Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16
Journal of Discourses,
Volume 16
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, April 7, 1873
Orson Pratt, April 7, 1873
REMARKS BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered at the General Conference, in the New
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning,
April 7, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD--PERMANENT EQUALITY
SHOULD BE MAINTAINED AMONG THE SAINTS--COVETOUSNESS--
TITHING--CONSECRATION--DISTINCTIONS.
1
It is a pleasure to me to bear testimony to the great work which
God has revealed, and which he is establishing on the earth. It
has been a pleasure for me to do so for nearly forty-three years.
In the early rise of this Church, when I was but a youth of
nineteen, God revealed to me the truth concerning this great
latter-day work, and I have felt from that day until the present
time to bear my testimony to the same, being commanded so to do.
I have esteemed it above all other things. The things of this
world have been nothing to me, when compared with the ministry,
or declaring the truth to mankind. We have one of the most
important messages to deliver to the children of men that has
ever been communicated to mortals--a dispensation of the same
Gospel as was committed to men in the early ages of the world,
and in the different dispensations down to the coming of Christ.
In addition to this, which renders our message of still more
importance to the human family, is the fact that we are living in
the last dispensation that will be given to mankind, called the
dispensation of the fullness of times. All preceding
dispensations have come to an end, apparently, and those who have
embraced the doctrines or principles communicated to them have
passed away, and darkness has intervened. But in this last
dispensation which God has given to man, there will be no
uprooting and destruction of his kingdom from the earth--it is
established never more to be thrown down, in fulfillment of
ancient prophecy. This is what makes this dispensation of greater
importance than all which have preceded it.
2
Here in these mountains is established a kingdom, not earthly or
transient in its nature, with officers who are called by
uninspired men but a kingdom that is divine, and which
acknowledges the Great Redeemer and Savior as its King and
Lawgiver. It must endure forever.
2
I look back with great pleasure upon the history of this people
from the commencement down to the present time. I see what God
has wrought in their behalf; I see what he has accomplished among
the nations. It is true that we have not continued as faithful in
all things as we should. We have not made that progression in
this kingdom that we ought. We have been perhaps slow to hearken
in all things to the counsels which God has given, and the order
which he has revealed, and which was intended to be of the
greatest advantage to, and to produce the greatest amount of
happiness among the Saints of the Most High. I say that, in some
respects, we have been slow to obey the order of Heaven. In many
things we have done well. When the doctrines of faith, repentance
and baptism for the remission of sins, the baptism of fire and
the Holy Ghost through the laying on of the hands of the servants
of God, were taught to us, we laid hold of them with full purpose
of heart. We covenanted before high heaven that we would keep the
commandments of the Lord according to the best of the ability
which we had. We did well in embracing these heavenly principles.
3
When God spake to us some forty-two or forty-three years ago, and
commanded us--then scattered about in the State of New York--to
gather up to Ohio, we did well in hearkening to that commandment,
and coming together in Kirtland--then in Geauga County. Again,
when God gave a commandment through his servant, the Prophet
Joseph, to gather up from all parts of the United States and form
a nucleus in Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, we did
well in obeying that commandment. When God, by the mouth of his
servant, commanded that we should go forth and officiate and be
baptized for and in behalf of our dead kindred, we did well in
performing that which we were commanded to do. When he commanded
his Saints, scattered abroad in foreign countries, to gather to
this continent, all who gathered in obedience to that
requirement, with full purpose of heart to do his will, did well.
When we were driven from our inheritances in Jackson County,
Missouri, and our lands and houses and goods were spoiled, we did
well in being faithful to God. When our enemies, a few years
after, rose en masse and drove us from our beautiful city of
Nauvoo into these inhospitable western wilds, where to all human
appearance we must perish of starvation, we did well to brave the
dangers of the desert, and the difficulties we had to encounter
in coming to these mountains. In many other things, too, we have
done well. There are some few things, however, which I wish to
name, wherein I think a great reformation is needed among the
people of God. I read in this book, called the Book of Mormon, of
a certain order, in regard to temporal things, which existed soon
after the days of Christ, which was revealed and established by
him for the benefit of the Saints who lived on this Western
Hemisphere. It was the highest order and law of the kingdom of
God in regard to temporal things. I read that the ancient Saints
upon this continent entered into that order with all their
hearts. They were not a small handful of people like the
Latter-day Saints, but they were spread over the whole of North
and South America. Millions on millions of people dwelt in large
and populous cities in the four quarters of this great Western
Hemisphere, and they all entered into this heavenly order which
God had established on this continent and continued therein for
167 years.
3
What was that order? They had all things in common. Not an
isolated few where Jesus ministered to them; not a few
individuals who dwelt in a certain region of country, but the
Savior having chosen twelve disciples from among the multitude to
whom he appeared, they were sent forth upon all the face of the
land, and so great were the evidences given, concerning the
appearance of Jesus, that the whole people were converted unto
the Lord, and they were willing to be guided by those servants
who were called and ordained to administer in their midst.
3
Prior to that time there were rich and poor among the people,
and, from the history given, no doubt an order of things existed
on this continent in those days resembling that which now exists
among all the nations and kingdoms of the earth--some lifted up
in pride and popularity because of their great wealth, others
bowed down in the dust because of their poverty, and class
distinctions prevailed until this new order of things was
established. What a blessed people! How happy they must have
been! No poor either in North or South America. No beggars in the
streets of their great cities, but all the property--the gold and
silver, the flocks and herds, and everything that was calculated
to make life happy in the possession of and enjoyed, as stewards,
by the whole people. No inequality, so far as this was concerned,
for the pattern was after the order of heavenly things.
4
Now let us ask a question--has God ever revealed to the
Latter-day Saints the necessity of entering into this heavenly
order in regard to their wealth? He has. When? When we gathered
up to Jackson County in the State of Missouri. In the year 1831,
the land was consecrated and set apart by revelation for the
erection thereon of a great and heavenly city unto the Most High
God. Not the old Jerusalem, but a new Jerusalem, a city of Zion.
God, by the mouth of his servant Joseph, who for a short space of
time dwelt in the midst of the people there, revealed the law of
consecration, not the law of tithing, but the law of
consecration. Let me repeat that law, Latter-day Saints, for as
it is a law which will come in force at some future period of our
history, it will not be amiss for us to understand its nature and
to prepare to approximate to its requirements, so that when it is
introduced amongst us we may take hold of it with all our hearts.
When we went up to that country in 1831, the commandment of the
Most High to the Saints was that they should consecrate all that
they had. Not one-tenth merely, not the surplus of their
property, but all that they had, whether it was gold, silver,
household furniture, wearing apparel, jewelry, horses, cattle,
wagons, mechanical tools, machinery, or whatever wealth or
property they possessed, they were to consecrate the whole and
deliver it unto the Lord's judge in the midst of Zion. Who was
he? The Bishop. In those days we had not the necessity of so many
Bishops as now. We were a small people then, and the Bishop in
Zion, under the direction of the highest authorities of the
Church, he being guided and inspired by the Holy Ghost, was to
take charge of all the consecrations of the people of the Most
High. This made them all equal, every person stood upon the same
platform, possessing nothing to begin with. All was consecrated
and became the common property of the Church.
4
Now how was this common property to be used? First, the Saints
needed land, they needed means to build habitations; they needed
farming utensils; they needed flocks and herds; they needed
manufacturing establishments; they needed mercantile and all
kinds of mechanical business to be introduced into their midst,
just as fast as they procured means sufficient. By whom were the
stewardship of the Saints laid off? The Lord's judge or bishop in
Zion purchased land from the United States, and then laid off to
each man his stewardship according to the number of his family.
Those who were mechanics received the tools necessary to work
with; those who were called upon to engage in some business
wherein a greater amount of capital was needed had a capital
accordingly. That is, that was the intention as the common
property of the Church should increase.
4
Perhaps the question may be asked could this equality be
maintained from that time, henceforth and forever? If there had
been no law given instructing us how this equality could be
maintained the people, before twelve month had passed away, would
have been unequal again. Why? Because a man, perhaps, of small
talent of ability, might mismanage his stewardship or
inheritance, and instead of gaining anything he would lose.
Another man, having a little more talent and industry, and
perhaps a little more wisdom, would gain a little. Another man's
business tact and knowledge were perhaps such that he could carry
on a large manufacturing establishment, and in a short time he
would gain his thousands, and thus in the course of a year we
would again have had rich and poor if God had not provided
against it.
4
What provisions did the Lord make in order to maintain this
equality among his Saints permanently? He made this arrangement
by law--that every man should be considered a steward first, and
prove himself a wise steward before he could be entitled to an
everlasting inheritance. These stewards were to render an account
to the judge in Zion of their stewardship, or in other words, as
it is written in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants--"It is
required of every steward to render an account of his
stewardship, both in time and eternity" (Doc. and Cov., Sec. x c:
Par. 1.)
5
To whom does he render this report or account? To the Lord's
bishop or bishops, as the case may be; he reports what he has
done with the means entrusted to his care. If a man has been
entrusted with fifty or with a thousand dollars, or with a
million, to carry on some branch of business he must, at the end
of the year, render an account of that stewardship. If a man is
only entrusted with a small farm, he renders an account of his
stewardship at the end of the year, and thus all those who are
occupied in these different branches of trade, render accounts of
their stewardship, consecrating, at the end of the year, all that
they have gained, excepting what it had cost to feed and clothe
them. Are they not equal? Yes, and this maintains a permanent
equality; for the man who has gained a hundred thousand in his
stewardship consecrates all that he has not used; and the man
with a smaller stewardship who in the whole year, has only gained
fifty dollars over and above what he has used, consecrates that
fifty. The man who has gained most consecrates most, the man who
has gained least consecrates the least. This reduces them yearly
to the same position and condition as they were in when they
commenced this heavenly order.
5
Did the people carry out this law? No. Why? Because they had
imbibed the notions which had prevailed among the people of the
whole earth, and these notions were in direct opposition to the
order of heaven. The notions and traditions of the world were
that every man must be for himself, every family for themselves,
and they must labor with their might, mind and strength to gain
all they possibly could gain, and use it only for themselves and
their generations after them, caring nothing at all about their
neighbors. These traditions had been instilled into our minds,
and we were too full of covetousness and of false notions about
property to carry out the law of God, and hence many, when they
came up to Zion, looked abroad upon that beautiful, rich soil,
and the excellent groves of timber, and the fine prairies and
meadows, with springs breaking forth in numerous places, as they
do in Jackson County, and their souls lusted after these things,
and the rich man said, "No, I will not consecrate all my
property, I will go the General Land Office and purchase for
myself, and I will but largely in order that I may sell to my
poor brethren when they come up here. I will buy land and
speculate upon it, and make my fortune." That was the feeling
which existed in the hearts of some of the Latter-day Saints. God
saw this, and reproved us by revelation, and he said to the
people of Jackson County, by the mouth of his servant Joseph,
that if they did not repent of this covetousness he would pluck
them up and send them out of Zion, for said he, "The rebellious
are not of the blood of Ephraim, wherefore they shall be plucked
up, and sent away out of the land." God fulfilled this
revelation--he did pluck up the people; he did cast them away out
of that land in the year 1833. Some two years and a few months
after we first began to settle that country we were cast out of
the land--plucked up, just as the Lord had predicted, and we were
told that it was because of our sins and covetousness that we
were sent away.
5
Did the Lord forsake us? No; he had compassion upon us, as he had
upon ancient Israel, when they were cast away out of their land
from time to time. In what respect did he have compassion upon
us? When he saw the hold that the traditions in which we had been
trained had upon our hearts, he revoked, for the time being, the
law of full consecration. Says one, "What! God revoke a
commandment?" Yes, that is the way he did in ancient times, and
he is the same God yet. He did it for our good; for if that law
had been in full force this people would not have been in these
mountains this day. Our selfishness and covetousness are so great
that, as a people, we never would have complied with it. A few
amongst us might have done so, but as a people we should have
been overcome and ruined; but owing to that law being revoked,
many of us will now, perhaps, be saved.
6
In the year 1834, a few months after, we were driven out from
that goodly land, God said unto us in a revelation, given on
Fishing River, "Let those laws and commandments which I have
given concerning Zion and her properties, be executed and
fulfilled after the redemption." Thus you see, Latter-day Saints,
that we are not under the law of full consecration, and if not
under the law we are not under the penalty thereof. Where there
is a law there is a penalty, and when we transgress the law we
incur the penalty; but having been relieved, for a period, from
the execution of that law, we were placed under another law,
which, in some respects, may be considered an inferior law. When
was that law given? In 1838, some five years after we were driven
forth from our stewardship. What is that law? It is called the
law of tithing. Part of that law enjoins it upon the Saints as a
duty to pay into the Lord's storehouse one-tenth of all their
annual income. But let me refer you to the fullness of the law of
tithing, for, although an inferior law, I fear that, as a people
we have not kept it. The first part of that law requires every
man, when he comes into the midst of the people of God, to
consecrate all his surplus property, reserving to himself a
certain portion. This is not a full consecration like the higher
law. Latter-day Saints, have we kept this inferior law? Has the
man who possessed great riches, when he came to these mountains,
and numbered himself with the people of God, consecrated all his
surplus property, and afterwards paid a tenth of all his annual
income? I will tell you what we have done--as a general thing we,
rich and poor, have kept all the property we had when we came
here, and some have consecrated one-tenth part of their income,
and so far as this is concerned the people have no doubt done
very well, with some few exceptions; and I am happy to be able to
state, from information I have obtained from some of the Bishops
of the Church, that the Latter-day Saints, now, are showing more
determination to pay their tithing, than they ever have done
heretofore.
6
But let us come back to the other portion of this inferior law.
Have we felt a disposition to consecrate our surplus property? Go
east, west, north and south, into all our settlements, and you
will find that the men are few and far between who consecrated
their surplus property, when they came here. In the first place,
there have been but few wealthy persons who have come amongst us,
and the people have been their own judges. Every man thought that
he had no surplus, when he came here. If he had a hundred
thousand dollars on his arrival he has said or thought, "O, I
have made such and such calculations. I wish to become a merchant
in the midst of the people, and I need thousands and thousands of
dollars to set me up. I wish to make thirty, forty, fifty or a
hundred per cent out of these poor people, and to enable me to do
so I do not think that any of this hundred thousand dollars can
be called surplus property. I need it all, I can not carry on my
merchandising unless I have it all to set me up.
7
Another man who wishes to start some other branch of business
makes his calculations so as to cover up all his property, for he
thinks he will need it all to enable him to carry out the
particular branch of business which he wishes to introduce into
these mountains, for he thinks he will need it all to enable him
to carry out the particular branch of business which he wishes to
introduce into these mountains, for he wants to get exceedingly
rich before the law of full consecration comes. When they are
thus left to be their own judges, where is the man who is honest
enough in his feelings to say, "I think I can spare fifty,
twenty, ten, five or one thousand dollars as surplus property?"
This in my opinion is wrong. They should not be their own judges:
Who should be the judges in this matter? The Bishops whom the
Lord has appointed in Zion, under the counsel of the First
Presidency of his Church and the counsels of the Holy Ghost which
rest upon them to guide their minds. The people should be honest
enough when they come up here with means, to say to the
Bishops--"Here, I have so much means, judge ye, how much of this
shall be surplus, and how much I shall retain."
7
The reason I make these remarks is that I want this people to
fully understand that there is a law given, a law inferior to
that of full consecration, and for every man to enquire whether
he has carried out this law according to the letter thereof.
Perhaps the time has not come even for this law to be fulfilled
in all its exactness. At any rate we are drifting along in about
the same channel that the world does, so far as our property is
concerned, with the exception of paying one-tenth of our annual
income into the Lord's store-house, and the consequence is, there
have become rich and poor in Zion, some possessing their hundreds
of thousands, and others digging, in the dust, as it were, from
year's end to year's end.
7
How shall this be remedied? Is the time come for us to execute
the higher law of consecration? In undertaking to do so in the
settlements of this Territory, what a revolution it would
produce? How many would apostatize and go away from the Church?
How many of those who are comparatively wheat would be plucked up
with the tares if we are to undertake to enforce the higher law
of consecration, or the law of tithing in all its fullness. And
it would produce the same revolutionary results in most of the
old settlements, because we are not prepared for it. I do not
see, for my part, how we can begin to approximate to that law of
oneness in regard to our property unless we commence in some new
place, where the Church and the settlers might be gather together
and set a pattern for all the rest. I do not know but we might
accomplish it in that way. I hope that we shall see something
that will do away with these distinctions of classes. I hate to
see them in the midst of the people of God.
7
There are many men of wealth, good, honest, upright men who would
be willing to do anything that the Lord required at their hands;
while there are others who hug their property close to their
hearts, as though it were dearer to them than anything either in
this world or in the world to come. There are certainly existing
now among us distinctions of classes which if not checked, may
prove the overthrow of many. For instance the rich can educate
their sons and daughters in the best schools, academies and
universities; others can not do this, because of their poverty.
This makes the children of the rich feel themselves above the
children of the poor. Have we not seen tin our gatherings for
amusement these distinctions manifested? I have. I have seen
those who were poorly dressed come into our parties and take a
back seat, and there they would sit, as the old saying is, like
"wallflowers," during the whole party. Who would be out on the
floor enjoying themselves? The rich. But in many instances there
are parties of pleasure and amusement got up among the Saints, to
which the poor are never invited; they are got up only for those
who can dress in fine style, who can sweep the floor of the ball
room with two or three yards of their dresses dragging after
them.
8
With the feelings engendered by these distinctions of
classes, there is not that fellowship that should exist among the
Saints of the Living God. If we wish, brethren and sisters, to go
back and build up the waste places of Zion, and to see the New
Jerusalem erected upon the consecrated spot, let us endeavor to
approximate more nearly to the celestial law, that when we do get
back there, and that law more fully comes in force, we may be
able to enter into it; for thus saith the Lord, in this Book of
Covenants, "Zion can not be built up only according to the law of
the celestial kingdom, otherwise I can not receive her unto
myself." We have got to come to that, and it is well for us in my
opinion, that we begin to approximate as fast as possible, that
when the time shall come, we shall be prepared for full
consecration.
8
How long our President has labored in the midst of the people
here to get them to introduce home manufactures. How long and
loud he has lifted his voice, in connection with his counselors,
and the Twelve Apostles, to bring about this thing; but the
people, instead of hearkening to their counsel, have imported
from abroad almost everything they needed. The President is
willing, but some of the people are not. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, April 7, 1873
Brigham Young, April 7, 1873
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG
Delivered at the General Conference, in the New
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning,
April 7, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans.
THE ORDER OF ENOCH--STUDY OF LAW--HOW TO BECOME RICH.
9
There are a few minutes to spare, and I wish to lay some matters
before you. I will say, first, that the Lord Almighty has not the
least objection in the world to our entering into the Order of
Enoch. I will stand between the people and all harm in this. He
has not the least objection to any man, every man, all mankind on
the face of the earth turning from evil and loving and serving
him with all their hearts. With regard to all those orders that
the Lord has revealed, it depends upon the will and doings of the
people, and we are at liberty, from this Conference, to go and
build up a settlement, or we can join ourselves together in this
city, do it legally--according to the laws of the land--and enter
into covenant with each other by a firm agreement that we will
live as a family, that we will put our property into the hands of
a committee of trustees, who shall dictate the affairs of this
society. If any man can bring up anything to prove to the
contrary I am willing to hear it. But no man can do it.
9
Brother Pratt has told you, in his explanations this morning,
what the Lord has revealed and how he has been merciful to the
people; and when we have not been willing to be Latter-day Saints
altogether, but only in part, he has said, "Well, you are the
best there is, and I will accept of you. I can not get anybody
else who is willing to be part Saints, and I will lead you, my
people, as long as you will let me, and I will forgive you your
sins this time, and I will accept part of your property if you
will not give it all,: etc., all showing the kindness and
forbearance of our Father in heaven; but he has not the least
objection in the world to our being perfect Saints.
9
I have a few things to lay before the Conference, one of which
is--and I think my brethren will agree with me that this is wise
and practicable--for from one to five thousand of our young and
middle-aged men to turn their attention to the study of law. I
would not speak lightly in the least of law, we are sustained by
it; but what is called the practice of law is not always the
administration of justice, and would not be so considered in many
courts. How many lawyers are there who spend their time from
morning till night in thinking and planning how they can get up a
lawsuit against this or that man, and get his property into their
possession? Men of this class are land sharks, and they are no
better than highway robbers, for their practice is to deceive and
take advantage of all they can. I do not say that this is the
law, but this is the practice of some of its professors. The
effort of such lawyers, if they are paid well, is to clear and
turn loose on society the thief, perjurer and murderer. They say
to the dishonest and those who are disposed to do evil, "Go and
lay claim to your neighbor's property, or to that which is not
your own, or commit some other act of injustice, and pay us, and
we will clear you and make your claim appear just in the eye of
the law;" and officers and judges too often join in the
unrighteous crusades for the lawyers to wrong the just. I have
been in courts and have heard lawyers quote laws that had been
repealed for years and the judge was so ignorant that he did not
know it, and the lawyer would make him give a decision according
to laws which no longer existed. Now, I request our brethren to
go and study law, so that when they meet any of this kind of
lawyers they will be able to thwart their vile plans. I do not by
any means say these things of all lawyers for we have good and
just men who are lawyers, and we would like to have a great many
more. You go to one of the pettifogging class of lawyers, and get
him to write a deed for you, and he will do it so that it can be
picked to pieces by other lawyers. Employ such a man to write a
deed, bond, mortgage or any instrument of writing, and his study
will be to do it so that it will confound itself. This is the way
that such men make business for their class. We want from one to
five thousand of our brethren to go and study law.
9
If I could get my own feelings answered I would have law in our
school books, and have our youth study law at school. Then lead
their minds to study the decisions and counsels of the just and
the wise, and not forever be studying how to get the advantage of
their neighbor. This is wisdom.
10
My mind is so led upon the subject brother Pratt has been
speaking upon with regard to the orders that God has revealed
that I can hardly let it alone when I am talking to the people.
He said there are many rich men who are willing to do anything
that the Lord requires of them. I believe this, and there is
quite a number of poor men, likewise, who would like to do
anything if they could only know that it was the will of the
Lord. I am about to make an application of my remarks with regard
to the willingness of men. But in this I shall except brother
Pratt, for the simple reason that I do not know a man who is more
willing to do what he is told than he is. If he is told to teach
mathematics, he is willing to do it; if he is told to make books,
preach the Gospel, work in a garden or tend cattle, he is willing
to do it, and I know of no man more willing to do anything and
everything required of him than he is. But I want to say to our
willing, kind, good brethren that, so far as obeying the orders
which God has revealed, I can bring the rich into line quicker
than I can get many poor men who are not worth a dollar, and who
do not know how to raise a breakfast to-morrow morning. I have
tried both, and know. Who is there among us who came here rich?
It was alluded to by brother Pratt. Look over our rich men, where
are they? Who is there among the Latter-day Saints that is
wealthy? When I came to this valley I was a thousand dollars in
debt. I left everything. I think I got about three hundred
dollars, a span of horses, and a little carriage, for all my
property I left in Nauvoo. But I bought cattle, horses and
wagons, and traded and borrowed and got the poor here by scores
myself; and I have paid for these teams since I have been here.
10
When I got here I was in debt only about a thousand dollars for
myself and family to a merchant in Winter Quarters, but I was in
debt for others, and I have paid the last dime that I know
anything about. When I reached here I could not pay one-tenth--I
could not pay my surplus--I could not give my all--for I had
nothing.
10
Here is Horace S. Eldredge, he is one of our wealthy men. What
did he have when he came here? Nothing that I know of, except
just enough to get here with his family. William Jennings has
been called a millionaire. What was he worth when he came here?
He had comparatively little. Now he is one of our wealthy men.
William H. Hooper is another of our wealthy men. He is worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars. How much had he to pay as
surplus when he came here. He could pay no surplus, for he was
worth nothing; but he is now wealthy. If he had gone to
California I believe he would have been poor to-day.
11
There is any amount of property, and gold and silver in the earth
and on the earth, and the Lord gives to this one and that
one--the wicked as well as the righteous--to see what they will
do with it, but it all belongs to him. He has handed over a
goodly portion to this people, and, through our faith, patience
and industry, we have made us good, comfortable homes here, and
there are many who are tolerably well off, and if they were in
many parts of the world they would be called wealthy. But it is
not ours, and all we have to do is to try and find out what the
Lord wants us to do with what we have in our possession, and then
go and do it. If we step beyond this, or to the right or to the
left, we step into an illegitimate train of business. Our
legitimate business is to do what the Lord wants us to do with
that which he bestows upon us, and dispose of it just as he
dictates, whether it is to give all, one-tenth, or the surplus. I
was present at the time the revelation came for the brethren to
give their surplus property into the hands of the Bishops for the
building up of Zion, but I never knew a man yet who had a dollar
of surplus property. No matter how much one might have he wanted
all he had for himself, for his children, his grand-children, and
so forth.
11
If we are disposed to enter into covenant one with another, and
have an agreement made according to the laws of our land, and we
are disposed to put our property into the hands of trustees, and
work as we are directed--eat, drink, sleep, ride, walk, talk,
study, school our children, our middle-aged and our aged, and
learn the arts and sciences, the laws of the Priesthood, the laws
of life, anatomy, physic and anything and everything useful upon
the earth, the Lord has not the least objection in the world, and
would be perfectly willing for us to do it, and I should like,
right well, for us to try it. I know how to start such a society,
right in this city, and how to make its members rich. I would go
to now, and buy out the poorest ward in this city, and then
commence with men and women who have not a dollar in the world.
Bring them here from England, or any part of the earth, set them
down in this ward and put them to work, and in five years we
would begin to enter other wards, and we would buy this house and
that house, and the next house, and we would add ward to ward
until we owned the whole city, every dollar's worth or property
there is in it. We could do this, and let the rich go to
California to get gold, and we would buy their property. Would
you like to know how to do this? I can tell you in a very few
words--never want a thing you can not get, live within your
means, manufacture that which you wear, and raise that which you
eat. Raise every calf and lamb; raise the chickens, and have your
eggs, make your butter and cheese, and always have a little to
spare. The first year we raise a crop, and we have more than we
want. We buy nothing, we sell a little. The next year we raise
more; we buy nothing, and we sell more. In this way we could pile
up the gold and silver and in twenty years a hundred families
working like this could buy out their neighbors. I see men who
earn four, five, ten or fifteen dollars a day and spend every
dime of it. Such men spend their means foolishly, they waste it
instead of taking care of it. They do not know what to do with
it, and they seem to fear that it will burn their pockets, and
they get rid of it. If you get a dollar, sovereign, half-eagle or
eagle, and are afraid it will burn your pockets, put it into a
safe. It will not burn anything there, and you will not be forced
to spend, spend, spend as you do now. See our boys here, why if
my boys, by the time they are twenty, have not a horse and
carriage to drive of their own, they think they are very badly
used, and say, "Well, I do not think father thinks much of me." A
great many things might be said on this subject that I do not
want to say.
12
Brethren, we want you to turn in and study the laws of the
Territory of Utah, of this city and other cities, and then the
statues of the United States, and the Constitution of the United
States. Then read the decisions of the Supreme Court. I do not
mean the self-styled "United States Supreme Court for the
Territory of Utah;" but the United States Supreme Court that sits
at Washington--the seat of government. Read up their decisions,
and the decisions of the English judges and the laws of England
of other countries, and learn what they know, and then if you
draw up a will, deed, mortgage or contract, do not study to
deceive the man who pays you for this, but make out a writing or
instrument as strong and firm as the hills, that no man can tear
to pieces, and do your business honestly and uprightly, in the
fear of God and with the love of truth in your heart. The lawyer
that will take this course will live and swim, while the poor,
miserable, dishonest schemers will sink and go down. We live by
law, and I only condemn those among the lawyers who are eternally
seeking to take advantage of their neighbors.
12
Now we will close, and adjourn until 2 o'clock this afternoon.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Hyde, April 7, 1873
pril 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT ORSON HYDE,
Delivered at the General Conference, in the New
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning,
April 7, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans.
TESTIMONY--SICKNESS IN SANPETE COUNTY--INCREASE OF CRIME
IN THE WORLD--THE INEVITABLE OVERTHROW OF THE WICKED.
12
It is very gratifying to my feelings this morning, my brethren
and sisters, to have the privilege of meeting with you in the
capacity of a General Conference. I have not spoken much in
public of late, in consequence of being, for the last six weeks,
considerably afflicted, and confined to my room, and a good
portion of the time to my bed. I do not feel like entering into
any special or particular subject; but I rejoice in the
opportunity of mingling and associating with my friends. We are
separated for some six months in the year, and when we come
together and meet with our co-laborers, it is joyful to look upon
their countenances. I rejoice in this opportunity of meeting with
my brethren of the Twelve and the First Presidency, and beholding
the mostly in the enjoyment of good health.
13
We have been endeavoring now, for more than forty years, to
establish the kingdom of God and bearing our testimony to the
nations of the earth. I, for one, do not know how much longer my
voice may be heard among the living, but I rejoice in the
opportunity of bearing testimony to the truth whenever strength
will permit and opportunity offer. I take occasion to say to my
brethren and sisters, this morning, that as the time is drawing
near the cause seems more and more precious to me. It is part of
myself, and myself, I trust, a part of it. I rejoice in saying
that I know this is the everlasting Gospel, the truth of Heaven.
Having experienced it for more than forty years, I know it is
true and faithful, and no man can impeach my testimony. Not
because there is so much sterling worth in me, as there is the
cause that I feebly advocate. It is true I lived in the days of
the martyred Prophet. I was associated with him, and bore my
testimony with him, and I feel no less like bearing my testimony
this morning.
13
I want to say a few words in relation to the place whence I came,
and where I mostly labor. We have had some affliction there, in
the shape of small pox. There have been many cases of that
disease, but it was of a mild type, and I am happy to say that it
has nearly left us, and we are again comparatively free. But we
have been afflicted with a disease that is much more to be
dreaded than the small pox, and which we have generally called
"spotted fever." The small pox is no more to be compared to that
disease than the bite of a flea or mosquito is to the bite of a
rattle-snake. There have been about sixteen deaths, mostly
children, from spotted fever, and there are some half dozen cases
yet remaining, but no new ones. They have lingered for ten or
twelve weeks, and they, apparently, can neither live nor die, and
are mere skeletons. I feel sorry to see children, who should grow
up and develop an intellect and a power equal if not superior to
any that now live, thus afflicted; and to see them cut down in
the morning of their existence grieves me very much. But the word
of the Lord unto us has declared that scourges in the shape of
sickness shall be sent forth, beginning first at his house, and
from thence they shall spread and make the nations quake.
14
We are living, my brethren and sisters, in an important period of
time, and when I read over the testimony of the martyred Prophet,
and the word of the Lord through him, it seems that in comparing
the signs of the times at present with his testimony, there would
be ample evidence to convince any rational being that God, our
Heavenly Father, sent him. I read of disasters by sea and by
land. I read of a receding from the principles of honesty, and
that great men go into wild speculations and dishonesty, and
involve the country in ruin unless there be a speedy arresting of
their course. The murders that are committed at the present time,
show to me that the word of the Lord is true where he declares
through the Prophet, "My Spirit shall not always strive with
man." As the Spirit of the Lord forsakes the people, bloodshed,
corruption, confusion and anarchy must follow, and all these are
increasing in our country. I can not take up a paper without
seeing the fulfillment of some of the sayings of our martyred
Prophet, and of our brethren who are sitting behind me, on this
stand. And what power is there that can arrest the course of
evil? There is nothing but genuine repentance and obeying the
everlasting Gospel. That is the only remedy that Heaven has
provided; the only fountain of life and salvation for the nations
exists among these poor, despised Mormons, and I know it.
Brethren and sisters, I rejoice in the Lord our God, that he has
moved graciously in favor of the Latter-day Saints; and inasmuch
as we will forsake all evil and cleave unto him we shall find
that his words unto us will be fulfilled, where he declares, "I
will fight your battles." I would rather live near to God and
serve him with all my heart and soul, might, mind and strength,
than fight my own battles. If the Lord will fight our battles
there can be no treason in that, he is too high for treason to
attach to him. He is beyond the reach of the power of this world,
and he can hurl his storms and blast the prospects of the most
sanguine, and accomplish wonders, and none can stay his hand or
say--"What doest thou?" The increase in a thousand forms, of
evils, accidents, and calamities through our land and the nations
of the earth should admonish us to live near to the Lord our God,
to remember our prayers, and the obligations we are under to the
Most High, and to seek with all our hearts to discharge them with
fidelity. Those who have held fast to the iron rod, and have
remembered their God, Savior and prayers, feel to thank God, and
to praise his holy name that they have endured. Let that feeling
ever fill your hearts, and may the peace of God rest upon Israel,
and confusion come upon them that seek to destroy the best and
choicest principles that heaven ever revealed to man.
14
I was thankful to hear the definition and distinction, given
yesterday by the President, of the words "enemies" and "friends"
of mankind. It was true and faithful. He is my friend who is the
friend of truth and humanity; he is my enemy who seeks to trample
under foot the truth of heaven and those who are striving
earnestly to serve the Lord. Brethren and sisters, be faithful to
him who has called you and from whom you have derived every
blessing you possess to-day. Remember our brethren and sisters
who are scattered and are anxious for deliverance. Strikes have
been inaugurated in various portions of the old world, and
thousands of people are out of employment in consequence thereof.
Similar operations are threatened in our own country, and they
are likely to seriously affect the welfare and interest of the
nation. In what shape troubles may come I do not know, but it
will be a wonder to me if bloodshed does not result. Well did the
angel say, forty-five years ago, "Come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues." This is the reason why the Saints are gathering
from the countries of their nativity. Yet when the people see the
Saints gathering they frequently say, "What folly, what folly!"
Go to the fowls of heaven and learn a lesson. When you see the
fowls, in the fall of the year, going to the south, crooping as
they go, you say that winter is nigh; so when you see the Saints
gathering together, remember that disaster awaits the countries
they are leaving. God has declared it, and his arm is
sufficiently potent to fulfill his words.
15
I rejoice in the truth, and I bear my testimony, to-day, before
you, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the true and living God.
I bear my testimony that brother Brigham Young, the President of
the Church here in Zion, is a man of God, and that he is carrying
on the work that Joseph Smith began. When we came here how was it
with us? We had nothing but a few worn-down teams and a few old
wagons, very much demoralized. They were so in the start, because
we could not get any other kind. But when we got through here,
having brought seed, provisions, and implements such as we could
command, our case was a pitiful one. But the Lord has had mercy
on us and he has blessed us, and now we are beyond the reach of
present want. I am thankful that all this has been brought about
under the administration of our present honored President, and
the world is trying to kill him and those who sustain and uphold
him. It is a great warfare, it is a great wrestling; but I am
aware how it will come out. It will be with the enemies and
opposers of God and truth as it was with the Irishman who, as he
was crossing over a bridge, saw the moon in the stream, and
believing it to be a cheese, he said to his companion--"Let us go
down and get that cheese." Well, one held on to the railing of
the bridge and the other slipped down and hung to his heels,
thinking that he would reach down and obtain the cheese. By and
by, says the one that was holding to the bridge to his friend
below--"Pat, hold fast below till I spit in my hands above," and
down they went. That is the way the contest between the world and
"Mormonism" will terminate--while they are saying, "Hold fast
below till I spit in my hands above," crash goes the whole
concern.
15
Brethren and sisters, God bless you, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, April 7, 1873
Brigham Young, April 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered at the General Conference, in the New
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Afternoon,
April 7, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans.
ASSISTANCE OF THE LADIES OF THE RELIEF SOCIETIES
REQUIRED IN PROMOTING THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND THE
PRINTING OF SCHOOL BOOKS--LIGHT AND EASY LABOR NOW
PERFORMED BY MEN MORE ADAPTED TO WOMEN--SHOULD BE
SELF-SUSTAINING--FRIVOLITIES AND FASHIONS OF BABYLON
SHOULD BE DISCARDED BY THE SISTERS--POVERTY OF THOSE WHO
FOLLOW AFTER MINING.
16
I will make a few remarks to the ladies of the Relief Societies.
First of all I can say of a truth that, in sustaining the poor
and ministering to the sick and afflicted, much credit is due to
them for the good they have done; but I wish to add a little to
their labors. If these societies will take into consideration the
further duties and obligations that we are under to each other,
and the importance of becoming self-sustaining, we wish to enlist
their interest to aid us in making paper, by taking steps to
collect the rags. We have an excellent paper mill here, and can
make our own paper, as well as to send abroad and pay out our
money for it, and then bring it here. We should cease importing
paper, for paper-making is a branch of manufacture for which we
have all the necessary facilities, and if we carry it on it will
benefit us. We want the ladies of the Relief Societies to enlist
the sympathies of the children, in their respective Wards
throughout the Territory, to save the paper rags; we want mothers
to do this, and also to show their children how to do it. When
you see them throwing them out of doors, say, "Stop, my child,
put that into the basket," or other place designated. "We will
wash these rags, and when we get enough of them we will sell them
and buy some books for you to read." If we can only enlist the
feelings of the sisters on behalf of this great interest, it will
lay the foundation for printing the books that we need in our own
community, and then we can save this expense also. This is the
first step. We want these cart loads of cloth saved that we now
see kicked around the streets and lying around the yards. Go to
the poorest family in this community, and I will venture to say
that they waste rags enough every year to buy the school books
that are needed for their children, and do even more. This is
slothfulness and neglect, and produces wickedness. To be prudent
and saving, and to use the elements in our possession for our
benefit and the benefit of our fellow beings is wise and
righteous; but to be slothful, wasteful, lazy and indolent, to
spend our time and means for naught, is unrighteous; and we might
think of this, and contemplate the facts in the case until our
feelings and interest are so far enlisted that we will save our
paper rags, and take them to the paper mill.
17
When this is done I want the sisters to so far use the abilities
which God has given them as to learn to set type, and have your
printing office and carry it on. It looks very unbecoming to me
to see a great, big six-footer stand and pick up little type and
put it in its place to make a word or a sentence, a book or a
paper; and when he has got his stickfull, taking the type out of
the stick and setting it on the galley. To see a great six-footer
doing this, and measuring off tape, which is about the same, has
always appeared to me, according to that which I understand, as
if men were out of their place. I have thought so all my days. I
have occasionally seen women in the harvest field, ploughing,
raking and making hay, and sometimes, though very seldom, I have
seen them pitch and load hay. I think this is very unbecoming,
this hard, laborious work belongs to men. But when you come to
picking up type, and making a book of it, that belongs to the
women. I know that many arguments are used against this, and we
are told that a woman cannot make a coat, vest or a pair of
pantaloons. I dispute this. It is said that a man is stronger and
that he pulls his thread stronger than a woman does. I will take
any of these ladies to a tailor's shop and they will snap every
thread a tailor sews with. Tell me they can not pull a thread
tight enough, and that they can not press hard enough to press a
coat, it is all folly and nonsense. The difficulty is the tailors
do not want them to do it, and they try to shame them out of it
or to make them believe they can not sew a seam, press a collar,
wristband, sleeve or body of a coat, and if women do it ever so
nice the tailors will say it is good for nothing, and so the
great, big six-footer sits there cross-legged sewing. This is not
the order of prudence and economy; neither is it according to the
nature of the calling and the ability that God has given us as
men and women, to see a man measuring tape, and such light work,
it is far more suitable for women. "Well, but," say some, "a
woman can not do press work." I recollect what was said to me in
my youth by a journeyman printer. We were working off Ball's
Arithmetic together and we boarded together. I did not eat meat
at that time, and he was very fond of it. We went into the office
one day from dinner and he said to the workmen, "Young never eats
any meats;" and said he, "I can just throw any man that don't eat
meat." I said to him, "Mr. Pratt, if you will step here into the
middle of the floor I will show you how to dirty coats." But he
dared not try it. They say ladies do not eat enough to make them
strong--why I have seen scores and scores of them that could pull
a hand press, and we do not use them now; they would have nothing
in the world to do only to take the paper and lay it down. "But
don't you let a woman know she can do this, don't say to a woman
that she is capable of setting type, or of setting a stick of
type on a galley, and making up a form and locking it up with a
little mallet that weighs eight or ten ounces. Do not tell a
woman she can do this--no, no, it would spoil our trade."
17
Suffice it to say we want to enlist the real understanding and
good sense of these women, and to tell them what their duty is.
We want to make our own school books. We are paying now from
thirty thousand to sixty thousand dollars a year for school books
that can be made here just as well as to send and buy them
abroad. This is carrying out the plan and principles of building
up Zion, whether you know it or not. We may preach until
Doomsday, and tell how Zion will look, how wide her streets will
be, what kind of dwellings her people will have, what king of
carriages and what fine horses they will have, and what a
beautiful looking set of people they will be, but it is all
nonsense to talk about that we will never reach if we so not stop
our folly and wickedness. We have the privilege of building up
and enjoying Zion, and I am telling you how to do it. We want the
women, from this time forth, to go to work and save the paper
rags, and we will make the paper for them. And they can learn to
make type. I can pick hundreds and hundreds of women out of this
congregation that could go into a shop and make type just as will
as men, it is a trifling thing. And they can learn to set type,
and they can learn how to write for our school books. We have
plenty of men and women that know how to write books, and how to
teach too. We have just as good school teachers here as any in
the world.
18
While on this subject I will say that I am ashamed of our
Bishops, who can not have anybody but a stranger for a school
teacher. Let a "Mormon" come along, who can read all around and
over and under him, and who, as far as learning is concerned, is
his superior in every way, but because he, the "Mormon," does not
come in the guise of a stranger, the Bishop will not hear him.
Bishops, I wish you would just resign your offices if you can not
learn any better than to get such characters into your school
houses. Not but what there is once in a while a good man comes
along as a school teacher who is not a "Mormon;" but, as a
general thing, what have these men done? They have planted the
seeds of infidelity in the hearts of the children, decoyed the
hearts of their female pupils and led them to ruin, and they have
turned round and cursed us. That is the character of some of the
men our Bishops get into their school houses. There are many of
our Bishops not fit to set type, measure tape or to teach a
scholar. That is saying a good deal for the Bishops, is it not?
but it is a fact. In many instances they have not wisdom enough
to guide themselves one day without getting into error. They do
not know truth from error, they do not know a Saint from a
sinner, or righteousness from unrighteousness.
18
Will you, Relief Societies, devote your time and talents and take
hold of this business? We want you to commence forthwith. Say we
take thirty thousand dollars, and that is only a portion of what
we will pay out for school books in 1873, and devote that to
making paper and for paying brethren and sisters for making
books, and then distribute them among our own people. If this
work is done by us there is so much saved. Will my sisters enlist
themselves and endeavor to make this movement successful?
18
We have no societies or persons to assist us in our efforts to
school ourselves and our children; we never have had, and the
feeling that is now exhibited, and which has always been shown
towards us since the organization of the kingdom of God upon the
earth, is that those who are our enemies would rather spend ten,
yea a hundred dollars to deprive us of the least privilege in the
world, than give us one cent towards schooling our children. When
we were leaving Nauvoo, in our poverty, we sent our Elders hither
and thither to the principal cities of the Unites States, to ask
the people if they should assist the Saints. Our brethren told
them that we were leaving the confines of the United States,
having been driven by the violence of the mobs from our homes,
and how much do you think we got in the cities of New York,
Boston, Philadelphia and a few smaller towns? Their hearts and
hands were closed against us. From the whole people of the United
States, after making an appeal to them in our deep distress and
poverty, we got but a few dollars, and we were then starting into
the wilderness, and how we were going to live God only knew.
Well, we have got to help ourselves, we have to school ourselves.
Has Government given us the privilege of one acre of land to
educate our children here? No. The school land is kept from us,
and we get no benefit therefrom.
19
I want to say a word or two here with regard to our schools.
There are many of our people who believe that the whole Territory
ought to be taxed for our schools. When we have means, that come
in the proper way, we can make a fund to help the poor to school
their children, and I would say amen to it. But where are our
poor? Where is the man or the woman in this community who has
children and wishes to send them to school, that cannot do it?
There is not one. When the poor complain and say, "My children
ought to be schooled and clothed and fed," I say, no sir, not so,
you ought to yield your time and talents to the kind providences
of our Father in the heavens according to the dictation of his
servants, and he will tell each and every one of you what to do
to earn your bread, meat, clothing, schooling, and how to be
self-sustaining in the fullest sense of the word. To give to the
idler is as wicked as anything else. Never give anything to the
idler. "The idler in Zion shall not eat the bread of the
laborer." Well, they do eat it; but it is a commandment and a
revelation as much as any other, that the idler shall not eat the
bread of the laborer in Zion. No, let every one spend every hour,
day, week and month in some useful and profitable employment, and
then all will have their meat and clothing, and means to pay
teachers, and pay them well. Not that they should receive more
pay than others. If men have learning, and they have the faculty
of imparting it to others, and can teach children to read and
write, and grammar and arithmetic, and all the ordinary branches
of a common school education, what better are they than the man
that plows, hoes, shoves and plane, handles the trowel and the
axe, and hews the stone? Are they any better? I do not know that
they are. What better is the man that can dress himself nicely
and labor in a school house six hours a day, than the man who
works ten or twelve hours a day hewing rock? Is he any better?
No, he is not. Are you going to pay him for his good looks? That
is what some of our Bishops want to do. If they can get a man, no
matter what his moral qualities may be, whose shirt front is well
starched and ironed, they will say--"Bless me, you are a
delightful little man! What a smooth shirt you have got, and you
have a ring on your finger--you are going to teach our school for
us." And along comes a stalwart man, axe in hand, going to chop
wood, and, if he asks, "Do you want a school teacher?" though he
may know five times more than the dandy, he is told, "No, no, we
have one engaged." I want to cuff you Bishops back and forth
until you get your brains turned right side up.
20
Here I am talking to thousands of men and women who know that if
we are ever helped we have to help ourselves, with what God does
for us. We have heard considerable from some parties in this city
about what they call free schools, which they say they have
established here. I say, now, come out, and be as liberal as you
say you are, and teach our children for nothing. If they knew the
"Mormons" were willing to accept of their charity and send their
children to these so-called free schools, their charity would not
weight much. Their charity is to decoy away the innocent. Send
your children to their schools and see how far their charity
would extend. We sent to them when we were in the wilderness
without bread, without shoes, without coats, and ploughing our
way through to get away from our murderers, and asked them for
help. No, they would not give us anything to save the lives of
women and children in the wilderness. When we were right in the
midst of Indians, who were said to be hostile, five hundred men
were called to go to Mexico to fight the Mexicans, and said Mr.
Benton--"If you do not send them we will cover you up, and there
will be no more of you." I do not want to think of these things,
their authors belong to the class I referred to yesterday--the
enemies of mankind, those who would destroy innocence, truth,
righteousness and the kingdom of God from the earth. We sent
these five hundred men to fight the Mexicans, and those of us who
remained behind labored and raised all that we needed to feed
ourselves in the wilderness. We had to pay our own school
teachers, raise our own bread and earn our own clothing, or go
without, there was no other choice. We did it then, and we are
able to do the same to-day. I want to enlist the sympathies of
the ladies among the Latter-day Saints, to see what we can do for
ourselves with regard to schooling our children. Do not say you
cannot school them, for you can. There is not a family in this
community but what we will take and school their children if they
are not able to do it themselves; and we do not do it through
begging in the East and telling what others have told there about
this people, and about their own efforts to establish free
schools here. I understand that the other night there was a
school meeting in one of the wards of this city, and a part
there--a poor miserable apostate--said, "We want a free school,
and we want to have the name of establishing the first free
school in Utah." To call a person a poor miserable apostate may
seem like a harsh word; but what shall we call a man who talks
about free schools and who would have all the people taxed to
support them, and yet would take his rifle and threaten to shoot
the man who had the collection of the ordinary light taxes levied
in this Territory--taxes which are lighter than any levied in any
other portion of the country? We have no other schools but free
schools here--our schools are all free. Our meetings are free,
our teachings are free. We labor for ourselves and the kingdom of
God. But how is it with others? Have they a meeting without a
plate, basket, box or hat passed around? And, "Have you got a
sixpence for us? Put in your sixpences, your half dollars, your
dollars, and your five dollars." No, it is beg, beg, beg from one
year's end to another. Ever see this in a "Mormon" meeting? I
don't think you have in this city, if you ever did anywhere else.
Are the "Mormons" eternally begging and sending around the hat
and the plate, and asking every stranger, "Have you a sixpence
for me?" No, we do not want your money, we have enough of our
own, and we earned it and got it honestly, we have not stolen it
nor lied for it either. Now that I am upon free schools I say,
put a community in possession of knowledge by means of which they
can obtain what they need by the labor of their bodies and their
brains, then instead of being paupers they will be free,
independent and happy, and these distinctions of classes will
cease, and there will be but one class, one grade, one great
family.
20
Now, sisters, what do you say? Will you give your attention to
this? We want to erect a house for you to do printing in. Some
one, perhaps, will use some little argument against women doing
anything of this kind. But the truth is women can set type, and
read and correct proof as well as any man in the world, if they
learn how. Men have to learn it before they can do it, and when
they tell you that that is not a woman's business, you tell them
they do not know what they were born for. They were not born to
wash dishes, to dress the babies, nor to have babies, they were
born to go into the field and do the work that the women cannot
do, and should not do for fear of exposing themselves. Keep the
ladies in their proper places, selling tape and calico, setting
type, working the telegraph, keeping books, &c.
21
See a great big six-footer working in the telegraph. One of them
will eat as much as three or four women, and they stuff
themselves until they are almost too lazy to touch the wire.
There they sit. What work is there about that that a woman cannot
do? She can write as well as a man, and spell as well as a man,
and better, and I leave it to every man and woman of learning if
the girls are not quicker and more apt at learning in school than
the boys. It is only occasionally that a boy is met with who will
keep up with the girls in learning reading, writing, spelling and
grammar; as a general thing the girls will go ahead of the boys
in these branches, and yet we are told they are not capable of
doing these light kinds of work, such as I have mentioned. Shame
on the boys, and shame on the great big, fat lazy men! Let these
women go to work; and let those who have children teach them to
handle the needle and sew, to make lace, to raise silk-worms and
the mulberry tree, to pick the leaves to feed the worms, and then
to wind and weave the silk, that they may make themselves good,
nice silk dresses. I saw a very pretty piece of silk made into a
garment in St. George, that a woman had made from the silk-worms.
She tended them, reeled their silk, wove it and made some
beautiful cloth. This is far better than teazing the husband or
father to get you fine dresses and then drag them after you in
the street. Learn some good, solid sense. Learn how to raise
silk, how to make the silk into dresses, and make it as neat and
beautiful as you possibly can. Then another thing--may I say
it?--girls, learn to comb your hair in the morning, and fix up
your head dress. "Well, but, pa will not buy me a chignon." Well,
then, fix your own hair, that is all you ought to have. Wash your
face nice and clean, and your neck, and comb your hair, neat and
nice; put on your dress comely, and make it look neat and nice. I
do not mean protruding out behind like a two-bushel basket. And
when you come down stairs look as if you were wide-awake, and not
as if your eyes needed a dish of water to wash them clear and
clean. Young ladies, learn to be neat and nice. Do not dress
after the fashions of Babylon, but after the fashions of the
Saints. Suppose that a female angel were to come into your house
and you had the privilege of seeing her, how would she be
dressed? Do you think she would have a great, big peck measure of
flax done up like hair on the back of the head? Nothing of the
kind. Would she have a dress dragging two or three yards behind?
Nothing of the kind. Would she have on a great, big--what is it
you call it? A Grecian or Dutch--Well, no matter what you call
it, you know what I mean. Do you think she would have on anything
of that kind? Not at all. No person in the world would expect to
see an angel dressed in such a giddy, frivolous, nonsensical
style. She would be neat and nice, her countenance full of glory,
brilliant, bright, and perfectly beautiful, and in every act her
gracefulness would charm the heart of every beholder. There is
nothing needless about her. None of my sisters believe that these
useless, foolish fashions are followed in heaven. Well, then,
pattern after good and heavenly things, and let the beauty of
your garments be the workmanship of your own hands, that which
adorns your bodies.
22
Now, sisters, will you go to work and help us to get up our
school books? Whether you do or do not belong to the Relief
Societies, we want you to join in and help us, and save your rags
to make paper, and then go and set type and make the books. You
who feel like doing this, hold up your hands. (Hands up.) There
is a pretty good showing, enough to carry an influence--the day
is ours. If you will only carry this out we will make our own
school books, and keep the money in the Territory that we now
send out for them.
23
Elders of Israel, I want to tell you how to save a little. You
want to get rich. Go to the mines and you will be so poor that
you never can pay any tithing. This is proved. I want to tell you
now, how you can pay your tithing. You trade off your horses and
mules and harness, just as quick as circumstances will let you.
Raise the calves that will make oxen, break them and work with
them; and let this community take this course, using oxen instead
of horses, and mules for all their farming and teaming, and in
one year they will save one million dollars, and this will
increase year by year, and that will enable you to give a little
to emigrate the poor Saints from the old country. I want you to
swell this Perpetual Emigrating Fund so that we can send for a
good many of the poor this year. What have you to give? Some will
say, "I have not anything, brother Brigham." "What have you been
doing?" "Oh, I have been mining, and it takes all my time and
labor to support my family. I have a splendid claim--I am just
going to have a hundred thousand dollars for it." We have plenty
of this class around, and whenever I see a man going along with
an old mule that can hardly stand up, and a frying pan and an old
quilt, I say, There goes a millionaire in prospect! He is after a
million, he calculates to find a mine that he can get a million
for next summer. These millionaires are all over our country;
they are in the mountains, on our highways and in our streets.
But ask them, "Can you give me a sixpence to buy me a morsel of
meat?" "No, I have not got it, I am just going to have plenty of
money, but I have not got it now. Cannot you lend me a little to
keep me from need, I have no bread for my family, but I am going
to have a fortune in a little while." There are numbers of the
Elders of Israel in this position. Ask them if they can pay a
little tithing? "No, not a dollar." "Give anything to help the
poor?" "No, I have not any, will you lend me a little to buy some
flour for my family?" and so they go on year after year. Why?
Because they will not take the counsel of the wise. When you hear
a man, outside or inside of the kingdom of God, finding fault,
complaining or casting reflections, that President Young has got
so much influence over the people called Latter-day Saints that
they (the grumblers) are afraid of him, you just tell them that
he has not a hundredth part of the influence he ought to have. He
ought to have all the influence imaginable with them, he is
deserving of it, he earns it, and he knows what to do with it,
and he directs and guides for the advancement of the kingdom of
God on the earth. Just think of these men, trailing through these
canons, running after shadows--jack-o'lanterns--all over creation
for something in prospect! They are just like some business men I
have seen in my life--they have got their eye on a picayune, away
off yonder in the distance, and they start after that then stub
their toe against a twenty dollar gold piece; but they kick that
out of the way, they do not see it. By and by they start again,
and they pass fifty dollars in their path, and so they keep on,
passing right by ten, twenty of fifty dollars. "Oh that picayune
does so dazzle my eye, for God's sake let me get it!" They are
fools, they know nothing about life, nor sustaining themselves,
they are worse than children. Well, now, brother Brigham ought to
have influence enough over these Elders of Israel to keep them
from deceiving themselves as much as they do; and when they run
after this shadow and tire themselves out and fall in the mud,
they lose the spirit of their religion, find out that "Mormonism"
is not true and away they go to the devil.
23
I am going to stop talking to the sisters, and will conclude by
asking them, Will you be printers or clerks in stores? The
brethren will keep every one of you out if they can, and I do not
know but I shall have to go and keep store myself independent of
every other institution, and hire ladies to tend it. I want them
also to telegraph for us, set our type, write our books, and save
the rags to make the paper.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, April 6, 1873
Brigham Young, April 6, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, April 6, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans.
FRIENDS AND ENEMIES--OBJECT OF GATHERING--BABYLON TO
BE FORSAKEN--PRAYER--PERSONALITY OF THE GODHEAD.
23
In my remarks to you I want your eyes, ears, attention and
faith. This is the Forty-third Annual Conference of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we have assembled together
for the purpose of being benefited. We like to see and hear each
other, we like to give and receive counsel, and we like, above
all things, to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord. In singing, praying,
speaking and hearing, and in all duties devolving upon us upon
such occasions as this, the Spirit of the Lord is the best of
all.
24
I have a great many reflections with regard to the Latter-day
Saints and the work in which they are engaged. I have many
reflections in regard to the world of mankind. We all enjoy the
power of sight, but how differently we look at and comprehend
things! And we are very much like the people who have lived
before us. We are a strange and curious composition--no two
alike. Of all the faces before me this afternoon there are no two
alike. We might possibly find those whose judgment would be
pretty much alike on various subjects, still there are no two
whose judgments are precisely the same. Human life is a great
stage, and it contains a very great variety of scenes and
scenery, of thought and action. Some are not very beautiful,
others are, and they are painted with fine colors. We see all
this before us, and each and every person has the privilege of
judging for himself, and upon each different impressions are
produced.
24
I see a large congregation before me this afternoon of people
called Latter-day Saints. If the world of mankind were to give
their opinion concerning us they would use terms I heard
frequently this morning--"enemy," "enemies," "our enemies." These
expressions would be frequently heard from the inhabitants of the
earth about the Latter-day Saints, for the impression has existed
and has been growing stronger for years past, that this strange
people--the Latter-day Saints--are the enemies of mankind. I do
not wish to convey the idea that all the inhabitants of the earth
consider this people their enemies, but there are those who wish
to have this impression or belief prevail. I hear many of the
Elders of Israel refer to the outside world as enemies. I do it
myself at certain times and on certain occasions, for certain
deeds wrought by those who wish to destroy the truth from the
earth, for every person who would uproot the truth of God is mine
enemy, he would destroy me if he had the power. What shall we say
of those who desire peace and whose hearts are filled with good
will towards their fellowmen? We say peace to such persons, and
give them ours and God's blessing.
25
Who is the enemy of mankind? He who wishes to change truth for
error and light for darkness; he who wishes to take peace from a
family, city, state or nation and give the sword in return. He is
my enemy, he is your enemy and the enemy of mankind. Who is the
friend of mankind? He who makes peace between those who are at
enmity, who brings together those who, perhaps, through some
misunderstanding, have been at variance with and lost friendship
and fellowship for each other, and shows them that their ill-will
is without foundation and existed simply because they did not
understand each other. To illustrate we will suppose that two men
come in the same car to this city. One of them is full of
deception and carries false colors. If he speaks a word that
would become a gentleman, it is not because he feels it, for in
his heart he is cursing and damning, and his purpose is to sow
discord and enmity among the people in a neighborhood. He
delights to set the members of one family jarring with each
other. He will teach the youth to believe that such or such
persons are their enemies and it is no harm to burn their houses
down, to take their horses, cut their carriages to pieces, to
open the gate of their garden or field and let somebody's cattle
in. Such a person is an enemy of mankind. But the other one is a
friend. If he sees his neighbor's gate open, he shuts it; if
cattle are in a neighbor's field, he tells him of the mischief
that is being done. If he sees a fence down, and there is none of
the family to come and put it up, he gets out of his carriage, or
off his horse, or if he is afoot, he steps to the fence, turns
the cattle out, puts up the fence or shuts the gate and prevents
further mischief on his neighbor's premises. Who is your enemy
and mine? He that teaches language that is unbecoming, that
presents falsehood for truth, that furnishes false premises to
build upon instead of true, or that is full of anger and mischief
to his fellow beings. I call no other enemies, except such
characters as I have named. There is no question that many have
done much mischief while in ignorance of what they were doing. I
have no doubt that the soldiers who were commanded to nail the
Savior to the cross did not realize what they were doing. They
treated him as they did the thieves, whom they knew to be worthy
of death; but through prejudice, over-persuasion and much talk by
the priest, Scribes, Pharisees and people, they perhaps supposed
they were doing God's service when they crucified Jesus. But is
was an enemy that did it, it was a bad act, a very heinous crime,
it--but I pause. The question may be asked, What would have been
the consequence suppose the Savior had not been crucified? I can
only answer by saying that he was. The Scriptures say that
offences must needs come, but woe to him by whom they come. But
we will resume our subject. Who is the man that is an enemy to
his nation? The one that breeds mischief, prompts strife, and
brings sorrow among the people.
26
Now to the Latter-day Saints--What are you here for? Can you
answer this question? Many of you can. One brother says, "Why, I
came here to join the Saints." "Where did you come from?" "I
lived in Scotland. I worked in the mines, or in the factory, or
in iron works." "What did you come here for?" "When I heard the
Gospel preached I believed it, and I received a desire to leave
my neighbors. I believed the Bible and the Book of Mormon; I
believed that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. My neighbors said, 'Oh
folly, oh fool. There goes a Mormon,' and they pointed the finger
of scorn at me." This is the spirit of the world, but if there
had been no persecution whatever in the feelings of his neighbors
he would have had a desire to leave his home and old associates
to join the Saints, for the Spirit he received prompted him to do
this. Ask a sister, "What are you here for?" "Why, I came here so
that I could live my religion a little better than I could in
Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, France, Scandinavia," or
wherever it might be that she came from. Ask another man, "What
did you gather to these mountains for?" "Well, I think I came
here because of my religion. I used to think I wanted to gather
up with the Saints. I like their society, and when I came up here
I really delighted to be with them." "What are you doing now,
brother?" "Well, I am trying to do about the best I possibly can.
Here are a few dollars I want to pay on Tithing." "Have you paid
your Tithing this year?" "No." "Did you pay it last year?" "No."
"Have you not paid Tithing lately?" "No." "What is the reason?"
"Why, I am after gold and silver, and the riches in these
mountains, in this trade, I am after the world, I am after
Babylon." This is the conduct. I do not ask for words, I do not
ask anybody to get up and declare that their affections are
turned away from the holy Gospel of life and salvation, and
turned to the world. Let me see their daily walk and know their
life, and I know what their thoughts and feelings are. And the
sister that comes here for the Gospel's sake, her mind is so
frivolous and easily wrought upon that she is led by every wind
and breeze of fashion that blows through the streets here. "Oh,
don't you see that lady's dress?" "Here, look here, did you see
that lady walking down the street?" "Yes." "What a beautiful
dress she has got on! Oh dear, how I want such a dress!" Go down
the street and you can see it; go up the street and you can see
it; go into the workshops, and even into the kanyons, and you can
see it. What of it? Latter-day Saints, what of it? "Oh, I do love
Babylon so well." "I do want a new dress." "I do want to go into
the mines and dig." "I have a claim, and I am just going into the
mountains to dig," says a brother. Another one says, "I have
served the Lord about long enough, and I am going to serve myself
now." This is the way with one here and another there, and if
they have not got Babylon they want to get it. And here comes
along a man who professes to be a Latter-day Saint, and the first
you know he is using the name of the Deity in vain, and it is
"curse" this, and "curse" that, with the name of our Father in
heaven attached to it. Is that according to the faith that we
have embraced? Mingle with the Latter-day Saints, and see them
playing on the stage of life, and watch how some of them will
change their colors and their coats, and some come out in one
fashion and some in another, according to the circumstances in
which they are placed.
26
Here we are assembled in the capacity of a general Conference.
Babylon is in the hearts of the people, that is to say, there is
too much of it. What did you come here for? "Why," says one, "I
understood they were getting rich in Utah, and I thought I would
gather up with the Latter-day Saints and get rich also." Without
making many remarks on this subject, I want to say to every one
of those who come up here, their minds filled with Babylon, and
longing for the fashions and wealth of the world, you may heap up
gold and silver, but it will leave you, or you will leave it, you
cannot take it with you, and you will go down to hell.
26
Perhaps I may be considered their enemy by some of those called
Latter-day Saints, and by outsiders, for telling them these
things. That is no matter, it is for their life and salvation
that I tell them. If I should see men and women going blindfolded
to an awful precipice, and not hail them and warn them of their
danger, I should be guilty, and perhaps their blood would be
found on my skirts. I will say, at once, not prolonging my
remarks or multiplying words, that if my brethren and sisters do
not walk up to the principles of the holy Gospel of life and
salvation, they will be removed out of their places, and others
will be called to occupy them. Elders of Israel, High Priests,
Seventies, High Councilors, Presidents, brethren and sisters, no
matter who, if you have an idea that you are going to take
Babylon--I use this term, because it is well understood that
Babylon means confusion, discord, strife, folly and all the
vanities the world possesses--if you have the idea that you are
going to take Babylon in one hand, and with the other cling to
the Savior and drag yourselves into his presence, you will find
yourselves mistaken, for he will drop you, and you will sink. You
may just as well believe this to-day, and shape your lives
accordingly, as to betray yourselves.
27
There are a great many who say, "Why, yes, I say my prayers, I do
not use the name of the Lord in vain, I do not injure my
neighbor." That is true. How many of the Latter-day Saints live
like this? I am pretty well acquainted with them. I see and
understand their feelings by their works, and I can say that a
large majority of the Latter-day Saints are a good, obedient,
faithful, God-fearing, God-loving people, and yet we fellowship
those who are full of iniquity and evil, individuals who are full
of the spirit of anti-Christ. I talk and tell the truth to the
good and to the evil, and I wish to comprehend the whole; and I
tell you to-day that if our minds are not made up to serve God,
if we are not for Christ, and for his kingdom upon the earth; if
we are not willing to devote our time, talents, means, influence
and everything that he has given into our possession, we are not
in the way we should walk. I know that it may be said, and with
great propriety, "Why, my brother, we can not be sanctified in
one day, we cannot overcome every evil and every passion in one
day." That is true, but this holy desire can dwell in the heart
of every individual from the time that he or she is convinced
that God reigns, that he is establishing his kingdom on the
earth, that Jesus is our Savior, that the holy Gospel has
presented to us the way of life and salvation, and we believe it
and can receive it with our whole hearts--I say we can have that
holy and pure desire from that moment to the end of our lives,
and in possessing this we have faith and favor before the Lord,
and his grace is with us by the power of his Holy Spirit, and by
this we can overcome temptations as we meet them. This is my
experience, that is pretty good proof, is it not? And I have more
evidence than this--this is the experience and testimony of every
Latter-day Saint who has lived his or her religion since obeying
the Gospel. Their testimony will corroborate mine, and strengthen
the faith of all.
28
I have not preached much to you this winter, and I pause and
think. I was in the stone quarry the other day, and saw the men
breaking a large granite rock. They first drilled the holes so as
to break the rock in a direct line. I saw one man take up his
hammer and give a blow. It was too hard. Said I, "My father
taught me in my youth that light knocks would split great blocks.
Tap light next time." The quarryman did this and pretty soon the
rock divided almost as evenly as though it had been jointed. I
wish to make an application of this to this people assembled
here. If I and my brethren had strength, we would meet together
here about one week, to begin with, then go to our work for a few
weeks, and then we would come together again. By continuing this
course, I expect that in about three months we could get the
feelings of this people warmed up like wax before the flame, so
that we could get at their judgment and affections and we could
actually mould them over, and make them realize the work that
they are engaged in. But to do it in one day would be like
driving the wedges so fast that you would split the rock where
you would not want it split. Still, many who want to receive the
word can, and I say to all, you and I must be Latter-day Saints
or we are not walking in the path that God has marked out for us.
"What do you mean by the path that God has marked out for us.
"What do you mean by that, brother Brigham? I want to know what
you mean by that, I can not understand it." This is the
difficulty, but thank kind heaven, I have found out in my
experience, that learning a, b, c, d, does not hinder me learning
e, f, g. I thank my Creator that the principle is implanted
within us, that we can learn, if it takes a long time, and by a
close application of the ability that God has given us, we can
improve and in time become Saints in very deed. Were it not for
this I should have been discouraged long ago. But I know that we
can learn to be Saints if we are disposed to. Practice your
religion to-day, and say your prayers faithfully.
28
Says a brother, "I pray in my family sometimes, and sometimes I
do not feel like it, and I do not pray in my family. Sometimes I
am in a hurry, my work is driving me, my cattle are in mischief,
and I do not feel like praying."
28
If I do not feel like praying, and asking my Father in heaven to
give me a morning blessing, and to preserve me and my family and
the good upon the earth through the day, I should say, "Brigham,
get down here, on your knees, bow your body down before the
throne of Him who rules in the heavens, and stay there until you
can feel to supplicate at that throne of grace erected for
sinners."
28
"Well, but I am in a hurry, and my cattle, perhaps, are in
mischief and my work is driving me." I should say, if the cattle
are in the corn, "Eat away;" if they are in the wheat, "Eat away,
eat the wheat, we have more than we can use any how;" and if the
children are in mischief and this wants seeing to, and that wants
seeing to, I say, "Kneel down before the Lord and there stay
until this body learns obedience, until my tongue learns to
praise his name, and to ask for the blessing I need."
28
"Well, but are you not afraid you will come to want?" Bless me,
if I had all the gold and silver on the earth and no prayers, I
should be in greater want than I should be with the prayers and
without the gold and silver. I will make an application of this
with regard to the feelings of the people. It is true that you
and I can not learn every thing at once, but we can learn one
thing at once and the one thing above all others that we should
make it our business to learn it to yield strict obedience to the
requirements of heaven, and we can learn that to-day just as well
as any other time, and just as well as to spend a lifetime in
doing it.
28
Now, Latter-day Saints, do you know what you are here for? You
know there is a field open before us in talking about what we are
here for, why the Lord suffers what we now behold, and why he
permits this and permits that. It is all perfectly reasonable and
rational, all according to his providences and his dealings with
the children of men. I can say to all that you have got to learn
this one fact--the Lord will have a tried people, and if my wife
or my daughter can not see and pass by, as things of naught, the
follies of fashion, she has not learned her duty, she has not
learned the spirit of her religion, and is not in the full
enjoyment of the Spirit of God. Fashions are nothing to me, one
way or the other. How long is it since ladies wore bonnets into
which you would have to look with a spyglass if you wished to see
their faces, and then from their faces to the crown of the head.
From this fashion they got to one in which one flower or leaf and
five yard of ribbon made a complete head dress. What of these
fashions? They are nothing here nor there, and by trying we can
learn to pass by every needless fashion, and to stop the use of
every needless word, and to carry ourselves correctly before the
Lord.
29
Now let us consider, are we for the kingdom of heaven? "Oh yes,"
"Oh yes," everybody says, "certainly we are." Are we for
happiness? Yes, certainly, the whole world is with us there.
There is no person but what would say, Give me power, give me
influence, give me wealth, give me gold and silver, houses and
lands, goods and chattels, tenements, horses, carriages, friends,
families, associations, &c. The whole world will join in saying,
Give us heaven and happiness; but talk to them about "Mormonism,"
and they will say, "your doctrine is a speculation." The cry with
regard to brother Joseph was, "He is a money digger, he is a
speculator." Well, how long was it before the whole world was on
his track digging money? It is no disgrace just as soon as the
world commenced digging money, but when there were only a few
accused of it, it was a disgrace. How things are changed! How
differently we look upon our bonnets now! If a lady were to enter
this building wearing an old-fashioned head-dress everybody would
be looking at her. If a lady were to come into this assembly with
sixteen yards of cloth--I am talking extravagantly now to
illustrate--in her two sleeves, and only four in the waist and
skirt of her dress, how ridiculous it would appear, would it not?
And yet something very much like that was once the fashion.
29
I look at this and make the application. The world would say,
"Yes, if you are going to have happiness, we want some; if you
are going to have gold and silver, look here, we shall come in
for a share." Very good, all right. I used to tell the
people--bless your heart, you accuse me of being in a
speculation, and so I am. You cry out that the "Mormon" leaders
are for speculation, for money making. We go in for wealth. I
used to tell the people, and I tell them the same now, I do not
go in for a few millions, I go in for the pile, and I calculate
to have it. "How are you going to get it?" By serving God with
all my heart and being a Saint indeed, and when the earth and its
fullness are given into the hands of the Saints, I shall go in
for my share--the whole pile. I used to say, "Why, brother Joseph
is the greatest speculator I have heard of in modern times--he is
going to have the whole earth. Jesus is coming to earth to reign
King of nations, and he is going to share the gold and silver
with his brethren. That is not all--all things are yours for time
and eternity--the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths,
crowns of glory and immortality and eternal lives are yours."
Well, I go in for the pile.
30
I want to ask, Am I an enemy of mankind? Is a Latter-day Saint an
enemy of mankind? No. I say to the intelligent world, if they did
but know it, we in connection with God, Jesus the Mediator,
angels, the good that are on the earth and the good that have
been, are the only friends of mankind upon the face of the earth.
That is a great word to say, and some may think it is
extravagant. They say, "See what our benevolent societies, our
ministers, our kings and our rich people are doing for the poor,
and then say that the Latter-day Saints are the only friends of
mankind." I want to say to all the world that no good or
benevolent act, no act that sustains innocence, virtue and truth
and does good to the human family will go unrewarded of the
Creator. Do not be discouraged. Have they done any good? Yes, a
great deal of it. The christian world have sent forth their
missionaries and they have done a great deal of good, but they
could do a great deal more if they had a mind to. They hedge up
the way and try to destroy the little good they have done by
instilling into the hearts of the people the necessity of
dwelling in darkness and remaining in ignorance, and preventing
them from receiving the Gospel. This is their practice, and in
this they are doing injury, but they have done a great deal of
good.
30
What are we hated for? What do men lie about us for, and send
forth their lies to the world right from this place? Are they who
do this the friends of mankind? No, they are their enemies. They
plant falsehood in the hearts of thousands of people. One liar is
like a bad king. A corrupt and wicked king can corrupt a whole
nation. One liar can deceive thousands. They are not the friends
of mankind. Why are we hated? Is our religion obnoxious? Why?
30
"Because of this one man power, because of the great influence
there is in the midst of the people to unite them together."
30
Do you not read in your Bibles that except ye are one ye are not
the Lord's? Do you not read in the Bible, that you have had all
your lives, that you must love God with all your hearts, that you
must be united, that you must receive the Gospel of Christ? Do
you not read that there is but one faith, one Lord one baptism,
one God and Father of all, &c.? Certainly you do. Well, we
believe these things, but does that prove that we are the enemies
of mankind? No, it proves that we are their friends. Why do we
differ from them, and why do they differ from us? I can tell it
in a few words--it is simply because we are disposed to believe
the truth, and they are disposed to reject it. They are disposed
to live and drink water, if they can get it, from cisterns that
will hold no water. Is there anybody, do you think who has
transgressed the laws of God? Has anybody ever changed the
ordinances of the house of God? Was there ever any such thing
done as to destroy the principles pertaining to the ordinances of
the house of God? Why, yes, in ancient days.
31
Well, we know the reason why, we know why they did it--they hewed
to themselves cisterns that would hold no water. Do we, as
Christians, teach the Gospel according to Saint Mark, St. John,
St. Luke, Matthew, Paul, Peter and James and the rest of the
apostles and the disciples of the Lord? Do we teach the same
doctrine as the Christian world? No, we do not. Do we teach the
same doctrine as the Christian world? No, we do not. Do we teach
the same doctrine as Jesus and his Apostles? Yes, we preach the
same Gospel. How many modes of baptism have the so-called
Christian world? I do not know how many. One is by immersion, or
being buried in the water. Another it to get down on your knees
and have water poured on the head; another is to stand up and
have water poured on the head; another is to have somebody dip
his fingers in water and touch the forehead with it; another is
to plunge face foremost, and how many more modes of baptism there
are I do not know. How many there are who say that all these are
outward ordinances and that they are non-essential? Did God ever
say this? No. Jesus? No. Any of the Apostles ever say anything of
the kind? No, they did not. Has any man in modern times received
a revelation from heaven, doing away with the ordinances of the
house of God? No, only false revelations; and we ask the simple
question, If our doctrine is not true, and if there is no
necessity for the ordinances of the house of God, will you not be
pleased to tell us the name of the man who received, and the
place where he received a revelation from God doing away with his
own ordinances, and declaring that all miracles were to cease?
&c. It is true that we differ from the Christian world in our
faith in regard to these things. Does this prove that we are
their enemies? No, it proves that we are their friends. We
believe in doctrines that they do not believe in, and we
disbelieve in some fanciful ideas that they profess to hold as
doctrine. For instance they hold that God is an imaginary being.
They cannot tell where nor how he lives, nor anything concerning
his character, whether he is material or immaterial; but, like
many of the most eminent divines, who have spread it through
their pages for the people to read, they have come to the
conclusion that the centre of God is everywhere and his
circumference nowhere--one of the most vain ideas that could be
conceived by any intelligent being. Then what is their idea of
the soul of man? That it is an immaterial substance. Who ever
heard of such a thing? Ask any true philosopher if he can explain
the meaning of an "immaterial substance." It is like the centre
of a being everywhere and his circumference nowhere, or like
being seated on the top of a topless throne. These are
self-confounding expressions, and there is no meaning to any of
them. We differ from them in our ideas of God. We know that he is
a Being--a man--with all the component parts of an intelligent
being--head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, cheek bones,
forehead, chin, body, lower limbs; that he eats, drinks, talks,
lives and has a being, and has a residence, and his presence
fills immensity as far as you and I know. We differ with them,
for we know that the Lord has sent forth his laws, commandments
and ordinances to the children of men, and requires them to be
strictly obeyed, and we do not wish to transgress those laws, but
to keep them. We do not wish to change his ordinances, but to
observe them; we do not wish to break the everlasting covenant,
but to keep that with our fathers, with Jesus, with our Father in
heaven, with holy angels, and to live according to them. We
differ with them in the tenets of religion, we cannot help it. We
would not believe "Mormonism," as it is called, if it were not
for one thing. I never would have believed it if it had not been
for one simple thing. What do you think that is? It is true. I
believed it because of that. What a strange idea! If it had not
been true I would not have believed it, but being true I happened
to believe it.
31
Now there is quite a difference between me and the man who stands
up to teach the people what he says is the way of life and
salvation, and who has transgressed every law that God ever gave,
who has changed every one of the ordinances of his house, and
broken every covenant that he has made with the children of men.
What do you know, Mr. Divine, about glory, exaltation, happiness
and eternal lives? I will answer for him, and say, nothing at
all. What do you know about God? Nothing at all. What do you know
about his dwelling-place? Nothing at all. What about his person?
Nothing at all. Pardon me for making these expressions, but look
on this stage which I brought before the congregation--the human
family acting and bringing out what they have behind the scenes.
What a spectacle it presents!
32
Are we the enemies of mankind? No, we are their only friends, and
we calculate to hang on until we save the last son and daughter
of Adam and Eve that can receive salvation. We calculate to be
co-workers with Jesus, our Savior, until the last man and woman
that can be saved is placed in the kingdom or mansion prepared
for them, and none will be lost or turned away except those who
sin against the Holy Ghost. What do you think of it? An enemy of
mankind! Shame on the expression! and shame on those who give
utterance to it when speaking of the Latter-day Saints. We have
the oracles, the law and the commandments; we have all the laws
or ordinances necessary to reach and take hold of our fathers,
mothers, grandfathers and those who have lived before us, and to
bring them up to eternal life. What divine teaches this doctrine?
If there is no resurrection, says Paul, why then are ye baptized
for the dead? It is the only expression that alludes to the
doctrine of baptism for the dead in the New Testament, but it is
true. We have this law, we have the ordinances. We have a
knowledge of the covenants necessary to reach and pick up the
last man and woman that has lived on the earth, and we calculate
to preach the Gospel to the living until the line is drawn and
Jesus comes to reign King of nations as he does King of Saints,
and the separation is made. But until then the wheat and the
tares will grow together. We are together now, the wheat and the
tares are here.
32
Now let us see your wheat heads bow down as though you were fully
ripe or preparing to be so, your whole hearts and labors for the
kingdom of God. The wicked may flourish for awhile like a green
bay tree, but by and by they will be cut down, and the righteous
will go forth and inherit the kingdom, which may God grant to be
our happy lot for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Wilford Woodruff, April 7, 1873
Wilford Woodruff, April 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF.
Delivered at the General Conference, in the New
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 7, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans.
HOME MANUFACTURE--OFFENCES MUST NEEDS COME--ZION IS
GROWING IN IMPORTANCE ON THE EARTH--THE KINGDOM OF
GOD IS NOW ESTABLISHED--SECOND COMING OF CHRIST--
UNPOPULARITY OF OUR RELIGION--THE HOLY GHOST IS THE
INFALLIBLE TESTIMONY TO THE BELIEVER--THE GOSPEL
EMBRACES ALL TRUTH.
33
One of the proverbs common among the Saints of God in the
dispensation in which we live--the dispensation of the fullness
of times, is, "The kingdom of God or nothing." President Young
has been trying to get us to labor to build up the kingdom of
God. This kingdom has been given into the hands of the Latter-day
Saints to establish on the earth, and unless we labor for its
advancement we shall certainly fall short of salvation, for all
the salvation there is, whether for Jew, Gentile, Saint or
sinner, is in connection with this kingdom.
33
We have had a great many plain truths presented before this
Conference, and if we will observe the counsels that have been
given we shall be led to salvation. Every one of the propositions
made by President Young has this tendency. It is our duty as
Latter-day Saints to sustain the Zion of God on the earth. What
he has said to us is true. We have heard it thousands of times.
We have been counseled for many years to try to lay a foundation
for our own independence in these mountains. It is a well known
principle in political economy, that any nation or people that
expend more than they produce, or buy from other nations more
than they sell in return will grow poor. We should produce what
we use--what we eat and wear, and as for what we drink, why the
mountain streams supply that of the present quality.
33
There are several items to which I would like to call your
attention. President Young has taken the lead in establishing
woolen factories in this Territory. Others have assisted in this
work, but he has done much more than any other man, and now we
have several good mills for the manufacture of cloth and other
fabrics owned and run by the Saints in Utah. Still we sent many
large quantities of wool abroad instead of using it in our own
mills, and import goods of outside manufacture instead of making
them at home. How long will it be before we are poor, and our
Territory drained of all the money we can raise, if we continue
this? We should not send our wool to be manufactured in the
States, and then pay our money for cloth brought from there here.
Where are our wool growers? What are they thinking about when
they do this? This is an item which I consider of vital
importance to the Latter-day Saints. We should keep our wool at
home, and we should manufacture this wool into cloth, and we
should buy and pay for that cloth, and support home manufactures.
This is a principle which we have neglected in a great degree;
but we have got to come to it sometime. We have got either to
make ourselves self-sustaining, or we shall have to go without a
good many things that we now regard as almost indispensable for
our welfare and comfort, for there is not a man who believes in
the revelations of God but what believes the day is at hand when
there will be trouble among the nations of the earth, when great
Babylon will come in remembrance before God, and his judgments
will visit the nations. When that day comes, if Zion has food and
raiment and the comforts of life she must produce them, and there
must be a beginning to these things.
34
This is the Zion of God, this is the work of God. The servants of
God have borne record and testimony to this now for more than
forty years, and the Lord has backed up their testimony,
fulfilling his word in the events which have transpired in the
earth. The Lord says, "I am angry with none except those who
acknowledge not my hand in all things." As a people, we have been
obliged to acknowledge the hand of God in our salvation and
guidance. Some of the speakers have referred to the drivings and
persecutions of the Saints in the past. The Lord says, "Offences
must needs come, but woe to him by whom they come." If we had not
been driven from Jackson, Caldwell and Clay Counties, and from
Kirtland and Nauvoo, Utah, to-day, would have been a barren
desert, there would have been no railroad from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, and we should not have fulfilled, I may say,
thousands of the revelations of God as we have done. The hand of
the Lord has been manifest in all these matters. He has watched
this people, and over this work from its foundation until to-day,
and he will continue to do so. But it is certainly true that, as
a people, we must heed the counsels of the Lord through his
servants, for these counsels, if observed, will secure us
salvation, and lead us to prosperity, union and happiness.
34
President Young, as an instrument in the hands of God, has
brought his tens of thousands from the old world who never were
worth, I may say, a farthing, who never owned a horse, carriage,
wagon, cow, pig or chicken, and hardly had bread enough to keep
soul and body together. There are thousands upon thousands now in
these valleys of the mountains who were brought here by the
donations of the Saints of God, and the mercies of God unto them.
They are now settled through this valley for six hundred miles.
They have enough to eat, drink and wear, houses and lands of
their own, and plenty of this world's goods to make them
comfortable.
34
Everything that leads to good and to do good is of God, and
everything that leads to evil and to do evil is of the wicked
one. I will ask, Has not good grown out of the whole work of God
from the organization of this Church until to-day? Has not this
Gospel been offered for more than forty years to the nations of
the earth in its plainness, truth and simplicity, as it was
anciently by Jesus and his Apostles? It has, and thousands who
are in this Territory to-day can bear testimony to its truth. The
example is before the world. Zion is like a city set on a hill
that cannot be hid. She is a beacon to the nations of the earth.
The Saints of God are fulfilling the revelations of God; they are
fulfilling the prophecies and sayings of the ancient Patriarchs
and Prophets, who spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy
Ghost, and no prophecy is of private interpretation. If these
holy men of God spoke the word of God, what they said will have
its fulfillment, and no power can stay this work.
34
The set time has come for the Lord to establish his kingdom of
which Daniel spoke, that Zion which Isaiah saw and portrayed, and
about which he and many other Prophets have left so many sayings
in their prophecies. The history of the progress of this Church
is before the world. It is the work of God, and not a saying ever
made about it by an inspired man, whether in the Bible, Book of
Mormon, or in the Doctrine and Covenants, will fail of its
fulfillment. No matter whether these words came by the voice of
God out of the heavens, by the ministration of angels, or by the
voice of the servants of God in the flesh, it is the same;
although the heavens and the earth may pass away, they will not
go unfulfilled.
35
This it the foundation upon which the Latter-day Saints labor,
and upon which they have labored from the beginning of this
church. Joseph Smith has often been termed an illiterate,
unlearned man. He was a farmer's son, and had a very small chance
of education. What primer had he to reveal the fullness of the
Gospel to the world? None at all, only as he was taught by the
administration of angels from heaven, by the voice of God and by
the inspiration and power of the Holy Ghost. The principles which
have been revealed to the world through him are true as the
throne of God. Their influence is already felt in the earth, and
will continue to increase until the coming of the Son of Man; and
the blood of the Prophets which has been shed in testimony
thereof will remain in force upon all the world until the scene
is wound up.
35
What other people on the face of the earth are preparing for
Jesus Christ? The Lord Jesus Christ is coming to reign on earth.
The world may say that he delays his coming until the end of the
earth. But they know neither the thoughts nor the ways of the
Lord. The Lord will not delay his coming because of their
unbelief, and the signs both in heaven and earth indicate that it
is near. The fig trees are leafing in sight of all the nations of
the earth, and if they had the Spirit of God they could see and
understand them.
35
The Latter-day Saints can not stand still; we can not become
stereotyped. God has decreed that his Zion must progress. We can
not remain in one groove or position. This kingdom has continued
to progress from the beginning, and the little one is now more
than a thousand, and it will hasten to become a strong nation,
for it is God's work, and its destiny is in his hands. It becomes
us, as Latter-day Saints to realize these things as they are, and
also our position and calling before God. We must build up the
Zion and kingdom of God on the earth, or fail in the object of
our calling and receiving the Priesthood of God in these latter
days. The full set time has come, which the Lord decreed before
the foundation of the world,--the great dispensation of the last
days, and a people must be prepared for the coming of the Son of
Man. How can they do it? By being gathered out from Babylon. How
often has the question been asked, "Why can not the Latter-day
Saints live abroad in the world and enjoy their religion?" We can
hardly enjoy it as we are to-day--gathered together, the wicked
will follow us up; and then we are overwhelmed like a mountain
with tradition. But we have gathered together that we may be
taught by Prophets, Patriarchs and inspired men, and we are
endeavoring, under their instructions, to throw off the trammels
with which we and our forefathers have been bound for
generations. We are not prepared for the coming of the Son of Man
and if he were to come to-day we could not endure it. There is no
people on the earth prepared for that. But the Lord is laboring
with us, he has carried us through a school of experience now for
forty years, and we should certainly have been dull scholars if
we had not learned some wisdom. The Lord intends that we shall
united ourselves together, and in building up the Zion of God, if
we can not attain to all that is required of us to-day, we will
do what we can, and progress as fast as we can, that the way may
be prepared for the fulfillment of the words of the Lord.
36
Here is the Bible, the record of the Jews, given by the
inspiration of the Lord through Moses and the ancient Patriarchs
and Prophets. Is it an imposture, and as the infidels say, the
work of man? No, it is not in the power of any man who ever
breathed the breath of life to make such a book without the
inspiration of the Almighty. It is just so with the Book of
Mormon--all the ingenuity of all the men under heaven could not
compose and present to the world a book like the Book of Mormon.
Its principles are divine--they are from God. They could never
emanate from the mind of an imposter, or from the mind of a
person writing a novel. Why? Because the promises and prophecies
it contains are being fulfilled in the sight of all the earth. So
with the revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith
contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants--they are being
fulfilled.
36
We, the Latter-day Saints, have this great almighty work laid
upon us, and our hearts should not be set upon the things of the
world, for if they are we shall forget God and lose sight of his
kingdom. The counsels, exhortations, and instructions which we
receive from the servants of God are just and true. As a people
if we will do the will of God we have the power to build up Zion
in beauty, power and glory, as the Lord has revealed it through
the mouth of the Prophet. It rests with us, the Lord working with
us. We are called upon to work with the Lord just as fast as we
are prepared to receive the things of his kingdom. But I am
satisfied there has got to be a great change with us in many
respects before we are prepared for the redemption of Zion and
the building up of the New Jerusalem. I believe the only way for
us is to get enough of the Spirit of God that we may see and
understand our duties and comprehend the will of the Lord.
36
This is a great day, an important time--a time in which great
events await the world--Zion, Babylon, Jew, Gentile, saint and
sinner, high and low, rich and poor. Great and important events
will follow each other in quick succession before the eyes of
this generation. No generation that ever lived on the earth lived
in a more interesting period than the one in which we live; and
when we consider that our eternal destiny depends upon the few
short years that we spend here, what manner of persons ought we
to be? Men spend their lives for what they call wealth or
happiness, but they seek not after the way of life, and in a few
years they lie down and die and open their eyes in the spirit
world, and they will come forth at some time and be judged
according to the deeds done in the body.
36
A great deal has been said with regard to "Mormonism" and the
strange people who dwell in these mountains. Many strangers have
come to visit this city, thinking that their lives were hardly
safe because of the horrid stories they had heard about these
terrible "Mormons," when the fact is, if they had only known it,
they were a great deal safer here, than in any of the great
cities of the world.
37
The Lord has been working, and this people have been working, and
the object of their labor has been and is to establish the Gospel
of Jesus Christ and to spread truth and righteousness. We came
here, a few pioneers, on the 24th of July, 1847, and we found a
desert. It looked as though no white man could live here. We have
to acknowledge the hand of God in all the blessings we have
to-day. This Territory is now filled with cities, towns, villages
and gardens. The earth has blossomed like a rose, and the desert
has brought forth streams of water from dry places. The Lord has
blessed the people, we have to acknowledge his hands in this.
This is only a beginning. The world have supposed us from the
beginning, even very many honest-hearted men, ignorant of the
nature and object of "Mormonism," have opposed us. If the vail
were lifted one minute from the eyes of the world, and they could
see the things of eternity as they are, there is not a man
living, not excepting our friend brother Newman, or President
Grant, or any other man that breathes, who would not bow down
before God and pray for Brigham Young and the prosperity of this
work. But there is a vail over men's minds. Darkness covers the
earth and gross darkness the minds of the nations, and this is to
prove whether they will or will not walk in the covenant of the
Lord. There are a few who have had sufficient independence of
mind and stability of character to obey the celestial law. But
how few friends the Almighty and his servants have had in this
will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. The numbers
of the servants of God are few. Let the Lord Almighty send a
message to the world now as he did in the days of Noah, Enoch,
Lot, Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and few among the nations of
the earth would be willing to receive it. In the days of Jesus
the High Priests, Sadducees, Essenees, Stoics and every sect and
party then known in the Jewish nation cried--"Crucify him!
Crucify him!" So it was with Joseph Smith. From the day that he
laid the foundation of this work, Priest and people, doctors and
lawyers, high and low, rich and poor, with but few exceptions,
have been ready to crush it to the earth. Why? Because, ignorant
of its character and mission, they have believe that it
interfered with their religion. Joseph Smith had to walk in deep
water, he had to row up hill or up stream all the days of his
life in order to try and plant the Gospel in the midst of the
sons of men. A few here and there heard and were disposed to
receive that Gospel, and the Spirit of God bore record unto them
of its truth, and they went before the Lord and asked him if it
was true, and the Lord revealed it unto them and they embraced
it. From that day until the present this message has gone to the
world. I have preached it to millions of my fellow-men, so has
President Young, and I may say the same of hundreds of the Elders
of this Church; and I do not believe that ever a man, with his
ears open, stopped a moment to listen to the testimony of the
servants of God about the truth of the Book of Mormon, Joseph
Smith being a Prophet of God, and the restoration of the fullness
of the Gospel, but what a measure of the Spirit of God has backed
up that testimony to him. When men have rejected these
testimonies they have done so against light and truth, and herein
is where condemnation rests upon this generation--Light has come
into the world and men love darkness rather than light, because
their deeds are evil.
38
"Mormonism" is not popular, and few, comparatively speaking, have
embraced it. Jesus Christ was never popular in his day. The old
Patriarchs and Prophets had but few friends, yet they were called
and inspired by God, and held in their hands the issues of life
and death, the keys of salvation on earth and in heaven. What
they bound on earth was bound in heaven. Whosesoever sins they
remitted were remitted, and whosesoever sins they retained were
retained. Yet the world was ready to destroy them. It is so
to-day. But the unbelief of this generation will not make the
truth of God without effect to-day any more than it did in any
other period of the world. Therefore I say to my brethren and
sisters, let us try and prepare our minds and hearts by prayer
before the Lord, that we may obtain enough of the light of the
Spirit and of the influence of the Holy Ghost, to see and be
preserved in the path of life, and when we receive the teachings
and counsels of the servants of God, that we may be disposed to
treasure them up in our hearts and practice them in our lives.
38
We shall soon pass away; in a little while we shall be on the
other side of the vail. There is no man or woman who has ever
lived on the earth and kept the commandments of God who will be
ashamed of, or sorry for it, when they go into the presence of
God. Our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, it has not
entered into the heart of man to conceive the joy, glory and
blessings which God has in store for his faithful Saints. As
President Young told us yesterday, whether men believe or
disbelieve, the Lord Almighty has wrought out salvation for the
world. We are laboring for this; the Prophets and Patriarchs in
days past and gone did the same. In these latter days Saviors
have come up on Mount Zion, and they are laboring to save the
world--the living and the dead. The Lord required this at our
hands, and if we do not labor to promote this cause and to build
it up, we shall be under condemnation before him.
39
The Gospel is the same to-day as it was in the days of Jesus
Christ. The word to his disciples was--"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." That is a very plain and simple declaration, yet it
involved the destiny of the whole human family. It is just so
to-day. The Gospel has been offered to the world now for over
forty years, in its purity, plainness and clearness, according to
the ancient order of things, and the Elders of Israel have
promised the world that if they would receive their testimony and
be baptized for the remission of their sins, they should receive
the Holy Ghost. When a man receives the Holy Ghost he has a
testimony that can not deceive him or anybody else. In the days
of Moses and Pharaoh the magicians could work as many miracles as
Moses, almost; and you may go into our theatre here, or any
other, and you may see and hear that which will deceive your eyes
and ears, and all the senses you have; but get the Holy Ghost and
you have a testimony that cannot deceive you. It never deceived
any man, and it never will. It is by this power and principle
that the Elders of Israel have been sustained from the first day
they commenced their labors until to-day. It was this power which
sustained Joseph Smith from his boyhood up, in all his labors
until he planted the kingdom of God on the earth to be thrown
down no more for ever. He lived until he accomplished all that
God raised him up to do here in the flesh, then he went to the
other side of the vail to fill his place and mission there. His
works will follow him there, and he and his brethren will labor
for the accomplishment of the purposes of God there, as we are
doing here. The Lord raised up President Young to be our leader
and lawgiver, and he has been so from the day that Joseph was
taken away. His works are before the world and before the
heavens; they show for themselves. The tree is known by the fruit
it brings forth. The Lord has revealed in this day every key that
was ever held by any Patriarch or Prophet from the days of Father
Adam, in the Garden of Eden, down to the days of Joseph Smith,
that was necessary for the salvation of the sons of men. They
have been sealed on the head of Brigham Young and other servants
of God, and they will be held on the earth until this scene is
wound up. What a glorious thing it is that we, like the ancient
Saints, can be baptized for the dead, and thus open the prison
doors and set the prisoners free! The Lord is no respecter of
persons, and the fifty thousand millions of human beings who are
supposed to have lived on the earth from the days the ancient
servants of God were put to death, to the restoration of the
Gospel through Joseph Smith, never having had the privilege of
hearing the Gospel, are not going to remain in the eternal world
without the privilege of hearing the Gospel; but they will be
preached to by Joseph Smith and the Prophets, Patriarchs, and
Elders who have received the Priesthood on the earth in these
latter days. Many of them will receive their testimony, but
somebody must administer for them in the flesh, that they may be
judged according to men in the spirit, and have part in the first
resurrection, just the same as though they had heard the Gospel
in the flesh. The Lord has revealed this to us, and commanded us
to attend to this duty, the same as Jesus, while his body was in
the grave, preached three days and nights to the spirits in
prison who were rebellious during the long-suffering of God in
the days of Noah. They lay in prison until Jesus went and
preached to them.
39
This and every other principle which the Elders of this Church
preach and teach are from heaven--the Lord has revealed them.
They are before the world, and all who hear them will investigate
if they are wise. If there is a man on the face of the earth who
has got a true principle that we have not, will he please let us
have it? As President Young has said many a time, we will change
a dozen errors for one truth, and thank God for it. We are after
light and truth. We are not afraid of the doctrines of the
inhabitants of the earth being presented before us or our
children. We have truth, we have been called to present it to the
world. We have done it. If they have truths that we have not we
would like to obtain them.
40
I will say by way of conclusion that I thank God for the
privilege of attending these Conferences for many years, and for
seeing the increase and progress of his work. Here we meet from
every nation under heaven, just as the Prophets said. We have
been gathered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had the privilege,
last night and this morning, of meeting with Father Kington, the
old patriarch whom I met with over in Herefordshire, England,
where, like John the Baptist, he was a fore-runner of the Gospel
of Christ. Through his administrations the people in that county
had been prepared to receive the Gospel, and when we went and
preached to them, he and all his flock but one, numbering six
hundred, entered into the kingdom, and that opened a door which
enabled us to baptize eighteen hundred in about seven months'
labor. I never expected to see him again in this city, but he
came to my house last night, and he came to meeting to-day, and I
felt more pride and joy in meeting him than I should if it had
been the Emperor of Russia. I thank God that I have the privilege
of meeting with the Saints with whom I ate and drank in foreign
lands, who have listened to the voices of the Elders of Israel,
have received their testimonies, have been baptized for the
remission of sins, and received the testimony of the Holy Ghost.
40
Brethren and sisters, we are in the school of the Saints. Let us
progress, and try to improve and set our hearts on the things of
God and truth, and carry out and do the work of righteousness for
Jesus' sake. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, May 18, 1873
Brigham Young, May 18, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday afternoon,
May 18, 1873.
UNBELIEF--THE SAINTS REQUIRE CONSTANT INSTRUCTION--
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND THE RELIGIONS
OF MEN--EVIL WOULD CEASE AMONG THE SAINTS IF THEY WOULD
LIVE THEIR RELIGION--GATHERING THE POOR--TITHING--
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD--PROGRESS OF THE WORK IS DUE TO THE
OPERATIONS OF THE SPIRIT.
41
The teaching of grown people is the same as teaching the
children. We receive impressions when very young, and grow up to
further knowledge; it is the same in receiving the Gospel. When
we talk to persons who have not previously heard the Gospel, we
have to reason with the them on the propriety of receiving the
truth. We also have to reason with and persuade the Latter-day
Saints, and it is to them I wish principally to talk this
afternoon. When the Gospel is preached to the honest in heart
they receive it by faith, but when they obey it labor is
required. To practice the Gospel requires time, faith, the
heart's affections and a great deal of labor. Here many stop.
They hear and believe, but before they go out to practice they
begin to think that they were mistaken, and unbelief enters into
their hearts. There has been unbelief since the beginning of the
world. Have you not read the saying of Moses in regard to our
mother Eve? She had heard the voice of the Lord and understood
it, saying concerning the fruit of a certain tree, "in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." When her husband
was in another part of the garden, a certain character came along
and commenced to reason with her. "That is very fine fruit: I
understand the Lord says you must not partake of it." "Yes, for
in the day we eat of it he says we shall die." "Well," says he,
"that is not so. You must not believe all that is told you, but
think for yourself. Now I will tell you something. If you eat of
that fruit your eyes will be opened, and you will see as the
Gods." He hands her a little of the fruit, just to try,--no
matter whether it was an apple, a grape, or what it was,--she
tastes of it, and does not die, and likes it so well that when
Adam come along she says, "Husband, this fruit if delightful; I
have tasted it, and it is desirable to make one wise; take some."
"No," says he, "I shall not, the Lord has commanded us not to eat
of it." But just as it is with other husbands, she coaxes and
persuades, and finally he gives way and partakes of the forbidden
fruit. Now do you see how unbelief entered into the world in the
beginning? We have to reason with mankind to persuade them to
receive the truth of God. A declaratory statement is sufficient
for those who are prepared to receive the spirit of revelation
for themselves, but with the most of the human family we have to
reason and explain. A really pure person is very scarce; but when
the heart is truly pure, the Lord can write upon it, and the
truth is received without argument, or doubt, or disputation. If
we talk with the Latter-day Saints, we have to reason with them,
particularly on temporal matters. Now I could show, by sound
argument and logic, the necessity for the people to live and
labor for the good of all. Anybody ought to be able to see that
when one member of a family is pulling away from the others, and
living for self alone, it injures himself or herself as well as
the whole family. The necessity and beauty of union cannot be
better illustrated than by the example of the chief who called
his sons together just previous to his death, and, taking a
bundle of arrows, asked them each to break it. This they were
unable to do. "Now," said he, "unloose the bundle." They did so,
and could take the arrows singly, one by one, and break them with
ease. This will give us as good a proof as we can desire, than
when we are bond together as a unit, we are strong and powerful,
but when we are divided we are weak, and our enemies can obtain
power over us. Take our financial affairs, and they will show the
same principle. But we are prone to unbelief, and have to learn
by the childish principle--a little to-day and a little more
to-morrow, and after a while perhaps we will become truly
Latter-day Saints. We profess to be so now. But to be a Saint in
the full sense of the word, is to be something very nearly
perfect. If, however, we are striving to the utmost of the
ability God has given us to prove that we are willing to serve
him and perform our duties, we are justified. We have the kingdom
of God to build up, Zion to redeem; we have to sanctify ourselves
so that we may be prepared to be caught up with the Church of the
First Born, and if we improve every day and hour, then if we die
we shall be found justified. But if we continue to live, we must
become Saints in very deed, or come short of the fullness of the
glory of God that is to be revealed. To lead the Saints in this
direction we have to reason with them, and show the necessity for
their observing this precept and that law, this doctrine and that
principle, that they may be persuaded to do the will of God.
42
When Joseph Smith first learned from God the principle of baptism
for the remission of sins, he undoubtedly thought that he had
learned something great and wonderful; so, also, when he received
his ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John
the Baptist. But he did not fly off at a tangent, and think he
had it all, but was willing and anxious to be taught further.
After receiving this authority, he baptized his friends. When he
organized the Church, he received the higher Priesthood, after
the order of Melchizedek, which gave him authority not only to
baptize for the remission of sins, but to confirm by the laying
on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. The Aaronic
Priesthood holds power to baptize, but not to lay on hands to
confer the Holy Ghost. When Joseph Smith received this higher
power, he did not throw away the first, but received additions to
it. He learned of and administered the Sacrament, then went to
preaching a year or two, and received the High Priesthood, which
he imparted to others. There are men here who heard him say: "We
have added to our faith and knowledge, and have received keys and
authority, until I do not know of anything necessary to build up
and establish the kingdom of God on the earth, but what I have
received and bestowed upon you." He received his knowledge of the
things of God by degrees, until he obtained the last blessing
needful to bestow on his brethren.
44
The Latter-day Saints need talking to a great deal--they need
continual preaching and instruction upon almost everything. I am
happy to say there is an improvement, still I hear of strife,
brother going to law with brother, contention in families and in
the community. This should not be. Have we not learned yet to be
meek and lowly? Are we not willing to receive and abide the
providences of God with patience? How many are willing to do this
as they should? But very few. That disposition that came from the
fall is planted in our hearts, and will occasionally arise in the
bosom. Will we ever get experience enough so that we can overcome
these temptations that arise in the heart, so that we can say
good-bye to the fashions and follies of the world, and instead of
them imbibe good and wholesome principles? Certainly we will;
this is what we are after. The Latter-day Saints must learn to be
one in Christ. We are one in the ordinances and doctrines; one in
the ordinances of baptism, the laying on of hands, the
administration of the sacrament, the blessing of children, the
ordinations of the Priesthood, the endowment; also in the baptism
for the dead, though this was a trial for some at the first. When
God revealed to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon that there was a
place prepared for all, according to the light they had received
and their rejection of evil and practice of good, it was a great
trial to many, and some apostatized because God was not going to
send to everlasting punishment heathens and infants, but had a
place of salvation, in due time, for all and would bless the
honest and virtuous and truthful, whether they ever belonged to
any church or not. It was a new doctrine to this generation, and
many stumbled at it, but Joseph continued to receive revelation
upon revelation, ordinance upon ordinance, truth upon truth,
until he obtained all that was necessary for the salvation of the
human family. All the inhabitants of the earth are called of God;
they are called to repent and be baptized for the remission of
sins. When I first came into the church it was a subject of
considerable thought to me why people whom I knew to be as good
and moral as they could be, should have to repent. But I could
see afterwards that if they had nothing else to repent of they
could and ought to repent of their false religions, of their
narrow, contracted creeds in which they were bound, of the
ordinances of men, and get something better. These narrow,
contracted religions have spread infidelity in the world. They
should repent of these and take hold of the things of God and
receive the truths of heaven. "Well," say the ministers, "we have
lived according to the light we have received." We say, are you
willing to receive more? If so, here is more for you. So far as
your faith in Christ goes, and your morality, we say, amen. But
here is something more. "Ah," say they, "we have got enough, we
don't want any of your Mormonism." Well, now they do, if they
only knew it. I had a conversation recently with a prominent
minister of a church in the East and he said, I do not agree with
you in your peculiar views. I answered, are you not for the
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? If you are, so
am I. How is it possible to get up an argument? I will make a
bargain. I will compare my religion with yours. We will start out
with the Bible alone, taking it as the standard. All that the
Bible teaches for doctrine and practice we will take for our
guide. If I have an error I will part with it. Will you do the
same? If you can find that you have a truth that I have not, and
that I have an error, I will trade ten errors if I have them for
one truth. Take the religion of Christ from the foundation up,
and it is all true and for the benefit of mankind. Take the whole
world with their contentions and strife, the kings and potentates
who make war and murder the people by thousands, those who shoot
and kill, who rob the poor, who set at naught the counsel of God,
bring them together, read to them the precepts of Jesus, the
principles of the everlasting Gospel and see if there is one
principle that would injure them or the world of mankind in the
least. Will they injure a person, a family, a neighborhood? All
would join, if they spoke the truth, in saying no, not one; but
if we lived up to them, they would make the best condition of
society possible. Let the whole world take the Bible, the Book of
Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the writing and counsels
of this Church, and see if there is anything calculated in the
least degree, in any of their requirements, to injure one
individual on earth. I will say to these few Latter-day Saints,
and if all were here I would say in your hearts, "we will take
his counsel,"--and I can say before God he desires this people
would live their religion,--there would be no contentions, no
stealing, no cheating, no drunkenness, no lying; wrong-doing
would cease, the hand of mercy would be extended to the poor,
kindness and love would be spread abroad, and you would never
hear another jar in the land. I can say that I deserve more
obedience to counsel than I get. Can any man, woman or child
bring up one thing I have counseled that would injure anybody or
bring the least stain upon the kingdom of God upon the earth? No,
they cannot. Why can't we be of one heart and of one mind? Why is
it that my brethren allow themselves to be stirred up to strife
with their neighbors? Perhaps some neighbor has let down your
bars, and the cattle have got in, and you are injured in your
feelings and allow anger to enter into your hearts. Perhaps some
neighbor has borrowed your plow and broken it, or done something
else in which you are aggrieved; you set it down that that person
is no Saint. Perhaps if your own faults were portrayed you would
show as many as he has, but you set it down for a fact that he is
no Saint, or he would not do thus and so. Now cease this. When
you think your brother has injured you, go straight and learn the
intention of his heart, and judge according to that, and not
according to the outward appearances.
44
Do you say your prayers? How many houses of High Priests, if I
crept into them like a mouse, could I find where they do not pray
with their families, do not ask God to bless their labors, to
bless their fields and farms, their brethren and the kingdom of
God on the earth? How many Elders, Seventies and Bishops would I
find in the same condition? The Bishops should be a perfect
example to their wards in all things. How many are there who are
strictly honest and fair in their deal? I have experienced so
much on that subject that I had better say little upon it. But I
say to you, deal justly, act mercifully and eschew evil. Do good
to all men. We say sometimes, "I will not do any favor for that
man, he is unworthy of assistance." I will give you a piece of
counsel. Do good to all. It is better to feed nine unworthy
persons than to let one worthy person--the tenth, go hungry.
Follow this rule and you will be apt to be found on the right
side of doing good.
44
Suppose we look around here? How many of you sisters have donated
fifty cents to help gather the poor this season? Don't say you
have no money. Have you not had fifty cents to buy a ribbon? How
about that ten dollars to buy hair from somebody else's head when
you have plenty on your own? Take the brethren, too, who wear
needless clothing, smoke cigars, &c. Take all the money that is
spent for tea and coffee and squandered in waste and how much
could we get? Why enough to send for the poor, who are begging
and pleading to come, by the scores of thousands. We got a purse
of some four thousand dollars at the late Conference. I put in
one thousand dollars, brother Hooper put in one thousand dollars.
That makes about half the amount. I spoke when I was here, about
two years ago, about Elders who had borrowed money of poor Saints
in the old country and never paid them. I said then such men
should be cut off from the Church.
45
How much tithing do you pay? The professing Christians, apostates
and others have a great deal to say about the Saints paying
tithing. Now let us compare notes. The Elders of this Church
travel and preach without purse or scrip, and labor at home as
Bishops, Presidents, High Counselors, and Ministers, free of
charge. Now take the Christians, how many of their Ministers
preach without pay? Go to their meetings, in their churches,
halls, schoolhouses, or any of their public gatherings, and you
have a box, a plate, or a hat put under your face, and it is,
'Give me a sixpence, give me a sixpence, give me a sixpence!"
Show me the Elder of this Church that does this? We preach the
Gospel without purse or scrip and work for our own bread and
butter. Yet the Christian world whine about our paying tithing.
The Saints should pay the tenth of their income with glad and
thankful hearts, and help to bring home the poor. We have
supported and helped the poor to the amount of millions. We have
picked up those who were poor and brought them here and taught
them how to work and take care of themselves, and some of them
ride in their carriages as proud as the lords of the old world
from whence they came.
45
In regard to this whining of the world about Brigham's handling
the tithing, I can say that he has put in ten dollars where he
has taken one out of the treasury, and he has paid more tithing
than any other man in the Church. Everybody should pay their
tenth. A poor woman ought to pay her tenth chicken, if she has to
draw out ten times its value for her support. It is all the
Lord's and we are only his stewards.
45
The Latter-day Saints want persuading. What for? Their own good.
Some people talk of how long they have served the Lord, and now
they want to do something for themselves. The moment they begin
to feel and act like this, they commence to serve the devil.
There are two powers on earth, God and Satan, and we must serve
one or the other. God required obedience to his laws. If I do
this I do nothing more than I do to the United States. We have
enlisted to serve the King of Kings; He has laws, rules,
regulations, &c. Why should we not be as willing to pay taxes to
Him as to the United States. We believe in obeying the laws of
the land, we should also obey the laws of God.
45
People have found out that we believe in a plurality of wives.
The people of this Government say we shall not have a plurality
of wives. Why not say: "a plurality of women," and we shan't have
any objection to it. Because this would strike at men in high
places. Their idea is, "If you want women, illegally, and then
thrust them into the street when you have done with them, we care
nothing about it; but if God has revealed anything about
plurality of wives, to marry and provide for them, as he did in
the days of the Patriarchs, we don't want any of it." If I have
wives given to me of the Lord, I do not break any constitutional
law of the land. But enough of that.
45
I want to persuade the Latter-day Saints to be Latter-day Saints.
Bro. Woodruff was talking about the necessity of making our own
clothing. I say if we go on as we have been doing, and calculate
to continue to purchase from abroad most of what we wear, and a
great deal of what we eat, we shall be left without. Do you know
that Babylon is going to fall? Her merchants will cry out, "there
is no one to buy our merchandise." And if you and I do not learn
how to take care of ourselves, and raise and manufacture what we
consume, we shall have to go without. If you do not know how, go
to work and learn how to knot, sew, weave, make ribbons, raise
silk and make up and manufacture your own wearing apparel and all
you need.
46
Now, on another subject. There is a God who lives, and who framed
and fashioned this earth, and who brought forth that which is on
the face thereof. He has laws. Everything is controlled by law.
The actions of men, however, are left free; they are agents to
themselves and must act freely on that agency, or else how could
they be judged for their actions? But God reserves the right to
himself to control the results of their acts, and this no man can
hinder. Who of the Christian divines know anything about the God
we serve? I never saw any one, until I met Joseph Smith, who
could tell me anything about the character, personality, and
dwelling-place of God, or anything satisfactory about angels, or
the relationship of man to his Maker. Yet I was as diligent as
any man need to be to try and find out these things. We know more
about God and the heavens than we care to tell. And if we
introduce a principle and try to reduce it to the comprehension
of the people, there will be some even among the Latter-day
Saints who would be hard to understand. Where is the divine who
knows the least thing about that Being who is the Father of our
Spirits and the author of our bodies? If we know something about
him is there any harm in it? Not a bit. The world of mankind are
infidels. We should all be infidel to every false principle. I am
infidel in regard to many things, but to the truth, wherever
found, I am no infidel. The Christian world is infidel to the
truth in a great degree. Why? Because they know so little of the
mind and will of God. Step outside of this kingdom, and who can
tell us the first process towards covering the earth with the
knowledge of God? Who is there that can tell us anything about
that angel whom John saw coming with the everlasting Gospel as
recorded in John's Revelations? I never found any one who could
till I saw Joseph Smith. He could tell me what I had so much
desired to learn. What do the Christian divines know about it
even at the present day? If they do know anything about it I wish
they would tell us. But if they do not know, and will not receive
the things of God from those who do know, does not this make them
infidels to the truth?
46
My testimony is the positive. I know that there are such cities
as London, Paris, and New York--from my own experience or from
that of others; I know that the sun shines, I know that I exist
and have a being, and I testify that there is a God, and that
Jesus Christ lives, and that he is the Savior of the World. Have
you been to heaven and learned to the contrary? I know that
Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that he had many
revelations. Who can disprove this testimony? Any one may dispute
it, but there is no one in the world who can disprove it. I have
had many revelations; I have seen and heard for myself, and know
these things are true, and nobody on earth can disprove them. The
eye, the ear, the hand, all the senses may be deceived, but the
Spirit of God cannot be deceived; and when inspired with that
Spirit, the whole man is filled with knowledge, he can see with a
spiritual eye, and he knows that which is beyond the power of man
to controvert. What I know concerning God, concerning the earth,
concerning government, I have received from the heavens, not
alone through my natural ability, and I give God the glory and
the praise. Men talk about what has been accomplished under my
direction, and attribute it to my wisdom and ability; but it is
all by the power of God, and by intelligence received from him. I
say to the whole world, receive the truth, no matter who presents
it to you.
46
Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints
with it, and see if it will stand the test.
47
We preach the Gospel, gather the people of God from all nations
tongues and people, and build up the kingdom of God on the earth,
and this calls for manual labor, the affections of the heart, and
the devotion of all our powers. God bless you. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, May 18, 1873
Orson Pratt, May 18, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday morning,
May 18, 1873.
Reported by James Taylor.
MEETING OF ADAM WITH HIS POSTERITY IN THE VALLEY OF
ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN--LOCATION OF THE VALLEY--THE COVENANT
WITH ENOCH--RECORDS OF GOD'S DEALINGS WITH MEN FROM
THE PERIOD OF THE CREATION--METHOD OF PRESERVING THE
RECORDS OF ANCIENT PROPHETS--CHRIST'S ADVENT AMONG THE
NEPHITES--FULFILLMENT OF GOD'S PURPOSES AND THE FULLNESS
OF TIMES.
47
Having been requested to speak this forenoon, and to continue the
subject upon which we were addressed yesterday afternoon, I
cheerfully do so, hoping that I may have the attention of the
congregation, as far as possible, that I may be able to make all
hear.
47
The subject upon which brother Taylor addressed the congregation
yesterday afternoon, and upon which a few words were said by
those who followed him, is one of very great importance in its
bearings upon the present generation; for all things that have
once been revealed, and which are not lost, will be revealed
anew, in order to fulfill that passage of Scripture recorded in
the 11th chap. of Isaiah and 9th verse, "The knowledge of God
shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." Things of all
former dispensations will be made manifest and revealed anew in
the great dispensation of the fullness of times. And in order to
understand more clearly the things that are to be revealed and
made manifest again to the inhabitants of the earth, it may not
be amiss for me to refer to some of the past records of antiquity
that were revealed from heaven for the benefit of past
generations. The first one that occurs to my mind will be found
in the Book of Covenants, page 79, paragraph 29: "And Adam stood
up in the midst of the congregation, and notwithstanding he was
bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted
whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest
generation. These things were all written in the Book of Enoch,
and are to be testified of in due time."
47
Adam was the first personage placed on the earth, in the Garden
of Eden, and having transgressed, and having been cast out of the
Garden of Eden, and having fulfilled a long probation, amounting
to almost a thousand years, he concluded to gather together his
children, which he did three years previously to his death. As
recorded on the same page, he gathered Seth, Enos, Cainaan,
Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, who were successive
descendants, making eight generations in all, including himself,
into the valley of Adam-ondi-ahman. This was nearly a thousand
years after Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, seven
generations of his children, or the righteous portion thereof,
were gathered together in that valley. And here it may not be
amiss for me to say a few words in relation to the location of
that interesting meeting or conference.
47
The valley of Adam-ondi-ahman, according to the views and belief
of the Latter-day Saints, was located on the western hemisphere
of our globe. (I would here say, that as the greater portion of
this congregation are Latter-day Saints, the proofs and evidences
which I shall bring forth, in relation to the matter before me,
will be selected from those books which are believed by them,
which may not be particular evidence to strangers, but to the
Latter-day Saints they will be undisputed evidence.)
Adam-ondi-ahman, the Valley of God, where Adam dwelt, was located
about fifty miles north of Jackson County, in the State of
Missouri. The Lord has revealed to us that Adam dwelt there
towards the latter period of his probation. Whether he had lived
in that region of country from the earliest period of his
existence on the earth, we know not. He might have lived
thousands of miles distant, in his early days. It might have been
upon what we now term the great eastern hemisphere, for in those
days the eastern and western hemispheres were one, and were not
divided asunder till the days of Peleg. Adam might have migrated
from the great east, gathered up with the people of God in
connection with the Church of Enoch, and formed a location in the
western boundaries of Missouri. This is not revealed.
49
The object of this grand meeting of our great ancestors, was that
Adam might bestow a great Patriarchal blessing upon his
descendants. Hence the righteous of his posterity were gathered
on that occasion. He pronounced upon them his last blessing. They
were favored on that occasion, for the Lord appeared unto them.
This meeting was very interesting in its nature, and the Lord was
very much interested, as well as the people. He appeared to this
vast congregation, and imparted comfort to Adam in his old age.
And Adam was filled with the Holy Ghost. Notwithstanding he was
bowed down with age, being filled with the Holy Ghost, he
predicted what should come to pass among his posterity to the
latest generations. Hence he must have spoken concerning all the
following dispensations, that were to be revealed from time to
time to the children of men. He must have spoken concerning the
spreading of his posterity after the days of Noah, and of the
great work of God being established on the earth in the latter
days, and concerning the second advent of the Son of God,
concerning the great day of rest, the period when Satan should be
bound. All these things were written in the Book of Enoch, who
was present on that occasion. And this book is to be testified
of, in due time, to the Saints of the last days. This will be one
of the means by which God will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah,
that, "the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters
cover the great deep."
49
Saying nothing about the prophecies of Seth, Enos, Cainan,
Mahalaleel and Jared, we will next come down to the days of
Enoch. Enoch prophecied of all things, as well as his great
ancestor, Adam. A few of his words are translated, and brought to
light by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and published in the various
publications of this Church--in the "Evening and Morning Star,"
the "Pearl of Great Price," etc. This prophecy, though very
short, as far as it has been revealed, unfolds marvelous
principles, showing that his eyes were opened to see things that
were past, and things in the future, all of which were recorded
in the Book of Enoch, which is to be brought to light and
revealed in the latter times. Among the things revealed to Enoch
was the knowledge of the flood, which was to take place. And the
Lord made a covenant with Enoch, that He would set His bow in the
clouds--just as it afterwards was given to Noah--not as a mere
token alone that the Lord would no more drown the world, but as a
token of the new and everlasting covenant that the Lord made with
Enoch. The words of this covenant I have made with you. That in
the latter days, when men shall keep all my commandments, Zion
shall look upwards and the Heavens shall look downwards," etc.
The bow that was set in the clouds was to be a token, between God
and the inhabitants of the earth, of the bringing again of Zion,
and of the assembling of the Saints of all dispensations.
Therefore, when I have seen the bow in the clouds, it causes me
to remember the covenant that God made in those early ages, and
which is soon to be fulfilled in the last dispensation of the
fulness of times. How great and how important is this covenant
with the Zion which was built up by Enoch, which was to be taken
up into heaven and remain sanctified as a place of the Lord's
abode forever! where he should dwell in the midst of his people,
and where he should behold their faces, and they should behold
his face. That this ancient Zion, and all the inhabitants
thereof, should come from heaven and reign on the earth, and that
Jesus should come with them. And for fear that the Saints should
forget this, a beautiful bow was placed in the clouds, that they
might remember that the Lord was looking upon them, and that he
would remember his covenant with Enoch in regard to bringing his
Zion again. This we find in the periodicals of the Church. When
this time shall come that the Lord will bring again ancient Zion,
this will assist in filling the earth with the knowledge of God
as the waters cover the great deep; and will serve to put us in
possession of the history of Zion, of the order of that ancient
people, when they walked in righteousness three hundred and
sixty-five years before they were prepared for a translation to
heaven.
50
When we come to converse with Enoch and his city face to face,
and hear from their own mouths the declaration of their own
history, and the preaching of the Gospel in that age of the
world, it will unfold a vast amount of knowledge in regard to the
events before the flood.
50
We come down to the days of Noah. He was a righteous man, and
called of God to preach the Gospel among the nations as it was
revealed to his forefathers, and before the days of the flood, so
great was the faith of many of the people, after the days that
Enoch's city was caught up, that the Holy Ghost fell upon them,
and they were caught up by the power of heaven into the midst of
Zion--the Zion of Enoch. Thus we have further knowledge revealed
to us.
50
Noah, after having preached the Gospel and published glad tidings
among the nations, was commanded to build an ark. He has a Urim
and Thummim by which he was enabled to discern all things
pertaining to the ark, and its patten. He was a great Prophet,
and predicted many things, and his records, no doubt, were hidden
up, and will come forth in due time, when the Lord shall cover
the earth with his knowledge as the waters cover the great deep.
50
Many people have supposed that Moses was the first man, and the
people of his day the first generation that knew anything about
written characters, and that all the people, from the days of
Adam down to Moses, did not know how to put their thoughts in the
form of writing; but let me inform you how writing commenced. We
read in the Book of Enoch, in the "Pearl of Great Price," that
the Lord taught Adam how to write records by the inspiration of
his Spirit. And it was given him concerning the mode of placing
his thoughts in the form of writing. This is recorded in the Book
of Enoch, and the "Pearl of Great Price."
50
The people before the flood did not lose the art of writing, but
they wrote their revelation, visions, etc., in the language of
Adam--the first language given to man. This knowledge was
retained through the flood.
52
We come down to the days of the building of the Tower of Babel,
soon after the flood. About the time of Abraham and the Tower of
Babel, soon after the flood. The people being of one language,
gathered together to build a tower to reach, as they supposed,
the crystalized heavens. They thought that the City of Enoch was
caught up a little ways from the earth, and that the city was
within the first sphere above the earth; and that if they could
get a tower high enough, they might get to heaven, where the City
of Enoch and the inhabitants thereof were located. They went to
work and built a tower. They had this tradition, that there had
been a translation of people from the earth, and they were
anxious to become acquainted with them; but the Lord says that
they were one, and that they all had one language, and that
nothing would be restrained from them which they imagined to do;
and, as a curse, he sent a variety of tongues--took from them
their own mother-tongue. The language of Adam was all forgotten
in a moment; and independently of taking away from them the
knowledge of their own tongue, he gave them a multitude of other
tongues, so that they could not understand one another. In those
days there were a few righteous individuals living at the Tower,
among whom was Jared, a very good man, and his brother. When they
understood, by the spirit of prophecy, that the Lord was about to
scatter the people to the four corners of the earth, the brother
of Jared called upon the Lord, by the request of Jared, that the
Lord might lead them to a choice land. Did they come upon this
great western hemisphere without a knowledge of God? No. Without
any written record? No. Read the Book of Mormon, page 530, or in
other words, the Book of Ether, and you will find there recorded,
several generations after the Israelites came from the Tower of
Babel and landed upon this continent, that there was a certain
woman, the daughter of one of the ancient men of note, that
referred her father to those records which their fathers brought
from the Tower of Babel; told her father what was recorded in
them. "Hath my father not read the record which our fathers
brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account
concerning them of old; that they, by their secret plans did
obtain kingdoms and great glory." She put it in the heart of her
father, Jared, to follow those wicked acts which were entered
into by Cain. It shows that the Jaredites did not come here
without a record of the things from the days of Adam, down; they
had it with them. They kept it with them, and multiplied copies
in the midst of their nation. But you may ask, how do we know
about this first colony that came to this continent? How came we
in possession of this knowledge? It was by the records which they
themselves kept. The Jaredites, acquainted with the art of
writing, kept their records. And among the host of records kept
by them, were twenty-four plates of pure gold, which were kept by
the Prophet Ether, some 1600 or 1800 years after their colony
came to this land, from the Tower of Babel. He kept a record.
These records were carried by Ether from the hill Ramah,
afterwards called Cumorah, where the Jaredites were destroyed, as
well as the Nephites. He carried them forth towards South
America, and placed them in a position north of the Isthmus,
where a portion of the people of King Limhi, about one hundred
years before Christ, found them. I will read you a little
description of their being found. On page 161, Book of Mormon, it
appears that the people of Limhi were a certain colony that had
left the main body of the Nephites, and had settled in the land
where Nephi built and located his little colony, soon after their
landing on the western coast of South America. After landing,
Nephi was commanded of God to take those who would believe in the
Most High, and flee out from his brethren. And they traveled many
days' journey to the northward, and located in a land which they
called the Land of Nephi, and dwelt there some four hundred
years. And then because of the wickedness of the people they were
threatened with a great destruction. The Lord led Mosiah out of
the Land of Nephi, and led him still further north, some twenty
days' journey, and they located on the River Sidon, now called
Magdalena, which runs from south to the north. And there they
found a people called the people of Zarahemla. And some of the
Nephites desired to return to the Land of Nephi, which they did.
In about a century afterwards, there being no communication
between the colonies, they sent out a number of men to see if
they could find the people of Zarahemla. And they were lost, and
came to a part of a country covered with bones. This is what I am
going to read. And as a testimony that these things are true,
they brought twenty-four plates of gold, and breast-plates of
brass and copper, and swords, &c.
52
Book of Mormon, page 161:
52
"And it came to pass that after King Limhi had made an end of
speaking to his people, for he spake many things unto them, and
only a few of them have I written in this Book, he told his
people all the things concerning their brethren who were in the
land of Zarahemla, and he caused that Ammon should stand up
before the multitude, and rehearse unto them all that had
happened unto their brethren from the time that Zeniff went up
out of the land. And he also rehearsed unto them the last words
which King Benjamin had taught them, and explained them to the
people of King Limhi, so that they might understand all the words
which he spake. And it came to pass that after he had done all
this, that King Limhi dismissed the multitude, and caused that
they should return, every one unto his own house."
52
"And it came to pass that he caused that the plates which
contained the record of his people, from the time that they left
the land of Zarahemla should be brought before Ammon, that he
might read them. Now, as soon as Ammon had read the record, the
king inquired of him to know if he could interpret languages, and
Ammon told him that he could not. And the king said unto him,
being grieved for the afflictions of my people, I caused that
forty and three of my people should take a journey into the
wilderness, that thereby they might find the land of Zarahemla,
that we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver us out of
bondage; and they were lost in the wilderness for the space of
many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of
Zarahemla, but returned to this land, having traveled in a land
among many waters; having discovered a land which was covered
with bones of men, and of beasts, &c., and was also covered with
the ruins of buildings of every kind; having discovered a land
which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the
hosts of Israel. And for a testimony that the things that they
have said are true, they have brought twenty-four plates which
are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold. And
behold, also, they have brought breast plates, which are large,
and they are of brass and of copper, and are perfectly sound. And
again they have brought swords, the hilts thereof have perished,
and the blades thereof were cankered with rust; and there is no
one in the land that is able to interpret the language or the
engravings that are on the plates. Therefore I said unto thee
canst thou translate? And I say unto thee again, knowest thou of
any one that can translate? for I am desirous that these records
should be translated into our language; for, perhaps, they will
give us a knowledge of a remnant of the people, who have been
destroyed, from whence these records came; or perhaps they will
give us a knowledge of this very people who have been destroyed;
and I am desirous to know the cause of their destruction."
52
"Now Ammon said unto him, I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a
man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he
can look and translate all records that are of ancient date; and
it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters,
and no man can look in them except he be commanded lest he should
look for that he ought not, and he should perish. And whosoever
is commanded to look in them is called seer. And behold, the king
of the people, who is in the land of Zarahemla is the man who is
commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from
God."
53
I have read this to give you an idea how the Israelites that
inhabited this continent, before the days of Christ, came to the
knowledge of the first colony that came from the Tower of Babel.
This company, that was lost in the wilderness, brought these
plates, with breast plates and swords, the hilts thereof having
perished, and the blades thereof having cankered with rust.
53
Now Mosiah, the king, that dwelt in the land of Zarahemla, was
the man that was called of God to translate. He had the gift and
power given to him to translate these twenty-four plates. We have
an account, on another page of the Book of Mormon, of his
translating these plates; and that it gave an account of the
people from the days of Adam down to the flood,--to the days of
the Tower of Babel, and down to the days they were destroyed.
53
Now will this record ever be brought to light to help fill the
earth with the knowledge of God? Let me refer you to what is
recorded in the Book of Ether, page 516:--
53
"And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient
inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the
face of this north country. And I take mine account from the
twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi,
which is called the Book of Ether. And as I suppose that the
first part of this record, which speaks concerning the creation
of the world, and also of Adam, and an account from that time
even to the great Tower, and whatsoever things transpired among
the children of men until that time, is had among the Jews,
therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the
days of Adam until that time;" (Now notice the next sentence;)
"but they are had upon the plates; and whoso findeth them, the
same will have power that he may get the full account."
53
They are not yet found. We have the Book of Ether, that is not
one-hundredth part of the contents of those twenty-four plates.
But a very short account. Whoso findeth these twenty-four plates
will have power to get the full account; for they give a history
from the days of Adam through the various generations to the days
of the flood, from the days of the flood down to the days of
Peleg, and from the days of Peleg to the Tower, which was very
nearly contemporary with Peleg. And from that time for some
sixteen or eighteen centuries after they landed on this
continent. The prophecies of their Prophets in different
generations, who published glad tidings of joy upon the face of
all the northern portion of this continent. Their records and
doings are all to come to light, and these will help to fulfill
the words of our text that the knowledge of God will cover the
earth as the waters cover the great deep.
54
But we will pass along and come to the second colony, that the
Lord brought out of Jerusalem, six hundred years before Christ.
Did they bring any records with them? Had they the art of
writing? Yes. When they lived among the Jews the art of writing
was extensively known among the Jews. It was their art to write
in the Egyptian language, as Nephi testifies on the first page of
the Book of Mormon. "Therefore I make a record of my proceedings
in my days; yea, I make a record in the language of my father,
which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of
the Egyptians." A language which their forefathers learned, while
they dwelt in Egypt, and which they were familiar with, but
probably lost it in some measure, but still retained a portion of
it, and wrote their records in the same.
54
Now if you will appeal to Biblical history you will find that the
Israelites did write their records, in ancient times, upon
metallic plates, and that these plates were connected together,
with rings, passing through the leaves. Through the whole a stick
was placed for carrying the record. This description we have
given by those who have deeply studied concerning the Scriptures
and the ancient doings of the Israelites. When Lehi left
Jerusalem, there was a certain man that lived in Jerusalem, that
had kept records upon brass plates. And these records, we are
informed had been handed down from the early ages of the
Israelites, until Lehi left Jerusalem. They contained a copy of
the genealogy of the tribe of Joseph in the land of Palestine.
Laban being a descendent of Joseph, the records had fallen into
his hands. Lehi was commanded to send his sons to obtain these
records; for he had pitched his tent on the eastern borders of
the Red Sea. The history of his obtaining them you will find
recorded in the Book of Mormon. On the 10th page it reads--"And
it came to pass, that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer
sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks
unto the God of Israel. And after they had given thanks unto the
God of Israel my father Lehi took the records which were engraven
upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the
beginning. And he beheld that they did contain the five books of
Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and
also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents; and also a
record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the
commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah; and also
the prophecies of the Holy Prophets, from the beginning, even
down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, and also many
prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah."
54
"And it came to pass that my father Lehi also found upon the
plates of brass, a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew
that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was
the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved
by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father Jacob
and all his household from perishing with famine. And they were
also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that
same God who had preserved them. And thus my father Lehi did
discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a
descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the
records."
54
"And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with
the spirit, and began to prophecy concerning his seed; that these
plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds,
tongues and people who were of his seed. Wherefore he said that
these plates of brass should never perish, neither should they be
dimmed any more by time. And he prophecied many things concerning
his seed."
54
I have read this in order to come to another thing that has a
bearing upon our text. These plates of brass contained the
prophecies of all the holy Prophets from the beginning--from the
days of Adam; hence they must have contained the prophecies of
Enoch, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in Egypt.
The prophecies of Isaiah and many others of the holy Prophets
were contained upon these plates of brass.
56
Notwithstanding brass is a metallic substance capable of being
dissolved and crumbling back, in a few years to the elements, yet
there was a miracle wrought upon these plates of brass. The
Prophet said that these plates of brass should not be dimmed by
time, that God would preserve them to the latest generations.
What for? In order that they might come forth and their contents
by translated by the Urim and Thummim, that these contents might
be declared to all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and
people, who were the descendants of Lehi upon the face of all
this continent, from the frozen regions of the north to the very
utmost extremities of South America. That all these nations
should come to a knowledge of the things contained on those
plates of brass.
56
Now the Lord did many things of this kind in ancient days. If
there should be any strangers present let me show you how the
Lord can do many wonderful things. Let me refer you to the pot of
manna and substance of which would not keep over twenty-four
hours, except on Sunday, and then it was preserved from becoming
nauseous. But on the certain occasion the children of Israel were
to collect a pot of this manna, and it was placed in the
Tabernacle of the congregation, and instead of becoming nauseous,
it remained just as fresh in future generations, as on the
morning it was gleaned up.
56
Certain rods were gathered up to represent the twelve tribes of
Israel, and Aaron's rod budded and blossomed in one night; and
that was handed down from generation to generation. And hence we
see that God did work miracles for his people on the eastern
continent. Is it any more marvelous that he should preserve the
brass plates from being dimmed by time? No. They exist, and in
the own due time of the Lord, he will inspire a mighty seer, and
give him the Urim and Thummim, and enable him to bring forth
these sacred scriptures.
56
Now, to show you the value of the scripture of the brass plates,
over the Jewish records translated by King James, let me refer
you to the Book of Mormon. On the 24th page, speaking of the
coming forth of these records, the angel said to Nephi, "The book
that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews, which contains the
covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of
Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy
Prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are
upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many." That is,
there are not so many prophecies and revelations contained in the
Jewish Bible of our day as there were upon the plates of brass.
Nevertheless they contained the covenants of the Lord, which he
has made with the House of Israel; therefore they are of great
worth unto the children of men.
56
If you will turn to the Book of Jacob in the Book of Mormon, page
122, you will find a lengthy prophecy, or parable of the olive
tree, quoted from the brass plates, by which the house of Israel
is represented--a parable of their being planted in the Lord's
vineyard; a parable of the great work of the Lord in the last
days, when his servants should be called to labor and gather
these young branches and graft them into their own olive tree.
This parable was revealed to the Prophet Zenos, and gives great
instruction. We could also refer you to some four or five other
places where Zenos and Zenock prophecied concerning the
restoration of all the house of Israel in the latter days; and
concerning the descendants of Joseph. And Lehi, being of the seed
of Joseph, was interested in relation to his future generations,
and therefore understood the whole history of these remnants of
Joseph, and prophecied concerning them; a few quotations being
given in the Book of Mormon. They understood concerning the
coming of the Lord Jesus in the flesh, his crucifixion and
resurrection from the dead; and the signs shown forth to the
remnants of Israel scattered to the four corners of the earth and
the islands of the sea; and the great destruction which should
come upon the people because of their wickedness.
56
I will refer you to the prophecies of Joseph in Egypt. In order
to show you what is said concerning him, as a Prophet, I will
refer you to page 62, Book of Mormon. "And now, I, Nephi, speak
concerning the prophecies of which my father hath spoken,
concerning Joseph, who was carried into Egypt. For behold he
truly prophecied concerning all his seed, and the prophecies
which he wrote, there are not many greater. And he prophecied
concerning us, and our future generations; and they are written
upon the plates of brass."
56
Search all the records you can find, and you will find that
Joseph has prophecied concerning as great things as any other
prophet that ever lived. Now these plates of brass were handed
down. We have an account of them by Alma, the Prophet. And
concerning the Urim and Thummim, they were also handed down.
56
But we will now come down to the days of Jesus. From the time
that Lehi left Jerusalem to the days of Jesus, there were a great
many records kept by the remnant of Joseph, upon this land. The
book of Mormon does not contain one hundredth part of the records
of these prophets. Now did they keep all of them on plates, or
did they multiply them by thousands of copies on this land? Let
me refer you to page 388, of the Book of Mormon. "And now behold
all those engravings which were in the possession of Helaman,
were written and sent forth among the children of men throughout
all the land, save it were those parts which had been commanded
by Alma should not go forth. Nevertheless these things were to be
kept sacred, and handed down from one generation to another."
What period of time was this? Only fifty-two years before the
birth of Christ. Fifty-four years before Christ as we find on
page 387, (Book of Mormon), there was a large company of men,
5,400 with their wives and children, went out of the land of
Zarahemla, to the land northward, and in a few years afterwards,
as you will find on page 393 and 394, they went forth by
thousands, and also sent forth colonies by sea, and timber to
build cities; and they built houses of cement; and many cities of
timber. And the people became very numerous. Now to confine the
sacred records in one place, and to keep the people in ignorance
in regard to their contents, would not be reasonable. Hence we
are informed that they were written and sent forth throughout all
the land, and this will account for the extracts from the
Scriptures written in ancient Hebrew, discovered in the mounds
that have been opened in Ohio, among which were the ten
commandments. The people of this land were well acquainted with
the Scriptures.
57
Go to the City of Amonihah in the northern part of South America.
They had become wicked, yet they had the Holy Scriptures; and
they brought them forth and burned them with fire, and all that
believed them were burned in the fire. (See Book of Mormon, page
249.) Showing that the people had many copies of the Scriptures.
And, again we find that the Nephite missionaries who went among
the Lamanites, carried with them copies of the Scriptures; and
that by the means of these copies they convinced the Lamanites of
the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers.
57
When Jesus came to this continent he taught the people several
days. And these things were written upon the plates of Nephi. But
Mormon made an abridgement of these writings, and he states, on
page 484: "And now there cannot be written in this book even a
hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the
people; but behold the plates of Nephi, do contain the more part
of the things which he taught the people; and these things have I
written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught
the people, and I have written them to the intent that they may
be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according
to the words which Jesus hath spoken. And when they shall have
received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to
try their faith, and if it so be that they shall believe these
things, then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.
And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then
shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their
condemnation. Behold I were about to write them all which were
engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbid it,
saying, I will try the faith of my people; therefore I, Mormon,
do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And
now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write
the things that have been commanded me; therefore I would that ye
should behold that the Lord did truly teach the people, for the
space of three days; and after that, he did show himself unto
them oft, and did break bread oft, and bless it, and give it unto
them."
57
Thus we perceive that we have not the one-hundredth part of the
teachings of the greatest of all prophets, even our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ,--the words that he delivered to the ancient
Nephites. The Nephites understood all these marvelous things. No
doubt there were many instructions--a vast amount of
instructions--in regard to their property; for they had all
things common, both in North and South America, among the
millions of this land, for one hundred and sixty-seven years.
After which, in the year two hundred and one after the birth of
Christ, they began to withdraw from this order, and began to be
divided into different classes, &c. Now, if we had all the
teachings of Jesus, we would find the order of things that
preserved equality upon this continent during all that period of
time; which would give us a vast amount of knowledge concerning
the things which we must enter into.
57
But will these things be brought to light? Yes. The records, now
slumbering in the hill Cumorah, will be brought forth by the
power of God, to fulfill the words of our text, that "the
knowledge of God shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the
great deep."
58
Again, Jesus, on the last visit to the Nephites, called up his
twelve disciples and pronounced a certain blessing upon them, and
especially upon three of them. Mormon says, concerning these
three that were to tarry, that great works shall be wrought by
them before the great day of the Lord shall come. Then he says,
that if you had all the Scriptures, you would know that these
things would be fulfilled. We would know a great many things if
we only had these Scriptures and revelations. They are to be
revealed to fill our earth with the knowledge of God, as the
waters cover the great deep.
58
Not only the records of the ancient inhabitants of this land are
to come forth, but the records of those who slept on the eastern
hemisphere. The records of John, him who baptized the Lamb of
God, are yet to be revealed. We are informed in the book of
Doctrine and Covenants, page 245, that the fullness of the record
of John, is to be revealed to the Latter-day Saints.
58
But shall we stop with these records? No. Let me repeat to you
the words of the Lord. The Lord said to Nephi, speaking of the
latter days, that the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews,
and the Jews, shall have the words of the Nephites; and the lost
tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the
Jews; and I will gather the people from the four quarters of the
earth; and my words shall be gathered in one, (See Book of
Mormon, page 108), the records of the Nephites upon this land.
And the numerous people that have been planted on the islands of
the sea, are to be gathered in one; for they were righteous in
some of their earlier generations; and that knowledge is yet to
be brought forth; and when these islands shall deliver up their
people, their records shall be gathered in one.
58
And again, concerning what the people say, "we have got a Bible,
and we need no more Bible." "Know ye not that I am the same God,
yesterday and forever; and it shall come to pass, that I shall
speak to the Jews, and they shall write it. I shall speak to the
lost tribes of Israel, and they shall write it. I will speak to
all the nations of the earth, and they shall write it. And by my
words that are spoken, shall the children of men be judged
according to their deeds. And all these things shall come forth
to fill the earth with the knowledge of God.
58
We go to the book of Doctrine and Covenants, where we find that
the Lord is to reveal many of his great and marvelous purposes,
that have been kept hid from the foundation of the world; and
things that have not been revealed to any former generation. It
is not enough that these different records referred to should be
revealed, and that the islands of the sea should deliver up their
knowledge, but it is necessary that the heavens should give the
knowledge which was before our earth was created. And you are
students in this great university, which God has established, a
study concerning God, and get a study of things in the heavens
and things that are past and present, and things that are to
come--a knowledge that comes through the power and inspiration of
the Holy Ghost.
59
But this is not all; God has said that he "will pour out his
Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophecy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men
shall dream dreams; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I
will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall
prophecy." Young men and old men shall receive knowledge from the
heavens. Again, it is written in Isaiah: "All thy children shall
be taught of the Lord." It will not be necessary for one man to
say to his neighbor, know ye the Lord, for all shall know him.
Then it will not be necessary for us to preach so much, because
the Lord our God will teach them from on high. Old and young,
male and female, will receive knowledge; and our little children
will utter forth their voices, and speak forth that which is not
now lawful to utter, but it will be uttered to the human family
by the mouths of babes and sucklings. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Franklin D. Richards, June 28, 1873
Franklin D. Richards, June 28, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS,
Delivered at Logan, Cache County, Saturday Morning,
June 28, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans.
IMPROVED CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE SAINTS IN UTAH--POTENCY
OF THE LAW OF TITHING.
59
We used to sing and hear a song entitled: "There is a good time
coming, wait a little longer." It appears to me that we are now
enjoying one of the good times in these meetings. I realize that
it is so, for one, and I doubt not that the good Saints of Cache
Valley also appreciate the same. If we can only preserve in
ourselves that freedom of spirit which will enable us to
comprehend the present, as it really is, we may rejoice indeed in
knowing that the good time has overtaken us. It is not with us
now as it has been, when scantiness and even hunger have been in
our habitations. At present, so far as the comforts of life are
concerned, the people are enjoying a competency of food and
raiment, house and home, kindred and friends. While these things
have come forward to us, the means of advancement in every sphere
of usefulness are in reach. The implements to accomplish more
labor are in our hands. They have overtaken us and are overtaking
us, and will continue to do so, by means of which the amount of
good which the Saints have been enabled to do in any given time
in the past, is very small compared with the measure of good
which they will be enabled to accomplish in the future. A little
while ago it was not oftener than once in six months that we
heard from the States. It is only a little while since it took us
three and four months to travel from the states to this place,
now it is only a matter of as many days. Once it took all of six
months to hear from the old countries, say London; now we hear
that "yesterday, President George A. Smith attended Conference
with the Saints in London."
60
By these things we can see that we have come upon times when, if
we are up to the scratch, we live very fast. It is no vain,
untrue or humorous saying that we are living in a fast age. In
matters of intelligence and business transactions we live weeks
in a day, if we wisely direct our time and energy, when compared
with those who have preceded us.
60
When we contemplate this, and the rapidity with which Divine
Providence in rolling on the events of the latter dispensation,
crowding upon our attention the great labors and considerations
of this latter-day work, it certainly does seem necessary that we
preserve in ourselves that life and activity that we can come up
to the standard of his readiness to direct and dispose of us,
that we may be able to receive his word and the counsels of his
servants and execute and carry them out. I am very sure that the
good people of this county do not think they are likely to get
out of business since President Young told them, yesterday, that
they might soon see a Temple close by here on the bench. The good
work seems to be advancing upon the hands of the Saints, mills,
railroads and telegraphs, are coming to our relief and aid.
60
I should like to say a few words upon the subject of Tithing, and
I believe I will just touch upon it. It is a subject that was
talked about yesterday with some emphasis and importance, and one
that has seemed to present features of more than ordinary
interest to my mind for some time back. People of all
denominations are very ready to say that the "earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof," and I do not suppose we could find a
Saint in all Israel, or in these valleys of the mountains at any
rate, but what would utter that sentiment and think he did it
with real good Christian cordiality. But when we come to consider
the matter as it really is, we find that our feelings and actions
do not after all exactly coincide with this expression. I heard a
man say but a few days ago, "I bought such a piece of land--I
paid for it--and it is mine." I wonder if that man, just then,
thought the earth was the Lord's? I do not think he thought that
particular patch was. It is one thing for us to acknowledge with
our lips and to consider in our hearts, that the earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof, but it is quite another thing
for us to realize it, and to place ourselves in a true and proper
attitude on that question, dealing with the Lord our God in
relation to it with the justice, sincerity and propriety that we
would with each other here on the earth.
60
If a man has obtained possession of a piece of land and put up a
house thereon, and he rents that to another person, he actually
does expect that that person will pay him the rent due for the
use of it. It is one of the plainest business transactions of
life; and the man who occupies that house and land can hardly
feel to say,--"The earth's the Lord's and the fullness thereof;"
instead of saying that, he says--"This house and piece of land
belong to that man, and I have to pay him rent for it." These
things make us realize our bearing and position one with the
other in regard to business transactions.
61
But who is it that has placed the earth and its surrounding
elements subject to the powers, governments and inhabitants of
the earth? It is he who created them, and he it is who says that
the earth and its fullness are his; and when we look at this
matter and consider it carefully there is something about the
subject of Tithing that commmends itself strongly to our
attention; and if we will be honest with ourselves and honest
with our God we must look at it in a very different light from
what many do.
61
When the Bishop or his clerk goes round to settle up Tithing, he
finds a class of persons who act as though they felt it their
bounden duty to get the figure of their Tithing down to the
lowest possible scratch; and when they have done this they feel
thankful that they have got off with paying so little, without
any regard whatever to the figure they should have paid. Well, it
is not given to the Bishops exactly to tell a man--"You must pay
so much." There is the greatest possible liberality manifested,
so as to give every man an opportunity to act upon his own agency
in saying what he has made and what he has done with the means
which have been placed in his hands, and what he ought to pay as
interest or Tithing, so that when the Lord brings these matters
to adjudication, we shall be judged out of our own mouths.
61
The matter of Tithing is one that the churches of the world have
taken up as well as the Saints, even the Church of England has an
idea that its members should pay Tithing. They have learned this
from the Church of the living God. The institution of Tithing is
one which is emphatically binding upon us, and is as essential to
our salvation and exaltation in the kingdom of God, so far as
temporal things are concerned, as the ordinance of baptism for
the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of
the Holy Ghost are in the spiritual part of the Gospel. Take it
into account and consider it when and how you may, and you will
find that the man or men, who consider Tithing of no moment, and
who think they have obtained a blessing in shirking the payment
thereof, will dry up and taper off in their faith, and before
they know it they and their household will be suffering in the
darkness of the world, in sin and transgression.
61
The law of Tithing is an obligation laid upon all the people of
God. It has been so in every age, and we have no account of the
prosperity and progress of God's people without Tithing being a
standing law in their midst, which they continually observed.
That is not all, my brethren. The Church of the Lord had this
among them before ever the Gentiles knew what is was to assess
and collect taxes, and it is from this that they learned to do
so. The law of Tithing was in the household of faith, the Church
of God on the earth, before the old Babylonish nations were
founded, and they as well as the sectarians have learned pretty
much all they know from the people of God at one time or another.
Tithing is an institution which has prevailed from the beginning,
and it looks to me as though it was the consideration required by
the Lord--the Creator of the earth, from men who dwell upon it,
as a material something by which they may acknowledge to him, in
deed and in truth, that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof, and by means of which they can restore to him, in the
order of his appointment that which is his.
62
The brethren sometimes say--"I pay my Tithing, This is mine. I
have given so much." Yours, is it? How is it yours? Was it not
read here to us yesterday--"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have
robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings." If we have withheld and kept back any portion of our
Tithing, then have we robbed God, for that full tenth is not ours
in any sense of the word, it is the Lord's, and if we keep it
from him we rob him of that which is his. We should keep
correctly in our minds and understandings that which is ours and
that which is the Lord's. When the sons of God shouted, and the
morning stars sang together for joy at having the earth prepared
to come and dwell upon, to pass through this state of existence,
did we not then realize that it was being prepared for us, but
that it was his, and that we are coming to dwell upon it as his?
Shall we forget this obligation and position? Let us be careful
not to do so.
62
President Smith alluded to the potency of this law of Tithing,
and the terrible consequences of disobeying it as illustrated in
the present condition of scattered Israel, who prospered as a
nation when they brought their tithes and offerings into the
storehouse of the Lord. And how terribly and emphatically did
President Young portray the readiness with which at his will and
pleasure, the Lord could turn these streams, for the watering of
our beautiful valleys, into the earth, and cause these delightful
hills and plains to become as barren as Judea. I think we ought
to look at this subject more carefully, and if possible in its
true light. The more I see and think of it the more there is
about it new to me, and the more there is to make me feel that
therein lies an obligation between us and our God that we should
consider and be careful to discharge.
62
If there is any man amongst you who wants to take a wife, does he
not have to obtain a certificate from his Bishop that he pays his
Tithing? If any of you want to be baptized in the font in the
house of the Lord for the generations of your dead, do you not
need a certificate from your Bishop that you pay your Tithing?
And if we want any of the blessings necessary for our exaltation
we shall find it so, and more so as we advance in the future. We
fathers in Israel, we heads of families, looking towards the
patriarchal office and desiring to stand at the head of our
generation forever, ought to think, not only about ourselves, but
about those who will come after us. If our record shews that we
have been faithful in all things, and have never forgotten to pay
our Tithing, our posterity can come to the house of the Lord and
ask, as a right, for the blessings they need for themselves or
their dead.
62
I think if we will all consider this matter in the light in which
the Scriptures, the revelations of divine truth hold it, and the
light in which modern revelation and the teachings of the
Priesthood hold it, we shall discover in the law of Tithing an
immense and eternal weight of blessing and glory, and instead of
wishing to avoid, shirk and narrow it down to the least
admissible figure, we shall desire to add to and enlarge it, that
it may be for us and our children a source of honor, exaltation
and blessing forever.
63
Brethren and sisters I rejoice with you, more and more, all the
day long in the principles of the Gospel. I desire to be more and
more useful in helping to promulgate them in the earth. I have
pleasure in the labors of the Church. I rejoice exceedingly in
the advancement of the cause of truth, and realize that we have
to be wide awake in order to keep track of, and along with, the
purposes, plans, devices and providences of God, that we may work
with him, that he may work with and through us in bringing to
pass his purposes, and the great and glorious events connected
with his work in the last days.
63
That we may so live as to be able and pliant instruments in his
hands, ready to do every good word and work, in bringing again
Zion, establishing righteousness and truth in the earth, and
hastening the day for the return thereto of the presence and
glory of God, is my desire in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, June 28, 1873
Brigham Young, June 28, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Saturday
Afternoon, June 28, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans.
EXTENSION OF THE UTAH NORTHERN RAILROAD--THE BUILDING
OF THE MEETING HOUSE AND OTHER PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
URGED ON THE PEOPLE--FAITH MADE MANIFEST BY WORKS--UNITY
IN LABOR AND CO-OPERATION IN ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO
THE KINGDOM--LABOR BUILDS UP THE KINGDOM--NUMBER OF
THOSE IN THE CONGREGATION ACQUAINTED WITH THE PROPHET
JOSEPH--EARLY EXPERIENCE IN THE CHURCH--REWARDS WILL
FOLLOW OBEDIENCE--OBJECT OF THE LAW OF TITHING--SERVES
THE LORD BECAUSE OF THE PURITY OF REVEALED TRUTH.
64
I have a little temporal matter which I wish to lay before the
brethren--something pertaining to our work here for the benefit
of the inhabitants of this valley and other places. It is
concerning this railroad. I wish to speak of this to-day. We
should pass it over, probably, if it were left till to-morrow. I
wish the brethren to take into consideration the benefits that
are now and which will be derived by the building of this
railroad. Another item I wish to lay before the brethren is the
putting a road through what is called Bear River Kanyon, this
side of Cottonwood, where the railroad will go. If this could be
crowded through, I am told it would be a saving of about fifteen
miles of travel and climbing some very severe points of the
mountains. If the brethren will take hold, under the direction of
some one who may be appointed or who is already appointed, of the
grading of the road, it would be quite an accommodation to the
travel from here to Soda Springs. Get the railroad graded as far
and as fast as possible to carry us on. We would like very much
to hold some meetings north, and we would rather get into a car
and go where we wish than to be traveling along through the dust
day after day, consequently we wish to hurry up this matter as
speedily as possible. The arrangements will be entered into by
those who have the railroad in charge, but I thought I would ask
the brethren, inasmuch as they wish to travel north,
occasionally, to do themselves and the rest of us the kindness to
get a ride upon a pretty good track. We wish to go to Bear Lake
Valley, over into Rich County, but how shall we go? I understand
that this road up the Logan is impassable, and that the dugway
road is very bad. We have some settlements already on the Soda
Springs route, and shall probably have more, and if we could have
the accommodation of traveling on a pretty fair level road we
should be very thankful. I shall leave this and other matters
with you, but I would urge the necessity of building the railroad
as far north as the iron can be obtained. I understand there is
enough now coming to go from here to Franklin, and perhaps a few
miles beyond. When this is completed, the traveling and
freighting to the north will probably go over this line, and the
business of the people here will be increased and the value of
the property will be enhanced, and you will advance in proportion
to the abundance of your improvement.
64
Another item which I wish to urge upon the people is the building
of this meeting house. We have a bowery here, which is very
comfortable to meet in this warm weather, but when it is windy,
stormy, cold or wet, the people should certainly have a house to
meet in, instead of being out of doors. This, of course, will
require labor. If we were to go into details with regard to labor
I think we could show very clearly that the time that is given to
us here is not altogether well spent. We might make a great many
improvements to benefit ourselves, and be none the poorer, but it
would increase our wealth. I think this is apparent to every
reflecting mind. Every improvement that we make not only adds to
our comfort but to our wealth. I wish the brethren to consider
this. Not that I wish to take anything from the minds of the
people of the good things that we have heard since we have been
together, and especially from brother Taylor, who has just
spoken. I would not like to take a thought or reflection from the
minds of the people concerning those good things pertaining to
the kingdom of God. But recollect that brother Taylor, in his
remarks, brought the spiritual and the temporal together. They
always have been and always will be together, and by our labor we
show to the heavens that we are willing and obedient servants and
handmaids. This gives us a claim to the blessings which our
Father in heaven delights to bestow upon the faithful. By our
works our faith is made manifest, and by them shall we be judged,
and justified or condemned. Then let our works be such as will
justify us and tend to the building up of the kingdom of heaven
upon the earth. If we do this, brethren and sisters, we shall
prosper and increase.
65
We were talking yesterday about the blessings of the people. It
appears to me that they have little idea of the blessings which
are in their possession. Still I am sensible that a great many
realize and are very thankful for them, and they wish to improve
their time to the best advantage. But take us as a people and how
strange is the course we pursue! How inconsistent, inconsiderate
and vain are the acts of the Elders of Israel. Is this the fact?
Yes, co-operation was referred to by brother Taylor. The man or
woman who is opposed to this is opposed to God. So said brother
Taylor. I say that they who are opposed to co-operation are
opposed to heaven, to their own welfare, to the welfare of their
neighbors, to truth and to everything that is good. The least
thought or act of an individual who is or can be called a Saint,
that militates against a oneness of feeling and action amongst
the Saints is opposed to everything that is heavenly and good. We
do not wish to co-operate in mercantile affairs only, but we wish
to bring the minds of the people to consider the benefit of
uniting and laboring together, to make this long and strong pull
all together, of which brother Taylor spoke. This is an
expression that Brother Joseph Smith frequently used concerning
the oneness of the people. If the Latter-day Saints were to take
a course to alienate their fellowship and feelings one from
another, each one saying, "This is my pile, and I am working to
increase it," we should then be in the position, referred to by
brother Franklin D. Richards, this morning, of the man who said
that all the world belonged to the Lord, excepting the little
piece of land he had bought and paid for. How inconsiderate,
inconsistent and unwise, in such a course as this! If we are not
one, we are not the Lord's. We can not do his will, nor be his
disciples unless we are one. We must have the same faith and
feelings for the building up of the kingdom of God, and for the
salvation of ourselves and others, jointly, together, or we shall
fail in our attempts to accomplish the work which the Lord has
given us to do. We should consider all these matters. Now take
hold with union and bring the rock, lumber, and all other
material that is necessary, and let the mechanics go to work and
put up this meeting house.
66
I do not know who has charge of the building of this store here,
but I am very sorry it does not loom up a little faster. I would
like to see this store finished, the meeting house built, the
railroad completed through here, our roads built through the
mountains; I would like to see your farms fenced up, and to see
good buildings in this and other towns. Improvement belongs to
the spirit and plan of the heavens. To improve in our minds, to
increase in wisdom, knowledge and understanding, to gather every
item of knowledge that we can in mechanism and in science of
every description, respecting the earth, the object of the
organization of the earth, the heavens, the heavenly bodies--all
this is of Heaven, it is from God; but when a person or a people
begin to dwindle, to lessen and to take the downward course, they
are going from heaven and heavenly things. You have seen this
illustrated in those who leave this Church. You have known men
who, while in the Church, were active, quick and full of
intelligence; but after they have left the Church, they have
become contracted in their understandings, they have become
darkened in their minds, and everything has become a mystery to
them, and in regard to the things of God, they have become like
the rest of the world, who think, hope and pray that such and
such things may be so, but they do not know the least about it.
This is precisely the position of those who leave this church:
they go into the dark, they are not able to judge, conceive or
comprehend things as they are. They are like the drunken man--he
thinks that everybody is the worse for liquor but himself, and he
is the only sober man in the neighborhood. The apostates think
that everybody is wrong but themselves.
67
Follow the spirit of improvement and labor. All the capital there
is upon the earth is the bone and sinew of working men and women.
Were it not for that, the gold and the silver and the precious
stones would remain in the mountains, upon the plains and in the
valleys, and never would be gathered or brought into use. The
timber would continue to grow, but none of it would be brought
into service, and the earth would remain as it is; but it is the
activity and labor of the inhabitants of the earth that bring
forth the wealth. Labor builds our meeting houses, temples, court
houses, fine halls for music and fine school houses; it is labor
that teaches our children, and makes them acquainted with the
various branches of education, that makes them proficient in
their own language and in other languages, and in every branch of
knowledge understood by the children of men; and all this
enhances the wealth and the glory and the comfort of any people
on the earth. But take the other course, and they become like our
savages--they soon forget what they have learned, have no taste
for acquiring knowledge, and lose all their ambition and desire
for improvement. For instance, look at the Jewish nation. Here
are the tribe of Judah in our midst. Do you ever recollect any of
them building a house? Think of it, look around now, and try if
you can find any of the sons of Judah so lost to themselves as to
be guilty of making any improvements. I speak ironically. They
will bring something to you to sell it to you, and get your money
if they can, for they are every one of them merchants; but can
you find one of them that tills an acre of ground? Search the
world over, and you will find but few Jewish agriculturists,
although there are millions of Jews scattered through the earth,
and many of them occupying important positions in the learned
world; but they are not producers, they are all consumers. The
land of Judea has fallen into disrepute, and it has become a
desert, just through the apostacy of those who once inhabited it,
who had the oracles of God among them. This is the fact. Let the
Latter-day Saints neglect their labor, and they will soon find
that they are declining in their feelings, tastes and judgment
for improving the elements of the earth; hence we say, improve,
be industrious, prudent, faithful, make good farms, gardens and
orchards, good public and private buildings, have the best
schools, &c. The world give us the credit of being the most
industrious people on the face of the earth; they say that the
Latter-day Saints in Utah have done more than any other people
ever were known to do in the same time. It is the little union
that we have in our midst that has given this impetus to our
prosperity. But we have not enough union, we have not enough of
the spirit of improvement amongst us. You will see men
occasionally here who, so far as the spirit of improvement goes,
are like some old "Mormons" who lived in the days of Joseph. That
is, their bodies breathe, and they move and have a being; but
they died when Joseph died. There has been no spirit of progress
or improvement in them since. As far as regards gathering and
organizing the elements, and making the earth beautiful, these
old "Mormons" have no taste for it, and they see nothing, hear
nothing, and know nothing, only they knew Joseph. Say they, "Oh,
I was acquainted with Joseph, I knew brother Joseph." Ask them,
"Are you going to build a house?" "Well, I don't know; I don't
know as I care anything about having any better house." "Well,
but your house is full of bed bugs." "I know it is pretty bad,
but still it is as good as I am, and I don't think I shall try to
build." They died when Joseph died.
68
I hear it mentioned here, I think this morning, that we all knew
the character of the Latter-day Saints, and the difficulties and
persecutions they have passed through. It came into my mind at
that moment to ask this congregation how many of them knew Joseph
Smith, the Prophet, just to show what "Mormonism" has
accomplished in twenty-eight years. I believe I will do myself
the favor, and gratify myself so far as to ask those of my
brethren and sisters now present, who were personally acquainted
with Joseph Smith, to raise their right hands. (A very few hands
up.) There is a few, but very few, not above one to twenty, and
perhaps not more than one to fifty in this congregation who ever
saw Joseph Smith. Now if I were to ask the boys and girls, and
all the young folks present, although your Sunday schools are not
here, who were born in these valleys, to raise their right hands,
I will venture to say that we should find that more than half
this congregation have been born in these mountains. What do they
know about what we passed through in Illinois, Missouri,
Kirtland, or New York State? I will give you one item. I lived
close by where these plates were found. I knew that Joseph found
them, from outward circumstances that transpired at the time. I
shall not take time to relate but a little of the delicate, kind,
benevolent, Christian-like, I will say anti-Godlike feelings of
the priests and of the people who professed Christianity at the
time that Joseph organized this Church. The very first thing that
was circulated was this--"Did you hear that Joe Smith and his
followers got together last night, blew out the light, stripped
themselves stark naked, and there they had the holy roll?" This
was the story started by the priests in the neighborhood where
the plates were found. In the Branch were I lived, we had not met
together three times before our beloved, kind, anti-Godlike
Baptist priests and people declared that we made a practice of
meeting together, stripping stark naked, and there having the
"holy roll." A great many of you do not understand this term. It
came from the shaking Quakers. I shall not attempt to relate here
the conduct attributed to them, but from that sprang the peculiar
phrase I have mentioned in your hearing this afternoon. In a very
short time we were all thieves in the estimation of our so-called
Christian neighbors. Said the priest to a beloved
sister--"Sister, did you hear of such a man, he was a member of
our church a few days since, but he has joined old Joe Smith?"
Joseph was then twenty-one or twenty-two years of age, but it was
"old Joe Smith." "Sister, did you hear that such a brother stole
a lot of chickens last night?" Says the sister, "No, can it be
possible?" "Well, they say so," says the priest, and he himself
had fabricated the entire story. This sister would tell it to
another, and it would go all through the neighborhood that such a
man, who only a few days before had been considered by them as
good a brother as they had in their church, had become a chicken
thief. But you cannot mention any crime that this people called
Latter-day Saints have not been accused of committing by their
so-called Christian neighbors; and these stories would generally
commence by the priests whispering to some sister--"Did you hear
of such and such a thing?" That was enough, all that was wanted,
it became a solemn fact by the time it passed the third mouth.
Now what do the great majority of Saints know of these things?
Nothing, for they have been born since our arrival here. I need
not relate much of my experience in this work, although I have
had a pretty large one. But it is not particularly profitable to
me or to anybody else to relate it. Sometimes it is very well to
relate circumstances that have transpired, to show to the rising
generation what we have passed through and what we have had to
contend with.
68
Now, if the brethren will take hold and perform the labors
devolving upon them, they shall be blessed in them. They will
increase in health and in wealth. The Lord will bless the people
in proportion as they bless themselves. If they are faithful in
following every requirement, they will be blessed in their
families, and no other people on the earth that we know anything
about are blessed in their families and posterity as the
Latter-day Saints are now. Visit town after town in this
Territory and let the Saints turn out their children neat and
clean and what can be said of them? The Lord blesses them in
their families. Let them drive up their flocks, and what will be
said of them? The Lord blesses their flocks in their folds. See
them upon the plains, they are blessed there more than any other
people. Then look at their harvests and their gardens and
orchards, and they are blessed therein more than any people we
know anything about. They are blessed in everything they put
their hand to. The climate of these valleys has been modified and
mollified for their sakes. When we first came here, neither an
apple nor an ear of wheat could have been raised in this valley.
But is there a finer valley than this now in these mountains? No.
Is there a finer place for people to live in on this continent?
No. There is not.
69
If the people take a course to bring the blessings of heaven upon
them, they will increase in everything. If they refuse obedience
to the holy Priesthood, they will dwindle and go into unbelief
and apostacy; they will be contracted in their views and
feelings; the fruit trees will begin to refuse to bear fruit; our
flocks will begin to refuse their increase, and our fields will
refuse to bring forth their crops. I will just make this
statement with regard to the country the plates were taken from,
from which the Book of Mormon was translated. I have helped to
harvest wheat there, that yielded fifty bushels to the acre, or
from twenty-five to sixty bushels. For thirty years past, they
have not raised twenty bushels to the acre; for twenty years past
they have not raised fifteen bushels to the acre, and now, in
that country, which once was not surpassed by any portion of the
globe for raising fruit and wheat, not an apple is raised without
a worm in the centre. They have been so for twenty or thirty
years. Their apples are good for nothing. Send them to England as
they did forty or fifty years ago, and they are not marketable;
they will bear no price in comparison to good fruit. Five to ten
bushels of wheat to an acre now. Their peaches have gone, their
apples have gone, their plums and their pears have gone, and that
land eventually, unless this government and the people of the
government take a different course towards the Gospel, that the
Lord has revealed in the latter days, will become desolate,
forlorn and forsaken. That is the country I was brought up in,
and with regard to its products, I know about as much as any man
that lives.
69
Now brethren and sisters, if we wish the blessings of heaven upon
us, let us be faithful to our covenants and callings, faithful in
paying Tithing, in keeping the word of wisdom and in building
Temples. The Tithing is for the building of Temples. Suppose we
build this meeting house here with Tithing. If the people will
give us one-tenth part of that which is due on their Tithing, we
shall have all we need to build their meeting houses,
schoolhouses, and Temples. This may seem strange to some, and
perhaps I look at Tithing different from others, and consider the
law of Tithing different from what others would look at and
construe the meaning of the words concerning the Tithing that the
Lord requires in the latter days. I will sum it up and tell you
what my views are. Here is a character--a man--that God has
created, organized, fashioned and made,--every part and particle
of my system from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, has
been produced by my Father in heaven; and he requires one-tenth
part of my brain, heart, nerve, muscle, sinew, flesh, bone, and
of my whole system, for the building of Temples, for the
ministry, for sustaining missionaries and missionaries' families,
for feeding the poor, the aged, the halt and blind, and for
gathering them home from the nations and taking care of them
after they are gathered. He has said, "My son, devote one-tenth
of yourself to the good and wholesome work of taking care of your
fellow-beings, preaching the Gospel, bringing people into the
kingdom; lay your plans to take care of those who can not take
care of themselves; direct the labors of those who are able to
labor; and one-tenth part is all-sufficient if it is devoted
properly, carefully and judiciously for the advancement of my
kingdom on the earth."
70
What little wealth I have got, I have obtained since I have been
in this Church. What I had when I came into the Church I gave
away to my friends. I had no family except two children. I can
hardly say that either, for when I came into the Church I had a
wife, but in a very few months after I was baptized I lost her,
and she left me two little girls. I gave away what I had, and I
started to preach the Gospel. I was obliged to do it, for I felt
as though my bones would consume within me if I did not,
consequently I devoted my time to preaching. I traveled, toiled,
labored and preached continually. My own brother Joseph, and
myself, were together a good deal of the time, until we went to
Kirtland, to see the Prophet, and the next year moved up. This it
the way I commenced, and when I gathered with the Saints I was
about as destitute as any man that ever gathered to the gathering
place; and that summer brother Joseph called the Elders together
and gave them the word of the Lord never to do another day's work
to build up a Gentile city. I have never done a day's work, nor
an hour's work, from that time to this, to build up a Gentile
city, but I have labored continually to build up the cities of
Zion. God has blessed me with means, and he has blessed me with a
family. I made a statement yesterday, which I can make again with
all propriety--that in my judgment it would take more than I have
got to pay my back Tithing, and I have got as much, probably, as
any man in the Church. The Lord has blessed me; he has always
blessed me; from the time I commenced to build up Zion, I have
been extremely blessed. I could relate circumstances of so
extraordinary a character in regard to the providences of God to
me, that my brethren and sisters would say in their hearts, "I
can hardly give credence to this." But my heart has been set in
me to do the will of God, to build up his kingdom on the earth,
to establish Zion and its laws, and to save the people; and I can
say truly and honestly that the thought never came into my mind,
in all my labors, what my reward will be, or whether my crown
would be large or small, or any crown at all, a small possession,
a large possession, or no possession. I do not know that I shall
have a wife or child in the resurrection. I have never had any
thoughts or reflections upon this, or cared the first thing about
it. All that I have had in my mind has been that it was my duty
to do the will of God, and to labor to establish his kingdom on
the earth. I do not love, serve or fear the Lord for the sake of
getting rid of being damned, nor for the sake of getting some
great gift or blessing in eternity, but purely because the
principles which God has revealed for the salvation of the
inhabitants of the earth are pure, holy and exalting in their
nature. In them there is honor and eternal increase, they lead on
from light to light, strength to strength, glory to glory,
knowledge to knowledge, and power to power; and the opposite
reduces any individual or any nation on the earth to imbecility,
ignorance, slothfulness, and to the loathsome state of
degradation in which we see some of the inhabitants of the earth
now. It is purely for the love of holy principles, that will
exalt the people, that we may receive and gain more and more, and
keep receiving for ever and ever, that I serve the Lord, and try
to build up his kingdom.
70
And when we get through this state of being, to the next room, I
may call it, we are not going to stop there. We shall still go
on, doing all the good we can, administering and officiating for
all whom we are permitted to administer and officiate for, and
then go on to the next, and to the next, until the Lord shall
crown all who have been faithful on this earth, and the work
pertaining to the earth is finished, and the Savior, whom we have
been helping, has completed his task, and the earth, with all
things pertaining to it, is presented to the Father. Then these
faithful ones will receive their blessings and crowns, and their
inheritances will be set off to them and be given to them, and
they will then go on, worlds upon worlds, increasing for ever and
ever.
71
Now, brethren, what do you say, will you do as I want you to?
Will you take hold and build this meeting-house, get this road
through and make a little more improvement, and say we will have
no idlers in our midst, but that every day, every week, every
month, shall be devoted to something that is useful to ourselves
and to others? If this is our feeling and our determination we
shall be blessed. I feel to bless you. I pray for you
continually. I never cease to pray for the Saints. I pray the
Lord to inspire the hearts of his people, so that the good may
not fall away, but that they may be preserved in the truth, and
that they may learn and understand it more and more, until their
affections are so wedded to God and his kingdom on the earth,
that the revelations of Jesus Christ may be in them like a well
of water springing up to everlasting life.
71
Now, I can say, God bless you, and I pray that you may be
blessed; but I pray you to bless yourselves. Brethren and
sisters, let us bless ourselves, by doing the will of God, then
we are right.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, May 25, 1873
Brigham Young, May 25, 1873
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, May 25, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD CONCERNING OUR FAITH--CHARACTER
OF CHRIST'S TEACHINGS--ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF
FORMER-DAYS--BELIEF ALONE INSUFFICIENT--EXHORTATION TO
THE SAINTS TO LIVE THEIR RELIGION AND TO ACQUIRE ALL
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.
72
I have a few remarks to make to those who do not understand the
doctrine of the Latter-day Saints. Forty-three years have passed
away since this Church was organized in Fayette, Seneca County,
in the State of New York; and for over one forty years, according
to the ability which God has given me, I have traveled and
preached enough to extend this Gospel to the door of every hamlet
on this continent if the people had been willing to receive it;
yea more--I have taught the Gospel of life and salvation to the
human family sufficiently, if all had been honest to receive it
and will to carry it to their neighbors, to evangelize the whole
earth, and there need not have been, to-day, one person, heathen
or Christian, ignorant of its principles. But now, I learn from
day to day, from week to week and from time to time that very
many people in our own land do not understand our doctrines, and
I am frequently asked the question, while conversing with people,
"Do you believe the Bible?" "Do you receive the Bible as the word
of the Lord?" "Then, you acknowledge the Bible?" &c. This
astonishes me, and the cause of such questions being asked I
leave every person to judge for himself, just as I do with regard
to the course of the children of men in other matters, such as
truth, error, religion, politics, &c. If we were to inquire of
strangers, who have lived twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, or sixty
years on the continent of America, and even in the United States,
how it is that they do not know better than to suppose that the
Latter-day Saints reject and do not believe in the Bible, they
would reply, "We do not know, only we have heard so." If you go
to the professed infidel, of any class, and ask him, "Do the
'Mormons' believe in the Bible?"--"Why yes, I have heard them
preach, and they believe the Bible more than the whole Christian
world do." Well, where and through whom does this influence come,
which leads people to believe to the contrary? I will not spend
time to answer this, but I will say, that the Latter-day Saints
believe more of the Bible than any other people that live on the
face of the earth that we have any knowledge of.
73
What does the Bible teach us with regard to the Christian
religion, faith in God, and in his Son Jesus Christ, who was sent
in the meridian of time to redeem the earth, and all things
pertaining to it? I will not take up the negative side of the
question, or tell what others believe; but let me tell what we
believe. In the first place, I will take up the sayings of Jesus
to his disciples on a certain occasion. Said he, "Go ye therefore
into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature; he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth
not shall be damned." I shall not attempt to go into the meaning
of this saying in every particular--time will not permit--but
suffice it to say that he that believeth and is baptized will be
saved, and he that believeth not will be cast off. What promise
did Jesus give to his disciples when he sent them out two by two,
to preach? What inducement was there, when the Savior was upon
the earth, to believe in him and his doctrine? We can all read;
it would take too much time to tell. His disciples went out and
preached without purse and scrip, and when they returned, they
testified to Jesus that they had lacked for nothing. Jesus
promised to those who believed, powers and advantages which
unbelievers could not enjoy. We read of certain men and women in
Samaria, who had been taught the Gospel under the authority of
John the Baptist, but they had not received the Holy Ghost; and
we are told that certain Apostles went down from Jerusalem to lay
their hands on these Samaritan believers. There was a man called
Simon, a sorcerer, who had bewitched the people, and seeing that
the power which the Apostles bestowed upon them, by the laying on
of hands, was far above his power--although he could deceive,
betray and frighten the people, and do many things just as the
magicians of Pharoah's court did when Moses went to deliver the
children of Israel; said he, "I will give you money if you will
bestow that power on me." The Apostles said to him, "You and your
money perish together." The Apostles laid their hands upon those
persons who had been baptized to John's baptism, and they
received the Holy Ghost. Believers in those days had the power
which Jesus promised. They might take up serpents, and they would
not bite them; if they drank any deadly thing it would not hurt
them; if they laid hands on the sick, the sick would recover.
They spake with tongues, they prophecied, they had the
discernment of spirits, and all the various gifts of the Gospel
of Christ; and all of these were beyond the reach of the
sorcerer, yet he was far in advance of the common people in
powers of deception. But Jesus promised his disciples more than
any man could possess by the spirit of divination. When we
consider this and realize, if we can realize, that, through the
restoration of the Gospel in our day, all these gifts can be
again enjoyed, it is worthy the attention of every person on the
face of the earth who is capable of receiving truth for truth,
light for light, and intelligence upon intelligence.
73
Let me hasten along, and refer to the organization of the ancient
Church. According to the testimony of the ancient Church.
According to the testimony of the Apostle, God set in the Church,
firstly, Apostles, secondly Prophets, thirdly Teachers, then
Pastors, and so forth. You strangers may ask your divines, when
you return home, what they believe about God setting in the
Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Helps, gifts,
divers kinds of tongues, and so on, for the perfecting of the
Saints, and for the edifying of the body of christ, until all
come to a unity of faith and knowledge in Christ Jesus our Lord;
and let them answer the question, then you can judge who it is
that throws dust into the eyes of the people, and is continually
telling them that "the Latter-day Saints deny the Bible;" "the
Latter-day Saints are a bad people;" "the Latter-day Saints are
aliens to the government;" "the Latter-day Saints are
rebellious." Ask the divines, "Do you believe in prophecying, do
you believe in Apostles, in baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins, and in the laying on of hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost? Do you believe in breaking bread
continually, as Jesus commanded his disciples at the last supper,
when he brake the bread and blessed it, and blessed the wine and
gave it to all to eat and drink, saying, 'Do this until I come
again, for I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until I
drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom?'" What do the
world--Christian, Jew and Pagan--believe about these things?
Inquire for yourselves. We Latter-day Saints believe in Apostles
and Prophets. We believe in the Melchizedek Priesthood and in the
Aaronic Priesthood, which God bestowed upon his servants long
ago. Moses had all these doctrines and both these Priesthoods in
his possession, and also the organization of the Church; and with
all his power he strove to bring the children of Israel to a
knowledge of the Gospel, but they would not have Christ.
74
I pause here. I was brought up a Christian, very strictly, and
was taught to read the Bible, consequently it is natural for me
to believe it--it is according to my traditions, and also from
the spirit of revelation from God unto myself. In all my
teachings, I have taught the Gospel from the Old and New
Testaments. I found therein every doctrine, and the proof of
every doctrine, the Latter-day Saints believe in, as far as I
know, therefore I do not refer to the Book of Mormon as often as
I otherwise should. There may be some doctrines about which
little is said in the Bible, but they are all couched therein,
and I believe the doctrines because they are true, and I have
taught them because they are calculated to save the children of
men.
74
It is said by the Christian world, by government, philosophers,
statesmen, politicians and ministers, that there is no harm in
believing anything if we do not practice it. But let me ask how
can we believe in Jesus Christ--taking his own words for
it--unless we do the works that he did? Go and read his words for
yourselves--"He that believeth in me will do the works that I
do." Did he not say this? How then can we believe in him without
doing his works? Did he inspire his Apostles? Did he inspire him
whom we call St. Paul? Did he inspire John upon the Isle of
Patmos? The Christian world will not deny that he did. While John
was upon Patmos, he had many visions and revelations. He compiled
these after he returned from the island, and left them in the
possession of his friends; and the Council which compiled this
book--the Bible--brought his revelations into the catalogue of
sacred books. If you will read the Book of Revelations, you will
find that John predicts many things regarding these latter days.
He saw the conduct and doings of the seven angels; and then he
says, "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having
the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell upon the
earth, saying, 'Fear God and give glory to him who made the
heavens, the earth, the seas and the fountains of water.'"
74
By reading the Bible we find that the Gospel is contained not
only in the New Testament but also in the Old. Moses and the
Prophets saw and predicted the apostacy of the Church. They saw
that the Lord would strive with the children of men from time to
time, that he would deliver to them the truth and the Priesthood;
they also saw that through the wickedness of the people they
would change his ordinances, break the covenants, and transgress
his laws, until the Priesthood would be taken from the earth, and
its inhabitants be left in apostacy and darkness.
75
But how are we to understand this angel referred to by John, when
he comes along? This is an important question. How, in the
language of Scripture, are we to know the voice of the Good
Shepherd from the voice of a stranger? Can any person answer this
question? I can, it is very easy. To every philosopher upon the
earth, I say, "Your eye can be deceived, so can mine; your ear
can be deceived, so can mine; the touch of your hand can be
deceived, so can mine; but the Spirit of God filling the creature
with revelation and the light of eternity, cannot be
mistaken--the revelation which comes from God is never mistaken.
It is the spirit of truth, and it testifies of Jesus, of his
Father, of the things which God has done for the children of men,
and that which he is now doing. No man upon the earth can be
mistaken when he sees by the eye of revelation, when Jesus shines
upon his understanding by the light of his Spirit. Now, then, how
are we going to know the voice of the Good Shepherd from the
voice of a stranger? Take the words of Jesus. He says, "My sheep
hear my voice and they follow me, a stranger they will not
follow." Why? Because they know not the voice of a stranger. When
an individual, filled with the Spirit of God, declares the truth
of heaven, the sheep hear that, the Spirit of the Lord pierces
their inmost souls and sinks deep into their hearts; by the
testimony of the Holy Ghost light springs up within them, and
they see and understand for themselves. This is the way the
Gospel should be preached by every Elder in Israel, and by this
power every hearer should hear; and if we would know the voice of
the Good Shepherd, we must live so that the Spirit of the Lord
can find its way to our hearts. I have said to the Latter-day
Saints, many and many a time, and I say to them now, live your
religion, that the Spirit of God may by within you like a well of
water springing up to everlasting life. Suppose I were to give
way to the spirit of the enemy and leave the spirit of the
Gospel, then, if you were not prepared to judge between the voice
of the Good Shepherd and the voice of the stranger, I could lead
you to ruin. Be prepared that you may know the voice when it
comes through the servants of God, then you can declare for
yourselves. "This is the word of the Lord." My caution and
counsel to the Latter-day Saints, and to all the inhabitants of
the earth is--"Live so that you will know truth from error.
75
But do all the Latter-day Saints live so? Oh no, they do not.
Many fall into error and finally leave the Church. They are led
away far from the truth. They become subject to the ten thousand
spirits that have gone forth into the world, and they are
deceived in this, that and the other things, and like the rest of
the world, they do not know how to govern themselves. They are
deceived in their own organization and with regard to themselves;
and there is no man that can know himself unless he know God, and
he can not know God unless he knows himself. The children of men
give heed to the deceiving spirits that are abroad, and that is
the cause of the ten thousand errors, wrongs, sins, and divisions
which are in the world, and for this reason the multitude are
unable to distinguish between the voice of the Good Shepherd and
the voice of the stranger. But I will say that if the Lord has
not sent that angel of which John speaks, he will send him as
surely as we live.
76
Let me refer to another saying of John: After telling about the
angel flying through the midst of heaven with the everlasting
Gospel to be restored to the children of men, he tells us in his
eighteenth chapter and 4th verse--"And I hear another voice from
heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.'"
This was a proclamation to God's people. Israel is dispersed
among all the nations of the earth; the blood of Ephraim is mixed
with the blood of all the earth. Abraham's seed is mingled with
the rebellious seed through the whole world of mankind, and John
saw that a command would go forth warning the righteous to flee
from Babylon, and that command was, "Come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not other
plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven," and so forth. This
is a stumbling block to the religious world of Christendom. They
cannot see the necessity of the gathering, they claim that
believers in Jesus can live their religion and serve the Lord as
well scattered as gathered, and that, in time, by the preaching
of the various sects, the world will be evangelized. The
Latter-day Saints believe that all their efforts in this
direction, in the future, will be as they have been in the
past--useless; and that the so-called Christian religion is a
failure, so far as evangelizing the world is concerned. Let the
world of mankind look at Jerusalem for an illustration of its
effects. In that city various Christian sects have their places
of worship, and many make yearly pilgrimages to the places made
sacred by the life, death and burial of the Redeemer. Do these
Christians in Jerusalem manifest that love, meekness and
forbearance toward each other which always characterize the true
servants and followers of the Lord Jesus? No, for if it were not
for the Turkish soldiers they would massacre each other every
day. That is the effect the principles which they profess have
upon them. And everywhere, throughout the Christian world, it
amounts to little more. Its leaders and professors cry, "Come to
Jesus, Come to the Lord," and do this and do that, but where do
we find such things taught in the New Testament? They are not
there. Who among the writers of the Scriptures declares that God
has taken Apostles and Prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers,
government and helps from his Church? Not one. Is there any
declaration or revelation in modern times to the effect that God
has taken the gifts out of his Church? No. Men have left them,
they have wandered from and forsaken the fold of Christ, they
have transgressed the laws and they have changed the ordinances
of his kingdom for the laws and ordinances of men; and they have
broken the everlasting covenant which God, in early ages, made
with his creatures.
76
Let me say to my hearers, not that I wish to take up the subject
of Celestial Marriage, that if you will search the Scriptures,
you will find that the first curse which came upon the children
of Israel, as recorded in the writing of Moses, was for marrying
out of their own families; and then the Lord, after seeing the
hardness of their hearts in despising his law and his covenants,
gave to them a law of carnal commandments, and told them whom
they might not marry. By reading the Scriptures you will find
that the Lord commanded the children of Israel to live by
themselves, and not to mix their seed with the unholy,
ungovernable and rebellious seed of the world. The Lord used to
give wives to the children of men, but the people say, "We do not
know about that now, we hardly think it will answer."
76
How are we going to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. Do
you think it is a manual labor? Do you think it will become a
political kingdom? Ask the kings on their thrones, ask potentates
and statesmen if they believe the Bible. If they do, they must
believe that the day will come in which God will revolutionize
the earth, to that degree that the "kingdoms of this world will
become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ." If they ever do,
there must be a heavy labor to perform, and that labor is upon
the Saints of God, and they must enter into it with heart and
soul. It will be both a manual and a political labor, for all
will be brought into subjection to the law of Christ, that he may
come and reign on the earth, king of nations, as he does king of
Saints.
77
These subjects could be taken up one by one, and it could be
shown from the Scriptures, precisely the position that will be
taken and the course that must be pursued. I have labored
faithfully over forty years to convince the children of men that
God rules in the heavens and that he will rule upon the earth.
Suppose that he ruled to-day, would society be the worse for it?
What think ye? Is there a heaven? Is there a heaven of heavens?
Is there a dwelling place for the Gods and the angels? Do you
think they have their political quarrels there? Do you think they
get up different ones whom they will run for their king,
governor, or president? Do you think there is an opposition
ticket there? What do the political, financial and Christian
world think about these things? Do you think that a few
capitalists lock up all the means there and make hard times, so
that the people cannot get a dollar? Do you think there is any
backbiting and false swearing there? Do you think they have
courts with unjust judges and packed juries there? No, every
person who believes in the Old and New Testaments, will say that
it is a place of perfection, a place where all have their rights;
a place where there is perfect peace and happiness, and all join
with one heart and voice in ascribing honor, praise and glory to
him who sits on the throne, and the Lamb. This is the effect of
God's rule and government. Would the inhabitants of the world be
in a worse condition than they are now if the Lord were ruler of
all the earth? Oh, no. All will join in wishing for perfection,
and in desiring a state of society in which there would be no
jars, no contentions, no poverty, no poor, but all prepared to go
into the highest and most refined society. This it the belief and
doctrine of the Latter-day Saints. Learn everything that the
children of men know, and be prepared for the most refined
society upon the face of the earth, then improve upon this until
we are prepared and permitted to enter the society of the
blessed--the holy angels that dwell in the presence of God, for
our God, because of his purity, is a consuming fire.
77
I have spoken longer than the time allotted to me. I can say God
bless you. I pray the people--Saints and sinners upon the face of
the whole earth--to hearken to the truth. Open your hearts to the
conviction of the Holy Spirit upon you. I pray that you who have
received the truth may live in it and abide by it, that you may
enjoy the blessings of it and be prepared for the fullness of the
glory of God, that will yet be revealed. I exhort those who do
not believe, to listen to and receive, little by little, the
instructions which God will give, until all the inhabitants of
the earth are prepared for Jesus to come and reign in their
midst.
77
God bless you, Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, June 15, 1873
Orson Pratt, June 15, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, June 15, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE RISE OF ZION IN THE LAST DAYS.
78
I will call your attention to the first two lines in the first
hymn that was sung this afternoon,--
78
"Arise, O glorious Zion,
Thou joy of latter days.
78
In connection with these two lines, I will cite the attention of
the congregation to the first verse of the 60th chapter of
Isaiah,--
78
"Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of
the Lord has risen upon thee."
79
The passage which I have quoted from Isaiah has reference to the
latter-day Zion, about which the choir sang at the opening of the
meeting. That there may be no misunderstanding about the people
to whom the Prophet had reference, I will read some other
passages connected with it,--"And the Redeemer shall come to
Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith
the Lord." The Zion that is here spoken of is called upon to
"arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."
There is no one thing more fully revealed in the Scriptures of
eternal truth, than the rise of the Zion of our God in the latter
days, clothed upon with the glory of God from the heavens--a Zion
that will attract the attention of all the nations and kindreds
of the whole earth. It will not be something that takes place in
a corner on some distant island of the sea, or away among some
obscure people; but it will be something that will call forth the
attention of all people and nations upon the face of the whole
earth. The rise of Zion, the latter-day Zion. What are we to
understand by the meaning of Zion? What I understand, and what
the Scriptures have portrayed in regard to the meaning of Zion
is, a people who shall receive the law of God, and who shall be
acknowledged of the Lord as his people--a people who shall be
gathered together from the nations of the earth, and build a
house to the name of the Lord in the latter-days. A people who
shall have their abiding place in the mountains, and who shall
build a city that shall be called Zion. All these things are
clearly portrayed in prophecy. The people of God must be a people
who give the most diligent heed to his word; they will be guided
by revelation from him, and among them his power will be made
conspicuously manifest. These are characteristics concerning this
latter-day Zion, spoken of by the ancient Prophets, which, if the
Spirit of the Lord will enable me to clearly comprehend the
subject, I will endeavor, this afternoon, in my simple language
and in my simple manner, to lay before this congregation.
79
We find, in the 40th chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah, that
the people of Zion are to be raised up preparatory to the second
advent of the Son of God. Isaiah uses an exclamation something
like this--"O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into
the high mountain." It seems by this, that the people called
Zion, wherever they might be, were to be removed from the regions
they originally inhabited, and were to be located in a high
mountain, or in a very elevated region. If you wish to know the
time which this prophetic exhortation to the people of Zion had
reference to, read the whole of the 40th chapter of Isaiah, and
you will find that, at that period, the glory of God is to be
revealed and all flesh is to see it together, evidently referring
to the great day when the Son of God shall come in his glory,
when every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him, and
all people, nations and tongues under heaven, who are spared unto
that day, shall behold him descend in power and majesty to this
earth. In his 40th chapter, the Prophet Isaiah has told us that
then the mountains shall be broken down, the valleys exalted, the
rough places made smooth, the glory of the Lord revealed and all
flesh shall see it together. Then the iniquities of ancient
Israel will have been sufficiently punished, for the Lord will
have rewarded them double for all their sins. When that time
arrives the people called Zion will be required to go into the
high mountains, and they shall bring good tidings unto the
inhabitants of the earth.
79
Those who have heard the proclamation of the Latter-day Saints
can judge whether we have brought good tidings to this generation
or not. We were called upon by the Almighty and his holy angels
to go forth and declare to the nations of the earth, that God had
again spoken from the heavens, and that by holy angels sent down
from heaven, he had again revealed the everlasting Gospel in all
its fullness, and for forty years past we have declared this to
the world. We have also testified that many of the servants of
God have been ordained by holy angels and sent forth to publish
these tidings among the inhabitants of the earth, and that others
have been ordained by those who received their ordination from
heavenly messengers.
79
What greater or more glorious tidings could be proclaimed to the
fallen sons and daughters of men than the everlasting Gospel--the
same Gospel that was proclaimed anciently by Jesus and his
Apostles? In the sixth verse of the 14th chapter of the
revelations of St. John, we read of the Gospel being revealed by
an angel, and that, after it was revealed, it should be published
to all people, nations and tongues under the whole heavens,
saying that the hour of God's judgment was come, showing clearly
that the day in which the angel should be sent forth with the
everlasting Gospel, should be specially characterized by terrible
judgments poured out upon the nations of the wicked.
80
Prior to the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord
predicted through him that this people should be gathered out
from all the nations under heaven, and should be established in
the mountains, or elevated regions of this continent; and two or
three years after his death--twenty-six years ago, this coming
season--this prediction began to be fulfilled, for in the year
1847, the pioneers made a journey of 1,400 miles from the
Mississippi river, and, by the inspiration of the Spirit of the
living God, they rested upon this mountainous, and then wild and
desolate region. They commenced a settlement where the site of
this city now stands, and since that time this people, gathered
from every nation by the preaching of the everlasting Gospel,
revealed in these latter days through the Prophet Joseph, have
extended their borders, and have built towns and cities over an
area many hundred miles in extent. In obedience to the command of
the Almighty, this people left their native countries and the
graves of their ancestors, and came forth by thousands each
succeeding year, and peopled this high and elevated region of our
country. We came here because modern Prophets opened their mouths
by the spirit of revelation and declared these mountains to be
the abiding place of the latter-day Zion. We came to fulfill
modern prophecies was well as the predictions of the ancient
Prophets. Have you not read, Latter-day Saints and strangers, in
this good old book, a prediction, uttered some twenty-five
hundred years ago, by the mouth of Isaiah, concerning the house
of the Lord that was to be built in the latter days in the tops
of the mountains? I presume that you have read it many a time;
indeed I have heard Christian denominations of almost every sect,
in their psalms and anthems, refer to this prophecy. They have
spoken of the mountain of the house of the Lord, that should be
established in the latter days upon the mountains.
80
Let me now refer you to that prophecy, which is
recorded in the second chapter of Isaiah, and which reads
thus--"And it shall come to pass in the last days that the
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of
the mountains and shall be exhalted 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 and to the
house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and
we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the
law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.'"
80
It seems, then, that the people who would build this house of God
in the latter days in the mountains, are called Zion, and from
them should go forth the law. What law? Does this mean the civil
law of the country, to govern all people? No. The people of this
American republic, by their representatives in Congress, have
enacted civil laws and formed a great and free government upon
the face of this continent, by which the people in a civil
capacity are governed. This, therefore, must have reference to
the law of the Gospel, that God would reveal in the latter days
unto Zion. From Zion shall go forth the law, says the Prophet,
and then, to show more fully the nature of this great latter-day
work, he exclaims in the next verse--"And he shall judge the
nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their
swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war any more."
81
It is very evident from this last prediction which I have
read, that a very great and important work should be done in the
last days upon the mountains. The Lord has to prepare or build a
house in the mountains. Will it not be a marvelous work and a
wonder for the Lord to have a house in the latter-day upon the
earth? I think it will, especially when we remember that the
earth has been without a house of God for a great many
generations. If there had always been a house of God on the
earth, the Prophet would never have uttered this prophecy; but
for the last 1,600 years we might have gone from east to west,
and from north to south, in the four quarters of the earth, and
then into the islands of the sea, seeking for a house of God, and
we could not have found one. What I mean by a house of God is one
which God himself commanded to be built. I know that there are
many houses built in all the great cities of this Republic, as
well as in Europe, by the different religious sects, many of them
supurb buildings, and you will find written upon them generally,
"The house of the Lord," "The house of God," "The church of
Jesus," the house of God called "St. Paul's church," the house of
God called "St. Peter's church," or "St. John's church." We can
find plenty of them in New York, and in all the great cities and
towns of our nation, also in Great Britain, and all the Christian
nations of Europe, very grand, superb edifices, which have cost
an immense amount of money. Did God command the building of any
of these houses? If he did not, then they are not his houses, and
they are nicknamed houses of the Lord by the builders or
proprietors, while he, really, has nothing to do with them. Did
he ever send an angel into any of these houses? No. When did he
ever appear in his glory in these houses? Never. Did he ever say
to the people, "You have built them according to the pattern
which I gave unto you, and I now accept them." No such
declaration was ever heard among all these Christian nations. The
Lord has had no house on the earth for a great many centuries,
and for that very reason the Prophet Isaiah was wrought upon by
the Spirit of revelation to declare that such a great event as
the Lord having a house on the earth in the latter days should be
accomplished, and its location should be in the mountains. From
this we may draw the conclusion that it must be in a very
elevated region, when compared with the general level or surface
of the country whereon it will be built.
81
There is one thing that will characterize the Zion of the latter
days: its people will not only be commanded to get up into the
high mountain, but they will also be commanded to build unto the
Lord a house in the mountains, the pattern of that house being
given by inspiration, everything pertaining to it being dictated
by the power of prophecy by the servants of the Most High God;
and when the house is built, if no unclean thing is suffered to
enter therein to defile it, God will come into his tabernacle;
but if there be any unclean thing come into that house and defile
it, he will not enter, for he dwells not in unholy temples, and
he will not accept such a house as an offering at the hands of
his Saints. But we read that in the latter days God will accept
the house that shall be built, and not only the house erected to
his name, but also the dwelling-houses of his people, showing
that they must be a very pure people, or he would not accept of
their private dwellings.
82
In order to prove this, I will refer you now to the 4th
chapter of Isaiah. There we read--"And the Lord will create upon
every dwelling-place in Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a
cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by
night, and upon all the glory shall be for a defence. And there
shall be a tabernacle in the day time for a shade from the heat
and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from
rain." I believe this building is called a Tabernacle, and it
will accommodate from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand
persons, and it is a tolerably cool place for the people in the
heat of summer, especially to be a shade in the day time from the
heat, and for a place of refuge and covert from storm and from
rain and tempest. I do not think that storms or tempests would
affect a congregation that might be assembled in the Lord's
Tabernacle; but I wish particularly to call your attention to the
preceding verse--"The Lord shall create upon every dwelling-place
of Mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by
day, and the shining of a flame or pillar of fire by night." I do
not see any cloud covering this house, or the congregation that
is before me. What is the reason? The time has not yet come. The
time is to come when God will meet with all the congregation of
his Saints, and to show his approval, and that he does love them,
he will work a miracle by covering them in the cloud of his
glory. I do not mean something that is invisible, but I mean that
same order of things which once existed on the earth so far as
the tabernacle of Moses was concerned, which was carried in the
midst of the children of Israel as they journeyed in the
wilderness. Did God manifest himself in that tabernacle that was
built according to the pattern which he gave unto his servant
Moses? He did. In what way? In the day time a cloud filled that
tabernacle. The Lord intended his people to be covered with the
cloud continually, and he intended to reveal himself unto them,
and to show forth his glory more fully amongst them; but they
sinned so much in his sight that he declared--"My presence shall
not go up with this people, lest I should break forth upon them
in my fury and consume them in a moment." Because of their
wickedness he withdrew his presence, and his glory in a great
measure was taken from them; but still Moses was permitted to
enter the tabernacle, and to behold the glory of God, and it is
said that he talked with the Lord face to face--a blessing which
God did intend to bestow upon all Israel had they kept his law
and had not hardened their hearts against him. But in the latter
days there will be a people so pure in Mount Zion, with a house
established upon the tops of the mountains, that God will
manifest himself, not only in their Temple and upon all their
assemblies, with a visible cloud during the day, but when the
night shall come, if they shall be assembled for worship, God
will meet with them by his pillar of fire; and when they retire
to their habitations, behold each habitation will be lighted up
by the glory of God,--a pillar of flaming fire by night.
83
Did you ever hear of any city that was thus favored and blessed
since the day that Isaiah delivered this prophecy? No, it is a
latter-day work, one that God must consummate in the latter times
when he begins to reveal himself, and show forth his power among
the nations. This is what the words of our text mean, the first
verse of the 60th chapter of Isaiah--"Arise and shine, for thy
light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."
83
Now, to show you that this is not some spiritual thing, something
that will be invisible to and not discerned by the Saints of the
latter days, or by the inhabitants of the earth generally, let me
refer you further to the 60th chapter of Isaiah. The Prophet, in
the first verse, uses the words of our text, "Arise, shine, for
thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee;
and in the following verse he says--"For, behold, the darkness
shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the
Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon
thee." It will be something that will be discernible. And now, to
show that it will be discernible by all people on the earth, when
they come to visit Zion, read the next verse--"And the Gentiles
shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy
rising;" showing clearly and plainly that the Gentiles, and even
the kings of the earth, will in that day be excited by the glory
of God, that will shine forth upon Zion, which will be as a city
set on a hill whose light cannot be hid.
83
We will go back again to the second verse of the second chapter
of Isaiah. When the Lord shall fulfill the words that the Prophet
has spoken, by causing a house to be built to his name in the
tops of the mountains, he says, "Many people shall go and say,
'Come ye, let us go up into the mountains of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us of his ways, and
we will walk in his paths!'" What causes this great excitement
among the nations of the earth of that day? They will hear of the
glory and power of God, as manifested among his Saints in Zion.
The Lord for a score or two of years has been working in order to
establish among men, facilities for conveying knowledge to the
uttermost corners of the earth. Within the memory of many now
living, the discovery of the electric telegraph has been made, by
means of which news of the doings of men in any country can be
sent round the earth in less than twenty-four hours. and, if
there was no intervention the electric fluid would carry news
from any one point to the most distant nations in one second of
time, and now, the earth is almost covered with a great network
of wire to facilitate expeditious communication among the various
nations. What is all this for? Is it simply to satisfy the greed
of men in their commercial affairs? No, the Lord had a grander
object in view. Men use the telegraph for the purpose I have
named, and in many respects it is used to good advantage, and it
has been the means of bringing the nations into much closer
relationship than formerly, and of extending among them a
knowledge of the arts and sciences; but the great object which
the Lord had in view when this great invention or discovery was
brought forth, was to enable knowledge to be sent from the
mountain tops, from the midst of Zion, when his glory should
begin to be manifested in the midst of his people in the latter
days. The inquiry, will then be, among the distant nations, "What
news from Zion;" "What is the Lord doing among that people?" Do
you suppose they will hear with unconcern about a city which,
with every dwelling-place it contains, will be lighted up with a
supernatural light? No; this is one of the things which will make
the people afar off, and their kings, say, "Let us go up to
Zion," "let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of
the God of Jacob." What for? "That he may teach us of his ways,
and that we may walk in his paths." They will begin to discern
the difference then between God's house and houses made by men,
between that which God is doing in the earth and that which will
be done by the wisdom of men.
83
Some people have supposed that the manifestation of the glory of
God in the latter-days would not take place until Jesus comes in
the clouds of heaven; but that is a mistake, it will take place
before that time. Before the second advent of the Redeemer, the
people of Zion will be acknowledged by God, as the great
latter-day Church, that will be prepared for his coming, and they
will hold the keys of power to teach mankind in the ways of the
Lord. What will the rest of the people be doing? Says Isaiah,
"Behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness
the people." That will be the distinction between Zion and the
rest of the nations. The Lord will arise upon Zion, and his glory
shall be seen in her midst, and Isaiah says--:The Gentiles shall
come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift
up thine eyes around about and see: all they gather themselves,
they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy
daughters shall be nursed at thy side." "Who are these that fly
as a cloud, and as doves to their windows?" Sure enough we come
with great speed. As Isaiah has said in the fifth chapter--the
Lord should hiss unto thee from the ends of the earth, he should
lift up an ensign for the nations, and they should come with
speed swiftly; just as you emigrants do when you get on board of
these railroads, when, instead of being ninety or a hundred days
coming to this elevated region, as was the case for several
years, you come in two or three days. "They shall come with speed
swiftly, and he shall lift up an ensign from afar." Not in
Palestine, where the prophet was delivering his prediction, that
would have been near by. Not an ensign that was to be raised up
in Jerusalem, or anywhere in that land; but God was to begin the
great latter-day work afar off from Jerusalem. This ensign is
spoken of in the 18th chapter of Isaiah, which I will now refer
to. The third verse of that chapter says: "All ye inhabitants of
the work and dwellers on the earth, see ye when he lifts up an
ensign on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye."
That was not a proclamation to a few thousand people assembled on
some small tract of country, but all ye inhabitants of the earth.
Nobody escapes this proclamation, but all ye inhabitants of the
earth, see ye when he lifts up an ensign. Where? Upon the
mountains. There is the place where Zion is to be reared when the
standard of truth is revealed from heaven in the last days.
85
As this ensign was to be lifted from afar, as is predicted in the
5th chapter of Isaiah's prophecy, let us inquire now where it is
to be located, and what kind of a country it is in which it is to
be reared. It is a land afar off from Jerusalem recollect, and in
order to ascertain something about the character of the country,
we will read the first verse of the 18th chapter--"Woe to the
land shadowing with wings which is beyond the rivers of
Ethiopia." Where are the rivers of Ethiopia? South-west of
Palestine, where Isaiah delivered this prophecy. Supposing that
you had the map of North and South America, and of the whole
world spread out before you, and then imagine yourself alongside
the Prophet, in Palestine, when he said, "Woe to the land
shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,"
and you should cast your eyes, if you had power to do so, beyond
the rivers of Ethiopia, what kind of a land would you behold if
you could grasp in your vision the land of North and South
America? You would see a land that looked like the two wings of a
bird. I seldom look at it, as laid down on our maps, without
being reminded of the two wings of a great bird. A land shadowing
with wings--in other words, having the appearance of wings. A
land afar off, away beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, there, in that
land, shall the ensign be raised for the nations; not for a few
individuals, but for all nations. No wonder that the Prophet said
the proclamation should be universal--"All ye inhabitants of the
world, all ye dwellers upon the earth, see ye when he lifteth up
this ensign."
85
That the Lord intends it to be for the benefit of the Gentiles as
well as of Israel, let me refer you to the 22nd verse of the 49th
chapter of Isaiah. "Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will lift up
mine hand to the Gentiles, and I will set up my standard to the
people, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms and their
daughters shall be carried on their shoulders, and kings shall be
thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers," &c.
85
This is a great latter-day work also for the gathering of the
house of Israel--a work which shall commence among the Gentiles.
In ancient days the Lord commenced his work among Israel. The
kingdom of heaven was preached among the Jews, but they proved
themselves unworthy, and says Paul, "Lo, we turn to the
Gentiles," and the kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. The natural branches of
Israel were broken off, and the branches of the wild olive
tree--the Gentiles--were grafted in. But the Gentiles, since they
were grafted in, 1800 years ago, have fallen after the same
example of unbelief that the ancient Jews did, and they have lost
the power and authority which they once possessed; and for many
centuries they have had no apostles, no prophets, no angels from
heaven, no power of godliness made manifest among them, and
nothing but the teachings and precepts of men. But in the great
latter-day work, the Lord begins where he left off--"the first
shall be last, and the last shall be first." As the Jews, in
ancient days were first, and the Gentiles last, so in the great
latter-day work, the Gentiles will be first and Israel will be
last. Hence the Prophet says, "Behold, thus saith the Lord God, I
will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and they shall bring thy
sons in their arms, and thy daughters upon their shoulders, and I
will lift up my standard to the Gentiles."
85
What is a standard? The same as an ensign--an ensign that is to
be lifted up upon the mountains, upon a land afar off. It is the
standard of the Almighty, the same standard that was spoken of in
connection with the great highway that was to be cast up over
this continent. I will not turn to it, but I will endeavor to
repeat the substance of the prophecy in relation to it. Isaiah in
speaking of this great highway, or railway, says, "Go through, go
through the gates, prepare the way of the people. Cast up, cast
up a highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the
people." The same work that God intended to perform in the
mountains, and he wanted a highway cast up, that the people might
go with speed swiftly to that land.
86
But says one, "what does the Prophet mean when he says, 'go
through the gates?" I think if I had been Isaiah, and had had the
vision of my mind opened to see the railroad and the great trains
of cars without any apparent animal life attached to them, going
with speed swiftly, if I had seen them dart into the mountain
and, after watching a few minutes, had seen them come out on the
other side, and then wished to describe what I had seen in words,
I do not think I could have found any more applicable than those
used by the ancient Prophet--"Go through, go through the gates,
cast up, cast up a highway, gather out the stones, and lift up a
standard for the people." Then, to show that this standard and
highway were connected, the Prophet, in the very next verse,
says: "Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed to the ends of the world,
say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold thy salvation cometh, and
his reward is with him. Behold, they shall be called a holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord; and they shall be called,
sought out, a city not forsaken." The people of Zion will not be
an unholy people. The world look upon the Latter-day Saints as
the most corrupt of all people on the face of the earth. But
according to the words of the Prophet, the people who dwell in
the mountains where the standard is to be raised, are to be a
holy people. "Behold, thy Redeemer cometh, behold, the Lord shall
come." This has been the proclamation of the people of Zion, ever
since we commenced, about forty years ago, to declare that God
was about to come in his glory, power and majesty, in the
greatness of his strength, with all his holy angels with him, in
the clouds of heaven, to reign upon the earth. This proclamation
will go to the ends of the earth, all people will be invited up
to these mountains, and they will flock here as clouds, and as
doves to their windows.
86
This will fulfill Daniel's prophecy. Read the second chapter of
Daniel if you want to know about the latter-day kingdom. Study it
thoroughly. I do not know that I have time to dwell upon it, but
I will refer you to some few things in relation to the latter-day
kingdom. Daniel, in interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar,
King of Babylon, describes the various kingdoms of the earth from
his day down, as long as there should be any human kingdoms on
the earth, under the form of a great image, with the head of
gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs
of iron, feet part iron and part of potter's clay. They
represented the several kingdoms of the world, and more
especially the four great kingdoms that should hold universal
dominion. After seeing this image in all its completeness, from
the gold dawn to the last remnants of the nations of the earth,
represented by the feet and toes of the image, he then sees a
kingdom and a government entirely distinct from and forming no
part or portion of the image, but it was entirely separate
therefrom. It was represented as a stone cut out of the mountain
without hands, and it rolled forth, and before the power of this
new kingdom all the kingdoms of the earth were broken in pieces
by the power of the Almighty. What became of them? They were to
be as the chaff of the summer threshing floor--the wind carried
them away and there was no place found for them.
87
You can draw your own conclusions about all human governments.
Daniel says this kingdom that was to come out of the mountain,
should be the kingdom of God, which God himself should set up in
the latter days, and it should stand for ever and ever, it should
never be broken in pieces, neither should it be given to any
other people, while all these earthly kingdoms should pass away
and be forgotten like the chaff blown away before a tremendous
tempest, and no place found for them.
87
The former-day kingdom of God, set up in the days of the
Apostles, was overcome, in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. He
saw that the powers of this world would make war upon and
overcome the kingdom that was set up then. John, the Revelator,
also predicted that a certain power should arise and make war
with the Saints and overcome them. That is the reason that
kingdom did not continue on the earth; it was overcome and every
vestige of it destroyed. No prophets, revelators or inspired
apostles were left to build up the kingdom; not an inspired man
among all the nations, but after a long time has passed away, God
would send an angel from heaven with the everlasting Gospel. What
for? To organize his kingdom again on the earth; and when God
should set it up in the latter days, after the toes and feet of
the great image were formed, then there should be no breaking in
pieces of that little stone, but as it rolled it should gather
strength and become greater and greater, as Daniel has said,
until it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. And
the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heavens should be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most
High God.
87
That kingdom is called Zion--the latter-day Zion, about which our
choir sang in their first hymn this afternoon. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Albert Smith, June 22, 1873
t Smith, June 22, 1873
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday, Afternoon, June 22, 1873.
Reported by David W. Evans
AN ACCOUNT OF HIS JOURNEY TO PALESTINE.
88
Brethren and sisters, I am exceedingly thankful, through the
blessings of the Lord and your faith and prayers, that I have
been permitted to perform a lengthy journey and to return and
associate with you again, to behold your faces, and to lift my
voice and bear testimony to the things of the kingdom of God in
this Tabernacle. I feel exceedingly thankful to my heavenly
Father for his preserving mercy, and to my brethren and sisters
for their prayers and faith, and for their kind assistance, which
was bountifully rendered to me, enabling me to bear the cost of
the length and expensive journey. The principal object of that
journey was to visit the lands in which the events recorded in
the Bible transpired. Incidentally we visited many countries, and
had an opportunity of acquiring information and extending
acquaintances into lands which heretofore have been barred
against visits from our Elders, as the Elders, when they went
abroad went expressly to preach, and were frequently prohibited
from entering these countries, or if permitted to enter were not
allowed to speak of the Gospel. We, having means to travel, of
course passed along as other travelers, for not being on a
mission for preaching we were not interrupted, and this enabled
us to acquire a knowledge of the laws and customs of the various
countries we visited, and a variety of information that we had
heretofore only got by reading; and I understand very clearly
that a person may read almost any subject and yet a personal
inspection will give better and perhaps more extended or
different ideas from those gleaned solely from reading. In
reading books, you learn the views, thoughts and reflections of
the individuals who wrote them, modified more or less by a great
desire in the human heart to make books readable, in order that
they may sell. It is really true that a great share of the books
in the world are written more to be read than to communicate
facts. It is said that when Henry the Fourth was on his sick bed,
his son, knowing his father had always been very fond of history,
proposed to read a little history to him. "Oh," said the dying
king, "I am too far gone to bother my brains with romance." That
showed his opinion of history.
88
Some years after the ascension of Jesus, St. Paul went to Rome,
in order to get a hearing before Caesar, on an appeal case, which
had been adjourned from time to time before the authorities in
Cesarea Phillippi, in consequence of his refusal, it seems from
the reading of the Book of Acts to furnish the "baksheesh."
Thinking that Paul's friends would pay liberally for his relief
his judges had kept him bound in prison; but as the expected
bribe was not forthcoming he was eventually sent to Rome on his
own appeal; and while we were at Rome we were shown places where
he was said to have been imprisoned, and one room where they said
he used to hold meetings, and a variety of places and incidents
connected either directly or indirectly with the mission of the
Apostles in the first century.
89
In the cathedrals of almost all the countries which we visited we
were shown relics that had been brought from Palestine. At Pisa
there is a burying yard, probably an acre and a quarter in
extent, nine feet of earth having been brought from Palestine as
a covering for this burial place. It take a permit from the Pope
to be buried in that sacred soil. In the cathedral of San
Lorenzo, in Genoa, they showed us the chain with which John the
Baptist was bound, and the casket which they said contained his
head, and a variety of other relics. In the church of St. Mark,
in Venice, they showed us the coffin of St. Mark, and while there
they showed us a casket said to contain the remains of St. John
the Baptist, also the marble slab on which his head fell when he
was executed. I ascertained, however, to my satisfaction, that
this was a local saint, carried by the Venetians, seven or eight
hundred years ago, from Marsaba, in Palestine, where he was
recognized as St. John of Damascus. There is so much relic
worship, that it has been overdone; but we commenced, when we got
to Rome, to tread the ground where the Apostles labored. We
visited a prison in which it is said St. Peter was imprisoned. We
saw the spot where he is said to have escaped from his enemies,
and was about to flee, but the Savior called to him and asked him
if he was afraid to die, so says tradition. They show the print
that Peter's foot made when he heard the Savior's voice. That is
on a spot outside of Rome. They built a church on that place and
it contains a statue of St. Peter, the toes of one of the feet
have been work off, we were told, by kissing, and their place
supplied with bronze. They showed us the stairs, brought from
Jerusalem, which they say led up to Pilate's judgment seat. We
saw a great many people crawling up and down them on their knees,
weeping and wailing and kissing every step.
89
As we steamed toward the east, we passed the Isle of Candia, the
crete of Scripture, and were reminded by various places that we
saw, of the incidents of St. Paul's shipwreck.
89
Before leaving London we made arrangements with the firm of
Thomas Cook & Son, to supply us with railroad facilities, hotel
coupons, steamboat conveyance and transportation from London to
Palestine, for one hundred and thirty days, terminating at
Trieste, in Austria, via Constantinople and Athens. By this mans
much of the annoyance of traveling in countries where we did not
understand the language and manners and customs was avoided.
89
In Egypt we were still on Scriptural ground. Egypt, after the
days of Constantine, until those of the Saracens, was a Christian
country. In the seventh century it was conquered by the Saracens
or Mahomedans. Alexandria is supposed to have contained 600,000
inhabitants when it was conquered by Amru. All the world has been
horrified by the decision of Omar, Caliph of Medina, that the
library of Alexandria--said to be the largest collection of books
and manuscripts in the world--should be consigned to the flames.
90
"After a siege of fourteen months Amru, also called Amer, took
it, and in his letter to the Caliph Omar, he informed him of the
conquest he had made, saying that he had found there 4,000
palaces, a like number of baths, 400 places of amusement, and
12,000 gardens, and that one quarter alone was occupied by 40,000
Jews." It is said that the books and manuscripts of that library
furnished fuel for warming those baths for some four months.
90
There is in Egypt a sect of Christians called Copts, or the
Coptic church. They are descendants of the inhabitants of Egypt
that were conquered by the Saracens. At Cairo we visited one of
their churches, and were shown the place where they said the
Savior, his mother and Joseph resided during their stay there,
when they fled from the wrath of Herod, and the basin they washed
in, and we saw many person who had come there to be healed in
consequence of the holiness of this place. This class of
Christians--the Copts--have maintained their identity through the
reign of Mahommetan power, Turkish and Arabic, down to the
present time. There is probably a million of them, perhaps more,
in Egypt and Abyssinia. There is also the Oriental Greek Church
in Egypt; they showed us some traditionary holy places.
90
We went to visit Heliopolis, or the City of On. I have taken a
great interest in family matters, believing in the doctrine of
baptism for the dead, and I went to Heliopolis because I had good
reason to believe that Joseph who was sold into Egypt, married
his wife there, Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, priest of On.
Heliopolis is believed to be the On of that day, and was the
great college at which all the leading men of Egypt were
educated. Probably Moses received his education there. There is a
needle or obelisk, some sixty feet out of the ground, at
Heliopolis, contained inscriptions from top to bottom. How far it
goes into the ground I know not, but the inscriptions on that
needle, if rightly interpreted by Egyptian scholars, indicate
that it was probably there when Joseph went to Egypt. The city
and all its temples have gone to decay. Other needles of the same
kind, which were there, have been carried away, one of them
stands in Constantinople. The ground is in a state of cultivation
though the ruins of the city of On are to be seen scatter about,
and when we were there, there was on the ground a luxuriant crop
of sugar cane, showing that the soil was very rich.
91
Everything that grows in Egypt has to be irrigated from the river
Nile. There is little, in fact no other, water, except that which
comes from the Nile. I say there is no other water, but a little
below the city of On, there is a very old tree--a sycamore I
believe, under which the Copts believe that Joseph, Mary and
Jesus camped while they remained in Egypt, during their flight
from Herod. A great number of the branches have been carried
away, and portions of the tree, but its boughs are still very
wide and spread. The owner of the tree has put around it a very
decent picket fence of pine lumber,--I do not know where he got
it,--and any man who will give him a franc he will lend him a
knife and he may cut his name on the fence, but if he will not
give him a franc, he must not do that, and he must not carry away
any of the tree. I did not care about cutting my name on the
fence, so I saved my franc. But there was a spring or well close
by, and the water was drawn up by a mule on a kind of rudely
constructed wheel, with a number of earthen vessels ties to the
ends of its arms. They told me that the spring was in ancient
times brackish and unfit to drink, but when Mary came there she
bathed in it and it became sweet and good. I drank some of the
water and found it so, tasting very much like the big spring at
St. George. I remarked to the man I really wished she had made it
cold while she was about it, for a drink of cold water would have
been very refreshing just then. This cost me one franc.
91
I am not designing, however, to follow the incidents of my
journey any further than they relate, more or less, to the
history of those countries mentioned either directly or by
tradition in the Bible. In Cairo we were shown Joseph's well, and
we were told by our guides that it was made by and called after
Joseph who was sold into Egypt. But on investigation we found
that when Saladin, Caliph of Egypt, undertook to select a place
for a citadel in his new city of Cairo, he hung up meat in
different parts around, and he found that fresh meat would keep
longer at that point than any other in the neighborhood, and he
came to the conclusion that that was the healthiest place, and he
had the ground cleared for a citadel, and in doing that they
discovered a well filled with sand. The sand was cleared out, and
as one of the names of the Caliphs was Yoosef, it was called
Joseph's well, so it may be that Joseph who was sold into Egypt
made it, and it may not. Its present name, however, I believe,
comes from the Sultan Yoosef Salah-ed-deen, Caliph of Egypt in
the 12th century, a man know to fame. The water of the well is
brackish, and is chiefly used for laying the dust.
91
We all felt more or less interest in the locality anciently
called the land of Goshen, but as nobody could tell precisely
where the land of Goshen was, it was necessarily a matter of
guess-work. But the streams of water must run now somewhere near
the same as they did then, and we followed the course of a fresh
water canal, which has recently been turned from the Nile, and
which is some one hundred and fifty miles in length, to Suez and
the Red Sea. This canal passes near Zagazig, which is probably in
the vicinity of the land of Goshen; and when the children of
Israel started for Canaan, they had to follow this route in order
to secure themselves the necessary amount of water from that old
fresh water canal, which is now known and identified as having
run very nearly on the same ground as the present one, which has
been made within a few years, and which the railroad follows.
91
There is a good deal of speculation as to where the children of
Israel crossed the Red Sea, but the most reasonable conclusion I
can arrive at, so far as I have been able to investigate the
matter, is that they followed this fresh water canal, and that
they camped near its terminus on the Red Sea, and crossed over to
the peninsula of Sinai, after which they were miraculously
supplied with water, food and clothing through the deserts of
Arabia.
91
We passed over that portion of the Suez canal, between Ismaila
and Port Said. The Suez canal is certainly a very grand
enterprise. Port Said receives its fresh water from the Nile. It
has got pipes over fifty miles in length to bring that water from
the canal at Ismaila to supply the town. Port Said is
considerable of a place, and there is a good deal of enterprise
there.
92
On the evening of February 22nd, we sailed from Port Said on the
Vesta, one of the steamers belonging to the Austrian Lloyd's. The
next morning we came in sight of Jaffa, the Joppa of the
Scriptures. Jaffa is a kind of promontory or headland, projecting
into the sea. The anchorage is simply an open roadstead, and
landing is sometimes very difficult. If we had had an unfavorable
wind and been carried by that port, it would have cost us
considerable time and expense; but when we reached there the day
was pleasant and the sea smooth, and we landed without
difficulty.
92
At Jaffa we were met by the before-named Mr. Howard, who
conducted us to the Turkish customhouse officer, who, I believe,
examined only one passport, and passed us, and we went directly
to our tents, which were pitched not far from the seaside, near
the burial-place. They were very nice wall tents, well carpeted,
with all the outfit necessary ready to use, and we at once
commenced keeping house.
92
This Joppa is the place where King Solomon landed the cedars that
he got from Hiram, King of Tyre, for the building of his Temple.
I am of the opinion that the place has undergone some physical
changes since that time, although I, of course, could not
determine to what extent. In the vicinity of this city is a
colony of about six hundred Germans, under the presidency of D.
V. Christopher Hoffman, who consider themselves the spiritual
temple of Christ. They have bought some land and have put it
under cultivation, and they say the rains have increased there
very much within the last few years, and the lands are very
productive. They raise wheat and a variety of grains without
irrigation. They say their gardens and orange groves require
irrigation. I think the olives do not. The most beautiful orange
groves that we saw, perhaps, on our entire journey, were at
Jaffa. We visited this German colony. The American vice-consul,
Mr. Hardegg, met us and treated us with courtesy. He is a German
by birth, never was in American, speaks English. We also saw a
number of persons who were connected with the scheme of one
George J. Adams, and who after its failure, were left in that
country, one of whom, Mr. Floyd, is now a dragoman. They built
some houses, but they have been purchased by this German colony.
We attended a meeting of a missionary, and heard a Methodist
sermon. It seemed to be a very difficult thing to get together
people enough to have a meeting.
92
I believe the only place of particular Scriptural import which
they pretend to have identified in Joppa is the house of Simon
the tanner, by the seaside. Some were so critical as to doubt
whether it was the identical house in which Peter lodged when the
messengers of Cornelius came; but then, there are the tan vats,
and it is right by the seaside. They showed us the flat roof on
which they say Peter was sleeping. In one end of the house--the
end towards Mecca--there was a recess, such as the Mahometans
have in their mosques to pray in. We inquired of the man in
charge of the house whether Simon was a Mussulman? He said, "Yes,
and there was where he prayed."
93
It is not important, of course, whether that building is the
identical one or not, yet it has been visited by thousands, and
is a source of revenue. It was in this neighborhood that the Lord
revealed to Peter that what God hath cleansed should not be
called common or unclean, and that it was proper for him to
preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and from that place he went to
visit Cornelius, and administered the Gospel to those not of the
seed of Israel.
93
Having obtained our horses and saddles, Monday morning, February
24th, we started for Jerusalem. I could not obtain a Syrian
saddle large enough for me to ride on, and I was compelled to
ride on an English saddle. This made a great difference in my
comfort. If I had carried a Spanish saddle from home, I should
have been much more comfortable on my journey. I was constantly
afraid that the fastenings of my English saddle would give way. I
did not think they were strong enough, and then its construction
and shape were not comfortable and convenient, and in those
particulars it was nothing to be compared with a Spanish, or even
with a Syrian saddle. I am pretty heavy, and had not been on
horseback for fifteen years.
93
Travelers in Palestine suffer greatly from the sun, but we were
early in the season--two weeks earlier than travelers generally
set out for Jerusalem. Mr. Cook was fitting out several parties;
but they were two weeks after us, and we were comparatively
alone, though some few travelers fell in with us incidentally. At
noon, we halted at what was called the Martyr's Tower, in Ramleh.
Ramleh has a history relating particularly to the crusades. It is
in the vicinity of the country anciently occupied by the
Philistines, and from its tower, which we climbed, and which is
probably a hundred feet high, we could see a portion of their
country. There is at this place a monastery of monks, who, it is
said, feed travelers of all denominations, and they are spoken of
by all travelers as being very kind. They are Roman Catholics. Of
course we had no need to test their hospitality, for we had
everything within our reach that was necessary to supply our
wants, carrying it right along with us.
93
In the evening we camped on a very nice stream at the entrance of
the Valley of Ajalon. Our Sunday school children will recollect
this very well, from the fact that Joshua said to the sun, "Stand
thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the Valley of Ajalon."
I ought to explain that in Palestine what we call a ravine is
called a valley, and wider valleys they call plains.
93
Before reaching Ramleh we passed through the plains of Sharon,
where a kind of red flower, called the rose of Sharon, grows
abundantly, and the land appears to be very fertile. We were
rather surprised, having heard such accounts of the sterilty of
Palestine, to find on our entrance into it that the land was
apparently fruitful; though we were told that if we had come
later it would have looked more barren.
94
Miss E. R. Snow and Miss Clara Little had a tent; Elder Paul A.
Schettler and myself occupied another, over which floated the
"Stars and Stripes." Elders Lorenzo Snow, Albert Carrington,
Feramorz Little and Thos. Jennings occupied another. My tent was
used as our dining-room. Our dragoman and cook had each his tent,
and we had another for convenience sake. We were supplied with
good camp stools; we had iron-framed bedsteads, with good
mattresses, and good, clean nice blankets and sheets. All the
difficulty about it with me was that my bedstead was too small
for me. I have always had a horror of being buried in a coffin
not big enough, and I have always desired that my
friends--whoever might live to put me in a coffin, would have it
at least two inches bigger every way than I was. I have always
felt annoyed at the idea of being buried in a cramped-up coffin.
It often made me think of it when stretched out upon that
bedstead, or in the berths of the ships which I have had to stay
in so many days on this journey, for generally they have been too
small for me. Our dragoman, Aushonny Makloof, of Beyrout,
supplied us very well with provisions. We had our Arab cook and
our Turkish muleteers. Only one of them all could speak a little
English, and really, to this day, I never could tell how many
there were, although on some days we had more and some less, for
as we passed through the country we sometimes hired a sheik and
one or two attendants, to go along with us, paying them for it,
so that he need not help himself to our movables without our
consent. Our muleteers took down our tents and tent poles, and
tied up tents, baggage and everything and put it all on to the
backs of the mules. We had to ride out, or spend our time
someway, looking at the country or waiting, as we chose, in the
evening for these tents all to be pitched; but it was generally
so arranged that, in our seeing the country, our muleteers would
get on the ground and get the tents pitched and everything ready,
so that when we went there we could go right in and sit down to
the tables or do anything we pleased.
94
The second day we had our noon halt on the brook, which they told
us King David got the stones out of, with one of which he killed
the giant of Gath, and that the battle between the Philistines
and King Saul took place along the two sides of this stream. It
is called a valley, but it was simply a ravine. We saw a
considerable number of sheep of various colors there, and some
boys tending them, which, of course reminded us of the fact that
King David was tending his father's sheep when Samuel went to his
father's house to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be King.
King David, it will be remembered, was the junior of the boys,
and he was small of stature compared with the others. He was sent
out to look after the sheep. When Samuel came to the house of
Jesse and told him that one of his sons had to be king, and he
wanted to pick the one, Jesse brought in six tall boys, one at a
time, to each of which Samuel said, "That is not the one." When
the sixth had been refused, said Jesse, "I believe that is all."
"Have you not another?" "O yes, little David, he is out with the
sheep." They sent for him and he was anointed king, and it was he
who slew the giant Goliath; and I suppose if I had enquired of
the monks I might have brought home the identical stone with
which he did it, but I did not take the trouble. The place where
we had our meal was not far from Kirjath-Jearim where the ark is
said to have rested, not the ark of Noah, but the ark of the
Lord, for a considerable time after it fell into the hands of the
Philistines.
95
We again got into the saddle and started for Jerusalem across the
mountain, for that country is one immense limestone quarry. If
there ever was any soil it has blown away until very little
remains. What there is left is evidently very rich where they can
get the water to it: but as we crossed over and got a view of
Jerusalem, a feeling of disappointment was evident on the
countenances of every one of the party, or else I was
disappointed and they were not, one or the other. But the whole
thing presented itself to us in a different light from what we
had anticipated, and I then understood why Dr. Burns, in his
"Guide," recommends people to pass round Jerusalem by another
route, and come in from the east and get a first view from the
eastern side. It is because the view from the Mount of Olives--on
the eastern side--is a very great deal better than when you go
from the west. It is said that there is a great deal in first
impressions.
95
The Russians have built some monasteries in and about Jerusalem,
and the Latins have got some, and within the last few years there
have been a number of good new buildings put up. Sir Moses
Monteilore has built a block outside, and not far from the wall.
The venerable Abraham Askenasi, the chief rabbi of Jerusalem,
with the contributions of his friends throughout the world, has
erected a considerable number of rooms as a home for widows and
orphans. At first view we could pick out the mosque of Omar--the
place where Solomon's temple stood; we could also see the church
of the Holy Sepulchre--the place where the Savior was crucified.
We pitched our tent in the valley of Hinnom, near the Jaffa
gate--the gate at which most of the business in Jerusalem is
done. While our tents were pitching we passed in at the gate, and
saw a good many beggars, some of them lepers, also quite a number
of women dressed in white, some of whom were hired mourners and
were wailing. As we passed along we found, not far from the gate,
an old man lying in the street, almost naked and moaning
piteously. He begged of us to give him something. When we got in
we called at the banker's in Jerusalem, and were told that the
old man who lay there in the street begging, whom we had probably
noticed, owned six hundred olive trees, a garden containing quite
a number of fig trees, and an orange grove,--that the banker had
know him for years, and he came every year to Jerusalem, and lay
on the street almost naked, howling and moaning, piteously,
begging from the pilgrims, while he was in reality one of the
wealthy men of the country.
95
It is not easy to describe that city, nor, as far as I have seen,
any of those Asiatic cities. The streets, if they can be called
streets, are very narrow, and many of them are so crowded with
camels, donkeys and pack-horses, that they can only pass each
other at certain places. The houses are rudely built, of a kind
of concrete, or of rock and mortar. They are low and small and
the roof flat, generally covered with cement. There are many
buildings in Jerusalem that go to show it off--mosques and
churches, with their minarets, towers and rotundas. The principal
business street in Jerusalem is Christian street, which is
fifteen feet wide. It leads up from the street that we enter from
Jaffa's gate, and has an avenue that leads off to the entrance of
the church of the Holy Sepulchre. In front of that church is a
little open space filled with beggars, and men with articles for
sale--beads, photographs, jewelry of different kinds, and relics
of all kinds. We could get almost anything in the way of relics
we wanted there, and be assured that they were genuine.
96
President Carrington remained at Jerusalem while we went to the
Dead Sea. He wanted to do some business connected with the
Liverpool office; and he is not very fond of horseback riding. As
you are aware he has been afflicted with rheumatism considerably,
so he remained in the Mediterranean Hotel while we went to the
Dead Sea and the Jordan. That gave him more time to pass around,
and through and over Jerusalem, than any of us. He had several
days, and he declared that he could never make up his mind as to
what induced King David to locate his capital there. The chief
rabbi told me that, anciently, Jerusalem was well supplied with
water; but at the present time there was really no living water
there. The pool of Hezekiah, and other pools were filled in the
rainy season, but in a month from the time we were there a quart
bottle of water would cost a farthing, and sometimes pretty hard
to get. If the aqueducts from the pools of Solomon were repaired,
they would not bring in sufficient water to supply the city, but
in the days of Israel's prosperity, there was abundance of water
there, and be believed there would be again.
96
I had a letter of introduction, procured by Mr. James Linforth,
from the Rabbi of the Jewish congregation at San Francisco, to
Rabbi Askenasi. He is a very venerable-looking man--tall, heavy
set and a good supply of beard, like the Apostles in the picture.
He seemed very much pleased with my visit, treated me with
courtesy, showed me their synagogue and the building they were
erecting, and returned the visit, accompanied by several of the
Jewish elders, at my tent, where we had a very pleasant
interview. But there is no infidel on the face of the earth who
can disbelieve the mission of the Savior more than they do. He
says the condition of the Jews is much improved of late years.
Now they can purchase, and if they have only the money to do it
with, and the amount they can buy is only limited by their want
of money. They have also a title from the Turkish government for
the ground upon which they are erecting their home for widows and
orphans. This gentleman told me that no Jew had been inside the
enclosure of the Mosque of Omar, although he believed it stands
on the sight of Solomon's temple, though not in the centre of it.
98
In looking around Jerusalem, I did not regard it in the same
light as President Carrington did. Kingdoms, in those days, were
small and densely populated, and it was necessary for a ruler, in
locating a capital, to have it so that it could be easily
defended; and until the time when modern arms were invented,
Jerusalem could be easily defended. Its siege and capture by the
Romans proved, to all intents and purposes, that it was a very
difficult city to take, for though it was surrounded by several
walls, fortified with strong towers, and naturally defended by
its mountainous position and the ravines around it, each one of
these walls was occupied by rival parties, for it will be
remembered by readers of the destruction of Jerusalem, that there
were three separate leaders, and that when the Jews were not
fighting the Romans, they were fighting each other; and it is
even doubtful to this day that, if either John or Simon had had
absolute command in their city and the confidence of the people,
whether the Romans would have taken the place at all or not. An
old proverb says that whom the Gods would destroy they first make
mad. It was so with these Jews. They had slain the Savior, they
had violated the commands of God, and they had brought upon their
heads the curses pronounced upon them in the 27th chapter of
Deuteronomy and in a great many other places, if they did not
abide in the law of the Lord; and notwithstanding their strong
city and their numbers, they were so divided among themselves
that they could not make a successful defence. Speaking of this
destruction of Jerusalem carries me back to Rome and the Arch of
Titus, erected to commemorate his victories, on which is engraved
a representation of the seven branched candlesticks and a great
variety of the treasures brought by him from Jerusalem.
98
King David had learned the strength of Jerusalem by the
difficulty he encountered in taking it from the Jebusites; and it
is more than probable that God commanded him to locate the city
there.
98
Rabbi Askenasi, speaking of the ten tribes, said he had no idea
where they were, but he believed they were preserved, and that
their posterity would return, and the time would come when God
would bless Israel, and when water would be abundant in
Jerusalem. We read in the 47th chap. of Ezekiel, that living
waters were to come out from Jerusalem, and that they should run
toward the east; and that the Prophet saw a man with a measuring
line in his hand. He measured a thousand cubits, and the water
was to his ankles; he measured another thousand, and it was to
his knees; another thousand, and it was to his loins; another
thousand, and it was a river with waters to swim in, that could
not be passed over. He goes on and describes this as something
that should take place at Jerusalem. I could but reflect, when
standing on the Mount of Olives, on the saying concerning it in
the last chapter of Zechariah, where, in speaking of the coming
of the Savior, it says his feet shall stand on the Mount of
Olives, which is before Jerusalem to the east, and the mount
shall cleave in the midst thereof, half going toward the north,
and half toward the south. There shall be a very great valley,
and the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon,
south of Jerusalem, and shall be lifted up, and men shall dwell
on it. The same Prophet tells us that living waters shall come
out of Jerusalem, half toward the former sea, and half toward the
hinder sea, and that in summer and in winter shall it be.
98
The convent at Mar Saba is situated on the canon, which is the
outlet of the brook Kedron; but it was perfectly dry when we were
there, not a drop of water running in it. There are seasons of
the year, I suppose, when waters run there, but these prophecies
declare that living waters shall run out of Jerusalem in summer
and winter, and I am foolish enough to believe that they will be
literally fulfilled. I agreed with Rabbi Askenasi in the belief
that God would restore that land to Israel, and that Jerusalem
would again be supplied with abundance of water and be a glorious
and happy city. I saw many Christians of different denominations
there who had no such faith. One man came into our tent, and
assured us that baptism by immersion was impossible, there never
had been water enough in that country to immerse people. He had
believed in immersion, he said, but since he had traveled through
the country and had seen so little water, he was satisfied that
they would all have to go to Jordan to be baptized. This is the
way people look at it. The country is dry and barren, the rains
have ceased upon it for many generations, though they have had
occasional rains.
98
In going to the Dead Sea from Jerusalem, we visited a number of
points of interest. One was the tomb of Rachel, another the pools
of Solomon--three immense pools constructed to receive the waters
of the spring and hold them in reserve and the old aqueduct is
still in repair almost to Bethlehem. We visited Bethlehem, and
were shown the caves--called stables--in which the Savior was
born, and the churches and ornaments. There was a great variety
of people there, many begging and many trying to sell you relics.
The country is without fences. There are a good many spots where
there is an opportunity for the Bedouins to come along and
scratch the ground with a kind of shovel plough they have, hitch
some calves or very small cattle, and raise some barley. We
purchased barley all the time for feeding our animals.
99
At the place which we supposed is called in Scripture the
wilderness, or the border of the wilderness next to the Dead Sea,
where John the Baptist commenced his preaching, is an immense
convent. It is founded by a man named Saba. "Mar" in the Syrian
language means saint, and when we speak of Mar Saba, it means
saint Saba. This is the name of the convent. This man lived to be
some ninety-four years old. He concealed himself from his enemies
a considerable time in caves, but his power increased with the
number of his friends, for he gathered around him a good many
thousand monks, and they built this immense convent, which was
strongly fortified for those times. They allow no women to enter,
and no person can go into their building without a permit from
the Greek Patriarch at Jerusalem. We had a permit to enter that
convent, but sister Snow and sister Little, of course, had to go
to the camp. It would probably have been considered an outrage
for them to have come in sight of the gates. Having sent up our
permit, we were admitted and passed through the building. There
were sixty-five monks there, some of whom had been there
thirty-seven years. A man has to be exceedingly holy to be
permitted to go there. I looked at them, and wondered what could
induce men to adopt such a life. They showed us one room filled
with skulls. They said there were fifteen hundred of them, and
they were the skulls of their brethren who had been killed by the
Saracens at different times. They had taken great pains to
preserve the skulls, with their names and registers. They have a
spring of water which has a miraculous history, and they have one
palm tree growing, which they say was planted by Saint Saba
himself. They seem to have an eye to business. They had canes for
sale, made from willows which they get the Arabs to bring from
the Jordan. None of them are allowed to go out, and they are
compelled to have everything brought to them. They had a number
of fancy articles of their own manufacture for sale. I bought a
small string of shells, which they said were brought from the
Dead Sea. They gather a few francs from every party of travelers
in this way. There was another party of Americans near by who
wanted to visit the monastery, but they had no permit; and a
message was sent to us by them, saying, that if we would delay a
little while we could all pass in with our permit. We had met the
party and knew them to be nice, intelligent gentlemen. We stayed
about an hour to accommodate these friends, and they passed in
with us, otherwise they would have had to go clear back to
Jerusalem for a permit. These persons--four gentlemen and two
ladies--finding that we were going down to the Dead Sea, went
along with us and made the journey safe and pleasant. We went
down to the Dead Sea the day following our visit to the
monastery. I have seen a good many rough roads in Utah in the
mountains, but of all the rough horseback riding I ever did see,
I think that Palestine has the premium. Being pretty heavy, it
was difficult for me to get on and off my horse, but because of
the rough roads in some places, I dismounted and led my animal. I
found, however, that he could stand better than I could, so I
rode him, and I believe that some of the Saints here at home must
have had faith to hold that animal up, or he would have stumbled.
I rode him four hundred miles, three hundred of which there was
no road with any right to the name, and he never slipped or
stumbled.
99
Some of the party went into the Dead Sea and had a swim. I did
not. Some of them inquired for Lot's wife--the "pillar of salt."
I expect she was at the other end of the sea, for we did not see
her. The Dead Sea is a remarkable body of water. According to
scientific observations, as read in the report of Lieutenant
Lynch and others, it is 1350 feet lower than the Mediterranean.
It is probably one of the deepest holes in the world. It is
perhaps eight or ten miles wide and about forty long. It occupies
the site of the cities of the plain--Sodom and Gomorrah, and
Admah and Zeboim, upon which, in consequence of their wickedness,
we are told that God rained fire and brimstone and destroyed
them. The probability is that they were buried by a volcanic
eruption, and that they and most of the valley of the Jordan were
sunk at the same time. The probability is that the Jordan ran
through these cities, and that this deep basin being formed, the
Jordan forms the Dead Sea, which has no outlet, much like our
Salt Lake. There is a wonderful similarity between that country
and this, only this, of course, is on a grander scale. Our Salt
Lake answers very well to the Dead Sea; our Utah Lake answers
very well to the Sea of Galilee, and some of the streams that run
into Utah Lake answers very well to the upper streams of the
Jordan. It hardly seems credible to me, but all the guide books
assert that the Sea of Galilee is 650 feet below the level of the
Mediterranean. The country is subject to earthquakes, and bears
the evident marks of many of them. In 1837, Tiberium, the
Tiberias of ancient times, was very severely damaged by an
earthquake, the effects of which are visible to any one who
visits it. I have wondered how the Lord would restore that
country. I thought he had got to have some kind of a process to
hoist the waters of the Dead Sea above the level of the ocean, so
that a stream could run out of it in order for it to be healed.
Prophecy says that the waters that should run out of Jerusalem
should run down to the east sea, and the waters of the east sea
were to be healed, and there was to be a multitude of fishes, but
now no living thing can exist in the Dead Sea. But if these
prophecies are fulfilled, and I have not any doubt that they will
be, these waters are to be healed, and I believe that the Lord
will use natural means to bring it about.
99
We returned by way of Jordan. The stream is not so large as our
Jordan here, but quite a nice river. The Arabs were very much
afraid when we went into it, that we would go beyond our depth.
It was safe to go as far as certain rapids, but it was not safe
to go beyond them. They said that some zealous fellows got in so
far that they could not get out, and one or two were lost, and
they had some difficulty to fish the others out. Some willows and
different kinds of timber grow along its banks.
100
We were supposed to be at the place where the Savior was
baptized, and also at the place where Elijah smote the waters
with his mantle, and he and Elisha crossed over dry-shod, and
Elijah then went to heaven in a chariot of fire, after which
Elisha passed back in the same manner. We saw the place where it
is supposed the children of Israel, under Joshua, crossed over
the river dry-shod. There is good reason to suppose that they
crossed in harvest time, and that the waters were high. They say
the waters of the Jordan are highest in harvest time. We had a
ride across the plain probably seven or eight miles. That plain
could be watered by irrigation. I was often asked if we were
going to settle in Palestine. I replied that we were not, but I
could take a thousand "Mormons," go up the Jordan, put in a dam
to take out the water, and irrigate several thousand acres. But
there is little, however, at present inviting about the country,
but it would no doubt be productive if irrigated. The valleys
near the source of the Jordan would be much the best for
cultivation, and the climate would be more agreeable.
100
Jericho, or rather the old site of that city, has a good many
mounds. Men have dug into many of them, but we were told that no
valuables had been found. We camped that night at Ain-es-Sultain,
generally called the fountain of Elisha, because tradition says
that, on his return after Elijah had ascended to heaven, he
healed the waters of this fountain. Before then they were salt,
but by a miracle he made them sweet. They are now delicious, and
after our hard day's ride in the heat and dust, we found the
waters of the fountain of Elisha very palatable.
100
That night there was a company of Bedouins came and danced and
sang for us. They had a sham fight, and I think it requires a man
of pretty good nerve to sit and look at them and not be afraid
that they would whip some of their crooked scimeters through his
body. Each one of our party paid them something like two francs,
which satisfied them. I believe a ticket at our theatre here in
Salt Lake would cost more than that, and take it as a whole their
performance was not very expensive. They went off in a very fine
humor. I could not understand their songs, but our dragoman
interpreted the chorus of one of them to be, "May the ladies'
eyes be like the moon."
100
From that place to Jerusalem the route is very rough. Some years
ago a Russian lady, a very pious woman, went on a pilgrimage to
the Jordan, and while riding over some of these rough ways she
was thrown from her horse and had her arm broken and was badly
hurt. She expended her money in improving a portion of the way,
and on this account one of the kanyons was much easier to go
through than before that time.
100
We passed by other ancient sites, spoken of in the Bible as
having been large cities, and no doubt they were; but we must
bear always in mind that that was an age when Israel paid their
tithes and offerings, and God blessed the land. At noon we
stopped at a place called Christ's Hotel, all of us very much
fatigued. Our luggage train went ahead. In the afternoon we
passed by Bethany, where Christ raised Lazarus, and saw what was
pointed out to us as the house of Mary and Martha, and also the
tomb of Lazarus. In the evening we camped again at Jaffa's gate
at Jerusalem, finding our tents pitched and everything
comfortable. We used to sing about the flowery banks of Jordan,
but it takes off the romance to go and see them; yet when
irrigation and industry and the blessing of the Lord prevailed
along them, I have no doubt they were as beautiful as any places
in the world.
101
I made two careful visits to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, and one to the Mosque of Omar and the grounds
connected with it. I also visited many other places of interest
about Jerusalem, but in giving you a detailed account of what we
saw and passed through, in such a scattering way, I cannot
communicate to so large an audience, to any extent, the
impressions I felt at the time. I had no doubt that I passed over
the grounds where the Savior and his Apostles, and the Prophets,
kings and nobles of Israel had lived, although I did not believe
a great deal about the identical spots set down by the monks, yet
I was satisfied that I was in the localities in which the great
events recorded in Scripture took place. But now little remains
on the top of the ground that can be identified beyond the period
of the occupation of the Crusaders or the Romans. We certainly
saw the top of Mount Moriah, on which stands the Mosque of Omar.
There are the rocks and the caves in them. The rocks have not
been made by men. The Valley of Jehosophat is there. Learned men
have dug deeply under Jerusalem in search of evidence to
determine its original site, but an alarm was created that the
monkery of the place might be spoiled by determining that certain
localities were not where they are now represented, and the
Turkish government was moved, so I was informed by some
gentlemen, to stop the investigations and to close up the
excavations, and we were not permitted to enter them.
101
President Lorenzo Snow's correspondence to the Deseret News,
Elder Paul A. Schettler's correspondence to the Salt Lake Herald,
and Miss E. R. Snow's communications and poems to the Woman's
Exponent, with other published letters, all composed under
circumstances of great labor and fatigue, give a very correct
idea of our visit to Jerusalem and journeyings generally. Elder
Paul A. Schettler speaks six languages, and in attending to the
financial business of the party, he had to make exchanges and was
compelled to keep accounts in the currency of a dozen different
nations and even among the Arabs he could generally find some one
who could speak in some one of the languages with which he was
acquainted.
101
God has preserved me. Our party of eight went though the entire
journey without an accident. We never missed a connection that
amounted to any difficulty. We were in no matter injured; we had
no sickness, except, peradventure, a little cold or a pinch of
rheumatism now and again for a day or two. Our minds were clear,
we saw more, I believe, in the eight months, than ordinary
travelers see in two years. We visited a number of places in
Holland, Belgium and France. We crossed three times over Italy.
We visited the Ionian isles, Egypt, Palestine and Syria, Turkey
in Europe, Greece, Bavaria, Austria and Prussia, and other parts
of Germany. We spent eleven days in examining the mysteries of
Rome. I paid four Italians to carry me to the crater of Mount
Vesuvius. I think they earned their money, at any rate I was well
satisfied with them. I had an idea in my own mind of how the
crater looked, but I am now satisfied that I could form no
correct opinion without seeing it. To reach the crater you have
to mount about 1,500 feet perpendicular in height above where we
could ride on horseback, in loose volcanic sand, and every time a
man's foot was planted in it, it would slip back about twice the
length of his foot. I could not stand the walk, these Italians
wanted the contract, and I gave it to them.
102
My time is exhausted. I thank God for the privilege of
seeing you. When on the Mount of Olives, with our faces bowed
toward Jerusalem, we lifted our prayers to God that he would
preserve you and confound your enemies. We felt in our hearts
that Zion was onward and upward, and that no power could stay her
progress; that the day was not far distant when Israel would
gather, and those lands would begin to teem with a people who
would worship God and keep his commandments; that plenty and the
blessings of eternity would be poured out bounteously upon that
desert land, and that all the prophecies concerning the
restoration of the house of Israel would be fulfilled. God has
commenced his work by revealing the everlasting Gospel to the
Latter-day Saints, and may we all be faithful and fulfill our
part is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Albert Smith, June 28, 1873
George Albert Smith, June 28, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH,
Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Friday morning,
June 28, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
OBEDIENCE--BY REASON OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE, ANCIENT
ISRAEL AND THE LAND OF PALESTINE WERE VISITED WITH
AND STILL REMAIN UNDER THE CURSE OF GOD--TITHING A
HEAVENLY REQUIREMENT.
103
Good morning, brethren and sisters! I am very happy to meet with
you. We have the privilege of coming here occasionally and seeing
you. We would like to give every one of you a hearty shake of the
hand, but we desire to do it in a wholesale way, and we wish you
to consider yourselves heartily shaken hands with (and suiting
the action to the word); God bless you all for ever. We have come
here to bear testimony of the things of the kingdom of God, and
to stir you up to diligence in performing your duties, and to
perform the duties of our callings as ministers of the Gospel of
Peace. We feel a little annoyed, necessarily, at the slow
progress which is being made, yet we have a great many things to
be thankful for, and a great many reasons to rejoice. We have
very little reason to fear our enemies, provided that we, as
Latter-day Saints, do our duty, but if we fail to obey the
commandments of God, and the revelations which he has given for
our salvation and guidance we have reason to fear, for unless we
take such a course as to make God our friend and protector we are
likely to fall into the hands of our enemies. King David was
requested, once to take his choice of three years' famine, three
days' pestilence, or be driven three months before his enemies.
David said he preferred to fall into the hands of the Lord; and
when the scourge came David plead with the Lord to let the blow
fall upon him and his house, and to spare Jerusalem. God heard
his prayer and turned away the scourge, though it is written
seventy thousand persons fell with the plague between Dan and
Beersheba. In all ages of the world in which the Lord reveals
himself to the children of men, he requires obedience, and
promises them great blessings on rendering the same; but if they
are not obedient he has invariably promised and poured out curses
upon them.
104
Since I was here last, I have visited the Land of Palestine, on
which God revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He
promised that land to them and their seed for ever. It was to
this land that Moses led the children of Israel, and upon which
God promised them very great blessings if they would live in
obedience to his laws and commandments. Any one who will
attentively read the 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th chapter of
Deuteronomy, will see foreshadowed, in plain language, the entire
history of the children of Israel from the days of Moses to the
present time; and in Palestine he will see the fulfillment of
many of the prophecies contained in those chapters, with a
minutiae that is really astonishing. Some men say they are
infidels because that country is barren, sterile, rocky--a vast
limestone quarry, and could never have sustained such a
population as the Bible represents it to have done. Others are
infidel because they believe that so many kingdoms that are said
to have once existed on that land could not have existed in so
small a compass. But these querists and unbelievers do not
realize that the barrenness, desolation, scanty population and
condition of affairs which now exist there is a fulfillment, to
the very letter, of the prophecies of Moses, the holy Prophets
and of Jesus and the Apostles. God required certain things of
Israel. If they complied it was all right with them; if they
failed the catalogue of curses contained in the chapters I have
referred to was pronounced upon their heads. Read the Bible and
you will find that when they were obedient they were blessed,
their lands were blessed, their armies were blessed, they were a
great nation, they were able to resist the power of neighboring
nations, they were courted, they were looked up to, neighboring
nations paid them tribute. But when they refused to do that which
the law of God required at their hands they lost this power--they
fell into the hands of their enemies, they quarrelled among
themselves, they fell into darkness, married the daughters of
aliens, worshiped strange gods, and they were finally broken up.
Many of them were sold as slaves, some of them were compelled to
eat their own children to save them from starvation, in the midst
of the straits and sieges to which they were forced by their
enemies. They were scattered to the four winds of heaven, they
were sold in the slave market of Egypt, until they could not be
bought, that is, there was no man to buy them. All these terrible
judgments fell upon the Jewish nation, yet they were not utterly
destroyed, a remnant was all the time preserved, and to-day, in
every nation under heaven is found a remnant of the seed of
Israel, retaining the Hebrew language, many of their ancient
manners and customs, their old law written on parchment, which is
read in their synagogues every Sabbath day. In nearly all the
countries in which they have been scattered they have been
subject to the most extreme abuse. They have been in constant
fear, they have been permitted to reside only in certain
quarters, and have had imposed upon them the most fearful
exactions. You take for instance, the persecution of the Jews in
Spain, under Ferdinand and Isabella--a very pious couple.
Probably half a million of Jews were either banished from their
homes, put to death, or compelled to accept the Catholic
religion, and great numbers of their children were taken from
them and placed under the charge of the Catholics, that, as the
Queen believed, their souls might be saved. The Crusaders, while
on their way to Jerusalem, plundered and killed thousands of the
Hebrew race and yet, notwithstanding all the oppression that had
been heaped upon them continuously from generation to generation,
they still maintain their identity as the seed of Abraham.
104
Where are the inhabitants of Babylon and Nineveh? The city of
Babylon was fifteen miles square, sixty in circuit. According to
Herodotus, it was surrounded with a wall three hundred and fifty
feet high, and eighty-seven thick, flanked with over two hundred
towers, and contained palaces and hanging gardens that were the
wonder of the world. It is almost doubtful now, where this once
famous city stood, and the vicinity in which it is believed to
have stood, is a vast marsh, rendering it difficult of access to
any who may wish to visit it. And the Babylonians, where are
they? Their descendants are so mixed up with the rest of the
world, that none of them can be identified. You may trace other
great nations of antiquity, and they have gone in the same way.
But the Jews are still a distinct race, and they are a living
record of the truth of the revelations of God.
104
There are a few thousand Jews in Jerusalem. They have synagogues
and they are permitted to go to a portion of the old wall, which
they suppose to be a remnant of the outside enclosure of
Solomon's temple, and wail. A great many people who visit
Jerusalem, go to witness their wailing. These Jews are graciously
accorded the privilege, by the rulers of that country--the
Turks--to wail over the desolation of Israel, provided they do
not make so much noise as to disturb the neighborhood.
104
There are several other places, such as Mount Gerizim, a place in
Samaria, considered holy, where a small sect of the ancient
Samaritans meet annually. And in Tiberium, on the Lake of
Galilee, two or three thousand Jews live. It is the Tiberias of
Herod the Tetrarch; they consider that a holy place. The Jews are
broken up into sects and parties, and in almost every town in
Palestine, you find a few of them, oppressed, poor and despised,
there, as elsewhere, living monuments of the fulfillment of
prophecy.
105
At the last General Conference of the Church, during my absence,
I was elected Trustee-in-Trust. It consequently became my duty to
return home and look after the interests of the Church, directing
the means for the building of Temples and other public works.
This was certainly very unexpected to me; but the General
Conference saw proper to confer this duty upon me, and as soon as
I got the Conference minutes at Berlin, I started for home.
105
While I was passing through Palestine, I had some very serious
reflections as to the causes which had operated to reduce the
country to its present barren condition, and why the descendants
of Jacob were so oppressed, and, as an independent nation,
blotted out. In an interview with the venerable Chief Rabbi,
Abram Askenasi, I enquired for the ten tribes. Said he, "We have
no idea where they are, but we believe they will be found, and
will return and inherit their land." While traveling in Palestine
I reflected a good deal on the fate of Israel. I asked myself,
why they were persecuted, scattered, peeled and hidden from the
face of men, and why were the tribes of Judah and Benjamin still
scattered? Some of them can go to Jerusalem occasionally and
visit, but only a very few thousand live, in a scattered
condition, in the land of their fathers, and they are in bondage,
under tutors, governors, and rulers, and have in reality no power
of themselves. Rabbi Askenasi, said they had more liberty than
heretofore. The Christian Powers have recently taken a course
which has modified the action of the Turks toward them. They were
now permitted to buy land, but they were poor and could buy but
little, and he wished the Jews of all nations to contribute to
enable the Jews of Jerusalem to extend the area of their
possessions. They had purchased a piece of land in Jerusalem, and
were building on it a home for widows and orphans.
105
Now I saw this degradation with which Israel are visited. Where
did it begin? It was simply because the children of Israel failed
to obey the law of God. If we search the Bible, we shall find
many references by the Prophets to this subject, which are very
plain and clear. In the third chapter of Malachi, and eighth
verse, the Prophet, speaking of the condition of Israel in his
day, uses this singular language, or rather the Lord, speaking
through the Prophet, says--"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have
robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me,
even this whole nation."
106
Now, God required of Israel Tithes and offerings. He blessed them
with land and with abundant rains. He made their land exceedingly
fertile; he blessed them with flocks, with herds, and with
everything on the face of the earth seemingly that they could
desire. He gave them wealth in every direction; he gave them
power over their neighbors,--they were the head and not the tail.
In return for all this, what did he require of them? He required
them to pay Tithes and make offerings. Tithes meant one-tenth of
all their increase. One-tenth of all this the Lord required them
to place in the hands of the Levites and those whom he had
selected to look after the general welfare. In addition to this
tenth he also required certain offerings. You may trace the
history of the Jewish nation through and you will find that when
the people paid their Tithes and offerings, and thereby
acknowledged their dependence upon and allegiance to the God of
heaven, they were prospered and blessed continually. While they
did this they were not running after other gods, making golden
calves, setting up idols, or worshiping the gods of their heathen
neighbors.
106
What does the Lord want with Tithes and offerings? He has plenty.
And he has shown that he could do without them from that day to
the present; but he promised his people blessings on certain
conditions. Some of those conditions were that they should pay
Tithes and make offerings. The Pharisees paid Tithes of mint,
anise and cumin, but omitted their money. "Ye pay tithes of mint,
anise and cumin, but omit the weightier matters of the
law--judgment, mercy and faith. These things ye ought to have
done and not left the others undone." This was the principle.
106
I rode over the plains and hills of Palestine and saw their
desolation. What is the reason of it? God gave that country to
Israel; he blessed it and sent rains upon it, and made it
fruitful above all lands, and in return he required of them
one-tenth of their increase and some offerings; but they would
not give him Tithes, they robbed him of Tithes and offerings,
hence he cursed the whole nation with a curse. After seeing the
condition of that country, I came home with a determination to
preach the law of Tithing, for God has required of us, as he did
of ancient Israel, obedience to that law, and he also requires
that we should pay in our offerings; and he will do with us
precisely as he did with Israel, if we fail to observe the law of
Tithing and offerings, of course remembering the principles of
judgment, mercy and faith, for these things we ought to do and
not leave the other undone. My traveling over that country was
not without its moral lesson to us at home. God has given us a
good country. The world hate us. "Marvel not," says the Savior,
"if the world hate you." The world will speak evil of us. Marvel
not at that, we have nothing to fear from men in authority. We
have nothing to fear from any source on the face of the earth,
but from our own neglect. God himself is our protector and our
ruler, and if we observe faithfully and truly, with all our
hearts, the law that is required of us, we have nothing to fear
from any other source; but if we neglect, if we have the
effrontery to be baptized for the remission of sins, and to step
forward and receive the ordinances of the house of God, and then
coolly and deliberately rob God of what is required of us, we may
expect that he, in return, will send upon us in their time and
season a long list of curses and afflictions, annoyance and
distress, just as he sent them upon the nations of antiquity to
whom he revealed himself and who refused to obey his law.
106
The Prophet Malachi, wished to reclaim Israel from the condition
into which their unfaithfulness had reduced them, or rather the
Lord wished to do so, and he used this exhortation--"Bring ye all
the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And
I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast
her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a
delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts."
107
We profess to believe a great deal, but do our acts
correspond with our belief? Are we as critical, careful, fixed
and determined in obeying this law of Tithing as we ought to be?
Or do we feel that it is a burden? God does not want our Tithes
at all unless we want to pay them, but we have no right to ask
his favors, blessings and protection and the ordinances of the
Priesthood, unless we render our acknowledgement. The conditions
are before us. In every age of the world when any people have
received revelation from God, directly or indirectly, if they did
abide this law they were prospered, blessed and protected; they
were powerful and strong. God watched over them. If they
neglected it, he cursed them with a curse, even the whole nation.
We have nothing to expect but the very same justice from the hand
of God, if we, to use his expression, "rob" him. Now, I have just
that kind of faith, if a man has a sum of money come into his
possession, whether by the manufacture of lumber, or the selling
of merchandise or by any other means, if he will pay his tenth
strictly, according to the law, he has the blessing of God upon
the balance, and if he will keep a strict, straightforward
account with all his increase, whatever it may be, and strictly
observe the law of Tithing, he will have blessings upon his head,
upon his property, upon his wives, children and posterity. If, on
the other hand, he pursues the opposite policy, the Prophet says,
"Ye are cursed with a curse."
107
Now, brethren and sisters, think of these things. If we have the
truth--the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which a great many of you
testify you have, and I know we have, do not let a little
neglect, folly and covetousness, and a little disposition to rob
our Father of what he has justly claimed at our hands as his
Saints, place us in darkness. It is the very stepping stone to
and beginning of apostacy, it is the foundation of wickedness and
corruption. I see the results, I have realized them. I have
wandered over hills and valleys that once teemed with their
millions of inhabitants, and now they are a desert. God has
cursed them. He has for many generations made "the rain of their
land powder and dust," the sun has smitten them and the water has
dried up. Rabbi Askenasi told me in Jerusalem there really was no
living water. The time was when there was an abundance. They
preserve it in the rainy season in tanks, but we were told that
in about a month from the time we were there they would have to
purchase it; and I really felt relieved when I got from
Jerusalem, for the water I drank while there was not very good,
it did not seem to be very clean.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, June 27, 1973
Brigham Young, June 27, 1973
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Friday
afternoon, June 27, 1973.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
CONTINUED OBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS OF GOD IS NECESSARY
TO INSURE A COMPLETE SALVATION TO THE LATTER-DAY
SAINTS--THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL IS SHOWN
AS A WARNING TO THE PRESENT GENERATION OF HIS PEOPLE--
THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF THE LAW OF TITHING--THE
FEWNESS OF THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY OBSERVE THAT LAW.
108
I am very much gratified for the privilege of coming to this
place to see the faces of the Saints, to speak to them and to
greet them as a brother and a friend. If we could see and
understand things as they are, if we could have the vail
withdrawn from our eyes and behold the things of eternity, and
the connection and relationship that we sustain to the eternal
worlds, and to heavenly things, our minds would be very much
inspired to speak, sing, pray, listen attentively, meditate upon
and contemplate the wonderful things of God. A great deal is said
to the Latter-day Saints concerning our religion, which does in
reality incorporate and circumscribe the whole life of man. We
need teaching. We are like children with regard to learning. If
we could understand the effects of the fall or of sin upon
intelligence, we would see that its tendency is downward, that it
is retrograde in its nature. The things pertaining to life are of
the opposite character--they are exalting, increasing,
multiplying, gaining, receiving a little here and a little
there--our minds and understandings expanding by that which we
learn by reading, by the seeing of the eye and the hearing of the
ear.
109
The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations which the Lord
has given to his people in the latter days, contain a great deal
about the kingdom of God on the earth. We have also histories of
the kingdoms established by the children of men. From these we
learn that a great many changes have taken place owing to the
revolutions that have occurred in the past and which are still in
progress. From our own conclusions on these matters there is one
fact of which we are sensible, and understand to a
certainty--namely, that purity preserves, sustains and increases,
while sin and ignorance, in all their horrid forms, have just the
opposite effect. We need only look at the nations of the earth
for confirmation of these ideas. We need not go far; we may look
at the aborigines of our own country. Why are they in their
present condition? There are reasons for this. They, just as much
as we, belong to the human family--the highest class of
intelligence there is upon the face of the earth. Why are they in
their present degradation? We see them as they are, we see the
nations as they are. Take the Jewish nation, why are they as they
are? Is there a cause for it? There certainly is. We have had a
short account from brother George A. Smith about the present
condition of that land and of the descendants of the ancient
worthies to whom it was given. In the nations of the earth at the
present day we see imbecility, slothfulness, and I will say
ignorance with all its attendant crimes and debauchery,
prevailing among the masses of the people. There is a reason for
all this. The time was when nations, now unknown, which once
flourished upon the eastern continent, were intelligent and full
of the spirit of thrift and industry. Who can tell us why they
have passed away and are forgotten. Brother George A. told us
this morning, that the place where the great city of Babylon
stood, or where it is supposed to have stood is now an
inaccessible swamp and a desert. Where is the Babylonish nation?
We know nothing about it. Where are the nations of Israel? We
hardly know anything about them, with the exception of the tribe
of Benjamin, which remain scattered among the nations of the
earth, desolate and forlorn. They have been hunted down with
dogs, and the time has been when it was perfectly lawful in some
nations for every Christian child who was disposed to do so to
stone a Jew while passing through the streets; and it is not long
since they were not permitted to own a foot of land in any of the
Gentile nations. This is not so now. But what was the cause of
all this? Their history is not lost, neither are they, and the
simple reason they are not is because they were the chosen of the
Lord, they were to be held in remembrance by our heavenly Father.
A remnant of the people of Israel are to be saved, and they will
yet be gathered together. But other nations that existed before
the flood, and many before the days of Jesus, where are they? Who
knows anything about them? They are lost as far as history is
concerned; and many people since the days of the Savior have been
blotted from the remembrance of man.
110
Here are a people dwelling in these mountains who profess to be
the Saints of the Most High, the beloved of the Lord. They have
received his Priesthood and its keys, the keys of Government, and
the plan of the government of the heavenly hosts, as far as man
in capable of receiving this divine, celestial and holy law. When
we contemplate the course of the Latter-day Saints, we are almost
led to inquire what will be their future history. It is true that
we have hopes different from those who have lived before us, but
let this people, called Latter-day Saints, be blessed for twenty
years to come as they have been for twenty years past, and the
Lord not take them in hand, but let them take their own course as
they have done, and as they are now doing, although we consider
ourselves quite obedient and willing, and we like to know the
mind and will of the Lord, but let us, I say, go on for twenty
years to come, in the same ratio as for twenty years past, and
who among us would hearken to the counsel of God? Let the old
stock--those who have lived in Babylon and who have had their
trials in the wicked world, pass away, let them be taken out of
the midst of the Latter-day Saints, and the young growth that
know nothing of the world be left to themselves, to follow the
promptings of their own wills, and what would be their condition?
Would we not see Babylon to perfection? Would we not have all
that the wicked world could desire in our midst, and we
delighting therein? Think of this, and draw your own conclusions.
Still we say, without boasting a bit, that we are the best people
there is. This is my decision. I say that we are the best people
there is upon the earth, and we have nothing to boast of, not the
least in the world. Who is there that hearkens to the will of
God, or heeds his voice? Who is there, on the face of the whole
earth, outside of this people, who know the mind and will of God,
or that seek to do his will? It may be said that the whole
Christian world are trying to serve the Lord. It is true that
many of them confess him with their mouths, and draw near to him
with their lips, but what is their true condition? Are their
hearts bent on doing the will of the Lord, or are they far from
him? Suppose that Peter, whom the Christian world think so much
of, and whose history is contained in the Bible; or James, or
John, or either one of the eight who have written and testified
to the New Testament, or either one of the twelve Apostles chosen
by the Savior, or Jesus himself, were to come to the Christian
world, and were to go into their synagogues, or into the places
of worship they have erected, and which they call after St.
James, St. Mark, St. Paul or St. Peter, do you think that any of
these personages would be permitted to proclaim their doctrines
in those buildings? No, not one, and if there were a priest or
divine whom, after hearing the doctrine of Jesus proclaimed,
should say, "I see no harm in this doctrine, it is Bible
doctrine," the majority of the people would say, "We do not want
you for our public servant if you permit this man to enter the
pulpit and proclaim his doctrine." This is all the proof
necessary that they would not receive Jesus and his Apostles in
this day, with all their boasted professions of love for his name
and doctrine. If they would receive Jesus they would receive an
Elder of this Church when sent to preach the Gospel to them; if
they had been willing to receive an apostle of Jesus Christ, they
would have received your humble servant. But this we need not
talk about.
111
What will be the history of the nations of the earth now
existing? Just as fast as time and circumstances will permit they
will be blotted out of existence, and will be forgotten and known
no more on the face of the earth. This would be the fate of the
Latter-day Saints if they were to persist in following the
inclinations of their own hearts, for according to that which
they now make manifest, pride, arrogance and covetousness are
increasing in their midst; and any people or nation that gives
way to these evils curtails the measure of its existence, and
will soon be blotted out, and will be known no more for ever, Can
we believe all this? Read the history of the world and you will
find that when God has blessed a people and placed his name upon
them, and they afterwards became disobedient, the whole catalogue
of curses pronounced by him upon his unworthy children, have come
upon them and they have been blotted out. Those who do not
profess to know anything of the Lord are far better off than we
are, unless we live our religion, for we who know the Master's
will and do it not will be beaten with few stripes. This is
perfectly reasonable. We cannot chastise a child for doing that
which is contrary to our wills, if he knows no better; but when
our children are taught better and know what is required of them,
if they then rebel, of course, they expect to be chastised, and
it is perfectly right that they should be.
112
Brother George A. gave us a little this morning with regard to
the law of Tithing. What was the cause of the first, or one of
the first, curses that came upon Israel? I will tell you. One of
the first transgressions of the family called Israel, was their
going to other families or other nations to select partners. This
was one of the great mistakes made by the children of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, for they would go and marry with other
families, although the Lord had forbidden them to do so, and had
given them a very strict and stringent law on the subject. He
commanded them not to marry among the Gentiles, but they did and
would do it. Inasmuch as they would not do what he required of
them, then he gave them what I call a portion of the law of
carnal commandments. This law told them what they might and whom
they might not marry. It was referred to by the Savior and his
Apostles, and it was a grievous yoke to place on the necks of any
people; but as the children of this family would run after
Babylon, and after the pride and the vanity and evils of the
world, and seek to introduce them into Israel, the Lord saw fit
to place this burden upon them. And another great neglect and
infringment of the law of God by the children of Israel was in
relation to their Tithes and offerings. The law of Tithing was
revealed in very early times to the people of God; but they
failed to observe it, and the Prophets whom God sent to Israel
declared that they had transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant. Covenants were
made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but their descendants broke
with them. They would not observe but they would transgress the
laws which God gave unto them, and they continued to do so down
to the days of Malachi. The Lord, through this Prophet,
declared--"This whole nation have robbed me." I also declare that
this whole people, called the Latter-day Saints, are guilty of
the same sin--they have robbed the Lord in their Tithes and in
their offerings. What would the people like? Do they want to know
what is done with the Tithing. If the Lord requires one-tenth of
my ability to be devoted to building temples, meeting-houses,
school-houses, to schooling our children, gathering the poor from
the nations of the earth, bringing home the aged, lame, halt and
blind, and building houses for them to live in, that they may be
comfortable when they reach Zion, and to sustaining the
Priesthood, it is not my prerogative to question the authority of
the Almighty in this, nor of his servants who have charge of it.
If I am required to pay my Tithing, it is my duty to pay it. If
the question is asked--"Brother Brigham, do you pay your
Tithing?" I can answer with all propriety in the negative. I have
never paid my Tithing, and if I turn to the right, left, front
and rear, I shall seek in vain for a man in this Church who has
paid his Tithing strictly. There is no man who has paid his
Tithing. I have watched the thing closely, and according to my
understanding of the literal meaning, spirit and intent of the
term, I am compelled to come to the conclusion that there is not
a man or woman in this Church who has paid his or her Tithing;
and I do not know of an individual in this Church who has means
enough to pay his back Tithing if it were required of him. I have
not; it would require more means than I have now in my possession
for me to do it. Perhaps I may be asked what is my excuse. I do
not know that I have any. I can say, that in the days of Joseph,
when my circumstances were very straitened, I never had $500,
$100, one dollar, fifty cents or twenty-five cents, but what, if
it were wanted, it went as free as a cup of water from a
well--Joseph was welcome to it. Was I tried in this? Yes, for
many and many has been the time in my poverty, when if I had a
dollar or fifty cents in my possession I have thought, "I can buy
a pint or a half pint of molasses for my children to sop their
bread in," but it was called for, and it went as free as the
water of the river here would be to a thirsty person. And as for
my time, from the day that I entered this Church until now, I
have paid no attention to any business except that of building up
this kingdom. The question may be asked, "Do you not attend to
your own private affairs and business?" Yes, when I can, but I do
not know that I have ever spent one minute in attending to
business belonging to Brigham Young, when the business of the
Church and kingdom of God on the earth required his attention.
Yet I would not say that this is any excuse for not strictly
paying my Tithing. I have paid a great deal of Tithing, more
perhaps than any other man, or any other ten men who were ever in
the Church, and yet my Tithing is not paid. But I pay Tithing,
and when the grain upon my farm is ripened, or the cattle upon it
are matured, I say to my men, "Be sure and pay the Tithing on
whatever we have raised." But in some instances I have found that
it was neglected.
112
Suppose we were to say to this people, "Will you pay a little
Tithing?" "Yes, we will pay a little Tithing." How much would you
be willing to pay? Will you pay one dollar to a thousand that you
owe of back Tithing? If you will, we shall almost have more than
we know what to do with. If you pay up a little of this back
Tithing, I am going to make a proposition. Take the people of
this one valley, and they are far better able to build a Temple
than the whole of the Saints were when they lived in the Eastern
States. The Saints did not begin to be as able to build a Temple
then as the people of this single valley are now. My proposition
is, if you will go to work and pay up some of your back Tithing,
we will build a Temple up here on the hill; we can select a
beautiful site for one there. We calculate to build many Temples,
and we will have one here if you agree to my proposition.
113
If we had a few score thousands of dollars now, we should like to
send for the poor. I am sent to from this town, Mendon, Hyrum,
Wellsville, and from almost every settlement in these mountains,
by parties who have friends in the old country, saying, "Brother
Brigham, can you send for my friends? I will send a hundred
dollars; will you put four hundred to that and send for my
friends, there are only five of them?" This may appear strange,
but people dwelling in almost every town in this Territory, are
beseeching me continually to send for their friends. I tell them
I will send for all I can. My general practice has been to pay
two thousand dollars a year to help the poor. I gave only one
thousand this year; but if the people, every year will give in
proportion to what I give, we can bring the scattered Saints here
by scores of thousands. I do not ask the Latter-day Saints to do
that which I do not do, I never did, and as old as I am now, I
expect that if I should see a wagon in the mud, my shoulder would
be first to the wheel to lift it out. When money, goods or time
has been wanted to help to roll forth the work, I have taken the
lead all the time and said, "Come, brethren, do as I do."
114
But with regard to Tithing, this people will be cursed unless
they stop their nonsense, unless they cease running after the
fashions and folly of Babylon, and put as Tithing that means
which is uselessly spent. How long would it take the Lord to
cause the waters of every stream that runs into this valley to
sink down into the earth, and to make the valley as dry as the
Holy Land is to-day. It would take him but a very short time. He
could open up the veins of the earth--the earth is full of them,
and it would want only a little change to open them, and cause
the water of every stream in this valley to sink deep into the
bowels of the earth. How long would it take him to pass this
word, and for his angels to come here and say to the
clouds--"Gather no more moisture to shed forth the dews and the
rains on the face of the earth?" All he would have to do would be
to send an angel to perform a little meteorological and chemical
change, and the clouds would gather no more moisture, and no more
rain would fall on the earth. Where would your trees be then?
What would become of your gardens? What would come of the forage
on the mountains that our cattle and sheep feed upon? It would be
dried up, become dust, and be blown into some other country, and
the rocks would be left bare, as they are in some of the eastern
lands. All this could be done very easily. Now we are in plenty,
in the very heart of the luxuries of the world. There is no place
in the world where they are enjoyed in greater profusion than
they are here. Go into boasted France, with its forty millions of
people, and out of this large number not more than eight millions
enjoy the luxury of eating meat; thirty-two millions out of the
forty, it is said, never taste it from year's end to year's end.
Go into Italy, and the proportion of those who never taste meat
is far greater than it is in France. Compare the condition of the
people in some of the German States, and in any nation of the
face of the earth that we know anything about, with that of the
people in this Territory, and I will say that the people of these
mountains wallow and revel in luxury, wealth and independence
more than any other people on the face of the earth, and yet we
have not a dollar to pay Tithing! We have to pay the public hands
now a certain proportion of money, and store pay, which is money,
but ask the people to pay us a little money Tithing, and they
tell us, "We haven't got any." The cry from Cache Valley is, "We
have no money." It is not so. I will venture to say that if a
fine circus were to come into this town, and stay four nights,
they would take away from five to ten thousand dollars in cash,
and go to the next town it would be the same. I am now telling
the hard side of the question, painting the evil side of the
Latter-day Saints. I recollect, a few years ago, there was a fine
circus came to Salt Lake City. I took it into my head, a few days
before it arrived, to say to some of the Bishops--"Can you raise
us so much money on Tithing? Can not you pay something, Bishop?"
Said one, " I have not a dollar in the world." I would meet
another, and ask him the same question, and I asked them in a way
that they would not mistrust me, but they could not raise a
dollar, and I suppose that they would have been willing to have
laid their hands on the Bible and sworn that they had not a
dollar in the world. On the day when the circus came to the
Eighth Ward square, I took the liberty of going there, and I
watched who came, and I found that some of these very men who
said that they had not a dollar in the world, paid out ten,
fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five dollars to let their families
into that circus. They lied before God, holy angels and the whole
heavens, before the servants of God, and unless they repent they
will have their portion in hell. You need not wonder to see men
apostatizing who have been in the habit of lying to God, to
angels, to themselves, and to their holy religion. Ask them for a
little Tithing, and their answer is--"No, we have not anything."
What do you suppose the Lord thinks about such men? He thinks
they will have their portion with the disobedient. This is the
unfavorable side of the picture. Not but what there is a great
many, and in fact, the greater portion of this people, if they
can know the mind and will of God, will do it. They are told it
from day to day and from time to time on a great many subjects.
Both here and throughout all the settlements of the Saints we
have preached the Word of Wisdom, and the necessity of letting
the fashions of the world alone. We give you the truth of heaven
on the subject--we give it to you just as it is in heaven, or as
it is written there concerning the Saints on earth. With regard
to Tithing, we give you the truth just as it is written in
heaven, and just as you will find it by and by. What object have
I in saying to the Latter-day Saints, do this, that or the other?
It is for my own benefit, it is for your benefit; it is for my
own wealth and happiness, and for your wealth and happiness that
we pay Tithing and render obedience to any requirement of Heaven.
We can not add anything to the Lord by doing these things. Tell
about making sacrifices for the kingdom of heaven. There is no
man who ever made a sacrifice on this earth for the kingdom of
heaven, that I know anything about, except the Savior. He drank
the bitter cup to the dregs, and tasted for every man and for
every woman, and redeemed the earth and all things upon it. But
he was God in the flesh, or he could not have endured it. "But we
suffer, we sacrifice, we give something, we have preached so
long." What for? "Why, for the Lord." I would not give the ashes
of a rye straw for the man who feels that he is making sacrifices
for God. We are doing this for our own happiness, welfare and
exaltation, and for nobody else's. This is the fact, and what we
do we do for the salvation of the inhabitants of the earth, not
for the salvation of the heavens, the angels, or the Gods.
115
These are a few of my thoughts, and a few items for the people to
receive and hearken to. We have come here to talk to and instruct
you, and to put our faith and our work with yours. Our united
purpose is to labor to build up the kingdom of heaven on the
earth, and to overcome every sin, all wickedness, and the power
of Satan, until the earth is renovated, purified, sanctified and
glorified. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Q. Cannon, June 29, 1873
George Q. Cannon, June 29, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER GEORGE Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Sunday morning,
June 29, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
ALTERED CIRCUMSTANCES OF GATHERED ISRAEL--ALLUREMENTS
OF SATAN AT WORK--SELFISHNESS AND AVARICE SHOULD BE
CAST ASIDE--DEVOTION TO THE WORK OF GOD--THE ORDER OF
ENOCH THE MEANS OF ESTABLISHING AN EQUALITY IN TEMPORAL
THINGS--HEAVENLY AGENCIES CO-OPERATING WITH THE SAINTS.
116
The instructions which we have had in these meetings, I look upon
as most important. I think they will be attended with most
excellent results to those who have heard them, and that these
meetings should be attended is also exceedingly important to the
Latter-day Saints. Probably there never has been a time since the
organization of this Church when the Latter-day Saints needed
pointed, plain, emphatic instruction more than they do to-day. We
have reached a point in our history when an increase of power
seems to be required by us as Elders and Saints in all the
relationships of life, to enable us to endure and resist the
trials with which we are brought in contact. For myself, I can
bear testimony that I never felt as I do to-day and as I have
done of late, the exceeding necessity of being alive to the work
of God, and of having the spirit and power of the religion of
Jesus Christ resting down upon me. I look around and see the
circumstances which surround my brethren and sisters. I see the
great change which has taken place within the past two or three
years. These valleys, that were once so secluded and isolated,
and so seldom visited by the stranger, but were almost wholly
occupied by the Saints of God, have changed in many respects. We
are no longer the secluded people that we were five years ago.
Railroads have penetrated our valleys, so-called civilization
assails us in all our settlements and cities, vice stalks through
our streets, and injustice and wrong are to be found in places
where justice and righteousness should reign supreme, and in many
respects we have things to encounter which we never before had to
contend with since our organization as a people.
116
We are now becoming a numerous people. Since our arrival in these
valleys, thousands of children have grown from childhood to
youth, and from youth to manhood and womanhood, who are
unacquainted with the ways of the world, and who are unfamiliar
with the temptations, trials and evils which abound in society
outside of our mountain home. This numerous class of our
community is now brought face to face with a new order of things.
Wealth is increasing around us, and those who resisted its
influence in former days, perhaps weakened by some cause, are
exposed anew to its temptations, and in some instances, those
thus weakened, fall victims to its power. These circumstances
inspire serious reflections. No man or woman of thought can
contemplate the present condition of Zion without having serious
thoughts, and without feeling that if "Mormonism" and "Mormon"
institutions never have been upon their trial before, they
certainly are now. However, they have always been upon their
trial and we, as a people, have been upon our trial too. But, the
thought arises, How shall we best fortify ourselves against the
encroachments of the wicked? How shall we best entrench ourselves
so that wickedness shall not prevail over us, that our posterity
may be preserved in the purity of the holy faith, and that
through them we may be able to transmit to future generations the
priceless heritage of truth which God has given unto us.
117
This is a question which presents itself to all our minds, and,
if we do as we should, the first thought with each of us, is what
course shall we pursue to enable us most efficiently to discharge
the duties devolving upon us? The servants of God have pointed
out, during these meetings, in exceeding great plainness, the
path which lies before us. If we allow ourselves to be overcome
by the love of the world, then farewell to our future,--farewell
to the glorious prospect afforded us in the revelations of Jesus
Christ. But I entertain different thoughts, feelings and hopes
concerning the future of this people. Doubtless, as in the past,
there will be those who will transgress the laws of God, and fall
victims to apostacy; but I feel assured, and can bear testimony
this morning, that the bulk of this people will stand firm and
steadfast, and maintain their integrity till Zion is fully
established and redeemed upon the earth. But there is needed on
our part a devotion to the principles of the Gospel. We must
truly and sincerely repent of every thought and feeling that are
contrary to the mind and will of God our heavenly Father. We must
obey the holy Priesthood, which he has placed in our midst, at
the cost of everything if it be required, and not allow any
sordid or self-aggrandizing feeling to enter into our hearts or
to have place therein. I cannot conceive of any man being able to
attain unto celestial glory who is not willing to sacrifice
everything that he has for the cause of God. If I have a piece of
land, house, money, cattle, horses, carriages, or power of mind
and body, and am not willing to devote any or all of these to the
rolling forth of the work of God, as they may be required by him,
I can not conceive that it will be possible for me to enter into
the celestial kingdom of God our heavenly Father.
117
Do you understand, do you comprehend, that everything we have is
required by God our Father, to be laid upon the altar? Is there
anything that is nearer your heart than the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Is there anything that stands between you and
obedience, perfect obedience, to the will of God, as revealed
unto you through the Holy Priesthood? If there is, you must get
rid of it. We must humble ourselves before the Lord to that
extent that we shall have a greater love of his work, a greater
degree of obedience in our hearts to the Holy Priesthood than we
now have for the things we so highly value. In no other way can
we expect to become the people that God designs we shall be.
Every day, it seems to me, the circumstances of the people make
more and more apparent the necessity for a complete change in our
temporal circumstances. We read in the Book of Mormon that when
the ancient Nephites began to increase in means and become rich,
as we are now increasing, the Spirit of God began to decrease in
their midst. There were some who had property and could clothe
and educate their children better than their neighbors. The
wealthy could have carriages, horses and fine raiment and other
comforts and advantages which their poorer brethren and sisters
could not have. In consequence of these things they became
divided into classes. The rich were raised up in their feelings
above the poor. The poor were humble and meek and sought unto the
Lord, in many instances at least. Division into classes
prevailed, and all the attendant evils connected therewith. They
became puffed up in pride, and the Lord suffered the Lamanites to
come upon and scourge them, and after wars had wasted away their
strength and the magnitude of the destructions which overtook
them had abased them, they would begin again to feel after and to
humble themselves before the Lord, and to seek for his Holy
Spirit to dwell in their hearts.
117
We are now exposed to precisely the same influences as they were.
We are increasing in wealth, and if we allow our hearts to be
placed upon it, we shall have to undergo or to pass through
difficulties similar in character to those which they had to
endure. The Lord will not suffer us to become alienated from his
work without scourging us. He will let our enemies upon us, or do
something else to punish us, to bring us down and make us humble
before him. He has provided a way by which we can escape all
these evils, and I wish this morning, in the few remarks I may
make, to call your attention to this subject, because it rests
upon my mind, and seems to be the uppermost thought in my heart.
118
In the early days of this Church God revealed unto his people a
system for them to live in accordance with. It is known by us as
the Order of Enoch; and it seems to me, every day, that events
are so crowding upon us as to compel us to reflect upon and to
prepare our hearts to enter upon the practice of this order; and
that, unless we do enter upon it, sooner or later, as God shall
direct through his servant Brigham, we shall be subjected to all
the disasters and evil consequences which have attended the
present system of things, under which all men seem to live and
labor for self only, and few, very few, think about the good of
the whole.
118
In the Book of Mormon, we read that after Jesus came, the
Nephites had all things in common, or, to use the language of the
book, that "they had all things in common among them, therefore
they were not rich or poor," regulated, of course, by the
revelations he gave unto them. They entered upon the practice of
this order, according to the account, in the thirty-sixth year of
our era, that is, within two years after the appearance of Jesus.
It is probable, however, from the reading, that they entered upon
it immediately after the appearance of Jesus in their midst. They
were then in good circumstances to enter upon it. The wicked had
been killed off, and the land cleansed of their presence. Cities
had been sunk, and water had risen in the place thereof.
Mountains had fallen upon other cities, and great destructions
had been accomplished to the land, and the remnant that were left
were a comparatively pure people. For 165 years afterwards, or
until 167 years after the appearance of Christ, that is, until
about the year 201 of our era, the Nephites dwelt under this
order. They spread abroad throughout all the land of North and
South America. They dwelt in righteousness, so much so that
Jesus, in speaking about them by the spirit of prophecy, said
that not one soul of those generations should be lost. It was a
millennium, so far as peace and truth and virtue and
righteousness and brotherly kindness were concerned. Of course it
was not a thousand years, but they dwelt together as one family
for 167 years. No divisions, no strife, no enmity, no
classification, no rich and no poor, but all partaking of the
heavenly gift alike, and God has said in his revelations unto us.
"If ye would be equal in heavenly things, ye must be equal in
earthly things." They were equal in earthly things, and they were
equal also in heavenly things.
118
To read about that period, brief as is the account that is given
to us, makes one almost wish that he could have lived in such a
day and dwelt among such a people. The Lord foresaw and predicted
through his servants the Prophets, that there would be a time in
the fourth generation when the adversary would again regain his
power over the hearts of the children of men, and they would be
led astray and go into evil. And what was the first thing they
did to prepare the way for the fulfillment of this terrible
prediction? It was to reject this system or order, and begin
again to classify themselves into rich and poor. They began to
build churches to themselves, they began to separate themselves
from their brethren, and to create distinctions of classes, and
this prepared the way for the final destruction of the Nephite
nation.
119
I doubt not, my brethren and sisters, that this will be the way
in which Satan will regain his power over the hearts of the
children of men at the end of the thousand years of which we
read. I believe that the thousand years of millennial glory will
be ushered in by the practice of this system by the Latter-day
Saints. When that system is practiced the hearts of the children
of men can be devoted to God to an extent that would be
impossible under the present organization of affairs. Now we are
tempted and tried and exposed to evils which we should know
nothing about if we lived under the order I have referred to. I
do not believe that, if we were to live as we now are for a
thousand years, Satan could ever be bound in our midst so that he
could not have power over our hearts. There must be a change in
our temporal affairs, there must be a foundation laid which will
knit us together and make us one. How is it with us now? If a man
have a horse and he should want to sell it to his brother, he
tries to get the most he possibly can for it. If he have a wagon
or any other piece of property, and he wants to sell it, does he
consult his brother's interest? Perhaps he may do so, but it is
not always that men do so; he gets the best price he can for that
article, regardless of his brother's welfare and benefit. There
is a constant appeal to selfishness under the present system,
there is a constant temptation for a man to do the best he can
for himself at the expense of his fellowmen, and there is no
remedying it to its full extent; in fact there is a constant
struggle as we are at the present time to keep down within us the
desire to profit at the expense of our fellow-men.
119
There is something unnatural in this condition of affairs,
something opposed to God. Why should we be subjected to these
things, and have to struggle with them continually? Many
Latter-day Saints have refrained from taking hold of
merchandising and other branches, because by so doing they would
have exposed themselves to hazards that were very dangerous for
them to encounter. There was the temptation to make immense
profits out of the necessities of their brethren and sisters.
Under the Order of Enoch men would not be thus tempted.
Individual benefit would not then be the aim and object of men's
lives and labors. God did not create us for the purpose of
striving for self alone; and when we are rightly situated, under
a proper system, our desires will flow naturally along, and we
will find room for the exercise of every faculty of mind and body
without endangering the salvation of our souls. We can then trade
and exchange, sell and buy, and enter upon business without being
surrounded with these evils we have now have to contend with.
120
God has revealed the plan, and it is a very simple one; but it
will require faith on the part of the Saints to enter upon it.
There are a great many evils which would be stricken out of
existence were that system practiced. Why are men tempted to be
thieves? Why do they steal--take property that does not belong to
them? Would they do this if society was properly constituted? No,
they would not be tempted to do it. The temptations that we are
exposed to are the result, in a great degree, of the false
organization of society. I believe there are thousands of men in
the Christian world, who are adulterers to-day who would not be
adulterers if they knew more and could practice the system of
marriage which God has revealed. They are adulterers because of
the false state of things that exists in the world. And when I
speak of this practice, I might extend it to a great many more.
The devil has set up every means in his power to hamper the
children of men, to throw around them barriers to prevent their
carrying out the will of God. And when we obey the commandments
of God, we will defeat the adversary of our souls. When we carry
out the purposes and the revelations which God has given and made
known unto us, we gain immensely. We gain power and strength, and
in a little while the adversary will be bound in our midst, so
that he will not have power to tempt us, and this will be brought
about by our obeying the commandments of God and the revelations
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I also believe that when Satan is
loosed again for a little while, when the thousand years shall be
ended, it will be through mankind departing from the practice of
those principles which God has revealed, and this Order of Enoch
probably among the rest. He can, in no better way, obtain power
over the hearts of the children of men, than by appealing to
their cupidity, avarice, and low, selfish desires. This is a
fruitful cause of difficulty. You can handle men better in any
other way than when you come to their money, and all these
temporal things they are surrounded with. I hope you will give
this subject your attention, and seek by all the faith in your
power to prepare yourselves for it, and to prepare your children
for it, so that when it is deemed wisdom by the servants of God
to enter upon this system, we shall be prepared.
120
There has been some allusion, which you have heard, to the
setting apart of a district of land in this valley for that
purpose. If I lived here I should hail such an enterprise with
joy, while I might fear and tremble on my own account lest
through some weakness I might not be able to bear or pass through
or practice it as it should be. Nevertheless I should hail it, if
I lived here, with joy, for it matters not what may become of me,
it matters not what may become of any of us individually, only so
far as we, individually, are concerned, if the work of God is
only rolled forth, if his purposes are only consummated, and the
salvation of the earth and its inhabitants is brought about. I
feel that it matters not what my fate may be if this is only
accomplished and God's glory brought to pass on the earth, and
the reign of righteousness and truth be ushered in.
121
I expect that God will do a greater work in our midst, when that
shall be brought to pass, than we can yet conceive of. We have
thought that the Lord God delays his coming. We have now been
forty-three years organized as a Church, and sometimes we feel as
if the Work of God is not making that progress which it should.
There are reasons for it. It is not stopped or delayed; on the
contrary, it is progressing, although probably not with the
rapidity that it will progress when we get more faith, and are
more perfect in our practices. I have had my thoughts attracted,
in consequence of a visit which Brother Brigham, jun., and myself
made to the hill Cumorah about three weeks ago, to the three
Nephites who have been upon this land, and I have been greatly
comforted at reading the promises of God concerning their labors
and the work that should be accomplished by them among the
Gentiles and among the Jews, also before the coming of the Lord
Jesus. I doubt not that they are laboring to-day in the great
cause on the earth. There are agencies laboring for the
accomplishment of the purposes of the predictions of the holy
Prophets, of which we have but little conception at the present
time. We are engrossed by our own labors. You in Cache Valley
have your thoughts centred on the labors that devolve upon you.
We in Salt Lake and elsewhere have ours upon the work that
immediately attracts our attention; and while we, or all amongst
us who are faithful, shall no doubt be instrumental in the hands
of God, in bringing to pass his purposes and accomplishing the
work he has predicted in connection with the ten tribes, the
Lamanites, the Jews, and the Gentile nations, we need not think
that these things depend upon us alone. There are powers engaged
in preparing the earth for the events that await it and
fulfilling all the great predictions concerning it, which we know
nothing of, and we need not think that it depends upon us
Latter-day Saints alone, and that we are the only agents in the
hands of God in bringing these things to pass. The powers of
heaven are engaged with us in this work.
121
This earth is the heritage of the children of God. It has been
given to the faithful who have lived before us, as well as to us,
they are watching our labors with intense anxiety, and they are
laboring in their sphere for the accomplishment of the same great
and glorious results. They have dwelt here, and they are singing
the song mentioned by John the Revelator--"Thou hast made us
Kings and Priests unto God, and we shall reign on the earth," and
the souls of them who have suffered martyrdom are crying from
beneath the altar, "How long, Oh God, wilt thou not avenge our
blood upon them that dwell on the earth?" They are eager for the
redemption of Zion, the accomplishment of God's purposes, and the
establishment of his universal kingdom upon the face of this
earth of ours. But if we do not our duty, God will take away from
us that inheritance which he has promised unto us, and the crowns
that we would otherwise have will be taken and given to others.
We shall lose these unless we do that which God requires at our
hands with perfect willingness and joy, for there is no joy that
any human being experiences that approaches the joy of serving
God and keeping his commandments. It is sweeter than the sweetest
honey, and it is more desirable than all the joy of the earth
besides. You Latter-day Saints know this by the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, by the gift of the precious Spirit which you have
received, that has rested down upon you by night and by day, and
that has caused your hearts to be softened and your eyes to weep
tears of joy for the goodness of God unto you. And yet we are
indolent, and yet we think about a little property, and yet we
would risk our salvation because we are afraid to do something
which God requires at our hands. Oh foolish people! How shall we
stand before the bar of our God and answer for the use we have
made of the inestimable blessings which he has bestowed upon us?
How can we justify ourselves for our unfaithfulness? We cannot do
it, but we shall feel to shrink from the presence of our Almighty
Judge when we are thus brought face to face with him.
121
That we may be faithful to the end, that we may love the Lord
better than we love everything else on the earth, that we may
devote ourselves to his service all our days, and bequeath truth
as a precious legacy to our children after us, is my prayer in
the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, June 29, 1873
Brigham Young, June 29, 1873
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Sunday morning,
June 29, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE ORDER OF ENOCH.
122
I say to the Latter-day Saints, that the only reason why we do
not take up the subject and enter into the organization of Enoch,
or a city of Enoch, is simply because we have not yet been able
to find every item of law bearing upon this matter, so as to
organize in a way that apostates cannot trouble us. This is the
only reason. It is a matter that I am paying particular attention
to, with some of my brethren, to see if we have skill enough to
get up an organization and draw up papers to bind ourselves
together under the laws of the United States, so that we can put
our means and labor together and join as one family. As soon as
we can accomplish this, and get an instrument that lawyers cannot
pick to pieces and destroy, and apostates cannot afflict us, we
expect to get up this institution, and enter most firmly into it.
122
Yesterday and the day before I had considerable to say to the
Latter-day Saints, reading the dark side of the page. I will say
here, I am not discouraged with regard to this latter-day work, I
am not discouraged with regard to the Latter-day Saints. If we
were to pick and choose to-day, we should find a large majority
of the people called Latter-day Saints, who are ready and
willing, with open hands and pure hearts, to enter into the Order
of Enoch, and to live and die in this Order. This is my faith
concerning the people at large, consequently I am not
discouraged. But there are some who need chastening. We cannot
call names, this will not answer. We cannot tell a man that he is
going to apostatize, but we can chasten him as a member of the
Church, not as an individual. In this capacity, while in public,
we do not take the liberty of chastening an individual. But we
can say to the brethren and sisters, we are encouraged.
"Mormonism" is onward and upward, the Gospel that the Lord Jesus
has introduced in the latter days is enjoyed by many, and it is
our life, our joy, our peace, our glory, our happiness, our all;
and when we come to the trying scene, as some call it, of
sacrificing our property, and putting it together for the good of
the community, I do not expect the brethren will receive any more
trials than they have heretofore, I do know whether the sisters
will.
123
Brother George Q. Cannon says the sisters have borne a great
deal. So they have, but if they could only stand in the shoes of
their husbands who are good, true and faithful, they would know
that they are by no means free from perplexities. Just fancy a
man with two, three, or half a dozen of his beloved wives
catching him on one side, and before he can take three steps
more, catching him on the other, and "I want this," "I want
that," and "this is not right," and "that is not right," and so
on; their minds just pulled to pieces. I say if the hair is
spared on their heads they may consider that they have got
blessed good wives. I have as many wives as many other men, and I
keep my hair yet. But as to trials, why bless your hearts, the
man or woman who enjoys the spirit of our religion has no trials;
but the man or woman who tries to live according to the Gospel of
the Son of God, and at the same time clings to the spirit of the
world, has trials and sorrows acute and keen, and that, too,
continually.
123
This is the deciding point, the dividing line. They who love and
serve God with all their hearts rejoice evermore, pray without
ceasing, and in everything give thanks; but they who try to serve
God and still cling to the spirit of the world, have got on two
yokes--the yoke of Jesus and the yoke of the devil, and they will
have plenty to do. They will have a warfare inside and outside,
and the labor will be very galling, for they are directly in
opposition one to the other. Cast off the yoke of the enemy, and
put on the yoke of Christ, and you will say that his yoke is easy
and his burden is light. This I know by experience.
123
God bless you.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Daniel
H. Wells, August 9, 1873
Daniel H. Wells, August 9, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT DANIEL H. WELLS.
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Saturday afternoon, August 9, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
PURPOSE OF GOD IN CREATING MAN--MAN'S AGENCY--DUTIES
OF THOSE WHO HAVE ENTERED INTO COVENANT WITH GOD--
REWARD OF FAITHFULNESS--WORK TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BEFORE
THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS--AVOID EVIL ASSOCIATIONS.
124
I feel to bear my testimony, my brethren and sisters, to the
doctrines and principles of the holy Gospel of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, which, we read in the scriptures, is the
power of God unto salvation to all who believe and obey the same.
It has been stated here that we are a peculiar people, and that
we have a mission to perform on the earth. This is true. Our
Father in heaven has a work to perform on the earth, and we have
been called to be co-workers with him in bringing to pass his
purposes among the children of men. This is a blessed privilege
for us. If his purposes could have been advanced and established
upon the earth without his having revealed himself, we would not
have come and restored the everlasting Gospel in our day. We may
go further back, and say, that if it would have been as well for
us to remain with our Gather in the spirit world, and not to come
forth into this world, to pass through the ordeals which await
us, we should not have been sent. But we have been sent for a
purpose, and that purpose is, that we may accomplish the full
measure of our creation, which we could not do without an earthly
probation.--This was necessary to our advancement, as intelligent
beings, and for the progress of the kingdom and glory of God. We
had a pre-existence in the spirit world, and we kept our first
estate there, or we should not have been privileged to come and
take bodies and, by living according to the principles of the
holy Gospel, prepare ourselves for salvation and exaltation, and
to return again into the presence of our Father and partake of
his glory. In this connection come in the principles of
redemption and of the resurrection, through the power of which
our bodies and spirits, after they have passed the ordeal of
death, will be re-united and clothed with immortality and endowed
with eternal life. I say, if it would have been as well for us to
remain in the spirit world, we should not have been sent forth to
be tested with the misery, sorrow, corruptions, evils and death
so prevalent on earth; but it was in kindness to us, his
children, that our Father sent us to this earth, that we may show
whether we will be faithful in all respects to the principles of
truth and righteousness, and to the commandments of God when in
the midst of evil. All the requirements of our Father conduce to
the blessing and benefit of those who observe them while they
live here, as well as ensuring to them the blessings at the end
of the race.
125
The Lord our God never did, and he never will, reveal a
principle, give a commandment, or make a requirement of his
children on the earth, but what if it is carried out will prove a
blessing to every one, for it will enable us to work out our
salvation and exaltation by establishing the principles of truth,
virtue and honor upon the earth, and these principles, in the
very nature of things, must purify and elevate those who live and
govern their actions by them. These are the only principles which
will endure and stand for ever; while that which is of an
opposite character will pass away. Herein is the warfare in which
we are engaged, and which we shall continue to wage, as long as
we live on the earth. For the evil one is ready, if we will
listen to him, to lead us astray and to cause us to make
shipwreck of our most holy faith; he will cause light to appear
as darkness, and darkness as light, and he will lead us down to
destruction if we are not continually on our guard against his
wiles and suggestions. But if we observe the principles of the
Gospel and the commandments of the Lord our God, they will bring
us peace in the life that now is as well as in that which is to
come. Some people seem to think that the pursuits so prevalent in
the world are all that are worth living for, and that they will
find joy and happiness therein. But such pleasures are neither
solid nor lasting, and there is nothing that can be considered
real, genuine joy and pleasure within the reach of the human
family, but what is to be found within the purview of the
everlasting Gospel. The Gospel makes men and women free--free
from sin--the greatest of all tyrants; and there is no greater
slave on the earth than the man who is under the control of his
own passions, and who is subject to the dictation of the spirit
of evil which is so prevalent in the world. The acts of all such
persons bring their own punishment, and it is swift and certain;
while those who are controlled by the principles of the Gospel
have a joy and peace, under whatever circumstances in life they
may be placed, which the world knows nothing of, and which it can
neither give nor take away, for they have an inward consciousness
that their course secures to them the confidence of the Lord our
God.
125
We are placed here on the earth that we may be tested. We are
very independent beings, we have our agency, and can choose the
road to life or the road to death, just as we please. If we would
secure eternal life we shall have to take a course to command the
confidence of our Father in heaven, and to accomplish this, we
must not be weary in well doing, for it is said that only they
who endure will receive the reward. Endure what? Why, the trials,
temptations and difficulties that we may have to encounter in the
path which the Gospel marks out. Our path, as followers of the
Savior, is beset with evil on every side, and with influences
which, if yielded to, will bring us under the power of the
oppressor. They may seem alluring, to a greater or less extent,
and so they are, for the power of evil has great influence in the
earth. The wealth of the earth has long been controlled by the
evil one, and he has bestowed it upon whomsoever he has seen fit.
Perhaps this has been ordered so in the economy of our Father for
the benefit of his children. We must learn to trust in God. As
was said here this morning, we must live by faith. What is a man
good for who, just as soon as an obstacle presents itself before
him, flies the track and says, "I will have no more to do with
this or with that. It is true it purports to come from our Father
in heaven, but I can not see the benefit that will accrue to me
in observing it, and I will seize that which offers present
benefit, regardless of the consequences."--That man proves to all
that he is not worthy to receive eternal riches. A Latter-day
Saint should live so that he can bear the scrutinizing eye of the
Almighty, in secret as well as in public. This should be his
course all the days of his life, then when the day comes in which
the wicked will call upon the rocks to hide them from the face of
the Lord, he will rejoice in meeting his Father, and will join in
rendering praise and thanksgiving to his name, for the privilege
of again beholding him. This will be the lot of the
righteous--those who have served God in their actions as well as
with their lips; but sad indeed will be the fate of those who
have been hypocritical, who have professed with their lips, but
have not possessed in their hearts. They will dread to meet the
face of the Lord, they have a certain fearful looking for of the
fiery indignation of the Father.
126
Now, it is true, that while in the flesh we are subjected to many
trials and temptations; but we are not like those without hope.
The Apostle says we are subjected in hope. In hope of what?
Latter-day Saints who faithfully live their religion have the
hope of a glorious resurrection and eternal life. It is part of
the experience of Latter-day Saints to be subjected to trial, in
some things perhaps more than the wicked, that they may gain the
ascendency over their own passions and all the evils which beset
them. Our passions are given us for a good and wise purpose. They
underlie our existence. They give us nerve and energy, and power
to execute and carry out; but they are not given to be our
masters. Those heaven-given gifts--reason and intellect, should
reign and bring passion into complete subjection, and they will
do so if inspired and directed by the Spirit of God.
126
We have been gathered from the nations of the earth that we may
be taught the ways of the Lord. It was remarked here this morning
that there was need of a reformation in the world. If it were not
so the Lord would not have undertaken it, and things would have
been permitted to go along as usual. But the Lord saw the
necessity for a change. All had departed from the path of life.
The authority of the Holy Priesthood had been taken back into the
heavens for a wise purpose, and also for the advantage of the
children of men upon the earth. Better for them to be without it,
than to possess and not to obey its high behests; but when the
set time was come from the Lord to establish his kingdom, he
again sent forth the Gospel to the children of men, knowing that
it would find many honest-hearted people who would be willing to
receive instruction from heaven, and stand in the day of his
power. The Gospel is to go forth to all nations and tongues on
the earth, that all may have an opportunity of being co-workers
with God in establishing his kingdom on the earth, which is
destined to stand for ever and to absorb all other kingdoms. This
is inevitable and will come to pass in the Lord's own due time.
The Elders of Israel are going to the nations and gathering
therefrom the honest in heart, and through them the Lord is
revealing his purposes to the children of men, and the
institutions of high heaven.
127
This is the mission of the Latter-day Saints, and every one of
them who is faithful to his calling is a co-worker with the Lord
in the establishment of his purposes, and he will find his reward
here and hereafter. Is it not glorious to know that we are
engaged with our Father and God, and with holy beings who have
gone behind the vail, in carrying on this great reformation which
the Lord has commenced on the earth? I say it will never be
confounded, never, no never. The principles of the holy Gospel
will last for ever, and they will exalt all whose lives and
actions are controlled thereby, and who will live by every word
which proceeds from the mouth of God. Such persons will never be
prevailed against in time and in eternity. There is nothing surer
than this, because this Gospel will go on from conquering to
conquer, until all nations, kindreds, tongues and people will
come under the sceptre of Immanuel, and every knee shall bow and
every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. Evil will work out
its own overthrow. The wicked will prey upon each other to their
own destruction, and in the Lord's own due time the earth will be
rid of evil-doers, whereas those who are based upon the Rock of
Ages will endure for ever. This is just as natural as any
principle of philosophy that exists, and it is bound to come to
pass. Our Father has passed through these ordeals, and has
trodden the paths we are treading. He kept his second estate, and
has attained to his exaltation. We have the privilege of
following in his footsteps. It has been revealed in our day who
we are, and the relationship we hold to God. We have learned that
God is our Father, and that we are his children, bona fide his
children. Not in a spiritual sense alone, but when we say, "Our
Father who art in heaven," we mean just what we say.
127
We have not only learned who we are, but the purpose of our
creation and our future destiny. I have not given myself a great
deal of uneasiness about the future. I have felt that, if I could
act my part properly as I pass along through life, whether I
attained to anything hereafter or not I should be content. The
peace and happiness which I have day by day in my inmost soul is
its own reward; and I have long been satisfied that there is
nothing worth having outside the purview of the holy Gospel, and
the peace, satisfaction and joy which it brings me I would not
exchange for all that this world can bestow. As for the future, I
am satisfied that it will be altogether satisfactory and will
bring all that I can ask for and more than I can now comprehend,
if my course day by day now is what it should be. I have no fears
that my exaltation will not be as full and complete as I shall be
capacitated to enjoy. And whether it is or not I have an inward
peace through taking this course that, of itself, is a continual
feast, which sustains and buoys me up under every difficulty and
obstacle which presents itself before me.
128
I think this should be attraction enough to entice every son and
daughter of Adam. I think that the children of our Father can not
afford to throw away these blessings. I think that we can not
afford to take the name of God in vain. We can not afford to
drown our reason in ardent spirits. We can not afford to sin
against God and to violate his commandments. These practices cost
too much. No man or woman can afford to walk in the paths that
lead to death. They are beset with misery, envy, jealousy, and
with everything that produces discomfort, and at the end thereof
death, and misery both before and after death. Said Jesus,--Fear
not him who has power only to destroy this body, but fear Him who
can cast both soul and body into hell. Let us take the course,
then, that will save us here and hereafter. Let the body go, if
necessary, it if intervenes between us and the faith of the holy
Gospel and our duty to God. If we are brought into a position in
which the life of the body imperils our faith in the Gospel, let
the body go cheerfully and willingly. We should pour out our
blood as freely as the water that runs, rather than violate our
fidelity to the principles of eternal life, or our most holy
covenants before the Lord, or rather than deny the word after
having tasted the powers of the world to come. To know God and
Jesus whom he has sent is eternal life, and rather than deny them
and turn again to the things of the world, like a sow that is
washed to her wallowing in the mire, let this poor body go. It
will go sooner or later anyhow, and we should esteem it a
privilege to lay down our lives in defence of the principles of
the everlasting Gospel. We should not rashly run into danger, but
we should take a wise course and, at any cost, determine to rise
above the evils that are in the world and be faithful to the
truth, holding on to the iron rod, without swerving to the right
hand or to the left; and if there is no other alternative, rather
than swerve, let the body go. It will be a happy exchange, and we
will receive it again crowned with glory, immortality and eternal
life.
129
Now Latter-day Saints, are you willing to do this? Oh yes,
hundreds and thousands would, if necessary, walk up to the
cannon's mouth, in defence of the truth and Priesthood, who will
not live their religion. Such persons will suffer loss if they
are not careful. We cannot afford to neglect our duties. We want
to attain to celestial glory. We do not feel as though we could
be satisfied with anything short of that. No Latter-day Saint,
who has ever reflected upon these things, feels that he can be
satisfied short of celestial glory. We want to attain to the
highest of all. We have set out for that, it is the goal for
which we are bound, and we feel that nothing short of that will
satisfy us. How many will come short of it I do not know, but I
know that in order to attain to it we must be careful to observe
all the duties which are incumbent upon us. We have no promise of
that glory unless we do. The revelations of the Lord, through his
servant Joseph, tell us that whosoever can not abide a celestial
law will not inherit the glory of the celestial kingdom. There
are many called Latter-day Saints who are anxious to obtain their
endowments, washings, sealing and anointings, and baptisms for
themselves and their dead, and who would think they were deprived
of very great blessings if they could not have these privileges;
and yet they act as though if they could only snatch these
blessings from the hands of the servants of the Lord they would
be all right, and they could do in other respects just as they
please. They could neglect to pay their Tithing and the
observance of the commands of the Lord generally, and walk after
their own vain imaginations all the days of their lives. What a
fatal mistake is here! By your own works ye shall be judged,
whether they be good or evil. A man may attain to all these
ordinances, he may keep his path hidden in iniquity for a season,
but the time will come when every evil doer will stand before the
Lord in his own naked deformity, he will be stripped of his
hypocrisy and subterfuge of lies. The gigantic superstructure of
Satan, that has so long wielded influence in the earth, will be
swept away, and in that day all who stand will do so by their own
virtue and integrity. No man can afford to do an evil act. If it
is unseen by his fellows, he himself knows it, and the Lord knows
it, and that is two too many--two witnesses to establish his
guilt, and he can not dodge it, it will be known, as it were, on
the housetops. Therefore, brethren and sisters, let us be
diligent in all things, even in what are considered the small
things connected with our duties and callings as Saints. We can
not afford to live without paying our Tithing, because it is a
law of heaven, one of the requirements the Lord has made at our
hands for our own benefit. Covetousness is idolatry. We can not
afford to have anything intervening between us and the Lord our
God. We must serve the Lord with a perfect heart and a willing
mind. If we are so covetous that we cannot pay our Tithing, there
is an obstacle in the way, and we have become lukewarm and
indifferent in the cause of God. It is no matter how poor we may
be, if we have ever done anything in the line of our duty in the
kingdom of God, it has brought with it peace and salvation. We
are never sorry for it afterwards, unless we turn away from the
truth. If we neglect any duty, Tithing or any other, we feel
under condemnation. No matter how poor we may be we should pay
our Tithing, if we have to receive it back again at the hands of
the Bishops, it is a blessing and a benefit to us. As Joseph F.
Smith remarked at Toole, that poor widow who pays her Tithing,
will receive from one to five hundredfold. She is sure to do it,
and so with every individual.
129
But it is not the poor, as a general thing, who neglect their
Tithing. It is oftener the wealthy than the poor. The man who has
a hundred dollars can give his ten. If he has only ten, he can
give one easier than another man can give ten. If he has ten
thousand, it is harder for him to give a thousand, and the more
he has the more difficult it is for him to pay his Tithing. It
has always been so, I apprehend; anyhow, it is so at the present
time. We can not afford this. If we expect to attain to celestial
glory, we must abide the law of the celestial kingdom. There is
no obstacle in our path that we can not overcome. If we are
determined the Lord will help us. He does and has done so all the
time, and he will continue to do so.
129
How many times have we been benefited by pursuing the course
which the God of heaven has marked out for us to walk in? How
often has he delivered his Saints in times past? How many times
has he rebuked, under the administration of his servants the
sickness of a child or the member of a family? Should we not then
have an increased confidence to come again, to put our dependence
in him, knowing and realizing that he is faithful in performing
that which he has promised? Having paid our Tithing once, and
received the blessing, should we not approach the alter again
with renewed confidence and zeal, relying and trusting in God for
the future, without fearing any disaster coming upon us? I think
this is good philosophy, it brings its own reward in the very
nature of things. Then why not feel encouraged in going to
meeting and in attending to the duties required at our hands,
partake of the sacrament, put away evil feelings one against
another, and come to the table of the Lord with pure hearts and
clean hands, to commemorate the sufferings and death of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ? One great reason why the Sacrament was
instituted was, that we might not forget him, nor our Father in
heaven, who sent him. Said Jesus, "Do this until I come." He will
come again, most assuredly, in power and great glory. Who will be
prepared to receive him? Where are the people who will be able to
stand at his second coming, when he will take the reins of power
into his own hands?
130
Is it reasonable to suppose that Jesus will send his messengers
to warn the world, that all people may have an opportunity to
obey the Gospel and be prepared for his coming? I think it is
reasonable to suppose that he will commence a preparatory work on
the earth before he makes his descent. This is the work, brethren
and sisters, in which we are engaged--preparing for the second
coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that when he comes he
may have a people zealous of good works, ready to do his bidding,
instead of crucifying him as they did before. Then let us go to
with our might, devoting ourselves, and whatever the Lord gives
unto us, to him and his kingdom. Let us not sift our ways to
strangers, but let us be diligent and faithful in sustaining
every righteous principle. This is our duty and privilege. Let us
divest ourselves of the evils so prevalent in the world,
otherwise we are not gathered out from the world. The Apostle
said--"Come out of her, O my people, that ye be not partakers of
her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues." If we, after being
gathered to Zion, still practice the vices and follies of the
world, we might as well have stayed there, for these sins bring
with them their punishment. The judgments of the Almighty follow
sin as naturally as cause and effect in anything else, and the
wicked nations of the world will feel retribution for the sins
they commit, just as certain as they have an existence on the
earth. There is no escape, except by forsaking their sins and
obeying the commands of the Lord. We can not escape the plagues
threatened to the sinner, even here in Zion, unless we refrain
from sin and walk in the paths that the Lord marks out for us to
walk in.
131
The Lord foreknew that many of the spirits which were reserved to
come forth in our day and generation would receive his Gospel,
and stand faithful. All have the privilege of doing so. The Lord
has extended the invitation to all his children here on the
earth. Says he--"Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, for why
will ye die?" "Take upon you my yoke, for it is easy, and my
burden, for it is light." "Come, drink of the waters of life
freely, without money and without price." This it the invitation
which is given to all nations, by the servants of the Lord, who
do not go forth proclaiming it for hire, but because they have
received the testimony of Jesus, and can foretell that the evils
which are so prevalent among men are bound to bring destruction
upon them. The earth is defiled by the sins of its inhabitants,
and destruction will certainly overtake them unless they forsake
their evil ways, for the Lord will not suffer this thing to
continue forever. This is not in the economy of heaven--none
would be saved if it were permitted to be so. Satan would gain
the ascendency, and would dethrone the Almighty, if it could be
suffered to go on. There must be a turning point--that has
arrived, and the way of escape is made plain to the children of
men. The God of heaven has revealed it in our day. We are the
recipients of his mercy and of the principles of truth, and by
complying strictly with the principles of the everlasting Gospel,
which is the power of God unto salvation, we shall be preserved
in the day of God's power; but we must observe the law of high
heaven. If a man will persistently walk in the path of danger or
into the fire, he will be burned and he knows it. Then why not
take a different path? When the Lord points out the path of
safety, his Saints must walk therein, or they will suffer the
consequences. Some of us are captives to our own passions. We
think we know best, and we oftentimes imagine that the Lord is
far away, and that we are left to govern ourselves, and we yield
to this and to that for the sake of a little transient pleasure,
and we think that all will be well in the hereafter. We do not
care particularly about the future, if we can only take care of
ourselves to-day. We perhaps give way to some alluring spirit, in
some quiet nook or corner, thinking we will be shielded if we do
give way to some evil once in a while. There is a way to be
shielded, but it is not by persisting in evil doing. We must turn
from every evil way, then we have the assurance that God will
forgive us. Men and women may do evil, but if they repent they
can be forgiven and receive the administration of the ordinances
of the house of God, for the authority has been restored to
administer all the ordinances of salvation. Men may have their
sins remitted by having the ordinance of baptism administered. Is
there any other way by which that blessing can be obtained? Not
that we know of; if there is, the Lord has not revealed it, and
that is sufficient. All we have to do to secure the remission of
sins, is to repent and to comply with the ordinance of baptism.
131
We have been called from Babylon by the command of high heaven,
and our duty now is to stand shoulder to shoulder for God and his
kingdom, and for every holy and righteous principle, no matter
what opposition we may meet with. What could a man do, isolated,
in the midst of a wicked nation? He could live for God if he had
a mind to; but what influence could he wield under such
circumstances for the kingdom of God? None that would be
acknowledged. He might bear his testimony, and tell those around
him of their evils, and that would condemn those who heard him,
if they did not heed his sayings. But when there is a
concentration of such faith and power by the uniting together of
people in communities, as we see here in the valleys of the
mountains, a more formidable barrier is presented to the progress
and advance of evil, and such unity and concentration will bring
down to the earth an increase of power from the Lord in favor of
virtue and truth.
131
What does the so-called Christianity of the day do to check the
torrent of corruption that is now sweeping over the face of the
whole earth? Comparatively nothing. I say this in all charity,
because there are a great many who are doing their utmost to
check the progress of evil; but it still grows, and so-called
Christianity is powerless to check it. It is greater to-day than
it was yesterday, greater yesterday than last week, and great
last week than a month ago, and it is incalculably greater now
than it was a hundred years ago.
131
It is time the Lord set his hand to gather his people, that he
may secure a foothold on the earth, where righteousness may
predominate, and where the majority of the people will be for him
and his kingdom. The Lord has set his hand and commenced his work
to bring about his great purposes.
132
Let me bear my testimony to my brethren and sisters and all good
friends. The Lord has spoken from the heavens, and has commenced
this work in which we are now engaged in the tops of the
mountains. The Prophet, in looking forward, saw that the work of
God would be in the tops of the mountains in the latter days. We
testify that this is what he saw here in the vales of Utah,
Idaho, Arizona and all the surrounding Territories. The kingdom
of God is with us to-day, not in its fullness, but it is growing.
It is here to test the children of men, to see what they will do
with it. Brother Heber used to say this was the threshing floor.
We go out to the nations of the earth and preach the Gospel, a
good many receive it and gather to Zion. But their trials begin
when they get here, for this is the threshing floor. Here a
people will be prepared for the coming of Jesus, that when he
does come he may find a place whereon to lay his head, and some,
at least, who sustain heavenly principles. If we are not the
people, some others will be gathered for that purpose. We bear
testimony that we are that people. True, we are in a very
imperfect state, but we hope we are progressing, that we are a
little better than we have been. Many Latter-day Saints can look
back on their past lives and conscientiously bear testimony
before heaven that they are better men and women to-day than they
were one, two, or ten years ago. This is a guarantee that the
work is onward and upward. It must have its commencement in the
souls and hearts of men and women, or its fruits will not appear.
But this work is bringing forth its fruits, they can be seen by
all. None are so blind but what they can see them if they will
divest themselves of prejudice. The work now commenced here will
extend, and just as fast as the people prepare themselves to
receive it, they may participate therein, for it will increase
and spread until in its greatness, power and glory, it absorbs
all kindreds, nations and tongues, and all will bow to King
Immanuel's way, and he will rule king of nations as he does King
of Saints. Prophets have foretold this, and we believe it, and we
bear testimony that we are that people, and that the Lord did
reveal himself to Joseph Smith, and called him to commence this
work. In calling him the Lord made no mistake. He knew that
Joseph would rather swap his life away, than quail under
persecution or deny the faith. Joseph did this, he proved that
sooner than swerve from his integrity to God he would die. Who
can gainsay this? No man, in time or eternity. Joseph's martyrdom
is a monument will endure forever, that he preferred death to
forsaking the principles of the holy Gospel and the institutions
of heaven. They killed him for that, and nothing else. His death
is a testimony against this wicked and adulterous generation,
that they will have to meet. We as a community, are his
witnesses, and a monument that all people may look upon and, if
they have a mind to, they can comprehend that God has commenced
his latter-day work.
133
These are the last days, and God will surely bring his purposes
to pass. His work is established, and all are invited to help to
build it up. We have received the principles of eternal life and
we offer them to all. We are none of your hirelings. Freely we
have received, freely we give, and ask nothing for it. We bear
the glad tidings of salvation across the plains, rivers and
oceans, and proclaim them on all suitable occasions at home and
in distant climes. No day or hour passes without this testimony
being borne by the servants of the Lord, and this has been so now
for more than forty years, and during that time the work of the
Lord has been continually increasing and gaining strength, taking
root downward and bearing fruit upward. It is greater to-day than
it was yesterday, and will be greater to-morrow than to-day, and
it will continue so, no matter what may be brought to bear
against it. We may be driven again as we have been in the past,
but that would only increase our significance, our power, numbers
and influence. It is vain to undertake to stop this work.
Latter-day Saints may apostatize, their leading men may go
overboard, but it will make no difference--the Lord is at the
helm, and his work is upward and onward continually. Some may
stop by the way side, but the cars will roll over and crush them.
It is our interest to keep aboard the ship Zion, and to continue
our efforts to bring ourselves into subjection to the law of the
Lord, that we may be the honored instruments in his hands of
aiding to build up his kingdom on the earth. We can only do this
by being faithful to the counsels of the servants of the Lord who
are inspired to teach and lead us. He has placed them in his
Church and kingdom to guide and direct us. We have not chosen
these men--He has chosen them. They may be our selection too, it
is very true, but the Lord has chosen them and he is responsible.
But we need not pin our faith to any man's sleeve. No, we can go
to the Bible, to the revelations of Jesus given in our day; and
listen to the whisperings of the Spirit in our own hearts for the
testimony of this being the work of God. The Lord will reveal to
any faithful individual all that is necessary to convince him
that this work is true. None need depend for that testimony upon
others; all can have it for themselves, and that will be like a
well of water within them, springing up to everlasting life,
revealing to them the things of God, and all that is needful to
make them wise unto salvation. They need not depend upon my
testimony, or upon that of President Young or President Smith,
nor upon anybody but God. He will direct the course of all who
try to serve him with full purpose of heart. He will show them
whether we are placed here properly, or whether any mistake was
made concerning the calling of Joseph Smith. The testimony of the
Lord will tell whether we teach things of ourselves or of the
Lord; that testimony will tell its possessors whether the
servants of God who stand here tell the truth about this work or
not. They need be dependent upon none but themselves and the Lord
for this knowledge, for the Lord is willing to give liberally to
all, and he upbraids not. All the world may learn to know the
Lord our Father, who is in heaven, and Jesus Christ, whom he has
sent, if they will but take the course the Lord has marked out.
134
Latter-day Saints, as I said before we cannot afford to do
wickedly. That young man, or that old man, who goes into the
kanyon, can not afford to take the name of the Lord in vain,
neither in the streets nor saloons of the city, and for that
matter Latter-day Saints can not afford to go to saloons at all,
because the associations are evil. We would to God we could
entirely abolish every such place for there vice is seen in its
most alluring colors. Drinking saloons and gaming tables should
be banished from the face of the earth, because they engender
vice. They lead the young, middle-aged and old into the practice
of those things that are evil. The Latter-day Saints cannot
afford to patronize them. They had better keep away from them.
They had better not take the name of the Lord in vain, they can
not afford to offend the Lord. They had better keep his
commandments and not do anything that is offensive in his sight.
The Lord will not make a man an offender for a word, by any
manner of means. He looks with compassion on all his children,
and overlooks a great many of their weaknesses and follies if he
finds that they have a desire to serve him. But still, the
Latter-day Saint who has had the whisperings of the Spirit, and
yet becomes so negligent as to indulge in these things, proves to
the Lord that he has not learned his lesson well,--that he has
not learned to honor the Lord as he should do, and in consequence
thereof he is not so much the recipient of his grace as he might
be, and if he persists in evil the time will come when the issues
will be barred so that the Spirit will not flow to him, and he
will be darkened in the counsel of his mind, and there will be
ten chances to one that he makes shipwreck of his most holy
faith.
134
No man can afford to set an example of this kind before his
children, and no young man can afford to lose the good influence
that he otherwise might retain from his youth to manhood and old
age, it is too expensive. Blessed is the boy or girl who has the
privilege, as all have in Zion, of growing up without sin unto
salvation. They can do it if they have a mind to, if they will be
governed by the principles of the everlasting Gospel, and will
make them their text-book and guide by day and by night, and
always be afraid of sin and fear to walk in the paths of
degradation. All have this privilege in the valleys of the
mountains. We are here that we may be saved from the sins of the
world, and the children of Zion may come up without sin unto
salvation. Oh, that they would consider and feel a greater
responsibility, and never lose the purity of their childhood! If
they could do this what an influence they could exercise before
the heavens! What power might they not bring down for the
salvation of Israel in the day of trial, tribulation and
difficulty! The faith of an army of young men of this kind would
be enough to withstand every foe, and I expect the time will come
when it will do so.
134
May God help us to continue faithful, and to be more diligent and
heedful to the teachings that we receive. We are taught in his
ways that we may walk in his paths. Then why not be diligent and
faithful in walking therein? They are the paths of peace and joy,
and lead to eternal life hereafter. That we may all attain to
that, I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, July 13, 1873
Orson Pratt, July 13, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday morning, July 13, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
NECESSITY OF MIRACLES--BELIEF OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
135
We have heard, this forenoon, some excellent instructions in
regard to the plan of life and salvation--instructions which
agree in every respect with that plan as it was revealed in times
of old. It has truly been remarked by the speaker who has
addressed you, that the same causes will produce the same
effects, that is, when they operate under like circumstances. I
can see no difference, in my own mind, between the circumstances
which surround us and the circumstances which surrounded the
people in the days of our Savior and his Apostles. We are fallen
creatures, so were they; we are very imperfect beings and have
need to be saved; the same was true with regard to them. We have
sick among us in this day, and so had they. God then ordained the
laying on of hands for the benefit of the sick. Why not ordain
the same principle for the same reason in our day? Would it not
benefit the sick to be healed by the laying on of hands now just
as much as in those days? What is the difference? Are there not
as many sick now as there were then? Would it not be as great a
blessing to the inhabitants of the earth to be healed now through
this simple ordinance as it was then? When the circumstances and
conditions of the people now and then are compared, no reason can
be assigned why this gift should be withheld from the people now.
The world say that in those days it was necessary for God to
manifest his power in healing the sick and in various other ways,
in order to convince the inhabitants of the earth concerning the
plan of salvation that was offered to them. Why not convince the
inhabitants of the earth in our day? Is there not as much
necessity now as there was then? Is not a soul just as precious
in the sight of God now as then? If it was needful for unbelief
to be done away by miracles then, why not now? Or were miracles
given to do away unbelief? This is a question worthy of
investigation. We find that miracles were wrought in ancient
times according to the faith and belief of the children of men.
We might suppose, to hear some of the learned divines of our day
converse, that the greater the unbelief the greater must be the
miracles in order to do it away. But let us see how the Lord did
operate and perform miracles in ancient times.
136
We read that he went to his own native country, where he was
born, among his neighbors and acquaintances on a certain
occasion, and that he could not do many mighty miracles there
because of their unbelief. What a great pity it was that Jesus
had not some of the learned divines of the present day to
instruct him! They would no doubt have told Jesus that because of
the greatness of the unbelief in his own neighborhood and among
his acquaintances he must perform some greater miracles among
them than he did anywhere else. That would have been consistent
with the present ideas of theologians. But in those days Jesus
operated among the people according to their faith, and the
greater the unbelief, the less the miracles.
136
We find the same principle existing long before Jesus came to the
earth. Jesus himself testifies that in the days of Elisha the
Prophet, there were a great many lepers in Israel. You know that
is a very loathsome disease, and that people would naturally be
very glad to be healed. But none of them were healed in Elisha's
day, says Jesus, except a man, not of Israel, but a
foreigner--Naaman the Syrian. What was the reason? Their
unbelief. How came this Naaman the Syrian to have faith? He
believed in the testimony of a Jewish maiden, who had been taken
captive by the Syrian army and carried into a far country, and
while conversing with the people there she told them about a
great Prophet in Israel, Elisha by name. "Would to God," said
she, "that my master could see this Prophet and be healed!" She
seemed to have faith, and when the report of her conversation
came to her master's ears he took great riches and started out
for the express purpose of going to visit this Prophet in Israel.
When he reached the region of Palestine in which the Prophet
lived he presented himself first before the king; but he being
filled to a great extent with the spirit of unbelief, thought
that Naaman had come to seek some occasion for war. "Am I God,"
said the king, "that I should perform this work?" The Lord
revealed to his servant the Prophet, that this man had come, and
the purpose of his visit, and Naaman and his servant found out
Elisha and went to his dwelling-place. But Elisha, instead of
being very polite, and welcoming Naaman into his house, sent a
message to him, telling him to go and dip himself seven times in
Jordan and he should be healed. This did not seem to be in
accordance with the mind of Naaman. He perhaps thought that, as
he had come a long journey in great grandeur and with great
gifts, the Prophet would be exceedingly respectful to him, and he
was very wrathy in his mind, and said--"Are not the waters of
Syria just as good as the waters of your Jordan?" and he turned
away in a great rage. Finally, one of his servants said unto
him--"If the Prophet had required thee to do some great thing,
wouldst thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he said
to thee, 'Wash and be clean?'" "Yes," said Naaman, "I expected he
would come out to me, place his hand upon my head and rebuke the
leprosy, and I should be healed; but he has told me to go and dip
myself seven times in Jordan, and he sent this message by a
servant instead of coming to see me himself." But he was finally
prevailed upon by his servant to go and do as the Prophet said,
and he went and dipped himself seven times in Jordan and
immediately his flesh came anew upon him like the flesh of a
little child. All the rest of the lepers, throughout Israel,
remained unhealed, but this foreigner was cleansed and made
whole.
137
Now, why this partiality? Why not do some wonderful miracles
in healing all the lepers in Israel? It was because of their
unbelief. But says the divine of to-day--"The greater the
unbelief the more necessity for the miracle, and consequently, in
order to do away with this unbelief, the Prophet ought to have
healed all the lepers in Israel." The Lord, however, has his own
way, and when he finds a very unbelieving generation, he does not
satisfy their carnal curiosity, nor manifest his power to any
great extent in the midst of the wicked; but he always shows
forth his power his power to those who are humble and meek, and
lowly in heart. He has done that in all dispensations, not only
in the days of Jesus and the Apostles, but in every dispensation,
and the power manifested has been in accordance with the faith of
the people.
137
In regard to the gift of prophecy, a great many suppose that it
was necessary in former times, in the dark ages; but when the
Gospel was fully established on the earth, and great power and
signs were made manifest, there was no more need of prophecy,
revelations, etc., and they quote a passage from Paul's writing,
or rather a part of a passage, instead of the whole, in order to
prove their position. In the 13th chapter of the first epistle to
the Corinthians, Paul says--"Whether there be prophecies, they
shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." Prophecying and
tongues, were to cease: "Now," says the learned divine, of the
present day, "here is a plain and pointed testimony that these
gifts were only intended for the early ages of the world, and
were to be done away and cease." But why not quote the following
verses? Why quote half a sentence or idea and then leave it? Why
not give the whole, and find out the time when these miracles,
such as prophecy, healing the sick, speaking with tongues, etc.,
were to cease? If the divines of this day would read a little
further, they would know the time and circumstances that were to
transpire, when these things should be done away. Says Paul, in
the following verses--"For we know in part, and we prophecy in
part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is
in part shall be done away." "For now, we see through a glass,
darkly; but then, face to face; now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known." Here, then, it is clearly
foretold that when there will be no more need of prophecy,
healing, speaking in tongues, etc., the day of perfection will
have arrived; in other words, when the Church of God shall have
overcome and be perfected, when the Church of God shall need no
more Prophets, when it shall have no more sick, (for if all its
members become immortal, there will be no sick to be healed,
hence healing will be done away, when the Church of God all speak
one language--the pure language, the language spoken by angels,
restored to the earth by the Lord), there will be no need of
speaking with tongues. But until that day of perfection comes,
all these gifts will be necessary.
138
This agrees with what Paul has said in his first chapter to the
Ephesians. He there informs us that these miraculous powers and
gifts, which Jesus gave when he ascended up on high and led
captivity captive, were given for a special purpose. He gave some
Apostles, some Prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, gifts,
healing; all were given for a special purpose. What was that
purpose? The perfecting of the Saints.
138
I would ask the learned divines of the present day, have the
Saints need, in this age, of anything to perfect them? Or are
they already sufficiently perfected to enter into the presence of
the Father? If they need perfecting, and none can deny that they
do, then Apostles are needed now, Prophets are needed now,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers are needed now. "Well," says
one, "we will allow that evangelists, pastors and teachers are
needed now; we have not done them away, we have abundance of
teachers and pastors, but we do not believe in Apostles and
Prophets now." Why not? Did not the same Apostle tell us in the
same verse, that Apostles and Prophets, as well as evangelists,
pastors and teachers, were given, when Jesus ascended on high,
for the perfecting of the Saints? Why, then, do you separate
them, and say, that the two first-named are not now necessary,
and that the other three are so? Why do you do this? In order to
be consistent with the unreasonableness of this generation, and
to comply with their traditions. You have not got Apostles, you
have not got Prophets, and you must have some excuse in order to
do them away, and your excuse is, that they are not needed now.
Prove it, you cannot, it is beyond your power. You have no
evidence, no testimony whatever by which you can prove it. With
all the testimony in favor of your position which you can bring
forward, I can prove that pastors, evangelists, teachers,
Bishops, deacons, Elders and every other officer of the Church of
Christ, which you believe in are not needed now, as easily as you
can prove that Apostles and Prophets are not needed now. Just as
much evidence can be adduced in favor of one position as the
other; and the fact is, there is no evidence for either. They
were all given for the perfecting of the Saints and the work of
the ministry, and they were to continue until the day of
perfection arrived; and the moment you say they are not
necessary, you virtually say the work of the ministry is not
necessary; and why, then, do you administer? They were given not
only for the perfecting of the Saints and the work of the
ministry, but for the edifying of the body of Christ, which is
the Church. Take away Apostles, inspired of God, take away
Prophets who foretell future events, and you take away the means
which God has ordained for the edification of his body--his
Church, and that body or Church can not be perfected.
139
Another object, Paul informs us, for which these gifts were
given, was that the Saints might come to the unity of the faith,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ. Take away these gifts, and what is your
condition? You are in the same condition which Paul speaks of in
the very next verse--"carried about by every wind of doctrine, by
the sleight of man, by cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive." The gifts were given to prevent the people from
being carried about by every wind of doctrine. Take away these
gifts--the gift of revelation, prophecy and miracles, which were
enjoyed by the Saints in ancient days, and the people are liable
to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that may be
sounded in their ears. Why? Because they are entirely governed by
the opinions of men. One man has his opinion, and he tries to
substantiate it by his learning; another man has an opposite
opinion and he tries to substantiate it, and as neither of them
is inspired by the power of the Holy Ghost, neither having the
gift of prophecy or revelation, each, so far as he can, gains
influence and power over his neighbors and gathers together a
body of people and pronounces them the Church of Christ. But God
has nothing to do with them. He never called them the Church of
Christ, he never spoke to them, never sent an angel to them,
never gave them a vision, never sent a Prophet or an Apostle to
them,--he has nothing to do with them,--they are not his Church,
never were nor ever can be, only by repentance and turning to the
Lord, and receiving the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of
prophecy. He that has the testimony of Jesus, has the spirit of
prophecy. Paul has declared to us that no man can say that Jesus
is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost, and the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy--it makes a Prophet of him who has it.
139
This is what the Latter-day Saints believe. We have no new gospel
to offer to the world. We have come forth, sent by the Almighty,
to testify against the new gospels that have been introduced,
which have only the form of godliness, and deny the power that
was manifested in the ancient Church. We have come to testify
against false doctrines; we are sent for this express purpose,
and also to testify boldly against the wickedness and
abominations of the professed Christian world, as well as of
those who make no profession. God has commanded us to lift up our
voices and spare not, to bear testimony against all their
wickedness and their false doctrines, which we have endeavored to
do, without asking any favor of the children of men. God has not
sent us to bow and cringe to the traditions and false ideas of
the children of men, he sent us to bear down, in plain testimony,
against their wickedness and the corruptions which they are all
the time practicing, and have been for generations, before high
heaven and the whole world.
139
We then say, to all the world, that if they will repent of their
sins, humble themselves, become as little children in the sight
of God; if they will turn away from their false doctrines, and
believe in Jesus, who was crucified in ancient days, with all
their hearts, and receive his Gospel, they shall not only receive
the remission of their sins, but the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
the signs, anciently promised to the believers, shall follow
them. Every creature in all the world who will obey the Gospel,
will enjoy more or less of the gifts which God has promised. If
all do not enjoy them, they may know that they are unbelievers,
for Jesus has said that these signs shall follow them that
believe, and he did not mean the Apostles alone. Let us quote the
language, that you may see that he meant every believer in all
the world. He said to the eleven Apostles--"Go ye into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature,"--every creature,
recollect,--"he that believeth,"--that is, every creature, in all
the world, that believeth, "and is baptized shall be saved, and
he that believeth not shall be damned."
140
Here was the division line. Mark the next promise--"These signs
shall follow them that believe." They were not to follow a few
individuals in Jerusalem, not the Apostles to whom he was then
speaking alone, but them that believe in all the world. "I give
unto them a promise that they shall be saved; and I not only
promise them salvation, but certain signs shall follow them--in
my name they"--these believers--"shall 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."
140
Here is the way by which every person may find out whether he is
a believer in Christ or not. The whole Christian world can test
themselves, and find out whether they are believers in Christ or
not. If these signs follow, they are believers; if these signs do
not follow, they are not believers, neither are the Latter-day
Saints. None of us are believers unless these signs follow us;
for Jesus promised them to every creature in all the world who
believes; hence the promise included people now alive, as well as
those who lived in former ages. And woe be to all the inhabitants
of the earth, because of their unbelief; because they have done
away the power of godliness; because they have done away the
power of the ancient Gospel, and have turned aside after the
doctrines of men; and yet hypocritically--perhaps some of them
sincerely--call themselves the Church of Christ, and believers.
Shame on the world! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Q. Cannon, August 10, 1873
George Q. Cannon, August 10, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER GEORGE Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, August 10, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE AUTHORITY TO PREACH--IT IS GOD WHO HAS GUIDED THE
WORK--GLORIOUS PROSPECTS BEFORE THE FAITHFUL--CELESTIAL
MARRIAGE--MISSION TO ARIZONA--INCREASING NEGLIGENCE
OF THE SAINTS IN ATTENDING MEETINGS--CONSEQUENCES OF
UNVIRTUOUS ACTIONS.
141
A great many duties devolve upon us, of which we have to be
constantly reminded. There are no people within the range of my
acquaintance, to whom so much instruction has been imparted
concerning the various duties devolving upon them, as to the
Latter-day Saints. The best talent of the community is at their
service. All the wisdom which God has given has been freely
bestowed upon the people without money and without price; and, as
had been remarked upon this Stand repeatedly, there is an
independence about the Elders of this Church in preaching the
Gospel unto the Saints and unto the world, that is not to be
witnessed among the ministers of any other denomination. The
reason of this is, that the ministers of the Latter-day Saints do
not live upon the people, and are not dependent upon their favor
for salaries to sustain them, and there is a consequent freedom
in discussing measures of a monetary character, for the general
good, when, under other circumstances, a delicacy might be felt.
141
We read in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ, in speaking with his
disciples, asked them whom he, the Son of Man, was. Peter
answered him that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus then said to Peter, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona;
flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father,
who is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it, and I will give unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven." Here was great power and
authority given unto a man. It might be said that this was
one-man power, Peter having the authority to bind on earth and it
should be bound in heaven, to loose on earth and it should be
loosed in heaven; but yet, these are the words of the Son of God
unto one of his Apostles.
141
Now, what did this authority consist of? Can anybody tell outside
the Church of Jesus Christ? Can anybody outside the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints understand the saying of
Malachi, where he predicts that, "The Lord whom we seek shall
suddenly come to his temple?" Do they understand why Temples are
built now, or for what purpose they were built in ancient days?
Can they tell how the authority, which was conferred upon Peter,
was exercised by him, or in what way it could be exercised by any
man who might possess it? All these things are mysteries to the
so-called Christian world, but God, in his mercy and
condescension, has revealed them again, and as we frequently say
to the Latter-day Saints, and not to them alone, for this is no
monopoly of knowledge, God has not created a monopoly in
organizing this Church, he is willing to extend this knowledge
unto all the inhabitants of the earth, without money and without
price. It is this which causes the Latter-day Saints to be so
firmly united, and which makes them willing, if necessary, to
suffer persecution when it overtakes them. It was this knowledge
which bound the ancient Saints together, and which caused them to
endure martyrdom gladly and joyfully in view of the blessings
which they knew were in store for the faithful.
142
While brother George A. Smith was speaking, I could not help but
think of the wonderful work that is being wrought in this
generation among the children of men, in consequence of the power
that has been wielded through the erection and completing of
Temples and the administration of ordinances therein. Men wonder
how it is that the Latter-day Saints are so united. They say this
is a most wonderful phenomenon. They attribute it all to
President Young. They say that he has a wonderful intellect, that
he is a good organizer, that he possesses great executive ability
and administrative power, and that through the gifts and
endowments which he possesses, the works which we see and the
union that is everywhere manifest among the Latter-day Saints are
produced. But we who are connected with the Church, while we do
not wish to detract in the least from the merit which is due to
him as a servant of God and a faithful laborer in his cause
through all the years of his life since he first became
acquainted with the truth; while we do not wish to lessen the
merit of these labors, or to detract in the least degree from
them, we understand principle better than to give the glory to
man. It is God who originated and who has preserved this work,
and who has built it up, and developed in the hearts of the
children of men this long dormant and long lost principle which
binds them one to another as we are bound together; and there is
no people on the face of the earth before whom there is so bright
and glorious a prospect for this life and also for the life which
is to come, as the Latter-day Saints, through the blessings of
the Gospel which God has revealed.
142
We live in a different day to the ancients. They had before them
the prospect of martyrdom and the overthrow of the work with
which they were connected. But in these days God has given unto
us different promises. These are the last days, and he has said
that his kingdom shall triumph in the last days; it shall not be
overthrown or go into the hands of another people. Our Prophets
have been slain, the blood of the Saints has been shed, but these
scenes shall not long continue. There may be other blood shed;
there may be other sacrifices offered, and other requirements of
this kind made, or rather the Adversary may have power to effect
bloody results of this character, but they will be short-lived.
The days of the triumph of the wicked are numbered. They can not
prevail over this work for any length of time. It will grow and
increase and spread abroad until it fills the whole earth, and we
and our children after us will enjoy the earth and all the
blessings thereof, according to the predictions of the holy
Prophets.
142
The prospect, then, before us, concerning this life is a
different one from that which presented itself before others who
have preceded us. And the prospects for eternity are as bright
and glorious as any that were ever presented to any of the
children of men. We are sent here, for what purpose? To eat and
drink, to clothe ourselves and to build houses, and to live and
die like the beasts? Is that the object for which God has sent us
here? By no means. This is a low view to take of existence. God
has revealed to us, to a certain extent, the object of our
existence.--We are his children--the children of Deity, with
deity and godlike aspirations within us. We have these
aspirations in common with all his children, and it is right and
proper that we should have them. Every man has a desire to rule,
govern and control; some men, to gratify their ambition in this
respect, have trod bloody paths and have trampled down their
fellow men in their march to power, and when attained it has been
of short continuance. But God has revealed to us a principle by
which we can attain to dominion and power without having to do as
they have done. He has revealed to us the Gospel, which tells us
that if we are faithful here over a few things he will make us
ruler over many.
143
Many men wonder how it is that we can believe in celestial
marriage. We believe in it because it lies at the foundation of
all future greatness. If a man rule in heaven he will rule over
his own posterity. The Apostle John, said that they sang a new
song in heaven--"And hast made us unto our God kings and Priests:
and we shall reign on the earth." Reign on the earth! This was
the song. Over whom were they to reign? Over whom more properly
than their families? The authority to seal wives to husbands for
time and all eternity is the authority that is restored by the
everlasting Priesthood, and this is the authority that was given
to Peter, by which children can be sealed and joined to their
parents for time and for all eternity until they realize the
blessing that was pronounced upon Abraham, when the Lord said
unto him that, as the stars of heaven were countless for
multitude, or the sands on the sea shore could not be numbered,
so his seed should be and he should rule over them. This was the
blessing which was pronounced upon him, and it is the blessing
that has been pronounced upon every faithful man who has lived in
a day when the Priesthood was upon the earth. Why wonder then, at
Latter-day Saints having this view, this anticipation? Why should
they hesitate one moment to contribute all their means to build
Temples and to accomplish the work of God? We should be thankful
all the day long for the blessings which God has bestowed upon
us, and should be willing to use all our means for the
accomplishment of his work upon the earth, no matter what
enterprises we may be called upon to support, whether it be to
build Temples, send for the poor, or any thing else.
144
Arizona has been mentioned. The President, in his remarks this
morning, alluded to Arizona, and to the labors of our pioneering
brethren in that Territory. I was very much pleased to hear what
he said in relation to that. I am thankful to see that, in his
remarks, there was no disposition to let up, or to say, "I am in
years now, and I will lay back and take my ease and leave the
burden of this work to younger men, who ought to step forward and
shoulder it." He has the spirit of the pioneer in him as much
to-day, probably, as he ever had. I am thankful that God fills
him with this zeal and strength. I believe it was a true remark,
that if he had been in Arizona, there would have been good places
found for settlement. I have no doubt there will be yet. But
there is one thing that we must understand, that with our present
surroundings, and at least while in the circumstances in which we
are at present placed, good countries are not for us. The worst
places in the land we can probably get, and we must develop them.
If we were to find a good country, how long would it be before
the wicked would want it, and seek to strip us of our
possessions? If there be deserts in Arizona, thank God for the
deserts. If there be a wilderness, there, thank God for the
wilderness, as we thanked him for these mighty ramparts and those
extensive plains which we had to cross when we came here. We
thanked him for them, because a mob could not come, as they did
from Carthage, and take away our Prophet and the Saints and hail
them to prison and destroy them as they did then. When we came
here I thanked God for the isolation of these mountains; I
thanked him for the grandeur of the hills and bulwarks which he
had reared around us. I thanked him for the deserts and waste
places of this land: and we have all, doubtless, thanked Him many
times therefor, and when we go hence to extend our borders, we
must not expect to find a land of orange or lemon groves, a land
where walnut trees and hard timber abound; where bees are wild
and turkeys can be had for the shooting. It is vain for us to
expect to settle in such a land at the present time. But if we
find a little oasis in the desert where a few can settle, thank
God for the oasis, and thank him for the almost interminable road
that lies between the oasis and so-called civilization.
144
We expect there will be settlements made through all that
country. The time must come when the Latter-day Saints, and when
I say Latter-day Saints, I include all the honest who will yet
embrace the Gospel, when the Latter-day Saints will extend
throughout all North and South America, and we shall establish
the rule of the righteousness and good order throughout all these
new countries.
145
The President is desirous that a hundred men, supplied with
provisions sufficient to last the winter, should go down to the
southern country, and bestow their labors on building the Temple
at St. George. If there could not be good places found in Arizona
for settlements, there was a good opportunity to stay and help to
build that Temple; and it is to be regretted that the brethren,
although so eager to come back, did not stay until word could
have been sent that they might stop and help the people of the
South. If they had done this they might have done a good work,
they might have been on hand for anything further that might have
been required of them. Suppose we all were to allow ourselves to
be deterred from accomplishing missions by apparent difficulties,
how long would it be before the influence and prestige which
ought to attend the efforts of the Elders would be lost? We have
had a reputation, heretofore, of accomplishing everything of this
kind that we undertook. But let us be faint-hearted and we lose
our influence and power both with God and man. All our labors
have to be works of faith. When we are told to do a thing, we
should go to work believing, as Nephi says, that God never gives
a commandment unto the children of men save he prepares a way
whereby they shall fulfill that commandment. He never yet sent a
man to do a work without giving him power to accomplish it. We
can do these things if we will. We can build up the kingdom of
God on the earth, and we can train our children in the love of
this work, and we can surround them by a wall that no power can
surmount or break down. I am thankful that we are thus situated,
although to some the prospects appear gloomy. Many of our enemies
say that "Mormonism" is in its last ditch, and it will soon be
overthrown. I am willing that every one should have that opinion
who wishes to entertain it. If they wish to delude themselves
with such ideas, all right. But I say to the Latter-day Saints,
we have not yet reached the last ditch; neither shall we if we
will do what we ought to do, and obey the counsel that has been
given unto us during these two day's meetings, and that is given
to us every Sunday and at all our meetings. There is no power on
the face of the earth that can withstand our efforts, or that can
prevail against us. We have truth, unity, temperance and virtue;
we have the power of God; we have the promises of the Almighty in
our behalf, and there is no power that can prevail against a
people who will practice the principles which are taught unto us.
145
But I will tell you what causes me, as an individual, to
fear--when I see fifty, a hundred or two hundred persons come to
meeting; when I see men who ought to be at meeting attending to
their duties, going off into the country on excursions; when I
hear of their doing something that will detain them from meeting,
and see the meetings neglected, and the idea growing up--"Well,
it is a day of rest, I am tired and weary"--as though they could
not obtain rest in coming to the house of the Lord and serving
him on the Lord's day. These acts, this negligence, causes fear
sometimes to come into my heart, and I expect it has the same
effect on our brethren. I deplored, in my feelings, the
suspension of our forenoon meetings. I think it is a bad sign. We
had a School of the Prophets here, to which most of the Elders
were invited, and which they attended. That had to be suspended.
These meetings on the Sunday morning had to be suspended. What
more will have to be suspended or withdrawn? I have thought,
unless the people of this city arouse themselves, change their
course and are more diligent, that it might not be long until the
presiding Priesthood would be prompted to move from this city;
not that the authority of the Priesthood will be withdrawn. These
things are painful in the chief city of Zion, and they are not
such indications as I like to witness. Yesterday there was a
meeting appointed; but instead of attending it, the brethren were
engaged in haying and every kind of labor. They can do this, of
course if they wish; but it does not look very well when a
meeting is appointed, and the Apostles suspend their labors and
come here to teach you, for you to stay away, thinking your
employments are of such importance that you cannot spend time at
meeting. Men and women who entertain this feeling and take this
course ought to be ashamed of themselves! It is treating the men
who preside over you with disrespect, for which, if you could
realize, you would be ready to apologize.
146
You cannot be too careful in relation to our duties. This is a
day when every one should be diligent in the performance of
duties and should attend to them strictly. You should invoke the
blessing of God upon your habitation, and upon your children,
that they may grow up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
Every boy in this community should feel that he would rather lay
down his life than sacrifice his virtue or indulge in unvirtuous
actions. We have to guard against the bad examples seen around
us. Mothers, teach your girls the value of virtue and chastity.
Inquire into their movements, and guard them as you would the
most precious jewels which God could give unto you. Fathers, talk
with your sons, and fortify them against temptation. Let them
flee lust, for I tell you that, as true as we live, the words of
God will be fulfilled, that he that looks upon a women to lust
after her shall deny the faith unless he repents. We know that
this is so. I know it by seeing young men grow up from boyhood in
this Church until the present time. I think about numbers I was
acquainted with in my boyhood. Where are they? They have lost the
faith. Elders have lost the faith who have taken a course of this
kind. It is a damning sin, and wherever indulged in it banishes
the Spirit of God. No man can retain the faith without the Holy
Ghost, and no man can retain the Holy Ghost who takes a course of
this kind. Be warned of these things, if you wish to hold on to
the faith and to sit down with the fathers in the kingdom of God.
146
Then abstain from lust, and everything which would lead thereto.
No matter how wild and rowdy our boys may be, and many of them
are so, I do not care for such rowdiness and wildness, if it is
not associated with unvirtuous actions. A man may be as nice, to
all appearance, as a human being can be, so far as externals are
concerned, and yet, if he lack virtue, he is like a whited
sepulchre. God is not with such a man, and God will damn this
generation for the course they take in relation to women. That is
their crying, damning sin.
146
Let us guard against it. Let us watch our children. Let us
prevent the ingress of crime. Let us guard our own hearts, and
endeavor to secure the portals of the hearts of our children that
evil suggestions, from whatever source, may never take root
therein.
146
That God may bless and preserve us, and deliver Zion from all her
enemies, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, August 16, 1873
Orson Pratt, August 16, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Saturday morning,
August 16, 1873.
(Reported by James Taylor.)
THE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD'S POWER, IN BEHALF OF
HIS PEOPLE IN MODERN TIMES, ARE DIFFERENT FROM
THOSE OF FORMER AGES--CONSECRATION--ORDER OF
ENOCH--TITHING--STEWARDSHIPS--REDEMPTION OF ZION.
147
I have been called upon, but a few minutes ago, to address the
congregation who are here assembled, which I desire to do through
your united faith and prayers in my behalf. Without the
assistance of the Spirit of the Lord it is impossible for any
person, in a religious capacity, to edify and instruct his
fellow-beings. But, if we have the Spirit of the Lord, however
imperfect our abilities may be, we are sure to edify and
enlighten the people, and the person also who speaks will be
edified; for it is written in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
"He that speaketh, as well as those who hear, will be mutually
edified together," if the Spirit of the Lord is poured out from
on high upon us. It is said in another revelation that "the
Spirit of the Lord is given by the prayer of faith." Faith is
required on the part of the people to obtain all blessings of a
spiritual nature. And in order to have faith it is important that
we should do the will of God, otherwise our faith will be very
weak indeed. He that doeth his master's will, and has within him
the desire to work righteousness, can approach the Lord in faith;
but if we do not keep his commandments, and have not this desire,
and do not his will, our faith becomes exceedingly small indeed.
147
It is, in my estimation, very similar to what we see transpire
here on the earth, between parents and children. When children
become rebellious, and do not perform the will of their parents,
it is with a very small degree of confidence that they come
before their parents and seek for any kind of favor or blessing.
They come trembling, doubting. They know that their conduct has
been such as to prevent them from receiving favors which they
especially desire. Sometimes, perhaps, the father will grant the
petition of a rebellious son, when he has sufficient confidence
to offer up a petition to his parent. But if that rebellious son
has so far strayed form the parent that he has no confidence to
approach him, and does not offer up any petition to the parent,
it is very doubtful about the parent's taking into consideration
his wants in some respects, and bestowing the favors which he
really desires. So it is between us and our heavenly Father.
147
Sometimes people, through their transgression, through their
disobedience, through their rebellion to the principles that God
has revealed, may have lost their faith to that degree that they
will not go before their Father, will not pretend to ask him for
a favor, thinking that their transgressions are too great, and
that the Lord takes into consideration their peculiar wants, and
the especial blessings which they would be glad to receive.
148
How many are the commandments and instructions which God has
given to this people? We have been blest in this generation with
an abundance of the manifestations of the spiritual blessings of
the kingdom. Perhaps there never was a people since the world
began that have had as much information, in so short a period of
time, from their organization, as what the Church of the
Latter-day Saints have had. When we take into consideration this
one book, the Book of Mormon, which God has, in mercy, brought
forth, and the information that is contained therein, and combine
this information with the Jewish record of the Old and New
Testament, and then in connection with these two books, the
revelations that are contained in the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants; all the information that is, and that has been given
from time to time in that book. Then, in addition to these three
books, all the revelations that God has delivered to us by the
mouths of his servants from time to time, some of which have been
published, others have not been published, but are still
considered by this people as sacred as the things that are
published. I say when we take into consideration this flood of
light and intelligence that has burst forth upon the world, in
the period of about forty years, we may say that we have been
blest so far as light and information are concerned, far beyond
any other people with whom we are acquainted. It is true we have
not the full history of all the various dispensations, and all
the manifestations of the mercy and goodness and power of God
among those different peoples and nations and ages past. We could
not say of a certainty how much information God may have imparted
in those dispensations. We read in some revelations what God has
given about the organization of ancient Zion. In the seventh
generation from the creation--from the days of Adam--we read
about the preaching of Enoch. How he went forth and prophesied to
the nations. How he built up the Church among the various
nations. How they built up Zion. In the history of this ancient
Zion, we find that Enoch continued his preaching in
righteousness, three hundred and sixty-five years, before Zion
was prepared for a translation. How much was revealed during that
time we do not know, no doubt much was given; but I doubt whether
there was one hundreth part of the information communicated,
during the first forty years of the existence of ancient Zion,
which has been communicated to us, as a people, in our day.
148
Sometimes we find it to be the case, that God manifests his
goodness and mercy to a people, not in the way of revelation, but
in the way of power, without much information. We find this to be
the case among ancient Israel. They have been slaves in Egypt for
a long period. They had been taught, from their childhood up, to
work mortar and make brick, and toil and labor for the
Egyptians--their taskmasters. During this period of time they had
not the opportunity of learning much. There must be a little
leisure granted that the mind may be taught, instructed and
educated; but it seems that their whole education for two or
three generations, or for a long time after they were brought
into bondage, was given to them by their taskmasters--how to form
bricks or adobies, or whatever it might be--hard labor. If they
had a little leisure, instead of using it in treasuring up the
knowledge of god, they needed it to recuperate their physical
systems, that they might rest from their labors, and go again and
drudge on the morrow.
149
This seems to have been the condition of Israel in the land of
Goshen, in Egypt. Consequently, when Moses went down to Egypt, he
found an ignorant people. It is true they kept up the form of the
Priesthood among them. Before the Priesthood of Aaron was
confined to that particular tribe, we have an account of this
Priesthood being in existence. After they were led through the
Red Sea, before the Lord set apart Aaron and his sons, before he
confined the Priesthood to Levi, when the children of Israel came
and camped before Mount Sinai, we recollect that there was a
strict law given. The Lord told them that he was about to descend
on Mount Sinai, and he charged the people that they should not
break over certain bounds lest they should perish, for if any
person or beast should touch the Mount, they should be stoned to
death. The people, being ignorant and not fully acquainted with
the strictness of the commandments of the Most High, a curiosity
was excited, and some of the congregation, when Moses went up to
Mount Sinai, wanted to draw near, and the Lord sent Moses down to
charge the people again a second time. And the Priests were
commanded that they should not break through lest they should
perish. What Priesthood? Not a Priesthood that was confined to
Levi, or to the descendants of Aaron, or to Aaron himself; but it
was a Priesthood that existed among Israel. That same Priesthood
that is mentioned in one of the revelations in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, where in speaking of the two Priesthoods,
it says that they continue together in the Church of God, in all
generations, when God has a people upon the face of the earth;
not confined to any special lineage, so far as the Priesthood is
concerned. Go down and charge the PRIESTS, that they do not break
through. This organization may have existed through all the
period of the slavery of the children of Israel, for several
generations, although we cannot suppose that they had been fully
instructed. They had no printed records as we have. They had not
a large collection of books, in the form of Jewish Bibles, to
which to refer for information. They had not a large collection
of books similar to the Book of Mormon, for printing was not then
known. If any of their scribes found a little leisure to write
off some of the revelations, it would be only a stray copy or two
that would be in the hands of the children of Israel. We can
therefore see the difference between them and the Latter-day
Saints. They were permitted to enjoy, in a special manner, the
power of the Almighty in their midst. This shows that in some of
the dealings of God, he manifests his power if he does not
manifest his revelations.
149
There is a great deal of danger when the people see a great deal
of power existing in their midst. For the want of experience and
information, for the want of more knowledge, there is a liability
to sin against all of this power that may be made manifest in
their midst; and this would bring sudden destruction. This is no
doubt the reason why God did, in so short a time, send forth such
swift judgments upon the heads of the children of Israel. They
had seen the manifestations of his power while they were in
Egypt; they passed through the Red Sea, and then beheld the glory
of God upon Mount Sinai. If they would suffer themselves to
reject this power thus made manifest, it brought speedy
destruction upon them.
149
When Moses was on the Mount they made a golden calf. We no doubt
are led to wonder why it was, while the glory of God rested on
the Mount, and while the Lord was thus showing forth his
omnipotent power--we are led to wonder why it was--that they
should build golden calves, and fall down and worship them. It
was because of their ignorance. This glory appeared to them on
the Mount like a natural phenomenon. Some natural cause, perhaps,
was assigned. They saw the clouds as we see the clouds upon our
mountains. They might have thought that there was a volcanic
eruption on the Mount, and concluded there was no God in it; and
therefore, that they needed to make gods of their own finger
rings, and fall down and worship them.
149
The consequence was that the Lord sent Moses down out of the
Mount again. And he threatened that he would destroy the whole
nation, and make of Moses a great nation. But Moses quoted the
promises that the Lord had made to their fathers, and the Lord
concluded to hearken to the words of Moses and spare the people.
Moses went down, and as he drew near, he heard a great noise, and
he saw them dancing around a golden calf, and they were stripped
naked. And thus they had turned their hearts away from the Lord.
150
Now instead of bearing all this, the Lord inspired Moses to say
to the people, let those who are on the Lord's side come forth;
put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate
to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and
every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And there
fell of the people that day about three thousand men. On this
occasion great destruction came on them, because of their
transgression. It was among a people that had been enlightened
only by miracles, signs and wonders. We find this to be the case
throughout all the sojourn of the children of Israel in the
wilderness. They would become rebellious; and the Lord had to
send forth judgments, miraculous judgments upon them from time to
time. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness. Sometimes a
terrible plague would break out, and the only way that Aaron
could stay the plague was to get between them and the plague, and
offer up sacrifices. The flying serpents that infested that great
wilderness would destroy them, and the only way there was to be
healed, was to look upon a brazen serpent. And, after all, what
was their information? What was their knowledge concerning the
things of the kingdom of God? The very knowledge that they had
when they came forth out of Egypt, the knowledge of the Gospel,
of its first principles--even that knowledge seems to have been
taken from them, and a law of carnal commandments given to them
instead.
151
The Lord, in this dispensation, is beginning to operate a little
differently from what he has done in former ages. In the first
place he performs some small miracles, such as unstopping the
ears of the deaf, and causing the lame to walk, the dumb to
speak, some fevers to be rebuked, some plagues to be stayed, and
devils and unclean spirits to be cast out. Instead of coming down
upon a mountain, and causing the earth to shake by his power; and
instead of showing forth a pillar of fire by night, and a cloud
by day, he has taken a different course: "First, give the people
knowledge, give them understanding, show unto them the principles
of my law, make them strong in the knowledge of God, and show
forth but very little power in their midst." This seems to be
wisdom, that we may have knowledge proportionate to the power
that is made manifest, that when he does show forth his power, we
may turn not our hearts away from him. In the beginning of this
work it seemed to be necessary that certain persons should be
raised up to bear witness to the Book of Mormon--of its divinity
that the work might be commenced. But did the Lord continue to
send forth his angels? Oh, no. After he had raised up three
witnesses in 1829, angels' visits became more scarce, because the
people were not prepared for them. Even these three witnesses
were not prepared for a day of trial; for they turned from the
Lord, and fell into transgression, and did not keep the
commandments of God. What was the matter with them? They had
greater power made manifest in their midst, than they had
knowledge to keep them in the faith. If they had had more
knowledge, it would not have overthrown them. We find that Oliver
Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris beheld the plates that
were translated, and heard the voice of the Lord out of heaven,
proclaiming in their ears that the translation had been performed
by the gift and power of God. And they put their testimony in
writing, and it went forth. But this was too great a power for
the little knowledge that they had. And the consequences were
that they had trials, and these trials overpowered them. But we
never have heard that these witnesses have denied their
testimony. Because they were not all the time beholding the power
of God made manifest, they fell away. Now this should be a lesson
to the Latter-day Saints, that when we do see some small miracles
wrought, we should strive to strengthen ourselves up in the
spirit of our religion, with light and knowledge and
information--to gain all that we possibly can, that we may be
spiritually strengthened; a miracle is external to the senses,
and has only an exciting effect upon the mind. Unless it is
accompanied by the Spirit of the living God in the heart, what
are we benefitted? We are able to bear testimony to what our eyes
have seen, but where are we benefitted, unless the Holy Ghost is
shed forth in our hearts?
151
Moreover, God has determined that in our day he will manifest his
power again. When I say our day, I ought to say in the days of
this last dispensation of the fullness of times. Before it closes
up, it will turn out to be one of the most magnificent eras ever
manifested to the world, so far as power is concerned. The Lord
has taken this method for forty years past, to prepare us for
what is coming. And if we will treasure up what the Lord has
given, and suffer his will to be written in our hearts, and
printed on our thoughts, and give heed to the teachings and
counsel of the living oracles in our own midst, we will be
prepared, that when the day of power does come, we shall not be
overthrown.
152
Now, that there is a day of power coming, every Latter-day Saint,
who is acquainted with the predictions of the Prophets, is
certain. He is expecting that it will come in the time specified
in those revelations. God has said to us, in the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants, that when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,
then cometh the day of my power. "Thy people will be willing,"
says one of the ancient Prophets, "in the day of thy power." The
Elders of this Church have gone forth among many nations. They
rejoice in the power that is made manifest, in some measure. God
has said that they should go and preach the Gospel to all nations
of the earth; and that signs should follow them that believe. In
my name they shall do many wonderful works. In my name they shall
cast out devils, speak in other tongues; and the eyes of the
blind shall be opened. The Elders have found this to be true. As
far as the people have had faith, they have seen this power, in
some measure, displayed. But this can not be said, comparatively,
to be the day of his power. When the day of the power of the Lord
shall come, then will be a time when not only the sick, the lame
and the blind, but also the very elements will be wrought upon by
the power of God, as the Lord has spoken, and be subservient to
the commands of his servants. Will the waters be divided? O yes.
We are told, in the prophecies of Isaiah, that when the house of
Israel shall return to their own country, he will strike the
river Nile, in the seven great channels, by which it enters into
the Mediterranean Sea. Instead of taking them above these seven
different channels, he will make a road through the seven
channels of the river Nile; and the people of Israel will go
again dry shod, as they did anciently. In the eleventh chapter of
Isaiah, and the 15th verse, we read that "the Lord shall utterly
destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea," not the main body of the
sea. Those who are acquainted with the north portion of the Red
Sea know there are two prongs, one is called the tongue of the
Egyptian Sea; and the children of Israel shall go through dry
shod, and through the seven channels of the river Nile, as did
Israel in the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.
152
Here will be a miracle wrought greater than that of speaking in
tongues or the healing of the sick--more convincing in its
nature. When this is done together with many other things, the
children of Israel will no longer feel themselves under the
necessity of referring to the day when the Lord wrought wonders
as they came up out of the land of Egypt. You know it has been a
saying with the Jews some thousands of years, that the God of
Israel lives. "We do not worship the king of god which you
heathens worship. We worship that God that divided the waters,
that came down on Mount Sinai." They always refer back to
miracles four thousand years old, that their God is a God of
miracles. This ancient proverb is to be done away, in modern
Israel. Instead of referring back to ancient miracles, it will be
said, "The Lord liveth that brought the children of Israel from
the land of the north, and from the countries he has driven them
to the land of their fathers." That will be the time when Israel
will be willing. All Israel will be willing to acknowledge the
power and glory of that God whom they serve. It seems that the
Lord is going to enact over again, a thing that he did after they
came through the Red Sea. After they came through the Red Sea,
the Lord brought the children of Israel into the wilderness, and
kept them there forty years, so that all the people perished
except Joshua and Caleb. When the Lord brings the people of the
House of Israel, in the latter-days, instead of taking them
direct to the land of Palestine, he brings them forth into the
wilderness again, which you will find recorded in the 20th chap.
Ezekiel. "I will bring you into the wilderness, and plead with
you face to face." Now if the Lord did plead with them face to
face in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, and gave them
revelations there, if his presence, at first was with them, and
was not taken from them at the first, so will he do again--he
will plead with them face to face.
153
I do not think, however, that they will, in the latter days, so
far transgress, as to bring upon themselves the curse that come
on their fathers, in ancient times; for then he took from them
the glories of the covenant of the Gospel, and introduced another
covenant, the covenant of the law. The first tables of stone, we
are informed by the inspired translator, contained, not only many
instructions for the government of the people, but revelations
containing the Gospel of the Son of God; the principles of the
higher law, that were calculated to cause all who obeyed the
same, to enter into his rest, which rest was the fulness of his
glory. These tables were broken to pieces, because of the worship
of a golden calf. The first covenant was broken. And when Moses
went into the mount a second time, the ten commandments were the
only things that were contained on the second tables, that were
on the first. But in addition to that, was added the law of
carnal commandments. Hence the Gospel was taken away. Its higher
ordinances were withheld. The higher Priesthood was withheld. The
system that was intended to make them a kingdom of Priests was
withheld. And they were left with the law of carnal commandments.
A law by which they could not live. Statues which were not good,
and judgments whereby they could not live. But in the latter-days
we have reason to believe that the children of Israel will never
experience such a curse as this. That the presence of the Lord
will not be withdrawn from them as it was then. But coming again
to the 20th chapter of Ezekiel, we find that after the Lord has
brought them into the wilderness, we are informed that "he will
bring them into the bonds of the covenant, not the law of carnal
commandments, but into the bonds of the new and everlasting
covenant" that will be renewed for them. That will be something
binding. "I will bring them into the covenant, and purge out the
rebellious that shall be among you. They shall not enter into the
land of promise, he will not let them get in. God did these
things in ancient times, and foretold what he would do in the
latter days.
155
We have been brought here as the beginning of the great
latter-day kingdom--brought from the nations--established in
these lofty regions of our continent--in these mountain valleys.
We have been brought here and instructed, and taught for many
years. In what? Not in a law of carnal commandments. I think I
will take a portion of that back. I will say that we have been
instructed in the law, the principles of the new and everlasting
covenant, which has not as yet been taken from us; but in
addition to that, because of the hardness of our hearts, we are
deprived of some blessings that pertain to this new and
everlasting covenant. Do you wish to know what blessings have
been withheld from us, that pertain to the higher law? I will
tell you. In the year 1831, soon after God first established this
Church, when he took his servant, Joseph, the Prophet, and many
of the first Elders of this Church, and brought them together in
the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and pointed out
to them where the city of the New Jerusalem should be built, and
when the Temple should be located, certain laws were revealed.
These laws, if adopted, were calculated to make this people of
one heart and mind, not in doctrine alone, not in some spiritual
things alone, not in a few outward ordinances alone, but to make
them one in regard to their property. God pointed out certain
laws in 1831, and which were more fully revealed in 1832, and in
1833, he told us what the order of the kingdom was, in regard to
our property. Now what was the law? The Lord ordained that every
man who came up from the churches abroad to that choice land,
where the Zion of God is to be built in the latter days should
consecrate all his properties. In what way? How consecrate it? In
what form? Now in this Territory we have had a form of
consecration, some have complied with that form, but where is
there a man who has been called upon to comply with it in
reality. The law was, consecrate all of your properties, whether
it be gold, or silver, or mules, or wagons, or carriages, or
store goods or anything that had any wealth in it--all was to be
consecrated, to come to the Lord's store house. Agents were
appointed to receive these consecrations. Not consecrate to any
man, or to these agents but consecrate to the Lord, for his
storehouse. Now, I ask, did not that make us all equal? Supposing
that a man came to Jackson Country with five hundred thousand
dollars, and another came with five dollars. If both of these
persons consecrated all that they had, would they not stand on a
platform of equality? Both of them worth nothing at all. So far
as property is concerned they were equal. Now after this
consecration, what then? We were not counted really worthy to
receive bonafide inheritances immediately, but I will tell you
what we were counted worthy of, we were worthy of being the
Lord's stewards, as you will read in many places in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants. What is a steward? Is he a bonafide owner
of property? No. If I were called upon to be a steward over a
certain farm or factory, the business is not my own, I am only as
an agent or steward to take charge of the concern, and act upon
it, as a wise steward, and to render up my account to somebody.
The Book of Covenants informs us that it is required at the hand
of every steward to render an account of his stewardship, both in
time and in eternity. To whom? To those whom God selects and
appoints. If it be the first presidency of the Church in
connection with the Bishops, then these are the proper agents to
whom a strict account of that stewardship must be rendered. But
how do we become stewards? Let us inquire into this. However the
people, after they have consecrated as the law required,--how
were they to become stewards? The Lord's agents, the Bishops,
that had a knowledge of the things of God, were to purchase lands
by this consecrated property, from the General Government, or
from individuals, as the case might be. They were to purchase
wagons, mules, and all that was requisite to carry on mechanical
business, and stores, according to the amount of property
consecrated and put into their hands. This was to be done by the
Lord's agents, and those whom they should call upon to assist.
When all this land, and tools and machinery, and horses, and
sheep, and so forth, are procured out of the Lord's money; what
then? Does every man receive an exact equality, or amount of this
property? No. Why not? Because some men have more ability for
managing a stewardship than other men. Some men perhaps all their
lifetime have been accustomed to carrying on great establishments
and know how to conduct great establishments. It is to be
supposed that such a man would be limited to the same amount of
stewardship as the man who has fifty acres of land? It may
require twenty, or a hundred times the amount of stewardship to
be placed in the hands of such a man, than what is required of
other stewards who manage farming only. Does not that make them
unequal? No. They are all stewards. The property belongs to the
Lord. But, inquires one, does not this man of great capability
have more of the luxuries of life? No. Because he has to give an
account of his stewardship to the Bishop, and if this man of high
capability has made at the end of the year a hundred thousand
dollars, he is required to hand in an account to the Bishop, at
the end of the year, and if there have been made a hundred
thousand dollars, clear gain, does the man own it? No. It is
brought to the Lord's store house. The poor man that has gained
fifty dollars extra from his farm hands in his fifty dollars and
an account of his stewardship. If the man that has handled a five
hundred thousand dollar stewardship has used it improperly, the
account will show. "I have done thus and so. I have purchased
such and such machinery." If he has laid out his stewardship for
self-aggrandizement or unwise purposes, another man is placed in
his stead. And the poor man who has gained his fifty dollars, if
he has purchased any thing that is unwise or unnecessary, and he
has limited himself to that fifty dollars as clear gain, he will
be moved out of his stewardship. At the end of the first year all
these stewardships are made equal again; it is all consecrated
unto the Lord's storehouse, they are all on an equal footing
again. Then, again, during the year before these accounts are
rendered up, if they are wise stewards there will be no
advantage, each one will be on his guard all the time lest his
stewardship is not approved of.
155
That is the order of heaven. That is the ancient order, and it
was the order instituted in the year 1831. What did the Lord say
about those who would not comply with his order? Some of our
eastern farmers, when they left their homes in Vermont, or in the
State of New York, and came up and saw the beauty of that land,
and the depth of the soil, and the beautiful timber in Jackson
County, they forgot that they were to be the Lord's stewards, and
began to think that they could use their own property, instead of
complying with the law of consecration. "What a blessing it will
be, said they, if I can buy up this land at a dollar and a
quarter, per acre; for I can sell it out for a hundred times as
much and make myself a rich man; I will not sacrifice my
property." These were some of the feelings that filled the hearts
of some. But the Lord sent up a revelation, given through his
servant Joseph, in Kirtland, warning the Saints against their
receiving their stewardship without complying with this law of
consecration. That if they would not comply with it, their names
should be blotted out, and the names of their children; their
names should not be had on the book of the law of the Lord. That
they should perish, &c. We find that the people did not comply,
and hence the Lord, in about two years and four or five months,
suffered our enemies to be stirred up against us, and the Saints
were driven from the land. They were driven forth, in the bleak
cold month of November, to wander whithersoever they could for
protection. What was the reason? The Lord tells us, he suffered
this, because of our transgressions. The Lord informed us, that
there was covetousness in our midst, and "for this reason I have
suffered them to be removed." The Lord commanded us to purchase
all of that land, but instead of doing this, many were holding
fast to their dollars, and thought that the Lord intended to
cheat them out of their property, and they said,--"We'll see what
the Lord will do for his people. If he will show forth his power,
by and by, when all gets to be pleasant, we will take our
property and go and settle down among the Saints." They did not
believe what the Lord required, hence they were scattered from
synagogue to synagogue. In one of the revelations, says the Lord,
"I will remember them in the day of my power, when the time shall
come, but they shall suffer tribulation for a little season. And
when they have been sufficiently chastened, they who remain shall
return with their children to build up the waste places of Zion."
156
I have related these things that we may understand wherein we
have once had the privilege of complying with the celestial law
in regard to our property, and wherein a great principle has been
put out in our midst. In all of our wanderings the celestial law
has never been put in practice, as regards our property. But the
Lord has not left us any more than he did the children of Israel,
when they were rebellious. Instead of entirely casting them away,
and denouncing them and rejecting them as his people, he still
gave ancient Israel a law. Instead of entirely rejecting us, he
gave us another law. One inferior to the celestial law, called
the law of Enoch. The law of Enoch is so named in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, but in other words, it is the law given
by Joseph Smith, Jr. The word Enoch did not exist in the original
copy; neither did some other names. The names that were
incorporated when it was printed, did not exist there when the
manuscript revelations were given, for I saw them myself. Some of
them I copied. And when the Lord was about to have the Book of
Covenants given to the world, it was thought wisdom, in
consequence of the persecutions of our enemies in Kirtland and
some of the regions around, that some of the names should be
changed, and Joseph was called Baurak Ale, which was a Hebrew
word; meaning God bless you. He was also called Gazelum, being a
person to whom the Lord had given the Urim and Thummim. He was
also called Enoch. Sidney Rigdon was called Baneemy. And the
revelation where it read so many dollars into the treasury was
changed to talents. And the City of New York was changed to
Cainhannoch. Therefore when I speak of the Order of Enoch, I do
not mean the order of ancient Enoch, I mean the Order that was
given to Joseph Smith in 1832-3-4, which is a law inferior to the
celestial law, because the celestial law required the
consecration of all that a man had. The law of Enoch only
required a part. The law of consecration in full required that
all the people should consecrate everything that they had; and
none were exempt. The law of Enoch called upon certain men only
to consecrate.
156
Now did the people keep this second law--inferior to the first?
The Lord picked out some of the best men in the Church, and tried
them if they would keep it. "Now I will," says he, "try the best
men I have in the Church, not with the celestial law, but they
shall consecrate in part, and have a common stock property among
them." And in order to stir them up to diligence, he fixed
certain penalties to this law, such as, He shall be delivered up
to the buffeting of Satan; sins that have been remitted shall
return to him and be answered upon his head. How did they get
along then? The Lord tells us that the covenant had been broken.
And consequently it remained with him to do with them as seemed
to him good. Many have apostatized since that day. Sidney Rigdon
for one, Oliver Cowdery for another, and John Johnson for
another. Why have they apostatized? They did not comply with the
covenant that they made in regard to the law given to Joseph
Smith, that was afterwards called the law of Enoch.
157
Did the Lord forsake us then? No, he had compassion upon
us--still looked upon us as the latter-day kingdom--did not take
the kingdom from our midst, but continued to plead with us and
bear with the infirmities of the people. "Now I will, says he,
"try them with another law." So in the year 1838, he gave us
another law, called the law of Tithing. Let me name now some of
the conditions of Tithing, according to that law. The Lord gave a
commandment that the people that came up--gathered with the
Saints--should consecrate, not all their property, but all their
surplus property, and after they had consecrated all their
surplus property, there should be a certain portion, not called
surplus, which they should retain; and out of this that is not
called surplus property, they should try to make an income, they
should consecrate one-tenth part of that income.
157
Now of you who have been in this Territory for twenty or
twenty-six years, how many have complied with this law of
Tithing? How many have had surplus property, over and above
one-tenth part? How many would come here with fifteen or twenty
thousand dollars' worth of property, and pay one-tenth, as though
this was surplus. Is that the law of Tithing? If it is, I do not
understand it. If I understand the law of Tithing, it requires a
man who has fifteen, or twenty, or fifty thousand dollars, when
he comes up to Zion, to go up to the Lord's agent, the Bishop,
and say, "I have so much money, and so much of a family; now tell
me, Bishop, how much of this is surplus property? Oh, says one,
that ought to be left to our own judgment. Our own judgment! Who
in the world among all the Latter-day Saints would have any
surplus property if it is left to his own judgment? How many in
Ogden have given surplus property to-day? Go throughout all this
town and ask them if they have surplus property. "Oh, no, I have
not quite enough to carry on my business according to my own
mind. I have a manufacturing establishment here, I wish I had a
few thousand dollars more than I have to put in it. I want twenty
thousand dollars more. I have no surplus property." Some man
starts another business, and he has no surplus property. And you
may go through all the towns and villages and not find a man who
has surplus property. He could not be found. Then I should judge,
that the men to determine what is surplus property, and what is
not, are those men whom God has ordained to this power, namely,
the Bishops, who have a knowledge of these things by the power of
the Holy Ghost, and by virtue of their calling. The President of
this Church will be prepared to say whether a man has surplus
property or not, and let him specify, and the man be satisfied.
This is the law of Tithing, inferior to the full law of
consecration, and also inferior to the law of Enoch.
157
Now for the other portion of the law of Tithing. Say a man comes
here with fifty thousand dollars and it is judged by proper
authority that forth thousand is surplus. He goes to work with
the remaining ten thousand and gets him a farm and home, and
enters into some other business, and makes not only a sufficiency
for support, but finds at the year's end that he has made a
thousand dollars: he has to pay one-tenth of that, that is a
hundred dollars. This is really the meaning of the word Tithing.
But the surplus property, the forty thousand dollars, are
consecrated as is required in the former part of the first
paragraph of the revelation on Tithing.
158
How many of the Latter-day Saints have complied with even the
least thing that God has given in property matters? Perhaps a
few, and no doubt many have done well; and other have been
careless; not feeling to rebel against God, but a little too
careless or indifferent about paying one-tenth of their income.
Now is this right? Can we be prospered as people? Ought we not to
be ashamed if we cannot comply with one of the lesser laws? It
seems to be the last law, in regard to property, that God has
given to save this people. We ought to ask ourselves, "Am I
fulfilling this law? Am I preparing myself for the day when God
shall required me to enter into the higher law?" I will say that
the day will come, and is not far distant, when this higher law
will be carried into effect, not only in theory but in practice.
At present, God has eased up on the law in part, that there is a
revelation given in the year 1834, on Fishing River, in which the
Lord says, "Let those commandments which I have given, concerning
Zion and her law, be executed and fulfilled after her
redemption." That is as much as to say, "You are not prepared to
keep them. If I do not now relieve you in some measure, from the
responsibility, they will bring you under great condemnation."
The revelation does not say that we shall not enter into that
order, but we are not bound by penalties so to do. Now I believe
that before the redemption of Zion, there will be a voluntary
feeling to carry out the celestial law. I found my belief on the
prophecies that are given in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
The Lord has said that before Zion is redeemed she shall be as
fair as the sun, clear as the moon, and her banners shall be a
terror to all nations. And that it is needful that Zion should be
built up according to the law of the celestial kingdom, or I
cannot receive her unto myself. He cannot receive her only as she
is built up according to the full law of consecration. All the
Zions that have ever been redeemed, from all the creations that
God has made, have been redeemed upon that principle. And God has
told us in the revelation given to ancient Enoch, "I have taken
Zion to mine own bosom out of all the creations that I have
made." Now if he has done this--if he has selected Zions, he has
done it from the different worlds, by the celestial law; and they
are sanctified by the same law, and they dwell in his bosom--that
is under his council and watch care, in the presence of his
glory, exalted before him, all redeemed by the same law, hence
partakers of the glory, the same exaltation, the same fullness in
the eternal worlds. Therefore if the latter-day Zion would be
counted worthy to mingle with the ancient Zion of Enoch, caught
up before the flood, if they would be counted worthy, when the
Zion of Enoch comes, to be caught up to meet them, and to fall
upon their necks and they to fall upon the necks of the
Latter-day Saints, and if they would enjoy the same glory, the
same exaltation with ancient Zion, they must comply with the same
law. "I can not receive Zion to myself," saith the Lord, "unless
built up by this law."
159
There will be a great preparation before the redemption of Zion.
Supposing we should all be returned, say this fall, or next year,
to Jackson County. Say a large majority should be returned to the
land of our inheritances, in Missouri, and in the regions round
about, and it should be said to us, "Go ye my sons and build up
Zion according to the celestial law, through the consecration of
the property of my Church, as I have commanded," would you be
prepared to do this work? Have you an experience in it? Have you
learned the lesson by experience? No, no; years after years have
passed away since that law was given, the then middle-aged are
now tottering to their graves; the youth have grown to be men,
and the law has not been practiced in our midst. We have the mere
letter of the law. The theory has been in existence, but who has
practiced upon it? Will you take us in our ignorant state? While
we have been every man for himself, and accumulating all that he
could grasp, and almost neglecting the lesser law of Tithing,
could it be expected that the Lord would say to a people thus
situated, and without experience in these things, go back to
Jackson County? There must be a preparation here; and it would
not surprise me, if the Spirit of the Lord should come upon the
Presidency of this people, and we should be told to enter into
the higher law pertaining to our property. The Lord wishes to put
it out of the power of every man to be lifted up above his
brother or his sister, so far as wealth or property is concerned,
by making his people equal, keeping them equal; not by a division
of property, but upon the principle of stewardships. That keeps
them equal. There is no chance of their becoming unequal. It is
out of their power to be unequal. If a man loses all that he has
by fire, and all his stock should die, the fact is, he is just as
rich as all the others, because he is a steward. He owns nothing,
neither do they. "But," inquires one, "shall we never become bona
fide possessors?" Yes. As we now see, children may be acting for
their father, but still they are considered in the mind of the
father as being the inheritors of his property at certain time;
so with the Latter-day Saints. They may be made stewards, but the
time will come when they shall be bona fide inheritors. The
revelation tells us when that time shall come. That when the
seventh angel sounds his trumpet, and after the people have
proved themselves in the stewardships, and when Jesus comes in
his glory, they shall be made possessors, and be made equal with
him. Consequently, when the Lord promised to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, the land of Canaan, it was no testimony that they should
enter in possession of that land the next day after the promise
was made. They had to wander about in it, and prove their
worthiness until the time should come when they should come forth
from their graves, and the earth should be transfigured and
cleansed from the curse, then they should be made possessors. So
with the Latter-day Saints. The Lord said on the 2nd of January,
1831, "I design to give to you a land of promise upon which there
shall be no curse, when the Lord shall come: behold this is my
covenant with you, that you shall receive it for an inheritance,
while the earth shall stand, and possess it again in eternity, no
more to pass away." This did not mean that we should come in
possession at that time, or in 1831; but when we had proved
ourselves as wise stewards, and had rendered up the account of
our stewardship, and had been accepted, then we should receive an
inheritance, not only in time, but while eternity should endure.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, August 31, 1873
Brigham Young, August 31, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered in the Bowery, at Paris, Oneida County,
Idaho, Sunday, August 31, 1873.
(Reported by John Q. Cannon.)
THE GOSPEL INCORPORATES ALL TRUTH--MODE OF ADMINISTERING
THE SACRAMENT--ABIDING COUNSEL--HEAVENLY BLESSINGS ARE
CONDITIONAL--PROGRESSIVENESS OF THE WORK--PLURAL
MARRIAGE--TITHING--TARDINESS OF THE SAINTS IN OBSERVING
PRACTICAL DUTIES--CO-OPERATION.
161
The Gospel of life and salvation that we have embraced in our
faith, and that we profess to carry out in our lives,
incorporates all truth. We frequently testify to each other that
we know that this Gospel is true; and as I have a great many
times said to those that listen to my conversation, upon the
principles of life and salvation, I believe this work, I believe
this Gospel, I believe this doctrine, that is brought to us
through the Prophet Joseph, in these latter days, in this our
time, for the simplest, plainest and most palpable reason that
can be given. "What is it?" Why, because it is true. The Gospel
that I have embraced comprehends all truth. "How much of it is
true?" All of it. "How much does it embrace?" All the truth that
there is in the heavens, on the earth, under the earth; and if
there is any truth in hell, this doctrine claims it. It is all
the truth of heaven, the truth of God, the life of those that
live forever, the law by which worlds were, are, and will be
brought into existence, and pass from one degree or one state of
being to another, pertaining to the exaltation of intelligence
from the lowest to the highest state. This is the doctrine that
the Latter-day Saints believe, whether they realize it or not.
Well, now, upon apostacy. What have the Latter-day Saints got to
apostatize from? Everything that there is good, pure, holy,
god-like, exalting, ennobling, extending the ideas, the
capacities of the intelligent beings that our heavenly Father has
brought forth upon this earth. What will they receive in
exchange? I can comprehend it in a very few words. These would be
the words that I should use: death, hell and the grave. That is
what they will get in exchange. We may go into the particulars of
that which they experience. They experience darkness, ignorance,
doubt, pain, sorrow, grief, mourning, unhappiness; no person to
condole with in the hour of trouble, no arm to lean upon in the
day of calamity, no eye to pity when they are forlorn and cast
down; and I comprehend it by saying: death, hell and the grave.
This is what they will get in exchange for their apostacy from
the Gospel of the Son of God. This is their reward, and it is
foolishness, not merely nonsense; a person can have a little
nonsense and pass it over; but this is foolishness. There is not
a particle of good sense about it; not light, no intelligence,
nothing that is ennobling, elevating, cheering, comforting,
consoling, that produces friends, or anything of this kind. I
call it foolism; I do it this time, consequently we will not talk
anything about apostacy.
161
When people receive this Gospel, what do they sacrifice? Why,
death for life. This is what they give: darkness for light, error
for truth, doubt and unbelief for knowledge and the certainty of
the things of God, consequently I consider it to be the biggest
piece of foolism that can be hatched up, imagined or entertained,
or followed out by any human being, to leave this Gospel for what
they will receive in exchange. So much for apostacy.
161
Now a few words, my brethren and sisters, with regard to our
position. There are many in this Church who have been with it a
long time. This Church has been traveling for many years. The
time that this Church has been traveling exceeds the time of the
children of Israel in the wilderness.
161
[At this point the water for the Sacrament was blessed.]
161
I will give you a word of counsel here with regard to
consecrating the bread and the water, which I want the Saints to
remember. When you [addressing the Bishops and Elders] administer
the Sacrament, take this book [the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants] and read this prayer. Take the opportunity to read
this prayer until you can remember it. You cannot get up anything
that is better, and not even equal to it; and when you read it,
read it so that the people can hear you. This is what I wish of
you; it is what is right, and that which the Spirit will manifest
to you if you inquire; and if you cannot commit this prayer to
memory, the one that is given by revelation expressly for
consecrating the bread and the wine, or water if the latter be
used, take the book and read until you can remember. If I were to
come here next Sabbath, and see you breaking bread, would this,
that I am now mentioning, be thought of? The people have various
ideas with regard to this prayer. They sometimes cannot hear six
feet from the one who is praying, and in whose prayer, perhaps,
there are not three words of the prayer that is in this book,
that the Lord tells us that we should use. This is pretty hard on
the Elders, is it not? If they could remember one thousandth part
of that which they have heard, it would have sanctified them
years and years ago; but it goes in at one ear and out at the
other--it is like the weaver's shuttle passing through the web.
162
Now I am going to tell you some more things, and how long will
you remember them? Until you get home? Perhaps there are a few
who will remember a few words of counsel that I shall give to
you. I am here to give this people, called Latter-day Saints,
counsel to direct them in the path of life. I am here to answer;
I shall be on hand to answer when I am called upon, for all the
counsel and for all the instruction that I have given to this
people. If there is an Elder here, or any member of this Church,
called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who can
bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered
to the people as counsel that that is wrong, I really wish they
would do it; but they cannot do it, for the simple reason that I
have never given counsel that is wrong; this it the reason. This
people, called Latter-day Saints, have been laboring now over
forty years. Forty-three years last April, the sixth day, this
Church was organized. People have been coming into it, many have
gone out of it, many have died in the faith; but there is quite a
number in it that are now living who have held on to it from the
beginning, and they have been striving to increase in their
knowledge, to enlarge their faith and their comprehension of the
principles of eternal life; but it is slow progress. I wonder if
there are any particular sisters here who have lived humble and
faithful, to whom the Spirit has manifested that their progress
and advancement are slow: "That by the Spirit that I receive from
the Lord, the Spirit that is given to me at times, I can see that
we are far in the rear of what we should be, and we have not come
up to that status of perfection and purity that the Latter-day
Saints should reach." Are there any sisters who have experienced
any such thing? Are there any Elders who can bear witness to
these things? I expect there are. I expect there is any number of
sisters in this Church who can bear witness to this, and testify
that the people called Latter-day Saints are very tardy in the
practice of the things of God.
163
Now with regard to the blessings. There are blessings that the
Lord proffers to his people. Has he any conditions? This is the
question. The blessings that the Lord wishes to bestow upon his
people in the latter days, as he did upon them in former days,
are they proffered to the people on any conditions whatever, or
is it the voluntary act upon the involuntary people? Are they
given to us whether we want them or not? whether we will enjoy
them or not? or whether we will profit by them or not? How is
this, Latter-day Saints? Is this the way the Lord does? You and I
understand this. Every blessing the Lord proffers to his people
is on conditions. These conditions are: "Obey my law, keep my
commandments, walk in my ordinances, observe my statues, love
mercy, preserve the law that I have given to you inviolate, keep
yourselves pure in the law, and then you are entitled to these
blessings, and not until then." Now, is this not the fact? I
leave it to you. You have the Old and the New Testament, from
which we can learn doctrine. You have the Book of Mormon to read,
from which we can learn doctrine. You have the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants, which is more especially necessary to this
generation. It does not contain different doctrine to the Book of
Mormon and Testaments. It is explanatory of these three books,
corroborates the doctrine that is taught in them, and points out
the path for this people to walk in to-day, so that we may not
err, but know how to order our lives from morning till evening,
from evening till morning, from Sunday morning till Sunday
morning again, from New Year to New Year, and every day of our
lives. The doctrine that the Lord has taught us and given to us
through his servant Joseph, points out the path for us to walk
in, and, while walking in this path, we do not lose sight of one
iota of the Gospel, but you must hold it secure, and always keep
it before you by preserving those laws and ordinances, and
continuing to hold them precious. If the Saints will do this, the
Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Spirit of our Father and God will
enlighten their minds and bring to their remembrance things that
transpired in the past, and things to come to pass in the future,
and they may lay a foundation for everlasting life and eternal
lives in the celestial kingdom of our God. You may obtain these
blessings by keeping in mind and observing the principles,
doctrine, and the laws and statues that are delivered to the
people of God for their edification, for their perfection, for
their comfort and consolation, to prepare them for entering into
the celestial kingdom. If any profess to live in the observance
of these principles, and do not enjoy the spirit of revelation,
they deceive themselves. No person deceives the Lord. Every
individual that lives according to the laws that the Lord has
given to his people, and has received the blessings that he has
in store for the faithful, should be able to know the things of
God from the things which are not of God, the light from the
darkness, that which comes from heaven and that which comes from
somewhere else. This is the satisfaction and the consolation that
the Latter-day Saints enjoy by living their religion; this is the
knowledge which every one who thus lives possesses.
163
These are the books, the Old and New Testament, the Book of
Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we take all
that has been said to us by the Spirit of Truth, bring it
together, live to it, and this brings us into a condition that we
have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,
and the people of Christ are cleansed from all sin, walk in the
light and no more in darkness. We have received in the first
place the first ordinances pertaining to the Gospel that Jesus
introduced, that have been sent to the earth for the salvation of
the children of men. Before the ordinances are performed,
however, the people hear the name of Christ declared; Jesus is
preached to the people; faith springs upon the hearts of the
people. We the people believe. The Spirit of Truth bears witness
to our spirits that this is correct. This is the Christ; he is
the Savior of the world; and we begin to have faith in him; and
when we begin to have faith in him, and believe on him, and the
Father who sent him, we begin to look around ourselves and say:
"Why is it that we saw nothing so familiar and perfect years ago?
All this is familiar and plain and simple. How is this? They that
declare Christ to us, are they ready to teach us." "Yes,
certainly." "Do you believe?" "Yes." "Do you wish to be a
disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?" "Yes." "Do you wish to enter
into his family?" "Yes." "Do you wish to belong to this quorum of
disciples?" "Yes." "Is there anything for me to do to get there?"
says the candidate. "Yes, certainly," says the Elder. "Well, what
is it?" "To go down into the waters of baptism, this is the first
ordinance, and be baptized by one having authority."
164
Well, now, this people have received all this. They have been
convicted of the truth, they have believed the truth, they have
repented of their sins, they have received baptism for the
remission of their sins, and the next ordinance or blessing--the
laying on of hands, so that they may receive the Holy Ghost. What
accompanies this Holy Ghost? I have been telling you: it brings
to our remembrance things past, present, and future, and dwells
upon the things of God. Here are the ordinances, and we have
commenced to obey them. We have the promise of receiving
blessings if we hold on to the faith, and not turn away from this
principle; and although temptation may present itself to us, we
will resist it, and we will cling to the things of God, and
believe on his promises, and will ask the Father in the name of
Jesus to help us to overcome these temptations, and we will free
ourselves from this darkness, we will break the chain of doubt
and unbelief, and we will emerge into the full faith of the Lord
Jesus. When temptations come to you, be humble and faithful, and
determined that you will overcome, and you will receive a
deliverance, and continue faithful, having the promise of
receiving blessings. What are these blessings?
164
There is a variety of blessings; a different blessing being
probably given to one, two, three or four of this congregation.
Thus, one will have faith to lay hands upon the sick and rebuke
disease, and drive it from the person afflicted. Many may receive
this blessing of faith, the gift of healing. Some may receive
faith to the discerning of spirits; they can discern the spirit
of a person, whether it is good or evil. They have such power,
that when a person enters this congregation they can tell the
spirit of such person; then they have received the gift of
discerning of spirits. Some may receive the gift of tongues, that
they will get up and speak in tongues, and speak in many other
languages beside their mother tongue, the language that they were
brought up in, that they were first taught, and be able to
proclaim the Gospel of life and salvation that all men could
understand it. These are the blessings; but others might receive
the gift of prophecy, get up and prophecy what is to befall this
nation, what will befall this or that individual, and what will
befall the different nations of the earth, etc. Now, after naming
some of the blessings, I want to come to something else, and draw
a line for the Latter-day Saints to walk up to.
165
Suppose that we hear the name of the Savior declared to us, that
he is the Savior of the world, and by his death atoned for the
sins of every man, and we believe that this is the fact; but
instead of inquiring, "Is there anything for me to do? is there
any labor for me to perform?" when we get home we sing and we
say, "I thank God, and I am satisfied." When the Elder says, "You
must be baptized for the remission of sins," and we say, "Oh, no,
we have received the Spirit of Truth, there is no need of
baptism. We have received all that is necessary. The Spirit of
Truth is given to us; we acknowledge the Savior, and we rejoice
in him, and we will not be baptized for the remission of sins,"
are we entitled to have hands laid upon us for the reception of
the Holy Ghost? No; every one comes to this conclusion. Suppose
that we make ourselves satisfied with what we have received, and
we can say that Jesus is the Christ--"Yes, I believe that he is
the Christ; but I don't see the use of any of these ordinances,"
are we entitled to the Holy Ghost? No. Are we entitled to faith
to heal the sick? No. Are we entitled to receive the spirit of
prophecy? No. Are we entitled to the gift of speaking in, or the
gift of the interpretation of, tongues? No. Are we entitled to
the gift of the discerning of spirits? No. Are we entitled to any
power or blessing that the Lord has promised to his disciples:
that if anybody administered poison to them, it should not harm
them, and if their pathway were marked in the midst of serpents,
they could take up serpents and they should not hurt them? Are we
entitled to this protection? What is the answer of the Latter-day
Saints? My brethren and sisters, answer this question in your own
minds. Are we entitled to the blessing of the holy Gospel unless
we obey the ordinances thereof, and all the commandments and laws
and requirements that are laid down for us to obey? Now I know
that every Latter-day Saint will come to the same conclusion that
I do--that if we did not obey, we would not be entitled to any of
these blessings from our Father. There is not a Latter-day Saint
but who comes to the same conclusion as myself--that we would not
merit, we would not be entitled to, we could not claim at the
hand of our God those blessings that he has promised through
obedience to his Word. Could we be called the people of God? We
would be in the path of disobedience. We would be in the path
that leads to death. We would be in the broad road that millions
are walking in to death. Now, every one of us comes to this
conclusion.
165
This people I say are very tardy. I will ask you a question, and
I will let you answer it in your own minds, for you know, and I
am satisfied that the answer I shall give will satisfy the
Saints. Can we stand still, receive so much pertaining to the
blessings of the kingdom of God, receive so much knowledge, just
so much wisdom, just so much power, and then stop and receive no
more? How is this, Latter-day Saints? Your answer will be
precisely like mine--I can answer with you all. This people must
go forward or they will go backward. Will all answer this
question the same say? Will the same conclusion be in the mind of
every Latter-day Saint, that this work is a progressive work,
this doctrine that is taught the Latter-day Saints in its nature
is exalting, increasing, expanding and extending broader and
broader until we can know as we are known, see as we are seen?
That is the answer of the Latter-day Saints.
166
We will say we have received a great deal; very much instruction
have we received. But there are keys to open up other ordinances
which I will mention. Do you recollect that in about the year
1840-41, Joseph had a revelation concerning the dead? He had been
asked the question a good many times; "What is the condition of
the dead, those that lived and died without the Gospel?" It was a
matter of inquiry with him. He considered this question not only
for himself, but for the brethren and the Church. "What is the
condition of the dead? What will be their fate? Is there no way
to-day by which they can receive their blessings as there was in
the days of the Apostles, and when the Gospel was preached upon
the earth in ancient days?" When Joseph received the revelation
that we have in our possession concerning the dead, the subject
was opened to him, not in full but in part, and he kept on
receiving. When he had first received the knowledge by the spirit
of revelation how the dead could be officiated for, there are
brethren and sisters here, I can see quite a number here who were
in Nauvoo, and you recollect that when this doctrine was first
revealed, and in hurrying in the administration of baptism for
the dead, that sisters were baptized for their male friends, were
baptized for their fathers, their grandfathers, their mothers and
their grandmothers, &c. I just mention this so that you will come
to understanding, that as we knew nothing about this matter at
first, the old Saints recollect, there was little by little
given, and the subject was made plain, but little was given at
once. Consequently, in the first place people were baptized for
their friends and no record was kept. Joseph afterwards kept a
record, &c. Then women were baptized for men and men for women,
&c. It would be very strange, you know, to the eyes of the wise
and they that understood the things pertaining to eternity, if we
were called upon to commence the work that we could not finish.
This, therefore, was regulated and all set in order; for it was
revealed that if a woman was baptized for a man, she could not be
ordained for him, neither could she be made an Apostle or a
Patriarch for the man, consequently the sisters are to be
baptized for their own sex only.
167
This doctrine of baptism for the dead is a great doctrine, one of
the most glorious doctrines that was ever revealed to the human
family; and there are light, power, glory, honor and immortality
in it. After this doctrine was received, Joseph received a
revelation on celestial marriage. You will recollect, brethren
and sisters, that it was in July, 1843, that he received this
revelation concerning celestial marriage. This doctrine was
explained and many received it as far as they could understand
it. Some apostatized on account of it; but others did not, and
received it in their faith. This, also, is a great and noble
doctrine. I have not time to give you many items upon the
subject, but there are a few hints that I can throw in here that
perhaps may be interesting. As far as this pertains to our
natural lives here, there are some who say it is very hard. They
say, "This is rather a hard business; I don't like my husband to
take a plurality of wives in the flesh." Just a few words upon
this. We would believe this doctrine entirely different from what
it is presented to us, if we could do so. If we could make every
man upon the earth get him a wife, live righteously and serve
God, we would not be under the necessity, perhaps, of taking more
than one wife. But they will not do this; the people of God,
therefore, have been commanded to take more wives. The women are
entitled to salvation if they live according to the word that is
given to them; and if their husbands are good men, and they are
obedient to them, they are entitled to certain blessings, and
they will have the privilege of receiving certain blessings that
they cannot receive unless they are sealed to men who will be
exalted. Now, where a man in this Church says, "I don't want but
one wife, I will live my religion with one," he will perhaps be
saved in the celestial kingdom; but when he gets there he will
not find himself in possession of any wife at all. He has had a
talent that he has hid up. He will come forward and say, "Here is
that which thou gavest me, I have not wasted it, and here is the
one talent," and he will not enjoy it, but it will be taken and
given to those who have improved the talents they received, and
he will find himself without any wife, and he will remain single
for ever and ever. But if the woman is determined not to enter
into a plural marriage, that woman when she comes forth will have
the privilege of living in single blessedness through all
eternity. Well, that is very good, a very nice place to be a
minister to the wants of others. I recollect a sister conversing
with Joseph Smith on this subject. She told him: "Now, don't talk
to me; when I get into the celestial kingdom, if I ever do get
there, I shall request the privilege of being a ministering
angel; that is the labor that I wish to perform. I don't want any
companion in that world; and if the Lord will make me a
ministering angel, it is all I want." Joseph said, "Sister, you
talk very foolishly, you do not know what you will want." He then
said to me: "Here, brother Brigham, you seal this lady to me." I
sealed her to him. This was my own sister according to the flesh.
Now, sisters, do not say, "I do not want a husband when I get up
in the resurrection." You do not know what you will want. I tell
this so that you can get the idea. If in the resurrection you
really want to be single and alone, and live so forever and ever,
and be made servants, while others receive the highest order of
intelligence and are bringing worlds into existence, you can have
the privilege. They who will be exalted cannot perform all the
labor, they must have servants and you can be servants to them.
167
The female portion of the human family have blessings promised to
them if they are faithful. I do not know what the Lord could have
put upon women worse than he did upon Mother Eve, where he told
her: "Thy desire shall be to thy husband." Continually wanting
the husband. "If you go to work, my eyes follow you; if you go
away in the carriage, my eyes follow you, and I like you and love
you; I delight in you, and I desire you should have nobody else."
I do not know that the Lord could have put upon women anything
worse than this, I do not blame them for having these feelings. I
would be glad if it were otherwise. Says a woman of faith and
knowledge, "I will make the best of it; it is a law that man
shall rule over me; his word is my law, and I must obey him; he
must rule over me; this is upon me and I will submit to it," and
by so doing she has promises that others do not have.
167
The world of mankind, the world of man, not of woman, is full of
iniquity. What are they doing? They are destroying every truth
that they can; they are destroying all innocence that they can.
Priest and people, governors, magistrates, kings, potentates,
presidents, the political world and the religious world, are on
the highroad to eternal misery. There are exceptions. There are
honest persons wherever there is an honest principle. If the men
of the world would be honest and full of good works, you would
not see them living as they do. And the women are entitled to the
kingdom, they are entitled to the glory, they are entitled to
exaltation if they are obedient to the Priesthood, and they will
be crowned with those that are crowned.
167
When Father Adam came to assist in organizing the earth out of
the crude material that was found, an earth was made upon which
the children of men could live. After the earth was prepared
Father Adam came and stayed here, and there was a woman brought
to him. Now I am telling you something that many of you know, it
has been told to you, and the brethren and sisters should
understand it. There was a certain woman brought to Father Adam
whose name was Eve, because she was the first woman, and she was
given to him to be his wife; I am not disposed to give any
farther knowledge concerning her at present. There is no doubt
but that he left many companions. The great and glorious doctrine
that pertains to this I have not time to dwell upon; neither
should I at present if I had time. He understood this whole
machinery or system before he came to this earth; and I hope my
brethren and sisters will profit by what I have told them.
168
Now we have been administering the sacrament here to the people,
the bread and the water. It is to refresh our minds and bring to
our understanding the death and sufferings of our Savior. Is
there any commandment with regard to this matter? Yes, there are
laws concerning it. You take this Book [the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants] and you will read here that the Saints are to meet
together on the Sabbath day. It is what we call the first day of
the week. No matter whether it is the Jewish Sabbath or not. I do
not think there is anybody who can bring facts to prove which is
the seventh day, or when Adam was put in the garden, or the day
about which the Lord spoke to Moses. This matter is not very well
known, so we call the day on which we rest and worship God, the
first day of the week. This people called Latter-day Saints, are
required by the revelations that the Lord has given, to assemble
themselves together on this day. How many go riding or visiting,
or go anywhere but to meeting, on the Sabbath day. It is probably
not so here, but in Salt Lake City, as a general thing, Sunday is
made a holiday for riding and visiting, &c. In this commandment
we are required to come together and repent of our sins and
confess our sins and partake of the bread and of the wine; or
water, in commemoration of the death and sufferings of our Lord
and Savior. I will ask the Latter-day Saints if you are entitled
to these blessings unless you keep the Sabbath day. Now, what do
you say? Why, every Latter-day Saint would answer we are not
entitled to the blessing of partaking of the emblems, or symbols,
of the body and the blood of Christ unless we observe his law.
All the Latter-day Saints will answer this question with me, just
as I do, because it is right. There is a great deal delivered to
this people; they have received a great deal--those blessings
pertaining to being baptized for the dead, celestial marriage and
many others, and they should value them, and live so as to enjoy
them.
169
There has been considerable said here with regard to the law of
Tithing that we received years and years ago. Now, I venture to
say, that if we except some very poor men and very poor women in
the Church, who think they have paid their mites promptly and
punctually, there is not a man that has paid his Tithing. Now,
this may sound strange; for some think they have paid pretty
well. To draw this matter out and show you how I feel upon the
subject of Tithing, I have not time. But I will say a few words
about some things that have been alluded to by my brethren who
have spoken to you. The Lord requires one-tenth of that which he
has given me; it is for me to pay the one-tenth of the increase
of my flocks and of all that I have, and all the people should do
the same. The question may arise, "What is to be done with the
Tithing?" It is for the building of Temples to God; for the
enlarging of the border of Zion; sending Elders on missions to
preach the Gospel and taking care of their families. By and by we
shall have some Temples to go into, and we will receive our
blessings, the blessings of heaven, by obedience to the doctrine
of Tithing. We shall have Temples built throughout these
mountains in the valleys of this Territory and the valleys of the
next Territory, and finally, all through these mountains. We
expect to build Temples in a great many valleys. We go to the
endowment house, and before going, we get a recommendation from
our Bishop that we have paid our Tithing. We wish it was so. I do
not want to accuse the brethren; but if your consciences and my
conscience does not accuse us, why, I will not accuse you. When
you give a certificate or letter for a man to have a woman sealed
to him, and he full of sin and iniquity, is not such a
certificate false? If we inquire of such, "Do you want to have
another wife sealed to you?" "Yes." "Where is your wife?" "Why,
she has left me." "Why? Because you are so full of the devil that
she cannot live with you, and the Bishop will give a certificate
for you to get another. They also want to be baptized for their
dead friends when they have not paid their Tithing. I do not want
to accuse anybody; but I do not think this to be right. If the
Lord will receive the people, if the Lord will accept of their
labors, and will honor and bless them, and say that their
officiating for their dead friends shall be sealed in the heavens
and it shall be recorded by his angel, and in the day of the
resurrection it shall be accounted unto them for righteousness, I
am willing, I have not a word to say against it.
169
Now, then, we have received these ordinances, the doctrine the
Lord has revealed for the salvation of the dead; the doctrine
that we have received for the exaltation of men and women, which
I could tell you a great deal about if I had time; but there is
only a little time and I want to say a few things to bring your
minds directly to our present condition. You read in the Doctrine
and Covenants with regard to the building up of the kingdom of
God, the order of Enoch, &c. I am anxious in my feelings to get
the Latter-day Saints to begin where the Lord wanted them to
begin, when he commenced to build up his kingdom; that is that we
are to submit ourselves to the direction of our Bishops, or men
who shall be appointed, who shall dictate them in the things
pertaining to life, so that they may be the means in the hands of
the Lord of accomplishing the work that he required at our hands.
I had it in my mind to ask if we are not a slow, tardy people;
but I would like to see the order of Enoch introduced. If I had
the privilege that was legal, the legal right, I should have had
some of the brethren and sisters organized together and bound
with bonds that cannot be broken; but I cannot do this at
present; for we desire to commence this on a foundation that
cannot be broken up and destroyed.
170
Brethren, if you will start here and operate together in farming,
in making cheese, in herding sheep and cattle and every other
kind of work, and get a factory here and a co-operative store--I
have been told there is no co-operative store here--get a good
co-operative store, and operate together in sheep-raising,
store-keeping, manufacturing and everything else, no matter what
it is, by and by, when we can plant ourselves upon a foundation
that we cannot be broken up, we shall then proceed to arrange a
family organization for which we are not yet quite prepared. You
now, right here in this place, commence to carry on your business
in a co-operative capacity. In every instance I could show every
one of you what a great advantage would be gained in working
together; I could reason it out here just how much advantage
there is in co-operation in your lumbering and in your herding.
You have men here, I suppose, who have had an arm shot off; they
cannot go into the canyons and get out wood. Another, perhaps,
has had a leg cut off; he cannot run here and there like some of
you; but he can do something; he will make a first-rate shopman,
and at keeping books, perhaps, he will be one of the best. He
cannot take the scythe and mow; he cannot attend to a threshing
machine; he cannot go into the woods lumbering; he could not herd
well,--but he could go into the factory, and he can do many
things. Well, we can do this and keep up co-operation, and, by
and by, when we can, we will build up a city after the order of
Enoch. And I will tell you, women will not be let into that city
with Babylon upon their backs, nor men either. But we will make
our own clothing, we will make our own fashions, we will do our
own work. I can take fifty men who have not a cent, and if they
would do as I would wish them to do, they would soon be worth
their thousands, every one of them. We desire to go into this
order. In it we would not lack means, we would always have
something to sell, but seldom want to buy. This will be the case
if we make our own clothes, &c.
170
Another thing I want you to observe in all these settlements, and
it is one of the simplest things in nature; I want you to be
united. If we should build up and organize a community, we would
have to do it on the principle of oneness, and it is one of the
simplest things I know of. A city of one hundred thousand or a
million of people could be united into a perfect family, and they
would work together as beautifully as the different parts of the
carding machine work together. Why, we could organize millions
into a family under the order of Enoch. Will you go into the
co-operative system? Will you pay your Tithes? Will you take care
of your hay? Bishops, will you take care of the Tithes? I have
scarcely seen a good stack of Tithing hay until within the last
two years. Is it right, to let hay that is brought in as Tithing
go to waste? "Well, but," says one, "I don't know what to do with
it." Go to work, and put it into a shape that it will last one
year, five years, ten years; it will be wanted by and by. There
is about sixteen thousand dollars, I learn from the trustees, of
unpaid Tithing, in this valley. Go to work and build a
meeting-house, and then school-houses. Go to work and start some
schools, and instead of going to parties to dance and indulge in
this nonsense, go to school and study; have the girls go, and
teach them chemistry, so that they can take any of these rocks
and analyze them--tell the properties and what they are. I don't
suppose there is a man here who can tell these properties. The
sciences can be learned without much difficulty. Instead of going
"right and left, balance all, promenade," go to work and teach
yourselves something. Instead of having this folly, I want to
have schools and entertain the minds of the people and draw them
out to learn the arts and sciences. Send the old children to
school and the young ones also; there is nothing I would like
better than to learn chemistry, botany, geology, and mineralogy,
so that I could tell what I walk on, the properties of the air I
breathe, what I drink, &c.
171
I will say to you, my brethren and sisters, I bless you. I bless
you according to the Priesthood that I hold and the keys thereof.
I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Now will you live your
religion? We had some talk yesterday about your President; I pray
you, Mr. President, under brother Rich, to live your religion;
and I pray the Saints to live their religion, and I do ask from
day to day, in the name of Jesus Christ, and I direct the
Latter-day Saints, to live their religion, and I pray you in
Christ's stead to live your religion so as to enjoy the spirit of
it.--Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, August 31, 1873
Orson Pratt, August 31, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, August 31, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
MARRIAGE.
171
I will read a portion of the Word of God found in the 19th
chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, commencing at the 3rd
verse:--
171
The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto
him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for ever cause?
171
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he
which made them at the beginning, made them male and female,
171
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
171
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore
God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.
171
That portion of these sayings of Jesus to which I wish more
especially to call your attention, is contained in the 6th
verse--"Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What
therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."
There are some few things which transpire in our world in which
the hand of God is specially manifest. We might name some things
ordained of God, and which he himself has given to the children
of men for their observance. Such are the ordinance of baptism,
the Lord's Supper, now being administered to the Saints in this
congregation, and the ordinance of confirmation by the laying on
of hands for the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost. These
ordinances have been ordained of God; he is their Author, and he
confers authority upon his servants to officiate therein, and
without authority from God to do so, all such administrations are
illegal. In addition to these we might name a variety of other
ordinances, such as ordinations to the ministry--ordaining a
person to officiate in the office and calling of an Apostle, and
in the office and callings of Elders, Priests, Teachers, &c.,
without which no man can perform the duties of these several
offices so as to be acceptable in the sight of God.
172
But, to be brief, we will come to the point more fully. God has
appointed marriage, and it is as much a sacred and religious
ordinance as baptism for the remission of sins, confirmation,
ordination to the ministry, or the administration of the Lord's
Supper. There is no distinction with regard to the divinity of
these ordinances--one is just as much divine as the other, one is
a religious ordinance as much as the other, and, therefore,
people of all sects and parties in this great Republic, should be
left free to administer them according to the dictates of their
own consciences. In other words, Congress should not assume to be
the dictator of my conscience nor of yours. What I mean by this
is, that if I am a minister, Congress, or the President of the
United States, has no right, by virtue of the Constitution, to
say how I shall administer the ordinance of marriage to any
couple who may come to me for that purpose; because I have a
conscience in regard to this matter. It is an ordinance appointed
of God; it is a religious ordinance; hence Congress should not
enact a law prescribing, for the people in any part of the
Republic, a certain form in which the ordinance of marriage shall
be administered. Why should they not do this? Because it is a
violation of religious principles, and of that great fundamental
principle in the Constitution of our country which provides that
Congress shall make no law in regard to religious matters that
would, in the least degree, infringe upon the rights of any man
or woman in this Republic in regard to the form of their
religion.
173
Perhaps some may make the inquiry--"What shall we do with those
who make no profession of religion, some of whom are infidels, or
what may be termed 'nothingarians,' believing in no particular
religious principle or creed? They want to enter the state of
matrimony, and, in addition to religious authority, should there
not be a civil authority for the solemnization of marriage among
these non-religionists? Yes; we will admit that, inasmuch as
marriage is an important institution, it is the right and
privilege of the Legislatures of States and Territories to frame
certain laws so that all people may have the privilege of
selecting civil or religious authority, according to the dictates
of their consciences. If a Methodist wishes to be married
according to the Methodist creed and institutions, Congress
should make no law infringing upon the rights of that body of
religionists, but they should have the privilege of officiating
just as their consciences dictate. The same argument will apply
to the Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, and every religious
denomination to be found in this Republic, not excepting the
Latter-day Saints. Then, as regards the non-religionist, if he
wishes to become a married person, and does not wish to have his
marriage solemnized according to the form used by any religious
denomination, it should be left open to him to comply with such
forms as the Legislature may prescribe. This is leaving it to the
choice of the individual, and this is as it ought to be, and as
it is guaranteed to us, so far as other ordinances are concerned.
For instance, Congress would never think of making a law in
regard to the form of baptism, or of appointing a Federal officer
to go into one of the Territories of this Union, and decree that
he only should be authorized to administer the ordinance of
baptism. Do we not know that the whole people of this Republic
would cry out against such an infringement of the Constitution of
our country? Every man and every woman who knows the least about
the great principles of religious liberty would at once say, "Let
the various religious bodies of the Territory choose for
themselves in regard to the mode of baptism; a Federal officer is
not the person to prescribe the mode or to administer the
ordinance of baptism."
173
Why not this reasoning apply to marriage as well as to baptism?
Can you make a distinction so far as the divinity of the two
ordinances is concerned? I can not. I read here in the last verse
of my text "What God has joined together, let not man put
asunder." It will be perceived from this sentence, that God has
something to do in the joining together of male and female; that
is, when it is done according to His mind and will: we will make
that a condition. But we will say that, in all cases under the
whole heavens, where a couple are joined together, and God has
anything to do with it, he does not ask Congress to make a law,
nor the President of the United States to appoint a form, and he
will sanction it. No, he claims the right, and his children claim
that God has the privilege, to prescribe the form or ceremony,
and the words to be used; and when that ceremony is performed by
divine authority, we may then say, in the fullest sense of the
term, that they are joined together divinely, and not by some
civil law.
173
The union of male and female I consider to be one of the most
important ordinances which God has established; and if its
solemnization had been left entirely to the whims and notions of
men, we might have had as many different ways of performing the
matrimonial rite, as we have of administering the ordinance of
baptism. You know that in the performance of the baptismal rite,
some believe in sprinkling, and some in pouring; some societies
believe in immersion after they have obtained the remission of
sins; others, like Alexander Campbell and his followers, believe
that immersion is to be administered for the remission of sins.
Another class believe in being immersed face foremost; others,
again, believe in being immersed three times--once in the name of
the Father, once in the name of the Son, and once in the name of
the Holy Ghost. Taking all these classes as churches, they are no
doubt sincere; they have been instructed by their teachers, until
they sincerely believe in these several forms of baptism.
174
Now, if Congress, or the legislative assemblies in the different
States and Territories, were permitted to make laws regulating
this they would perhaps have many other forms besides those I
have named, which they would force the people under heavy
penalties to comply with. And so in regard to marriage. If
Congress should undertake to make a law to govern the Methodists,
for instance, in the solemnization of marriage, they would not
like it, neither would the Presbyterians nor Baptists. A man
belonging to either of these denominations would say, "Here is a
law which prohibits me from exercising my religious faith, and
compels me to be married by a justice of the peace, or a federal
officer, or some person who, perhaps, does not believe in God,
and who has no respect for the ordinances of heaven. I am
compelled by the laws of the land to have him officiate and
pronounce me and my 'intended,' husband and wife, or to remain
unmarried." The Constitution does not contemplate this forcing of
the human mind in regard to that which is ordained of God. If I,
believing in God and in the ordinances which he has instituted,
am forced to be married by an unbeliever, perhaps a drunkard and
an immoral man, or I do not care if he is a believer in some kind
of creed, if I am satisfied that he has not authority to
officiate in the union of the sexes, and I am compelled to be
married by him, would it answer my conscience? Could I consider
myself joined together by the Lord? It is inconsistent to suppose
that I could feel so, and in the very nature of things the
solemnization of the marriage ceremony, as well as all other
religious ordinances, are matters which should be left for all
person to act in as they feel disposed.
174
But we will pass on; we must not dwell too long on this subject.
My reason, however, for making these few remarks is to prove that
the ordinance of marriage is divine--that God has ordained it. I
want it particularly understood by this congregation that, in
order to be joined together of the Lord, so that no man has the
right to put you asunder, the Lord must have a hand in relation
to the marriage, the same as he has in relation to baptism.
175
Now I inquire if any of the religious societies on the earth,
with the exception of the Latter-day Saints, have received any
special form in relation to the marriage ceremony? If they have,
from what source have they received it? Did they invent it
themselves? Did a learned body of priests get together in
conference and, by their own wisdom without any revelation from
heaven, make up a certain form by which the male and the female
should be joined in marriage? Or how they have come in possession
of it? They have invented it themselves, as you can find by
reading the disciples, creeds and articles of faith, which almost
every religious society possesses, and which some of them have
possessed for a long period of time. If we go back for several
hundred years we shall find some of these forms in existence. In
the Roman Catholic church the ritual of marriage has existed for
many generations. The same is true with the Greek church, a
numerous branch of the Catholics who broke off from the church
established at Rome, a few centuries after Christ. Martin Luther
also had his views in relation to the marriage ordinance. He was
a polygamist in principle, as you will find in his published
writings. We have an account of him, in connection with six or
seven others ministers of his faith, advising a certain prince in
Europe to take unto himself a second wife, his first wife being
still alive, Luther and these ministers saying that it was not
contrary to the Scriptures. John Calvin had his notions on the
subject, but each and all of the ceremonies of marriage in use
among the various Christian churches, the Catholics as well as
Protestants, from the days of the first Reformation, several
hundred in number, down to our own day, are the inventions of
men; for, amongst them all, where can you find one which claims
that God has said anything to them about marriage, or anything
else pertaining to their officiations as ministers in his cause?
Not one; the whole of them claim that the Bible contains the last
revelation that was ever given from heaven. Hence, if their claim
be true, God never said a word to Martin Luther, John Calvin,
John Wesley, or any other reformer, about their ministry, the
order of marriage, baptism, or anything else. If their claim be
true--that the last revelation God ever gave was to John on the
Isle of Patmos, what conclusion must we come to in regard to
them? We must conclude that all their administrations are
illegal. If I have been baptized by the Presbyterians, Church of
England, Roman Catholics, Greek church, Wesleyans, or by any
other religious denomination which denies any later revelation
than the Bible, my baptism is good for nothing. God has had
nothing to do with it, never having spoken to or called the
minister who officiated, as Aaron was called, that is, by new
revelation.
175
"Well," says one, "that is unchristianizing the world." I know,
according to the views contained in the Bible, that it is
unchristianizing it in one of the most fundamental points--it
shows that all the ordinances and ceremonies of the Christian
world, being administered in the name of the Trinity, without new
revelation, are illegal and of none effect, and that God does not
record them in the heavens, though they may be recorded by man on
the earth. But when a man is called by new revelation, it alters
the case. When God speaks or sends an angel, and a man is called
and ordained, not by uninspired who deny new revelation, but by
divine authority, when he administers baptism, or any other
ordinance of the Gospel, it is legal, and what is legal and
sealed on earth is legal and sealed in heaven, and when such an
administration is recorded here on the earth, it is also recorded
in the archives of heaven: and in the great judgment day, when
mankind are brought before the bar of Jehovah, the Great Judge of
the quick and dead, to give an account of the deeds done in the
body, it will then be known whether an individual has officiated
in or received ordinances by divine appointment: and if not, such
administration being illegal, will be rejected of God.
175
"Oh, but," says one, "such a person, officiated or being
administered to, may have been sincere." Yes, I admit that.
Sincerity is a good thing, and without it there can be no real
Christians; but sincerity does not make a person a true child of
God; it requires something more than that. If sincerity alone
were sufficient to make a person a child of God, then the
heathens, when they wash in the Ganges, worship crocodiles, the
sun, moon, stars, or graven images, or when they fall down and
are crushed beneath the cars of Juggernaut, would be children of
God; for in these various acts, they certainly give proof of
their sincerity, and if, according to the ideas of some persons,
that only were necessary to make them God's children, they would
certainly be right. But it is not so. Sincerity undoubtedly shows
the existence of a good principle in the heart of either heathen
or sectarian, but it does not show that its possessor is right,
or that he has received the true doctrine; it only shows that he
is sincere.
176
Let us come back again to the subject of the administration of
ordinances by divine appointment. I said their baptisms are
illegal. Now let me go a little further, and say that the
ordinance of marriage is illegal among all people, nations and
tongues, unless administered by a man appointed by new revelation
from God to join the male and female as husband and wife. Says
one--"You do not mean to say that all our marriages are also
illegal, as well as our baptisms?" Yes, I do, so far as God is
concerned. That is taking a very broad standpoint; but I am
telling you that which is my belief; and I presume, so far as I
am acquainted, it is the belief of the Latter-day Saints,
throughout the world, that all the marriages of our forefathers,
for many long generations past, have been illegal in the sight of
God. They have been legal in the sight of men; for men have
framed the laws regulation marriage, not by revelation, but by
their own judgments; and our progenitors were married according
to these laws, and hence their marriages were legal, and their
children were legitimate, so far as the civil law was concerned;
and this is as true of our own day as of the past; but in the
sight of heaven these marriages are illegal, and the children
illegitimate.
176
"Well," says one, "how are you going to make these marriages
legal? Here are a man and woman, who were married, according to
the civil law, before they heard of your doctrines; but they have
come to an understanding of them, and now is there any possible
way to make their marriage legitimate, in the sight of heaven?"
Yes, How? By having them re-married by a man who has authority
from God to do it. This has been done in almost numberless
instances; and it is the same with baptism. Has any person,
baptized by the Methodists, Church of England, Baptists or
Presbyterians, been admitted into the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, on his old baptism? Never. Not one among the
hundreds of thousands who have joined this Church, since its rise
in 1830, has been admitted on his or her old baptism. Why not?
Because we do not believe in their old baptisms. The Lord has
commanded his servants to go forth and preach the Gospel, and to
baptize all who come unto them for baptism. If we find a sincere
man, who has gone through a correct form of baptism--and many
have, such as the Campbellites and the Baptists--we tell him
that, if he believes in our doctrine, he must be baptized over
again, because his former baptism was administered by a man who
denied new revelation, and who did not believe that any had been
given, later than that contained in the New Testament. It is the
same in regard to marriages.
176
The people are very anxious that their children should be
legitimate, and that their marriages should be so solemnized that
God will recognize them in the eternal worlds; and hence we say
to all the thousands and scores of thousands who come here from
foreign lands--"Come forward and be married according to divine
appointment, that you may be legally husband and wife in the
sight of heaven."
177
Now let us go a little further. Having explained to you the
authority necessary to join men and women in the Lord, we will
now explain the nature of marriage itself--whether it is a
limited condition, to terminate with what we call "time;" or
whether it is a union which will exist throughout all the ages of
eternity. This is an important question. So far as the ordinance
of baptism is concerned, we know that does not relate to time
alone. It must be administered in time, or during our existence
in mortal life; but its results reach beyond death, and the
burial in, and coming forth out of, the water are typical of the
death and resurrection of our Savior. When we come forth out of
the water, we rise to a newness of life, and it is declared to
all people who witness the performance of the ordinance, that the
candidates thus receiving baptism, expect to come forth from the
tomb, that their bodies will be resurrected, bone coming to its
bone, flesh and skin coming upon them, and the skin covering
them; that if they are faithful to the end they will come forth
immortal beings, and will inherit celestial glory. Thus you see
that baptism points forward to eternity, its effects reaching
beyond the grave. So in regard to marriage.
177
Marriage, when God has a hand in it, extends to all the future
ages of eternity. The Latter-day Saints never marry a man and a
woman for time alone, unless under certain circumstances. Certain
circumstances would permit this, as in a case where a woman, for
instance, is married to all eternity to a husband, a good
faithful man, and he dies. After his death, she may be married to
a living man, for time alone, that is until death shall separate
her from her second husband. Under such circumstances, marriage
for time is legal. But when it comes to marriage pertaining to a
couple, neither of whom has ever been married before, the Lord
has ordained that that marriage, if performed according to his
law, by divine authority and appointment, shall have effect after
the resurrection from the dead, and shall continue in force from
that time throughout all the ages of eternity.
177
Says one--"What are you going to do with that Scripture which
says that in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given
in marriage?" I am going to let it stand precisely as it is,
without the least alteration. A man who is so foolish as to
neglect the divine ordinance of marriage for eternity, here in
this world, and does not secure to himself a wife for all
eternity, will not have the opportunity of doing so in the
resurrection; for Jesus says, that after the resurrection there
is neither marrying nor giving in marriage. It is an ordinance
that pertains to this world, and here it must be attended to; and
parties neglecting it wilfully, here in this life, deprive
themselves of the blessings of that union for ever in the world
to come. It is so with regard to baptism. We are bringing up
these two divine ordinances to show you how they harmonize. A man
who, in this life, hears the Gospel and knows that it is his duty
to be baptized in order that he may come forth in the morning of
the resurrection with a celestial, glorified body, like unto that
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and neglects baptism and dies without
attending to the ordinance, can not be baptized himself after the
resurrection of the dead, any more than he can be married after
the resurrection of the dead. Why not? Because God has appointed
that both marriage and baptism shall be attended to in the flesh,
and if neglected here, the blessings are forfeited.
178
We read, in our text, something about the first marriage which
took place on our earth. Much has been said in relation to this
event, and inasmuch as God ordained this sacred rite, I feel
disposed to bring it up as a type of all future marriages. The
first pair of whose marriage we have any account, on this earth,
were immortal beings. "What! you do not mean to say that immortal
beings marry, do you?" Yes, that is the first example we have on
record. Inquires one--"Do you mean to say that Adam was an
immortal being?" What is the nature of an immortal being? It is
one who has not had the curse of death pronounced upon him. Had
Adam the curse of death pronounce upon him, when the Lord brought
Eve--the woman--and gave her to him? No, he had not. Had the Lord
pronounced the curse of death upon Eve at the time he brought her
to Adam? He had not. Why not? Because neither of them had
transgressed. It is said in the New Testament that death entered
into this world by transgression, and in no other way. If Adam
and Eve had never transgressed the law of God, would they not be
living now? They certainly would; and they would continue to live
on millions of years hence. Can you, by stretching your thoughts
into the ages of futurity, imagine a point of time, wherein Adam
and Eve would have been mortal and subject to death if it had not
been for their transgression? No, you can not. Well, then, were
they not immortal? They were to all intents and purposes two
immortal beings, male and female, joined together in marriage in
the beginning. Was that marriage for eternity, or until death
should separate them? I remember attending some weddings when I
was a youth, and this sentence has generally been incorporated in
all the marriage ceremonies I have seen performed by civil
authority--"I pronounce you husband and wife, until death shall
you separate." A very short contract, is it not? Only lasts for a
little time, perhaps death might come to-morrow or next day, and
that would be a very short period to be married, very different
from the marriage instituted in the beginning; between the two
immortal beings. Death was not taken into consideration in their
case; it had never been pronounced. The Lord has said nothing
about death, but he had united them together, with the intention
of that union continuing through all the ages of eternity.
178
Inquires one, "Did they not forfeit this by eating the forbidden
fruit?" We have no account that they did; but supposing they did,
can you show me one thing that our first parents forfeited by the
Fall that was not restored by the atonement of Jesus? Not a
thing. If they forfeited the life of their bodies, the atonement
of Christ and his victory over the grave by the resurrection
restored to Adam and Eve that immortality they possessed before
they transgressed; and whatever they lost or forfeited by the
Fall was restored by Jesus Christ. But we have no account that
Adam and Eve forfeited the privilege of their eternal union by
their transgression; hence, when they, by virtue of the atonement
of Christ, come forth from the grave (if they did not come forth
at the resurrection of Christ), they will have immortal bodies,
and they will have all the characteristics, so far as their
bodies are concerned, that they possessed before the Fall. They
will rise from the grave male and female, immortal in their
natures, and the union which was instituted between them before
they became mortal will be restored, and, as they were married
when immortal beings, they will continue to be husband and wife
throughout all the future ages of eternity.
178
It may be inquired, "What is the object of that? Marriage, we
supposed was instituted principally, that this world might be
filled with inhabitants, and if that was the object, when the
earth has received its full measure of creation, what is the use
of this eternal union in marriage, continuing after the
resurrection?"
179
Have you never read the first great commandment given in the
Bible? God said, "Be fruitful and multiply." Did he give this
commandment to mortal beings? No, he gave it to two immortal
beings. 'What! do you mean to say that immortal beings can
multiply, as well as be married for all eternity?" I do. God gave
the command to these two immortal personages, before the Fall,
showing clearly and plainly that immortal beings had that
capacity, or else God would never have given it to them. I will
admit that they had no power to beget children of mortality; it
required a fall to enable them to do that, and without that no
mortal beings could have been produced. But we see what has been
entailed upon the children of Adam, by the Fall. Instead of his
offspring being immortal, they come forth into this world and
partake of all that fallen nature that Adam and Eve had after
they fell; and they have also inherited the death of the body. If
we are to be restored to immortality with them, we must be
restored to that heavenly union of marriage, or else we lose
something. If they had the power to multiply children of
immortality, and if the command was given to them to do so before
they became mortal, if their children are ever restored to what
was lost by the Fall, they must be restored to that also. Here
then is a sufficient object why multiplication should continue
after the resurrection.
179
"But," inquires some one, "will not this world be sufficiently
full, without resurrected beings bringing forth children through
all the ages of eternity?" We must recollect that this world is
not the only one that God has made. He has been engaged from all
eternity in the formation of worlds; that is, there have been
worlds upon worlds created by those who have held the power, and
authority, and the right to create; and an endless chain of
worlds has thus been created, and there never was a period in
past duration, but what there were worlds. The idea of a first
world is out of the question, just as much as the idea of a first
foot of space, or the first foot in endless line. Take an endless
line and undertake to find the first foot, yard or mile of it. It
can not be done, any more than you can find out the first minute,
hour or year of endless duration. There is no first minute, hour
or year in endless duration, and there is no first in an endless
chain of worlds, and God has been at work from all eternity in
their formation. What for? Is it merely to see his power
exercised? No; it is that they might be peopled. Peopled by whom?
By those who have the power to multiply their species. There
never will be a time that there will be a final stop to the
making of worlds; their increase will continue from this time
henceforth and for ever; and as the number of worlds will be
endless, so will be the number of the offspring of each faithful
pair. They will be like the stars in the sky or the sands upon
the sea shore; and worlds will be filled up by the posterity of
those who are counted worthy to come forth, united with that
heavenly and eternal form of marriage which was administered to
Adam and Eve in the beginning.
180
"But you told us a little while ago, that our marriages were
illegal, and now how can our species be multiplied after the
resurrection? It cannot be, there is no marrying nor giving in
marriage then. What then will become of the people, unless there
is some provision, ordained by the Lord, whereby the living can
act for the dead?" Take away that principle, and amen to all
those who have not been married for eternity, as well as time, so
far as the multiplication of their species is concerned; for you
cannot get married there. But if there is a provision, by which
those who are living here in the flesh, may officiate in sacred
and holy ordinances, for and in behalf of the dead, then the
question will arise, How far do these ordinances extend?
180
Some may say, "Perhaps they only extend to baptism. We believe
that baptism for the dead is true, because the Scriptures speak
very plainly about that in the 15th chapter of Paul's first
epistle to the Corinthians, in which, in arguing about the
resurrection of the dead, the Apostle says--'Else what shall they
do who are baptized for the dead? if the dead rise not at all,
why then are they baptized for the dead?'" Sure enough, it would
have been useless for those Corinthians to have been baptized for
the dead, if there had been no resurrection. But Paul very well
knew that the Corinthians understood that they should be baptized
for their dead; and that they were actually practicing that
ordinance, that their ancestors, who had been dead for
generations, might have the privilege of coming forth in the
resurrection. Baptism was typical of their burial and
resurrection, and hence Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, used
it as an argument in support of the principle of the
resurrection.
181
But is there any inconsistency, in supposing that other
ordinances may be officiated in, for, and in behalf of the dead?
Or shall we say, that God has merely selected the one ordinance
of baptism, and told the living to officiate in that for the
dead, and to neglect all others? If, however, we believe that God
is a God of order and justice, it is reasonable to suppose that
if, by his permission and ordination, the living can do anything
for the dead, they can do everything for them, so far as
ordinances are concerned. That is, they can be baptized for and
in behalf of the dead, they can be confirmed, and can also
officiate in the ordinance of marriage for them. Why be so
inconsistent, as to suppose that God should ordain a law by which
the living can be baptized for the dead, and do no more for them?
God is more merciful and consistent than that; and when he spoke
in our day and revealed the plan of salvation, he, as far as we
were ready to receive it, gave us a system, by which the dead who
have died without the opportunity of hearing and obeying the
Gospel, may be officiated for in all respects, and redeemed to
the uttermost and saved with a full salvation; and hence,
Latter-day Saints, there is hope for our generations who have
lived on the earth, from our day back to the falling of the
church--some sixteen or seventeen centuries ago. You can reach
back to that day and pick up all your generations--the hearts of
the children searching after the fathers from generation to
generation; and the ancient fathers looking down to their
children, to do something for them, just as the Lord promised in
the last chapter of Malachi. There is a promise that before the
great day of the Lord should come, it should burn as an oven, and
all the proud and they that do wickedly should become as stubble.
But before that terrible day should come God would send Elijah
the Prophet to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers,
and the hearts of the fathers to the children, lest the Lord
should come and smite the earth with a curse. As much as to say,
that the children would perish as well as the fathers, if this
turning of their hearts towards each other did not take place.
Paul, in speaking about their forefathers, to those who lived in
his day, said--"They without us can not be made perfect, neither
can we be made perfect without them." There must be a union
between ancient and modern generations, between us and our
ancestry. To say that God would be kind and merciful to a certain
generation, and reveal his Gospel through a holy angel for their
special benefit, and leave all other generations without hope, is
inconsistent. When God begins a work, it is worthy of
himself--God-like in its nature, soaring into high heaven, and
penetrating the regions of darkness, for those who are shut up in
their prison house, that liberty may be proclaimed to the
captives; a plan that not only pertains to the present, but
reaches back into the past, and saves to the uttermost all who
are entitled to, and are willing to receive his proferred mercy.
But these ordinances must be attended to here, in this world and
probation. This is the law of the Great Jehovah. In the
resurrection these things can not be done.
181
Having explained marriage for eternity, let me explain another
portion of my text--"Wherefore they are no more twain, but one
flesh. What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
182
There seems to have been, in the beginning, so far as we have any
account in the Bible, two personages, one man and one woman--Adam
and Eve, united for all eternity. They had power to multiply
their species, and their posterity will become so numerous that,
in the coming ages of eternity, they will be innumerable. Some,
perhaps, may argue that, inasmuch as in the beginning of this
creation God saw proper to place only one pair to begin the work
of peopling the world, there could not be such a thing, divinely
ordained and appointed, as a man having two wives living at the
same time. In answer to this let me ask, Was there no man of God
in ancient days, to whom the Lord revealed himself, who had two
or more wives living with him at the same time? Without devoting
much time to the discussion of this subject, I will refer to the
special instance, recorded in the Book of Genesis, of Jacob,
afterwards surnamed Israel, because of his mighty faith in, and
power with God. He had four living wives. Was his practice in
this respect sanctioned by the Almighty? Read about Jacob, when
he was a youth, before he was married at all, and see what
peculiar favors the Lord bestowed upon him. He, upon one
occasion, fled from the country where his forefathers, Abraham
and Isaac, had sojourned, to escape from his brother Esau, and he
laid himself down on the earth, having a rock for his pillow. He
prayed to the Lord, and the Lord heard his prayer, and the
visions of heaven were opened to his mind. He saw a ladder
ascending from the place where he was sleeping, that reached into
the heavens; he saw the angels of God ascending and descending
upon that ladder; he heard the voice of the Lord proclaiming to
him what a great and powerful man he should become, that the Lord
would multiply him, &c., and his seed should be as numerous as
the stars of heaven, and Jacob worshiped the Lord from that time
forth. He went down into Syria, and there he entered the service
of one Laban, as a herder of sheep. In process of time he married
one of the daughters of Laban, whose name was Leah. Shortly
afterwards he married a second daughter of this Laban, whose name
was Rachel. In a very short period of time he married another
woman, who lived in the household of Laban, named Bilbah, and in
a little time after that he married a fourth woman, whose name
was Zilpah. Here were four women married to Jacob, and in the
book of Genesis they are called his wives. Now, did the Lord
sanction, or did he not sanction the marriage of Jacob with these
four wives? And did he, after Jacob has married them, condescend
to hear Jacob's prayers? We find Jacob continually receiving
revelation after this, and that is pretty conclusive proof that
he was not rejected of the Lord because of his having more than
one wife.
182
When the children of Jacob and his four wives became numerous, he
resolved to leave that foreign country, and returned to the land
where Abraham, and his father, Isaac, had lived. He reached the
brook Jabbok, and then sent his company on before him, and he
began to wrestle in prayer with God. He felt some alarm in
consequence of the enmity of his brother Esau, who lived in the
country to which he was going, and he wrestled and plead with the
Lord. The Lord sent an angel down in order to try the faith of
Jacob, and to see whether he would give up wrestling and praying
or not. The angel undertook to get away from him, but Jacob
caught hold of him and said, "I will not let thee go until thou
bless me." The angel, of course, did not exercise supernatural
power all at once, but he continued to wrestle with Jacob as
though he desired to get away from him, and they struggled there
all night long, and at last, finding that the only way he could
overpower him was to perform a miracle, the angel touched the
hollow of Jacob's thigh, and caused the sinew to shrink,
producing lameness. Here, then, was a man with mighty faith. He
wrestled all night with one whom he had reason to believe was a
divine personage, and he would not let him go without receiving a
blessing from him. The Lord finally blessed him, and said that,
as a man who would take no denial, as a prince, he haD prevailed
with God, and received blessings at his hands.
182
Some people suppose that this was Jacob's first conversion, and
that he got his wives before his conversion. But we will trace
the history of Jacob a little further. The day after he had
wrestled with the angel, he went across the brook, and expecting
Esau to meet him with a great army of men, he felt a little
fearful. So he took one wife with her children, and sent them
ahead; behind her he set another wife with her children; still
behind her he set the third wife and her children, and, last of
all, the fourth wife and her children. By and by Esau came along,
having passed by the flocks and herds which Jacob had sent ahead
as a present to him, and he meets the wife and children placed
first in the row. Probably he looked at them, and wondered who
they could all be. He passed the second and third company, and
finally he came to Jacob and the fourth company, and said he,
"Jacob, who are all these?" The answer was--"These are they whom
the Lord my God has graciously given to thy servant." What! a man
who, according to Dr. Newman, was converted only the night
previous, telling his brother that the Lord has given him four
wives and a great many children? Yes, and it was all right, too.
183
"But," says one, "How are you going to reconcile this with that
portion of your text, also a quotation from the forepart of
Genesis, which says--'and they twain shall be one flesh?'" Are
they one flesh, or at least are they one personage? No, the Lord
did not say that they should be, but they twain should be one
flesh. In what respect? Says one, "I suppose in respect to their
children, as the flesh of both man and wife is incorporated in
their children, and they thus become one flesh." Let us look at
it in this light. When the first child of Jacob's first wife was
born, if it had reference to the children, they twain were one
flesh then. By and by Rachel brings forth a son, and if the "one
flesh" had reference to the children, Jacob and Rachel were one
flesh in that child. By and by Jacob and Bilbah become parents,
and they are also one flesh in the child born unto them; and
lastly Zilpah has a child, and she and Jacob are also one flesh
therein."
183
"Well," says one, "If is does not refer to the children, perhaps
it may refer to that oneness of mind which should exist between
husband and wife." Very well, let us look at it in this light.
Can there be a union between two individuals so far as the mind
is concerned? Let us see what Jesus said. "Father, I pray not for
these alone"--meaning the Twelve Apostles--"whom thou hast given
me out of the world, but I pray for all them that shall believe
on me through their words, that they all may be one as thou,
Father, art in me and I in thee, that they may be one in us."
What! more than two be in one? Yes. It matters not if there were
two thousand that believed on Jesus through the Apostles' words,
they were to be one in their affections, desires, &c., and it
might include and would include all the members of the Church of
God that ever did live in any dispensations, and remained
faithful to the end, for they all will be one as Jesus and the
Father are one.
183
"They twain shall be one flesh." If it means in regard to mental
qualities and faculties it may incorporate the four wives of
Jacob, as well as one. Take it any way you please and we find
that God did acknowledge it, for he blessed these four wives and
all their children. Look at their posterity, for instance. God so
honored the twelve sons of Jacob's four wives, that he made them
the heads, the patriarchs of the whole twelve tribes of Israel.
The land was named after them--the land Reuben, the land Simeon,
the land Judah, etc.; and these tribes acknowledge these
polygamist children as their fathers and patriarchs.
183
We may go beyond this life, to the next, and we shall find that
the honors conferred by God upon these twelve sons are continued
there. Christians believe that there will be a holy Jerusalem
come down from God out of heaven, which will be prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband. This holy city which will descend
from God out of heaven, will have a wall round it, and in this
wall there will be a certain number of the most beautiful
gates--three on the north, three on the south, three on the east
and three on the west. Each of these gates will be made of one
pearl--a precious stone most beautiful to look upon. On each of
these gates there will be a certain name--one will have inscribed
upon it the name of Judah, another Levi, another Simeon, and so
on until the whole twelve gates will be named after the twelve
sons of Jacob and his four polygamic wives; thus we see that,
instead of the Lord calling them bastards, and forbidding them to
enter the congregation of the Lord until the tenth generation, he
honors them above all people, making them the most conspicuous in
the holy city, having their names written on its very gates.
184
Of course, everybody who enters therein must be very holy, or the
city could not be holy, for without the city, we are told, there
will be dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, adulterers, murderers and
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie, but all within will be holy
and righteous--such men as Abraham and a great many others, who
have had more than one wife. It Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are to
be saved in the kingdom of God in that holy city, will not
monogamists, who only believe in having one wife, be honored if
they have the privilege of entering there? We are told that many
shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, ancient polygamists, the latter
with his four wives, and will be counted worthy to be saved
therein; while many who profess to be the children of the
kingdom, will be cast into outer darkness, where there is weeping
and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. This is what Jesus says,
consequently I do not think that those who have formed the idea
that only the monogamic system of marriage is accepted of the
Almighty, will feel in those days as they do now. I do not think
that class of persons will be ashamed, if they have the privilege
of coming forth in the morning of the first resurrection, of
entering into that holy city, even if they see the names of
Jacob's polygamic children upon its gates. There may be some so
delicate in their feelings as to say--"O, no, Lord, I don't want
to go in at that gate, the people are polygamists, I would like
you to take me to some other place." They go to the next gate,
and the next, until they have been to each one, and they all are
polygamic. Then the inquiry may be--"Is there not some other city
where the people are not polygamists?" "Oh, yes, there are plenty
of places, but outside of this city there are dogs, sorcerers,
whoremongers, adulterers, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Do you want to associate with them?" "Well, I think their society
will be a little more pleasant than that of those old
polygamists?"
184
Will this be the way people will reason, when they come before
this holy city? No, I think they will be very glad to get into
Abraham's bosom if he has more than one wife. You remember poor
Lazarus the beggar, who died seeking a crumb from the rich man's
table. After his death he was carried by angels to Abraham's
bosom. By and by the rich man died, and he, being in torment,
lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus afar off in Abraham's bosom,
that is, associated with the polygamist Abraham. How this rich
man did plead! "Oh, father Abraham, send Lazarus to me!" "What do
you want?" "Let him come and dip the tip of his finger in water
and touch my burning tongue, for I am tormented in this flame."
"Oh, no," says Abraham, "there is a great gulf between you and
me, you must stay where you are. Lazarus is in my bosom, and he
can't be sent on such an errand as that." 'Well, then, father
Abraham, if you cannot send Lazarus to perform this act of mercy
on my behalf, do send him to my brethren who are living on the
earth, and warn them, that they come not to this place." He did
not want anybody else to go there, he was so tormented himself.
"No," said Abraham, "they have Moses and the Prophets; they have
the revelations of God before them; if they will not believe
them, they would not though Lazarus or anybody else should be
sent to them from the dead."
185
That is the case with this generation also. If they will not
believe what is testified to and spoken of in the Bible, in
regard to marriage, the holy ordinance of God, they would not
believe though Lazarus or anybody else were sent from the eternal
worlds to preach these things unto them. They would ridicule then
as they do now, and their cry, then as now, would be, "Congress,
oh Congress, can't you do something to stop that awful corruption
with which we are afflicted away up in the mountains? Can't you
pass some laws that shall restrict those 'Mormons' and compel
them to be married by some Federal officer who shall be sent into
their Territory, and do away with that part of their religion? Oh
Congress, do something to destroy this corruption out of our
land. There is a people up in yonder mountains, who profess to
believe just as the Bible teaches in many places, and we can't
endure it. They believe in the Old Testament as well as the New,
and it must be blasphemy."
185
Who said so? Did our forefathers, when they framed the
Constitution, say that all who believed in the New Testament
should have religious liberty, and that all who undertook to
believe in the Old Testament should be turned out of this
government, and be afflicted with some terrible penalty and law
that should be passed by Congress? I think we have the privilege
of believing in the Old Testament as well as the New. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Brigham Young, September 4, 1873
Brigham Young, September 4, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered at Franklin, Cache County, Thursday
evening, September 4, 1873.
(Reported by John Q. Cannon.)
ORDINANCES THAT CAN ONLY BE ADMINISTERED IN THE
TEMPLE--ENDOWMENTS, ETC.
185
We have taken you a little by surprise, brethren and sisters, in
coming in to your town to-day. This is in consequence of its
being so stormy where we have been, and we though we would not
venture to drive from Soda Springs through to Logan in two days.
By taking more time, we though we would have an opportunity of
stopping in the settlements and having meetings. I will talk to
you a few moments, then I will retire to my rest, and not stay
here during the meeting. I fell very wearied; but I was quite
unwell when I left home, and our journey has been quite
fatiguing.
187
The remarks that I shall make to you this evening will be upon
the salvation of the people. There are a few ideas that I will
relate to you, that the brethren and sisters should understand.
There are many of the ordinances of the house of God that must be
performed in a Temple that is erected expressly for the purpose.
There are other ordinances that we can administer without a
Temple. You know that there are some which you have
received--baptism, the laying on of hands, the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, such as the speaking in and interpretation of tongues,
prophecying, healing, discerning of spirits, etc., and many
blessings bestowed upon the people, we have the privilege of
receiving without a Temple. There are other blessings that will
not be received, and ordinances that will not be performed
according to the law that the Lord has revealed, without their
being done in a Temple prepared for that purpose. We can, at the
present time, go into the Endowment House and be baptized for the
dead, receive our washings and anointing, etc., for there we have
a font that has been erected, dedicated expressly for baptizing
people for the remission of sins, for their health and for their
dead friends; in this the Saints have the privilege of being
baptized for their friends. We also have the privilege of sealing
women to men, without a Temple. This we can do in the Endowment
House; but when we come to other sealing ordinances, ordinances
pertaining to the holy Priesthood, to connect the chain of the
Priesthood from father Adam until now, by sealing children to
their parents, being sealed for our forefathers, etc., they
cannot be done without a Temple. But we can seal women to men,
but not men to men, without a Temple. When the ordinances are
carried out in the Temples that will be erected, men will be
sealed to their fathers, and those who have slept clear up to
father Adam. This will have to be done, because of the chain of
the Priesthood being broken upon the earth. The Priesthood has
left the people, but in the first place the people left the
Priesthood. They transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance,
and broke the everlasting covenant, and the Priesthood left them;
but not until they had left the Priesthood. This Priesthood has
been restored again, and by its authority we shall be connected
with our fathers, by the ordinance of sealing, until we shall
form a perfect chain from father Adam down to the closing up
scene. This ordinance will not be performed anywhere but in the
Temple neither will children be sealed to their living parents in
any other place than a Temple. For instance, a man and his wife
come into the Church, and they have a family of children. These
children have been begotten out of the covenant, because the
marriages of their parents are not recognized by the Lord as
performed by his authority; they have, therefore, to be sealed to
their parents, or else they cannot claim them in eternity; they
will be distributed according to the wisdom of the Lord, who does
all things right. When we had a Temple prepared in Nauvoo, many
of the brethren had their children who were out of the covenant
sealed to them, and endowments were given. Then parents, after
receiving their endowments, and being sealed for time and all
eternity, and they have other children, they are begotten and
born under the covenant, and they are the rightful heirs to the
kingdom, they posses the keys of the kingdom. Children born unto
parents before the latter enter into the fullness of the
covenants, have to be sealed to them in a Temple to become legal
heirs of the Priesthood. It is true they can receive the
ordinances, they can receive their endowments and be blessed in
common with their parents; but still the parents cannot claim
them legally and lawfully in eternity unless they are sealed to
them. Yet the chain would not be complete without this sealing
ordinance being performed.
187
Now, to illustrate this, I will refer to my own father's family.
My father died before the endowments were given. None of his
children have been sealed to him. If you recollect, you that were
in Nauvoo, we were very much hurried in the little time we spent
there after the Temple was built. The mob was there ready to
destroy us; they were ready to burn our houses, they had been
doing it for a long time; but we finished the Temple according to
the commandment that was given to Joseph, and then took our
departure. Our time, therefore, was short, and we had no time to
attend to this. My father's children, consequently, have not been
sealed to him. Perhaps all of his sons may go into eternity, into
the spirit world, before this can be attended to; but this will
make no difference; the heirs of the family will attend to his if
it is not for a hundred years.
187
It will have to be done sometime. If, however, we get a Temple
prepared before the sons of my father shall all have gone into
the spirit world if there are any of them remaining, they will
attend to this, and as heirs be permitted to receive the
ordinances for our father and mother. This is only one case, and,
to illustrate this subject perfectly, I might have to refer to
hundreds of examples for each case.
188
With regard to heirship, I can not enter into all the matter
to-night. The subject would require a good deal of explaining to
the people, consequently, I will pass over it at present. I can
merely say this, however, that we see that the Lord makes his
selection according to his own mind and will with regard to his
ministers. Brother Joseph Smith, instead of being the first born,
was the third son of his father's family who came to maturity,
yet he is actually the heir of the family; he is the heir of his
father's house. It seems to us that the oldest son would be the
natural heir; but we see that the Lord makes his own selection.
There are some inquiries now with regard to officiating in
ordinances, which I wish to answer. Some brethren here are
anxious to know whether they can receive endowments for their
sons or for their daughters. No, they cannot until we have a
Temple; but they can officiate in the ordinances so far as
baptism and sealing are concerned. A man can be baptized for a
son who died before hearing the Gospel. A woman can be baptized
for her daughter, who died without the Gospel. Suppose that the
father of a dead son wishes to have a wife sealed to his son; if
the young woman desired as a wife is dead and have a mother or
other female relative in the Church, such mother is the heir, and
she can act in the sealing ordinances in the stead of her
daughter. But if the young woman desired as a wife have no
relative in the Church, to act on her behalf, then the mother of
the young man can be baptized for her, and act as proxy for her
in the sealing ordinances. We can attend to these ordinances now
before the Temple is built here; but no one can receive
endowments for another, another, until a temple is prepared in
which to administer them. We administer just as far as the law
permits us to do. In reality we should have performed all these
ordinances long ago, if we had been obedient; we should have had
Temples in which we could a tend to all these ordinances. Now,
the brethren have the privilege of being baptized for their dead
friends--when I say the brethren, I mean the brethren and
sisters--and these friends can be sealed.
188
For instance, a man and his wife come into the Church; he says,
"My father and mother were good people; I would like to officiate
for them." "Well, have you any other friends in the Church?"
"Nobody but myself and my wife." Well, now, the wife is not a
blood relation, consequently she is not in reality the proper
person, but she can be appointed the heir if there are no other
relatives--if there are no sisters, this wife of his can
officiate for the mother; but if the man has a sister in the
Church, it is the privilege and place of the sister of this man,
the daughter of those parents that are dead, to go and
officiate--be baptized, to go and be sealed with her brother for
her father and mother. If this man and woman have a daughter old
enough to officiate for her grandmother, she is a blood relation,
and is the heir, and can act; but if there is no daughter, the
man's wife can be appointed as the heir.
189
I want to say a few words with regard to other operations. In the
law that the Lord has revealed he require obedience. I do not
know of one ordinance but what there are laws connected with it,
and they cannot be disregarded by the Saints and they be blessed
as though the laws were observed. We are required to believe in
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior; we are
required to repent of our sins; then we have the privilege of
entering in through the door of baptism and going into the house
of God. There is another commandment that the Lord has given--it
is that they must have hands laid on them that they may receive
the Holy Ghost and the gifts and graces that the Lord has for his
children; but if we are not baptized, we are not entitled to the
other blessings. If we do not believe in the first ordinance we
cannot receive the second. If we do not go forth and be baptized
for the remission of sins, we are not entitled to the Holy Ghost
and its blessing through the law or the requirements of heaven to
the children of our Father. Now, as to the requirements, we will
ask, "Do you know the law? Should you keep the law?" Yes,
certainly you do know by the Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
which is for us, and the New and Old Testament; these are a
foundation and contain the first laws that have been given. We
have them now in our possession. Then the Book of Mormon contains
the same. The Book of Mormon contains the same plan of salvation
that the Lord requires the world to listen to, and the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants is given for the Latter-day Saints
expressly for their everyday walk and actions. Now, for instance,
the Latter-day Saints are required to go to meeting on Sunday.
How many are there that come to these meetings and repent of
their sins, confess their sins and partake of the Sacrament of
our Savior and testify by these acts that they are actual
believers? Do we keep the Sabbath, brethren and sisters? Do we
deal justly one with another? Those things are required of us. Do
we walk humbly before our God? Do we permit ourselves to speak
evil of the anointed of the Lord. Do we permit ourselves,
brethren, to take the name of the Lord in vain? It is certainly
written that we should not do it; that we should not falsify,
lie, cheat, etc. Now all these requirement are made of us. We are
required to pay Tithing, we are required to deal justly one with
another and be honest in our dealing; and all these requirements
which I need not repeat over to you, you read and you understand
them. Now are we entitled to the blessings of the house of God if
we keep the commandments he has given to us? Yes. If we observe
his precepts and do them, are we entitled to these blessings?
Yes. Are we entitled to them if we do not keep the commandments?
No, we are not. Brethren go and get their endowments, and they
get a recommendation so as to go into the house of the Lord. Now
you go to the Bishop and enquire strictly as to some of these
brethren; "Does such a brother pay his Tithing? Is he faithful
and industrious?" "Well, no." "Is he honest in his dealings?"
"Well, I guess he means to do right." "Does he always speak the
truth?" "Well, I cannot say that he does exactly." "Does he drink
liquor?" "Well, yes, sometimes he does. Yes, I think he does,
although I never saw him drunk." "Does he take the name of the
Lord in vain?" "Well, I don't know, I have heard that he does
swear sometimes." "Does he quarrel with his wife?" "I don't know;
I understand, however, they do not live very happily together."
This man probably wants another wife. Is he entitled to these
blessings." He pays a little Tithing, perhaps, but he says he is
going to pay it in full; and the Bishop says: "He has been
teasing me a long time for a recommendation." "But why did you
give it to him?" I will answer this. " I had to give it to him to
get rid of him, so that he won't tease me any more." This is the
answer: Now ask yourselves, my brethren and sisters, is he
entitled to the blessings that the Lord has for his faithful
children?
189
Be faithful and obedient to the few words that I have said to
you, with regard to the ordinances, etc., and what we can do and
what we cannot do. I said but a few words, but they are enough.
189
I will say to you, may the Lord bless you--peace be to you. I am
glad that I am able to be here; there are others here who will
speak to you. I will tell you honestly I do not feel well; I do
not feel pleased; it is not gratifying to me when I hear of those
who profess to be Latter-day Saints, living short of their
privileges and duties; but when I hear of men and women living up
to the privileges that the Lord has for them, it endears them to
me, and I delight in them; and I can say that I continually pray
for the Latter-day Saints, that the Lord will bless and preserve
us, that we may be saved in the kingdom of God. This is my
constant prayer, and I say God bless you. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Albert Smith, September 7, 1873
George Albert Smith, September 7, 1873
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, September 7, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
VISIT OF THE PRESIDENCY TO THE NORTHERN SETTLEMENTS.
190
For the past two weeks it has been my privilege, in company with
President Young, and Elders John Taylor, Cannon, and Woodruff and
others, to travel among and visit the Saints in some of the
settlements in the northern valleys of this Territory and the
southern portions of Idaho. Considering the short time since the
settlements north of Ogden were formed, especially those of Cache
Valley and Bear Lake, it seems that great progress has been made
in building towns and villages, preparing these places of
worship, providing the necessaries of life, and constructing
mills, roads and bridges, so that in a very few years the country
has been turned from a desert, uninhabited region, to one of
thrift and plenty.
190
While at Logan, a two day's meeting was held, on Saturday and
Sunday, two weeks ago to-day. The people of the valley were in
the midst of a very abundant harvest and their grain had so
ripened that the harvest came upon them all at once; yet the
attendance at our meetings was very large, larger, in fact, than
it had ever been my pleasure to witness in that place before. The
Spirit of the Almighty seemed to be striving with the people, and
though they were pressed with the labors of an abundant harvest,
they were on hand, alive and awake, to attend meetings and to
perform their duties.
190
The changes which have come over this land, since we first
settled in it, seem wonderful. The first visitors to Cache Valley
pronounced it too cold a country for the cultivation of grain.
Frost occurred almost every week during the summer, and the
winters were very severe. Early explorers of that valley found
the thermometer so low in the summer as to deprive us even of a
hope of successful cultivation. But settlements were commenced
and farming was attempted, and finally it was concluded that
wheat could be grown there. It seems, however, that the brooding
of the Spirit of the Lord over that land has softened the
climate, and large crops of many varieties of fruit, including
the apricot and peach, are raised there now.
191
I believe it is a case universally where the Latter-day Saints
have settled in these valleys, and commenced their work with
faith, trusting in the Lord, that he has softened the elements
and tempered the climate, until they are now favorable and year
after year more tender vegetation has been introduced. I have
noticed this in the settlements in the Sevier Valley and in Iron
County. I commenced a settlement in Iron Country in January,
1851. For nine years I attempted to raise peaches in Parowan, but
there were killed to the ground every year. Now Iron County has
become quite a peach growing country. I attribute this to the
blessings of the Almighty upon the elements, and from this cause
the cultivation of grain and fruits has progressed from year to
year in great altitudes, until now it is successful in many
localities in the Territory where it was formerly impossible.
191
Two years ago I visited the valley of Bear River. The Bear Lake
country had then been devastated by grasshoppers, and it
presented a scene of utter desolation. The grain and grass crops
and all the produce of the vegetable kingdom had been destroyed
within a few days by an arrival of grasshoppers. This season we
passed into Bear Lake, going part of the way by the new road
recently constructed at a cost of $7,000, by the enterprise of
Bishop O. J. Liljenquist and the citizens of Hyrum, by the stream
known as Blacksmith's Fork. We followed up this road until we
attained an altitude of 5,400 feet above the level of the sea.
Then we struck the old Huntsville road and went by that to
Laketown, at the head of Bear Lake. This place is probably as
delightfully and romantically situated as any in the Territory.
It is very near the Territorial line, and contains about sixty
families. The waters of the lake are clear and contain abundance
of fish; and the meadows around the head of the lake and in its
vicinity are very fine. The summits of the mountains are well
covered with timber, which is not very difficult of access. We
had two meetings at that place and found the people enjoying
themselves well.
191
We then followed along the west shores of Bear Lake, some thirty
miles, visiting some small places and making a stop at the fine
settlement of St. Charles, where we also had two meetings. The
purity of the water there; the great altitude and the cool
climate will, when more known, render that locality a favorite
place of resort to travelers and pleasure seekers in the short
summer season. The settlers there raise excellent wheat, rye,
barley, oats, and heavy crops of potatoes and garden vegetables.
They have to watch pretty closely to get their crops in between
the spring and fall frosts. The country is covered with a heavy
growth of rich grasses. The winters are cold there. The
settlement forms part of Oneida County, Idaho, the survey of the
Territorial line having cut it off from Utah, in which it was
formerly included.
191
St. Charles has sixty or seventy families, and wants more
settlers. It is watered by a stream called Big Creek, the largest
affluent of Bear Lake, a very fine stream, something larger that
our Big Cottonwood, and furnishing abundance of water to the
settlement. The grazing and farming facilities are excellent
there, and the people seemed to be enjoying themselves
exceedingly well, and had all they could do to take care of the
crops and other temporal comforts with which they were
surrounded.
192
Bear Lake is about twenty-six miles long and about ten miles
wide. It is, in a manner, two lakes, the north end of it, about
six miles, being cut off by a kind of embankment or beach, the
two lakes being connected by a small stream only a few yards in
width. The south part of the lake is very deep and the water
pure. It has many streams entering into it, and many springs
about it, and is a nursery for an immense amount of fish; large
quantities of which, very fine trout and other choice varieties,
are caught in their seasons.
192
The stream which leads out of Bear Lake, I think, is nine or ten
miles long, to where it empties into Bear River. The lake has
generally been called Bear Lake, from the supposition that Bear
River ran through it; but this is not the case. In this respect
Bear Lake is unlike the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. The
Jordan runs into one end of the Sea of Galilee and out at the
other, passing right through it; but Bear Lake is at the head of
a short stream which empties into Bear River. Along this stream
and along Bear River is a large tract of fine grazing country,
excellent meadow land, which our people are turning to good
account.
192
There is a very fine town called Bloomington, on Twin Creeks,
containing probably a hundred families; and about two or two and
a half miles from Bloomington is the principal town in the
valley, called Paris. At Paris we held three days' meetings, in a
shade or grove, which had been prepared for that purpose. A large
congregation assembled there and gave strict attention, and we
enjoyed ourselves exceedingly well, all seeming very glad to see
us.
192
After spending these three days at Paris, we visited some of the
neighboring settlements. We had meeting at Montpelier, and
passing through Bennington, Georgetown, Ovid, and some other
small settlements, we visited Soda Springs, where we remained a
day and a half, having two meetings with the people. We then
resumed our journey, following down Bear River, camping out on
our route, until we reached the settlement of Franklin, and
thence on to Richmond, Smithfield and Hyde Park, holding meetings
in each. Yesterday, we started from Logan, and reached home in
four hours and twelve minutes in special trains. We had been gone
two weeks and one day, having traveled two hundred miles by
carriages through the mountains, and two hundred miles by
railroad. The Elders of our party scattered among the settlements
and held twenty-six meetings. We visited the Sunday schools and
different organizations, and found them all alive to their
several duties.
192
In almost every town we visited we were saluted on our arrival by
a body of Sunday school children, who turned out by hundreds. It
almost seemed impossible that there could be so many children in
the country as came out to meet us.
193
President Young, was suffering on this journey from an attack of
rheumatism, which rendered him uncomfortable. But still he
preached a number of long and excellent sermons, sometimes
speaking an hour and twenty minutes. He addressed all the large
meetings, and did it in more than his usual energetic, eloquent
and interesting style, and returned from the journey in a better
state of health than when we went away, for then many of his
friends thought it very doubtful whether he would be able to
proceed on his journey; but he accomplished it, and returned
improved. For a man of his years, performing continually, as he
does, a vast amount of labor of both mind and body, it seems
almost miraculous that he could take this journey, attend so many
meetings and councils, and endure the riding over a country as
rough as the one we passed over. We were sometimes seven or eight
thousand feet above the level of the sea, frequently six
thousand, and then down to four thousand five hundred, and so on,
up and down, through valleys and hills, the roads sidling in many
places, rendering traveling difficult and unpleasant. Though
after I had traveled through Palestine, where there are really no
roads, I thought the country we had just passed over remarkable
for its fine roads.
193
We bore testimony to the Saints of the everlasting Gospel, the
plan of salvation which was revealed, through Joseph Smith, to
this generation. We found them generally living in obedience to
the principles of the Gospel, and rejoicing in the truth. There
was a marked improvement, since I traveled through those northern
regions before, in the condition of the roads, bridges, and
private residences, and in some settlements a large number of
barns have been erected. It seems, in the making of the
settlements in these valleys, that it has been a difficult matter
for the farmers to provide themselves with sufficient barns and
store-houses, they are wanting almost everywhere, but some of
these northern settlements are becoming very well supplied with
these out-door conveniences.
193
I am pleased to have the privilege of meeting with you again. I
wish to bear my testimony to the interesting discourse which has
been delivered to you this afternoon by Elder John Taylor, and I
pray that the blessing of the Almighty may be upon us all. I feel
that his blessing is over all the valleys where the Saints dwell,
and inasmuch as they will abide in their holy Gospel, live in
accordance with the principles of truth and the law which God has
revealed for their salvation, the Lord will be their protector.
193
From the time that Joseph Smith took the plates of Mormon from
the hill Cumorah, to the present moment, the enemy of all
righteousness has been howling, and exercising every means in his
power to destroy those who believe in the Book of Mormon, and who
are willing to follow the instructions and counsels which God has
given for the upbuilding of his kingdom in the last days. But
they who have been humble, and have walked in accordance with
their professions, have been upheld and protected, and the
blessing of the Almighty has been continually upon them.
193
I pray the Lord that his blessings may rest upon you, and that
you may rejoice therein, that we may all be able to walk humbly
before him, keep his commandments, have power to overcome, and
with the faithful be prepared to dwell in his kingdom, through
Jesus our Redeemer. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / John
Taylor, September 7, 1873
John Taylor, September 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER JOHN TAYLOR.
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, September 7, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND MODE OF WORSHIPING HIM.
194
I always take pleasure in speaking of things pertaining to the
kingdom of God, and to the interest and happiness of my
fellow-men, if I think that I can be of service or advantage to
those to whom I address myself. In meeting together, as we are
met to-day, from time to time, we do so to reverence and worship,
according to the intelligence and understanding we possess,
Almighty God, the giver of our lives and the supporter of all
things. A feeling of reverence and respect for Deity prevails in
some form or other amongst all the human family. It assumes, it
is true, a variety of forms, and there are many different ideas
and opinions among men as to the proper mode of worshiping and
rendering ourselves acceptable to our heavenly Father. All
mankind believe, more or less, in a Being who rules and governs
the universe and controls the destinies of the human family; and
whatever form of worship may be followed, it is accompanied by
feelings of reverence and respect for God. There is something
very singular about this, and it is different from anything else
that exists on the face of the earth. We have our theories about
science; we have principles and laws which govern mechanism;
there are certain known laws which govern the elements by which
we are surrounded; there are certain sciences which men can
master by studying the laws which govern them; but in regard to
the worship of God, it seems to differ materially from anything
else that we have cognizance of. He is a Being that mankind
generally do not have a knowledge of, they do not have access to
his presence, and unless he communicates it, there is no known
law by which we can approach unto him.
194
The ideas of men seem to be vague and uncertain in relation to
the worship of the Almighty, and they have always been more or
less so. When Paul stood up in Athens, some eighteen hundred
years ago, in speaking upon God, he says, "I saw an altar on
which was inscribed--'To the unknown God.'" The Athenians had a
variety of gods which they professed to know, or that represented
certain ideas, theories and principles which obtained among them;
but there was one whom they described as the "Unknown God." Paul
makes a most remarkable statement concerning this matter. He
says--"Him, therefore, whom ye ignorantly worship, declare I unto
you;" the God who made the heavens, the earth, the seas and the
fountains of waters.
195
The idolators who lived long prior to the time when Paul
preached Christ and him crucified to the people of Athens, had
some idea of the "unknown God." We read that a dream was given to
Nebuchadnezzar, unfolding to him certain things that were to take
place in the future; and he called together the magicians,
astrologers and soothsayers--the men of science of those days,
and who professed to have a knowledge of the future, and he told
them he wanted them to reveal unto him his dream, and then to
give him the interpretation. They told him that his request was
very unreasonable; it was beyond their power to comply with, and
was a thing not commonly asked or required of men of their
profession; but if he would give them the dream, they had rules
and principles whereby they could interpret it. He still insisted
upon the dream and the interpretation. They then told the king
that no being but the "unknown God," who dwelt in the heavens,
was able to reveal such a secret as he demanded at their hands.
We find that, among the Babylonians and Chaldeans, behind their
ideas, theories and mythology, they had ideas of a Supreme Being
who governed the universe, who alone could reveal the secret acts
of men, and who held their destinies in his hands; and unless
there is some plan or law by which men can have access to him
who, in Scriptures as well as by men at the present time, is
termed the unknown God, we must remain ignorant of him, his
attributes, designs and purposes, and of our relationship to him.
195
Paul also tells us that life and immortality are brought to light
by the Gospel; hence it would seem that that is a principle
whereby men can be brought into communication with God. There are
other Scriptures that are rather remarkable on this point. The
Apostle tells us--"Now are we the sons of God, but it does not
yet appear what we shall be; but when he who is our life shall
appear, then shall we be like unto him, for we shall see him as
he is!"
196
It would seem from this, and other Scriptures of a similar kind,
that man did once possess a knowledge of God and the future, and
a certainty in relation to the mode of worshiping him. Paul says
that life and immorality are brought to light by the Gospel. The
question necessarily arises in our minds, how and by what means
are these things accomplished? In what way are men to be put in
possession of this light and this immortality? And then, men who
have not been in the habit of reflecting, or if of reflecting,
not of judging correctly, not being in possession of true
principles, think, and their thoughts go back, and they
say--"Well, what of those who lived before there was a Gospel?"
For my part, I do not know of any such time, I do not read of any
such time, and I am not in possession of any information in
relation to any such time. I should as soon think of asking--What
of the people who lived before there was a sun, moon, stars or
earth, or before there was anything to eat or drink, or any other
impossible thing that we could reflect upon. Thoughts and ideas
of this kind can not have foundation in fact; they never did
exist. If life and immortality are brought to light by the
Gospel, then, whenever and wherever men had a knowledge of life
and immortality, whenever and wherever God revealed himself to
the human family, he made known unto them his will, and drew
aside the curtain of futurity, unfolded his purposes, and
developed those principles which we find recorded in Sacred Writ.
Wherever men had a knowledge of these things, they had a
knowledge of the Gospel; hence it is called in Scripture, "the
everlasting Gospel;" and hence John, while on the Isle of Patmos,
wrapped in prophetic vision, beholding a succession of marvelous
events that should transpire in after ages, declared, among other
things--"I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on
the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, crying
with a loud voice, 'fear God and give glory to him, for the hour
of his judgment is come.'"
196
The Gospel, then, in its nature and in its principles, is
everlasting; in other words, it is God's method of saving the
human family; and hence, Christ, of whom we hear and read so much
in the Scriptures of divine truth, was "the Lamb slain from
before the foundation of the world." He was believed in, long
before he made his appearance, both on the Asiatic and American
continent, and God gave unto his ancient Prophets many visions,
manifestations and revelations of his coming to take away the
sins of the world by the sacrifice of himself.
196
In speaking of the Gospel, Paul talks of it being known as far
back as the days of Abraham, for he tells us that "God,
foreseeing that he would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before, the Gospel unto Abraham." The same Apostle tells
us concerning Moses and the children of Israel having the Gospel.
Says he--"We have the Gospel preached unto us as well as they;
but the word preached unto them did not profit, not being mixed
with faith in those who heard it; wherefore the law was added
because of transgression;" and when Jesus Christ came, he came to
do away with the law and to re-instate the Gospel as it had
heretofore existed; the everlasting Gospel; that Gospel which
brings life and immortality to light, and wherever and whenever a
knowledge of God was had among the human family, it was through
the instrumentality of the Gospel.
196
When Jesus was upon the earth, he made this principle very plain
to the people on the Asiatic continent; and, as recorded in the
Book of Mormon, he made it plain to the people on the American
continent, revealing to them the same principles, truth, light
and intelligence; organized the churches in the same way;
implanted his Spirit among them, and imparted to all who were
obedient to his law a knowledge of God and of their own future
destiny, and this result always followed a knowledge of the
Gospel among men.
196
The reason there is so much confusion and disorder among men,
to-day, in the Christian world is,--"they have forsaken God, the
fountain of living waters, they have hewn out to themselves
cisterns, broken cisterns that will hold no water." There were
certain principles laid down by Jesus and his disciples, and also
by Moses, and by Nephi, Alma and others on this continent, in a
very plain, clear and pointed manner, in fact, although a mystery
to men of the world, to believers they are as the Scriptures
say--so plain that a wayfaring man though a fool need not err
therein; and they are strictly logical, and philosophical and
easy of comprehension.
197
There are laws which govern nature, and the principles of matter
with which we are surrounded, with which many of us are familiar.
These laws are as unchangeable as the revolution of the earth
upon its axis, or as the rising and setting of the sun. These
laws are perfectly reliable; they cannot be disregarded with
impunity, for if disregarded, the results desired will not
follow. The truths of the Gospel, and the principles of the plan
of salvation are as immutable as the laws of nature. Men of God
in different ages have been in possession of certain
philosophical truth in relation to God, the heavens, the past,
the present and the future. This has been the case not only with
men of God on the Asiatic continent; but also on this continent;
and however men of the present day may affect to despise
revelation, as many do, as visionary, wild and fanatical, it is
to that we are indebted for all the knowledge we have of God, our
own destiny, and of rewards and punishments, exaltations or
degradations hereafter. Lay aside this revelation, do away with
this principle, and the world to-day is a blank in regard to God,
heaven and eternity; they know nothing about them.
197
I have heard some people say--"If God revealed himself to men in
other days, why not reveal himself to us?" I say, why not,
indeed, to us? Why should not men in this day be put in
possession of the same light, truth and intelligence, and the
same means of acquiring a knowledge of God as men in other ages
and eras have enjoyed? Why should they not? Who can answer the
question? Who can solve the problem? Who can tell why these
things should not exist to-day, as much as in any other day? If
God is God and men are men, if God has a design in relation to
the earth on which we live, and in relation to the eternities
that are to come; if men have had a knowledge of God is days
past, who not in this day? What good reason is there why it
should not be so? Say some--"Oh, we are so enlightened and
intelligent now. In former ages, when the people were degraded
and in darkness, it was necessary that he should communicate
intelligence to the human family; but we live in the blaze of
Gospel day, in an age of light and intelligence." Perhaps we do;
I rather doubt it. I have a great many misgivings about the
intelligence that men boast so much of in this enlightened day.
There were men in those dark ages who could commune with God, and
who, by the power of faith, could draw aside the curtain of
eternity and gaze upon the invisible world. There were men who
could tell the destiny of the human family, and the events which
would transpire throughout every subsequent period of time until
the final winding-up scene. There were men who could gaze upon
the face of God, have the ministering of angels, and unfold the
future destinies of the world. If those were dark ages I pray God
to give me a little darkness, and deliver me from the light and
intelligence that prevail in our day; for as a rational,
intelligent, immortal being who has to do with time and eternity,
I consider it one of the great acquirements for men to become
acquainted with their God and with their future destiny. These
are my thoughts and reflections in relation to these matters.
198
Life and immortality, we are told, were brought to light by the
Gospel. And how is that? Why, it is a very simple thing, a very
simple thing indeed. When Jesus was upon the earth he, we are
told, came to introduce the Gospel. He appeared on this continent
as on the continent of Asia for that purpose; and in so doing he
made known unto men certain principles pertaining to their being
and origin, and their relationship to God; pertaining to the
earth on which we live, and to the heavens with which we expect
to be associated; pertaining to the beings who have existed and
those who will exist; pertaining to the resurrection of the dead
and the life and glory of the world to come. This is what the
Gospel unfolds. It is not taught in any of our schools of
philosophy, they do not comprehend it. It is a law and a
principle laid down by the Almighty; and although a very simple
one it is more subtle in its operations than any of the
principles of nature with which we are acquainted; and many of
them have, for generations, being unknown in their action and
properties to the human family. It is not long since we became
acquainted with the properties of gas. I can remember, in my
young days, walking along the streets when they were lighted with
oil lamps; and the light was so dim that it only made darkness
visible. It is not long since the laws of electricity were
discovered, and now they are made available for telegraphy and
other purposes. These principles always existed; but they eluded
the research and intelligence of men for ages; but finally they
were made known. Doubtless there are thousands of other
principles in Nature, with which we are unacquainted to-day,
formed by the Great I Am, the Great Ruler and Governor of the
universe, and placed under certain laws, just as much as the
principles with which we have already been made acquainted by the
operation of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man.
198
We read a good deal about the soul of man, and the body of man.
Will anybody tell me where the body commences and where the
spirit leaves off, and how they are united, and what forms the
compact? Can anybody tell about the principle of life in man? We
have had philosopher after philosopher in all the various
European as well as American schools, trying to solve this
problem. They can not do it, it is yet a mystery. But because a
thing is a mystery, are we to say that it does not exist? We see
man, perfect in his form, in possession of his faculties and
clothed with intelligence. One day he is walking around, and the
next he lies a lifeless corpse; with the same body, the same
bones, nerves and muscles and every faculty of his body,
apparently, as complete as the day before, but he is dead,
inanimate, inactive, without a spirit or soul, if you please.
What brings about this change, or who possesses the power to
resuscitate that man and implant in him again the principle of
life? Where is the man, the intelligence or the science that can
do it? We do not find it among mortals. If some of these things
are mysteries why not others?
199
God says that no man knows the things of man, but by the spirit
of man that is in him; so no man knows the things of God but by
the Spirit of God. How is that Spirit imparted and to whom?
Through what medium are we to get in possession of these
principles? Will any of our savants answer? Will our philosophers
tell us upon what principle these things can be communicated to
man, so as to bring him into relationship to God, and to enable
him to comprehend things which men in former times comprehended?
There are unquestionably certain laws and principles governing
these matters, as legitimate as those governing any other branch
of science or knowledge. If man knows the things of God only by
the Spirit of God, how are we to obtain that Spirit? One of the
old Apostles, in talking on this subject in former times, told
the people to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of their sins, and they should receive the Holy
Ghost. What should that Spirit do? It should take of the things
of God, and show them to those who received it. Says the
Apostle--"Ye have received an unction from the Holy One, whereby
ye are enabled to know all things; and ye need not that any man
should teach you save the anointing that is within you, which is
true and no lie. Ye are our witnesses, as also is the Holy Ghost,
which bears witnesses of us." Another one says--"Ye are in
possession of a hope that has entered within the vail, whither
Christ, our fore-runner, has gone, and where he ever lives to
make intercession for us."
199
This light and intelligence was communicated to men in the dark
ages. This treasure, says the Apostle, we have in earthen
vessels. This was what Jesus referred to when he said to the
woman of Samaria--"If thou hadst asked of me I would have given
thee water which would have been in thee a well springing up to
everlasting life." There was a principle of that kind among men
in those days, and it bloomed with immortality, and put its
possessors in possession of certainty, intelligence, and
knowledge, in relation to God whereby they were enabled to
cry--"Abba, Father," and to approach him in the name of his Son,
and receive from him the gift of the Holy Ghost, which Jesus said
would impart a knowledge of God and his purposes, and whereby
they eventually might be exalted in his celestial kingdom.
199
This it the kind of thing that they had in that day. This is the
Gospel that we have to proclaim to you. Its laws are just, strict
and equitable to those who embrace it. Those who do not, of
course, they cannot understand it. Why? Jesus said to
Nicodemus--"Except a man be born of water, he cannot see the
kingdom of God; and except he be born of the water and of the
spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God," that is, he cannot
know anything about it unless he obeys its initiatory ordinances.
Then, to the Saints, if they do not live their religion and keep
their covenants, the light that is within them will become dark,
and how great will be that darkness. This light, truth and
intelligence can only be obtained, in the first place, by
obedience to the laws of God; and, in the second place, it can
only be retained, by continued faithfulness, purity, virtue and
holiness.
199
I pray that God may, by his Spirit, lead us in the way of peace,
in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Erastus Snow, September 14, 1873
Erastus Snow, September 14, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ERASTUS SNOW,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, Sept, 14, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
ANCIENT PROPHECY, RELATING TO THE TIME OF THE
RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS, TO BE FULFILLED.
200
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of
the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people
shall flow unto it.
200
"And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:
for the law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem.
200
"And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations
afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and
their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
200
"But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig
tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord
of hosts hath spoken it.
200
"For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and
we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
200
"In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have
afflicted.
200
"And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast
far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in
mount Zion from henceforth, even forever."--Micah IV, 1-7.
201
I have read this Scripture in the hearing of the congregation,
believing, as I do, that it is a prophecy having direct reference
to the latter times, and to the day and age now ushered in upon
the earth. There are many things in the Jewish Scriptures, the
fulfillment of which has become a matter of history. There are
many other things which have been spoken by the mouth of God
through his servants the Prophets, which remain yet to be
fulfilled. It is a matter of great importance, to my mind, to be
able to discern these things pertaining to the future, which God
has revealed, which have yet to come to pass. He revealed,
beforehand, to the antediluvian world, the approach of the
deluge, and gave them a timely warning, sending his servants
amongst them, calling upon them to repent of their sins and to
prepare for that which was coming upon the earth. He foretold to
Abraham the bondage which his seed would have to endure in the
land of Egypt, their final deliverance by the hand of Moses, and
their establishment in the promised land of Canaan. Moses, and
other Prophets raised up after him, foretold the blessings which,
through faith and obedience, should be poured upon Israel, and
the scourges and judgments which should fall upon them through
unbelief and disobedience. Whoever will read the prophecies of
Moses contained in Deuteronomy, from the 28th to the 33rd
chapter, will perceive there clearly foreshadowed the great
events in the history of the seed of Abraham, from that time
until the time of their restoration to their promised
inheritance, which is referred to in the chapter from which I
have quoted in Micah. All these great events have been the
subjects of prophecy, and have been very clearly pointed out, and
perhaps by none more plainly and clearly than by Moses himself,
while he was the leader of Israel.
201
The dealings of God with the human family have been the subjects
of prophecy and revelation, and more especially with the
descendants of Shem, the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
and not only the Chosen People, but the nations with which they
were identified, and with whom they were more or less connected
and allied in the national capacity. All these things have been
the subjects of prophecy; but the burden of prophecy, from the
beginning of the world down to the present time, seems to centre
upon our day--the time of the restitution of all things spoken of
so frequently by the Prophets of God. By reference to the 3rd
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we find that the Apostle
Peter, talking to the wondering Jews assembled together gazing
upon him and his brother John, at the time he healed the lame man
at the beautiful gate of the Temple, and told them concerning
Jesus, whom they had crucified, and whom the Father had raised
from the dead, of which they were his witnesses, told them that
this same Jesus had been taken up into heaven, and would remain
at the right hand of God until the time of the restitution of all
things spoken of by all the Prophets since the world began. Then
he, Jesus, will descend again. From this Scripture we understand
that Peter and his brother Apostles comprehended the doctrine of
the restitution of all things, and that it should take place in
the latter days preparatory to the second advent of the Savior.
201
This was also a theme for angels as well as Prophets. We read in
the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that Jesus led his
disciples out to the Mount of Olives, and there lifted up his
hands and blessed them; and while in the act of giving them their
last commission--to go into all the world and preach the Gospel
to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, a cloud overshadowed him, and he ascended from
their sight; and as they stood gazing up into heaven after him,
two angels stood by them, clothed in white apparel, and they said
unto them--"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye thus gazing up into
heaven? Behold, this same Jesus, which you now see go up into
heaven, shall so come again in like manner as ye have seen him go
into heaven."
202
The time of the restitution of all things has not only been the
theme of angels, Prophets and Apostles, but of all Saints whose
understandings have been enlightened by the Spirit of revelation
from on high. The chapter which I have read from, in Micah,
brings it down to the last days, and is perhaps a little more
explicit than some other prophecies. It says that "in the last
days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the
tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and
people shall flow unto it." "The mountain of the Lord's
house"--this is a peculiar phrase, and was probably used by the
Prophet because it was a common mode of expression in Israel in
the days of David and many of the Prophets several hundred years
after him, for, in speaking on Mount Moriah, on which the Temple
of Solomon was built, they spoke of it as the mountain of the
Lord's house. Moriah is a hill in the city of Jerusalem, on which
David located the site of the Temple, and on which his son
Solomon built it, and it was called the mountain of the house of
the Lord. This temple suffered spoliation at the hands of the
Gentiles, who made inroads on Israel from time to time, but it
was repaired and kept intact until the days of the Savior. While
he was on the earth he predicted its total destruction, because
of the unbelief of the people. He said, Matthew xxiv, 2, the time
should come when not one stone of that Temple should be left on
another. The Prophet Micah predicted the same in the chapter
preceding the one which I have read from. He says--"Hear this, I
pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the
house of Israel, you that abhor judgment and pervert all equity.
They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The
heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for
hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they
lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us, none evil
can come upon us? Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed
as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of
the house as the high places of the forest."
202
This last prediction has been literally fulfilled. It has become
a matter of history that Jerusalem has become heaps of ruins, and
the mountain of the house of the Lord has become as the high
places of the forest, and has been ploughed as a field. It is a
matter of history that the very site of that wonderful Temple was
ploughed as a field, and its destruction was rendered so complete
that every foundation stone was raised; and that there might be
no vestige of it left, around which the Jews might cling, the
Roman Emperor caused that it should be ploughed up as a field,
thus literally fulfilling the words of the Prophet and the words
of the Savior. This woe and destruction was predicted and
overtook that people, and they were eventually scattered, because
of their wickedness, and because of the corruption of their
princes, judges and rulers. But it shall come to pass in the last
days, saith the Lord through Micah, that the mountain of the
house of the Lord shall be established in the tops of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall
flow unto it. Here is a promise around which the house of Israel
may cling, and to which they may fasten their faith, for God will
not forever hide his face from his people; but he will make
choice of a place or places named, and there he will build his
house, and people from all nations will flow unto it.
203
This mountain of the Lord's house, which is to be established in
the tops of the mountains, seems to be, in the mind of the
Prophet, located in a different place from the former house,
which was located upon that hill in Jerusalem. This, in the
latter days, the Prophet says, "shall be in the tops of the
mountains." Mark the expression, not on the top of a mountain,
nor in the tops of the highest mountain"-- the plural number is
used; in other words, in the midst of the high places on the
earth. Not on the borders of the sea shore, for the only reason
that we speak of mountains on the surface of the earth is because
of their elevation above the general level of the ocean.
203
The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the tops
of the mountains in the last days, and people from all nations
shall flow unto it. And wherefore? What will be their object and
purpose in fleeing from all nations? They will say--"Come and let
us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God
of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in
his ways and we will walk in his paths, for the law shall go
forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Here we
learn the object of the people in fleeing from all nations to the
mountain of the Lord's house: it is that they may learn of his
ways and walk in his paths. "The Lord shall judge among many
people," says Micah, "and rebuke strong nations afar off, and
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears
into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more. I will assemble
her that halteth, gather her that is driven out, her that I have
afflicted, even the chosen seed of Abraham, the house of Israel
that has been scattered and peeled and driven. I will gather her
that was scattered, and her that was cast afar off I will make a
strong nation, and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion,
from henceforth, even forever."
203
Isaiah has used nearly the same language in the second chapter of
his prophecies. Ezekiel, in the 37th chapter has used similar
language, predicting the time of the restoration of the house of
Israel and the gatherings together of the people of God, and that
the Lord shall reign over them and that a reign of peace shall be
established on the earth.
203
That this and other prophecies of a similar character remain yet
to be fulfilled, must appear evident to every reflecting mind,
for since these prophecies were delivered there has never been a
time in which the nations have beaten their swords into
ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks, lived at a perfect
peace with each other, and walked in the ways of the Lord. But it
has been predicted by the Prophets that such a period will
arrive. The same thing was also foretold by the Savior, and by
the angels who promised his second coming. Mark the object of the
gathering--the nations shall say, "Let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, for he will teach
us of his ways and we will learn to walk in his paths." How will
this be brought about? Because the law shall go forth out of
Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. How can this be
unless God shall begin to reveal himself to his people and
minister in their midst as in ancient days, by his own voice, the
voice of Prophets, the spirit of revelation and the ministration
of angels?
204
I am aware that many people of our time attempt to place some
mystical and illusive construction upon the prophecies in the
Bible, and there is a disposition to ignore the plain and obvious
meaning of the declarations of the Prophets, and to give to them
some private interpretation. But the Apostle Peter, in the first
chapter of his second epistle, in writing to his brethren on this
subject, says that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation, but holy men of old spoke as they were moved upon
by the Holy Ghost. In order that they might be able to understand
these prophecies, the Apostle counseled his brethren to give heed
unto them as unto a light shining in a dark place until the day
dawn and the day star arose in their hearts.
204
It is true that the Prophets have told us of dreams and visions
which they have had, and in some instances the Lord has explained
or interpreted them, and as such we are to receive them. But
where he has not deigned to give the interpretation we must wait
until he does, for it does not belong to men to give their own
private interpretation thereto. It is written, "Interpretations
belong to God," and where it has not pleased him to do so it
becomes us to wait until he does, and not attempt to obtrude upon
mankind our private interpretation of what God has revealed.
Where plain predictions are uttered, we are to receive them as we
would the writings of any other author--according to the plain
and obvious meaning of the language.
204
How then, I ask, can these prophecies be fulfilled in the last
days, except God shall again speak from heaven? Where shall the
mountain of the Lord's house be established in the tops of the
mountains, except God shall make manifest where he will build his
house and establish his Zion in the last days? How shall the law
go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem in the
last days, inducing people to flow unto it from all nations,
unless God shall speak again from heaven, as he did in ancient
days?
204
As Latter-day Saints we accept the words of the ancient Prophets
and believe that they will be fulfilled literally. Has Jerusalem
become a heap of ruins literally? Were the seed of Abraham in
bondage and oppressed by the Egyptians literally? Were they
delivered and brought out of that land with a high hand and with
great power literally? Did God bring them literally into the land
of Canaan, which he promised to Abraham? Have they been broken up
and scattered from that land literally? Did the Savior come, born
of a virgin, as the Prophets predicted, literally? Did he suffer
for our sins and endure all that the Prophets had spoken of him
literally? Did his enemies cast lots for his vesture and divide
his garments among themselves literally? Were "the shepherd
smitten and the sheep scattered" when Jesus was crucified
literally? Yes, in all these particulars, history records, with
the greatest minutiae, the literal fulfillment of prophecy. Was
the house of the Lord thrown down and the very foundation thereof
ploughed as a field, literally? Yes, then what reason have we to
expect other than a literal fulfillment of the next part of the
same prophecy, which foretells the establishment of the Lord's
house in the tops of the mountains, the gathering of people from
all nations thereunto, that the Lord will rebuke strong nations
afar off, and that the nations will beat their swords into
ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks, that they will
live at peace and learn war no more, and the Lord will reign over
them, from henceforth, even forever?
205
Such a mighty revolution as is here indicated by the Prophet can
never be effected upon the earth without the voice of God,
without Prophets and Apostles, and the power of the Holy Ghost
working mightily among the sons of men; and when that period
arrives it will be the one referred to by the Prophet Joel, who
says--"It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I
will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and then your sons and
your daughters shall prophecy; your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions, and upon my servants and
handmaidens will I pour out my spirit in those days, saith God."
Thus will Moses realize the wish that he expressed at the time
God took the spirit that was upon him and placed it upon the
seventy Elders of Israel and they all began to prophecy. When two
of these seventy who remained in the congregation felt the same
spirit resting upon them and began to prophecy, Moses' servant
came running to him at the tabernacle and said--"Eldad and Medad
do prophecy in the camp, my lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses
said unto him, "Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the
Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his
Spirit upon them."
205
Joel predicts the coming of a time when the Lord's people will
all become Prophets, even the servants and handmaids will receive
the Spirit and they will prophecy. Jeremiah speaks of a similar
time, but he uses a little different language. He says,--"I will
pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and then no one shall say unto
his neighbor, Know ye the Lord, for all shall know him, from the
greatest, and they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring
again Zion." Here the Prophet Jeremiah predicts, as does Micah, a
time when the Lord shall bring again Zion, and says that when he
brings again Zion they shall see eye to eye and they shall no
more use the proverb that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and
the children's teeth are set on edge, but every man shall die for
his own iniquity, and the teeth of him that eateth sour grapes
shall be set on edge, and every man will have the opportunity of
knowing the Lord, learning his ways, and walking in his paths.
205
Are we to understand by these sayings of Scripture, that God will
pour out the Holy Ghost upon the ungodly, the workers of
iniquity--murderers, sorcerers, whoremongers, adulterers, false
swearers, deceivers and liars? I do not so understand the
Prophets, the Savior and his Apostles. I understand in the
language of the Apostle, that the Holy Ghost dwelleth not in
unholy Temples; and that if his Spirit is poured out upon the
people so generally, it will be because their hearts are prepared
to receive it, because their ears have been opened to the word of
God, and faith has been begotten in them. They have listened to
the call of the Almighty, and have received the message of
salvation sent unto them.
206
But shall all people be thus converted unto the Lord? Shall the
king upon the throne, the judges who have judged for reward, the
Prophets who have divined for money, the priests who have taught
for hire, the murderer, the idolater, the abominable, those who
have oppressed and ruled mankind with a rod of iron, who have
said to the souls of men, "Bow down, that we may walk over you?"
Shall all these be converted unto the Lord of hosts and receive
of these blessings? Would to God that it were possible! But the
Prophets have not so predicted. They and the Savior and the
Apostles have all predicted that "he will punish the kings of the
earth upon the earth, and the hosts of high ones that are on
high, and they shall be gathered together into the pit." They
have predicted that judgments shall fall fast upon the ungodly
who will not repent, and they shall be cut off and shall perish
out of the land; and sore and terrible judgments shall come upon
the nations who repent not, and who will not listen to the voice
of God.
206
Malachi, in his last chapter, says, "But the day cometh that
shall burn as an oven, and the proud and they who do wickedly
shall be stubble. The day that cometh shall burn them up, saith
the Lord of hosts, that shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But unto you who fear my name, saith the Lord, shall the sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and ye shall go
forth and grow up as calves of the stall, and shall tread down
the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
in the day that I do this, saith the Lord of hosts."
206
Thus we learn, my friends, that the warning voice of God will go
forth among the nations, and he will warn them by his servants;
and by thunder, by lightning, by earthquake, by great hailstorms
and by devouring fire; by the voice of judgment and by the voice
of mercy; by the voice of angels and by the voice of his servants
the Prophets; he will warn them by gathering out the righteous
from among the wicked, and those who will not heed these warnings
will be visited with sore judgments until the earth is swept as
with the besom of destruction; and those who remain, in all the
nations, tongues and kingdoms of the world, will heed the voice
of warning and will accept the salvation sent unto them by the
Lord through his servants. The law of the Lord will go forth to
all such from Zion, and judges will go forth among them from
Zion; and all who are willing will be taught the ways of the
Lord, and they will be baptized for the remission of their sins
and they will receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the
hands of the servants of God. Great and glorious will be that
day. The old men will dream dreams, the young men will see
visions, and even the servants and handmaids will prophecy, and
out of the mouths of babes and sucklings will the Lord perfect
his praise.
207
We are not the only people who believe in these things, and look
forward with anxious expectation for the glorious reign of
righteousness and peace upon the earth. It has been the faith and
the hope of all the righteous upon the earth, the theme of their
prophecies and of the songs of the inspired songsters of Israel.
It is the hope of these things, and the faith which is begotten
in our hearts, that the Lord has set his hand a second time to
recover the remnants of the house of Israel, and to fulfill the
glorious things which he has foretold through the mouths of his
Prophets, that has brought us together in these mountains. It was
the faith and hope that induced the pioneers, twenty-six years
ago, to face the savages and to penetrate through a trackless,
howling desert. To make the roads through the mountains, to
bridge the streams, and to endure all the perils of establishing
the people of Zion in the Rocky Mountains, when there were no
human beings but the untutored savage for a thousand miles or
more from them, when it was a thousand miles on the west, a
thousand on the north, a thousand to the south, and thirteen
hundred to the east to the nearest settlement. It was this faith
in the latter-day work, the assurance we had received that God
had spoken from the heavens, which prompted us to this great
work. It was because God had spoken from the heavens by his own
voice to his servant Joseph Smith, by the voice of his Son, and
by the voice of angels, calling his people to gather from the
nations into the heart of the mountains, that we are here to-day.
I can place my eyes upon many in this congregation, and I know of
many more throughout this Territory, who heard these things from
the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
207
When the pioneers left the confines of civilization, we were not
seeking a country on the Pacific Coast, neither a country to the
north or south; we were seeking a country which had been pointed
out by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the midst of the Rocky
Mountains, in the interior of the great North American Continent.
When the leader of that noble band of pioneers set out with his
little company from the Missouri River, they went, as did Abram,
when he left his father's house--knowing not whither he
went--only God had said, Go out from your father's house unto a
land which I will show you. That band of pioneers went out, not
knowing whither they went, only they knew that God had commanded
them to go into a land which he would show them. And whenever the
Prophet Brigham Young, the leader of that band of pioneers, was
asked the question--"Whither goest thou?" the only answer he
could give was--"I will show you when we come to it." The prayers
of that band of pioneers, offered up day and night, continually
unto God, was to lead us, as he had promised, unto a land which,
by the mouth of his servant Joseph, he had declared he would give
us for an inheritance. Said the Prophet Brigham--"I have seen it,
I have seen it, in vision, and when my natural eyes behold it, I
shall know it." They, therefore, like Abram of old, journeying by
faith, knowing not whither they went, only they knew that God had
called them to go out from among their brethren, who had hated,
despised and persecuted them, and driven them from their
possessions, and would not that they should dwell among them. And
when they reached this land the Prophet Brigham said--"This is
the place where I, in vision, saw the ark of the Lord resting;
this is the place whereon we will plant the soles of our feet,
and where the Lord will place his name amongst his people." And
he said to that band of pioneers--"Organize your exploring
parties, one to go south, another north, and another to go to the
west, and search out the land, in the length and the breadth
thereof, learn the facilities for settlement, for grazing, water,
timber, soil and climate, that we may be able to report to our
brethren when we return;" and when the parties were organized,
said he unto them--"You will find many excellent places for
settlement. On every hand in these mountains are locations where
the people of God may dwell, but when you return from the south,
west and north to this place, you will say with me, "this is the
place which the Lord has chosen for us to commence our
settlements, and from this place we shall spread abroad and
possess the land."
208
It is this faith which has brought the multitude who have
followed to this land, year after year, from then until the
present time. This is the work and the mission that is upon the
Latter-day Saints. "Come out of Babylon, O my people, that ye be
not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues.
Gather yourselves into the midst of the mountains, where the Lord
will establish his house and place his name, and teach you his
ways, and where you will learn to walk in his paths." We are not
called to be of the world, to partake of the spirit and follow
after the fashions of the world, to partake of the spirit and
follow after the fashions of the world, the lusts of the eye and
the pride of life. We are not called to set our hearts upon the
world and the things thereof--upon the gold, upon the silver in
the mountains, upon the precious things that are in the earth,
the cattle upon a thousand hills, nor upon houses or lands, or
aught else that pertains to the earth. We are called to set our
hearts upon the living God, who has called us to be his people,
and to worship him with full purpose of heart. If he gives us
houses and lands, goods and chattels, gold and silver and the
precious things of the earth, receive them with thanksgiving, and
hallow and sanctify them and dedicate and consecrate them to the
building up of Zion, the house of our God, the gathering together
of his Saints, the preaching of his Gospel to the ends of the
earth, and the accomplishment of the great work, whereunto God
has called us in the latter days.
208
Blessed are those who remember the high calling of God whereunto
they are called. Blessed are those who seek to learn the ways of
the Lord and walk in his paths. Blessed are those who seek to
magnify the high calling of God which is upon them as Elders of
Israel, to bear witness of the truth, and exemplify it in their
lives and conduct; who deal justly, love mercy, walk humbly
before their God, visit the fatherless and the widow in their
affliction, and keep themselves unspotted from the world. Blessed
are all such of the sons and daughters of Zion, for they shall
prosper and their children after them. They shall become saviours
upon Mount Zion, and they shall be found worthy to stand when he
appears, and their names and their generations after them shall
be had in honorable remembrance in the Temples of the Lord our
God. But woe unto the hypocrites in Zion, and to the proud and
haughty, and those who love the world, set their hearts upon it,
and worship houses and lands, gold and silver, goods and chattels
and the things of this world! Woe unto those who refuse to tithe
themselves and thus to sanctify unto the Lord this land, which he
has given them for an inheritance! Woe unto those who pollute the
land of Zion by their whoredoms, murders, thefts and working of
iniquity, who refuse to consecrate of their substance unto the
God of the whole earth, and to render to him the tenth which he
requires as the interest of their stewardship!
208
May the peace of God rest upon the righteous! May the ignorant
come to understanding! May the foolish learn wisdom! May the
power of God rest upon those who have assumed the high callings
of ministers and judges in Israel! May grace abound unto all the
Israel of God, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, September 28, 1873
Orson Pratt, September 28, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday afternoon, September 28, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
EVIDENCES, RELATING TO THE DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF
THE BIBLE AND BOOK OF MORMON, COMPARED.
209
It is written somewhere in this book--the Bible--that "in the
mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established."
These words were recorded in the law of Moses, and referred to by
our Savior, but in what part of the Evangelists they are recorded
I do not remember. They occurred to my mind just as I rose to my
feet. It seems to have been the method in which God has dealt
with the children of men, ever since they have had an existence
on the earth, to reveal certain principles, and to confirm them
by as many witnesses as seemed proper to him.
209
Our Father, the Creator of this earth, has power, if he saw
proper to do so, to give a vast amount of evidence to the
children of men, concerning the divinity of a message which he
might at any time offer to them. It would be a very easy matter,
if he saw proper to do so, to inscribe, in the very heavens, in
letters of light, testimony and evidence which would be so
conspicuous, and powerful, and plain, and easy to be understood,
that all the nations, languages, kindreds and tongues upon our
globe would know the truth at once, and have no misgivings about
the matter. But the Lord has not seen proper thus to deal with
the human family. He seems to require, in the first place, faith
on good, sound, substantial evidence, instead of imparting
knowledge at once.
209
There is a great difference between faith and knowledge. I am
told that there is such a country as China on the eastern borders
of Asia; but I never have been there; I never have seen that
country; I cannot say, most positively, that such a country
exists, only on the testimony of others I am informed that such
is the case. I believe that testimony, but it is not a perfect
knowledge to my own mind, obtained by my own experience. And so
in regard to ten thousand other facts or events. We are in many,
indeed in almost all, instances required to believe without a
knowledge. The judge who sits in a court of justice to decide
upon the liberties and lives of his fellow-beings, does not
decide from a knowledge; but from the testimony and evidence
presented before him he pronounces sentence of imprisonment or
death, because the evidence is sufficient to bear him out in
passing such a sentence.
211
A person can not be a witness to that which he merely believes.
God requires mankind, or certain individuals among mankind, to be
witnesses for him--witnesses of his existence--so that they can
bear testimony to others. It is important and necessary that they
should have a knowledge of the things whereof this testimony is
given; hence, in some few cases among the inhabitants of our
globe, there have been men raised up to whom there has been a
knowledge imparted almost immediately, and they knew, most
perfectly, concerning the things which they were to communicate
to their fellow-beings. They were true witnesses, and on their
evidence and testimony the world have been condemned, and will be
judged in the great judgment day. For instance, the Lord our God
has revealed a system or plan of salvation to the human family,
requiring all men to repent of their sins, turn away from
everything that is evil, reform their lives, and to believe in
Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, who died to atone for
the sins of mankind; to believe in his Father as the great
Supreme Being, the Creator of all things; to believe in that
which God has ordained, pertaining to the Gospel, that is
intended for the salvation of mankind, such as the ordinances of
baptism, and confirmation by the laying on of hands, and the
administration of the Lord's Supper. All these are principles and
ordinances which God has revealed to the children of men, making
known to certain individuals that these are divine, and
commanding them to go and bear testimony thereof unto others.
Now, when a man stands up before an audience and says, with all
boldness and with all humility, that God exists, and question
might arise--"How do you know that he exists?" In reply, he says
to his audience, "He exists because the Bible speaks of it, the
works of Nature declare that there must be a Supreme Being, the
wisdom that is manifested in the works of creation show forth his
attributes--his goodness, his wisdom, and the adaptation of the
various principles in nature to other principles, show that there
must have been an all-wise Designer." "But," inquires an
individual, of the speaker, "do you know anything about this
being of whom you say the works of nature declare his attributes,
and can you tell us whether he is a personal being, or a widely
diffused spirit that exists throughout all nature?" If he can not
bear any other testimony than this, merely referring to the Bible
or the works of Nature, his hearers can say, "We have the same
evidence ourselves, and your testimony is no better than ours."
But if he stands forth as a servant of the Most High God, and
declares that he knows God exists, because he has received a
revelation to that effect, God has spoken to him, and his eyes
have been opened to behold his person and his glory, and that he
has heard his voice, then that man's testimony is greater than
the testimony of those who depend merely upon what God has said
in past ages, written in the Bible, and greater than that which
arises from beholding the beauty, glory, simplicity and wisdom
that characterize the works of Nature. Such a testimony, as I
have named, where a person can bear testimony to what his eyes
have seen, and to what his ears have heard, concerning the
Almighty, to what God has revealed to him, will condemn the
world. Persons may pretend to be God's witnesses, and preach
fifty, sixty, or four score years in the ears of the people; but
if they have never received this testimony, their evidence will
be of no effect in the day of judgment. I have heard, in the
course of my life, a great many Christian ministers of different
denominations, many of them no doubt sincere, say to their
congregations, "I will be a swift witness against you in the day
of judgment." Ask these Christian ministers, "Have you ever
received a revelation from God yourself?" "Oh no." "Has God ever
spoken to you?" "Oh no." "Have you ever had a heavenly vision?"
"Oh no." "Has the Holy Ghost given you a new revelation?" "Not at
all." "When did God last speak to the human family?" Says the
Christian minister, "He has said nothing for about eighteen
hundred years; the last he said or spoke to the human family is
recorded in the New Testament." Such a minister might preach all
the days of his life, and so far as his evidence or testimony is
concerned, it would not condemn a solitary individual. Such men
are not witnesses for God. He never sent them, he never spoke to
or revealed anything through them; they have never seen his face
or heard his voice, consequently they know no more about him than
the people in the congregation to whom they are speaking. When,
therefore, we speak, in the language of our text, that "in the
mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established;"
when these witnesses are divine witnesses, sent forth to bear
testimony of divine things, they must have a knowledge of those
things; not merely a faith, not a speculative idea or opinion,
but they must know, just as well as they know concerning their
own existence, of the things about which they speak, and of which
they bear testimony to the people, "Did I not declare my words
unto you by my messengers whom I sent unto you, to whom I
revealed myself, and who had a knowledge of the things they bore
testimony of?" And that will condemn the people.
211
In order to apply this to one particular subject, which now
occurs to my mind, I will take the Book of Mormon, for instance.
This book professes to be a divine revelation; it professes to be
the writings of a succession of ancient Prophets, the same as the
Bible contains the revelations and writings given in different
ages to inspired men; and while the Bible contains the writings
of inspired men who lived on the eastern hemisphere, the Book of
Mormon professes to be the writings of inspired men who lived in
ancient times on the western hemisphere. One is called, if we may
so speak, the Bible of the East; the other may be termed, with
great propriety, the Bible of the West, both of them being of the
highest antiquity.
211
Now, if these books are divine, what evidence is necessary to
convince us of that fact? If the Book of Mormon is really a
divine revelation, containing the writings of ancient Prophets
who dwelt on this American Continent before and after Christ, it
is important that every man and woman in the four quarters of the
earth should understand this; for if it be the word of the Lord,
we shall be judged out of the Book of Mormon as much as out of
the eastern Bible. If it be not a divine record and not the word
of the Lord, it is absolutely necessary that we should know it,
in order that we may reject it, and reject it understandingly.
Take it either way, then, whether it is or is not a revelation
from God, it is equally important that we should know it.
212
Now what evidence have we that the Book of Mormon is a divine
revelation? I will bring forth some evidence upon this subject.
Before this book was permitted to be presented to the inhabitants
of the earth, the Lord raised up witnesses. Before it was
printed, in the year 1829, three witnesses were raised up to bear
testimony to it. Now, how could these witnesses get a knowledge
that this book was divine? Were they merely told that it was so
by the Prophet Joseph Smith, who translated the book from the
metallic plates that were taken out of a certain hill in the
State of New York? Was this all the information they had before
they commenced bearing testimony to the world of the divinity of
the book? If this was all, then all who knew Joseph Smith might
be witnesses. But we are told in the forepart of the book the
nature of their evidence and testimony. We are told that David
Whitmer, Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery, in the year 1829,
before this book was published, saw an angel of God come down
from heaven, and take the plates from which it was translated,
and he exhibited them before the eyes of these three men, turning
them over leaf after leaf. They saw the angel descend; they saw
his glorious personage; they beheld the light and glory of his
countenance; they saw the plates in his hands, and they saw the
engravings upon the pages of these plates. While the angel was
doing this before them, they heard a voice in the heavens,
declaring unto them that the plates had been translated
correctly, and commanding them to bear testimony of it to all
nations, kindreds, tongues and people to whom this work should be
sent. They accordingly have prefixed their testimony to this
book, which those who obtain the book can read at their leisure;
we have not time on this occasion to read it.
212
What greater testimony concerning the ministering of angels has
any person ever given to the human family, than the one I have
named? We read about angels ministering in ancient times on
various occasions, and for certain purposes--sometimes appearing
in great glory, and sometimes withholding their glory. Hence it
is written by one of the Apostles--"Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers, for some, in so doing, have entertained angels
unawares," showing that angels have sometimes withheld their
glory, and appeared like common men, and that they have been
entertained as such. In other instances their glory was exhibited
before those to whom they revealed themselves, and they bore
testimony to the things they heard from the mouths of their
divine visitants.
213
A question arises here, Is there any testimony in the Old or New
Testament any more worthy of being received than that of these
three modern witnesses? Do angels live at the present day as they
did in ancient times? Every one will say that they still live.
Are they the messengers of the Most High now as they were in
ancient times? Yes. Says one, "We suppose they are subject to the
command of God now as they were in ancient times. Is there
anything in the Bible that indicates that a period or day would
come when the ministration of angels would no longer be
necessary? No, not one syllable in all the Bible that indicates
any such thing. To the contrary, we find that the Apostle Paul,
in speaking of angels, says--"Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of
salvation?" Now, if there be any heirs of salvation on the earth
in the nineteenth century, why not those ministering spirits be
sent forth to minister for them? And if sent forth, why should
they withhold their glory and their personal presence from those
to whom they administer? Why not reveal themselves as they did in
ancient times, personally and bodily, so that the eye of the
individual to whom they administer may behold them? We can see
nothing whatsoever that indicates, in the least degree, that
these priviliges are to be withheld from the children of men.
Many, at the present period, believe the testimony recorded in
the scriptures concerning the ancient ministrations of beings
called angels. They know not why they believe this, only because
it is popular, and it is recorded in the Bible that they did
appear. Ask these persons if they believe in the ministration of
angels at the present time and they will tell you "no." They
cannot give you any reason why they disbelieve in their
ministration now, only it is unpopular. It is popular to believe
in the ministration of angels, anciently, but unpopular to
believe in such a thing in modern times, consequently people go
along with the popular mind and believe in former-day
administrations of those heavenly messengers, but latter-day
administrations of the same nature they reject.
213
If persons raised up in ancient times had a knowledge by the
ministration of angels, concerning the message which they
communicated to the human family, and their testimony condemned
the generation to whom they were sent, I ask, will not the same
knowledge, communicated in the same manner, in our day, condemn
this generation, inasmuch as the message is not received? Judge
this for yourselves.
213
When the Book of Mormon was printed, early in the year 1830, with
these witnesses' names attached to it and presented to the human
family, they had the testimony, not only of these three
witnesses, also the testimony of Joseph Smith, the translator, to
the ministration of angels, and concerning the existence of these
plates. Here then was the mouth of four witnesses, at least, that
God gave to this generation. Besides these four, we have it
recorded here that eight other men, men with whom I am, or was,
well acquainted, some of them are now dead. Eight other persons
besides these four, knew of the existence of the metallic plates,
from which the Book of Mormon was translated. Their testimony is
also prefixed to this work, their names given. They testify that
they saw these plates, that they handled them with their own
hands, that they saw the engravings upon the plates; that they
took them in their hands, and that they knew of a surety of the
existence of those plates. They did not bear testimony that they
had seen an angel, but they bore testimony to that which they did
know, namely, the existence of those plates, that Joseph Smith,
the translator, was the person who exhibited the plates to them,
and that the characters or letters contained upon the plates had
the appearance of ancient work and of curious workmanship, and
they bear their testimony in the most positive manner to this
thing, declaring in the closing sentence that they bear testimony
of these things, and "we lie not, God bearing witness of it."
Here then is the testimony of twelve witnesses, four of whom saw
an angel of God. Is not this sufficient to justify the children
of men in having faith in the Book of Mormon? Faith is not a
knowledge, but faith is the evidence of things not seen. Now, I
may not have seen the plates, you may not have seen the plates,
but we have the evidence or testimony of things not seen, by a
great number of witnesses who did see them.
214
"But," says one, "suppose that these witnesses were
interested persons, and they wished to combine together to
deceive the children of men." The same supposition might be made
concerning ancient witnesses, the Twelve Apostles for instance.
They were chosen by the Lord to bear testimony of the Gospel unto
all nations, and, with the exception of Judas, there was not a
disinterested person among them, not even the one appointed to
fill the place of Judas; and these men bore testimony to the most
important truths that were ever revealed to the human family.
They did this with a perfect knowledge. The infidel world will
say they were interested witnesses, just the same as the world
say concerning the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. I would not
give much for a witness who was not interested; I would not give
much for the testimony of an individual who would come and say,
"I have seen an angel from God, but yet I am not interested in
any thing that he said to me." No, let that man who receives a
communication from the almighty, and who knows of a surety of the
things that he brings forth and bears testimony of to the world,
let him be interested in his testimony and show to the world by
his works that he is an interested witness.
214
Says one, "We have some disinterested witnesses with regard to
the truth of the Bible." I deny it, you have not one. You have
eight writers in the New Testament, but were they not all
interested witnesses? Yes. "But," says one, "were there not a
great many not connected with the ancient Church who saw the
miracles of Jesus?" If they did, we have not their testimony, not
one. We find it recorded in the Acts of the Apostles that when
Peter and John healed the lame man who sat at the beautiful gate
of the Temple, there was a great multitude around about who saw
this miracle, but have you the testimony and evidence of any one
of that multitude? No, you have not, no such evidence or
testimony has been handed down to our day. But we have the
testimony of the writer of the Acts of the Apostles that such was
the case. He says so, and we have to believe it on his testimony.
So in regard to the five hundred who saw Jesus after his
resurrection. Paul declares that he was seen of five hundred of
the brethren at once. But has one of those five hundred brethren
handed down his testimony to the 19th century? Not one: it all
depends upon the testimony of one writer. That writer says that
five hundred men saw Jesus after his resurrection. So in regard
to all the miracles that are recorded, said to be wrought by our
Lord and Savior; so in regard to all the miracles, wrought after
his ascension into heaven, by his servants and those who believed
in his name. We have only the testimony of eight witnesses for
the truth of the New Testament, and they were all interested.
215
Again. We know that there have been persons who have combined
together to deceive their fellow men, and how are we to know
whether these witnesses to the Book of Mormon were men of that
class, or whether they were really witnesses of the things of
God? We can not know it at first; it is impossible for you and me
to know that fact, unless we obtain our knowledge from heaven. We
can believe it, or their testimony, but we can not know it, or
their testimony. Now the way I would do, if I were an outsider
and really desired to know whether the Book of Mormon was a
divine revelation or not, I should examine the nature of this
evidence which I have referred to, and then I should examine the
contents of the book. If I found the book contradictory in its
history, prophecies or doctrines, I should set down these twelve
witnesses, whose names are prefixed to the book, as impostors;
but if, after a careful perusal of this book, I found no
contradictions or inconsistencies in the prophecies interspersed
through its different parts, if I found that the doctrine was
plain and simple and easy to be understood, and not
contradictory, then the next thing with me would be to compare
these prophecies with those in the Bible, and the doctrines of
the Book of Mormon with those of Jesus and his Apostles. If I
found no contradictions between the two records, but that the
same Gospel is taught in both, and that both contain the same
great chain of prophecy in regard to the events of the latter
days, only more fully exemplified and illustrated, perhaps in
different language, in the Book of Mormon from what it is in the
Bible, I should have no evidence whatever to condemn the book, or
the witnesses contained in it.
215
Furthermore, if I found certain promises in the Book of Mormon,
to the effect that all persons, in all the world, who would
receive it, and the message that God has sent forth by the
administration of his servants, and would repent of their sins,
and be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, and have
hands laid upon them in confirmation, should receive the Holy
Ghost; inasmuch as I could find no testimony against the book,
but all these things in favor of it, if I should repent of my
sins, there would certainly be no harm in it. If I should reform
my life from every evil, according to the requirements of the
book, there would be no harm in that; if I should go forth and be
baptized, by those having authority, for the remission of sins, I
see no harm in that. If I should have hands laid upon my head, by
those messengers, for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, I
should see no harm in this outward performance. If I did not
receive the forgiveness of my sins, and did not receive the
baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, I should think there was no
divinity in the book, or else that there was some fault on my
part, one or the other. And if I examined myself and found that I
had sincerely repented of my sins, that I had lacked nothing on
my part, and did really receive the manifestations of the Holy
Ghost, as they did in ancient days, then I should have a
testimony for myself, independently of these twelve witnesses,
and independently of the correctness of the doctrine contained in
the book, as compared with the Bible: independently of these
external evidences, I should have a testimony from God myself, by
the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, that the book was true.
216
"But," inquires one, "how are we to know when we receive the
baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost?" I think that every person
may know this, for there are certain manifestations, that
accompany the Holy Ghost, that are of such a nature that they can
not be mistaken. I will mention some of them. I do not mean those
manifestations we sometimes hear of under the name of "spirit
rappers," "table turners," "writing mediums," &c., but I mean
those genuine, real manifestations, as recorded in the Bible. To
one is given, says Paul to the Corinthians, the word of Wisdom by
the Spirit, to another is given the word of Knowledge by the
Spirit, to another is given the discerning of spirits by the same
Spirit; to another is given the working of miracles, to another
is given the gift of prophecy, to another is given the healing of
the sick, speaking with tongues, the interpretation of tongues,
&c. All these come by the selfsame Spirit, being given to every
man, not to one or two, not merely to the witnesses, but to every
man in the Church, according as the Spirit will.
216
Now then, if I receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, or if my
brethren receive it, I should expect that we would receive the
manifestations of these gifts, one receiving one gift and another
another, according to the Bible pattern. If we did not receive
these gifts, then we might doubt that we had received the Holy
Spirit. We are commanded in the Scriptures to try the spirits,
for there are many spirits who are gone abroad into the world who
are false spirits. Try them: by what rule? Try them by the
written word, and see if we have the gifts as recorded in the New
Testament. If we have them, we may be assured that the Holy Ghost
has been given to us. For instance, if a person receives the
baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, and the heavens are opened to
him he is not mistaken. If the Lord inspires him to lay hands
upon a sick child or a sick person, and he commands the disease
to be removed, he knows that God is with him, and that he
hearkens to the supplications and prayers which he offers in the
name of Jesus in behalf of the sick. If a person has the vision
of his mind opened to behold the future and to know that which
will shortly come to pass, and he sees these things fulfilled,
from time to time, he has every reason to believe that he has
really received the Holy Ghost. So in regard to speaking in
tongues. If an illiterate, uneducated man, who never understood
any language but his mother tongue, is inspired at the very
moment to rise and testify in an unknown tongue and to proclaim
the wonderful works of God, he knows whether his tongue has been
used by a supernatural power, or whether it is merely gibberish
out of his own heart. He knows it very well for himself; and so
we might continue throughout all the gifts mentioned in the
Bible. If he beholds angels, and they descend before him in their
glory, and he hears the sound of their voices, beholds the light
of their countenances and the glory that radiates from their
personages, he knows for himself, consequently this constitutes
him a witness as well as those who proclaimed this Gospel before
him.
217
I will ask the Latter-day Saints--those now sitting before me
throughout this large audience, how did you know that Joseph
Smith was a Prophet of God when you dwelt in England and had
never seen the man? How did you know in Sweden, in Denmark, in
Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Australia and in the various parts of
the earth from which you emigrated? How did you know that Joseph
Smith was a Prophet of God before you crossed the mighty ocean
and came to this land? You learned this fact by a knowledge
imparted to you by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost in your
own native countries. There you have been healed, and have seen
the manifestation of the power of God in healing the sick from
time to time. There you have had the vision of your minds opened
to behold heavenly things. There you have heard the voice of the
Almighty speaking to you by revelation and testifying to you of
the things of heaven. Many of you have experienced those great
and blessed gifts, that are mentioned in the New Testament,
before you emigrated to this land. You came here then, not to
obtain a knowledge of the truth of this work, but because you
already had a knowledge of it, and to be more thoroughly
perfected in the ways of God, and to be taught more fully in the
things pertaining to eternal life and happiness, than you could
be in your own lands. Hence you are not dependent now upon the
testimony of two or three witnesses, or upon the twelve witnesses
in the Book of Mormon; but we have a vast cloud of witnesses
raised up among all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and
people to whom this work has been sent. They are flocking from
the ends of the earth to these mountains, as doves to the
windows, all bearing the same testimony--that God has spoken and
that the Book of Mormon is true, for the Lord has revealed it to
them. Moreover, in the early rise of this Church, the Lord said
to his servants--"Go forth and bear testimony to the Book of
Mormon and the doctrines contained therein, and I will back up
your testimony by signs, by the gifts," etc. Supposing this
promise had not been fulfilled, would there be any tabernacle in
this desert to-day? Not any at all. Would this desert be
inhabited now by a hundred or a hundred and fifty thousand
people? Not at all. Would there now be a great highway cast up
across this continent from ocean to ocean? Not at all. It is
because God has confirmed the promise that he made to us in the
early rise of this Church, that these great events have been
accomplished. No people would have had the fortitude, courage and
enterprise to come fourteen hundred miles from civilization,
so-called, to these mountain wastes and deserts, to cultivate the
land and perform the work that has been wrought by this people,
unless they had a knowledge from heaven, concerning the truth of
this great work. God fulfilled his promise when he said to his
servants--"In the name of Jesus you shall heal the sick, you
shall open the eyes of the blind, you shall unstop the ears of
the deaf." It is because of the fulfillment of this promise, that
you have been gathered and accomplished the work that has been
wrought out here in this country, and because of this stepping
stone between the two great oceans, a half-way house as it were,
others have ventured to come into these mountain wilds, and the
Territory and regions round about are beginning to be settled.
Through these facilities no doubt the railroad has been
constructed something like a quarter of a century sooner than it
would have been otherwise.
219
When we contrast the evidence which we have concerning the
divinity of the Book of Mormon, with the evidence which this
generation have of the Bible, we discern that the Book of Mormon
contains a vast amount of evidence, thousands and thousands of
witnesses of its divinity to where the Christian world have one
of the divinity of the Bible. "How so?" you may inquire. These
very Elders and missionaries who have gone to the nations have
kept their journals, and have recorded the miracles which God has
wrought by their hands. These are living witnesses. Those who saw
these miracles are still alive. Now, how many witnesses have you
that miracles were wrought in the days of our Savior or in the
days of his apostles who succeeded him? You have no person
outside the Church only those who, like Josephus, bore their
testimony from hearsay. Within the Church you have six witnesses.
There are eight writers in the New Testament, but only six of
these eight have borne any testimony concerning the performing of
miracles, but you believe it on their testimony. The Book of
Mormon, I presume, has more than six thousand, if not sixty
thousand witnesses to its divinity and to the miracles that have
been wrought in these latter-days. Which is the greatest? Has any
one you have ever seen at the present day had an angel sent to
him, who held up before him the tables on which the law of Moses
was written, commanding him to bear testimony to the divinity of
that law? No: no one in the Christian world makes any pretension
to anything of this kind. Then is not the testimony in favor of
the Book of Mormon superior to that which you possess in favor of
the law of Moses? Yes. We can show you witnesses, men still
living, to whom an angel appeared and told them that the Book of
Mormon was a divine record. The Christian world have no such
evidence as this in favor of the Bible, and they can not, by any
living witness, substantiate the divinity of the Bible. Moreover,
we have another advantage; the Book of Mormon was translated
directly from the original. Now, have you, either in the Old or
New Testaments, a book that was translated directly from the
original? Not one. Is there one that was translated from a
second-hand copy even? Not one. I presume there is not a book
compiled in the Bible but what went through many hundreds of
transformations before it fell into the hands of King James's
translators. How do you know that these copyists copied
correctly? You have no access to the originals. It is true that
you have Hebrew Bibles, but they are not originals; they are only
copies. They were multiplied, before the art of printing was
invented, for many generations, and the copies that were in
possession of King James's translators had perhaps been handed
down through a thousand other copies of older date, and how can
you be sure that they were correct? We are told by some of our
archbishops and learned men, who have spent their whole lives in
collecting copies of the Bible in Hebrew, as ancient as he could
possibly get hold of them. But when he came to compare them he
found about thirty thousand different readings. Almost every text
would read different in one copy from what it would in another.
Finally, he gave up the idea of making a translation at all, none
of his copies being original; and consequently when the
translators of the English Bible performed that work they did it
according to the best judgment they had, and they no doubt did it
well as far as human wisdom could, under the circumstances. Now,
then, the difference between the Bible of the West--the Book of
Mormon--and the Bible of the East--the Old and New Testament, is
that one was taken directly from the original, the other from a
multitude of manuscripts which differed almost in every text. It
would seem, then, that when God saw the human family in this
great state of uncertainty and darkness with regard to divine
revelation, it would be nothing more than consistent to suppose
that he would bring forth, by his own power, as he has done,
revelation suited and adapted to the circumstances, revelation on
which we could depend, being substantiated by witnesses raised up
especially to bear testimony thereto, that in the mouth of two or
three witnesses or as many as seemed him good, every word might
be established, that the children of men might have no excuse in
relation to these matters.
219
We might continue this subject and show you the fulfillment of
many of the prophecies in the Book of Mormon. It has been printed
now for upwards of forty-three years. During this time very many
of the prophecies it contains have been fulfilled; prophecies,
too, that no human sagacity could have perceived beforehand.
Whoever would have thought that, in this very country of ours,
under American institutions, where religious freedom has
prevailed from one end of the country to the other; who would
have thought, when the Book of Mormon was printed, that the blood
of the Saints would cry from the ground of this free American
soil, because of their persecutors? And yet it was all foretold
in the Book of Mormon. Other sects had risen and multiplied by
hundreds on the face of this land, some of whom experienced a
little persecution; but who ever heard of their being butchered
in cold blood as scores and scores of this people have been since
the Book of Mormon was printed? We were told by revelation,
forty-three years ago, when this Church was organized, that its
members would be persecuted, and hunted from city to city and
from synagogue to synagogue, and that the blood of the Saints
would cry from the ground for vengeance upon the heads of their
murderers. Has it come to pass? It has. We were told in the Book
of Mormon, which was printed many years before it came to pass,
that, if this nation would not receive this divine message when
God should bring it forth in the latter days, he would bring the
fullness of his Gospel and his Priesthood from among the nation.
We did not know how this would be fulfilled, during the first
seventeen years after the book was printed. We could read the
prophecy, but how God would ever bring it to pass, we did not
know, until the time of its accomplishment had arrived, then it
was revealed that this people should flee and leave the nation to
whom they had delivered their testimony for many years. When we
came here the prophecy was literally fulfilled. Thus we might go
on and relate prophecy after prophecy that has been fulfilled in
confirmation of the divinity of this latter-day work. The same
testimony accompanies the Bible. We believe it to be true because
of the prophecies therein that have been fulfilled.
220
Many other prophecies contained in the Book of Mormon, hereafter
to be fulfilled, are as great and marvelous as any that have been
fulfilled. One of the prophecies contained in the Book of Mormon,
delivered before there was a Latter-day Saint Church in
existence, which has been remarkably fulfilled, was that the
servants of God should go forth with this book to all nations,
kindreds, tongues and people, and gather out from among those
nations a great people. That has been fulfilled, and the
inhabitants of this Territory are a witness to the truth of this
prediction or prophecy. If Joseph Smith was an impostor, how did
he know this work would go beyond his own neighborhood? Hoe did
he know it would ever live to be proclaimed to the different
parts of the State where it originated, or where the plates were
found? How did he know that it would be preached to the
inhabitants of this great government, and then cross the waters,
to other nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues. Such a prophecy
uttered by an impostor, would be very unlikely to come to pass.
Yet such a prophecy was uttered; such a prophecy has been
fulfilled, and the nations of the earth, as well as the
Latter-day Saints, are witnesses to its fulfillment. We have seen
this people come forth year after year, crossing the ocean, first
in sailing vessels, then in steamers, by hundreds and by
thousands, until they are now almost a little nation here in the
tops of the mountains. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Albert Smith, October 6, 1873
George Albert Smith, October 6, 1873
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 6, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
A WORD OF EXHORTATION.
221
Last October Conference I asked permission to take a journey to
visit the land of Palestine, and some other portions of the old
world, expecting that I should be absent, probably, about eleven
months. I was accompanied on that journey by President Lorenzo
Snow and several others, the party including eight. We visited
Palestine and many other countries, a portion of us calling at
the Fair in Vienna. But in consequence of my selection, by the
Conference last April, to do the duties of trustee-in-trust, I
returned home a little sooner than I anticipated, though we were
all well satisfied with our journey and visit, and with every
interview we had on the entire journey, and were very thankful to
our heavenly Father that we had means given us, through his
mercy, and I, individually, through the kindness of my friends,
to make such a journey. We feel that the results would be felt
and realized hereafter, as having done much good. I feel,
individually, to return my thanks and blessings to all those who
contributed to aid me on that journey, and to all those who
desired to, but had not the means. I feel that the blessing of
the Lord, which we invoked on the poor on the Mount of Olives,
will rest upon his people, and that the time is not very far
distant when God will fulfill his promises concerning Israel;
though, so far as we saw of the remnants of Judah, their hearts
are very hard, and it will require the exercise of great power on
his part to soften them. But as his word will not fail, and his
promises are sure, we look forward to their fulfillment with
regard to Israel. In the meantime we, with all our hearts, might,
mind and strength, should take warning by the example of Israel,
and not fall into the same snares. They neglected their Tithes
and offerings, violated the Sabbath, forgot their prayers and
worshiped other gods, and for these things God cursed them and
scattered them to the four winds of heaven, and the curses rest
on the land, and, as was predicted by the Prophet, the rain has
been turned into dust.
221
We, as Latter-day Saints, having had revelation from the Lord,
and the fullness of the Priesthood revealed unto us, should be
exceeding careful that we do not neglect the Gospel, turn from
our duties, neglect our Tithes and offerings, Sabbaths and
prayers, forsake the Lord and go astray after other gods, lest
peradventure the curse of the Almighty fall upon us, and the
kingdom be rent from us and given to another people. I feel that
desolation, waste and barrenness of Palestine, and the
degradation of its people should be a lasting and permanent
lesson to us in all things, to keep the faith and obey the
commandments, to remember our Tithes and offerings, to be friends
to the poor, to remember our prayers, to remember the faith which
God has revealed unto us, and to contend earnestly for the faith
once delivered to the Saints, that we may have and enjoy all its
blessings.
221
We have had a glorious season, an abundant harvest and a good
time to gather it. The weather has been fine and agreeable, and
now, brethren and sisters, let us gather together a few days to
talk with and strengthen each other upon the principles of the
Gospel of peace. The Elders can bear testimony, for I know that
this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that God has revealed it
to us for our salvation; and our covetousness, and disposition to
make a display in the world should not interfere in any way
whatever, with us in devoting our time, talents, energies and our
all to the upbuilding of his kingdom, for that is the greatest
interest and glory, and the grandest speculation there is on the
face of the earth.
221
These are my sentiments and views. I wish all persons in the
congregation, when they see a man rise to speak, to lift up their
hearts to the Lord in prayer that the Lord will have mercy upon
us and fill that man with the power of the Spirit, that he may
speak to us directly by revelation from heaven, that every voice
that is elevated may be elevated by the power of the Almighty.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / David
McKenzie, October 7, 1873
David McKenzie, October 7, 1873
REMARKS BY ELDER DAVID McKENZIE,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 7, 1873
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVING UP TO THE KNOWLEDGE POSSESSED
BY, AND THE REQUIREMENTS MADE OF, THE LATTER-DAY
SAINTS, THROUGH THE LIVING ORACLES OF GOD.
222
I feel very thankful for the privilege of standing before this
congregation this morning, notwithstanding it is with some degree
of diffidence; yet, in common with my brethren, I have reason to
rest assured that when an Elder stands up before a congregation
with a desire to bless them with a portion of the good news that
emanates from the eternal throne, I say I have reason to believe
that that Being whom we serve and worship will not be unmindful
of us, inasmuch as we draw near unto him with confidence and with
prayerful hearts. I rejoiced exceedingly at the words of our
beloved President, President George A. Smith, when he requested
the congregation to lift up their hearts in silent prayer to
Jehovah, that the Elders might receive the words of life to give
unto the people. This is our privilege, brethren and sisters, and
it is one that I esteem of the greatest value; and when I come to
a meeting to listen to the words of truth, I make it an
invariable rule to lift up my heart in silent prayer that the
Lord will administer to us, for without his aid and assistance
our words are of very little value to the Saints.
222
I realize, this morning, that I am addressing a congregation of
Latter-day Saints. If I were speaking to the people of the world,
who know nothing about our holy religion, I might be directed to
admonish them to be baptized for the remission of their sins. But
I realize that I am talking to a people who are already
acquainted with the first principles of the Gospel. I see before
me those who have left all that was near and dear to
them--forsaken their homes, the graves of their fathers, the
associations of their friends, and have gathered here to serve
the true and living God--that Being who has revealed himself in
this, the dispensation of the fullness of times, for the winding
up of the affairs of this earth, according to the programme that
was made before the world was. Inasmuch as we have done this, and
have covenanted with God, the Eternal Father, that we would serve
him and keep his commandments, if I can give you a word of
comfort, or of exhortation, I pray that it may be so given to me
from God that it may do you good.
223
We have had some very excellent instructions given to us during
the conference. President Young brought the Gospel before us, as
it were in a nutshell, when he told us that if there was anything
good or beautiful, anything that savored of virtue and
righteousness, anything that tended to true happiness, it was a
portion of the creed of the Latter-day Saints. I use the term
"creed." It is of itself a word that circumscribes, a word that
limits, but there is no limit to our creed. It is unbounded, it
comprehends all truth that is, was or is to be. Whatsoever is
good and noble, whatsoever tends to the salvation of the children
of men and to happify their being here and hereafter, to bring
up, to improve, to increase according to the order of the Gods,
that is the religion of the Latter-day Saints, that is what
constitutes their religion.
223
It is fashionable to designate that as education which gives the
young, an acquaintance with letters, numbers, science and
philosophy; while that which tends to a future state, to happify
hereafter and to prepare us for the presence of God is called by
the world religion. With the Latter-day Saints it is all
education, or it is all religion, just as you please. That which
prepares us to live and enables us to provide for ourselves the
necessaries and comforts of life, as well as that which prepares
us for the presence of God our heavenly father, that we may dwell
with him through all eternity with us is all education or all
religion. We know not where to draw the dividing line, bearing
this fact in mind, that whatsoever is good comes from God, and
that whatsoever is evil comes from an evil source.
224
I trust that we are awake to these things, that we do not let the
time pass by unimproved, for to us is committed a great and
important work--not only our own salvation but the keys for the
redemption of the children of men from the earliest ages to the
winding-up scene. That is the work the Latter-day Saints have
before them. It is well to have this continually in our minds,
that we may not trifle away the time, but that we may be awake to
the signs that are looming up on every hand, and pointing out, as
with the finger of Jehovah, that the time is drawing near when he
whose right it is to reign will come and take the kingdom. Men
have had it a long time their own way. When I read and reflect
upon the history of the past I am led to believe that the Lord
has let men take things into their own hands to a certain degree,
to see what they would do for themselves. You all remember the
dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which Daniel interpreted, wherein he saw
a great image, the head of which was of fine gold, the breast and
arms of silver, &c. Images are the work of men's hands. To
Nebuchadnezzar was given dominion over all the earth, a kingdom
which was comparatively pure, and which was compared to fine
gold; but in process of time the kingdom degenerated, and was
weakened and sub-divided, as represented by the feet of the
image--which were part of iron and part of miry clay. But in the
last days the God of heaven was to set up a kingdom. A kingdom
that was not a part of the image, it was not the work of man, it
was the work of God, and was likened to a stone cut out of the
mountain without hands. Mark the phrase--"without hands," it was
not the work of men, it was a stone cut out of the mountain
without hands, that is, a kingdom set up by God, which was to
smite this image--the work of men, and an order of things was to
be instituted in accordance with the mind and will of Jehovah.
224
I bear testimony to you this day, brethren and sisters, that God
has set up this kingdom; that it has been revealed to me, to my
understanding, to my most positive conviction, so that it is no
longer a matter of doubt or uncertainty; but it is as substantial
and real to me as the assurance that I am. And there are
hundreds, yes, thousands in this congregation, who could bear the
same testimony were they called upon.
224
Do we as Latter-day Saints act up to this knowledge? Do we bear
in mind that we have made certain covenants with God, and that we
are responsible whether we keep them or neglect them? I am
afraid, brethren and sisters, that, although the majority of the
Latter-day Saints are doing very well, there are many men with
talents, gifts and abilities given them by God, who might be
bright and shining instruments in his hands, who are negligent
and who are wandering after idols, and are worshiping idols just
as much as the heathen who prostrate themselves before things of
woods and stone. What are they doing? Forgetful of the great aim
and object which they should have in view as Latter-day Saints,
they wander off after the things of this world, they seek to heap
to themselves riches, and spend their time as if there were
nothing beyond the vail. This course is not wise, even so far as
this world is concerned, for what is the condition of such
persons today? Their ideal does not give them that true lasting
happiness that comes from God. It brings care and anxiety, and
increases the lust for gain, and what they seek to obtain flees
further from them. The acquisition of wealth entails greater
responsibility as to what use they will make of it to acquire
still more. Looking at it in this light it seems to me a
self-evident fact, that although we are ostensibly engaged in
seeking for and promoting our happiness, we are on the wrong
track when we take a course of this kind. There is a proper
course for us to pursue in order to increase our happiness. We
have been thrown together on this planet, in pretty much the same
circumstances in many respects. We are sensitive to pleasure and
to pain, we have a desire to increase our enjoyments, and there
are many things I might mention wherein we are all very much
alike. Now don't you think that the Being who created you and me
knew of a certain plan which, if we would adopt, a certain course
which, if we would pursue, would give us the greatest amount of
happiness? It is a very reasonable conclusion.
225
What course is that likely to be? The same course that our Father
in heaven hast taken before us. How shall we get to know what
that is? Let us read the revelations, let us refer to our beloved
Savior when he was upon the earth. What course did he pursue? He
went about doing good. His admonition was to do good to all, to
love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and to do unto
others as you would have them do to you. These were some of the
principles laid down by our Savior and Redeemer. He said he came
not to do his own will, but the will of his Father. Don't you
think, brethren and sisters, that if we were to follow these
golden rules we should see a very different state of things to
what we now see? What would be the result if they were observed?
Every man would be as willing to promote the welfare and
advantage of his neighbor as he would his own. When two went to
trade together it would not be--"Now, let us see who will get the
best of the bargain," or, "I don't care what you get, I want to
get as much as I can." The desire would be that each should be
satisfied. In a state of society in which these golden rules were
observed by all, there would be no grinding the face of the poor
that the rich might pile unto themselves wealth, which is a
cankerworm; no, but we would be able to enter into the Order of
Enoch, and live it, so that we might intensify our faith in God
and receive and understand more of his will concerning us, and we
should see a state of things, which you and I have never dreamed
of, if we would overcome these feelings of selfishness which
proceed from a power that is evil and that is opposed to our
growth, and to the progress of the kingdom of God.
225
Is it within our power to inaugurate and bring to pass such a
condition of things? We have the priesthood of the Son of God
bequeathed to us for this very purpose. It is in the mind and
will of Jehovah to pour out blessings upon His people, to
increase upon them everything that is calculated to happify them
here and hereafter. He has designed to make a nation of kings and
priests, according to His promises made to Abraham. That promise
has yet to be fulfilled, and will as assuredly be fulfilled as
that the heavens are above us. He would pour out blessings on His
people, but if they are not able to receive them, alas! they
would prove curses. He has given us laws, and with every law
given there are conditions. If we magnify them, blessings are
promised, of which we are as sure to be the recipients as that we
live. Why are we required to pay Tithing? What does the Lord want
with a tenth of our substance? I will tell you what He wants with
it. He wants you and me to manifest by this thing that we are His
servants, that we respect his commandments, that we do not wholly
set our hearts on filthy lucre, but that we do willingly,
cheerfully and understandingly bring forth one-tenth of our
substance, and say--"Here am I, O Father, ready and willing to
lay down what Thou hast required of me, that I may manifest to
thee my integrity and prove that I am fit to receive more of Thy
blessings." That is the law of Tithing as I understand it. That
is the condition, that is the reward, if you please, which
attends a person who pays it.
226
Many times the Saints wonder why we do not progress faster than
we do, and sometimes it creates a feeling of regret; but I
realize that there is an abundance of things before the people
which they do not live up to. We have the oracles of God in our
midst. I may sit down and read the Scriptures of the past, the
commandments given to the children of Israel engraven on the
tables of stone, or the carnal commandments, but they benefit me
comparatively little. What you and I want to-day, and we require
to walk up to it when we get it. As I said, we have the living
oracles in our midst, and if we receive from them admonition,
counsel, and commandments if you please, that is as much the word
of the Lord to this people as is the doctrine of baptism by
immersion for the remission of sins.
226
We all look forward to the time when the Order of Enoch will be
established on the earth. But in our present condition, with our
feelings of selfishness, lusting after the things of the world,
and craving after Babylon, we cannot expect that the Lord would
have so little regard for his people as to require us to live
this law, when it would be likely to prove our condemnation. But
the servants of God who stand at the head of this people, with
hearts yearning for their prosperity, with constant prayers
ascending to God, for the advancement of his kingdom upon the
earth, have seen fit to propose that we enter into a system of
co-operation, as a step towards establishing this order that we
contemplate will exist at no distant day. What should be our
feelings at hearing of the organization of such a thing? We
should give thanks and praise to Almighty God that there is a
chance--a door opened--by which we may take a step towards
establishing the Order of Enoch. It is a step in the right
direction, and if we understood our true interests we would step
forth in that direction, we would make everything bend to it, we
would centre our faith upon it, we would give our might and our
means for the advancement of this institution called the
Co-operative Institution. It should be as the apple of our eye.
The support of this co-operative system is just as much a
commandment of God, as I said before, as the doctrine of baptism
for the remission of sins. What makes it so? Because it has been
revealed to us as such by the living oracles. And what do we care
for the printed word, as compared with the living oracles? Is it
not of more importance to you and me to know what we should do
to-day? Most assuredly. We live in the present, we live to-day,
and if we live right to-day, we are ready for to-morrow. It is of
the utmost importance that we should know how to regulate our
conduct to-day, because we are not only living ourselves to-day,
but we have our families to train, instruct and educate, that
they, in turn, in their day, may be enabled to carry out the mind
and will of God. If we understood our true interests as a people
we would know that we had not a single individual interest
outside the kingdom of God. If this fact is not apparent to our
minds it is because we are more or less in the dark. What do we
seem to possess here? I say seem to possess advisedly, because we
have no control in and of ourselves. Who can guarantee himself
one hour of existence? Who is assured of it? Even the very
ability we have to gather around us the necessaries and comforts
of life comes from God. Who of us has an inheritance? As
President Smith remarked, not a soul of us on the earth has
received an inheritance that we can call our own; and when we as
a people have an opportunity given to us to unite our faith and
energies in any one given direction, we should hail it as one of
the greatest blessings that can be bestowed upon us.
227
It is in that light I look upon the Perpetual Emigrating Fund for
the gathering of the poor--it is a Godsend to us, because we are
permitted to concentrate our faith and energies and means in one
direction to accomplish a great and a good work. It is in that
light I rejoice in the establishing of the Co-operative
Institution, because, we are privileged to unite our energies and
faith as a people in one direction, for a beneficial result. It
is the same in the paying of Tithing; and what would we be to-day
without these institutions? Have you any idea to what extent
Tithing has been the means of bringing to pass the many
improvements that have grown up around us? Many have not, but I
am fortunate enough to be thrown into that position where I am
able to see and understand and be acquainted with the figures and
I know the use that Tithing is applied to, and that it is first
and foremost in all improvements for the advancement of the cause
of truth upon the earth, and setting an example for others to
follow in the same wake, and one of the great sources of the
prosperity of this people is due to the fact that there is at
least a certain portion of Tithing paid into the Lord's
storehouse.
228
It has been remarked here that Salt Lake City is, as it were, a
battle-field between the powers of light and the powers of
darkness. I never, as an individual, felt better in my life in
this church than I do to-day. I care nothing about the outside
pressure so far as I am individually concerned, and I notice with
the Saints who are awake, that the greater the opposition the
stronger they get in the things of God. It is very true the young
are growing up around us, and they have not had the experience of
those of riper years, and are liable to be led astray. There is a
great responsibility resting upon the parents of the young that
they set their children wise and prudent examples; that they
admonish them of the evils that are extant and that are
encroaching upon the people to-day. When we see Babylonish
fashions coming in amongst us we should be very careful that we
avoid setting our children the example of patterning after them.
If we find that our young folks must run after fashions, let us
go to work and set them some good examples, create fashions for
ourselves that they may pattern after. Just reflect, sisters, for
one moment, who is it that inaugurate the fashions which some of
our so-called ladies patronize on the streets of Salt Lake City
to-day? Where do those fashions come from? Would you like to be
looked upon in the light those poor creatures are who inaugurate
those fashions? If you must pattern after something, pattern
after the good, righteous and pure, and shun the very appearance
of evil. I will tell you one thing that we may pattern after
profitably. A savings bank has been opened in this city. It is
gotten up for a wise purpose, the people may therein throw their
means together, and peradventure if they want to send for friends
and relatives abroad, when the day rolls round to do so they will
have something they can use for this laudable purpose. There is
something to pattern after, involving a principle of saving,
husbanding your resources. By putting your pennies together, by
and by they become a pound. It is like the units of the actions
of this people--when they are all aggregated together they amount
to a mighty effort. Save your pennies instead of throwing them
away on these foolish trifling vanities. It is the case with some
of my brethren and sisters, they can not allow a dollar to stay
in their pockets a minute. They want to go to some of the stores
to lay it out on some trash, for it is a fact, patent to all,
that this is the day of humbuggery, and the things you get in the
stores are more or less counterfeit and sham, outside show and
gingerbread gilt instead of sound, substantial things that we
ought to seek after. For instance, the cloth that we wear, you go
to a store and buy an article of wearing apparel, how rare it is
that you can get the thing that is represented. No, you get a
sham, a counterfeit, an imitation of the genuine stuff, and that
is just what the world is rapidly coming to. By and by there will
be nothing among them but sham and counterfeit. Let us prefer,
rather, that which is good and substantial, that which we can use
and which will be a benefit to us rather than that which is only
for display. Let us seek, brethren and sisters, after these
things which will benefit and improve our condition to-day, and
leave Babylon alone.
228
I tell you that if we would keep ourselves to ourselves, you
would see very few of those institutions flourishing in Salt Lake
City that are springing up around us that are now getting the
patronage, I am afraid, of some of the Latter-day Saints. Let me
beseech you, for your own sakes, and for the sake of Israel
abroad to quit patronizing Gentile institutions and abominations,
and turn your attention to building up the kingdom of God, for
therein is your true interests, therein are all the interests you
have on the earth for time and for eternity.
228
May God bless us and help us so to do is my prayer in the name of
Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Hyde, October 5, 1873
Orson Hyde, October 5, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT ORSON HYDE,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday morning, October 5, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
AFFAIRS IN SANPETE COUNTY--"ONE-MAN POWER"--UNITY
REQUIRED AMONG THE PEOPLE.
228
As this day's service may be considered introductory to our
Conference, which will commence to-morrow, I have been requested
to make a few remarks. I cannot say whether they will be few or
many, but let this be as the good Spirit of the Lord will. I am
very happy to meet with my brethren in Salt Lake City, and from
the adjoining settlements, and I presume, ere our Conference
shall come to a close, all the Branches of Zion throughout the
Territory will be duly represented here.
229
I have come from a point about one hundred and forty miles
southeast of here. The people of my immediate field of labor, I
am pleased to say, are generally healthy. There is some little
sickness among our children, and some of them have been called
away; but as a general thing, among the adult population, there
is good health. We have had a peculiar season, yet very passable
crops, and a most beautiful time to gather them. This year, so
far, we have had peace with the Indians, for the first time for
quite a number of years, and I do assure you that it is a relief
to us. The Indians had an idea that they could do with us as
seemed them good--prey upon our substance and murder our men,
women and children whenever they felt like it, and the military
of the Government would wink at it, because they thought the
Government wanted to get rid of us; anyhow, they seemed to
entertain little fear with regard to the consequences of the
crimes which they committed amongst us. But last year, when
General Morrow and a few companies stationed here at Camp
Douglas, came and paid us a visit, it rather led the Indians to
think that it was not altogether as they had considered it, and
though there was no fighting done, from the fact that the Indians
retreated, and hid themselves, yet the presence of the soldiers
was a protection to us while we gathered the most abundant
harvest that ever crowned the labors of our people in that
section, and it was a very good thing, and the Indians begin to
think, perhaps, that the soldiers would chastise them if they did
not behave well. But from the sudden and expected recall of the
troops from our county, and the apparently unwillingness of the
Government to grant us any compensation for years of military
service rendered in the defence of our settlements, in which
time, nearly one hundred of our men, women and children, were
mercilessly slain by the red-skins, besides hundreds of thousands
of dollars' worth of stock driven off by them,--some of our
people were foolish enough to think that the Indians were more
than half right in their views. Be this as it may, it is all in a
lifetime, and will come out right in the end. I feel thankful
that we have had peace with the red-men, and that no particular
depredations have been committed by them since, with the
exception of a dozen or twenty horses which they have stolen.
229
We are not mining in Sanpete County. I do not know whether there
are any mines there or not; we do not trouble ourselves a great
deal about that, and consequently we are not afflicted with
people who will dabble with mining, some of whom, when
disappointed, will resort to stealing and other crimes. We have
not that class amongst us, and I am glad of it, yet the more men
who come amongst us with good and honest hearts, the better. It
matters little whether they are Jews or Gentiles, if they possess
honest hearts, we are apt to convert them and bring them into the
Church. That has been the case up to the present time, and the
consequence is, there are very few outsiders there.
230
The Co-operative stores established in our various settlements
are a great blessing to us. They bring whatever we want, right to
our doors, and although the dividends are not very great in favor
of the stockholders, the benefits resulting from the
establishment of these institutions afford us ample remuneration
for the advance of the capital necessary to commence the
business. We do not increase rapidly in wealth, but we increase a
little at a time, especially when the Indians let our stock
alone. Our Co-operative Institutions are doing a very safe and
good business. I do not think that any of them in Sanpete County
are very much in debt to the parent institution in this city. I
have cautioned them against it, and advised them to pay fairly
and squarely, and not to trust their goods out, but to do a
close, safe and secure business, that every person may be
accommodated with what he wants; and if they should not happen to
have what we need in every store at the time, they will kindly
bring us whatever we send for, especially when we give them the
money to operate with. This is all that we can expect. Our books
are open, and have never been closed against the admission of
capital. Stock is for sale in every institution in Sanpete
County, from twenty-five cents and upwards, and our little boys
and girls, taking advantage of the opportunity thus presented,
put in two bits once in a while, and by and bye it gets up to
five, seven, eight or ten dollars; and they can get a share, and
there is quite an effectual door open for our youngsters to begin
and show their financial ability. This is a blessing and an
accommodation to the people.
230
Well, brethren and sisters, I will say nothing further about the
part of the country from which I came, but I will make a few
remarks upon the idea of our being a peculiar people. You know
that we are regarded as such, and if we look upon ourselves from
a proper point of view, we shall readily admit that in this
respect outsiders have given us an appropriate name; for we are a
peculiar people whom God has chosen to serve and honor him. But
the form of government of this people a great many have taken
serious exceptions to: they think that one man is armed with too
much power, and sways an influence over so many that it becomes a
dangerous power and should be suppressed. I was reading, a few
weeks ago, a statement made by a reverend gentleman living in
Provo, and the most serious thing he had to complain of--and he
complained of a great many things--was the one-man power which
exists, and is tolerated and sustained in Utah.
231
I wish to speak a few words in relation to the one-man power, and
in the first place I will say that it is what every aspirant,
politician and statesman labors to acquire. I do believe that Mr.
Grant, as good a man and as brave a soldier as he is, if he could
get the hearts of all the people so that they would rally round
his standard and sustain and uphold him, it would be the pride
and joy of his heart. But if any man is thwarted in the desires
of his heart in this respect, that is no reason why he should
oppose others who may be more successful than he in gaining
influence over his fellowmen. All men love money, you know, more
or less, hence they are digging here in the mines to obtain it. I
have no fault to find or censure to bestow upon them for this
operation; they are anxious to obtain money. Some only get a
little, very little, while others, perhaps, make their millions.
Now let me ask, Should the few who are fortunate and gain their
millions be cast out and crushed because of their financial
power, because they have struck a good lead and have been
successful, by the many who have gained only a few dollars, or
who, perhaps, have lost instead of gained? If, then, this
principle is to be tolerated in financial matters, why not when
applied to influence and power in general?
231
I read that, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth. It seemed to be a kind of one-man power that was engaged
in the very act of rolling creation into existence. I do not know
how much of Democracy or of Republicanism there was in the
beginning, I was not there that I know of, or if I was it was so
long since that I have forgotten it. Judging by the accounts we
have of matters then, the government was a kind of one-man power;
and if we look at things as they really are, we shall find that
sin entered the world, and death by sin, and that was by one man.
Oh, that was grievous! That drew a veil of gloom over the face of
creation. That was one-man power. By and bye we read of another
one-man power that came along and counteracted this, and that was
the Lord from glory--another kind of one-man power.
231
Now, while I compare these things with the present order of
things which exists throughout our world, I do not wish to be
understood as depreciating our own government, for it is the best
earthly government in existence upon the face of the earth. It
was ordained, organized and suffered for a wise purpose in God
our heavenly Father, which, perhaps, I may be able to exhibit to
you ere my remarks shall come to a close; but be this as the Lord
will, I do not wish to say one word against our government; it is
a good government, it answers the times, and fills a vacuum that
perhaps nothing else could. But I am looking at matters as they
were from the beginning.
231
You know Jesus, when the Jews asked him about divorce and
marriage, told them that Moses permitted them, for certain
causes, to put away their wives; but he also told them that it
was because of the hardness of their hearts that Moses permitted
this, but that from the beginning it was not so. Now whether it
was because of the hardness of men's hearts, or because of the
softness of them, I am not going to say, but I want to show the
order of things as they were in the beginning, and as they
emanated from the bosom of the Almighty. That which was first
must be last, and that which was last must be first--a similar
order of things, redeemed, rescued and brought out of chaos, and
returned to the Father as they came from him, for he will accept
nothing unless it be what he gave; for, said the Savior, "Every
plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted
up." Hence, he will receive nothing only what he gave. He gave us
immortal spirits, he sent them down here to be tabernacled in the
flesh, and he expects that they will return to him, and they all
will in some grade, return to him who gave them.
232
Well, the Savior of the world came to counteract the acts of the
first Adam. And what was the nature of the work he had to do?
Why, to bring life and immortality to light, to resurrect the
dead, and to implant a hope of eternal life in those who trusted
in him; and this, be it known to you, was accomplished by one-man
power. Ye Roman soldiers who guard the tomb, ye Jews, who had a
temporary triumph by the death of him whom ye crucified, know
that the angel of God descends, the stone is rolled away from the
door of the sepulchre, the Lord of glory rises, the dark curtain
of death is rolled away and gives place to life and immortality,
which dawn upon the world, in the person of the resurrected
Savior. This was produced by one-man power. Said this one man in
view of the responsibilities that were upon him, and smarting
under the pangs that he endured--"Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be
done." Why did not that one-man power resist the mind of his
Father and say,--"Do you think I am going to lay down my life, to
sacrifice my existence to please you? No, I have an independent
mind and will, and I am resolved to gratify them." That would
have been in accordance with the ideas of our day, but it did not
correspond with the programme of the Eternal Father, and the
object of his only begotten Son in coming to this world was to
accomplish and carry out his part of that programme. "Not my
will, but thine be done." This should be the feeling of the
Latter-day Saints in relation to the requirements of heaven upon
them. "Not my will, but thine, Oh God, be done." If the world
reproach you for submission to the will of God, refer them to the
Savior, whose motto was, "Not my will, but thine be done." How
much honor and glory does the Savior of the world enjoy at the
present time? It is beyond the conception of mortal man. But how
much would he have enjoyed, and who among us would have had
salvation had he faltered in his hour of trial and said--"I will
not submit to this sacrifice?" Despise not this one-man power,
for before I come to a close I shall endeavor to show to you that
every son and daughter of Adam will be compelled to bow to it,
and the more they fight against it, the harder it will be for
them to submit to them in the end. Take it kind of moderately,
then, and look at it in its true light.
233
Now, my friends and brethren, I want to tell you that our country
is a republic, and not a despotism, although some say it is
rapidly approaching to that. I cannot tell how that is, I am not
much of a politician, and do not give myself a great deal of
concern about it. But I comfort myself with the idea that the
Lord rules anyhow, and that he will, in time, leave all things as
he designs to have them, and hence I take little interest in
politics. But one thing I will say, that is, that when the
Government of the United States, although it is republican, has
any very difficult task to perform, in which the interests of the
country are largely at stake, it casts off republicanism and
adopts despotism. Perhaps you may think that is slander, but I
will suppose a case to illustrate the truth of my proposition.
For instance, the fate of the nation is suspended upon an
important battle about to be fought. Now, what kind of a
government prevails in that army? The most vital consequences
hang upon the issue of the battle, and that issue depends, to a
very great extent, upon the orders of the commanding General
being carried out. He issues his orders, and his subalterns are
required to carry them out rigidly. The soldiers who constitute
the army must submit in every respect, they have not the right,
by virtue of their own opinion, to file off and deviate, in the
least degree, from the orders of the commander. The same is true
of the subaltern officers, and if any of them should adopt such a
course they are subject to be tried by court-martial and possibly
to be executed. Where is the republicanism or democracy in this?
I tell you that when it comes to a vital point republicanism has
to be laid aside, and the one-man power has to be strictly
obeyed.
233
Go, if you please, on board the ships of war of the United
States, and what kind of government will you find there? There
again the one-man power is absolute. I recollect reading an
anecdote of General Jackson, when defending New Orleans against
the British. He put the city under martial law, and in so doing
some said he exceeded the bounds of his authority. I can not say
whether he did or not, I do not care whether he did or not; any
way he saved the city and obtained a victory. But in preparing
for defense he took cotton bales out of the warehouses and made a
breastwork of them. A certain planter came to New Orleans at that
time, and hearing that his cotton bales had been taken by the
General, he made a terrible ado about them, and finally went to
the commander-in-chief of the American forces and requested that
they be returned. Said General Jackson--"Have you any cotton
bales in our breastworks?" "Yes, sir, I have so many, and they
have been taken from the place where they were deposited without
my permission." The General turned to an officer standing by, and
said he--"Sergeant, furnish this man a musket and an outfit." The
articles were brought. "Now, sir," said General Jackson, "if you
have any cotton bales here, step into the ranks and defend them."
That was one-man power, and it was a noble exercise of it, it
showed that the commanding general had the interest of the
country at heart. You see, whenever there is a vital question at
stake, and matter of life and death are involved, the one-man
power has to be introduced in spite of everything, and that is
all right.
233
Well, we expect that the work of God in the last days will be
more important and will involve more vital questions than any
other that has been undertaken or accomplished on the earth, and
consequently the one-man power will be most loudly called for in
connection with it, and Heaven seeing this has given power and
influence to his servants. Have they got it by the sword or by
oppression? No, but they secure it just as the sun secures its
votaries. In the cool or cold seasons of the year, the reptiles
and many animals seek protection in dens and caves and retreats
of various kinds, and they are not allured therefrom by the
lightning's flash or the thunders of heaven; but when the rays of
the glorious sun again warm and revivify the face of nature,
these animals and reptiles again come forth to bask in his
enlivening rays. So it is with the servants of the living God.
They do not obtain influence over the hearts of the children of
men by the sword or musket, but it is the light of truth,
distilling like the dews of heaven, and warming the hearts of
those who love truth that gives this influence, and you and I
like to be under it. When I have been in the cold shade and
chilling winds, I like to come out to the friendly sunshine, it
is just as natural for me as it is to live, and this is the
reason why the Latter-day Saints rally under the influence of the
one-man power. There is the light: there are the rays that warm
the heart, cheer the afflictions, open up prospects for the
future, and make life agreeable.
234
Now, I want to show you that we have all got to obey it. If you
can get rid of death and scale the walls of eternity without
passing through the dark valley of the shadow of death, then
perhaps you may escape this one-man power; but if you cannot do
that, you can not escape it. I will quote you Scripture to show
that such is the case. In the last day, the Lord will gather the
inhabitants of the earth, just as a shepherd gathers his sheep;
and in the process of gathering some will be gathered who may be
likened to goats, while those who love to do the Master's will
may be called the sheep. A separation will take place between the
sheep and the goats, the sheep will be put on the right hand, and
the goats on the left. It may be said that goats are very good,
their skins are useful and their flesh is fit for food, but still
they are goats, they are not sheep, they do not produce wool, and
they are separated from the sheep. So the people of the whole
world will be separated, and the righteous, or the sheep, will be
placed on the right, and the wicked, or the goats, on the left.
When that separation time comes, we will see who will obey and
who will not obey the one-man power. Says the Lord, the Righteous
Judge, to those on the right hand--"Come ye blessed of my Father,
and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the
foundation of the world. Do you think they will need any urging
to obey? I do not think they will. I hope I shall be among them,
I shall be happy to see you there too. "Come ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the
foundation of the world." Oh, joyful invitation! A heavenly
influence rests upon us, and the light of joy beams upon our
countenances. He now turns to the goats, and instead of saying to
them, "Come, ye blessed of my Father," they hear the dread
sentence, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels." Do you think
they will go? I am inclined to think they will be compelled to
go; I think they will have to obey this one-man power.
234
Now, do not be displeased, jealous, or angry, because God has
selected men and placed them in the front rank to plead the cause
of Zion. Let God have his own way, and it will be better for you
and better for us all. The old Prophets were very singular men,
they liked to have things their own way, because they had their
commissions from heaven, and they liked to execute them, and God
bore them out in it.
235
The other day I sent a note, a friendly warning to the New York
Sun. It was published and, I believe, copied it to some of the
papers published in this city, and yesterday I was reading the
objections to it in one of them. I will tell you what their
reasoning made me think of. When I was between six and seven
years old, fatherless and motherless, I was kicked and cuffed
about the world, and grew up a good deal like a wild plant, with
very small opportunity for cultivation, except that which I have
accomplished by my own efforts. When I was a little fellow, I
recollect there was a man by the name of Michael Hughes, who
professed that, on a certain day, some six weeks from that time,
the world would come to an end. It disturbed me, for I was only
six years old, and I turned every way to get comfort and
consolation; there was quite an excitement among grown people
upon the subject. There was a certain lady teaching school in the
neighborhood, by the name of Miss Pindison, and I remember I sat
down to reckon in my own mind whether her school would be out by
the time this man said the world would come to an end, and I came
to the conclusion that it would not come to an end because Miss
P--'s school would not be out. And when I read the wonderful
arguments in this city paper about railroad communication and the
interests which the same would call into action, and the
influence they would have in overturning "Mormonism," I could not
help thinking about my childish conclusions in regard to the end
of the world and the lady's school. The Lord does not care so
much about railroads; I do not think he will delay the
accomplishment of his purposes to accommodate any railroad
institution, but he will do all he desires regardless of this,
that, or the other.
236
Now, my brethren and sisters, in the midst of all the conflicting
scenes that transpire around us, the mining operations,
speculations and worldly pride and vanity which are multiplying
on every hand, remember the words of the Savior--"Except ye are
one ye are not mine." No doubt some of you have had vessels
containing a little oil, and you may have dropped in, by accident
or design, a few drops of water, and then, in the same vessel,
you have had oil and water, but no matter how much you shook
them, they would not unite. Why? Are they not both liquids? Yes,
but they will not unite, because they are dissimilar in their
natures, and there can be no chemical union between them. I have
heard men say, and correctly too, no doubt, that they were
thankful they had a name and a standing in the church of the
living God. I am thankful for the same to-day. But is that all? I
want to show you that here is a man, for instance, who is
required to pay his Tithing, and says he--"I will pay just enough
to save my skin, to same my name and character, I will not pay a
full Tithing, but just enough to whip the devil round the stump."
Here is another man who comes up and pays a full Tithing of
everything that he has. Let those two men sit down and talk
Tithing matters over together, and will their spirits run
together? Are they not in the same vessel--the same Church? Yes.
Well, do their hearts, spirits and interests unite? No, they are
like the oil and the water in the same vessel--they are distinct
and they will not amalgamate. This will serve to illustrate a
great many other things which, for want of time, I am not
disposed to follow out. But one thing I will name, and that is in
regard to plural marriage. A great many men say--"Oh, well, I can
get along, I can live, and I believe I shall only have one wife."
Well, that is your privilege, nobody compels you to take more
than one; but with the commandment of the Lord before us like a
blaze of light, can we disregard it and serve him acceptably? If
we can, then why not retain those laws and commandments in
heaven, and not send them down here to earth? These commandments
are sent for our good, for our salvation and exaltation. Here is
a woman who, in speaking of celestial marriage, says, "It will do
very well for others, but it will not do in my house;" "it may do
very well for somebody else, because her feelings are not quite
so fine as mine, she has been differently raised from what I
have." I do not know that the Lord will pay any particular
respect as to how we are raised, and how fine and delicate our
feelings may be, or how coarse and uncultivated they may be. I
believe that if we submit to the law of heaven, that law has
power to refine us and to fit us for immortality and eternal
life. That is my opinion. Now hear this good sister, she
says--"It will not do for me, I am not going to submit to it."
Another sister says--"I am willing to submit to the law of
Christ." Let these two sisters come together and talk over the
law of marriage, and see whether their spirits will run together.
They will no more run together than water and oil will unite.
236
Says Jesus, "Except ye are one, ye are not mine." Here is a black
man and a white man, raised in the same house, but is that any
argument that they are both white or both black? No, it is no
argument whatever. Under the sound of my voice to-day there may
be the best men that ever lived, and there may be, for aught I
know, just as bad as ever lived. I hope not. But then, because we
are within the walls of this house, does that signify that we are
blended together in heart and spirit? No, no more than it proves
that oil and water will unite. If I understand it correctly, we
have to be blended together, united together completely in heart
and spirit. I recollect once a man coming to me with a water
melon in his hand. I looked so green, good and fine, thought
I--"We will have a feast on this watermelon." But as he came near
I caught a glimpse of it somehow, and discovered that it had been
plugged and the inside taken out, so that instead of a
watermelon, he was bringing a mere shell. There was the
appearance of a watermelon, but, alas! there was no meat in it,
it had all been dug out. Now, it is not the form of the union
that the Savior wants among his people; that will not suffice; it
is the marrow, the fatness we want, and then we can be melted
into one, and this is what the Savior meant when he said, "Except
ye are one ye are not mine." But tares will grow in the same
field with the wheat, yet remember that tares are not wheat,
neither is water oil. Come what will, life or death, or whatever
it may be, never mind, trust in God, and he will bring you out
all right.
236
I am thankful for this privilege of saying a few words. I hope I
have done no harm, and that I have not said anything that is
contrary to the will of God, or to the feelings of the pure in
heart, for they are just as sacred to me as the law of God, and I
do not want to unnecessarily offend the ungodly; but I am not so
particular to spare or shield them. I want to tell the truth, and
bear a faithful testimony. I have been in this Church about
forty-three years--almost from the beginning, for I was baptized
into the Church on the 31st of October, 1831, and ordained the
same day and sent to preach the Gospel, and more or less, most of
the time since, I have been engaged in that work. I used to be
very active and spry, but now I have got to be old and clumsy,
and I cannot travel about much. I have to be very careful of
myself and keep rather moderate and still. I yet enjoy life, and
have very good health, but an inclination of blood to the head
causes a flush on my countenance, which some may regard as an
indication of better health than I enjoy. But you know all men
try to put the best side out, and women too; and if nature, in
her operations, has caused a flush of health to bloom on my
countenance, it is only following the fashions of the
day--putting the best side out. God be thanked that it is as well
as it is.
236
Heaven bless you, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Albert Smith, October 7, 1873
George Albert Smith, October 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 7, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE WORD OF WISDOM--EDUCATION.
237
I feel a deep interest in the subjects which have been brought
before us this morning by the Elders who have spoken, as well as
in every discourse that has been uttered since the commencement
of the Conference, and I hope that the impressions which have
been made will be lasting. In relation to intemperance, we, all
of us, as Latter-day Saints, should observe the Word of Wisdom;
and if we do not observe it, we lay a foundation to weaken
ourselves. You will see young persons come to the table in the
morning, and they want some tea or coffee, or a cup of good,
strong, warm drink. A habit of this kind has, perhaps, already
been acquired by them, and it is likely to continue until they
become slaves to it. In a little while it affects the complexion,
it weakens the mind and the body throughout, and lays the
foundation for a weaker generation to follow. Of course it is no
use to talk to men about tobacco. It takes a man of energy to
quit chewing tobacco, a man who has a mind and independence; boys
who undertake it seldom accomplish it, though they are very
foolish ever to indulge in the habit.
238
I feel like exhorting my brethren and sisters to abstain from
everything prohibited in the Word of Wisdom, and to live in
accordance with its principles as near as our climate and the
productions of our country will permit. So far as intoxicating
drinks are concerned, it is worse than madness and folly for men
to indulge in them. There is something comparatively innocent in
tea, coffee or tobacco, when compared with intoxicating drinks.
Of course a man who uses tobacco freely for years gets an
appetite for liquor; he lays a foundation for an appetite for
liquor, and after a while he craves it and must have it. He
should let tobacco alone in the start; but yet tobacco does not
make a man insane in a minute. Some of our most promising
business men, who have come to Salt Lake City at different
periods, have carried themselves to untimely graves by indulging
in intoxicating drink. Men whose voices have been heard in the
Tabernacle, men who have rendered service in the offices, and who
have been honored, have died like a dog in a ditch, or in a most
degraded manner, in consequence of indulging in intoxicating
drinks. A man says to another--"Come, take a drink." "No, I don't
wish any." "Oh, don't be so pious, come and take a drink with us,
don't be a coward;" and so, for fear of being a coward, he takes
the drink. Shame on such a man! Why not quietly say--"No, I do
not need it;" and if the invitation is repeated, say--"No more of
that, gentlemen," and be man enough to let it alone, rather than
yield and let a habit creep upon him that will destroy him. I
have heard men say--"I can drink, or let it alone;" then let it
alone; but some of those who can "drink or let it alone" will get
drunk every day. They have sold themselves to the cursed alcohol.
Let the Elders of Israel cease this habit and learn wisdom. When
you come to meet the presence of your Father in heaven, when you
wish for the rewards of your Priesthood, you who have not obeyed
the Word of Wisdom will wail at the loss you have sustained in
consequence of your folly. Think of these things, continue to
think of them, pray over them, and set an example before your
children that is worthy of imitation. If an old lady of seventy
comes to my house at Conference, and I get her a cup of tea, if
there is a girl there of fifteen, she will want to drink with
grandma, and she will think she must have it because grandma
does. This has been my experience in times past. I do not have it
now; I do not get tea for people, unless they pretend to be sick,
then I tell my folks to make them a tin cup full of good, strong
catnip tea. That is a rule I have prescribed. I do not know how
my folks keep it. I certainly do not intend to place any
restrictions on them any further than their own wisdom dictates.
But if they use these things they do it in violation of my advice
and run their own risks, and so do all others.
238
I say, brethren and sisters, let us observe the Word of Wisdom.
We are doing a great business in tea, coffee and tobacco in the
Co-operative Store. When we first established it we thought we
would not sell tobacco at all; but pretty soon the Superintendent
asked the Directors if he might not bring in some poor kind of
tobacco to kill the ticks on the sheep. Shame on such Latter-day
Saints, so far as tobacco is concerned.
238
I will say a word in relation to the colleges which brother Jesse
N. Smith spoke about. As he said, we have struggled against many
difficulties as far as education is concerned, and our university
and our colleges, so far, have simply been schools for the
education of teachers in the primary branches. We have sometimes
employed professors and taught many different branches. But a
great effort has been made to educate teachers for primary
schools, and some of them have taken great pains to inform
themselves. They have held associations and got up a normal and
training class, have given lectures, and this summer they spent
six weeks voluntarily to instruct each other.
239
It has been the uniform custom of the General Government to give
the different States public lands and money to a liberal extent
for educational purposes. None of this has ever been made
available for Utah; we have had to carry everything by our own
individual effort. Now that there are many young men and women
among us who wish to study more advanced branches than we have,
as yet, been able to organize, they would like to go to famous
seats of learning in distant parts of the country for that
purpose. A co-operative effort is now required on the part of the
people, as a matter of domestic economy, to establish schools of
a higher order, and to provide the professors and apparatus
necessary to impart instruction in the higher branches of
learning, that our young people may be able to obtain the
education they desire at home; for while they would go away and
spend five or six hundred dollars a year each, the same amount
expended here would establish schools for the higher branches,
and cut off a large proportion of the expense in all time to
come. We would like to have all the Wards and settlements
consider these questions, and make it a matter of real interest
to bring about an organization and to supply the means necessary
for this object.
239
In the foundation of a country it is necessary, of course, to
look well to its primary schools; we have tried to do this, we
are still doing it, and, I believe, considering their
circumstances, the people of Utah have done more for education
than the people of any other Territory.
239
May the blessing of Israel's God be upon us in all our efforts to
guide our children, in all our efforts to maintain the principles
of temperance, to observe the Word of Wisdom and keep the
commandments of God, and to establish such schools and colleges
as shall enable us to advance in all branches that are useful,
for our religion includes every good and true principle. There is
no principle on the face of the earth or in heaven that is true,
but what belongs to "Mormonism." May God enable us to do these
things as we should, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Daniel
H. Wells, October 6, 1873
Daniel H. Wells, October 6, 1873
DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT DANIEL H WELLS,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 6, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE SAVING ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL
240
It is with great pleasure I rise to bear testimony to the great
truths that have been announced here this morning. The President
has given some reasons for the testimony that he has borne, and
the testimony that the servants of God bear to the truths of the
everlasting Gospel. I, too, can say that I know this to be the
Gospel of the Son of God, which is the power of God unto
salvation. The great plan of salvation, devised by our heavenly
Father before the world was organized, when it is said the stars
sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy, has again
been revealed in accordance with the prophecies of the servant of
God. The Lord made his own selection, he chose from among the
children of men whom he would, and Joseph Smith was the favored
individual who received the visit of the angel bearing to this
generation the Gospel of salvation to be preached unto those who
dwelt on earth. It was taken away in fulfillment of prophecy. If
it had not been taken away what necessity would there have been
to restore it? If it had not been taken away the Apostle could
not have seen in the future the angel flying through the midst of
heaven, bringing it back to earth to preach to all nations,
kindreds, tongues and people. We bear testimony that it has been
restored. It is not a new Gospel--it is that which existed from
the beginning, and which was devised before the world was made
for the salvation of those who should come to dwell upon the face
of the earth.
240
It is true that the terms of the Gospel are inexorable. Every son
and daughter of Adam will have to bend the knee to this plan of
salvation, either here or somewhere else. The ordinances of the
gospel pertain to this existence, and they have to be attended to
in the flesh or by those in this state of existence. Except a man
is born of water he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
There is no getting around this, it is the declaration of the
Savior, the Son of the Living God, and I count that this is
pretty high authority. Every man and every woman, including those
who have died and passed behind the veil without hearing the
Gospel, before they can enter heaven, will have to render
obedience to the Gospel ordinances, and as they cannot be
administered to in the spirit, those in the flesh will have to
administer for those in the spirit. You cannot grapple a spirit
to baptize it, neither can you perform the sealing ordinances in
the spirit, hence the Savior said there was neither marrying nor
giving of marriage in the resurrection. It is an ordinance
pertaining to this state of existence, and by those dwelling in
the flesh upon the earth have all these ordinances to be
performed. If they are not by ourselves during this life they
must be done by some one acting for and in our behalf still
existing in the flesh, and in the authority of the holy
Priesthood, which has come down from heaven.
240
The acts and ordinations of that Priesthood are just as
legitimate here as in any other state of existence. It is the
same authority as exists in the heavens. Through the authority of
the everlasting Priesthood, channels have been opened up between
the heavens and the earth, by which we may seal upon earth, and
it is sealed in heaven. This is the same authority that has
always existed in the Church and kingdom of God when it has been
upon the earth. Why? Because it is the same authority that exists
in the heavens; it is the authority by which the Gods are
governed, and by which the worlds are organized and held in
existence. It has been conferred from time to time upon the
servants of God in the flesh, to enable them to perform the
ordinances which pertain to this state of existence, and reach
back again within the vail.
241
Having been called of God we stand ready to administer the
ordinances of the Gospel and of the house of God to the children
of men; we stand ready to bear off this Gospel to the nations of
the earth, this great plan of salvation devised by our Father.
There has never been any other, and there never will be. Men have
tinkered at it, and tried to change and pervert it; but their
efforts do not change God's plan, it is like its author--the same
yesterday, to-day and forever. God is the fountain of truth,
righteousness and grace. All true science and every good thing
emanate from him. It is from this heavenly source we draw our
information and our inspiration, and, as a matter of course, it
comprehends everything good and worth having. Within the kingdom
of our God is everything enjoyable that is lasting. If we do not
build upon his basis, then are we lost, because it is the only
foundation that will stand. Everything else will be swept away in
the due time of the Lord. The people are suffered to go their own
way, to walk after the imaginations of their own hearts, to do
this and do that, because they are agents unto themselves, to do
as they please. We can accept these principles or reject them; it
makes no difference in regard to their truth. They are true,
whether we receive or reject them, and they are calculated to
save all the children of men. The plan is ample and will save all
who will let it; and if we are not saved by this we shall be
condemned.
241
Now may God help us and all the nations of the earth to see the
light, that we may all come to a knowledge of the truth and be
saved in his kingdom, is my prayer for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / George
Q. Cannon, October 6, 1873
George Q. Cannon, October 6, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER GEORGE Q. CANNON,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 6, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE CHARACTER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST--TESTIMONY IS
GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT--TRIALS TO BE ENCOUNTERED AND
SACRIFICES TO BE MADE IN ORDER TO PROVE THE FAITH OF THE
SAINTS--THE LOVE OF WEALTH.
243
The subjects that have been dwelt upon this morning are such as
must interest every one who has a desire to comprehend the
principles of salvation, as believed in and practiced by the
Latter-day Saints. To my mind there has been an evidence of their
truth accompanying every word that has been spoken. The Spirit of
God bears testimony to the things of God, and there would be no
difficulty in convincing the inhabitants of the earth of the
truth of the principles believed in by the Latter-day Saints,
were it not for tradition and the prejudices which exist in men's
minds in relation to the truth. Let a man start out with the
Bible in his hand, determined to receive the truth wherever it
may be found, and commence examining the various institutions and
churches that exist among men, and he would, if he believed the
Bible, and were not prejudiced by tradition and education, expect
to find, when he found the Church of Christ, a Church organized
in every respect like that of which the New Testament gives us an
account. He would expect to find Apostles and Prophets, and the
ordinances of baptism, and the laying on of hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost in that Church; he would expect to
find the gifts of prophecy, revelation, tongues, and
interpretation of tongues, healing, wisdom, the discernment of
spirits, and all the gifts that existed in the Church of Christ
in ancient days. He would look for just such a church as this,
and if he did not find it he would conclude that that church has
been withdrawn from the earth. The evidences that abound in the
Scriptures all go to prove that this was the character of the
Church of Christ in ancient days, and that there should be no
change, for the Scriptures tell us that God is the same to-day,
yesterday and for ever, and that if men, in this day do the same
things--exercising the same faith as they did in ancient
days--the same blessings will follow their obedience. If we
examine the Bible there is nothing to sustain the idea that there
should be any change in any of these things; and when men hear it
proclaimed that God has restored the everlasting Gospel, and they
have a desire in their hearts to comprehend the truth, there is a
spirit accompanies the testimony of the servants of God which
bears witness to their spirit that these things are true. But
immediately another spirit steps in, and the reflection arises in
the minds of many--What will my parents, relatives or friends
say? what will the world say if I believe this doctrine? There is
ignominy associated with belief in these doctrines. There is
shame to be encountered if I go forward and join a people so
despised as these. What will men say of me? In what light, shall
I be viewed? These reflections arise, and the testimony of the
truth is extinguished in the hearts of many. It requires,
therefore on the part of the people now, as in ancient days,
great strength of mind, great moral courage, and great love of
the truth, an overpowering desire to obtain salvation, and the
Spirit of God to aid them, in order to enable people to receive
the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence it is that so few,
comparatively speaking, in every age have received the truth. It
requires courage to sustain men when opposed by every kind of
treachery and of violence. It required courage to enable men to
go forth to the stake, to be cast into dens of wild beasts, or
fiery furnaces, to be crucified, beheaded, sawn asunder, or to be
exiled as was John the Revelator. It required, in ancient days,
and it requires it in our days, this kind of sublime courage to
enable men and women to receive the truth; and in view of all
this, we can see and comprehend the truth of the words of the
Savior when he said--"Strait is the gate and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it," and
"wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat." It has been
so easy for men to reject the truth and flow with the current; it
has been so easy for men to spread their sails, catch the popular
breeze and glide before it; and it has been so difficult for men
to stem the tide of opposition which they have always had to
contend with when they have embraced the truth, that it requires
on our part, brethren and sisters, devotion to the work which God
has restored. Every man and woman who has entered this church,
however ignorant and illiterate, and has been humble and truly
repented, has received a testimony from God that this is the
truth. God bestows his holy Spirit upon those who obey his Gospel
as he bestows light upon the earth. There have not been a
privileged few, there has been no hierarchy, there has been no
monopoly of knowledge, for some exclusive set to receive while
the rest would be destitute; but it has been diffused like the
blessing of air--it has been to all who have believed it, and
every man and woman has received a testimony for himself and
herself respecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it has been
revealed and taught in these last days. Hence you travel from one
end of this Territory to the other and you find all the people
bearing testimony, when called upon, that they know this is the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, restored in its ancient purity
and simplicity. You go to foreign lands, and they bear the same
testimony everywhere. Illiterate, humble, uneducated, weak men
have gone forth, and proclaimed this truth, authorized by God,
and God has condescended to confirm the truth of their testimony
and administrations among the people, and we are now brought
together in this land. We are surrounded by peculiar
circumstances, we are in a place to be tried and tested, as we
never have been before. There are many tests, temptations and
trials now assailing the Latter-day Saints, with which they never
had to contend before. We have had mobs, expulsion from our
lands, from the temple of God that we reared, and from the
pleasant homes which we had created, from the graves of our
friends and kindred whom we buried after they had fallen victims
to the land which we had redeemed from the condition in which we
found it. We have passed through these scenes and there has been
but little faltering considering the circumstances we have had to
contend with. Men have bravely stood all these things, and feeble
women have been filled with courage and strength to pass through
these privations without their faith failing them.
244
I hope that we shall not have such scenes to endure again. I pray
that we may be delivered from the violence of our enemies, that
they may not have power over us again as they have had in the
past. But we must make calculations on having trials and
difficulties to contend with, and having tests for our faith to
be endured and passed through. We can not expect to accomplish
the work that God has laid upon us without being tested and
proved. Men and women need not expect that they will attain unto
the glory which God has in store for the faithful without being
tested in all things. If we have a weakness, or anything about us
that is not thoroughly sound, we may expect that sooner or later,
that weak spot in our nature will be found, and we will be tested
to the very uttermost. If we expect to sit down with Jesus and
the Apostles and those who have fought the good fight of faith,
and who have laid down their lives for the truth in past ages, or
in our age, we must expect, like them, to be proved and tried in
all things, until everything in our nature that is drossy shall
be purified, and we be cleansed and made fit to sit down with
them, pure and holy--their peers.
244
Can I then, or can you, give way to lust? Can you love the world
and the things of the world more than you do the things of God?
Here is the danger that is before us as a people--it is the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the lust of wealth, the
fondness for worldly ease and comfort. We are being assailed by
these trials. As a people we are increasing in wealth. Wealth is
multiplying upon us on every hand. I know of no people, to-day,
who are prospering as the Latter-day Saints through these valleys
are. God as blessed our land, rendered it fertile, and made it
most productive. He has placed us, in the centre of the
continent. We occupy the key position, and may be termed the
keystone Territory or State of the West. Wealth is pouring into
our lap, and we can not help being wealthy, that is, if we follow
the course that has been indicated to us. We are as sure to be a
wealthy people as that the sun shines. It is the inevitable
consequence of our positions, habits, union, &c.
244
There are more dangers in wealth than in mobocracy. There is more
danger in having abundance of money, houses, lands, comforts,
carriages, horses and fine raiment, than in all the mobs that
every arrayed themselves against us as a people from the
beginning until we came here. We should realize this, and there
is only one way to escape the evil consequences thereof. Wealth
has ruined and corrupted every people almost that ever lived and
attained unto power. It has sapped the foundation and vitality of
the most powerful peoples and nations that ever existed on the
face of the earth. We are human as they were; we are exposed to
the same trials and temptations as they were, and we are liable
to be overcome as they were; and the only safeguard for us is to
hold everything that we have subject to the counsel and will of
God our heavenly Father, until a different order of things shall
be instituted among us as a people.
245
I see young men growing up, and in their growth is the love of
wealth, the love of ease and worldly comfort, and the desire and
greed for money. I will tell you that the man who has the greed
or hunger for money within him, and does not repress it, can not
be a Latter-day Saint. A woman who has the love of finery and of
earthly ease and comfort within her, and that is the paramount
feeling in her heart, can not be a Latter-day Saint. No man can
be a Latter-day Saint in truth and in deed who does not hunger
after righteousness and the things of God more than he does after
everything else upon the face of the earth; and whenever you see
or feel this money hunger, this dress hunger, this hunger for
worldly ease and comfort in yourselves or others, you may know
that the love of God is being withdrawn from you or them, and
sooner or later it will be extinguished, and the love of the
world will grow until it becomes predominant. I do not know
anything more corrupting than this greed, hunger and lust for the
things of this life, or anything more degrading and debasing in
its effects, except it be the love or lust for women. As a people
we believe that lust for women is, next to murder, shedding
innocent blood, the most deadly of all sins. Committing whoredom
or adultery destroys the man who indulges in it, and next to
that, in my estimation, is the love of wealth--the lusting after
the things of this life; and there ought to be, and is in every
rightly constituted nature, a constant warfare against this evil.
We have this to contend with. We should watch it in our children
and in ourselves, and we should endeavor to govern and bring all
our feelings and desires into such a position that they can be
controlled by the love of the truth.
245
God has most wisely designed, in my humble view and opinion,
that, as a people, we should be called upon from time to time to
make sacrifices, in order that we may be weaned from the love of
the things of this life, that our love may be concentrated upon
Him and upon the salvation of our fellow-men, for the mission
that is entrusted to us is to save the inhabitants of the earth.
And what a glorious field spreads out before us in this
direction, when we see the thousands of poor, perishing souls who
are dying for the want of the blessings that we enjoy. We build
Temples, we organize emigration societies, and expend our means
that we may be the instruments in the hands of God of saving and
bringing salvation to the inhabitants of the earth--our brethren
and our sisters.
245
God required Abraham to sacrifice that which was most dear to
him, and he will also require at our hands that which is most
dear to us. If you have wealth, and are increasing in wealth, one
of the best things, under such circumstances, is to be always
particular in doing that which God requires of us. He requires of
us one-tenth of all that we have. Let us be liberal in this. He
requires that we shall pay means for the emigration of the poor
from the distant nations of the earth. Let us be liberal in this
also. Then, if he requires our time and talents and all that we
have, let us be willing to devote ourselves to his Work, for he
blesses us with everything that our hearts desire. There is
nothing we have ever desired as individuals or as a people, that
has been good for us, and proper that we should have, that he has
withheld from us. On the contrary, he has multiplied blessings
upon us, and he will make us wealthy if we will only be devoted
to him. There is no danger that we shall not become wealthy, the
danger is that we shall become wealthy and not be willing to use
our means to his glory and for the advancement of his kingdom.
That is the danger with which we are threatened.
245
God bless you, my brethren and sisters, in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Joseph
F. Smith, October 7, 1873
Joseph F. Smith, October 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER JOSEPH F. SMITH,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 7, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN ARE INTENDED FOR ALL THE
SAINTS--THE LATTER-DAY WORK AN INDIVIDUAL WORK--MEN
AND WOMEN ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN ACTS--OBEDIENCE
IS ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION--THE PRESENT SINFUL CONDITION
OF THE WORLD THE RESULT OF DISOBEDIENCE--COUNSEL TO THE
SAINTS ON THE NECESSITY OF LIVING EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE
BUILDING UP OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
F. Smith
To say I have been very much interested in the instructions that
we have had at this Conference is but faintly to express my
feelings. We have had much very excellent teaching, which we will
do well to give heed to. I can not believe that the congregations
that have attended this Conference will cast lightly aside these
teachings. Certain it is that all the preaching that can be done
by those who are most competent, and most richly endowed with the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, will not benefit the people in
the least, unless they will receive it, and will realize that the
counsels which are given are designed expressly for themselves.
It is not for us to say, "that does not mean me," and "that
applies to my neighbor;" or "that has reference to the doings of
so and so." We should each feel that the instructions given have
direct reference to ourselves individually; that counsel or that
commandment is for me, and it is for me, as an individual, to put
it into practice. This is the only course that will benefit, and
fit us for the responsibilities that will devolve upon us in the
future. It will not do for us to say--"If brother so and so, or
sister so and so, will observe and carry out that counsel, I
shall be satisfied to remain as I am." We can not obtain
blessings from God by taking this course; the only way to secure
them is by diligence on our own part. When we are prepared, by
our own works and diligence, to receive the blessings that God
has in store for the faithful; then, and not till then, shall we
receive them. It will not do for us to be satisfied for our
brother to prepare himself to receive the blessings God has
promised to his children, and to rest content with seeing him
receive the light of truth, the blessings of the Gospel, and
manifest a willingness to work righteousness in the earth. That
will not reach us, only so far as we adopt his course and follow
his example.
F. Smith
This is how I look at the requirements which God has made upon
his people collectively and individually, and I do believe that I
have no claim upon God or upon my brethren for blessing, favor,
confidence or love, unless, by my works, I prove that I am worthy
thereof, and I never expect to receive blessings that I do not
merit. Who does? I do not know that anybody does, yet if we were
to judge by the actions of some, we must come to the conclusion
that they are satisfied by seeing others live their religion.
F. Smith
I love the society of the good, honorable and pure, of those who
love virtue and work righteousness. To associate and be numbered
with such and to have my portion and my lot with them in this
life, and to live so that I can secure that association in the
life to come, throughout the countless ages of eternity. I take
no pleasure in the society of the wicked, for this reason--the
pleasures of the wicked will cease and be forgotten, and the
wicked will die and will not be regretted, their names will be
cast out from the presence of God and from the throngs of the
righteous for ever and ever. I therefore, want no part with them,
but I want to cast my lot with those who are securing to
themselves eternal riches and happiness. To obtain these
blessings I must be found walking in their footsteps and
following their examples, otherwise I shall come short.
F. Smith
This is how I understand the principles of the Gospel and the
work we are engaged in. It is an individual work. You and I must
secure the blessings of eternal lives for ourselves, through
obedience and the mercy of God. We have the volition of our own
wills and we can choose evil or good, the society of the wicked
or that of the good; we can enlist under the banner of Christ, or
under that of Belial. We have this option, and can do whichever
we choose. Therefore we must look well to our ways, and see that
we choose the right course, and build upon a foundation that will
not wash away. We have got to learn to stand or fall for
ourselves, male and female. It is true that we are taught in the
principles of the Gospel that man is the head of the woman, and
Christ is the head of the man; and according to the order that is
established in the kingdom of God, it is the duty of the man to
follow Christ, and it is the duty of the woman to follow the man
in Christ, not out of him.
F. Smith
But has not a woman the same volition that the man has? Can she
not follow or disobey the man as he can follow or disobey Christ?
Certainly she can, she is responsible for her acts, and must
answer for them. She is endowed with intelligence and judgment,
and will stand upon her own merits as much so as the man. That is
why the brethren, during this Conference, have been teaching the
sisters that they must refrain from the fashions of Babylon. They
must use their own judgment and agency as to whether they will
obey this counsel or not. If they will not obey it, they will be
responsible as much as the men are responsible for their acts.
The man is responsible for the woman only so far as she is
influenced by, or is obedient to, his counsels. Christ is
responsible for the man so far as the man walks in obedience to
the laws and commandments he has given, but no further, and so
far will his atoning blood redeem and cleanse from sin; so far as
they obey them will the principles of eternal life revealed in
the Gospel have effect upon the souls of men, so also with women.
So sisters, do not flatter yourselves that you have nothing to
answer for so long as you may have a good husband. You must be
obedient. Obedience is the first law of heaven. Without it the
elements could not be controlled. Without it neither the earth
nor those who dwell upon it could be controlled. The angels in
heaven would not be controlled without it, and in fact without
obedience there could be no union or order, and chaos and
confusion would prevail. When we are obedient we may be guided to
the accomplishment of all that is required of us by our heavenly
Father, for it is on this principle that the designs and purposes
of God are accomplished. The elements are obedient to his word.
He said "Let there be light and there was light." He commanded
the land and the waters to be divided, and it was so. When Christ
commanded the storm to be still, and the sea to be calm the
elements were obedient to him. The earth, and all the worlds
which God has made are obedient to the laws of their creation,
for this reason there are peace, harmony, union, increase, power,
glory and dominion, which could not exist without obedience. For
the lack of obedience the whole world to-day lies in sin, for
except, the little existing among this people, obedience can not
be found on the face of the earth. Go to the religions of the
day, do you find obedience manifested by the people? No, but you
find man everywhere self-willed and untractable, therefore
confusion and anarchy reign. It is said in the Scriptures that
all things are possible with God; but he only works in accordance
with the principles by which he himself is governed; and hence he
can not convince nations of the truth against their will. As the
poet says--
F. Smith
Know this, that every soul is free,
To choose his life and what he'll be;
For this eternal truth is given,
That God will force no man to heaven.
He'll call, persuade, direct aright,--
Bless him with wisdom, love and light,--
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind.
F. Smith
That is the way that God deals with man, therefore I say, he
cannot work with this generation. They have set him aside and
made themselves supreme. They have fulfilled the words of the
prophet Paul, when he said that "In the last days perilous times
should come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affections, truce-breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God; having a form of Godliness, but denying the power
thereof," &c.
F. Smith
No one could better describe the condition of this generation,
and yet light has come into the world, but it is rejected, and
for this reason the world lies in sin, and under condemnation.
The people of God lie under condemnation too, so far as they are
disobedient to the counsels of God's servants. We talk of
obedience, but do we require any man or woman to ignorantly obey
the counsels that are given? Do the first Presidency require it?
No, never. What do they desire? That we may have our minds opened
and our understandings enlarged, that we may comprehend all true
principles for ourselves; then we will be easily governed
thereby, we shall yield obedience with our eyes open, and it will
be a pleasure for us to do so.
F. Smith
The Lord does not accept obedience from men except that which
they render cheerfully and gladly in their hearts, and that is
all that is desired by his servants. That is the obedience we
ought to render, and if we do not we are under condemnation.
F. Smith
What matters what the world say in regard to us? Nothing.
What do I care? Have I spent thirty years of life, with the
opportunities that have been afforded me, and am yet ignorant of
the way of eternal life. If I have, then I am to be pitied. "Why
then," says the blasphemer, "do you yield obedience to the
servants of God?" Because it is meat and drink to me to do so.
Because it is for my safety and for my best good. I ask no odds
of the world. I have learned that it is the very best thing that
I can do, and I should be a fool indeed not to do that which is
for my best good. I intend to do it, and I do not care what the
world say about me.
F. Smith
I am sorry to say that there are some of those who profess to be
Latter-day Saints, who meet with the Saints on the Sabbath and
partake of the Sacrament, witnessing that they are willing to
take upon them the name of christ, and to follow him through evil
as well as good report, and yet in their hearts they oppose the
plans and projects of those whom they pretend to uphold and
sustain. I know and could call the names of some of these men.
Shame on them! I say, in the name of manhood, come out and show
your colors! Say you will not be obedient, and cease to be
hypocrites, cease lying in the presence of God, and trying to
deceive yourselves and your brethren. Tell us what you are, take
your stand where you belong, and do not deceive the unwary. You
can not deceive those who have the Spirit of God, for they can
discern your hearts.
F. Smith
I love the cause of the Gospel. I love this people, because of
all others on the face of the earth they have enlisted under the
banner of King Emmanuel. They have covenanted with God to keep
his commandments, and they are the most willing of any on the
face of the earth to hearken to God's inspired servants. I love
them for this reason, and I want to be identified with them, not
only in time by throughout eternity. Without them I would have no
home, no friends, I want none without them.
F. Smith
Let us keep the commandments and counsels that have been given to
us, let us not be hearers of the word only, but let us be doers
of it as well as hearers. Let us put away the foolish fashions of
the world, live up to the truth, and seek to find out God, whom
to know is life eternal. The road to this knowledge is obedience
to his laws and to the whisperings of the still small voice in
our own hearts. That will lead us into truth if we will hearken,
and do not blunt the monitor that is within us. Let us do our
duty, and be for God and his kingdom. Let our motto be--"The
kingdom of God or nothing." Because in the kingdom there is
everything, and outside of it nothing at all. We heard here, the
other day, from the President, that the Gospel embraces every
thing that is good and true or desirable to the pure in heart. I
have said that outside the kingdom of God there is nothing, but
there is something. What is it? Disappointment, sorrow, anguish
and death, and everything that will make us miserable; while
everything that is good, desirable and worth possessing eternally
is to be found only in the Gospel of Christ.
F. Smith
Says one, "Do not people who are not Latter-day Saints have a
great many blessings and enjoy a great many good things?
Certainly they do, they enjoy gold, silver and worldly
honors--they have a plentitude of greenbacks, houses, lands,
carriages, horses, luxury and ease; Dives had all these, in this
world, while Lazarus crawled at his feet and begged for the
crumbs that fell from his table; but afterward Dives lifted up
his eyes in hell and saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosom enjoying the
good things that he had formerly possessed in the world, and he
begged Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in
water to alleviate his parching tongue. But even this poor boon
was denied him, he being informed that there was an impassable
gulf between them; and said Abraham to Dives--(in effect,) "When
you were in the flesh you had Moses and the Prophets, you had the
Gospel preached to you, but you rejected and refused to obey it.
You had your good portion and your enjoyments in the world, now
you are denied them, they are given to Lazarus." How long do the
honors, wealth, and pleasures of the worldling last? Until death
claims him for its own, then he ceases to enjoy them, because he
has failed to secure his title to them, they have not been sealed
upon him by the authority of the Priesthood of the Son of God,
which has power to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven. If
they have wives and children, when death calls them they are no
longer theirs, because they have not been sealed unto them by the
power of God. They do not obey the truth, they do not receive the
ministrations of the Priesthood, and consequently they are
deprived, not only of their wealth, but of their wives and
children.
F. Smith
We are not living only for the few miserable years that we spend
on this earth, but for that life which is interminable; and we
desire to enjoy every blessing throughout these countless ages of
eternity, but unless they are secured to us by that sealing power
which was given to the Apostle Peter by the Son of God, we cannot
possess them. Unless we secure them on that principle, in the
life to come we shall have neither father, mother, brother,
sister, wife, children, nor friends, nor wealth nor honor, for
all earthly "contracts, covenants, bonds, obligations, oaths,
vows, connections, and associations," are dissolved in the grave,
except those sealed and ratified by the power of God. It is said
in the Scriptures that the earth and its fullness are the Lord's
and that they are to be given to the Saints of the Most High God,
and they are to possess them for ever and ever.
F. Smith
You know that those who have not faith in the Gospel call us
exclusive and uncharitable; they say--"You cast out all except
those of your faith." Then enroll yourselves under the banner of
King Emmanuel, to whom the earth and its fullness belong, and
when it shall be given to the Saints of the Most High God, you
will come in for your share, and only in that way can you do so.
Obedience to the Gospel of Christ is the only way to secure
blessings for the life that now is, or that which is to come. We
are not talking in parables, neither are we ignorantly repeating
the words of the ancient Apostles. Our declarations are founded
upon modern revelation and inspiration, and we know whereof we
speak. We know that angels have come to earth and that God has
spoken in our day, that he has raised up Apostles and Prophets,
restored the holy Priesthood, and shown himself to man and
revealed his truth to those who dwell on earth. We know these
things, it is this that makes us bold to declare it to the world.
We are not ashamed of it, because we know it is the power of God
unto salvation.
F. Smith
May God help us, and all who love the truth, to keep an eye
single to his glory and to the building up of his kingdom on the
earth, that we may be among those who shall be counted worthy to
possess the earth and its fullness for ever and ever, is my
prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 / Orson
Pratt, October 7, 1873
Orson Pratt, October 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER ORSON PRATT,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 7, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
TEMPLES TO BE BUILT TO THE NAME OF THE LORD--THE
LOCATION OF THEIR ERECTION, AND THE PURPOSES FOR
WHICH THEY SHALL BE BUILT.
251
I will call the attention of the congregation to a portion of the
word of God contained in the third chapter of Malachi--"Behold, I
will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me,
and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple; even
the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold he shall
come, saith the Lord of hosts, but who may abide the day of his
coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth, for he is like a
refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He shall sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi and
purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness."
252
I have read these words, because of the peculiar prophecy which
is contained therein, of what the Lord will perform about the
time of his coming. A prophecy that the Lord would come, and the
nature of that coming should be such that but a few comparatively
will be prepared to endure that day; that when he does come, he
will have a Temple on the earth, to which he will come. A part of
the programme which was read yesterday morning, if I recollect
right, for the Elders to speak upon during Conference, was in
relation to building Temples. The building of Temples of the Lord
is promised in his word, for there we read that in the latter
days he would have a house built on the earth. I know that in the
ears of this generation it will sound very strangely to talk
about the Lord having a house built on this globe of ours; yet we
have such a promise, strange as it may be, and that when the Lord
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, and shall
sit as a refiner's fire and as fuller's soap on the sons of Levi,
to purify them as gold and silver, he will, in that day, come to
his Temple, and come very suddenly. That shows, at once, that he
must have a Temple on the earth in the latter time.
252
There are two other Prophets, beside Malachi, who have spoken of
the house of the Lord. Isaiah, in his second chapter, refers to
the building of the Lord's house in the latter days. I will
repeat the passage--"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
nations shall flow unto it. Many nations shall say, 'Come, let us
go up unto the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God
of Jacob, and he shall teach us of his ways and we shall walk in
his paths;" and "the Lord shall rebuke strong nations afar
off"--meaning nations at a great distance from Jerusalem, where
the Prophet delivered the prophecy. "He shall rebuke strong
nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into
ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more." The fourth chapter of Micah contains a similar
prediction, which it is not necessary for me to repeat, as it
reads, almost word for word, like that in the second chapter of
Isaiah, showing plainly and clearly that in the latter days God
would have a house built on the earth.
253
Perhaps there may be objections by our Christian friends to the
Latter-day Saints proclaiming in the midst of Christendom that
the Lord intends to have a house built on the earth. They will
probably say--"He has hundreds of them, and has had for many
generations. God has houses scattered here and there throughout
all the Christian nations, and there never has been a time since
the days of the Apostles but what the Lord has had a house,
either at Corinth, Athens, or somewhere else; and you can read
the inscriptions upon them as you pass through the towns and
cities of Christendom." These houses are called the houses of
God, or Jesus, the church of St. John, St. Peter, St. Paul, St.
Mark and others, and all of them are considered the houses of
God. Would to God that this were true! Would to God that he had
given some directions concerning the building of some of these
houses! But alas! when we come to inquire concerning their
origin, we find that they were built by uninspired men, that the
architecture and everything pertaining to them has been devised
by the cunning and wisdom of men. Ask them if God commanded them
to select the particular location on which one of these houses
stands? They will say--"No, God does not direct now-a-days. There
was a time when the Lord did direct in such matters, but now we
have wise men, we have bodies of learned men who have studied
theology. We do not need the Lord to interfere in our day; he
don't speak anything to the people in the age in which we live;
these houses were constructed according to the best plans and
architecture we were acquainted with by our wisdom, without any
commandment or revelation from the heavens." Very well, then the
Lord has nothing to do with them. What I understand by the
building of a house of God, is to build one after the pattern
that he shall give. I do not mean a pattern that was given in
ancient times, but one given to the very people to whom the
revelation comes to build a house to his name. Has such been the
case with the houses of worship throughout the Christian nations?
Not in one instance. You may travel all though this great
Republic, from one end thereof to the other, and among all the
Christian denominations who deny new revelation, is there one
house which God commanded to be built? Indeed these very
prophecies would seem to indicate that, in the day when they
should begin to be fulfilled, there should be no house of the
Lord on the earth. Is it not a peculiar kind of a saying that in
the latter days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be
established in the tops of the mountains, and be exalted above
the hills? It shows that for a long period prior to the erection
of the house of God in the mountains, no such thing could be
found on the face of the whole earth, and it was needful for the
Lord, in the latter days, to begin a work of that kind. No place
for Jesus to come to. He is to come in the clouds of heaven, in
flaming fire, in power and great glory, clothed upon with all the
brightness of the celestial heavens; his face will outshine the
sun, and cause it to withhold its light in shame. No place for
this glorious personage to come to--no Temple prepared into which
he can come. When he does come, however, this work will have been
accomplished--he will come to his Temple suddenly. It will not be
like his first coming. Then, instead of coming to his Temple
suddenly, we find him born in a very low condition, not even in
the common mansions or dwelling-places of the inhabitants of
Palestine, but in a stable or manger. When he visited the great
Temple at Jerusalem, when about twelve years old, and also after
he began his ministry, when about thirty years old, instead of
sitting upon the sons of Levi and purifying them as gold and
silver in a furnace of fire, that they might offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness, who was it who rejected the son of
God in that day? The sons of Levi. They cried out against and
persecuted him; they were his greatest enemies; they crucified
him. They were not purged and prepared to offer in the Temple of
the Lord an offering in righteousness. The glory of God did not
appear in their midst, and their offerings were not acceptable in
that Temple before the Lord, but he found his house, in that day,
a den of thieves, occupied by money-changers and brokers,
speculation going on in the midst of the house of God, and he was
under the necessity of making a small scourge and driving them
out by whipping them. Not so in the latter times, when he comes
to his Temple. In that day, when the mountain of the house of the
Lord is established in the tops of the mountains, it will be an
indication of a great period of peace, a period which is so often
spoken of by the mouths of the ancient Prophets, in which nation
shall no more lift up sword against nation, when they shall no
longer have use for firearms or weapons of war, or anything that
is calculated to destroy life; but these deadly implements will
be converted into useful articles of husbandry. Nation will not
lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any
more. That time has not come, and such a period was never known
on the earth.
254
There is another thing connected with the building of the Temple
in the latter-days. When it is built, on the place, and according
to the pattern that the Lord shall designate, it will be so
strange to the nations, that they will actually come up from all
parts of our globe. Many of them will say one to another--"Come,
let us go up to the mountain of the house of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob." "What do you want to go up there for?
Why do you want to travel several thousand miles across land and
sea to go to the mountain of the house of the Lord?" "That he may
teach us of his ways, that we may walk in his paths." "Can you
not be taught in his ways in your own chapels, which you have
built in England, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Austria, or wherever
you may have resided? Can you not worship in your own chapels?"
"Oh, no, there is no house of the Lord, we have no teachers
authorized of God, no Prophets and Apostles inspired by and
called of God to officiate like the ancient Apostles; no one to
say to us 'Thus saith the Lord God,' by new revelation; no
visions are manifested among us; no angels have honored our
houses of worship with their presence; no glory, no fire
descending from heaven to light up these chapels and sanctuaries
which we have built, and we have lost all confidence in our
teachers, consequently let us go up to yonder mountain on which
God's house has been built, and when we get there, he will teach
us in his ways, and we will walk in his paths." "Is the only
object you have in going to the mountain of the house of the Lord
to receive teachings?" No, there are other things to be attended
to in the house of God or in Temples that may be built in the
tops of the mountains besides teaching. We have a great many
important duties to perform pertaining to the house of God,
duties that can not be performed anywhere else acceptably in his
sight.
254
Would you like to know some of the uses of these Temples or
houses of God? I will read a little from one of our modern
revelations, given through Joseph Smith, in Nauvoo, on the 19th
day of January, 1841. I have not time to read the whole of the
revelation, but will select a few sections. Speaking of building
a house to his name, the Lord says--"Verily I say unto you, let
all my saints come from afar"--this we have fulfilled so far as
the gathering is concerned.
255
"And again, verily I say unto you, let all my Saints come from
afar; and send ye swift messengers, yea chosen messengers, and
say unto them, Come ye, with all your gold and your silver, and
your precious stones, and with all your antiquities; and with all
who have knowledge of antiquities, that will come, may come, and
bring the box tree, and the fir tree, and the pine tree, together
with all the precious trees of the earth; and with iron, with
copper, and with brass, and with zinc, and with all your precious
things of the earth, and build a house to my name, for the Most
High to dwell therein; for there is not a place found on earth
that he may come and restore again that which was lost unto you,
or which he hath taken away, even the fullness of the Priesthood;
for a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my
Saints, may be baptized for those who are dead; for this
ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me,
only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to
build a house unto me. But I command you all, ye my Saints, to
build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to
build a house unto me, and during this time your baptisms shall
be acceptable unto me."
255
I want this Conference to understand that it is not only the
Saints who are here assembled, but all in this Territory, and
wherever our settlements extend, all who have entered into
covenant with the Lord are under this command. I will read
further.
255
"But behold, at the end of this appointment, your baptisms for
your dead shall not be acceptable unto me; and if you do not
these things at the end of the appointment, ye shall be rejected
as a Church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God. For verily
I say unto you that after you have had sufficient time to build a
house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead
belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the
foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be
acceptable unto me, for therein are the keys of the holy
Priesthood, ordained that you may receive honor and glory. And
after this time, your baptisms for the dead, by those who are
scattered abroad, are not acceptable unto me, saith the Lord; for
it is ordained that in Zion, and in her stakes, and in Jerusalem,
those places which I have appointed for refuge, shall be places
for your baptisms for your dead.
255
"And again, verily I say unto you, how shall your washings be
acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you
have built to my name? For, for this cause I commanded Moses that
he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them
in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed
which had been hid from before the world was; therefore verily I
say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your
baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your
memorials for your sacrifices, by the sons of Levi, and for your
oracles in your most holy places, wherein you receive
conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning
of revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor,
and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the
ordinance of my holy house which my people are always commanded
to build unto my holy name."
255
It seems to be a standing command to the Saints, wherever they
may be located, to build a house unto the Lord, wherever there is
a stronghold pointed out for the gathering of the Saints, such as
Kirtland, Nauvoo, Jackson County, Mo., and other places which are
mentioned in revelation. The Lord has commanded his Saints in all
these places to do a work, which will be effectually accomplished
in due time. They are always commanded to build a house unto the
Lord.
256
We have been here twenty-six years and have only a foundation and
a few tier of rock laid towards a house of the Lord. It is true
we have a large tabernacle which will contain some fifteen
thousand persons when they are closely seated, and the standing
room also occupied. But this is not a Temple of the Lord. We meet
here to sing praises, and to be instructed in our duties as
Saints, but this is not a house of ordinances; it is not a house
for the baptism of the dead or in which the Saints receive their
washings and anointings; it is not a house in which you will
receive statutes, and judgments, and laws pertaining to the
kingdom of God. God has ordained a building of a different
pattern wherein laws, statutes, judgments, and ordinances are to
be revealed for the benefit of his people. "And verily I say unto
you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine
ordinances therein unto my people; for I deign to reveal unto my
Church things which have been kept hid from the foundation of the
world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fullness of
times."
256
I think that portion of this revelation which I have read, will
give you a general idea of the sacredness of the house of the
Lord, which is to be built in the latter times, a place wherein
the angels may come and visit, as they did in the ancient Temple;
a place wherein you can receive all those ordinances which the
Lord has revealed, and which he will, hereafter reveal, from time
to time, preparatory to the great day of the coming of the Lord.
257
Now let me mention over some few things which should be
administered in the Temple of the Most High. Marriage, for
instance, is an ordinance of God. We know it to be not only an
ordinance administered among the various nations according to
their civil laws, but know also that it is a religious ordinance,
administered by authority from God. If any one wants any proof on
this point let him read the 6th verse of the 19th chapter of
Matthew. "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder."
It seems, then, that in marriage there is such a principle as the
Lord officiating through his servants, in joining persons in this
sacred and holy ordinance. There are a great many marriages that
may answer the requirements of the civil law of different
countries and nations, and there are some marriages performed
even in our Territory, but the Lord has not directed them,
neither has he directed his servants in their administration. He
has not particularly forbidden these marriages, he permits and
suffers them, but he has no particular hand in their performance.
Do you wish me to explain this matter? I will. For instance, in
the distant settlements of the Territory oftentimes a young man
and woman desire to be married. They go and find a justice of the
peace, or an Elder of the Church, as the case may be, and he
officiates in the ceremony and marries them, somewhat similar to
what people are married among the various nations. Does God
really accept of this marriage, or does he merely suffer it to be
so, for the time being? Has he joined them together, or has the
justice of the peace, by virtue of his civil office? "How is it?"
Says one--"I suppose it must be a legal marriage." It is legal so
far as the laws of the Territory are concerned. If a young man
and woman in any part of this Territory wish to be married, there
is nothing illegal in a justice of the peace performing the
ceremony, he has a right to do it, according to the laws of the
Territory. But is it legal in the sight of heaven? No, it is not.
Why not? Because God has appointed a place in which this sacred
ordinance should be administered, and he has appointed certain
authority to officiate in its solemnization, and a certain form,
when it is done in the place and by the authority he has
ordained. It is then legal in the sight of heaven, then they are
married or joined together, not for time alone, but the union is
to exist throughout all the ages of eternity. This is the real
order of marriage. This is one of the purposes for which God has
commanded us to build a house, that our young people may have the
privilege of entering into that sacred union not only for time,
or until they are parted by death, but that they may have a legal
claim, by virtue of the marriage covenant, upon each other after
the resurrection.
257
Some may say--"I think I will wait until after the resurrection
and then I will secure me a wife for eternity; or perhaps I will
merely marry a woman here for time, and put off the eternal part,
until after the resurrection." What says Jesus on this subject?
"In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage." Why not? Because that is an ordinance, like baptism,
that must be administered by those in the flesh. If, while in the
flesh, we fail to secure to ourselves the remission of our sins,
and the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost by going down into the
water and being baptized for the remission of our sins, by one
having authority to administer this ordinance, we can not attend
to it in our own persons after the resurrection. That is an
ordinance that cannot be administered after the resurrection; if
it is not done until then, it must be done by some person still
living in the flesh, for and in behalf of the one who has gone
into the spirit world. Those in the spirit world have no claim
upon blessings for eternity, unless they are secured while in the
flesh. It is so with all the ordinances pertaining to eternity,
they must be performed in the flesh, and not in the next life.
Hence if an individual is so unfortunate that he fights against a
principle, or becomes careless and indifferent; or if he goes to
a justice of the peace, thinking that he will secure to himself a
wife for eternity, he is grandly mistaken; and if he dies, having
been married according to this form, he has no promise whatsoever
that, after the resurrection, he will have a wife; for in that
world, this sacred ordinance cannot be attended to.
257
Another thing which I wish to explain is, that, in the sight of
heaven, their children are illegitimate. Of course they are
legitimate according to the laws of the country. Such children
can claim the property of their parents, they are the legal heirs
to the property descending from parents to children by virtue of
the laws of the country. But when I say illegitimate I mean in
the sight of heaven. Now, all you young people who have been
married in this Territory or abroad, by justices of the peace, or
even by Elders of the Church only for time, when you have the
opportunity of coming up here to the house of God, and receiving
these ordinances, and do not, your children are illegitimate in
the sight of heaven.
258
Perhaps you may enquire, "What is there to be inherited in
eternity that makes it really necessary that our children should
be legitimate, so far as divine authority is concerned?" The Lord
our God is a God of law, his house is a house of order; and all
blessings, and honor, and glory, and inheritance, that are to be
received in the eternal worlds must be according to divine law
and divine ordinances, and whosever complies with the law of
heaven has a legal claim in eternity. That which is performed by
man, without divine law, however perfect human law may be, has no
bearing upon eternity. Man's works are one thing and God's works
another. A blessing bestowed upon men, such as the legitimate
heirship to the property of their parents is one thing, and a
blessing bestowed by the Eternal Father in the heavens is
another. He performs all of his works by law, and he bestows
blessings upon his children, by ordinances and by law. It must be
secured here in this life, if we secure it at all in our own
persons.
258
It may be said, "I do not understand this principle. What will
become of our good fathers and mothers who have gathered up from
the nations that were married before they heard this Gospel?"
"Indeed, were they married?" "Yes." "How?" "According to the laws
of their respective nations. Their offspring are legitimate, so
far as the civil laws of their native countries are concerned,
but they are not husbands and wives for eternity in the sight of
heaven." "How are you going to remedy this?" asks the enquirer.
"In the house of God. Temples or houses of God must be built to
remedy this thing." "How can it be remedied there?" They must be
married over again, not according to the laws of men or nations,
but according to the laws and institution of heaven." "Will that
make their marriage legitimate?" "Of course." "But they have many
children before they gather up here; you tell us they are
illegitimate: how are you going to remedy this?" "God has
provided a remedy for all children born out of the covenant."
"What do you mean by that?" enquires one. "I mean the new and
everlasting covenant of marriage, that has a bearing upon
eternity as well as time. All who are born before their parents
enter that new and everlasting covenant have to be made
legitimate heirs." "In what way?" "According to the ordinance and
law of adoption." I may be asked--"Is this important?" "Yes, it
matters a great deal. If there are family regulations, to
preserve good order, in this world, you will find that God is
more strict, in such regulations, in regard to the world to come.
If parents hold certain authority over their children in this
life, you will find that such authority, though in higher
perfection, is transferred to the eternal worlds, and in that
world there is a certain jurisdiction which parents hold over
their children through all future ages of eternity. But in order
that parents may have their children legitimately under their
control, it is necessary that the ordinance of adoption in the
house of God should be performed in regard to the children born
before their parents entered into the eternal covenant of
marriage. This shows the use or necessity of a Temple.
259
Then again, we heard on Sunday afternoon considerable on the
subject of baptism for the dead; it is not necessary, therefore,
that I should dwell upon this subject. It is one thoroughly
understood by the Latter-day Saints, and has been long preached
to them, and they know that this, as well as the ordinance of
marriage, pertains to the house of God. To be acceptable to him
there must be a font, the same as there was in the Temple of
Solomon. You recollect there was a brazen sea, a large place in
the basement of the Temple of Solomon, underneath which were
twelve oxen, their heads pointing to the four points of the
compass--three to each point. This great brazen sea, standing
upon these oxen, was a place intended for baptisms for the dead.
As was said last Sabbath, it was underneath those courts, where
the living, from time to time, assembled to attend to their
worship; thus representing those that were in their graves,
underneath the living. That was the reason it was placed in that
position; and as that was intended for sacred and holy purposes,
the administration of holy ordinances, so God has commanded, in
these latter days, that there should be a baptismal font, and the
ordinance of baptism for the dead must be performed in the place
that God designates, in order to be legal and acceptable in his
sight.
259
We are told in the revelations which God has given, through his
servant Joseph Smith, something about the pattern of this sacred
and holy ordinance. We are told that the living are not only to
be baptized for and in behalf of the dead, by being immersed in
water in their respective names, but that they are also to
receive the ordinance of confirmation by the laying on of hands,
not for themselves, but for the dead, as far back as they can
trace them. Hundreds of millions of people died before God gave
this revelation, in these latter times, and they had not the
opportunity of being married for time and all eternity, no man on
the earth, in their day, having the authority to unite them.
Would you deprive them of the blessings of this eternal union,
because they did not happen to live in a day when God revealed
and restored anew, from the heavens, these ordinances? No. God is
a consistent being, and to say that people who die in ignorance,
without having an opportunity of attending to the ordinances of
the house of God, should not be made partakers of the blessings
thereof, would be imputing injustice to the great Jehovah. To say
that our fathers and mothers, who were only married for time,
must be deprived of a union in the eternal worlds, because of
their ignorance of these things, because there was no person
having authority to administer to them, would be apparently
unjust, and would almost seem to impeach the attributes of
Jehovah, if we could suppose such partiality was his design. But
we cannot suppose that God is an inconsistent Being. And if we
have the opportunity of attending to the ordinance of marriage in
the house of the Lord, and of securing certain eternal blessings
for ourselves, our ancestors, who are dead, must have a plan
devised, adapted to their condition, by which they also may be
exalted to the same blessings. But it must be done by law. No
haphazard work, no work of chance or confusion, but everything
must be accomplished by the laws, ordinances and commandments of
the Great Jehovah; then, what is done by his servants here on the
earth, being sealed here is sealed in the heavens, and hence, we
not only keep a record of all the names of the dead, but of all
the ordinances attended to for and in their behalf; and in the
great judgment day, when the books are opened, it will be found
that such and such parties have been baptized for, confirmed for,
and administered for, in the marriage ordinance, and that these
various ordinances were recorded in the presence of witnesses.
260
The records kept by authority here, will agree with the records
kept in heaven, for they keep records there, as well as we; and
the books on earth, when they are kept by divine authority, will
agree with the records in Heaven. When there is divine authority
in the administration of an ordinance here on the earth, that
ordinance is sacred and holy, and is recorded here and in the
heavens, and the records of heaven will agree with the records of
earth; and by these records and books will mankind be judged. The
dead will be judged according to men in the flesh, or, in other
words, as we shall be judged according to our works in the flesh.
When we have been baptized, and it is recorded on the earth, it
is for ourselves, and we will be judged by that, and if we are
faithful, we shall receive the blessings and glories which the
Lord has in store for those who are baptized here and are
faithful to the end. So will the dead be judged according to the
works which are done for them; and when the books are opened, and
it is found that they have been officiated for, by those works
will they be judged. Why? Because they have their agency in the
spirit world, to reject what has been done for them, or to
receive it, the same as we have the agency while living here to
reject or to receive what Jesus did through the atonement of his
blood. We have that agency here; it also exists among those in
the spirit world. You need not suppose that their agency is
destroyed because they are baptized for, and because ordinances
are administered for and in their behalf; you need not suppose
that this will be a security to them that they cannot resist.
They will have the same freedom there to resist, that we have
here.
260
If the Latter-day Saints want some evidence or proof in relation
to the agency of spirits that are in prison, or in the spirit
world, let me refer them to the prophecy of Enoch, with which
they are familiar, though strangers may not be acquainted
therewith. Enoch saw the people that should perish in the flood;
he saw that there was a prison-house prepared for them, and that
they dwelt there for a long period of time, until the Son of God
was manifested, crucified and rose from the dead; and he saw,
when that event should take place, that as many of the spirits in
prison of the antediluvian world who perished in the flood, as
repented, came forth and stood on the right hand of God." As many
as repented had this privilege. Does not this show that there
were some who probably would not repent? Indeed, the very next
sentence says that those who did not repent "were reserved in
chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day." Hence,
the agency of spirits, as well as the agency of men here in the
flesh.
260
A Temple is needed for the Saints who come from abroad, that
their marriages may be recorded on the earth and in the heavens,
that they may not only be for time, but for all eternity; that
when they come forth, male and female, in the morning of the
first resurrection, they may embrace each other as husband and
wife by virtue of the covenant they entered into in the Temple of
the Lord, while they were in the flesh.
261
Strangers will, perhaps, think that this is rather a partial
doctrine, on one account. They may say, "Your fathers, whom you
speak of, are not known; their names, in general, can not be
obtained for more than two or three generations back; in a very
few instances, perhaps, they may be found eight or ten
generations back; but what will be done with all the generations,
nations, and ages, that have lived since the Priesthood of God
was upon the earth, and since those holy ordinances were
administered in ancient times? How are they going to receive any
of the benefits from this baptism for the dead, seeing that the
very names of the nations, to say nothing of the individuals, are
lost?" Here comes in, again, the use of a Temple of the Lord. The
Most High says--"I deign to reveal unto you hidden things, things
that have been kept hid from the foundation of the world." Among
these hidden things that are to be revealed are the books of
genealogy, tracing individuals and nations among all people, back
to ancient times.
261
It may be inquired--"How can all this be done?" We answer, by the
Urim and Thummim, which the Lord God has ordained to be used in
the midst of his holy house, in his Temple. You may
inquire--"What is the Urim and Thummim?" We reply, it is a divine
instrument, prepared in ancient times, by which he who possessed
it could call upon the name of the Lord, and receive from him
answers to all matters it was necessary that he should know.
Aaron, the chief Priest in the midst of Israel, had this
instrument in his breast plate, in the midst of rows of stone
representing the twelve tribes of Israel; and when he passed
certain judgments, he did not do it by his own wisdom, but he
inquired of the Lord and received the same, by this sacred
instrument. When that instrument is restored to the house of God,
to the Temple of the Most High, our ancestry, that is, the
ancestry of all the faithful in the church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, will be made manifest. Not all at once, but by
degrees. Just as fast as we are able to administer for them, so
will the Lord God make manifest, by the manifestation of holy
angels, in his house, and by the Urim and Thummim, those names
that are necessary, of our ancient kindred and friends, that they
may be traced back to the time when the Priesthood was on the
earth in ancient days.
261
If they could not be traced back, there would be a great chasm, a
broken chain in the genealogies, and it would not be perfect, but
when the Lord God comes suddenly to his Temple, he will come to a
people who have made themselves perfect by obedience to his
commandments. They have sought after the redemption of their dead
from generation to generation, until they can link on all those
who were not officiated for in ancient times, and thus carry it
back from one dispensation to another, until it reaches to our
father Adam in the Garden of Eden, and then, the saying of
Scripture will be accomplished--"The hearts of the children will
be turned to their fathers," and the hearts of all those ancient
fathers, who lived thousands of years ago, will be "turned to
their children, lest the Lord should come," as the Prophet
Malachi says, "and smite the earth with a curse."
261
Why smite it with a curse? Because the people are careless and do
not look after the salvation of their dead, do not let their
hearts be drawn out after their ancestry, do not seek to perform
those ordinances that are necessary for their redemption, that
they may be redeemed by law. If we would not be smitten by a
curse, let us seek after the redemption of our fathers, as well
as of ourselves, for says the Apostle Paul, "they without us can
not be made perfect, neither can we without them be made
perfect." We may do all that we please for ourselves, and yet if
we, through our carelessness and indifference, neglect to seek
after the salvation of the dead, the responsibility will be upon
our own heads; and the sins of the dead will be answered upon us,
because we had the power to act for them, and we were careless
and indifferent about using it.
262
Many more things might be said in relation to the dead, and what
is necessary to be done in Temples. It was asked, by one of the
speakers, in relation to inheritances, "What man or woman among
the Latter-day Saints has an inheritance sealed to them?" What
man among all this people can determine the very spot of ground
that the Lord intends that he should inherit for an everlasting
possession? Not one of us. The Lord has told us that he intends
to give a certain land to his people, for an everlasting
possession. He told the ancients, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
same thing; but they wandered as strangers and pilgrims in their
day; and the martyr Stephen said they had not as much as to set
their foot upon. Yet they had a promise which secured it to them
after the resurrection, and also to their seed, and that
personally, for an everlasting possession. Have you got any such
promise? You have, as far as the great mass is concerned, the
promise of a great region of country. We know where it is, God
has pointed it out. But is there an individual among us who knows
what portion of that great country he shall receive for his
future inheritance, to possess either, before or after the
resurrection, and after this earth shall have passed away, and
all things are made new? No. Why have we not got it? Because we
have no house of the Lord built. When we have a house built,
whether there be property, or inheritance, or union for eternity,
or blessings for ourselves, or washings or anointing, or anything
that pertains to eternity, it will be given to us by the
ordinances of God's holy house, according to law. No wonder then,
that the nations afar off will say--"Let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach
us of his ways, that we may walk in his paths." He has a great
many ways to teach the people, pertaining to the salvation of the
dead, many ordinances, many principles and laws, statues and
judgments, and the law will go forth from Zion, and he will
rebuke strong nations afar off, and fulfill and accomplish that
which he has spoken; and wisdom, and knowledge, and glory and
intelligence, the laws of the Most High, and the ministrations of
angels will be unfolded to the Latter-day Saints, just as fast as
they are prepared to receive them.
262
Wake up, then, Latter-day Saints, and prepare yourselves Temples
in the places that shall be designated, by the oracles of the
Most High God, so that your aged fathers that are in the southern
part of the Territory may not be under the necessity of traveling
some six hundred miles, back and forth, to attend to the
ordinance of baptism for the dead. They must have a Temple there,
wherein these ordinances may be administered; another here,
another in the northern part of the Territory, and multiply them
according to the wants of the people; for the work is becoming
continually greater and greater, and the Latter-day Saints must
wake up to these principles, and not have their minds absorbed
with the things of this world, forgetting the great plan of
salvation revealed from heaven.
Orson Pratt, October 7, 1873
May God bless the Saints, and wake up their minds to these
important duties. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Wilford Woodruff, October 8, 1873
Wilford Woodruff, October 8, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF,
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, October 8, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
UNCHANGEABLENESS OF THE GOSPEL--GOD HAS CHOSEN THE
WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD TO CONFOUND THE WISE--
PROPHECIES RELATING TO THE LATTER-DAY WORK--JOSEPH
SMITH'S MINISTRY--ZION TO BE BUILT UP--BAPTISM FOR
THE DEAD--THE ORDER OF ENOCH--BABYLONISH FASHIONS.
263
I am called upon to occupy a little time this morning, and I
realize that I and my brethren are all dependent upon the Spirit
of God to guide, dictate and direct us in all our public
teachings, as well as in other acts we are called upon to perform
in the kingdom of God. The Apostle says there is no prophecy of
the Scripture which is of any private interpretation, but holy
men of old spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. The
Lord has told us in some of the revelations which he has given in
our day, that all of his messengers or servants, his Elders who
are sent forth to teach, should speak as they are moved upon by
the Holy Ghost; and when they follow this counsel, what they say,
the Lord says, is Scripture, it is the mind and will of the Lord,
it is the word of the Lord, and it is the power of God unto
salvation. "And this is an ensample unto you, even all my
servants who go forth to declare the words of life unto the
inhabitants of the earth."
263
Again, the Lord has said that it matters not whether it be by my
own voice out of the heavens, whether it be by the administering
of angels, or whether it be by the voice of my servants, it is
all the same, and their words shall be fulfilled though the
heavens and the earth pass away. This it the position which the
Prophets, Apostles and Patriarchs have occupied upon the earth in
every age and dispensation. They have had to be governed by the
Spirit of God; and when men are sent with a message, and they
speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost, their words are
the words of the Lord, and they will be fulfilled.
264
We have had a good deal of teaching during this Conference from
the servants of God, teachings given by the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost. We occupy a very peculiar position on the earth, a
position differing in many respects from any other dispensation
of men. Paul says--"Though we or an angel from heaven preach unto
you any other gospel than that which we have preached, let him be
accursed." All the teachings of the Patriarchs and Prophets have
shown us but one Gospel. There is shown us but one Gospel. There
is but one Gospel, there never was but one and there never will
be. The Gospel revealed for the salvation of man is the same in
every age of the world. Adam, our first great progenitor and
father, after the fall, received this Gospel, and he received the
holy Priesthood in all its power, and its keys and ordinances. He
sealed these blessings upon his sons--Seth, Enos, Jared, Cainan,
Mahaleel, Enoch and Methusaleh. All these men received this high
and holy Priesthood. They all professed to give revelation. They
all had inspiration and left their record on the earth; and not
one of them but what saw and prophecied about the great Zion of
God in the latter-days. And when we say this of them, we say it
of every Apostle and Prophet who ever lived upon the earth. Their
revelations and prophecies all point to our day and that great
kingdom of God which was spoken of by Daniel, that great Zion of
God spoken of by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and that great gathering of
the house of Israel spoken of by Ezekiel and Malachi and many of
the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets.
264
When the Lord has attempted to perform a work on the earth there
has been one peculiarity with him, and that is, the instruments
which he has made use of have occupied a peculiar position in the
world. He has generally chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the wise, and things that were nought to bring to pass
things which were. When he wanted a man to deliver Israel, he
called Moses, who was in an ark of bulrushes among the crocodiles
and aligators of the river Nile, put there by his mother, a
Hebrew woman, because Moses was her first born, and all the first
born of the Hebrews had to be slain, the daughter of Pharaoh,
through the providence of God, preserved Moses, and by her he was
given to his mother to raise. When called to deliver Israel,
Moses told the Lord that he was a man slow of speech. He did not
feel qualified to perform so great a work, yet the Lord chose
him, and he performed the work the Lord assigned him.
265
So when the Lord wanted a king for Israel and the lot fell upon
the family of Jesse. The Prophet went and called for the sons of
Jesse to pick out this king. All the boys were brought before him
except David. He was the smallest of the flock, and was out
taking care of the sheep. Jesse never thought of him at all. He
brought his other sons, who had been trained in all the arts,
sciences and learning of the day, and when they came in Samuel
could not see the one he wanted. He asked Jesse if he had any
more sons. Yes, he had a boy taking care of the sheep. "Let's see
him," said the Prophet; and when he came he was anointed king.
265
Jesus himself was born in a stable and cradled in a manger and
traveled in poverty all the way through his life. When he chose
his disciples he did not take the great, learned, rich and noble
of that generation, but he chose fishermen, the most illiterate
men and, in one sense of the word, we may say, almost the lowest
calling among men in that day. They were the ones the Lord made
use of to go forth to preach his Gospel and to build up his
kingdom on the earth.
265
How is it in our day, in this great and last dispensation? The
Lord required an instrument who would take hold and work with
him. He required some one to lay the foundation of this great
Church and kingdom who would be willing to step forth and be led
in the channel that was according to the mind and will of god; a
man who could not be swayed by the traditions and religions of
the day. Whom did the Lord call? The Patriarchs and Prophets not
only pointed out the Zion of God and the manner in which his
Church and kingdom should be established and built up, but they
even called the name of the man who should be called to establish
this work, and I do not know but the name of his father. His name
was to be Joseph and he was to be a lineal descendant of ancient
Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, separated from his brethren. The
record stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, which Ezekiel
speaks of, which was to be put with the record of the Jews in the
last days, was to be an instrument in the hands of God of
performing this great work or laying the foundation of this
Church, and the gathering of the twelve tribes of the house of
Israel. In that record the man's name was pointed out as well as
the work he was to do. Joseph Smith knew nothing of all this
until after he was administered to by the angel of God; he had no
knowledge of this when he brought forth that record to the world,
and until he translated it, by the Urim and Thummim, into the
English language. He had no knowledge whatever of this; but here
was that great band, as strong as iron, that surrounded him by
the revelations of God, for the last six thousand years, by every
man who spoke of the work of God in the last days. These
prophecies, revelations, and decrees of the Almighty, as it were,
surrounded that man, and he had to be taught, not by man nor by
the will of man, but he required the angels of God to come forth
and teach him; it required the revelations of God to teach him,
and he was taught for years by visions and revelations, and by
holy angels sent from God out of heaven to teach and instruct him
and prepare him to lay the foundation of this Church.
265
As I before remarked, these prophecies surrounded him, forming,
in one sense of the word, a band and a power he could not get out
of. Why? Because no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation, but holy men of old spoke as they were moved upon
by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and when any of those
Prophets and Patriarchs for the last six thousand years spoke,
when wrapped in prophetic vision, of the Zion of God being
established in the last dispensation, those decrees had to be
fulfilled to the very letter.
266
When Joseph Smith received these revelations he was an illiterate
boy, like David among the sheep. The Lord, in this day, did not
choose one from among the great, mighty, rich or noble, but he
choose one prepared from before the foundation of the world, to
come forth in the last days, through the loins of ancient Joseph
who, in the hands of God, was the savior of the house of Israel
and of the Egyptians in his day. This man was raised up in his
proper time, and came forth into the world, and the Lord began to
feel after him and to prepare him; but he, himself, did not know
even when he laid the foundation of this work. The Lord told
him--"you will lay the foundation of a great work, but you know
it not." Joseph himself could not comprehend, unless he was
wrapped in the visions of eternity, the importance of the work
the foundation of which he had laid. When his mind was opened he
could understand, in many respects, the designs of God; and these
revelations were around him and they guided his footsteps. They
could not fail of fulfillment, they had to be accomplished in the
earth. The servant of God came forth and he received the Book of
Mormon--the record or stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim. He
brought forth that record according to the dictation of Moroni,
Nephi and Lehi, the angels of God who administered to him, and he
translated it into the English language before he laid the
foundation of this Church. Joseph Smith did not call upon any man
to ordain or to baptize him, but he waited until the Lord sent
forth his servants to administer unto him. He was commanded of
the Lord to go forth and be baptized, but not until he had
received the Priesthood. Where did he get it, and in fact what is
the Priesthood? It is the authority of God in heaven to the sons
of men to administer in any of the ordinances of his house. There
never was a man and never will be a man, in this or any other age
of the world, who has power and authority to administer in one of
the ordinances of the house of God, unless he is called of God as
was Aaron, unless he has the holy Priesthood and is administered
to by those holding that authority.
266
There was no man on the face of the earth, nor had not been for
the last seventeen centuries, who had power and authority from
God to go forth and administer in one of the ordinances of the
house of God. What did he do then? Why, the Lord sent unto him
John the Baptist, who, when upon the earth, held the Aaronic
Priesthood, who was beheaded for the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ. He laid his hands upon the head of
Joseph Smith and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and he
never attempted to act in any authority of the Gospel until he
received this Priesthood. Joseph was then qualified to baptize
for the remission of sins, but he had not the authority to lay on
hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and he never attempted
to administer in this ordinance until Peter, James and John, two
of whom--Peter and James--were also martyred for the testimony of
Jesus and the word of God. These three men were the last who held
the keys of the Apostleship in its fullness and power previous to
this dispensation. They laid their hands upon the head of Joseph
Smith, and sealed upon him every power, principle, ordinance and
key belonging to the Apostleship, and until he received this
ordination he was not qualified and had no right to administer in
the ordinances of the house of God, but he did this after he
received the Priesthood, and on the 6th day of April, 1830, he
organized this church with six members, which was the foundation
of what we see to-day in this Tabernacle, and for six hundred
miles through this American desert. This has all come from that
small seed--the foundation of the great kingdom of our God upon
the earth.
267
What did Joseph Smith do after having received this Priesthood
and its ordinances? I will tell you what he did. He did that
which seventeen centuries and fifty generations, that have passed
and gone, of all the clergy and religions of Christendom, and the
whole world combined were not able to do--he, although an
illiterate youth, presented to the world the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in its fulness, plainness and simplicity, as taught by its
Author and his Apostles; he presented the Church of Jesus Christ
and the kingdom of God perfect in their organization, as Paul
represents them--with head and feet, arms and hands, every member
of the body perfect before heaven and earth. How could he, an
illiterate boy, do that which the whole of the learning of the
Christian world for seventeen centuries failed to do? Because he
was moved upon by the power of God, he was instructed by those
men who, when in the flesh, had preached the same Gospel
themselves, and in doing this he fulfilled that which Father
Adam, Enoch, Moses, Elias, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus and his
Apostles all prophecied about. Well might Paul say--"I am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation unto every one that believes." So may the Latter-day
Saints say--"We are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." I am
not ashamed to say that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God; I am
not ashamed to bear record that he was called of God, and laid
the foundation of this Church and kingdom on the earth, for this
is true, and any man or woman who is inspired by the Holy Ghost
can see and understand these things.
267
My brethren and sisters and friends, here is laid the foundation
of the fulfillment of that mighty flood of prophecy delivered
since the days of Father Adam down to the last Prophet who
breathed the breath of life. There has been more prophecy
fulfilled in the last forty-three years upon the face of the
earth, than in two thousand years before. These mighty
prophecies, as I said before, like a band of iron, governed and
controled Joseph Smith in his labors while he lived on the earth.
He lived until he received every key, ordinance and law ever
given to any man on the earth, from Father Adam down, touching
this dispensation. He received powers and keys from under the
hands of Moses for gathering the house of Israel in the last
days; he received under the hands of Elias the keys of sealing
the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the
children to the fathers; he received under the hands of Peter,
James and John, the Apostleship, and everything belonging
thereto; he receive under the hands of Moroni all the keys and
powers required of the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim;
he received under the hand of John the Baptist the Aaronic
Priesthood, with all its keys and powers, and every other key and
power belonging to this dispensation, and I am not ashamed to say
that he was a Prophet of God, and he laid the foundation of the
greatest work and dispensation that has ever been established on
the earth.
268
Joseph Smith lived until he gave his testament to the world, and
when he had sealed all these keys, powers and blessings upon the
head of Brigham Young and his brethren; when he had planted these
keys on the earth so that they should be removed no more forever;
when he had done this, and brought forth that record, that book
of revelation, the proclamation of which involved the destiny of
this whole generation--Jew, Gentile, Zion and Babylon, all the
nations of the earth, he sealed that testimony with his blood in
Carthage jail, where his life and that of his brother Hyrum were
taken by the hands of wicked and ungodly men. Why was his life
taken? Why were not John Taylor and Willard Richards, the only
two of the Twelve at that time in Nauvoo and with him, also
sacrificed? Why did Willard Richards, the largest man in the
prison, stand in the midst of that shower of balls and escape
without a hole in his robe or garment, or clothing? Because these
things were all governed and controled by the revelations of God
and the word of the Lord. The Lord took whom he would take, and
he preserved whom he would preserve, and he has done this all the
way through. Why has Brigham Young been preserved, when he has
stood as much chance to lay down his life in defence of this
cause, and run as many dangers in one position and another as
anybody else? Because the Lord has had a hand and a meaning in
this, and he has preserved him for a certain purpose, and other
men have been preserved by the same power. The whole of it has
been the work of God on the earth. The revelations of God have
surrounded Brigham Young. The revelations of God in ancient days
affect him and the Apostles, and the Elders of Israel, as much as
they have affected any people in any generation.
268
I will speak of another branch of this subject. We have the
kingdom organized, the prophecies have been fulfilled, the Church
has been planted in the earth, and now there are other portions
of these revelations which must be fulfilled. We were settled in
Jackson County, Clay County, Caldwell County, in Kirtland and
finally in Nauvoo, and at last we were driven from Nauvoo into
the wilderness and to this land, led here by President Brigham
Young, under the inspiration of Almighty God. Some felt their
faith tried that we had to leave our lovely Nauvoo and go into
the wilderness. Bless your souls, there would have been a flood
of revelation unfulfilled if these things had not been so. Isaiah
speaks of the foundation of this great Zion, and writes the whole
of her history and travels up to the present day, and from this
time on until the winding-up scene. If we had not been driven
from Nauvoo we would never have come up the Platte River, where,
Isaiah says, he saw the Saints going by the river of water
wherein went no galley with oars; a great company of women with
child and her that travailed with child would never have come
here to the mountains of Israel if we had not been driven from
that land, and a whole flood of prophecy would have remained
unfulfilled, with regard to our making this desert blossom as the
rose, the waters coming forth out of the barren desert, our
building the house of God on the tops of the mountains, lifting
up a standard for these nations to flee to; all this and much
more would have remained unfulfilled had we not been guided and
led by the strong arm of Jehovah, whose words must be fulfilled
though the heavens and the earth pass away.
269
Having been brought to Zion, another subject presents itself to
our consideration--namely, the position which President Young
occupies in regard to us to-day. He calls upon us to build
Temples, cities, towns and villages, and to do a great deal of
temporal work. Strangers and the Christian world marvel at the
"Mormons" talking about temporal things. Bless your souls,
two-thirds of all the revelations given in this world rest upon
the accomplishment of this temporal work. We have it to do, we
can't build up Zion sitting on a hemlock slab singing ourselves
away to everlasting bliss; we have to cultivate the earth, to
take the rocks and elements out of the mountains and rear Temples
to the Most High God; and this temporal work is demanded at our
hands by the God of heaven, as much as he required Christ to die
to redeem the world, or as much as the Savior required Peter,
James and John to go and preach the Gospel to the nations of the
earth. This is the great dispensation in which the Zion of God
must be built up and we as Latter-day Saints have it to build.
People think it strange because so much is said with regard to
this. I will tell you Latter-day Saints, and the Christian world
too, our work will fall short, we will come short of our duties,
and we never shall perform the work that God Almighty has decreed
we shall perform unless we enter into these temporal things. We
are obliged to build cities, towns and villages, and we are
obliged to gather the people from every nation under heaven to
the Zion of God, that they may be taught in the ways of the Lord.
We have only just begun to prepare for the celestial law when we
are baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
269
There has been a good deal said here with regard to baptism for
the dead. When Joseph Smith had laid the foundation of this work
he was taken away. There are good reasons why it was so. Jesus
sealed his testimony with his blood. Joseph Smith did the same,
and from the day he died his testimony has been in force upon the
whole world. He has gone into the spirit world and organized this
dispensation on that side of the vail; he is gathering together
the Elders of Israel and the Saints of God in the spirit world,
for they have a work to do there as well as here. Joseph and
Hyrum Smith, Father Smith, David Patten and the other Elders who
have been called to the other side of the vail have fifty times
as many people to preach to as we have on the earth. There they
have all the spirits who have lived on the earth in seventeen
centuries--fifty generations, fifty thousand millions of persons
who lived and died here without having seen a Prophet or Apostle,
and without having the word of the Lord sent unto them. They are
shut up in prison, awaiting the message of the Elders of Israel.
We have only about a thousand millions of people on the earth,
but in the spirit world they have fifty thousand millions; and
there is not a single revelation which gives us any reason to
believe that any man who enters the spirit world preached the
Gospel there to those who lived after him; but they all preach to
men who were in the flesh before they were. So with Joseph Smith
and the Elders--they will have to preach to the inhabitants of
the earth who have died during the last seventeen centuries; and
when they hear the testimony of the Elders and accept it there
should be somebody on the earth, as we have been told, to attend
to the ordinances of the house of God of them, that they may be
judged according to men in the flesh and come forth in the
morning of the first resurrection and have a part therein with
us.
270
These are eternal principles of the Gospel of Christ. We have
been commanded and have been under the necessity of going forth
and declaring it to the sons of men. I will ask by what power
have these Apostles and Elders taken their knapsacks on their
backs, wading swamps and rivers, and preaching without purse and
scrip, as they have done for years and years past and gone. What
power has sustained them? As I have said before, these
revelations of God, these great commandments and prophecies that
have been given for the last six thousand years. They have been
inspired by the Spirit and power of God, they have been commanded
to go forth and warn this generation by preaching the Gospel to
them. Here is President Brigham Young has traveled, as poor as
any man could be, tens of thousand miles, without purse and
scrip, to preach the Gospel to the sons of men. So have his
brethren. They have been sustained by the hand of the Almighty,
and if they had not done it they would have been under
condemnation. Why? The angel of God, who restored the everlasting
Gospel to earth, said it must be preached to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people under the whole heaven, for the hour
of God's judgment had come. The hour of God's judgment is at the
door of this nation and the Christian world. Brother Erastus Snow
here, a week last Sunday, told us about preaching to the dead,
and the judgments that awaited the nations. Other Elders have
referred to the same subject. But seventeen hundred years have
passed without Prophets, Apostles and Patriarchs. The judgments
of God did not rest upon the nations of the earth during that
time as they will after the proclamation of this Gospel. This
message that Joseph Smith brought to the world involves the
destinies of this whole generation, not only of this nation, but
the whole Christian and Jewish world, Zion and Babylon, the whole
of it. They now stand, as it were, warned of the Lord. The Gospel
has had to go to them. We have been obliged to go abroad to
preach the Gospel to the nations; we should have been condemned,
and smitten by the arm of Jehovah, if we had failed to fulfill
the revelations given unto us. It is by that power that President
Young, Joseph Smith, the Twelve Apostles, and the thousands of
Elders of Israel have been moved upon to go forth and do the work
of God.
270
Now then, my friends, are we going to stop here? Are the rest of
the prophecies not to be fulfilled? Is the Lord going to cut his
work in two, or let the rest go unfulfilled? I tell you nay, the
word of the Lord is going to be fulfilled and the Lord is not
going to give this kingdom to another people. The Lord has raised
up a set of men and women, and he will inspire and move upon them
to carry out this great work, and we have got it to do. Zion is
going to rise and shine, and to put on her beautiful garments;
she will be clothed with the glory of God, and for brass she will
have gold; for iron silver and for stone iron. All these
revelations touching the last days have got to be fulfilled.
President young is moved upon to call upon Zion to do her duty.
Why is he thus moved upon? Because the power of revelation
surrounds him and crowds upon him to magnify his calling and do
his duty among the sons of men. The power of God rests upon him,
and he will never hold his peace until Zion is built up and
perfected, the house of Israel gathered and the work of God
performed under his administration as long as he dwells in the
flesh. He is as much under the power of God and the revelations
of Jesus Christ as any man that ever breathed the breath of life.
271
We have got to build this Temple. The Lord requires it at our
hands. We have to pay our Tithing--the Lord requires it at our
hands. The Lord has never said by any revelation that Brigham
Young should build a Temple alone, that his counsellors, or that
the Apostles or Bishops should do it alone. This responsibility
rests upon every man and woman who has entered into covenant with
the Lord in these latter days; and if we do not discharge it we
shall suffer, the Lord will chastise us. He is not going to leave
us, and he is not going to take this kingdom away from the
Latter-day Saints and give it to anybody else, for they are the
Saints, and although mixed like corn in a sieve among the Gentile
nations they have been prepared from the foundation of the world
to come forth as the sons of Jacob in these latter days, to build
up the Zion of God on the earth. We have got to come to it. We
must give our earnest support to co-operation, for it is a step
in advance towards establishing the Order of Enoch and the
building up of the Zion of God. The servant of God is moved upon
to call upon us to perform this work, and we have it to do.
271
There are some prophecies pertaining to these latter days that
are unpleasant to contemplate. President Young has been calling
upon the daughters of Zion day after day, now, for years, to lay
aside these Babylonish fashions. I have been reading the third
chapter of Isaiah, and I have been hoping, all the days of my
ministry, that the sayings contained in that chapter would never
apply to the daughters of Zion in our day; but I believe they
will and inasmuch as they will not listen to President Young and
to the Prophets, Apostles and Elders of Israel with regard to
throwing off these nonsensical things, I hope they will hasten
the lengthening out of their skirts and drag them in the streets;
that they will increase their round tires like the moon, increase
their hoops, and their headbands, increase their Grecian bends at
once and carry it out until they get through with it, so that we
can turn to the Lord as a people. Some of the daughters of Zion
do not seem willing to forsake the fashions of Babylon. I to such
would say hasten it, and let the woe that is threatened on this
account come, that we may get through with it, then we can go on
and build up the Zion of God on the earth. But in spite of the
follies that some among us delight in, we are going to build up
Zion. We are going to fill these mountains with the cities and
people of God. The weapons formed against Zion will be broken,
and the nations of the Gentiles will visit her and their kings
will come to the brightness of her rising. I often think when I
see gentlemen and ladies sitting in our Tabernacles, who have
come over this great highway that has been cast up, whether they
realize that they are fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah. I
think this many times in my own mind. I am satisfied that they do
not realize it, but they are fulfilling the revelations of God.
The Gentiles are coming to the light of Zion and kings to the
brightness of her rising. All these things have been spoken of
and will be fulfilled; and by and by, when we are sanctified and
made perfect, when we are chastised and humbled before the Lord,
when we have got our eyes opened, and our hearts set upon
building up the kingdom of God, then will we return and rebuild
the waste places of Zion. We have got this to fulfill in our day
and generation. Then think not, ye Elders of Israel, ye sons and
daughters of zion, that we are going to live after the order of
Babylon always. We are not. We shall be chastised and afflicted,
and shall feel the chastening rod of the Almighty, unless we
serve the Lord our God, and build up his kingdom, for he has
given us all power; yes, all power is given into our hands to
perform this work.
272
Where is the man or the woman on the face of the earth who cannot
see the hand of God in our deliverance until to-day? Every weapon
has been broken that has ever been formed against us. Point me
out an individual or a people who have ever taken a stand against
Joseph Smith or Brigham Young, the Zion of God or the Elders of
Israel, and who have sought to overthrow this work, but what the
curse of God has rested upon them. Show me one of that class who
has not gone down to the dust, and as it has been in days past so
will it be in days to come. Woe to that nation, kindred, tongue
and people under the whole heavens who war against Zion in the
latter-days. every weapon shall be broken that is formed against
her, and that nation that will not serve her shall be utterly
wasted away saith the Lord of hosts. These things are true, and I
would warn Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner and all the world to
be careful what they do as touching them.
272
A few words more to the Latter-day Saints. I want to say to the
brethren and to the sisters, let us cease finding fault one with
another; let us not say that this man or this woman does wrong,
this family does wrong, this person or the other sets a bad
example; let us realize that we ourselves are held responsible
for what we do. It will do me no good if I apostatize because
somebody's family follows the fashions of Babylon, or because
some man or woman or some set of men and women do wrong. Let us
cease this kind of work, and all of us look to ourselves. It will
do me no good if I apostatize because I think somebody else does
not do right. We should lay aside this, there is too much of it
in the Zion of God to-day, and has been a good while, finding
fault with this, that and the other, instead of looking at home.
Let us all look at home, and each one try to govern his own
family and set his own house in order, and do that which is
required of us, realizing that each one is held responsible
before the Lord for his or her individual actions only.
272
I pray God, my heavenly Father that he will pour out his Spirit
upon the daughters of Zion, upon the mothers in Zion, upon the
Elders, and upon all her inhabitants, that we may listen to the
counsels of the servants of God, that we may be justified in the
sight of God, that we may be preserved in the faith, that we may
have power to build Temples, build up Zion, redeem our dead, and
be redeemed ourselves, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 16 /
Lorenzo Snow, October 7, 1873
Lorenzo Snow, October 7, 1873
DISCOURSE BY ELDER LORENZO SNOW
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the Semi-annual Conference, Tuesday Afternoon,
Oct. 7, 1873.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
OUR TEMPORAL INTERESTS TO BE DIRECTED FOR THE WORK
OF THE LORD--CO-OPERATION AND HOME MANUFACTURE IN
BOX ELDER COUNTY.
273
The position we profess to occupy as a religious body, is a
subject for profound reflection. We testify to having received a
knowledge, through the revelations of heaven, concerning the
restoration of the ancient Gospel and holy Priesthood, whereby we
have been authorized to preach by inspiration, and administer to
the world the principles of life and salvation. All profess to
have experienced some understanding or knowledge of this
wonderful work, through divine blessing or peculiar
manifestation. In consequence of these divine intimations which
have followed the administration of this restored Gospel, this
vast audience, of over twelve thousand people, are here
assembled, having gathered from many climes and nations. The
Latter-day Saints did not gather to these valleys for the purpose
of knowing this Work to be of God, but in consequence of having
previously obtained this inspired knowledge through the
administrations of the Gospel in their native lands. And having
come to a knowledge of these important facts, it certainly
becomes us to be devoted to the work in which we are engaged, and
do our best to promote its interest. In building up the kingdom
of God, which is the work assigned us, our whole attention and
highest efforts are demanded, that we may be qualified, through
the Holy Spirit, to properly magnify our respective callings in
the holy Priesthood.
274
I wish this afternoon to confine my observations to the subject
of our temporal interests and obligations. Before we are prepared
to return to Jackson County, to build up the centre Stake of
Zion, I believe that a system or order of things will be
introduced for our practice, requiring more faith and devotion
than, I fear, some of us possess at the present moment. This will
call forth a perfect submission in respect to our temporal
affairs, equal to that in which we now yield ourselves in
spiritual matters. This principle of devotion and obedience in
temporal affairs, as being connected with the plan of eternal
life, is fully illustrated in the conversation between the Savior
and the young man who applied for information on the subject of
salvation, recorded in the New Testament. On being questioned by
this young man what was required of him in order to inherit
eternal life, the Savior replied, "Thou shalt do no murder, thou
shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not
bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The answer was, that all
these duties had been performed from his earliest youth. But,
still one thing was lacking to make him perfect in the sight of
the Savior, viz., to allow his means and property to be controled
in the cause of God, and by the will of God. "Sell all thou hast,
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and
follow me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went
away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. In all other duties
he had been faithful and blameless, but in this, his selfishness
and love of riches held complete control, which called forth the
remark of the Savior, "It is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God." This saying created great amazement among the disciples,
who asked, with astonishment, "Who then can be saved?"
274
This principle of submission, and being controled in property
matters, is a doctrine which belongs to the Gospel and the
building up of the kingdom of God. It was preached and practiced
in the Apostolic dispensation, also by the Nephites upon this
continent, after the introduction among them of the Gospel in its
fullness, as recorded in the Book of Mormon. It was also a
doctrine introduced to us, over forty years ago, which we find
set forth in various revelations contained in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants.
274
This consecration, or yielding our temporal interests to be
directed for the work of the Lord, as being a fundamental element
in the work of salvation, and in the union and perfecting of the
Saints, is very clearly shown in the second and fourth chapters
of the Act