, in the principles of the Gospel,
that we may with them be prepared to enjoy the perfect and
eternal day.
F. Smith
May God bless you, and my earnest prayer is that the Lord will
bless Sister Urie and her dear little ones in this bereavement;
that He will preserve their lives, establish them firmly in the
faith of the Gospel and in the love of the truth, that they may
be worthy to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection,
crowned with glory and eternal lives. I pronounce this blessing
upon them, inasmuch as they live faithful, in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Charles W. Penrose, March 4th, 1883
Charles W. Penrose, March 4th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY ELDER CHAS. W. PENROSE,
Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, March 4th, 1883.
(Reported by Gibbs and Irvine.)
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST--CHURCHES OF MEN--CONFLICTING IDEAS--TRUE
SOURCES
OF LEARNING--ONENESS EXPLAINED--ONLY ONE TRUE
RELIGION--"PROBATION AFTER
DEATH"--IDEAS OF HELL CHANGING--DIFFERENT DEGREES OF GLORY--WORK
FOR THE
DEAD--COMPLETENESS AND SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL.
83
Having been called upon this afternoon, to speak to this
congregation, I earnestly desire that I may be so influenced by
the spirit of truth that I may be able to bring forth such things
as will be profitable for us to reflect upon. I feel that we are
greatly blessed in being privileged to meet in this house,
dedicated to the worship and service of our Heavenly Father,
where we can attend to those things which are required of us, in
peace and in unity of spirit, and receive instructions as the
Holy Spirit may prompt.
86
We meet in the name of the Lord. All that we do should be done in
the name of Jesus Christ, for so we have been commanded. The
Church to which we belong is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is
composed of people called Latter-day Saints, but it is Christ's
Church. He has set it up, He has organized it, and all the
principles and doctrines which have been made known to us have
been revealed through Him. It is His work and He will watch over
it and direct it and consummate it. And He has commanded us that
we shall do all things in connection with our faith in His holy
name, and in that way only will it be acceptable to our Heavenly
Father; for all the blessings that come from our Father to us His
children, will come to us through Jesus Christ. His is the only
name given under heaven whereby man can be saved. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ must be preached to every creature. For it would not
be just for our Heavenly Father to condemn any of his creatures
who did not believe in Jesus Christ, without giving them an
opportunity of understanding who He is and what His commandments
are. All people, then, must hear the Gospel and have an
opportunity of receiving it or rejecting it. Jesus Christ sent
out His Apostles, after His resurrection, to preach the Gospel to
all the world in that day and generation, and they went forward
and fulfilled the commandment which he gave to them. Since that
time a great many false doctrines have been introduced into the
world, and a great many churches have been established, according
to the notions and ideas of men not authorized by the Lord Jesus,
not accepted of Him, not recognized by Him in any way. They are
the churches of men, and the doctrines preached therein, in a
great many respects are the doctrines and commandments of men.
They are not of God. They are not recognized by Him. They are not
acceptable to Him. And so with many ordinances which have been
introduced since that day. Some men have introduced them in the
name of Jesus Christ, but they were not authorized by the Lord to
do so, and therefore He will not accept them, and they are of no
benefit to the children of men so far as their salvation is
concerned. But in the day and age in which we live the Lord Jesus
has manifested Himself again, and has re-organized the Church
which He set up in ancient days, in the same form and shape, with
the same officers, with the same ordinances, with the same
commandments, and with the same spirit, power, gifts and
blessings. And in this Church, if we live under the inspiration
of the spirit and attend to the duties and obey the commandments
which He reveals, in the way He has pointed out, we will be
accepted of Him, and that which His servants perform on the earth
in His name in the way He has appointed, will be the same as
though it was performed by Himself in person, and will be
accepted of the Father, just the same as though performed by the
Lord Jesus Christ, and what they seal on the earth will be sealed
in the heavens, and what they loose on the earth will be loosed
in the heavens, according to His word. We have this great
blessing and privilege, then, in belonging to this Church, that
we become the people of the Lord Jesus, the Saints of the Lord,
members of the Church of Christ, not members of any church made
by a man, or a set of men, but the true church of the living God,
established by Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we
offer up our sacraments before Him in the way He has appointed,
they will be accepted by Him, and we will receive the benefits
that result from properly attending to these things. At the
present time there are a great many different sects professing to
be the churches of Christ. A great variety of doctrines are
taught therein. Generally speaking these doctrines are supposed
to be taken from the book called the Bible. Ministers usually
read a portion of scripture either from the Old Testament or from
the New Testament and preach discourses therefrom. But although
these different religions and these different discourses are
supposed to be taken from the one book, yet they are very
conflicting. The notions and ideas of one sect in regard to the
things contained in the book, differ from those that are
entertained by another sect, also professing to be the church of
Christ. And even in each of these various sects the people do not
all believe alike. They do not understand alike the doctrines
that pertain to their particular sect. For instance, the people
in what is called the Methodist church do not all believe alike.
The people of the Baptist church do not all believe alike. There
is not only a difference existing between the Baptist and
Methodist, but the Methodists differ among themselves, and
Baptists differ among themselves; and so with the rest of all the
different sects in Christendom. The reason of this is because
they have no real and definite standard. They take the Bible--or
rather profess to take the Bible as their standard; but their
ideas concerning the Scriptures differ. They do not all
understand the Bible alike. If they all understood the Bible
alike there would be a unity of faith; but their ideas differ in
regard to the meaning of the things contained in the Bible. At
the present time there is a great controversy going on in the
Christian world in regard to the manner in which this book should
be read, and in regard to its authority. Some claim that every
word in the book is inspired; that the word contained in the
Bible must be relied upon implicitly as the very word of God.
Others dispute this, deny the plenary inspiration of the
Scriptures, and some of them think the book should be regarded in
the same light as secular history. And so the notions and ideas
concerning the Bible are quite varied. Outside of the Bible they
have no standard. We may perhaps except the church called the
Roman Catholic Church. That church has a standard in the person
of the supreme head of the church--the Pope, the traditions, and
the decisions of the councils of the church. But neither the
Roman Catholic Church, nor the Episcopal Church, which has come
out from it, nor any of the sects which come out from the
Episcopal Church, have any inspired standard among them save and
except the things that were written of old contained in the
Bible, which they do not comprehend alike. In the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints we have something besides the written
word. We have the living oracles of God, men that have been
called and ordained and set apart to minister in Christ's stead,
men in whom the Lord has place His spirit, and not only His
spirit, but His authority that they may act in His name; and they
have access unto Him. It is their privilege not only to expound
the things that were written of old which have been preserved and
placed on record, and which are contained in the books of the
Bible, but also to receive intelligence from the same source from
which these things that are inspired that are in the Book were
given. The same fountain from which the Prophets of old partook
is open to us, and the servants of God in the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints can learn the mind and will of God
respecting us as it exists in His own bosom, because the fountain
of revelation is not dried up. Access is open unto our Heavenly
Father as it was in times of old; and if Peter could learn the
word of the Lord and teach it to the former-day Church, so the
servants of God holding a similar position to-day can call upon
the Lord and receive His word and declare it to the Latter-day
Church. If the Prophets of God of old wrote and spoke as they
were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, there are Prophets of God
living upon the earth to-day who can speak and write as they are
moved upon by the same power. And the word of God that comes down
from heaven in our day is just as authoritative as the word of
God that came in times of old and that is written in the old
books, and it is of much more importance to the people called
Latter-day Saints, because it comes direct to them from our
living head. It does not come in any ambiguous phraseology; it
does not come in a shape that would leave it open to controversy;
but it comes to us clear, plain and straightforward, so that all
may understand. We have the benefit of the living oracles; not
only the words of the oracles that are dead, but the words of
those that are living.
87
And we find when we come to investigate the things that God makes
manifest in our own day through the living oracles, that in
spirit and in doctrine they correspond with the things that God
revealed in days of old. We, then, have "a more sure word of
prophecy" than the things that were written aforetime. The
Apostle Peter spoke of this in his day. He said that holy men of
God wrote and spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost,
and that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation. He said further, "We have also a more sure word
of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a
light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and they
day star arise in your hearts." They had the living oracles. The
people who lived in Peter's day had not only the words of Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the other prophets, and the Book of the
laws, as written by Moses, the inspired prophet of God, who
looked upon God and talked with Him face to face--they not only
had these things written in the ancient records, but they had
living oracles, men in their midst who were authorized to speak
in the name of the Lord and declare to the people of the living
word of God for their present benefit. And as it was with the
people in that day, so it is in this Church that Jesus Christ our
Savior has re-established on the earth. We have the living
oracles, those who are called and ordained to stand between us
and the Lord. And in addition to all this we have the great
privilege of the Holy Ghost universally diffused throughout the
body of the Church for the benefit of every member thereof; for
every man and for every woman, for every individual who has been
baptized into it and has received its ordinances. Every person in
the Church may receive of this spirit which is the light of God,
which is the spirit of inspiration, which bears record of the
things of God, and makes plain to all who have it the things that
God reveals through the living oracles. If a servant of God
speaks or writes under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the
same spirit by which He writes or speaks is in the members of the
church, and it is their privilege to see as He sees, to
comprehend as He comprehends, that we may all see "eye to eye"
and understand the things of God alike.
88
Some people have an idea that it is impossible to bring a great
number of individuals to understand religion exactly alike.
People sometimes point to the difference that there is in human
character. It is true that our characters vary, as do our
countenances. The faces that are before me to-day are all
different, although we are all of the same race. We are all
different in our appearance. Even brothers and sisters of the
same family differ in their appearance in some respects. So it is
with all things that God has made. It is not only so in regard to
the human family, but it is so with the brute creation. No two
blades of grass are exactly alike. No two leaves upon the trees
in the forest are exactly alike. No two worlds that God Almighty
has made that glitter in the firmament on high at night are
exactly alike. There are some peculiarities about each of them,
distinct and different from others. This is all true. But is it
impossible to bring people who are thus organized, people of
different characters and different minds, to see and comprehend
exactly alike? No, there is no difficulty about it when the thing
is properly understood. Take any of what are called the exact
sciences, and people can be brought to understand them just
exactly in the same way. Take a sum in arithmetic, for instance.
When a dozen people understand the rules in the same way they
will work out the sum in the same way, no matter where they were
born, or what language they speak. When they understand the
principle and rule that governs the workings of the sum they all
work it out in the same way, and what a dozen or a hundred can do
a million can do. It makes no difference about the number. If all
understand the principle alike they will work it out alike, and
the result will be exactly the same. Why cannot this be done in
those things called religion? It is true that religious
principles are not governed altogether by the same rules and laws
as those which govern secular things. But yet if people are in
possession of the same spirit, and the truth is made clear before
their understandings, they can all be brought to see exactly
alike, and we have proven this in our own experience. For
instance, when the Gospel of Jesus Christ came to us, it found us
when we were scattered abroad in different nations. We have
people here from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and from
different parts of the European continent; from Sweden, Norway,
Germany, Italy, and from the various cantons of Switzerland; a
great many from the various States of America, from the islands
of the sea, from the East Indies, from Africa--people from all
quarters of the globe. Now, when the Gospel came to us, it found
us in a scattered condition. We lived in different countries, we
spoke different languages; we had different ideas in regard to
God and His ways. But we were taught that we must believe in the
true and the living God; that we had all sprung from Him; that He
was our Father, and that we were made in His image; that the idea
prevalent in the world that the Deity is a being without body,
parts or passions, an incomprehensible nonentity, was altogether
wrong. We were told that we had sprung from God, and being His
offspring we were like Him, and that, therefore, in some respects
He is like us; that He is a personage, and as every seed begets
its own kind, and we are the offspring of God, we could form some
conception of what He is like, and we put away our old ideas. We
came to a unity of the faith concerning God, that He is an
individual; that although He is a spirit, yet He dwells in a
tangible tabernacle. Man is a spirit as well as God, because we
have sprung from Him. The spiritual part of our being is the
offspring of God, which spiritual part dwells in our natural part
that has come from the dust. In this way we could form some idea
concerning the Deity, and we all formed the same idea; we all
came to the unity of the faith in this respect. We were also
taught that it was needful for us to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and when we had full faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to
obey His commandments, that we were to repent of our sins. Now
there were different ideas in the world as to what constituted
repentance; but we were taught that in order to repent acceptably
before God, we must come to the determination in our minds to
leave off sinning, to cease doing that which is wrong, and to get
to understand and to do what is right. Then we were taught that
in order to receive remission of sins we must be baptized. Now
there were different notions in regard to baptism in the world.
Some people believed that the marking of the sign of the cross
with a little water on the forehead by a priest was baptism.
Others believed that sprinkling water upon the face was baptism.
Others that it was needful to immerse the whole body in water to
constitute baptism, and still others that a person ought to be
immersed three times. But we were taught that baptism was at once
a burial and a birth; that in order to be properly baptized the
person who administers the ordinance should have authority from
God, because he uses the name, of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
and he has no right to use the names of the holy trinity without
being expressly authorized of God to do so. We learned that in
the first place, then, an individual who administers the
ordinances must have authority to administer, and he must
administer in the way that the Lord has appointed--not the way
that man may think is right, but the way the Lord has ordained,
or else it would not be acceptable to God. And we were taught
that the individual to be baptized must believe and repent, for
without faith and repentance baptism would be of no avail. So the
individual who was baptized must be a repentant believer, and the
individual who administered the ordinance must be an ordained
servant of God having legitimate authority from on high--not that
which he had taken upon himself, not that which he may have felt
called upon to do in his own heart; but he must be a bona fide
representative of Deity, a man called and ordained and set apart
by authority from God to administer in His name, or it would not
be valid. And then the individual who baptizes must go down into
the water with the person to be baptized--the candidate must be
buried in the water in the likeness of Christ's death and burial,
and then be raised out of the water in the likeness of His
resurrection--and the object of this was for the remission of
sins.
89
This was very different from the doctrines which prevailed in the
world. But when this was taught to us in plainness, and we were
baptized in this way, we received a testimony in our hearts that
we were made clean, that our sins were remitted, that they had
been washed away--not by the water, but through our obedience to
the ordinance which God had established and the blood of Jesus
Christ, which was shed for the remission of our sins. We had the
conviction sealed upon our hearts that we had received this
blessing. As the result thereof we were thus brought to the unity
of the faith. Then when the servants of God laid their hands upon
us, according to the pattern revealed from heaven, and conferred
upon us the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, we received the same
spirit from on high, the same Holy Ghost. The people who received
this ordinance in Scandinavia had the same spirit come down upon
them as the people who received it in England or in Scotland, and
the people on this Western Hemisphere on which we live have
received the same spirit as the people received on the Eastern
Hemisphere. In every part of the globe, wherever this ordinance
was administered the same spirit rested down on the people and
bore the same testimony to them. Now, although there are a
variety of operations of this spirit, yet the spirit is the same
and the light that it brings is the same. People do not all
receive that light to the same degree, but the light is the same,
just as the light of the sun is the same to all. Some people can
see a great deal further than others with their natural eyes.
Their eyesight is better, but the light by which both see is the
same. So it is with regard to the gift of the Holy Ghost. All
people do not receive it in the same degree, because they are not
all gifted with the same capacity, and all have not the same
desires; but the difference is not in the spirit, it is in the
individual. Some people are very earnest after the things of God,
and he who seeks finds, and the more he seeks in the right
direction the more he finds. He that is dilatory in searching
after the things of God, obtains but little; he that is diligent
obtains much. All may receive it, but they must obtain it in the
way that God has appointed, all receiving their measure according
to their diligence and desire; but the spirit is the same. And
this spirit has operated upon our hearts in such a way as to make
us--a people of diverse feelings and opinions--of one heart and
one mind in regard to this matter. And wherever this Gospel has
been preached and people have received it, they have been brought
to a "unity of the faith." They no longer have many faiths and
many baptisms, but one faith, one baptism and one God, having
commenced to walk in the same straight and narrow way that leads
to life and which is the only way of salvation. And all people
who desire to enjoy the fullness of His glory must walk that
straight and narrow way; "for wide is the road, and broad is the
gate that leads unto death, and many there be," we are told,
"that go in thereat." There is only one way of life, only one
plan of salvation, because there is but one God to serve. If
there were many Gods to worship, there might be many different
ways to salvation; but as to us there is only one God, there can
be but one Gospel, one Church, one gate leading to the celestial
city.
89
I have shown that it is possible for a great many people of
different ideas and notions to be brought to understand things
alike. And if this can be done in regard to one or four things (I
have named four) or principles, it can be done in a million or
any number of principles. And we are told in the Scriptures that
the time is to come when all shall see eye to eye; because all
shall know God from the least unto the greatest. There is, too, a
time to come when the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all
flesh, "when the sons and the daughters will prophesy, the old
men dream dreams, and the young men see visions," etc; and when
the earth and all that live upon it shall be redeemed and
sanctified; the earth will then be as it was when it rolled out
of the hands of the Creator, and the people will understand God
and His ways; they will understand them alike. There will not be
a thousand different religions; but there will be one only, one
God the Father of all, and one Holy Spirit burning in the hearts
of His children.
89
At the present time there is a diversity of opinions and notions
and ideas concerning God and His ways; but I have stated that
this one way in which the Saints have begun to walk, is the only
true way. That may sound very exclusive; it may seem also to some
a little inconsistent. That is because they may not understand
the matter in all its bearings. I say, there can be but one true
religion, simply because there is only one true God. True
religion is that religion which comes from God; and that religion
which is man-made cannot be the religion of God; it is therefore
not binding; nothing religious is binding upon mankind but that
which is revealed from God. That which comes from God through His
servants and is declared to the people is binding; he that
receives it will be saved; and he that rejects it will be
condemned. This must be so because it comes by authority, from
Deity himself. It is His word; it is His will; and he who rejects
it, rejects it against his own salvation; and none can be saved
who do not obey.
90
Some may ask. "Do you mean to say that all the people that have
lived upon the earth since the days when Jesus and the Apostles
preached, who did not hear and who did not obey the Gospel, are
all damned and lost forever?" I answer, No. We merely hold to the
proposition that there is but the one true way. I will refer you
to the language of the Savior himself upon this point spoken to
Nicodemus, one of the rulers of the Jews, who sought an interview
with Jesus by night: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
Kingdom of God." There is a very plain declaration, and a very
conclusive one. There are millions of people who have lived upon
the earth who have not been "born of water and of the Spirit."
Take, for instance, the millions of Jews alone who lived before
the introduction of the Gospel by Christ, and after it was
preached to their ancestors. For, let me tell you, the Gospel was
preached before Christ preached it. When Jesus came, he did not
introduce anything new, he came to restore something that had
been lost. The Gospel was known by our first parents when they
came out of the Garden of Eden. It was known to Abraham. It was
preached to Israel before the law was added. It is stated by Paul
to the Hebrews. "All our fathers were under the cloud, and they
all passed through the sea; and they were baptized unto Moses in
the cloud and in the sea, and did partake of the spiritual rock
that followed them, which rock was Christ." They were baptized
the same as we have been, but they did not receive the faith of
the Gospel fully in their hearts; they did not profit by the word
preached, therefore, God added the law as a schoolmaster, to
bring them to the right way. He added the law of carnal
commandments because they would not receive the fullness of the
greater law in faith. When Jesus came, He restored the Gospel;
but there had been millions and millions of people among the
Jewish nation alone, from the days of Moses to those of Jesus,
who had not been "born of water and of the Spirit." They termed
nations outside the Jewish nation the heathen, and none of them
for hundreds of years had obeyed the Gospel--had received
ordinances by which they could be born of water and of the
Spirit. So in regard to the people from the days since the
ancient Apostles were put to death, who had authority from God,
who were sent forth to minister in His name, to preach the Gospel
to all people, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and to teach them all things
whatsoever he had commanded them. From their day to the time in
which we live, thousands and millions of people have passed away
without receiving or obeying the Gospel of the Son of God.
According to the doctrines of men, because they did not hear it,
they will be condemned for ever. The heathen nations for ages
past have not even heard the doctrines of men professing to be
Christian. They worship idols; they worship beasts; they worship
the heavenly bodies, etc. Many millions of them are outside the
pale of Christendom. What is to become of them? "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, except ye are born of water and of the Spirit, ye
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." So says the Savior; and
there is no other name given under heaven whereby man can be
saved than the name of Christ Jesus; and yet there are millions
and millions of people who have passed away from the earth never
having heard the name of Jesus Christ. A great many millions more
have died without a knowledge of the true Gospel. And what is to
become of them all? According to the doctrines of modern
Christendom, they are all destroyed, they are all damned. That is
a horrible thing to think of.
90
There is considerable controversy going on in the Christian world
to-day, not only in reference to the plenary inspiration of the
Bible, but in regard to probation. There is a discussion in
progress now in regard to what is called "probation after death."
The question is whether there is a probation after people leave
this world, or is it confined to the sphere in which we now move.
Some of the ministers are beginning to think that there must be a
chance for souls after they leave the earth to learn the way of
life and salvation, but the great majority of modern divines,
representing popular religious opinions, believe that this is the
only state of probation; that when death overtakes a man, that is
the end of his opportunities for salvation. According to that
rule all those millions of people who have died without hearing
the name of Jesus Christ have gone to hell.
91
There are different ideas about hell now-a-days. A few years ago
there was only the one idea, which was that hell is a great,
bottomless pit full of flaming fire and brimstone, into which the
wicked are cast never to return, whilst the devils are
continually stirring up the flames for the everlasting torment of
the doomed. And this scene used to be described by popular
divines in the most hideous and shocking manner. People have
recently modified their ideas concerning future punishment, and
the change is greatly due to the teachings of the Elders of this
Church, and the doctrines which have been set forth and published
as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The controversy
that is now being conducted by leading theological minds upon the
subject of probations, has been brought about through the effects
upon the public mind of the preaching of the Elders of the
doctrine revealed in the very beginning of the Church. You will
find in the Doctrine and Covenants that God revealed to Joseph
Smith as early as March 1830, that "eternal punishment is God's
punishment." Because God is an eternal being. His laws are
eternal, and there are penalties attached to all of them. But it
does not follow that because a person may be banished into the
eternal punishment it is intended that he shall stay there
eternally. He may go into eternal punishment, he may go to the
place prepared for the rebellious and the sinner and stay there
but for a certain period. Some may stay longer than others. In
the language of the Scriptures, some are beaten with many
stripes, and others are beaten with but few stripes; but all stay
until they have paid the uttermost farthing;" all are punished
according to the gravity of their guilt. It will be "more
tolerable" in the day of judgment for people who did not hear the
word of God in the flesh, and who were wicked, than for the
wicked who did hear the word of God and rejected it. But the time
will come when all men will be judged, and the Apostle Paul says
they will be judged by the Gospel; all will appear before the
judgment seat to be judged according to their works, receiving
according to their merits or demerits, gauged by their light and
their opportunities.
92
Now, the Lord made this very plain in the revelation he gave to
Joseph Smith. The term eternal damnation God said had been used
to work upon the hearts of the children of men altogether for His
glory. That is, in the low condition of humanity in which most
people are placed there must be a threat of punishment and a
promise of reward to influence people to do what is right simply
because it is right; to love truth for its own sake. But humanity
is in a low, degraded condition, and a promise of reward has to
be held out to induce people to do right, and threats of
punishment to restrain them from doing wrong. That is not the
higher plain on which men are yet to stand. If people are trained
aright they will love that which is true and dislike that which
is untrue; they will love that which is virtuous, pure and
Godlike, and dislike everything contrary thereto. They will do
good, but not for reward; they will turn from evil, but not from
fear of punishment. They will love truth and work righteousness
for their own sake. But in the degraded condition of humanity
this eternal punishment that has been preached has been allowed
to go forth to work upon the hearts of the children of men
altogether for the glory of God, that evil mighty be curbed, that
transgression and sin might be restrained, that people might be
checked from going headlong to destruction through fear of the
consequences. On the 16th of February, 1832, the Lord made this
matter plainer. He gave to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, one of
the most glorious visions that human beings ever gazed upon. It
is the most complete and delightful that I have ever read. There
is nothing in the book called the Bible that can compare with it.
It is full of light; it is full of truth; it is full of glory; it
is full of beauty. It portrays the future of all the inhabitants
of the earth, dividing them into three grand classes or
divisions--celestial, terrestrial, and telestial, or as compared
to the glory of the sun, the glory of the moon, and the glory of
the stars. It shows who will be redeemed, and what redemption
they will enjoy; and describes the position the inhabitants of
the earth will occupy when they enter into their future state. In
that glorious vision we are told that there is only a certain
class who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord. I
will read a few verses:
92
"Thus saith the Lord, concerning all those who know my power, and
have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves,
through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the
truth and defy my power--
92
"They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that
it had been better for them never to have been born.
92
"For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of
God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;
92
"Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this
world nor in the world to come;
92
"Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and
having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father--having
crucified him unto themselves, and put him to an open shame;
92
"These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and
brimstone, with the devil and his angels;
92
"And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power;
92
"Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due
time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath;
92
"For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of
the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was
slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were
made;
92
"And this is the gospel, the glad tidings which the voice out of
the heavens bore record unto us;
92
"That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the
world, and to bear sins of the world, and to sanctify the world,
and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;
92
"That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into
his power and made by him;
92
"Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands,
except those sons of perdition, who deny the Son after the Father
has revealed him."
93
I do not intend to read from this vision the condition of the
people who will be redeemed in the different degrees of glory;
you can do that for yourselves. I merely refer to it that the
point may be made clear, that there are only a certain few who
will not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, through the
merits of the atonement wrought out by Jesus Christ. The sons of
perdition are to go away into this everlasting punishment and
abide there. And as we are told in another part of the
revelation, the height and the depth, and extent of their misery
no man knoweth. It is not revealed except to a few, and then the
vision is closed up, as the things they behold are unlawful to be
uttered.
93
The "sons of perdition" are those who have received the Gospel,
those to whom the Father has revealed the Son; those who know
something concerning the plan of salvation; those who have had
keys placed in their hands by which they could unlock the
mysteries of eternity; those who received power to ascend to the
highest pinnacle of the celestial glory; those who received power
sufficient to overcome all things, and who, instead of suing it
for their own salvation, and in the interest of the salvation of
others, prostituted that power and turned away from that which
they knew to be true, denying the Son of God and putting Him to
an open shame. All such live in the spirit of error, and they
love it and roll it under the tongue as a sweet morsel; they are
governed by Satan, becoming servants to him whom they list to
obey, they become the sons of perdition, doomed to suffer the
wrath of God reserved for the devil and his angels. And for them,
having sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no forgiveness
either in this world or the world to come. But all the rest
Christ will save, through the plan of human redemption prepared
in the beginning before the world was.
93
Now the question may be asked, how can these things be? If no man
can enter into the Kingdom of God except he be born of the water
and of the Spirit, and only a few are to receive this eternal
condemnation, how can the rest obtain this great salvation, how
can they escape eternal punishment? The Lord has provided a plan
for them, and it is very simple when properly understood. I
noticed in reading the reports of recent discussions on probation
after death that it was admitted by the learned men engaged in it
that they did not know anything definite about it. The notions
and ideas of even the most advanced divines are but theories and
speculations. But here we have the revelations of God concerning
these things, that we may not be in the dark; so that we can all
come together and see eye to eye and understand alike. For it is
true, and truth can be made plain to all that desire its light.
But when people do not want to see the truth, they can shut their
eyes and exclude it from their spiritual vision, as people
sometimes shut their eyes and exclude it from their spiritual
vision, as people sometimes shut out from their eyes the light of
the sun, from their "best rooms," which, by the way are their
worse rooms, for the very reason that the blessed sunlight does
not enter there--so people can close the windows of the soul and
shut out the rays of the sun of righteousness; but he who desires
to behold the truth may see it and comprehend it. As we now see
each other by the light of the sun, so people of different minds
and different races may turn their eyes towards the truth, and by
the light of the Holy Ghost, they will see it exactly alike. They
will no longer be divided on principles of doctrine.
95
But how can salvation come to those who never heard the Gospel
while living; who never had the opportunity of being born of the
water and the Spirit, of being baptized by one with authority,
for the remission of their sins, and having hands laid upon their
heads for the reception of the Holy Ghost--how can they hear, how
can they understand, how can they obey? People have fallen into
the common mistake that it is impossible to learn the will of God
when they leave this world. I do not know where the idea sprang
from. I think it came from some of the monkish cells of the old
Romish Church, descending down through the various sects that
have come out from that Church. Why should not a person when out
of the body be able to understand as when in the body? If we
believed like some of the people of India, that when the spirit
leaves the body it goes back to Brahma, or emerges into the
generally diffused spirit of the universe, then we might conclude
that they would not understand anything when they leave the body.
If the spirit becomes a nonentity when it is disembodied we might
have reason for entertaining such a notion. But we understand
that the spirit is the real man, and that body is but the outside
covering; that when the change we call death comes, the body
returns to the earth as it was, but the spirit returns to God who
gave it. That the spirit is the actual person, that which thinks
and reasons, the body being but the medium conveying impressions
to the real man operating inside of it. That when the spirit is
liberated, although not subject to the same laws as when in the
tabernacle, yet it is the same person, a son or daughter of God;
a being capable of thinking; of receiving inspiration; of
accepting or rejecting that which is presented; and therefore is
a subject of salvation. If not, why not? What is the reason? I
think we will find when we shuffle off this mortal coil, when we
get rid of the trammels of the mortal body, and enter into the
spirit state, we shall be if anything more intelligent than when
in the body. We shall not be bound by the same laws that now bind
our mortal flesh, and we will be able to comprehend a great many
things which were very hard for us to get a little inkling of
while in the mortal tabernacle. "Well," somebody may say, "that
is very reasonable; but how does it coincide with the Christian
religion, with the doctrines laid down in the Scriptures?" Let us
see. Jesus Christ, we read, was put to death by wicked men. They
took His body down from the cross and laid it in a new tomb hewn
out of the rock. But where was Jesus ? That was not Jesus in the
tomb. It was his mortal body that was laid away. Where was Jesus?
People generally suppose that He went to heaven. Stop a moment.
After Jesus Christ was raised from the dead a woman whose name
was Mary, was weeping at the sepulchre, when Jesus appeared
before her. Mary stepped forward apparently to embrace Him,
whereupon He said to her: "Touch me not; for I am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren and say unto them, I
ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your
God." Three days had elapsed between the time when the body was
taken down from the cross--the time when he said, "Father, unto
thy hands I commend my spirit," and the time of His resurrection.
Where had He been in the interval? Peter tells us in his first
epistle, 3d chapter, from the 18th to the 20th verses: "For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the spirit: by which also He went and preached
unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient; when
once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah." It
appears that after being put to death He went somewhere. Where?
"By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison."
What spirits? "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the
long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark
was preparing." Now, that makes the matter very clear to a person
that wants to understand. But you take a learned divine whose
mind has become befogged by the traditions of men and he does not
want anything to do with that scripture, or if he does he will
try to explain it away. How do the clergy explain it? They say
the spirit of Jesus in Noah preached to the people before the
flood. Now, compare that idea with the text I have quoted. It was
not Noah who was put to death. But it was He that was put to
death in the flesh, and quickened by the spirit, that went and
preached to the spirits in prison. Again, in the 4th chapter of
the first Epistle of Peter, and the 6th verse, we read this: "For
this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead,
that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, and live
according to God in the Spirit." Here were people that were
preached to who were not men in the flesh. Who were they? They
were spirits in prison, and they were in prison because of their
disobedience in the days of Noah. They had been there about 2,000
years, and Jesus went and preached to them. What did he preach?
He preached the Gospel. What did he preach to them for? That they
might be further condemned and taunted with their miserable fate?
Oh no. He went there that He might preach to them the Gospel, "so
that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live
according to God in the Spirit." This is what the ancient prophet
predicted concerning Jesus. We read that he went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. He took
the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and what he read was this: "The
spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because He hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound." That was Christ's
mission--not only to preach to men in the flesh, but to preach to
men in the spirit. Isaiah says in c. xlix, 9v., "That thou mayest
say to the prisoners, go forth, to them that are in darkness,
shew yourselves;" and in c. xlii, 7v., "to bring out the
prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of
the prison house."
96
Jesus left His body sleeping in the tomb and went to the spirit
world, and the repentant thief who died by His side went there
also. Some people think that because the thief said, "Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom," and Jesus
replied, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," that he (the
thief) went direct to heave and in the presence of God. Now, if
he did, Jesus Christ broke His own word; for he said, "Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God." Where did the thief go? Wherever Jesus went, the
thief went, and he had the privilege of hearing Jesus preach the
Gospel, so that he might have the chance of being judged
according to men in the flesh, but according to God in the
spirit. And how could he do that? By receiving the same Gospel
that men had in the flesh. Jesus, then, left his body in the tomb
and went to the spirit world. Those everlasting gates had to be
lifted up. "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up,
ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in." He
went and preached deliverance to the captives, and opened the
prison doors to them that were bound. He went to proclaim the
acceptable day of the Lord. He came back to His sleeping body,
and having the keys of hell He also grasped the keys of death,
and His body was quickened. He stood upon His feet and ministered
to His disciples. He could then go to His Father and report the
accomplishment of His mission. He could say: "I have done the
work thou gavest me to do; I have preached the Gospel to the
meek; I have bound up the broken-hearted; I have preached
deliverance to the captives; I have opened the prison doors of
them that were bound; I have led captivity captive; I have shed
my blood as an atonement for the sins of the world; now, Father,
accept of me and my labors." Then He could come to the earth and
say: "All power is given unto me both in the heavens and on the
earth." He had fulfilled His mission, and had received immortal
keys and honors and powers as a reward of the fulfillment
thereof. He shall occupy the highest place among all the sons of
God, because He is the firstborn, and has performed the work of
the firstborn in the plan of human redemption. He will be exalted
above every creature, because He was the most obedient of every
creature. He will be the greatest, because He was the humblest.
He will be the richest, because He was the best. He is the
sinless Christ, and therefore He wears the eternal crown.
97
There is another question that arises here. If men can hear the
Gospel in the spirit world, can they obey it fully in the spirit
world? Let us look at that a little. Here are the Gospel
ordinances. Are ordinances of any effect? Yes, they are. "Except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the Kingdom of God." Just the same as if an alien does not obey
the naturalization laws he cannot become a citizen of the United
States. God's house is a house of order. He has a way of His own,
and he that will not accept that way cannot obtain the blessing.
Then can those spirits who hear the Gospel in the spirit world
obey the Gospel fully? Can they believe? Yes. Can they repent?
Why not? It is the soul of man, or the spirit of man in the body,
not the body, that believes. It is the spirit of man in the body
that repents. What is it that obeys the ordinances? Why, the
spirit. But these ordinances belong to this sphere in which we
live, they belong to the earth, they belong to the flesh. Water
is an earthly element composed of two gases. It belongs to this
earth. What there is in the spirit world, we know little about.
But here is the water in which repentant believers must be
baptized. Can they be baptized in the spirit world? It appears
not. What is to be done, then. The Apostle Paul asks this
question in the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle of the
Corinthians: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the
dead, if the dead rise not all?" Why are they then baptized for
the dead?" It seems that the people to whom that was written were
familiar with the ordinance called baptism for the dead, and they
were baptized for their dead. Paul was arguing upon the literal
resurrection of the body, and says, What shall they do if the
dead rise not; why are they then baptized for the dead? Our
learned divines may presume from that that the doctrine is not
laid down sufficiently clear to endorse it; but to us there is no
doubt concerning it, the Lord having revealed the principle to
the Prophet Joseph Smith. He also explained the manner in which
the ordinances should be administered, like everything else He
has revealed, in great plainness. And that is why we are building
Temples. People who visit our city frequently say, "What a fine
meeting-house you are building." No, that is not a meeting-house;
this Assembly Hall and the adjacent Tabernacle are
meeting-houses. That is a Temple, a building in which we expect
to perform ordinances for the living and the dead; wherein we may
be baptized for our dead, that they may receive the benefit of
that ordinance, provided they believe and repent and do the
spiritual part, while we do the material part, that they may
receive the blessings of obedience to the Gospel, and live
according to God in the spirit. Some will say, "I cannot see why
a thing done by one person should stand for another." How do you
understand the doctrine that Jesus Christ has done something for
all of us? We read that "without the shedding of blood there is
no remission of sins." Not my blood or your blood is to be shed
for the remission of sins; but He who was without sin allowed His
blood to be shed as a sacrifice for our sins. Now the whole
question hinges on that. If you reject the doctrine of proxy in
baptism, you must reject the doctrine of proxy in the atonement.
97
Now, there is no dubiety in the minds of the Latter-day Saints on
this subject. We have learned these things from God, and we
understand them alike. Why? Because we desire the truth; we do
not care about the nonsense of men, we want divine truth which
comes from God. And when it comes we are anxious to receive it;
we seek for it; we ask for it; and He enlightens us by His
Spirit, and when the Good Shepherd speaks, we know His voice; and
it is that voice that has made plain to us the doctrine that we
who have obeyed the Gospel in the flesh may be baptized for our
ancestors in the spirit world.
98
If you will look at this in the spirit that accompanies its
unfoldment, your hearts will be filled with joy at the mercy and
goodness of God. If there are men or women here who have not
believed this, and they will ponder upon it, and seek to God for
light upon it, they will have their eyes opened to see that it is
one of the most glorious principles. It opens the way for the
redemption of our fathers who lived and died without hearing the
sound of the Gospel. It opens up the way for the redemption of
the heathen nations who never heard the name of Jesus Christ. It
opens up the way for the hosts of Israel, with their posterity,
who ages ago fell away from the truth and went into darkness; for
those whose hearts have been heavy, and whose eyes have been
blinded--for it is written "blindness in part has happened unto
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all
Israel shall be saved: as it is written, "There shall come out of
Zion a Deliverer, and He shall turn ungodliness from Jacob. For
this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their
sins." Those that will live upon the earth of their lineage who
shall obey the Gospel, in the latter times will perform the
outward ordinances for and in behalf of their dead ancestors.
This glorious doctrine lifts up the dark curtain of sectarianism
and lets in the light of heaven, and makes plain the justice of
God, and the mercy of God. The mercy of our God extends to all of
his children, not only to one little branch through the loins of
Abraham. All shall hear, all shall have opportunity of knowing
the ways of life and truth, and the opportunity of knowing the
ways of life and truth, and the opportunity of rejoicing therein;
and this is the means that God will adopt to accomplish this
great and stupendous result! Every heart shall be gladdened with
the tidings of salvation. The living and the dead shall be
visited and even those who have been thrust down to hell, who
have been beaten with many stripes, and have suffered their
portion in the eternal punishment, will have the arm of sweet
mercy extended to them when stern justice is satisfied; and in
due time every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that
Jesus is the Christ to the glory of God the Father. And the time
will come when death and hell shall be destroyed, and there will
be no more death, neither sorrow nor pain, but every creature, in
heaven above and the earth beneath shall be heard to sing,
"Blessing, and honor, praise and power, be unto God and the Lamb
forever, who has redeemed us by His blood out of every nation and
tribe and tongue and people!"
99
The Gospel is plain and simple and easily understood and
appreciated by the honest seeker after truth. The reason that
people generally do not receive it when it is preached to them by
the servants of God--it is a hard saying, but true
nevertheless--is because their deeds are evil; because they love
the things of the world more than the things of God, and the love
of the Father is not in them. And because they reject the truth
when presented to them, and delight in the spirit of the world,
they oppose the truth; and if not openly, in their hearts they
sanction acts of persecution and hatred against the Saints of
God. Some of them are corrupt in their practices, and such
persons are ever ready to assail and traduce the character of our
leading men, men whom we know to be pure in their lives, and to
be righteous before God; it is the very worst of men who take
this course, and thus the Evil One, the destroyer of the souls of
men worketh in them and through them. And when they have opposed
this work all that they possibly can, they will find that it
flourishes and grows and spreads forth, while they will go to the
place prepared for them, where they will remain until they shall
have paid the uttermost farthing for their willful wickedness.
All men who fight against the Holy Priesthood of God, will have
to meet that some day. Their acts are not hidden from the eyes of
Him who does not slumber. Their evil deeds and wicked sayings
will be revealed openly. The time will come when the first angel
of God will sound the trump declaring the secret acts of men
during the first thousand years; and the second angel will sound
his trump and reveal the secret acts of men and the thoughts and
intents of their hearts during the second thousand years, and so
on down to the last thousand years, even until it shall be
declared that time shall be no longer, and the secret acts of all
men in all the ages shall be brought to light. My brethren and
sisters, let that be a caution to you and to me. When we went
down into the waters of baptism and were immersed by the servants
of God having authority to administer that ordinance for the
remission of sins, though our sins were as scarlet they were
washed whiter than snow; and we came forth from the water clean
and pure, cleansed by the blood of Christ from all sin. But since
that time the acts we have performed will have their effect upon
us for good or for evil, and we shall be accountable for them
when we stand before the bar of God. They will be seen and known
of all; they are written in the books out of which we are to be
judged, and every man's acts are stamped upon his own being, in
characters that will speak for themselves, in the day when we
shall see as we are seen and know as we are known.
99
Then let us try and do right for the sake of the right, live in
the light of the spirit, see eye to eye, and prove ourselves
worthy of the great salvation; and may God help us to do, in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, September 24th, 1882
George Q. Cannon, September 24th, 1882
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, September 24th, 1882.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
PEACE ENJOYED, BUT TROUBLE EXPECTED--FALSEHOODS ABOUT THE
SAINTS--POWER
OF THE SAINTS DREADED--TRUTH AND ERROR IN CONFLICT--PLURAL
MARRIAGE NOT
THE REAL OBJECTION--MINING FOR PRECIOUS METALS AVOIDED--GOOD
EFFECT OF
UNLAWFUL LEGISLATION AND RULINGS--HOPES FOR THE FUTURE.
99
I am thankful this day for the peaceful circumstances that
surround us. I am thankful that throughout these mountain valleys
a goodly degree of liberty prevails, and that the people are able
to meet to worship God without molestation or fear. The saying of
the Savior is exceedingly applicable wherein He taught His
disciples that sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. If we
Latter-day Saints did not enjoy the present and lived in
anticipation of the dreaded future, I imagine that we should be a
very unhappy people, for there never has been a day, or at least
a period in our history when, so far as threats were concerned,
the future--if we look at it naturally, from men's
standpoint--did not look forbidding. But we have proved that
dreaded evils, when met courageously and with an undaunted
spirit, generally vanish.
100
We are in an excellent position to-day, as we have been at many
times in the past, to have our faith tested to the proof, to see
whether we really have faith in God or not. The idea generally
prevails among those who are not familiar with us and with our
methods of preaching and teaching, that in order to gather the
people together from the various nations the Elders of this
Church hold out extraordinary inducements to their converts,
telling them flattering tales about the life that they will lead
if they will only gather to Utah; and by these means they are
successful in beguiling the ignorant and unsuspecting, inducing
them to forsake their homes and connections. But those who have
been familiar with the teachings of the Elders of the Church know
that the very opposite of this has been the course and the style
of the teaching adopted by those who have faithfully preached
this Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. From the beginning
we have been taught to expect that our adherence to this Gospel
might cost us everything that was near and dear to us upon the
earth; that God designed to have a tried people, a people that
should be tested to the very utmost, that should be felt after in
the most trying manner, a people that would be willing to pass
through and endure faithfully the most severe ordeals. And up to
the present time those who have entered this Church, who have
espoused the doctrines taught by the servants of God, have not
been disappointed. It is true that in many respects the faithful
people of God have had a much better time, have enjoyed
circumstances that have been more pleasant and prosperous than
they were led to expect; but this has been because they have had
the faith to overlook the evils by which they were threatened,
and attached no importance to them, and did not allow them to
disturb their peace or to annoy them in any manner. For [ it] had
not been for faith, the faith that God planted in the hearts of
those who espoused the truth, it would have been impossible for
them to have endured; they would have been so frightened that
they never could have remained faithful to this work. And one of
the most striking evidences that this people offer to the world
of the divinity of this work, which the world opprobriously call
"Mormonism," is the fact that in the midst of the most severe
trials and persecutions, surrounded by circumstances that in some
respects have been the most threatening in their character, the
people of God have remained true and faithful, united and
undisturbed.
100
One by one the falsehoods that are propagated concerning us are
exposed. The idea has been industriously circulated, printed and
published, that the people throughout the valleys of Utah were
only held together by the strength of superstition and delusion;
that the few cunning men who had succeeded in gaining power and
place among them, by their shrewdness and by the cunning arts,
had succeeded in duping the people and holding them together. I
do not suppose that any single idea has been more widely
circulated concerning us than this; and I do not suppose that any
other idea is more widely believed about us than this.
101
The great majority of people who do not understand by actual
contact with us, or who take no pains to investigate our
doctrines, imagine that it is by this means that the Latter-day
Saints have been gathered together and held in these mountains.
Why, it is not 20 years ago that one of the stories most
frequently circulated, published and dwelt upon, upon the
platform and in the public press, was that no man or woman could
leaven Utah without the consent of President Brigham Young; that
no man or woman could write a letter from Utah Territory without
it being inspected by him; that we lived here in a condition of
terror imposed upon us by President Young and those who were
immediately associated with him; and that if a man or woman
attempted to leaven, especially if he or she had left the faith,
he would be followed by destroying angels, and that if he escaped
at all it would be at the risk of his life and probably the
entire loss of all that he owned. So firmly had this idea
obtained possession of many minds that to-day it forms the staple
of two or three dramas that are played upon the stage and that
receive considerable patronage east and west.
101
When Albert Sidney Johnson came here with the army in 1857-8, the
popular idea was, that as soon as the troops reached this valley
there would be a complete outburst on the part of the people;
that they would hail with unbounded joy the presence of the stars
and stripes in the midst, and that women by hundreds would leave
the bondage in which they were supposed to be living.
101
Now, as I have said, one by one we have proved the falsity of
these statements. But does this misrepresentation and slander
concerning us cease? Not in the least. The manufacture still
continues. Every conceivable slander is manufactured and put in
circulation. No sooner is one lie nailed to the counter than
another is started and passes current, until there are many
people who scarcely know what to think, they having such
exaggerated ideas concerning the people of Utah Territory.
101
The railroad has done us an immense amount of good in making us
better known. The travel to and fro across the continent,
together with the travel throughout these valleys north and
south, east and west, has had the same effect. But with increased
knowledge there has come an increased dread. A feeling has taken
possession of a great many minds that we are a people greatly to
be dreaded. This brings to my mind a remark made by a man whose
name you are familiar with, he having taken a very prominent part
in the discussion of our case in Congress, in the House of
Representatives, a representative by the name of Haskell, a sort
of half preacher. One day in conversation with me, at the time
the Edmunds' bill was being discussed, he remarked: "I have had
occasion, Mr. Cannon, to examine Catholicism and am somewhat
familiar with the Roman Catholic organization. I have also paid
some attention to the organization of your Church. I think it the
strongest and most magnificent organization that exists at the
present time in Christendom, or within the range of my
knowledge--where did you get it?"
102
It was no feeling of admiration that prompted these remarks. He
followed them up by stating that the time would come, if this
legislation did not answer, when the army would be brought to
bear upon us and our organization would be wiped out in blood.
You see the feeling he had was one of dread, of apprehension.
Instead of viewing this organization in its true light he looked
upon it as an engine of evil that would be likely to accomplish
dreadful results, that was in antagonism to existing
institutions, and that would have to be put down by such law as
the Edmunds' law, or if such legislation failed, then by the
strong arm of the military, by the use of weapons of war and the
shedding of blood. That is the feeling that some men have
concerning us. In the course of our conversation I invited him to
come out to Utah. "Come out," said I, "and know what you are
talking about; you have ideas about us which are entirely
incorrect. If you will travel through our valleys, as I will
furnish you opportunities to do, if you will come out, I will
give you letters of introduction which will enable you to see our
people at their homes, and if you are a fair man, a man disposed
to accept the evidence of your own senses, you will change your
views concerning the people I represent.
102
There are men who make use of us to gain favor with the ignorant
and with those who have strong religious prejudices and but
little knowledge concerning us. There are men who seek to gain
popular approval in this way, and instead of telling the truth,
or being willing that the truth should be told and known, they
are ever willing to have every kind of story propagated however
false it may be. Will there be any change in this respect? We
have been looking for it for the past 52 years, ever since the
Church was organized, but that change has not come. As I have
said, as soon as one slander has been disproved, another has been
put in circulation. There is no end, neither will there be to the
falsehoods that will be told and circulated concerning us. It may
be asked: Why is this? For the best of all reasons, that whenever
God has attempted to do anything upon the earth, from the days of
Father Adam down through the centuries that have intervened until
to-day, all hell has been aroused against that work and against
those engaged in it. Even when men have had only partial truth,
and have attempted to reform existing errors, they have had this
opposition to contend with to a greater or less extent; and no
great reform has ever been effected upon this earth without
costing the best blood of the generation in which the reform was
attempted. Our generation is no exception in this respect. Even
in this land, under our glorious form of government, the most
glorious ever framed by man, under which the largest amount of
liberty is to be enjoyed--even under it, the blood of Prophets
and Apostles has been shed and has stained the earth; and we,
because of our religion, were obliged to flee from our homes and
take refuge in these mountain wilds and build up new homes in
order that we might live in peace and in quiet, unmolested by
those who hate us.
103
This is not a new thing in the earth, the antagonism between
error and truth, between wrong and right, between the followers
of him who seeks to usurp dominion upon the earth, and the
followers of the Son of God. That antagonism has been a perpetual
one, an undying one. It cost the blood of the best Being that
ever trod the earth, even the Son of God Himself, and all His
Apostles and all the prophets--they all, with few exceptions laid
down their lives for the truth. And yet we talk about our
civilization, the enlightened nineteenth century, and we say as
did the generation in which the Savior lived: "If we had lived in
the days of our fathers, we would not have slain the Prophets, we
would not have been guilty of shedding their blood." This was the
cry of the generation in which the Savior lived, yet that same
generation crucified Him in the most ignominious manner.
103
Now, it has been said to us--and I cannot tell how many times I
have been told it--"if you 'Mormons' would only do away with some
of your doctrines that are so objectionable, there would be no
trouble." I have had men speak to me in this strain whose opinion
I respect very highly, who were friendly, who were kindly
disposed, who were anxious to have these difficulties settled,
and to have us escape the evils with which they believed we were
threatened and might perhaps be overwhelmed. It is not many days
since a prominent man said to me, "Why, Mr. Cannon, there are
fifty millions of people that are opposed to you. Now cannot you
waive some of your peculiarities. If you will say that you will
do this this year, or next year, or within a certain period,
while I am not authorized to speak for the government, yet I can
say there need be no trouble about your affairs."
103
Now, I have not a single doubt in my mind that there are
thousands of well-meaning people, who would like to see us enjoy
peace in these valleys, and enjoy the land, which we have
reclaimed at so much toil and sacrifice from a wilderness,
undisturbed by outside influences. They firmly believe that this
is attainable if we only would forego some of our peculiarities.
There never was a greater mistake, never a more mistaken idea
entertained by anybody. How do we know it? By the sad and bitter
experience of the past. It is true if we were to apostatize; if
we were to renounce our religion; if we were to put aside that
which we believe God has entrusted to us and commanded us to
impart to the world, I do not doubt but what we would get along
so far as the world is concerned, without the antagonism that we
now have. But, then, who can do this? If a choice has to be made,
as it would have to be made by us, of rejecting salvation on the
one hand, and accepting peace and favor with the world on the
other, who is there that is prepared to make that exchange? But
friends have said to me, "O, you make a mistake when you think
that we ask you to renounce your religion."
104
Now, there is something more than marriage as a point of attack
that rises in the minds of men in talking about this. Mr. Haskell
expressed it. It was not plural marriage alone that was in his
mind. It is not plural marriage alone in the minds of hundreds,
and I may say thousands, who have examined this question. There
is something more than this; there is something behind this,
something that is greater than this, and that is the organization
of the people, the union of the people, that which many men call
the theocracy of this organization. It was that which excited the
mob, in the earliest days of the organization. While at Far West,
in Caldwell County, in the year 1838, the General who headed the
militia that came out under the exterminating order of Governor
Boggs of Missouri, in his address to the "Mormon" people said,
"You must scatter and live like other people, and do without your
Bishops and your Prophets and your leading men, and not listen to
their counsel." This is not the exact language, but these are the
ideas. In other words you must break up; we cannot endure your
organization, your coming together and being united as you are.
We fear you will take possession of our principal counties, and
your political influence will be so great that in time you will
hold control of this country; and we cannot endure it, and you
must go. Governor Boggs' order said, if the people in a given
period, they would be exterminated. So the people had to flee in
the depth of winter, and cross the Mississippi into the State of
Illinois. Now, whoever heard then of plural marriage? It was not
practiced. It was the organization of the people that was
objectionable; and so it was afterwards when we were compelled to
leave Nauvoo. The mob burned our houses and killed our cattle,
and destroyed our grain, not because of any feature of this kind,
but because we were "Mormons," and believed in a form of religion
that they did not believe in. So they were determined that we
should leave there.
104
And that reminds me of another falsehood that went the rounds in
those days to justify the outrages against us. All manner of
stories were circulated concerning our thieving; it was said that
we were a band of thieves and robbers; that the people near
Nauvoo and along the upper part of the Mississippi, through all
that region of country, were living in a state of terror, so it
was alleged, because of the proximity of the "Mormons," and it
would be a great blessing to drive them out, for they were
outlaws. So the mob deemed themselves justified in their outrages
for those reasons; and public opinion was created against us
which sustained them in killing the Prophet Joseph Smith and
Hyrum, his brother, in shooting President Taylor, and in killing
other men and women. And public opinion was created so
unfavorable to the "Mormons" that other people thought, "Well,
they are a bad lot; they deserve extirpation; we are sorry to see
the laws trampled upon and violence restored to, but something
must be done with these 'Mormons.'" "We must get rid of them in
some way; and if the law cannot reach them," as was remarked by
the mob, when Joseph had been tried and acquitted for treason,
"powder and ball can."
104
The same process is now going on. What is it that produces the
condition of affairs that exists here to-day? It is a public
opinion that is adverse and hostile to us which justifies the
outrages and illiberal acts to which we are subjected. It is this
which actuates men to trample upon the Constitution and all the
institutions of the government. It is this which permits the
right of representation to be stricken down and causes a Governor
of a Territory, who is guilty of the most outrageous acts of
tyranny, to be sustained by three administrations, and a voice
scarcely heard in protest against it--republican government
stricken down and the people of these mountains, without
exception the best and most quiet people to be found within the
confines of the republic, deprived of the right of
representation.
105
I allude to this, though it is a political matter, as it comes
appropriately within the line of my remarks. What is the cause of
it? It is, as I have said, because God has stretched forth his
hand to do a work in the earth, and the devil is determined that
it shall not be done. He is determined to shed the blood of every
man connected with it, and he puts it into the hearts of the
children of men to hate the truth and to hate those who teach it.
Yet there are a great many people who say there is no God and no
devil. I would like them to explain why we have suffered as we
have; why it is that a people who, were it not for their
religion, ought to be applauded for what we have done in these
mountains, are treated as we are treated. When we had the control
of these valleys, from one end of the land to the other, from
north to south, drunkenness was unknown; a woman might then have
traveled our streets and our highways, even to the most remote
parts of our Territory; and never hear a word of disrespect,
never witness a gesture that would cause her to blush; she could
travel in perfect peace and safety throughout all our cities and
settlements. Robbery was unknown, and human life was sacred. So
with property. Peace reigned in our borders. We look back to it
now--I do, I look back to those days and contrast them with the
present, and ask myself, How long is this condition of things to
continue? We could leave our doors unlocked; no one thought of
thieves. Virtue was cherished, and a man who would be guilty of
unvirtuous acts was denounced. And such industry as we
practiced--and it is no boasting to say so--was unparalleled. We
dwelt here in peace--people from various nations speaking various
languages, of various modes of thought, and various educations,
living here in peace and quiet, each man pursuing his own course
unmolested by his neighbors. This was the condition of our
Territory. It might be thought that a people thus living, living
in a country that no other people could possibly covet, that is
so far as agricultural interests, the pursuits we follow mainly
in Utah, were concerned--it might be thought that such a people
might be left unmolested to enjoy the fruits of their industry
and toil.
105
We did not touch the mines, for we knew if we opened them and
embarked in mining that they would be coveted by others, and
therefore it has not been our policy to touch mines. In the
beginning it would have been a most unwise policy to have done
this; it would have unsettled us, and instead of spending our
time in raising the food necessary to sustain life we would have
been prospecting in the mountains, hunting for the precious
metals. But when the railroad was finished and it was then
possible to obtain supplies from other places if we ran short, it
was even then impolitic for us to take up mines from the fact
that if we had obtained rich mines we could not have hoped to
have held them; they would have been coveted, and in the courts
the probabilities are we should not have stood as good a chance
as other people.
106
If you think, my brethren and sisters, that we are to be
unmolested and left free from attack, you are deceiving
yourselves. It is not written in the heavens above, or in the
earth beneath; just as sure as we live we shall have opposition,
persecution and violence to contend with. God has stretched forth
His hand to establish a power in the earth. That power has
excited antagonism in the past; it excites antagonism to-day, and
it will continue to excite antagonism to the end, until God
reigns, and the inhabitants of the earth bow to His sceptre. This
book (the Bible) is full of predictions concerning it. All the
prophets who have ever spoken concerning the last days have
foretold that God would do a mighty work in the last days; and he
is doing it.
107
"Well," says one, "Do a handful of people like you expect to
revolutionize the earth and accomplish these results?" Yes, we
expect it; we believe it with all our hearts; we labor for it; we
teach it to our children. We would make this country a peaceful,
a delightful place for people to reside; we would make this union
of which I have spoken possible in these valleys; and if our
principles were extended over the earth, they would make the
earth in the same condition. I thank God with all my heart that
there is such a work going on. When I hear of people coming from
remote lands, impelled by their faith, who have heard the
preaching of the Elders who have gone forth in their weakness,
and in many instances, yes, in the most of instances, in their
scholastic ignorance, to proclaim the Gospel--when I see the
wonderful results of their preaching, men and women from foreign
lands with the testimony of God in their hearts, that this is His
work, which they have received through repentance and being
baptized by a man having the authority, each man testifying in
his own language--the Scandinavian, the German, the French, the
British, the people of far of Africa and of the islands of the
sea, and the various countries where our Elders have gone, all
flocking together like doves to their master's windows, many of
them never having seen an Elder from Utah, but having heard men
who had the authority to teach this Gospel--all coming from the
various points of the compass, testifying in all humility and in
the name of Jesus, that God has given unto them a knowledge of
the truth--when I see these things my heart is filled with
gladness and thanksgiving. I thank God that my lot has been cast
in these valleys; that we live in a day when God is doing so
mighty a work; when He is gathering His people together; when He
is pouring out upon them the spirit of union, for that is the
spirit of the Gospel. Jesus in his last prayer adds: "Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on
me through their word; that they all may be one, as Thou, Father,
art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that
the world may believe that Thou has sent me." He prayed for them
all, that they might be one with Him as He was one with the
Father; that the same union, that the same love might be in their
hearts. The Latter-day Saints are an unlettered people, far from
being what we hope they will be; but they are an honest people,
honest enough to embrace the truth when they hear it; honest
enough to forsake houses and lands and homes, and everything that
men hold dear in this life, for the sake of the Gospel as they
believe it. It requires moral courage to be "Mormons," to take
upon them the opprobrium of the world, to know that it may cost
their lives before they get through with it, and it requires the
power of God to be with men and women to enable them to do this.
And I thank God that He has found such, here a few and there a
few. In the various nations where the Elders have gone they have
found them, God directs them to them, and they come; and their
children will inherit the earth and they will be intelligent and
they will become a great people. For they will possess all the
virtues which constitute true greatness among men. I have no
fears in my own mind for this people. When I have been spoken to
as to the effect of this legislation, I have remarked that such a
people as are in Utah Territory cannot be crushed out by adverse
legislation. They will endure an immense amount. You take a
people who are united; who are industrious, who are frugal, who
are acquainted with hardship, who have endured persecution in the
past and are familiar with it and expect it, you take such a
people, having in their hearts the love of God and the love of
each other, believing that the best expression they can give of
the love of God is to love their neighbor as themselves; a people
of that kind cannot be crushed. They are bound to live upon the
earth in the struggle for existence; bound to have their place
among mankind; they are perfectly fitted to survive any struggle
or any condition that may be brought upon them.
108
As for this legislation, I want to say to you, that in some
respects I am thankful for it. Let persecution come if it will
have a good effect. And as for the rules which have been made by
the Commissioners, as I stated myself personally, to those
gentlemen, I disagree with their construction of the law, and I
think the rules are wrong; nevertheless, I am thankful they have
made them in their present form. Brethren have said to me: Cannot
we represent to the Commissioners how wrong and unjust those
rules are, and endeavor to have them changed so as to make them
applicable to the people out of, as well as those in the marriage
relations? I told them, Yes; try it if you wish; and if you can
effect a change, all right; but in my own heart I am thankful
that the Rules have been made as they are. They are made
applicable to all--those who have never broken any law; as well
as those who have. There is no distinction between those who
entered into plural marriage before and those who entered into
the state after 1862. Until the law of 1862 was passed, you
should understand, there was no law of the United States, no law
of this Territory, that made plural marriage a crime. You ought
to understand this, and I have not doubt you do understand the
difference between that which is a crime in and of itself, per
se, and that which is made a crime by statute. Plural marriage is
not a crime in and of itself, it is malum prohibitum, made so by
a law, and that law was enacted in 1862. Now unless legislation
is made ex post facto persons who married prior to 1862 violated
no law; but the rules as they have been enforced exclude these
people from registration; they exclude even a wife whose husband
took plural wives prior to 1862. Most extraordinary ruling. But I
have been thankful for it. Why? Because it puts us all in the
same boat and does not divide us. A better plan could not have
been devised to make us one than the ruling they have made in
regard to those "in the marriage relation." There are hundreds of
people who can take that oath that if those words were not in it
could not take it. They can register because of these four words.
They can walk up boldly and take that oath that they have done
nothing of the kind "in the marriage relation." I am thankful
that is the case. Why? I should feel extremely bad, I think, if
we were reduced to the level of those who have violated the laws
of God and of man. We have violated, some of us, the laws of man,
but we have not in our faithfulness violated the laws of God. We
are sincere in our belief; and give me a fanatic any time in
preference to a scoundrel. I can tolerate a fanatic who does what
he believes to be right; but I have no sympathy for a man or
woman who commits an act knowing it to be wrong. We have been
excluded from registering because we have done something enjoined
upon us by the Lord; but men who have done things knowing them to
be wrong, who have acted contrary to the laws of God and of man,
men and women both, can take the oath and register.
108
Well, I am glad of it; I am glad I am not in that category; I do
not want to be in that crowd. I want to be able to say, as I can
say, that because of my religion, because of my doing that which
I believe I should be damned if I did not do I have been
disfranchised. I believe with all my heart that God gave a
command of that kind, and it rested with such power upon me that
I believed I would be damned if I did not obey it. Now, I am
willing to take the consequences of that; but I would hate to be
put on a level with every adulterer and seducer in the land; and
I am not by the ruling of the commissioners. There is a sharp,
well defined line of demarcation drawn between the Latter-day
Saints, who practice plural marriage because of their religion,
and the adulterer and seducer.
108
I see the hand of the Lord in it all, and I acknowledge it. God
is overruling and will overrule these things for our good. He
will test us, He will prove us, and if there is a weak spot in us
that is not seen He will find it out. We expect to attain to the
glory that Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, has attained to. We
pray for it, we have striven for it, that we might be counted
worthy to sit down at the right hand of God, our Eternal Father;
be counted worthy to dwell with Jesus in the eternal worlds, and
with the holy ones who have gone before, with men whose blood has
been shed, who have not counted their lives dear because of their
religion--we expect to be with them. Can you imagine, then, for
one moment that we can attain unto that glory unless we, like
them, are willing to endure all things for the sake of the
Gospel?
109
Now, the world thinks this is a very strange practice for a
religion; they wonder at it; they cannot understand it. Yet, let
any man look abroad in the earth and see the floodtide of
corruption, the evils under which mankind groan in the various
nations of Christendom, as also the division and strife that
exist in all religious matters. Marriage and morals rightfully
belong to religion and are part of it. Go out into the world and
ask the ministers of religion: "What shall I do to be saved?" One
will tell you one thing and another another thing, each man
walking his own road, every congregation divided from its fellow
congregation--strife and confusion of every kind amongst those
professing to be the followers of Jesus Christ. But I have often
thought, when I have been traveling in the world and seen the
spirit that is manifested, that if I had no other hope than that
which I see all around me, I would not care to have a family, I
would not care to have children, there would be so little to live
for; men seeking to take advantage of their fellow men in every
possible way; men seeking to destroy their fellow men; professors
of religion having none of the spirit that the Bible teaches us
is the Spirit of God. I never go from home without turning my
face towards these valleys, and the people of these mountains,
and without a profound feeling of thankfulness to God that my lot
has been cast among this people, with all their faults, and they
are numerous, and with all my faults, and they are numerous. We
have a love for each other and are striving to overcome our
faults and to cultivate that love which belongs to the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
109
Now, let us be patient. As I said to some friends whom I met
yesterday, I never felt happier in my life than I do at the
present time. True, I have had to endure domestic affliction,
which has made me sorrowful. Yet I am gladdened by the hopes I
have for the future, and I can truly say I never felt happier
among our people than I do now. All is peace; God is with us, His
angels are around about us, and His Holy Spirit is being poured
out upon us. I do not know that the sun is any less bright, that
the moon is any the less clear, that the elements are any less
pure and delightful than they were twelve months ago. Our grain,
our vegetables, our fruits, all ripen, the earth yields of its
strength and gives us of its increase for our good. Peace reigns
in our habitations; peace reigns in the hearts of the people. We
know that God overrules all, and that He will control all things
for His glory, and for the accomplishment of His purposes. Why,
then, should we be sad? Why should we mourn? Why should we dread
the future? Why should we anticipate that which will never occur?
There is no need for it. Let us enjoy to-day. Let us rejoice
to-day in the goodness of God, and when to-morrow comes it will
be laden with blessings as to-day is. And so it will be every day
and every week and every year until we are ushered into the
fullness of the glory of our God.
109
I have not had the opportunity before of thanking you for your
faith and good feelings towards me while I have been gone. I can
assure you, my brethren and sisters, I have appreciated them. Men
have said to me, in view of that which we are passing through,
and the bitter feeling manifested towards us--How cheerful you
seem to be! I replied that I had cause to be cheerful; that there
was not a man on the floor of Congress that had more cause for
cheerfulness than I had. Behind me stood my constituents in solid
columns, giving me their support and kind feelings and love. And
I have several times said, that from almost every habitation in
Utah, from north to south, where Latter-day Saints dwell, I knew
that prayers to Almighty God ascended morning and evening, not
from men alone but from women and children, in my behalf. I knew
that, and it gave me great comfort; yea, indescribable comfort. I
thank you for your kind feelings, as I do all my brethren and
sisters.
109
I pray God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon you; to preserve you
from every evil; to keep you in the truth; to cause you to love
it more than anything else in the earth, and to follow it even to
the end, which I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Moses
Thatcher, April 7th, 1883
Moses Thatcher, April 7th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY ELDER MOSES THATCHER,
Delivered in the Large Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday
Afternoon,
at the Annual Conference, April 7th, 1883.
A COMPARISON--WRATH OF MAN MADE TO PRAISE GOD--FALL OF SENATOR
EDMUNDS--FATE OF THOSE WHO OPPOSE GOD'S WORK--PERSECUTION FOR
RELIGION
UNAVAILING--CASE OF THE HUGUENOTS--INTEMPERANCE--STARTLING
STATISTICS--DRINK THE CAUSE OF OTHER EVILS--APPEAL TO THE SAINTS.
111
I feel very grateful indeed for the happy and peaceful
circumstances with which we are surrounded this day, and I cannot
help realizing how different they are to those which surrounded
us a year ago. The pressure from the outside world at that time
was very great, and the power of him who has been an oppressor
from the beginning was exercised throughout this nation for the
hurt of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But when
perils have threatened we have learned to appeal to the invisible
forces of heaven against the visible forces of earth, and in no
failed to succeed if those who maintained it were directed,
sustained and upheld by the power of God our eternal Father. When
men make it their special mission to contend against this great
work, they do not realize that God is a power, they cannot
comprehend that exercise of faith that turns aside the shafts of
our enemies and delivers us from the snares which shrewd
politicians and wicked and ungodly priests lay to entrap the
people. How well I recollect a conversation I had about a year
ago, with a very thoughtful man, a man connected with the Church,
but who at times is given to view things from the natural
standpoint. It was shortly after the arrival of the Commissioners
who came to Utah to administer the provisions of the Edmunds'
law. This brother was not ignorant of the exertions which has
been made throughout the Union to secure the enactment of that
and other proscriptive measures, nor was he ignorant of the
intent of leading politicians in the Republican party to forge
chains with which to bind us, while depriving us of our
liberties. He understood full well the means which had been used;
he was not ignorant of the fearful waves of prejudice which had
swept every State in the Union. Realizing what the intentions of
the wicked were, and understanding the mighty power of a mighty
nation, he felt exercised and desired to know if something could
not be done to compromise the question; in other words; if it was
not possible to submit to the President and Cabinet certain
propositions by which the people might be enabled to maintain
their rights and liberties. I have not forgotten what my
reflections were while listening to his remarks, and I remember
the reply which I was led to make. It was this: We had been
gathered from the nations of the earth. We came to these
mountains to serve God without respect to the thoughts or
suffrages of other people. We came here to maintain liberty of
conscience and freedom of worship, the provisions of the
Constitution of our common country, and not to compromise them
upon any terms whatever; that I knew of no earthly wisdom upon
which we could safely rely in maintaining those rights; that if
the religious, political and social affairs of the people were
given over to the management of a hundred of the wisest
uninspired men to be found in Zion, they would utterly fail to
accomplish the purposes of God, though they might in their
efforts to please man, sacrifice liberty and the freedom of
conscience, violate the sacred provisions of the Constitution,
and make those whom they sought to serve pliant slaves, unworthy
of the blessings which of right belong to a free people; that the
adoption of such a policy would, within six months, place us in
such a condition of confusion and misery that God alone could
relieve our distress; that if, on the other hand, we would
exercise faith in Him, live our religion, be prayerful and
humble, He would bring us off, as He has done many times before,
victorious. Can we not see how the Lord has stayed the passions
of men and made their wrath to praise Him? Let us reflect upon
the difference between the power exercised by the great leading
light of the Republican party during the passage of the Edmunds'
bill in the Senate of the United States a little over a year ago,
and the exercise of the influence of the same man a year later.
Senator Edmunds, when he first called up his bill was, in the
Senate, almost supreme. By the power of his intellect and the
fierce invective of his tongue, he ruled, as it were, absolute
master, and his bill unconstitutional and unjust, passed the
Senate with but little opposition. Few statesmen cared then to
measure arms with him, but mark the results when God did so a
year later.
111
Had the faith of this people changed? Did we believe more in the
laws of God in March, 1882, than we did in March 1883? Certainly
not. Why then was Senator Edmunds unable to carry out his views
and measures regarding this people in the latter as he had
succeeded in doing in the former year? Because God is a force in
the world and its affairs, whether men acknowledge it or not. His
power always has been, and always will be greater than man's
power.
112
Men may think what they please and sneer at what they may be
pleased to call fanaticism, but this I know, shame and confusion
was the part of Senator Edmunds when, after six hours vain
endeavor to force the passage of another infamous measure against
us, he stood up in the Senate and confessed that he could see by
the ruling of the presiding officer, and by the votes of his
opponents, that it was impossible to carry the measure which he
had in hand, and therefore moved for an adjournment. Was his
defeat, chagrin and shame accomplished by the wisdom of man? We
think not. We at least are willing, as we always have been, to
acknowledge the hand of God in these things. God not only holds
the destinies of nations in His hands, but He holds also the
destiny of individual man. He can humble those who measure arms
with Him, as He has done many times in the past. We fear not the
power, nor do we gloat over the fall of man, public or private,
but we have learned by experience that when they rise up and
contend against this people and the principles of liberty and
right, God marks them, and their course thenceforth is not upward
but downward. In March, 1882, when in Washington, D. C., in
company with other brethren, visiting Brother George Q. Cannon,
then our honored delegate, I remember the sentiments expressed by
some members of the Republican party. They would come privately
and say: "We view this bill--referring to the Edmunds' bill--as
infamous in its measures; we can see that it is unconstitutional,
that it seeks to rob a whole people of their political rights.
But our profession is that of politics; we have no other
business, and numerous petitions are coming here daily from our
constituents, praying us, commanding us, to pass some law for the
suppression of "Mormonism." Now what shall we do? If we comply
not with their demands our constituents will, at future
elections, reject us at the polls." Was not a similar argument
used by the Jews, when they said, "If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe in him, and the Romans shall come and take away
our place and nation?" Fearing that, they crucified him, and what
was the result? The very thing they sought to save was that which
was speedily lost. When weighed in the balance they were found
corrupt, cruel, vindictive, murderous; unable to maintain
principle, defend justice, or do what they knew to be right. A
disposition to oppress swayed their hearts and tyranny marked
their actions to such an extent, that God rejected them as a
people, scattered to the four winds and made of them, in the
midst of nations, a hiss and by word.
113
In this connection let any one who feels disposed, take the pains
and trouble to look over the Congressional Record and see how
those who were willing to sacrifice principle at the shrine of
everything that was wrong, willing to sacrifice the liberties of
a people poor and oppressed, examine and see how many of that
character have been returned. Have not more than fifty per cent
of them been rejected at the polls? Ask the democrats how this
has come about, and why it has come about, and they cannot tell
you. Ask the Republicans and they cannot tell you. But ask God,
who holds the destinies of nations and peoples in His hand, and
He can tell you. On the other hand examine the record of those
who fearlessly stood up in defense of Constitutional liberty,
maintained inviolate their oath of office, sustained the right,
and were true to themselves. They too felt the pressure of
priestly inflamed public sentiment, but bowed not to its
tyrannical demands. They too realized the dangers and perils that
might beset their efforts for future recognition at the polls,
but having moral courage they planted themselves on principle,
not prejudice, and their constituents, in a great measure, have
endorsed their policy and sustained their heroic conduct. If I
have been correctly informed, a much great percentage of those
who sustained right on the "Mormon" question in the 47th, have
been returned to the 48th Congress, than of those who pursued the
opposite policy. We should entertain no fear of men or nations,
for they cannot prevent the Almighty from accomplishing His
purposes, or bringing to pass His decrees. History, so far as I
have been able to trace, no where records success gained by
hatred and persecution over men pledged to principle, justice and
truth.
113
Mens' convictions, religious beliefs and just religious practices
cannot be persecuted out of them. The nearest approach to success
in this direction was, perhaps, the massacre of St. Bartholomew
in France, wherein seventy thousand defenceless Huguenots
perished miserably, victims of the malice and cruelty of Roman
Catholicism.
113
That shocking butchery of men, women and children was acquiesced
in by Charles IX, then King of France, and when his ally Philip
III, of Spain heard of it he laughed, the only time he was known
to laugh in his life. The Pope of Rome illuminated the eternal
city, caused medals to be struck off, mass to be performed, and
named Charles "the defender of the faith," in commemoration of
those horrid deeds of blood and misery.
113
Notwithstanding the Pontifical approval bestowed upon the king
for that seventy thousand-fold murder he was till his death daily
and nightly haunted by the thought of his victims until his
misery and remorse caused, it is said, drops of blood to ooze
through the pores of his skin. Through these cruelties the
Huguenots received a fearful shock, but the consciousness of men
continued to assert independence and the right to worship God
untrammeled continued to grow. The freedom we now enjoy is but
the fruit of the struggle for right, which persecution ultimately
solidified, united and made strong in the broad, deep foundations
of the freest nation on earth; thereby preparing the way for the
mission of Joseph the Prophet. Much improvement had been made,
but in religious matters Joseph found the people insincere, and
the practices of the Christian world inconsistent and unsound.
Guided by the light of heaven he struck a death blow at the
idolatrous worship of a bodiless, passionless God, which the
teachings of false priests had erected in the imagination of the
people. In doing so he disturbed a sea of malice which since has
known no rest. But though that angry sea may roll fierce billows
of persecution, skepticism, infidelity and priestly hypocrisy
must yield, for Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Almighty came as
a forerunner and teacher of true faith in God that cannot be
conquered; it will prevail. God's kingdom will rise and shine.
They say we are endeavoring to establish a theocratic government.
What is theocracy? The kingdom and government of God. Who will
contend against it--will the Latter-day Saints? No. It is our
duty to contend for it, and to assist to build it up. It is a
government of purity. It is a government of the people, and for
the people; it maintains liberty and right, and is always opposed
to oppression and misrule. I would like to dwell upon the
subject, but time will not permit, as I desire to touch upon
another at present, of deep interest to us.
114
We have been called out from the nations of the earth to serve
the Lord. "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." In this
connection I desire to touch upon a few practices existing among
us that are not pleasing in the sight of God. Intemperance is one
of them; the use of alcohol, the use of intoxicating drinks that
fevers the blood and maddens the brain, incites to sin, debases
man, destroys his better judgment, drives the Spirit of God from
his heart, and renders the daughters of Zion unsafe in his
company. What is the condition of the Christian nations in this
respect to-day? Two hundred thousand men and women crowd the
poorhouses, prisons and asylums of Great Britain alone.
Seventy-five per cent of them the wretched victims of alcoholism.
Can we think a business legitimate and honorable that deprives a
hundred and fifty thousand men and women of comfortable homes,
drives them wild, and sends them as driveling idiots and paupers
to the asylums and jails of a Christian nation, which derives a
revenue from the liquor traffic of $150,000,000 per annum, and
finds even that enormous sum inadequate to meet the expenses
entailed by reasons of its use? We cannot consistently so
consider it.
114
Aside from the debauchery, misery, ruin and death caused by the
use of intoxicants, the waste in Great Britain is simply
startling. Seventy-five million bushels of grain--equal at our
present rate of production to what Utah would yield in forty
years--is annually consumed in the manufacture of liquors there.
The inhabitants of Britain expend yearly for intoxicating drinks
over $640,000,000. During the past seven years they have expended
for the same purpose more than sufficient to cancel their
national debt, or build a new house for every family in the
kingdom, and school-houses in which to educate all their
children.
114
Had the money expended there for liquor during the past half
century been invested in five per cent interests bearing
securities, it would now be equal to the entire capitalized
wealth of the nation, including her cities, railroads, ships,
factories, mines, farms, fields and gardens. And yet in view of
these figures, taken from parliamentary returns we hear of the
cry of want and complaints of oppression. Do the people not
oppress themselves in the use--excessive use of things that
weaken and corrupt their bodies and darken their minds?
114
Is the condition of our own nation in this regard much better?
But little if any. In 1882, according to official reports, the
people of the United States paid nearly twice as much for liquor
as they did for bread. More than the entire value of the products
of all our woolen, cotton, boot and shoe factories. An amount
equal to seventy per cent of the wages earned in all the
manufacturing institutions of the country, during the same
period. Three hundred millions of dollars, more than was paid for
Governmental, state, territorial, county, city and school taxes
combined. Enough to school the children of a nation numbering
300,000,000, or six times as numerous as ours for the same year.
114
The nation consumes in liquor the value of all the public and
private libraries of the country every sixty days, and spends
annually nine times as much for drink as for printing and
publishing.
115
Now what can we say for the people of Utah? In the main they are
temperate, but there is room for much improvement. Here, I have
no means for acquiring exact knowledge from statistics, but I
venture the assertion that more money is spent even in Utah for
alcohol than is expended for the education of our children, or
the support of the Territorial government. Do we not expend more
means in the purchase of stimulants than we pay to sustain the
Church and Kingdom of God on earth? And in doing so are we not,
though perhaps thoughtlessly, undermining the virtue of our boys,
and the chastity of our girls? Do not inebriates and harlots
usually go hand in hand, and saloons and houses of ill repute
grow up side by side?
115
Had we the means of ascertaining the facts I am satisfied we
should find that nine out of every ten cases of the lapse of
virtue among us, could be traced to the use and influence of
liquor of some kind. I am led to this conclusion by positive
knowledge in a few sad cases that have come under my personal
observation. Again, the love of liquor is transmissible. No man,
therefore, can be a true servant of God while entailing
misfortune and misery--perhaps decrepitude and idiocy upon his
posterity. If any among us cannot control their appetite for
drink, at least let them not transmit their thirst as a heritage
to their children, who should be begotten in purity and brought
forth untrammeled by unnatural and debasing appetites that tend
to the lust of the flesh. A man addicted to intemperance cannot
subject himself to the will of God, nor can he govern his
passions to the sanctification of his body, failing in which he
cannot reasonably expect to govern others in righteousness for
their salvation. How then, are such worthy to stand at the head
of families in Zion? To me few sights are more painful than to
see a sorrow stricken wife bending over the wash tub and working
like a slave to support herself and children; and perhaps her
drunken husband, who warms his miserable useless body on the
sunny side of walls frequented by others of his kind. If we could
gaze through the sorrowful eyes down into the painstricken hearts
of such wives--and there are some even in Zion of that kind--we
should hardly find a blessing there for those who lift the
tempting cups to the lips of their fallen husbands. It is true
the liquor traffic, among Christians, is regulated by law and
disposed of generally under license, but that does not make it an
honorable business, nor does it in any way, so far as I can see,
restrict the evils that follow its use. To regulate and license
the manufacture and indiscriminate sale of whisky may, in some
places, be a necessary and unavoidable evil, but such laws as
moral and reformatory agencies have certainly proven failures.
The poor, half-starved children, depraved men, and ruined women
that nightly visit the gin palaces of London, Liverpool, New
York, Chicago, and other great cities, speak unmistakably of
failure. The crowded prisons, poor-houses, insane asylums,
testify of failure. The gambler who resorts to forgery as a means
with which to retrieve his fortune, the sot that wallows in the
gutter and blasphemes the name of God, the raving maniac whose
reason drink has dethroned, the murderer who took the life of his
brother while intoxicated and dies with a curse upon his lips as
he falls through the trap of the gallows, all testify of the woe,
utter failure and irreparable ruin wrought by the use of alcohol,
made easy of access by the regulations of law.
116
Let me, in the name of the Lord, urge the Saints to abstain from
its use. It weakens the body and impairs the mind. When the
highest order of physical excellence is required, science
interdicts its use. Men trained for great bodily effort and long
endurance are forced to be temperate or be defeated. Those who
compete for collegiate or literary honors understand the value of
temperance. In view of these facts, the Elder, High Priest or
Seventy who is addicted to the use of liquor, is unfit to perform
the labors which God requires of him. Is it possible that we as
Elders of Israel, at home and abroad, cannot see the results of
these things? Do we not know that like begets like? Do we not
know that men whose blood is fevered and whose judgment is
blinded are not fit to multiply and replenish, not fit to be in
that holy law of matrimony ordained and made sacred by the
Almighty? Let the world talk about and deride the institution of
celestial marriage. What concerns us more in Utah is the fact
that there are not men enough who understand the laws of life,
and who stand pure and holy, upon the higher basis of that sacred
law, to become the husbands of all the pure and to-day
marriageable women in Zion. God foresaw what the nations would
do. We were told yesterday by Elder Erastus Snow that men of
great influence in the world were preaching the doctrine of human
limitation, which leads to murder. And yet these very men will
preach morality to you and me. While killing their own offspring,
and urging others to do it, they tell us we shall not obey the
laws of God pertaining to increase. I say we will. And upon
natural principles, upon scientific principles. The boys and
girls who live according to the law of the Lord will become the
head and not the foot. They will have stronger bodies, stronger
minds, and by the force of the "survival of the fittest," will,
eventually, under the direction of divine revelation, govern the
affairs of the world. It has been so predicted; God has decreed
it, who will prevent it? Let us therefore unite in turning our
faces against the evil practices so prevalent in the world. Let
us begin to understand and live according to the laws of nature,
realizing that violations thereof bring penalties which sometimes
are transmitted to the third or fourth generation. In the
transmission of life God has devolved upon His creations the
highest and most delicate functions, and which, if abused, entail
misery and often premature death. God has His glory in the
perpetuation of life. With wonder and admiration we behold life
everywhere. We see it struggling in the vegetable kingdom and
breathing in the animal creations. Cut down and trample under
foot the noxious weed, and yet by the law that governs its
increase it struggles upwards, and unless utterly destroyed
matures seed for new life, and thereby perpetuates itself. All
nature responds to the eternal law of increase. Man, being
prompted by him who rebelled in heaven, alone seeks to defeat
life, and bring confusion and death. While he and his emissaries
strive through the commission of horrid crimes, even murder, to
limit human increase, let us as Saints sanctify body and soul
being pure in heart and mind, a fit lineage through which noble
spirits may possess tabernacles unto the glory of God the Father
of spirits. Let fathers and mothers in Zion beget children, as
Samuel the ancient prophet was begotten, and I tell you there is
no power on earth or in hell that can stop the progress of this
people. We will increase and spread abroad until Zion shall arise
and shine, and the Kingdom of God shall have supremacy and sway
forever. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Franklin D. Richards, April 7, 1883
Franklin D. Richards, April 7, 1883
DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE F. D. RICHARDS,
Delivered at the General Conference,
Saturday Morning, April 7, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
CAUSES OF GRATITUDE--THE CHURCH ILLUSTRATED BY A VINE--PRIESTHOOD
REPRESENTED BY THE BRANCHES--INDEPENDENCE--CAUSE OF LYMAN
WIGHT--PRIESTHOOD ON THE EARTH AND IN THE SPIRIT WORLD.
117
It is a very pleasing privilege that we have of meeting together
in Conference assembled in this manner. I have been very much
gratified, interested and instructed, as I am sure all the
faithful have been, who have been present and shared or partaken
of the spirit of this Conference. I hope and pray that while we
shall remain together we may feel the spirit of inspiration
resting upon us to guide our minds in our reflections and our
speech into those channels of communication that shall be most
profitable to the people.
117
We have this day extraordinary reason for gratitude and praise to
God our Heavenly Father for the peculiar manifestation of His
kindness and mercy to us during the past year; not only in
granting that the earth should be fruitful in yielding abundantly
for the returning wants of His people, both for man and beast,
but for the protection and deliverance of His people from the
machinations and devices and the subtle plans of men high in
authority, who have set themselves to ensnare us, and if it were
possible, to hinder the work of God--men who have thought to
destroy or cripple the great cause which God has established in
the earth for the redemption and exaltation of the human family,
from degradation and sin to the realms of intelligence and glory
in His kingdom. Surely all Saints who have been making "first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness," their aim and study,
cannot fail to have both seen and felt this. It is but another
assurance from on high of his good pleasure in not only having
given unto us the kingdom, but in preserving the rights, the
powers and blessings thereof from encroachment or invasion and
from injury by the hands of the wicked and ungodly.
117
I am reminded that the time at my disposal this morning is short,
there being several yet to address the Conference. I will,
therefore, proceed directly to call your attention to a passage
of Scripture found in the 15th chapter of John:
117
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
117
"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away, and
every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it, that it may bring
forth more fruit.
118
"Now, ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
118
"Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except you
abide in me.
118
"I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can
do nothing.
118
"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned.
118
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you; ye shall ask what
ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
118
"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall
ye be my disciples."
118
One of the Prophets, I think it was Jeremiah, said that the vine
was the noblest or choicest of all the trees of the forest. The
Savior, no doubt, in view of this general understanding, adopted
the vine to figuratively represent the precious principles which
He undertook to illustrate in the foregoing passages of
Scripture, and which I wish to make some allusion to, in
illustration of the importance of our being in a proper position
to attend to our duties faithfully, which is necessary for the
complete growth and progress of the vine, to which we are
attached in all its branches, leaves, flowers and fruits.
118
Christ's Church is frequently spoken of as a vine of the Lord's
planting in the earth. Our Savior and the ancient Prophets Nephi,
Jacob, Zenos, and others, spoke of the husbandman going forth in
the morning to employ the workmen to labor in his vineyard,
during the heat and burthen of the day; and also about the
eleventh hour, of his employing laborers to go into the vineyard
and prune it for the last time. I wish to remind you my brethren
of the Priesthood, especially those who are called to occupy
important leading positions in the Wards, the Stakes and councils
of Zion, that you are the men who were spoken of and written
about in their parables.
118
The Prophets of those early days were so filled with the spirit
and power of the Gospel and of revelation, that they looked into
the future and saw in vision the birth of Christ and the work
that he was to perform. They also beheld our day, and the work in
which we are engaged. It must be borne in mind, that we are not
working alone for our dear selves, but for those coming after us;
and that our work bears a strict relation to those that have been
here and gone before us to the spirit world, to whom we are as
closely related; and without whom we cannot be made perfect, any
more than they without us.
118
Therefore, every Elder clothed with the Priesthood has a right to
officiate in ordinances affecting the happiness of those who have
gone before, as well as of being the means of bestowing blessings
upon those who follow him; and for the use of this power he will
be held accountable.
119
Now let it be understood, Jesus said, "I am the true vine."
Everybody acquainted with the art of pruning, knows, that to make
a tree bear the greatest amount of fruit he must trim it so that
there will be no small branches springing up around the roots,
but that there be one vine with all the sap running through it.
He has not only said, "I am the true vine;" but also "ye are the
branches." If the tree be properly trimmed the sap, which is the
life of it, will go from the roots through the vine to all the
branches thereof. Jesus said in connection with this "every
branch in me that beareth fruit He purgeth it, that it may bring
forth more fruit."
119
Let it be understood that the healthy, thrifty growth of the
limbs, the leaves, the bloom and the fruit, all depends upon the
close adherence of the "branches" to the "vine"--the body of
Christ. And every man bearing the Holy Priesthood must be made
conscious of this in his experience and observations at one time
or another if he is of any use as a living branch in this Church.
119
To this vine, in our dispensation there are three branches--the
First Presidency--who are closely allied to the powers behind the
veil; and they are the first to receive the mind and will of God,
and communicate the same to the Church. This is that spirit of
revelation, the sap that comes from the vine, that goes to all
the branches. And not only do we see these three main branches
next the trunk, but a little further along are twelve other
branches, spreading out and each of them, shooting forth other
branches, twigs, tendrils, leaves and fruit, if they abide in the
vine.
119
Now if those branches by any means become injured, or are not in
a healthful condition from any cause--no matter what--so that the
free flow of the sap from the trunk and main branches is
arrested, or retarded, the consequence is that the lesser
branches, the twigs, leaves and fruit depending for nourishment
and life upon the injured or deadened limb, are more or less
affected, hindered in their growth, dwarfed in their development,
and must suffer death unless relieved by a healthy pruning.
119
I wish now to call the attention of the Presidents of Stakes to
the consideration of this fact.
119
It is the duty of every President of a Stake to attend the annual
and semi-annual Conferences, which are held in this place so far
as practicable, but if it should so happen that a President
himself could not be present, then he should see that one or both
of his Counselors come, or some faithful man of an excellent
spirit from his Stake who shall be capable of receiving the
instructions given, and who is able to communicate the same to
his President and to the people. And such a person or persons
should be men whose duty it shall be to stay until the Conference
is over, attending every meeting, and paying the strictest
attention to all instructions given and to all Church business
transacted.
119
They should not come here in a hurry to get away before the
business of the Conference is attended to; they should not feel
as though they could leave before receiving all that the
Presidency have to say to them; so that when they do return to
their homes they may go laden with counsel and filled with the
spirit of the Conference, ready to impart the same to the people
of their several Stakes. The President who does this keeps alive
the fire, the Spirit of the Lord in the hearts of his people. By
attending such conferences he goes home with more efficient
instructions to convey to the people at home, and at the half
yearly or quarterly conference over which he presides, he is
enabled to impart to all who were unable to attend, the spirit of
this general conference.
120
I hold it, then, to be of the utmost importance that the
Presidents of Stakes do make it their business to see that they
as branches abide more carefully and more strictly in the vine,
and that they receive the sap and nourishment of these
conferences to the utmost capacity and carry it home to support
every twig, every leaf, and every particle of fruit on the vine,
for their proper, healthy growth and maturity. This principle is
not only applicable to the Presidents of Stakes, but it is
applicable in like manner in your quarterly conferences to every
Bishop.
120
In those conferences every Ward should be represented by the
Bishop and his Counselors, and as many of the people as possible
should be present to receive the counsels there given. What is
the result sometimes when instructions have been given by
President Taylor through the Presidents of Stakes, and only a
part of them were present? Why, it is found, when some important
matter comes up, that this counsel has been neglected, and those
who ought to have been well informed are heard to say, "Why, we
never heard of this before." Why did you not hear of it? Why were
you not there in your place to hear of it, and thus be prepared
to carry out the instruction given?
120
In like manner every branch in all the mission abroad should
observe and secure a correct and proper representation in all the
conferences that are held in the various missions wherever the
Gospel is preached and branches are raised up. This is an
absolute requirement. (See Doctrine and Covenants, section 20,
verse 81 and on). By this means, and in no other way, can the law
of the Lord go forth from Zion, and the spirit of Zion extend to
the most remote branch or member of the Church on the face of the
whole earth.
120
This is the principle. You brethren of the Priesthood, as
branches of this vine, are expected to abide in it, to have the
fullest connection with it, and be prepared to convey the sap,
which has been conveyed to you, through the trunk to the extreme
branches, the tendrils, the leaves and the fruit that are under
your care. But unless you do this your people will suffer for
want of intelligence; they will have to go short of that
spiritual food which you are made the dispenser of and which you
are expected to impart for nourishment and support, not only in
spiritual matters, but in temporal things as well.
120
Now, there is a feeling among mankind--it is a feeling that is
common in the world, and it is not strange that some who have
been brought up in the world should retain it--a feeling of
independence, a feeling of self-sufficiency, a feeling that we
are capable of doing without counsel, and that we can do this and
that as we think best. My brethren, the less of this feeling we
carry with us, the safer and better for us and for the people we
have to instruct. We should understand our dependence on God and
on our brethren who are placed over us in the Priesthood for that
counsel necessary to sustain us and that will enable us to bear
off the Kingdom of God in righteousness.
121
Let me cite you to an instance of a man in the early days of the
Church--Lyman Wight showed this kind of spirit when Joseph lived.
It was all Joseph could do to keep him in subjection to the
counsels of the Priesthood, but he did conform when brought to a
consideration of his position in the Church so long as Joseph
lived. But when the Prophet Joseph died he did not recognize the
right of Apostle Brigham or his brethren of the Council to
preside over him. And where did he go? He started an offshoot of
the Church by himself, and both he and those who followed him
when out into the world to destruction and to the devil together.
This is the fate of those who think they can "run" themselves and
can "run" the affairs of the Church and Kingdom of God separately
and independent of their brethren. If he had continued and abode
in the vine and made himself one with Brigham Young and the
Apostles, he would have gathered with us to these valleys of the
mountains, rejoiced with us, and laid down his bones here, and
been one with the people of God. But, no; he went off by himself,
feeling totally independent of his brethren. He abode not in the
vine, and brought forth no fruit.
121
If there be any among us who say in their hearts I received my
blessings from President Young, he bestowed upon me all
blessings, authority, Priesthood, and keys of power that any one
else has received, not excepting President Taylor or any of the
Apostles, and I have just as much right to advise and build up
according to my own direction as he or they have--let such take
warning by the course of Lyman Wight, Geo. Miller, and others,
who have struck out independently and see the end which their
course has led them to. As the Savior said, "If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men
gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
121
There is no other way for the brethren of the Apostles, the
Presidents of Stakes, the Bishops of Wards and for all those who
stand in authority in the Church--there is no other way for men
to have the love of Christ in them, to have the power of the
Priesthood, to grow with God's Kingdom, but that they abide in
the vine, be one with their brethren, keep fast to the truth, and
derive their full share of the sap that comes from the roots
through the body of the vine.
121
This is the principle I wish the brethren would consider. It is a
beautiful figure which the Savior draws, and beautifully
represents the great truth that should be fastened upon our
minds, as He tried to fasten it upon the Apostles and Priesthood
of His time. "Every branch in me that bringeth not forth fruit he
taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruit."
121
Then, we must look out and see that nothing offends us; that we
live in harmony with all the instructions and counsels of the
Church; we want to see the spirit of love and power flowing not
only through the body, but through all the branches, until it
reaches the utmost extremity of the vine. Not only the Apostles,
Seventies and High Priests, but the Deacons and members, all who
have been baptized into Christ and who abide in Him.
122
Some of you may have noticed and seen that there are vines whose
branches extend quite to the tops of the tallest trees, and that
it was difficult to fell such trees because of the sustaining
power of the vine. The vine bears the choicest of all fruits.
This vine which God has planted in these last days is the
choicest and greatest of all, and it will make itself manifest as
such. And we wish all those brethren who are called to labor in
the vineyard, to be in a position to attend these conferences,
especially our annual conference, so that they may hear--and if
they have not minds sufficiently strong to remember everything,
to bring pencil and paper and take notes of all matters that need
to be remembered and carried home and imparted to the people who
reside in their various Stakes and Wards, Conferences and
Branches.
123
There is another beautiful illustration that might be made with
regard to the vine, but I have not time save to refer to it this
morning. It is this: If you take a vine that has had growth for
awhile and you go carefully and dig it up from the earth, you
will find that there is a very striking similarity in the roots
to the appearance and character of the branches above. Did you
ever notice this? Did you ever think of it? Well, this is a
beautiful illustration of the order of the Priesthood in the
eternal world. The Apostle in speaking concerning these matters,
refers to a "hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." The
Priesthood behind the veil are all interested in us, all anxious
for us, all ready to minister to us as far and as fast as
occasion permits or requires, as the roots continually generate
nourishment and minister to the branches or top of the tree; so
that we may be found efficient in our spheres and in our fields
of labor. We ought never to feel that we are alone. We cannot be
alone. We ought to know we cannot live without them, nor they
live and be glorified without us. And while this responsibility
is extended to us, we should sense that we and they are parts of
the great whole of father Adam's family, and that there is a
responsibility resting upon us that is great and that is general.
This vine has yet to yield great and glorious fruits, while its
branches must fill the earth and the fowls of heaven, the angels,
will lodge in them. What are we doing to bring forth these
fruits? What to promote the growth of this vine in the earth?
What are you Presidents of Stakes doing? Do you realize that you
are raising up and professedly educating in the name of the Lord
a nation of Kings and Priests to God? Do you impress upon the
hearts of the Saints that this is our work? Do you instruct the
Teachers, and those of the lesser Priesthood how to deal with the
people, and to see that there is no iniquity permitted in their
midst? This is the kind of fruit that grows on this vine,
brethren, and this is the kind of fruit that you are called upon
to nourish, strengthen and protect. And don't you know the grape
must not only grow but it must gain color. The fruit must be
fully ripened. It is a fruit that needs a good deal of warm sunny
weather, the sunshine of the Holy Spirit. It can only ripen in
that right kind of climate, and that climate is right here--the
shining of the sun of the Holy Spirit and the understanding
thereof. This nation of "kings and priests" must be so reared
that when the Savior comes He will find a people ready to receive
Him; a people who shall be full of the faith and the power of the
Gospel; a people whose lives shall in all respects comport with
the character of Saints of God; in fact, who shall be the people
that the Apostle John speaks of when he says: "They sung a new
song, saying, 'Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God
by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, and people and nation;
and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall
reign on the earth.'" This was their song of joy and rejoicing,
which was expressive of the glory and power, exaltation and
gladness that filled their souls.
123
There are other interesting and important phases of our great
work which bear a striking analogy to the vine and its branches,
but I cannot take time to dwell upon them now, lest I wrong those
who have yet to address you. I think perhaps I have said enough
to call your attention to the subject and the Spirit will aid you
to pursue it. My earnest desire is that we may master this and
all principles of the Gospel, and make them our own eternal
riches, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, April 8th, 1883
John Taylor, April 8th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, (Annual Conference) April 8th, 1883.
(Reported by Gibbs and Irvine.)
THE GOSPEL LIKE LEAVEN--LABOR REQUIRED OF THE ELDERS--PROMISES TO
ABRAHAM--HONORABLE MEN IN THE AMERICAN NATION FORMERLY AND
NOW--LIBERTY
IN RELIGION AND THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE CLAIMED AS RIGHTS--THE
SAINTS
CANNOT AFFORD TO DO WRONG--RELATIONSHIP TO GOD--EXHORTATION.
124
We have had a very interesting Conference, and a great many very
excellent principles have been presented to the people. As I told
the Priesthood last evening we are occupying a very peculiar
position in the earth, a position that has not been of our own
seeking. God has set His hand to accomplish His purposes upon the
earth, and for this purpose He has revealed Himself from the
heavens, as we have heard since this Conference commenced. In
pursuance of this He has manifested Himself and His Son Jesus
Christ, and has restored the Holy Priesthood by and through the
medium of a Priesthood, or various parts of a Priesthood that
existed in former ages--those holding that everlasting
Priesthood, which administers in time and in eternity, have been
commissioned from the heavens to come to the earth to bring to
pass the very things of which they themselves had prophesied.
Although we are, comparatively speaking, a small people, few in
number, yet as it was in the days of Jesus so it is to-day. The
Gospel is like a little heaven put into a certain portion of
meal, and it is working and operating, and the ultimate result
will be that the whole lump will be leavened. Not that everybody
that is in the world will obey the Gospel; but the Lord will have
His own way in manipulating His affairs, and great tribulation
will overtake the inhabitants of the earth. As you have heard,
many of the wicked will slay the wicked; but after these things
have taken place the good, the honorable, the virtuous, the pure,
those that are desirous to serve God will all have their
position, and that thing will be fulfilled which was spoken of by
Jesus--"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."
The time will yet come when the Saints of the Most High will take
the kingdom and hold the dominion under the whole heavens. These
are principles that are familiar to us all. In the meantime,
however, many important events have to take place, and a great
labor has to be performed, and will be performed by the agencies
which have been introduced by the Lord, and which will be
hereafter introduced by Him for the accomplishment of His
purposes, and the bringing to pass of His righteous will. For
this purpose the Holy Priesthood has been restored; for this
purpose the message of life and salvation has been proclaimed to
the nations of the earth; for this purpose after the reception of
the Gospel, the people have been gathered together in order that
the Lord might have a people who would be under the influence of
His Holy Spirit. We have all been baptized by one baptism, and
have all partaken of the same Spirit, and wherever these
ordinances have been administered according to the order of God,
and have been received by the faithful among the nations of the
earth, these effects have always followed. I have been among the
nations myself, and I have been baptized people and confirmed
them at least in three different languages, and the same spirit
rested upon all of those different people, and so it is
throughout all nations. The Lord has said he would gather
together His elect from the four quarters of the earth. And how
does He do it? By operating upon the minds of those who obey the
Gospel. Jesus said in His day and it is true to-day--"My sheep
hear my voice and know it, and follow me and a stranger they will
not follow because they know not the voice of a stranger." It is
under the influence of this Spirit that we have been gathered
together. We used to sing:
124
Whither shall we follow, follow, follow;
Whither shall we follow, follow thee?
All the way to Zion, all the way to Zion,
All the way to Zion,
We will follow thee.
125
What made you gather here? The impulse of the Spirit of the
living God, and you could not keep away. We have representatives
here from very many nations to-day. Here are Elders who have
preached the Gospel in many nations. A few years ago we had some
twenty-five nationalities represented at one of our public
demonstrations. And thus our work is to go on and spread and
increase. The Apostles, the Seventies, the Elders, and men who
have received the light of truth, will spread forth that light to
others of the family of God throughout the world. This is a labor
resting upon the Elders of Israel, and until it is accomplished
we shall not have fulfilled our mission here upon the earth.
Then, again, we have other works to perform associated with the
Church, with the Kingdom and with the Zion of God. I think
sometimes that we as a people are a good deal sectarian in our
feelings, and it is necessary for us occasionally to look at the
pit from whence we were dug, and the rock from whence we were
hewn. We are all too ready to cry out, as the sectarians do in
their different orders,
125
"The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,
The temple of the Lord are we."
125
And we are apt to forget sometimes the mission that God has
placed upon us, which is a mission of mercy, a mission of light,
a mission of intelligence, a mission that is calculated to
elevate the world of mankind even all those who will receive and
obey it. It is not intended for us alone; it is intended for all
men. Who are the world, and who are we? We say we are the
children of God our Heavenly Father. That is true; we are the
children of God our Heavenly Father. And is God our Father? The
Scriptures say so. But what of the rest of the world--say of this
nation, and all other nations--what of them? Whose children are
they? They are also the children of our Heavenly Father, and He
is interested in their welfare as He is in ours; and as a kind
and beneficent father towards His children, He has been seeking
from generation to generation to promote the welfare, the
happiness, and the exaltation of the human family. And let me say
here, that He is the fountain of life, the fountain of light, and
the fountain of intelligence, as we used to say in the Church of
England when I was a little boy, and I suppose they say so now;
it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His
people and the sheep of His pasture," He provides for us. We
sometimes talk about the hand of God being over us. Of course it
is, and will be over us forever, if we will only serve Him, for
He is always true. But His hand is over the nations of the earth
also. He is interested in the welfare of this nation and all
other nations and all other peoples as well as in our welfare.
What was the greatest blessing conferred upon Abraham? One was
that his seed should be numerous as the stars of heaven, and as
the sand upon the sea shore. I do not know that he would have got
along very well in this land now adays; they would have been
after him for polygamy. People do not believe so much in these
things now as they did formerly. Nevertheless, the Lord told him
to take another wife; but, then, perhaps the Lord made a mistake,
He had not studied modern Christianity; He was, to use the
language of the advanced Christian, behind the times. But
whatever may be thought or said about it, according to the record
that has come down to us, He used to talk to people in that day.
126
But let me refer you to another blessing connected with Abraham,
namely, that in him and his seed should all the nations of the
earth be blessed. Or, in other words, that God would honor him by
making of him and his seed agents through whom He would
communicate truth, intelligence and salvation to the world. It is
said "the glory of God is intelligence," and He is desirous to
impart this intelligence to the human family, that through it
they may be exalted to the Godhead. Abraham's posterity were to
stand as messengers of God, as legates of the skies, commissioned
of the great Jehovah to proclaim His word to fallen man, even to
His children; for God has made, we are told, of one blood all the
families of the earth, and has given unto them a portion of His
Spirit, if haply they would feel after Him, although He is not
far from any one of us. For in Him we live, and move, and have
our being. And under the influence of His Spirit man has
accomplished very much good; and to-day there are hosts of
honorable, upright men who in their hearts fear God, but they
have not yet found the right way. But in the providences of His
mercy He has gathered a people from the nations that they may be
taught and instructed in regard to the laws of life and
salvation. And this has been brought about in fulfillment of
ancient prophecy. Jeremiah, for instance, in referring to it
said, that he would take them one of a city and two of a family,
and bring them to Zion. And what was He to do with them when He
should get them there? He would give them pastors after His own
heart who should feed them with knowledge and understanding. And
the same great event is referred to by other Prophets.
127
I was very much pleased with the remarks made by Brother Erastus
Snow, with regard to our own nation, in which he said that it had
been by and through the power of Almighty God, and in accordance
with the words of the Lord as contained in the Book of Mormon,
that the people were, in the first place, impelled to come here,
and after coming here, to contend for human freedom upon this
land; and it was by and through the power of God, that the
fathers of this country framed the Declaration of Independence,
and also that great palladium of human rights, the Constitution
of the United States. There is nothing of the bigoted, narrow,
contracted feeling about that instrument; it is broad and
comprehensive. And they had a bell in Philadelphia, which I, and
perhaps many of you have seen, upon which was written, "Proclaim
liberty throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof;"
but I was sorry to see that the bell was cracked. I suppose it
got cracked after the grand effort that was made to proclaim
liberty throughout the land; and I have thought since that it has
not been soldered up yet. But with all the weaknesses and
imperfections associated with men, the government of this nation
has been a great bulwark for human freedom, and I felt proud at
the time when Mr. Edmunds, with his colleagues, introduced his
bill, known as the Edmunds' bill, that there was such a number of
gentlemen who had the manhood and the moral courage to oppose it
in the bold and manly way in which they did, showing plainly that
they cherished in their bosoms the principles contained in the
Constitution. I respect such men, and they command the respect
and esteem of all honorable, right-thinking people. They could
afford to render themselves unpopular in the eyes of religious
bigots and fanatical politicians, but they could not afford to be
amongst those that are ready to tear down the bulwarks of human
freedom, and trail in the dust the flag of our country. They did
not believe in our religion. Of course, that is a matter of their
own, it is none of our business, neither is our religion any of
their business, which they understand and appreciate. There are
two things that I have felt very decided upon ever since I could
comprehend anything; one was that I would worship God as I
pleased without anybody's dictation; and that I would dictate to
no man his faith, neither should any man dictate to me my faith;
and the other was that I would vote as I pleased. And I entertain
the same sentiments to-day. When the Commissioners, operating
under the Edmunds' law, made their extraordinary rulings and
authorized the administering of the test oath, declaring who
should vote and who should not, I could not help remarking that
people were acting very foolishly, that they did not know what
they were doing; but whether they knew it or not their attempts
to wrest from this people their rights and liberties, were not
more or less than indirect attempts to tear down the bulwarks of
American liberty. But in this inexcusable attack upon human
rights and the principles of liberty we can take no part. What
then will we do? They have no right, it is true, to interfere
with us in the way they have done; they have no right, it is
true, to prohibit us from voting without a hearing and without a
trial; they have no right, it is true, to present to us a test
oath, it being illegal and contrary to our rights as American
citizens. But we will submit gracefully for the time being,
withdraw from the polls, rather than act in the capacity of
obstructionists; and when the time comes we will test these
proceedings according to the laws of the land, and the principles
of liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States,
which we recognize and respect. Have we yielded up our
franchises? No, we have not. Will we ever do it? No, never; no,
never. Have we in the least backed down from the principles by
which we have been guided from the beginning? No; we still mean
to live by them and to maintain them, and to contend for our
rights, not by dynamite or nitroglycerine, but to do so legally
and constitutionally, not only in defense of our own rights, but
the rights and liberties of our children and those of every free
man throughout the land. This is the course we propose taking.
129
As I before stated we have been called from the nations of the
earth by Him who is our Father, we being His children. And He has
told us to ask, and we shall receive. He has told us to seek and
we shall find; to knock and it shall be opened to us. Very well.
What shall we do? We will use the best means we can to defend our
rights; and after we have done this we will then go to our
Heavenly Father and ask Him to help us. Will He do it? Yes. Has
He done it? Yes, and we acknowledge His hand in regard to these
things. He has heard our prayers without noise, without tumult.
He has told us thus far that if we will continue to obey Him and
to observe His laws, He will deliver us and direct us even to the
end. And we need have no fears whatever about the result. He has
promised us that inasmuch as we do His will and keep His
commandments, He will fight our battles. And I feel confident and
perfectly easy, and I felt just as easy during the furore and
commotion that raged through the land a few months ago as I do
to-day; knowing, as I do, that if we will perform our part, the
Lord will not fail to do His. Because others act foolishly we
cannot afford to imitate them. We profess to be the Zion of God,
the pure in heart. We profess to be men and women of integrity,
of truth and virtue, and to have faith in God. This must not only
be our profession, but our practice; we must carry out and
fulfill the word and will and law of God. Jesus taught His
disciples how to pray. Said He: "Our Father who art in heaven."
That is, your Father and my Father, the God and Father of the
spirits of all flesh. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name," O, God, we reverence thee; we observe thy law, and we
wish to keep thy commandments, and purge ourselves from all evil,
that we may be acceptable to thee. "Hallowed be thy name; thy
kingdom come." We reverence thee, O, God, and attribute to thee
all that we have in this world, and all that we expect to have in
the eternities to come. "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come."
Thy what? Thy kingdom come. That is the rule of God, the
government of God, the dominion of God, the time when men will
not be ashamed to acknowledge God as their Father, their friend
and benefactor. "Thy kingdom come." When all will submit to thy
rule, to thy law, to thy jurisdiction, to thy dominion; that thy
will may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. How was it
done in heaven? God spake, chaos heard, and this world rolled
into existence; and so did other worlds under the same divine
impulse and power. And all those systems that revolve around us
were made and are upheld by the mighty power of God, who governs
in the heavens above, and upon the earth beneath, and among the
worlds. Whether men acknowledge that or not, the time will come
on this earth when every knee shall bow to Him, and every tongue
shall confess that Jesus is the Christ, to the glory of God the
Father. That time will come. It is not here now; but as I have
said He has introduced this Gospel as the entering wedge, as the
little leaven by which he can operate, that He may have a people
under the influence of the Holy Ghost, a people that can hold
communion with him, like so many thousand strings penetrating the
eternal worlds and drawing down blessings from the Almighty,
drawing fire, and life, and intelligence from Him; for we
ourselves are sparks struck from the blaze of His eternal fire,
emanating from God our Father, and we wish to operate with Him
and for Him and under His guidance, for the accomplishment of His
purposes here upon the earth. This is what we are here for. Now I
come to another point. We pray "Thy will be done on earth as it
is done in heaven." How is it done there? As I said, God spake,
chaos heard, and the world rolled into existence, and it is
supported by the mighty power of God, and who can stay His hand.
Do you think that if all the Legislatures, all the Congresses,
all the Parliaments, and all the Reichstags, all the Chambers of
Deputies and Senates of the earth were to get together and pass a
decree that the sun should rise five or ten minutes or half an
hour later or earlier than it does--do you think it would have
any effect upon it? I do not think it would--I think it would
still go on in its usual course, and they would feel that they
were dependent upon God. Do the world know that in Him we live
and move and have our being? Does this congregation know that
there is not one of them could leave this house unless God
permitted it and sustained them in so doing? Do the nations of
the earth comprehend that they are in His hands, and that he puts
down one nation and raises up another according to the counsels
of His will, and none can say, "Why doest thou thus." What have
we to do? To begin with, we should deal justly and honorably with
all men, and should seek to protect all men in their rights so
far as we have the power to do so, and then to maintain our own
on the same principle. And what then? Fear God and observe His
laws, and we ought every one of us to place ourselves in
communication with the Lord, and He has tried to make us
understand this, but it seems very difficult for us to do so. It
was in former times, and it is now. He says, "ask and ye shall
receive." Is it not a very simple thing? "Seek and ye shall
find." Is it not very easy. "Knock and it shall be opened unto
you." But says He, you do not understand it aright. Now, let me
mention a thing to you. If a child ask of you bread, would you
give it a stone--you fathers and you mothers? I think not. If the
child asked a fish would you give it a scorpion." Why, no. The
mother would say, "Sammy, or Mary," as the case might be, "you
want some bread--well I will give you some with butter and
molasses." The mother would try to meet the wishes of the
children, and sometimes give them a little candy to boot. Now,
then, says the Lord, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." It
is very plain when you get at it, and it is very simple, and
people wonder sometimes, they think it an astonishing thing that
God should hear people's prayers. Why, bless your souls, that is
the strongest fort we have, and when we get into any difficulty
in the nation or anywhere else, we humble ourselves before the
Lord--and we all need to do this, for we all have our weaknesses
and imperfections; and it is necessary that He should be very
merciful to us. And He is, and knows how to bear with us. We need
also to know how to bear with one another, and to place ourselves
in communion with God, and in doing this to purge ourselves from
everything that is wrong and evil. And I tell you--you Elders of
Israel, you brethren and you sisters, that if you will begin to
do the will of God on the earth as it is done in heaven, the
power and blessing of God will rest upon you and upon this
people, and no power will be able to injure you from this time
forth. God expects us to do His will, to carry out his purposes,
and if His will is ever done on the earth as it is done in
heaven, where in creation will it start, if it does not start
here? Let every man put himself right, and every woman and every
family do the same, and all the Priesthood in all its various
departments and ramifications, and let every one walk up to the
line and perform his duty, and in the name of Israel's God, Zion
shall arise and shine, and the glory of God shall rest upon her.
Our progress is onward and upward, until the kingdoms of this
world become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and loud
anthems be sounded from among the nations--glory and honor and
power and might and majesty and dominion be ascribed unto Him
that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and
forever. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, May 27th, 1883
George Q. Cannon, May 27th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, May 27th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
IMPROVEMENT AMONG THE PEOPLE--INTEREST MANIFESTED BY THE WORLD IN
THE
"MORMONS"--EVIDENCES OF DIVINITY IN THE WORK--SAME EFFECTS FOLLOW
THE
GOSPEL IN DIFFERENT AGES--AUTHORITY RESTORED--PROOFS OF JOSEPH
SMITH'S
DIVINE MISSION--PERSECUTIONS ENDURED BY THE SAINTS--REASONS FOR
THE SAME.
131
It is some weeks since I have had the opportunity of meeting with
the Saints in the Tabernacle. Our time has been spent in visiting
the various settlements north and south, and has been spent most
agreeably in holding quarterly conferences. A great change has
been effected in our Territory within the past few years in
furnishing facilities for traveling to and fro and visiting the
settlements which were once quite remote from this city. I have
no doubt that these visits are appreciated by the people who are
visited. They certainly are by those who make the visits. The
growth and the development of the people, their increase in the
knowledge of those principles that pertain to salvation as well
as to this earthly existence, is so apparent that it is
exceedingly gratifying to witness it. The Lord is very visibly
working out His great designs and purposes in connection with
this work with which we are identified. Every one who is
connected with the work and who realizes its character does seek,
as I believe by observation, more diligently to comprehend the
nature of the duties and responsibilities which rest upon him or
her. The various organizations in the shape of Primary
Associations, of Sunday Schools, of Mutual Improvement
Associations, of Relief Societies, as well as the meetings of the
various quorums of the Priesthood, are all having a very marked
effect as I can observe myself, upon the people. I probably am in
a better position than many to judge of the effect of these
organizations; for the reason that it has not been my privilege
to visit the settlements of late years so extensively as some of
my brethren. I notice a great increase of zeal, of devotion, and
above all, of knowledge concerning the work of the Lord and the
labors connected therewith. And I am thankful that this is so,
for certainly with the increase of the facilities to which I have
referred in our Territory, there has been a corresponding
increase of evils which have to be contended with and overcome,
and knowledge and understanding and wisdom are necessary on the
part of the Latter-day Saints to enable them to cope successfully
with these evils. In our former condition of isolation it was not
a matter of such great moment for the people to be trained as
they now are. They were not exposed to the influences of an
adverse and hostile character like they are to-day. With the
change in circumstances there has come a corresponding change, it
may be said, in strictness of organization, and, as I have
remarked, I am happy to say a corresponding increase of
knowledge. We have many things to cope with at the present time,
which those who resided here 25 years ago knew little or nothing
about. And it is an excellent feature of this system which God
has established, that it is so admirably adapted to all the
circumstances which may surround the children of men. God bestows
wisdom according to the occasion and to the necessities of the
case, and He gives strength and power to those who seek after
them in the right spirit. He has done so from the beginning and
He will do so until the end.
131
When the Elders of this Church have gone forth and preached the
Gospel, calling upon the inhabitants of the earth to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of their sins and to be baptized
for the remission of them, those who submitted to these
requirements received the strength and the grace necessary to
enable them to contend with the difficulties which immediately
surrounded them. God poured His spirit upon them. God gave unto
them a testimony concerning the truth of the work with which they
had identified themselves. He gave unto them the strength
necessary to overcome all the obstacles which laid in their
pathway, and they were filled with joy and peace, and from that
day until the present the man or the woman who has thus bowed in
submission to the requirements of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ has been sustained, upheld, strengthened and delivered.
The strength and the grace, the gifts and the blessings which God
has promised have been abundantly bestowed and have made the
individual who has received them equal to every emergency. And
that which is true concerning individuals is true concerning this
entire people in their collective capacity. As difficulties have
increased, as obstacles have had to be overcome, and the
condition of affairs has changed and seemingly grown more
threatening, they have had strength and grace and power given
unto them commensurate with the trials they have had to meet. And
God's hand has thus been manifested in the most wonderful manner
in the eyes of those who believe and who have had faith, and they
have had causes for thanksgiving and praise to God every day that
they have lived.
132
Now, the whole work from its inception until the present time is
a marvel and a wonder. It may be termed phenomenal in the earth.
It is unlike anything else that we know of. It differs from every
other system that is extant among men. There are features
connected with it which cannot be witnessed anywhere else. Human
nature exhibits itself, it may be said, in new forms.
Characteristics are developed in connection with this work which
may truly be said to be unique. You cannot witness their
exhibition among any other people, nor in any other land. And it
is a remarkable thing that though the Latter-day Saints number so
few, comparatively speaking, there is no topic to-day that can be
broached in the hearing of any of the people of Christendom that
excites the interest that "Mormonism" does. And yet if you ask
men the reason of this, it would be difficult for them to account
for it. They only know that the fact exists; that to them and to
the world at large it is a topic of unflagging interest. The
"Mormons" are looked upon as a peculiar people. Let a "Mormon"
travel anywhere in the United States or in Europe or in other
lands, and it be known that he is a "Mormon," he will attract
more attention than any other man. Why is this? Is it because the
people are so numerous? Is it because they are so wealthy? Is it
because they exercise such political power? Is it because they
wield such influence in the affairs of the children of men! No,
it cannot be said that any of these causes exist to any extent.
The "Mormons" are not a numerous people. The "Mormons" are not a
wealthy people. The "Mormons" do not wield political influence to
any extent, nor influence of any other character outside of their
own society. What, then, is it that constitutes this, I may say,
attractiveness or this interest in men's minds concerning this
organization? "Oh," says one, "it is because you marry more wives
than one. You believe in plural marriage, and that excites
interest and causes talk and attracts attention; it is that that
makes you so noticeable."
132
Perhaps so. But it is not many years since we did not believe in
this, since it was not a practice of this Church, and yet in
those days a "Mormon" was as much an object of curiosity as he is
to-day--that is, in proportion to the celebrity that attended the
name. "Mormonism" was as much talked about according to the
extent it was known as it is to-day. It excited as much
curiosity. It aroused as much hatred. It called forth as much
persecution, in fact, the most severe persecution that, as a
people, we have ever endured, we received prior to the
announcement by our Church that we believed in this peculiar
doctrine. I have no doubt that our espousal and advocacy of this
doctrine has given us considerable notoriety. It has added to our
celebrity. But our celebrity has not consisted alone in this. As
I have remarked, our organization aroused as deep antipathies
prior to the revelation of this doctrine as it has ever done
since.
132
Now, we have our own method of accounting for this great interest
that it taken in this work. It is admitted too freely for the
truth that we are an illiterate people. It is said that we are
under the control of impostors, shrewd men, who lead the masses
and bend them to their will. This is said concerning us
everywhere. To account for the ingathering of the people from the
nations of the earth men have recourse to many theories, or to
several at least, one of which is that our Elders go out to the
ignorant and unlearned and the down-trodden, and depict in
glowing colors the beauties of this land of ours and the
blessings that they will receive if they will only gather here;
and that by these glowing tales and by persuading them that they
can have all the wives they want when they come here, they induce
the ignorant hordes of Europe to come to this country. This is
one of the popular methods of accounting for the ingathering of
the people from the nations of the earth and their adhesion to
the "Mormon" cause.
133
Well, now, if this were true, I would consider it one of the
greatest miracles ever wrought among men, for this reason, that
people influenced by such notions could not be held together in a
land like this. It would be an impossibility to bind people
together in such bonds as exist among the Latter-day Saints in
Utah Territory, if they were people of this character. They would
fall to pieces by their own corruptions. There would not be any
cementing influence among them to hold them together one month if
these were the influences which drew them here. But no observing
man or woman who travels through this Territory, and mingles with
the people can be deceived by any such nonsense as this. They
would see in a few days that there was some other influence, that
there was some other power, that there was a principle of union
among this people that could not originate in such a system as
"Mormonism" is popularly represented to be.
135
What, then, is it that causes the Latter-day Saints to be so much
noticed? What is it that has drawn them together from the various
nations of the earth and produced this phenomenal condition of
affairs that we witness here? Is it the shrewdness of men? Is it
the power and authority of men? Then for God's sake and for the
sake of suffering humanity, let some men band themselves together
and do, in the name of God and true religion, that which the
Latter-day Saints are accused of doing in the name of imposture
and false religion. Here is an opportunity for Christendom to
test this matter. They have learning, they have wealth, they have
everything at their back--the popular sects, who claim to be
orthodox and to worship God according to the Bible, and to divine
truth, have all these--if they can do, in the name of God and
true religion, that which we are doing, as they say, in the name
of a false religion and as impostors, let them go to work, unite
themselves together, and accomplish something like this for the
sake of suffering humanity. The Latter-day Saints are gathered
from the nations of the earth--the poor, the unlearned, the
ignorant. Our Elders preached the Gospel to them as they
understood it, and under its influence and by its influence they
are successful in gathering out a few. This Territory is being
peopled by them. They are being taught how to live, how to better
their earthly condition, how to improve their minds, how to
acquire sound education and sound knowledge; they are being
taught to live in love, in peace, to avoid litigation, to avoid
strife, to avoid contention, to avoid everything of this
character, and to love one another. How successful we are in this
let those who travel through the Territory bear testimony. If we
had our way there would be no drinking saloons from Franklin in
the north to St. George in the south. If the courts would let us
have our way, we would banish drunkenness from our land, or
rather we would keep it from our land as we did in the beginning,
for there was a time when there was nothing of the kind to be
witnessed. But, unfortunately for us, it seems, some of our
charters were defective. We found we did not have the power that
we thought we had. The courts ruled against us, against the
exercise of such power as we wielded, and we were compelled to
let down the bars. Hence in Ogden, in Salt Lake City, and perhaps
in some other few places, there are drinking saloons. But if we
had our way, as Latter-day Saints, there would be no drinking
saloons, there would be no houses of ill fame, there would be no
gambling saloons, there would be nothing of this character
permitted in our cities or in our settlements. We would not only
be free from litigation and strife, as I have said we are as a
people, but we would be free from those other evils, those other
vices.
135
Now, we know very well that according to the word of God as it
has come down to us in this sacred volume [the Bible] union and
love were two of the great characteristics that attended the
preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "By this," says one of
the Apostles, "we know that we have passed from death unto life,
because we love the brethren." Jesus taught His disciples to be
one. He prayed to the Father that they might be one as He and the
Father were one, and not only that they might be one, but that
those who should believe in their words might be one also. That
prayer of the Savior was answered upon His disciples. They were
distinguished everywhere for their oneness and for their love,
and wherever they went preaching the Gospel that Jesus committed
unto them, those who obeyed their teaching and submitted to the
ordinances which they administered, received the same spirit.
135
Now, it is a remarkable feature of this organization called the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the same
effects follow the proclamation of its principles; not in one
land, but in every land where it has been carried by the Elders
of this Church.
135
When Joseph Smith in his youth had revealed to him that God was
about to restore the old Gospel in its ancient power and
simplicity, and accompanied by its ancient gifts, and was told
that the authority to administer its ordinances should also be
restored, it seemed, I suppose, to look at it naturally at that
time, as though it would be an impossible thing to accomplish.
The earth was full of religion, so called. There were any number
of men professing to be followers of Jesus Christ, any number of
men professing to be His ministers, professing to have the power
and authority to administer the ordinances of His Church, until
men were actually confused and distracted in their thoughts--and
especially when they came to select the form of doctrine that
they wanted to espouse--by the multiplicity of sects, each one
claiming to be the true church of Christ. But Joseph Smith was
told that this would be the effect when God would reveal His
Gospel. It was foreshadowed to him in the plainest possible
manner that which we now behold. The effect of the preaching of
the true Gospel would be that persecution would be aroused. He
was shown the hatred he would have to contend with, and all the
adverse influences that have had to be overcome from that day
until the present. Joseph Smith was told that there was no
authority upon the face of the earth to administer the ordinances
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was told that there was no
church which God recognized as His own, while there were many
that had parts of the truth, portions of the Gospel. There was no
church which God acknowledged amid the multiplicity of sects as
His. He was told to wait until the Lord should give the power and
communicate the authority. Now, though he had received this
communication from heavenly messengers, Joseph Smith did not
presume to take one step towards organizing a church because of
the fact that he had received communications of this character.
According to popular ideas, if a man had received a communication
of this kind from heaven it would have been sufficient
justification to him to have gone to work and organized a church.
But he did not do this. He waited, and a heavenly messenger, as
he testifies, came and laid his hands upon his head and ordained
him to the authority that was necessary for man to hold in order
to baptize his fellow-men in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins. When he received that authority he commenced
to baptize, and not till then. But there was still a power
lacking. The Apostles had a power beyond that which John the
Baptist exercised. John said, "I indeed baptize you with water
unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I,
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire"--referring to the Savior. And when
He came He came in the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood,
as it is termed. John held merely the authority to baptize for
remission of sins. But he could not lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost. And when, on one occasion after the
death of the Savior, Philip went and preached the Gospel to
Samaria, and people were converted and baptized, he did baptize
them, but he did not lay on hands for the reception of the Holy
Ghost. He did not have, apparently, the authority to do so. But
when the Apostles heard that people in Samaria had received the
Gospel, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they came,
laid their hands upon them and they received the Holy Ghost. In
like manner Joseph Smith received the authority by divine or by
heavenly administration to baptize men for the remission of their
sins, but he had not then the authority to lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost. He afterwards did receive it, as he
testifies, through the administration of the three Apostles, who
presided over the Twelve in the days that they lived upon the
earth, namely, Peter, James and John; they came to him and laid
their hands upon him and ordained him to the Apostleship, the
same authority that they themselves held, and authorized him to
go forth and to build up the Church of Christ as it was built up
in ancient days; and then having baptized people he commenced to
lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost.
135
"But," says one, "I do not believe in the administration of
angels. I think that angels have ceased to come. While I believe
that many ancient servants of God did receive the administration
of angels, I think they have ceased to administer, and when I
hear people assert that they have not, it always creates in my
mind a feeling of doubt, and I think anybody an imposter who
asserts he has received the administration of angels in these
days."
136
Perhaps so. But suppose that the statement that Joseph Smith says
the angel made to him should be true--that there was no church
upon the face of the earth whom God recognized as His, and whose
acts He acknowledged--suppose this were true, and that from the
Catholic Church down to the last church that was organized there
was no one church that held the authority in its primitive power
and purity--suppose this were so, how in the world can the
authority be restored unless heavenly messengers do come and
bring it from heaven? If the Priesthood, and the authority, power
and gifts of the Priesthood were taken from the earth and taken
back to heaven, how can man ever receive it again unless some
beings from the heavenly world come and restore it to man again?
You can readily see that if you grant one proposition, the other
must necessarily follow. There must be divine communication from
heaven or the authority could not be restored. But how shall we
tell that it is restored--by what signs? What are the evidences
by which we can judge of the restoration of this divine power?
138
Joseph Smith went forth and he ordained other men to go
forth--gave them the authority under God, he being commanded of
God to impart this authority to others who were suitable, on the
same principle that Moses imparted the authority to Aaron, "being
called of God as was Aaron." And they went forth and called upon
the people to believe in Jesus and to repent of their sins, and
to be baptized for the remission of them, and they promised them
that if they would believe in Jesus Christ, repent of their sins
and be baptized in His name for a remission of them, they should
receive the Holy Ghost, and it should produce the same effects
upon them in these days that it did upon those who received it
anciently. Now, here was a promise that no man that we know
anything about was authorized to give aside from him. In all the
churches of which we have any knowledge, there has yet to be
heard the promise made by one of its ministers to the humble
believer who submits to its ordinances, that he shall receive the
Holy Ghost as they did in ancient days, with its accompanying
gifts and blessings and powers. But Joseph Smith made this
promise. The world have the opportunity of testing it. If people
did not receive the Holy Ghost, then he was an impostor. If they
did receive it, then his ministry was sealed by the power of God,
and it was indisputable. The best possible means was given to the
human family of testing his claims and his statements. He was
either an impostor, trying to deceive the people, or he was a man
of God, for it cannot be supposed that heaven would lend itself
to an imposture, or that heaven would aid in any manner in
fostering a deception. But wherever the Elders of this Church
have gone preaching this Gospel, declaring unto the people these
tidings, there have been men and women who have come forward and
submitted to the ordinances which they administered, and who
testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, that they did receive the
promised blessings; and they have gathered out from the various
nations of Europe, some from Asia, some from far-off Africa and
the islands of the sea, and every State in the United States;
they have gathered out, until now they are numbered by thousands
and tens of thousands throughout these valleys, and wherever you
mingle with the people and talk to them, either in their own
habitations, by their firesides, in the streets, in the public
gatherings, or wherever they may be, the universal testimony of
these people called Latter-day Saints is that they, in obedience
to the requirements which were communicated unto them by the
servants of God, received the promised blessings, and the Holy
Spirit has been poured out upon them, and the gifts thereof have
rested down upon them. And as an evidence of this we see this
union that I have spoken of. We witness this love. We see the
gathering of the people together. We see such a love as is an
example anywhere upon the face of the earth--the love that exists
in the midst of the Latter-day Saints in these mountains. You may
traverse the wide earth and go to every religious denomination,
and even to those of Pagan belief, and nowhere else will you see
such an exhibition as this I have spoken of, as you witness here.
And yet these people are illiterate. These people are unlearned.
These people are weak. These people have come from various
nations of the earth. These people have been brought up in
different creeds, belonging to different churches, speaking
different languages, they have been trained in different habits;
not of one nation, not of one form of thought, not gathered
together from one township, or from one neighborhood, but from
various nations and neighborhoods with this diversity of
belief--that is, of former belief and education and training.
Now, what would this principle accomplish amongst a more
homogeneous people than ours?--a people more united then ours
originally, more one in thought and training--what, I say, would
this principle accomplish among such a people as this that I
allude to? Why, we can imagine what it will be in years to come,
as the rising generations of this people grow to manhood and
womanhood under the influence of this principle--we can imagine
what the results will be--a people banded together as no other
people upon the face of the earth are by the bonds of the new and
everlasting covenant, by the bonds of the Holy Priesthood that
God has restored to the earth, and by the administration of those
divine ordinances which constituted the power of the Church of
Christ when it was upon the earth. It is the old Gospel restored
again. You cannot point to a single feature that characterized
the Gospel of Jesus as it was administered by His Apostles that
is not to be witnessed among the Latter-day Saints--not a single
feature. I defy the world to point to a single one. Every
characteristic that made it great, that made it divine, belongs
to this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Were the
ancient Saints persecuted? So are we. Did they die for the truth
of their principles? So have many of our people. Did they have to
flee from their homes? Were they driven by their enemies because
of their religion. So have we had to flee from our homes in this
nineteenth century, in this land of boasted liberty, the proudest
nation and the freest nation upon the face of the globe--we have
had to flee to these mountains and take refuge here because we
believed in those ancient principles, and because we contended
for the restoration of this ancient power. And now even in these
mountains our homes are envied and men would destroy us; not
because we are vile; not because we do injury to our fellows; not
because our land is a land of wickedness, because it is not; not
because we are full of strife and war upon our neighbors and seek
to destroy them; not because of any of these things is our
destruction sought; but because we believe that God has spoken
from the heavens; because we believe in a Church that has
Prophets and Apostles, and has the Holy Ghost and its gifts in
it; because we believe in living together in love and not
fighting each other, and are not pitted against each other in
parties; and because of this we are considered dangerous, and our
existence is considered a menace to our neighbors. Hear and think
of it! That a people with the virtues that I declare we possess,
are looked upon as a menace to our neighbors, and that our
destruction is a desirable thing.
138
Now, while we do not profess to have the faith that we should
have--we could all do with more--yet it is the aim, it is the
object of the teachings of the Elders of this Church to endeavor
to instill into the minds of the people faith in God, to have
them contend earnestly, as the Scriptures say, "for the faith
which was once delivered to the Saints." While this is the aim
and the object of the teachings of the Elders--and we are well
aware of the weakness of the people--yet we do testify, in the
most solemn manner, that God has restored the ancient gifts that
were in the Church. The sick are healed. There are hundreds of
families in this Territory, thousands of them who never think of
anything else but sending for the Elders, as the Apostle James
said they should do, in cases of sickness. "Is any sick among
you? let him call for the Elders of the Church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the
prayer of faith shall save the sick," said the Apostle. Now,
among the people called Latter-day Saints, this is an almost
universal practice, and we solemnly testify that--while we are
far from being what we should be, far from having that faith we
should have--there are numerous instances of the sick being
healed by the laying on of hands. You know this, my brethren and
sisters. Not only have the sick been healed, but the blind have
been restored to sight, the deaf have been made to hear, and the
power of God has been manifested in accordance with the promises
he has made. And it is the outpouring of the Spirit in this
manner, the confirmation of God's promises upon the people, that
makes the Latter-day Saints so united. It is not the strength of
imposture. It is not the delusion of shrewd men. It is not
because wicked men have deceived this people. It would be
impossible to hold them together under such conditions. To do so
would be a great miracle than that which we now behold in the
existence of the people. To see a people united together and
scattered as they are over this extent of territory held together
by a few impostors,--no, such a thing is abhorrent to reason. No
man with reason can believe such a statement, and accept that as
the solution of this organization--that is, of the problem
connected with it. No man can think of it. There is something
more than this. There is some power beyond this; for, as I have
said, if it were not so, we should have some exhibition on the
part of good men in establishing such a system as we now behold.
One would think they would show their power in organizing. But it
is the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Men and women and
children, throughout all the congregations of the Latter-day
Saints in all these settlements, if they had the opportunity,
would bear solemn testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, that
they did receive those promised blessings, that that was the
cause of their continuing their association with the people of
God, and that that was the reason of their gathering with them to
this land or of their coming here.
139
Now, I know that in talking in this strain it may sound strange
to many who have no knowledge of these things. They may think it
a very strange thing that men should testify in our day
concerning the existence of these things. But let me ask you:
Where is the man of God of whom we have any account in this book,
from Genesis to Revelation, that did not have communication with
God? Where is there one? Not one. You have no account of a single
individual who was a servant of God from the days of Adam, our
father, to John the Revelator, who did not have communication
from our Father in Heaven. God communicated with the people
always when they were faithful.
139
"But," says one, "we have none now, and we have not had, and
therefore God has ceased to communicate His mind and His will to
His children."
139
Do not deceive yourselves. This is the cry of men who themselves
are destitute of this power and of this knowledge, and who take
this means of accounting for it, and of making people believe
that the present condition of things is the condition that should
exist and that God designed to exist.
140
I do not wish to reflect upon any other body of people or upon
any sect; I believe there are thousands of excellent people in
the world--people as good as any that are numbered in the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--scattered through all the
sects and in the Pagan world and in the infidel world. I do not
confine my feelings of admiration to those who believe even in
Jesus, the Son of God, whom I view as my Redeemer and my Savior.
I believe that there are thousands, and it may be said millions
of well-meaning, good people, whom God loves, that are numbered
among the Pagans and that are numbered among the infidels to
Christianity. But at the same time while I thus believe, I know
that God has revealed His everlasting Gospel to be preached to
the inhabitants of the earth, and when light comes, if men reject
it, condemnation follows. And this is the condemnation of our
present generation. A great prophet has arisen in their midst.
They do not believe it. They do not believe that Joseph Smith was
a Prophet of God. They basely and cowardly slew him. Yet he was a
Prophet of God, just as much as Elijah, or as Isaiah was, or as
any of the ancient Prophets were, and he has founded a system
that will grow, that will increase, that will yet be the
dominating power in the earth, because the promises of God are to
this effect. And this is the sin of this generation. This man
came in their midst bringing to them gifts from God, bringing to
them a message of love and salvation, and they cruelly and basely
slew him in the most abominable manner. But like all the
Prophets, his blood has not been avenged. Who ever heard of
people being punished for killing a Prophet? Who ever heard of
the people turning round and punishing his murderers? Such a case
is not known in the history of the world. And it is true
concerning Joseph Smith. His blood stains the soil of one of the
sovereign States of the nation. He was slain under the pledged
honor of that State that he should be protected, and yet his
murderers have never been punished. And as I say, that is the sin
of this generation. A church was organized by the command of God,
and members of that church have been cruelly treated. They have
been driven from their homes. Their pathway has been marked by
the graves of those who have died in consequence of their
suffering. Our track can be traced, or could be traced from
Illinois by the graves of our people-- men, women and
children--who died of suffering, because they chose to worship
God according to the dictates of their own consciences. And who
is there that has raised his voice and said one word against
this? A few men have done so--a few honorable men--have protested
against it; but the great body of the people have assented to it,
and have not only assented to it, but they have endeavored to
follow us to our retired homes here and destroy us. They are not
content we should live in this wilderness land which we found so
dreadful, in many respects, and so hard to conquer. We have come
here. We have conquered. We have subdued the land by continuous,
persistent, and unlimited toil, and we will not cease our
exertions to make this a beautiful land, and to extend
hospitality to all who visit us. But we have been envied our
little possessions--the fruits of our toil, the hard earnings of
the last 35 years; we have been envied these; and there are those
who think that the best thing that could be done with us is to
extirpate us from the face of the earth, blot us out of
existence. Now, I say that this is the sin of this generation.
God has sent a mighty Prophet who predicted, among other things,
the civil war that took place in 1861. It is on record in this
book (the Book of Doctrine and Covenants). Joseph Smith warned
this nation of it--twenty-eight years before it occurred. He told
them the cause of it, and the consequences that would follow.
This great Prophet has been in their midst, and they have slain
him, and have destroyed as far as possible those who believe in
his doctrine. God will hold this generation who slew the Apostles
and those who lived contemporaneous with the Apostles. We may be
feeble people, but we are God's people; no more than our fellow
men in some respects, only so far as we obey His laws more than
they do; but nevertheless we are God's people; no more than our
fellow men in some respects, only so far as we obey His laws more
than they do; but nevertheless we are God's people, and God will
not allow His children to be slain without cause, nor be cruelly
treated. He reigns in the heavens. I thank God that He has
revealed himself, and that we know Him. He reigns. His justice
never sleeps. We will be protected and preserved, and His anger
will be poured out upon those who have merited it by their
transgression. We therefore call upon them in the name of Jesus,
to repent of their sins, to turn away from wickedness and return
to righteousness. And if they desire to know whether we tell the
truth, let them go to God in the name of Jesus and ask Him, and
we will be satisfied with the answer. That is what our Elders
tell everybody wherever they go. They tell them to ask God in the
name of Jesus, whether the testimony they bear be true or false.
Is not this fair? Certainly it is.
140
May God help you, my brethren and sisters and friends, to receive
the truth and to cling to it all your lives, to love it more than
life itself, that in the end you may be saved and exalted in the
Kingdom of God. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, May 6th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Quarterly Stake Conference, held in Logan, Cache
County,
Sunday Morning, May 6th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
BLESSINGS ENJOYED BY THE SAINTS--IMPROVEMENT--A PERFECT LAW--WHAT
WOULD
RESULT IF THE SAINTS OBEYED THE WORD OF GOD IN ALL
THINGS--PERFECT
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH--NO EXCUSE FOR THE SAINTS WHO SIN--HOW
SATAN
CAN BE BOUND--EXEMPTION FROM DISEASE AS A REWARD--EXHORTATION.
141
I feel greatly pleased at the opportunity of meeting once more
with the Saints in Conference in this place. It is nearly two
years since I have had this privilege, during which time many
important events have transpired. There is one thing, however,
connected with the work of God which is very gratifying, that
notwithstanding the perils through which we have passed, though
our liberties have been menaced, and the perpetuity of the
institutions of the kingdom of God have to human appearances been
endangered, we still meet together this day in this Tabernacle
unembarrassed from the efforts of our enemies and free to worship
our God according to the dictates of our own consciences. This
land to which God led us and in which He has planted us is still
a land of liberty to us and to all those who are of our faith. To
me this is a cause of profound thankfulness, for it is an
evidence that God has not forgotten us, that the promises which
he has made are still kept in remembrance by Him, and that as a
people we have been living so as to receive the fulfillment of
those promises and the benefits which flow from them. And there
is no doubt in my mind that if the Latter-day Saints will still
continue to do as they have done, will be faithful to God, and to
the covenants we have made with him, and will persevere in the
path which He has marked out and which we have commenced to
tread, that we shall still be preserved, that we shall still have
our liberty, that our enemies will not have power to disturb or
interrupt us to any extent, or to bring down upon us those evils
which they have sought after so diligently.
142
I believe that the testimony of the servants of God concerning
the condition of the Saints in this Stake, and in other Stakes is
true, and that as a people the Latter-day Saints are striving to
live nearer unto their God, and to put in practice more perfectly
those holy principles which He has revealed unto us. I believe
there is more diligence being manifested in the various Wards and
throughout the various Stakes than has been manifested in the
past. I believe that there is a higher standard of life being
sought after by the Latter-day Saints. I believe that the
Priesthood themselves are seeking more diligently to carry out
the counsels which God has given and to set examples unto the
people that they shall imitate, and I know that the Spirit of God
rests down upon His servants to make them more rigid in the
enforcement of the laws that God has revealed unto us concerning
the government of His church, so that there may be more purity, a
higher standard of purity enforced and maintained among us than
has been in the past.
143
We have had from the beginning of this work revelations given to
us concerning the lives that we should lead. We consider the
Christian world who have this Bible as their guide, very
delinquent, because they do not live up to the commandments which
are herein contained, because they come short of obeying the
requirements that God has made through the gospel as contained in
the Bible, the Old and New Testament. But I often think of our
own condition. We have in this book, the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, which is the word of God to us, a perfect law. Here
are contained the ordinances that God requires this people,
called Latter-day Saints, to obey. Now, let me ask you, brethren
of the Priesthood, let me ask you, brethren and sisters of the
Church, how many of us who are here to-day live in accordance
with the requirements of God's word as contained in these
revelations? I can truthfully say that as a people we do not live
up to the requirements that God has made of us. I can truthfully
say that as a people we do not obey God's commands to us--the
revelations which are contained in this book, and which we
receive as the word of God, not to a past generation, not to a
people who lived 1800 years ago, but the word of God to us who
live now and who constitute this Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. This is our rule of life. This is the law for
our guidance. It is embodied in this book. And how many of us, I
ask again, live in conformity with it? How many of us have obeyed
and do obey the word of God as it is here revealed and as it is
here printed and given to us? And yet we condemn the sectarian
world--all of us who have gone forth to preach the everlasting
Gospel--for not obeying God's word given 1800 years ago, and have
said that in consequence of this the gifts and graces and the
blessings of the Gospel have been withheld from them. We have
thus reasoned, we have thus proclaimed to the people and said to
them that the cause of the absence of the gifts, the cause of the
disappearance of the power, the cause of there being no faith in
the land among the children of men to receive the blessings and
the gifts of God, was to be found in the fact that they had not
obeyed the commandments of God as revealed to them, or as
revealed to the ancients rather, in the New Testament by the Son
of God. Yet, I believe, notwithstanding what I now say respecting
us, that there is a growing disposition among the people--I can
feel it myself among the Priesthood, and I believe it extends to
the whole body of the Church--a growing disposition to obey the
word of God, as it is given to us in its plainness, in its
simplicity and in its fullness, and because of this growing
disposition God, having mercy upon us in our weakness and in our
infirmities, blesses us as He does, and He saves us from our
enemies. But you can readily perceive, if you will reflect a few
moments, how much the power of this Church would be increased in
the land and before the heavens if the Latter-day Saints were all
to obey the word of God as it is given to us in His latter-day
revelations. You can readily perceive how united and strong a
people we would be, and how much the heavens would be moved in
our behalf, the power that would be evoked and that would be
brought down to aid us and to deliver us if we only lived in
strict conformity to the words of God as they are contained in
this book (the Book of Doctrine and Covenants). Each man and each
woman can interrogate himself and herself upon this point. Each
man can ask himself in the light of the Holy Ghost, how near he
comes to fulfilling all the requirements which are here made, or
how far he is from arriving at that perfection which these
revelations demand, and each woman can do the same, and we can in
this mirror of divine truth look at ourselves in our true light
and see our reflection by the Spirit of God as it is revealed
unto us in these revelations.
143
For one I know that I am far, individually, from coming up to
this perfection. Yet is has been the labor of my life to be a
Latter-day Saint. It has been the strongest wish of my heart all
my days to be a Latter-day Saint, to be a perfect man if I could
be before the Lord. Yet when I read these revelations; when I see
the requirements which God has made of us as a people, I bow
myself before the Lord and confess in His presence that I am far
from being that which I should be, and it may be said that the
same is the case with the Church.
143
Now God designs that we shall be just such a people in every
respect as these revelations describe. God did not give us these
revelations in vain, they were not spoken idly, they were not
given through the prophet of God without a purpose. There was a
design on the part of God in giving them, and when you come even
to the very weakest, it may be said, of the revelations, or that
which is the least obligatory upon us, that which was given
merely as a word of counsel--the Word of Wisdom I refer to--we
can judge of the rest by the manner in which that is observed
among us as a people--a matter which pertains to our bodily life
and health, and which is so simple that the weakest can receive
and obey it. There will be a people raised up, if we will not be
that people--there will yet be a people raised up whose lives
will embody in perfection the revelations contained in this book,
who will live as the doctrines here taught require, as the laws
here revealed show unto us, and they will be raised up, too, in
this generation, and such a people will have to be raised up
before Zion can be fully redeemed, and before the work of our God
can be fully established in the earth. In this book, as I have
said, is the pattern of the Zion of God. Here are embodied the
doctrines, precepts, laws, ordinances,--everything in fact that
is necessary in order to make us a perfect people before the
Lord.
144
The perfection that we have arrived at to-day is due to these
revelations. The organization of this people is such as is not to
be witnessed anywhere else on the face of the earth. You may
travel from one end of the land to the other; you may travel from
the equator to the poles, and in no land and among no people will
you find such an organization as that which we have in this land,
or rather that which belongs to this Church. And it is due to the
fact, that God gave commandments through His servant Joseph
Smith, by which we have been organized upon a principle and a
platform that is superior to anything known among men. There is
nothing to equal it. This church in its organization is adapted
to a branch, to a small handful of people. It was well adapted to
the condition of the six persons who composed the Church on the
6th day of April, 1830. It is as well adapted to the condition of
the Saints to-day, covering hundreds of miles of territory, as it
was to the six persons who composed the Church at that time. It
will be as well adapted to the government and organization of the
people when the Church of Christ shall extend itself throughout
the earth, and when the whole people will become the people of
God, when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that
Jesus is the Christ--just as well adapted then as it is now. God
organized it; God has prepared the way for it; and when Zion is
organized properly, it will be found to be as admirably adapted
to the wants of the children of men as the organization of the
Church is to-day to the wants of the people. There will be
nothing lacking. In every particular it will be found adequate to
the wants of humanity. The evils under which mankind groan
to-day, are attributable to the false organization of society.
The evils under which we groan as a people and from which we
suffer are not due to any lack of knowledge as the method or the
means that will correct these evils, but they are due to the fact
that we ourselves fail to conform to the organization which God
has prescribed, which God has revealed.
145
I wish we could all understand this; but it is true, it is as
true as God lives, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is admirably
adapted, in fact, perfectly adapted to save man from every evil
under which he groans to-day. What has it done for us? Why, as
far as it has gone it has saved us; it has saved us from every
evil so far as we have gone. And as for adultery, to which
allusion has been made, and fornication, there are no people on
the face of the earth that will be damned with a greater
damnation for that sin than we, if we be guilty of it. Why?
Because there is no necessity for it. The necessity that men may
plead as an extenuation for their practices with the opposite sex
in the world ceases to exist in the midst of the Latter-day
Saints. What necessity has any man to meddle with any woman that
does not belong to him? In other lands the laws make men
adulterers in many instances. That is a hard saying, but it is a
true one. Men are driven by their passions, very frequently,
because of unjust laws, to commit crimes that their souls revolt
at. But is it so with us? No. God has given unto us a more
perfect law. He has commanded us to marry, all that can marry;
and there is no man among us that can plead that which others may
in a different state of society; no man can do that amongst us;
and therefore I say that those men and women among us who commit
adultery and fornication will be damned with a deeper damnation
than any other people, because there is no necessity for it. If a
man wants a wife he can get one among the Latter-day Saints. You
organize society aright, as God contemplated in these
revelations, and those evils under which we now groan--this
dishonesty and this disposition to take advantage of each
other--will be done away with. God has devised a plan and has
revealed it, that in its operations will relieve mankind from
those evils and the commission of those sins to which they are
now subject. When we are organized properly theft will cease
among us, for the temptation to steal will be removed. Organize
us properly, and the temptation to take advantage of our neighbor
will cease, because there will be no profit in it or connected
with it. And it is all contained in this book. God has revealed
it fifty years ago in plainness to this church, and we for fifty
years have been crawling along at our slow gait without obeying
the word of God, that is so plainly revealed, and that might
relieve us, if we did obey it, from all those evils.
146
Now, my view of the Gospel is, that when it is obeyed by mankind
the power of the devil will cease. That is my view respecting a
part of the power that will be brought to bear to bind Satan.
Satan will be bound because he will not have power over the
hearts of the children of men. Why? One reason will be because
they will have obeyed the more perfect law which will have
relieved them from his power. You take the majority of the Elders
of this Church, who are faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
and Satan has but little or no power to tempt them to commit
adultery, to commit sin with their neighbor's wife or with the
opposite sex; they are to a great extent relieved from that, and
so far as that crime is concerned Satan has but little power to
tempt them, because they have obeyed a more perfect law. In the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as God has revealed it unto us,
there are laws so perfect that when this people called Latter-day
Saints shall obey them they will be so far lifted up above the
power of Satan that he will have but little power to tempt them.
But we never shall be emancipated from the power of Satan until
we do obey these laws of God. An obedience thereto will bring
emancipation to us and to every human being on the face of the
earth, and it is upon no other principle that emancipation can be
brought. It will not be as many suppose by our being withdrawn,
without volition on our part, from the influences of Satan; but
it will be by our obedience to the laws of God, by our conforming
to the requirements which He makes of us, by our putting into
practice all those higher laws which God has revealed, and which
He designs we shall practice. Any soul that is waiting for some
outward deliverance, waiting for some time to come when by some
extraneous means, and independent of our action and the exercise
of our agency, deliverance will be brought, he will wait in vain,
I am afraid. Not that I would convey the idea that God is not
going to help us, that God is not going to do it by His power; I
would not convey any such idea, because I know and you know that
without God's help all our efforts are powerless, and it is vain
to seek to do anything in and of ourselves; we cannot do it.
Human nature is too fallible to do anything of this kind; but we
must exercise the powers God has given to us by obeying His law,
by conforming to His requirements. In this way we will be
emancipated through the blessing and aid of God upon us, and in
this way the earth will be redeemed from the power of Satan. The
more people obey the laws of God, as God has revealed them, and
as they are embodied in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the nearer
they approach unto God, the more they become like Him, the more
power they get over themselves and over the adversary. If there
could be a man or a community found who lived in strict obedience
to all the laws taught in this book, [Doctrine and Covenants] you
would find almost a perfect people; you would find a people in
the condition of the people of Enoch--that is, they would be
approximating to that perfection which he and his city obtained,
and which caused them to be translated.
147
When God revealed the Gospel, He designed that we should obey
these laws. He taught us in the first place that it was necessary
to have faith in Jesus Christ, then to be baptized for the
remission of sins, then to have hands laid upon us for the
reception of the Holy Ghost. Then the people that were scattered
were taught to gather out from the nations of the earth. Every
law that they obeyed brought salvation. Every time they bowed in
obedience to the requirements of God, they brought, by their
obedience, salvation to themselves and to their families, so far
as their families conformed to the requirements. When they got to
Zion, if they obeyed the law of tithing, it brought salvation.
And so with every other law that God has taught in the
revelations that have been given unto us, and the men, as I have
said, who have the most faithfully complied with those
requirements have emancipated themselves, through the blessing of
God, the most perfectly from the power of Satan. I look upon the
men and upon the women who have entered into the new and
everlasting covenant concerning patriarchal marriage as being
more advanced than their brethren and sisters who have not obeyed
that law. And if a community were found who would enter upon the
order of Enoch as God has revealed it and who would hold
themselves and their property subject to that law, I should look
upon them as still more in advance and still nearer to that
perfection which God designs to bring about in Zion among the
Latter-day Saints. It should be the aim of every man and every
woman in this Church to thus conform to the law and to the will
of God, because by so doing they bring salvation to themselves
and to their children, and if they persevere in doing so, God
will bless them in all their efforts, and they will eventually be
brought to live with Him and to dwell in His presence, and to
receive the exaltation and glory that He has in store for them.
Now, I have obeyed those laws thus far, because I know they have
these effects. I obey the Word of Wisdom--or try to obey
it--because I know it brings a blessing. And in like manner I
obeyed the ordinance of baptism; in like manner I submitted to
have hands laid upon me for the reception of the Holy Ghost in
like manner I pay my tithing; in like manner I have gone on
missions and done that which God has required of me, because in
each and every act of this kind I knew that God intended to bring
salvation to me if I would be obedient. And I obeyed the doctrine
of patriarchal marriage, upon the same principle, because I knew
that it was a principle of salvation and of exaltation, and that
if I would be exalted in the presence of God I must obey the law.
So it will be with other laws which are yet in the future, and
which God will reveal to us as we grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the truth. He will continue to give revelation upon
revelation, precept upon precept, and He will reveal unto us more
light and more knowledge and give unto us more power and more of
the gifts and graces of the Gospel as we become more perfect in
keeping the laws He has already revealed.
147
It has been said--and I think all who have had any experience
know that it is true--that in families where the Word of Wisdom
is obeyed there is greater faith in administering the ordinances
of the house of God unto those who are sick. We have a Bishop in
Salt Lake City who, I believe, took an account of the number of
those who were sick in his Ward, and he brought a statement to
the President's office to the effect that in the families where
the Word of Wisdom was strictly observed fewer deaths had
occurred than in families where the Word of Wisdom was not
observed. Diphtheria or some other disease was raging at that
time in the city, and in his ward in particular, and his mind was
turned to this matter, and after making inquiries he satisfied
himself that there were more cases of healing and restorations to
health through the administrations of the Elders by the laying on
of hands in families where the Word of Wisdom was observed than
in families where it was neglected, and that deaths were more
frequent in the latter.
147
[President Taylor: There were none died in the families where the
Word of Wisdom was observed.]
147
President Taylor says there were none died in the families where
the Word of Wisdom was observed. Is it not natural that this
should be the case? Have we not as Elders proclaimed to the world
that the sectarians do not have the gifts and graces of the
gospel because they do not keep the word of the Lord, do not keep
the commandments of God? Has not this been our testimony to the
nations of the earth? Yes, all of us who have gone forth to
proclaim the word have thus testified time and time again. Will
not that rule apply to us as a people? Certainly it will. The men
who obey the laws of God most perfectly, and the women who do so,
have the greatest faith, and God will bless them in proportion to
their faith; He will bless their families according to their
faith; the gifts of the Spirit will be manifested more in their
behalf than upon those who deliberately violate or are careless
concerning the word of God. This is certainly true. So it is with
every law that God has given. The nearer we approach unto God the
more perfect we live in accordance with the revelations He has
given, the more faith undoubtedly we will possess, the more God
will hear us, the nearer the heavens will draw to us, the more
the heavens will be opened to us to hear our cries and to answer
our petitions. And, as I have said, the day will come, if we obey
the laws that God has given, that Zion will be redeemed and the
adversary will not have power over us to tempt us, and try us, an
to afflict us as he does at the present time.
148
It may be thought I am enthusiastic in thus speaking, but I think
I am not; I do not think I am the least enthusiastic on this
point--that is more than I am warranted in being from that which
God has said unto us as a people. I do not expect any salvation
or redemption for Zion upon any other principle than this I speak
of. I do not expect that Satan will be bound in any other way. Of
course God will bring His power to bear; He will do it. God will
have the glory of it, because it cannot be done by man. Man's
power is insufficient to accomplish it. It must be done by man's
obedience, by man's submission to God's law, by man's continually
doing that which God commands him and requires of him, and in
this way alone can it be brought about.
148
It may be said, as has been said, that the seed of the righteous
shall multiply and increase in the land and possess the land. But
supposing we do not marry, supposing we remain single, can that
blessing be brought about? In our case, certainly not. It
requires obedience to law on our part to bring about the
fulfillment of that promise. We must marry as a people. Men must
take wives. The daughters of Eve must marry the sons of Adam in
order to bring about the fulfillment of that promise. But
supposing this people were to refuse to marry, neither this
prophecy nor promise could be fulfilled through them; it would
have to be fulfilled through some other people. Obedience is
necessary on the part of the people to bring about the
fulfillment of this prediction, and so also respecting the
binding of Satan. God bestows the gifts and graces of the Gospel
according to their obedience, and it should be the aim of every
man in this Church not to rest satisfied with his own condition
until he has bowed in obedience to the laws of God. If a man had
but one wife, and the Spirit of God moved upon him to take more
than one, should he refuse to obey the promptings of God in that
respect? Not to gratify lust, not to gratify any improper
passion, but to obey the law of God, because if he did not obey
that he could not receive the blessing. So with all the laws in
this book which are yet unfulfilled. If there be a law that we
have not fulfilled, it should be the aim of every individual in
this Church to prepare himself to fulfill that law as fast as he
can. I look upon this as an obligation devolving upon every man,
woman and child in Zion; not upon the First Presidency alone, not
upon the Twelve alone, not upon the Presidents of Stakes alone,
not upon the High Councilors alone, but upon every man and every
woman in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; going
on from the first principles to perfection, carrying out in our
lives all the laws that God has revealed to us, until Zion shall
be fully redeemed, and the way be prepared for the coming of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
149
It is very wonderful to me what God has done and is doing with us
as a people. When I look at this work; when I contemplate how the
Prophet Joseph commenced it and how it has grown; when I see this
immense congregation assembled here this morning, I cannot help
thinking that if the Prophet had lived to behold such a scene,
his heart would have been filled with gladness. There has been no
word, no promise given unto us by the servants of God from the
beginning that has not been thus far fulfilled, and the remainder
will be fulfilled. God is carrying forward this work with an
irresistible power, and those who will not obey the law of God
will be left behind. This is an awful thought to me, there is
something awful in the reflection. When I read the history of the
Church and see the names of many men who have been prominent in
it, I ask myself, where are these men to-day? Where is their
posterity to-day? Men who in their day and generation were mighty
in this work, who helped to establish it, who helped to spread
it. And they have disappeared. Their names are lost from among
the Saints of God. Their families have disappeared--gone into
oblivion. When I think of it the thought is almost too awful to
contemplate--the idea of being lost in connection with this work,
this work in which all our hopes are centered, and which is
dearer to us than life. Who is there among us to-day, who has the
Spirit of God, who would not rather be taken out and shot on this
public square than lose the spirit of this work, than be
separated from the church and lost to all hope, all the promises,
and all the glorious prospects of our salvation and redemption?
Why, it is the most awful thought I can contemplate. The thought
of it fills the soul with horror. But there is only one way in
which we can remain connected with this Church, and that is by
keeping step with it, by marching onward, obeying the counsel
that God gives through His servants, and by being pure in all our
thoughts, in all our words, and in all our actions. In no other
way can any human being--however great the blessings he may have
received, however great the promises which have been given unto
him--ever remain connected with this work.
149
Therefore, let us be obedient. Let us correct our lives if we are
in fault. Let us repent of our sins and put them far from us. If
we have sinned let us humble ourselves before God, and in the
very depths of humility ask forgiveness of our transgressions,
and let us lay ourselves and all we have--everything that God has
given to us, every faculty of our mind, every power of our body,
everything that God has placed within our control, all the
property and everything that he has placed in our
stewardship--let us hold all subject to His will and to His
counsel, willing to go, willing to come, willing to give, willing
to withhold, willing to do everything that God requires of us
with glad hearts, for in doing so we secure unto ourselves our
salvation and exaltation.
149
My brethren and sisters, you who have tasted of this precious
word of God; you whose souls have been filled with the Holy
Ghost; you who have felt its joy, its peace, and the glorious
feelings that it produces in the human heart--would you forego
this for anything else upon the face of the earth? Would you
exchange it for anything else? No, you would not. You have seen
the time--every one of you who have had the Holy Ghost resting
down upon you--when you have felt as though you would rather part
with your lives than you would part with that spirit.
149
Well, now, be entreated of me, a humble servant of God, this
morning, to repent of your sins and put them away from you;
repent truly and sincerely of your follies, hardness of heart,
rebellion, stubbornness--repent, I say, in the name of Jesus, and
bow yourselves before Him, and entreat Him for the outpourings of
His Holy Spirit until your hearts are filled therewith and you
have receive a forgiveness of your sins. And then when you have
done that, go forward, seeking diligently to comply with all the
requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it has been
revealed unto us, until we shall be brought back into the
presence of our God and be crowned with glory, immortality and
eternal lives, which I ask in behalf of all, in the name of Jesus
Christ, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Joseph
F. Smith, December 3, 1882
Joseph F. Smith, December 3, 1882
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Provo City,
Sunday Afternoon, December 3, 1882.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
INTEREST IN THE WORK OF GOD--FAITH IN THE DESTINY OF THE
PEOPLE--"MORMONISM"
A "KNOTTY PROBLEM"--NO FREEDOM FOR THE SAINTS--GOOD EFFECT OF
SIFTING--GROWTH
OF THE KINGDOM--COMMANDMENTS TO THE SAINTS--TRAVELS OF THE SAINTS
COMPARED
WITH JOURNEYINGS OF ANCIENT ISRAEL--INSPIRATION OF PRESIDENT
YOUNG.
F. Smith
I am deeply interested in the welfare of Zion. There is nothing
that tends to benefit the people of God in the least degree in
which I have not a deep and abiding interest. My feelings and
desires are interwoven and centered in this latter-day work. I
should have no other interest, desire, or feeling, and so far as
I know I have not. I am thankful for this, because it does not
seem to me to be any task to do, so far as I am capable, whatever
the Lord calls me to do in the work of the ministry, or in the
building up of Zion. I am proud to say this comes natural to me.
I have no praise to bestow upon myself for it, and I ask none. I
have no credit to claim on that score. I have this disposition
and desire and I thank God for it. I feel that if Zion prospers
all is well, and if Zion does not prosper, then my own happiness
and prosperity is in jeopardy. For I expect nothing outside of
the Gospel. I expect to gain no favors of the world. I do not
court nor expect the love or sympathy of the ungodly. I do not
care for their favor. I do not seek nor desire their society any
further than it may be possible to do some good. If I am sent to
preach the Gospel to them I am willing to go and labor among them
and do all the good I can; but when I get through with the labor
that devolves upon me, by virtue of that calling and appointment,
I feel--and I speak from experience when I say this--like other
missionaries, most grateful for the privilege of getting home. I
never was particularly pleased to go away. I went on a mission
when I was quite a boy--some 25 years ago--and I have been
engaged in missionary duties and labors more or less ever since.
I have never been out of the harness, nor laid my armor on the
shelf, nor have I sought to be released from that day to this. I
have always been on the altar, so to speak, ready and willing to
do whatever is required of me to the best of my ability. I am
just as willing to-day as I ever was in my life. I expect to
become more and more willing as I gain experience, as I get
older--that is, if it is possible to advance in that direction,
and I presume it is.
F. Smith
I have great faith in the destiny of this people. I never had any
doubts or fears in regard to the destiny and final triumph of the
people of God. I can remember the time when I was quite a little
boy, when we were hurried very unceremoniously across the river
Mississippi from the city of Nauvoo just previous to the
bombardment of the town by the mob. I had a great anxiety
then--that is for a child--to know where on earth we were going
to. I knew we had left home. We had left it willingly--because we
were obliged to--we left it in a hurry, and we were not far away
when we heard the cannonade on the other side of the river; but I
felt just as certain in my mind then--as certain as a child could
feel--that all was right, that the Lord's hand was in it, as I do
to-day. My feelings have been the same from that day to this. I
know that Zion is onward and upward. I know that God has charge
of His great latter-day work; that His hand is extended over His
people for good; that He will work out their deliverance; that He
will bless them and increase them upon this land until they shall
become powerful and terrible to the wicked nations of the earth.
We are now, it would appear, becoming troublesome to the nation
of which we form a part, so much so that one of the greatest men
of the nation, feeling unable to deal with this question of
"Mormonism," this "knotty problem," actually called upon the
government of Great Britain to help to stop the progress of this
work. You know what Secretary Evarts did a few years ago--he
actually appealed to the several European governments to pass
laws, or do something else to prevent the "Mormons" coming from
their respective countries to this "asylum for the oppressed,
this land of liberty." I am happy to say, however, that the
wisdom exercised and manifested by some of the notable ones of
Great Britain was greater than that exercised by some of the
notable ones in our own land. They had sense enough to know that
they had no business to deal with any such question, and they
rather snubbed the poor deluded Secretary, and through him the
Government of the United States, by telling them that it was a
matter over which they had no control. There--in the "effete
governments of the old world"--a man might worship God, the
devil, or a yellow dog, and it would be all right; but in the
United States--the much-vaunted "land of liberty"--while a man
might worship the devil, or a yellow dog, he must look out and be
very chary how he undertakes to worship the true and living God;
for if he undertakes that he will have trouble on hand the first
thing he knows. The Methodists may worship a God without body,
parts or passions, who sits on the top of a topless throne, and
the Government will say nothing about it; but as sure as you
undertake to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus and
the Apostles, they are after you with "sharp sticks" in the shape
of inimical laws, unconstitutional enactments, missionary judges,
governors, marshals, etc. We have proven this, and we know it is
true. It is not because we have not the truth; it is not because
we have not revelation; it is not because we have not Prophets,
Apostles, and inspired men; it is not because we have not the
Priesthood; because if we had not these we would be like the rest
of the world, and they would be no more concerned about us than
we are concerned about them. Why are they not as troubled over
the rest of mankind as they are over us? Simply because they have
nothing to fear from them; they are all sailing in the same boat,
all going down the same stream; they are all "birds of a
feather," if you please. But here is something that is opposed to
that downward tendency; here is something that is going up the
stream, something that is going in an entirely different
direction from the rest of mankind. And they howl about it, and
say, "If we let this kind of thing go on we shall lose our place
and nation." Something has got to be done, they say, to stop the
onward progress of this abominable "Mormonism." Now, mark
it--this abominable "Mormonism!" If a man is a thief in Utah, it
is because he is a "Mormon." If he is a liar, it is because he is
a "Mormon." If he commits adultery, it is because he is a
"Mormon." If he commits murder, it is because he is a "Mormon."
It is not because he is an adulterer; it is not because he is a
murderer; it is not because he is a liar; it is not because he is
a thief, that he does these things, but it is because he is a
"Mormon!" Now, why is this? Is it because the world do not know
to the contrary? No, it is not, for they do know better--that is,
the great majority of mankind that know anything about us. I
acknowledge that there are a great many in the world who do not
know anything about us; they simply believe the slanders of a few
malicious scribblers concerning us. But it is not the ignorant
and deceived that are seeking to bring trouble upon this people,
but the crafty, whose crafts are in danger. They cry out,
"delusion! delusion!" in order to distract attention from their
own delusions, from their own sins and corruptions. They try to
scare the people away from their own infamies, and turn them upon
the Latter-day Saints. But it is a poor miserable dodge and will
not succeed. Their crafts are not only in danger, but they are
doomed to fall. But the truth is not in danger, and it is
destined to continue until it accomplishes its mission. This is
my testimony, and I predict this without any fear of being a
false prophet. I do not fear to prophesy this, because the Lord
God Almighty has foretold it. God has declared it by his own
voice, and by the voice of angels, and of Prophets, and I believe
their testimony. I know by the Spirit of God in my own heart that
their testimony is true; I know that the kingdom of God will
succeed and finally triumph. While I say this, I do not say we
will not have to pass through tribulation, that we may not have
to be scourged for our weaknesses, follies and shortcomings; for
I do not know any more effectual way in which the Lord could
bring us to our senses, that the chaff, the smut and the refuse
may be sifted out and the wheat preserved, than to suffer to be
scattered among us the influences of the world, the leaven of
unrighteousness, that that which is no part of the body of Christ
may be separated and the good perfected, cleansed and purified.
Those who are corrupt do not belong to the body of Christ's
Church; it is only that which is pure and holy that can have a
part therein. We have all got to be fashioned, modelled and
reformed, before we can become like unto our Savior. A man who is
deformed by iniquity, lack of faith, by wicked and unrighteous
practices, can never reflect the image of his Creator, until that
deformity is removed. We must purify ourselves before God, and
this is what the Gospel of the Son of God--by some called
"Mormonism"--teaches us to do. We say that "Mormonism" is onward
and upward, and as I have said, I have never had any fears as to
the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God. Upon what are our
hopes based? What is the foundation of our expectation in regard
to this matter? Is it that all the people will do right? Do we
expect or hope that all the people will be saved with a full
salvation? Do we expect or hope that all the people that are now
numbered among the Latter-day Saints will be true and faithful to
the end? No; we may justly fear that many will fall by the way.
But there will always be a sufficient number of this people, and
of their children and children's children, and of the honest in
heart who are at present in darkness but who will yet come to a
knowledge of the truth, who will be sufficiently faithful to the
covenants that they make with God, that the Kingdom will never
fall or be left to another people. I judge this from the history
of the past. It has been so from the beginning until now, and
this is a glorious assurance to me, besides the testimony of the
Holy Spirit in my heart, that this will be the case in the
future. Notwithstanding many have fallen by the way and have
manifested intense hatred towards the work of God in which they
were formerly engaged, and have done their utmost to destroy it,
notwithstanding all opposition of this character, the Kingdom has
grown steadily and unmistakably from the day it was organized,
April 6th, 1830, until the present moment, and it will never
cease to grow. We may be brought under affliction, if not under
bondage. Now for my own part I do not care to be brought under
greater bondage than I am under at the present time. I feel in my
heart as though I was under as much bondage as I care to bear
with out some more help from the Lord and from my brethren. When
I am restrained by unjust laws or bills or attainder from
exercising the rights of citizenship, from worshipping God
according to the dictates of my own conscience, and openly
practicing the principles of my religion, which are in strict
accord with the holy Scriptures, the Bible; when I am legislated
against contrary to the constitutional law of the land, and my
rights interfered with and trampled upon without a cause, I feel
that is about as much bondage as a free born American citizen,
never convicted of any crime, ought to submit to. That is the
case at present to a certain extent; but we are not yet very much
hurt. It cools our affections a little for "Uncle Sam," or the
administrators of government, but draws us nearer to God and
closer to the precious principles of the Constitution, and
excites our sympathy for our misruled country. But all the
powerful engines that have been framed for the destruction of the
liberties of the Latter-day Saints have hitherto proven in the
main failures. The framers of these engines of destruction, and
base plots, have not been able to accomplish by them the objects
for which they were intended. In consequence of this, our enemies
are dissatisfied with themselves and with the Government because
of their failures. It is not because we have opposed them; it is
not because we have used any violence; it is not because we have
resisted any wicked and corrupt law, for we have said but little;
we have simply let them do as they pleased, knowing that they are
in the hands of the Lord, who will suffer them to go just as far
as will subserve His purposes, and when they have gone that far
He will say to them, as He says to the mighty deep, "Hitherto
shalt thou come, but no farther: and here shall thy proud waves
be stayed." They can go no further than He permits them, and
inasmuch as we do right and keep the commandments of God, we need
have no fear; but if we play into their hands, cater to them,
encourage them, and give them of our strength and support, then
we may some day expect to be caught in the meshes, for as Paul
says: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey." When we become
servants of the enemies of the people of God, we will find we
have got unmerciful masters. We have come to these mountains to
serve the Lord. We have not come here to serve ourselves, nor to
serve man, nor to serve Babylon. The voice of God has been to us,
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." And, furthermore,
it is said, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And
what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of
God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God
hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people." This is the call that is
made upon the Latter-day Saints. Now what will it avail us if we
come out from Babylon and bring the customs of Babylon with us?
What will it avail us if we come out from among the nations of
the earth and mingle with the ungodly, the infidel worship idols,
and do all manner of evils? What good will it do? I can tell you
what harm it will do. It will just add that much more
condemnation to those who have been called to be not unequally
yoked with unbelievers, etc.; they will be held that much more
culpable before the Lord; "for unto whomsoever much is given, of
him shall much be required; and to whom the Lord has committed
much, of him will men ask the more." We know what is good, and if
we do it not, we then are guilty of sin. Much has been given unto
us, therefore much is required at our hands. If our righteousness
exceeds not the righteousness of the modern Pharisees and
Scribes, what better are we than they? We are called to be the
salt of the earth. What say the Scriptures? "If the salt shall
lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? The salt shall
thenceforth be good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be
trodden under foot of men. I give unto you to be the light of the
world; a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. * * *
Therefore, let your light so shine before this world, that they
may see our good works." That is our calling. We are not called
to be infidel to the work God has commenced upon the earth, to be
infidel to the truths He has revealed unto us, but we have been
called out from the midst of the earth that we may be the
servants of the Lord, that we may be His chosen people, that we
may raise up a righteous people, and that we may so live that God
will acknowledge and own us, and that we may claim Him to be our
Father and our God.
F. Smith
When we came out here we came out from the midst of bondage and
very much oppression and tyranny. Some of the brethren were
talking to us yesterday about bondage; and it is said in the
revelation that "ye must needs be led out of bondage by power,
and with a stretched out arm." Now, the Lord also promised that
He would raise up a man that should lead the people out of
bondage; and, further, He promised that when He should raise up
that man His angels should go before them and also His presence,
not as it was in the days of the children of Israel in the
wilderness, when His angel went up before them, but not His
presence; but in the last days the Spirit of God and the angels
shall go before the people and shall follow after them.
F. Smith
There are some wonderful events to transpire in the future, but
one of the most wonderful events has already transpired, but that
event, I suppose, like that witnessed by the children of Israel
in the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea and their pilgrimage
to Canaan, will be left to other generations to appreciate. I do
not think that the children of Israel thought a great deal about
their crossing the Red Sea in the way they did. Perhaps they
thought it was done upon natural principles. They probably
attributed the separation of the waters to some natural causes,
and failed to see the hand or power of God in it any more than
the people of Missouri, in 1878, saw the power of God in a
cyclone there, which was so powerful that it lifted the water and
mud out of a large lake in its course clean to the solid ground
or bed rock, leaving a dry pathway from shore to shore about a
quarter of a mile wide, carrying away and scattering thousands of
fish over the country for miles away, and it was some little time
before the water flowed back to its level in the lake. This was
accounted for, I suppose, on scientific principles. It was the
power of this electric storm that raised the water out of the
lake, swept it clean to bed rock, carrying everything before it,
and leaving a path upon which people could walk dry shod! They do
not think God had any thing to do with it. But by and by their
children may think the power of God was manifested even in this.
Doubtless the children of Israel learned to thank God for
dividing the waters of the Red Sea and allowing them to pass
through dry shod, while the Egyptians who were pursuing them were
drowned.
F. Smith
A wonderful event has occurred in these last days among this
people, an event many times more wonderful than the marching of
the children of Israel from Egypt to the holy land. It is only a
short distance from the River Jordan to the land of Egypt--only a
few hundred miles--and yet they wandered about for forty years
seeking the goodly land, until every last one of them, except
two, had fallen asleep because of their rebellious spirit, and
only their posterity were permitted to enter the holy land. Now,
what has happened in this dispensation? This people have crossed
deserts that are beyond comparison with those traversed by the
children of Israel. They were not fed by manna it is true,
although they were fed with quails in great abundance on at least
one occasion, and they performed a journey nearly four times as
great as that performed by the children of Israel--which occupied
them forty years--in the course of a few months. Now this was a
wonderful thing. We had to make the roads, build the bridges,
"kill the snakes" and withstand the attacks of the Indians while
crossing the trackless deserts. And when President Young first
set his foot upon the ground where the Temple now stands in Salt
Lake City, by the testimony of the spirit of God that was in his
heart, by the inspiration of the Almighty, he exclaimed to the
pioneers: "Here we will make our resting place, and here is the
spot upon which we will build the Temple." He had before seen an
ensign descend and light upon the mountain peak--which is now
called from the circumstance "Ensign Peak"--which was an
indication to him that this was the resting place God designed
for His people. God led this people from the midst of their
persecutors, delivered them from prison bars and fettering
chains, delivered them from bondage, brought them out here and
made them free--as free as any people upon the earth. I am at the
defiance of the world to-day, to show me an equal number of
people any where that enjoy greater freedom or liberty at this
moment than the Latter-day Saints do, notwithstanding the efforts
of our enemies to the contrary. It cannot be done. We were led
out of bondage by the power of God. The angels of God and the
power and presence of the Almighty accompanied us, so much so
that notwithstanding the country was covered with sagebrush and
crickets, presenting the most forbidding appearance President
Young was enabled to point out where the Temple and city would be
built. He said: "You may go north and south, east and west, and
explore the country all over, but when you have done it, you will
come back and say that this is the spot where we are to settle."
And that has been the universal experience and unwavering
testimony of the people that have enjoyed the spirit of their
religion from that day to this. There is no where between here
and the Pacific coast, no where between the frozen zone in the
north and Old Mexico in the south, where this people could enjoy
more liberty or prosper better than we have done and do in the
midst of these mountains. Over thirty years experience has proven
this beyond the possibility of doubt, and this is an evidence
that those who led the people were inspired of God, inspired to
teach, inspired to build, inspired to cultivate and reclaim these
deserts, inspired to dedicate the land and the waters unto the
Lord, that they might have His blessing poured out upon them,
that they might be changed from sterility to abundant
fruitfulness, and this the Lord has done for the people.
F. Smith
Now, it is quite possible that the Lord will raise up somebody in
the future who will be powerful and mighty to lead the people to
rebuild the waste places of Zion, but when He does, the power of
God which has been manifested in the leading of this people in
the past will not be forgotten nor despised, but will be more
apparent to future generations than to this, and will be regarded
quite as remarkable and as wonderful as anything that will occur
in the future to them that participate in the scene. When God
leads the people back to Jackson County, how will he do it? Let
me picture to you how some of us may be gathered and led to
Jackson County. I think I see two or three hundred thousand
people wending their way across the great plain enduring the
nameless hardships of the journey, herding and guarding their
cattle by day and by night, and defending themselves and little
ones from foes on the right hand and on the left, as when they
came here. They will find the journey back to Jackson County will
be as real as when they came out here. Now, mark it. And though
you may be led by the power of God "with a stretched out arm," it
will not be more manifest than the leading the people out here to
those that participate in it. They will think there are a great
many hardships to endure in this manifestation of the power of
God, and it will be left, perhaps to their children to see the
glory of their deliverance, just as it is left for us to see the
glory of our former deliverance from the hands of those that
sought to destroy us. This is one way to look at it. It is
certainly a practical view. Some might ask, what will become of
the railroads? I fear that the sifting process would be
insufficient were we to travel by railroads. We are apt to
overlook the manifestations of the power of God to us because we
are participators in them, and regard them as commonplace events.
But when it is written in history--as it will be written--it will
be shown forth to future generations as one of the most
marvelous, unexampled and unprecedented accomplishments that has
ever been known to history.
F. Smith
I believe with all my heart that President Brigham Young was a
man mighty and strong whom God Almighty raised up to lead this
people out of bondage. What do you believe about it? And I
believe He did it by the power of God and the help of his
brethren. I know that he did it, and I know since that event that
this people have been comparatively, to a great extent, free from
malicious courts, from imprisonments, from chains and fetters,
from mobocracy, and from injury by persecution, and they have
thriven, prospered, multiplied, built and inhabited, planted and
reaped the fruits of their labors and rejoiced in them ever
since. And we have never been in bondage since, and we need not
have been under what bondage we are if we had only done our duty,
kept the commandments of the Lord, followed the counsels of His
servants implicitly and without doubt in our minds, we would have
been as free to-day as we were the moment we set foot in these
valleys.
F. Smith
This is my testimony in relation to this matter. God has led His
people out of bondage, and he has given them these strong
mountain fastnesses for an inheritance. This will be a land of
Zion unto us. We shall rejoice in it and prosper exceedingly, if
we continue to do our duty. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Erastus Snow, June 24th, 1883
Erastus Snow, June 24th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE ERASTUS SNOW,
Delivered at the Quarterly Conference, Parowan,
Sunday Afternoon, June 24th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
LEADERS OF THE CHURCH INSPIRED--MAN'S FREE AGENCY--TRUE
INDEPENDENCE--JOSEPH
SMITH ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT--FALLEN CONDITION OF MANKIND--GOD'S
PROMISE
TO ABRAHAM--NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT--DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SALVATION
AND EXALTATION--TESTIMONY IN REGARD TO PLURAL MARRIAGE--POLITICAL
CRISIS--WHY THE SAINTS ARE OPPOSED.
159
I want to say to the young men and the young ladies and to all
the people--but especially our children, the youths in
Israel--that the leaders of this people do not speak of
themselves. That which they are striving to impress upon the
people is of the Lord and not of man. The Latter-day Saints have
not been gathered from the different nations of the earth, and
brought together in these mountains to worship man, nor to serve
man, to be their slaves, not to be obedient unto man, and if
anybody has such an idea or intention they have got hold of the
wrong people. The people who are gathered here are not the people
calculated to do such a thing. The faith we teach throws
everybody upon their own responsibility; they are at liberty to
act and choose for themselves, and all will be held responsible
before God for their faith and conduct. The free agency of man is
and always has been a prominent doctrine in this Church, and no
one advocated it more strongly than the Prophet Joseph Smith. The
free agency of man is inseparably connected with intelligence, as
the revelations of God in the Doctrine and Covenants plainly and
explicitly declare, that all intelligence is independent. Without
this agency there would be no self-existence. And because of this
agency, which existed in eternity before the worlds were, with
intelligent beings, with our spirits when they existed in the
spirit world--through the exercise of this agency Satan fell, and
all those who clung to him and rebelled against our Heavenly
Father. Brother Cannon has impressed us with the idea that
obedience to correct principle, believing in the truth and living
it and obeying it, is as good an evidence of independent thought
and character--and perhaps a little more so--than to be
disobedient; that no man, woman or child will be more independent
by rejecting the truth, by disobeying correct laws and correct
principles, than those who receive and obey the truth with
contrite hearts. Now, what say you, you must all judge for
yourselves, and choose what you will be. My experience and
observation of the Latter-day Saints is that they are the hardest
people I know anything about to either drive or lead in a wrong
direction. Brother Cannon speaks of President Young and President
Taylor, and other good men, our leaders, being led, as it were,
by a hair in obedience to the Priesthood, which implies simply
obedience to truth and to correct doctrine, and to righteousness.
This is the explanation the Prophet Joseph Smith gave to a
certain lawyer in his time who came to see him and his people and
expressed astonishment and surprise at the ease with which he
controlled the people, and said it was something that was not to
be found among the learned men of the world. Said he: "We cannot
do it. What is the secret of your success?" "Why," said the
Prophet, "I do not govern the people. I teach them correct
principles and they govern themselves." I have been young, now I
am getting old and expect to pass away soon, as well as all those
who have been for many years before the people serving the Lord,
and laboring to promote the welfare of the people; but from my
youth up I have observed the dealings of God with the Latter-day
Saints. I am pretty well acquainted with them. They are pretty
well acquainted with their leaders. They are pretty well
acquainted with the voice of truth, and they know it when they
hear it as a rule--that is, all those who hare humble and
prayerful and who love the truth and the voice of the good
Shepherd, they know it when they hear it, and when principles are
taught that are good, that come from God, they comprehend them
and receive them. But as Paul said in one of his epistles to the
ancient Saints: "There is a law in our members, warring against
the law of the spirit and bringing our bodies into bondage to the
law of sin and death." That is, the lusts and desires of the
flesh and the pride of life which we have to war against. And
this warfare commences as soon as we begin to grow up to
maturity. It is this that lays the foundation for rebellion. As
soon as this begins to manifest itself in us, in our youth, so
soon we need to begin to curb it. And here comes in the duty of
parents in their Priesthood and calling, to watch over those
children that are given them of the Lord and the ways of the
righteous, and to restrain them from passions, from anger, from
strife, from contention, from envy, from jealousy, from
disobedience; to impress them with the necessity of doing right
and repenting of wrong whenever they do it, that they may hold in
check the passions that are common to our nature; and to show
them how to enjoy all that the Lord has designed for our
happiness in this world and our exaltation in the next without
excess, without allowing our tabernacles to be used as
instruments of sin and wickedness.
161
We have heard during this conference--and especially this
forenoon from President Taylor--some very important principles
advanced for our government as individuals and as communities,
principles which we are to observe and which are essential to our
purity and progress as a people, and as individuals, and our
exaltation in the eternal world. For the law of the Lord is
strict unto those who are instructed and have opportunities to
observe it, and far more so with us as Latter-day Saints than
with the Gentile world. The Lord will make greater allowance for
the Gentile world than He will for us, and He has had compassion
upon us and made greater allowance for us in the days of our
ignorance than He will do for us in the future; for He expects us
as a people to profit by our experience and our instruction and
the opportunities afforded us, and to improve our condition, to
purify our persons, our families, and our communities, and to
purge evil from our midst. And touching moral purity and the
intercourse of the sexes and the objects and purposes of this
intercourse, God has revealed to the Latter-day Saints, as He
also revealed unto our fathers, that He has a great and glorious
and grand object in view in placing us here upon the earth, male
and female, and commanding us to multiply and replenish the
earth. His purposes in these things are from eternity to
eternity. They reach back into our first or former existence, and
consequently will reach forward through this our second, and into
our next estate, and through all eternity. And we need a correct
understanding of the proper use of the privileges and blessings
that are given unto us. On this depends the glory and exaltation
of ourselves and our children for evermore. The Lord is striving
to educate a people that will properly understand these things
and appreciate them, and that will not trifle with the fountains
of life and with those choice blessings that are placed within
their reach. When we look abroad into the gentile nations at the
present time, those who are acquainted with their condition are
constrained to acknowledge that we live in a wicked and
adulterous generation. Adultery, whoredom and lust have cursed
the gentile nations, and the wicked portion of all mankind, we
may say, from time immemorable. But with the seed of Abraham, the
children of Israel--who were called an holy nation, a peculiar
people--God has sought to regulate, by His laws, those things,
and to teach the people so that they may raise up unto Him a holy
nation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood. He chose Abraham
from among the nations and blessed him. He promised to multiply
his seed like the stars in the heaven or the sands of the sea
shore for number. He tried and proved him well as we heard this
morning. He blessed him and blessed his seed after him, likewise
his son Isaac and his grandson, Jacob, and promised that the
oracles should remain with him and his seed. Nevertheless, the
promises made were general; they were not promises to individuals
alone. Yet the promises were conditional. They were given on
condition that their posterity should abide in the truth, follow
the teachings and examples of their fathers, and prove themselves
worthy; for Nephi has said concerning these things in the Book of
Mormon that God covenants with none except those that repent and
believe in His Son and keep His commandments. But there are
special promises to the children of Israel, the seed of Abraham,
as a people; for as a people they are the elect of God. But as
individuals every one is held responsible for his own sins. No
promise of the father can save any individual. Nevertheless,
according to the promise made unto the fathers, God makes
manifest among the children of Israel the Priesthood and reveals
unto them the Gospel, and gives them an opportunity to receive it
and obey it and obtain exaltation through it, if they will, and
in this respect they are more favored than the gentile nations
throughout the whole world, though He has said that whoever fears
God and works righteousness is accepted of Him among all nations
and all peoples, Jew or Gentile. But the Lord has set His hand to
gather His people, and He is selecting them by the preaching of
the Gospel to the world by the Elders of Israel. The spirit which
accompanies the preaching of the Gospel feels after and searches
out and gathers together the seed of Abraham that are worthy to
be saved. It gathers together those whom God has called to have
part in the latter day work, in the "dispensation of the fullness
of times"--the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of
Manasseh, spoken of by Moses when he blessed the tribes of
Israel.
161
Well, now, because the Lord has set His hand to gather out from
the nations of the earth the humble and the honest in heart and
those that will be obedient and will submit themselves to the
truth and to the law of the Lord, therefore He reveals unto them
a new and everlasting covenant, the holy covenant of marriage for
time and for all eternity, the union of the sexes, the sealing of
wives to husbands and husbands to wives, children to parents,
etc., the uniting and sealing us in the holy Priesthood unto the
fathers and even unto our Lord Jesus Christ, who stands at the
head of the kingdom of righteousness, the Chief Apostle and High
Priest of our profession; and unto this new and everlasting
covenant has the Lord purposed and designed His people to be
united and bound together with the Son, our Savior, and through
Him unto His Father; for He has said, "Whosoever receiveth me
receiveth my Father, and all that my Father hath shall be given
unto him."
161
This new and everlasting covenant reveals unto us the keys of the
Holy Priesthood and ordinances thereof. It is the grand keystone
of the arch which the Lord is building in the earth. In other
words, it is that which completes the exaltation and glory of the
righteous who receive the everlasting Gospel, and without it they
could not attain unto the eternal power and Godhead and the
fullness of celestial glory. Now, many may enter into the glory
of God, and become servants in the house of God and in the
celestial kingdom of God, who are not able to abide this new and
everlasting covenant; but as we are told in the Doctrine and
Covenants, with them there is an end to their exaltation. They
may remain in their saved condition without exaltation, but they
enter not into the order of the Gods. They cannot progress
through the ceaseless rounds of eternity except they abide in the
covenant, and abide the law that governs it, and the Lord will
not be mocked in these things.
162
We heard this morning how strict was the law pertaining to these
matters. Now we say unto all Israel, old and young, these things
are revealed unto us for our good. The strictness of the law may
not in times past have been taught us and enforced upon us as we
may look for it being taught and enforced in the future. But it
behooveth us to reflect upon these things, and while it is our
privilege to go forward, earnestly desiring and seeking after all
that the Lord has to bestow upon us, yet we must remember that
the more we receive and the greater privileges we are permitted
to enjoy, the more strict accountability will be required of us,
and the more dreadful will be the consequences of transgression
or violation of the holy covenants and obligations which we
assume.
163
Now, I wish to say that I realize that there are some in our
midst--whether they are in your midst in this Stake of Zion or
not, I am not prepared to say with any certainty, for I can only
judge of the condition and feeling of the people as I am informed
from time to time--I say, there are some whom Satan would stir to
disobedience and try to make an impression upon their minds that
the system of plural marriage, and those things that pertain to
the sealing of men and women for time and for eternity, and the
revelation which has been read in our hearing, given through the
Prophet Joseph pertaining to this subject--that it was the work
of man and not the work of God. We have recently had published in
some of the Utah papers some letters on this subject, and one
from Joseph Smith, the eldest son of the Prophet, in which a
great deal of sophistry is made use of, special pleading, such as
the lawyer that he is, seems only capable of using. And the
object of this special pleading and the sophistry is to try to
leave an impression upon the ignorant, those who know no better,
that plural marriage was not introduced and sanctioned and
practiced by his father, but that it has been an innovation of
man, and does not belong to the system of religion which he
believed and practiced and taught the people. And there are some
among us who would fain take this view of the subject; not that
there are many who believe it, but there are some who would like
to believe it. And so there are in the world many people who fear
that "Mormonism" as a whole is true and of God; they are very
much afraid that it is, but they hope that it is not. They do not
want to receive it; they do not want to live it, but they are
afraid it is true, and multitudes of people have been convinced
of its truth, but have not the honesty to acknowledge it; and
many who would acknowledge it for a little season, would
afterwards, because of the love of the world, fall away, and thus
condemnation has fallen upon the world because they will not obey
the truth when they hear it. And so it is with some among the
Latter-day Saints. They are pretty well satisfied that this
doctrine of plural marriage is true, and that it was revealed
through the Prophet Joseph Smith, but they would like an excuse
for disavowing and rejecting it. And why so? Mainly because their
minds are closed up and have not been able to comprehend the
principles that are embraced in this doctrine and connected with
it. Their minds are contracted and limited. They think more of
this present life than they do of the future. They want to lay up
riches; they want to gather personal comforts around them; they
want to gratify the pride of life and the lusts of the flesh.
They do not understand that which is for their real good, their
real happiness. But I testify that there is more real happiness
in serving God and abiding in His law, and submitting to all its
conditions and requirements than there can be in taking an
opposite course. This is the testimony of all who receive and
abide in the truth, and there is abundant evidence in their lives
and conduct to prove that they, in receiving the truth, enjoy
more comfort and happiness than those who reject it. And touching
our plural families, I will say that, with all the weaknesses
that are common to frail humanity, and that manifest themselves
in our midst-- the men who enter into this order in the sincerity
of their hearts and with devotion to God, and the women who also
enter into it in the love of the truth and in the earnestness of
their souls, fearing God and desiring to do His will--that with
all the weaknesses that manifest themselves, I say there is
treble the genuine comfort and happiness in those families who
enter into this order and abide in it, than is to be found in the
same number of families in monogamy in this Church, to say
nothing of the Gentile world. And then we will take the
Latter-day Saints as a whole, whether in plural marriage or
single marriage, and we will say that there is ten times more
genuine happiness and comfort in believing and obeying the
Gospel--whether in plural or single wedlock--than is to be found
among the same number of people in any part of the world outside
of this Church. Now, in this you are all my witnesses. Many of
you have been in the world. You know what you were, and how you
felt, and how your neighbors felt, and what kind of enjoyment you
had before you heard the fullness of the Gospel. You know pretty
well the condition of the world now--the condition of those who
have not received the Gospel--and you know what your condition is
and has been since you received the Gospel. And who among you,
Latter-day Saints, would exchange your present condition for the
condition of the outside world? Are we not prepared to testify
that our happiness is trebled, through having believed and obeyed
the Gospel?
163
Now, as I said to the Priesthood last night, we are arriving at a
political crisis in our affairs. The priests and bigots of
Christendom--and of America especially--are driving our
law-makers into trying to hedge up our way and to oppress us
politically as well as religiously. They are endeavoring not only
to deprive us of religious freedom, but to deprive us of
political freedom, and to bring us into bondage. Well, now, they
will do it as far as the Lord will allow them and no further. He
will block their wheels. He will throw obstacles in their way. He
will stay their onward progress. But He allows His people to be
tried to see whether they will trust Him and have faith in Him,
or whether they will deny Him, whether they will deny their
covenants and their principles through fear of the power of the
wicked, through fear of oppression, through fear of prisons or of
death. For we have among us those who will falter, those who will
halt between two opinions, those who wish to serve the world, and
who, at the same time, would like to serve the Lord a little.
Well, can such people always continue in this doubtful and
divided condition? No, they can not. They will be tried and
proven, and by and by they must take sides one way or another;
they must either turn their backs upon the wicked and cleave unto
God and His people with full purpose of soul, or they will turn
their backs upon God and His people and go down to perdition with
the ungodly of the world.
164
Well, now, in regard to those who are seeking for an excuse to
reject plural marriage and are inclined to receive the statement
of young Joseph Smith, I wish to say that I know that Joseph
Smith is entirely ignorant of what he says, or he is a liar; for
I know that he does not speak the truth. How far his mind has
been blinded or how he has been influenced to look upon these
things as correct, or to think that he speaks the truth, I do not
know. But he is woefully in the dark if he thinks he does speak
the truth in regard to this matter. I do not wish to accuse him
of lying knowingly and intentionally. But there are multitudes of
witnesses who know better, and know that when his father was
murdered this son Joseph was in his eleventh year, and like other
children of that age knew little either of his father's life or
his teachings and the principles that governed his life. He knew
but little of what was being taught among the people. But there
are multitudes of witnesses that were older than he, and that
were intimate with the Prophet Joseph, that know better. Now,
those who take this other view, and are trying to convince
themselves that his is an institution of man and not of God,
bring forth the law that was given to the Nephites of old upon
the American continent, which was given them by Jacob, the
brother of Nephi, and which you can read, as doubtless you have
often read, in the Book of Mormon. Jacob arraigned some of the
people because the men were giving way to the lusts of the flesh
and the pride of life, and whoredoms, and they attempted to
justify themselves in their whoredoms by referring to what is
written in the Jewish Scriptures concerning David and Solomon and
other men having many wives and concubines, which Jacob informed
the Nephites was an abomination in the sight of the Lord, and
gave unto them a commandment that not any man among them should
have save it be one wife, and concubines they should have none,
saying that the Lord "delighteth in the chastity of woman." And
in the same connection the Lord said: "For if I will, saith the
Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people;
otherwise they shall hearken unto these things." Now, there was a
reason why the Lord gave this commandment to the Nephites. But
this reason did not exist when the Lord called Abraham and
promised that his seed should be like the sand upon the sea shore
for number. He recognized the righteousness of a plurality of
wives, and never at any time did he restrict them from the days
of Abraham until Christ, so far as we have any record in the
Jewish Scriptures. But there were reasons, as I said before, why
he restricted the Nephites, but in this restriction He intimated
that when the time should come that He should raise up seed unto
himself, He would command His people.
165
Now, when the Lord raised up the Prophet Joseph to lay the
foundation of this Church, He found monogamy instead of polygamy
to be the rule of Christendom, and He enjoined, in the early
revelations to this Church, that every woman cleave unto her
husband, and that every man cleave unto his wife and none else,
saying that he that looketh upon a woman to lust after her who is
not his wife hath committed adultery already with her in his
heart. This was the law governing Christendom which had been
inherited by the Gentiles for ages past, and introduced among the
Roman Empire and perpetuated by the Roman church and the
Protestant churches that had sprung out of her, and the Lord in
the early history of this people continued this order of things,
but revealed unto the Prophet Joseph, nevertheless, that the time
would come when He would require His people to enter into plural
marriage as He did Abraham and the prophets of old, to bring
about His purposes in the latter days. Joseph revealed this unto
some of the first Elders of the Church, taking care to enjoin
them that they must preserve these things in their own hearts;
that the time had not yet come when the Lord required His people
to enter into this order, but the time would come when He would
require them to do so. This was made manifest in the early stages
of this Church, but not until 1843 was this law committed to
writing and given to the people. This revelation we find in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
166
Now, Joseph--I refer now to the young man that is alive and who
was a mere boy at his father's death, and who with his mother and
her children remained behind, though his mother did know for
herself that her husband did teach and practice this order of
marriage, yet she was not willing to own or acknowledge it to her
children, and her children, the oldest of which, as I have said,
was only eleven years old when his father was murdered--were
studiously kept ignorant of the facts of the case as far as she
was concerned, and therefore we can make allowance and excuse in
part of what they assert. But there are great numbers that I can
call to mind who know for themselves that the Prophet Joseph did
receive from the Lord and teach this order to the first Elders of
this Church, and did receive and commit to writing this
revelation on the subject of plural marriage which is contained
in the Doctrine and Covenants, and did teach it and did practice
it, and I am one of those witnesses. I know that he taught to me
as early as in the spring of 1842 what God had revealed to him on
the subject; I know that he gave to me my second wife and
assigned his brother, Hyrum, to seal her to me; and I know that
he taught this doctrine to quite a good few others--the Twelve
Apostles and others of the faithful Elders of Israel--and that
very many of the faithful and good women of Israel know and
understand and are witnesses of these things for themselves. And
we testify of these things, that God has reserved to Himself this
right to command His people when it seemeth to Him good and to
accomplish the object He has in view--that is, to raise up a
righteous seed, a seed that will pay respect to His law and will
build up Zion in the earth. And while the wicked are hardening
their hearts in sin and giving themselves up to whoredoms and
lust, and seeking to prevent the increase of offspring among
them, God is impressing upon us the heinousness of these crimes
and showing us the beauty and glory of multiplying the families
of Israel. When we visit the settlements of the Saints and attend
the Quarterly Conferences throughout the land, what do we hear in
the reports? We hear that an average of about thirty per cent of
the entire population are children under eight years of age, and
another one-third between that and twenty, and scarcely one-third
of the population are yet old enough to enter into the marriage
relation. And what do we hear? Reports from the Relief Societies
and the Improvement Associations and the Sunday school teachers
and superintendents that are engaged in instructing them--and
what do we year? Why, we hear that the spirit of the Gospel is in
them, that faith is in them, and that they possess bright,
intelligent minds that are reaching out after knowledge, and
hearts that are grasping the things of God. It is this that
causes the world to fear and tremble and this is the cause of the
opposition waged against us.
166
Brethren and sisters, let us put our trust in God, who will give
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, May 19, 1883
John Taylor, May 19, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
Delivered at Manti, Saturday Morning, May 19, 1883.
(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
DUTIES OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS--HOW CHILDREN SHOULD BE
TRAINED--AN ACADEMY
FOR SANPETE--THE KIND OF TEACHERS TO SELECT--EDUCATION
ADVOCATED--INTEMPERANCE CONDEMNED--SIN TO BE EXPOSED--UNWORTHY
MEN NOT TO BE SUSTAINED IN OFFICE--EXAMPLE OF A DARKENED
MIND--PROVIDENCE
OVER THE SAINTS.
169
The Gospel, it has been said, is the power of God unto salvation;
its object is to elevate humanity. There are evils of various
kinds existing in the world; and we ourselves are not free from
evil in some of its forms, which should not be the case. We are
here, as a people, gathered out from the various nations, not to
imitate the world, unless it be in that which is good--for there
are many good things among the people of the world, which we may
imitate with profit--but that we may put ourselves in possession
of every truth, of every virtue, of every principle of
intelligence known among men, together with those that God has
revealed for our special guidance, and apply them to our everyday
life, and thus educate ourselves and our children in every thing
that tends to exalt man. We, therefore, must avoid the evils of
the world, which some of our so-called Christian brethren are
striving to introduce into our midst; we must shun those
corrupting influences as we would a viper, and we must further
use our influence against evil in every form, and in favor of the
good. It becomes the Latter-day Saints to cherish in their hearts
the spirit of Zion; to live pure lives, that Zion may indeed be
Zion to them. We are told that God is love, and that they that
dwell in God dwell in love. Love is one of his attributes;
another is justice, another is truth; another is integrity,
another is knowledge. And we are likewise told that "the glory of
God is intelligence." We should seek to know more about ourselves
and our bodies, about what is most conducive to health and how to
preserve health and how to avoid disease; and to know what to eat
and what to drink, and what to abstain from taking into our
systems. We should become acquainted with the physiology of the
human system, and live in accordance with the laws that govern
our bodies, that our days may be long in the land which the Lord
our God has given us. And in order to fully comprehend ourselves
we must study from the best books, and also by faith. And then
let education be fostered and encouraged in our midst. Train your
children to be intelligent and industrious. First teach them the
value of healthful bodies, and how to preserve them in soundness
and vigor; teach them to entertain the highest regard for virtue
and chastity, and likewise encourage them to develop the
intellectual faculties with which they are endowed. They should
also be taught regarding the earth on which they live, its
properties, and the laws that govern it; and they ought to be
instructed concerning God, who made the earth, and His designs
and purposes in its creation, and the placing of man upon it.
They should know how to cultivate the soil in the best possible
manner; they should know how to raise the best kind of fruits
adapted to the soil and climate; they should be induced to raise
the best kinds of stock, and to care for them properly when they
come into their possession. And whatever labor they pursue they
should be taught to do so intelligently; and every incentive, at
the command of parents to induce children to labor intelligently
and understandingly, should be held out to them. Again, the
subject of architecture should receive attention from you; and
your children should be encouraged to improve in the building of
houses, and not be satisfied to merely copy after what their
fathers did in the days of their poverty. The building rock at
your command is of the very best, and it is easily procured; what
remains for you to do is to put the material together in such a
shape as shall reflect your best judgment and intelligence
consistent with due regard to health and convenience. The
building of the Temple here will no doubt have a tendency to
awaken the desire on your part to improve in this direction. I
have noticed that the building of our Temples affords a great
many young men the opportunity of learning trades which perhaps,
otherwise would not be the case; and by the time such a building
is erected they become competent tradesmen, prepared to work in
the various branches of mechanism that they learn on these
buildings. Improvement in all things relating to our spiritual
and temporal welfare should be our aim in life, and we should
encourage in our children this desire to improve, and not feel
all the time, "come day, go day, God send Sunday." It is highly
necessary that we should learn to read and write and speak our
own language correctly; and where people are deficient themselves
in education they should strive all the more to see that the
deficiency be not perpetuated in their offspring. We ought to
take more pains than we do in the training and education of our
youth. All that we can possibly do by way of placing them in a
position to become the equals, at least, of their race, we ought
to take pleasure in doing; for in elevating them we bring honor
to our own name, and glory to God the Father. To do this requires
labor and means, and it also requires perseverance and
determination on the part of all concerned. A short time ago a
number of our young men left Salt Lake City to go on missions to
the United States and to Europe. They were mostly young men that
had been trained and educated in the University of Deseret, the
Brigham Young Academy of Provo, and the B. Y. College of Logan,
and the High School at Ogden. They were fine looking young men,
and quite intelligent, and a credit to any community or people.
Sometimes the Lord chooses such men as Brother Woodruff and
myself to do His bidding, as He in former times called fishermen
and others, and inspired them with intelligence sufficient, at
least, to cope with and confound the wise. I think there is a
Scripture that says that He chooses the weak things of the world
to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh might glory
in His presence. That is true, and is well enough in its place;
but we cannot expect the Lord to do this always, it is for us to
do our part, that is to cultivate our intellectual faculties and
to prepare ourselves to be used by Him, having at all times an
eye single to His honor and glory. He has shown us how to build
Temples, but He does not build them; that is our part of the
work. I do not think that Peter or Paul knew much about Temple
building, but they knew something pertaining to the ordinances of
the Temple, but more especially of the Gospel, for God taught it
to them. But we are told to seek for intelligence by study and
through faith, and to acquaint ourselves with the laws and
governmental affairs of nations, that all may know how to take
part in the affairs of the world. God has said that through His
people He will teach nations, and "the Gentiles shall come to thy
light and kings to the brightness of thy rising." (Isaiah ix. 3.)
He will pour out upon His people knowledge and inspire them with
wisdom, so that they will be able to teach all classes and
conditions of men. That time is yet to come, but we must prepare
ourselves to act in that position, and the way to do it is to
commence with our children. I was pleased to hear that President
Canute Peterson and other leading men of Ephraim had secured a
building, which is at present in an unfinished condition, with
the intention of converting it into an academy. You need such an
institution, and by right you ought to have one in all your
larger towns; and our school teachers should be the best you can
get. They should be men of faith in God; men who believe in and
have a knowledge of the Gospel; men capable of imparting true and
correct ideas with regard to God and His works, and the laws that
govern them, as well as being able to impart a regular scholastic
education. I would advise Brother Peterson and those associated
with him in this enterprise, to carry on to completion the work
they have begun; and I would say to you here in Manti, bestir
yourselves in the same direction. Whatever you do, be choice in
your selection of teachers. We do not want infidels to mould the
minds of our children. They are a precious charge bestowed upon
us by the Lord, and we cannot be too careful in rearing and
training them. I would rather have my children taught the simple
rudiments of a common education by men of God, and have them
under their influence, than have them taught in the most abstruse
sciences by men who have not the fear of God in their hearts. As
God is the fountain of all light, all truth and all intelligence,
and He has organized matter and made what we term the laws of
nature, and in the study of His laws is discovered the highest
and most intellectual development--as "the glory of God is
intelligence," the more we appreciate and comprehend those
principles the nearer we approach to the intelligence developed
by the All-wise Creator; the acme of scientific development in
the world is predicated upon a knowledge of the laws of nature in
multifarious forms. We need to pay more attention to educational
matters, and do all we can to procure the services of competent
teachers. Some people say, we cannot afford to pay them. You
cannot afford not to pay them; you cannot afford not to employ
them. We want our children to grow up intelligent, and to walk
abreast with the peoples of any nation. God expects us to do it;
and therefore I call attention to this matter. I have heard
intelligent practical men say, it is quite as cheap to keep a
good horse as a poor one, or to raise good stock as inferior
animals. And is it not quite as cheap to raise good intelligent
children as to rear children in ignorance.
170
There is another thing I wish to speak of. Sometimes we bear too
much and too long with the workers of iniquity. For instance, I
heard of a certain Bishop whose First Counselor was in the habit
of drinking, and his second Counselor also drank occasionally.
The Bishop in excusing the weakness of his Counselor would say
that he had a great many good traits, that he was a good meaning
and kind hearted man, and that he wanted to save him if he could;
and the man was permitted to indulge his appetite. Time passed on
and the man apostatized, which he was sure to do if he kept on
long enough. In sending in his resignation, he said he had had
enough of "Mormonism," which I have no doubt was really the case;
I have no doubt either but that long before that "Mormonism" had
had enough of him. The Bishop had tried to save the man, but what
of the people? how about the Teachers? Could they, or could the
Bishop himself preach against a practice that the Counselors were
guilty of? If he or they were to do so, it would not amount to
much while the evil was being winked at in high places. By means
such as this, evil and a loose morality may be introduced into a
settlement because of a laxity by men in authority, in the
performance of their duty. When I heard of this I inquired why
the President of the Stake did not see that the Bishop did his
duty inasmuch as the Bishop omitted to act in the matter. What
right have these men in authority to overlook such things? I tell
you, they have no right at all. And what is the result? It began
gradually to be a question with a great many of the people in
that neighborhood whether this really was the work of God or not;
the spirit of doubt and carelessness found place among them, and
this because the presiding authority declined to purge out
iniquity from their midst. Then if a man repents, some say they
do not know whether it is best to expose such things or not. Yes,
drag them into daylight all the time, and let every man be known
for what he is; for no presiding officer can afford to take the
responsibility upon himself of tolerating the defalcations of
those who are violating their covenants and trampling under foot
the laws of God. In saying this I would not ignore another
principle that is mentioned in the law of the Lord:
171
"And if he or she do any manner of iniquity, he or she shall be
delivered up unto the law, even that of God. And if thy brother
or sister offend thee, thou shalt take him or her between him or
her and thee alone; and if he or she confess, thou shalt be
reconciled. And if he or she confess not, thou shall deliver him
or her up unto the Church, not to the members, but to the Elders.
And it shall be done in a meeting, and that not before the world.
And if thy brother or sister offend many, he or she shall be
chastened before many. And if any one offend openly, he or she
shall be rebuked openly, that he or she may be ashamed. And if he
or she confess not, he or she shall be delivered up unto the law
of God. If any shall offend in secret, he or she shall be rebuked
in secret, that he or she may have opportunity to confess in
secret to him or her whom he or she has offended, and to God,
that the Church may not speak reproachfully of him or her."
171
Further, I wish to say something in regard to adultery. We are
told in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, (sec. xiii, ver. 24,
25, 26.)
171
"Thou shalt not commit adultery; and he that committeth adultery,
and repenteth not, shall be cast out; but he that has committed
adultery and repents with all his heart, and forsaketh it, and
doeth it no more, thou shalt forgive; but if he doeth it again he
shall not be forgiven, but shall be cast out."
171
This was in the early ages of the Church, in February, 1831. But
who is here referred to? Is it a man who has entered into the new
and everlasting covenant, and has been sealed by the Holy Spirit
of promise, and by that covenant has been united to his wife for
time and all eternity, and his wife to him? No, it refers to
those who have not entered into this covenant, who have not taken
upon themselves obligations of that nature in a Temple or
Endowment House; to the latter class who shall be found guilty of
this sin, the word of the Lord comes unqualifiedly, they shall be
destroyed. The Lord does expect us to be a pure people, a
virtuous people, a people whose bodies and spirits are pure
before Him. If wrong doing be practiced in our midst, the Lord
expects His Priesthood to ferret it out, or He will hold them
responsible. We cannot commit sin with impunity. We cannot
violate the laws of God and enjoy His Spirit; nor can we permit
the laws of God to be trampled upon and still receive His
approbation.
171
Quite recently a certain Bishop wrote me, stating that one of his
Counselors dabbled in astrology; that he had been known to
consult it in reference to the sick. He wanted to know what I
thought of it. I told him to drop that counselor, that he was not
fit to be a Bishop's Counselor, nor to hold the holy Priesthood.
We must not permit such practices to exist among us; and if that
Bishop declines to do his duty, I shall be in favor of removing
him, for not carrying out the law of God. Again, we hear of
fraudulent acts sometimes, and we permit them to be passed over.
What are laws for? What are Bishops' Courts and High Councils
for? That when men transgress the laws of God, they shall be
tried according to the laws of the Church, and if found guilty,
and are worthy of such action, they shall be cast out; that the
pure and the righteous may be sustained, and the wicked and
corrupt, the ungodly and impure, be dealt with according to the
laws of God. This is necessary in order to maintain purity
throughout the Church, and to cast off iniquity therefrom. For
the Spirit of God will not dwell in unholy temples. You fathers,
look after your sons; you mothers, look after your daughters; see
that they grow up in purity and righteousness.
171
There was a very painful circumstance occurred in my office a day
or two ago. A certain man had apostatized--indeed, he had been an
apostate a number of years; he had two wives, both of whom
applied to me to be divorced from their husband. I asked them why
they desired to be divorced, and they answered that their husband
had apostatized from the Church, and to all appearance would
remain in that condition. The husband expressed his sorrow at
having to part with his wives, and said he could not help his
faith. I told him I did not wish to interfere with his faith, nor
the religious views of any man; but that I would much rather see
him a believer than a disbeliever. But I explained to him the
position that his wives occupied. Said I, when you married them
you were a member of the Church, in full fellowship; you believed
in God and the order of His holy house. Yes, he said, that is so.
I then said, Let me tell you another thing, I have heard Joseph
Smith say, and I presume you have--he was an old member of the
Church--that in this world we may pass along comparatively
unknown, but when we appear behind the veil, we shall have to
pass by the angels and the Gods, and this can only be done by the
righteous and the pure. He stated that he had heard the same
thing. I said further, you are the head of this family, and as
such you ought to take the lead; but can you lead your wives past
the angels and the Gods? No, (I said) you cannot do it, for
unless you change your course you will not be there; you have
trifled with the things of God, until, as you now see, a serious
crisis is commencing to overtake you. The result was, he and they
parted by signing the divorce. He said in a feeling way, "I
cannot forget my wives, they are dear to me;" and again excused
himself on the ground that he could not help his faith. But he
might have helped it if he had kept the commandments; but having
trifled with the things of God, the Holy Spirit gradually
withdrew, at last leaving him to himself. I really felt sorry for
the man, and he too felt the position keenly. In parting with him
I took him by the hand and said to him, "You have put yourself in
this position, and I cannot help it. No, he said, you have
treated me right. But (I continued) if the time ever comes that I
can be of use to you in leading you back in the paths of life, I
shall be happy to serve you. He thanked me, and left.
172
I mention this that you husbands, may be impressed with a sense
of the responsibility that rests upon you, and that you may be
careful of your acts and walk in life. God expects you to be true
to your vows, to be true to yourselves, and to be true to your
wives and children. If you become covenant-breakers, you will be
dealt with according to the laws of God. And the men presiding
over you have no other alternative than to bring the covenant
breaker to judgment; if they fail to do their duty we shall be
under the necessity of looking after them, for righteousness and
purity must be maintained in our midst.
172
I am pleased to say that I perceive an increasing desire on the
part of the people to recognize and stand by the right; and I
attribute our late deliverance from the hands of our enemies to
this fact. When there was one of the greatest furores ever gotten
up against us, He turned their wrath, and the remainder He
restrained. A certain gentleman well acquainted with railroad
matters, referring to our political situation at that time,
summed it up like this: That we, numbering only a hundred and
fifty thousand in the Territory, were confronted by fifty
millions of people; that the conflict appeared to him like two
trains, a large one and a small one, traveling in opposite
directions on the same track and about to come in collision; and
as a matter of course the small train would be demolished. It was
very natural, of course, that he as well as the world generally,
should regard it in that way. But I told him that I thought that
God could and would take care of His people. Happening to have
some communication with this same gentleman some time afterwards,
I told him that the large train had been shunted off on to a side
track, and the Democrats had provided them the switch, while the
small train was still moving on its course uninjured. And if we
will continue to do right, keeping ourselves pure and unspotted
from the world, and the officers of the Church will see that
purity is preserved in the Church, and evil of every kind rooted
out, God will direct our course and deliver us from the evil that
wicked men design to bring upon us, and no power will be able to
move us out of our place. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Joseph
F. Smith, April 8th, 1883
Joseph F. Smith, April 8th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH.
Delivered at the General Conference, Salt Lake City,
Sunday, a.m., April 8th, 1883.
PROSPERITY OF THE SAINTS--DANGER TO BE AVOIDED--HOW BLESSINGS ARE
TO BE
OBTAINED--FREE AGENCY--TRIUMPH OF THE WORK OF GOD TESTIFIED
OF--"MORMONISM"
NOT EASILY DESTROYED--PROPHECIES TO BE FULFILLED--SELF-DENIAL
REQUIRED
OF THE SAINTS.
F. Smith
There never perhaps was a time since the Church was organized
when the people of God were more prosperous or so numerous as
they are to-day, notwithstanding all the efforts that our enemies
have directed against us. But while we have triumphed over
opposition and all the forces of the wicked that have been
exerted against us by newspaper and pulpit and the power of
Congress, it is meet that we should acknowledge the hand of God
in all our victories. It has certainly not been by the wisdom,
power or intelligence of man, that we have been delivered until
now, but by the favor and blessing of God in our behalf. And we
are to day a living monument of God's special mercy, favor and
protection. He has not only blessed us with the privilege of
becoming acquainted with His laws, and with the plan of
salvation, but He has gathered us to a goodly land; and
notwithstanding its former sterility, barrenness and forbidding
aspect, He has modified the elements, blessed the earth, and has
made these valleys desirable as a home for the Saints. And He has
blessed us with an abundance of earthly things besides bestowing
upon us the richest of all blessings that man can enjoy in this
life--the Holy Spirit and a knowledge of the new and everlasting
covenant.
F. Smith
We should have the utmost confidence in the power and wisdom of
the Almighty to consummate the work which He has begun, from our
experience and knowledge of the past. This is no day for
trembling or fear; it is not a day for doubt or misgiving; God
has demonstrated His power and superior wisdom in so many ways
and at so many times, during the history of this people, in
delivering them from the grasp of their enemies, that for us now
to doubt Him, whatever the position in which we might be placed,
would be an indignity to our Great Preserver, an insult to God.
It seems to me impossible for any Latter-day Saint, in the face
of all the Lord has done for this people, to doubt for a moment
His ability or intention to frustrate the designs of wicked,
ambitious men, and to continue His work in the future to ultimate
victory and triumph over every obstacle or opposing foe.
F. Smith
the only real danger that I foresee in the path of the Latter-day
Saints is in the results which naturally follow the possession of
wealth--pride and vanity, self-indulgence and forgetfulness of
God, and a disregard of the sacred obligations and duties that w
owe to Him and to one another; and this because of the abundance
of earthly blessings which He in His goodness has bestowed upon
us. It is said that in adversity we are inclined to feel after
the Lord, but that in prosperity we remember Him not. It appears
to me that in this lies the greatest danger that threatens us
to-day. This does not apply to the whole people perhaps, for we
are not all rich in this world's goods, but to individuals, and
they are not a few, but many, who are being blessed--if it proves
a blessing--with an accumulation of wealth, and I am sorry to say
that many seem to be indulging in speculation to that extent that
their whole souls appear to be wrapt up in the love of the world.
It is very evident that some of us are yet "of the world," for
like them, "the more we get of it the more we want;" and it does
seem impossible to satisfy the cravings of such minds for the
perishable things of time. As individuals gather around them
riches and become engrossed with the care that naturally attaches
to them, they are prone to forget the "pit from which they were
dug," or the "stone from which they were hewed"--to forget God
upon whom they are quite as dependent when possessed of wealth as
when in the most abject poverty. For wealth does not make men
independent of God, neither does it relieve them from the
obligations that they owe to each other. The rich are as
dependent upon God for the light of His Spirit to guide them, and
for the blessings and ordinances of the holy Priesthood as are
the poorest of the poor. The Lord, in this regard, is "no
respecter of persons." The station or worldly condition of man is
not regarded by the Almighty. It is man's righteousness and
humility; it is the willing mind and the obedient heart that is
acceptable to Him, and unless we are righteous and humble,
willing and obedient, He will withdraw His Spirit from us, and we
will be left to ourselves, as others have been before us, "to
reap what we sow." If the time should ever come, (which I do not
anticipate) when the majority of this people will be swallowed up
in the cares of the world, I know of no remedy to check the evil
and thus prevent the destruction of the Church more effectually
than to be subjected to the power and persecutions of our
enemies, to be driven and smitten perhaps until we shall be
humbled and brought to a sense of our obligations to the Lord
Almighty, and learn wisdom by the things we have to suffer.
F. Smith
There are blessings which pertain to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and to the world to come, which cannot be secured by personal
influence nor be bought with money, and which no man by his own
intelligence or wisdom can obtain except through compliance with
certain ordinances, laws and commandments which have been given.
And it is well, in my judgment, for the Latter-day Saints to
continue to bear in mind that the inestimable blessings of the
Gospel have been bestowed upon them through their faith, that a
remission of sins has been obtained by baptism and repentance,
and that it is only through continuing faithful that they can
retain the gifts and blessings which pertain to eternal life.
There are many blessings, however, which are common to the human
family, which all enjoy, without regard to their moral status or
religious convictions. God has given to all men an agency, and
has granted to us the privilege to serve Him or serve Him not, to
do that which is right or that which is wrong, and this privilege
is given to all men irrespective of creed, color or condition.
The wealthy have this agency, the poor have this agency, and no
man is deprived by any power of God from exercising it in the
fullest and in the freest manner. This agency has been given to
all. This is a blessing that God has bestowed upon the world of
mankind, upon all His children alike. But He will hold us
strictly to an account for the use that we make of this agency,
and as it was said of Cain, so it will be said of us: "If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not
well, sin lieth at the door." There are, however, certain
blessings which God bestows upon the children of men only upon
the condition of the rightful exercise of this agency. For
instance, no man can obtain a remission of his sins but by
repentance and baptism by one having authority. If we would be
free from sin, from its effects, from its power, we must obey
this law which God has revealed, or we never can obtain a
remission of sins. Therefore, while God has bestowed upon all
men, irrespective of condition, this agency to choose good or
evil, He has not and will not bestow upon the children of men a
remission of sins but by their obedience to law. Therefore the
whole world lies in sin and is under condemnation, inasmuch as
light has come unto the world and men will not avail themselves
of that light to put themselves in a proper position before the
Lord. And this condemnation rests with tenfold force upon all
those that have yielded obedience to this law, and have once
received a remission of their sins, but have returned unto sin,
and have forgotten or disregarded the covenants they made in the
waters of baptism. All men are blessed with the strength of their
body, with the use of their mind, and with the right to exercise
the faculties with which they are endowed in a way that seemeth
good in their sight, without regard to religion. But God has not
and will not suffer the gift of the Holy Ghost to be bestowed
upon any man or woman, except through compliance with the laws of
God. Therefore, no man can obtain a remission of sins; no man can
obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost; no man can obtain the
revelations of God; no man can obtain the Priesthood, and the
rights, powers and privileges thereof; no man can become an heir
of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, except through
compliance with the requirements of heaven. These are universal
blessings, they are great and inestimable privileges which
pertain to the Gospel and to the plan of life and salvation,
which are open and free to all on certain conditions, but which
no creature beneath the heavens can enjoy, but through walking in
the channel that God has marked out by which they can obtain
them. And these privileges and blessings when obtained may be
forfeited, and perhaps lost for all eternity, unless we continue
steadfast in the course that is marked out for us to pursue. It
is well, in my judgment, that the Latter-day Saints do not lose
sight of the great privilege that has been bestowed upon them. No
man can become a citizen of the Kingdom of God but by entering in
at the door: there are thousand and tens of thousands, aye
millions of people who will never become citizens of the Kingdom
of God in this world, because they fail to exercise the agency
and the power that has been given to them in the right direction.
Nevertheless, they enjoy many of the blessings that are bestowed
upon the world in common. The sun shines upon the evil and the
good; but the Holy Ghost descends only upon the righteous and
upon those that are forgiven of their sins. The rain descends
upon the evil and upon the good; but the rights of the Priesthood
are conferred, and the doctrine of the Priesthood distills as the
dews of heaven upon the souls of those only that receive it in
God's own appointed way. The favor of heaven, the acknowledgment
of the Almighty of His children upon the earth as His sons and
His daughters can only be secured through obedience to the laws
which He has revealed. Riches or the wealth of the world cannot
purchase these things. Simon Magus desired to purchase the power
to cast out devils with money, but Peter said unto him, "Thy
money perish with thee." These blessings, powers and privileges
are not to be purchased but by the atonement of Christ; they are
not to be obtained by personal influence, wealth, position or
power, or in any other way but the direct way in which God has
decreed that they should be obtained. Now, so long as the
Latter-day Saints are content to obey the commandments of God, to
appreciate the privileges and blessings which they enjoy in the
Church, and will use their time, their talents, their substance,
in honor to the name of God, to build up Zion, and to establish
truth and righteousness in the earth, so long our heavenly Father
is bound by His oath and covenant to protect them from every
opposing foe, and to help them to overcome every obstacle that
can possibly be arrayed against them or thrown in their pathway;
but the moment a community begin to be wrapt up in themselves,
become selfish, become engrossed in the temporalities of life,
and put their faith in riches, that moment the power of God
begins to withdraw from them, and if they repent not the Holy
Spirit will depart from them entirely, and they will be left to
themselves. That which was given them will be taken away, they
will lose that which they had, for they will not be worthy of it.
God is just as well as merciful, and we need not expect favors at
the hand of the Almighty except as we merit them, at least in the
honest desires of our hearts, and the desire and intent will not
always avail unless our acts correspond. For we are engaged in a
literal work, a reality; and we must practice as well as profess.
We must be what God requires us to be, or else we are not His
people nor the Zion which He designs to gather together and to
build up in the latter days upon the earth.
F. Smith
I am aware that this is the last day of Conference, that there
are many to speak and much to be done, therefore brevity is
desirable. I find, too, that it is difficult for me to speak loud
enough to be heard by this vast assembly.
F. Smith
I rejoice in the work of God. I have never seen a moment since I
became acquainted with the principles of the Gospel when I had
the least doubt in my mind of their truthfulness. I have never
feared, and do not know what the feeling of fear is as to the
result of this work. I know that God is able to bear it off, and
that He will do it. I fear often for mankind and for myself,
knowing my own weaknesses, better, perhaps, than any living being
except God. I often have fears and trembling for myself when I am
made to feel my own weakness and see myself as I am seen by the
Lord. But as to the work of God, it cannot fail, for God has
decreed its consummation; and whilst man may oppose it and his
efforts fail, the work of God will never fail. Now mark it! As I
have often said, the most favorable opportunity that the
adversary of men's souls ever saw to destroy this work was on or
before the 6th day of April, 1830; but failing to accomplish it
then, notwithstanding the efforts that were put forth in this
direction, failure to do so in the future must only be the more
apparent. There is more to grapple with now than then. "The
kingdom" has taken deeper and stronger root in the earth, and its
branches have expanded and spread out into many lands. There are
more people to kill off now than ever before, and we are rapidly
increasing. There is no use of thinking this work will be
destroyed by martyring a few of the people, although they might
be our leaders. "Mormonism" is a living principle in the hearts
of all true Saints, every soul of whom must be destroyed before
it can be wiped out. It has been, through the overruling
providences of the Almighty, allowed to grow until it has
attained strength and power in the earth: and thanks be unto God
the Ruler and Maker of heaven and earth, I feel it in my very
bones, that the Kingdom of God is beyond the reach and power of
the devil or his agents. And in this condition it will remain,
ever advancing, inasmuch as the Saints keep the law of God. If we
should become corrupt and wicked, He has said that we shall be
removed out of our place, and every individual who will not keep
His commandments will fail. For no man can stand in this Church
but upon the foundation of righteousness and truth; and whenever
we undertake to build upon the foundation of error and falsehood,
selfishness and sin, that moment our foundation will crumble
beneath our feet; the sands will be washed away, and we will
fall. But so long as this people continue faithful, God will be
their friend, and He, be it remembered, is the Almighty, and this
is His work. The stone representing this latter-day work, has
been cut out of the mountain without hands, and will roll forth
according to the decree, and no power will b able to stop its
onward march. I do not feel to boast only in the strength of our
God; and I do feel from the inmost recesses of my heart to praise
His holy name, and to thank Him that I have been permitted to see
the Kingdom where it is to-day. And those who come after will
live to see the consummation of the prophecies that have been
uttered concerning it by ancient and modern Prophets verified and
no one word will fall to the ground unfulfilled. Not one jot or
tittle will pass from the law or the Prophets; but all will be
fulfilled, and I am as sure of it as I am that I live. What would
you or I take in exchange for this knowledge, this witness of the
Spirit? Nothing could be offered that would be an equivalent; it
is worth everything else in the world. It is a stay, an anchor to
the soul, a comfort and a joy to the heart for ever. It is with
me, as it is with every man and woman that has received the
knowledge of God, through the operations of the Holy Spirit, and
that is true to the same--the kingdom of God or nothing; I have
no more interest in the kingdom of God than any individual member
of the Church. In other words, there is not a man in the kingdom
of God that is capable of attaining to the glory of the celestial
kingdom but has as great interest in the welfare of this work, in
the consummation of the purposes of the Almighty, as I have
myself, or as Brother Taylor, Brother Cannon, Brother Woodruff,
or any of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve. We are all
interested. Every man should feel that it is his work, his
kingdom, his church, and that the principles of the Gospel are
his principles, for he has embraced them and espoused them, or at
least unless we have embraced the Gospel and received the
principles thereof in our hearts that they have become a part of
us, that we might become identified with the designs and purposes
of the Almighty in the earth, we are not converted, nor are we
worthy to be saved in the kingdom of God. It is written--and it
is as true as that the sun shines--that expect a man is willing
to sacrifice every earthly tie or consideration for the Gospel's
sake, he is not worthy of the kingdom, nor of Christ. This is
according to the declaration of Jesus while He was upon the
earth. It is the testimony of Joseph Smith, and that of all the
holy Prophets since the world began, who have said anything upon
this subject, that any man who is not willing to sacrifice
everything else for the Gospel's sake is not worthy of it, and
the day will come when he will come short; so that the sooner we
are converted to the truth, the better for us and our posterity.
They will receive inheritances, and the blessings of God will
follow upon them through us, just as they follow upon the seed of
Abraham, because of the blessings and promises bestowed upon
their father Abraham. The promises were made to Abraham, and the
blessing followed upon the heads of his children, and will
continue unto the last generation, because the promise was made
to Abraham who was worthy of it, and he will claim the promise
for his posterity. So it will be with you and me. The blessings
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have been conferred upon us, and they
will be inherited by our posterity if we prove worthy of the
privilege, and live for it.
F. Smith
May God bless and help us to learn the truth and abide in it
forever, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, July 15th, 1883
George Q. Cannon, July 15th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, July 15th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
NEED OF INSPIRATION IN PREACHING--GROWTH OF THE WORK OF THE
LORD--DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITY--SELF-DEPENDENCE
NECESSARY--THE CAUSE
AND THE PEOPLE ARE BEING TESTED--EXISTENCE OF THE WORK A PROOF OF
ITS
DIVINITY--ITS COMPLETENESS--A POWERLESS CHRISTIANITY--SENTIMENTS
OF THE
SAINTS IN REGARD TO MORALITYITES.
180
In standing up to address you this afternoon, I desire an
interest in your faith and prayers, that I may be led to speak
upon those subjects that will be best adapted to you and your
circumstances. I believe it to be our privilege when we come
together, as we have this afternoon, with our hearts united,
desirous before God for His blessing, that the very things--that
is, the very doctrines and instructions and counsel that are
needed by us, and that are best adapted to our circumstances and
condition, will be given unto us by the Holy Spirit. It is for
this purpose we meet together. I never did feel satisfied in
attending meetings and listening to instructions, and going away
feeling unrefreshed and without being edified and strengthened in
the principles of the everlasting Gospel; I do not think that it
is right that we should thus meet and thus separate. God has made
promises unto His people. If His people do their part He will
fulfill those promises; He will give that portion of His Spirit
that is necessary to impart unto them everything that their
circumstances may require. I think it wrong that men should
prepare themselves before-hand to speak to the people. I believe
that God has given unto us the correct rule, the rule that He
gave to His ancient disciples--"to take no thought beforehand
what ye shall say, but treasure up in your minds continually the
words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that
portion that shall be meted unto every man." When the time should
come for His servants to address the people, He would give unto
them the very things that were needed. How do I know, how does
any other man in this congregation know the thoughts and the
fears and the wants of you who are here to-day? There may be
souls here hungering for the word of God, tried and tempted in
many directions, annoyed and perplexed with the cares of life and
with those anxieties that are connected with our earthly
existence. Who shall tell these souls that which they need? Can
any man out of his own wisdom, from the depths of his own
thoughts, give the needed strength and comfort to those hungry
souls? It is impossible. God must do it. God must pour out His
Holy Spirit. God must help as he has promised to do, and we His
children must put ourselves in a position to be helped so that we
can claim the blessing.
180
These people continually need strength from the Lord. There has
never been a day, nay, not an hour, from the commencement of this
work upon the earth in these last days that the Latter-day Saints
have been destitute of the counsel of heaven, of the word of God,
and of the guidance of that Holy Spirit that God has promised to
bestow upon His faithful children. Having thus been led in the
past it is still essential that we be thus led in the future,
that we may live by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of
God--not that proceeded from His mouth 1,800 years ago, but that
proceeds from His mouth to-day, in this year of our Lord 1883.
And we need it just as much to-day as we ever did. We need the
direct interposition of God's providence in our behalf, and we
need the assistance of His Holy Spirit; we need His word, and His
blessing, and His power, and His direct intervention in our
behalf as much to-day as this Church did fifty years ago, or as
the Church did 1850 years ago. It is indispensably necessary for
our progress, for our advancement in the things that pertain to
righteousness, in the knowledge of God, that we should be thus
assisted and upheld and inspired.
181
This great work with which we are connected is becoming so
extensive, is spreading out in so many directions, that it needs
more of the manifestation of God's power and greater faith on the
part of the people to carry it forward in the earth. It needs
greater faith on the part of those who bear any portion of the
responsibility of the Priesthood of the Son of God, because they
have now to act in capacities that heretofore they did not act
in. It seems only a little while ago that we had but one Stake of
Zion. We had but one High Council, and the Presidency of the
Church presided over that High Council. Every matter of moment,
every case of importance, came directly before the First
Presidency of the Church. In fact, affairs of the most trifling
importance--or at least that which we would now consider of
trifling importance--had to be submitted to them. Upon their
shoulders rested the responsibility of directing everything
connected with the work of God in its minutest details. But this
has changed. Instead of one High Council, instead of one Stake,
there are at least twenty-five. Instead of the First Presidency
of the Church presiding over High Councils, there are
Presidencies of these various Stakes and upon them rest the
responsibilities which formerly rested upon the First Presidency.
There are stakes now in Zion, the number of whose members far
exceeds the number of members in the Church in those early days.
For years after we came to these valleys--or for some time at
least--the whole Church in these mountains did not number as many
souls as are now comprised within Salt Lake Stake. The
responsibility, therefore, is being divided. It rests upon a
great number of men, and as the people increase this
responsibility becomes more and more divided. It is an
impossibility now for the First Presidency to attend to anything
but general matters of business, giving general instructions, and
they find themselves under the necessity more and more of
dividing this, laying it upon the shoulders of other men, calling
helps from various quarters, to labor in various directions, and
to perform the work which in former times was deemed especially
their province. The Saints themselves find themselves under the
necessity of depending more upon themselves than they did
formerly. They cannot, in the multiplicity of cares and labors
which devolve upon leading men--they cannot expect that help,
that attention to minor affairs, that they formerly received.
181
Hence, my brethren and sisters, it is necessary that every man
and woman and child, connected with this work should learn as
rapidly as possible the habit of self-dependence--to exercise
faith before God for themselves, so that each one in his place or
in her place, will be able to perform his or her part to the
acceptance of our God, and in such a manner as to bring to pass
their own salvation. This is much more easy at the present time
than it was in the past, from the fact that doctrine is becoming
better understood, the principles of the Gospel are more
thoroughly disseminated by the aid of all the various agencies
that are at work in our midst. Our children now receive in the
Primary Associations--as soon as they are able to comprehend
principle--such instruction as is adapted to their dawning
intellects, and from that to the Sunday school, and from the
Sunday school to the Young Men's and Young Women's Associations,
and in the case of the boys to the various councils of the
Priesthood, and in the case of the girls to the various Relief
Societies. They are led along step by step until they become
thoroughly indoctrinated in principle, and comprehend in the
broadest sense the character of the work with which they are
identified. Only this morning I had an opportunity of testing
this to some extent. My frequent absences from home give me but
few opportunities to meet with my children. But I said to them
this morning: "Instead of you going to Sunday school, I will have
Sunday school at home." I wanted to talk to them, to inquire of
my little ones concerning their knowledge of the principles of
the Gospel, and I was somewhat surprised at the replies which
were made to my interrogatories concerning this work, concerning
its character, concerning its doctrines and the principles that
are taught by the Elders. I presume that it is the case with all
our children, and I have no doubt from my observation, that at
the present time there are children quite small who are capable
of giving replies to questions which a few years ago many of our
Elders could not answer. I am pleased with this. I think it
right.
184
As I have said this work is spreading to so great an extent that
responsibility must rest upon individual members. The Presidency
of the Church, the Twelve Apostles, the various presiding
authorities, can no longer do as they have done in years
past--carry the people along. The people themselves must learn to
walk, to bear their own burdens, to perform their own duties, and
to take such a course as will result in their own development,
and in the advancement of this great work that God has
established upon the earth. I would not give much for us, nor for
our work, nor for our future, if the individual intelligence of
the people should not be developed. It would be an impossibility
for this work to achieve the high destiny in store for it, and
concerning which we have indulged in so many glowing
anticipations upon any other principle than this. We are told
that intelligence is the glory of God, and it certainly is the
glory of man. And with the obstacles that have to be overcome,
that confront us every step in our progress, there must be
knowledge developed among this people; there must be the highest
attainment and grade of intelligence developed among us. Upon no
other principle can we stand. Upon no other principle can we
progress. Upon no other principle can we accomplish the great
results that we have before us. It is true we testify that God
has restored the everlasting Gospel in its primitive simplicity,
purity and power. We bear this testimony; but the restoration of
this alone, in and of itself, will not accomplish that which we
have before us, unless we avail ourselves of the advantages which
its restoration affords. We must put in practice and carry out
practically in our lives its principles. We must be a people who
are not only hearers of the word, but doers of it also. It will
not do for us to have a form of godliness without the power
thereof. We must have the power of the work that God has founded.
We must put ourselves in a position to receive the blessings and
advantages connected with this work, and to have these we must be
a pure people--pure in thought, pure in word, and pure in action.
God through us is founding a new order of things in the earth.
The axe is laid at the root of the old tree, and sooner or later
it will be hewn down. The restoration of the everlasting Gospel,
the restoration of the powers connected therewith, of the gifts,
of the blessings, and especially of the union and the peace that
characterized it in ancient days, is bound eventually to produce
wonderful results in the earth. Already it is conceded that it is
a marvelous work and a wonder, just as the Prophet Isaiah said
would be the case. This must spread. From the nature of things it
must spread. It must continue to grow, to increase. The more
obstacles it has to contend with the better its power is
developed, the better its strength is exhibited. I am thankful
myself for the difficulties we have had to contend with. I am
thankful that we have a hard pathway to tread. I am thankful that
we have opposition of so serious a character. Without this we
could not be developed. Without this we could not be thoroughly
tested, nor our principles be proved. It is by such ordeals as
these that man exhibits his divine origin, and the qualities that
he inherits from his divine Father. It is by such ordeals as
these that systems are tried, and that principles exhibit their
force and power to mankind. We are being tested as no other
people upon the face of the earth are being tested. The
principles that we have espoused and that we advocate are passing
through such an ordeal as the principles advocated by no other
people are subjected to. Every form of opposition is brought to
bear; every kind of influence is set in motion, not even stopping
at violence itself. If our principles withstand all these shocks
and assaults upon them and endure, they will prove to the world
far better than our verbal testimony will that they are of divine
origin. If the organization of this Church cannot be broken up by
the attacks of mobs, by the uprooting of the people, by the
driving of them forth into the wilderness, by the attacks of
townships, of cities, of counties, of States, or by the adverse
legislation of the United States itself, then the world will be
more likely to believe that which we solemnly assert, that God is
its author, that God laid its foundation, that God has preserved
it thus far, and that He will preserve it to the very end. These
are proofs of that which we testify. That it has thus withstood
all these assaults, we are living witnesses. That we exist to-day
in our present organized capacity in these mountains is due to
the capacity of the organization to adapt itself to every change
of circumstances. Men may sneer, men may deride, men may publish
false statements, men may attribute all this to various causes
which are untrue; but the fact still remains uncontrovertible and
unassailable, that there is a power and a strength and an
elasticity about the organization of this Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints that all that is brought against it fails to
unsettle or to shiver. Now we have been testifying--that is, some
of the Elders have--for these 53 years that this work had this
capacity. Joseph Smith stated it in the outset before the Church
itself was organized. The first Elders of the Church bore similar
testimony when but six members comprised the entire Church of
Jesus Christ. They predicted its future. They stated that it
possessed these divine qualities. They solemnly declared that God
had restored it from the heavens; that it was the old
organization brought back again; that it was the old Gospel
restored once more to the earth, and that it would win its way in
every land and among every people, and that it would accomplish
all that God had predicted by the mouths of His holy prophets
that it should accomplish. But who believed it? No more believed
it then than can be found now to believe our testimony, that
which we bear this day, that this work, notwithstanding all the
opposition it may have to contend with--notwithstanding it may
have every power on earth to oppose it, that it will win its way
until it will fill the whole earth. There were probably no more
who believed the testimony of the early Elders respecting the
growth of the work than are to be found to believe our testimony
now concerning its future. But fifty-three years have passed, and
in their passage it has been demonstrated that it possesses the
qualities and powers that were claimed for it by those who
declared the testimony in the beginning. Wonderful it must have
seemed in the early days when they all could meet together within
a log schoolhouse--wonderful it must have seemed to them when
their minds were enlightened by the Spirit of God, and they
looked down and saw the future of this work--its growth,
development and advancement, and the mighty results it would
accomplish--it must have seemed wonderful, I say, to them at that
time with their surroundings. But if there is anything that shows
clearly how God dealt with this people and how plainly He could
reveal His mind and will to them, it is the fact that those who
lived in those days, and whose writings have been left, whose
testimonies are on record,--saw with extraordinary clearness that
which we now behold and the far greater results that are yet to
be reached in the future. They saw it with plainness, they saw it
with wonderful clearness and predicted concerning it as though
they were writing contemporaneous history; and that which they
testified to, as I have said, has been proved so far as we have
gone.
185
There has been no lack about this work. Its principles have
withstood all that has been brought against them. They stand
unshaken because they are founded on eternal truth. The whole
clergy of the world may array themselves against them, as they
have to a certain extent; they may endeavor to controvert these
principles, but they are founded on truth and they cannot be
overturned. Not a single principle that has been declared or been
testified to by the Elders of this Church from the beginning up
to the present time can be assailed successfully by any
religionist, nor by scientific men, because they are impregnable,
having had their origin in God. And so it is with everything
connected with this work. It has never taken a step backward. It
never will take a step backward. There are no mistakes to be
corrected connected with it, either with its doctrine, with its
organization, or, with its movement. Who is there--I speak to
you, my brethren and sisters, who have been connected with this
Church from the beginning--who is there that can recall a single
instance of recantation of any of its principles? Has there ever
been a doctrine declared by the authorities of the Church, as a
part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that they have had to take
back or modify? Not one. Has there been anything in the
organization that has had to be perfected? No. The organization
was as perfect in theory--being revealed of God--50 years ago as
it is to-day in practice, after years of experience, practically
carrying it out in these mountains. That constitutes the strength
of this work. It is its infallibility. Not that man connected
with it is infallible, for he is fallible; but the work itself,
its principles, and everything connected with it, is infallible,
having a divine origin, being revealed of God. It was a wonderful
thing to state, as was stated right at the outset of this work,
that it should be preached in every land, that its doctrine
should be proclaimed in every tongue throughout the world, and
that it should gather from every nation under heaven, men and
women who should be numbered as its converts. A remarkable
feature, something unheard of, that the principles of this
religion when preached should have the effect to gather out from
every nation, kindred, tongue and people those who espoused them.
Yet every word has been fulfilled. Wherever the Elders of this
Church have gone they have gone accompanied by that wonderful
power, the power of gathering the people together; not of one
race, not of one language, but people of every race and of every
language, showing the adaptability of its principles to the
people of the frozen north as well as to those of the torrid
south. Wherever these principles have been proclaimed they have
gathered out from the nations unto whom they were proclaimed
those who have espoused them, and as I have remarked here before,
there is no power short of violence that can prevent these people
from thus coming together. It has not been the inducement of the
Elder; it has not been by persuasion; it has not been any
influence of this character that they have sought to wield over
the people that has gathered them together. They have come of
their own accord. They have forsaken home, friends, old
associations, ancestral tombs, and everything of this character
that is calculated to bind men to their native land; they have
severed all these and have gathered out and cast their lots with
the people of their faith in these mountains. And this has been a
peculiar feature of this work from the very commencement, and it
will continue to be as long as the Gospel is preached. And it is
this wonderful union, this Godlike union, that bears testimony
that it is from God.
185
I do not wish to say anything in relation to other forms of
religion; I do not know that it is necessary that I should do so;
but no thinking man can admit that Christianity so-called--I call
it a false Christianity, untrue to its name--satisfies the wants
of humanity at the present time. It is not a religion that
satisfies. I comes short in almost every particular. It is devoid
of all the powers that characterized it and gave it force in the
early days. You look in vain for those features that
distinguished it, and that gave it power in the earth, and that
made it the foe of Paganism and false religions existing in those
days, and which gave it the wonderful success it achieved. It is
destitute of these features. It is divided, split into hundreds
of sects, without power, having a form of godliness, but lacking
the power thereof. It cannot stand; it cannot prevail. Monstrous
as its power is, great as its growth is, co-extensive with the
world it may be said, it nevertheless is destined to tumble with
Babylon the great. It must go down. It has not the elements of
strength. And the great cause of its weakness is, that God is not
with it. God's power does not accompany it. Men in too many
instances are Christian because it is popular to be so. But where
is the power of Christianity? Where are the revelations of God?
The idea of God having a church on the earth, and never speaking
His mind and will unto that church! Why, I will not worship a God
who will not speak. He is as Baal of old. I want nothing to do
with him. I want the God of heaven, the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, a God who can speak and who can manifest His mind and His
will, who can guide His people, who can bestow gifts and
blessings upon His people, who can hear and answer their prayers
when they call upon him. I want a God of that kind if I can find
Him, and I thank God that I have found Him, and that He has
revealed Himself in these last days, and has established His
Church as He did in ancient days, and has endowed it with the
same powers that the ancient church possessed, and it has to
undergo the same trials and temptations and the same persecution
that the ancient church did. The blood of its members has flown.
They have been slain for the testimony of Jesus and for the word
of God, for claiming to be Prophets, for claiming to be apostles,
for claiming to be servants of God, just the same as the ancient
servants of God did. We, to-day in these mountains are here
because we have been driven out, not permitted to enjoy those
blessings that as free men and free women, born free, we were
justly entitled to--that is, the right to worship our God
according to the dictates of our own consciences. We are
therefore a standing protest against religious tyranny, and while
God gives us breath, we shall always be found defending the right
of every human being to worship his God or her God according to
his or her conscience, without anything to molest or to make
afraid, as long as in that worship they do not trespass upon the
rights of their neighbors.
186
Now, my brethren and sisters, as I said in the beginning, there
is a great responsibility resting upon us individually. Our
children must grow up understanding these principles, willing to
endure everything for them, strong in the Lord to bear them off,
and to maintain purity in the earth. The devil has raised every
sort of cry against these Latter-day Saints, throwing dust in the
eyes of the people concerning us, making the world believe that
we are unfit to live, that it would be doing God service to kill
us off, making them believe that we are the most impure and the
most corrupt people on the face of the earth. Why, who has done
these things? Men who are steeped in corruption, up to their lips
in it, and who cannot comprehend purity. And this has been the
cry: "Kill them off, they are unworthy to live; it will be doing
God service to destroy them." And yet in these mountains the
virtue of woman is held sacred. There was a time when a woman was
as safe in our streets, or in our remote byways, as she would be
in a strongly guarded house or castle. A woman could travel from
the northern boundary of our Territory to the southern, without
hearing a word of disrespect or seeing a gesture or anything of
that character that would annoy her. But how has it been of late
years? Why, women are unsafe in the streets. There was a time
when drunkenness was unknown in this land? How is it now? In
spite of our protest, in spite of everything we can do--because
we have not the power, being a Territory, to carry out our laws
or to maintain them--drunkenness runs riot, and it is the
constant effort on the part of every man who has a family, and
every leading man, to guard our youth against these devilish
influences that are growing on every hand. We say to our boys: it
is the worst crime you can commit short of murder, to be guilty
of illicit intercourse with the other sex. I would rather carry
my son to the grave than that he should be guilty of such a
thing. We say: "Marry the sisters, marry the daughters of Eve,
take to yourselves lawful wives, but you shall not commit
adultery, you shall not commit seduction, you shall not commit
fornication; if you do God will curse you, and we will sever you
from the Church." We say to our daughters that it is one of the
worst crimes they can commit to be guilty of unchastity. We want
to raise up a righteous seed in these mountains, pure and
virtuous, so that a man will be so virtuous that he may be in the
company of an unprotected woman alone for any length of time, and
she would be as safe as if she were in heaven, or under the
guardianship of an angel, safe from pollution, safe from
everything that is vile. We want to teach our children to be
sober, to be industrious, to be truthful, to be honest, to love
God, and to love their neighbor; for they can best show their
love for God by exhibiting their love for their neighbor. If they
cannot love him whom they see, how can they love Him whom they
have not seen? Let us take these things to heart, and let us be
watchful and use all our influence to protect the rising
generation against those sins that are sweeping over the earth,
and God will bless us in our efforts in so doing. I pray God that
He will bless you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Joseph
F. Smith, June 21st, 1883
Joseph F. Smith, June 21st, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH,
Delivered at Ogden, Sunday Morning, June 21st, 1883.
(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)
DELUSIVE SPIRITS--PROPER CHANNEL FOR REVELATIONS TO COME
THROUGH--THE
CALLING OF JOSEPH SMITH--INDICATION OF AN IMPOSTOR--PRIVATE
ANTIPATHY TO BE
CURBED AND THE PRIESTHOOD TO BE SUSTAINED--ONLY ONE MAN APPOINTED
TO HOLD
THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM AT A TIME--MEN NOT TO JUDGE THOSE WHO
PRESIDE OVER
THEM--HOW TO SECURE JUSTICE.
F. Smith
There has, perhaps, never been a period in the history of the
Church when the delusive spirits that are abroad in the world,
deceiving the children of men, were more active than they are and
have been for the last few years. I have never, in my
recollection heard of so many pretended prophets and revelations,
special messages, missions and manifestations to various
individuals, as have come to my notice within the last few months
or perhaps years. Some claim that they are in constant
communication with angels, others that they have received a
direct command from God to accomplish a certain mission, others
claim to be Christ, and therefore assume the right to dictate and
direct the labors of the Presidency and Twelve, and undertake to
correct and set them right and to show them wherein they lack
inspiration, etc., and wherein it is necessary that a strong arm
should be raised up in order to steady the ark of Zion. There has
been a great deal of this kind of spirit manifested of late among
men who are and have been in the Church for years; and not only
such, but by men who never have been members and who have no
knowledge of the character of this latter-day work. Messages from
the spirit world, communications from the departed through
mediums, people that permit themselves to be used for this
purpose by lying and delusive spirits.
F. Smith
It has sometimes been sorrowful to see respected members of the
Church, men who should know better, allow themselves to become
the tools of seductive spirits. Such men seem, for the time at
least, to lose sight of the fact that the Lord has established on
earth the Priesthood in its fullness; and that by direct
revelation and commandment from heaven; that He has instituted an
order or government that is beyond the capacity, and that is
superior to the wisdom and learning and understanding of man, so
far, indeed, that it seems impossible for the human mind, unaided
by the Spirit of God, to comprehend the beauties, powers, and
character of the Holy Priesthood. It seems difficult for men to
comprehend the workings of the Priesthood; its legitimate
authority, its scope and power; and yet by the light of the
spirit it is easily comprehended, but not understanding it men
are easily deceived by seductive spirits that are abroad in the
world. They are led to believe that something is wrong, and the
next thing that transpires, they find themselves believing that
they are chosen specially to set things right. It is very
unfortunate for a man to be taken in this snare; for be it
understood by the Latter-day Saints that as long as the servants
of God are living pure lives, are honoring the Priesthood
conferred upon them, and endeavoring to the best of their
knowledge to magnify their offices and callings, to which they
have been duly chosen by the voice of the people and the
Priesthood, and sanctioned by the approval of God, so long as the
Lord has any communication to make to the children of men, or any
instructions to impart to His Church, He will make such
communication through the legally appointed channel of the
Priesthood; He will never go outside of it, as long, at least, as
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exists in its
present form on the earth.
F. Smith
The Church of God has been organized, the kingdom of God has been
established, and the Gospel has been restored to the earth for
the last time; and this work which has fairly begun will never
cease, but will continue to spread abroad and increase in the
earth, and gather to its fold the righteous, the honest, the
pure, the meek and the poor of the earth, until "the kingdom"
shall be exalted to power and glory in the midst of the world;
and it will reign triumphant when Babylon will be broken to
pieces, and will fall to rise no more. These are the promises
that have been made to us. This fact is indicated by the
revelations of God to man through ancient and modern prophets,
and through angels that have visited the earth in this
dispensation of the fullness of times.
F. Smith
It is not my business nor that of any other individual to rise up
as a revelator, as a prophet, as a seer, as an inspired man, to
give revelation for the guidance of the Church, or to assume to
dictate to the presiding authorities of the Church in any part of
the world, much less in the midst of Zion, where the
organizations of the Priesthood are about perfect, where
everything is complete even to the organization of a branch. It
is the right of individuals to be inspired and to receive
manifestations of the Holy Spirit for their personal guidance, to
strengthen their faith, and to encourage them in works of
righteousness, in being faithful and observing and keeping the
commandments which God has given unto them; it is the privilege
of every man and woman to receive revelation to this end, but not
further. The moment an individual rises up assuming the right to
control and to dictate or to sit in judgment on his brethren,
especially upon those who preside, he should be promptly checked,
or discord, division and confusion would be the result. Every man
and woman in this Church should know better than to yield to such
a spirit; the moment that such a feeling presents itself to them
they should rebuke it, as it is in direct antagonism to the order
of the Priesthood, and to the spirit and genius of this work. We
can accept nothing as authoritative but that which comes directly
through the appointed channel, the constituted organizations of
the Priesthood, which is the channel that God has appointed
through which to make known His mind and will to the world. It
was necessary prior to the organization of this Church, that God
should select from the inhabitants of the earth some person
through whom to reveal His will to mankind; and it pleased Him to
select for this purpose the youthful and untutored boy Joseph
Smith, as David of old was His choice, but as there was no
Priesthood on the earth when Joseph was called, legally
constituted by the authority of heaven to officiate in the name
of the Lord, it was necessary therefore that some one should be
selected as the first Elder for the beginning of this work, for
there has to be a beginning, and he was the one foreordained for
the position which he occupied and filled. After calling and
setting him apart for the work of introducing and establishing
this Gospel of the kingdom, the Lord of course recognized him as
His mouthpiece, as His authorized agent, if you please, and it
would be absolutely inconsistent, unreasonable and absurd to
suppose that after God had called one man and appointed him to
this work, that He should pass him by and go to somebody else to
accomplish the same purpose. No sensible person would accept for
one moment such a proposition. To seriously contemplate any such
idea would be charging the Almighty with inconsistency, and with
being the author of confusion, discord and schism. The kingdom of
God never could be established on earth in any such way.
F. Smith
Through Joseph then, the Lord revealed Himself to the world and
through him He chose the first Elders of the Church--men who were
honest in their hearts; men whom He knew would receive the word
and labor in connection with Joseph in this great and important
undertaking; and all that have been ordained to the Priesthood,
and all that have been appointed to any position whatever in this
Church, have received their authority and commission through this
channel, appointed of God, with Joseph at the head. This is the
order, and it could not be otherwise. God will not raise up
another prophet and another people to do the work that we have
been appointed to do. He will never ignore those who have stood
firm and true from the commencement, as it were, of this work,
and who are still firm and faithful, inasmuch as they continue
faithful to their trust. There is no question in my mind of their
ever proving themselves unfaithful, as a body; for if any of them
were to become unworthy in His sight, He would remove them out of
their place and call others from the ranks to fill their
positions. And thus His Priesthood will ever be found to be
composed of the right men for the place, of men whose backs will
be fitted for the burden, men through whom He can work and
regulate the affairs of His Church according to the counsels of
His own will. And the moment that individuals look to any other
source, that moment they throw themselves open to the seductive
influences of Satan, and render themselves liable to become
servants of the devil; they lose sight of the true order through
which the blessings of the Priesthood are to be enjoyed; they
step outside of the pale of the kingdom of God, and are on
dangerous ground. Whenever you see a man rise up claiming to have
received direct revelation from the Lord to the Church,
independent of the order and channel of the Priesthood, you may
set him down as an impostor. God has not called you to go out to
the world to be taught, or to receive revelations through
apostates or strangers; but He has called and ordained you and
sent you forth to teach and lead people in the paths of
righteousness and salvation.
F. Smith
It is the duty, therefore, of every Latter-day Saint to seek for
the spirit of truth, and to desire with full purposes of heart,
and seek diligently for the gifts of wisdom and understanding
that will lead and guide into all truth, that will enable us to
comprehend the purposes of God, and this most perfect, most
harmonious organizations which God has instituted by His own
wisdom in these last days for the gathering of Israel, and for
the communication of all His purposes as made known through His
servants the Prophets. Men may become dissatisfied one with
another, they may become dissatisfied towards the Presidency, the
Quorum of the Twelve, or others, and may say in their hearts, "I
do not like such an one; I do not believe he is as good as he
should be, he has too many faults and weaknesses and, therefore,
I cannot and will not acknowledge his authority, as I have not
faith in the man." Doubtless there are those, too many perhaps,
who feel that way, but the trouble is, and that is the worst of
it, just because they have become dissatisfied with the
individual and harbored feelings of bitterness in their hearts
against their brethren, they lose sight of the designs of the
Almighty; they turn against the authority of the Holy Priesthood;
and through their blindness, allow themselves to be led astray,
and at last turn away from the Church.
F. Smith
Now, how should it be? I will tell you. In the first place every
person should know that the Gospel is true, as this is every
one's privilege who is baptized and receives the Holy Ghost. A
man may be grieved in his feelings because of some difficulty
between him and President Taylor, or Cannon or myself; he may
have feelings in his heart which lead him to think that he could
not sustain us in his faith and prayers; but if this should be
the case, what is the course for him to pursue? He should say in
his heart, "God has established His kingdom, and His Priesthood
is upon the earth; and notwithstanding my dislike for certain
men, I know that the Gospel is true, and that God is with His
people; and that if I will do my duty and keep His commandments,
the clouds will roll by and the mists will disappear, the spirit
of the Lord will come more fully to my relief, and by and by I
will be able to see--if I am in error, wherein I erred, and then
I will repent of it, for I know that every wrong thing will yet
be made right." I think all men should feel that way. A man may
not have confidence in his Bishop, or in one or both of his
Counselors; circumstances might be such that according to his
judgment the Bishop or his Counselors might be in the wrong, and
his confidence in them, whether right or wrong, would therefore
be destroyed; but because he may feel so, would it be right or
consistent in him as an Elder in Israel, to set himself up as the
judge of the Bishop or his Counselors and the whole Church? If
one were to get in a position of this kind he would be like some
others I have heard of, John and David Whitmer, for instance, two
of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, and Wm. E. McClellan, and
William Smith, two of the Twelve Apostles, some of whom are still
living, and many others, both living and dead. Do you think you
could convince those of this class that they had apostatized from
the Church? No; these men are firmly convinced in their own minds
that they never apostatized. They stoutly and indignantly deny
that they ever apostatized or turned away from the Church, but
say that Joseph Smith and the Twelve Apostles apostatized, and
all the Church had apostatized and become very wicked, and that
God has cut the Church off, but that Brother David Whitmer and
Brother Wm. E. McClellan, William Smith, and others are the only
members of the Church in good standing, and they are all at
variance with each other. If I were to raise my hand against my
Bishop, against the Twelve or the First Presidency, because I did
not like them, that moment I should place myself in the position
that these men now occupy, and that scores of others who have
passed away have occupied, and say: "The Church has apostatized,
Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and John Taylor, have
apostatized, but I am firm in the faith; all the people have gone
astray because they will not acknowledge me." There is where the
man is who rebels against the authority of the Priesthood, and at
the same time endeavors to hold on to the faith. Never is there
but one appointed at a time to hold the keys of the kingdom of
God pertaining to the earth. While Christ remained on the earth
He held them; but when He departed He committed them to Peter, he
being the President or Chief of the Apostles; and it was his
right to direct and to receive revelation for the Church, and to
give counsel to all the brethren. After Satan and wicked men had
prevailed against the Church, crucified the Savior and killed the
Apostles, the keys of the kingdom were taken from the earth. John
the Revelator describes it most clearly. And from that time until
Joseph Smith was called by the voice of the Almighty, and
ordained to hold those keys, no man held them upon the earth that
we know of. It is true the Lord did appoint other Twelve upon
this continent, and His Church flourished and prospered in this
land for many years, but the Lord declared that Peter, James and
John, and the Twelve that walked with Him at Jerusalem, held the
Presidency over them. God may reveal himself to different
nations, and establish among them the same Gospel and ordinances
as He did anciently, if necessity require, but if these nations
should be joined together there would be one head, and all the
rest would be subordinate. So that from the time that the keys of
this Priesthood were taken from the earth until they were
received by Joseph Smith, no man ever possessed that Priesthood,
nor the keys thereof, with authority to build up the Zion of God,
and prepare a church or people for the second coming of Christ,
"as a bride is adorned for the bridegroom;" unless it may have
been among the lost tribes, yet of this we have no knowledge, but
if so they would receive those keys necessary to administer in
the ordinances of the Gospel for their salvation. We know not of
their existence or the condition in which they are placed. The
Gospel that is given to them is suited to their needs and
condition, and is for their salvation, not ours, and yet it will
be the same Gospel. And God will not call one from them to give
to us the Priesthood, or to give to us keys and blessings, or to
point out the organization of the kingdom of God, because He has
established that Priesthood here, and we have it. If He has any
communication to make to us He will send His messengers to us.
And in this way He will deliver His law and give His mind and
will to the people. He will do it through the ordained channels
of the Priesthood which He acknowledges and which He has
established in the earth. He will go no where else to do it,
neither will He send us to them unless they should be without the
Priesthood and it becomes necessary to take the blessings of the
Gospel to them, and I presume that will be the case.
F. Smith
When Joseph received the keys of the Priesthood he alone on the
earth held them; that is, he was the first, he stood at the head.
It was promised that he should not lose them or be removed out of
his place, so long as he was faithful. And when he died President
Young was chosen by the voice of the people, and sanctioned by
the voice of God. He held the Priesthood which was after the
order of the Son of God, with the keys which pertain to the
presidency of that Priesthood upon earth. He received it from the
hands of Joseph, directly from him or by his authority; and he
held it until his death. When he died that mantle fell upon John
Taylor, and while he lives he will hold that authority inasmuch
as he is faithful. So it was with President Brigham Young, he
held it on condition of his faithfulness. If any man in that
position should become unfaithful, God would remove him out of
his place. I testify in the name of Israel's God that He will not
suffer the head of the Church, him whom He has chosen to stand at
the head, to transgress His laws and apostatize; the moment he
should take a course that would in time lead to it, God would
take him away. Why? Because to suffer a wicked man to occupy that
position, would be to allow, as it were, the fountain to become
corrupted, which is something He will never permit. And why will
he not suffer it? Because it is not the work of Joseph Smith; it
is not the work of Brigham Young or of John Taylor. It is not the
work of man but of God Almighty; and it is His business to see
that the men who occupy this position are men after His own
heart, men that will receive instructions from Him, and that will
carry out the same according to the counsels of His will. You may
depend that he will see to it, and risk nothing upon this head.
Hence you will have no reason to find fault or to rise up in
judgment upon President Taylor or upon President Young, or upon
the Prophet Joseph Smith, or upon the Twelve Apostles. We have no
right to rise up in judgment upon the President of the Stake, or
upon our Bishop, or upon the Priesthood in any shape or form,
unless we can do so agreeably to the laws of the Church. If they
decide against us inasmuch as God has conferred the keys of this
Priesthood upon them, and the kingdom is here, and its authority
is here, and the Priesthood is here, and the organization of the
kingdom of God is here--and inasmuch as the decision is reached
and rendered agreeable to the laws and commandments of God, then
it would be our bounden duty to humbly submit, and bow to it and
acknowledge it. You or I might think it hard, and possibly feel
that it was unjust, but as it would be impossible to make it
otherwise, we must submit. "What," says one, "submit to an unjust
decision? No, sir!" Who says it is unjust? You or I say it is;
but twelve High Councilors and the Presidency of the Stake say it
is just, and in holding to our idea of the unjustness of the
decision, we put our judgment against that of fifteen
disinterested men. Who then is to decide on the justice of the
case? They, not me; and it is my business to acknowledge it and
yield to it. There is, however, a supervisory authority in the
First Presidency; and they may exercise in some degree the
pardoning power, for unto them is given power under the laws of
God to forgive. "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them, and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
President Taylor holds the keys of that authority in this Church.
You may appeal then to the Presidency of the Church, and they may
inquire into the justice or injustice of the decision and see if
the case is entitled to a rehearing. But if the decision of the
High Council should be confirmed, then you have no other appeal
on earth. And yet God has given to us the broadest latitude
peacefully to defend our individual rights, agreeably to just and
righteous laws. He permits us first to be tried by the Bishop and
his Counselors; and even before that we have the opportunity to
settle our difficulties amicably without going to a trial; or if
we cannot settle them amicably among ourselves we are permitted
to call in our Teacher to assist us if possible to be reconciled
to one another; and if that cannot be done we can then bring the
matter before the Bishop to be formally tried. If we have reason
to believe the decision to be unjust, we have the right then to
appeal our case to the High Council, and then, if the First
Presidency so decide, there may be a re-hearing. So that the Lord
has given unto us every possible chance to vindicate our rights,
defend our causes, and maintain our standing in the Church. No
man is asked to bow to unrighteousness; but to say that the
decision rendered by the Bishop's Court or High Council is an
unjust decision is to say one of two things, namely, that these
men, from three to fifteen of them, every one of whom should
possess the spirit of the Gospel, and the inspiration of the
Almighty, and is quite as likely to understand such circumstances
as the litigants are all in error and lack judgment, or that they
are wilfully wicked and unjust, while one individual, and he a
party to strife, alone is right.
F. Smith
The moment a man says he will not submit to legally constituted
authority of the Church, whether it be the Teachers, the
Bishopric, the High Council, his Quorum or the First Presidency,
and in his heart confirms it and carries it out, that moment he
cuts himself off from the privileges and blessings of the
Priesthood and Church, and severs himself from the people of God,
for he ignores the authority that He has instituted in His
Church. These are the men that generally get crochets in their
heads, that get inspiration (from beneath) and that are often so
desirous to guide the Church, and to sit in judgment upon the
Priesthood. The only safe way for us to do, as individuals, is to
live so humbly, so righteously and so faithfully before God, that
we may possess His Spirit to that extent that we will be able to
judge righteously, and discern between truth and error, between
right and wrong; and then we will know when a decision is
rendered against us that in 99 cases out of a hundred we are in
error, and that the decision is right; and although we may at the
time not be fully able to see and feel its justness, yet will be
constrained to say that inasmuch as there are sixteen chances
against one for me to be wrong, "I will gracefully and humbly
submit." The pith of the matter is, the Lord has established His
Church, organized His Priesthood, and conferred authority upon
certain individuals, councils and quorums, and it is the duty of
the people of God to live so that they shall know that these are
acceptable unto Him. If we begin to cut off this one and that
one, and set their authority aside, we may just as well at once
set God himself aside, and say he has no right to dictate. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, June 18, 1883
John Taylor, June 18, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
Delivered in the Bowery, Deseret, Monday, June 18, 1883
(Reported by John Irvine.)
SCOPE OF THE GOSPEL--DIFFERENT DEGREES OF GLORY--FREE
AGENCY--"LIBERTY"
WITH A VENGEANCE--TRIALS NECESSARY--FORMER AND LATTER TRIALS--THE
SPIRIT OF
GATHERING ILLUSTRATED--JUDGMENTS PREDICTED--ZION ALREADY
ATTRACTING
ATTENTION--ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE CITIZENS OF DESERET--BLESSINGS
INVOKED.
196
I am pleased, as I said last night, to meet with you. I am
pleased to talk about the things pertaining to the kingdom of
God, and also about other matters that some think are not so
directly associated with the kingdom of God, and yet they are;
for all things temporal and all things spiritual, all things that
are associated with our bodies and with our spirits, everything
that is calculated to promote our happiness and well-being on the
earth and to procure for us an exaltation in the kingdom of
heaven, are things that are associated with the Gospel and that
belong to us as Latter-day Saints. The God who is the Father of
our spirits is He that organized our bodies. The God that made
the heavens is He that made the earth, and we are dependent upon
Him for every blessing that we enjoy. We had very little to do
with our coming here, and now that we find ourselves here, we are
incapable of sustaining ourselves. We must be sustained of God.
There is not one among you here to-day could leave this place
unless God gave you power. We hardly realize these things. In God
we live; in Him we move and from Him we have our being. And He
has gathered us together, for the purpose of instructing us and
preparing us to do a work that He designs to accomplish in the
interests of the living and of the dead, in the interests of the
whole human family, that exist, or that ever have existed upon
the face of the earth. He has gathered us here under the
influence and auspices of the Gospel, that we might, under His
tuition and guidance, and under the influence of the Holy
Priesthood that exists in the heavens and on the earth, bring to
pass all things that have been spoken by the holy Prophets since
the world was. God is interested in the whole of the human
family. He cannot take them all into the celestial kingdom, for
they are not all prepared to go there, and you cannot prepare
them and He cannot, because they have to be governed by certain
laws and certain principles and certain feelings, and if they are
not governed by these and will not be governed by a celestial
law, they are not prepared for a celestial glory. There are some
that may be governed by a terrestrial law, and may be prepared
for a terrestrial glory, but not for a celestial glory. Still,
they are God's children, and He is doing the best by them He can.
Many of you here that have sons and daughters, do the best by
them you can. Some of them you cannot do well by, because they
will not do right. Now, the Lord had more sons than one. Lucifer
rebelled. Adam had more sons than one, and Lucifer came down and
operated upon one of them, and Adam could not help himself. He
had another son who feared God, and was willing to be guided by
the laws of God. Because of this, Cain killed his brother, the
same as a great many would like to kill us under the same
influence and by the same spirit. Now, as I have said, Adam could
not help the action of his son. Cain yielded obedience to the
spirit of the wicked one, and he became a man that fostered every
kind of evil. He loved Satan more than he loved God. He loved the
works of darkness more than he loved the light, and that spirit
has existed in the world through all the ages that are past. It
existed before the flood and it came down through the flood. It
existed among the ancient inhabitants of this continent. It
existed among the sons of Lehi. And if you read the Book of
Mormon you will find the same principles--one party in favor of
right, the other in favor of wrong; the one in favor of obedience
to the laws of God, and the other in opposition to the laws of
God. The Scriptures say that it must needs be that there be an
opposition in all things; and Jesus said it must needs be that
offences come, but woe to them by whom they come. This principle
of opposition was manifested in the heavens. Satan was a
personage there who had peculiar ideas, very singular ideas. He
wanted to do the same as many men want to do to-day--to take away
the free agency of man. Some men would like to take away our free
agency and tell us how we must worship and what we must worship.
Because Satan wanted to deprive man of his free agency, he was
cast out of heaven and he came to the earth to teach that
principle, and it has prevailed more or less in every age and
under every government. We sometimes hear it said that we are
living under the most liberal government there is on the earth. I
sometimes say, God save the mark! God save the mark for that
liberality that will not allow men to worship God according to
the dictates of their own consciences, that will enact laws to
prevent men marrying wives, while men having many mistresses are
sustained. The men who comply with the laws of God are prohibited
from voting, while the licentious, the adulterer, the
whoremonger, the brothel keeper, the pimp, the procuress and the
prostitute have this privilege, and are protected by law and
sustained by lawgivers; while they profess to be shocked at our
supposed immorality they foster and encourage by their enactments
every kind of licentiousness and crime. Such principles as these
are from beneath and not from God, no matter under what
government they exist. We do not want to proscribe any man in his
religious faith. It is none of our business. God did not
interfere with Cain. He put a mark upon him. He deprived him of
blessings and exaltations. He could not have him associate with
the Gods, for He had cast Satan out of heaven who was Cain's
instructor. Cain was the son of Adam. He listened to the
teachings of Satan, and he became what is called the great
"Master Mahon," full of wickedness and full of evil. He killed
his brother for two reasons: one was that he did not like his
religion, and another was that he wanted his property, the same
reasons that influence people against us; and then there is not
much love lost between us, for we do not admire their religion.
But we do not want their property, their houses and their lands,
nor anything that they have, only as we obtain such blessings
properly, consistently, honorably and justly, and that is the
kind of feeling we ought to have.
197
But why is it that these things exist? There is a place that some
of us hope to inherit, which is called the Celestial kingdom of
God. There is a certain class of people who will obtain a seat in
that kingdom, and there are millions and millions who will not.
Jesus in speaking on this subject said: "Wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be
which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is
the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there are that find
it." Now, then, in reference to celestial glory, it is necessary
that men should be tried here upon the earth, for men upon other
earths have been tried as we are being tried. And it was
necessary, too, strange as it may appear, that Jesus should be
tried. Yes, for it is written, "It became him for whom are all
things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto
glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
suffering." What! make Him perfect through suffering? Yes. What!
had He to be tempted of the devil? Yes. Was He not tempted of the
devil in the wilderness? Yes. Did not the devil come and offer
Him all kinds of inducements as he does to us? Yes. And did Jesus
maintain his integrity? He did. There is a scene that John the
Revelator saw upon a certain occasion. He was caught away in the
Spirit and he saw an innumerable throng. They were clad in white
raiment, and they sang a new song. And he was led to inquire:
"What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came
they?" And he was answered: "These are they which came out of
great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the
throne of God and serve Him day and night." Well, how did the
world treat such people? It generally treated them very
scornfully. Paul tells us, that by faith Moses endured, as seeing
him who is invisible; by faith women received their dead raised
to life again; by faith men wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, (of whom the
world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts and in mountains,
and in dens and caves of the earth. Now, why was it that men that
were aiming at an exaltation among the Gods should be so
persecuted and cast out by men? For instance I might mention a
few of them. I might refer to Job and the kind of trials he
passed through; I might talk about Abraham and the trials he was
called upon to pass through; I might mention Moses and the trials
he had to endure; I might bring to your minds many other
prominent men of God, but I will come to Elijah, who was a man
that feared God and wrought righteousness. The people had
departed from the Lord and trampled under foot His precepts, etc.
So much so that Elijah was obliged to flee and hide himself in a
cave away from the face of man. While in the cave the word of the
Lord "a still, small voice--" came to him saying, "What doest
thou here Elijah?" And he said, "I have been very jealous for the
Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy
covenants, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with
the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to
take it away." Well, it was a critical position to be in, but it
was just as critical for many others who lived in ancient times.
And this spirit of murder and persecution still exists. It was
exhibited in the mobbing and drivings of our people from Ohio,
Missouri, Illinois, and other places, in the martyrdom of Joseph
Smith and his brother Hyrum in Carthage jail, more recently in
the assassination of Elder Joseph Standing, and again only a few
days ago in an attempt to murder Brother John T. Alexander, one
of our Elders in Georgia, the particulars of which you have
doubtless read in the newspapers. In the face of such diabolical
outrages as these, there is not much room to boast about our
liberties. But I merely refer to these things to show that the
spirit that actuated men in former times is at work to-day;
irrespective of times, forms of government, places or
circumstances.
198
Nevertheless, as I have said, it is necessary that we pass
through certain ordeals, and that we be tried. But why is it that
we should be tried? There is just the same necessity for it now
that there was in former times. I heard the Prophet Joseph say,
in speaking to the Twelve on one occasion: "You will have all
kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for
you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and
(said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you
and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it
you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom
of God." Some people have wondered why so many of the Twelve fell
away. God tries people according to the position they occupy.
Joseph Smith never had many months of peace after he received the
truth, and finally he was murdered in Carthage jail. I was with
him on that occasion, and therefore know a little about it. And
as I told this young man whose life had been attempted in
Georgia; said I, "Brother Alexander, they shot at you and didn't
hit you, but when they shot at me they hit me; so that you got
off a little easier than I did." But all these personal things
amount to but very little. It is the crowns, principalities, the
powers, the thrones, the dominions, and the associations with the
Gods that we are after, and we are here to prepare ourselves for
these things. We are after eternal exaltation in the Celestial
Kingdom of God. And we want to feel that this is the main object
of existence, that this is why we were born, and that God has
revealed Himself from the heavens, restored the Holy Priesthood
and gathered us together in order that we might form a nucleus
through whom He could communicate His will; through whom He could
accomplish His work upon the earth and introduce the Gospel of
the Son of God to the nations of the earth and gather together
His elect from the four quarters of the globe; through whom He
could introduce upon the earth the principles that exist in the
heavens, that we might be taught to do the will of God on the
earth as it is done in the heavens, that we might be a pure
people, a virtuous people, a holy people, free from the vices and
corruptions of the world, and that we might learn the laws of
light, truth and intelligence from the fountain of all
intelligence, for we are told the glory of God is intelligence.
This is why we have been gathered together. It is rather a
singular thing to see a host of people gathering here from all
the nations of the earth. You cannot prevent people from
gathering here. They are brought under the influence of the
Gospel and they cannot help themselves. They have to come.
198
Now, I will here relate a circumstance associated with the
gathering, that took place in Liverpool, I suppose, about 43
years ago. We had just been driven out of the State of Missouri,
and were in the midst of very hard times. You sometimes think you
have hard times now. Why, you do not know anything about it. They
tell us they persecute us for polygamy now. What did they
persecute us for when we had no polygamy? Yet we were driven from
our homes, and many of our people--some of them old revolutionary
soldiers--were shot down like dogs in many instances. We were
driven from pillar to post, from one place to another, robbed,
pillaged and despoiled of everything we had. There are many of
the brethren and sisters here, I presume, who are acquainted with
these things.
199
Well, the Twelve were told to go to the Far West, some 200 miles
distant from Quincy, Illinois, where many of the Saints were then
staying. We did not have railroads then whereby we could travel
as we do now. We had to go with our teams, and we had to go among
a people that would kill everyone of us as quick as they would
rattlesnakes. We were told to go and lay the foundation stone of
the Temple, and thus fulfill the revelation that had been given
on the subject. Arrived at the spot we prayed and sang hymns. We
had with us a man to lay the foundation stone, the man that was
appointed by revelation for that work--Alphe us Cutler, Bishop A.
A. Kimball's grandfather. The stone was duly laid according to
the order which was designed, after which--right upon the
foundation stone--Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith were
ordained into the Quorum of the Twelve, and Norman Shearer and
Darwin Chase into the Seventies. Chase apostatized and was
afterwards with the soldiers under Col. Connor's command who had
a fight with the Indians on Bear River a number of years ago,
where he was mortally wounded. Many people declared that this
revelation would never be fulfilled. But it was fulfilled; and we
took our departure for Europe.
199
Now, it was not a nice thing, after being pillaged, robbed and
driven from our homes to leave our families and proceed on a
mission to Europe. But the Twelve had to do it, and they did do
it. There were two that did not go--John E. Page and William
Smith, and both of them apostatized. The wrench that the Prophet
Joseph spake about was too much for them. But the rest went. They
felt it was an honor to go on that mission even under such
unpropitious circumstances.
200
The Prophet Joseph told us just before we left that we must not
preach the gathering to the people, because at that time there
was no place to gather to. "Preach the first principles of the
Gospel," said he, "but do not say any thing about the gathering."
We did as he directed us. The principle of gathering was not
preached; but a great many came into the Church--a great many
thousands were baptized. Myself and an uncle of Brother Joseph F.
Smith--that is, his mother's brother--ministered in Liverpool; we
raised up a Church there; I remember on one occasion a certain
sister came to me and said: "Elder Taylor, I have had a singular
dream, and I do not know what it means." We had not preached, as
I have said, the principle of gathering, because Joseph told us
not to preach it. "What is the nature of the dream?" I enquired.
"I thought," said she, "there were a number of Saints standing on
the pier head, (the place where the vessels start from), and they
seemed as if they were bound for somewhere. They said they were
going to Zion, and they sang the songs of Zion; and you were with
them. Now, can you interpret the dream for me?" "I guess I
could," said I, "but let it alone for the present." We could not
prevent people from being impressed in this way, we could not
help the Lord giving them dreams, neither could Joseph Smith. It
was the privilege of the Saints to have revelation for
themselves. John the Baptist had appeared to Joseph Smith and
conferred upon him the Aaronic Priesthood, and he conferred it
upon others. Peter, James and John came and conferred upon him
the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then Moses, among others, appeared to
him, and bestowed upon him the keys of the gathering, whereby
Israel should be gathered from the four quarters of the earth,
including also the ten tribes. Joseph had conferred this upon the
Apostles, and the Apostles had conferred it upon others, and when
they laid their hands upon the people and told them to receive
the Holy Ghost they received it. Joseph Smith might tell us it
was not wisdom to preach the principle of gathering; but we could
not help the Lord revealing that principle through the medium of
the Holy Ghost, which was to teach us all things. The Holy Ghost
had operated upon this woman--and upon many others at the same
time--in this way. Afterwards we received a letter from Brother
Joseph stating that we might teach the principle and instruct the
people to gather to Nauvoo. Now I could interpret the dream. I
could have done so before had I not been prohibited. What, then,
is it that makes people desire to come here? Here are people from
Germany, Scandinavia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and from
different parts of the United States--what in the name of common
sense made you desire to gather here? Why, men that held the
Priesthood of the Son of God had, among other things, been
instructed to teach this principle, that it was a gathering
dispensation, the keys of which had been conferred upon Joseph
Smith, he in turn had conferred the power upon others, and the
Elders went forth and preached this Gospel with the power
associated therewith. That is the great secret why people gather
here. We have come here in order that we may fulfill the will of
God, and the word of God, and the law of God. We have come out of
Babylon. We have come out of confusion. There is confusion in the
world everywhere; confusion amongst religionists, politicians,
infidels; and there is no one anywhere, outside of this Church to
say, "thus saith the Lord." Men do not know how to approach God,
and none are willing to listen to His teachings but the
Latter-day Saints, and it is sometimes hard work for them to do
it. Men teach their own theories, ideas and opinions, and hence
confusion and disorder prevail in the world. Hence, in order that
God may have a people who will carry out His designs and
accomplish His purposes, He has introduced the Gospel, and under
its influence people have been gathered together to this land, as
we see them here to-day, and as they are to be seen throughout
the length and breadth of this Territory. The world, as I have
said, is full of confusion, and there will be worse confusion by
and by. We had a great war upon this continent some years ago;
but there will yet be wars pass through these United States, and
through other nations, until it will be mournful to hear the
report of the bloodshed, the sorrow and trouble that will be
caused thereby, as also by pestilence, famine and earthquake, and
the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds, and
storms and tempests, etc., etc. We have been gathered together
from among the nations of the earth in order that God might have
a people who would obey His law; who had been baptized into one
baptism; who had all been partakers of the same spirit, and who
had, as I said before, learned to approach the Lord in the proper
way; for there is a medium opened out whereby men can approach
God and learn His mind and will.
200
Did God place in the Church in former times Apostles, Prophets,
Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists for the perfecting of the
Saints, for the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ?
He has in these last days done the same thing, only more
perfectly, because the dispensation with which we are associated
is "the dispensation of the fullness of times." It is a
dispensation that embraces all other times.
201
What, then, have we to do? To preach the Gospel to the nations of
the earth? What else? To gather the people together, all those
who have made a covenant with God by sacrifice. They were to come
from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the
south. They were to be gathered one of a city and two of a
family, and brought to Zion that they might be taught and
instructed in the principles of eternal life. And I want to say
that God having gathered us together, and we having entered into
a covenant with Him, He expects us to obey His law, and be
governed by the principles He has revealed. We are here to build
up the Church of God, the Zion of God, and the kingdom of God,
and to be on hand to do whatever God requires--first to purge
ourselves from all iniquity, from covetousness and evil of every
kind: to forsake sin of every sort, cultivate the Spirit of God,
and help to build up His kingdom; to beautify Zion and have
pleasant habitations, and pleasant gardens and orchards, until
Zion shall be the most beautiful place there is on the earth.
Already Zion is attracting the attention of the people of the
world. I have all kinds of people calling on me--Lords, Admirals,
Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, Members of the
Parliament of England, of the Reichstag of Germany, and the
Chamber of Deputies of France--all classes come and they say,
"You have a most beautiful place here!" Why, yes. And by and by
the kings of the earth will come to gaze upon the glory of Zion,
and we are here to build it up under the instruction of God our
Heavenly Father. Zion shall yet become the praise and the glory
of the whole earth, and, as I have said, kings and princes shall
come to gaze upon her glory, and we shall be able to teach their
senators wisdom, and their philosophers intelligence; for we
shall be all taught of God. God has called upon us to do this
work, and He expects us to do it. We must preach the Gospel, and
we will preach it; and if we have to meet with opposition and
with death staring us in the face, all right. We are for God and
His kingdom, and for the principles of truth and righteousness.
We need not trouble ourselves about the outside, for God will
take care of them and of us. He will say to the nations of the
earth--to this nation and to other nations--as was said to the
waves of the mighty ocean: "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no
further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."
202
I will tell you a feeling I had some years ago. I was over at
Fillmore. From there you can see right on to this desert. And I
thought--as I looked across this immense valley--if there was
only water there, what a magnificent country that would make! I
remember I thought thousands and tens of thousands could inhabit
that land if it only had water. I did not then know the position
of things. I have now had an opportunity of visiting Deseret and
looking at the river, and am pleased to find you have such an
abundant supply of water. An immense population could be
sustained with the amount you have. I suppose the river shows its
best now; the water is high; but if that water could be properly
manipulated, it does seem to me--provided you can conquer the
mineral in the soil--that a vast amount of land can be put under
cultivation and an immense population sustained. I am told that
you are troubled with saleratus in the land, but I am also
informed that you are learning to conquer that by flooding the
land instead of making furrows for irrigation. Already, in some
places, where they have been troubled with saleratus they have
the richest and most productive soils. Those lands where not too
much saturated with the mineral are in many instances the most
fertile that we have in the Territory. You certainly have a fair
opportunity for development; having a large area of land, which I
am told is productive, and with the proper application of the
water, and a concentration of effort I can see no reason why this
can not be made a very flourishing, beautiful and populous place.
202
President Taylor next proceeded to counsel the Saints in regard
to sundry local affairs. He appreciated the difficulties they had
had to encounter in that region owing to the nature of the soil
and the giving way of the dam on one or two occasions. He
complimented them, however, on what they had been able to
accomplish in spite of all difficulties, and counseled them to
persevere, promising that their efforts to subdue and conquer the
land would be blessed of the Lord. He also counseled them to come
closer together. At present, it appeared to him, they were
scattered over too much ground. It would be better to get
together and begin building a nice little town on each side of
the river, (if that suited them), than to be scattered as they
are now. In this way the place could be made attractive. Good
buildings of all kinds could be erected. Trees could be planted
in the streets. Gardens and orchards could also be planted in the
various lots. And in this manner Deseret might be made a very
desirable place.
202
He concluded as follows:
202
God bless you. God bless your lands, that they may be fruitful
and that the labors of your hands may be blessed; and God bless
the waters, that they may be nourishing and strengthening to your
lands, and be pleasant to use for drinking and for culinary
purposes; and God bless your gardens and your orchards--that is,
when you get them--that fruitfulness may rest upon them; and God
bless the President of your Stake and his counselors, and Brother
Lyman and his brethren of the Twelve who labor among you from
time to time; and God bless your Bishop here, and all the Bishops
of this Stake and their counselors, that the Spirit of God may
rest upon them, the spirit of truth and intelligence, to enable
them to carry out all things they desire in righteousness, that
this land may be blessed of the Lord; and God bless your wives
and your children and all the people, that salvation may flow
unto them, and that they may walk in the paths of life; I ask my
heavenly Father to seal upon you these blessings, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Charles W. Penrose, May 18th, 1883
Charles W. Penrose, May 18th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY ELDER CHAS. W. PENROSE,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
May 18th, 1883.
(Reported by Gibbs and Irvine.)
PROPHECIES RELATING TO OUR DAY--APOSTASY FORETOLD--GOD'S WORK
RE-ESTABLISHED--RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL--MODERN REVELATION
OPPOSED BY
PREACHERS--UNWARRANTED IN DECLARING THAT THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE
IS
FULL--MAN BY SEARCHING CANNOT FIND OUT GOD--BUT ONE TRUE
GOSPEL--EFFECT OF
THE GOSPEL IN THE DAYS OF THE APOSTLES--HOW THE GOSPEL WAS
RESTORED--HOW IT
IS BEING PREACHED--A GATHERING DISPENSATION--OPPOSITION TO THE
WORK OF
GOD--DESTINY BEFORE THE SAINTS.
204
We are living in the latter days, at a time which all the
prophets of God, who lived upon the earth in former times looked
forward to with anticipation. The servants of God whose writings
have been handed down to us in the book called the Bible, were
all blessed in their day and generation with some foresight in
regard to the last great dispensation of God's mercy to man. The
Spirit of God opened up to them views concerning the great
latter-day work, which God should perform, in which He would
consummate His purposes, in which He would perfect His work, in
regard to the people of this earth. And they were strengthened in
the performance of the duties devolving upon them by glimpses of
the latter-day glory. They were called to pass through very
trying circumstances. As the Apostle Paul says: "They were
stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the
sword: they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Generally
speaking, the prophets of God were rejected by the majority of
the children of men. By the spirit of prophecy which rested upon
them, they could perceive how small would be the impressions
which they would be able to make upon the people who lived in
their day, and they saw also that although they might be able to
accomplish some good in the name of the Lord, yet the adversary
would come in like a flood, so to speak, and overwhelm the
influences which they were able to bring to bear. They saw that
the work which they were engaged in could not continue, but for a
little while. But they looked down to the last days when the
kingdom of God should be established on the earth, when it should
not be prevailed against nor be overcome, but should remain and
continue to grow and increase and spread forth, until its
influence should extend to the uttermost parts of the earth,
until all things should be subdued unto the Lord, until the
wicked should be destroyed, until misrule and tyranny and
oppression and falsehood and false doctrine and the powers of
evil should be banished from the earth, and the light of God
should stream forth to lighten every land, and the kingdoms of
this world would become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ,
and He should rule from pole to pole and from shore to shore. In
this they rejoiced exceedingly, and they were encouraged to
perform the work entrusted to them, by the foresight that God
gave to them of the great latter day work. The Apostle Paul
referred to this dispensation in these words: "Having made known
to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure,
which He hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of
the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth." By
this we see that the Apostle Paul--and he was imbued with the
same spirit and understanding as his brethren of the
Apostleship--looked forward to another dispensation than that in
which they labored, which is generally called the Christian
dispensation, because it was introduced by Jesus who was the
Christ. Paul called the dispensation that was to come after His
day, "the dispensation of the fullness of times," and declared in
that dispensation God would gather together in one all things in
Christ; not only the things in the earth, but also the things in
the heavens--they should all be gathered together in one.
205
Now, the Apostle Paul, and others in his time--like those ancient
prophets to whom I have referred--had the understanding that the
work in which he was engaged, although it would accomplish that
whereunto it was sent, would only make its impression for a time
and for a season; that the time would come when darkness would
come in again; when false doctrine would prevail; when the
servants of God would be taken from the earth and false prophets
and false teachers would arise who would, (to use the Apostle
Peter's own words) "bring in damnable heresies;" who would turn
away the hearts of the people from the truth. The Apostles saw
that the time would come when the people would be "heady and
high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a
form of godliness but denying the power thereof;" when false
teachers would arise and "make merchandise of the souls of men,
even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction," "and many," we are told, "shall follow their
pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil
spoken of." John, the beloved disciple, wrote a glorious vision
that God gave to him when he was upon the Isle of Patmos, being
banished there for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus,
and in that vision the Lord showed to him that a spurious church
should arise which would have influence over all the earth. It
was pictured to him in the form of a woman sitting upon a scarlet
colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, and upon her forehead
a name written, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of
Harlots." And he saw that she held in her hand a golden cup full
of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, and he beheld
that all nations were made drunk with the wine that was in that
golden cup. It was not merely to be partaken of by a few, but by
all nations. He also saw that the time should come,--foreseen by
Isaiah the prophet--"When darkness shall cover the earth and
gross darkness the people." When Jesus was upon the earth He told
His disciples that the time would come when false Christs and
false prophets would arise, and when because of the iniquity that
should abound, the love of many would wax cold. And we find by
searching both the Old and New Testaments that the prophets of
God who lived in former times and had dispensations committed
unto them, saw that the time would come when the work which they
performed would seem to be lost from the earth; apostasy would
ensue; people would go after other Gods; they would transgress
the laws, change the ordinances, and break the everlasting
covenant. But the ancient prophets had a glimpse of what God
would do in the latter days. They saw the time when He would
establish His work in the earth no more to be thrown down
forever; when He would establish His kingdom not to be left to
another people, not to be overcome, not to be trampled under
foot, but to arise and shine and the light thereof go forth to
all the world that kings might come to its light and the gentiles
to the brightness of its rising.
205
Now, my brethren and sisters, we are blessed with the privilege
of living upon the earth in the latter days, in the time to which
all the prophets looked forward with pleasure, with rejoicing and
with thanksgiving; the time just preceding the coming of the Son
of man, not as the babe of Bethlehem, not to be born in a stable
and cradled in a manger, not to be "despised and rejected of men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," not to be lifted up
on the cross and His life's blood poured out because of the
wickedness of men, but as King of Kings and Lord of Lords; to
come vested with all power on the earth and in the heavens; to
"sit upon the throne of His father David," and to "reign from the
rivers even unto the ends of the earth;" to subdue all things
unto himself; to abolish wickedness, to banish evil, to bind
Satan and his hosts, and to fill the earth with light and glory
and the power of God; that the lion and the lamb may dwell
together; that enmity may depart between man and man and between
man and beast; that nation may not lift up sword against nation,
and that people may study the art of war no more; but that peace
may be ushered in, and that the power of God and the Spirit of
God may be poured out upon all flesh, and all nations be
influenced thereby. We are living upon the earth in the time
preceding these great events--in the latter days, in the last
dispensation.
206
The question may arise, is this great dispensation which the
prophets foresaw, and which Paul spoke of, already ushered in?
has the dispensation of the fullness of times been introduced for
the benefit of the children of men? or are we still under the old
dispensation opened up by the Savior and carried on for a time by
the Apostles? That is a serious question, though if left to the
Latter-day Saints to answer, one that would be settled in a very
short time; for go where you might in this Territory, and ask the
Latter-day Saints concerning it, and they would answer, I know
the dispensation of the fullness of times is ushered in; I do not
merely believe it, but I know it as well as I know that I live."
And if you were to ask them how they know it, they would answer,
"By the revelations of the Holy Ghost." They would tell you they
know that God has again spoken from the heavens, that angels have
descended from the courts of glory and communicated with man, and
that through the direct agency of divine and holy beings, this
great and last dispensation of God's mercy to man has been opened
up. They would tell you further, that they know it will remain
and prevail; that all that has been designed must be accomplished
under its auspices; and the work which has been begun must
continue and grow--because it is the work of God--even until the
whole earth is subdued unto Him, and all things are prepared for
the coming of Him whose right it is to reign; and that no man or
nation or government or influence or society, or all combined,
can have the slightest influence or power to stop its onward
spread.
207
It would be interesting perhaps to consider how the dispensation
of the fullness of times was to be opened up. We read that the
works of God are one eternal round, "He is the same yesterday,
to-day, and forever;" without variableness or any change
whatever. As He acted in ancient times, then, so may we expect
Him to act in latter times. That if He has a work to perform
amongst men, He will commence and carry it out in the same way
that He did formerly. Whenever darkness has covered the face of
the earth, and the people have gone astray, we find, by reading
the Bible, that God spoke from the heavens, that He sent heavenly
messengers to some man or men whom He, not the people, chose, to
whom He communicated His mind and will, and whom He authorized to
preach to the rest. They went with "the burden of the word of the
Lord," they did not go forth preaching for doctrine the
commandments of men. They did not aim to please the eyes or the
ears of the people. They did not as a general thing possess much
learning; in fact, they were to some extent ignorant, that is,
they were not versed in the learning of the world. "Not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called:
but God hath chosen the foolish things of the earth to confound
the things which are mighty." But have we any intimation in the
Scriptures that God would act like that in the last days? If we
had not we might reason from what He has done to what He will do.
But we have any amount of testimony in the Scriptures, written in
both Testaments, as to what He will do in the last days. In the
first place we read that "God will do nothing except He reveals
His secret to His servants the prophets." And we are told in the
revelation from which I quoted concerning the general apostasy,
when all nations shall become drunken from drinking the contents
of that golden cup in the hands of the mother of abominations, an
angel should come and bring to the earth again the everlasting
Gospel. You will find what I refer to in the 14th Chapter of
Revelations, and the 6th and 7th verses. John says, "And I saw
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and 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: and worship Him that made heaven and earth, and
the sea, and the fountains of water." And after this he declares
that there followed another angel, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of
the wine of the wrath of her fornications."
208
Some one may enquire, Did the things that John saw in the vision
signify events that had taken place already, or were they to take
place in the future? That can be easily settled by reading the
1st verse of the 4th chapter of that book, which reads as
follows: "After this I looked, and behold a door was opened in
heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a
trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will
show these things which must be hereafter." And in the 14th
Chapter he says that he saw another angel flying in the midst of
heaven "having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that
dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue,
and people." So this Gospel that John saw the angel bringing to
earth was for the benefit of generations to come, for the
Christians as well as those who are termed the heathen. We who
are styled "Christians" are in the habit of calling all other
nations heathen; I am inclined to believe that there are a great
many people who are "christian" heathen.
210
This revelation that was given to John will seem very strange to
a great many people, who are under the impression that the
everlasting Gospel has been upon the earth ever since it was
taught by Jesus Christ and His Apostles. But if that were so,
what need would there be for the Lord to send an angel with it?
As I before explained, John saw the time when the whole earth
would be under the influence of that wicked power which he saw
sitting on a scarlet colored beast, and out of the cup which she
held in her hand, all nations were to drink--not merely the
heathen nations, but all the nations of the earth without
exception. I am well aware that this will not sit very
comfortably on the bosoms of some of our Christian friends. But
what we are after, or should be after, is truth; and we should be
desirous to obtain the truth notwithstanding that it may come in
contact with our preconceived notions. John saw that the whole
earth would go astray; and all the Apostles spoke more or less of
the time when people would depart from the Church, when they
would "not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they
would heap to themselves teachers having itching ears;" and says
the Apostle, "they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned into fables;" their teachers shall "preach for
doctrine the commandments of men;" and the Apostle might have
added, that if they did not preach to suit the people, they would
discharge them and hire others. The time was to come when
"darkness would cover the earth, and gross darkness the people,"
but preceding the destruction of Babylon the great archangel was
to come to earth with the everlasting Gospel to preach to all
nations; and the burden of his message was to call upon the
people with a loud voice, saying, "Fear God, and give glory to
Him, for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that
made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water,"
signifying that the people had gone astray and were worshiping
some other god or gods.
210
It is the general view that after the days of Jesus and the
Apostles there were to be no more angels to visit the earth. This
has been taught to the people diligently. What for? Because the
men who teach this doctrine do not receive any visitations from
heaven themselves. They have no communication with the powers on
high. The heavens to them are indeed as brass. They pray, but
they do not expect to receive any answer to their prayers, except
in some mystical fashion which neither they nor anybody else can
understand. They do not expect to receive answers to their
prayers as the prophets of old did. And they have taught the
people for hundreds of years that there is to be no more
communications from heaven. And why? Because they pretend to
greater light; because they claim to live in an age of gospel
blaze, and christianity, as they term it, has attained such a
high standard of excellence that they need no divine revelation.
And yet when you investigate their condition, you will find they
do not comprehend the Gospel; they differ amongst themselves,
they contend with each other even on fundamental principles. They
have no positive knowledge in regard to the things of God. Some
of the clergy teach what they believe, and others teach what they
do not believe, being infidel at heart. It is true there have
been sincere men who have labored for the benefit of humanity,
and who have done a great deal of good; and they will be rewarded
by the Almighty for all the good they have accomplished. But
wherein they have presumed to minister in the name of the Lord
when He never authorized them to act for Him, they have run
before they were sent, and will have to answer to Him for their
presumption. Wherein men have administered in the name of the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and at the same time
acknowledge that they have had no communication with those higher
powers, declaring that the Holy Trinity has ceased to speak to
men, they show by their own words and make actual confession that
they have no authority. They could not possibly have any, because
there has been no communication from those individuals who alone
had the right to give it, and wherein they have presumed to act
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost
without authority, they must give an account when they appear
before the bar of God. But the ministers who have preached
religion for hundreds of years have no definite knowledge in
regard to these matters and have to tell what they think and what
their opinions are, and they disagree with each other in regard
to their opinions. Yet they tell the people there is no need now
for any revelation from on high; that there is no need for angels
to come to the earth and make plain the way of life and
salvation, because, forsooth, they know so much. The canon of
Scripture they say is full; and God ceased to speak after He gave
that revelation to John on the Isle of Patmos.
211
"Well," some one perhaps will say, "does not the book itself say
so?" No, it does not, but these ministers have taught that it
does. In the last chapter of the Book of Revelation are we not
told that, "if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add
unto him the plagues that are written in this book?" Yes; but we
are also told that, "if any man shall take away the words of the
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the
book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which
are written in this book." The angel merely told John what God
told His servants in former times, that when He gave a
revelation, man should not add to it. He told the same thing to
Moses--"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish aught from it." That is quite right.
But man is prone to do that which is forbidden. When God reveals
anything, some one is sure to add to or take away from it, and
try to "improve" it or make it void. Hence the angel told John
that no man was to take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy. What book? The book that John was writing--the Book of
Revelation. It does not refer at all to the Bible. There was no
such book as the Bible then. Those books that are now compiled in
the Bible--and a great many more that are not there--were
scattered abroad, and hundreds of years after that, they were
hunted up and examined; those that we now have were selected from
a great mass of manuscripts and compiled; others were thrown away
as non-canonical. The canon of Scripture was not made up by John,
but was made up in the way I have described; and there is no
intimation anywhere from God to man that He would give no more
revelations; but the whole Bible from beginning to end proves the
contrary. We are told to fear God and work righteousness, and
call upon His Holy name and He will be nigh to answer, "Ask and
ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door
shall be opened unto you; for everyone that seeketh findeth,"
etc. That is the word of the Lord. It does not say that God would
not give any more revelation; but it does say that man shall not
add to that which God does give. In that very revelation we are
told that an angel came to John and gave him a little book and
told him to eat it. He ate the book as he was told. Then the
angel said to him in explanation: "Thou must prophesy again
before many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings." If John
was to prophesy to nations, and people, and before kings, would
not that be the word of the Lord? Yes, just as much as that which
he wrote in the book. So it does not follow that there was not to
be any more revelation. The injunction is that man shall not add
to or take from any revelation that God gives, and that has been
a standing rule in all generations.
212
But if this passage in the last chapter of the Book of
Revelations could be so construed as to make it appear that there
was to be no more revelation, such a construction would conflict
with what we find in the 14th chapter of Revelation to the effect
that an angel was to come "having the everlasting Gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and
kindred, and tongue, and people." And if we turn back to the
writings of the old prophets we find that they looked forward to
the time in which you and I live; to the time when this work
should be consummated; to the time when no one should need to
say, "Know ye the Lord? for they shall all know Him even from the
least unto the greatest of them." Why? Because "they shall all be
taught of God." They looked forward to the time when "the Spirit
of God shall be poured out upon all flesh;" so that all mankind
shall feel the influence and be brought into union and harmony
and communion with the Great God, the author of their being. That
spirit will measurably rest down upon the brute creation. "The
lion and the lamb will dwell together, and the little child shall
play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his
hand on the cockatrice den." The earth itself shall feel the
influence of that divine spirit, and cease to bring forth thorns
and briars, and in the place thereof "shall spring up the fig and
the myrtle tree;" and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge
of God, as the waters cover the sea."
212
How can man know God without revelation from God? "Man by
searching cannot find out God." Wise men have been seeking to
find out the secret of Deity for hundreds of years, and the more
they study, the more they ponder, the less they know about Him.
God is not to be found out in that way. Man cannot find out God,
but God can manifest Himself to man. The only way that the Lord
can be made manifest to man is by revelation. Jesus Christ
thanked His Father, when he was praying, that God had "kept those
things hid from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto
babes." "Even so, Father:" said He, "for thus it seemed good in
Thy sight. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither
knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him." That is the only way.
213
Now, according to the Scripture I have quoted to you, an angel
was to come to the earth and bring back the Gospel!--the Gospel
that had been lost, the everlasting Gospel, the Gospel preached
by Jesus and His disciples, the Gospel preached of old; for we
read that it was preached to Abraham, and that it was preached to
the Jews before the law of carnal commandments was given, and
then God gave them a lesser law because they would not receive
the greater. When Jesus appeared He merely came to bring to the
earth that which was lost. He came to restore the Gospel that was
preached in the beginning to the patriarchs, that was believed in
by Abraham, and by receiving which he was able to commune with
the Father, who called him His friend, and who said: "Shall I
hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham
shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him,
that he will command his children and his household after him,
and they shall keep the way of the Lord." So we read in the 18th
chapter of Genesis. The same Gospel that Abraham received; the
Gospel preached to the people before Abraham's day; the Gospel
preached to the Jews before the law of carnal commandments was
given; the Gospel Jesus and His disciples preached, and of which
John the Baptist came as the forerunner, baptizing people for the
remission of their sins in the River Jordan--that same Gospel has
been restored in the day in which we live. There is but one
everlasting Gospel. There are a great many so called gospels that
men have made, but they are not the true, everlasting Gospel; for
as the Apostle Paul says: "though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed." There is but one straight path to
the celestial city. There is but one gate into the kingdom of
God, and "he that tries to climb up some other way will be
accounted a thief and a robber." So said Jesus. This everlasting
Gospel then was to be brought to the earth by an angel, and was
to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
214
Now, when Jesus, the Son of God, was upon the earth, after His
resurrection from the dead He appeared to His eleven
Apostles--for one had apostatized, having sold his Master for a
few pieces of silver--and gave them a commission. He said: "Go ye
into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature; he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them
that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall
speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay
hands on the sick, and they shall recover." And the disciples
went forth according to His word and preached, and God confirmed
the word with signs following. Wherever they went they preached
this one Gospel, and God blessed those that received their
testimony. The Holy Ghost accompanied their preaching, and bore
witness to the hearts of the people, and all who obeyed the
Gospel were made of one heart and one mind--Greeks, Romans, Jews
and Gentiles, bond and free, Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes,
Herodians, etc., people from all the various sects, and some that
did not belong to any sect, infidels also, when they accepted the
testimony of the Apostles and were baptized, and had hands laid
upon them, received the Holy Ghost, and were made of one heart
and one mind; they had one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one hope
of their calling. And we read in the New Testament that when they
met in their assemblies one would speak in tongues, another would
interpret, another would prophesy, etc. The Lord poured out His
Spirit upon the people and gave them visible manifestations of
His power, in addition to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost which
made them all see and comprehend alike, and which bore witness to
the divine mission of Christ and to the mission of the Apostles
whom He had sent forth. These signs were seen in their midst,
which comforted and made them strong. But after a time the people
began to go astray. Wicked men took the Apostles and put them to
death. Some were cast unto wild beasts; some were thrown into
caldrons of boiling oil; some were crucified; others were
tormented in various ways, persecuted and afflicted and slain.
Then others began to depart from the faith, bringing in damnable
heresies. Others began to preach for hire and divine for money,
making merchandise of the souls of men. And thus the apostasy
went on until darkness covered the minds of the people, and
paganism was introduced into the Christian church. And the time
came when that wicked power spoken of in the Revelation overcame
the saints. The Spirit of God left the polluted church. The body
became dead. Just as when the spirit of man leaves his body, the
carcass begins to crumble; every particle seems desirous to get
away from every other particle. So it was after the time that the
Apostles fell. The Holy Ghost left the church. The spirit of
revelation departed from the body and dissolution set in.
Darkness ensued. Apostasy prevailed. In one of the homilies of
the Church of England it is declared that: "Clergy and laity,
men, women and children, of all ages, sects and degrees of whole
Christendom (a most horrible and dreadful thing to think) have at
once been buried in the most abominable idolatry, and that for
the space of 800 years or more." This was because there had been
no Holy Ghost in the church, no revelation from heaven, no real
communion with the powers on high. Instead of true worship there
was idolatry. People had gone into darkness, and it had covered
the earth--all nations and sects and parties, "clergy and laity,
men, women and children of whole Christendom." From that time to
the present, sect has multiplied upon sect, and creed upon creed,
but there has been no uniting power. The Holy Ghost not being in
the church, the body has been segregated, every part separating
from other parts, like the toes which Daniel saw composed part of
iron and part of clay, the one refusing to mingle with the other.
214
In this generation came forth a young man bearing the testimony
that the Lord had sent an angel from heaven to reveal the
everlasting Gospel; and he bore testimony that the angel had
appeared to him, and conversed with him in a heavenly vision. And
he testified further that a servant of God who had once lived
upon the earth, who was no less a personage that John the
Baptist, had come to him and ordained him and Oliver Cowdery to
the lesser Priesthood; that he had come as a forerunner of
Christ, that the way might be prepared for His second advent. He
still further testified that Peter, James and John appeared to
him and ordained him to the same Priesthood which they themselves
held, namely, the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, committing
unto him the Keys of the Apostleship and of the dispensation of
the fullness of times, the dispensation when all things are to be
gathered together in one, including the gathering of Israel, and
the bringing back of the lost ten tribes, and the gathering of
the elect of God from the four quarters of the earth, that they
may be assembled in holy places so that they may not be moved
when the judgments of the latter days are poured out, and that
they may be prepared for the building up of the latter-day
kingdom. It was very easy for the young man to say this, but what
evidence is there to substantiate the truth of his assertion? The
evidence is here. This young man claimed to hold this divine
authority to preach the same Gospel that Jesus preached,
promising the same testimony, the same signs and the same power
that attended the ministrations of the servants of God in olden
times. Now, an impostor could bear testimony that he received
this communication, but an impostor could not draw down the Holy
Ghost upon the people; an impostor could not open the heavens; an
impostor could not cause these blessings and signs to come,
convincing believers of the divinity of the work which he
represented.
215
The facts are these: People began to believe in his testimony
because they found that he taught the same doctrines as those
contained in the Scriptures; some went forth and were baptized.
And upon all that yielded obedience to the requirements of the
Gospel he laid his hands, and the Holy Ghost descended upon them.
Some received visions; some received the gift of healing, and
others the gift of prophesying, etc.--the same powers which were
enjoyed by the primitive Church were enjoyed by the Church
established by the inspiration of God, through Joseph Smith, the
Prophet and Seer of the 19th Century. He, under the divine
command, ordained men to go forth and preach this Gospel. Some
went to England, some to Scotland, some to Wales, others to
France, to Germany and Scandinavia, and to different parts of
Europe, while others preached extensively through this nation;
and wherever they went and the people believed their testimony
and were baptized for the remission of their sins, and submitted
to the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost,
they all bore testimony that God Almighty had revealed to them by
the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, that He had in very deed
sent his angel from heaven and opened up the dispensation of the
fullness of times.
215
Here we have a people dwelling in these mountain valleys who have
been gathered from the different nations under this influence.
Our Elders go out, not to entice the people to leave their homes;
they do not go as "emigration agents," as some people allege they
do, but they go to preach the everlasting Gospel, and they do it
as did they ancient servants of God; they are not paid for
preaching, but they pay their own way, as a general thing, to
their fields of labor, and then travel "without purse or scrip."
I have traveled extensively myself, as have many of the men
within my hearing, without purse or scrip preaching the Gospel of
Christ; and wherever the people received my testimony I baptized
them and laid hands upon them, and they testified that the Holy
Ghost came upon them, the gifts of that spirit were bestowed, and
the sick were healed, in many instances instantaneously, by the
power of God. I speak of this, not as a personal matter, but
because this is the universal testimony of my brethren, wherever
they have been sent among all nations.
216
This is not the work of man; it is the work of God, and it is God
that bears witness to it. This is why this people are here. They
have not come for gold or silver; they have not come simply to
better their temporal circumstances; but they have gathered here
"as the elect of God," the voice of God having gone forth in
connection with this Gospel. "Come out of her, my people, that ye
be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues; for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities." And the time is nigh at hand when the
other angel will proclaim, "Babylon the great is fallen, is
fallen." This is the time that Jesus said His angels should go
forth to gather His elect from the four winds, previous to His
coming. And said He, "then shall this Gospel of the kingdom be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and
then shall the end come." The testimony of our Elders who go
forth is that this is "the Gospel of the kingdom," and this is
"the dispensation of the fullness of times;" and that the period
has come for the establishment of the latter-day kingdom; when
the people of God shall be gathered from the four winds previous
to the destruction of the wicked, the breaking up of the kingdoms
of this world, as Daniel saw them in his vision, that they may
pass away and be found no more, and that "the kingdoms of this
world may become the kingdom of our God and His Christ."
217
The people who dwell in these mountain valleys labor to build up
homes, to redeem the land and make it a desirable place to live
in; but they are here chiefly, and as their primary object, to
serve God and learn of Him. They are here in fulfillment of
predictions made by Micah, Isaiah and Daniel. Isaiah declared,
"It shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the
Lord's house shall be established in the tops of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow
unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go
up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob;
and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in his paths,"
etc. The prophecies of these ancient men of God are being
fulfilled literally; and this people called Latter-day Saints
have come here to learn of the ways of the Lord. They learned
something of his ways in the lands where they were born, and the
word tasted sweet to their souls; communion was opened up between
them and the heavens, and they received a testimony for
themselves. They did not have to depend upon the testimony of
Joseph Smith, or of Brigham Young, or of John Taylor, or of the
Apostles whom God has called in our day, but they obtained one
for themselves. They were all baptized with one spirit into one
body, and all received of the same influence; all obtained a
similar testimony; and the gifts and graces of the everlasting
Gospel are enjoyed by them, according to their several faiths and
desires for God and the truth. This, therefore, is the beginning
of the great latter-day work, the restoration of the Gospel, the
opening up of the dispensation of the fullness of times. The work
now is to gather the Saints of God. First of all the Gospel is to
be preached to the Gentiles and then to the Jews. "The fullness
of the Gentiles" has not yet "Come in," but the time is close at
hand when it will come in. After that the Lord will say, "Turn ye
to the Jews also." The servants of God are going out among the
Gentile nations preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and bearing
testimony that it is His cause; not preaching what they think, or
giving expression to any opinions they may have formed, but from
knowledge of the will of God through the testimony of Jesus,
which is the spirit of prophecy which they obtained by bowing in
obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel. They know what they
preach. They do not go out with the "enticing words of man's
wisdom," but to preach the everlasting Gospel as God has revealed
it, as He has manifested it from on high. They are not sent to
preach to please the popular ear, but to deliver in plainness, as
the Spirit shall give them utterance, the message of salvation,
whether the people believe it or not. And our missionaries find
that the same spirit exists to-day that the servants of God had
to meet and contend with anciently. The wicked oppose the message
of truth they bear; and the most vehement opponents to it are
those who profess the most piety. They have it in their hearts to
destroy or bring trouble upon this people. Why? They do not know
why themselves. It is because they shut their own hearts to the
truth like the Pharisees of old, who made long prayers that they
might be heard and seen of men, and not entering the kingdom
themselves, they will not suffer those who would, to enter
therein. They have the same spirit in their hearts that slew the
prophets and put Christ to death. When our Elders go out, instead
of meeting them with argument, these men stir up the people to
oppose them by force. They have stirred up Congress to pass
inimical laws to oppress the "Mormons," to deprive them of the
commonest rights of citizens, to take their leaders and put them
to death. This is the spirit that has been arrayed against this
Church from the beginning. Joseph Smith and Hyrum his brother,
were slain in Carthage jail. What for? For the word of God and
the testimony of Jesus; because they taught the truth as it came
from God and claimed to have divine authority, to have received
power from on high. They could not oppose the testimony of these
men by truth, nor by Scripture, nor by argument, neither could
they overcome them by law. But as the mob said that put these
servants of God to death: "The law cannot touch them, but powder
and ball shall." This is the spirit by which the prophets of old
were put to death. This is the spirit by which Christ was
crucified on the cross. This is the spirit by which Peter was
crucified head downward. This is the spirit by which others were
thrown unto wild beasts and some were cast into caldrons of
boiling oil. And this is the spirit that is exhibited in the
latter times by some who claim to be ministers of the Gospel.
217
The work of gathering has commenced, then. That is part of the
work of the dispensation of the fullness of times, the gathering
of the people of God in one. The Saints of God will be gathered.
The wicked may do what they please. They may pass laws; fulminate
decrees; send circular letters to the governments abroad to
prevent "Mormon" emigration; but as God lives and rules and
reigns on high, this is His work and He will bring it about in
His own way and time and there is no power on the earth that can
thwart His purposes. His people will come from the east and
gather from the west. The Lord will say to the north, "Give up;
and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my
daughters from the ends of the earth." And they will gather to
Zion as the prophet foretold, and build up temples to the living
God, that His ordinances may be performed therein, and that they
may learn of His ways and walk in His paths. Then the Gospel, as
I before remarked, will be preached to the Jews. The way is now
being prepared for this. The work is moving on for the gathering
of the Jews to their own land that they may build it up as it was
in former times; that the temple may be rebuilt and the mosque of
the Moslem which now stands in its place may be moved out of the
way; that Jerusalem may be rebuilt upon its original site; that
the way may be prepared for the coming of the Messiah, who shall
be seen in the midst of those whose ancestors nailed him to the
cross, and who, when they see the marks in His hands, shall say
in answer to their inquiries, "These are the wounds with which I
was wounded in the house of my friends."
218
This is only a small part of the latter-day work that is to be
performed. We are just in the beginning of it. The Gospel has to
be preached. The Saints must be gathered. The ten tribes must be
brought from the north. The Gospel must be preached to the
Lamanites, those red men of the forest, who are a branch of the
house of Israel, whose forefathers came from old Palestine to
this continent. The Lord is working among them by visions and
dreams and by the manifestations of His divine power. What else?
Why we are building temples in this land. We have built one in
St. George, and have others in course of construction in this
city, in Logan, and in Manti. Some people say: "What are you
spending so much money for in building temples? Why don't you put
it to better use?" People who talk thus do not understand our
position. This is part of the work we have to perform. We have
temples to build, that the Lord may reveal many more things to
His people concerning this latter-day work, and we are building
them according to the pattern He has revealed, that we may attend
to ordinances that He has made manifest; ordinances for the
living and also for the dead; that we may be baptized for our
dead, so that the spirits who have been preached to in prison may
be brought forth, and that ordinances they can not perform for
themselves in the spirit world may be performed for them here in
the houses we are building. There are many more things connected
with this great dispensation that I have no time to refer to--and
would not if I had time--because they belong only to the people
of God, to those who have entered into the everlasting covenant,
to those who have received the Holy Ghost, and who understand the
things of God; for "no man knoweth the things of God, but by the
Spirit of God." But this work will go on; the Saints will be
gathered, and temples will be built, and Israel will be redeemed,
and the kingdoms of this world will become more and more divided;
and the sects and parties of Christendom will become more and
more contentious even than they are to-day. Infidelity will
increase, for the Spirit of God is being withdrawn from them,
because they receive not the truth when it is presented to them.
And nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
and people against people. War will be poured out eventually upon
all nations; the only place where there will be peace and safety
will be in the Zion of God. The judgments we read of in the
revelations will all be poured out just as the Prophets have
predicted and just as John the beloved has declared. All the woes
that John saw are bound to be poured out upon the inhabitants of
the earth; every word will be fulfilled, not one jot or tittle
will pass away without its fulfillment.
218
We are here in these mountains that we may escape these troubles;
that we may not partake of the sins of Babylon, that we may not
share in her plagues. God has called us out from the world that
we may be different from the world; that the object we live for
may be different from the object which men have in view in the
world; that we may not live for worldly gain, but live for God,
for humanity, for the spirit of the Gospel; live to gather
Israel, live to build temples, live that we may attend to the
ordinances pertaining to our own salvation and exaltation, and
those that pertain to the salvation of our dead. That the word of
God may be fulfilled; that His kingdom may be established upon
the earth no more to be thrown down forever. That the light of
God may go forth from Zion and His name be honored in all the
earth, and that He may reign from pole to pole and from shore to
shore for ever and ever. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, June 20, 1883
George Q. Cannon, June 20, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Meeting House, Beaver,
Wednesday Afternoon, June 20, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
OBEDIENCE TO THE PRIESTHOOD OBJECTED TO BY THE WORLD--WISDOM IN
THE COUNSEL
OF THE PRIESTHOOD--PROSPERITY OF THOSE WHO HAVE OBEYED--TEMPORAL
AND
SPIRITUAL WEALTH--EFFECTS OF THE PRIESTHOOD'S INFLUENCE--LOYALTY
OF THE
SAINTS--RESPECT FOR LAW AND HATRED OF OPPRESSION AND
MOBOCRACY--DESTINY OF
THE SAINTS--THEIR CAPACITY FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT--CHARACTERISTIC
VIRTUES--TREATMENT IN REGARD TO SEXUAL CRIME--HONOR IN
DEALING--DUTIES
TOWARDS FAMILIES.
219
I am greatly pleased at having the opportunity of meeting with
the Latter-day Saints in this place, and I trust that our meeting
will be profitable to all. It is a most excellent thing to come
together as we have done to-day, and as we shall do tomorrow, and
have an interchange of views and partake of that spirit which is
accessible to all of us--that is, to all those who have placed
themselves in a position to receive it, by keeping the
commandments of God.
220
We have had from Brother Lyman much good instruction, and if it
is remembered and carried out practically in our lives it will be
of great profit to us. There is one thing that suggested itself
to me in listening to his closing remarks, and that is, that if
there are any strangers here--I suppose there may be--I am not so
well acquainted with your people as I might be--they will imagine
that we are dwelling considerably on this idea of listening to
the counsels of the Priesthood. If there is anything more
objectionable than another in the eyes of those who are opposed
to this work called "Mormonism," it is that feature of it. I do
not think there is any feature that is so much disliked and so
much found fault with as that peculiar feature of our religion
which requires us to listen to the counsels of the Priesthood. In
this respect we differ from every other people upon the face of
the earth. It may be said that the Catholics take the same view
that we do about listening to the Priesthood. But then the
Catholics are not gathered together as we are, and are not
combined as we are, and are not, therefore, in the opinion of
those who are opposed to us, so much a menace to others as we are
because of that feature of their religion. Nevertheless, though
this doctrine is so distasteful, we have to preach it. It is the
burden of the Lord upon us, and it would be woe to us unless we
did preach this very doctrine, with all our zeal and all our
power. I can readily understand why this doctrine is so much
disliked, and why men find so much fault with it; because if that
peculiarity were to disappear from among us, and we ceased to
listen to the voice of God, as we believe it to be manifested,
through those whom He has chosen to be His servants, this great
latter-day work would amount to nothing in the earth; it would
soon melt away and be like the sectarian systems from whence
these Latter-day Saints have been gathered out.
220
God had a purpose in revealing the Gospel in these days and in
restoring the everlasting Priesthood, and that was to prepare the
earth for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an important
work, to prepare the earth and the inhabitants thereof for the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I think that every one who
ever believed in Him, or that ever believed in God, will admit
that when Jesus comes, everybody will listen to Him, and will do
as He requires; for it is written that every knee shall bow and
every tongue shall confess that He is the Lord. He will be
accepted as the King of kings and Lord of lords, and the ruler
over the whole earth; and it is the constant prayer of those who
are most devoted upon the subject of religion that the Lord Jesus
may come and reign king over the whole earth as He does in
heaven; and, of course, if He does that it will be expected that
He will sway a sceptre that will not be disputed, and will
exercise a dominion that will not be questioned.
221
Now, the first announcement that was made concerning this work of
our God in these last days was, that the object in its
restoration was for the purpose of preparing the way for the
coming of the Son of Man. That was the announcement that was
made. And when the Priesthood was restored it was told to those
to whom it was restored that it should not be taken away from the
earth again until the sons of Levi should offer an acceptable
sacrifice unto the Lord; and they were also assured that it never
would be taken away from the earth again, but that it should
continue until it accomplished all that God designed for it. In
the organization of this people, in the settlement of these
valleys, in the framing of our first provisional form of
government, in the enactment of our laws, in the building of our
settlements, and in the polity that has distinguished this people
from their first settlement until now, the wisdom of God
manifested through the Priesthood which He has restored to the
earth, has been plainly discernible. Though these are civil
matters, its influence, through the knowledge and power which it
possessed, has been most beneficent. I think that if there is any
people upon the face of the earth who should listen to the
Priesthood and to the counsel of God's servants, it is the
Latter-day Saints; and I think if there are any men upon the face
of the earth that can claim loyalty from the people and
allegiance to the Priesthood, it is the men who have borne it and
who have exercised its authority from the time we settled these
valleys until now. I think they can do so with the best possible
grace, for the best of possible reasons; for when ever their
counsel has been listened to it has always been attended with
unquestioned success, and when it has been disobeyed it has
always been followed by disaster. The Latter-day Saints are the
witnesses of this themselves. We can appeal to them with the
utmost confidence upon this point, because they know, they have
had experience; they have tested these things for themselves, and
they know that these are not idle statements; they know they are
true and well-founded; and that God has, in His mercy and
kindness, confirmed the labors of His servants and the counsels
they have given by bestowing prosperity and blessing upon all
those who have accepted their counsels and have carried them out
in the spirit in which they have been given. The Latter-day
Saints themselves are living witnesses to this.
222
The men who followed President Brigham Young and the Twelve
Apostles over whom he presided when they left Nauvoo and came
across to Iowa and followed the Indian trails to the Missouri
River and built Winter Quarters, and then in the spring of 1847,
traversed the plains, the untrodden--that is, to them they
were--wilds, of which they knew nothing--people who followed him
and them to Salt Lake Valley, and laid the foundation of Salt
Lake City, they have been the people who have been the most
blessed of God and most prospered; they have prospered in their
religion, they have prospered in temporal things, and they have
been blessed with peace all the day long; while the men who
disobeyed that counsel and concluded that they had had enough of
this work and of following the counsels of the leading men of
this Church, have had sorrow and difficulty and have not
prospered. God confirmed the leadership of these men by bestowing
His blessing upon them and upon those who followed their
counsels. He delivered them from perils, He delivered them from
Indians, He delivered them from famine, He delivered them from
pestilence, and prosperity attended their labors, and every
settlement that has been formed in these mountains from the day
Salt Lake Valley was reached has been attended with similar
prosperity. The men who have gone forward and listened to the
counsels of God's servants have been the men who have been
blessed; they have been the men who have had influence, while the
men who have taken a different course are the men who have not.
Where is there any apostates from this work that have influence
in the earth? A few have had temporal prosperity. But is that all
prosperity consists of? Is that all success consists of? To have
a little of this world's goods,--and there are very few of them
that even have that. There is something else. There is the
blessing of God; there is the peace of heaven; there is the joy
of the Holy Ghost; there are the gifts and blessings that attend
the faithful servants and handmaidens of Jesus Christ, in
addition to temporal prosperity, before which temporal prosperity
fades. I am speaking now of money and that which perishes with
money. I have seen the richest people living in the lowliest
homes. Why? Because they were rich in their feelings. I have seen
the richest men who were poorer than the poorest of earth's sons.
Why? Because they did not have that rich feeling. Such a feeling
does not belong to riches and earthly prosperity. It comes from
the blessing of God. In this respect the Latter-day Saints may be
said to be the richest people on the face of the earth. They are
rich in that glorious feeling that God gives. You may strip them,
as I have seen them stripped, of earthly possessions, and turned
loose in a wilderness without a place of security and not knowing
where they would find a resting place, and yet they were as happy
a people as I ever saw in my life. Destitute of many things that
men and women consider essential to earthly comfort, yet they had
that which is above price, and which riches cannot bestow,
namely, the peace of heaven, the peace of God resting down upon
them. And they have been a rich people from that day to the
present. If they have not glad hearts and cheerful countenances
it is their own fault. But this is one of their characteristics.
They do have glad hearts and cheerful countenances. Wherever you
go you see them. They may not have rich surroundings, an
abundance of this world's goods, elegant houses, nor elegant
furniture for their houses; but when they have this spirit they
are happy and they are full of peace and joy.
223
Those who have listened to the counsels of God's servants have
had this blessing. But, as I have said, where is the apostate,
the man that has denied his God, broken his covenants, dissolved
his connection with the Church, turned his back upon the people
with whom he was formerly associated, that can lay claim to this?
It may be said that this is all delusion; but if delusion brings
happiness, then delusion is a blessing. And is it not better to
know and feel as we do respecting a future, to feel that there is
a future before us that is bright and glorious, than it is to
have our mind a blank in regard to a future, to be without hope,
looking as it were into a horizon that is darkened by the densest
clouds, which are impenetrable to our gaze and beyond which we
can not see? Certainly it is. Certainly it is better to have this
hope that God has given us. We know that it is of God. But our
enemies say it is a delusion; but if this delusion brings peace
and joy and happiness and certainty, and all those feelings that
fill our soul with inexpressible delight, why, then we are in a
better condition than those who are not thus deluded. But we know
that we are not deluded. We know that when a wife is sealed to us
by the authority of the holy Priesthood, that that ordinance is
binding as eternity if we are faithful. We know that when we have
children born to us in the everlasting covenant and death takes
them away, we are comforted with the assurance that though they
be consigned to the silent tomb, we shall yet have them in
eternity. Thus the sting of death is taken away, and the grave
has no victory. Death does not fill us with gloom and
apprehension and doubt and uncertainty. We know as well as we can
know anything of that character that when time ends we shall be
united with our children and dwell with them eternally. We know
also that when a man buries his wife, the faithful partner of his
life, if she were married to him by the holy Priesthood, he knows
when he lays her away in the grave that that is not an eternal
separation, but that they will again be united. And so with the
wife when she lays away her faithful husband, she knows as well
as she knows she lives that they will be united, and that they
will dwell together throughout eternity, if she continues
faithful to the truth.
223
It is the Priesthood that has brought unto us these blessings.
There is not a thing connected with our existence in these
valleys that I do not in my feelings give credit for, under God,
to the Priesthood. Do we have peace in our hearts? Do we have
order in our settlements? Do we have good order throughout these
mountains? Yes, we have, and it is due to those men whom God has
inspired to lead the people. This good order is due to the
Priesthood. We cannot give any credit to anybody else, however
much we might be inclined to do so. We have had Judges here; we
have had Governors here, some of them men of ability; but we
cannot in honesty and truth give them credit for any of the
blessings we enjoy. On the contrary many of them have been our
worst enemies, and if they could have had the power they would
have destroyed our peace and introduced strife and disorder and
confusion and war and bloodshed in our midst; and that these
things do not exist is due to the Priesthood, and to the people
also, who have listened to their counsels and been guided by
them.
223
Now, it is our duty to honor our God, and in honoring God we do
not show dishonor to others. Because I feel in my heart to honor
the Priesthood that God has restored to the earth, I do not
therefore mean nor do I feel any sentiment of dishonor towards
anybody else. It does not make me any the less a loyal citizen or
a true man because I do this; not in the least. On the contrary,
I am a better citizen for this, because I am more peaceful, I am
more easily controlled, I maintain good order, or endeavor to do
so. The influence, therefore, of the Priesthood upon me, as upon
all the rest of the community, has not the effect to make us
disloyal to our trust, nor to make us any worse citizens of the
government of which we form a part. On the contrary, there is no
more loyal men to be found within the confines of the Republic
than are to be found in this Territory; no men more true to the
Constitution, or who love it with more devotion, or who are
willing to make greater sacrifices for it, than are to be found
in this Territory, and I think I am in a position to speak
understandingly.
224
I say there are no people who will do more to maintain true
republican government than the people who form the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would shoulder my gun to
defend an Episcopalian against a mob, and I would do the same to
defend a Methodist, or an infidel. I would do as much to maintain
the rights of all men and all women under this form of government
as I would those of my own faith. I would consider myself
unworthy of my position if I did not have that feeling, and this
is the feeling, I am sure, of this entire people called
Latter-day Saints. They hate oppression, they hate it in every
form, and they will fight it as long as it exists upon the face
of the earth, until it is stricken down, and until it ceases to
exist. They are bound to do that. The principles of their
religion compel them to do it. To resist tyranny in a governor
who may be sent here? Yes, if he comes here and exercises unjust
rule. And the same with a Judge. Because a man is sent here as a
Governor or a Judge does that make him a king, or give him the
authority to trample upon the rights of his fellow citizens, or
upon the Constitution, and the laws of the land? Not by any
means. And are we disloyal because we reject his claim to that
authority, and the claim of others who band themselves together
and say, "Oh, you poor Mormons, you poor, miserable wretches--you
have no rights here?" No, we are not. They may try to usurp this
authority, but they will always find us in their path under the
Constitution, and under the laws; not by force of arms, not by
violence, not by lynch law, not by mobocracy; but contending in
the right place and under the right circumstances for those
liberties that God has given to every human being and especially
guaranteed to us as free men who were born free and who live
under a free form of government. Mobocracy, from the bottom of
our hearts, we hate every form of it, and every form of violence.
Where men take the law in their own hands and seek to redress
their own wrongs, it is abominable, and should be frowned upon
every where. Better for us to suffer any number of wrongs than
that we should resort to violence. It would not be right for us
to do so, however just our cause may be. We must maintain law and
good order, and we must frown down and put down every form of
mobocracy and lynch law, and this disposition to execute
vengeance outside the pale of the law. It is just as wrong for us
to indulge in that spirit as it was for the mobbers of Missouri
when they drove us from our homes there, or those in Illinois
when they drove us from there. We should learn a lesson from
these things; we should profit by this experience and stand up
steadily and maintain constantly the rights of man, no matter who
the man might be. He may be our enemy; he may be opposed to our
principles; but that should make no difference in our
determination to execute justice and right.
225
Now, God has blessed us wonderfully in this land since he led us
here. I can see a great improvement here in your place. In fact I
see this in all the settlements. God is blessing this people. He
is causing them to increase, and He is giving us a firmer
foothold. I am glad of it. I want to see this work increase,
because I love it, and because I love every thing connected with
it. It is not a partisan feeling. It is not a selfish feeling
that a certain portion of people may be blessed more than other
people. I do not believe that Latter-day Saints entertain any
such feeling. But I take delight in this work. I consider
everything connected with the future growth of the human family
is connected with the growth and development of this people. I
know this is saying a great deal, but nevertheless it is true.
And as God lives the day will come that constitutional government
and the rights of man will have to be maintained by the
Latter-day Saints, and that at a time when there will be no other
power upon this land that will be able to make headway against
the tide of evil that will flood the country. And it will be due
to our organization that we shall be able to stem it. God has
given us an organization that is magnificent, as our enemies
freely admit. We are a consolidated power. And when anarchy
reigns, as it will do, for it is coming, and every man that opens
his eyes to see the evils that abound--if he does not
persistently resist the truth--must have a secret dread of it in
his heart; when that comes, there will be no power upon this
continent that will be able to stem it, except the organization
which God has given to us. We have shown our capacity for
self-government ever since we came here, from the very fact that
we had no government except that which we framed. We had to form
our own government and make our own laws. We have had Governors
who have fought our laws even when our Legislature has enacted
them unanimously. So that that which we have to-day in the shape
of good government is due to ourselves, under God. It is due in
Beaver to the Latter-day Saints under God. If we have maintained
order and resisted anarchy in Salt Lake City, it is because of
this man [President Taylor] and the man that preceded him in his
office, controlling and guiding the people all the day long; to
them, under God, the credit is due. So it may be said with
reference to our entire Territory. We have shown our capacity in
the midst of all the obstacles that have been thrown in our way,
and in the face of all the attacks that have been made upon us in
various forms and from various quarters--we have been able to
withstand these and maintain good government. That power we still
retain. We are gaining experience day by day. God is training us
in this way. We are receiving a training such as no other people
receive. Men are being made statesmen in spite of themselves.
Such men as John R. Murdock, and others around him, have been
compelled to learn these things. So with others. They have had to
acquire a knowledge of practical statesmanship, that they might
preserve the liberties of this people. And God has given us the
necessary wisdom to do it. I thank Him for it. He has given us
this wisdom, and he will continue to bless us in this way. And
the day will come when we will exercise this authority in a far
wider sphere than in this limited Territory. The same wisdom that
has maintained the organization of this people, and that enables
us to withstand attacks that would swamp any other people, will
enable us to act in a far more extended sphere.
226
We have had conspiracies against our liberties from every
quarter; we have had conspiracies of every conceivable character;
you cannot conceive of anything scarcely in the shape of
conspiracy that has not been formed against us, and yet we live
and are a free people to-day. In many respects there are no freer
people in the United States than we are. But our enemies do not
deserve any credit for it. To God the credit is due, and He gets
it, I believe, from all the Saints. But He has given the men whom
He has chosen the wisdom to govern and control this people, and
to point out the path of safety. And I predict that we will be
just as prosperous in the future as we have been in the past, and
more so. God will always prepare a way of escape for His people.
Even if everything should be as dark as it was fourteen or
fifteen months ago, when it seemed as though the whole heavens
were covered with the blackest clouds, with no ray of light to
break the darkness, and when it seemed as though overwhelming
destruction was about to come upon us--even under those
circumstances God will prepare a way of escape, He will open out
the path and make it plain, and we will emerge from the
difficulty stronger than we were before, and be full of
additional thanksgiving unto God our heavenly Father, for His
goodness and kindness to us. This will be the result in the
future just as it has been in the past, and it will continue to
be the result. For I tell you there is a great future before this
people. We have all the elements which are necessary to make us a
great people, and we cannot be deprived of them. We are a united
people to begin with. And then we are a temperate people, we are
a frugal people, we are a loving people, we are a virtuous
people, we are a brave people. Yes, we are a brave people; for it
takes courage to be a Latter-day Saint. A man that is a coward
cannot be a Latter-day Saint. A woman who is not a heroine cannot
be a Latter-day Saint. It requires just that kind of courage
which is so rare in the world to be a Latter-day Saint--the
courage to maintain one's convictions. This famous young
lady--Belle Harris--has given us an exhibition of it. She
preferred to go to the Penitentiary rather than answer the
questions propounded to her. Such an exhibition of courage must
have a wonderful influence. There is something about it, even if
the cause were a bad one, that is admirable. Men admire that
quality wherever they see it. There is nothing so admirable as
courage of that description. It impresses even our enemies.
"Why," they say, "if this girl can do such a thing, what shall we
do with a people of that kind?"
227
Well, courage is a quality that this people have always
manifested. They have submitted to wrongs, it is true; but their
having done so is not an indication of a want of courage. On the
contrary, it is sometimes an evidence of the highest and the
purest and the best courage, to be willing to suffer wrong rather
than take a course that could not be approved of to resist it,
and these qualities in the struggle that lies before us will
tell. You find a people who are frugal, who are temperate, who
are industrious, who are united, who are loving, and who increase
as we do, and they will make their mark on the earth. Such
qualities always did tell in the struggle for existence among men
from the earliest days. The nations that have possessed the
qualities which our people possess have always been the honored
nations. They have been the nations that have won their way to
power and have compelled admiration even from their enemies.
These qualities we possess, and we mean to cultivate them. We
mean to train our children in these virtues. We mean to make them
a virtuous people above every thing else. That is the most
desirable quality in this age of sin and corruption, when women,
in many instances, are unsafe in the society of men. I want to
see it in our country that our young ladies in the company of our
young men, in any place and under any circumstances, in the
darkest hours and in the most unprotected situations, will feel
as safe as if they were in their mothers' bed chambers so far as
anything wrong from the opposite sex is concerned. I would rather
see men punished with death--which we believe is a law that
should be put in force against any man who ruins woman--than that
there ever should be a time in our country when corruption and
wrongs of this character should run riot and be unchecked. Virtue
lies at the foundation of individual and national greatness. No
man can amount to much who is not a virtuous man, who is not
strong in his virtue, I do not care who he is. He may be as
talented as Lucifer; but if he is not a virtuous man his
greatness will not amount to much. Virtue lies at the foundation
of greatness. We mean to promote it and encourage it in the
rising generation. In order that the rising generation should
have it, the mothers must have it, and feel its importance, and
the fathers also. And then we must teach all those other virtues
that belong to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our religion is
admirably adapted to every circumstance of life. We can carry it
with us every day. It is not like our Sunday clothes--to be worn
on the Sunday and laid away on Monday. It is an eminently
practical religion, and is adapted to every day alike and not for
special occasions alone. I like it on that account. I am very
much pleased with it, always have been, and with those virtues
that it instills, the every day virtues of life.
227
If I am a Latter-day Saint, as I should be, I am an honest man.
If I were to trade I would trade honestly, or else I am not
worthy of the name of Latter-day Saint. If I had a wagon to sell
I would tell what sort of a wagon it was and not cheat the party
to whom I was selling, or say that he must judge of the article
by his own eyes, that his own eyes must tell him if there is
anything wrong. I do not consider that good Latter-day Saint
doctrine. If I have a horse to sell to my neighbor and he asks me
if the animal has any defect, I ought to be willing to tell what
it is. And so with everything else. We must be an honest people;
for I tell you those who are not honest cannot retain the Spirit
of God. God wants an honest people, a truthful people, a people
whose word can be relied upon, a people whose word is as good as
their bond. I do not know whether you all do or not, but if not,
you ought to cultivate this quality of honesty. It is always
profitable for a man to be honest. Let him get a credit of that
kind and it will bring him profit; but if he deceives then
confidence is gone and people will shun him. I never trade with a
man that tricks me more than once. I do not say much. I suppose
every body has the same kind of feeling. I never quarrel nor find
fault, but then I think a great deal, and I suppose most of the
people have a good memory for these sort of things.
228
As Latter-day Saints, we should be honest, truthful, frugal and
economical, and do every thing we can to improve our condition.
Every man that has a poor house should seek to get a better. When
I started out in life I attached little importance to the matter
of a house. For many years I was in the missionary field. Fifteen
years of my early experience in life was spent in the missionary
field. I was only some nine months at home during that period,
and I attached little importance to a house. But I soon found out
that my folks did not take the same view that I did about it. I
have learned this, that a woman looks upon a house as a matter of
much more importance than a man does. It is her home. And when I
see wives in houses of a poor class when their husbands might
build better, I think their husbands do not understand woman's
nature as they should do. Women with families should have good
houses, and husbands should labor to get them, and then leave
them to adorn them and make them comfortable and desirable.
Children like to have a nice house, because they can invite their
companions to it. Men should strive to make their families
comfortable in this way. It is their duty to do so. I was very
much delighted with some remarks President Taylor made on this
subject. He told the husbands to court their wives over again, to
cultivate the feeling they had when they started out in life,
when they were everything to each other, and when they could not
do enough for each other. That is a feeling that should be
cultivated. Men should never treat their wives with disrespect.
They should manifest a feeling of love for them, and more
especially when they become advanced in years. There is nothing
that will excite love in a man's heart so much as to see a wife
as willing, even in her advanced years, to sacrifice her own
comfort for his sake as she was when they were first married; and
I am sure it must have the same effect upon a woman--to have the
husband, when her charms are fading and she is growing old, and
perhaps not so attractive as she was--to have the husband tender
and kind and loving, not forgetting her good qualities, nor what
she has done. When a woman sees a husband manifest that feeling
towards her, she in return will manifest her kindness and love
for his thoughtful attentions.
228
These are little things, but how much they contribute to our
happiness and to our peace! We should therefore cultivate these
qualities ourselves and teach them to our children. Our children
should be made to feel that we love them and that we are disposed
to treat them with proper respect. When we ask a child to do a
favor, we should ask it as though he were a gentleman, or if a
girl, as though she were a lady. A man should never talk to his
children as though he were a tyrant. He should address them in
kindness, and as though they were gentlemen and ladies, and they
will grow up with that feeling and treat others with the same
respect. Why, I would not ask my children to do me a favor
without thanking them, any more than I would ask any grown
person. Neither would I ask a favor of a hired hand without doing
the same thing. I have been in such positions myself and know the
feelings that such people have. I know that their feelings are
tender and that in their position they appreciate kindness. And
people who are young are more sensitive than older persons of
more experience in life, and we cannot be too careful about their
feelings. We should treat one another with the utmost respect and
the utmost kindness. Women should talk to their children in
kindness; not harshly, and not in a spirit of scolding. It is a
dreadful habit this habit of scolding. A man or a woman who is
always scolding, loses influence with children and with everybody
else.
228
I pray God to bless you and fill you with the Holy Ghost, in the
name of Jesus, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor
John Taylor
PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR'S RECENT TRIP TO BEAR LAKE.
Selections from his Discourses delivered in the Various
Settlements.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
THE WORK OF GOD--THE EVENTS OF THE TIMES--GATHERING--TEMPLE
ORDINANCES--THE OBJECT OF MARRIAGE--PLURAL MARRIAGE--A TERRIBLE
LESSON--LAWS OF GOD MUST BE ENFORCED--THE PRIESTHOOD--PARTIES,
CLIQUES, RINGS, MURMURERS--GOD IS ON THE SIDE OF ISRAEL.
229
We are occupying a position which is different from that of any
other people upon the face of the whole earth. We have a great
work to perform, and there are duties and responsibilities
resting upon us that rest upon no other people. There is no man
living or that has lived that could have organized and set in
order the work in which we are engaged. There are no men living,
unaided by the Almighty, who are able to carry out this work to
its consummation. All that have operated in it have had to trust
in the living God for instruction, guidance and support, and all
that will hereafter operate in it or that are operating in it now
will have to trust to the same source. This work is one which is
associated with the purposes and designs of God which He
contemplated and planned from before the foundation of the world.
The day in which we live has been spoken and prophesied of by all
the Prophets that have existed since the world was, and it is in
the Scriptures emphatically denominated "the dispensation of the
fullness of times," wherein God will gather together all things
in one, whether they be things on the earth or things in the
heavens. Neither Joseph Smith, nor Hyrum Smith, nor Sidney
Rigdon, nor Brigham Young, nor myself, nor anybody associated
with the Church at the present time, have had anything to do with
the origination of these things. This work was commenced by the
Almighty; it has been carried on by Him, and sustained by His
power, and if it is ever consummated it will be by the power, and
direction and sustenance of the Lord Jehovah, of Jesus, the
Mediator of the new covenant, and then through the medium of the
Priesthood here upon the earth. These things originated in the
heavens, in the councils of the Gods; and the organization of the
Priesthood and the power thereof, and everything pertaining
thereto, has been committed from the heavens through Joseph
Smith, principally, and through others who have been associated
with him in this great work.
230
The times in which we live are pregnant with great events, and
there will things come to pass that will affect all people--wars
and rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes, the waves of the sea
lifting themselves beyond their bounds; these and other judgments
will go forth among the nations of the earth until, as the
Scriptures say, it will be a vexation to hear the report thereof.
I would simply remark, however, in relation to these things, that
they are the decrees of the Almighty. They are not anything which
has originated with us. We find them referred to in the Holy
Bible, the record of the Jews; we find them referred to in the
Book of Mormon, the record of the Nephites, and also in the
revelations given unto us from the Lord through the Prophet
Joseph Smith; and there are many now living that know that these
events will transpire by things that have been manifested unto
them.
231
Associated with this great work of God is the principle of
gathering, and the labor of building temples. We have been
gathered from the different nations of the earth to the land of
Zion that we might be taught of God, and be subject to the will
of God, the word of God, and the law of God. A temple was built
in Kirtland, Ohio, at a very early stage in the history of the
Church, in the year 1836, or six years after the organization of
the Church. Some of the ordinances of God's house were revealed
and practiced therein, and many revelations, visions, and great
manifestations of the power of God were given unto the people.
Afterwards there was a temple built at Nauvoo, wherein further
developments were made, and other and more advanced ordinances
were revealed and administered. It was by a great struggle and
indomitable energy that these things could be accomplished at
all. Previous to the completion of the latter temple, Joseph and
Hyrum were killed. But finally the temple was finished and
dedicated to God, and a great many principles that had been
revealed to Joseph Smith--and which he communicated to the
leading authorities of the Church previous to his death--were
there carried out and administered in by the Holy Priesthood. We
are now building other temples. There is one that was completed
several years ago in St. George, and many thousands of people
have been administered to and for in that temple, pertaining both
to the living and the dead. We have another temple in Logan, also
another in Manti, both of which are progressing very favorably,
as well as the one in Salt Lake City. Now, in regard to the use
of these temples, neither we nor anybody else living had any idea
until it was revealed to us from God--just the same as the first
principles of the Gospel were revealed, for they were nowhere to
be found on the earth. Joseph Smith said to the Twelve in my
hearing prior to their departure for Great Britain, "If you come
across a people who have even the first principles of the Gospel
of Christ correctly you need not baptize them, for the possession
of those principles will be a sign that they have some portion of
the Holy Priesthood." And to this the Apostle John bears
testimony when he says, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." But I
never found anybody--and I have traveled many thousands of
miles--who had even the first principles of the Gospel correctly,
nor did any of my brethren--the Twelve, Seventies, Elders, High
Priests, etc., ever meet with such a people. We knew nothing
about these things ourselves until they were revealed from the
heavens unto Joseph Smith. No people outside of the Latter-day
Saints know how to build temples. The world would not know what
to do with them to-day if they had them. Neither religionists,
scientists, politicians, statesmen, philanthropists, nor any
others would know how to administer in those temples if they had
them. They would know no more how to administer therein, than
this table that stands before me; and then we should be just as
ignorant on this subject as they, only for the intelligence
imparted unto us by the Almighty. But He has given us revelation
in relation to this matter; He has told us what to do and how to
do it, and what will be the result of our action in the
performance of these ordinances.
231
But the world are ignorant in regard to a great many other
things; they do not know anything even about marriage nor the
object of it. What do they know about eternal union? Nothing. Is
there any man living outside of this Church who will have a claim
upon his wife on the other side of the veil? No. Why? Because in
all their marriages, no matter by what church or denomination
they are celebrated, the ceremony distinctly states, "until death
do you part." This is the acme of perfection in the Christian
world in relation to this matter! Nothing else can be found
anywhere, among any of the professed religionists of the world;
the nearest approach can be found, not among ministers, but in
the yellow-backed literature of the period, for they do sometimes
refer to the prospect of "eternal unions" hereafter, while the
churches recognize no such principle. God has revealed, through
His servant Joseph Smith, something more. He has told us about
our associations hereafter. He has told us about our wives and
our children being sealed to us, that we might have a claim on
them in eternity. He has revealed unto us the law of celestial
marriage, associated with which is the principle of plural
marriage. I will speak a little upon this subject. It is very
seldom that I refer to it, but there is need for it occasionally.
I speak of it as that law given to us of God. I do not know, but
I have been informed that there are those who seem to be opposed
to this law in one or two places where we have been traveling.
Now, I dare not oppose anything of the kind. I dare not violate
any law of God. And I will tell you what Joseph Smith said upon
the subject. He presented this principle to the Twelve, and
called upon them to obey it, and said if they did not, the
kingdom of God could not go one step further. Why could it not go
one step further? Because we had a religion to live by, but none
that placed our associations upon eternal principles or gave us a
claim upon each other in the family relations in the eternal
worlds. But through this principle we could be sealed to one
another through time and eternity; we could prepare ourselves for
an exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom of God. It is one of the
greatest blessings that ever was conferred upon the human family.
It is an eternal law which has always existed in other worlds as
well as in this world. I will here call your attention to the
revelation itself, which reads:
232
"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:"
232
"Behold! and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as
touching this matter:
232
"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."
232
This you will see is strictly in accordance with what I have told
you Joseph Smith told the Twelve--that if this law was not
practiced, if they would not enter into this covenant, then the
kingdom of God could not go one step further. Now, we did not
feel like preventing the kingdom of God from going forward. We
professed to be the Apostles of the Lord, and did not feel like
putting ourselves in a position to retard the progress of the
kingdom of God. The revelation, as you have heard, says that,
"all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the
same." Now, that is not my word. I did not make it. It was the
Prophet of God who revealed that to us in Nauvoo, and I bear
witness of this solemn fact before God, that He did reveal this
sacred principle to me and others of the Twelve, and in this
revelation it is stated that it is the will and law of God that
"all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the
same." And the revelation further says:
232
"For behold! I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant;
and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned." Think of
that, will you. For it is further said: "no one can reject this
covenant, and be permitted to enter into my glory."
232
There are many people who try to excuse themselves in this
matter, and who essay to do as they please, but as the Lord God
liveth, He will not excuse them. He expects those who profess to
be his people to carry out that law. The revelation continues to
say:
232
"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;"
232
"And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was
instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a
fullness thereof, must and shall abide the law, or he shall be
damned, saith the Lord God."
232
I thought I would have a little of this revelation read. The
whole revelation is quite lengthy. But it goes to say that all
covenants heretofore entered into amount to nothing, and that
they will be of no benefit to people beyond the grave.
233
Now, as I have already said, the reason was very obvious why a
law of this kind should be had. As a people we professed to be
Latter-day Saints. We professed to be governed by the word, and
will, and law of God. We had a religion that might do to live by,
but we had none to die by. But this was a principle that God had
revealed unto us, and it must be obeyed. I had always entertained
strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as a married man that this was
to me, outside of this principle, an appalling thing to do. The
idea of my going and asking a young lady to be married to me,
when I had already a wife! It was a thing calculated to stir up
feelings from the innermost depth of the human soul. I had always
entertained the strictest regard for chastity. I had never in my
life seen the time when I have known of a man deceiving a
woman--and it is often done in the world, where notwithstanding
the crime, the man is received into society, and the poor woman
is looked upon as a pariah and an outcast--I have always looked
upon such a thing as infamous, and upon such a man as a villain,
and I hold to-day the same ideas. Hence, with the feelings I had
entertained, nothing but a knowledge of God, and the revelations
of God, and the truth of them, could have induced me to embrace
such a principle as this. We seemed to put off, as far as we
could, what might be termed the evil day. Some time after these
things were made known to us, I was riding out of Nauvoo on
horseback, and met Joseph Smith coming in, he, too, being on
horseback. Some of you who were acquainted with Nauvoo, know
where the graveyard was. We met upon the road going on to the
hill there. I bowed to Brother Joseph, and having done the same
to me he said; "Stop;" and he looked at me very intently. "Look
here," said he, "those things that have been spoken of must be
fulfilled, and if they are not entered into right away, the keys
will be turned." Well, what did I do? Did I feel to stand in the
way of this great, eternal principle, and treat lightly the
things of God? No. I replied: "Brother Joseph, I will try and
carry these things out," and afterwards did, and I have done it
more times than once; but then I have never broken a law of the
United States in doing so, and I am at their defiance to prove to
the contrary.
234
I have related this to show why these eternal covenants are
entered into; and that man among you who would seek to pervert
these things and teach them to others and seek to frustrate the
designs of God in regard to them, I tell you God will lay His
hand upon him unless he repents, and speedily takes another
course. I don't know when I have talked so plainly as I have done
to-day; but these are the feelings of my heart and they are true.
It is for us to magnify our callings and not to tamper with the
things of God. We must sustain and maintain the principles that
God has committed to us inviolate. And about this nation and its
ideas and feelings, we ask very little of unreasonable men who
are not acquainted with the principles of which they speak. This
nation will have enough to do by and by without troubling itself
about us. It is for us to learn the ways of God and to place
ourselves in subjection to His law. And then it is not enough for
men to be married to wives and be sealed according to the order
of God, they must treat them aright when they have them; they
must treat them as they would treat angels of God; they must be
full of kindness and mercy and long-suffering; they must provide
for them and make them happy and comfortable, and take care of
the families they have by them, and in this way gain the favor of
God, and the respect of all honorable men. The laws of heaven
must not be violated. We must keep sacred the holy covenants we
have entered into. I will here relate a circumstance that came
under my notice a short time ago, which will serve to show the
terrible consequences following a violation of the law of God.
234
A certain Bishop wrote to me to know what should be done in the
following case: A man had been away from home on a mission, and
during his absence his wife had committed adultery. I replied
that the woman would have to be severed from the Church; but
requested that the aggrieved husband should call upon me. He did
so, bringing with him his delinquent wife and three beautiful
little boys--three as beautiful little boys as I ever saw. He
also brought with him the villain who had done the damage. But I
told him to take him away, I would have no communication with
such a contemptible wretch. The husband explained that he wished
to talk with me in the presence of his wife, if it was agreeable.
He wanted to know what was to be done in the case. I told him I
should be under the necessity of confirming the Bishop's decision
in the case, but I will have read to you what the law says upon
the subject. George Reynolds, who is one of my secretaries, was
present, and I asked him to read certain portions of the
revelation on celestial marriage; for they had been married
according to that order. That revelation states that, "If a man
receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she
be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the
holy anointing, she hath committed adultery and shall be
destroyed." And in another place it says, "they shall be
destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the
buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord
God." Now, said I, I did not make that law. I find it in the word
of God. It is not my province to change it. I cannot make any
change. I am sorry for these little children. I am sorry for the
shame and infamy that has been brought upon them; but I cannot
reverse the law of God. I did not commit this crime; I am not
responsible for it; I cannot take upon myself, the responsibility
of other peoples' acts. Well, it made my heart ache. The husband
wept like a child, so did the woman; but I could not help that. I
speak of this for the purpose of bringing up other things, and of
presenting them before the people. And the principle I desire to
impress upon their minds is, that we have no right, any of us, to
violate the laws of God.
235
The President of a Stake has no right to violate these laws; his
Counselors have no right to do it; the Bishops have no right to
do it; the Priests, Teachers and Deacons have no right to do it.
God has called us to stand in holy places, and has placed upon us
the responsibility of the Priesthood. He expects us to be as true
to that Priesthood and to the administration thereof as the Gods
are in the eternal worlds. We may think we can do this, that and
the other irrespective of the word of God, but let it be
understood that we cannot hide anything from the Lord; the
Scriptures say, "hell and destruction are before the Lord: how
much more then the hearts of the children of men." We may succeed
in hiding our affairs from men; but it is written that for every
word and every secret thought we shall have to give an account in
the day when accounts have to be rendered before God, when
hypocrisy and fraud of any kind will not avail us; for by our
words and by our works we shall be justified, or by them we shall
be condemned. It is for us to walk uprightly before God. And it
is for the Priesthood--the Presidents of Stakes, Bishops,
Priests, Teachers and Deacons--to be governed by the law of God,
and to see that there is no iniquity prevailing in the Church,
and if there is, it must be dealt with according to the law of
God, and not according to the notions and opinions of men. We
have no right to condone this and to change the other, and to
think that we are going to save men by permitting all kinds of
iniquity to abound. It is the duty of those in authority to see
things straightened out. Matters are sometimes allowed to go on
to that extent that hard feelings, division, contention and
strife arise, and all this because Teachers, Bishops and others
do not do their duty. In our Bishops' Courts, and in our High
Councils, we must be governed by the law of God, and not by our
notions and sympathies, or anything of that kind, and not because
it is somebody's son, or somebody's brother, or somebody's
relative. If I have any sons, brothers or relatives, and they do
something wrong, bring them up and adjudge them according to the
law of God, and do the same with me and with everybody else. We
sometimes think we will bear with this, that and the other thing.
Perhaps a man may be a drunkard, and being a pretty good sort of
a fellow, we think we will bear with him. I tell you he ought to
be dealt with according to the law of God, and the same for
Sabbath breaking, adultery, and other violations of His laws. The
Saints cannot violate any of the laws of God with impunity, and
the officers of the Church ought to see that they do not do it.
We must not be governed by sympathies. My sympathies in the case
that I related were very strong; but I must not be governed by
sympathies--I must be governed by the law of God.
235
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." God has
organized His Church after the pattern that exists in the
heavens, and has given us laws for the government thereof, and
placed at the head of it the holy Priesthood, which is after the
order of Melchizedek, which is after the order of the Son of God,
and which is after the power of an endless life, and then He has
also introduced the Aaronic Priesthood as an appendage to the
other. And what are these Priesthoods? The Priesthood is the rule
and government of God as it exists, whether in the heavens or on
the earth, and wherever that Priesthood is introduced, and the
Gospel is introduced, life and immortality are brought to light;
so that men can be placed in communion with God; so that by the
spirit of light, truth and revelation, they can roll back the
mists of darkness, gaze down the vista of future ages, and
contemplate the purposes of God as they roll forth in all their
majesty, power and glory. This is the position that we as Priests
of the Most High God ought to occupy. We should feel that we are
not living for ourselves, but that we are living for God--living
to accomplish His purposes. We are here to build up His Church
and to purify it from all evil, that it may be presented before
the Father as the bride, the Lamb's wife without spot or wrinkle.
We are here to build up a Zion unto the Lord of Hosts--a Zion,
which signifies the pure in heart--a people who will be prepared
for the great events that are about to transpire upon this earth,
and who will be able to stand the convulsions that will overthrow
the world--and He has given us the Priesthood for that very
purpose.
237
But there are those in our midst, who, although they have a name
and a standing in the Church, disregard the authority of the
Priesthood, both local and general. I hear sometimes of parties,
and of cliques, and of rings in our midst. What! what, a party in
the Church and kingdom of God? What! rings associated with the
principles of eternal truth--associated with the celestial law
that emanates from our Heavenly Father? The devil got up a ring
and was cast out of heaven for getting it up, as also a third
part of the spirits who associated themselves with him. They were
cast out because they devised principles that were in opposition
to the word and will and law of God, and every man who follows in
their footsteps, unless he speedily repent, will be placed in the
same position--will also be cast out. The law of God must be put
in force against the transgressor. No man who professes to be a
Latter-day Saint can transgress with impunity. The Priesthood of
God cannot be disregarded with impunity. We have men in our midst
who are not afraid to speak against the authorities of the Church
in the localities in which they live. Jude, in his general
epistle, refers to such men. He alludes to them as "filthy
dreamers who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil
of dignities. Yet," he says, "Michael, the archangel, when
contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses,
durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The
Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they
know not * * clouds they are without water, carried about of
winds * * wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of
darkness for ever. These are murmurers, complainers, walking
after their own lusts; and their mouths speaketh great swelling
words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage."
So also Peter speaks of such characters, "But these as natural
brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the
things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in
their own corruption." Now, we have such men as these up and
down. I think Brother Hosea Stout describes them as "smart
Alecs." They think they are wiser and better than other people,
and they want to regulate the affairs of God, when God has given
them no authority to do it. But it is woe to those who fight
against the authorities of the Church of God. Let such be brought
up before proper tribunals; for no back-biting, nor anything of
that kind can be sanctioned in the Church and kingdom of God.
These are things that prevail more or less in various parts of
the Territory. I suppose we have them to meet. They have always
been, to a greater or less degree, mixed up with the Church and
kingdom of God upon the earth; but it is for the authorities to
purge the Church of all such things, and to have a people who
will be united, who will be one, and who will be governed by the
law of God. If I violate any law of the Church, bring me up for
it; if any one else does, bring him up for it; but don't go
sneaking around back-biting and misrepresenting. Let us act as
men, at least, if we won't be Saints; but we should be true to
our calling and profession, and honor our God. There is nothing
new in all this. The spirit of rebellion has gone on ever since
the devil and his angels were cast out of heaven. He and they
have been making war against the Saints, and will continue to do
so; but Satan will finally be over come. Before that, however,
Satan will be bound for a thousand years, and during that time we
will have a chance to build temples and to be baptized for the
dead, and to do a work pertaining to the world that has been, as
well as to the world that now is, and to operate under the
direction of the Almighty in bringing to pass those designs which
He contemplated from the foundation of the world.
237
It is for us to live holily, justly, purely and righteously
before God, that we may have a legitimate claim upon Him. If we
will do this, then I tell you, in the name of Israel's God, that
you shall call upon the Lord and He will hear and answer you;
that you shall draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh unto you,
and will pour upon your heads blessings that it has not entered
into your hearts to conceive of; and if all Israel will do this,
and fear God and work righteousness before Him, there is no power
in existence can injure the Saints; for God is on the side of
Israel, and He will put a book in the jaws of our enemies. And I
will say here, woe to them that fight against Zion, woe to them
that plot against Zion, for God will fight and plot against them!
And woe to the hypocrites in Zion and those that profess to fear
God and are wallowing in transgression; God will be after you,
for ere long the sinners in Zion will be afraid, and fearfulness
will surprise the hypocrite. Now, let us purge ourselves from
unrighteousness, for God is going to roll forth His work, and
whether you or I do right or not, it will make no difference, the
work will go on: it is onward, onward, onward, and will continue
to be onward, until the kingdoms of this world shall become the
kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and He will reign for ever
and ever.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Wilford Woodruff, July 20, 1883
Wilford Woodruff, July 20, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF,
Delivered at the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, July 20, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
OBJECT OF MEETING TOGETHER--OUR DEPENDENCE UPON THE SPIRIT OF THE
LORD--CERTAIN RIGHTS WHICH BELONG TO ALL MANKIND--UNPOPULARITY OF
GOD'S
SERVANTS IN ALL AGES OF THE WORLD--A MAN MUST BE BORN AGAIN
BEFORE HE CAN
UNDERSTAND THE THINGS OF GOD--THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
LATTER-DAY
SAINTS--THE GOSPEL THE SAME IN ALL DISPENSATIONS--HOW THE GOSPEL
WAS
RESTORED--THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST--UTAH BUILT UP BY THE POWER
OF
GOD--JOSEPH SMITH RECEIVED ALL THE KEYS OF THE PRIESTHOOD BY THE
ADMINISTRATION OF ANGELS--FULFILLMENT OF REVELATION--THE
PRIESTHOOD--PLURAL MARRIAGE.
238
We meet here upon the Sabbath day for the purpose of partaking of
the sacrament, the emblems of the Lord's body and blood which
were broken and shed for us, and also to give and receive
instruction as we may be led by the Spirit of God.
239
It is well known to the Latter-day Saints--though perhaps not to
strangers--that no Elder or member of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints who enters into this Tabernacle knows who is
going to be called upon to speak to the people. Hence no man
spends a week, a day, an hour, or a moment to prepare a discourse
to deliver unto the people. We are all of us dependent upon the
Spirit of the Lord, upon revelation, upon inspiration, upon the
Holy Ghost, in order to be qualified to teach the people before
whom we are called to speak, and if the Lord does not give me the
Holy Spirit this afternoon, I promise you all you will not get
much out of Brother Woodruff, whether they be Saints or
strangers. I have never seen a day since I have been a member of
this Church, that I have felt that any man was qualified to teach
saint or sinner, Jew or Gentile, the inhabitants of the earth
abroad or at home, only as he was moved upon by the power of God.
I have never believed any man was qualified from the days of
Father Adam to our day to go forth among the inhabitants of the
earth with the declaration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in a
way and manner to convince them or teach them the Gospel in its
truth and purity, and in the power of God, only by inspiration. I
have never believed that any man was qualified in any age of the
world to build up the kingdom of God, or do the will of God only
upon that principle. And I have felt, both while abroad in the
world, as well as at home, that when called upon to teach the
Latter-day Saints or anybody else--I have felt as though my lips
ought to be touched with a live coal from off the altar, and my
heart filled with inspiration from Almighty God. When I think
upon the day and age in when we live, when I think upon this day
and dispensation in which the God of heaven has set His hand to
carry out the fulfillment of the mighty prophecies contained
within the lids of the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, the
stick of Judah, I realize that in order to comprehend these
things a man must be in possession of the Spirit of the Lord day
by day. In the words of the Savior as recorded in St. John's
Gospel, "This is eternal life, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent."
239
I say many things when I am called upon to speak in the presence
of strangers that I do not confine myself to when addressing the
Saints, because the latter are acquainted with our principles,
while the former are not.
240
As Latter-day Saints we respect the rights of all men. We believe
that all mankind, men and women, in this and every other
dispensation and generation, have certain rights; that God has
created all men with an agency, I care not in what kingdom,
empire, republic or place they dwell. They have a right to enjoy
their religion. They have a right to worship God according to the
dictates of their own consciences. "But," says one, "do you mean
that in empires where an emperor holds the rights and destinies
of his subjects in his hands?" Yes. I mean there is no emperor
who breathes the breath of life who has the right to deprive one
of his subjects of the freedom of his religion. I will tell you
why. No emperor, no king, no president, no ruler of any nation
under the heavens has ever given his subjects life. Their life
has come from God, and God has granted them their agency and the
right to worship Him according to the light and knowledge they
have. This is the view entertained by the Latter-day Saints. And
I have heard Joseph Smith say that if he were emperor of the
whole world, holding the destinies of all men in his hands, he
would defend the religious rights of every man, whether his
religion was right or wrong. And especially ought this to be the
case in this American nation, the constitution of which
guarantees to all people the right to worship God according to
the dictates of their own conscience. This is the broad platform
upon which our government has been founded. I have looked upon
the Constitution of the United States as one of the best
instruments ever devised by man for the government of the
inhabitants of the earth. I look upon it as such to-day. And
while we are willing to allow the Methodists, the Baptists, the
Presbyterians, the Catholics, and every sect under heaven, the
right to enjoy their religion undisturbed, yet we claim the same
privilege as a people, as a church, as the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, and hence, in expressing myself here this
afternoon with regard to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or the
kingdom of God, if I differ from any of this congregation, I have
a right to differ; the congregation has a right to differ from
me; and no man has a right to say, Why do you so? The destinies
of the whole human family are in the hands of God. I shall be
held accountable before the God of heaven--and so will all
men--for the course I pursue in this life.
240
There is one very peculiar feature with regard to the followers
of Jesus Christ, or those that have attempted in other
dispensations to obey the law of heaven, and that is, their
unpopularity in the world from the days of Father Adam to the
present time. Trace it through from the beginning, and you will
find that men who were inspired by Almighty God to go forth and
proclaim any message to the inhabitants of the earth, have been
most unpopular in their day and generation. You will find it has
been so in the whole history of the world. You may go back, for
instance, to the days of Noah. Noah was a preacher of
righteousness. He was called of God. He was warned of God, and
told what to do to save himself and family. The world had become
terribly corrupt, and it was necessary that the people be called
upon to repent. To this end God Almighty raised up a prophet.
That prophet was Noah. He went forth as he was commanded and
preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its purity and truth. He
was commanded to build an ark on dry land. The people laughed at
him and would not believe his testimony. For one hundred and
twenty years he warned the inhabitants of the earth of the coming
flood; but all that he could save were the members of his own
family, some eight souls. The flood came, and all the inhabitants
of the earth, save those who had entered the ark, were drowned.
Their spirits were shut up in prison in the spirit world, and
they remained there until after the death of Jesus Christ; and
while His body lay in the tomb three and a half days He went and
preached to those spirits in prison, where they had been shut up
for thousands of years.
240
As it was with Noah so it was with other Prophets who lived in
ancient days. You may trace the history of Daniel, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the rest down to the days of Jesus Christ,
and you find they were all unpopular in their day and generation.
In consequence of the wickedness that prevailed in the world,
those Prophets were moved upon to prophesy concerning the
destruction of Babylon the great, Ninevah, Tyre, and many other
ancient cities; they declared the word of the Lord to the
inhabitants of these cities, but their testimony was not
believed; and because of their unpopularity, the Prophets were
put to death. Nevertheless, not one jot or tittle of their
predictions fell to the ground unfulfilled.
241
Then, again, you come along down to the days of Jesus Christ. You
trace His life from His birth in a stable to the tomb. Was ever a
man on the earth--a good man like the Savior--so persecuted,
opposed, ridiculed and derided as He was by the Jews, Pharisees,
Sadducees, and the different sects of that day? No matter what He
did it was attributed to him for evil. If He cast out devils it
was attributed to the power of Beelzebub. If He restored the
blind to sight, they were ready to cry out, "You give God the
glory, this man is a sinner." And so in all His works was He
opposed, persecuted and derided. And His Apostles shared the same
fate. Every soul of them--with the exception of John--had to lay
down their lives and seal their testimony with their blood. Some
were beheaded, some were sawn asunder. Even in the case of John
they sought his life, but it was decreed that he should live, and
he remains on the earth to this day--although probably there has
been a change in his body--and will remain until the Son of Man
comes in the clouds of heaven.
241
I speak of these things to show that men of God in all ages of
the world have been unpopular. Jesus warned His disciples with
regard to this opposition. He said to them: "If ye were of the
world, the world would love his own: because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you." Why didn't the world love the Prophets and
Apostles in their day and generation? Why does the whole
sectarian world rise up against Prophets and Apostles in this day
and age of the world? Simply because in former ages they rebuked
sin, and in this age they do the same. They have been
plain-spoken men. They have gone forth and declared the word of
God as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
241
Now, with regard to the day and age in which we live. The Saints
are acquainted with our history as a people. They have a
testimony to bear that the world knows not of. A man must become
acquainted with the Lord, acquainted with the principles of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and receive them before he is qualified to
understand the work of God, or the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God. We read of a man named Nicodemus, who came to
Jesus by night. Said he: "We know that thou art a teacher come
from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him." Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can
a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into
his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, except a man be born of the water and of the
spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." This is the
principle that has been connected with the Gospel of Jesus Christ
in every dispensation of the world.
241
As an organization, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has been in existence now for 53 years. It was organized
in the first place with six members on the 6th day of April,
1830--organized by a Prophet of God, a man raised up by
commandment of God, by inspiration, by revelation, and by the
administration of angels. Every step that he took was taken by
commandment and revelation. He was given to understand by the
angels of God who administered to him that there had been a
falling away from the ancient order of things, and that now the
full set time had come when the God of heaven would again
establish His kingdom on the earth and call forth His Church out
of the wilderness of darkness and error and establish it upon the
foundation of the ancient Apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief
corner stone.
242
Now, any man acquainted with the Scriptures can clearly
understand that there is but one true Gospel. There never was but
one Gospel. Whenever that Gospel has been upon the earth it has
been the same in every dispensation. The ordinances of the Gospel
have never been changed from the days of Adam to the present
time, and never will be to the end of time. While there were many
sects and parties in existence in the early times, Jesus gave his
disciples to understand that there was but one Gospel. He told
them what it was. He declared unto them its ordinances. He
commissioned them to preach the Gospel to every creature. In the
first place they were to preach faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;
next, repentance of sins; next, baptism for the remission of
sins. Baptism was an ordinance taught by the Savior himself. We
find, too, that He obeyed this ordinance, being baptized in the
river Jordan by John the Baptist. Why? To fulfill all
righteousness. It was a righteous law, and it was a type of
baptism to be followed by the whole human family. "He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned." Such was the declaration of the Savior to
the twelve Apostles. People were to be "buried with him by
baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life." What next? Men bearing the Melchizedek
Priesthood--Apostles and Elders--had the authority to lay hands
upon baptized believers for the reception of the Holy Ghost,
which they received and which led them to prophesy of the things
of the kingdom of God; and the signs followed those that
believed. These were the first principles of the Gospel. And Paul
the Apostle, makes this declaration: "But though we, or an angel
from heaven, preach any other Gospel than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed." He repeats this, and
goes on to tell us what the Gospel is, and what the Church of
Christ is, and what it always has been. In the Church were
Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, etc., and
these were "for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all
come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ." The Lord never had--and never will have to
the end of time--a Church on the earth without Prophets,
Apostles, and inspired men. Whenever the Lord had a people on the
earth that He acknowledged as such, that people were led by
revelation. No man can find anything contrary to this. When the
Gospel was given to the Jews, all the gifts and graces and powers
thereof, accompanied it. It was accompanied by the Eternal
Priesthood--which is after the order of the Son of God, without
which no man can administer in the ordinances of life and
salvation. The Savior was a Jew himself. He came to His own
father's house, but they rejected him and put him to death. The
Gospel was then taken from the Jews and carried to the Gentiles.
Paul warned the Gentiles to take heed lest they too fell into
unbelief. But the Gospel was delivered to them with all its
blessings and powers, and remained with them as long as there was
a man upon the earth that had the power to administer in its
ordinances.
243
Now, have the Gentiles had that church and kingdom of God in
their midst since the ancient Apostles were put to death? I think
not. At the present time there are some six hundred three score
and six different religions--different roads to heaven and to
hell--in the world; but none of these bear much resemblance to
the Gospel as taught by Jesus Christ and His Apostles. The whole
Christian world to-day rises up against these Latter-day Saints
because they profess to believe in revelation, in Prophets and
Apostles. This has been the case ever since the organization of
this Church. Do we teach anything that is contrary to the laws of
God? We do not. Do we believe anything that is contrary to the
Gospel as taught in the days of the Apostles? We do not. "But,"
says one, "how did you come by this Gospel?" We came by it
through the administration of an angel from God. John the
Revelator, in speaking of the last day--the opening of the
seals--the blowing of the trumpets--and all that should transpire
before the second coming of the Son of Man--said he saw (among
other things) "another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having
the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the
earth, and 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." When the angel of God delivered
this message to Joseph Smith he told him the heavens were full of
judgments; that the Lord Almighty had set his hand to establish
the kingdom that Daniel saw and prophesied about, as recorded in
the second chapter of Daniel; and that the Gospel had to be
preached to all nations under heaven as a witness to them before
the end should come, and that, too, in fulfillment of the
revelation of God, as given here in the Old and New Testaments.
Joseph Smith never attempted to organize this Church until he
received commandment so to do from God. He never attempted to
baptize a man until he received the Aaronic Priesthood under the
hands of John the Baptist (who was beheaded for the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus). He never attempted to officiate in
any of the ordinances of the Gospel until he received the
Apostleship under the hands of Peter, James and John. These men
appeared to him. They laid their hands upon his head and sealed
the Apostleship upon him with all the power thereof. And these
angels told Joseph Smith to go forth himself and to call upon
other men to go forth unto the world and preach the Gospel as
taught by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and the Lord would back
up their testimony; that when they laid hands upon those who had
been baptized for the remission of sins, and who had received
their testimony, they should receive the Holy Ghost. This was the
proclamation to Joseph Smith 53 years ago.
244
Now, I want to ask this assembly, strangers and Latter-day Saints
alike, what position the Elders of Israel would have been in when
they went forth and made this promise to the inhabitants of the
earth--the promise that if they would receive of our testimony,
repent of their sins and be baptized for a remission of them, and
have hands laid upon them, they should receive the Holy Ghost--I
want to ask, gentlemen and ladies, how long those Elders would
have taught this principle in the nations of the earth if God
Almighty had not backed up their testimony? How long would it
have been, in the absence of this backing, until they would have
been found out to be deceivers? Not a great while. Is there
another set of men on the face of the earth to-day, that dare to
go forth and make that proclamation to the world? No; because
unless they were called of God to make it, He would not back up
their testimony, and it would be known who they were. We have
labored upon this principle for 50 years. You cast your eyes and
you see a tabernacle in the desert; you see a city; and you may
travel for a thousand miles and you will find this Territory
filled with cities, towns, and villages. By what power have these
things been accomplished? I came here on the 24th of July, 1847,
with a little handful of men as pioneers. What did we find? A
barren desert, as barren as the desert Sahara. No mark of the
white man here. No outward sign that a white man could live here.
How has this desert been made to blossom as the rose? Why this
body of people from almost every nation? I will tell you. We
carried the Gospel to Europe, the Islands of the sea, and the
different nations of the earth; we offered them the Gospel, and a
class of men and women--two of a family, and sometimes a dozen of
a city--received our testimony, and when we laid hands upon them
they received the Holy Ghost. That Holy Ghost has remained with
them: it has instructed them and inspired their hearts, and
to-day you see Utah as it is. If the Lord Almighty had not backed
up the testimony of the Elders of Israel as He has done, Utah
to-day would have been as when we found it 36 years ago.
244
This is the condition of the Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith
received these keys, this Priesthood, this power, this Gospel by
the administration of angels from God, and this testimony is
true. He also received a record called the Book of Mormon, which
is a record of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. That
record is true; as also the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, a
code of revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith. These
revelations are true and faithful, and they are being fulfilled
as fast as time will admit. I bear my testimony of these things
to the world, for I know they are true.
244
I traveled thousands of miles with Joseph Smith. I knew his
spirit. Many of the revelations given through him have been
fulfilled. I myself wrote the revelation that was given through
him concerning the war that would take place in this country
between the north and south. That revelation was published to the
world for twenty years before the war. It broke out just as
predicted, and I refer to it because it is one of the revelations
that is fulfilled. To-day we are still preaching the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. The Lord Almighty has set His hand to establish His
Church and kingdom on the earth, to build up Zion in the
mountains of Israel.
245
Now with regard to the Priesthood. We have been found fault with
sometimes because we profess to have the Priesthood. Let me say
to this congregation that our Heavenly Father performs all His
works--the creation of worlds, the redemption of worlds--by the
power of the Eternal Priesthood. And no man on the earth, from
the days of Father Adam to the present time, has ever had power
to administer in any of the ordinances of life and salvation only
by the power of the Holy Priesthood. You will find this to be the
case in the whole history of the Prophets of God. When Aaron was
given the Priesthood he was called by revelation. "No man taketh
this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was
Aaron." Jesus Christ himself had to be called of God. He was a
High Priest. He left the Priesthood on the earth with his
Apostles. They officiated in it until they were put to death. It
is by that power that we administer in this day and generation.
The Church and kingdom of God has continued to grow from its
first organization. It is true we have been called to pass
through many afflictions in our day and time. Nevertheless, the
Lord has preserved His people, and they still live here in the
valleys of the mountains.
245
We have an anxiety to honor God and keep His commandments, and to
honor our country and the Constitution of our Government. That
Constitution we believe was given by revelation, and whatever
laws are passed agreeable to it we desire to honor. It guarantees
to all men the right to enjoy their religion, to worship God
according to the dictates of their conscience.
246
"But," says one, "I would like to know how many wives you have.
That is a matter you have not said anything about." Well, now, I
will tell you a little anecdote in connection with Sidney Rigdon.
The circumstance took place a great many years ago, in Kirtland.
A young Elder just come in met President Rigdon on the street one
day in the vicinity of the Temple. Said the young man: "President
Rigdon, will you please tell me the meaning of the horns of the
beast John saw?" President Rigdon, drawing himself up, looked at
the young man, and replied: "My dear brother, there is a great
deal between you and the beast that John saw," and walked away.
Well, I sometimes think it is so with this generation. There is a
great deal between the people of this generation and the
plurality of wives. There are a great many principles that God
has revealed in these last days that it is necessary for us to
understand before we come to that principle. But as I have
brought the subject up I will say a few words upon it. The Lord
has revealed to us that no kingdom, no king, no prince, no
president, no ordinance of marriage, no ordinance performed by
any man from the days of father Adam, will have any power or
force after death, except those ordinances are performed by men
holding the Eternal Priesthood. Is there a king, is there a
prince, is there a queen,--will either when they pass the other
side of the veil, find a throne there? Would the Czar of Russia,
who was assassinated by the hands of the ungodly not long ago,
when he went into the Spirit world find a throne there? No. Why?
Because the kingdom of the Czar of Russia belonged to time. When
he went into the Spirit world that was the end of his kingdom and
power. His kingdom had not been sealed upon his head by any man
having the power and authority of the Eternal Priesthood. So in
regard to all kingdoms and thrones. You may take Her Majesty
Queen Victoria--who has reigned a long time, and who is perhaps
as good a sovereign as has reigned since the days of William the
Conqueror. When she passes behind the veil she will find her
kingdom at an end, because it was not sealed upon her head for
time and eternity by any man having the authority of the Holy
Priesthood. So I will say to our friends here--the strangers
within our gates--that any man that marries a wife by any other
authority than the authority of the Holy Priesthood is simply
married for time, "or until death do you part." When you go into
the Spirit world you have no claim on your wife and children. The
ordinance of having them sealed to you by one having the
authority of the Holy Priest hood must be attended to in this
world. Father Abraham obeyed the law of the patriarchal order of
marriage. His wives were sealed to him for time and all eternity,
and so were the wives of all the Patriarchs and Prophets that
obeyed that law.
246
I desire to testify as an individual and as a Latter-day Saint
that I know that God has revealed this law unto this people. I
know that if we had not obeyed that law we should have been
damned; the judgments of God would have rested upon us; the
kingdom of God would have stopped right where we were when God
revealed that law unto us. Why have we obeyed it? I obeyed it
because I want my wife or wives with me after death; I want my
wives and children with me in the morning of the resurrection; I
want my wives and children organized in the family organization,
that I may dwell with them and they with me, throughout all
eternity, as well as with Father Abraham and other men who
honored and obeyed that law. This is the position we occupy. We
have obeyed the law because God has commanded us, and I bear
record of its truth; and so far as I am concerned, if I can have
my wives and children with me in the morning of the resurrection,
so that I can dwell with them and with those Patriarchs and
Prophets who obeyed that law, it will amply repay me for the
trials and tribulations I may have had to pass through in the
course of my life here upon the earth. Many men suppose that we
have obeyed that law to gratify the lusts of the flesh. Bless
your soul, if that had been our object, we might have followed
the example of the people of the Christian world--committed
whoredom and adultery--without bringing upon ourselves the cares,
pains, and penalties that we have to bear by obeying this law.
But let me tell you that the Latter-day Saints look upon adultery
as one of the greatest crimes any man can commit in this world.
It is next to murder. No, this people have not obeyed that law
because of a desire to gratify the lusts of the flesh; they have
observed it in obedience to the command of God, and because it
will have power and effect after death.
246
I pray God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us, that our ears may
be open to hear and our hearts to understand the things of the
kingdom of God, which is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Joseph
F. Smith, August 19, 1883
Joseph F. Smith, August 19, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH,
Delivered in Paris, Idaho, Sunday Morning, August 19, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
THE HATRED OF THE WORLD TOWARDS THE PEOPLE OF GOD--THEIR
ACCUSATIONS
AGAINST THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS--THE TRUTHFULNESS OF THE
ACCUSATIONS
REFUTED--THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS WILL COMPARE FAVORABLY WITH ANY
OTHER PEOPLE
ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH--WHY, THEN, ARE THEY
PROSCRIBED?--BECAUSE THE
WORLD HATE THEM--PERSECUTION THE LOT OF THE SAINTS--PAST
PERSECUTIONS AND
THEIR RESULT--THE "MORMON PROBLEM" STILL UNSOLVED, AND MORE
DIFFICULT OF
SOLUTION THAN EVER--LET THE SAINTS LIVE THEIR RELIGION AND THE
LORD WILL
BRING THEM OFF TRIUMPHANT.
F. Smith
I have been extremely interested this morning in listening to the
very excellent remarks of Brother Cannon. I feel that in answer
to the desires and prayers of the congregation the Lord has
blessed Brother Cannon in his remarks, and that through him He
has made plain many very important truths and principles, upon
which it will be well for the congregation to reflect and to
treasure up in their hearts.
F. Smith
My mind was led to reflect, while Brother Cannon was speaking
upon the inconsistency, harshness and unreasonableness of the
world in their attitude towards us as a people, and upon the
manner in which they have sought to deal with what they term "the
Mormon Question." The words of the Savior in relation to the
hatred of the world towards the people of God flashed through my
mind: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore, the world hateth you." Jesus and His disciples
were every where spoken against. Everybody, almost, reviled them.
When Jesus cast out devils, it was said to have been done by the
power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils; that He healed the sick
by the same power; that He restored the sight of the blind by the
same power; and all the works of mercy and charity which He
performed were attributed to the power of Satan. It is very much
the same in this dispensation. No matter how good you may be--you
who profess to be Latter-day Saints--no matter how virtuous you
may be, you are set down by the world as adulterers. No matter
how honest you may be, you are called dishonest. No matter how
innocent you may be of all the crimes that are known, the
sectarian world declare you are unfit to live because of your
corruptions and abominations. No matter how charitable you may
be, they claim that you lack the elements of charity and of
mercy. Consequently they think it behooves them, and "the powers
that be," to move against you for your destruction. It was for
this reason that the Congress of the United States, a little
while ago, was compelled, by an influence and a power that it
could not, or dare not resist, to pass a most unconstitutional, a
most unjust and wicked act for the purpose of depriving an
innocent and unoffending people of their legitimate
rights--rights that belong to them under the constitution of our
country.
F. Smith
Have we sought to injure anybody? Have we sought to deprive any
people of their rights? Have we sought to tear down or to destroy
any part of the earth? Are the vile charges that are made against
us true? No, they are not. You know they are not. There is not a
man or a woman under the sound of my voice this morning but know
as they know they live, that the charges that are made against
the Latter-day Saints are false. They say that we have been, in
years past, in the habit of committing murder! We are charged
with having murdered strangers that came amongst us! We are
charged with having murdered apostate Mormons because they had
apostatized from us! We are charged with oppressing the people,
and with keeping them under tyranny! And those who make these
charges claim that it is because of their influence in Utah--the
influence of the world--of the public press--the presence in our
midst of officers of the law who have been sent by the President
of the United States to rule over us; that this murderous
propensity, and this power for evil that has heretofore been
exhibited by the Latter-day Saints, have been checked!
F. Smith
Now, who is there that is acquainted with the history of Utah, or
with the history of this people, but know that all these things
that have been villainously charged against this people are
libellous and as false as hell. Who does not know that such a
reign of terror never did exist in Utah or among this people
anywhere? I came to Utah in 1848; I have been a resident among
this people from my childhood; I have been cognizant of nearly
everything that has transpired of a public character among the
Latter-day Saints for the last 30 years, and I am a witness and
can and do bear my testimony that all these charges are false,
and that the people to-day are a fair example of what they have
always been from the beginning. Who of you are murderers? Who of
you, professing to be Latter-day Saints, are thieves and robbers?
Who of you, professing the same thing, are adulterers and
whoremongers? Who of you, professing to be Latter-day Saints,
curse and swear and blaspheme the name of God? Who of you would
oppress your neighbor or would rob him of his rights? Who of you,
professing to be Latter-day Saints, would not be ready to protect
the rights and to maintain the liberties of the stranger within
our gates as you would to protect your own rights or those of
your neighbor? Is not this the case to-day? Yes. Was it ever
different to this? Was there ever a different condition of things
existed in the midst of this people? You very well know that
there never was. Men who have done wrong in times past have been
held accountable for their acts to the law by the officers of the
law. Men who to-day are ungovernable and commit crimes are
amenable to the law and must answer for their crimes. This has
always been the case. The Gospel net has gathered of every kind.
But is a whole community to be held responsible for individuals
whose propensities lead them to commit crimes? If we are to be
judged upon that principle, who will be exempt from the same
judgment? If God should judge the world in this manner He would
execute the whole world--none would be exempt. I think as a
community or as communities, we will compare favorably with any
on the face of the earth. I think there will be found far less
crime among the Latter-day Saints than may be found in other
communities of like numbers anywhere else. I believe there is
less crime, less wickedness, less drunkenness, and fewer offences
of any kind among the Latter-day Saints than can be found among
any other people of equal numbers in the world. And in saying
this I am not boasting of the Latter-day Saints; for, surely, if
we are Latter-day Saints, crime and wickedness should have no
part in us. No man professing to be a member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be guilty of any thing
that would cause the blush of shame to appear in the face. On the
contrary we ought to live above suspicion; we ought to live free
from crime, free from wickedness and sin of every description.
Therefore, to say that the Latter-day Saints are the best people
I know of in the world is not saying any thing more than should
be said and can be said honestly and truthfully. We ought not to
be guilty of sin. The teachings of the servants of God have been
toward righteousness, honesty and virtue, and towards every thing
that is calculated to elevate and ennoble mankind. This has been
the burden of the teaching of the servants of God from the day
that the Church was organized until the present time; and if the
Latter-day Saints are not the best people upon the earth, it is
because they have not hearkened to the counsel that has been
given them.
F. Smith
Why, then, should we be proscribed? Why, then, should the people
of the world malign us and seek to blacken our names and our
characters? Why should they seek to bring persecution and evil
upon us? The answer is to be found in the words of the Savior. "I
have chosen you out of the world. And therefore the world hate
you." So long as you maintain the principles of the Gospel; so
long as you defend and practice the principles of virtue, of
truth and of righteousness; so long as you stand by the doctrines
of Christ, which have been revealed through Joseph the Prophet,
through Brigham Young, the Prophet, and through President Taylor
and the oracles of God; so long the world will be arrayed against
you, so long they will hate you and will seek to bring evil upon
you unless they repent. There is no question about it. Many
people will not be convinced. Brother Cannon has alluded to
people who visit us. They may be favorably impressed upon some
points; but still they retain in their hearts a prejudice they
have received concerning us, and they carry it away with them
notwithstanding what they see. This is according to what Jesus
said. They have eyes, but they see not; they have ears, but they
hear not; they have hearts but they do not understand. It is also
said that "there are none so deaf as those who will not hear, and
none so blind as those who will not see." Many of those who visit
Utah, come filled with such an amount of prejudice that they will
not allow their senses to be convinced of the truth. Hence they
go away as prejudiced as when they came. Nevertheless, when men
come with their minds divested of prejudice, who can see and are
disposed to see, and are liberal-minded enough to look at things
in their true light, they do in a measure get correct views and
ideas in relation to us. A few such men have come to Utah, and
gone away enlightened, and have told the truth to the world. But
notwithstanding they tell the truth they are generally
disbelieved as we are when we tell it. We would naturally suppose
that a man like Judge Black, who on legal matters was an
authority in the world, would be believed; but the moment that
man, with all his talent and prestige, stood up in the halls of
Congress and undertook to reason upon the constitutional rights
of the people called the Latter-day Saints, he was denounced and
the soundness of his conclusions questioned by judges, lawyers
and statesmen. He was held up to ridicule because he dared to
discourse upon the constitutional rights of the people called
Latter-day Saints. And it has been so with everybody else that
has dared to speak a word in favor of the people of God having
their rights. It was so with those who dared to speak in favor of
the Son of God and His disciples. Those who dared to do so were
considered unworthy of being believed on oath; their testimony
could not be received; they were partial. And it has become so in
relation to this people. Let any man lift up his voice in the
defense of the people of God, and he will at once be denounced by
a certain influential class and his influence among that class of
people who seem bent upon persecuting the Latter-day Saints will
wane, no matter how much they may have honored his counsels prior
to that.
F. Smith
Will this continue to be the case? Yes, more and more; for as we
increase in union, in faith, intelligence, and in political and
religious influence, the hatred of the wicked will increase
against us. Then will the heathen rage and the wicked imagine a
vain thing; and their efforts to destroy us will proportionately
increase. But will they succeed? Will they accomplish their
desires? Just in proportion as they have done it hitherto, and no
more. When they drove the Latter-day Saints out of Missouri, and
had the Prophet and his companions confined in Liberty Jail, the
world rejoiced in the belief that the backbone of "Mormonism" was
broken. But they had reckoned without their host. They had not
based their calculations upon the facts. The sequel proved that
they had committed a grand mistake. Notwithstanding that General
Clark, on the square in Far West, said to Joseph and his
companions, that their doom was sealed and their die was cast,
they were reckoning without their host. They had not calculated
upon the power of God in these matters. They simply thought they
had Joseph Smith in their power, and that by destroying him they
would destroy "Mormonism." But the Lord delivered him from his
enemies. And from Missouri he came to Illinois. "Mormonism"--as
it is called in the world--from being a village grew into a
city--the City of Nauvoo, one of the most beautiful cities in the
west of America. We became possessed of chartered rights, and
wielded an influence which controlled the county of Hancock, in
the State of Illinois, and which materially affected the
political status of other counties surrounding. We grew from a
handful to an armful, and then the rage of the enemy was again
stirred up until they finally succeeded in taking the lives of
the servants of God, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. At this
they rejoiced and congratulated each other, and concluded that
they had done a good thing. "Mormonism" would now cease to
trouble the world? But again they had reckoned without their
host. Again they had based their calculations upon false
premises. They had not considered the power connected with this
work. They had not contemplated the nature of the power of God.
From Nauvoo we were thrust out into the wilderness, but we sought
out and located in Utah by the guidance of the Almighty. As
Brother George A. Smith used to say, "We came willingly because
we were obliged to." We had no other place to go to. But so far
as accomplishing the object they had in view--the destruction of
"Mormonism"--we know that they failed. From a city we have grown
to a Territory in the United States, and we have been able to
honestly control the Territorial government despite the desires,
the cunning, the craftiness, and all the fraudulent efforts of
our enemies.
F. Smith
Now, if it was difficult for the world to deal with the question
of "Mormonism" in 1838, it was still more difficult for them to
deal with it in 1844. If it was difficult for them to deal with
and handle this "Mormon Question," as they call it, in 1846, when
the people were made wandering outcasts upon the desert; I say,
if it was a difficult thing for the Government of the United
States and for the enemies of this people to deal with the
"Mormon Question" then, is it not a far more difficult question
for them to deal with to-day? As they turn over the wall, lo! it
becomes higher and broader than it was before. As they kick the
mustard plant? lo! the seed is scattered, and it takes root and
springs forth and increases on every hand. Every effort of our
enemies has utterly failed. Let them continue their efforts. Let
them do their worst. God Almighty is at the helm, and if they can
succeed in turning over the wall again they will find that it has
grown larger since they last tipped it over. But they do not want
us to grow in political power. They do not want us to be,
religiously or otherwise, a separate and distinct people from the
rest of the world. They want us to become identified and mixed up
with the rest of the world, to become like them, thereby
thwarting the purposes of God. They hate our union; but they
apparently do not sense that persecution has a tendency only to
make us more united.
F. Smith
Well, it is for us to live our religion. Let us attend to our
duties as Latter-day Saints. Let us continue to be humble and
faithful before God. And if the time should ever come when the
Lord will see fit to allow our enemies to drive us from our
present homes, the result will be similar to what it was when
they drove us out of Nauvoo. They will drive us from the
Territory of Utah into a half a dozen of States, and we may
possibly take possession of them all. They won't believe me, and
they won't believe the Elders of the Church when they tell them
these things plainly. They won't believe us any more than they
would believe Joseph Smith in his day, or Brigham Young in his
day. But what these inspired men said is coming to pass. Every
word that they uttered in relation to the building up of Zion,
and to the progress of the kingdom of God upon the earth will be
fulfilled, and not one jot or tittle will fail. You and I as
individuals may fail, but the work of God cannot fail. It is His
work. He hath decreed its consummation, and no power on earth or
in hell can alter the decree. The work is marching forward, and
if we do not keep pace with it, we must eventually be left
behind. Better far for us to keep up with the rank and file, and
to walk shoulder to shoulder with the authorities of the Church;
with those who have the spirit of the Gospel in their hearts;
with those in whose bones burn the fire of truth and the
testimony of Jesus Christ, who are continually exhorting the
people to be diligent in keeping the commandments of God. We
should do what is right. We should be virtuous, honorable and
charitable, and we should be liberal in our hearts to all
mankind. We can afford to be liberal. We have received that which
pertains to eternal growth, to eternal increase, to eternal
happiness; we have received that which pertains to dominion, and
power, and glory and to thrones and principalities. Freely we
have received, and freely we can afford to give; for in giving we
do not diminish our own store. We can afford, therefore, to
exclaim, (in relation to our enemies) "Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do." We can afford to have sympathy for
them, to beseech God in the name of Jesus, to have mercy upon
them, for they know not the consequences of their acts. It is for
us to work righteousness; for, as President Young remarked in the
Temple at St. George, in 1877, the more righteous we are, the
more united we are; the more diligent we are in keeping the
commandments of God, the less will be the power of our enemies;
their power will diminish in proportion to our faithfulness. Yet
our enemies will rage and their anger will increase against the
work of the Lord; and I presume it is a true saying, that "whom
the gods would destroy they first make mad." The heathen--the
so-called Christian nations--will become mad with rage against
the Latter-day Saints; and thus the world will go on until they
are ripened for destruction. We can afford to be calm and patient
and await God's deliverance; for we know that He is our friend;
that He is on the side of the righteous; and that he will bring
them off triumphant if they continue faithful, which may the Lord
grant in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, August 19, 1883
George Q. Cannon, August 19, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in Paris, Bear Lake County, Idaho,
Sunday Morning, August 19, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
THE SPIRIT OF GOD NECESSARY FOR OUR GUIDANCE--FAILURE OF THE
MEASURES OUR
ENEMIES HAVE ADOPTED AGAINST US--THE OBJECT OF THE EDMUNDS
LAW--WHY ALL
SUCH LAWS ARE FAILURES--THEY ARE FOUNDED UPON FALSEHOOD AND BRING
DISAPPOINTMENT TO THEIR FRAMERS--THE EFFORTS OF OUR ENEMIES PROVE
THE
GROWTH OF THIS WORK--NECESSARY TO PASS THROUGH TRIALS--GOD WILL
ALWAYS
DELIVER HIS PEOPLE--A KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORK OF GOD IS BEING
DISSEMINATED--TWO INFLUENCES AT WORK--MANY OF THE DOCTRINES
TAUGHT BY
JOSEPH SMITH NOW BECOMING POPULAR.
254
In arising to address you this morning, my brethren and sisters,
I trust we shall have the presence and assistance of the Spirit
of God, to lead our minds to those subjects that may be most
appropriate to you and to your circumstances. It is very
desirable that we should have that Spirit to be with us,
desirable both for the speaker and for the hearers, that our
meeting may be mutually profitable. Our condition as a people is
such that we cannot make the progress that is designed by God for
us, unless we have His Spirit given unto us. We are assailed from
many quarters. We have so much to contend with, that it requires
the wisdom of God to direct us, and it requires His Holy Spirit
constantly to be with us to enable us to perform our part in this
great work. Others may get along after their fashion without
direct revelation from God, be we cannot do so. It would be
impossible to build up this work, and to guard ourselves against
the attacks of our enemies and perform the labors that devolve
upon us, unless God should be with us and manifest His power and
make known His mind and His will unto us. This far we have been
thus guided through all the difficulties that have arisen.
Through the aid which God has rendered we have been prepared for
them, and we have been extricated from them, and so it will be
from this time forth, if we live as we should do and avail
ourselves of the promises which He has made. I am always filled
with amazement when I contemplate the wonderful deliverances
which God has wrought out for us. To see us as we are to-day,
dwelling in peace, and free from molestation, enjoying liberty,
notwithstanding all that has been done against us with a design
to disturb and break us up, is to me marvelous. I think that our
whole career, in fact, is marvelous; but if there be anything
connected with our present position that calls forth more wonder
than any other, it is the fact that we are to-day surrounded by
such peaceful circumstances.
255
Our enemies have felt serenely confident that the measures they
had adopted against us would result in the overthrow of this
system called "Mormonism." In a conversation which I had with
Senator Edmunds, of about two hours duration, we went over this
whole subject--I arguing from my standpoint and he from his--and
he seemed to be very confident that the bill which he had
introduced, which afterwards became law, would be effective in
accomplishing the desired end. It was, as he told me, to be one
of a series of measures looking to the final overthrow of our
system. It was supposed by him and by others that if they could
succeed in having a law enacted which would disfranchise men who
were living in plural marriage, and exclude them from office, the
effect would be such as to make them so unpopular that they would
lose their influence and be degraded in the eyes of the most of
the "Mormon" people. It was anticipated that there were a great
many "Mormons" who were secretly opposed to the domination of the
polygamists, as they were called, and who would breathe more
freely if their power should be taken away from them, and who
would vote, as they would say, more independently, and probably
unite with the apostates and the gentiles, and by that means
overthrow the existing rule in the Territory. Now, I am satisfied
beyond any doubt that it was anticipated that by the combination
of these elements--the disaffected "Mormons," the apostates and
the gentiles--the supremacy of this country--that is, of Utah
particularly, and of course the influence would extend into your
Territory--that by the combination of these elements the
supremacy of the Territory would be wrested from the control of
those who had had it in their hands, and that "Mormonism" would
be dealt a deadly blow, and the beginning of the great work of
destroying this organization would be effected. Now, you can
imagine how great the disappointment has been at the results. It
was plain to me--and I guess it was to most of our brethren who
reflected upon this subject--that the measure would be
ineffectual. I took the liberty of telling the advocates of the
Edmunds Bill so, but they did not believe what I said. They felt
that they understood it better than I did, and to-day, the men
who were the most in favor--that is, in Salt Lake City--of the
enactment of the Edmunds law, are the men who are the most
dissatisfied with the results which have been achieved by its
passage; illustrating most perfectly the oft repeated statement
on our part, that our enemies can do nothing against the work of
God, but that every thing they do will contribute to its
advancement and success. We have said this repeatedly. The
experience of 53 years has proved to us that this is the
universal result of measures concocted for the destruction or
overthrow of this work. God has stated it, and has made promises
concerning it, and this incident is but another illustration of
the perfect truth of the promises of God concerning His work.
Instead of being to-day in bondage, we are as free as we ever
have been. Instead of our enemies having control of our country,
we still retain control of it. Now, what new measures will be
adopted remains to be seen. Our enemies are tireless in their
efforts. They will not give up this contest, they will not vacate
the field, they will not consent to our living in peace, but they
will continue their efforts, they will continue their attacks
upon us. There is this advantage, however, that we always
have--we have always had it in the past, we shall have it
doubtless in the future--that the lies that are told concerning
us are believed by our enemies, and accepting these as true, they
frame their measures against us upon that basis; and that being
the fact they always fail, because they do not have a true
conception of the actual condition of affairs. Hence, if there
were no other cause, that of itself is sufficient to foil them in
their expectations. They are deceived concerning us by the many
falsehoods that are told; but, as I say, they accept these as
true and frame their measures upon these misconceptions and the
result is always disappointment, and it always will be.
257
There is this that I am thankful for, connected with this whole
affair. There was a time when the efforts of those who were
arrayed against the work of God, were confined to a limited
circle or sphere. In the beginning it was a neighborhood, and
gradually extended until townships took the matter in hand, and
from townships it extended to counties, and from counties to
States, and we were told as long ago as I can recollect, and it
has been declared from the beginning that it would be the case,
that as this work grew, so opposition should grow against it,
enlarging its circle, extending its influence in proportion to
the work of God, until, we were told, States would array
themselves against this work. We have seen that fulfilled. We
came here, not because the United States had taken steps against
us, but because Illinois and Missouri had expelled us from their
borders, and we could secure no redress for the wrongs that had
been inflicted upon us. But we were told that after a while the
United States itself should oppose the work of God, and in a
national capacity enact measures against it, and that then it
would not be confined to that alone, but that all the nations of
the earth, sooner or later, would array themselves against the
work of God. I am thankful that there is this testimony given
unto us concerning the growth of this work. It is no longer a
county, it is no longer a State, but it assumes now national
proportions. The nation itself, under the influence of bad men,
of unwise legislators, under the pressure of priestcraft which is
brought to bear from all quarters of the land upon the Congress
of the United States--in consequence of this influence we have
now the Edmunds law following the Poland law, and it following
the law of 1862, and probably to be followed by other measures of
an equally proscriptive character, if the majority in Congress
can be secured to pass such laws. God, however, will hold our
enemies in check, and will restrain them, and will not suffer
them to go beyond certain limits; so that we shall not be
overwhelmed, but that we shall have the strength necessary to
withstand the assaults that are made upon us or shall be made
upon us. It is a wise dispensation of His providence that this
should be the case, because if it were not so, with the power
that is arrayed against us, we should be overwhelmed. God,
however, tempers these matters according to our strength and
ability to bear them or to withstand them, and as we grow, so
grows the opposition; as we gain strength, so the opposition to
us gains strength; as we gain experience and knowledge, we become
more capable and achieve a higher position, and we will continue
to do so until Zion will be the head, just as the prophets have
predicted. But it is necessary that we should pass through this
school of experience to test us, to try us, to give unto us the
necessary confidence in ourselves as well as in our God and in
His unfailing promises. Had we been called in the beginning to
pass through such ordeals as we have had of late, it is doubtful
if we could have endured them, unless God had endowed us with an
extraordinary amount of His power. But they have come upon us
gradually. We have met one difficulty after another, one assault
after another, until we have gradually acquired confidence in our
ability to withstand these assaults and to meet them as well as
confidence in our God. Our faith has been increased, and through
the increase of faith we have been enabled to overcome, and thus
it will be unto the end. There will be times, as there have been,
when it will seem as though there is no possible way of escape,
when it will seem as though everything is blocked up before us,
and as though we are about to be swallowed up or destroyed; and
the faith of the people will be tested in this manner, doubtless,
many times in the future, as it has been many times in the past;
but when it will seem the darkest, when the clouds will seem the
most impenetrable, when there will be not a ray to illumine the
pathway of the Saints of God, then God will be near to us to
deliver us, and at the very darkest hour He will dispel the
clouds and provide a way of escape that will excite our wonder,
our admiration and our praise. It was so last year--I mean 1882,
before the passage of the Edmunds law and afterwards. It seemed
as though the spirits of evil had poured out of hell and they had
come upon the earth and were operating against the work of God.
In all my experience I had never met a stronger feeling than
prevailed. It seemed as though the whole nation was aroused from
the center to the extremities. Almost every church in the land,
every priest and every religious organization, was stirred up,
banded together and their influence combined against the work of
God to destroy it. Congress was being pushed forward by a power
which the Members could not resist, and it seemed as though there
would be no stopping place short of our destruction. I expect you
felt it here as the Saints felt it in Utah, and as I felt it in
Washington. The papers, as you will remember, were full of
threats against us. It seemed as though a crisis had arrived in
our affairs. It seemed as though there was no way of escape. But
God still reigned. He comforted the hearts of His servants, and I
was filled with thanksgiving to see the spirit which rested upon
President Taylor and the brethren at home. When I received their
letters I saw that notwithstanding the darkness of the hour and
the threats of our enemies, their hearts were undismayed, and
their confidence in God as unfaltering as ever. God was with His
people. He had not forgotten His promises. And it seemed as
though by one blow or one move, the whole of this opposition was
dissipated. It fell to the ground, the whole fabric of it, and,
like a baseless vision of the night, it melted away and the
sunshine came out; the sun, as glorious as ever, shone down upon
us, and every cloud was removed, apparently, from the heavens
above, and our pathway was bright and clear without obstruction,
and it has been so until the present time.
257
Will there be times again of this character? Yes, undoubtedly. It
is necessary in the providences of our God, concerning this work,
that this should be the case, in order that the faith of the
Latter-day Saints may be tested, and that they may be led to put
their trust in God, who alone can save us in such hours of
extremity and trial. We need not expect that it will always be
sunshine; we need not expect that the heavens will always be free
from clouds, or that our pathway will never be obstructed or
darkened. On the contrary, we shall have these things to contend
with, in order that we may, by contending with them in the faith
and power of God, obtain knowledge concerning His work and His
providences.
257
In the meantime the knowledge of this work is being disseminated.
With it, however, there goes forth a spirit of falsehood. It
would seem as though, with the means of advertising we now have,
and with the opportunities that are presented to men to visit us,
a better understanding concerning us would be reached by thinking
men. Undoubtedly this is the case to a certain extent. But my
observation tells me that with the increase of information there
is also a proportionate increase of misrepresentation and
falsehood. The adversary is more industrious, if possible, in
beclouding the minds of the children of men concerning us and
concerning this work and the objects we have in view than he ever
was. We become more advertised, it is true; but while we are
advertised it is not always in the direction of removing error
and giving correct ideas concerning us. It is a strange fact that
many people who visit Salt Lake City, and visit our Territory,
notwithstanding that which they see, notwithstanding all that is
before them, are deceived respecting us; they do not get a
correct idea concerning our motives nor the objects we have in
view, nor the character of our organization. They look at us
through spectacles that distort us. You have seen, probably,
glasses that change the appearance of things. It is so with their
views. They cannot look at these things as we look at them. From
such individuals the power of correct observation seems to be
taken away by the power of darkness and the effect of falsehood
upon their minds. This is a remarkable fact. I have been struck
with it very much of late. Many intelligent men and women visit
us, and they mingle among us; but at the same time they have
ideas in their minds concerning us which seem to deprive them of
the power of judging of us correctly, and they go away convinced
on some points, but still retain many of the old ideas that have
been implanted in their minds by falsehood concerning us. Of
course, there are many from whose minds prejudice is removed and
whose feelings become friendly.
258
We need not expect, however, that we can escape the power of
prejudice; for the reason that there are two influences at
work--the power of God and the power of Satan. Satan is as busy
darkening the minds and beclouding the understandings of the
children of men as he ever was, and the inhabitants of the earth
having rejected the truth, being unwilling to receive the Gospel
of the Son of God when it is presented to them, are left a prey
to other influences and to the spirit of darkness; therefore,
they are incapable of judging concerning the work of God. Will
this continue to be the case? Undoubtedly it will. There will be
no change in this respect. The work of God will be accomplished
on the earth, it will roll forth, the predictions of the prophets
will be fulfilled, and men will see their fulfillment. Yet,
notwithstanding this, they will reject the testimony of the
servants of God. It is very remarkable that this should be the
case with the evidences there are, which are so plain and
palpable and indisputable to us.
258
It was only a few days before I left home that some Members of
Congress, with whom I was acquainted, came to the city. One very
intelligent man and his wife were among them. I took them around,
showed them our public buildings and other places of interest,
and in conversation concerning the Temple, when I was showing
them that structure, I explained to them to some extent its
character and the objects for which it was being erected. I
called their attention to the fact that while we had believed for
forty years and upwards that there was a space between death and
the resurrection, and that in that space there were opportunities
for men and women to hear the Gospel of the Son of God, and to
accept it, not, however, the purgatory of the Catholics--that
while we had believed that for forty years and upwards, God
having revealed it unto His servant Joseph Smith, the world was
just beginning to entertain the same belief, and popular
preachers were beginning to advocate the correctness of the idea
or of the doctrine that there was a chance for repentance beyond
the grave. These people with whom I conversed were intelligent,
and they were of a religious turn of mind and familiar with
religious affairs. They stated that they had heard such doctrines
lately advocated. I then explained to them about the millions of
the dead, of the pagans and others who had died in ignorance of
the Gospel. "Now," said I, "how can you understand, upon any
other principle than this, the justice of our God towards them?
They have been dead for hundreds of years in entire ignorance of
the name of Jesus, the only name given under heaven whereby man
can be saved. Shall they be consigned to endless torment, because
of their lack of opportunity? Would that," I asked, "be
consistent with our ideas of justice?"
258
They admitted that it would not.
259
"Well," said I, "upwards of forty years ago, the Prophet Joseph
Smith had revealed to him from God, this principle, that there
were opportunities beyond the grave for men and women to learn
the plan of salvation, and we are building temples for the
benefit of these dead, as well as the living." I then explained
to them the doctrine of the baptism for the dead--what Paul had
said concerning it. To them it opened a new field of thought and
reflection; and it is a remarkable fact that at the present time
the religious world, the orthodox religious world, are beginning
to entertain some of the views that Joseph Smith preached and
advocated upwards of forty years ago, concerning these matters.
There are popular ministers who do advocate the idea contained in
the epistle of Peter, where he speaks about Jesus going and
preaching to the spirits in prison, and they see nothing
unreasonable in this doctrine; on the contrary, it comports with
their ideas, and with the justice and mercy of our God. The world
are gradually adopting many of the views that the Latter-day
Saints have entertained. There are many doctrines that we have
taught that were very unpopular in the beginning that they now
receive. Why, there are Elders in this congregation who can well
remember that it was a common belief, when they preached the
Gospel to religious people, that the world was created out of
nothing. That was a commonly received idea. Joseph Smith taught
the eternal duration of matter. He taught the doctrine that
matter was indestructible; that it never had a beginning; that it
never could have an end; that it might undergo chemical changes,
but that it was indestructible, and that the elements of which
the earth is composed were eternal--never had a beginning and
never would have an end. The whole religious world were shocked
at such an idea, and so in regard to the time occupied in the
creation of the earth. But Joseph taught the true principle
connected with this. He said the days mentioned as occupied in
the creation were not our days of twenty-four hours' length, but
were periods of time. Now, that is a commonly received doctrine,
although it was sneered at and rejected by religious men at the
time it was taught by the Elders of this Church. And so it has
gone on. I might enumerate a great many doctrines that God
revealed, that the world has gradually adopted, which at some
time they rejected, rejecting entirely the source whence they
came, rejecting God as the author, and rejecting His Prophet as
the medium through which these doctrines have been received and
taught. It is only a day or two ago that I saw a book published
by Josiah Quincy, a relative of John Quincy Adams, in which he
relates an interview he had with the Prophet Joseph, at Nauvoo.
He relates in that interview, that the Prophet Joseph stated to
him his proposition for the emancipation of the slaves, and he
(Quincy) declares that it was worthy the consideration of all
Christian statesmen. Ralph Waldo Emerson--the philosopher of
Concord--eleven years after this, not acknowledging that Joseph
had made a similar proposition, threw out the same idea, but that
was at a time, as Quincy says, when men's minds were stirred up
on this question of slavery. "But," says he, "what shall be
thought of the man who, eleven years previous, when no one was
disturbed about the question, made such a proposition; and which
he made not only to me verbally, but which he published and
advocated?"
259
To my mind this is strong testimony concerning the wisdom that
God had given to the Prophet Joseph, which was so far ahead of
that generation that they could not comprehend nor receive it.
260
Thus the world are gradually acknowledging the wisdom that God
has given to His servants. Thus they are adopting the truths that
are revealed. Thus the influence of this work is being felt
throughout Christendom, and its effect is more marked than many
of us imagine. We cannot comprehend to the full extent the effect
that the work is having upon the world, and what God is doing
through us, although we are but a feeble people. The influence of
this work is spreading. Why, it is now a very common thing for
people to believe in the sick being healed by the prayer of
faith. You see allusions to it in the public newspapers of the
day, and there are other evidences which go to show the influence
that this work and the teachings of the Elders of this Church is
having upon the nations of the earth. And so it will be in all
matters pertaining to government. Every day we are growing in
strength, every day we are growing in influence, every day our
influence is becoming more potent and wide reaching in its
effects, and the people of the nation of which we form a part are
becoming cognizant of it. Leading men admit it. They are
conscious of it. They will not admit it in words to the fullest
extent. But their movements against this work bear testimony that
they, in their secret souls, feel that there is a power, an
influence, and a might connected with this work that are sooner
or later to make themselves felt. A people such as we are, men
can readily see, must have a great influence in the affairs of
the nation. We are possessed of every qualification that makes a
people great. We are destitute of no single qualification that
contributes to true greatness in an individual or in a nation;
and a people possessing these qualifications will make themselves
felt in the struggle for existence with other powers.
260
Another thing. While there are people belonging to our nation and
to other nations who are fading away because they destroy the
fecundity of their females and take no delight in posterity, in
the midst of these mountains every married woman deems it an
honor to be a mother, and feels it to be a deprivation not to
bear the souls of the children of men.
260
I pray God to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and fill those who
speak unto you with His power, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, June 24th, 1883
John Taylor, June 24th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
Delivered at Parowan, Sunday Morning, June 24th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
TRUTH ALWAYS THE SAME--DUTIES OF THE SAINTS--OFFICERS
PRESENT--WHERE THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE GOSPEL ORIGINATED--CHARACTER OF ABRAHAM--HOW HE
WAS
TRIED--HIS PROGENY--DUTIES OF THE PRIESTHOOD--TRIALS OF THE
SAINTS--CHARITY
REQUIRED--HOW TRANSGRESSORS SHOULD BE DEALT WITH--EXHORTATION TO
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
261
Elder George Reynolds, at the request of President Taylor, read
Christ's "Sermon on the Mount," after which,
262
President Taylor spoke as follows: I have had a long discourse
read over in your hearing. I do not know that we can listen to
anything better than to instructions given by the Savior; and in
that discourse is a great amount of intelligence, wisdom,
thought, reflection, principle and doctrine presented to our
minds. It is full of thought, full of intelligence, and presents
to us principles that connect earth with heaven, man with God,
and with which are interwoven all our best interests in time and
throughout eternity. It is well, therefore, to reflect upon these
things--upon the doctrines, teachings and instructions given by
our Savior and by ancient men of God, who were under the
inspiration of the Almighty, and who spake as they were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost. For if the principles which were
enunciated by our Savior in His day, were correct, they are just
as true and correct to-day as they were then, and they are quite
as applicable to us as they were to the people to whom He
addressed Himself; for they are general principles, and some of
them refer to things that are personal, that are associated with
our every-day life, and with the spirit and feeling that we
ought, as Saints of the Most High God, to be in possession of.
Indeed I very much question whether we could find in the same
space as comprehensive an exposition of ideas or principles
enunciated by any person that ever spake, as are found in this
sermon which was delivered by Jesus upon the Mount. We should
have esteemed it a great privilege to have listened to the Son of
God, yet we can read His words to-day, and the principles He
taught, as I have said, are just as true and important now as
they were then.
262
I desire to speak a little this morning upon some of the duties
and responsibilities which devolve upon us as Latter-day Saints,
and I feel that--as I often hear the Elders say--I would like to
have an interest in your faith and prayers. I like to have the
prayers, the faith and confidence of good men and good women, and
I feel this morning that I am among good men and good women who
are desirous to do the will and keep the commandments of God our
heavenly Father--that is, this is the general feeling.
264
I will say I have been pleased to meet here and greet some of our
Presidents of Stakes and other brethren from a distance. Here is
Brother McAllister from St. George, and some others who have
accompanied him from that region. They have traveled over a hot,
sandy desert, quite a long distance to meet with us and to meet
with you. Again, here is another President of Stake--Brother
Crosby--who has come over these big mountains from Panguitch and
I think some of his folks have come with him from that Stake.
Then again, here is Brother Murdock, who has come 35 miles with
us, and then you might double that distance by two or three
times, for he was at Milford to meet us, and some of his folks
are also with us. Then we had the President of Millard
Stake--Brother Hinckley--who was with us for several days. It
gives me great pleasure to meet with these my brethren of the
Priesthood, especially with the Presidents of Stakes and their
Counselors, because they hold important positions in the Church
and kingdom of God, and I greet you and bless you in the name of
the Lord. There is a spirit exhibited which shows that the
brethren feel interested in the things pertaining to the kingdom
of God, and that of all others is the thing in which we ought all
of us to be interested. [President Cannon: We have also with us
Brother Erastus Snow and Brother Jacob Gates.] President Taylor:
Oh, yes. We expect them to be everywhere, as we are. We have
specially dedicated ourselves to God, as active servants in His
vineyard; we have dedicated ourselves to do the will of God, and
to assist in carrying out His purposes, and we feel quite happy
in the labor. And I should have been very much pleased, and so
would Brother Cannon--and I do not know but what he wants me to
say something about him being here--(laughter). [Brother Cannon:
Oh, no.]--we should have been pleased to have stayed in the
country a few days longer, but we cannot do so; that is, we have
other duties devolving upon us, and we ought to be in Salt Lake
City on Tuesday next. At one time we could not very easily have
done this, but we have found out the way--at least, there is a
way provided. The Lord has blessed us with many blessings. He has
caused us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He
has granted unto us His Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds, and
to teach us the principles of righteousness. He has called us to
do a great work. How great, could I tell you? No. Could you
understand if I did? No, you could not. But He has called us to
do a great work--a work in which God our heavenly Father is
interested, a work in which Jesus the Mediator of the new
covenant is interested, a work in which Adam is interested, a
work in which Seth, Methuselah, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Moses and the Prophets are interested, a work in which the
Apostles that officiated on the continent of Asia are interested,
a work in which the Apostles that officiated on this continent
are interested, as well as Lehi, Nephi, Moroni, and others, who
operated here in the cause of God, and who sought to carry out
His purposes in this land. It is a work in which all men that
have ever lived upon the face of the earth are interested. It is
a work in which the Gods in the eternal worlds are interested. It
is a work that has been spoken of by all the holy Prophets since
the world was. It is called the "dispensation of the fullness of
times," wherein God will gather together all things in one,
whether they be things in the heavens or things in the earth. It
is a dispensation in which all the holy Prophets that ever lived
upon the face of the earth are interested. They prophesied about
it as the grand and great consummation in the accomplishment of
the purposes of God; purposes which He designed before the
morning stars sang together, or the sons of God shouted for joy,
or this world itself rolled into existence. It is a work in which
we, our progenitors and our posterity are especially interested.
And we are gathered together from among the nations of the earth
in order that we may be taught of God, that we may understand the
law of God, and the principles of life and salvation; a salvation
that extends not only to ourselves, but to all mankind. We are
gathered together here that we may be placed especially under the
tuition and guidance of the Lord, that we may feel and realize
that which the ancient Israelites expressed when they said, "The
Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our
king"--and He shall rule over us, and we will be his people; and
we His latter-day Israel, will acknowledge Him in all things; for
we are a chosen people, a royal Priesthood, selected by the God
of Israel for the accomplishment of His purposes, for the
organization and purification of His Church, for the
establishment of His Kingdom, and for the building up of His Zion
on the earth. We are indebted to God for the revelation of all
those principles that we to-day possess, whether they relate to
the Church of God, to the Zion of God, or to the kingdom of God;
so far as any principles thereof have been made manifest and
developed unto us they are truly, positively and unequivocally
the gift of God our heavenly Father. They did not originate with
us. They did not originate with any man that lived on the earth,
for no man knew them. They did not originate with Joseph Smith,
or with Brigham Young, or with myself, or with the Apostles, or
with any class of men in this Church. They are the gift of God to
His people, to His children who dwell upon the earth. He has
offered these principles freely to the nations of the earth.
Thousands and millions of people who have heard them have not
received nor obeyed them; but you have--that is, I speak
generally, not individually, for some have not obeyed them. Many
Latter-day Saints do not comprehend their position. They do not
understand the relationship that exists between God and
themselves. They do not understand the responsibility of the
position that they occupy; some such hold the Holy Priesthood,
and others are not in the Holy Priesthood. After so many years of
teaching and instruction, and the many opportunities that we have
had, we come far short of comprehending the principles of life,
truth and intelligence which God has seen fit to make manifest to
us, and the world do not comprehend them at all. And why cannot
they? Because Jesus said very positively in His day, that except
a man was born again he could not see the kingdom of God, and
unless he was born of the water and of the Spirit, he could not
enter into the kingdom of God, and they do not understand it. We
cannot help that. But if we could comprehend our own positions
and realize the blessings that we have enjoyed, and do now enjoy,
and the prospect that lies before us in consequence of God having
inclined our hearts to yield obedience to the Gospel of the Son
of God, we should call upon our souls and all that is within us,
to bless His holy name. We should thank God from morning till
evening, that we have the privilege of being Latter-day Saints.
We should thank Him for the light and intelligence that we have
already received, and we should seek for a closer communion with
Him that we might comprehend more fully the duties that devolve
upon us, and feel in our hearts to do the will of God on earth,
as angels do it in heaven. We should do this if we could
comprehend our true position, and some of us do comprehend it in
part. We see in part, we understand in part, we prophesy in part,
etc., but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in
part will be done away with. The Lord has gathered us together,
and is seeking to introduce among this people the principles of
Zion, that we may be pure in heart, pure in spirit, pure in our
actions, and that we may all of us feel like saying: "O God,
search my heart, and try my reins, search me and prove me, and if
there is any way of wickedness within me, bid it depart; show it
to me that I may overcome it, that I may gain the victory, that I
may be worthy to be thy son, that I may be worthy to have Thy
blessing and Thy Spirit, and the intelligence that dwells with
Thee imparted to me; that I may walk according to Thy laws and
fulfill the various duties and responsibilities that devolve upon
me." That is the kind of feeling we should have if we could
realize and comprehend our position. We would seek after the
Lord.
266
In the discourse read by Brother Reynolds, this morning, it says,
among other things: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness; for they shall be filled." I also read with
regard to Abraham: He was a man of God, and he tells us in his
history that he was a follower after righteousness; that he
desired to obtain more righteousness, and that upon examining
into the history of his fathers, he found that he had a right to
the Priesthood and sought ordination, and he received that
ordination. He was ordained by Melchizedek, who was prince of
Salem, and a servant of the Most High God, and held the
Priesthood called after his name. It is the Priesthood which is
after the order of the Son of God, a Priesthood which possesses
the power of an endless life. Abraham received a knowledge of
these things; and when he obtained the Priesthood what did he do?
Did he, after the manner of some religionists, "sing himself away
to everlasting bliss?" No, he did not. What then did he do? He
kept seeking after more righteousness. Jesus recognized that
principle in his sermon--"Blessed are they which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." Abraham
sought the Lord diligently, and finally he had given unto him a
Urim and Thummim, in which hewas enabled to obtain a knowledge of
many things that others were ignorant of. I think the meaning of
the name of this instrument is Light and Perfection, in other
terms, communicating light perfectly, and intelligence perfectly,
through a principle that God has ordained for that purpose. Did
Abraham stop there? No; he did not rest until he could
communicate with God Himself. Jesus says: "Blessed are the pure
in heart for they shall see God." The Lord appeared to Abraham,
and told him many things. And in proportion to the blessings
which He conferred upon him, the Lord exacted from Abraham strict
obedience to His law, to His word, and to His will, and He tried
him to the uttermost. He gave unto him a son. Sarah laughed at
the idea when the Lord told her she would have a son. At her time
of life--she was 90 years old--it did look a little odd. The Lord
asked her what she laughed at. She denied that she had laughed,
but He said, "Nay, but thou did'st laugh." There were to be
certain blessings associated with this son. The Lord also told
Abraham that He would bless him exceedingly, and make him a great
man upon the earth. Finally, this son was born. But there came,
after a time, a time of trial of Abraham's faith. In substance
the Lord said to him: "Now, Abraham, take thy son Isaac. You
received him from me," the same as we all do, if we could
understand it, but we do not--he was a son of promise--a great
many people are not sons of promise, but still are no less the
children of God, for God is the God and father of the spirits of
all flesh--"Take thy son and offer him up as a sacrifice."
"What!" said Abraham. No; I do not believe that He said that; but
I will suppose what He might have said: "Why, Lord, did you not
tell me that you would establish your covenant with Isaac, for an
everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him, and that I
should become a great and mighty nation, and that all the nations
of the earth would be blessed in me?" "Yes." "And now you tell me
to offer my promised son as a sacrifice? What are you going to do
about it?" "You have got to obey me, that is all." Abraham did
not begin to question the Lord if He could find a precedent for
such a thing in the Scriptures, or whether such a thing had ever
taken place anywhere else. No; he proceeded to carry out the
commandment of the Lord. I fancy I can see Abraham undergoing
this trial. I wonder what his feelings were. What would your
feelings be if you were commanded to sacrifice your promised son?
Well, Abraham took his son into the mountain. They built an
altar. And finally Isaac said to his father: "Behold the fire and
the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" What would
you have thought if you had been in Abraham's place? Yet Abraham
was a righteous man and sought after righteousness, sought after
God, and God had talked with him, and blessed him in a very
remarkable manner, and given him a son where there was no
prospect naturally of his wife Sarah having one. How would you
have felt, you fathers here, if you had been placed in the same
position? But Abraham nerved himself up and said: "My son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering--thou thyself
art that lamb!" He thereupon bound Isaac, and laid him on the
altar. He lifted the knife, and was about to strike the fatal
blow, when the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven
and said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou
anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. And
Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold behind him a
ram caught in a thicket by his horns, and Abraham went and took
the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of
his son." And the Lord said, "Because thou hast done this thing
and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I
will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed, as
the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed."
266
I speak of these things to show how men are to be tried. I heard
Joseph Smith say--and I presume Brother Snow heard him also--in
preaching to the Twelve in Nauvoo, that the Lord would get hold
of their heart strings and wrench them, and that they would have
to be tried as Abraham was tried. Well, some of the Twelve could
not stand it. They faltered and fell by the way. It was not
everybody that could stand what Abraham stood. And Joseph said
that if God had known any other way whereby he could have touched
Abraham's feelings more acutely and more keenly he would have
done so. It was not only his parental feelings that were touched.
There was something else besides. He had the promise that in him
and in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed;
that his seed should be multiplied as the stars of the heaven and
as the sand upon the sea shore. He had looked forward through the
vista of future ages and seen, by the spirit of revelation,
myriads of his people rise up through whom God would convey
intelligence, light and salvation to a world. But in being called
upon to sacrifice his son it seemed as though all his prospects
pertaining to posterity were to come to naught. But he had faith
in God, and he fulfilled the thing that was required of him. Yet
we cannot conceive of anything that could be more trying and more
perplexing than the position in which he was placed.
267
Now, although I have said considerable in regard to Abraham, yet
I will say a word or two more. God said that in his seed should
all the nations of the earth be blessed. Who was Isaac, and who
was Jacob? Heirs with him to the same promise. Who was Moses? A
man that was raised up to lead the children of Israel out of
Egypt. Who was he? A descendant of Abraham. Who were the Prophets
from whom we receive the Bible? The seed of Abraham. Who were the
prophets from whom we received this Book of Mormon? They were the
seed of Abraham. Who was Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant?
Of the seed of Abraham. Who were the Apostles? Of the seed of
Abraham. Who were the people that came to this continent? The
seed of Abraham. Who were the Apostles that were raised up here?
They were the seed of Abraham. Who was Joseph Smith, the Prophet
of God, raised up in these last days? He was a descendant of
Joseph, the son of Jacob, and his father's name was Joseph, as
had been anciently prophesied should be the case, when the work
he should perform was being referred to. Who are this people? A
great many are of the seed of Abraham. And what is God doing with
us? Has He raised us up to injure mankind? No. For what are the
Twelve Apostles appointed? To preach the Gospel to all mankind.
What are these 76 Quorums of Seventies for? Here is one of their
Presidents. What are those quorums for, Brother Gates? [Brother
Jacob Gates: To preach the Gospel to all the world.] Yes; to
preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth--messengers of
Jehovah, to communicate the glad tidings of salvation to a fallen
world, to declare that the heavens have been opened, that God has
spoken, that the eternal principles of life have been revealed,
and that we are commissioned to make known unto the nations of
the earth the glad tidings of salvation which God has ordained.
Again, what are the Elders for? The same thing. Then come other
principles. We are gathered together here that we might be taught
of God, that we might be placed under His tuition, under His
guidance and under His direction. As it is written: "They shall
teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least
of them to the greatest of them." We are here to learn of His
ways and to walk in His paths.
268
We are living, as I said, in "the dispensation of the fullness of
times," when God will gather together all things in one, whether
they be things on the earth or things in the heavens, whether
they appertain to Adam, or Seth, or Enos, or Mahalaleel, or
Methuselah, or Noah, or Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, or the
Prophets, or Jesus, or the people that have lived in the
different ages who have possessed the Gospel of the Son of God;
people on this continent or any other continent. They are all
interested in this work. All heaven is engaged in carrying out
the work that we are engaged in to-day. They are looking upon us
and watching our acts, and are interested in this great work. And
God will say, to-day, as he did in former times: "Touch not mine
anointed, and do my prophets no harm." And I say woe to them that
lift their hands against the anointed of God, for God will be
after them. We have a work to perform. We have to build up the
Church and kingdom of God, and to see that the principles of
purity and the law of God are enforced. Let me speak upon this.
The Scriptures say: "And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Again, the Scriptures
say: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man
soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the
spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." Being gathered
together as we are, and having our organization of the First
Presidency, of the Twelve Apostles, of the Presidents of Stakes
and their counselors, of the Bishops and their counselors, of
High Councils, of Priests, Teachers and Deacons, and of all the
associations and organizations of the Holy Priesthood, according
to the pattern that exists in the heavens--God having placed us
in this position, He expects that every one of us will fulfill
the duties devolving upon us. If the Presidents of Stakes do not
do their duty aright, it becomes the duty of the First Presidency
to call them to an account, and if the First Presidency do not do
their duty, it becomes God our heavenly Father, or Jesus the
Mediator of the new covenant, to call them to an account, and it
is woe to those men if they do not perform their duties aright.
Then it becomes the duty of the Twelve to fulfill the callings
and responsibilities devolving upon them, and to carry out and
fulfill the word, the will and law of God. And who has a right to
depart from that? God has introduced laws into His Church for the
purification of His people. How was if formerly? God placed in
His Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists,
etc. What for? To be so many dummies? No. But for the perfecting
of the Saints. What else? For the work of the ministry. What
else? For the edifying of the body of Christ. How long? "Till we
all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, into a perfect man, into the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may
grow up into him in all things." In other words, that we may be
one with Christ as He is one with the Father, and operate
together every man in his place, and then God for us all. Hence
it is for us to purify ourselves as God is pure.
268
I have heard sometimes that you have hard struggling in some of
these southern countries, especially a little further south. I
presume you have. I presume you have difficulty sometimes in
making both ends meet. But we won't cry about it after all. We
might be a great deal worse off, and I have seen the time when we
were a great deal worse off than we are to-day. Have not you?
[Several voices: "Yes."]
269
You are all well clad. You do not look as if you were starved to
death, or anything of that kind. We want to cultivate the
principles of life, to train up our children in the right way,
and to place ourselves in a proper position to fear God and to
carry out His laws. And about our riches or about our poverty it
will not make much difference not a great while hence. It will
not make very much difference whether we are poor or whether we
are rich. But it will make a great difference whether we are
honorable or not; whether we are men and women of virtue or not;
whether we are free from covetousness or not; and whether we keep
the commandments of God and live our religion or not; it will
make a very great difference whether we do these things or
whether we do not. And did you ever think that it became
necessary in times past, so we read in the Bible,--for the Lord
to allow the Philistines and the Midianites and others to become
thorns, as it were, in the side of the children of Israel, in
order to bring them to righteousness. Did you ever read of such
things? I have in my Bible. And if the Lord suffers us to be
tried we will be tried; and we will say, "lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil." We will pray as Jesus
taught His disciples to pray. We will say: "Our Father who art in
heaven; O, God, my Father, O Thou that art the Father of my
spirit and of my flesh, and that watchest over me and art
interested in my welfare, let me reverence Thy holy name. If Thou
conferest upon me the good things of life, I will thank Thee for
them. Give me my daily bread. Forgive me my sins as I forgive
those that sin against me." I see people sometimes full of wrath
and indignation against their neighbors, and they sometimes say,
"I will never forgive them as long as I live." Then you will
never be a Saint as long as you live. I have heard our sisters
say such things. You would not think it of them, but it is true.
God teaches us to pray for a forgiveness of our sins, as we
forgive those that trespass against us. Is not that the principle
laid down? Yes. "How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him? Till seven times?" enquired Peter of the Savior.
"Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times;
but until seventy times seven"--that is if he repent. Well, I
have seen such folks. They are all the time sinning and all the
time repenting. We look upon them as "weak sisters." But we can
perform our part with them. For if we forgive not men their
trespasses, how shall God forgive us our trespasses? "Lead us not
into temptation; but deliver us from evil; for thine is the
kingdom." What? "For thine is the kingdom." What, God's? Yes.
What kingdom? In Him pertains all the powers, and kingdoms, and
authority over the whole earth. But who acknowledges His
authority? We see kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation,
power against power; confusion, disunion and anarchy everywhere
prevailing. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom
come." What is implied in this expression? What is meant by a
kingdom? It signifies power, rule, authority, dominion. Whose
kingdom was it to be? God's kingdom. What! God to bear rule and
have dominion over the earth? So it is said:
269
"There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations and languages should serve Him: His dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
269
And it is elsewhere said:
269
"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom
under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints
of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and
all dominions shall serve and obey Him."
270
And what else? The gold and the silver are God's, and the cattle
upon a thousand hills. All that we possess is the gift of God. We
should acknowledge Him in all things. We sometimes talk about men
having this right and the other right. We have no rights only
such as God gives us. And I will tell you what He will show to
the Latter-day Saints. He will yet prove to them that the gold
and the silver are His, and the cattle upon a thousand hills, and
that He gives to whom He will, and withholds from whom he
pleases. He will yet show you this is a matter of fact. Our
safety and happiness, and our wealth depend upon our obedience to
God and His laws, and our exaltation in time and eternity,
depends upon the same thing. If we have means placed in our
hands, we will ask our Father to enable us to do what is right
with it, and, as I have said, we will ask Him for our daily
bread, and thank Him for it; just the same as the children of
Israel did. They had manna brought to them from time to time by
the angels. I do not know what kind of mills they had or who were
their bakers; but they brought the manna. "He that gathered much
had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack." I
think that is the case sometimes with us. The angels do not feed
us exactly with manna, but God does take care of us, and I feel
all the day long like blessing the name of the God of Israel: and
if we fear God and work righteousness, as I told you yester day,
we, the people of Zion, will be the richest of all people.
270
What then shall we do? We will fear God, keep His commandments,
and observe His laws. We will not seek to do our own will, but
the will of God our Heavenly Father, and if we do the will of God
our heavenly Father, we have to be taught what that will is. And
then we have to be taught it, too, through the proper channels.
You may every one of you, ask God to guide and direct you, and He
will show you the right path. But we have to be obedient to the
authorities of His Church. You have a President of Stake here,
and ought to be obedient to him. You have Bishops, and you ought
to listen to their counsel. You have teachers, and they ought to
perform their duties faithfully and diligently, and you ought to
be subject to their counsels. And we ought all of us to seek to
fear God, keep His commandments, and obey His laws, and God will
bless us.
270
There is another principle I desire to speak about. We have no
right to condone the sins of men and pervert the order of God in
His Church. Now, I want you Presidents of Stakes and you Bishops
to listen to this. If men transgress the law of God, it is your
duty to see after it, and to call upon them to repent, and if
they do not repent, they ought to be removed out of the Church.
For it is only he that doeth righteousness that is righteous, and
God has instituted laws and expects us to be governed by them. We
are not to be harsh masters. I will have read something on this
subject from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
270
"Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen?
270
And why are they not chosen?
270
"Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this
world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn
this one lesson--
270
"That the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with
the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be
controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
* *
270
"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of
the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by
gentleness, and meekness and by love unfeigned," etc., etc.
271
There is no authority associated with the Holy Priesthood except
on the principle of persuasion, and no man has a right to plume
himself upon any position he occupies in this Church, for he is
simply a servant of God, and a servant of the people, and if any
man attempts to use any kind of arbitrary authority, and act with
any degree of unrighteousness, God will hold that man to an
account for it, and we all of us have to be judged according to
the deeds done in the body. We are here as saviors of men, and
not as tyrants and oppressors. But at the same time if men do not
and will not yield obedience to the laws of God, then it becomes
the duty of those who preside over them to see that the law of
God is carried out, and that these unrighteous men are severed
from the Church. We have had adulterers among us, and wherever I
have heard of them I have directed that they be severed from the
Church. Why? Because I cannot permit it, and God will not permit
it. Who is it that will be outside of the Eternal City by and by?
The liar, the hypocrite, the whoremonger, the sorcerer, and the
adulterer--they shall be with the dogs outside of the city. Now,
I do not want to try to drag such men in. We have no right to
tamper with these things. God expects us to begin to walk up to
the line, and to perform the several duties that devolve upon us.
We must honor our God, and purge the Church from unrighteousness.
I have had cases come before me in regard to adultery. There is a
law in relation to that--that is, when they have not entered into
the new and everlasting covenant, and taken upon themselves
obligations associated with the celestial law--that if a man
commits adultery he shall make an acknowledgement of it before
the Church--that is, if it is his first offense, and he has not
sinned in this wise before. If it is his first offense, and he
repents, he shall be forgiven, but if he does it a second time he
shall be cast out. But when we come to other things--things that
are more serious--when men have entered into covenants associated
with the celestial law and taken upon themselves obligations
pertaining thereto, it is a different matter. I will read a
little from the revelation:
271
"And as ye have asked concerning adultery--verily, verily, I say
unto you, If a man receive a wife in the new and everlasting
covenant, and if she be with another man, and I have not
appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed
adultery and shall be destroyed.
271
"If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be
with another man, she has committed adultery. * * *
271
"And again, as pertaining to the law of the Priesthood. If any
man espouse a virgin, and desires to espouse another, and the
first gives her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they
are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he
justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him,
for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him
and to no one else.
271
"And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot
commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto
him, therefore is he justified.
271
"But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused,
shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall
be destroyed."
272
Here is a principle--and the same principle applies to the
man--that if a man commits adultery, he also shall be destroyed.
Can I change that? I did not make the law. Have I the right to
change it? "But," says one, "does it not say that what you shall
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you shall loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven?" Yes; but I have to know if
it is the mind and will of God that it shall be so. The law says,
"they shall be destroyed." What else? "And shall be delivered
unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption." That is
the law. Can I change it? Can you? I speak now to Presidents of
Stakes and Bishops. We are told that we are not to be partakers
of other men's sins. Now, you send men with recommends to me to
have me pass upon them. I trust to you. I suppose you are
acquainted with these things. I suppose you act intelligently and
understandingly. But if people do not fulfill the requirements of
the Gospel, you have no right to recommend them to the house of
the Lord. They do not belong there. People who do not observe the
laws of the Gospel and live their religion, should not receive
recommends, and if you do recommend such you will be held
responsible, for I will not. I receive them upon your authority,
and trust to your judgment. I have known cases where wicked and
corrupt men have gone into the house of God. The parties
administering did not know it, but nevertheless it was a fact.
And what has become of them? They have come to me feeling as
though they were in hell. They wanted to know what they could do.
I told them I did not know; perhaps the Lord would indicate by
and by. I say to all, you had better, unless you determine to
fear God and keep His laws, quit at once, for God expects us to
do right, and will hold us to an account for our acts. And I say
to the Bishops, purge your Wards from all iniquity, and have no
fellowship with adulterers and adulteresses. Adultery is the
curse of the nations to-day, and it is corrupting, corroding, and
eating out the very vitals of the people among the nations. They
are over-run with it. God has set us apart to do His will and to
build up His Kingdom and His Zion. Zion means the pure in heart,
and we have to be pure in heart and pure in life. We have to be
honest. We must not steal. What, do Saints steal? I hope you have
no thieves among you here. And then there are covetous men, men
who conceive all kinds of plans to get possession of other
people's property. Such are not going to get into the Kingdom of
God, unless they repent and do right. Who will inherit the earth?
Those who despoil their neighbors? No. Who will they be? Jesus
said in His sermon, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth;" not the covetous, sorcerers, adulterers, liars,
hypocrites, and those who bear false witness against their
neighbors; all such characters will not have a place there. It is
for us who hold the Holy Priesthood to be pure. "Be ye pure that
bear the vessels of the Lord." It is for each of us to be pure,
and then say to others, "follow me, as I follow Jesus." It is for
us to live our religion and obey the laws of God, and perform the
duties that devolve upon us, and I tell you, if we do this, I
will risk all that the nations of the earth, or that this nation
can do. If we will only fear God, build up Zion, and work
righteousness, God will put a hook in the jaws of our oppressors.
We may have to suffer for a little while, but we will overcome.
This kingdom will not be given into the hands of another people,
for God is with Israel, and Israel will triumph. And if we will
continue to do right--and whether some of us do right or not;
those that do not do right will be cast out of their place; but
if we continue to do right Zion will increase and grow until the
kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and
His Christ, and until every creature in heaven, on the earth, and
under the earth will be heard to say, blessing and honor and
might and power and majesty and dominion be ascribed to Him that
sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb forever.
272
God bless you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, August 12, 1883
George Q. Cannon, August 12, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Logan City, Sunday Morning, August
12, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS ASPIRE TO CELESTIAL GLORY--ALL OUR
POSSESSIONS
PLACED IN OUR HANDS MERELY AS STEWARDS--IS IT APPROPRIATE TO MAKE
SACRIFICES IN VIEW OF GLORY AND EXALTATION WE ASPIRE TO, AND TO
HOLD ALL THINGS SUBJECT TO THE DICTATION OF THE SERVANTS OF
GOD?--OBEDIENCE
TO THE PRIESTHOOD, AND THE RESULTS FLOWING THEREFROM--THE
PROVIDENCE OF GOD
SEEN IN THE SELECTION OF ALL HIS SERVANTS--TEMPLES, THEIR OBJECT,
AND
THOSE WHO ARE ENTITLED TO THE BLESSINGS TO BE MANIFESTED
THEREIN--OBEDIENCE
TO THE PRIESTHOOD A VITAL TEST.
273
I have listened--as no doubt all have--with great interest, to
the remarks which have been made by Brother Joseph F. Smith, and
I can bear testimony to their truth, that they are profitable to
us, and should be treasured up in our hearts and made practical
in our lives.
274
While he was speaking, this reflection forced itself upon me:
What other people upon the face of the earth aspire to the same
glory and the same exaltation that the Latter-day Saints do? What
other people have the same hopes respecting eternity and their
condition in eternity, and the glory they are to receive if
faithful in keeping the commandments of God, that the Latter-day
Saints have? My acquaintance with mankind, so far as it goes,
teaches me that of all people now living, either in Christendom
or heathendom, the Latter-day Saints excel them all in their
hopes, in their anticipations, in the character of the glory that
they are to receive, and in the promises which are sealed upon
them. There is not a man in this room who has a proper conception
of the Gospel, and of the rewards attached to obedience to it,
who does not at least hope that he will attain unto celestial
glory, (which means the Godhead, to be an heir of God, and a
joint heir with Jesus Christ); that he will enter upon a career
of exaltation that shall not terminate throughout the endless
ages of eternity, and that will place him in the company of Him
concerning whom it is said "of the increase of His kingdom there
shall be no end." And there is not a woman in this congregation
who has a proper conception or knowledge of the promises
associated with the Gospel, and with obedience thereto, who does
not indulge, when she thinks upon these matters, in similar
hopes, and would be very unhappy if she thought she should be
deprived of that which she anticipates--I mean of being one with
her husband as a wife and as a queen and as a priestess
throughout eternity, and stand with him at the head of their
mutual posterity.
274
This being the case, is it any wonder that God makes requirements
of us, and expects a perfection on our part that is not looked
for nor expected of the rest of the world? We were told this
morning--and the truth cannot be too often repeated in our
hearing--that God, our Eternal Father, has placed all these
possessions and blessings--that is, the possessions of the earth
and the blessings connected with the earth--that He has placed
them in our hands merely as stewards, and that we hold them
subject to Him, in other words, in trust for Him, and that, if He
calls upon us to use them in any given direction He may indicate,
it is our duty as His children, occupying the relationship that
we do to Him, and with the hopes in our breasts that we have, to
hold them entirely subject to Him. There is not another people
upon the face of the earth that I know anything about who are
taught such ideas and doctrines as these. I do not think that any
other denomination of people, either religious or secular, have
such doctrines as we have heard this morning taught to them
respecting their duties and their obligations to God. Of course
you will very frequently hear in sectarian churches, many things
connected with this subject; that it is the duty of the rich to
help the poor and to be benevolent and to hold all things in a
way that will please God; but to bring this down to what we would
call practical consecration, to practically consecrate their
wealth, and hold it as though they would have to practically
consecrate it at any time, is a doctrine that I do not think is
taught in any other church, or so-called church, nor is it
believed in by any other people. There are, it is true, people
who indulge in very wild vagaries about property, such as
communists and others, but they have no system of religion, they
do not believe in God, they do not believe in the principles that
He teaches and which we accept. They would not carry them out on
any such basis.
274
Let me ask you, my brethren and sisters, is it not appropriate
that we should be required to make--I was going to say sacrifice.
Well, that is a word that is so commonly used, that I suppose I
could not use any other that would convey the idea to your minds
clear enough. I will use it, therefore. Is it not appropriate to
make sacrifices of this character, considering who we are and
what we are? If we are expecting to reach a glory and an
exaltation such as we think about and talk about and pray for, it
seems to me that there should be something to be done on our part
commensurate with the expectations and hopes and desires that we
entertain, and I do not know myself any better test that can be
brought to bear upon human beings than this test to which
allusion has been made this morning, the test of holding
ourselves--that is our individual persons, with our time and the
ability that God has given unto us, our wives, our children, and
the possessions that God has placed in our hands to control--to
hold all these subject to His dictation and to His approval.
275
"Now," says one, "I am quite willing for that; I would be quite
willing to receive all that doctrine and to believe it if God
himself were to come and make the requirement of me. I am quite
willing that God should dictate to me about my wives and
children; and if He wants me to use my talents and give up my
life or to yield up my property--I am quite willing to do all
these things if He will come and tell me himself, or if He will
send an angel to tell me. But I look upon my brethren who preside
over this Church, and I see that they are mortal men, and I see
that they do many things that mortal men do, and I have not quite
confidence enough in them to dispose of my property as they may
dictate. They are mortal, they are like I am, and I do not know
whether they will do the right thing or not. I have some doubts
about that. I have not got confidence in their management as
business men. I do not know but I have better business qualities
myself than they have, and I can manage my own affairs to better
advantage than they can. I am not willing, therefore, to do as my
fellow men dictate."
277
Now, let me ask is not that the secret thought of many minds? I
am sure it is. And yet the same men who entertain these thoughts,
and the same women, will go into this Temple when it is
completed, and will ask at the hands of the servants of God
blessings that are far beyond all price when measured by earthly
substance, by gold or silver, or that which men consider
valuable. It is a strange thing; it is a strange feature in the
human character; it is exhibited everywhere; it is not confined
to Latter-day Saints alone; that mankind are very willing to
trust men with spiritual things, and to have confidence in them
concerning spiritual things, and have little or no confidence in
them when it affects their temporal interests. There are men--and
there may be some in this congregation--who have been quite
willing to submit to the ordinance of baptism and rely upon it as
a means of salvation, as a means of remitting their sins, and
have also been willing to submit to have hands laid upon them by
the same individual, for the reception of the Holy Ghost, who
would not listen to his counsel concerning their property. This
want of confidence arises in some instances from selfishness or a
lack of faith, and in others from witnessing the unwise conduct
of Elders in the management of means. There have been Elders who
have gone out in the world for the purpose of bringing souls to
the truth who have abused their privileges among the people, and
have borrowed money and never repaid it. Such occurrences inspire
distrust. And such men have transcended the limits of their
authority in taking this course. They were not sent out to meddle
in this way, in people's affairs, to borrow money, and do things
of that character; but were sent to preach the Gospel, and so
long as they confined themselves to their legitimate duties, and
did those things they were authorized to do, they were blessed,
the Lord was with them, and their labors resulted in salvation to
the people. Every man who attends strictly to the duties assigned
to him, and pertaining to his Priesthood, and confines himself to
them, is sustained and upheld of the Lord. The Elders who have
destroyed confidence by the methods I have alluded to,
transcended their authority. That constituted the difference
between their action and the action of the man whom God places to
preside over His Church. Can you not see the distinction? I can
see that a man that goes out as a missionary, as Elders have done
in the past, often acquires great influence with the power of God
resting upon him, and through the confidence that power has
inspired in the midst of the Saints, I can understand that men
have taken advantage of that influence, and have abused the trust
of the people, and have done wrong, and have lessened their
influence with God, and with man, and have caused the Spirit of
God by that action to be withdrawn from them. There are many such
cases to which I could point you, if it were necessary this
morning. No man, however, has done that in this Church without
losing that power which God gave unto him, and there are men who
have apostatized from this Church who brought on that apostasy
because of such conduct as I allude to. They were not warranted
in doing what they did. They exceeded the bounds of their
Priesthood, and in doing so they committed sin. But there is an
authority in the Church to whom God has given the right to
counsel in the affairs of the children of men in regard to
temporal affairs. When Joseph Smith lived upon the earth it was
his prerogative to do that. He stood as God's ambassador--not
clothed with the attributes of God, for he was a mortal man; but
he stood as the representative of God upon the earth, holding the
keys of the kingdom of God upon the earth, with the power to bind
on earth and it should be bound in heaven. He occupied that
position when he lived, and on his departure another took his
place upon the earth and stood in precisely the same capacity to
us as a people that Joseph Smith did. That was Brigham Young.
When he passed away another stepped forward and took the same
position, and holds the same keys and exercises the same
authority and stands precisely in the same position to us that
the Prophet Joseph did, or that the Prophet Brigham did, when he
lived upon the earth. Now, was not Joseph Smith a mortal man?
Yes. A fallible man? Yes. Had he not weaknesses? Yes, he
acknowledged them himself, and did not fail to put the
revelations on record in this book [the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants] wherein God reproved him. His weaknesses were not
concealed from the people. He was willing that people should know
that he was mortal, and had failings. And so with Brigham Young.
Was not he a mortal man, a man who had weaknesses? He was not a
God. He was not an immortal being. He was not infallible. No, he
was fallible. And yet when he spoke by the power of God, it was
the word of God to this people. When he sealed a man up to
eternal life, he bestowed upon him the blessings pertaining to
eternity, and to the Godhead, or when he delegated others to do
it in his stead, God in the eternal world recorded the act; the
blessings that were sealed upon that man or that woman, they were
sealed to be binding in this life, and in that life which is to
come; they became part of the records of eternity, and would be
fulfilled to the very letter upon the heads of those upon whom
they were pronounced, provided they were faithful before God, and
fulfilled their part of the covenant. There is no doubt about it.
And so it is to-day. There is but one man, (as you have often
heard), at a time on the earth, who holds this authority. There
may be others who have this authority also; and I thank God there
are many who hold this authority--that is the authority of the
Apostleship; but they hold it subordinate to the man who holds
the keys, they cannot exercise this authority only as he shall
consent or delegate or authorize them to do so. There is but one
man who has the power to exercise this authority, to stand, as it
were, in God's stead, to be His voice unto the people, and that
is the man who stands at the head and who is President, and who
holds the keys by virtue of the appointment of God. God places
him there. It is not man's act. It is God's providence. God knows
the hearts of the children of men. By His overruling Providence
He brings this man to the front, or He keeps him in the rear,
just as it pleases Him. I believe that His providence is over all
of us, and He can kill or remove as He pleases, or He can
preserve in life as seemeth good to Him. And he has done so. When
the Prophet Joseph was slain, God, by His overruling Providence,
brought the man to the front who was His choice to succeed His
servant. David Patten was slain at Crooked River, who was the
senior of Brigham Young. Thomas B. Marsh lost the faith, also the
senior of Brigham Young; but Brigham Young was preserved in the
providence of God, and when His Prophet was slain He stepped
forward clothed with the eternal Priesthood of God, full of the
fire of the Holy Ghost and the power of God, and the whole people
felt that they stood in the presence of the man whom God had
chosen and whom God had endowed for the position. God qualified
him and made him equal to every emergency from that hour until
the hour of his death. God was his unfailing friend. He blessed
every one who listened to the counsel of His servant. He blessed
this entire people, and He blessed this land under his (President
Young's) administration. And we know by the outpouring of the
power and gifts and graces of God upon us individually as well as
an entire people, that he was God's servant, chosen by the
Almighty to stand at the head of His Church. Could I not trust
that man with anything I had? Why, I would have been an unworthy
servant of God, if I could not have done so; I would have been
recreant to every principle that I believe in, if I could not
have done so.
278
Now, watch the providence of God in the selection of our present
President. At the time Joseph and Hyrum were slain, according to
all human appearances he was as unlikely to live almost as they
were who were already dead. In the hottest of summer he was shot
to pieces. The men who waited upon him had no idea that he would
live. But he did. God brought him through. But who thought then
that he would be the senior Apostle who would preside over this
Church? There were a number his seniors. In consequence of a
misunderstanding and his being senior in age, Brother Woodruff's
name stood above Brother Taylor's. Brother Woodruff recognized
all the time that he and Willard Richards were not his seniors in
ordination. President Taylor had been ordained to the Apostleship
before them, and when this matter was brought before the
President of the Church (President Young) the names were put in
proper order. Brother Woodruff recognized this as being correct,
and if Willard Richards had lived, doubtless he would have had
the same feeling. But then there stood Orson Hyde and Orson
Pratt, as seniors in the quorum. Their names preceded his. But
had their names the right to stand in that position? No, they had
not, for reasons I need not dwell upon here, which ought to be
familiar to every Elder in this Church. Therefore, I will merely
say this: that President John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and
George A. Smith were bearers of the apostleship at a time when
Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt did not hold that power. Therefore
they were by right their seniors; and President Young
providentially, prompted by the Spirit of God, made a ruling
which the Twelve accepted--every man knowing the true state of
the case--as correct, and placed the names in their order some
time before his death, making John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and
George A. Smith, seniors of Orson Hyde and of Orson Pratt. In
this manner God has brought forward to the front the man whom He
chose to be President of the Church. It is His privilege to
choose whom He pleases. The man whom He wants preserved is
preserved. When the Prophets of God were slain, Brother Taylor's
life, by the wonderful providence of God, was preserved, and he
has lived among us until this day. He now stands in his place as
the President of the Church, holding the keys and the authority
as such to manage all the affairs of the Church according to
God's mind and will. And shall one who knows this, who knows that
God has honored him, that God has chosen him, that God has
endowed him, that God has blessed him--shall such a one raise his
voice against him, and say that it is not the will of God that he
shall control the affairs of this Church? God forbid! God forbid
that I or any other man in this Church should do anything of the
kind! On the contrary, let us be obedient to the voice of God,
and to the will of God. If God, through him, says unto us we must
consecrate our property, we must hold everything we have subject
to the will of God, if He through him dictates any course of
policy, I say it is my duty as a servant of God to submit: it is
my duty to carry out faithfully, according to the will of God,
that which He counsels, and that which He dictates. If God has
confidence in him, shall not I, who am God's servant and God's
child, have similar confidence? I believe in God. I believe God
manages all the affairs of this Church. I know if I do my duty He
will save me, He will exalt me, and I know if you will do your
duty, He will do the same for you. And if men whom He chooses are
fallible, that is His business. He requires on our part obedience
to His will, as it is made manifest through the man whom He has
chosen.
279
Now, this is a great point. I look upon it as one of the most
vital points connected with our existence in these mountains. I
look upon it as a test. It may be said that it will test the
Latter-day Saints as they never have been tested--this vital
doctrine of obedience to the Priesthood of the Son of God. There
is no point to day against which so many assaults are directed by
the wicked. They make it the main object of their attacks. They
would like to destroy confidence in your hearts in the Priesthood
of the Son of God. If they could weaken your confidence; if they
could undermine your faith; if they could by any power or means
in their possession wean you from the Church, and sow the seed of
distrust and suspicion in your minds concerning the Priesthood,
or those who bear it, they would attain the object that they have
in view. The man who holds the keys is always the object of
assault. His life is the life that is most sought after. He is
the man they would strike down, if they had the power. They seek
to weaken the confidence of the people in him, by all manner of
slanders, and by every sort of falsification. It is the main
object of our enemies to sow the seeds of distrust and suspicion
in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, and to accomplish this
they relate all manner of falsehoods concerning those who bear
the Priesthood of the Son of God. They contort every act. They
misrepresent every word and every counsel that is given. They
endeavor to put everything in a false light. And those who read
those things continually, begin to believe by degrees, that there
is foundation for them, that there is something wrong, that this
man or the other man is not to be trusted, and that they are
doing wrong in yielding obedience to the counsels of the
Priesthood, and in submitting to its control. You are aware these
attacks are constantly directed against the Priesthood, and it
is, as I say, the vital point to-day.
279
We have this Temple (Logan) nearly completed. That at Salt Lake
is progressing very rapidly, that at Sanpete also. And the
building of these Temples will bring about, to a certain extent,
a change among this people. Blessings are to be bestowed, and
power is to be manifested in these buildings in my opinion such
as has never been manifested among us as a people before. The
question, therefore, will press itself upon our attention--who
are going to be worthy to receive these blessings? Who are going
to be worthy to enter into these buildings? With my feelings
to-day I never can consent for any man to go in and receive a
fullness of the blessings of the everlasting Gospel in that
building or those buildings, unless I know him to be a man who is
willing to yield implicit obedience to the Priesthood of the Son
of God. And further, I am not willing, with my present
feelings--I do not pretend to dictate in this matter, I am merely
stating my own personal feelings--for any man to go into these
buildings who is not willing to hold all he has got subject to
the Priesthood of the Son of God, and be willing to do with it as
that Priesthood shall dictate.
280
Now, these are two vital points in our faith, and in the
requirements of the Gospel, that I believe are obligatory upon
us, and we may as well understand our position to-day as to
postpone the understanding of this matter for months, or for
years, or until it is too late. This may sound like strong
doctrine to some of you; but I look upon these things as
essentially necessary to make us the people that God designs we
shall be. Already things are in contemplation, and are being
counselled about, that may bring this matter home to us
individually, outside of the Temples of the Son of God. I desire
to see the time come when unworthy persons cannot get their
endowments and a fullness of the blessings of the everlasting
Priesthood. I desire to see some test of faithfulness, some test
of growth, and some degree of reward, so that all will not be
reduced to one common level, the faithful and the unfaithful,
those that are willing to do all that God requires, and those
that are not willing--I do not desire to see all endowed with the
same blessings. I do not believe that God ever intended this. He
has told us there are different degrees of glory,--"one glory of
the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the
stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also
is the resurrection of the dead." I would like to see some
difference here. I believe it will come. I believe God will move
upon His servant in His own due time to make the necessary
regulations to effect this. There are men who have been faithful
all their lives, who have done everything that it is possible for
men to do, and there are others who have been indifferent, and
who have had their own way, and carried out their own mind, yet
all come along and get the same blessings without any distinction
whatever. There is not much encouragement, it would seem, under
those circumstances, for the faithful. And yet there is, for
there are degrees of reward in heaven; but then we may as well
begin to have some of them here.
280
Now, my brethren and sisters, I feel that it is a matter, as I
have said, of vital importance that we should have this that I
have spoken of--faith and confidence in the Priesthood of the Son
of God, and we cannot build up Zion without we have it, and we
cannot build up Zion without we are willing to do all we have
been taught by the inspiration of God--I know that as well as I
do that I live.
280
I pray God that we may have this confidence, which I ask in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Franklin D. Richards, October 6, 1883
Franklin D. Richards, October 6, 1883
DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE F. D. RICHARDS,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday Morning,
October 6,
(Semi-Annual Conference) 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW OF THE PROVIDENCES OF GOD IN RELATION TO THE
SAINTS--THE WRATH AND SCHEMES OF MEN TURNED TO THE ADVANTAGE OF
GOD'S
PEOPLE--THE ORDER OF GOD'S CHURCH PERFECT--THE WICKED DISTURBED
BY
JUDGMENTS, WHILE THE RIGHTEOUS ENJOY PEACE--THE ADMINISTRATION OF
THE LAW
OF GOD IN RELATION TO OFFENCES--SHOULD BE RESIGNED TO THE WILL OF
GOD IN
ALL THINGS.
281
The Lord be thanked and praised for granting us another so
favorable opportunity of meeting together to contemplate the
interests of His Kingdom, and our soul's salvation at this
Conference. "Day unto day uttereth speech," said the ancient man
of God, "and night unto night showeth knowledge." We can say that
week after week, and month after month, since our last
Conference, we have had renewed occasion for thanksgiving and
praise to Him for the many blessings which He has vouchsafed unto
His people.
281
If we take a retrospective view of His providences to us as a
people, especially during the period of our sojourn in these
mountains, we shall find that circumstances have occurred at very
short intervals, which have kept the people continually awakened
to a sense of their liberties, and to a watch care for them,
measuring and weighing and noticing the efforts that have been
made from time to time to take away our privileges and liberties,
and such blessings as were thought could be taken from us which
we had entered into the enjoyment of since our location in these
mountain fastnesses. Step by step every such instance has been
attended, if not with all that gift and abundance of favor and
mercy, which we might have desired, and which might not have been
best for us, yet with sufficient blessing to manifest the kind
care of our heavenly Father continually and unceasingly over us.
281
When we came here and first made our laws, realizing that we were
far away from the mass of the people of the States, both east and
west of us, we found it was with great difficulty that we could
avail ourselves of the few blessings which government seemed to
tender to us. We could not even obtain the presence of federal
officials in our midst, regularly, as was designed by government,
and as was needed by the people. Consequently our isolation
required our Legislature to confer unusual powers upon our local
courts; but it was not long before the effort was made, and final
success was had in taking from our local courts the civil and
criminal jurisdiction. Time will not allow me to enter into
minute details. Therefore, suffice it to say, that mission judges
have come here fully determined to convert us from the error of
our ways, as it appeared to them, to the "purity, refinement, and
civilization" of the world! After laboring and toiling some years
in our midst, finding their decisions frequently overthrown by
the decisions of the Superior Court at Washington, our Prophet,
who had been illegally imprisoned, released from his confinement,
and one thing after another, upset their plans and devices; so
that the great changes which had been hoped to be brought about
among us, to make us like the people of the world, signally
failed, and the end of that effort was, that the poor, miserable
man who undertook the job, was carried home in his coffin.
281
I must notice one or two other important facts, which have stood
out very prominently before us, and they were, that this people
who were not of the world, and had no fellowship or love with the
world, must be restricted in their civil rights and military
duties, for fear that they should do some mischief on a holiday,
therefore they were forbidden by Gubernatorial Proclamation, to
order out a company of infantry or cavalry, to help to celebrate
the Fourth of July, as they and their fathers were wont to do
from time immemorial.
282
One after another, these and similar efforts have been made to
take our liberties and privileges away from us, that we might be
brought into some sort of contemptible subjection, it would
appear. But without stopping to animadvert upon the folly and
nonsense of such a procedure, let me inquire what was the result?
What followed the proclamation that we should not do military
duty as a people, or protect ourselves even from the surrounding
savages? Immediately when this occurred, it seemed as if the very
heavens were moved in our behalf, all the tribes around us became
divested, seemingly, of what hostility they had possessed, and
ever since that occurred, we have had the most substantial peace
and quiet all around us, among the natives. How kind of
Providence, it was, to so completely remove the enmity of the
natives, when this circumstance transpired. We are relieved from
the unpleasant tax of military duty, and even our adversaries are
made to be at peace with us. What a logic of fact, for a
contentious world to read.
282
During the past year, the great efforts that have been made, have
seemed to prove abortive; special efforts and measures have
appeared to miscarry; and we have had a law right from the
Capital, that seemed as if it must tell on the "Mormons." A class
of our people have been temporally divested of the right of
suffrage; men and women, who may have violated some law, and many
who have never violated any law of Congress, have been deprived
of their political rights. But with all this we still seem to
live and thrive and prosper faster than we have ever done before.
The very step itself, will prove a great blessing to this people
by separating a portion of those who have not the highest respect
and veneration for all the Laws of God, and enable those who
have, to be the wiser counselors and more efficient aids in
advancing the interests of the kingdom in the hands of those who
may be more acceptable in the eyes of government to wield
administration here locally.
283
But it is a singular fact, a singular circumstance, that a man
should come here from the heart of the nation--clothed as was
supposed, with every qualification to be a Governor of
Utah,--should act as he has acted. He had been through the army
in the late rebellion. He was a man capable, as was supposed, of
understanding what was right and proper, as between the nation
and any other part of the country that might seem to feel in any
wise oppressed or limited, and who would administer
constitutional rights and executive powers with ability and with
skill. He came here clothed with the supreme beauty of the State
from whence he came. This man by his excessive propensity for
figures, as we all know, made some very strange calculations; and
then when one thing didn't work, another seemed to, until our
representative in Congress was removed. But by and by we are
blessed with another one in Congress to represent us there. And
in a short time we found that, with the special effort that was
being made in Washington in our behalf, such a shadow of doubt
was cast over a certain portion of the law, entitled the Hoar
amendment, when it was thought advisable by the governor to
execute some three hundred commissions, more or less, to men whom
he appointed to fill supposed vacancies in this Territory, which
if carried out would have turned over the local authority of the
Territory into the hands of the avowed enemies of this people,
but the supposed vacancies did not exist and the offices
continued in the hands of the incumbents. After all the election
was held during the past season when these offices were filled by
the people's candidates. Thus we have occasion again to rejoice
that notwithstanding another desperate effort has been made to
take away the rule from the hands of the people and put it into
the hands of their enemies, and make us an outside Territory,
subject to their oppressions, subject to all manner of taxation
that they might please to impose upon us--we find that the voice
and vote of the people are still triumphant, that their
candidates have gone into office and are commissioned, the
selections having been made from among those whose rights and
privileges have been maintained unto them.
283
It is a singular feature in this matter, that the Governor has
taken it into his head to leave the Territory just at the time
when it was supposed he would be required to execute these
commissions. But without going into particulars, persons of
ordinary discernment observe that the course he has taken is such
that he cannot himself check it to remain and issue the
commissions to the properly elected persons to rule in this
Territory, indeed it looks as though the dishonorable,
undignified course he has taken is just what has driven him from
the Territory, to leave his duty, and let the secretary be acting
governor. When men come here full of determination to show their
bravery, their ability, smartness and competency beyond their
predecessors, to capture Utah, and turn her over to the hands of
the ungodly; it appears that every one who has made such an
attempt has met with very signal defeat. When a man defeats
himself as perfectly as this last one has, I think the Latter-day
Saints have occasion to thank God and take courage; we have
reason to rejoice and praise the Lord in all these matters, for
whatever our enemies do He makes it return that, like a boomerang
that is thrown out, it comes back and strikes the person that
hurled it.
283
Well, then, my brethren and sisters, seeing that this is the way
that these matters all move, the way they all operate, should it
not inspire in us the most profound gratitude toward God for
these manifestations of his mercy, goodness and blessing unto us.
He has made our fields to bound with plenty. He has favored us
with blessings innumerable and incomprehensible. We have a peace,
a joy and a satisfaction at heart which those men who make these
desperate laws cannot contemplate. We rejoice in the blessings
that heaven is bestowing upon us. Is it not, then, our bounden
duty to testify to God, the angels, and those that attend upon
the covenant people of God, that we are determined to love Him
more and serve Him better? I was pleased to hear the remark made
by one of my brethren yesterday, that he felt on returning here,
after an absence of five or six years, that there was an
improvement in the spirit and feelings of the people. This is
very manifest to those who observe and notice it. But we think
there should be a very much greater improvement. Many of us have
been very careless of some of the commandments: words of wisdom
which the Lord has seen fit to give to us. We have not used that
care, that caution, and that sound discretion in our daily lives
before Him, that it is becoming we should do. I propose, brethren
and sisters, in view of this matter, that we take these things to
heart, and see if we can and ought to draw nearer to God, while
He is willing to draw nearer to us, and thus more fully sense His
blessings, His mercies, and his loving kindness unto us.
284
This institution,--which President Taylor so beautifully reviewed
yesterday morning in the Assembly Hall, noticing the varied
authorities of the Church and their multifarious duties--sets
forth to every discerning mind that the order of God's government
presupposes and contemplates the strongest possible form of
government that has ever been known on the earth. Men have come
here in years past, and in speaking of President Young, they have
said that he had a strong government here in Utah; and later on,
in speaking of President Taylor, that he had a strong government
in Utah, and also that men coming here from abroad to govern the
people, simply governed the outsiders, and that the President of
the Church governed the Latter-day Saints. This is the way the
ungodly speak about it. Latter-day Saints know that the order of
God's Church is the perfect order. They know that it is the one
intended to give a people strength in the earth, and that
strength is in their righteousness, in their virtue, in their
purity, and in their union and fellowship with the Spirit, with
each other, and with the heavens.
284
These principles are very dear and very glorious, and we ought to
rejoice above all men in the earth. We may look to the east, to
the west, to the north and to the south, and we see all
governments, all peoples, all nations, all kindreds and tongues,
stirred up with an activity, a spirit of strife and ambition to
superiority, and we see that there is continual commotion among
them in their political affairs, and in their civil relations.
There are a great many disturbances continually going on, and
many of the nations are really on the verge of bankruptcy,
through the vast debts created to maintain their numerous armies
even in the time of peace; while here among this people, though
our liberties are menaced and threatened, and our peace would be
sometimes disturbed, if we would allow it, yet, by the blessing
of God, we enjoy peace in our hearts, such peace as the wicked
cannot give to us, nor take from us. The voice of Him that spake
to the waves of Gennesaret, and commanded them to be still,
speaks to us, and while dark clouds and the thunderings and
lightnings roll over the political horizon, yet in the hearts, in
the homes, and in the habitations of the just there is peace,
such as the wicked know not of, and it bespeaks the truth of the
revelation which says, that not long hence, the people of Zion
shall be the only people that will not be at war among
themselves, and that the day will be when they who will not take
up the sword against their neighbor, will have to flee to Zion,
of which this is the embryo.
285
Look abroad and see what the Lord is doing in the way of
judgments. There has scarcely been a year for many years past,
when they have seemed to be so terrible as they have been during
this present year, so far. Think of one portion of the world
where islands of the sea have been sunk, and 100,000 people
reported destroyed by earthquake and volcanic eruptions. And
another where it is said some 15,000 or 20,000 were likewise
destroyed. Think of it! And yet the Lord has preserved us in
these mountains--in this region of country that might
scientifically be called one of the most volcanic portions of the
whole earth. The very face of the earth tells us its character by
its extinct volcanoes, its silent craters, and numerous hot
springs. Look at the strata of the earth's crust in these
canyons, and see its nature. Also the Lord has manifested His
judgments by cyclones, etc. The words of the Prophet Joseph, have
been and are being verified, those words he uttered before he
went to Carthage. Said he: "I call for the four winds of heaven,
the thunderings, lightnings, earthquakes, whirlwinds, the
hailstorms, pestilence, and the raging seas to come forth out of
their hiding places and bear testimony of the truth of those
things which I have taught to the inhabitants of the earth as is
promised in the revelations that have been given." These were
some of his last words among the people. And what have we seen?
Scarcely a week last summer without a cyclone or hurricane
happening somewhere in the States, destroying towns and villages,
or parts thereof.
285
We live in times that if we only considered the matter and looked
upon it as we should do, that should cause us to draw near unto
the Lord, and to live up to every word that proceedeth from His
mouth.
285
I wish to bear testimony that this Gospel and this order of
government which I have been alluding to, is that which brings
down the blessings of heaven upon this people. Besides peace and
good order, it brings the gifts and blessings of the Gospel, the
gift of healing to those who are afflicted and wounded and who
are walking upon the borders of the grave; such are restored and
healed by its divine power exercised in the prayers and faith of
the Saints.
285
The fact of the matter is, those things which are held out as
menaces to us, are the things that preserve us from the hands of
the wicked, and keep us from forgetting God in the time of
prosperity. It is one of the greatest blessings to us, that we
are kept continually on the alert, diligently seeking after Him,
putting our trust in Him, and then to find how successfully and
perfectly He leads us to triumph over our enemies, and makes the
mischief they would bring upon us, recoil upon their own heads.
Saints find it good to trust in Him.
285
The great work that is now upon us--to build temples and to labor
in them, calls upon us to perform our duties faithfully; calls
upon Presidents of Stakes and Bishops of Wards, that they look
well among their peoples, and see if they are not taking upon
themselves the responsibilities of other people's sins.
Presidents, High Councilors and Bishops, should seek diligently
the Spirit of the Lord to know how to deal with and decide
between the righteous and the wicked; to know how to pull up the
tares without pulling up a great number of the roots of the
wheat. When a man has given himself up to be a drunkard, to
dishonor the cause of God, and to be picked up in the streets and
to become a reproach, until people say, "that is one of your
Mormons," it is time the Bishops or Elders, or whosoever's duty
it is, were looking after him to see that this evil is put away,
and to see that his wife, who may be the deepest mourner over
this whole matter, and his children, clothed in sorrow over his
conduct, to see that they are cherished and sustained and
preserved, lest while pulling up the tares you pull up the wheat
also. It requires the skill and wisdom of the Holy Spirit in all
of these things to know how to deal in the right way, to save
those that can be saved, while those who will not work
righteousness, may be known as transgressors, and that we may no
longer carry them upon our faith and become partakers of their
sins.
286
In the late organization of 1877, a score of Stakes were
organized, a great many more Wards were instituted, many men were
called and ordained to be Bishops in the Church who had never
given their attention to consider carefully the duties of the
bishopric. In view of the responsibilities of this calling, it
may not be thought strange that some brethren holding this high
and holy office are so afraid that they would do wrong, that they
even durst not do right! Now, this is true whether you believe it
or not. A great many men hold these important offices, who are so
timid and so fearful lest they should do wrong, that they are
slow and backward in doing the thing which is right. Now, what is
it that makes a man useful and strong in his calling and labor?
Is it not his constant labor, and the diligent, actual
performance of his duties? What is it that makes the blacksmith's
right arm stronger than any other man's? It is because he is all
the time using it, and in this way his arm acquires that practice
which gives it the greatest attainable strength. If the brethren
standing in these responsible places, whether they be Presidents
of Stakes or Bishops of Wards, see anything wrong in their Wards,
it is their duty to get after it. And it is notably the duty of a
teacher to be conversant with the people, and to see that there
is no iniquity in the Church. Instead of hardness of feeling or
division of sentiment, or mischief of any kind being allowed to
exist in your Stake, until it produces party strife, and people
take sides with one and sides with another, it is far better to
get after the mischief at once, find out where it is, root it
out, and set matters right before the peace of families, of
neighborhoods, and perhaps the Ward is disturbed. I wish the
brethren in authority would heed this matter and wake up to their
duties, and not act merely as figureheads, but more like men of
God clothed with authority and power. When men standing in such
responsible positions are so backward in their duties, they don't
know the power of God, nor the spirit of their callings, but the
moment they step forward and take hold with a prayerful heart,
coming from their closets clothed with the Spirit of God, they
find they have the power to make peace and restore union,
fellowship and love in the midst of the people, and the people
would love and bless them in return. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God.
286
We need a great deal of missionary service at home. We need a
deal of labor in all the spheres of life--in the families, in the
wards, and in the Stakes of Zion, which are organized and are
being built up in the Church in these latter times. The work is
constantly spreading. Stakes are being organized in different
parts of the country, and the work of God is prospering. Our
enemies "can do nothing against the truth, but rather for the
truth;" for God will sanctify their evil designs, and their
wicked and ungodly purposes, to bring to pass His ends, and to
magnify His name and to honor him in the earth.
287
Let us humble ourselves before the Lord, let us keep His
commandments, and teach our children so to do. Let us teach them
the principles of purity and righteousness, so that they may go
to the house of the Lord, pure as they were born, free from sin,
and wholly there to enter into covenants with God that shall
abide and stand and endure while time shall last and eternity
endure; that they may live, grow and increase, as Abraham grew
and increased, become as the stars of heaven, and as the sand
which is upon the sea shore for multitude. For the blessings of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have come down upon us. And they that
are the children of Abraham will do the works of Abraham. Let us
not forget it; that they that would inherit the blessings of
Abraham must do the works of Abraham, to entitle them to these
blessings.
287
Let us draw near to the Lord with our households and strengthen
ourselves in the truth. "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin
is a reproach to any people."
287
We ought to be more careful concerning the observance of the
Sabbath. We talk of the great things of the laws of God, such as
adultery, and those greater crimes, and murder, which are less
frequently committed, but which are most terrible in their
effects upon those who do, and are terrible also in their effects
upon those who are surrounded and are connected therewith; but
let us attend also to the Sabbath, to keep it holy, and go to our
meeting and be more dutiful in that respect, and not go to the
canyons, or hunt stock, and attend to a multitude of things,
which otherwise might be avoided. Let us avoid, if we are going a
journey, starting on a Sunday, "just to save one day more for
business." Let us undertake no manner of business on that day.
Let us reverence the Sabbath as God has commanded us in the
revelations of the last days. It is one of the ten commandments:
"Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh
day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do
any work, etc." The Lord has been particular. He is going to be
particular again. We have been in circumstances where we were
rudely dealt with. We have had to travel over the plains, but
even there we reverenced the Sabbath. We stopped our teams, and
let the cattle rest, and attended to our duties. Now we have come
into a country where we have hardly had to buy land save at a
nominal Government figure. Here we found a new world, a place in
which we could make a living; and cannot we afford to take time
to serve the Lord? to rest our bodies and refresh our spirits, by
a study of His holy word increasing our faith also?
288
Another thing, we ought not to run after doctors as much as we
do. "But," says one, "if we have a bone broken we must have
somebody to set it." Yes, that is true, but we need not take all
the nostrums they can think of. We ought first to go to the Lord
and exercise our faith as far as we can make use of it in that
direction, and we will make fewer blunders than we do in placing
implicit confidence in the medical and surgical professions. When
we do this we are certainly sure of one thing--we secure the help
of God and the help of angels; and if we are appointed unto
death, we want to go. We ought to want to go. Our prayers and
supplications should be always conditional--that is, if not
appointed unto death that he or she should be raised up. And if
the heavens want a man to labor there in any sphere, there is
where he should be. If a man is wanted to be on a mission in
Europe, in Germany, or in the States, and he stays at home, he is
not where he ought to be. He ought to be where God would have
him, there the Holy Spirit will labor with him and help him. But
for us to importune the Lord to heal those whom He has appointed
unto death is just like asking--as we do once in a while-- a man
to go on a mission, and we get a long petition saying that he is
such a blessed dear good man, or he has been such a good school
master, "Do, pray, President let him stop." Now, when the
Presidency want a man to go on a mission, he ought to go. It is
best for that man that he should go. It is best for all concerned
that he should go to the place he is sent, and labor with all his
heart. Just so with us. Here we are on a mission in the world.
The matter of death is a very small matter. It is a matter of
life or death to be sure; but if the Lord does not want us here,
and we are taken away, His will be done on earth as it is done in
heaven.
288
I do not wish to occupy more time for fear of infringing upon the
rights of others.
288
I pray the Lord to still bless Israel, to bless us with humility,
and with faithfulness in the keeping of His commandments; then we
shall see more and grander things accomplished on His part, just
in proportion to the faithfulness with which we perform the
duties devolving upon us. May the Lord help us to do this; and to
walk in the way of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, October 7, 1883
John Taylor, October 7, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
With some Remarks by President George Q. Cannon,
delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon,
October 7th,
Semi-Annual Conference, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
THE PRESIDENT FEELING A LITTLE WEAK IN BODY ASKED THE CONSIDERATE
ATTENTION
OF THE CONGREGATION--GOD INTERESTED IN THE WELFARE OF ALL THE
HUMAN
FAMILY--THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH, AND THE RESPONSIBILITY
RESTING UPON
THE PRIESTHOOD--GOD HAS GIVEN TO EVERY ONE A PORTION OF HIS
SPIRIT--THE
PROMPTINGS OF THAT SPIRIT--THE WICKEDNESS OF THE INHABITANTS OF
THE EARTH
IN THE DAYS OF NOAH--WHY THE FLOOD CAME--THE ANTE-DILUVIANS WOULD
NOT
REPENT--THE GOSPEL AGAIN PREACHED AS A WARNING--PERSECUTION--OUR
RELATIONSHIP
TO THIS NATION IN A POLITICAL POINT OF VIEW--A COMMONWEALTH HAS
BEEN BUILT
UP IN THESE MOUNTAINS BY THE "MORMONS" UNDER THE BLESSING OF
GOD--UNFAIRLY
TREATED AS A PEOPLE BY THE PARENT GOVERNMENT--THE LATTER-DAY
SAINTS HAVE
RIGHTS WHICH THEY WILL SEEK LEGALLY TO MAINTAIN--CONCLUSION.
289
Permit me to say that in consequence of the immense multitude
that has assembled on this occasion, it will be absolutely
necessary that the strictest order and quietude should be
maintained, in order that all may hear; for it is a great labor
to address so many thousands of people. As I feel a little weak
in body I hope, therefore, you will give me your quiet and
considerate attention.
289
We have listened to a great many interesting principles since the
commencement of this conference.
289
We occupy to-day a very peculiar position, and it is proper that
we, as Latter-day Saints, should comprehend that position and our
various responsibilities in relation to the world in which we
live, the nation with which we are associated, and the duties and
responsibilities which devolve upon us as messengers of salvation
to proclaim the Gospel to mankind. It is further necessary that
we should comprehend the past, that we should comprehend the
present, and that we should also--under the influence and by the
direction of the Spirit of the living God--comprehend the things
of the future; for we, as Latter-day Saints, have to do with the
past we have to do with the present, and we have to do with the
future.
290
In relation to the inhabitants of the world generally, I
sometimes think that we entertain very erroneous notions
concerning them--that our ideas are too narrow and too
contracted, that we do not comprehend the relationship in which
they stand to God our Heavenly Father--and we are apt to fall
into an error which was indulged in by the Jews in former ages,
and to cry out, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord are we." Because God has conferred upon us
light and intelligence, and revealed His will unto us, we are too
apt to look down upon the rest of mankind as aliens and
undeserving of Divine regard; but we are told that God has made
of one blood all the families of the earth, and that He has given
unto them a portion of His Spirit to profit withal. We are also
informed, that God is the God and Father of the spirits of all
flesh. We are given to understand that He feels interested in the
welfare of all the human family, for it is written that they are
all His offspring. Therefore, we as Latter-day Saints, ought to
feel towards the world and the inhabitants thereof, as God our
Heavenly Father feels towards them; for we are told that God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son to atone for
their sins, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but
have everlasting life, and if this is the feeling of our Heavenly
Father towards the inhabitants of the earth, we ought to
entertain the same sentiment. When Jesus was on the earth, when
He established the Gospel upon it, as it has been established in
these last days, He said: "God sent not His Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be
saved." And when He commissioned His Apostles, His command was:
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but
he that believeth not shall be damned." The damnation or
condemnation of the people who rejected the Gospel He could not
help; He offered unto them the words of life, and according to
eternal laws that exist in the heavens, men must be governed by
certain principles, if they desire to associate with the Gods,
and if when the Gospel was preached they did not receive it, the
condemnation rested with them. And the condemnation grows out of
this: that light had come into the world, but men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
291
The Lord Jesus has given us a commission of the same kind to the
world of mankind, and you have heard during this Conference of
the manner in which these things were introduced, so that it is
unnecessary for me to repeat them. Suffice it to say, that they
were introduced by the opening of the heavens, by the appearance
of God our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, by the
administering of holy angels, by the restoration of the
Priesthood, and by the revelation of His will to man. You
comprehend very well the nature of the organization, and the
duties devolving upon certain individuals and quorums in this
Church. The Twelve are set apart as special witnesses to the
nations of the earth, and are empowered and authorized to open up
the Gospel, to introduce it, and to turn the keys thereof to all
people, and the word to the Apostles--and to others associated
with them--to the Elders of Israel generally is, "Go ye into all
the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth
not shall be damned." This is just as it was in former ages. To
assist the Twelve in the labors in which they are engaged, are
the Seventies, who are called as special witnesses to the nations
of the earth. What for? Who organized these Seventies, and these
Twelve, and who dictated their duties and responsibilities? The
Lord. Why did He do it? Because, as in former ages, He felt
interested in the welfare of the human family, and it is not and
never was the will of God, that mankind should perish, but that
they all might be brought to a knowledge of the truth, and to an
obedience thereof, if they saw proper, and if not, when the
Twelve, the Seventies, the Elders, and the various officers who
have been ordained and set apart to preach the Gospel, have
fulfilled their missions to the nations of the earth; they have
done just what the Lord has required at their hands, and no more.
I further wish to state to the Twelve and to the Seventies, and
to the Elders, that they are not responsible for the reception or
the rejection by the world of that word which God has given to
them to communicate. It is proper for them to use all necessary
diligence and fidelity, and to plainly and intelligently, and
with prayer and faith, go forth as messengers to the nations, as
the legates of the skies, clothed upon with authority from the
God of Heaven, even the authority of the Holy Priesthood, which
is after the order of the Son of God, which is after the order of
Melchizedek, which is after the power of an endless life. He has
endowed them, as you have heard, with authority to call upon men
to repent of their sins, and to be baptized in the name of Jesus
for the remission of sins, and then He has told them to lay hands
on the people thus believing, and thus being baptized, and to
confer upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost, and when they have
performed their labors, and fulfilled their duties, their
garments are free from the blood of this generation, and the
people are then left in the hands of God their Heavenly Father.
For the people, as before stated, will be held responsible to God
for their rejection of the Gospel, and not to us.
292
I will talk a little further about the people of the earth, who
have in their midst Christianity, and other religious
professions. I have quoted what is stated in the Scriptures--that
God has given to every man a portion of His Spirit to profit
withal. But that has nothing to do with the Gospel particularly.
It is a principle which is implanted in the heart of every human
being outside of the Gospel; and under its influence there are
and have been many great and good principles in existence on the
earth and among the peoples thereof. All men almost everywhere,
possessing any degree of intelligence, feel that it is right to
be honest; and all civilized nations, influenced by that feeling,
pass laws to punish the thief, the rogue, and the man who
possesses himself of other people's property in any unjust
manner, and these feelings and principles are generally sustained
by the honorable of all countries, and operate more or less among
all nations. Chicanery, deception and fraud are looked upon as
evils in the moral world; and men influenced by that
principle--which, as I stated, is planted in the bosom of every
individual--feel to abhor acts of deception and fraud of any
kind, although some people practice them to a very great extent.
Men under the influence of this spirit in the mercantile world,
for instance, consider it a disgrace not to keep their
engagements, not to pay their honest debts, and laws are made to
reach offenders in those cases. So strong is the feeling of honor
among many,--in this nation, in England, in France, in Germany,
and in other European nations,--that very many of those people
who would be esteemed honorable in their feelings and instincts,
if calamity overtake them and they are unable to meet their
liabilities, very frequently commit suicide, wrong though it be;
they would rather die than be dishonored. Now, these sentiments
of honor are good so far as they go; but this is outside of the
Gospel. There are, of course, many dishonest merchants and men of
large means, who use their talent and wealth for the purpose of
taking advantage of the unwary, and oppressing the poor; and in
this and in other countries, annually filch thousands of millions
of wealth from the unsuspecting and poor by their questionable
acts and insatiable greed; carrying poverty, sorrow, misery and
distress to millions of the honest laboring classes. As God has
planted a portion of His Spirit within them, He will hold them,
and not us, responsible for their acts; and instead of possessing
riches and honor their names will become infamous on earth and
hereafter. And instead of wallowing in their ill-gotten gains,
they will find themselves with Dives, calling upon their victims
for a drop of water to cool their parched tongues. Gospel or no
Gospel, honorable men cannot condescend to chicanery and
deception; and while following the lead of that inward monitor,
they could not yield themselves to those heartless and
cold-blooded practices. Again, there is a horror in the minds of
men generally, about shedding innocent blood, and laws are passed
to prevent crimes of that kind and to punish the offender. Where
do all these things come from? From that spirit which God has
planted in the bosom of all men. You may take the lowest and most
degraded of men, some of the greatest criminals perhaps, and they
will say, if they see an honorable man, a virtuous man, a kind
hearted and generous man, a man who acts uprightly--"We respect
that man, we honor him, we respect him for his virtues; we cannot
imitate him, we are sorry to say," and in this way they will
acknowledge that which is good and feel that they themselves are
doing wrong. These are some of the principles that exist in human
nature. They are so far good. At the same time there is another
sentiment prevails--that is, to protect virtue and chastity. It
is not practiced as extensively as it ought to be; a great amount
of hypocrisy exists on this subject. But nevertheless it is
implanted in the hearts of millions of the human family; and they
look upon the seducer of woman and the defiler of himself, and
upon those who practice crimes associated with these matters,
with disgust. The nations to-day, however, are wallowing in
rottenness and corruption in regard to these matters, yet there
are thousands and millions of men and women who abhor impurity
and vice, and cannot sanction licentiousness in any of its
disgusting forms. All these things are good in their place; but
this alone is not the Gospel.
293
Now, in former times, in the days of the flood, for instance, the
people became very corrupt, so much so we are told, that the
imaginations of the hearts of men were only evil and that
continually, and the Scriptures say it repented the Lord that He
had made man because of his corruptions and wickedness; but some
tell us that it repented Noah that man had been made because of
the abominations and evils that he witnessed in his day. God
destroyed the wicked of that generation with a flood. Why did He
destroy them? He destroyed them for their benefit, if you can
comprehend it, but I very much question whether all of you can or
not. Let me explain a little. We are told, as I have already
said, that God is the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh.
We are further told that Jesus the Son of God, existed before the
worlds were. It is also stated that He is our elder brother, and
that we pre-existed also--that is, our spirits did. When Satan
had gained an ascendency over the inhabitants of the earth so far
that they had departed from God, and violated His laws, what
would be the feelings of those spirits in the eternal worlds? Let
me ask all intelligent people, would they not be apt to turn to
their Heavenly Father and say: "Father, look down upon those
corrupt inhabitants. Do you see them?" "Yes, I see them and I
know them." "Is it just that we, thy children, should be doomed
to inhabit those filthy, corrupt bodies, and thus be subjected to
Thy wrath and indignation, and it may be thousands of years
before we can come back again into thy presence?" "No, it is not
just," and on this principle the Father destroyed them with a
flood, and recommenced peopling the earth with the seed of a
righteous man.
294
But, let me ask, what did the Lord do before He sent the flood?
He sent Noah among them as a preacher of righteousness; He sent
Enoch; He sent many Elders among the people, and they prophesied
to them that unless they repented, judgment would overtake them;
that God would overwhelm the earth with a flood and destroy the
inhabitants thereof--that is, those who would not listen to the
Gospel of the Son of God; for the Son of God was in existence
then, not personally on earth, but existed in the spirit, and the
promise to them was that He should come and atone for the sins of
the world. They were taught these things, but they rejected them,
that is the great majority of the did so. We are also told that
Enoch walked with God, and that he had a city which they called
Zion, and people gathered to Zion then, as we gather the people
to Zion in this day. Enoch walked with God, and was instructed by
Him, and he instructed the people of Zion. There is a very short
account of it in the Bible. There we are simply told that "Enoch
walked with God and was not; for God took him." It was not
thought necessary to say more upon this subject; but the facts
were that Enoch and the people of his city, having been taught
for upwards of 300 years in the principles of the Gospel before
the judgment overtook the world, were translated. Thus the people
in that day, had had fair warning, but only a very few paid any
attention to it. We are told concerning the Book of Enoch that it
is to be testified of in due time, and then we shall know more
about these things than we do now. But what of those who were
disobedient? They were thrown into prison. How long did they
continue there? Until Jesus came. What then did He do? He went
and preached to the spirits in prison. He was "put to death in
the flesh," we are told in the Bible, "but quickened by the
spirit: by which also He went and preached unto the spirits in
prison, which sometime were disobedient, when once the long
suffering of God waited in the days of Noah." Is that in the
Bible? inquire the Christians. Yes, that is in your Bible.
294
Thus we see the dealings of God with those people. Noah had
nothing to do but to preach the Gospel, and obey the word of the
Lord. We have nothing to do but attend to the same things. We
then leave the inhabitants of the earth in the hands of God. It
is not for us to judge them; for the Lord says: "judgment is mine
and I will repay." When men have offered unto them the words of
life, and they reject these words, they then become amenable to
their God, and the condemnation is, as I stated before, that
light came into the world; but men love darkness rather than
light, because their deeds are evil. Men persecute the Elders
when they go forth to preach. They persecuted Jesus. They
persecuted His disciples. Men, in many instances, even in this
nation--a nation that is emphatically called the land of the
free, the home of the brave, and the asylum for the
oppressed--have put to death some of our Elders, because of the
testimony they have borne to them. This, however, is all in
accordance with the predictions of Jesus. He told His disciples
that, "if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it
hated you." In other words, the Savior said, "If they love me,
they will love you; if they receive me, they will receive you; if
they reject me, they will reject you; if they persecute me they
will persecute you." And He further said--and it is singular that
He should have to say it to His disciples, men who were good,
virtuous, pure, upright, and desirous to promote the welfare of
humanity--it is singular that He should have to say: "Blessed are
ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say
all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and
be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven: for so
persecuted they the Prophets which were before you." Were these
men the enemies of mankind because they told them the truth? All
intelligent men would say, No. Are those Elders who go forth to
proclaim the Gospel to-day, the enemies of mankind? All
intelligent men will say, No. Well, would you try to coerce men?
No. Why? Because God does not do it, and He does not want us to
do it. I would not use any influence but that of truth to lead
any man to a knowledge of the truth. Any other influence, any
other power, any other spirit is not of God. There is a species
of false Christianity that thinks it is right to persecute people
because of their religion, but those possessed of that spirit,
whoever they are, are of their father the devil, because his
works they do. God believes in the freedom of mankind, and Satan
was cast out of heaven because he sought to take away the free
agency of man. In various ages of the world, under various
guises, the same thing has been attempted. Sometimes political,
sometimes religious, and sometimes other pretexts are introduced
to oppress mankind, and to deprive them of that liberty which it
is their birth right, and which all men have a right, under God's
law, to enjoy.
295
Now I come to talk of our relationship to this nation in a
political point of view. We are here in this Territory of Utah.
We were told to gather here by the Lord, and we have obeyed His
command, just as they did, as I before stated, in the Zion of
Enoch in his day. When we came here we brought our bodies with
us. It is not a spiritual thing, for we are all of us very
literal and very temporal. We have arms and legs, eyes and ears,
like other people--we are the children of our Heavenly Father as
others are. He has introduced the Gospel, as I have before said,
and one of the principles thereof is that of gathering, and we
have gathered together. I need not quote to you the Scriptures in
the Bible on this subject, for you know them, and I need not
occupy time in quoting them to-day. We are here. Who came in the
first place? A number of people from the eastern, western and
southern States, who believed the Gospel and obeyed it. It is not
necessary to go into our history, and dwell on events as they
transpired in Ohio, in Missouri, or in Illinois. Let all those
things pass. You can read them in our history. But as I have said
we are here. Under what auspices? According to the laws and
usages of the United States we settled cities, towns and
villages; we settled on farms, etc., which we had a right to do.
We purchased and paid for the property that we possess as other
citizens do.
295
At this point, President Taylor, feeling weak, requested
President Geo. Q. Cannon to talk a little on the subject.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, October 7th, 1883
George Q. Cannon, October 7th, 1883
President Cannon said: President Taylor is suffering from
fatigue and will take a little rest. We have gathered here, as he
has said, and have built up a commonwealth in these mountains--a
commonwealth which, if it were not for the prejudice that we have
to contend with, would be the admiration of mankind. The despised
"Mormons" stripped of their properties, driven out into the
wilderness as outcasts, as unfit for the society of their fellow
citizens; having been treated in this manner because of alleged
crimes--that at least was the justification that was offered for
the treatment of the Latter-day Saints--because they were such a
wicked people that they deserved to be treated by mob violence,
and the whole world, it may be said, acquiesced in the verdict
that had been pronounced upon us, or at least there was not
sufficient manhood and courage in the nation to raise the voice
against it, though thousands of people felt that it was an
outrage. Driven into the mountains in this manner, stripped of
our possessions; some of us coming into these valleys
bare-footed, with scarcely enough clothing to cover us for the
succeeding winter, God has blessed the people, and through the
wisdom and the power and influence that He has given to this
people, they have built, as I have said, a commonwealth in these
mountains, that is the admiration of every unprejudiced man.
These so-called "Mormon thieves," these "Mormon outlaws," these
people who were considered unworthy to live in Illinois and in
Missouri have come here, and we behold to-day hundreds of
settlements, hundreds of cities, built in the most admirable
manner. A government exists here for the protection of the poor
as well as the rich; and I have often said, that when we take
into consideration the fact of the poverty of the people, that we
have had an influx every year of about 3,000, on an average, of
foreign immigrants, unacquainted with our methods of living, not
familiar with our climate, coming here stripped--that is, coming
here with very little to aid them--it is one of the most
wonderful things that a community like this can absorb so many
people annually, and show no evidences of pauperism. We have no
paupers.
297
Now, my brethren and sisters, these results--and I think them
under the circumstances significant--are due to the blessing,
wisdom, power and guidance of our God. We have been sustained
here by His arm. Yet at the same time we have been treated like a
step-child by our parent government. Loyal as we are to the core;
believing as we do that the constitution of our country is
inspired of God; looking upon this form of government as
God-given, and as the best possible form of human government;
notwithstanding we entertain these views, we have been treated
from the beginning as though we were aliens, and as though we
were a step-child, instead of one born legally, and entitled to
the blessings that the rest of our brothers and sisters in the
compact of the Union are entitled to. We have had this sort of
treatment from the beginning. Every act of ours has been viewed
with jealousy. Nevertheless, we have prospered. God has been with
us. His blessing has been upon us. We have maintained good order
in these mountains, not because governors have been sent here not
of our choosing; not because federal officials have been sent
here in whose selection we have had no voice; not because for
several years back, it has almost been deemed a qualification for
officers to hate the "Mormon" people among whom the federal
officials were going to serve; but because there has been a union
in the midst of the people, there has been a wisdom, there has
been a power in the government which God has given. God has
developed true statesmanship in the midst of these Latter-day
Saints. There are hundreds of men in this community who can take
a body of people and go into these desert wilds and build up a
city, or a number of cities, and govern and control them in a
manner that if the whole world were governed in that way would
produce the grandest and happiest results. We have demonstrated
our capacity for self-government, and it is inherent, it may be
said in the people, springing, as I believe, from the wisdom and
blessing that God has bestowed upon men. There is no community
to-day, within the confines of these United States, that can
furnish so many practical men of this character as can the
Latter-day Saints, and the evidences of it are to be seen in the
good order that prevails throughout these mountains from north to
south, and from east to west, wherever the Latter-day Saints live
and have influence. I praise God for it. I claim no credit for
man in this matter. It is the divine blessing, and it is in
accordance with the plan that has been pre-arranged in the
heavens. Why, the very fact that we were permitted to be driven
to these mountains, shows us the hand of God in it. There was no
room for expansion in our old position. We could not have grown;
we could not have developed. But our enemies were determined to
make us great, and they thrust us out, and sent us into a land
which God evidently had designed to be settled by just such a
people as ourselves. There is no such land under the sun to-day.
It is the habitat, the true habitat of the Latter-day Saints,
admirably adapted in every feature of its climate, of its
conditions, of its mountains, of its valleys, of its crystal
streams, and the scarcity of water making it admirable for
settlement by a sparse people, a people such as we are. No dense
populations could live here.
297
President Taylor, at this point, again took the stand and said: I
have felt the exertion almost too much for me. I am not very
strong in body at present, but I will continue.
297
We consider as Latter-day Saints, that we have rights here, and
although we have been dealt with, as we would call it, rather
scurvily by the government that ought to foster us, yet at the
same time we have strictly adhered to the letter of the law, even
in the face of the assumed purity those people (our enemies)
profess to attach to themselves. We have not resisted any of
these things, but have treated those men who came as our
oppressors, if you please, with kindness and due respect,
notwithstanding they have introduced many things in our midst, at
variance with the laws and constitution of the United States, and
with our rights as American citizens. We have yielded for the
time being, but we purpose in behalf of ourselves, of our
children, in behalf of the institutions of this nation, and of
thousands of honorable men in it, to test these things to "the
last bat's end," and see, legally and constitutionally, whether
this nation will sustain these acts or not, and then if they do
we will leave them in the hands of God, and pursue our course,
trusting in Him. But one thing I will say, and that is that this
cause is onward; and as my brethren have said, so say I, that God
has commenced it, and He will take care of it. I know what I am
saying. I know when I am speaking that I am speaking not only to
you, but to the whole world; for it will be published to the
world. And I tell you Latter-day Saints not to fear, not to have
any trembling in the knees, for the God of Israel is on the side
of Israel, and hosts of angels also. There are more for us than
there can be against us; and God will sustain the right and take
care of, and preserve His people, if they will only do right.
298
We have embraced the Gospel. We have placed ourselves in another
position from that of the world. We have entered into sacred
covenants with the Lord, and He expects us to fulfill our
covenants, and those who do not fulfill them will be condemned.
There are certain rules and regulations that exist in the
heavens, as well as on the earth. We are told that before we can
enter into the celestial kingdom of God, we shall have to pass by
the angels, and the Gods, and if the Latter-day Saints aim at a
celestial exaltation, they must live and abide by the celestial
law, or they will not get it, any more than the Gentiles will.
Hear it, ye Latter-day Saints! God expects you to be pure,
virtuous, holy, upright, prayerful, honest, obedient to His law,
and not to follow the devices and desires of your own hearts. God
has revealed many things to you, and He will reveal many more. He
expects you to abide His law, and those who do not want to abide
it, had better quit to-day, the sooner the better, for God
expects us to do His will in all things. If we are Seventies we
have to go to the nations of the earth. If we are members of the
Twelve, we have also to go to the nations and preach the Gospel,
or see that this work is done. If we are Presidents of Stakes, we
must do our duty, draw nigh to God, and seek for the revelation
of His will, that we may know the things we do, and the things
whereof we testify. If we are Bishops, we must perform our
duties, or we will be moved out of our place. I do not care who
it is these words may effect; for God is building up a Zion, and
that Zion means pure in heart, the honorable, the upright, the
virtuous, and those whose sympathies extend to the promotion of
the welfare of the human family. He expects us to operate in
behalf of the interests of a fallen world, and to bring all to a
knowledge of the truth that will listen to it and obey it. He
then expects us to build temples as we have been and are doing.
And here permit me to say that I commend the Latter-day Saints
for the energy they have displayed in these things. And it is for
us to honor our God, and to obey all just and constitutional
laws, and to be quiet and peaceable, and operate for and be the
friends of mankind, but do not condescend to their pernicious,
corrupt, and damnable practices, or God will judge you as He will
judge them. It is for us to do right, and work righteousness, and
God will bless us. We need have no fear pertaining to the future;
and when we have completed these temples, we will go and
administer therein the sacred ordinances of God's house, and the
Spirit and blessing of God will rest upon us, and we will stand,
as the Scriptures say, as saviors upon Mount Zion, and the
Kingdom shall be the Lord's; and woe! to them that fight against
Zion. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Moses
Thatcher, April 6th, 1883
Moses Thatcher, April 6th, 1883
REMARKS BY ELDER MOSES THATCHER,
Delivered at the General Conference, Saturday Morning, April 6th,
1883.
Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs and John Irvine.
A FEW QUESTIONS EVERY LATTER-DAY SAINT CAN ANSWER FOR
HIMSELF--THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT--THE PROPER USE OF
RICHES--NO COMPARISON BETWEEN EARTHLY WEALTH AND ETERNAL
RICHES--PRINCIPLE MUST NOT BE SACRIFICED FOR
RICHES--CONSECRATION--SATAN REBUKED--WE OUGHT TO CULTIVATE THE
FRUITS
OF THE SPIRIT--THE WORK OF GOD ONWARD AND UPWARD--THE FATE OF
THOSE
WHO SACRIFICE PRINCIPLE AT THE SHRINE OF GREED--CONCLUSION.
299
The thought frequently arises in my mind, are we as a people
honest and sincere in the professions we make? Do we prove by our
dealings, our acts and conversations, that we sincerely believe
in all of the principles of the Gospel which we have been willing
to preach to others; or do we sometimes in our weakness, preach
one thing and practice another? Do we manifest more of the fruits
of the flesh than of the spirit? Do we manifest greater love for
the things of this world, and the honors of men, than we do for
eternal riches and the honor of God? These are questions every
Latter-day Saint ought to be able to answer for himself.
300
We are bidden of Paul to stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, and to be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. The purpose that the Lord had in view in
gathering us to this land, is at least partly reflected in this
language of Paul, namely: that we may sanctify the body by
developing the fruits of the spirit. Honesty and sincerity are
fruits of the spirit; to be true to God and each other are
manifestly fruits of the spirit; purity of thought and action is
fruit of the spirit. Injustice, unrighteousness, dishonesty,
intemperance, impurity, insincerity and hypocrisy are fruits of
the flesh. All these are sometimes manifested in man's undue love
for the things of the world, and in his contempt for the things
of God. Those who live for eternal riches are thoughtful,
devoting time and reflection and study to the word of God; they
are the people who desire the Lord to search and prove them, and
know their hearts, and see if there be any wickedness in them.
You see true religion manifested in such people by their
attention to the sick, by their administering to the orphan and
widow; you see them friends to God's poor. You see them opposed
to oppression of every form, opposed to the encroachments of
those who would do the people harm. You see them urging the
people to works of righteousness not only by precept but by
example also. You see them, as Elders of the Church, willing to
go to the ends of the earth to preach the Gospel abroad, or to
devote their time and talent to the education of the youth at
home. They are earnest and sincere; they live in the light of the
Spirit, doubting not the principles of eternal truth. They are
not filled with doubt and apprehension, but are full of faith and
good works. They desire to see the people advance and prosper,
securing temporal wealth while seeking earnestly to obtain the
greater riches, the riches of eternity. They are they who
appreciate the authority and power of the Priesthood, the
efficacy of prayer, through which the sick are healed. To be
worthy instruments in the hands of God, to administer in His name
is more gratifying to them than are the riches of the world.
300
During the short time I may speak I desire to direct my remarks
especially to the young upon this point, for here as elsewhere we
are subject to laws producing constant changes. To-day, the
Latter-day Saints are far more prosperous in the things of this
world than they were a few years ago; and it is right and proper
they should be. The Lord desires to bestow these things upon His
people. There is no harm in the possession of properly acquired
riches; there is no harm in wealth. God created the riches of the
earth; He created the ability of the mind, the intellect and
faculties of the man which enables him to accumulate wealth. But
the love of riches is dangerous. Excessive love for the things of
time has led men in all ages to forget their God, and indulge
themselves in things wherein there is no profit. This is what we,
as individuals, and as a whole people, should avoid. Excessive
love of riches, an unnatural desire to accumulate wealth at the
sacrifice of principle--and at the expense of God's honest and
deserving poor--produces a gulf of separation over which
preaching can never throw a bridge. We should realize that God
being the Father of us all, loves the humble and deserving poor
as much as He loves the rich who are alike worthy. We should
realize that all are friends and brethren equally, if equally
worthy, able to approach the throne of God.
301
I have heard expressions from some young people recently to the
effect that, "The theory of the Gospel is all right, and while it
is beautiful, we cannot deny the fact that even in Israel there
is great power in wealth." Of course there is. There always has
been and probably always will be, because the possession of
wealth produces power. We see this manifested everywhere, in the
history of every nation; but when we contrast the power of
earthly wealth with that of eternal riches, there can be no
comparison, the one being transitory, the other eternal; the one
is measured by time, the other by eternity. A man may be true and
honest before the Lord, and yet be rich in the things of this
world. God has had servants in time past who were wealthy, and
yet devoted as any could be. Abraham, Job and David for instance.
It is true the subsequent fall of the latter might be traceable,
to an extent, to indulgences and luxuries resulting from his use
of wealth. But I contend the riches of the earth belong to the
Lord, and He can bestow them upon whom He pleases, and it will be
His good pleasure to bestow them upon His people when they are in
a proper state to receive and use them to His honor and glory.
But it is a mistake for our young people to imagine that it is
better to lay aside the work of God, to refuse to go on missions,
labor in the ministry at home, or act as teachers in the Sunday
Schools--it is a great mistake, and I will tell you why. Riches
unless they have been acquired under the approbation of God, will
not produce happiness. The possession of riches may give
influence, power, fame, adulation, even among us, but unless
those who possess it are men of God, unless they are men of
faith, believing in the atoning blood of Jesus, unless they
believe in the Priesthood of God, and its right to direct in
matters both spiritual and temporal, they are not happy, they do
not possess the riches that will guide them safely through the
veil into the presence of God. They may believe all the
ordinances that faithful men believe; they may have their wives
sealed to them over the holy altar of God; may have their
children married according to the new and everlasting covenant;
come to conference meeting; pay their tithing; and finally
consecrate all their goods; but if their hearts are not
converted, if they are not free with the freedom wherewith Christ
once made them free, if they have gone back into the bondage of
the world, they have lost their golden opportunity. As they die
without faith, so will they rise without faith. If they have been
infidel to principle, slow to hear, if their hearts have been
hardened, and they have fought secretly or openly against the
principles of the Almighty, when they wake up behind the veil
they will find that in their love for the things of this world
they have lost that which it may take ages to regain.
302
I bear my testimony that these things are true. And while there
are wealthy men in this Church whom I respect and who I believe
to be good men, yet it is a dangerous thing for our young people
to conceive the idea that they must sacrifice principle at the
shrine of policy, and be hypocrites in order to advance their
interests and wield the influence and power of wealth in the
midst of this people--such an idea is dangerous, and it is a
thing that we, as Elders in Israel, should guard against. Give me
the influence, give me the faith and prayers of a man who is
willing to go to the ends of the earth for Christ's sake, and has
healing virtues in him, power to comfort, bless and heal the
sick, bind up the broken-hearted and lead to eternal life, rather
than the influence of any man without these, though he may be as
rich as Jay Gould. It is proper and right to use the wealth of
this world in beautifying Zion, for the benefit of those worthy
who need it--for the widow and the orphan, and for the benefit of
honest industries and righteous poor who need assistance. A man
should be as willing to financier for the good of the whole
people as for himself in the same capacity. The same energy
should be displayed in the one case as in the other. We should
learn to do for the people of God that which we are anxious to do
for ourselves. We should learn that the Spirit and power of God
will lead unto all righteousness, but that a man cannot be
dishonest and enjoy that Spirit; that he cannot monopolize the
natural avenues of wealth, depriving the poor of their rights,
and enjoy the spirit that comes from heaven. Greed often pushes
men beyond legitimate acquisition into respectable robbery. If
there are such in our midst, when trials come, when dark days
approach, there will be shaking in the marrow of their bones; and
faith will decrease as wealth wrongfully acquired increases; and
as such come to their end darkness will be before their eyes they
will fear the things that are beyond the veil; their faith will
waver; they will not know whether the atoning blood of Jesus
Christ will reach beyond the grave or not, but if it should they
will not know whether they will be able to stand in the presence
of God, without a blush. I bear you my testimony that men who
devote themselves to the riches of this world at the sacrifice of
principle, will rise in the resurrection poor, miserably poor!
They will be in greater poverty than the poorest in all the House
of Israel.
302
We had better think of the revelations of Jesus Christ. We have
talked a little about co-operation in the past. We have sometimes
alluded to consecration. I heard a story in regard to a brother
in Farmington, a few years ago. The question of gathering the
poor Saints from England came up in an evening meeting. The
brother had two cows, and he donated one for the purpose
mentioned. In going home a spirit of darkness said unto him: "You
have been very foolish. You have given away one of the two cows
you possessed, while Brother so-and-so, a much wealthier man than
you, has only given five dollars. Now, you have done a wrong
thing, a foolish thing." And thus was this brother tempted until
he turned round and said, as though addressing himself to Satan:
"If you don't cease tempting me, I will go back to the Bishop,
and give him the other one." [Laughter.] Now, that is just as I
feel. If at any time the Lord has blessed me with means, and I am
tempted not to do as I should, because of the actions of others.
I hope I shall always when tempted, feel to draw near unto the
Lord, and ask His assistance. I would rather give all I have--and
it is not much--and be like an Indian, clothed in a blanket, and
be acceptable to the Lord, than be clothed in velvet and
surrounded with riches, feeling that my prayers were never heard
by the Almighty.
302
There is no reason why we may not have all the fruits of the
Spirit in our midst. There is no reason why we may not have the
gifts and blessings of the Gospel. A circumstance somewhat
marvelous came recently under my personal observation. A little
boy was thrown from a horse violently, his head striking the hard
ground with great force, causing severe concussion of the brain.
The doctor was called, the Elders also. The eyes of the poor
little fellow were fixed and stony; all were greatly alarmed for
the case was a serious one, the physician saying that blood was
evidently clotting on the brain; the right side was paralyzed;
the wrist almost pulseless. He went into convulsions while the
Elders were administering to him, and many present believed that
he was dying, but the grasp of death was broken by the power of
faith. Unbelief was rebuked, and health and reason were speedily
restored. Next morning the boy was running about the rooms with
no soreness about his head whatever! I say the gift of healing by
the power of God, exists in the Church, and it might be far more
prevalent if we would live for it.
303
I bear my testimony, in conclusion, that this is the work of God.
I know that its destiny is onward and upward; whatever lies may
be concocted, whatever powers may combine to retard its progress,
God will eventually make it the head and not the foot. There are
boys growing up in these mountains who will so learn to love
liberty, and will so desire to see all humanity free, that they
will maintain the principles of our national constitution and all
just principles, and will invite the oppressed of every land and
clime to enjoy liberties which God will maintain in His
Kingdom--the liberty wherewith Christ will make them free.
303
On the other hand I bear my testimony that men who, in the Church
or out of it, sacrifice principle at the shrine of greed, who
take away the earnings of the honest poor, who monopolize the
avenues of trade to the oppression of God's honest people, will
wake up beyond the veil disappointed, unhappy, grieved and
damned. They will be damned in that God will so quicken their
minds, that they will see the past, and understand the future.
They will fully comprehend that in the brief space, perhaps, of a
few years, they sacrificed opportunities, and gave away chances
whereby they might have become kings unto the Most High God, and
saviors on Mount Zion; that they gave all these blessings for the
love of self, the honor of men, worldly riches; and the testimony
of widows and orphans will come up against them before the eyes
of the Lord, and they will see it and comprehend it, and in the
conception of their great loss, they will feel that they have
been damned.
303
I pray that we may be faithful and true to our religion, and that
we may have the guidance and inspiration of the Most High. I pity
a man that has no inspiration. I pity any set of men who seek in
their ignorance and blindness to retard the progress of God's
Kingdom.
303
There is a day of deep trial for those who love the things of
this world more than they love the things of God. If we have such
among us, I earnestly hope and pray that the Spirit of God may
rest upon them, that they may see the error of their way, repent,
turn unto the Lord, and be saved. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Charles W. Penrose, September 23rd, 1883
Charles W. Penrose, September 23rd, 1883
DISCOURSE BY ELDER CHARLES W. PENROSE,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, September 23rd, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
ELDERS ALWAYS READY FOR DUTY--NO SALARIED PREACHERS IN
THE CHURCH--NO COMPULSION IN THE WORK OF THE ELDERS--THE LIBERTY
OF LAW--SIN BRINGS ITS PENALTIES, RIGHTEOUSNESS A SURE
REWARD--ASSUMPTION OF DIVINE AUTHORITY--RESTORATION OF THE
ANCIENT
PRIESTHOOD--RELIGION IN POLITICS--THE SECRET BALLOT--THE
ONE-MAN-POWER--THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC--CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
FOR ALL--THE EFFECTS OF THIS WORK ON THE WORLD.
304
We always feel it our duty when called upon to undertake any task
which may be imposed upon us by our brethren in authority in the
Church, no matter how unexpected it may be to us, or how much we
may shrink from the duty we are called upon to perform. Brother
Goss, who has just spoken to us, at the call of the servants of
God, went to his native land to preach the Gospel. Every other
Elder in the Church holds himself ready--that is, if he is in the
line of his duty--to respond to a similar call; also if required
to do so to officiate at home.
304
We have no paid ministry in this Church, no hired clergy either
to preach at home or to go out as missionaries; but every man in
the Church who has received a testimony of the truth, and a
portion of the Holy Priesthood--which is generally diffused among
the male members of the Church--stands ready to perform any duty
in connection with his calling in the ministry. I am called upon
this afternoon to speak to this congregation, and I respond in
this spirit, the spirit in which our brethren go abroad to preach
the Gospel, or stay at home and preach it, or go to some distant
part of the Territory and help to colonize it, or to perform any
other work that is necessary for the general good, for the
building up of the Church of Christ, and for the benefit of the
people belonging to that Church who have been gathered from
various nations.
305
It is supposed by a great many people, that there is a spirit of
tyranny and oppression existing in this Church, wielded by a few
men, or concentrated in one man who stands at the head, by which
the people are coerced into certain lines of action. It is
supposed that our brethren who are called upon at our conferences
to go to various parts of the world in the interest of the
Church, act under this compulsion. Now, this is a very great
mistake. It seems difficult to convince people who are not of our
faith that there is not some coercive power or organization among
the Latter-day Saints by which people are obliged to do this,
that, or the other. They have not learned the secret of the power
that exists in this organization. They could find it out if they
would investigate, but it is very difficult indeed to get people
who do not believe as we do to look at this thing with any degree
of impartiality. They are so prejudiced against it. They think
that it must be wrong to start with, and hence do not look into
it in the way they should if they want to find out the truth.
Now, the spirit that actuates the Latter-day Saints has been
manifested in the remarks of Brother Goss, who has just returned
from a mission to his native land. He did not come to Utah to
find out if this thing called "Mormonism," was true or not. He
found that out in his own native land. He heard the principles of
the Gospel, and was led to believe them, and believing them he
was baptized into the Church; hands were laid upon him by the
Elders, and he received the Holy Ghost, which gave him a
testimony that the work was true. That is what moves the people
to come here from all parts of the world. so with the Elders who
are called upon at conference, or at other times by the presiding
authorities of the Church, and sustained by the vote of the
people, to perform any labor or mission of a public character;
they are ready at once, and they start to do it willingly and
cheerfully--although sometimes they shrink very much from the
task before them--because they know the call is right; they know
they are engaged in a great and glorious work; they have a
testimony within themselves that it is true, and that it has come
from God. They have a perfect assurance--a knowledge they call
it. Some people may dispute technically as to whether it is
knowledge or not, but it is knowledge to them. They are as sure
that it is true, and that it is divine, as that they are alive.
That is pretty near to knowledge if it is not exact knowledge;
and because of this they are ready to perform any work at home,
or to take their gripsacks in their hands and start out abroad at
their own expense. They receive no salary. They do not expect to
gain any earthly reward, but they are of the firm conviction that
it is their bounden duty to help their fellow men to come to the
same knowledge as they have arrived at themselves. And they are
not only willing to do this, but if it is a temporal labor that
they are called upon to perform, if they have the spirit of their
calling and duty, they are just as willing to perform that
temporal duty as to act in a spiritual capacity. Are they obliged
to do this? No. They act in the spirit of self-sacrifice, trying
to do good because they feel under obligation, as servants of
God, to do anything they can to help build up this great
latter-day work, which God has commenced in the earth.
306
Some people say they cannot understand how it is that these
Latter-day Saints are so united, unless they are held together by
some secret bond or some kind of tyranny. They cannot understand
how it is that when the leaders of the people speak, the people
are willing to move in a body, with scarcely a dissenting voice,
unless it is that they are terrorized or coerced by some power
that is not known on the outside. Now, all the bondage and
terrorism that exist in this church is the terrorism and
bondage--if such a thing can be--of conscience. The Latter-day
Saints not only firmly believe in this work, but have received a
spiritual influence which has given them an inward testimony or
knowledge that this work is of God. They have no doubt, no
dubiety, they know it is true. Hence, when any movement is
necessary for the building up of the great work of God, which
they know to be true, they feel it is their duty to respond. That
is all the bondage there is; that is all the terrorism there is.
We have in this Church and in this Territory, perfect liberty.
The Gospel is the "perfect law of liberty;" but it is the liberty
which is confined to that which is right. There is no true
liberty outside the bounds of wholesome law. When we act outside
the limits of proper law, and claim that to be liberty, it is not
liberty, it is license, and it is injurious to the individual and
to the mass. If this people called Latter-day Saints obey any
instructions that they may receive from the brethren who are
appointed to lead them, they do so in the spirit of liberty. They
do not do it because they choose to do it. They do it because
they are willing to do it. They do not perform the duty because
they are obliged to do it, because of any coercive power
exercised over them, or because they will be called upon to
submit to any penalty; but they do it because they please to do
it, and they please to do it because it is right. I admit that
sometimes they may do things which seem at first to be irksome.
They could refuse; but they feel that if they do refuse they will
suffer loss. In what way? Their religion teaches them that every
good thing that they do is bound to bring its reward, and that
every evil thing which they do is sure to bring its punishment,
either in this world or in the world to come; that is, that sin
inevitably brings its penalty, and that righteousness certainly
brings reward. Therefore, if a Latter-day Saint is called upon to
perform anything in connection with this which he feels it is his
duty to do, and he neglects that duty, he expects at some time to
be punished or suffer loss for that neglect.
307
Our organization is a very glorious one. It is a perfect
organization--perfect--because it is divine. It was not made by
man. It was not originated by Joseph Smith, or by any of his
associates. It came down from above, direct from the eternal
worlds. It was not taken out of the Bible. It was not taken out
of the Book of Mormon, or any other book, although it is the same
organization that existed on the earth in previous ages, brief
accounts of which, in patches here and there, may be found in the
various books which compose the Bible. But it was not taken out
of that book. God Almighty revealed it. And the authority which
men exercise in the Church--the authority of the Priesthood--did
not come out of the bosoms or brains of men. It came by direct
manifestation from on high. Heavenly beings who were once earthly
beings, men who once lived on the earth holding that authority,
and who passed away and have progressed (call it evolution if you
please), have come back to the earth, and ordained men to the
same authority and Priesthood which they held. These men did not
take this authority upon themselves from reading the last chapter
of Matthew and Mark, in which we read that Jesus Christ sent out
eleven men and told them to go to all the world, and preach the
Gospel in His name. A great many "Christian" ministers have
assumed the authority given to those eleven men, and to no one
else. Men who held this authority in ancient times, on the earth,
and have gone into a higher sphere in the due course of their
progression, by divine commandment have come back to earth, and
ordained men to the authority and power and Priesthood which they
held while they were in the flesh. That is why we claim that the
authority to administer in the name of the Lord is in this church
and in no other church on the earth; that all other Priesthoods,
so called, are spurious. We do not say that there are not good
men in other denominations, claiming to hold authority to preach
and administer in the name of the Lord; but we claim that they
have no authority in reality, because they themselves have
declared that all communication has been shut off from the
heavens, for hundreds of years, and as there has been no
communication from the heavens for hundreds of years, no
authority could have been conferred, unless it was continuous,
from the days of the Apostles to the present day. But most of
those persons who now claim to hold authority from God to preach
and to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel, repudiate the
idea that the authority was continuous, and declare that after
the days of the apostles, darkness came in, that the world went
astray, and that an abominable church arose in the place of that
which was established by Jesus and His Apostles.
308
Now, this authority which has been sent down from God out of
heaven, is similar in its nature to that exercised by men about
whom we read in the Bible. We read about one in the patriarchal
ages called Melchizedek, who held this Priesthood. Abraham went
and paid his tithing to him after he came back from overcoming
those kings that he conquered. Melchizedek, we are told, was the
Prince of Salem, and he was a Priest of the Most High God. And
after many generations had passed away, Jesus of Nazareth came
upon the earth and claimed to have that same Priesthood. He was
called to be a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, that is, He
had the same kind of Priesthood that Melchizedek had. We read a
little about this Melchizedek, in the Epistle of Paul to the
Hebrews, and about the Priesthood he held. Some people in reading
this confound the Priesthood or authority which Melchizedek had
with the man himself. They read it that he was "without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days
nor end of life." That is a curious kind of man, is it not? Some
people say that that meant Jesus himself. But that could not
apply to Jesus, for his descent is given in the Bible. He had a
reputed father, Joseph, and a real mother, Mary; and His Father
in heaven was His real Father; for we are told that He was the
first begotten in the spirit and the only begotten in the flesh.
This, then, did not apply to Jesus, nor did it apply to any other
man; it applied to the Priesthood or authority which Melchizedek
held. The Priesthood of Aaron or Levi, came by descent; it came
to a man because he belonged to a certain lineage; but this
Melchizedek Priesthood did not come by lineage; it came to all
upon whom God pleased to bestow it. Jesus was called to be a
Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, who was the
Prince of Salem, a Priest of the Most High God. Moses had this
same Priesthood. He received it from Jethro. There was another
Priesthood in the days of Moses and Aaron, the Levitical, which
descended in a certain lineage from father to son. But when Jesus
came on the earth, He received the Melchizedek Priesthood, and
that He might receive it in its fullness, Moses and Elias
appeared to Him upon the mount of transfiguration. Jesus
conferred that same Priesthood upon the Apostles. "As my Father
hath sent me, even so send I you." The same authority that Jesus
had, He conferred upon His Apostles, and they conferred it upon
others, as they were led by the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, which
Christ sent to them after His departure.
308
Now, this Priesthood and Apostleship was held in the early
Christian Church; but the people put the Apostles to death. They
put to death other men who had been called to hold a position of
this same authority and Priesthood, and darkness came into the
world, and the people have gone down deeper and deeper into
darkness, and further and further away from God as generations
have rolled on. They have heaped to themselves teachers, having
itching ears; and they have turned away their ears from the
truth, and turned unto fables. The consequence is that this
Christian generation have departed from the power of God, from
the authority of God, and from the Priesthood of God, and as they
confess "like sheep have gone astray."
308
But in our day God has restored the old church back again. He has
restored the ancient Priesthood, the Priesthood that Moses had,
that Abraham had, that Jesus had, that the Apostles had, and that
of which Peter, James and John held the keys. God has restored it
in the way that I have mentioned--by the ministration of angels
from the heavens. The last named persons came down from on high
and ordained men to the Priesthood upon the earth, to wit, Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and they, inspired by the Almighty,
dictated by the Holy Ghost, the spirit of revelation, have called
and ordained other men to the same authority--to go out into the
world and preach the everlasting Gospel, and administer in the
ordinances thereof. That is the power of this Priesthood.
309
Does this authority give men any power to bind the souls of men?
Not in the least. Does it give men authority to coerce anybody in
any shape, form or manner? Not in the least. On the contrary, we
are told in the revelations of God, that the power of this
Priesthood must not be used to coerce, not to bind the souls of
men. It must be by persuasion, by declaration of the truth, by
love unfeigned, by the inspiration that attends it, by the
manifestation of the power of God that goes with it; it must be
used in that way to convince those who hear and who are
instructed and directed. They who have this authority and
influence really have it in the power of God, and for the good
and blessing and benefit of their fellows, and not to coerce
them. There is no coercion or bondage in it. But some people will
say, "Is there not some kind of coercion in your political
affairs? You seem to be united in your voting, not only in your
Church matters, but in your politics. How is it that when your
people go to the polls, nearly all of them--you may say all of
them, for there are very few exceptions--vote the same ticket?"
Well, we hold conference twice a year, in April and October, and
upon these occasions the authorities of the Church--the President
of the Church, his Counselors, the Twelve Apostles, and all the
general authorities--are placed before the people for their vote.
For let me tell you that in this Church there are two principles
combined--some people think they are opposite and cannot come
together, but we have proven in our experience that they can--and
these are the theocratic and the democratic principles. They are
combined in this organization--the voice of God and the will of
the people, the response of the people to that which God says.
God commands, and the people say, "We obey; we are ready to
listen to the voice of God as it comes from on high." It finds an
echo in every heart that is living under the influence and spirit
of this work, and the response comes, "I am ready to receive it."
When the authorities of the Church are placed before the people,
it is very rarely that a contrary vote is seen. Are the people
obliged to lift up their hands when called upon to vote in the
affirmative? No. They can keep their hands down. They can either
vote for or against. That is their privilege; that is their
right; it is so recorded in the revelations of God to the Church.
Why do they generally--almost always--vote in the affirmative?
Simply because they are satisfied that the men who are called to
occupy these various positions are men of God, that they are fit
for the positions, that they are properly called and ordained,
and that they are the right men in the right place. That is the
reason they vote in the affirmative.
310
The same spirit of unity exists among the people in every
capacity. If they are called upon to move somewhere else, they
are ready to go. They did this at the time the army was sent
here. One of the most foolish things the government ever did, was
to send that army to Utah. It came about in this way. There were
certain judges sent here--we do not always get the best kind of
judges; sometimes they are very good lawyers, and sometimes we
have men that would be a disgrace to any bar that might be named.
Well, we had one of that kind at that time, or just previous to
that time, and he and his associates were very corrupt. But
because his corruptions were not looked upon favorably or
unconcernedly--particularly when the Chief Justice took a vile
woman upon the bench with him, a woman who had followed him when
he came here, leaving his wife behind--he ran away, went back to
Washington, and declared that the "Mormons" had burned the law
library, purchased by the government for the benefit of the
courts here, and that Utah was in a state of anarchy. Now, it is
always unwise to judge from one side of a question; unwise for
us, unwise for anybody; both sides of the question ought always
to be heard before deciding, but the government judged this
question before investigating it. Solomon says: "He that
answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame
unto him"--in other words he is a fool. The government was unwise
in taking the statements of this without hearing what the
"Mormons" had to say upon the question. Hence they sent out an
army to put down the "rebellious Mormons," supposed to be in
hostility to the government. After a while they sent
commissioners who found out that all the statements made to the
government, and which prompted the sending out of that army, were
utterly false in every particular. That can be found on record,
if people desire the proof, at Washington. And then the
government pardoned the "Mormons" for what they did, or rather
for what they had not done. It was very magnanimous, was it not?
President Young was governor of the Territory, and the first he
heard about this army was that there was an armed mob coming out
to Utah, that they boasted they were going to hang the leaders of
this Church upon the trees in the mountains, and to take their
wives and do as they pleased with them. Well, they did not get
here quite as soon as they expected, because some of our brethren
went into the mountains to delay the matter for a little while,
until it could be investigated. But after a time the troops
marched through the city and camped at a place which is now known
as Camp Floyd. Before the army reached here, the people had been
instructed that the best thing to do was to leave the city and to
move south, and to make preparations, if necessary, to destroy
their possessions, that they might not fall into the hands of our
enemies as they had done before; for this people called
Latter-day Saints, had been driven five times from their homes,
because of their religion; not for polygamy, because when they
were thus driven, except in the case of Nauvoo, plurality of
wives was not a part of their creed. The revelation on plural
marriage was given in Nauvoo, July, 1843; hence the mobbings,
drivings and plunderings to which they had been subjected before
that time were inflicted upon them before they claimed to believe
in that doctrine. As I have said, they were driven five times
from their homes. Many of them were slaughtered; some of their
wives were violated; little children were butchered; houses were
burned; stock shot down; standing grain was destroyed; and the
Saints were driven from their homes because of their faith. Well,
they made preparations when they left this place, to set fire to
it, and burn the whole thing, and the people moved south in a
body. That was unity, was it not? What was the cause of such
unity? President Young gave the word, and they were ready to
respond. But they were not obliged to do so. They could have
stayed in the city if they chose. There was an army coming. They
could have been protected by the army: but they made preparation
to set fire to their property, and went forth in a body. How did
they come to act in that kind of way? Because they were all moved
upon by one common impulse. The spirit that was in the head, was
in the body, just as it is with a healthy man. When the head
dictates, the whole body responds, to the very extremities, the
feet and hands and every part; the whole body thrills with the
influence that comes from the head. That is how it was in the
Church. The head spoke and the whole body feeling the same
spirit, responded.
311
Now, there is just the same unity in our political matters. They
are managed as in other parts of the country. The people hold
their primaries or caucuses in the different precincts, and
select men to act as delegates to the County Convention. Or, if
Territorial offices are to be filled, the people select delegates
to the Territorial Convention, and when these men meet they take
into consideration what shall be for the best interests of the
people, and who will be the most likely men to fill the offices
vacant, and when that Territorial Convention makes up a ticket,
the people are ready to accept it. If that ticket should not
happen to have upon it one or two names that they would like to
see there, they forego their private opinions in regard to
individuals and unite together as a whole. Have they not a right
to do that? We think they have. But it is claimed that the church
men interfere. Well, they don't interfere. But suppose they did.
Suppose the Priesthood of this church or the Twelve Apostles were
to get up a ticket and tell the people that it was the best
ticket that could be made, have they any right to do that? I
think they have. I think the twelve men called Apostles, have
just as much right to get up a political ticket, if they please
to do so, as twelve lawyers, or twelve doctors, or twelve
merchants, or twelve men who are hunting for office, and if the
people choose, of their own free will, to go to the polls and
vote that ticket, I think they have a right to do so. But those
very "liberal" folks who say we are in bondage, want to make us
vote as they think--"If you will only vote our ticket," they say,
"it will be all right; but if you vote the People's Ticket, or
the church ticket, then you are slaves." Well, I have not been
able to see the force of that, for the life of me, and I have
looked into the matter a good deal. It seems to me that I
exercise just as much volition or free will in voting for my
friends, men of the same faith, men of the same interests, men
who have a stake in this country, men whose interests are
embodied here, men who are known, men whose actions I have seen,
men whose motives I to a great extent understand by seeing their
actions--I say I think I display as much freedom in voting for
such men as I would in voting for men I do not like, men in whom
I have no confidence.
311
This cry of bondage is simply got up for effect. There is no
truth in it. There is no man, there is no woman in Utah
Territory, who is obliged to vote this way, that, or the other
way, and as a clear proof of this the fact remains,--a fact that
cannot be gainsaid--that our voting is entirely secret. Ballots
may be made by anybody, people vote just as they please; but the
envelopes in which the ballots are enclosed--furnished from the
county authorities, uniform in size and in color--must not be
marked or defaced in any way. When the voter goes to the polls,
he or she--for the women here vote as well as the men; they vote
in church, they vote in state; they have the same freedom and
rights in these respects as man--he or she takes the ballot, with
the names on it for whom they choose to vote, and then put the
ballot in the envelope, which is handed to the judge, and no one
can tell how the ballot was cast. There is no chance of repeating
here. That is why some folks don't like our style of voting.
There is no chance for ballot stuffing.
312
Now, you may think this has nothing to do with religion. In our
eyes it has a great deal to do with it. We think that eating,
drinking, wearing clothes, and the performance of various
temporal acts, as they are called, are a part of religion, that
is if they are done under a religious spirit and influence. We
desire to do right, to serve God, and to keep from evil. That is
religion. And I think that religion ought to have a great deal to
do with politics. I do not mean to say that people should be
compelled by religion or any other power to vote or to refrain
from voting; but I do think that religion should enter into all
the acts of life, in political as well as social matters;
religion should enter into all things; a religious influence
should have power over the minds of men for good. Now, then,
seeing there is a secret ballot, and nobody can tell how a person
votes, where can the coercion be? How are you going to find out
how this man or that woman voted, or how they did not vote? You
cannot do it. The fact remains, then, that there can be no
coercion in voting, even if it was desired. I refer to these
things this afternoon, in connection with the subject of our
liberty, the liberty which the people called Latter-day Saints
claim, to worship God or not worship Him; to perform any
religious duty, or not perform it; to do anything that is
required of them, or to do the contrary; we claim that liberty in
church and in state, and in all things.
312
Now, some people have an idea that in this Church women are
compelled to be married! Just think of it for a moment, will you?
How are you going to manage that? How are you going to compel a
woman to do anything that she does not want to do? Such an idea
as that must have sprung up in the mind of some one who does not
understand female nature. It is preposterous. There is no such
thing in this Church. This Church is a church of liberty; that
is, within the lines of the law. If people take the liberty to do
wrong, to transgress the laws of God, to do that which is impure,
they can be disfellowshipped--cut off the Church; and that is the
full extent of the power of penalty in this Church--the power of
excommunication, withdrawing fellowship, making a person not a
member; that is the extreme penalty of the laws of the Church of
Christ--excommunication. I think sometimes we have a little too
much liberty in this Church. People are allowed sometimes to go
on doing that which is wrong a little too long. People are
allowed to speak evil of their brethren too much. People are
allowed to find fault with men that are striving to do them good,
and to do the world good. I think sometimes when I look around
and see what transpires in this city, that there is a little too
much liberty; not that I would infringe upon the rights of any
man or any woman; I would give every man and every woman the
privilege of doing that which they pleased, so long as they did
not interfere with my rights and the rights of others. We do not
feel at liberty to interfere with the rights of our neighbors,
nor to infringe upon the rights of anybody, nor do we believe
that anybody has a right to infringe upon our rights. If they are
infringed upon, we will stand up in self-defence and seek legal
redress. But our friends (?) on the outside, think we ought not
to be allowed that liberty. They say it is treason for us to go
into court to test the validity of a law passed against our
liberties? They claim this liberty themselves, but they are not
willing to accord the same liberty to us.
313
Again, we hear a great deal about a one-man power. Brother Goss
remarked some of the people where he has been laboring, were
afraid to investigate our principles themselves--they must first
go and consult with the priest. Well, we are not obliged to do
that. We can investigate anything we please on our own
responsibility. But I must admit that in Utah we have a one-man
power, that is of the most irksome character. We have in this
Territory a Governor sent by the authority of the powers that be
at Washington, appointed by the President of the United States by
and with the consent of the Senate. Now, in the first place we
have no vote for the President; we have no vote, either directly
or indirectly, for any Senator; we are without representation at
the seat of the general government. It is true we are allowed to
elect a Delegate to Congress; but he has no vote. He can sit
there and look on--like they say the fifth calf did--but he has
no vote. Well, we have no power in the election of the President;
we have no power in the election of any Senator; and these
persons holding their positions without any voice or vote or
consent of ours, sent a man here to act as our Governor, and they
always select, with scarcely an exception, somebody who has no
interest here, somebody who has nothing in common with the
people; he comes here a stranger. We elect twelve men to our
Legislative Council, and twenty-four men to our House of
Representatives. These men understand our wants, understand our
circumstances, and they pass laws suitable to our local needs,
requirements and conditions. But this one man, sent here without
any consent of ours in any shape or form, by simply withholding
his signature, can make void and of no effect the labors of the
sixty days of those thirty-six men we have elected to make our
laws! "But," says one, "I suppose you can pass the bill over his
veto." No, sir. He has the power of absolute veto. He can cross
out an Act with his pen, or withhold his signature, and that is
the end of it. Well, then, we have a remarkable one-man power
here, have we not? Yes; but it is not of our choosing. It is not
in accordance with the spirit of our institutions. It is not a
church matter. It is not "Mormon." It is anti-"Mormon,"
anti-Republican, anti-American. It makes us to a certain extent
slaves, serfs, vassals. But that is not our fault; Joseph Smith
did not institute such a power; Brigham Young did not; John
Taylor does not enforce such a power; but we cannot help
ourselves.
314
I might go on and enumerate a great many other things that exist
in our midst, that are not of our choice. We pass laws for the
restriction or suppression of the liquor traffic. If we had our
way we would not have any liquor sold in any of our settlements.
It might be necessary, perhaps, in a city like Salt Lake City,
where there is such a mixed population, to make an exception, for
we have no desire to curtail the rights of any one; but we have
proved by experience that prohibition in some places has been
attended with good results. We have tried the licensing system,
and have found evil resulting therefrom. The liquor traffic
results in more police, more drunkenness, more dissipation, and
more licentiousness of every kind. Our judges--who are sent to us
in the same way as the Governor, without any voice of
ours--whenever they can get the chance (with but few exceptions,
a few honorable exceptions), to twist a word in favor of the
liquor sellers, will do it every time. In one of our cities,
recently, where prohibition was established, the liquor dealers
tried to establish themselves, and they were taken up and fined.
They appealed their case to the Supreme Court of the Territory,
and because the charter of that city said that the City Council
should have power to license, regulate, prohibit or restrain the
manufacturers, sellers or vendors of spirituous liquors and
intoxicating drinks of every kind, the majority of the Court
decided that as the charter did not say what the manufacturers,
sellers, etc., were to be prohibited from doing, the City Council
could not prohibit them from selling liquor. That is the way the
law can be twisted, and that is the way it has been twisted over
and over again, even in favor of licentiousness. We would have no
houses of ill-fame if we had our way; but the courts have ruled
in their favor, as well as in the favor of liquor dealers. That
is the position we are in.
315
Well, if there is any bondage here, if there is any coercion
here, if we do not have the power of local self-government, which
as free men we have the right to enjoy; if we are not in the
exercise of every natural right, and every privilege that people
should enjoy under the Constitution and laws of this free
country, it is not the fault of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, it is not the fault of this people. In our
Church there is liberty for all, and there is liberty within our
borders for those who do not belong to our Church, those who do
not believe as we believe, who do not see as we see. We do not
try to coerce them in the least degree. They can build their
chapels, churches and schools unmolested. They may worship an
image if they like, or a white dog, and they may do without
worship at all, and we will never infringe upon their rights.
Liberty is a part of our creed--liberty to all, liberty to every
nation, kindred, tongue and people. It is part of our faith that
every individual has a perfect right to worship God according to
the dictates of his or her conscience. We claim that right, and
we are going to stand up for it, quietly but firmly, by the help
of God, and we expect to conquer some day. We can wait; we can
bide our time; we can suffer; we have suffered over and over and
over again. We have learned to be patient under wrong; we have
learned to submit to all kinds of indignities. Our Elders who
have been sent out to preach the Gospel have been abused,
derided, afflicted and tormented, some beaten with stripes,
sometimes tarred and feathered, and some of them have laid down
their lives for the truth. But we have learned to endure with
patience, and to take it as the lot that must fall to us as the
followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. Nevertheless, we are men
and women, and we hope some day, to be able to show to the nation
and to the world, that we are law-abiding men and women, men and
women desiring to do right, to serve God, and to keep every
wholesome and constitutional law of the land; that we are willing
not only to labor for our own rights, but for the rights of
others; that we will contend inch by inch for those rights under
the constitution of our country, and in the spirit of the Gospel,
this perfect law of liberty which God has revealed to us. Our
influence and power will extend. Our unity will extend and become
a great power; we will contend for liberty to all, liberty to
every man and every woman under the canopy of heaven. That is our
doctrine and creed. God gave to man his agency in the beginning.
We have the liberty of choosing for ourselves. We have come into
this Church of our own free will and choice, because we believed
its principles. I can speak this for myself. I came into this
Church because I believed what was taught to me in my boyhood's
days, and left my home for the Gospel's sake. I came into this
Church because I believed its principles to be true and according
to the Scriptures, which my mother taught me, in my infancy,
contained the word of God. I investigated the principles of this
Church thoroughly, and became convinced of their truth, because I
believed the Bible was true. And when I came into the Church, I
came in humbly; God knows, I came into this Church for no other
motive in the world than to serve God, and to do what was right.
And when the Elders laid their hands upon my head, I received the
Holy Ghost--the spirit of revelation, the spirit of prophecy, the
same that makes manifest the things of the Father and of the Son;
I know that I received that spirit, and it has been with me from
that time to the present--a light to my feet and a lamp to my
path; a joy to my soul; opening up the things of God; bearing
witness of the truth of this work; and that spirit has led me to
righteousness, to truth, to purity of character, and would rebuke
me when I attempted to do anything wrong, and encouraged me in
performing my duty. And I have ever been ready, with the rest of
my brethren, to do anything and everything I could to build up
this work, because I know it is divine.
315
I know that there is no power beneath the eternal heavens that
can stop its progress. It will go on and conquer. It will grow
and spread and increase. It will go to the uttermost parts of the
earth. The Gospel will be preached to every creature. The Saints
of God will be gathered, and there is no power can stop their
gathering. They will come to Zion, and build temples to the Most
High God. They will unite together, and build up the Zion of God,
and prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus, whose right
it is to reign; and every kingdom, every government, every
society and every power upon the face of the earth that fights
against Zion will become like the dream of a night vision, it
will pass away and there will be no place found for it, upon the
earth. But Zion will arise and shine, and the glory of God will
rest upon her; and all the kingdoms of this world will become the
kingdoms of our God and His Christ. Then there will be liberty to
all. Then the chains and shackles that bind the oppressed will
fall to the ground, and light and truth will go forth until the
whole earth is immersed in the spirit thereof, and every nation,
kindred, tongue and people will sing praises to the Most High and
to the Lamb for ever.
315
May God bless you, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / Daniel
H. Wells, October 28th, 1883
Daniel H. Wells, October 28th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY COUNSELOR D. H. WELLS,
Delivered in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall,
Sunday Afternoon, October 28th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE GOSPEL PROMOTE UNITY, FAITH AND LOVE--THE
HUMAN FAMILY
ARE FREE AGENTS--THE EVIDENCE OF OUR HAVING DESCENDED FROM THE
GODS--THE WORLD
IS FULFILLING ITS DESTINY--THE CHURCH AND KINGDOM OF GOD ARISING
IN INFLUENCE
AND POWER--THE RESTORATION OF THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD--PLURAL
MARRIAGE--MORE
HAPPINESS IN DOING RIGHT THAN WRONG--ALL REAL ENJOYMENT COMES
FROM GOD--THE
LATTER-DAY SAINTS TRUST IN GOD--"MORMONISM" THE ONLY RELIGION
WORTH LIVING
FOR--THE CHRISTIANITY OF THE PERIOD A TREMENDOUS IMPOSITION UPON
THE CHILDREN
OF MEN--"MORMONISM" WILL EXTEND FURTHER AND FURTHER--CONCLUSION.
316
The principles of the Holy Gospel are calculated in their nature
to unite the hearts of the people one with another, and to
promote faith, union and love towards our fellows.
316
We are an independent set of beings. The human family possessed
of intelligence, are agents unto themselves to receive or reject
that which is good or that which is evil. Indeed it was one of
the objects, I suppose, of our coming upon this earth, to learn
to know the good from the evil, the right from the wrong, the
light from the darkness, the bitter from the sweet, the joy from
the sorrow, that we might the better appreciate the blessings of
joy and peace, of light, of intelligence, of truth, and of every
virtue. Now, as it is written, man having partaken of the
forbidden fruit became as one of the Gods, knowing the good from
the evil. Therefore he must be cut off; he must not be permitted
to live forever in his sins; a flaming sword must be placed to
guard the tree of life. Hence mortality, the wages of sin.
317
Herein lies the great evidence of our lineage, of our having
descended from the Gods, reasoning, intelligent beings possessing
the capabilities of the Gods--that is, the power to rise to their
capabilities, being of that nature and of that kind of which are
the Gods. And I might say that a person who is not capable of
being a peculiar agent of the devil need never aspire to become a
son of God, for, according to the Scriptures, we are "heirs of
God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ; if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together." If it would
have been as well for us to have remained in our pre-existent
state; if we could have learned and gained all of this
experience, learned to know the good from the evil, the light
from the darkness, do you suppose that our Father in heaven would
have sent us forth into the world, subjected us to all these
tests and trials and temptations of sin, of sorrow, of misery,
sickness, pain and death? I don't.
317
To me this is a grand old world, and fulfills its destiny and
purpose, the destiny and purpose of God our Heavenly Father, in
bringing it forth and preparing it for the habitation of man, and
bringing forth his children upon it. This world is not here by
mere accident, it is not here because it merely happened so; but
it was made with a destiny and purpose which it is answering most
superbly in my estimation. It gives the people an opportunity of
obtaining tabernacles for their spirits to dwell in. This in and
of itself is a great thing and a blessing, although some may act
in such a manner that it would have been better for them,
perhaps, never to have been born. Still it is a blessing to
undergo tests, to pass through ordeals, to subject ourselves to
the principles of truth and righteousness, rejecting the evil and
receiving the good. Why, on natural principles a course of that
kind is just as sure to exalt us in the scale of human existence
and in the scale of future and eternal existence, as it is that
we have an existence at all; whereas a course the reverse to
purity, the ordinary course of sin and iniquity and transgression
against the laws of God, is sure to debase, degrade, and to lead
down to misery, sorrow and death. It is as natural as anything
else--as natural as that we exist. These things bring their own
rewards and their own punishments naturally. Can a person avoid
punishment? Yes. How? By receiving and obeying the principles of
the Gospel and getting forgiveness of his sins, follies,
weaknesses, imperfections, and wrong-doings, we can repent and
turn away from the evil and do that which is good from
henceforth, and the Lord will forgive us. We know better than
anybody else if we are forgiven. We will know whether we have
turned away from our evils or not. If we have this testimony we
may know that the Lord has forgiven us. It is so written in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that if a person wants to know
whether the Lord has forgiven him, let him examine himself, and
see that he has repented with a repentance that needs not to be
repeated over and over and over again. The evidence is the
turning away from sin; that whereas we did that which was wrong,
forsake it and do that which is right, and thus we may know that
the Lord has forgiven us. In passing through the ordeals we are
subject to in life, we must keep ourselves pure and unspotted
from the contaminations of the wicked and ungodly, and walk in
the path of life, the path the Lord marks out for us to walk in.
Our being here gives Him an opportunity of proving us, whether we
will walk in His ways and do His works, or whether we will go our
own way. After He has gotten unto Himself a people who will do
His work, a people whom He has proved to be faithful and true and
full of integrity, why, with such a people He can fulfill His
words spoken through His servants centuries ago, that the
kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdom of our Lord and
His Christ. Until He does obtain a people of this kind, He cannot
consistently bestow this Kingdom.
318
Now, this work in which we are engaged, is calculated to produce
just this class of people--the Saints of the Most High God. And I
rejoice day by day, in having lived long enough to see this
Kingdom arise in influence, in power--not to its greatness, still
to a considerable extent to its greatness--and to see it put on,
to a certain extent, its beautiful garments. I rejoice in my
heart that I have been permitted to witness this Kingdom, since I
became acquainted with it, become considerable of a power in the
earth. And I believe also, nay, more, I feel sure that it will
continue so to progress. Many fall away from time to time. It has
been so in the history of the past, and probably it will be so in
the future. But will that impede the progress of this work? No.
It has never seen the day nor the hour from the time of its first
incipiency upon the earth, but what it has been greater than it
was the day or the hour previous. It never will. It is bound to
increase and grow, no matter what difficulties it may have to
encounter; it is bound to progress and to spread abroad, and to
become great in the earth, and no power can hinder it. What! Not
if the Saints do wrong? The Saints are not going to do wrong. It
is not the Saints that do wrong; it is those that apostatize from
the Church and become anything else but Saints, and if those
people do not remain Saints and keep themselves faithful who are
here to-day, others will come up who will do it. For the Lord
will get unto Himself a people who will be faithful, and who will
keep His commandments and do His work on the earth even as it is
done in heaven. Whether we do this individually, or not, makes no
difference to the work of God. All the difference it makes is to
us as individuals. Now, we may have part and lot in this matter
if we will. The Lord is willing to work with us, if we will only
walk obediently before Him. He will accept of our services, and
be glad to get them. He has not any too many people of this kind
on the earth; but He has some; He has enough to carry on His
work, and He will get more as He needs them, from time to time,
because it is the day and age and dispensation in which those
spirits that will obey the Gospel and keep His commandments, will
come forth upon the earth, and bear off this kingdom
victoriously. It is an important era for those that live in this
day and age of the world. There are great responsibilities
resting upon the children of men in this day. Great light has
been made manifest, far greater than in any other age of the
world--that is, it has been made manifest to a greater extent. I
do not know but what there was greater light in the days of Jesus
and the Apostles; but it is and will be made more manifest to the
children of men in this day than it was in that day, because it
is a greater work. It is the work of the fullness of times,
incorporating all other dispensations, and it is to prepare the
way for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to rule
upon the earth in power and great glory. This is a preparatory
work for those great events that have been set out to transpire.
Great events, such as never have transpired on the earth, are to
take place in this dispensation of the fullness of times. Hence
it is an important era, and great responsibilities rest upon the
children of men.
320
God from heaven has spoken to the children of men in the day and
communicated and restored unto man the authority of the Holy
Priesthood from heaven, and through which channel a communication
has been opened up between the heavens and the earth, through
which we may learn the mind and will of our Heavenly Father
concerning us, His children. All people may learn to know his
mind and will concerning them, through this channel of the
Priesthood that has been opened up again in this the dispensation
of the fullness of times between the heavens and the earth. That
is a great event to say nothing of anything else. Now, God having
revealed His mind and will concerning the children of men, having
sent forth His angels and a testimony concerning Himself, and the
Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to all those who
obey it, it becomes binding upon the children of men. Great light
has come into the world. As the Savior said, "This is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." This
light reproves the world of sin and unrighteousness, and tells of
judgments to come. It is in force upon the whole human family. It
were better for those who lived before this great light came into
the world and passed away without a knowledge of the Gospel, than
for those who, having been in the world when these events have
transpired, and having had an opportunity of receiving the
Gospel, reject it; a great deal better. There is not so much
responsibility resting upon them. They can be officiated for by
their friends in the Temples of the Most High God, which will be
built and which are built for the express purpose of going into
them and performing the ordinances for the living and for the
dead. These things have been restored in this the dispensation of
the fullness of times. A knowledge of God has been restored. We
know how to repent of our sins. We know how to get them remitted.
We have the privilege of knowing concerning the power of God as
it is made manifest upon the earth in the hearts of the children
of men, which others have not had the privilege of knowing for a
great many hundreds of years. We have the privilege of having
part and lot in this matter. As I observed before, we can be
workers and co-workers for our Father in heaven, if we will only
let Him work with us. He is the Master Workman; He is the Great
Architect, He is the One who is directing our labors; and if we
will seek to obey His laws, if we will walk in the path He marks
out for us to walk in, if we will work according to His plan in
the building up of His Kingdom on the earth, so as to bring
timber to timber, and block to block, and everything in its
proper position and proper place, according to the plan that He
devises, we may be instrumental in His hands of accomplishing
this great work, giving God the glory whose Kingdom it is. There
is glory enough for us to be the honored instruments in His hands
of accomplishing His purposes and establishing His cause here
upon the earth, even the cause of truth and righteousness, and
bearing it off victoriously against every obstacle or foe that
lies in our pathway. There is honor enough, I say, in being
humble instruments in His hands, and in having a lot and part in
this matter. I have always felt, ever since I became acquainted
with these principles, to make it my life's business, allowing no
other business to intervene--to work for God and His Kingdom. I
esteem it a privilege and an honor to do so. "Well," says one,
"Don't it bring you into difficulties? Have you not a great many
things to encounter that you otherwise would not have to
encounter? Is it not a hard road to travel?" I do not know that
it is. I believe the Latter-day Saints enjoy themselves better on
an average in the things of this world than any other people with
whom I am acquainted. If nobody but Latter-day Saints had
difficulties to encounter in this life, then people might talk.
320
I don't often say anything in regard to plural marriage; but
there has been a great deal said about the misery of women in
that order. Well, if in monogamy women do not have any trouble,
if it were all serene in that order of marriage--no cause of
difference of feeling or of jealousy--then there might be some
cause for this hue and cry. People imagine, you know, that in a
man's family where there are several wives, they must be very
jealous of one another--that they must tear each other's hair and
all that kind of thing. Well, as I have said, if there was never
any jealousy, or any feelings of unhappiness in monogamic
families, then they might say something. I have had a little
experience both ways, and though not a woman, yet I am bold to
bear my testimony that there is more happiness in the number of
families living in plural marriage, than there is in an equal
number of families in the other condition. And I speak from my
own experience in regard to these matters. I think I lived as
happily in monogamy as anybody, and I think, too, that I live as
happily in plural marriage as anybody else.
321
I would like to have people realize that there is more happiness
in doing right and in keeping the commandments of God than is
afforded by the allurements offered in the world or by the world
that are of an opposite character. It is very true a great many
things that are counted sins are not sins. I do not believe that
it is worth our while to make sin of that which is no sin. There
are a great many things counted sins in the Christian world that
are not sins at all. Why, there was a great big devil in a very
small fiddle, in the estimation of many people where I was born
and brought up. I was taught to believe that a man would surely
go to hell that would attend a ball or theater. It was thought
sinful to do that. Well, I do not know but it is a sin to those
who make it so--to those who indulge in sin. And so with a great
many other things that are counted sins, that are not sins in and
of themselves, only as they are made so by the hallucinations and
foolish notions of men. Pastime is right and proper. There is no
sin in it, only as we make it so. But we should have our pastimes
without sin. We should have enjoyment, and there is nothing that
is worth having that is precluded by the articles of our faith as
Latter-day Saints. I do not know of a single enjoyment; I do not
know of a single thing that is a blessing in reality, or that
will afford any real or true enjoyment to the human mind, but
what comes within the purview of the Gospel. I believe that all
enjoyments and all blessings come from God. The adversary, it is
true, sometimes perverts these things, and people think that they
can have a little enjoyment in some of their excesses. It may
bring a little enjoyment for the time being, but it soon passes
away, and leaves a feeling that it has not been real and true
enjoyment after all. Therefore, everything that is worth having,
and that affords real enjoyment, comes within the purview of my
holy religion. Latter-day Saints can pass their time pleasantly
in enjoyment of every kind, so long as they will do without sin,
never forgetting God. Never do anything--it is a pretty good rule
to go by--but what you can ask the blessing of God upon it to
begin with. Then it will bring peace, comfort and joy. So that I
conclude on the whole that there is just as much happiness and
pleasure in leading a religious life--the life of a Latter-day
Saint--as there is in any other position in life that a person
may find himself in, I do not care whether it is religious or
irreligious.
321
Notwithstanding all the contumely, and all the out-pourings of
wrath, and all the difficulties with which the Latter-day Saints
have to contend, we can lift up our hearts and rejoice, trusting
in God that all is right, feeling pretty comfortable as we pass
along in the present, and very comfortable with regard to the
rewards that lie at the end of the race.
321
Let me assure you there is no other religion that is worth living
for, other than the one we have espoused. All the ordinances that
they profess in the sectarian world to perform are without the
authority of God, and mankind, the world over, are just as well
off without them as they are with them. I design to be sweeping
in this--to include everything of that nature. Not but what the
teaching of morality, of belief in God, of belief in Jesus
Christ, and all of these things are good so far as they go; I do
not mean that; but I mean the ordinances that they perform;
mankind is just as well off and better off without them than with
them. Now, it may require a little explanation as to how mankind
are better off without these ordinances. Man is naturally a
religious being. He has something to satisfy. His heart craves
for something of a religious nature. He feels there is some being
to worship, or some reverence due somewhere. Now, any system that
proposes to satisfy this craving, which is not of God, and which
is not right, only deludes the individual into a false theory and
a false belief, and at the same time partially satisfies this
craving for light, truth, and knowledge, and for a reverence for
some divine being. In this way, I say, the human family are often
deluded. It makes them so satisfied, that they cease to seek for
the true light, and they are thus led astray. Therefore it does
injury. Man is better without it than with it. If the principles
of the holy Gospel, if the Spirit of the Lord had a clean sheet
to write upon and to make its impressions, it could make its
impressions quicker than it could do if the slate had to be
washed so as to wipe out the marks already imprinted thereon.
Therefore it would be better for mankind not to receive of this
great superstructure that has been reared in the midst of the
earth, under the name of religious forms, ceremonies and
ordinances. The world would be better off to day, without it,
than they are with it.
322
The whole system of Christianity is a failure so far as stemming
the tide of wickedness and corruption is concerned, or turning
men from their evil ways to living lives of righteousness before
God our Heavenly Father. I would rather preach the Gospel to a
people who have not got any religion than I would to a people who
have got a great deal of religion. You take the Catholic world.
What impression can the truths of the Gospel make upon them as a
people? Scarcely any impression at all. Why? Because they are
satisfied with what they have got, which we know is an error, and
which is not calculated to stem the tide of wickedness and
corruption which floods the world. It never will convert the
world to God or His Kingdom, or convey a knowledge of God unto
the children of men, and it is life eternal to know Him, the
living and true God. The Christianity of the period will never
make the people acquainted with God in the world. It will never
bring them to eternal life as spoken of in the Scriptures. It is
an utter impossibility. In the first place they do not know
anything about God, and in the second place, they apparently
don't want to know anything about Him. They have reared a
superstructure in the earth which is false. It is and has been a
tremendous imposture to the children of men. Some have come out
of it, to a certain extent, seeing its incongruity, and yet they
have floundered in the dark, not knowing what was right; not
having that knowledge of God which is necessary to obtain eternal
life, they have been tossed to and fro and carried about by every
wind of doctrine, without being able to find the truth. Many who
have thus been foundering are honest people; but the so-called
system of Christianity is not only an error and a snare, but is a
monstrous iniquity fastened upon the children of men throughout
the earth. No wonder that people become infidel. The inconsistent
and incongruous nature of the system is enough to make any being
who reasons infidel. It was time the truth should be revealed; it
was time for the Lord to restore the everlasting Gospel, for men
were blind. Darkness covered the earth, even gross darkness the
minds of the people in regard to religious subjects. Perhaps a
darker time was never known since the earth began its revolutions
around the sun. From what I have read and from what experience I
have had in life, and the intelligence I possess, I make bold to
give my testimony that the darkest period the world ever saw was
when this work first commenced, when it was made known from
heaven to Joseph Smith. It was no darker here, perhaps, than in
any other part of the world; but it was just as dark in Christian
countries as in any Pagan country, so far as true religion and
the light of heaven were concerned.
323
Well, now, this light has broken forth, and it is extending its
rays further and further, and will continue to do so. I have seen
it between 35 and 40 years myself, constantly extending, and I
rejoice in it. I rejoice in this work. It is just as sweet to me
to-day as it ever was. From the time I first heard the principles
of the Holy Gospel drop from the lips of Joseph Smith, the
inspired Prophet of God, the great Prophet of the last days--I
say it is just as sweet to me to-day as it was then. I can see a
great growth. I am a better man--I will speak of myself--through
the influence of "Mormonism," than I was before I received it.
You, too, are better men and better women to-day, as a general
thing, than you were before you received it. Take this people as
a whole, I am happy in believing that the great majority are for
God and His Kingdom, and are desirous to walk in the ways of
truth and of righteousness according to the light that they have
and about as well as they are able to. Some don't, perhaps none
of us do as well as we know how. I have said before, and I guess
it is pretty true, that I don't do as well as I know how. Perhaps
I can't. There may be circumstances surrounding me of that nature
that I am not able to do as well as I know how. I may say I do as
well as I can under the circumstances. Perhaps that is the case
with all. Perhaps we might do a little better than what we do,
notwithstanding the circumstances. Still I am happy in believing
that the great majority of the people are for God and His
Kingdom; and those who do not walk up to their privileges in
regard to these matters and observe the principles of the Holy
Gospel, they only injure themselves, they cannot injure the work
of God. It is proof against the aspersions of the wicked, the
ungodly and the apostate. Me disgrace my Maker! No. What can I do
to disgrace my Maker and my Creator? Nothing. I can disgrace
myself, but not Him, nor His cause, nor His Kingdom. The higher a
man gets the further he may have to fall; but the tree from which
he falls would not be apt to be hurt by his falling off it.
323
I pray God to bless us all; to help us to do right; to help us to
make our calling and election sure; to bring us to the full
enjoyment of our righteous desires; that we may succeed in
obtaining an exaltation in His presence, an inheritance in His
Kingdom, an habitation that has been prepared for the righteous,
from before the foundations of the world; this is my prayer in
the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Teasdale, November 4th, 1883
George Teasdale, November 4th, 1883
REMARKS BY APOSTLE GEORGE TEASDALE,
Delivered at the Quarterly Conference, Logan,
Sunday Morning, November 4th, 1883.
Reported by John Irvine.
HIGHLY ESSENTIAL THAT THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN
THE THINGS OF GOD--BELIEF IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST--THE OBJECT OF
BEING LATTER-DAY
SAINTS--THE PROPER EDUCATION OF OUR CHILDREN--THE KIND OF MEN BY
WHOM THEY
SHOULD BE EDUCATED.
325
As I understand it, the object we have in meeting together is to
be taught of God through the channel that He has appointed to be
His mouth-piece. It is highly essential that we should be
properly educated, and the Latter-day Saints believe in being
taught of God. That was the promise that was given--that in the
last days God would teach His people; that He would reveal His
secrets unto His servants the prophets--reveal precious things
that had been hidden from the foundation of the world. I presume
that if we had a testimony or fellowship meeting, there would be
quite a number that would occupy the time in bearing testimony
that they knew that this was the work of God; that they knew that
He had established His Church upon the earth, and that the gifts
and blessings enjoyed by the ancient church were enjoyed by this
latter-day Church. Now, in order that we may be properly educated
in this Church, we have been instructed to be very particular to
preserve the fellowship of the Holy Ghost; because no man knoweth
the things of God save by the Spirit of God, and if we want to
understand His ways, if we want to walk in His paths, we must
become converted. The Savior established this principle--that
unless we were converted and became as little children, we could
in no wise inherit the Kingdom of God. Now, I believe in this
principle; I believe that it is essential, simply because we are
to be educated, we are to receive line upon line, precept upon
precept, here a little and there a little, until we shall become
perfect in Christ Jesus. This to me is a glorious philosophy,
that we can advance from one degree of perfection to another,
until we shall obtain a fullness of truth. And in connection with
this education it is highly essential that we should lead
righteous lives, for we are being educated in a high school. We
are being prepared to associate with the spirits of the just made
perfect. The Lord is declared to be a man of Holiness. The
doctrine that the Savior taught was, "Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven, is perfect." Now, if
there was no possibility of attaining to this, He never would
have taught the principle; but it seems, if we want to place
ourselves in a position to receive this high education, it is
most essential that we should lead righteous lives, and have the
fellowship of the Holy Ghost.
325
One of the fundamental principles in the Gospel of Christ is
faith. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved." What do we understand by this belief on the Lord Jesus
Christ? As I understand it, believe in His doctrine, and if we
believe in His doctrine, then we practice the principles or
doctrines that He taught. And the very fact of a man being
converted to the doctrine of Christ, and of seeing the necessity
of rendering an obedience to this principle that He taught,
proves that he has faith in God, and that he has faith in the
principle. You go into the world. There are millions of
professing Christians that say they believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. But they do not believe in His doctrine. They do not
understand anything about His doctrine. The calamity that was to
come upon the people in the last days, was not because they did
not believe. It is said that Jesus Christ would be revealed from
heaven in flaming fire to take vengeance on those who knew not
God, and who obeyed not the Gospel. Well, now, what is the
Gospel? The Gospel is the doctrine of Jesus Christ. The doctrine
that Jesus Christ taught, puts us in possession of the Gospel, if
we only obey the principles taught, and it certainly is glad
tidings of great joy to the believer. Paul said he was not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, "For it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." To whom was
this revealed? To the believer who obeyed the Gospel. You ask the
world if they believe in the spirit of revelation, and they tell
you no; but yet they profess to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
325
What is the object of our being Latter-day Saints? Is it not that
we may be fitted and prepared for the association of the Father
and the Son; and has not our Heavenly Father declared to us that
He cannot look upon unrighteousness with any degree of allowance,
showing that we cannot be saved in our sins. We are called upon
to repent of our sins, to cease from wrong doing, and the Lord
has declared that herein it might be known who had repented, for
they would cease from their evil ways.
326
There are a great many ideas and meditations that might be
brought forth in regard to this being converted and becoming as
little children. And in this connection I will bring up a very
simple proposition this morning. Parents profess to love their
children. I will presume this, because it is natural to believe
that parents do love their children. You will find this
manifested among all sects and parties. For instance, Catholics
never send their children to foreign schools--that is, schools
outside of the Catholic faith. Why? Because they love their
children, they love their religion; they believe in sustaining
it, and they are jealous lest their children should go (to them)
in inconsistent ways. Now, would you think that it were possible
that a people called Latter-day Saints, professing to have the
highest light and intelligence, would allow their children to be
educated by an enemy? Those who would allow such a thing might
tell me they loved their children, but I could not believe them.
I would sooner my children should go without any scholastic
education than that they should be educated by an enemy. There is
no common sense in such a course. I cannot see that there would
be any common sense in taking our children from the family altar
and placing them under the dominion of Baal. I would advise all
Latter-day Saints who undertake this suicidal policy, for God's
sake, to become converted. Listen to the voice of warning. Have
your children trained in the principles of righteousness, for
your sake--for your future happiness, and for the future
happiness of your children; for as you lay the foundation so you
may expect to build upon it. I would like our children when they
go from the family altar to go into a school where they would
hear the same God addressed, the same blessings sought, the hand
of the Eternal acknowledged in their education, as well as to ask
that His blessing might be upon them when they surround the
family altar. You never can make me believe that a man and a
woman have the sense of affection that they should have, who do
not place their children in this position, for we have most
excellent schools. We believe that our children are our glory, do
we not? They say the children are the glory of the woman?
Sisters, if you value your glory be jealous that when your
children leave your firesides, that when they leave your
influence, that they go to a man of God, who will teach them the
principles of righteousness, who will instill into their hearts
the same principles that you profess to love and look forward to
as the means of bringing you happiness and eternal glory in the
world to come. I would appeal to my sisters, for I know they love
their children more than we do if it is possible. I would grant
you that, because I can appreciate your suffering, I know how you
have risked your lives that your children might be born. I
understand and appreciate it; hence, I say, watch over your
children with a jealous care. And when your husbands are away,
gather them around the family altar, plead before the Almighty
with all your faith and power that they may enjoy the fellowship
of His Spirit, that the Holy Ghost may be their constant
companion; and make sure that that Spirit is your constant
companion, for you may be entrusted with the care of choice
spirits, destined to hold the Holy Priesthood, which is the
greatest of all, destined to perform a mighty work upon this
earth, that will be to your honor, for you will be reflected in
your children.
327
I feel interested in the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and
in my meditations I can see that we must pay the greatest
attention to our children. You cannot teach them the principles
of righteousness from books alone. No man can understand the
things of God, save by the Spirit of God. This Bible has been in
the world for ages, and so far as understanding the things of God
is concerned, there is nothing but confusion. You can only find a
unity of the faith where you have the fellowship of the Holy
Ghost; for the spirit of truth always speaks the same. Let me
entreat you to have your children instructed in the principles of
truth. Put them under the best influence that you can find. If I
had my will I would have in every school the best and the purest
men that we could find, whose influence would be the influence of
love and affection. I can point with pride to my beloved friend,
Karl G. Maeser, in Provo. I have known him for years. I know that
he is a man of God. I know that his aspirations are all the time
to live a life of usefulness; a man that believes in the
Priesthood, and the study of the same, that he may be enabled to
comprehend its powers; a man who endeavors to live an exemplary
life, and whose object is, in the hands of Almighty God, to be a
blessing to our rising generation. I say he is an example to all
men who are entrusted with the care of children. He devotes his
time and his talents to this end, that he may have an influence
in the midst of the heritage of God, entrusted in his hands. Our
children are the lambs of God, and they should be taken the
greatest care of. They are dependent upon you for their
education, and if you want to train them in righteousness place
them under the influence of the everlasting Priesthood, men of
holiness, men who have been converted, and who have become like
little children, like clay in the hands of the potter, able to be
moulded and fashioned into vessels of honor. I think it should be
the ambition of every man entrusted with the care of children to
lead a life of holiness, to honor the important charge placed in
his hands, that he may have an influence over the minds of the
young, and be the means of making them bright and glorious in the
midst of Israel, by watching over them with a jealous care. You
can see the value of this. Mothers, you know how you feel when
your sons come home from missions, having filled honorable
missions, filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and a clear record;
you know how your hearts are filled with delight when they stand
up and bear their testimony, and give you a description of their
labors as messengers of salvation to a dark and benighted world.
327
May God give us wisdom that we may be enabled to act wisely our
part in our day and generation; that we enjoy the fellowship of
the Holy Ghost, that we may see aright, hear aright, and do
aright, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Franklin D. Richards, November 4, 1883
Franklin D. Richards, November 4, 1883
REMARKS BY APOSTLE F. D. RICHARDS,
Delivered at the Quarterly Conference, Logan,
Sunday Morning, November 4th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
OCCASION FOR GRATITUDE--THE RISING GENERATION--LATTER-DAY SAINTS
SHOULD
SANCTIFY THEMSELVES--GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD--PROSPERITY OF
LOGAN AND
CACHE COUNTY--THE INTRODUCTION OF SALOONS: A REMEDY TO PREVENT
THEIR
EXTENSION--A TIME OF PEACE--WHO ARE PREACHERS OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS--THE TEMPLE:
HOW IT MAY SPEEDILY BE FINISHED--SPREADING THE GOSPEL--GATHERING
OF THE JEWS
TO JERUSALEM--EXHORTATION TO FAITHFULNESS--THE REWARD OF THE
RIGHTEOUS.
328
The present favorable opportunity affords us a proper occasion
for gratitude, and to think of and listen to those principles
which pertain to our salvation, to our improvement, and our
advancement in the knowledge of the truth as it has been revealed
to us in this last dispensation.
328
The earnest and cordial exhortation which we have just listened
to is one that appears to me very appropriate and highly
important for all faithful Saints to consider. All matters which
affect the interest and well-being of the rising generation are
to us of the deepest importance. As we hope for the rising glory
and triumph of the Kingdom of God in the earth, so should we
labor to educate our children correctly in the fear of God, and
in the principles of the everlasting Gospel. For it is
righteousness that exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to
any people. The Lord our God will make His deliverance manifest,
and the exercise of His power, less or more to his people in
proportion as His people incline less or more to draw near to
Him, and to learn His holy will.
328
If the Saints would make it their first and leading purpose in
all the labors and duties of their lives to draw near to God, to
sanctify themselves, sanctify their inheritance, their families,
their habitations, their houses and lands, their flocks and
herds; if every man in Israel who is the head of a family, and
the possessor of property, made it his business to sanctify
himself, and all that he has influence over unto the service of
God and the building up of His Kingdom, making that the leading
matter of his life, we should find ourselves progressing much
more rapidly in the way of righteousness and power of truth
before the Lord.
329
We are making advancement by the directions of the Priesthood in
building Temples; we are making advancement continually as God
gives us increase by the multiplication of our numbers in the
land, all legislation concerning us to the contrary
notwithstanding. The Lord is not only multiplying and increasing
us numerically in the earth, but He has put us in possession of
principles of life, power and increase, which the world know
nothing of, and which they despise, which they waste and destroy
to the ruin of their souls. He is giving to us these blessings
right along with the revolving seasons, with the revolutions of
the earth. Every day, every night, every week, every month and
every year witnesses increased advancement in some direction; and
if we can but make the improvement that we ought to do in our own
generation; if our fathers and our mothers can make the
improvement which they ought to do, and which they have in their
power to do in their generation, this people can become not only
a great and mighty people in number, but a vastly greater and
more mighty people than the same numbers in any other part of the
earth, and the favor of God--which we see and know already is
turned toward us--will increase upon us, and His blessings
multiply upon us with a greater fruition than ever before.
330
We are approaching the completion of a Temple. When I think of
Logan and Cache County, I realize that you are blessed almost
beyond your brethren and sisters in other Stakes of the
Territory. You have a tabernacle here, second to none as a place
of worship for the Saints of this Stake. You are supplied with
other public buildings that place you in a good, comfortable
position, such as a splendid court house, and a good, substantial
college building, and you are in a position, as a people, by
means of that college, to enjoy all the general benefits of a
liberal and classical education and of knowledge that may be
imparted unto you, not only in the laws and ordinances of the
Church and the Kingdom of God particularly, especially and
pre-eminently, but also in the arts as well as the sciences. You
certainly occupy a very excellent position. But this is no reason
why you should slacken your efforts. On the contrary, this
prosperity should induce you to increase your diligence in all
good things. For you know very well--you see and have the
experience right among you--you have the contending elements
striving to bring in drunkenness and iniquity in your midst. This
of course we have to put up with when we take it as from the
world and the ungodly, on the common ground of our warfare to
contend against those powers in high places; but when it comes
from those who profess to be brethren, when they undertake to
insist and push and crowd these things to the destruction of the
souls of their brethren, this seems sometimes to us more than we
should be required to bear, unless it be required of us from God.
When brethren will undertake to thus sow affliction, destruction
and death among their brethren, I do not know how long we shall
have to put up with it, and be silent. Our enemies we can bear.
Like as one said of old: "It was not an enemy that reproached me;
then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hateth me,
that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself
from him; but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine
acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the
house of God in company." Well, it seems a good deal the same
way, when we see men who are Elders in Israel, partakers of the
holy, High Priesthood, striving to urge the sale of liquors, and
to promote drunkenness in our midst. It seems intolerable. How
long shall we continue to bestow the fellowship and patronage of
the brotherhood in promotion of these evils? I would exhort the
brethren to be reminded, however, that there is one remedy, one
way that we can ward off this mischief from being extended and
promulgated among us; it is to let it alone and stay from those
places. Although there may be grog-shops, and billiard saloons in
your midst, contrary to your wishes and contrary to your
feelings, and which you would prefer might never exist among
you--they have the liberty, they have not the right--still we
have the reserved right to let them alone; we need not patronize
them, nor partake of their poisonous draughts, nor gamble in any
of their saloons. We are not obliged to get down into their
low-lived habits. Although we may have to put up with these
things in the sight of our eyes and the hearing of our ears, and
have the peace of our streets perhaps disturbed by the cries of
the drunken, and by the noise of the lewd, yet we are not obliged
to partake of them. And this is one of the reasons why the
exhortation of Elder Teasdale is so appropriate and timely; you
want your children educated in that way, that when they are grown
up they will abhor these places, and touch not, taste not, nor
handle the unclean thing. And we ourselves want to work against
the appetites which are inbred in many of us. I am not asleep to,
nor unaware of the fact that many of us coming from the world
have brought with us a deep craving for spirituous liquors, and
for other things which are not good for us, but which we may have
dabbled in to gratify a wicked appetite. Parents afflicted with
these propensities ought to take warning not to breed them into
the natures of their children, and if possibly they have done so,
to use diligence to preserve them from being thrown in the way of
temptation until they come to years of understanding, judgment
and firmness of purpose, which will enable them to practice
self-denial, and live as men of God. These are matters that need
to be looked after. They are features in the society of the
Saints which ought to be considered, and no less but more because
you are here, as it were, under the very shadow of the Temple;
and are the people who have so abundantly contributed to the
construction of this house; they want now to preserve themselves
in purity before God, that they may be counted worthy to enter
within its walls, and there receive all the blessings which are
to be bestowed upon the just. We need this. It is a sentiment
that should pervade all the authorities of the Church from the
First Presidency down to the President of your Stake, the High
Councilors and the Bishops of your Wards, and all the lesser
priesthood--all should be inbred with this feeling.
331
We have had a time of peace, a time of great prosperity, a time
when the Lord has so far preserved to us our local government and
our rights here in the land. He having thus manifested His
kindness to us, in this way, we ought to draw nearer to Him, and
seek to establish the righteousness of God on the earth. I would,
therefore, this morning, remind every Elder, Priest, Teacher, and
Seventy, that they are called to be preachers of righteousness.
Brethren, every one of you are called to be preachers of
righteousness as much as I am, as much as President Taylor, or
any other man in Israel. Every one who has partaken of the
Priesthood has covenanted to be a preacher of righteousness,
preachers by practice as well as by precept--in your own
families, among your children, among your neighbors, among your
friends, and all around--and if every one is thus magnifying his
calling, behold! here is the people of God, and the fear of God
is upon that people, and the blessings of God cannot be stayed
from them, and they will know the right way, and walk in it.
331
The Temple has proceeded very nicely. It is very gratifying to
me, as a member of the Temple Committee, to observe how the work
has advanced, and to hear Superintendent Card say that in about
three or four months, with the ability to use certain necessary
means, the building will be completed. What a joyful time we have
arrived at! Yet here is a little matter of means that needs to be
attended to, to complete the Temple and to pay some liabilities
that have been incurred, necessarily, in its erection. The
Superintendent has endeavored to progress with this work and keep
out of debt; but one thing and another has come along so much
faster than means have come into his hands, that he has got a
little behind. That, however, is a very small matter. If the
Presidents of Quorums would arise and say to the Elders, "Let us
wake up and pay a dollar a head for the finishing off of the
Temple," in three months not only will the Temple be finished,
but every dollar of debt will be paid; and the Temple could be
ready to be dedicated next quarterly conference, if the First
Presidency were so minded. It is but a trifling matter, yet it is
a matter of sufficient importance to delay the dedication of the
Temple until it is entirely paid for, so that we can offer an
acceptable offering unto the Lord. We trust and pray that God may
be pleased to make manifest a gracious acceptance of this
offering, and that the blessings of heaven may rest down upon His
people.
331
I rejoice greatly in the glorious latter-day work that has been
commenced, and that is being extended on every hand. The Gospel
is being spread among the nations of the earth, among the islands
of the sea, and among the Lamanites, the remnants of the house of
Ephraim, here upon this land. Ephraim and Mannasseh, a multitude
of nations in the midst of the earth, are reaching out after the
house of the Lord, and are seeking counsel at the lips of the
servants of God. The glad tidings have not only gone to the
Sandwich Islands, but also to New Zealand. The aborigines of that
country have taken hold, and we learn that something over one
hundred of that fraction of their race have engaged in the work
of the Lord. And not only so, but the inhabitants of the eastern
countries are being wrought upon by the hand of God, and Judah is
being turned toward Jerusalem. The reports are that many
thousands of Jews have been gathered to the land of Judea, and
regions round about, within the last twelve months. Well, the
Lord is at work in all these matters, and we ought to realize
that we are but an item, as it were, in the great work that is
being carried on.
332
There is a great deal that I sometimes feel I would like to say,
but at this time I do not feel to occupy your time any longer.
332
I pray that an earnest spirit of improvement and purification
among parents, among children, among households, among members of
Wards and Stakes, may take possession of the presiding
authorities of the laboring Priesthood, and that they may put
away iniquity, and all manner of unrighteousness, and become more
and more acceptable in the sight of the Lord. Then we shall be
more and more ready to do anything that the Lord would have us do
in the interests of His Kingdom. We must remember that the
strength of the Lord's people does not consist in their numbers;
for times have been, and may be again, when they that are with us
may be too many. It will be found--if your search carefully among
us as a people--that you are carrying a great many people and
their sins, and if you don't shake them off they will lead you
down, you will be partakers of their sins, and you will have to
answer for them. It is necessary that the Bishops--more
especially those who have not had experience--learn correct
principles of government--how to build up their Wards in
righteousness and in the power of God. And this feeling and
influence should be carried into every habitation of the Saints;
because where there is righteousness and faith there is the favor
and blessing of God; and when the sick are among you and you have
this faith, you can call down the blessings of God upon them, and
if you don't, and remain careless, then you will find that you
have not the power to take hold of and receive those blessings.
We want so to live day by day, that whatever affliction may
overtake us, we may be prepared for the worst as well as for the
best.
332
May the Lord help us to draw near unto Him, nearer than we have
ever done before; that we may be able to go into His presence and
realize the association of angels, and that we may realize all
those blessings which He has in His hands ready to bestow upon us
as fast as we will put ourselves in a position to receive them;
this is my prayer and desire and labor in the name of the Lord
Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 /
Franklin D. Richards, October 6th, 1883
Franklin D. Richards, October 6th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE F. D. RICHARDS,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday Morning,
October 6th,
(Semi-Annual Conference,) 1883.
Reported by John Irvine.
RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW OF THE PROVIDENCES OF GOD IN RELATION TO THE
SAINTS--THE
WRATH AND SCHEMES OF MEN TURNED TO THE ADVANTAGE OF GOD'S
PEOPLE--THE
ORDER OF GOD'S CHURCH PERFECT--THE WICKED DISTURBED BY JUDGMENTS
WHILE
THE RIGHTEOUS ENJOY PEACE--THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAW OF GOD
IN RELATION
TO OFFENCES--SHOULD BE RESIGNED TO THE WILL OF GOD IN ALL THINGS.
333
The Lord be thanked and praised for granting us another so
favorable opportunity of meeting together to contemplate the
interests of His Kingdom, and our soul's salvation at this
Conference. "Day unto day uttereth speech," said the ancient man
of God, "and night unto night showeth knowledge." We can say,
that week after week, and month after month, since our last
Conference, we have had renewed occasion for thanksgiving and
praise to Him for the many blessings which He has vouchsafed unto
His people.
333
If we take a retrospective view of His providences to us as a
people, especially during the period of our sojourn in these
mountains, we shall find that circumstances have occurred at very
short intervals which have kept the people continually awakened
to a sense of their liberties, and to a watch care for them,
measuring and weighing and noticing the efforts that have been
made from time to time to take away our privileges and liberties,
and such blessings as were thought could be taken from us which
we had entered into the enjoyment of, since our location in these
mountain fastnesses. Step by step every such instance has been
attended, if not with all that gift and abundance of favor and
mercy which we might have desired, and which might not have been
best for us, yet with sufficient blessing to manifest the kind
care of our Heavenly Father continually and unceasingly over us.
334
When we came here and first made our laws, realizing that we were
far away from the mass of the people of the States, both east and
west of us, we found it was with great difficulty that we could
avail ourselves of the few blessings which government seemed to
tender to us. We could not even obtain the presence of federal
officials in our midst regularly, as was designed by government,
and as was needed by the people. Consequently, our isolation
required our Legislature to confer unusual powers upon our local
courts; but it was not long before the effort was made, and final
success was had in taking from our local courts the civil and
criminal jurisdiction. Time will not allow me to enter into
minute details. Therefore, suffice it to say, that mission judges
have come here fully determined to convert us from the error of
our ways, as it appeared to them, to the "purity, refinement and
civilization" of the world! After laboring and toiling some years
in our midst, finding their decisions frequently overthrown by
the decisions of the Superior Court at Washington, and our
Prophet, who had been illegally imprisoned, released from his
confinement, one thing after another upset their plans and
devices; so that the great changes which had been hoped to be
brought about among us to make us like the people of the world,
signally failed, and the end of that effort was that the poor,
miserable man who undertook the job, was carried home in his
coffin.
334
I must notice one or two other important facts which have stood
out very prominently before us, and they were, that this people
who were not of the world, and had no fellowship or love with the
world, must be restricted in their civil rights and military
duties, for fear that they should do some mischief on a holiday,
therefore they were forbidden by Gubernatorial Proclamation to
order out a company of infantry or cavalry to help to celebrate
the Fourth of July, as they and their fathers were wont to do
from time immemorial.
334
One after another these and similar efforts have been made to
take our liberties and privileges away from us, that we might be
brought into some sort of contemptible subjection, it would
appear. But without stopping to animadvert upon the folly and
nonsense of such a procedure, let me inquire what was the result?
What followed the proclamation that we should not do military
duty as a people, or protect ourselves even from the surrounding
savages? Immediately when this occurred, it seemed as if the very
heavens were moved in our behalf, all the tribes around us became
divested, seemingly, of what hostility they had possessed, and
ever since that occurred we have had the most substantial peace
and quiet all around us among the natives. How kind of Providence
it was to so completely remove the enmity of the natives when
this circumstance transpired. We are relieved from the unpleasant
tax of military duty, and even our adversaries are made to be at
peace with us. What a logic of fact for a contentious world to
read.
334
During the past year, the great efforts that have been made have
seemed to prove abortive; special efforts and measures have
appeared to miscarry; and we have had a law right from the
Capitol, that seemed as if it must tell on the "Mormons." A class
of our people have been temporarily divested of the right of
suffrage; men and women, who may have violated some law, and many
who have never violated any law of Congress, have been deprived
of their political rights. But with all this, we still seem to
live and thrive and prosper faster than we have ever done before.
The very step itself will prove a great blessing to this people
by separating a portion of those who have not the highest respect
and veneration for all the laws of God, and enabling those who
have, to be the wiser counselors and more efficient aids in
advancing the interests of the Kingdom in the hands of those who
may be more acceptable in the eyes of government to wield
administration here locally.
335
But it is a singular fact, a singular circumstance, that a man
should come here from the heart of the nation--clothed, as was
supposed, with every qualification to be a Governor of Utah, and
then act as he has acted. He had been through the army in the
late rebellion. He was a man capable, as was supposed, of
understanding what was right and proper as between the nation and
any other part of the country that might seem to feel in any wise
oppressed or limited, and who would administer constitutional
rights and executive powers with ability and with skill. He came
here clothed with the supreme beauty of the State from whence he
came. This man by his excessive propensity for figures, as we all
know, made some very strange calculations; and then when one
thing didn't work another seemed to, until our representative in
Congress was removed. But by and by we are blessed with another
one in Congress to represent us there. And in a short time we
found that, with the special effort that was being made in
Washington in our behalf, such a shadow of doubt was cast over a
certain portion of the law, entitled the Hoar amendment, when it
was thought advisable by the Governor to execute some three
hundred commissions, more or less, to men whom he appointed to
fill supposed vacancies in this Territory, which if carried out
would have turned over the local authority of the Territory into
the hands of the avowed enemies of this people, but the supposed
vacancies did not exist and the offices continued in the hands of
the incumbents. After all, an election was held during the past
season, when these offices were filled by the people's
candidates. Thus we have occasion again to rejoice that
notwithstanding another desperate effort has been made to take
away the rule from the hands of the people, and put it into the
hands of their enemies, and make us an outside Territory, subject
to their oppressions, subject to all manner of taxation that they
might please to impose upon us--we find that the voice and vote
of the people are still triumphant, that their candidates have
gone into office and are commissioned, the selections having been
made from among those whose rights and privileges have been
maintained unto them.
336
It is a singular feature in this matter, that the Governor has
taken it into his head to leave the Territory, just at the time
when it was supposed he would be required to execute these
commissions. But without going into particulars, persons of
ordinary discernment observe that the course he has taken is such
that he cannot himself cheek it to remain and issue the
commissions to the properly elected persons to rule in this
Territory; indeed it looks as though the dishonorable,
undignified course he has taken is just what has driven him from
the Territory, to leave his duty and let the secretary be
acting-governor. When men come here full of determination to show
their bravery, their ability, smartness and competency, beyond
their predecessors, to capture Utah, and turn her over to the
hands of the ungodly; it appears that every one who has made such
an attempt has met with very signal defeat. When a man defeats
himself as perfectly as this last one has, I think the Latter-day
Saints have occasion to thank God and take courage; we have
reason to rejoice and praise the Lord in all these matters, for
whatever our enemies do, He makes it return that, like a
boomerang that is thrown out, it comes back and strikes the
person that hurled it. Well, then, my brethren and sisters,
seeing that this is the way that these matters all move, the way
they all operate, should it not inspire in us the most profound
gratitude toward God for these manifestations of his mercy,
goodness and blessing unto us. He has made our fields to abound
with plenty. He has favored us with blessings innumerable and
incomprehensible. We have a peace, a joy and a satisfaction at
heart which those men who make these desperate laws cannot
contemplate. We rejoice in the blessings that heaven is bestowing
upon us. Is it not, then, our bounden duty to testify to God, the
angels, and those that attend upon the covenant people of God,
that we are determined to love Him more and serve Him better? I
was pleased to hear the remark made by one of my brethren
yesterday, that he felt on returning here, after an absence of
five or six years, that there was an improvement in the spirit
and feelings of the people. This is very manifest to those who
observe and notice it. But we think there should be a very much
greater improvement. Many of us have been very careless of some
of the commandments; words of wisdom which the Lord has seen fit
to give to us. We have not used that care, that caution, and that
sound discretion in our daily lives before Him, which it is
becoming we should do. I propose, brethren and sisters, in view
of this matter, that we take these things to heart, and see if we
can and ought to draw nearer to God, while He is willing to draw
nearer to us, and thus more fully sense His blessings, His
mercies, and His loving kindness unto us.
336
This institution--which President Taylor so beautifully reviewed
yesterday morning in the Assembly Hall, noticing the varied
authorities of the Church and their multifarious duties--sets
forth to every discerning mind, that the order of God's
government presupposes and contemplates the strongest possible
form of government that has ever been known on the earth. Men
have come here in years past, and in speaking of President Young,
they have said that he had a strong government here in Utah; and
later on, in speaking of President Taylor, that he had a strong
government in Utah, and also that men coming here from abroad to
govern the people, simply governed the out-siders, and that the
President of the Church governed the Latter-day Saints. This is
the way the ungodly speak about it. Latter-day Saints know that
the order of God's Church is the perfect order. They know that it
is the one intended to give a people strength in the earth, and
that strength is in their righteousness, in their virtue, in
their purity, and in their union and fellowship with the Spirit,
with each other, and with the heavens.
337
These principles are very dear and very glorious, and we ought to
rejoice above all men in the earth. We may look to the east, to
the west, to the north and to the south, and we see all
governments, all peoples, all nations, all kindreds and tongues
stirred up with an activity, a spirit of strife and ambition for
superiority, and we see that there is continual commotion among
them in their political affairs and in their civil relations.
There are a great many disturbances continually going on, and
many of the nations are really on the verge of bankruptcy through
the vast debts created to maintain their numerous armies, even in
the time of peace; while here among this people, though our
liberties are menaced and threatened, and our peace would be
sometimes disturbed if we would allow it, yet by the blessing of
God we enjoy peace in our hearts, such peace as the wicked cannot
give to us nor take from us. The voice of Him that spake to the
waves of Gennesaret, and commanded them to be still, speaks to
us, and while dark clouds and the thunderings and lightnings roll
over the political horizon, yet in the hearts, in the homes and
in the habitations of the just there is peace, such as the wicked
know not of, and it bespeaks the truth of the revelation which
says that not long hence the people of Zion shall be the only
people that will not be at war among themselves, and that the day
will be when they who will not take up the sword against their
neighbor, will have to flee to Zion, of which this is the embryo.
337
Look abroad and see what the Lord is doing in the way of
judgments. There has scarcely been a year for many years past
when they have seemed to be so terrible as they have been during
this present year, so far. Think of one portion of the world
where islands of the sea have been sunk, and 100,000 people
reported destroyed by earthquake and volcanic eruptions. And
another where it is said some 15,000 or 20,000 were likewise
destroyed. Think of it! And yet the Lord has preserved us in
these mountains--in this region of country that might
scientifically be called one of the most volcanic portions of the
whole earth. The very face of the earth tells us its character by
its extinct volcanoes, its silent craters, and numerous hot
springs. Look at the strata of the earth's crust in these
canyons, and see its nature. Also the Lord has manifested His
judgments by cyclones, etc. The words of the Prophet Joseph have
been and are being verified, those words he uttered before he
went to Carthage. Said he: "I call for the four winds of heaven,
the thunderings, lightnings, earthquakes, whirlwinds, the
hailstorms, pestilence, and the raging seas to come forth out of
their hiding places and bear testimony of the truth of those
things which I have taught to the inhabitants of the earth as is
promised in the revelations that have been given." These were
some of his last words among the people. And what have we seen?
Scarcely a week last summer without a cyclone or hurricane
happening somewhere in the States, destroying towns and villages,
or parts thereof.
337
We live in times, if we only considered the matter and looked
upon it as we should do, that should cause us to draw near unto
the Lord, and to live up to every word that proceedeth from His
mouth.
337
I wish to bear testimony that this Gospel and this order of
government which I have been alluding to, is that which brings
down the blessings of heaven upon this people. Besides peace and
good order, it brings the gifts and blessings of the Gospel, the
gift of healing to those who are afflicted and wounded, and who
are walking upon the borders of the grave; such are restored and
healed by its divine power exercised in the prayers and faith of
the Saints.
338
The fact of the matter is, those things which are held out as
menaces to us are the things that preserve us from the hands of
the wicked, and keep us from forgetting God, in the time of
prosperity. It is one of the greatest blessings to us that we are
kept continually on the alert, diligently seeking after Him,
putting our trust in Him, and then to find how successfully and
perfectly He leads us to triumph over our enemies, and makes the
mischief they would bring upon us recoil upon their own heads.
Saints find it good to trust in Him.
338
The great work that is now upon us--to build temples and to labor
in them, calls upon us to perform our duties faithfully; calls
upon Presidents of Stakes and Bishops of Wards that they look
well among their peoples and see if they are not taking upon
themselves the responsibilities of other people's sins.
Presidents, High Councilors and Bishops should seek diligently
the Spirit of the Lord, to know how to deal with and decide
between the righteous and the wicked; to know how to pull up the
tares without pulling up a great number of the roots of the
wheat. When a man has given himself up to be a drunkard, to
dishonor the cause of God, and to be picked up in the streets,
and to become a reproach, until people say, "that is one of your
Mormons," it is time the Bishops or Elders, or those whose duty
it is, were looking after him to see that this evil is put away,
and to see that his wife, who may be the deepest mourner over
this whole matter, and his children, clothed in sorrow over his
conduct--to see that they are cherished and sustained and
preserved, lest while pulling up the tares you pull up the wheat
also. It requires the skill and wisdom of the Holy Spirit in all
of these things to know how to deal in the right way, to save
those that can be saved, while those who will not work
righteousness, may be known as transgressors, and that we may no
longer carry them upon our faith, and become partakers of their
sins.
339
In the late organization of 1877, a score of Stakes were
organized, a great many more Wards were instituted, many men were
called and ordained to be Bishops in the Church who had never
given their attention to consider carefully the duties of the
bishopric. In view of the responsibilities of this calling--it
may not be thought strange that some brethren holding this high
and holy office are so afraid that they would do wrong, that they
even dare not do right! Now, this is true whether you believe it
or not. A great many men hold these important offices who are so
timid and so fearful lest they should do wrong, that they are
slow and backward in doing the thing which is right. Now, what is
it that makes a man useful and strong in his calling and labor?
Is it not his constant labor, and the diligent, actual
performance of his duties? What is it that makes the blacksmith's
right arm stronger than any other man's? It is because he is all
the time using it, and in this way his arm acquires that practice
which gives it the greatest attainable strength. If the brethren
standing in these responsible places, whether they be Presidents
of Stakes or Bishops of Wards, see anything wrong in their Wards,
it is their duty to get after it. And it is notably the duty of a
teacher to be conversant with the people, and to see that there
is no iniquity in the Church. Instead of hardness of feeling or
division of sentiment, or mischief of any kind being allowed to
exist in your Stake, until it produces party strife, and people
take sides with one and sides with another, it is far better to
get after the mischief at once, find out where it is, root it
out, and set matters right before the peace of families, of
neighborhoods, and perhaps of the Ward is disturbed. I wish the
brethren in authority would heed this matter and wake up to their
duties, and not act merely as figureheads, but more like men of
God clothed with authority and power. When men standing in such
responsible positions are so backward in their duties, they don't
know the power of God, nor the spirit of their callings; but the
moment they step forward and take hold with a prayerful heart,
coming from their closets, clothed with the Spirit of God, they
find they have the power to make peace and restore union,
fellowship and love in the midst of the people, and the people
love and bless them in return. Blessed are the peacemakers, for
they shall be called the children of God.
339
We need a great deal of missionary service at home. We need a
deal of labor in all the spheres of life--in the families, in the
Wards, and in the Stakes of Zion, which are organized and are
being built up in the Church in these latter times. The work is
constantly spreading. Stakes are being organized in different
parts of the country, and the work of God is prospering. Our
enemies "can do nothing against the truth, but rather for the
truth;" for God will sanctify their evil designs and their wicked
and ungodly purposes, to bring to pass His ends and to magnify
His name and to honor Him in the earth.
339
Let us humble ourselves before the Lord, let us keep His
commandments and teach our children so to do. Let us teach them
the principles of purity and righteousness, so that they may go
to the house of the Lord pure as they were born, free from sin,
and while there to enter into covenants with God that shall abide
and stand while time shall last and eternity endure; that they
may live, grow and increase, as Abraham grew and increased,
become as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea shore for multitude. For the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob have come down upon us. And they that are the children of
Abraham will do the works of Abraham. Let us not forget it; that
they that would inherit the blessings of Abraham, must do the
works of Abraham, to entitle them to these blessings.
339
Let us draw near to the Lord with our households, and strengthen
ourselves in the truth. "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin
is a reproach to any people."
340
We ought to be more careful concerning the observance of the
Sabbath. We talk of the great things of the laws of God, such as
adultery, and those greater crimes, and murder, which are less
frequently committed, but which are most terrible in their
effects upon those who do, and are terrible also in their effects
upon those who are surrounded and are connected therewith; but
let us attend also to the Sabbath, to keep it holy, and go to our
meeting and be more dutiful in that respect, and not go to the
canyons, or hunt stock, and attend to a multitude of things,
which otherwise might be avoided. Let us avoid if we are going a
journey, starting on a Sunday, "just to save one day more for
business." Let us undertake no manner of business on that day.
Let us reverence the Sabbath as God has commanded us in the
revelations of the last days. It is one of the ten commandments.
"Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh
day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do
any work," etc. The Lord has been particular. He is going to be
particular again. We have been in circumstances where we were
rudely dealt with. We have had to travel over the plains; but
even there we reverenced the Sabbath. We stopped our teams and
let the cattle rest, and attended to our duties. Now we have come
into a country where we have hardly had to buy land save at a
nominal Government figure. Here we found a new world--a place in
which we could make a living; and cannot we afford to take time
to serve the Lord? to rest our bodies and refresh our spirits by
a study of His holy word, increasing our faith also?
340
Another thing, we ought not to run after doctors as much as we
do. "But," says one, "if we have a bone broken we must have
somebody to set it." Yes, that is true, but we need not take all
the nostrums they can think of. We ought first to go to the Lord
and exercise our faith as far as we can make use of it in that
direction, and we will make fewer blunders than we do in placing
implicit confidence in the medical and surgical professions. When
we do this we are certainly sure of one thing--we secure the help
of God and the help of angels; and if we are appointed unto
death, we want to go. We ought to want to go. Our prayers and
supplications should be always conditional--that is, if not
appointed unto death that he or she should be raised up. And if
the heavens want a man to labor there in any sphere, there is
where he should be. If a man is wanted to be on a mission in
Europe, in Germany, or in the States, and he stays at home, he is
not where he ought to be. He ought to be where God would have
him; there the Holy Spirit will labor with him and help him. But
for us to importune the Lord to heal those whom He has appointed
unto death is just like asking--as we do once in a while--a man
to go on a mission, and we get a long petition saying that he is
such a blessed dear good man, or he has been such a good school
master, "Do, pray, President let him stop." Now, when the
Presidency want a man to go on a mission, he ought to go. It is
best for that man that he should go. It is best for all concerned
that he should go to the place he is sent and labor with all his
heart. Just so with us. Here we are on a mission in the world.
The matter of death is a very small matter. It is a matter of
life or death to be sure; but if the Lord does not want us here,
and we are taken away, His will be done on earth as it is done in
heaven.
340
I do not wish to occupy more time, for fear of infringing upon
the rights of others.
340
I pray the Lord to still bless Israel, to bless us with humility,
and with faithfulness in the keeping of His commandments; then we
shall see more and grander things accomplished on His part, just
in proportion to the faithfulness with which we perform the
duties devolving upon us. May the Lord help us to do this; and to
walk in the way of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, October 7th, 1883
George Q. Cannon, October 7th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning,
(Semi-Annual Conference) October 7th, 1883.
Reported by John Irvine.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS--INCREASED FAITH IN GOD--THE IDEAS ADVANCED
BY JOSEPH
SMITH--LAPSE OF EIGHTEEN CENTURIES AND NO VOICE FROM THE HEAVENLY
WORLDS!--JOSEPH SMITH'S TESTIMONY IN REGARD TO THE FATHER AND THE
SON AND HOLY
ANGELS--THE EFFECT OF HIS REVELATIONS UPON THE MINDS OF
MEN--SPIRITUALISM--THE
ONE POWER THROUGH WHICH GODLINESS, THE POWER OF GOD, AND THE
GIFTS OF GOD CAN
BE MADE MANIFEST WITH SAFETY i. e. THE PRIESTHOOD--JOSEPH SMITH
DID NOT
ATTEMPT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL UNTIL HE WAS DULY COMMISSIONED OF
GOD--JOHN
THE BAPTIST--THE HIGHER PRIESTHOOD--THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
LATTER-DAY
SAINTS STANDS ALONE--THE RESULTS FOLLOWING THE RESTORATION OF THE
GOSPEL--WONDERFUL FAITH OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS CONSIDERING
THEIR
TRADITIONS--PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH--THE GENERATION GROWING UP IN
THESE
MOUNTAINS--CONCLUSION.
341
President Cannon commenced by reading a portion of the 84th
section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
341
"Which Abraham received the Priesthood from Melchizedek, who
received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah;
and from Noah till Enoch, through the lineage of their fathers;
and from Enoch to Abel, who was slain by the conspiracy of his
brother, who received the Priesthood by the commandments of God,
by the hand of his father Adam, who was the first man--which
Priesthood continueth in the Church of God in all generations,
and is without beginning of days or end of years. And the Lord
confirmed a Priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout
all their generations--which Priesthood also continueth and
abideth forever with the Priesthood, which is after the holiest
order of God. And this greater Priesthood administereth the
Gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even
the key of the knowledge of God; therefore, in the ordinances
thereof, the power of godliness is manifest, and without the
ordinances thereof, and the authority of the Priesthood, the
power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; for
without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and
live.
342
"Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the
wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that
they might behold the face of God; but they hardened their hearts
and could not endure His presence, therefore the Lord in His
wrath (for His anger was kindled against them) swore that they
should not enter into His rest while in the wilderness, which
rest is the fullness of His glory. Therefore He took Moses out of
their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also; and the lesser
Priesthood continued, which Priesthood holdeth the keys of the
ministering of angels and the preparatory Gospel; which Gospel is
the Gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of
sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in His
wrath, caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the
children of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled
with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb."
342
After which he said:
342
In arising to address this vast congregation this morning, I
trust I may have the assistance of the Spirit of God, that I may
be able to speak in plainness and with a distinct voice, so that
all can hear those things that are appropriate to us on the
present occasion. Naturally one shrinks from the task of
addressing so large an audience. It requires a great physical
effort to do so; besides it is a serious labor to attempt to
teach and to instruct the people in the things of God. I would
not attempt it if I did not hope to have His aid. But the people
have come together this morning to be fed, to have the bread of
life administered to them. This is our privilege. We believe in
this, and I rejoice that I am identified with a people who have
this faith.
342
When I think of the great change that has been wrought in the
earth within the last half century in regard to faith in God and
in the manifestations of God's power, I feel exceedingly
thankful, and more especially because I and my family are
identified with the people who have this faith.
342
Fifty-three years ago the religious world stood aghast at the
ideas advanced by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and those associated
with him.
342
Eighteen centuries had elapsed from the days of the Savior and
His Apostles, and during the greater portion of this time no
voice from the heavenly worlds had been heard by man--at least
this was the statement made by the religious people of that time.
A deep silence prevailed. There had been no voice of God. There
had been no manifestations from the Son of God. There had been no
angelic visitation. The silence was deep, profound and
uninterrupted, as much so as though every possible means of
communication between God, Jesus, the angelic hosts and man on
the earth had been entirely cut off.
343
Joseph Smith, inspired of God, came forth and declared that God
lived. Ages had passed and no one had beheld Him. The fact that
he existed was like a dim tradition in the minds of the people.
The fact that Jesus lived was only supposed to be the case
because eighteen hundred years before men had seen him. The fact
that angels had an existence was based upon the knowledge that
men had recorded it eighteen hundred years previously. The
character of God--whether He was a personal being, whether His
center was nowhere, and His circumference everywhere, were
matters of speculation. No one had seen him. No one had seen any
one who had seen Him. No one had seen an angel. No one had seen
any one who had seen an angel, and all that was known concerning
angels was that which had come down in this book, [the Bible]. Is
it a wonder that men were confused? that there was such a variety
of opinions respecting the character and being of God? Angels
were painted with wings--half fowl and half man, illustrating
most perfectly the absurd notions that had generated in the minds
of men concerning these beings. How could it be expected to be
otherwise? But Joseph Smith, as I said, startled the world. It
stood aghast at the statement which he made, and the testimony
which he bore. He declared that he had seen God. He declared that
he had seen Jesus Christ. He declared that he had seen angels,
that he had heard their voices, that they had communicated to him
divine truths. It was something entirely unheard of; and because
he made these statements, he was deemed worthy of death? It is a
most wonderful thing when you contemplate it, that there should
have been one man found who, after eighteen centuries of unbelief
and incredulity, had faith sufficient to feel after God, and
obtain revelation from Him--that one man should have been found
who had strength sufficient and power from God sufficient to make
so great a departure as to believe that it would be possible for
God to reveal Himself to man. All the persecutions that the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endured in the early
days were due to the fact that they bore testimony to this great
and important truth, that God lived, that God was a God of
revelation, and that God had communicated His mind and will to
His children once more.
343
After that revelation faith began to grow up in men's minds and
hearts. Speculation concerning the being of God, ceased among
those who received the testimony of Joseph Smith. He testified
that God was a being of body, that He had a body, that He had
parts, that man was in his likeness, that Jesus was the exact
counterpart of the Father, and that the Father and Jesus were two
distinct personages, as distinct as an earthly father and an
earthly son. He bore testimony also that angels did not have
wings, that they were men who had kept their covenants with their
Father and their God, and had been exalted, through obedience to
the commandments of God to that condition that they could dwell
in His presence and become His ministers. By degrees this faith
has grown until there are thousands upon thousands who have
received it, and who believe it, who know for themselves
concerning God, concerning Jesus Christ, concerning His Gospel
and the plan of salvation; and the faith that formerly existed
has been restored to the earth, and has begun to grow and to
increase in the hearts of the children of men.
344
Not only has faith in spiritual manifestations grown in the
hearts of the Latter-day Saints, but something of a similar
character has grown up in the midst of the world. The pendulum
which had swung in one direction, in the direction of extreme
unbelief, of extreme incredulity, concerning everything of a
spiritual character, after the organization of this Church, after
the restoration of the everlasting Gospel in its ancient purity
and power,--the pendulum, I say, that had swung to such an
extreme in one direction, began to swing in the other direction,
in the direction of credulity, and willingness to have something
that might be traced, or that could be attributed to a spiritual
origin. Some fifteen or sixteen years after this Church was
organized, spiritualism began to make its appearance, and
thousands upon thousands of people were ready to receive anything
that any charlatan chose to bring before them as the result of
spiritual manifestations, until the whole nation of the United
States, as well as some nations in Europe, were humbugged by the
most extraordinary statements and ideas set forth by those
charlatans. Men are ready enough now in some places to believe
anything that makes its appearance in the form of spiritualism.
All sorts of stories have been told. All kinds of powers have
been manifested. Tables have been tipped. I cannot attempt to
describe the many kinds of manifestations that have been had
among men. But the same unwillingness to receive the truth, the
same unwillingness to receive the Gospel and the blessings and
gifts of God, has continued to be manifested, and this belief or
credulity concerning spiritualism has not had any favorable
effect upon the people in causing them to receive the truth as it
is.
344
Now, there is one power, and one power alone--as I have read to
you in this extract from this revelation--through which godliness
and the power of God and the gifts of God can be made manifest
with any degree of safety--that is, through the Priesthood of the
Son of God. Take that authority away from the midst of men, and
they would be left precisely in the same condition that the world
was in at the time of this revelation to Joseph Smith--
344
Though Joseph Smith, as I have said, was permitted in his
boyhood, to behold the Father and the Son, was ministered unto by
holy angels, he did not--and it is a very remarkable and
noteworthy fact--he did not because of these things, those
glorious visions that he had, attempt to exercise any authority
as a servant of God in the administration of the ordinances of
the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. His conduct in this respect
stands out in remarkable contrast with the conduct of men,
hundreds of whom, because they receive an impression at some
time, that they ought to preach the Gospel, take upon themselves
that holy calling, without any further authority than a mere
impression upon their minds. He refrained from doing anything of
this character. He waited the good pleasure of God. And how
consistent it was! How much in accordance--now, we look at it in
the light of experience and knowledge--with the will and plan of
God, that he should thus wait, and that a holy messenger should
be sent with the authority from on high to lay his hands upon him
and to restore to the earth through him the everlasting
Priesthood, by the administration of which the gifts and
blessings and power of God had been manifested in ancient days.
345
Joseph Smith waited patiently for years, until the due time of
the Lord, when He should send a heavenly messenger, and He did
send John the Baptist. John held the authority in ancient days to
baptize for the remission of sins, and held the keys--having
inherited them from his great ancestor Aaron, of the Aaronic
Priesthood, which Aaron held, and which authority his descendents
exercised among the children of Israel, until the days of John,
who was called the Baptist. This John, Jesus said, was a prophet
than whom none greater had ever been born of woman. He was a
mighty man, and was distinguished above all men upon the face of
the earth in this, that God chose him to be the instrument to
baptize His Son Jesus Christ in the waters of Jordan. He was a
unique character in this respect. John was beheaded, as we know,
to satisfy the priests and the murderous disposition of a wicked
woman. When he died he held the keys of the Aaronic
Priesthood--that Priesthood, as I have said, which he derived
from his great ancestor Aaron, the brother of Moses. He carried
with him that authority, and there having been no bestowal of it
from his day until the day of Joseph Smith, it became his
legitimate right, when the authority was once more to be restored
to the earth, to come and confer it. He did so. He laid his hands
upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and ordained them to the
authority which he himself held. He bestowed upon them the keys
of the Aaronic Priesthood, that he had exercised while in the
flesh. When these men were thus ordained, they then had the
right, which they exercised by the command of God, to baptize
each other, and to baptize others, who might be willing to repent
of their sins, for the remission of sins.
345
But this was not all. Something more was needed. This higher
Priesthood of which I have read--this greater Priesthood, which
holds the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the
keys of the knowledge of God--this greater Priesthood was still
reserved. John did not possess it. "I indeed," says he, "baptize
you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." John did not
have that authority. But Jesus held it. And Jesus had bestowed it
upon His Apostles, three of whom were prominent among the
Apostles--one as President, and the other two as Counselors
associated with him--Peter, James and John. These three held the
keys of this greater Priesthood, which they had received from the
Son of God Himself. They came, as Joseph Smith testified, and
laid their hands upon his head, and bestowed upon him the keys of
the Melchizedek Priesthood, the higher Priesthood, the Priesthood
which is after the order of the Son of God. This authority was
bestowed once more upon men by the administration of these
heavenly beings who had been sent from God, the Eternal Father,
to restore it once more to the earth.
345
Hence this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands
alone. It stands disconnected entirely with every other
organization on the face of the earth. It draws its power from no
existing organization. It derives its authority, it derives its
Priesthood from nothing that exists among men; but claiming that
the Church had fallen, that the authority of the Holy Priesthood
had been taken from the earth and withdrawn to God in heaven,
because of the wickedness of men in slaying those who held this
Priesthood, it was eminently proper and consistent that when it
was once more restored to the earth it should be restored from
heaven by the administration of holy angels.
347
Time will not permit me to dwell at any length upon the results
of what has occurred since then. But I may say this, that a new
order of things commenced on the earth from the day that Joseph
Smith was ordained, and the day this Church was organized. Once
more the Church was organized, having within it all the old
authority--the Apostleship, the Priesthood, the gifts, the
graces, the blessings that characterized the Church of Christ in
the day when it was upon the earth. Nothing was wanting. The same
power, the same blessings, the same gifts, the same union, the
same love, the same testimony on the part of those who had
received these ordinances, until to-day we have in these mountain
valleys a people the exact counterpart in every particular of
that primitive Church which Christ and His Apostles organized
upon the earth. Every distinctive feature, every characteristic,
every power, every ordinance, that that Church possessed is
claimed and possessed by this Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and the same fruits, the same characteristics,
the same blessings, the same union, the same power, attends the
administration of its ordinances, and follows its believers in
all their lives and in all their operations. Go with its
missionaries to the remotest land, you will find them the exact
followers of the disciples of Jesus, who were with Him in the
flesh. Did they travel without purse or scrip? So do the Elders
of the Church in these last days. Did they exercise faith before
God, to have their way opened up before them? So do the Elders in
these last days. Did they baptize repentant believers for the
remission of their sins? So do the Elders in these last days. Did
they promise unto repentant believers who were baptized that they
should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? So do the Elders who
go forth in these last days. The same promise, the same gift, the
same power, that was promised anciently is again promised, and,
what is better still, is again bestowed and enjoyed by those who
qualify themselves to receive this precious gift. Did they lay
hands upon the sick for the restoration of their health? So do
the Elders in these last days; and the sick are healed; and the
power of God is manifested among men as it has not been
manifested for these many centuries past. Did they, when they had
organized a Church, find a people full of union and love, loving
one another and willing to do deeds of kindness to one another,
and thinking more of their brethren than they did of themselves?
So do the Elders in these last days in organizing branches of the
Church, and the same spirit attends their labors and follows as a
result of their administrations in every land--not in Christian
lands alone, but in heathen lands, and among the natives of our
forests and of our mountains. Wherever these Elders go they go
accompanied by the power of God. This rests down upon the people
who receive their words, and they are filled with the Holy Ghost,
and their hearts are blended together in union and in love, which
cannot be found elsewhere upon the face of the earth--God in this
wonderful manner bearing testimony to the labors of His servants
and to their word, and fulfilling their promises in bestowing
those gifts upon all races, upon all men who bow in submission to
the Gospel which they preach. There is not a single
characteristic that the ancient Church possessed, that is not
manifested in these our days in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. The same persecution of the Church, the same
hatred, the same inclination to shed the blood of inoffensive,
innocent men and women, to drive them from their homes and to
treat them with the utmost cruelty upon baseless charges and
misrepresentation--that characteristic is not wanting either. It
follows the Church. It follows the Elders of the Church go where
they will. They may be as pure as angels--so far as it is
possible for earthly beings to be--nevertheless they are followed
by this flood-tide of falsehood, of slander, of
misrepresentation, and also by the same disposition to kill them,
to shed their blood; and Prophets have been slain in our day, the
blood of apostles has been shed in our day, the blood of
disciples and Saints has stained the earth in our day for the
testimony of Jesus and for the word of God. There is not a single
characteristic lacking; and to day this Church stands as a living
testimony in the eyes of all nations, that God has indeed
restored the everlasting Gospel, that God has indeed once more
spoken from the heavens, that He has indeed restored the
everlasting Priesthood, through the administration of which all
these blessings have come in so remarkable a manner to men.
347
Considering what an age of unbelief we have had, considering the
traditions that we have inherited, it is wonderful the faith that
has been manifested by this people called Latter-day Saints. When
I look at it from a certain standpoint, I am amazed at what I
witness. The fathers of this people had not faith in anything of
this kind. Imbued with the traditions that were prevalent
throughout Christendom, they believed that the heavens were
sealed, that all communications had ceased between God and man,
and that all we had to depend upon was this book [the Bible] for
the knowledge of God. This was the tradition instilled into the
minds of our ancestors, until it has become a crystalized belief.
One of the most difficult things to make men believe, when this
Church was first organized in these last days, was that it would
be possible for God to speak, that it would be possible for
angels to come to the earth, that it would be possible for that
power to be manifested once more. All these things were
associated with imposture in the minds of men. A man who made any
such statement was immediately accused of being an impostor, and
of trying to deceive somebody.
348
This Church has made its onward progress, despite this
crystalized unbelief, which has been like a wall of adamant in
front of us, hedging our way, barring our progress in the midst
of the human family. Men would listen and then turn away with a
sneer when they heard a statement of the truth. Yet
notwithstanding that, it has a foothold in the earth. And what is
the result? A generation is growing up in these mountains filled
with the old faith, to a certain extent free from the traditions
of their fathers. My children I hope will have more faith than I,
as I had more faith than my father. I was trained in this faith.
My children, I trust, will have more faith than I, and the
children of the present generation will have more faith than
their fathers for this reason, that we are endeavoring to instill
into their minds this faith; endeavoring to promote it;
endeavoring to make them believe that God is a God of revelation,
that God is not afar off, that He is not remote, but that He is
near at hand; endeavoring to make them believe that God will
answer prayer, and you can tell what the result will be. Every
young man who goes out--as in the case of our young men who are
constantly going--goes without purse or scrip. What is the
result? They have to feel after God. If they want a pair of
pantaloons they have to ask God to obtain them. If they want a
meal of victuals, they have to exercise faith on this account. In
sending out my sons to preach the Gospel, or having them go, I
would not give them one dollar to go with; and while I am on this
subject I will say, the father who gives his sons money to go to
preach the Gospel, does them the greatest injury he can do. I
would not do it if I had millions at my disposal. I would not
give them a dollar. Let them go out and feel after God, and
obtain a knowledge of God, through faith and through mighty
prayer. When a man is hungry; when a man is without friends; when
a man has no place to sleep, he will, if he believes in God, and
His gifts, be certain to go to Him and ask Him to furnish that
which he needs, and when his prayers are answered he has greater
faith next time. When he lays hands on the sick and the sick are
healed, he has greater faith next time to go and administer to
the sick, and in this way faith is growing and increasing in the
midst of the Latter-day Saints, and the power of godliness is
being made more and more manifest. But we are far from being what
we should be.
348
I have not time to dwell further on these things. I would like to
talk on kindred subjects; but time is passing and I am now
trespassing.
348
I pray God to bless you, to fill you with the Holy Ghost, and to
help you to seek after God with greater faith; I pray that He may
help you to put away your sins, and to keep His commandments
perfectly, so that you may receive the blessings that He has in
store for all the faithful, which I ask in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / John
Taylor, December 9th, 1883
John Taylor, December 9th, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,
Delivered in Kaysville, Davis County, Sunday, December 9th, 1883.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
THE AGE IN WHICH WE LIVE--THE POSITION THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS
OCCUPY--THE PROGRESS THEY HAVE MADE THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF
THE GOSPEL--THE HATRED MANIFESTED AGAINST THE SAINTS OF
GOD--CAIN--SUFFERINGS OF FORMER-DAY SAINTS--SUFFERINGS OF THE
LATTER-DAY SAINTS--THE ATTACKS OF RELIGIOUS FANATICS AND
POLITICAL
DEMAGOGUES--THE MORMONS ARE NOT SCARED--DUTIES OF THE LATTER-DAY
SAINTS--THE CONSEQUENCES OF ALLOWING OUR CHILDREN TO BE EDUCATED
BY OUR ENEMIES--THE WORK OF OUR ENEMIES; THEIR AIMS--FREEDOM
EXTENDED TO ALL SECTS IN UTAH--WHAT THE MORMONS CLAIM--THEIR
BELIEF IN PLURAL MARRIAGE--INSTITUTIONS INTRODUCED BY
CHRISTIAN CIVILIZERS--NO YIELDING OF THE PRINCIPLES GOD HAS
REVEALED--CONCLUSION.
349
If you will give me your attention and your faith and prayers I
will endeavor to address you. It always affords me pleasure to
meet with the Saints of God. In company with my brethren we have
been traveling up and down lately, associating with the Saints in
the different conferences, trying to speak of things in which we
are all interested, things pertaining to the building up of the
kingdom of God, and the establishing of His Zion upon the earth.
349
I have been very much interested in the remarks which have been
made by the various speakers who have addressed you. They have
touched upon subjects which concern the whole people.
350
We are living in a peculiar day and age of the world, a day that
is pregnant with very great events, a day that has been spoken of
by all the holy prophets since the world was. We are living in an
Gospel in this day, as in other ages of the world, has brought
life and immortality to light. The spirit of truth, even the gift
of the Holy Ghost, has again been restored to the children of men
by the opening of the heavens, by the ministering of holy angels,
and by the voice of God. A message has been sent forth to the
nations to gather together His elect from the four quarters of
the earth. We have been gathered together, therefore, according
to the word of the Lord, and notwithstanding the numerous
afflictions and trials to which we have been exposed for these
many years, we possess many privileges, many enjoyments. In a
word, we have been greatly blessed of the Lord. Instead of
wandering about in sheep skins and goat skins--we have done very
little of that comparatively speaking--it may be said of us that
"the lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places; yea, we have a
goodly heritage."
350
It behooves us, therefore, at all times, as far as possible, to
comprehend the position which we occupy. Especially does it rest
upon the Holy Priesthood, who have the manipulation and
management of the affairs of the Church of God upon the earth, to
comprehend the position and relationship which they sustain to
the kingdom of God, to the people of God, to the Church of God,
and the Zion of God, that they may be enabled to act wisely,
prudently and intelligently, and to pursue that course, and help
others to pursue it, which leads to prosperity, peace and
happiness, in this life, and to exaltations, thrones,
principalities and powers in the eternal worlds. We are here for
that purpose. We are thus gathered that we may be instructed in
regard to those principles, that we may obtain a knowledge of the
way of life. Therefore, it is well for each and all of us to
consider the position that we occupy.
351
There has been a good deal said about schools, and a variety of
other things, all of which has been very well said and very
correctly. If men were wise they would need no instruction of
that kind. But then we are not wise, we are not educated, we are
not intelligent, in regard to the things of God, and yet,
comparatively speaking, we are. When we compare ourselves with
the rest of mankind, we have made very great progress; for
through the medium of the Everlasting Priesthood, by the
revelation of the will of God to man, and through the
ministration of His Holy Spirit, we have drunk of the stream
whereof maketh glad the city of our God. That life and
immortality which has been revealed through the Gospel, has given
unto us a glimpse of things that the rest of mankind are entirely
ignorant of. No matter how sincere they may be, and many of them
are very sincere in their religious faith and worship, yet they
are ignorant of many of the great principles pertaining to the
kingdom of God, and they can only know them in the same way, and
through the same channel that we received our information--that
is, by obedience to the Gospel of Christ, and by the reception of
the gift of the Holy Ghost. For we are positively told that no
man knows the things of God, but by the Spirit of God, and the
way to obtain that Spirit is the same now as it was in former
times. How did they then receive it? What was the instruction
then given? "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." And what then? "And
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This is the way
pointed out in the Scriptures. Are there any other instructions
given at variance with this? Certainly not. And if a knowledge of
the things of God can only be obtained through the medium of the
Spirit of God, and if that Spirit can only be received through
obedience to the plan or order laid down in the Gospel, then
those who have not yielded obedience to that Gospel are not
competent judges of those principles. Then, again, when we come
to ourselves, the same reasoning and the same principles hold
good. When men are humble, pure and virtuous, and seek unto the
Lord for His guidance, for the light of His Holy Spirit to lead
them unto the paths of life, that they may comprehend His law,
His word and His will--and then obey it as it is made manifest to
them--such persons, those brethren and sisters who follow this
plan, are a thousand times more likely to comprehend the things
of God, than those who are careless, indifferent, foolish and
wayward, and who neglect the blessings and the opportunities
which are offered to them. The light that is in those people
becomes darkness, while the path of the others is like that of
the just which shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect
day. The whole human family, it is true, have a portion of the
Spirit of God, but not in the light that we speak of it. A
portion of the Spirit of God is given, we are told, to every man
to profit withal; but it is the Gospel that brings life and
immortality to light. It is the Gospel that places men in
communion with God. It is the Gospel that puts us in possession
of that principle of certainty that no one can comprehend but
those who are in possession of it, and therefore in that respect
there is a very material difference between them and us.
352
It is not strange to me to see the kind of spirit and animus that
is frequently manifested against the Saints of God. This
principle and spirit of antagonism to the rule of God, and to His
government and laws, is as old as the creation of the world. It
began in heaven. The third part of the hosts of heaven, we are
told, were cast out because of their rebellion against God. We
are informed in our late revelations, that Satan desired to take
away the free agency of man, just as men are seeking to take away
ours; just as men have sought to do in different ages. Satan
rebelled against his Father, and he was cast out, and one-third
of those spirits that had not received tabernacles were also cast
out with him. What did he do when he was cast out? He began to
persuade the sons of men to do the same thing on earth that he
had done in heaven. You can read of Cain and the course he
pursued, and yet Cain professed--and there are a great many who
do it now--to recognize God his Heavenly Father, while at the
same time he was in league with the devil. Cain was called the
great Master Mahan. Still he was a religious "cuss." Excuse the
expression; but we have a great many such to-day. Abel was told
to offer up sacrifice, and he did so. He brought the firstlings
of his flock and offered them up as a sacrifice to the Lord; and
the Lord accepted his offering. Cain offered up the first fruits
of the earth. He was going to be, as I have said, a religious
"cuss," a religious hypocrite--as if God was not acquainted with
what he was doing!--as if He could not read the contents of his
heart!--as if He did not know that Cain had made a compact with
Satan! He knew all about it, and understood all about the
principle. Cain went to work and offered his sacrifice. But the
Lord knew of his hypocrisy and deception, and of his plotting and
planning against Him; for we are told that Cain loved Satan more
than he loved God. The Lord would not accept his offering. Cain
felt annoyed about it. He wanted to serve the devil, and at the
same time receive the blessing of God, the same as many do
to-day. They would like the blessing of God, but want to have the
devil mixed up with it. Finally, the Lord spake to him. He asked
him why he was wroth, and why his countenance was fallen? I
presume that he tried to make out that he had not been treated
right, in that the Lord accepted his brother's offering and would
not accept his. But the Lord told him: "If thou doest well, shalt
thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at
the door." After a while he began to do something that men are
guilty of to-day. What was it? He coveted his brother's flocks
and herds, as many people covet our property here. What else? In
order to get him out of the way, he killed him. He apparently had
nobody to recommend to do the killing--as some are recommending
that we be killed--so he had to do the business himself. The Lord
again interrogated Cain. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" And he
said, "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" "What hast thou
done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the
ground." And the Lord went on to tell him that for his crime he
should be looked upon as a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth.
352
I need not go into further detail: I simply desired to show that
this spirit of hatred against God, His laws and His people is
nothing new. The history of this world is full of examples of
this kind. We are told that in former times the servants of the
Most High wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not
worthy): they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens
and caves of the earth; and it was said in Jesus' day, that they
killed the Prophets, and stoned those who were sent unto them;
and finally, when the Son, himself, came, they said this is the
heir, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. Jesus
said, if they do these things in the green tree, what will they
do in the dry? They beheaded John the Baptist; they crucified the
Savior; and His Apostles were martyred for the same truths that
He, himself, had proclaimed; and the Christians of those days
under the rule of Pagan Rome, were thrown into the arena, to be
devoured by wild beasts; they were imprisoned, slaughtered, and
tortured in every conceivable way; and it is said of one Roman
emperor, Nero, that he had the Saints covered with inflammable
material, and then set on fire to light the streets of the
Imperial City. When Christians were in possession of the same
spirit, they did no better, as exhibited in the persecutions and
destructions of the Waldenses, the Albigenses and the Huguenots,
in the application of the tortures of the thumbscrew, the rack,
the faggot and the fire, and of other species of refined cruelty
by those who professed to be the followers of the meek and lowly
Jesus.
352
Our history has been a history of the same kind of scenes. Joseph
Smith, in his lifetime, was persecuted and driven from place to
place. He was maligned, vilified, scourged, tarred and feathered,
and finally murdered in cold blood, by a mob with blackened
faces, in violation of the pledge of protection of the governor
of the State of Illinois. It may be asked, why are we here to day
in these valleys of the mountains? Because we had to flee from
Missouri to Illinois; from Illinois into these mountains, to seek
for that protection among the savages of the plains which was
denied us by the civilization of the age under the auspices of a
boasted Christianity; and the same spirit of vilification,
falsification and abuse still follows us.
353
At frequently recurring periods, frenzied demonstrations are made
by religious fanatics and political demagogues against the
Latter-day Saints; a hue and cry is set up by these pretended
apostles of freedom and champions of the rights of man, and it is
made to appear that "there are terrible things in the land of
Ham, and wonderful things by the Red Sea."
353
Some people get scared. I am not a particle scared. "Why," they
say, "Don't you think they will swallow us?" If they did, I think
they would be something like the whale that swallowed Jonah--they
would throw us up again. I do not think we are quite swallowed up
yet; but we should have been but for the interposition of the
Almighty. There is one thing, however, that the world does not
comprehend--and I think, sometimes, that the Saints do not
comprehend it--and that is that the Lord reigns. There is a
Scripture which says: "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice.
The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble." If the Lord did not
reign we should be in a very peculiar position; in fact, to use a
somewhat vulgar expression, we should be "in a bad row of
stumps." But the Lord has decreed to accomplish certain purposes.
He decreed it before the world was framed or the morning stars
sang together for joy. He laid out the plan associated with
humanity that He decreed should be accomplished. He understood
about the fall of man. He understood about the redemption that
would be required to redeem man and bring him back into his
presence. He understood all about the opposition to the
principles of truth, and the power of Satan, as it would be
manifested in the different ages of the world, and the ruin,
desolation, misery, confusion and destruction which would issue
in consequence of Satan possessing this power and dominion, for
he is called the prince and power of the air, who rules in the
hearts of the children of disobedience, and leads them captive at
his will. They don't know this, but it is nevertheless true. And
then the Lord understood another principle, namely, that the time
would come when the power of Satan, and the power of the wicked
would be overthrown; when the Zion of God would be established;
when a reign of righteousness would be introduced; when there
would be a communion between the Priesthood on the earth and the
Priesthood in the heavens, and when correct principles would be
introduced, and the rule and government of God would be
established in the earth, and continue until the kingdoms of this
world would become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and He
would reign with universal empire over the nations of the earth.
This is a thing that has been spoken of by all the Prophets, and
it is the time of the restitution of all things since the world
was.
353
Very well, this is the work, then, which is committed unto us,
and it is well for us to comprehend the position we occupy; to
understand the path we walk in; as the Scriptures say: "Thus
saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the
old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall
find rest for your souls."
354
As a people we have an important work to perform. We must
proclaim the Gospel to the nations of the earth. For this
purpose, we are first gathered together. Then we are taught, then
we are organized. We have our quorums of various kinds. We have
the First Presidency; we have the Twelve; we have the Presidents
of Stakes; we have High Councils; we have Bishops; we have
Priests, Teachers and Deacons; we have Seventies, High Priests,
etc., and all of these various organizations have their several
duties to perform. It behoves every one of them to comprehend
those duties, and to fulfill them. And I would say to the
Presidents of Stakes; I would say to the Bishops; I would say to
High Councils; I would say to all men holding authority, Priests,
Teachers, etc., that they are not here to condone men's offenses
and to pass by and look over the iniquities of men, but to purge
them out, to prune the tree, to purify the Church of the living
God. These officers are placed in the Church for the perfecting
of the Saints. Do the Saints need perfecting? Yes, or you would
not find such things as Brother Joseph F. Smith referred to this
morning. They would not be known among us. People would not be
found shuffling their children over into the hands of the enemy
to be educated--to be let down to death. If such people ever get
into the celestial kingdom--and I very much doubt that they ever
will--they will find the children that might have been there with
them, wallowing in misery; and those children will point up to
them, if they may, and say, "Father! mother! I blame you for
this; for it was you that led me to it." I tell you such people
will sup sorrow in this world and in the world to come.
Therefore, be careful how you treat your children: act the part
of fathers and mothers to them, and not the part of unnatural
monsters, who, having been enlightened to a degree by the Spirit
of the Lord, trample under foot the things of God, and cast your
offspring into the arms of the corrupt, of the evil, and of those
who are seeking your life, and striving to destroy you.
356
What, then, would you do? Would you entertain harsh feelings? No;
but if I had been living in Adam's time and had had children, I
do not think I should have sent them to be educated by Cain.
Would you? I think some of you would. I do not think I should. I
do not think I would do it now, and I do not think any decent man
would--no man or woman who has the light of the Spirit of God,
could do it. Well, but what would you do? Would you persecute
them? No; but I would let them severely alone. They are very
plausible. They are very nice. So was the devil. Like him some of
those people would like to deprive us of our free agency. They
are of their father, the devil, and the works of their father
they will do. There are some ministers of the Gospel, even,
occupying prominent positions, who advocate the use of the
cannon, the musket, and the bayonet, in order to rob, murder and
plunder the Latter-day Saints. What for? Because we happen to
claim the right of free agency in regard to our religious
worship, and think we ought to enjoy it, and when we do we feel
we are simply carrying out a constitutional principle, and are
not interfering with anybody. Whose religion do we interfere
with? In Salt Lake City we have Methodists, Baptists,
Presbyterians, Catholics and others; do we interfere with them?
No. Do we persecute them? No. Do we get up tirades against them?
No. Do we publish falsehoods about them? No. The truth would be
too bad, if told about some of them. There is no need of lying;
and if any of them were persecuted in any way or in any place
among our people, I would be the first to step forward in their
defence; because I do believe in the free agency of man, though
they don't; and while they boast of this being a land of freedom,
they seek to bring us into bondage. Why is it then that we are
persecuted? Who have we sinned against? What laws have we broken?
Will they please tell us wherein we have violated the laws or the
Constitution of the United States? Will any of the savants at
Washington, or anywhere else, tell us what we have done? They
make us guilty of crime only on the principle of falsehood,
defamation and the violation of truth; for you know, and we all
know, that ninety-nine out of every hundred of the charges that
are made against us are baseless fabrications. I am not speaking
of these things in anger. I feel more to sympathize with those
people than anything else; but I certainly don't want them to
teach my children. As I have said, we do not interfere with them
in their religious worship. Are they Baptists? They can baptize
by immersion if they like. Are they sprinklers? Then they can
sprinkle if they like. I do not propose to interfere with them.
But because we believe in certain principles which God has
revealed, they must go to work to deprive us of the privilege of
putting our belief into practice. As I have said, there is
nothing new in that. It don't affect me one particle, but I
wished to mention some of these particulars for your
consideration, that you may comprehend your true status to-day.
For example, they passed a law which we consider
unconstitutional, and which interferes with our religious rights.
If I were to ask this congregation if they believed plural
marriage to be a part of our religion--and that it was revealed
by God, and that we did not enter into it until He revealed it
unto us--why this congregation would all say they believed in
that principle. What! believe in plural marriage? Yes. Why do you
believe in it? Because it is according to your preconceived
ideas? No; but because God revealed it. That is why I believe in
it. That is why you believe in it. Now, all who believe as I do,
hold up your right hands. [A sea of hands went up]. All of a
contrary belief make it manifest by the same sign. [Not a hand
was raised.] There is not one contrary vote. Now, they interfere
with us, and say we shall not worship God according to the
dictates of our conscience; but that we shall marry just as they
do, and commit vile irregularities "out of the marriage relation"
as they do. What is that? Why, it is a doctrine of the devil. As
I have said, he sought to take away the free agency of man, and
because of that he was cast out of heaven. They are striving to
do the same thing in these United States to-day. They are seeking
to deprive you and me and thousands of people in this Territory
of religious liberty, without trial, without investigation. They
have proceeded on the principle of tyranny and coercion, if not
on the principle of blood, just as Cain did. Well, shall we feel
very angry? I don't, I honor men who act as men, but I cannot
honor men whom I know to be hypocrites. Still we have these
things to suffer. Our Elders go out to preach the Gospel, and
they meet the hireling priests, who, because they cannot
withstand their arguments, get angry, and when some men get
angry, as you are aware, they act on the "knock-down"
principle--or use tar and feathers, the bludgeon, or some others
of those refined adjuncts of civilization, and if these will not
do, then they take to shooting--a practice which has been
resorted to in different places not so very long ago, against our
Elders. Why do they do this? Because, say they, we preach false
doctrine, and they recommend that the musket and the bayonet be
brought to bear upon us. What a strange argument against truth!
Yet these are things that are sought to be crowded upon us
because of our religious faith.
357
As I have already inquired, what shall we do? Do as they do? Oh,
no! They talk about our corruption. Let me ask you who introduced
prostitution here in our midst? Has it been done by this
people--the Latter-day Saints? No; for a man or a woman guilty of
anything of that kind is immediately severed from the Church. You
know they are. Who, then, introduced prostitution? Our Christian
civilizers. Who maintains prostitution here? Our Christian
civilizers. That is a fact. And they are making some headway in
this Stake, I am told in regard to billiards, etc. Let me ask,
who introduced billiard halls, and gambling halls in our midst?
Our Christian civilizers. Have any of our people done so? If they
have, I say to you Bishops, cut them off from the Church. Who
maintain these institutions here by law? Our Christian
civilizers--Christian judges, associated with Christian
churches--crowd them upon us and we cannot get rid of them
without violating law. That is the position we are in to-day? Do
we want much more of that civilization? I think not. Who sustain
drunkenness and saloons in our midst? Our Christian civilizers.
How many saloons have we in Salt Lake City? [President Joseph
Smith: Forty-five]. Forty-five rum shops in Salt Lake City! Who
sell this rum and keep these establishments? Our Christian
civilizers. And who patronize these places? Sometimes some of our
own people thus disgrace themselves--who ought to hide their
heads in shame to be found mixed up with and taking part in these
corrupting and damning influences. Can't you Latter-day Saints
let such things alone? Oh for shame! For shame! Have we any
people engaged in this degrading business that we know of?
[President Joseph F. Smith: In Salt Lake City two, who profess to
be Latter-day Saints]. They ought to be cut off from the Church.
Any man who will deal in that liquid damnation ought to be cut
off from the Church. They don't belong here. A saloon is not one
of the institutions of Zion. It is one of the institutions of
modern Christianity. Shall we join hand and glove with them? No,
we can't do it. Do we hate them? I don't. If they were hungry I
would feed them; if they were naked I would clothe them; if they
were sick I would administer to them; that would be my feeling;
but I say, my soul, enter not thou into their secrets, and mine
honor with them be not thou united. That is what I say; and while
I would treat them aright, and treat them kindly, yet I don't
want them to teach my children; I don't want them in my house or
to be associated with them. What, with no out-siders? Yes. There
are thousands of honorable men, tens of thousands and millions of
them in the United States and all over the world. It is not
honorable men who engage in the things that we are talking of;
but a bastard Christianity, which, in its present methods towards
us is a system of hypocrisy and falsehood. What then would you
do? Why, let us attend to our own business, go on with the work
that the Lord has given us to do. Let us look well to ourselves,
every man and every woman. Let us train up our children in the
ways of life. Let us see that they are instructed in the laws of
God, and that they are kept from the snares of the adversary.
Avoid corruption of every kind. Preserve our bodies pure.
Preserve our spirits pure. Be honest, upright and virtuous.
Sustain every principle that is good, everything that is
calculated to lead to God, to truth, to virtue, and to the
establishment of correct principles among men. God expects these
things at our hands. It is for the President of this Stake, and
for the Bishops he has around him, and for all men in authority,
to set their faces against wickedness and corruption, and
wherever they find any evil, to root it out and not condone it.
We do not want corruption in our midst; and men or women,
professing to be Saints, that cannot preserve their bodies and
spirits pure, and that can not adhere to the principles of the
truth as God has revealed them, we don't want them among us.
357
Again, there are some other things to which I wish to refer. I
have heard some people say, "Don't you think that we are in very
great danger now?" We should be if the Lord did not rule. We
should always have been in danger if the Lord did not reign. We
should always have been in danger if He had not taken care of us.
"But," say some, "don't you think that when our Legislature meet
they had better go to work and pass a law doing away with
polygamy?" No; no such thought ever enters my mind; and as I said
in the few remarks I made this morning:
357
"We want no cowards in our ranks
Who will our colors fly
We call for valiant-hearted men
Who are not afraid to die."
358
No yielding up of principles that God has revealed. What, turn
our backs on Jehovah! and place ourselves in the hands of men who
would deprive us of the last vestige of liberty, and take our
lives if they had the power! What! shall we forsake God our
Heavenly Father? No, never! And all who are for God and His
Kingdom say Amen. [The audience responded with a loud "Amen."] We
want no trembling in the knees, nor anything of that kind around
us. Let those who hold such ideas go among the other class and
advocate their views with them, but not with us. These are my
feelings and my views in relation to this matter. If we can be
true to ourselves, true to our God; if we can maintain our
virtue, our uprightness, our integrity; if we can be honest and
upright and cultivate the spirit of kindness, harmony and union
among ourselves, God will take care of Israel, for He will fight
our battles. And what else? I will tell you what you will see by
and by. You will see that Scripture fulfilled wherein it says,
"the wicked shall slay the wicked." And the time is not very far
distant when another Scripture will be fulfilled, namely, "that
every man that will not take up his sword against his neighbor,
must needs flee unto Zion for safety." In Zion there will be
safety. We must therefore cleave to the truth and work
righteousness, and God will take care of the balance. The kingdom
of God will be built up. The will of God must be done on the
earth as it is in heaven. Will such a thing as that ever take
place on the earth? Yes, as sure as you and I are here to-day it
will. Then, if the kingdom of God is to come; if the will of God
is ever to be done on the earth as it is done in heaven, where
can it commence except it is among the Latter-day Saints; for
there is no other people under the heavens who acknowledge the
authority of God? They do not really acknowledge the rule of God,
or the Government of God, anywhere among all the nations of the
earth; and if His will is ever done on earth as it is done in
heaven, where shall it start but in the land of Zion, and among
the people of Zion?
358
Now, I would say to your Presidents, and to your Bishops, and to
your High Counselors, and you brethren holding the Priesthood in
this Stake of Zion, cannot you begin to introduce these
principles here; and cannot you fathers and you mothers do the
same? It will not be long before the most of us who are present
will pass behind the veil, and would you not like to be found on
the side of the kingdom of God; that when you meet the general
assembly and Church of the First Born in the heavens, and God the
Father of all, you can say, "I have been true to God; I have been
true to the principles which He has revealed; I have been true to
the kingdom of God, to the Zion of God, and to the Church of God,
and now I am here, O Father, in thy hands, and I am ready to do
anything that thou hast for me to do?" This is the position in
which we want to place ourselves. It is not what we shall eat or
what we shall drink. We are doing first-rate about these things.
You don't look as if you suffered much in the flesh here about.
And I will tell you another thing, and that is, as fast as you
are prepared for it, God will not only deliver you from your
enemies, but He will pour riches into your laps, until you will
not be able to contain them, although to some, riches would be
the greatest curse that could be given them. You, the people of
Zion, will be the richest of all people. You will possess not
only the riches of this world, but the riches of the world to
come; for when the earth is redeemed we expect to come back and
inherit it. We shall then have a new heaven and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. We expect then to have our place
here, for "blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the
earth." We are working for these things, and we will go on with
the work and let the world wag. Let them get up a commotion once
in a while. There is nothing new in that. It is the old trick. If
we are faithful God will bless us, and Zion will arise and shine,
and the glory of God will rest upon her. But woe to them that
fight against Zion, for God will fight against them. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, December 2, 1883
George Q. Cannon, December 2, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall,
Sunday Afternoon, December 2, 1883.
Reported by John Irvine.
CONDITIONS ON WHICH THE SAINTS SHALL PREVAIL--PREVALENCE OF
PEACE--THE FEELING IN THE EAST--FALSEHOODS SWALLOWED BY A
CREDULOUS PUBLIC--NO REAL INJURY--IMMEDIATE PROMISES--ONLY
ONE THING TO BE FEARED--THE SAINTS SHALL PREVAIL--THE SAINTS
SHALL PREVAIL THROUGH FAITHFULNESS--THE PRAISE OF THE WORLD A
SIGNAL FOR SORROW--POWER OF A UNITED PEOPLE--THE FIERCEST
PERSECUTION
ANTECEDENT TO POLYGAMY--SALT THAT HAS LOST ITS SAVOR--ONLY ONE
CHANNEL OF
REVELATION--Vox Dei, Vox Populi--THE AARONIC AND MELCHIZEDEK
PRIESTHOODS--WRITING AND SPEAKING--SPIRITS THAT PEEP AND
MUTTER--DECEITFUL DEVICES OF THE ENEMY--THE MEN WHO HAVE
AUTHORITY--THE PARABLE OF THE SHIP--THE
MAN WHO PRESIDES--INVOCATION.
359
I will read a portion of the 103rd Section of the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, commencing at the 5th paragraph:
359
"But verily I say unto you, that I have decreed a decree which my
people shall realize, inasmuch as they hearken from this very
hour, unto the counsel which I, the Lord their God, shall give
unto them.
359
"Behold they shall, for I have decreed it, begin to prevail
against mine enemies from this very hour.
359
"And by hearkening to observe all the words which I, the Lord
their God, shall speak unto them, they shall never cease to
prevail until the kingdoms of the world are all subdued under my
feet, and the earth is given unto the Saints to possess it for
ever and ever.
359
"But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not
to observe all my words, the kingdoms of this world shall prevail
against them.
359
"For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the
saviors of men.
359
"And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as
salt that has lost its savor, and is henceforth good for nothing
but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.
359
"But verily I say unto you, I have decreed that your brethren
which have been scattered shall return to the land of their
inheritance, and build up the waste places of Zion.
359
"For after much tribulation, as I have said unto you in a former
commandment, cometh the blessing."
360
I am thankful, my brethren and sisters, for the opportunity of
meeting with you to-day under such favorable circumstances, and
partaking of that peaceable influence which prevails always in
the midst of the Saints of God. It is a great blessing which God
has bestowed upon us in giving unto us peace. It is a blessing
that is beyond price, incomparably greater than almost any other
blessing that we can enjoy; for without it the other blessings
that we might have would be, to a great extent, obscured by the
absence of peace.
361
I have been asked by a few whom I have met since my arrival
yesterday morning in the city, if there is not a great deal of
excitement in the east concerning us. Some of the utterances of
the papers probably have given this impression. But so far as my
observation has gone I have seen no greater excitement at this
time than is usual, or has been usual in years past, prior to the
meeting of Congress. There is doubtless a desire on the part of
those who are anxious to do us an injury, to endeavor, by
misrepresentation and falsehood, to arouse feelings against us,
and to make it appear necessary to politicians and public men
that something should be done with us to check the growth of this
much feared organization of the Church of God. And it is
astonishing--it would be at least astonishing if we had not seen
so many instances of this character--how men resort to the most
unfounded falsehoods--falsehoods which do not have even the color
or foundation or the semblance of anything real and truthful--to
accomplish their purposes. But presuming upon the credulity of
the public respecting everything connected with our Church and
our organization and movements, men abandon themselves to the
most reckless assertions concerning us, without seeming to have
the least fear of their being contradicted, and thinking,
apparently, that anything they can say about us, however false,
will be swallowed by the credulous public. In this very thing
consists, to a great extent, the weakness of the opposition that
is arrayed against the Church of God. Falsehood has no existence
only so far as the mere relation or statement of it is concerned.
There is no foundation to it. There is nothing tangible about it.
It is a lie, and it may be said, therefore, to be non-existent.
And this opposition against us--that is, opposition of this
character--can do us in the end no real injury, because truth
must eventually prevail, in our case at least. That which is
real, that which is true, that which is genuine, that which has
an existence, must in the very nature of things prevail in the
contest with falsehood and misrepresentation. In this consists, I
may say, our strength. We know that these statements which are
made, so many of them, concerning us are false, and we can afford
to wait to see the developments which will follow, especially
when we understand, as we do, that God, our Eternal Father, has
made promises unto us concerning this very condition of things to
which I am now alluding. It is not a new thing for us to have
this to contend with. We have been warned about it from the
beginning, and in fact before the Church itself was organized.
The Prophet Joseph was told what he might expect, and what all
who associated themselves with him in the belief and practice of
the truth might expect, and the warnings that were then given,
and which have been so often repeated since to us as a people,
certainly have had the effect of preparing us--to some extent at
least--to encounter the evils with which we have been assailed
and with which we have had to cope. God, our Eternal Father, as I
have said, has made promises unto us concerning this. We are not
left to imagine what shall be the result. The mind of the
Latter-day Saint is not left a prey to apprehensions and fears;
for God, by His word, has removed these, and has given us
immutable promises which the experience of 53 years has proved to
us to be reliable. We have proved them to be true in the past,
and we certainly can rely upon them for the future.
361
There is only one thing connected with this work--speaking for
myself individually--concerning which I have any fear, and that
is ourselves. I never had any feeling of fear while I was at
Washington, and the clouds were dark and menacing, and our
enemies were threatening and active in their preparations to
assail us; I never had, I can truthfully say, any fear as to the
result of their operations so long as the Saints at home were
united and were seeking to keep the commandments of God. But when
I heard, as I did upon one or two occasions, about division--for
instance in election matters--and hearing of brethren not being
united upon questions of policy, then, I confess that a
feeling--a sickening feeling, if I may so describe it--would
sometimes take possession of me.
361
God, in the revelation that I have read to you, has plainly given
a promise unto this people, this Church.
361
"But verily I say unto you, that I have decreed a decree which my
people shall realize, inasmuch as they hearken from this very
hour, unto the counsel which I, the Lord their God, shall give
unto them.
361
"Behold they shall, for I have decreed it, begin to prevail
against mine enemies from this very hour.
361
"And by hearkening to observe all the words which I, the Lord
their God, shall speak unto them, they shall never cease to
prevail until the kingdoms of the world are subdued under my feet
and the earth is given unto the Saints to possess it for ever."
361
Now, here is a promise that the Lord has given, He says, by a
positive decree. It is a promise given with conditions, and if
the conditions should be observed we may rest assured that the
promise, in its entirety will be fulfilled. There are no
reservations about it, only the reservation connected with the
condition upon which it is made. "They shall prevail,"--that is
if they keep His commandments, if they observe the counsel which
He has given unto us. Now in the next paragraph he says:
363
"But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not
to observe all my words, the kingdoms of this world shall prevail
against them." Our fate, therefore, as a people--that is, as
individuals at least--is plainly pointed out unto us in these two
or three paragraphs. The principle upon which we can be
successful as a people is given unto us so that we cannot be
mistaken concerning it. Also if we should be unsuccessful, if we
should fail and become subject to our enemies, the causes by
which subjection shall be brought to pass are plainly pointed out
to us. The experience of the years that have elapsed since this
revelation was given in which these promises are embodied, has
proved to us most clearly the truth of the word of the Lord here
spoken. There has never been an hour since the Lord gave this
word unto the Church--not one hour--that they have not prevailed
over His enemies, when they have hearkened unto His words and
kept His commandments. Where we have been surrounded by
circumstances of the most threatening character, when there
seemed to be no possible way of escape, God has opened, in the
most marvelous manner, the path before this people and made it
plain, and that which has seemed like an impassable barrier
before them has been removed, and they have been enabled to
pursue the path that was right for them to walk in. We know by
experience that when the Latter-day Saints have been most
faithful, have been most diligent, when they have been most
zealous in preaching the Gospel, in building temples, in carrying
out the word of our God as He has given it unto us, then the
anger of our enemies has been most fierce against us. But
notwithstanding the fierceness and the heat with which it has
burned, it has been powerless against this people to injure us or
to interfere in any manner with our growth, and with the
accomplishment of the purposes of God entrusted to us. God knows
this is so, and we know it. We have proved it to our entire
satisfaction--it seems to me so at least. It is no good sign for
us to be beloved by the world, and to be spoken kindly of by the
world, however pleasant it may be to us, and however much we may
shrink form the opposite condition of affairs, and dread its
manifestation, and wish that it could be otherwise--and it is
natural to human nature to shrink from these trials--nevertheless
it is one of the worst signs for us as a people to be spoken well
of by the world, and to be free from threatenings, from
opposition, and from hatred. It is not the true condition for the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be in, to be
petted by the world, to be fostered by the world, to be spoken
well of by the world, to be welcomed by the world, to have favor
showered upon it by the world, because we ought not to be of the
world, God having chosen us out of the world. Our true condition
is that which we occupy to-day. I welcome it; I thank God for it;
for the manifestations that I see around me concerning us, bear
ample testimony to me that the Latter-day Saints are striving to
keep the commandments of God; that they are doing the will of
God, or this anger, these manifestations of hatred, this intense
opposition, these groundless accusations would not have an
existence against us. I say this is the condition that God has
designed that we should occupy, and instead of our feeling to
dread it, to wish it were otherwise, to shrink from it, let us
rather glory in it, thank God from the bottom of our hearts that
we are connected with his work and have the privilege of taking
part in such scenes as these--scenes in which our predecessors,
who have gone to the rest of our God, have shared, in their day
and generation. Let us thank Him that we live upon the earth and
have this opportunity--this great and glorious opportunity--of
showing unto Him that we are devoted to that Gospel that He has
revealed, to its principles, its ordinances, its endowments and
powers, and to the Church that is organized upon the earth, in
the plenitude of its power, in these last days. These are
opportunities for which we should be most profoundly grateful.
Instead of shrinking from them, instead of being sorry for them,
instead of feeling to dread them, we should have the opposite
feeling, one of thankfulness and gratitude unto God that we are
permitted to share in them, and to live at a time like the
present. I thank God with all my heart for this myself: and so
far as these manifestations are concerned, they cause only one
feeling within me--have done so far--and that is a feeling of
rejoicing and thanksgiving within my bosom to see the fulfillment
of the predictions of the holy prophets concerning this work, and
the hatred of the world against it.
363
Now, what have we to fear? The only cause of fear in my mind is,
as I have said, concerning ourselves--divisions, differences of
views, ideas concerning the course that should be pursued, that
may not be in accordance with the mind and will of God. It is of
the utmost importance to us as a people that we should be united.
Our strength, our prosperity, our success in the past, have been
due to union. It is the union of the people that has been hated,
and that has brought upon us the persecution that we have had to
contend with. That is all that gives us importance in the earth.
Strip us of union, and what is there about 200,000 Latter-day
Saints in the Rocky Mountains that is at all remarkable or worthy
of note? Well, we would be like 200,000 people anywhere else,
full of division and strife, who do not amount to anything or
have any particular importance. But unite 150,000 or 200,000
people together, of one heart and of one mind, a people who are
increasing, and there is a power manifest that impresses men.
They feel that there is an unusual power and influence there
which they can not comprehend, it is so different from the
systems with which they are familiar. The fact that these people
are united creates a dread in the breasts of those who dislike
them. It is this, my brethren and sisters, that has given us
influence, that has given us importance, that has made us what we
are, that causes us to occupy the position that we do. Take this
away from us, and we are indeed, as this revelation has said,
like salt that has lost its savor, good for nothing but to be
thrown out and trampled under foot of men. Take away from us as a
people the principle of union, and you take away from us the salt
that makes us the savor that we are to-day. And it is of the
utmost importance for us as a people, that we should keep this
constantly in view. It is against this and against that authority
which makes us a united people, that the whole of the attack
against us is directed. It is the revelations of Jesus Christ,
through that Priesthood coming unto us, giving testimony unto us
by the Holy Ghost, that has brought us unto this union, unto this
oneness that is so characteristic of this Church. It is against
the authority that has produced these results, that the whole
strength of the adversaries of this kingdom is directed.
364
We hear about plural marriage, or polygamy as it is termed. That
is merely a war cry. It is merely used because it is a popular
catch-word, and they who use it know full well that they only use
it in that form and for that purpose; but that is not the real
thing at issue. There is something more than that, deeper than
that, higher than that, broader than that; but it is not
necessary to let it be known that they are aiming at that.
Polygamy, therefore, answers the purpose. It appeals to the
ignorant; it excites the clergy; it stirs up the passions of the
impure, and it inflames the hatred that is necessary to intensify
this conflict. But if such a thing were possible that polygamy
could be wiped out to day, without wiping out our faith and
making us apostates, and every man who has a plural wife was to
put her away, it would not lessen the hatred of those who oppose
this work--not one particle. Of course, if we became apostates we
would be like the world, and we would be of the world. But I
repeat, it is not polygamy; we know that. We know that the
fiercest persecution we have passed through in our experience was
anterior to the practice of polygamy, was when polygamy was not a
doctrine of this Church, when it was not a practice of any member
of this Church. Therefore, the hatred that is entertained to-day
against this work is not traceable to that doctrine nor to that
practice. It is the organization of the Church of God upon the
earth. It is the restoration of the Holy Priesthood. It is the
authority by which man is bound to man, by the effective bond of
union that has been so wonderfully manifest in the history of
this people from the commencement until the present time. It is
that which is hated. It is the gathering of the people together.
As General Clark said, who led the militia at Far West, when the
brethren were prisoners: said he: "I would advise you to scatter
abroad, and never again organize yourselves with Bishops,
Presidents, etc., lest you excite the jealousies of the people,
and subject yourselves to the same calamities that have now come
upon you * * * my advice is that you become as other citizens
lest by a recurrence of these events you bring upon yourselves
irretrievable ruin."
364
Unwittingly he told a great truth pregnant with meaning. That is
really the great cause of hatred against this people. If you were
to divide up and cease to listen to your Bishops, to your
presiding authorities, to the Presidents of your Stakes, to the
Apostles, to the Presidency of the Church, what is there about
you that would excite opposition? What is there about you that
would make you worthy of newspaper notice? As I have said, you
would be like any other number of citizens who are not banded
together by the ties of the everlasting covenant and of the
Gospel. Having had the truth, and having had the savor of
righteousness, you would be like salt that had lost its savor, it
would be good for nothing, fit for no other purpose but to be
cast out and trodden under the feet of men. This figure of the
Savior's in this revelation--and as He used it to His
disciples--is a most forcible and comprehensive figure. There is
no article in the world that is so utterly worthless as salt,
after it has lost its savor. You cannot use it for any purpose,
and it is good for nothing except to be trodden under the feet of
men. And how truthfully it is exemplified in the history of this
people. When a man has lost the Spirit of God, become an apostate
to the work of God, of what further use is he? He is good for
nothing. He don't make even a good sectarian. And it would be so
with us as a people if we were to lose the salt of the Spirit of
God; we would be good for nothing.
366
Now, there is only one way in which the commandments of God can
be revealed unto us. God has not left this in doubt. He has not
left us to grope in the dark respecting His methods of revealing
His mind and will unto His children. In the very beginning of the
work of God in these last days, to remove all doubt upon this
subject, God gave revelations unto this Church in exceeding great
plainness, and there was one principle that was emphatically
dwelt upon and enforced, namely, that there was but one channel,
one channel alone, through which the word of God and the
commandments of God should come to this people. The word of God
was not to come from the people up. It was not vox populi, vox
dei, but it was to be vox dei, vox populi--that is, the voice of
God and then the voice of the people--from God downward through
the channel that He should appoint; by the means that He should
institute, that word should come to the people, and when obeyed
by the people would bring the union and the love and the strength
consequent upon union and love. And this has been the peculiarity
and the excellence of this work of God thus far in the earth. Its
excellence has consisted in this. Its power, its glory, the glory
that we have as a people, the glory that belongs to the Church of
God consists in this peculiar feature, that the word of God to us
comes from God and not from the people. It is received by the
people, accepted by the people, submitted to by the people, and
this has produced the union and the love, as I have said, that
have characterized the work thus far in its progress in the
earth. Take away from it this feature and it becomes weak as
water that is unconfined. There is no strength to it. There is
nothing to be feared about it. There is nothing to excite
animosity or hatred. But give it this feature and it becomes a
power in the earth. Even if there were only six men it would be a
power. Let there be twelve and it is twice the power, and you go
on doubling it, and it increases in a proportionate ratio, and it
will do so, as long as that principle is maintained and lived up
to. God revealed that principle in the beginning. Oliver
Cowdery--a representation of whose ordination is given to us on
this ceiling--received at the same time that the Prophet Joseph
did the Aaronic Priesthood. John the Baptist, who last held the
keys of the Aaronic Priesthood in the flesh upon the earth, laid
his hands upon Joseph, the Prophet, and him at the same time. He
afterwards received, in common with Joseph, the administration of
those who had held the keys of the Apostleship in the flesh on
the earth--that is, Peter, James and John. They administered unto
him at the same time that they administered unto Joseph, upon the
same occasion, and he became an Apostle with Joseph, being the
second Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Now, it might be thought that a man thus favored, favored
to receive the Aaronic Priesthood, favored to receive the
Melchizedek Priesthood and Apostleship at the same time with the
Prophet, favored with the privilege of baptizing the Prophet of
God, and of sealing upon him the gift of the Holy Ghost; it might
be thought, I say, that a man thus favored would have stood
alongside of the Prophet and been of equal authority in giving
the word of God in writing unto the people. But no. God drew a
distinction and plainly told Oliver Cowdery that that which he
wrote to this Church should not be by way of commandment to the
Church, but by wisdom. The Lord said to him, "If thou art led at
any time by the Comforter to speak or teach, or at all times by
way of commandment unto the Church, thou mayest do it. But thou
shalt not write by way of commandment, but by wisdom." It was
only one man's privilege, one man's authority to stand
pre-eminent in the earth at one time holding the keys and giving
the commandments of God--or rather the Lord giving His
commandments through him in writing to the Church.
368
In the early days there was a man that was a witness to the Book
of Mormon, who had been selected by the Lord to handle the
plates, to heft them, and then to write his testimony concerning
that which he had seen and felt. He obtained possession of a seer
stone--or as it is called sometimes, a peep-stone. Through this
peep-stone he professed to obtain revelations, which he wrote.
And the Lord gave a commandment upon the subject, and Oliver
Cowdery was commanded to take Hiram Page by himself, and talk to
him upon the subject. He was instructed to tell him that that
which he had received through that stone was not of God, and that
Satan deceived him. He was told that this power was not given to
him, and "neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this
Church contrary to the Church covenants." That is, there was only
one man upon the earth who had a right to give to the Church
commandments concerning the word of God, and the conduct of the
word of God, and that was the man whom He had selected. Thus
plainly in the very beginning of this work, the very threshold of
it, there was no doubt left upon the minds of those who received
the revelations of God concerning the policy of the Lord in the
building up of this work upon the earth. You can see, readily, if
you will reflect for a few moments upon the subject how necessary
it is that this should be the case. Invest two men with that
power, and what is the result? Why, there is an opportunity for
division. Invest twelve men with it, and you have the same result
to an increased extent. Invest the whole body of the people with
it, and what would be the result? You can understand this by a
very little reflection. It is not God's way of doing. It is not
God's manner of building up His kingdom. It is not the way that
He has founded His Church, neither in this day nor in any other
day when He had a church upon the earth. It is through this
source that commandments must come to the people of God. It is
through this source that the word of God has come to this people
during the 53 years that have now elapsed. The prosperity of this
people, their success, and the triumphs that have attended this
work are due to this, that God has chosen one man, and through
him has given His word unto His people, and by listening to His
counsel, by obeying the manifestations of God through him, they
have been led in this career of prosperity upon which we have
entered, and in which we are now traveling. I wish to impress
this with all the power of which I am capable upon the minds of
my brethren and sisters who are here to-day, and upon this entire
Church. I wish them to understand it. I bear testimony, as a
servant of God, that this is the way, God having revealed it unto
me to my perfect knowledge, to my perfect satisfaction and
understanding. There can be no two channels; there is but one;
God having chosen but one. Now, as long as we keep this in mind
we are in no danger as a people--that is if we keep it in mind
and obey it. I am willing to stake my reputation--I never claim
to be much of a prophet; I do not talk much about prophecy--but
as a servant of God I am willing to stake my reputation in making
this statement, that if you will listen to the voice of God as
manifested through His servant who stands at our head, you never
will, from this time forward until eternity dawns upon you--you
never will be overcome by your enemies, or by the enemies of
God's kingdom. I know this as well as I can know anything that
has not been accomplished. There is danger among us of becoming
divided. We are menaced now by our enemies. They would like to
divide us. Already they have made a discrimination which they
hoped would be attended with some great results. They have by
their laws deprived the fathers of this people, the leaders of
this people, the men who have borne the heat and the burden of
the day--they have deprived them of those rights which belong to
us as much at least as they belong to them. They have sought to
humble us in the dust. The elite of this people, the foremost
men, the men who have been the foremost in enterprise and in
every good work--and this is not saying anything disparaging
concerning those who are not of this class--have been singled out
just as you would single out of a conquered tribe of Indians the
chiefs. The chiefs have been marked, the ruling men have been
deposed, and another class have been told that they now can come
to the front. Why, it has reminded me of the tyranny which has
been so obnoxious in times past--the tyranny of Great Britain in
her treatment of the people of India. The ruling men all deprived
of their power. The king deposed. But this has never been done
except as a result of war. The king deposed; ruling chiefs, men
of influence, authority and power among the people, have been
stripped of all, and another king and other chiefs set to rule,
by the authority of the conqueror. But this has never been done
unless as a consequence of war. But here in a time of profound
peace, in a Territory unexampled for its prosperity, the wonder
and admiration of every candid and reflecting mind; a Territory
of this kind, because our religion is not popular, and because of
our union that is so dreaded, the ruling men, without any trial
or conviction, without proof of any guilt, have been removed, so
to speak--that is, everything has been done that has been
possible to take away from them that authority and that influence
which rightfully belongs to them, which they have earned by long
years of faithful labor in the midst of the people, earned them
legitimately and properly, having no influence that they have
received from ancestry or from wealth--having no influence but
the influence that God has given them, and that they have earned
by their own good deeds. These men, in the attempt to break up
this people; to divide them asunder--these men have been told,
"You step aside. We will strip you of your power and of your
influence. We will humble you in the midst of the people. We will
take away from you all the influence that we can, and we will see
if we cannot divide you by this process." That is the object. It
is, as I have said, to divide us, to arouse ambitions in the
minds of others, to endeavor to stir them up to pay no heed and
to disregard entirely the counsels and the examples of the men
who have been faithful, and who are thus thrust aside. What will
be its effect? Ask yourselves. Answer this question yourselves.
You Latter-day Saints, with you remains the answer. It is for you
to say whether the devices of the wicked are going to have the
effect of causing you not to heed the man of God, the man who
holds the keys of the Eternal Priesthood of God, the man chosen
by eternity, by the Lord himself; it is for you to say whether
you be these devices, will no longer pay heed and attention to
his counsels. It is for you to answer this momentous question. I
am in no fear as to the result. I have no doubts myself as to the
result. There may be unwise persons among us. There may be some
who may not have faith. There may be some who may be prompted by
some improper ambition; but I am glad that in the providence of
God there is an opportunity given to all such to show their true
characters, if there be such among us. I accept all these things
as wise in the providence of our God, He having this work in
charge; I accept it as one of His divine providences in regard to
this work, to test this people, to prove us, to put us upon
trial, to have us learn ourselves; and not only this, but to show
the world--the great world of mankind, who are looking now with
intense expectation, watching the results of these experiments in
Utah--that we may show unto them that God is still with us, and
that notwithstanding all the efforts of the wicked, we are still
a united people, willing to listen to the voice of God, through
his divinely appointed servant--the medium that He has chosen.
The world must know that the men through whose administrations we
have received these precious gifts of the Gospel, are still the
men who have authority with God, and who have a claim upon His
blessings and His sustaining care. These results I expect to see
wrought out by this that is now being done.
368
It is a most extraordinary thing that this Edmunds law--a law
which is so unconstitutional in every aspect--should now be
looked upon almost as a meritorious law, and that because we have
not split into pieces under its operation, and it has not
produced the results designed by its author, and those who urged
its passage--it should now, as I have said, be talked about as
though it were a benign law, and designed for our good; and
because we do not accept it as such it should be considered as a
sufficient reason that there should be additional legislation! It
is a most extraordinary position to assume. Yet this is the
position that is taken by many.
369
Now, my brethren and sisters, I used a figure many years ago,
when we used to meet in the old bowery, before the new tabernacle
was built, to which I will refer to-day. It was at a time when
there was considerable talk about our moving away from here.
Astrologers were predicting this, and there were some who seemed
inclined to put credence in their sayings. In remarks upon one
occasion I said, that it had been my habit when I crossed the
ocean--and I had been on both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans
many times--when a storm came up, or we appeared to be in danger
from ice or any other cause--to watch the captain of the ship. I
noted his demeanor, and I thought that by it I could form a
correct idea of our danger. He knew the ship. He knew her
capabilities. He knew, probably better than anyone else about our
position and our danger, and therefore, as I have said, I took
pleasure in watching his demeanor. And so it is in regard to the
work of God. It is my privilege as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ to have the revelations of Jesus. It is my privilege to
live so as to have the gift of prophecy, and to have wisdom and
knowledge from God. It is my privilege to have all these gifts
and blessings resting down upon me by virtue of my calling. If I
am faithful thereto they will rest upon me. But it is not my
privilege to guide this ship. It is not my privilege to write
revelations or commandments to this Church. Much as I may rejoice
in the knowledge of God, much as I may be possessed of the
revelations of Jesus, that is not a privilege which has been
accorded unto me, nor has it been accorded unto any other
Apostle, or officer, or member of this Church, but one, and that
is the man whom God has chosen to hold the keys. Therefore, in
times of danger, whatever my own feelings may be--and as those
who are acquainted with me know, I have pronounced opinions
generally upon every subject that is brought up--notwithstanding
this characteristic, I look always, and always have looked to the
man whom God has placed to preside over His people. I watch his
demeanor. I know that it is for him to give the signal. It is for
him to direct the movements of the crew of the Ship Zion. It is
for him to direct how she shall be steered, so far as human power
is necessary for this purpose, and when there are no tremors in
him, when there are no indications of fear on his part, when he
feels serene and confident, I know that I can do so with the
utmost safety, and that this entire people can trust in that God
who has placed a prophet, a seer, and a revelator to preside over
His people upon the earth. We need not be afraid. We need not
tremble. We need not give way to anxiety. That which we ought to
do is to seek for the mind and will of God. I wish that the men
of Zion would do this more than they do. I am jealous for my God.
I am jealous for the authority of the Holy Priesthood that He has
bestowed upon men. I dislike to see my brethren yield to the
influence of those who are outside of us, and who assail this
work and say, "you are governed too much by your leaders." When I
see men doing that I fear and tremble for them. They yield to an
influence that is not of God, the influence of the world, the
influence that is fighting Zion. I like to see a man loyal to
this work, loyal to the cause of God, loyal to the Holy
Priesthood, determined to stand by it. It is all that has saved
us thus far; it is all that has given us power thus far in the
earth, and when we desert that, God will desert us and leave us
to ourselves. I am jealous, therefore, for my God. I am jealous
for the Holy Priesthood. I am jealous for the honor, the dignity
of the man who presides over Zion, and I always have been.
Through my entire life I have had this feeling. It is not a new
feeling. It is one that was born in me, and it continues with me,
and I pray that it always may be my feeling as long as I live
upon the earth. I want to die having that feeling; I know that it
is the right feeling, and that we are always in the right path
when we are seeking the counsel of God through His appointed
servant.
369
God help you, my brethren and sisters; God help every man in
Zion; God help me and all who stand in leading positions in this
Church to bear this in mind, and to be humble, meek and lowly
obedient to the counsel of God's servant, that in the end God may
crown us in His celestial kingdom, which I ask in the name of
Jesus, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 24 / George
Q. Cannon, September 2nd, 1883
George Q. Cannon, September 2nd, 1883
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Meeting House, Provo,
Sunday Morning, September 2nd, 1883.
Reported by John Irvine.
TRAVELING THROUGH THE SETTLEMENTS--THE NECESSITY OF THE
SETTLEMENTS
BEING VISITED--REVELATION--BOGUS AUTHORITY OF SECTARIAN
PREACHERS--THE
CLAIM THAT THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE IS FULL--THE CAUSE OF THERE
BEING NO COMMUNICATION WITH GOD--VISITATION OF THE FATHER AND
SON AND HOLY ANGELS TO JOSEPH SMITH--MAHOMED--THE WORLD NO IDEA
OF THE CHARACTER OF GOD--RESTORATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF
GOD--ANGELS NOT FEATHERED BEINGS--NO WONDER THE WORLD HAS GONE
ASTRAY--SPACE BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION--THE REIGN
OF SATAN--JOSEPH SMITH ACCOMPLISHED HIS
MISSION--PERSECUTION--THIS
NATION MAKING JOSEPH SMITH A PROPHET--NO SURRENDERING THE
KINGDOM OF GOD--GOD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE--TEMPLES--SHALL THOSE
WHO HAVE OBEYED THE LAW OF GOD BE LOOKED DOWN UPON
BY THOSE WHO HAVE NOT?--CONCLUSION.
370
I feel as though I would much rather sit still and listen to
somebody else, than to attempt to speak myself.
370
For a number of weeks past the First Presidency of the Church
have been traveling through the various settlements, and such
counsels and instructions have been given to the people--mingled
with kindly reproofs and warnings as the Spirit has seemed to
dictate--and in the meetings we have held there has been a goodly
outpouring of the Spirit of God; the people have rejoiced in
their meetings and in that which they have heard.
371
There is a constant necessity for the visits of those whom God
has called to preside over the affairs of His Church, and to hold
the Apostleship of the Church, in the midst of the various Stakes
of Zion. It is true that God our Eternal Father--in accordance
with the promise which He has made unto those who would receive
the Gospel in humility and with sincerity of heart--has poured
out His Holy Spirit upon the people, and they are led by it in
the most of instances, and the gifts of the Spirit are
manifested. At the same time there are other agencies which God
calls into requisition to teach and instruct His people. He has
placed in His Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, etc.
He has given unto them certain specified duties. He requires them
to discharge those duties in His fear, and holds them accountable
for the condition of the people--that is, to a very great extent.
He has placed certain men whom He has chosen as watchmen upon the
walls of Zion; He has placed them as shepherds of the flock of
Christ; and in their capacity as watchmen and as shepherds He
expects them to exercise that vigilance and care which are
necessary for the protection and preservation of the people. The
Lord has promised unto His servants that He will give them the
necessary qualifications for, and that He will sustain them in
the discharge of the duties that devolve upon them; and through
the varied experience of the past 53 years this has been the
case. The Lord has not left His people without proper care, and
He has not left His servants destitute of his word and of a
knowledge of His will, but has given these to them at the very
time when they have been needed. No evil or difficulty has ever
occurred in the Church or outside of the Church affecting us that
we have not been warned of by the servants of God, and prepared
for by their teachings, their counsels and their warnings. This
constitutes the great difference between the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints and the other churches that are
organized among the children of men, and called by various names.
God has made promises unto this people; He has provided for them;
He has revealed himself unto them, and has extended His power for
their preservation and safety all the day long.
372
Now, this is a new thing, it may be said in the earth--that is,
comparatively new. Previous to the organization of this Church
there was no claim made by any of the churches of the day to hold
direct communication with Deity. Preachers, and those who lead in
these various sects, base their claims for authority upon that
which was given in former days to the ancient servants of God.
They are honest enough to make no pretense of having received
communication from heaven, or direct revelation from God, calling
them to the ministry or designating them to occupy the places
they fill; but, as I have said, claiming the commission that was
given to the ancient Apostles as the basis for their labor, they
proceeded to teach the people such doctrines as they considered
essential to salvation. God's voice was not heard. The silence
that existed between heaven and earth--and which had existed
after the slaying of those who had received authority from God,
and unto whom He gave communications--was still unbroken--there
were no heavenly messengers descending from heaven to earth and
making manifest the mind and will of God unto the inhabitants of
the earth, but it was as though the heavens were as brass over
the heads of the people, and as though--so far as the voice of
God was concerned--He took no interest in the affairs of the
children of men. And this was the conclusion to which the whole
religious world had come--that God had withdrawn Himself from
communicating with his children, that He had revealed his mind
and will as it is recorded in the Bible, and that therefore the
canon of Scriptures was full, and there was no longer any
necessity for further light or knowledge from Him. This was
produced as an argument against the Elders of this Church, when
they commenced to teach the doctrine of new revelation; when they
went forth proclaiming unto the inhabitants of the earth that God
had spoken; that the silence between heaven and earth had been
broken; that angels had descended from heaven once more and
communicated God's will unto man; that the Holy Ghost had been
poured out according to the ancient promise; that the Church had
been organized according to the ancient pattern, and that the
gifts had been restored as they existed in former times. The
argument that was used against these testimonies was this: that
for nearly 1800 years or thereabouts, there had been no
communication of this character, there had been no heavenly
visitations; prophets had not been known among men since the days
of the Apostles, and, therefore, this being the case, it was an
evidence, they contended, that it was not God's design that there
should be any of those gifts and blessings, and that that
condition of affairs which existed--or which they declared
existed--was the condition that God designed should exist and
should continue to exist until the end of time.
372
Now, the world in this way took advantage of its own wrong, and
sought to justify itself by that which had been brought to pass
by its own actions, attributing to God that which was traceable
to man, and which was the result of man's conduct; for the
unbroken silence which reigned between heaven and earth was not
because God preferred to have that condition of affairs exist,
but was the result of man's own actions. God had sent messengers;
He had sent His only Begotten Son, and had given unto Him His
Gospel to declare unto the inhabitants of the earth, and after a
short residence among them they slew Him. They would not have Him
or His teachings, and they were determined that He should have no
place among them. Not content with slaying Him, they continued
the warfare against the organization that He established upon the
earth at that time, until they slew every man whom He had
chosen--that is, they either slew them or drove them from their
midst. The result was that the earth was stained with the blood
of the Son of God, and of His chosen Apostles and Prophets. No
one could live among the inhabitants of the earth at that time
who professed to have any revelation from God, or to be a divine
messenger; for if he made such a proclamation, and it was in
truth, the whole power of Satan, manifested through the
inhabitants of the earth, was hurled against him, and he was
either slain or compelled to flee.
373
This being the case, is it any wonder that there should be no
voice of revelation--that God should leave His children to
themselves? I will tell you how I feel about my family. If I had
children that were determined not to listen to my counsel, nor to
obey that which I said to them, but should treat my instructions
with contempt, I would say to them: "You can go your own way. You
and I have chosen different paths. You have chosen one path and I
have chosen another. Now, if you and I go together, you will have
to go with me, and not I with you, and if you don't do that we
separate; you take your path and I take mine." And it seems as
though the Almighty had taken that course with His children. They
had slain all His chosen people and had left none of them upon
the earth. They had hunted them, persecuted them and slain them
until there was none left; and the authority which God had
bestowed upon men through His only Begotten Son had fled--that
is, the men who held it had been exterminated. What then? "Why,"
said He, seemingly--that is, we may judge so by the result--"you
have chosen this course, you have slain my chosen Apostles and
servants, and now I will withdraw myself from you, and leave you
to yourselves;" and for 1800 years, or nearly that--probably 1600
or 1700 at least, so far as that continent was concerned--there
had been no man left upon the earth who held the Priesthood, that
we know anything about. If there are any among the children of
men who held it, they are in some retired place, inaccessible to
the wicked. When the set time had come for God to re-establish
His Church and to bring to pass the fulfillment of that which had
been spoken by the mouths of the Prophets, He came himself.
373
The first account we have of the visitation of divine beings in
this dispensation, is the account that is given to us by the
Prophet Joseph Smith himself, concerning the visit of the Father
and the Son. There had been men, doubtless many men in the
various ages of the world, who had light and who had a degree of
the Spirit of God. I believe myself that Mahomed, whom the
Christians deride and call a false prophet and stigmatize with a
great many epithets--I believe that he was a man raised up by the
Almighty, and inspired to a certain extent by Him to effect the
reforms which he did in his land, and in the nations surrounding.
He attacked idolatry, and restored the great and crowning idea
that there is but one God. He taught that idea to his people, and
reclaimed them from polytheism and from the heathenish practices
into which they had fallen. I believe many men were inspired who
lived after him and before him, who, nevertheless, did not have
the Holy Priesthood, but were led by the Spirit of God to strive
for a better condition of affairs and to live a purer and higher
life than those by whom they were surrounded were living. But
while this was the case it was the Spirit of God that did it. We
have no account--no authenticated account at least--of angels
coming from heaven, or of the Father manifesting Himself unto the
children of men. And we have no account of the Priesthood being
restored; in fact, there is every reason to believe it never was
restored after it was withdrawn. The first that we knew
concerning God, was through the testimony of the Prophet Joseph.
Even the personality of God was doubted. The traditions of men
were so false respecting God, that the idea of a personal Deity
had faded from the so-called Christian mind. Though Jesus had
appeared on the earth as a personage having a body, parts and
passions, and declared Himself to be the Son of God, and the
Apostles declared Him to be in the express image of His Father
--notwithstanding that fact and that the record bore ample
testimony to it, so long had been the silence that had existed
between God and man, that the very conception of the nature of
God--that is, of His characteristics--had entirely faded from the
human mind, and He was deemed to be something other than He is.
The common sectarian idea was that His center was nowhere, and
His circumference was everywhere. There was no man scarcely upon
the earth that had a true conception of God; the densest
ignorance prevailed; and even ministers of religion could not
conceive of the true idea, and there was mystery associated with
what is called the Trinity--that is, with the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost. But all this was swept away in one moment by
the appearance of the Almighty Himself--by the appearance of God,
the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, to the boy Joseph, as he
kneeled in the forest beseeching God for knowledge concerning
Him, and concerning the Gospel of salvation. In one moment all
this darkness disappeared, and once more there was a man found on
the earth, embodied in the flesh, who had seen God, who had seen
Jesus, and who could describe the personality of both. Faith was
again restored to the earth, the true faith and the true
knowledge concerning our Creator, our Father, the Being from
whence we derive our origin. This revelation dissipated all
misconceptions and all false ideas, and removed the uncertainty
that had existed respecting these matters. The Father came
accompanied by the Son, thus showing that there were two
personages of the Godhead, two presiding personages whom we
worship and to whom we look, the one the Father, and the other
the Son. Joseph saw that the Father had a form; that He had a
head; that He had arms; that He had limbs; that He had feet; that
He had a face and a tongue with which to express His thoughts;
for He said unto Joseph: "This is my beloved Son"--pointing to
the Son--"hear Him."
373
Now, it was meant that this knowledge should be restored first of
all. It seems so, at least, from the fact that God Himself came;
it seems that this knowledge had to be restored as the basis for
all true faith to be built upon. There can be no faith that is
not built upon a true conception of God our Father. Therefore,
before even angels came, He came Himself, accompanied by His Son,
and revealed Himself once more to man upon the earth.
373
As I have said, the set time had come, the instrument had been
born--the instrument that had been selected doubtless as much as
the Son of God had been selected to accomplish His mission--that
is, He had also been selected from before the foundation of the
world, to come and to be the instrument in the hands of God to
again lay the foundation of His Church upon the earth--that
instrument had been born and the set time had come for the
establishment of the work of the Lord. Joseph Smith had the
necessary gifts and qualifications by which he was enabled to
seek unto God with such irresistible faith that God heard his
prayer and granted unto him the desire of his heart by revealing
Himself unto him and giving unto him the instructions which He
did. This was followed by other ministrations--the ministrations
of angels. In the sectarian world you can scarcely see a picture
of an angel without having a pair of wings attached, and every
angel looks like a woman. Such ideas have come down through ages.
And who knew differently? Who could tell anything about it? As
with the being of God Himself, so there were false conceptions
concerning the character of angels, and there was no man who
could correct them, because all were alike in ignorance, and all
were alike a prey to the traditions that had been handed down.
But when Joseph received the ministration of an angel--or angels,
for he was visited by more than one--he saw that they were men,
and that they had not feathered after death, that they did not
have wings, but that they were glorified men, or men who had
received glory from God; they were personages like they were on
the earth. Thus a true conception began to dawn upon the minds of
at least a few individuals, who believed Joseph's testimony
concerning these beings. When I see our sisters and our brethren
buying pictures of the sort to which I have alluded--pictures in
which are angels having wings--a sort of hermaphrodite beings, or
worse--I wonder that they would hang such things on their walls,
and then allow this false conception to be perpetuated in the
minds of little children concerning the character of these
heavenly beings. I think it is just as wrong to represent an idea
falsely by a picture, as it is to teach it falsely by words,
because an impression is made on the mind by either means.
Pictures of that kind should not be patronized by our people. Our
children should not be allowed to come to conclusions upon such
false representations.
374
Is it to be wondered at, my brethren and sisters, that after so
many ages of darkness and unbelief, so many ages of ignorance
concerning God, concerning his true character, concerning
heavenly beings, that the whole world should have gone astray
concerning the Gospel of Christ and the gifts of that Gospel and
the nature of heaven and the future state of existence? Is it to
be wondered at that the whole world should have gone astray
concerning all these things, when they were so much astray
concerning God Himself, concerning angels, and concerning other
heavenly things? Is it any wonder that we have difficulty in
preaching the Gospel, and in reaching the hearts of the people,
when we consider that they are the inheritors of those false
traditions that have come down intensified and strengthened by
the ages of transmission, coming through one age to another,
until they have reached the present time? It is not to be
wondered at that the Latter-day Saints themselves have so little
faith concerning these things, when we recollect the pit from
whence they have been dug, and the rock whence they have been
hewn. Well might the Savior ask, if He should find faith on
earth, when He should come again? In looking down through the
ages that would succeed His own, He saw the terrible condition of
ignorance that would prevail upon the earth. Why, this so-called
Christian world is as far from God, as any heathens that ever
lived upon the face of the earth. Yea, they are worse than the
heathen, because they think that they are in the full light of
the Gospel, and that heavenly rays are shining upon them, when in
reality they are sitting in the deepest darkness and are
surrounded by clouds of ignorance that are impenetrable to them.
How can men know anything about God, when He never speaks to
them? How can men find out whether there is any revelation from
heaven, when no revelation comes from that source? How can men
find out about the future, if no one comes to tell them what the
future is? It would be impossible for them to do it. It requires
knowledge from God, concerning Himself; it requires knowledge
concerning angels, it requires knowledge concerning eternity, to
give men proper conceptions about these things. Hence it was that
Joseph Smith, having had these visions opened to his mind, moved
like a being from another sphere, among the children of men. God
had opened his mind and revealed to him heavenly things. He saw
them in their true light; he knew about them; and when he talked
to men he was in their midst like a being from another world.
That which he told them appeared, in some instances, to be false,
to be nonsense. They could not comprehend it, because they had
none of the Spirit of God about them, none of the knowledge of
God, and they refused to accept him as an exponent of divine
truth. So it is with the Elders who go out at the present day, to
talk to the inhabitants of the earth. They are looked upon in the
same light; though there is this to be said: that which has been
taught by the Elders has had effect in the earth, and much
misconception has gradually disappeared. There are men even now,
for instance, who are ready to believe a doctrine which, when it
was first preached, they rejected--the doctrine that there is a
space between death and the resurrection in which a man can
repent of his sins. Now, when that doctrine was first taught,
some 42 years ago, it was looked upon by many as an absurd
doctrine. They said it was contrary to the divine will. If man,
they contended, did not receive the Gospel or the truth here in
this life, he lost his opportunity, and would be damned
throughout all the endless ages of eternity. That was the popular
idea, and many believed it. Many believed that this would be the
case with pagans, and with these Indians that we know something
about, and with other heathen peoples, who had never heard the
name of the Son of God--the only name under heaven by which man
can be saved; many believed those people were to be consigned to
hell by millions, never to be delivered therefrom, and yet they
called God just, the God they worshiped.
374
Joseph Smith taught a different doctrine even before the Church
was organized. He taught the doctrine, in a revelation given to
Martin Harris,--it had to be given with great care, because it
was entirely different to what was generally believed--that
"eternal punishment is God's punishment;" but it does not follow
that those who come under God's punishment are to be punished
throughout the endless ages of eternity. He taught that grand
truth in the year 1829. Then it was followed up by the Vision,
which explained in the most wonderful manner the goodness of our
God, and showed Him to be the being that He is described to be by
all the holy Prophets--a being just and merciful, a being who
labored to save His children, and had their salvation at heart
continually.
374
But Joseph taught in later years, this doctrine: that there was a
space between death and the resurrection, and during that space
the children of men who had not had an opportunity of hearing the
Gospel in this life, could hear it proclaimed by men who had
authority in the spirit world; and he explained that the Savior
himself, during the time that His body was in the tomb, "went and
preached to the spirits in prison, which sometime were
disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the
days of Noah."
376
It was a doctrine that was new to the sectarian world; new to
every one; no one had ever thought of such a doctrine. But now I
see by allusions in the newspapers occasionally, that popular
ministers are taking hold of this idea and ventilating it and
speaking about it. How wonderful! is is not? It shows that when
knowledge is upon the earth, there are some at least who profit
by it, though they may not accept it as coming from God. In this
way the preaching of this Gospel has had its effect upon the
inhabitants of the earth. I have seen of late, and doubtless you
have, many arguments in favor of God being a personal being, of
there being a personal God--that is, a God with a form like a
man, or that man, rather, had a form like God. The world has
profited by the ideas which the Prophet Joseph received from
heaven. Until these truths were revealed all was vagueness,
doubt, uncertainty. Satan reigned over the earth. He swayed, it
might be said, almost an undisturbed sceptre. There was no one,
scarcely, upon the face of the earth to dispute his reign. A few
that did so, even thought they did not have the Priesthood, were
speedilly crushed. For instance, the Huguenots, and others, who,
in mountains and recesses and distant places, sought for a purer
worship, was determined to reign with undisputed savvy. During
this reign he had slain the Son of God, and every man who
testified of Him. He was determined to control this earth, and
that has been his determination all the time. When the Prophet
Joseph received those revelations from God, he leveled at him all
his artillery; he made him the target for all his attacks; he
hounded him from morning to night; he concocted every plot that
could be conceived of, to destroy him from the face of the earth.
Joseph's great anxiety all the time was to bestow the keys and
authority of the Holy Priesthood, so that at his death they would
not be taken from the earth. His aim from the beginning was to
this end. He urged the Saints forward to build the Temple in
Kirtland, so that he might bestow upon some that knowledge and
authority which God had given to him. And then afterwards in
Nauvoo, the burden of his thoughts and talk was to urge the
Saints to push forward the Temple there, so that he could bestow
upon them the keys and authority which God had restored from
heaven. He feared lest he should die until these were bestowed
upon men. But God preserved his life until every key, every
authority, every power and every gift that he had received from
the eternal worlds, through the ministration of angels, from the
days of Adam down to the days of Moroni, was again restored to
the earth and sealed upon the heads of men, and then it proved
more difficult for Satan to accomplish his purpose. He slew
Joseph; but is was too late to prevent him communicating that
authority which he had received; and the Church organization was
preserved on the earth. Joseph lived long enough, as did our
Elder Brother Jesus, to accomplish the work God sent him to do.
He laid the foundation of the Church. He laid it so deep that it
will never be overthrown. He bestowed upon man the everlasting
Priesthood, with all its authority, from the Apostleship down to
the authority of a Deacon, with every key, every endowment and
every ordinance necessary to accomplish the work of God upon the
earth. Then Satan raged, and he has raged ever since. You wonder
many times, doubtless, at the hatred exhibited to this Church and
people. If you could see the eternal worlds; if the vision of
your mind could be opened to the scene; if you could have the
veil withdrawn, you would not wonder at it when you understood
the real character of the stake that is being fought for. It is
the supremacy of this earth that is being contended for. Satan is
determined that God shall not have this earth, and that He shall
not reign here; he is determined in this, and if he could he
would shed the blood of every man and woman on the face of the
earth, rather than it should go into the hands of God. All those
who are connected with him would, if they could, slay every man
that stands in their pathway. The more faithful a man is in the
cause of God, the more the hatred of the wicked is manifested
against him, illustrating the truth of that statement made by the
Apostle Paul, that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus,
shall suffer persecution"--not may suffer it, but they shall
suffer it. Hence a people who seek to establish the cause of
righteousness, to build temples, to restore the authority of God,
will be hated to the death, and thus the prophecy will be
fulfilled concerning them. We were told in the beginning of this
work that we should be hated by a township, then by a County,
then by a State; but after a while it would not be the opposition
of a State, of a County, or of a township against this work, but
that is should be the united power of the nation itself, against
this work. We live and behold a fulfillment of that prediction;
we are living witnesses of it; and this nation is fulfilling just
as fast as it can do, the predictions of the Prophet Joseph
Smith. They are making him a Prophet by their conduct, and
fulfilling everything that he has spoken concerning this work.
And it will not be confined to this nation. After a while it will
gain such a foothold in the earth, and excited such fear, that
the nations of the earth will band themselves against it. You
need not expect any other result. This warfare will not cease.
"But," says one, "when this present excitement passes over, will
we not have a time of peace?" God forbid that there should be
peace on such terms as our enemies would have us make; for peace
means surrendering the Kingdom of God; surrendering and giving up
by the servants of God, that which they have undertaken to do,
namely, to restore the reign of righteousness and truth upon the
earth, the reign of God and of heaven. Such peace as our enemies
have in view, means the surrender of this upon our part. When we
are ready to surrender these things, then there will be peace,
but it will be the peace of death, it will be the peace of hell,
it will be the triumph of Satan, and the destruction of
everything that is pure and holy, and godlike, upon the face of
the earth. Men say, "Let us compromise." This means the giving up
of this principle and that principle for the sake of the world's
favor. And when we commence giving up, where shall we stop? I
want peace on no such terms as these. We have engaged in this
warfare to build up the Kingdom of God upon the earth, let the
consequences be what they may. They can only kill this body of
ours; but let us fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell. God has said that He will bear this Kingdom off
triumphantly, and that it shall not be given into the hands of
another people, and as sure as He has spoken, His word will be
fulfilled. It may seem sometimes as thought there was no ray of
light, as though all was darkness, and as though our destruction
was inevitable; but there is a God in heaven who, under these
circumstances knows our condition, and remembers the promises
that He has made concerning Zion. His arm will be stretched out
to save, and He will deliver us from the greatest perils that may
environ us. This is true--true as God lives, and we shall realize
it in the future just as we have in the past.
[to be continued in volume 25]