April 1894
Cannon, Abraham H. "Faith Brings Blessings." The Deseret Weekly, June 16, 1894: pg. 801-802.
Cannon, George Q. "The Law of Adoption." The Deseret Weekly, April 21, 1894: pg. 544-545.
Cannon, George Q. "The Linking of Generations by the Law of Adoption--Equality in Temporal Affairs and How to Attain It." The Deseret Weekly, May 26, 1894: pg. 701-704.
Grant, Heber J. "Duty of Parents to Children." The Deseret Weekly, June 2, 1894: pg. 737.
Lyman, Francis M. "The True Church." The Deseret Weekly, July 7, 1894: pg. 65-66.
Merrill, M. W. "Training of Young People." The Deseret Weekly, June 9, 1894: pg. 769-770.
Smith, John Henry. "Proper Redress of Grievances." The Deseret Weekly, June 23, 1894: pg. 1-2.
Smith, Joseph F. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, May 5, 1894: pg. 605-608.
Snow, Lorenzo. "The Object of this Probation." The Deseret Weekly, May 12, 1894: pg. 637-638.
Teasdale, George. "Meditations on the Gospel." The Deseret Weekly, June 30, 1894: pg. 33-35.
The Deseret Weekly. "Annual Conference." April 14, 1894: pg. 509-514.
The Deseret Weekly. "Growth of Faith and Works." May 19, 1894: pg. 669-670.
Woodruff, Wilford. "The Law of Adoption." The Deseret Weekly, April 21, 1894: pg. 541-544.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
President Wilford Woodruff
Elder A. H. Cannon
Faith Brings Blessings
Elder Marriner W. Merrill
Training of Young People
Elder John W. Taylor
Afternoon Session. 2 p. m.
Elder Heber J. Grant
Duty of Parents to Children
Elder George Teasdale
Meditations on the Gospel
Elder John Henry Smith
Proper Redress of Grievances
Second Day. Saturday, April 7, 10 a.m.
Elder F. M. Lyman
The True Church
Elder Brigham Young
Elder Franklin D. Richards
Growth of Faith and Works
Elder Lorenzo Snow
The Object of this Probation
Afternoon Session. 2 p.m.
The Authorities
President Joseph F. Smith
Discourse
President Woodruff
Third Day. Sunday, April 8th
President Wilford Woodruff
The Law of Adoption
President George Q. Cannon
The Law of Adoption
Afternoon Session. Overflow Meeting at the Assembly Hall
Elder H. J. Grant
Elder A. H. Cannon
Elder Moses Thatcher
Elder Seymour B. Young
Elder F. D. Richards
At the Tabernacle. 2 p.m.
President George Q. Cannon
The Linking of Generations by the Law of Adoption—Equality in Temporal Affairs and How to Attain It
President Wilford Woodruff
Cannon, George Q. "The Law of Adoption." The Deseret Weekly, April 21, 1894: pg. 544-545.
Cannon, George Q. "The Linking of Generations by the Law of Adoption--Equality in Temporal Affairs and How to Attain It." The Deseret Weekly, May 26, 1894: pg. 701-704.
Grant, Heber J. "Duty of Parents to Children." The Deseret Weekly, June 2, 1894: pg. 737.
Lyman, Francis M. "The True Church." The Deseret Weekly, July 7, 1894: pg. 65-66.
Merrill, M. W. "Training of Young People." The Deseret Weekly, June 9, 1894: pg. 769-770.
Smith, John Henry. "Proper Redress of Grievances." The Deseret Weekly, June 23, 1894: pg. 1-2.
Smith, Joseph F. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, May 5, 1894: pg. 605-608.
Snow, Lorenzo. "The Object of this Probation." The Deseret Weekly, May 12, 1894: pg. 637-638.
Teasdale, George. "Meditations on the Gospel." The Deseret Weekly, June 30, 1894: pg. 33-35.
The Deseret Weekly. "Annual Conference." April 14, 1894: pg. 509-514.
The Deseret Weekly. "Growth of Faith and Works." May 19, 1894: pg. 669-670.
Woodruff, Wilford. "The Law of Adoption." The Deseret Weekly, April 21, 1894: pg. 541-544.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
President Wilford Woodruff
Elder A. H. Cannon
Faith Brings Blessings
Elder Marriner W. Merrill
Training of Young People
Elder John W. Taylor
Afternoon Session. 2 p. m.
Elder Heber J. Grant
Duty of Parents to Children
Elder George Teasdale
Meditations on the Gospel
Elder John Henry Smith
Proper Redress of Grievances
Second Day. Saturday, April 7, 10 a.m.
Elder F. M. Lyman
The True Church
Elder Brigham Young
Elder Franklin D. Richards
Growth of Faith and Works
Elder Lorenzo Snow
The Object of this Probation
Afternoon Session. 2 p.m.
The Authorities
President Joseph F. Smith
Discourse
President Woodruff
Third Day. Sunday, April 8th
President Wilford Woodruff
The Law of Adoption
President George Q. Cannon
The Law of Adoption
Afternoon Session. Overflow Meeting at the Assembly Hall
Elder H. J. Grant
Elder A. H. Cannon
Elder Moses Thatcher
Elder Seymour B. Young
Elder F. D. Richards
At the Tabernacle. 2 p.m.
President George Q. Cannon
The Linking of Generations by the Law of Adoption—Equality in Temporal Affairs and How to Attain It
President Wilford Woodruff
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Sixty-Fourth General Anniversary of the Church.
The Sixty-fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 6th, 1894. The following were on the stand: Of the First Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph of Smith; of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Abraham H. Cannon; Patriarch John Smith; of the Presidency of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjelsted, John Morgan, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds and Jonathan G. Kimball; of the Presiding Bishopric—William B. Preston, Robert T. Burton and John R. Winder. There were also a number of Presidents of Stakes and other prominent Elders from different parts of Utah and surrounding territories and states.
Conference was called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The choir and congregation sang:
Redeemer of Israel
Our only delight.
On whom for a blessing we call;
Our shadow by day,
And our pillar by night.
Our King, our Deliverer, our all.
Opening prayer by President Joseph F. Smith.
Singing by the choir:
Praise ye the Lord: my heart shall join
In work so pleasant, so divine.
Now while the flesh is my abode,
And when my soul ascends to God.
The Sixty-Fourth General Anniversary of the Church.
The Sixty-fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 6th, 1894. The following were on the stand: Of the First Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph of Smith; of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Abraham H. Cannon; Patriarch John Smith; of the Presidency of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjelsted, John Morgan, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds and Jonathan G. Kimball; of the Presiding Bishopric—William B. Preston, Robert T. Burton and John R. Winder. There were also a number of Presidents of Stakes and other prominent Elders from different parts of Utah and surrounding territories and states.
Conference was called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The choir and congregation sang:
Redeemer of Israel
Our only delight.
On whom for a blessing we call;
Our shadow by day,
And our pillar by night.
Our King, our Deliverer, our all.
Opening prayer by President Joseph F. Smith.
Singing by the choir:
Praise ye the Lord: my heart shall join
In work so pleasant, so divine.
Now while the flesh is my abode,
And when my soul ascends to God.
President Wilford Woodruff
delivered a brief opening address. He expressed his gratitude to God for the privilege the Saints enjoyed in assembling in the Sixty-fourth Annual Conference of the Church, and that there were present the entire First Presidency, ten of the Twelve Apostles, and other members of organizations and authorities. It was a matter of congratulation that the work of the Lord was progressing at home and in the nations. The Lord was with us and would continue to be so long as we sought the salvation of our fellowmen and performed our duties. The President spoke of the testimonies which had been borne and left on record by all the holy prophets, from Adam down, concerning the raising up of a Prophet in the latter days to establish the Church of Christ in fullness and prepare a people to meet the Savior when he should come to reign during the millennium as King of Israel. He concluded by expressing a fervent desire that the spirit of inspiration and revelation might rest upon speakers and hearers during the present Conference.
delivered a brief opening address. He expressed his gratitude to God for the privilege the Saints enjoyed in assembling in the Sixty-fourth Annual Conference of the Church, and that there were present the entire First Presidency, ten of the Twelve Apostles, and other members of organizations and authorities. It was a matter of congratulation that the work of the Lord was progressing at home and in the nations. The Lord was with us and would continue to be so long as we sought the salvation of our fellowmen and performed our duties. The President spoke of the testimonies which had been borne and left on record by all the holy prophets, from Adam down, concerning the raising up of a Prophet in the latter days to establish the Church of Christ in fullness and prepare a people to meet the Savior when he should come to reign during the millennium as King of Israel. He concluded by expressing a fervent desire that the spirit of inspiration and revelation might rest upon speakers and hearers during the present Conference.
Elder A. H. Cannon
said he rejoiced in the testimony of the Gospel which the Lord had given him, and though he felt his own imperfections and weaknesses and saw them every day he lived, yet he hoped, through the faith and power which God would give him, to bring himself in due time under complete subjections to His mind and will. He was greatly pleased in traveling among this people to find how richly God was blessing them, especially in spiritual matters. It was said in some quarters that the Saints are gradually drifting away from the old love which inspired their hearts formerly and brought them into such close communion with the Lord our God. There were doubtless many cases of this kind—too many considering the day in which we live and the momentous events which we live before the people. But he was thankful to know, and to bear his testimony, that the vast majority of the Latter-day Saints were striving to live their religion and in possession of the Holy Spirit. But he realized also that there was still much room for improvement, and never before had there been so great an effort made by the adversary of our souls to lead away the children of God, to deceive the people and lead them into darkness, as at the present day. The speaker warned his hearers to beware of the false doctrines and lying statements of those who were going abroad among mankind. We might be sure by the testimony within us, if we lived faithful to the covenants made with God, that when Christ came again, we should know Him; there would be no need then for men to tell us that He had again come to the earth. Elder Cannon offered some good counsel to the young in this regard, and referred to the signs which had and would accompany those who believed. It was fashionable nowadays for some men to ridicule those who prayed to God. Infidels made light of the supplications which were offered to the Throne of Grace; but we might rest assured that God always gave to those who sought Him in prayer the things which would be for our good. The subject of faith was touched upon, and illustrations were given to show how the Lord, to teach us some divine lesson, sometimes tested us to the uttermost by sending afflictions which we seemed hardly able to endure. The speaker testified that the Lord was near unto us; He heard and answered our prayers and gave to His children who served Him faithfully and sought Him continually those blessings which would be for their temporal as well as their eternal happiness. He admonished the young to seek Him while he was near, for there were troubles coming upon the earth which would try the souls of all men; and those who leaned upon the testimonies of others instead of depending upon their own faith and works leant upon a broken reed. In conclusion Elder Cannon prayed that the peace and blessings of God might rest upon all present during this Conference.
said he rejoiced in the testimony of the Gospel which the Lord had given him, and though he felt his own imperfections and weaknesses and saw them every day he lived, yet he hoped, through the faith and power which God would give him, to bring himself in due time under complete subjections to His mind and will. He was greatly pleased in traveling among this people to find how richly God was blessing them, especially in spiritual matters. It was said in some quarters that the Saints are gradually drifting away from the old love which inspired their hearts formerly and brought them into such close communion with the Lord our God. There were doubtless many cases of this kind—too many considering the day in which we live and the momentous events which we live before the people. But he was thankful to know, and to bear his testimony, that the vast majority of the Latter-day Saints were striving to live their religion and in possession of the Holy Spirit. But he realized also that there was still much room for improvement, and never before had there been so great an effort made by the adversary of our souls to lead away the children of God, to deceive the people and lead them into darkness, as at the present day. The speaker warned his hearers to beware of the false doctrines and lying statements of those who were going abroad among mankind. We might be sure by the testimony within us, if we lived faithful to the covenants made with God, that when Christ came again, we should know Him; there would be no need then for men to tell us that He had again come to the earth. Elder Cannon offered some good counsel to the young in this regard, and referred to the signs which had and would accompany those who believed. It was fashionable nowadays for some men to ridicule those who prayed to God. Infidels made light of the supplications which were offered to the Throne of Grace; but we might rest assured that God always gave to those who sought Him in prayer the things which would be for our good. The subject of faith was touched upon, and illustrations were given to show how the Lord, to teach us some divine lesson, sometimes tested us to the uttermost by sending afflictions which we seemed hardly able to endure. The speaker testified that the Lord was near unto us; He heard and answered our prayers and gave to His children who served Him faithfully and sought Him continually those blessings which would be for their temporal as well as their eternal happiness. He admonished the young to seek Him while he was near, for there were troubles coming upon the earth which would try the souls of all men; and those who leaned upon the testimonies of others instead of depending upon their own faith and works leant upon a broken reed. In conclusion Elder Cannon prayed that the peace and blessings of God might rest upon all present during this Conference.
Faith Brings Blessings.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder Abraham H. Cannon.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I sincerely trust that the wish expressed by President Woodruff concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon those who speak to the people may be fully realized throughout this entire Conference. In standing before you I desire to receive and impart such instruction as the Lord may desire to make me the instrument of bringing forth. I rejoice in the testimony of the Gospel which the Lord has given me; and though I feel my own imperfections and weaknesses every day that I live, yet I hope, through the faith and the power which God shall give me, to bring myself in time under complete subjection to the mind and will of God.
I am greatly pleased in traveling among the people to find how richly God is blessing them, especially in spiritual matters. The remark is sometimes made that there is less faith among the people than formerly, that we see fewer manifestations of the power of God, and that the saints are drifting gradually away from the old love which inspired their hearts and brought them into such close communion with the Lord our God. There are doubtless many cases of this kind—too many, considering the day in which we live and the momentous events which lie before the people; but I am pleased to note and to bear my testimony this day that the vast majority of the Latter-day Saints are striving to live their religion, and that they are in possession of the Holy Spirit of God; that they enjoy also the gifts of the Gospel. These gifts do not always come into such prominence as was the case in the early days of the Church, when almost every instance of the manifestation of the power of God was recorded; but I believe they are none the less numerous. I believe that the sick are healed by the power of God. I believe and know that the dead have been raised to life. I know that the gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues are experienced by the people. I now that the gift of prophecy is heard frequently among the people, and sometimes from those from whose mouths prophecy is least expected. I know that in the conferences of the people there is the power of God manifested to a remarkable degree. The reason that some fail to experience the power which God has poured out upon the people is because they prefer to look upon the dark side of the picture, and do not see the glorious Gospel which God has bestowed upon us, His children. But while I testify to these things being in existence among the people, I realize that there is still much room for improvement. I realize that never before has there been so great an effort made by the adversary of our souls to lead away the Church of God, to deceive the people, and to lead them into darkness, as in the present day. On almost every hand, we hear, “Lo! here is Christ;” and even among the Latter-day Saints there have men arisen who testify that Christ has come, that He is living among the people, and they point out some personage whom they profess to recognize as the Savior of the world again come to visit the earth. These, my brethren and sisters, are the deceptions of Satan; and if you will live near unto the Lord, you may instantly discern the evil spirits which are abroad among the children of men; you may detect them when they come to you with their false doctrines and lying statements. If you live faithful unto the covenants which you have made, you will know by the testimony of the Spirit within you that when Christ comes you will know Him. There will be no need for any man to say to you that Christ has come again to earth; but by the knowledge which God shall impart unto you, by the sight of your own eyes and the hearing of your own ears, you shall be able to testify that the Savior has again come to earth, clothed with power and immortality, and bringing with Him the holy men and angels who exist with Him in the eternal worlds; and if you are faithful, you shall be caught up to receive from Him the blessings which your acts upon earth have merited.
I realize that there is indifference to some extent among the Latter-day Saints. I have thought sometimes that they have felt it was not necessary for them to seek an individual testimony of the truth of this work. They have satisfied themselves with the knowledge which their parents possessed of the divinity of the Gospel and the prophetic power which God conferred upon Joseph Smith. They are willing to listen to the counsels of the authorities of the Church and accept the theories which are advanced concerning our religion; but they do not seem disposed, for some reason, to seek for a practical and an undying testimony of the truth of this Gospel, without which no man or woman is sure of eternal life. They doubtless attend meetings because in this day it is fashionable to attend church; it is fashionable to study theology and to read the scriptures; not seeking therein the inspiration which the scriptures contain, but reading them because it is considered an excellent literary work. In this spirit many of the young people read it. They read the works of the Church because of the historical information therein to be obtained. But they do not dig down to the root of things, to gain for themselves a testimony of the truth. The result is, we find a great many young men who go forth to the nations of the earth as missionaries without the testimony of the Gospel in their hearts. Time and time again have young men told me, when they have been set apart for their missionary labors, that they firmly believed that this was the work of God, and they could go forth to the people telling them of what they believed, but as for the knowledge of which they have heard their seniors testify, this had not come to them. They have acknowledged their neglect in not seeking in as earnestly as they should. They have gone on missions, and these same young men, I believe, without a single exception, laboring with earnestness and zeal in the fields to which they have been appointed, have not been left long without the testimony of the truth; and when they have returned there is not one of them whose words I have listened to but has testified that he knew for himself that the Gospel was true, that God had spoken from the heavens, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. It is well that they receive it even under these circumstances; but better far would it be if they could receive the testimony of the truth in their childhood, that it might grow with their stature and increase with their intelligence that it might become within them a living fire, which no amount of opposition or sophistry could quench. And this testimony is within the reach of every one. God has said that none who seek Him shall be turned away unsatisfied. Sometimes the testimony does not come in the way that we have desired. We do not receive the outward manifestations which we have been led to expect. But it is not the outward appearances; it is not the healing of the sick, nor the hearing of tongues, that gives a man or a woman the greatest strength in the work of God; for those who have never seen angels, whose eyes have not been closed to the glories of eternity, and to whom it has seemed impossible for God to forbid even anything which they asked—they have turned away from the truth, lost the testimony of the Spirit, and again gone into darkness. Better by far for us to possess is the still small voice of the Spirit—the inward feeling which is experienced in every fibre of our organization, which tingles in our veins, which reaches the extremities of our bodies, and tells our whole being that this is the work of God. This testimony it is possible for each to obtain and to retain by a constant observance of the requirements of the Gospel of the Son of God. I have heard men relate that they have prayed to see angels, and they have seen angles through their repeated importunities before God. Those same men today are outside of the Church. I have known men who have testified that they have seen the dead raised unto life; but these same men are today outside of the Church. I have known men to testify that they have spoken in tongues, and that they have prophesied; they are today outside of the Church. I know men and women who have not seen or heard any of these things that were remarkable, but have had a testimony of the Spirit, and they are still in the Church, firm, to all appearances, as these everlasting hills that surround us. Their feet are grounded upon the rock of revelation, and they never seek the Lord in prayer but they receive an answer, when they ask for those things which are for their good.
It is fashionable in the world now to ridicule men for praying to God. Infidels make light of the petitions which are sent unto the throne of grace. God always gives to those who seek Him in prayer the things that will be for their good. What would you parents do if your child should cry that he might have in his hands a live coal? Would it be wisdom in you to place in his hands that which would burn him? Would it be wisdom in you, because your child cries for some poisonous substance, to permit it to partake of it? No; you would be unwise to do so, though he would plead with you to receive that which his childish and foolish desires might prompt. Instead of giving it a live coal, or some poison, you would seek to give it something that would satisfy it and would be for its good. So it is with our Eternal Father. We pray to Him sometimes for those things which would bring about our destruction, if granted unto us. With our limited vision we cannot grasp the result of such giving; but God, who knows the end from the beginning, and who overrules all things for good, understands what would result from our receiving the desires of our hearts, and He turns aside from us those things which we seek and which we fail to receive, and gives to us that which will be for our good. Take your own experience, brethren and sisters, in this and you will be able to see that God has operated with you, if you have been faithful, in your whole career through life. You have asked Him for blessings; they have seemed necessary to your welfare and to your success; you have not received them; your faith perhaps has been weakened at the time, because these things were forbidden you; but allow the time to pass, and in after years, looking back upon your experience, you see frequently wherein the reception of these things for which you prayed so earnestly would have been to your great injury here upon the earth and in eternity.
Sometimes in your pleadings with God for your sick you see that they do not realize the healing power of the Spirit of God. Your faith is exercised; you pray earnestly to the Lord, and He seems at time to be near unto you; you call in the Elders; they are led in a certain way, and they promise life unto the one who is afflicted; yet you see this same sick one fail and die. How does this happen? The faith of men is tried in this respect. Is it because God does not hear prayer that your sick are not healed? Is it because He has turned a deaf ear to our entreaties that He takes away from us those we love? No, it is not. It is for some divine lesson He desires to impress upon our minds that He permits these things to occur—sometimes perhaps to try our faith and see if we will be true to Him under all circumstances. In administering to your sick you sometimes see that they recover for a short time under your administration, and time and time again the administration of the Elders and the faith they exercise seems to give new life to the one afflicted; and yet after repeated trials and the repeated exercise of faith, we are sometimes led by the Spirit to pray to the Lord that He would rather take the afflicted one from us than that he should be continued in his suffering, and that we should continue to hold on to him by the exercise of faith.
It is proper for us to feel this way. It is right for us in our prayers to God not to set up our wills and our desires in opposition to Him; but when we have expressed to His, with all the faith which we are capable of exercising, our desires, either concerning our friends or ourselves, then it is the duty of every Latter-day Saint to say as the Savior said when He prayed that the cup might pass by Him, “Not my will, but thine, be done;” and even though afflictions come, the Lord will pour out upon us of His Holy Spirit, so that we may submissively yield to His righteous will and reap the blessings which even sorrow and trouble bring upon us. Better far to do this than by our faith—as I believe has been the case among the Latter-day Saints—rescue the sick from death, and yet see the same children who have been saved by our faith suffer something that is worse than death, for some children who have apparently been snatched from the grave by the faith exercised by the servants of God and their parents, have in time lost the faith, and have brought sorrow and affliction to the family to which they belong. There are things in this life far worse than death. There are sins which burden our hearts with grief far worse than to follow to their last resting place the bodies of our loved ones. It is better by far that we take to the tomb our loved ones and bury them in their purity and holiness than that by our faith and our constant wrestling with God we save them from temporal death and consign them to an eternal punishment.
I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord is a God who is near unto us. He hears and answers prayer, and He gives to His children who serve Him faithfully the blessings which are for their temporal as well as their eternal prosperity and happiness. I would admonish the young people to seek Him while He is near. There are troubles coming upon the earth which are to try the souls of men, and those who lean upon the testimony of others are leaning upon a broken reed, and at a future day they will find themselves without the support of those whose testimony is now so strong to them. It is necessary, in order to secure eternal life, that every man and every woman should have within himself and herself the unquenchable testimony of the Spirit of God, and then whatever comes will only serve to strengthen our faith in Him, and will only chasten us to receive in greater measure the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon us. Amen.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder Abraham H. Cannon.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I sincerely trust that the wish expressed by President Woodruff concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon those who speak to the people may be fully realized throughout this entire Conference. In standing before you I desire to receive and impart such instruction as the Lord may desire to make me the instrument of bringing forth. I rejoice in the testimony of the Gospel which the Lord has given me; and though I feel my own imperfections and weaknesses every day that I live, yet I hope, through the faith and the power which God shall give me, to bring myself in time under complete subjection to the mind and will of God.
I am greatly pleased in traveling among the people to find how richly God is blessing them, especially in spiritual matters. The remark is sometimes made that there is less faith among the people than formerly, that we see fewer manifestations of the power of God, and that the saints are drifting gradually away from the old love which inspired their hearts and brought them into such close communion with the Lord our God. There are doubtless many cases of this kind—too many, considering the day in which we live and the momentous events which lie before the people; but I am pleased to note and to bear my testimony this day that the vast majority of the Latter-day Saints are striving to live their religion, and that they are in possession of the Holy Spirit of God; that they enjoy also the gifts of the Gospel. These gifts do not always come into such prominence as was the case in the early days of the Church, when almost every instance of the manifestation of the power of God was recorded; but I believe they are none the less numerous. I believe that the sick are healed by the power of God. I believe and know that the dead have been raised to life. I know that the gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues are experienced by the people. I now that the gift of prophecy is heard frequently among the people, and sometimes from those from whose mouths prophecy is least expected. I know that in the conferences of the people there is the power of God manifested to a remarkable degree. The reason that some fail to experience the power which God has poured out upon the people is because they prefer to look upon the dark side of the picture, and do not see the glorious Gospel which God has bestowed upon us, His children. But while I testify to these things being in existence among the people, I realize that there is still much room for improvement. I realize that never before has there been so great an effort made by the adversary of our souls to lead away the Church of God, to deceive the people, and to lead them into darkness, as in the present day. On almost every hand, we hear, “Lo! here is Christ;” and even among the Latter-day Saints there have men arisen who testify that Christ has come, that He is living among the people, and they point out some personage whom they profess to recognize as the Savior of the world again come to visit the earth. These, my brethren and sisters, are the deceptions of Satan; and if you will live near unto the Lord, you may instantly discern the evil spirits which are abroad among the children of men; you may detect them when they come to you with their false doctrines and lying statements. If you live faithful unto the covenants which you have made, you will know by the testimony of the Spirit within you that when Christ comes you will know Him. There will be no need for any man to say to you that Christ has come again to earth; but by the knowledge which God shall impart unto you, by the sight of your own eyes and the hearing of your own ears, you shall be able to testify that the Savior has again come to earth, clothed with power and immortality, and bringing with Him the holy men and angels who exist with Him in the eternal worlds; and if you are faithful, you shall be caught up to receive from Him the blessings which your acts upon earth have merited.
I realize that there is indifference to some extent among the Latter-day Saints. I have thought sometimes that they have felt it was not necessary for them to seek an individual testimony of the truth of this work. They have satisfied themselves with the knowledge which their parents possessed of the divinity of the Gospel and the prophetic power which God conferred upon Joseph Smith. They are willing to listen to the counsels of the authorities of the Church and accept the theories which are advanced concerning our religion; but they do not seem disposed, for some reason, to seek for a practical and an undying testimony of the truth of this Gospel, without which no man or woman is sure of eternal life. They doubtless attend meetings because in this day it is fashionable to attend church; it is fashionable to study theology and to read the scriptures; not seeking therein the inspiration which the scriptures contain, but reading them because it is considered an excellent literary work. In this spirit many of the young people read it. They read the works of the Church because of the historical information therein to be obtained. But they do not dig down to the root of things, to gain for themselves a testimony of the truth. The result is, we find a great many young men who go forth to the nations of the earth as missionaries without the testimony of the Gospel in their hearts. Time and time again have young men told me, when they have been set apart for their missionary labors, that they firmly believed that this was the work of God, and they could go forth to the people telling them of what they believed, but as for the knowledge of which they have heard their seniors testify, this had not come to them. They have acknowledged their neglect in not seeking in as earnestly as they should. They have gone on missions, and these same young men, I believe, without a single exception, laboring with earnestness and zeal in the fields to which they have been appointed, have not been left long without the testimony of the truth; and when they have returned there is not one of them whose words I have listened to but has testified that he knew for himself that the Gospel was true, that God had spoken from the heavens, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. It is well that they receive it even under these circumstances; but better far would it be if they could receive the testimony of the truth in their childhood, that it might grow with their stature and increase with their intelligence that it might become within them a living fire, which no amount of opposition or sophistry could quench. And this testimony is within the reach of every one. God has said that none who seek Him shall be turned away unsatisfied. Sometimes the testimony does not come in the way that we have desired. We do not receive the outward manifestations which we have been led to expect. But it is not the outward appearances; it is not the healing of the sick, nor the hearing of tongues, that gives a man or a woman the greatest strength in the work of God; for those who have never seen angels, whose eyes have not been closed to the glories of eternity, and to whom it has seemed impossible for God to forbid even anything which they asked—they have turned away from the truth, lost the testimony of the Spirit, and again gone into darkness. Better by far for us to possess is the still small voice of the Spirit—the inward feeling which is experienced in every fibre of our organization, which tingles in our veins, which reaches the extremities of our bodies, and tells our whole being that this is the work of God. This testimony it is possible for each to obtain and to retain by a constant observance of the requirements of the Gospel of the Son of God. I have heard men relate that they have prayed to see angels, and they have seen angles through their repeated importunities before God. Those same men today are outside of the Church. I have known men who have testified that they have seen the dead raised unto life; but these same men are today outside of the Church. I have known men to testify that they have spoken in tongues, and that they have prophesied; they are today outside of the Church. I know men and women who have not seen or heard any of these things that were remarkable, but have had a testimony of the Spirit, and they are still in the Church, firm, to all appearances, as these everlasting hills that surround us. Their feet are grounded upon the rock of revelation, and they never seek the Lord in prayer but they receive an answer, when they ask for those things which are for their good.
It is fashionable in the world now to ridicule men for praying to God. Infidels make light of the petitions which are sent unto the throne of grace. God always gives to those who seek Him in prayer the things that will be for their good. What would you parents do if your child should cry that he might have in his hands a live coal? Would it be wisdom in you to place in his hands that which would burn him? Would it be wisdom in you, because your child cries for some poisonous substance, to permit it to partake of it? No; you would be unwise to do so, though he would plead with you to receive that which his childish and foolish desires might prompt. Instead of giving it a live coal, or some poison, you would seek to give it something that would satisfy it and would be for its good. So it is with our Eternal Father. We pray to Him sometimes for those things which would bring about our destruction, if granted unto us. With our limited vision we cannot grasp the result of such giving; but God, who knows the end from the beginning, and who overrules all things for good, understands what would result from our receiving the desires of our hearts, and He turns aside from us those things which we seek and which we fail to receive, and gives to us that which will be for our good. Take your own experience, brethren and sisters, in this and you will be able to see that God has operated with you, if you have been faithful, in your whole career through life. You have asked Him for blessings; they have seemed necessary to your welfare and to your success; you have not received them; your faith perhaps has been weakened at the time, because these things were forbidden you; but allow the time to pass, and in after years, looking back upon your experience, you see frequently wherein the reception of these things for which you prayed so earnestly would have been to your great injury here upon the earth and in eternity.
Sometimes in your pleadings with God for your sick you see that they do not realize the healing power of the Spirit of God. Your faith is exercised; you pray earnestly to the Lord, and He seems at time to be near unto you; you call in the Elders; they are led in a certain way, and they promise life unto the one who is afflicted; yet you see this same sick one fail and die. How does this happen? The faith of men is tried in this respect. Is it because God does not hear prayer that your sick are not healed? Is it because He has turned a deaf ear to our entreaties that He takes away from us those we love? No, it is not. It is for some divine lesson He desires to impress upon our minds that He permits these things to occur—sometimes perhaps to try our faith and see if we will be true to Him under all circumstances. In administering to your sick you sometimes see that they recover for a short time under your administration, and time and time again the administration of the Elders and the faith they exercise seems to give new life to the one afflicted; and yet after repeated trials and the repeated exercise of faith, we are sometimes led by the Spirit to pray to the Lord that He would rather take the afflicted one from us than that he should be continued in his suffering, and that we should continue to hold on to him by the exercise of faith.
It is proper for us to feel this way. It is right for us in our prayers to God not to set up our wills and our desires in opposition to Him; but when we have expressed to His, with all the faith which we are capable of exercising, our desires, either concerning our friends or ourselves, then it is the duty of every Latter-day Saint to say as the Savior said when He prayed that the cup might pass by Him, “Not my will, but thine, be done;” and even though afflictions come, the Lord will pour out upon us of His Holy Spirit, so that we may submissively yield to His righteous will and reap the blessings which even sorrow and trouble bring upon us. Better far to do this than by our faith—as I believe has been the case among the Latter-day Saints—rescue the sick from death, and yet see the same children who have been saved by our faith suffer something that is worse than death, for some children who have apparently been snatched from the grave by the faith exercised by the servants of God and their parents, have in time lost the faith, and have brought sorrow and affliction to the family to which they belong. There are things in this life far worse than death. There are sins which burden our hearts with grief far worse than to follow to their last resting place the bodies of our loved ones. It is better by far that we take to the tomb our loved ones and bury them in their purity and holiness than that by our faith and our constant wrestling with God we save them from temporal death and consign them to an eternal punishment.
I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord is a God who is near unto us. He hears and answers prayer, and He gives to His children who serve Him faithfully the blessings which are for their temporal as well as their eternal prosperity and happiness. I would admonish the young people to seek Him while He is near. There are troubles coming upon the earth which are to try the souls of men, and those who lean upon the testimony of others are leaning upon a broken reed, and at a future day they will find themselves without the support of those whose testimony is now so strong to them. It is necessary, in order to secure eternal life, that every man and every woman should have within himself and herself the unquenchable testimony of the Spirit of God, and then whatever comes will only serve to strengthen our faith in Him, and will only chasten us to receive in greater measure the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon us. Amen.
Elder Marriner W. Merrill
was the next speaker. He said it was a matter of congratulation that we had with us the First Presidency, and that we had heard the voice of Brother Woodruff, who was so much beloved by the Saints. We were fortunate in having a part in this glorious work in the Lord. It was not necessary that any member of the Church should be in the dark. Each could have a testimony concerning the divine mission of Joseph Smith for himself. We had seen some persons occasionally who presumed to have revelation to direct others. We had seen men arise up in the ranks of the Saints with a feeling in their hearts that they were of more than usual importance and had the right, in certain instances, to direct the affairs of the Church. But sensible and thinking people looked upon that class with pity. The Lord had His work organized, His servants appointed to labor in the various callings of the Church and each had his allotted place. The training of the young in the work of the Gospel was dwelt upon, and examples cited for their guidance. We wanted, he said, to see our young men valiant in the cause of God, willing when called upon to go forth and proclaim the Gospel tidings without excuse or hindrance. We should teach our children the principles of the Gospel as fast as they were capable of comprehending them; here a little and there a little as the opportunity presented itself. He knew there was a feeling in the midst of the Latter-day Saints in some directions, on the part of parents—how extensive he did not pretend to say—that in regard to baptism their children should be left alone until they arrived at maturer years, and that they might then judge of the matter and what they wished to do for themselves. The Lord had said this was wrong. Our children were given and entrusted us to bring up in the ways of the Lord; and we should see that they were not neglected in any religious duty. The speaker deprecated the too common practice of card playing among young men, even for purposes of amusement; he believed it led to evil and should therefore be condemned. There was no harm in dancing if conducted aright; it was proper to have social amusements and gatherings of that kind; but the great danger lay in the excess of these things, and he warned the young to be careful as to how far they went in these directions. There was, he feared, too much indifference at this time in reference to the spreading of the Gospel and the welfare of Zion. Let us resolve, therefore, henceforward to labor with all our might and put forth our hand whenever the opportunity offered for the carrying of God’s message throughout the earth. Then the Lord would reward us as we deserved, and His blessing would continue to rest upon this great latter-day work.
was the next speaker. He said it was a matter of congratulation that we had with us the First Presidency, and that we had heard the voice of Brother Woodruff, who was so much beloved by the Saints. We were fortunate in having a part in this glorious work in the Lord. It was not necessary that any member of the Church should be in the dark. Each could have a testimony concerning the divine mission of Joseph Smith for himself. We had seen some persons occasionally who presumed to have revelation to direct others. We had seen men arise up in the ranks of the Saints with a feeling in their hearts that they were of more than usual importance and had the right, in certain instances, to direct the affairs of the Church. But sensible and thinking people looked upon that class with pity. The Lord had His work organized, His servants appointed to labor in the various callings of the Church and each had his allotted place. The training of the young in the work of the Gospel was dwelt upon, and examples cited for their guidance. We wanted, he said, to see our young men valiant in the cause of God, willing when called upon to go forth and proclaim the Gospel tidings without excuse or hindrance. We should teach our children the principles of the Gospel as fast as they were capable of comprehending them; here a little and there a little as the opportunity presented itself. He knew there was a feeling in the midst of the Latter-day Saints in some directions, on the part of parents—how extensive he did not pretend to say—that in regard to baptism their children should be left alone until they arrived at maturer years, and that they might then judge of the matter and what they wished to do for themselves. The Lord had said this was wrong. Our children were given and entrusted us to bring up in the ways of the Lord; and we should see that they were not neglected in any religious duty. The speaker deprecated the too common practice of card playing among young men, even for purposes of amusement; he believed it led to evil and should therefore be condemned. There was no harm in dancing if conducted aright; it was proper to have social amusements and gatherings of that kind; but the great danger lay in the excess of these things, and he warned the young to be careful as to how far they went in these directions. There was, he feared, too much indifference at this time in reference to the spreading of the Gospel and the welfare of Zion. Let us resolve, therefore, henceforward to labor with all our might and put forth our hand whenever the opportunity offered for the carrying of God’s message throughout the earth. Then the Lord would reward us as we deserved, and His blessing would continue to rest upon this great latter-day work.
Training of Young People.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder M. W. Merrill.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I am pleased, my brethren and sisters, to be here this morning, and glad to see with us President Woodruff and so many of the Council of the Apostles. The people who come from a distance to the conference have an anxiety to see and hear the Presidency of the Church, especially President Woodruff, who is so loved and honored by all the Latter-day Saints. This is the sixty-fourth annual conference of the Church. When the first was held the majority of us were in the spirit world. We had not been born. But in the providence of the Lord, we are here and associated with this work which He has revealed and established through the medium of His appointed ones. We are very fortunate indeed to have a part in this glorious work of the Lord, and He has arranged that none need walk in the dark, but that each member of the Church may have the light and inspiration and testimony of the Holy Spirit. Every member of the Church, according to my view, is entitled to an evidence of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph and it is within his reach to have a testimony relative to the Apostles and Prophets that direct the affairs of the Church now. Not that it is our right or prerogative to have revelation directing the affairs of the Church; but we may have the revelations of the Spirit of God for ourselves, that we may be firm and stand upon the rock, that when the winds come and the storms rage we may not be moved. We have seen occasionally unfortunate people that presumed to have revelations to direct other people. We have seen men rise up in the midst of the people, having a feeling that they were important ones and had a right, in some instances, to direct the affairs of the Church. Sensible and thinking people will look upon that class with pity. The Lord has His work organized. He has His servants appointed to labor in the various callings of the Priesthood, and He has given minute directions how and upon whom the Priesthood shall be conferred. All the quorums have their presidencies, and the Lord has given these things in detail. I have thought sometimes that, as Stakes and Wards, we did not give this matter the consideration that was necessary. There are young men who have been born and reared in the Church, and of goodly parents, who seemingly have been neglected with regard to the callings in the Priesthood. I believe that the Lord designed that the brethren should come up in their regular order in the ordinations of the Priesthood; first, deacons; secondly, teachers; thirdly, priests; fourthly, Elders, and so on.
“Wherefore, from deacon to teacher, and from teacher to priest, and from priest to elder, severally as they are appointed, according to the covenants and commandments of the church.” Doc. & Cov., Sec. 107, 63 verse.
We have found sometimes young men coming into the Temple to receive their blessings who have never been ordained to the office of a Deacon and have never had any experience in the callings of the Lesser Priesthood, and of necessity they then have to be ordained Elders. I believe if this were properly considered by the Stakes and Wards in Zion, these young men would be brought into the quorums of the Lesser Priesthood in their youth; and as a rule they are willing, if there is some one to look after them and give them a little experience in their callings. We should give more attention to this, that our young men may grow up and become valiant in the testimony of the work of God. We read in the Book of Mormon of an incident that should be a lesson to us in this connection. The ancient inhabitants of this land at that time had frequent wars, and on one occasion two thousand young men took up arms in defense of their country. They were young men who had been taught, under the direction of their mothers, to believe in God, and they had mighty faith in Him; and when they went to battle they fought with miraculous strength, and so great was their faith in God that not one of them was slain. This faith had sprung up into their hearts as a result of their early training and education. This is a good example for us to follow. As parents, we have anxiety relative to our sons and daughters. We want to see them valiant in the work of God and full of faith. We want to see them willing when called upon to go on a mission to preach the Gospel, and we are very sorry if we hear them make any excuse. This being the case, it is important that we should consider the condition and circumstances of our children while they are under our care. When they go from us, we love more or less of our influence over them; but while they are with us we should endeavor to teach them all along the line the principles of the Gospel, here a little and there a little, as their minds are capable of understanding the doctrines of the Church. When we fail to do this relative to our young people, we fail thus far to do our duty, and peradventure we may have sorrow and regret because of our negligence in teaching and instructing as the Lord has directed we should do. The Lord has not been unmindful of this; for He has given us His word that “inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her Stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.” Doc. & Cov., Sec. 68, 25 verse. I know there is a feeling in the midst of our people (how extensive it is I do not know) to let children remain without baptism until they come to years of accountability, when they can choose for themselves. The Lord says this is wrong. God has entrusted these children to us, and we are supposed to exercise control or jurisdiction over them and to teach them in all the ways of the Lord. I have frequently heard remarks of this kind, and I have thought that such parents have yet failed to receive the testimony of the Spirit of God relative to the divinity of this work, because if we have this testimony in our hearts, then oh! the anxiety we have that our offspring may be honorable men and women in the Church of Christ. I believe we are held responsible to a degree in regard to the training and educating the young people. I believe in some cases we are willing that they should go to excesses in amusements. We let them go to the extreme in many things that are not pleasant in the sight of the Lord.
Nowadays there seems to be a mania among the people for card-playing. We often see in the newspapers that So-and-So had a nice card party, and they tell of the different games played. Now, I do not know really that there is any particular wrong in a game of cards. I am not a judge in this matter, because I have never yet learned to distinguish one card from another. I am quite ignorant to talk about cards when I do not know anything about them, am I not? But I have had some experience in considering this matter and studying the results of this social game of card playing. Perhaps it is not in the game itself, but in the fascination that results from it. People become fascinated with the game. I have known in my experience where young people would wake up in the night and get out of bed to have a game of cards. I believe that it leads to evil, and I do not think it a good thing for our people to indulge in to the excess that it has been and is being indulged in throughout the Church at the present time. We ought to exercise our judgment and consider the welfare of our children; for because of this some have turned out to be gamblers. We would not have to go far to find such cases. They have lost their faith, as well as their money, and many have died in disgrace. I am not prepared, my brethren and sisters, to condemn this amusement in toto; but I say where it goes to excess it is a bad thing. Where people sit up to unusual hours in the night to indulge in these games, I tell you it is a bad thing, because the wine and the beer have to be brought forward, that the players my be stimulated to continue the game, and whenever that occurs you may set it down that it is wrong. I believe we can run to excess in these amusements that the Lord has kindly permitted us to indulge in. We can go to excess in round dancing, for instance. It is all right and proper for people to have social gathering and amusements; but let us see to it, my brethren and sisters, that we do not go to excess in these things. When we do, we grieve the Spirit of the Lord, and it will take its departure, “and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks; to persecute the Saints, and to fight against God.” – Doctrine and Covenants, Section 121 and verses 37 and 38.
We should be considerate in these matters and look well after the welfare and the proper training of our children, because we want to see them honorable men and women in the earth. Our hearts are swelled with joy when they go abroad to preach the Gospel and they write back and tell how prosperous they are and how the Lord has listened to their prayers. What a joy it brings to the soul of the father and mother and kindred! We ought to have an anxiety in this direction. Instead of feeling, when our sons are called to go abroad, “Oh! I don’t know where to raise the means, now how to send him,” we ought to feel like making every effort to send our sons agreeable to the commandments of the Lord. I believe the great majority of the people do feel this way.
The Lord has called us to build up Zion and to establish His kingdom. He has called us to labor in the ministry. He did not call us to labor in the ministry. He did not call us here to aggrandize ourselves. Here we have veterans before us that have labored a lifetime to build up Zion. They have gone on missions, without food or raiment being left for their families; but God has sustained them. They have not labored for the wealth of this world; but they have labored for the salvation of the souls of men. Now God is honoring them; He is lifting them up before the Saints and the world, and giving them blessing and glory, and eventually will give them eternal lives. And this will be the case if we labor with all our might to sustain Zion and the work of God. I hope this may be our lot, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder M. W. Merrill.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I am pleased, my brethren and sisters, to be here this morning, and glad to see with us President Woodruff and so many of the Council of the Apostles. The people who come from a distance to the conference have an anxiety to see and hear the Presidency of the Church, especially President Woodruff, who is so loved and honored by all the Latter-day Saints. This is the sixty-fourth annual conference of the Church. When the first was held the majority of us were in the spirit world. We had not been born. But in the providence of the Lord, we are here and associated with this work which He has revealed and established through the medium of His appointed ones. We are very fortunate indeed to have a part in this glorious work of the Lord, and He has arranged that none need walk in the dark, but that each member of the Church may have the light and inspiration and testimony of the Holy Spirit. Every member of the Church, according to my view, is entitled to an evidence of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph and it is within his reach to have a testimony relative to the Apostles and Prophets that direct the affairs of the Church now. Not that it is our right or prerogative to have revelation directing the affairs of the Church; but we may have the revelations of the Spirit of God for ourselves, that we may be firm and stand upon the rock, that when the winds come and the storms rage we may not be moved. We have seen occasionally unfortunate people that presumed to have revelations to direct other people. We have seen men rise up in the midst of the people, having a feeling that they were important ones and had a right, in some instances, to direct the affairs of the Church. Sensible and thinking people will look upon that class with pity. The Lord has His work organized. He has His servants appointed to labor in the various callings of the Priesthood, and He has given minute directions how and upon whom the Priesthood shall be conferred. All the quorums have their presidencies, and the Lord has given these things in detail. I have thought sometimes that, as Stakes and Wards, we did not give this matter the consideration that was necessary. There are young men who have been born and reared in the Church, and of goodly parents, who seemingly have been neglected with regard to the callings in the Priesthood. I believe that the Lord designed that the brethren should come up in their regular order in the ordinations of the Priesthood; first, deacons; secondly, teachers; thirdly, priests; fourthly, Elders, and so on.
“Wherefore, from deacon to teacher, and from teacher to priest, and from priest to elder, severally as they are appointed, according to the covenants and commandments of the church.” Doc. & Cov., Sec. 107, 63 verse.
We have found sometimes young men coming into the Temple to receive their blessings who have never been ordained to the office of a Deacon and have never had any experience in the callings of the Lesser Priesthood, and of necessity they then have to be ordained Elders. I believe if this were properly considered by the Stakes and Wards in Zion, these young men would be brought into the quorums of the Lesser Priesthood in their youth; and as a rule they are willing, if there is some one to look after them and give them a little experience in their callings. We should give more attention to this, that our young men may grow up and become valiant in the testimony of the work of God. We read in the Book of Mormon of an incident that should be a lesson to us in this connection. The ancient inhabitants of this land at that time had frequent wars, and on one occasion two thousand young men took up arms in defense of their country. They were young men who had been taught, under the direction of their mothers, to believe in God, and they had mighty faith in Him; and when they went to battle they fought with miraculous strength, and so great was their faith in God that not one of them was slain. This faith had sprung up into their hearts as a result of their early training and education. This is a good example for us to follow. As parents, we have anxiety relative to our sons and daughters. We want to see them valiant in the work of God and full of faith. We want to see them willing when called upon to go on a mission to preach the Gospel, and we are very sorry if we hear them make any excuse. This being the case, it is important that we should consider the condition and circumstances of our children while they are under our care. When they go from us, we love more or less of our influence over them; but while they are with us we should endeavor to teach them all along the line the principles of the Gospel, here a little and there a little, as their minds are capable of understanding the doctrines of the Church. When we fail to do this relative to our young people, we fail thus far to do our duty, and peradventure we may have sorrow and regret because of our negligence in teaching and instructing as the Lord has directed we should do. The Lord has not been unmindful of this; for He has given us His word that “inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her Stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.” Doc. & Cov., Sec. 68, 25 verse. I know there is a feeling in the midst of our people (how extensive it is I do not know) to let children remain without baptism until they come to years of accountability, when they can choose for themselves. The Lord says this is wrong. God has entrusted these children to us, and we are supposed to exercise control or jurisdiction over them and to teach them in all the ways of the Lord. I have frequently heard remarks of this kind, and I have thought that such parents have yet failed to receive the testimony of the Spirit of God relative to the divinity of this work, because if we have this testimony in our hearts, then oh! the anxiety we have that our offspring may be honorable men and women in the Church of Christ. I believe we are held responsible to a degree in regard to the training and educating the young people. I believe in some cases we are willing that they should go to excesses in amusements. We let them go to the extreme in many things that are not pleasant in the sight of the Lord.
Nowadays there seems to be a mania among the people for card-playing. We often see in the newspapers that So-and-So had a nice card party, and they tell of the different games played. Now, I do not know really that there is any particular wrong in a game of cards. I am not a judge in this matter, because I have never yet learned to distinguish one card from another. I am quite ignorant to talk about cards when I do not know anything about them, am I not? But I have had some experience in considering this matter and studying the results of this social game of card playing. Perhaps it is not in the game itself, but in the fascination that results from it. People become fascinated with the game. I have known in my experience where young people would wake up in the night and get out of bed to have a game of cards. I believe that it leads to evil, and I do not think it a good thing for our people to indulge in to the excess that it has been and is being indulged in throughout the Church at the present time. We ought to exercise our judgment and consider the welfare of our children; for because of this some have turned out to be gamblers. We would not have to go far to find such cases. They have lost their faith, as well as their money, and many have died in disgrace. I am not prepared, my brethren and sisters, to condemn this amusement in toto; but I say where it goes to excess it is a bad thing. Where people sit up to unusual hours in the night to indulge in these games, I tell you it is a bad thing, because the wine and the beer have to be brought forward, that the players my be stimulated to continue the game, and whenever that occurs you may set it down that it is wrong. I believe we can run to excess in these amusements that the Lord has kindly permitted us to indulge in. We can go to excess in round dancing, for instance. It is all right and proper for people to have social gathering and amusements; but let us see to it, my brethren and sisters, that we do not go to excess in these things. When we do, we grieve the Spirit of the Lord, and it will take its departure, “and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks; to persecute the Saints, and to fight against God.” – Doctrine and Covenants, Section 121 and verses 37 and 38.
We should be considerate in these matters and look well after the welfare and the proper training of our children, because we want to see them honorable men and women in the earth. Our hearts are swelled with joy when they go abroad to preach the Gospel and they write back and tell how prosperous they are and how the Lord has listened to their prayers. What a joy it brings to the soul of the father and mother and kindred! We ought to have an anxiety in this direction. Instead of feeling, when our sons are called to go abroad, “Oh! I don’t know where to raise the means, now how to send him,” we ought to feel like making every effort to send our sons agreeable to the commandments of the Lord. I believe the great majority of the people do feel this way.
The Lord has called us to build up Zion and to establish His kingdom. He has called us to labor in the ministry. He did not call us to labor in the ministry. He did not call us here to aggrandize ourselves. Here we have veterans before us that have labored a lifetime to build up Zion. They have gone on missions, without food or raiment being left for their families; but God has sustained them. They have not labored for the wealth of this world; but they have labored for the salvation of the souls of men. Now God is honoring them; He is lifting them up before the Saints and the world, and giving them blessing and glory, and eventually will give them eternal lives. And this will be the case if we labor with all our might to sustain Zion and the work of God. I hope this may be our lot, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Elder John W. Taylor
was the next speaker. He was thankful for the privilege of meeting in Conference with the Saints, where temporal affairs could be put aside for a season and the spiritual things of the Kingdom of God could be solely considered. He read a portion of the first chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians, including the following verse: “If we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed.” He also read that part of the epistle of the same Apostle to the Romans which treats upon baptism as being typical of a burial and resurrection. This language, he contended, meant that the mode of administering that ordinance was by immersion in water. This was a part of the Gospel which was taught by Paul. The speaker next referred to the incident in point related in the 19th chapter of Acts of the Apostles, when certain persons were baptized by the laying on of his hands. The administration of the same ordinances—baptism in water and the laying on of hands of the imparting of the Holy Ghost—were sustained by reference to the 8th chapter of the Acts, which speaks of certain ministrations and believers in Samaria. Other passages were cited for the same purpose. Elder Taylor at the same time dwelling upon the fact that these doctrines, which formed a part of the system of religion taught by Paul, were not taught by the churches of the day, aside from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord had established His Church and Kingdom upon the earth. He himself knew that the community of Latter-day Saints were today but in their infancy, and that they would grow stronger and stronger until the Gospel had been carried unto all the nations of the earth.
The choir sang:
From afar, gracious Lord,
Thou has gathered Thy flock.
Conference adjourned until 2 o’clock p. m.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
was the next speaker. He was thankful for the privilege of meeting in Conference with the Saints, where temporal affairs could be put aside for a season and the spiritual things of the Kingdom of God could be solely considered. He read a portion of the first chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians, including the following verse: “If we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed.” He also read that part of the epistle of the same Apostle to the Romans which treats upon baptism as being typical of a burial and resurrection. This language, he contended, meant that the mode of administering that ordinance was by immersion in water. This was a part of the Gospel which was taught by Paul. The speaker next referred to the incident in point related in the 19th chapter of Acts of the Apostles, when certain persons were baptized by the laying on of his hands. The administration of the same ordinances—baptism in water and the laying on of hands of the imparting of the Holy Ghost—were sustained by reference to the 8th chapter of the Acts, which speaks of certain ministrations and believers in Samaria. Other passages were cited for the same purpose. Elder Taylor at the same time dwelling upon the fact that these doctrines, which formed a part of the system of religion taught by Paul, were not taught by the churches of the day, aside from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord had established His Church and Kingdom upon the earth. He himself knew that the community of Latter-day Saints were today but in their infancy, and that they would grow stronger and stronger until the Gospel had been carried unto all the nations of the earth.
The choir sang:
From afar, gracious Lord,
Thou has gathered Thy flock.
Conference adjourned until 2 o’clock p. m.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
Afternoon Session. 2 p. m.
The choir sang:
Great God, attend while Zion sings
The joy that from Thy presence springs;
To spend one day with Thee on earth
Exceeds a thousand years of mirth.
Prayer by Elder George Reynolds.
Singing:
Glorious Things of thee are spoken,
Zion city of our God!
He whose word cannot be broken
Chose thee for His own abode.
The choir sang:
Great God, attend while Zion sings
The joy that from Thy presence springs;
To spend one day with Thee on earth
Exceeds a thousand years of mirth.
Prayer by Elder George Reynolds.
Singing:
Glorious Things of thee are spoken,
Zion city of our God!
He whose word cannot be broken
Chose thee for His own abode.
Elder Heber J. Grant
was called upon to address the congregation. He said it was always a pleasure to him to have the opportunity of meeting with the Latter-day Saints, and especially was this the case at the annual Conference. He rejoiced exceedingly in the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the plan of life and salvation that had been revealed in this our day, and he prayed that he might never break any of the covenants into which he had entered with God. His great desire was to know the mind and will of God and to act in accordance therewith. In proportion to our diligence, faithfulness and humility in keeping His commandments would He bless and assist us in the labors of life. A man who possessed the testimony that we were engaged in the work of God valued that testimony more than life itself, and the most earnest desire of every true Latter-day Saint, male or female, was that their children may grow up in the nurture and admonition of the Gospel, and so keep the commandments of God that they may be saved in His Kingdom. We received a testimony of the Gospel by obeying its laws and ordinances; we received a knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged by keeping the commands of God; and our children would receive that knowledge exactly as their parents had before them. The Lord had commanded that we shall teach our children the principles of the Gospel, and that they shall be baptized when they are eight years of age. If we failed to keep that commandment the blessings which He had promised us would be revoked and we would have mourning and sorrow in seeing our offspring grow up without a desire to serve God. In after years, when we endeavored to instill into their minds the principles of the Gospel, failure would come, because the seeds of error and distrust would have been already sown, and we would be unable to control them; whereas had we done our duty the opposite of this would have been the result. In conclusions Elder Grant invoked the blessing of God upon this people.
was called upon to address the congregation. He said it was always a pleasure to him to have the opportunity of meeting with the Latter-day Saints, and especially was this the case at the annual Conference. He rejoiced exceedingly in the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the plan of life and salvation that had been revealed in this our day, and he prayed that he might never break any of the covenants into which he had entered with God. His great desire was to know the mind and will of God and to act in accordance therewith. In proportion to our diligence, faithfulness and humility in keeping His commandments would He bless and assist us in the labors of life. A man who possessed the testimony that we were engaged in the work of God valued that testimony more than life itself, and the most earnest desire of every true Latter-day Saint, male or female, was that their children may grow up in the nurture and admonition of the Gospel, and so keep the commandments of God that they may be saved in His Kingdom. We received a testimony of the Gospel by obeying its laws and ordinances; we received a knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged by keeping the commands of God; and our children would receive that knowledge exactly as their parents had before them. The Lord had commanded that we shall teach our children the principles of the Gospel, and that they shall be baptized when they are eight years of age. If we failed to keep that commandment the blessings which He had promised us would be revoked and we would have mourning and sorrow in seeing our offspring grow up without a desire to serve God. In after years, when we endeavored to instill into their minds the principles of the Gospel, failure would come, because the seeds of error and distrust would have been already sown, and we would be unable to control them; whereas had we done our duty the opposite of this would have been the result. In conclusions Elder Grant invoked the blessing of God upon this people.
Duty of Parents to Children.
Remarks made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder Heber J. Grant.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
It is always a pleasure to me to have the opportunity of meeting with the Latter-day Saints, and I rejoice in being present here today. I have rejoiced in the counsels, that have been given, and I earnestly desire that while I may stand before you this afternoon I may have the benefit of your faith and prayers to assist me in speaking. I rejoice exceedingly in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been revealed in this day, and I earnestly desire that I may be able, in connection with the rest of the Latter-day Saints, to so order my life that my mind may never become darkened, that I may never depart from the truth, or break any of the covenants which I have made with the Lord. I earnestly wish to know the mind and will of my Heavenly Father and to have the ability and strength of character to carry the same out in my life. I have this same desire for all of the Latter-day Saints. I appreciate fully the fact that in proportion to our diligence, faithfulness and humility in keeping the commandments of God, He will bless us and assist us in our labors; and it is the duty of every one to seek earnestly of the Lord to learn His ways.
When I heard Brother Merrill this morning say that he had met many of the Latter-day Saints who thought it was not obligatory upon them to teach their children the plan of salvation, and to baptize them when eight years of age, but who proposed to allow their children to grow to years of accountability and then to present to them the Gospel and allow them to receive or reject it—I could not help but feel that all such individuals placed their judgment and their ideas as superior to the commandments of God; that they lacked faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that they did not have an abiding testimony of the divinity of the work in which they are engaged. A man who has a testimony that we are engaged in the work of God values that testimony more than life itself; and I believe I am safe in saying that the most earnest desire of every true Latter-day Saint is that his children may grow up in the nurture and the admonition of the Gospel, keeping the commandments of God, so that they may be saved in His kingdom. It is simply absurd to imagine that if a child has the seed of falsehood and evil sown in its mind through life, you will at once be able to sow in that mind one crop of truth and have it bring forth a harvest of truth. I remember remarking recently at a conference that we would look upon a farmer as a natural born idiot who would call upon everybody who passed his farm to throw in a few seeds of weeds, to do this for a period of twenty-one years, and then expect he could sow a crop of grain and expect to get a good harvest. I may know the multiplication table, and my wife may also, but I cannot on that account expect my children to be born with a knowledge of the multiplication table in their heads. I may know that the Gospel is true, and my wife may know it; but I do not imagine for one moment that my children will be born with this knowledge. We receive a testimony of the Gospel by obeying the laws and ordinances thereof; and our children will receive that knowledge exactly the same way; and if we do not teach them, and they do not walk in the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life, they will never receive this knowledge. I have heard people say that their children were born heirs to all the promises of the new and everlasting covenant, and that they would grow up in spite of themselves with a knowledge of the Gospel. I want to say to you that this is not a true doctrine, and it is in direct opposition to the commandment of our Heavenly Father. We find that it is laid down to the Latter-day Saints, not as an entreaty, but as a law, that they should teach their children:
And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion or in any of her Stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living god, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands when eight years old; the sin be upon the heads of the parents;
For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her Stakes which are organized;
And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands,
And they shall also teach their children to pray and to walk uprightly before the Lord.
And the inhabitants of Zion shall, also, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
And the inhabitants of Zion, also, shall remember their labor, in all faithfulness; for the idler shall be had in remembrance before the Lord.
Now, I the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity; but their eyes are full of greediness.
These things ought not to be, and must be done away from among them.
And again:
“Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled? I command, and man obeys not. I revoke, and they receive not the blessings. Then they say in their hearts, This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But woe unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above.”
The Lord has given us a commandment that we shall teach our children the principles of the Gospel and have them baptized when they are eight years of age. If we fail to keep this commandment, the blessings that are promised to us by the Lord will be revoked, and we will have mourning and sorrow in seeing our children grow up without a desire to serve God; and in after years, when we endeavor to instil into the minds the principles of the Gospel, we will make a failure of it. It is boasted by the Catholics that if they can have the training of a child until it is twelve years of age, they will defy the world to turn that child from Catholicism. If we do our duty in teaching our children the principles of the Gospel, we ought to be able to defy the world to turn them away from the truth, if the Catholics can defy the world to turn them away from error. Every father who loves the Gospel is ready and willing to go to the ends of the earth to preach it, and one of the greatest joys that any man can have is to be found in bringing souls to a knowledge of the truth. It ought to be a greater joy to us to train our children in the plan of salvation, realizing that by so doing we will be able to save and exalt them in the kingdom of God. May the Lord bless you. Amen.
Remarks made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder Heber J. Grant.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
It is always a pleasure to me to have the opportunity of meeting with the Latter-day Saints, and I rejoice in being present here today. I have rejoiced in the counsels, that have been given, and I earnestly desire that while I may stand before you this afternoon I may have the benefit of your faith and prayers to assist me in speaking. I rejoice exceedingly in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been revealed in this day, and I earnestly desire that I may be able, in connection with the rest of the Latter-day Saints, to so order my life that my mind may never become darkened, that I may never depart from the truth, or break any of the covenants which I have made with the Lord. I earnestly wish to know the mind and will of my Heavenly Father and to have the ability and strength of character to carry the same out in my life. I have this same desire for all of the Latter-day Saints. I appreciate fully the fact that in proportion to our diligence, faithfulness and humility in keeping the commandments of God, He will bless us and assist us in our labors; and it is the duty of every one to seek earnestly of the Lord to learn His ways.
When I heard Brother Merrill this morning say that he had met many of the Latter-day Saints who thought it was not obligatory upon them to teach their children the plan of salvation, and to baptize them when eight years of age, but who proposed to allow their children to grow to years of accountability and then to present to them the Gospel and allow them to receive or reject it—I could not help but feel that all such individuals placed their judgment and their ideas as superior to the commandments of God; that they lacked faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that they did not have an abiding testimony of the divinity of the work in which they are engaged. A man who has a testimony that we are engaged in the work of God values that testimony more than life itself; and I believe I am safe in saying that the most earnest desire of every true Latter-day Saint is that his children may grow up in the nurture and the admonition of the Gospel, keeping the commandments of God, so that they may be saved in His kingdom. It is simply absurd to imagine that if a child has the seed of falsehood and evil sown in its mind through life, you will at once be able to sow in that mind one crop of truth and have it bring forth a harvest of truth. I remember remarking recently at a conference that we would look upon a farmer as a natural born idiot who would call upon everybody who passed his farm to throw in a few seeds of weeds, to do this for a period of twenty-one years, and then expect he could sow a crop of grain and expect to get a good harvest. I may know the multiplication table, and my wife may also, but I cannot on that account expect my children to be born with a knowledge of the multiplication table in their heads. I may know that the Gospel is true, and my wife may know it; but I do not imagine for one moment that my children will be born with this knowledge. We receive a testimony of the Gospel by obeying the laws and ordinances thereof; and our children will receive that knowledge exactly the same way; and if we do not teach them, and they do not walk in the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life, they will never receive this knowledge. I have heard people say that their children were born heirs to all the promises of the new and everlasting covenant, and that they would grow up in spite of themselves with a knowledge of the Gospel. I want to say to you that this is not a true doctrine, and it is in direct opposition to the commandment of our Heavenly Father. We find that it is laid down to the Latter-day Saints, not as an entreaty, but as a law, that they should teach their children:
And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion or in any of her Stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living god, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands when eight years old; the sin be upon the heads of the parents;
For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her Stakes which are organized;
And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands,
And they shall also teach their children to pray and to walk uprightly before the Lord.
And the inhabitants of Zion shall, also, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
And the inhabitants of Zion, also, shall remember their labor, in all faithfulness; for the idler shall be had in remembrance before the Lord.
Now, I the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity; but their eyes are full of greediness.
These things ought not to be, and must be done away from among them.
And again:
“Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled? I command, and man obeys not. I revoke, and they receive not the blessings. Then they say in their hearts, This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But woe unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above.”
The Lord has given us a commandment that we shall teach our children the principles of the Gospel and have them baptized when they are eight years of age. If we fail to keep this commandment, the blessings that are promised to us by the Lord will be revoked, and we will have mourning and sorrow in seeing our children grow up without a desire to serve God; and in after years, when we endeavor to instil into the minds the principles of the Gospel, we will make a failure of it. It is boasted by the Catholics that if they can have the training of a child until it is twelve years of age, they will defy the world to turn that child from Catholicism. If we do our duty in teaching our children the principles of the Gospel, we ought to be able to defy the world to turn them away from the truth, if the Catholics can defy the world to turn them away from error. Every father who loves the Gospel is ready and willing to go to the ends of the earth to preach it, and one of the greatest joys that any man can have is to be found in bringing souls to a knowledge of the truth. It ought to be a greater joy to us to train our children in the plan of salvation, realizing that by so doing we will be able to save and exalt them in the kingdom of God. May the Lord bless you. Amen.
Elder George Teasdale
was the next speaker. He said that he appreciated the privilege of associating with the Saints in Conference. He spoke briefly of his recent labors, in connection with Apostles Brigham Young and John Henry Smith, in the Mexican mission. He remarked that the Saints were there located in a beautiful country, and they had passed the most laborious part of opening up of that region for prosperous homes. The mission was in good condition, which, so far as related to settlements, was about seven years old. There was a tannery, a flouring mill, a good deal of fruit-raising, and the progress made was surprising.
The speaker referred to the words of Paul, who said he was “an apostle not of man.” He was an apostle raised up by Christ that the Gospel might be preached by him. The words of Christ in reference to the necessity of being “born of water and of the spirit” in order to see or enter the Kingdom of God were dwelt upon. The preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the ordinances thereof could only be done acceptably by those holding divine authority, being “called of God, as was Aaron.” Even as Paul was called to be “an Apostle not of man” but of Christ. He who administered baptism must say to the candidate for entrance into the Kingdom of God—“Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” To reject the Gospel was a serious matter. That authority and plan were withdrawn after the days of the ancient Apostles because the people rejected the message. The same Gospel as they preached has been restored and Prophet (Joseph Smith) had been raised up in this age to establish the true Church of the Savior. This was the testimony of the Latter-day Saints to the world. But the great bulk of the people had no faith, and without faith it was impossible to please God. He wished to bear his testimony that we were living in the hour of God’s judgment, and the Gospel was being preached to all nations for a witness; and the Latter-day Saints were the witnesses. He knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and had seen the signs follow the true believer continually; and he also knew to his great satisfaction that this organization known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the Church of the living God. The speaker stated that since the year 1852, up to which time he was a member of the Episcopal church, he had been engaged more less in the work of the ministry in this organization; during that period he had had a variety of experiences, preached a good deal, and traveled very many miles for the Gospel cause. Will we, he asked, be faithful and true, or be satisfied with the mere theory of the Gospel? Let us teach our children the principles of righteousness by practice as well as by precept; and example had greater force and more influence upon the people than precept. Elder Teasdale dwelt upon the importance of family prayer and training of our children in this regard. He concluded by exhorting the Saints to be meek, humble and faithful.
was the next speaker. He said that he appreciated the privilege of associating with the Saints in Conference. He spoke briefly of his recent labors, in connection with Apostles Brigham Young and John Henry Smith, in the Mexican mission. He remarked that the Saints were there located in a beautiful country, and they had passed the most laborious part of opening up of that region for prosperous homes. The mission was in good condition, which, so far as related to settlements, was about seven years old. There was a tannery, a flouring mill, a good deal of fruit-raising, and the progress made was surprising.
The speaker referred to the words of Paul, who said he was “an apostle not of man.” He was an apostle raised up by Christ that the Gospel might be preached by him. The words of Christ in reference to the necessity of being “born of water and of the spirit” in order to see or enter the Kingdom of God were dwelt upon. The preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the ordinances thereof could only be done acceptably by those holding divine authority, being “called of God, as was Aaron.” Even as Paul was called to be “an Apostle not of man” but of Christ. He who administered baptism must say to the candidate for entrance into the Kingdom of God—“Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” To reject the Gospel was a serious matter. That authority and plan were withdrawn after the days of the ancient Apostles because the people rejected the message. The same Gospel as they preached has been restored and Prophet (Joseph Smith) had been raised up in this age to establish the true Church of the Savior. This was the testimony of the Latter-day Saints to the world. But the great bulk of the people had no faith, and without faith it was impossible to please God. He wished to bear his testimony that we were living in the hour of God’s judgment, and the Gospel was being preached to all nations for a witness; and the Latter-day Saints were the witnesses. He knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and had seen the signs follow the true believer continually; and he also knew to his great satisfaction that this organization known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the Church of the living God. The speaker stated that since the year 1852, up to which time he was a member of the Episcopal church, he had been engaged more less in the work of the ministry in this organization; during that period he had had a variety of experiences, preached a good deal, and traveled very many miles for the Gospel cause. Will we, he asked, be faithful and true, or be satisfied with the mere theory of the Gospel? Let us teach our children the principles of righteousness by practice as well as by precept; and example had greater force and more influence upon the people than precept. Elder Teasdale dwelt upon the importance of family prayer and training of our children in this regard. He concluded by exhorting the Saints to be meek, humble and faithful.
Meditations on the Gospel.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder George Teasdale.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I am deeply thankful to our Heavenly Father for the privilege of visiting this city, associating with my brethren in council and attending this Conference. My soul has rejoiced in the instructions given and the spirit that is here.
I left Colonia Juarez on the 3rd of March to attend two days’ conference meetings at Colonia Dublan, of the Mexican Mission. We went from there to Sonora, visited Colonia Oaxaca on the Bavispe river, enjoyed very much the association of the Saints and organized a ward. It is a lovely country for those who desire plenty of room and a beautiful climate. We returned from Sonora to Colonia Diaz, held two days’ ward conference meetings there, and then came to Deming, on our way to attend this Conference. We were very much blessed in our administrations. Apostles Brigham Young and John Henry Smith and myself have been laboring in the Mexican Mission, and have had a very profitable time with the Saints. We have five or six settlements in Mexico, and are growing and increasing. We consider that we have got over the worst of our experience in laying the foundation of new settlements. The brethren and sisters that are in Mexico went there because they believed that was where the Lord wanted their labors. One of the brethren, on some intimation of his being released from that Mission, stated that he had no desire to be released. Our Heavenly Father had opened his eyes to the understanding that that was where his labors were required, and he was perfectly willing to stay. I believe we should be satisfied in our own minds that where our labors are there is where the Lord wants us. Then we will build up and make glad the earth, beautifying it as well as we possibly can, and making it blossom like the rose. I will say for the benefit of those who are interested that we are prospering in the Mexican Mission, and that we are doing as well as we could hope to do. We have only been there seven years, and we have some very creditable buildings. We have a good tannery and a flour mill. We have also a cannery that uses more fruit than we can supply. The progress that we have made there is certainly wonderful. Those who visit us are very much surprised. It is a good country for those who feel that that is the place of their mission. We are going the way the prophets have declared concerning that Mission and the future of Zion.
I desire to offer a few meditations this afternoon in connection with the principles of the Gospel that were spoken of by Elder John W. Taylor this morning. These words I wish to refer you to that he read:
“Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither of man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the death;)”
Paul, an apostle, “not of men”. Did Jesus Christ ordain him? I think not. Who ordained him? Peter, I presume. And who ordained Peter? Jesus Christ. To what end was this ordination? In order that this Gospel might be preached by authority; that mankind might be called to repentance, and, repenting, have baptism for the remission of sins by authority, and hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost. Why? Because this is the doctrine of Christ—the only way to be saved. The principles of the Gospel are eternal without beginning of days or end of years. The Lord Jesus Christ said:
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Again:
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
We believe that Jesus Christ understood the principles that He advocated. We believe that His is the only name under heaven whereby mankind can be saved; and when we appeal to our Heavenly Father for anything that we desire, we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, in speaking of the necessity of authority, said:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall the hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things?
On another occasion, Paul, in speaking of the necessity of being called of God, to preach His gospel, said:
“No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.”
Paul declared that he was called of Jesus Christ. Were not all the apostles called of Jesus Christ? And when one fell into transgression, and Mathias was chosen to fill his place in the quorum, was he not called of Jesus Christ? Was he not ordained by authority and sent forth to preach His Gospel? My brethren and sisters, it is necessary, if the principles of truth are preached, that they be advocated by men who have authority. In the formula given concerning baptism, the person having authority to baptize says to the candidate for baptism, calling him or her by name,
“Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Now, this would be terrible blasphemy if he did not have the authority. He does not officiate in his own name, but in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, having authority to do so. I look upon the rejection of this Gospel as a very serious thing. I have wondered why the apostleship was taken from the earth, and why the church was not continued upon the earth, and the only answer that I could get to give me satisfaction was, because of the dreadful condemnation that rests upon the inhabitants of the earth when they reject the word of the Lord, through His authorized servants. We understand that the apostles were murdered and the world rejected them. Paul said, speaking of the organization of the Church of Christ:
“God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers.”
What for?
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”
Jesus taught that to know God and Jesus Christ whom He had sent was eternal life, and this knowledge is promised unto the children of our Heavenly Father. When we go forth to preach this Gospel we bear testimony that our Heavenly Father has again spoken from the heavens; that He has organized His Church upon the earth, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet sent of God; and we call upon the people to worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, the seas and the fountains of waters. We call upon men to accept of His doctrine and to repent, that they may obtain the remission of their sins by baptism and be prepared for the reception of the Holy Ghost, so that they may be guided by it and taught of God. Our Heavenly Father says:
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”
He encourages us to hearken unto Him. The ancient apostles, under the influence of His Spirit, encouraged the people in their day, as we do today. We say,
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
But the people have not faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. We must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, or we will not seek Him. We know very well that in all organizations and governments it is necessary to have authority, and that no man can act in any position except he has authority, unless he does it fraudulently. There are those whose right it is to issue that authority, and all agents have to receive their proper credentials. Do you not think that the house of God is a house of order? Do you not think that our Heavenly Father has a perfect organization in His Church? Why, certainly. We learn from the history which has been handed down to us in the sacred scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ chose twelve apostles. Those were the first officers that He chose. He ordained them and sent them forth to preach His Gospel. Jesus Christ was a High Priest and an Apostle. He also had the power to ordain other Apostles and High Priests. Afterwards He ordained seventy others, and sent them forth to preach His Gospel, giving them authority to go forth and to heal the sick and perform such miracles as the people might have faith to receive. Now had that church continued upon the earth, there would have been no necessity for that which John saw in a vision when he was upon the Isle of Patmos. He says:
“I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him: for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the foundations of waters.”
As I say, there would be no necessity for this angel flying through the midst of heaven if this Gospel were on the earth. But John, in the revelation given unto him, had seen the church go into the wilderness and the priesthood taken up into heaven. He had seen the establishment of a great power that was to hold all nations in subjection, in the which all would drink of the wine of her fornication—and this prior to the judgments of the Almighty being poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth, because they had rejected His gospel and broken the everlasting covenant, they had changed the ordinances, and they were teaching false doctrines, and would not repent. I wish to bear my testimony that we are living in this hour of God’s judgment, and that the Gospel of the kingdom is being preached to all nations for a witness, thus giving the nations a time for repentance. This Gospel reached us upon the isles of the sea, and upon the continents; and we all received our blessing through that priesthood that our Heavenly Father restored to the earth. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery bore testimony that John the Baptist visited them and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. They also bore testimony that Peter, James and John visited them and conferred the Apostleship and High Priesthood. These testimonies are true. Those of this congregation who have obeyed the Gospel and received the Holy Ghost know that their testimonies are true. As I know, so they know. And I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet sent of God. I have seen the signs promised by Christ follow the believer. It was said by one of the brethren this morning that some claimed we did not enjoy the gifts and the blessings of the Gospel like we did in the early days of the Church. I would be sorry if that were true. Why? Because it would demonstrate to me that instead of increasing in faith the Church was waning in faith. I can testify that where I have labored that faith is not decreasing; for I have seen marvelous healings by the power of God. That the people have confidence in the ordinances of the house of God is manifested on fast day by the number of bottles of oil that are brought to be consecrated, to be used in the administrations unto the sick. I do not know how it is with you here; but with us generally the oil is consecrated upon the Thursday fast day.
I know that the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the church of the living God. I have known it for a great many years. I was educated in the Episcopalian church. I came out of that church in 1852, and from that time to this I have been more or less engaged in the work of the ministry in this church. I have had a variety of experiences, have traveled a great many miles, and have preached a great many times—to the glory of our Heavenly Father, be it said. I have borne testimony to the establishment of the Church of Christ time and time again, and I am not afraid to meet anybody behind the veil who can say to me, “Your testimony was false.” I have had ample demonstration that the gifts and blessing promised are in the Church. I know that the spirit of prophecy is in the Church. I have been on missions. I have been set apart for these missions under the hands of apostles, and they have predicted concerning me as though they knew the work that I was about to accomplish, and those prophecies have been fulfilled. I am here today a living witness to testify to that.
Now, in all loving kindness, we offer this Gospel to priest and people. We ask them to consider these things. We ask them, for their own sakes, to repent of their sins, to turn from the error of their ways, and to worship the only living and true God; to come and assist us in the establishment of His righteousness upon the earth, to cease their false doctrines, and to humble themselves like little children before our Heavenly Father, as we had to do, and to present unto Him the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. It is on the same principles that we entreat the Saints to be kind to themselves, to pay their just tithes and offerings, to live their religion, to be faithful in prayer and in religion, to be faithful in prayer and in setting a godly example, to act honorably and uprightly, to be honest and chaste, to be loving, gentle and kind. We thus appeal to them with all love in our hearts that they may enjoy the blessings that are bestowed by our Father upon those who love Him and keep His commandments. The Lord has said that if we will love Him and keep His commandments we shall prosper in the land. He has also said, in reference to the law of tithing:
If my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, and that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.
Then what shall we do? Will we be faithful and true and do His will, or will be satisfied with the theory of the Gospel, and be like the man that sees his likeness in the glass and goes away and forgets what manner of man he is? Are we going to establish the character that we heard the word, but never obeyed it, and that by our example we used our influence against His statues being kept in the land? We are making some kind of a record; we are either willing and obedient or we are unwilling and disobedient or we are unwilling and disobedient. This comes to us individually. Do I keep the commandments of God? Do I rob God? Do I treat Him with contempt? Do I despise His counsels? Or am I willing and obedient, learning of His ways and walking in His paths, doing His will that I may be established in His everlasting righteousness? I tell you if we were to do so, there would not be any question with regard to our children; for we would have such love for our children that we would not neglect them, but we would teach them the principles of righteousness, by practice as well as by precept. We would be able to say to them, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” If we are disciples, ought we not to be Christlike? I think so. This is what our Heavenly Father requires of us. I think He has exhorted us to be exemplary men and women, and to teach the principles of righteousness by example. That is the commission we have in Mexico. We believe that there is greater force in example than in precept. It has more influence upon the people. We would have more influence everywhere if we were all living the principles of the Gospel and glorifying God in our good words. We are going to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. We are going to be rewarded according to our works. For every idle word that we utter we will be brought into condemnation. Straight is the way and narrow is the path that leadeth to the exaltations, and few there be that find it. Why? Because they do not want it. God knows men’s hearts. He knows whether a man desires the truth. He knows whether he meditates upon His ways. He understands all about our outgoings and our incomings, and He would do a great deal better for us if we were more faithful and would give to Him our hearts. He says, “My son, give me thine heart.” Why? Because if He has our affections we will do anything for Him. We will do His will because we love Him, and because we understand that our days of probations are but small upon the earth; yet the records of our lives today are going to influence us more or less throughout the countless ages of eternity.
My beloved brethren and sisters, ought we not to be kind to ourselves? I cannot think how it is that men and women having children despise to teach them the principles of righteousness. I believe it is a bounden duty upon all parents to teach their children correct principles, and then our skirts are clear. But are our skirts clear if we never demonstrate unto them anything concerning the principles of the kingdom of God? If a man is never seen on his knees praying with his family, and having them take part in prayer; if he does not teach them the value of the fellowship of the Spirit of God, can he expect his children to grow up with a love for these things? What is there like unto the fellowship of the Spirit of God? I do not think there is anything. Not the wealth of this little world? I would sooner have the fellowship of the Spirit of God than I would have the wealth of this world and all its scholastic attainments. Why? Because then I would be taught of my Heavenly Father. Then I would enjoy light and truth. I would have faith, hope and charity, and be filled with the divine love of God. I would be a blessing to myself and to my fellows, making an everlasting record for righteousness. Let me entreat you, as your friend, be ye reconciled to God, and seek wisdom at His hands. The condemnation of the world is that they have no faith in God but they prefer darkness to light. They have faith in priests, in ordinances, and in dogmas; but they have no faith in the living and true God. They have no faith to go and ask Him, in the name of Jesus Christ, for revelation. He is a God of revelation. I know that He reveals His mind and will unto His children who seek it, and He satisfies the mind. To have a living testimony and to know that God lives is a thousand times better than the visit of angels, than gifts and signs and wonders. To have the fellowship of the Spirit of the Lord; to know that you are right when you lie down in bed; to know when you arise from your bed that you are in the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life—this is far better than dogmas, miracles or outward manifestations. Every man that has the fellowship of the Spirit of God mourns over his fallen condition and his bad disposition; he sees himself and strives to improve his disposition, and to make his individuality more Christlike, be more gentle, more loving, more humble, more meek, and strive to crucify the flesh. When a man has his eyes opened that he can see, his ears opened that he can hear, and his heart that he can understand; when he is redeemed from false impressions and the Holy Spirit brings light and truth into his soul, then he has liberty indeed. That is the glorious liberty of the Gospel. I cannot see how it is that it does not fill the hearts of men with thanksgiving and praise, as well as fear lest they should do anything by which they might lose these bright hopes and aspirations. What is there outside? There is nothing. I know what I am talking about. I know that we can only be sanctified by the truth. The Saints have been fed by the revelations of the Almighty, and they are philosophical and as firm as the everlasting hills. We may reject them, but they remain the same, and always will. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and His course is one eternal round. We cannot prescribe conditions to Him; we must subscribe to His conditions. We have to obey the principles of the Gospel and to be humble and meek if we ever expect to attain to the exaltations. One of my beloved brethren mentioned to me the other day at the funeral of Brother Jesse W. Fox that there was not a man present but would like to speak a word concerning him. What was the matter with Brother Fox that everybody should love him so? Why, he was one of the meek of the earth, and every meek man is loved. Meekness is a natural principle, which we all admire. It is said that Moses was a meek man. Every servant of God has to be a meek man, or else he will never be able to stand in his lot and calling. he has to say, as the Savior said, “Not my will, but Thine, be done.” “Teach me to see as my brethren see. Let no false impression be upon my mind; but let me be sanctified by the truth.” That is the prayer of every man who desires to be established in the everlasting righteousness of God.
My beloved brethren and sisters, let us strive to do the will of our Heavenly Father. Let us be true and faithful and exemplary. Let us pay our just debts and be honorable. Let us glorify God in our good works, and you will see the establishment of His righteousness upon the earth. Look at out glorious Temple. It seems to me that anyone who sees that Temple would have a holy inspiration, and would understand that administrations were being done by divine authority for the living and the dead. Do we understand it? Do you not fear lest you should become a castaway? Do you not fear lest that light that is within you should become darkness? I do. I have seen great and strong men fall and go the way of the sinner, and I have feared lest I, after preaching to others, should become a castaway. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;” and all our scholastic attainments do not amount to anything if we have not the fear of the Lord; we are like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. But if we have the fear of the Lord and the knowledge that comes from Him, we grasp everything, and all things are subject to us, whether it be principles or theories of men or the perishable riches of the earth. They are our servants, and we stand at the head. We know that all good comes from our Heavenly Father, who has given us the brain power to comprehend intricate principles and difficult problems, and we glorify Him because we love Him. I am thankful beyond expression that I have the privilege of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—of being adopted into the royal family of our Heavenly Father; and I earnestly desire to be true and faithful unto the saying and the doing of His will and the keeping of His commandments, that when I pass behind the veil I may have the privilege of the association of those who have gone before us in the Church of the Firstborn, and be able to continue in the redemption of the earth and the human family until every soul shall be saved in some degree of glory. I pray that the blessings of our Heavenly Father may be upon us. I know that the Spirit of the Lord is here, and I rejoice in its influence and power. I pray that it may always be our companion, to guide and direct us, and to make us faithful for the testimony of Jesus, that we may be true and valiant unto the doing of His will and the accomplishment of His purposes. I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder George Teasdale.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I am deeply thankful to our Heavenly Father for the privilege of visiting this city, associating with my brethren in council and attending this Conference. My soul has rejoiced in the instructions given and the spirit that is here.
I left Colonia Juarez on the 3rd of March to attend two days’ conference meetings at Colonia Dublan, of the Mexican Mission. We went from there to Sonora, visited Colonia Oaxaca on the Bavispe river, enjoyed very much the association of the Saints and organized a ward. It is a lovely country for those who desire plenty of room and a beautiful climate. We returned from Sonora to Colonia Diaz, held two days’ ward conference meetings there, and then came to Deming, on our way to attend this Conference. We were very much blessed in our administrations. Apostles Brigham Young and John Henry Smith and myself have been laboring in the Mexican Mission, and have had a very profitable time with the Saints. We have five or six settlements in Mexico, and are growing and increasing. We consider that we have got over the worst of our experience in laying the foundation of new settlements. The brethren and sisters that are in Mexico went there because they believed that was where the Lord wanted their labors. One of the brethren, on some intimation of his being released from that Mission, stated that he had no desire to be released. Our Heavenly Father had opened his eyes to the understanding that that was where his labors were required, and he was perfectly willing to stay. I believe we should be satisfied in our own minds that where our labors are there is where the Lord wants us. Then we will build up and make glad the earth, beautifying it as well as we possibly can, and making it blossom like the rose. I will say for the benefit of those who are interested that we are prospering in the Mexican Mission, and that we are doing as well as we could hope to do. We have only been there seven years, and we have some very creditable buildings. We have a good tannery and a flour mill. We have also a cannery that uses more fruit than we can supply. The progress that we have made there is certainly wonderful. Those who visit us are very much surprised. It is a good country for those who feel that that is the place of their mission. We are going the way the prophets have declared concerning that Mission and the future of Zion.
I desire to offer a few meditations this afternoon in connection with the principles of the Gospel that were spoken of by Elder John W. Taylor this morning. These words I wish to refer you to that he read:
“Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither of man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the death;)”
Paul, an apostle, “not of men”. Did Jesus Christ ordain him? I think not. Who ordained him? Peter, I presume. And who ordained Peter? Jesus Christ. To what end was this ordination? In order that this Gospel might be preached by authority; that mankind might be called to repentance, and, repenting, have baptism for the remission of sins by authority, and hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost. Why? Because this is the doctrine of Christ—the only way to be saved. The principles of the Gospel are eternal without beginning of days or end of years. The Lord Jesus Christ said:
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Again:
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
We believe that Jesus Christ understood the principles that He advocated. We believe that His is the only name under heaven whereby mankind can be saved; and when we appeal to our Heavenly Father for anything that we desire, we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, in speaking of the necessity of authority, said:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall the hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things?
On another occasion, Paul, in speaking of the necessity of being called of God, to preach His gospel, said:
“No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.”
Paul declared that he was called of Jesus Christ. Were not all the apostles called of Jesus Christ? And when one fell into transgression, and Mathias was chosen to fill his place in the quorum, was he not called of Jesus Christ? Was he not ordained by authority and sent forth to preach His Gospel? My brethren and sisters, it is necessary, if the principles of truth are preached, that they be advocated by men who have authority. In the formula given concerning baptism, the person having authority to baptize says to the candidate for baptism, calling him or her by name,
“Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Now, this would be terrible blasphemy if he did not have the authority. He does not officiate in his own name, but in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, having authority to do so. I look upon the rejection of this Gospel as a very serious thing. I have wondered why the apostleship was taken from the earth, and why the church was not continued upon the earth, and the only answer that I could get to give me satisfaction was, because of the dreadful condemnation that rests upon the inhabitants of the earth when they reject the word of the Lord, through His authorized servants. We understand that the apostles were murdered and the world rejected them. Paul said, speaking of the organization of the Church of Christ:
“God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers.”
What for?
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”
Jesus taught that to know God and Jesus Christ whom He had sent was eternal life, and this knowledge is promised unto the children of our Heavenly Father. When we go forth to preach this Gospel we bear testimony that our Heavenly Father has again spoken from the heavens; that He has organized His Church upon the earth, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet sent of God; and we call upon the people to worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, the seas and the fountains of waters. We call upon men to accept of His doctrine and to repent, that they may obtain the remission of their sins by baptism and be prepared for the reception of the Holy Ghost, so that they may be guided by it and taught of God. Our Heavenly Father says:
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”
He encourages us to hearken unto Him. The ancient apostles, under the influence of His Spirit, encouraged the people in their day, as we do today. We say,
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
But the people have not faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. We must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, or we will not seek Him. We know very well that in all organizations and governments it is necessary to have authority, and that no man can act in any position except he has authority, unless he does it fraudulently. There are those whose right it is to issue that authority, and all agents have to receive their proper credentials. Do you not think that the house of God is a house of order? Do you not think that our Heavenly Father has a perfect organization in His Church? Why, certainly. We learn from the history which has been handed down to us in the sacred scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ chose twelve apostles. Those were the first officers that He chose. He ordained them and sent them forth to preach His Gospel. Jesus Christ was a High Priest and an Apostle. He also had the power to ordain other Apostles and High Priests. Afterwards He ordained seventy others, and sent them forth to preach His Gospel, giving them authority to go forth and to heal the sick and perform such miracles as the people might have faith to receive. Now had that church continued upon the earth, there would have been no necessity for that which John saw in a vision when he was upon the Isle of Patmos. He says:
“I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him: for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the foundations of waters.”
As I say, there would be no necessity for this angel flying through the midst of heaven if this Gospel were on the earth. But John, in the revelation given unto him, had seen the church go into the wilderness and the priesthood taken up into heaven. He had seen the establishment of a great power that was to hold all nations in subjection, in the which all would drink of the wine of her fornication—and this prior to the judgments of the Almighty being poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth, because they had rejected His gospel and broken the everlasting covenant, they had changed the ordinances, and they were teaching false doctrines, and would not repent. I wish to bear my testimony that we are living in this hour of God’s judgment, and that the Gospel of the kingdom is being preached to all nations for a witness, thus giving the nations a time for repentance. This Gospel reached us upon the isles of the sea, and upon the continents; and we all received our blessing through that priesthood that our Heavenly Father restored to the earth. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery bore testimony that John the Baptist visited them and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. They also bore testimony that Peter, James and John visited them and conferred the Apostleship and High Priesthood. These testimonies are true. Those of this congregation who have obeyed the Gospel and received the Holy Ghost know that their testimonies are true. As I know, so they know. And I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet sent of God. I have seen the signs promised by Christ follow the believer. It was said by one of the brethren this morning that some claimed we did not enjoy the gifts and the blessings of the Gospel like we did in the early days of the Church. I would be sorry if that were true. Why? Because it would demonstrate to me that instead of increasing in faith the Church was waning in faith. I can testify that where I have labored that faith is not decreasing; for I have seen marvelous healings by the power of God. That the people have confidence in the ordinances of the house of God is manifested on fast day by the number of bottles of oil that are brought to be consecrated, to be used in the administrations unto the sick. I do not know how it is with you here; but with us generally the oil is consecrated upon the Thursday fast day.
I know that the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the church of the living God. I have known it for a great many years. I was educated in the Episcopalian church. I came out of that church in 1852, and from that time to this I have been more or less engaged in the work of the ministry in this church. I have had a variety of experiences, have traveled a great many miles, and have preached a great many times—to the glory of our Heavenly Father, be it said. I have borne testimony to the establishment of the Church of Christ time and time again, and I am not afraid to meet anybody behind the veil who can say to me, “Your testimony was false.” I have had ample demonstration that the gifts and blessing promised are in the Church. I know that the spirit of prophecy is in the Church. I have been on missions. I have been set apart for these missions under the hands of apostles, and they have predicted concerning me as though they knew the work that I was about to accomplish, and those prophecies have been fulfilled. I am here today a living witness to testify to that.
Now, in all loving kindness, we offer this Gospel to priest and people. We ask them to consider these things. We ask them, for their own sakes, to repent of their sins, to turn from the error of their ways, and to worship the only living and true God; to come and assist us in the establishment of His righteousness upon the earth, to cease their false doctrines, and to humble themselves like little children before our Heavenly Father, as we had to do, and to present unto Him the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. It is on the same principles that we entreat the Saints to be kind to themselves, to pay their just tithes and offerings, to live their religion, to be faithful in prayer and in religion, to be faithful in prayer and in setting a godly example, to act honorably and uprightly, to be honest and chaste, to be loving, gentle and kind. We thus appeal to them with all love in our hearts that they may enjoy the blessings that are bestowed by our Father upon those who love Him and keep His commandments. The Lord has said that if we will love Him and keep His commandments we shall prosper in the land. He has also said, in reference to the law of tithing:
If my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, and that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.
Then what shall we do? Will we be faithful and true and do His will, or will be satisfied with the theory of the Gospel, and be like the man that sees his likeness in the glass and goes away and forgets what manner of man he is? Are we going to establish the character that we heard the word, but never obeyed it, and that by our example we used our influence against His statues being kept in the land? We are making some kind of a record; we are either willing and obedient or we are unwilling and disobedient or we are unwilling and disobedient. This comes to us individually. Do I keep the commandments of God? Do I rob God? Do I treat Him with contempt? Do I despise His counsels? Or am I willing and obedient, learning of His ways and walking in His paths, doing His will that I may be established in His everlasting righteousness? I tell you if we were to do so, there would not be any question with regard to our children; for we would have such love for our children that we would not neglect them, but we would teach them the principles of righteousness, by practice as well as by precept. We would be able to say to them, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” If we are disciples, ought we not to be Christlike? I think so. This is what our Heavenly Father requires of us. I think He has exhorted us to be exemplary men and women, and to teach the principles of righteousness by example. That is the commission we have in Mexico. We believe that there is greater force in example than in precept. It has more influence upon the people. We would have more influence everywhere if we were all living the principles of the Gospel and glorifying God in our good words. We are going to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. We are going to be rewarded according to our works. For every idle word that we utter we will be brought into condemnation. Straight is the way and narrow is the path that leadeth to the exaltations, and few there be that find it. Why? Because they do not want it. God knows men’s hearts. He knows whether a man desires the truth. He knows whether he meditates upon His ways. He understands all about our outgoings and our incomings, and He would do a great deal better for us if we were more faithful and would give to Him our hearts. He says, “My son, give me thine heart.” Why? Because if He has our affections we will do anything for Him. We will do His will because we love Him, and because we understand that our days of probations are but small upon the earth; yet the records of our lives today are going to influence us more or less throughout the countless ages of eternity.
My beloved brethren and sisters, ought we not to be kind to ourselves? I cannot think how it is that men and women having children despise to teach them the principles of righteousness. I believe it is a bounden duty upon all parents to teach their children correct principles, and then our skirts are clear. But are our skirts clear if we never demonstrate unto them anything concerning the principles of the kingdom of God? If a man is never seen on his knees praying with his family, and having them take part in prayer; if he does not teach them the value of the fellowship of the Spirit of God, can he expect his children to grow up with a love for these things? What is there like unto the fellowship of the Spirit of God? I do not think there is anything. Not the wealth of this little world? I would sooner have the fellowship of the Spirit of God than I would have the wealth of this world and all its scholastic attainments. Why? Because then I would be taught of my Heavenly Father. Then I would enjoy light and truth. I would have faith, hope and charity, and be filled with the divine love of God. I would be a blessing to myself and to my fellows, making an everlasting record for righteousness. Let me entreat you, as your friend, be ye reconciled to God, and seek wisdom at His hands. The condemnation of the world is that they have no faith in God but they prefer darkness to light. They have faith in priests, in ordinances, and in dogmas; but they have no faith in the living and true God. They have no faith to go and ask Him, in the name of Jesus Christ, for revelation. He is a God of revelation. I know that He reveals His mind and will unto His children who seek it, and He satisfies the mind. To have a living testimony and to know that God lives is a thousand times better than the visit of angels, than gifts and signs and wonders. To have the fellowship of the Spirit of the Lord; to know that you are right when you lie down in bed; to know when you arise from your bed that you are in the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life—this is far better than dogmas, miracles or outward manifestations. Every man that has the fellowship of the Spirit of God mourns over his fallen condition and his bad disposition; he sees himself and strives to improve his disposition, and to make his individuality more Christlike, be more gentle, more loving, more humble, more meek, and strive to crucify the flesh. When a man has his eyes opened that he can see, his ears opened that he can hear, and his heart that he can understand; when he is redeemed from false impressions and the Holy Spirit brings light and truth into his soul, then he has liberty indeed. That is the glorious liberty of the Gospel. I cannot see how it is that it does not fill the hearts of men with thanksgiving and praise, as well as fear lest they should do anything by which they might lose these bright hopes and aspirations. What is there outside? There is nothing. I know what I am talking about. I know that we can only be sanctified by the truth. The Saints have been fed by the revelations of the Almighty, and they are philosophical and as firm as the everlasting hills. We may reject them, but they remain the same, and always will. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and His course is one eternal round. We cannot prescribe conditions to Him; we must subscribe to His conditions. We have to obey the principles of the Gospel and to be humble and meek if we ever expect to attain to the exaltations. One of my beloved brethren mentioned to me the other day at the funeral of Brother Jesse W. Fox that there was not a man present but would like to speak a word concerning him. What was the matter with Brother Fox that everybody should love him so? Why, he was one of the meek of the earth, and every meek man is loved. Meekness is a natural principle, which we all admire. It is said that Moses was a meek man. Every servant of God has to be a meek man, or else he will never be able to stand in his lot and calling. he has to say, as the Savior said, “Not my will, but Thine, be done.” “Teach me to see as my brethren see. Let no false impression be upon my mind; but let me be sanctified by the truth.” That is the prayer of every man who desires to be established in the everlasting righteousness of God.
My beloved brethren and sisters, let us strive to do the will of our Heavenly Father. Let us be true and faithful and exemplary. Let us pay our just debts and be honorable. Let us glorify God in our good works, and you will see the establishment of His righteousness upon the earth. Look at out glorious Temple. It seems to me that anyone who sees that Temple would have a holy inspiration, and would understand that administrations were being done by divine authority for the living and the dead. Do we understand it? Do you not fear lest you should become a castaway? Do you not fear lest that light that is within you should become darkness? I do. I have seen great and strong men fall and go the way of the sinner, and I have feared lest I, after preaching to others, should become a castaway. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;” and all our scholastic attainments do not amount to anything if we have not the fear of the Lord; we are like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. But if we have the fear of the Lord and the knowledge that comes from Him, we grasp everything, and all things are subject to us, whether it be principles or theories of men or the perishable riches of the earth. They are our servants, and we stand at the head. We know that all good comes from our Heavenly Father, who has given us the brain power to comprehend intricate principles and difficult problems, and we glorify Him because we love Him. I am thankful beyond expression that I have the privilege of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—of being adopted into the royal family of our Heavenly Father; and I earnestly desire to be true and faithful unto the saying and the doing of His will and the keeping of His commandments, that when I pass behind the veil I may have the privilege of the association of those who have gone before us in the Church of the Firstborn, and be able to continue in the redemption of the earth and the human family until every soul shall be saved in some degree of glory. I pray that the blessings of our Heavenly Father may be upon us. I know that the Spirit of the Lord is here, and I rejoice in its influence and power. I pray that it may always be our companion, to guide and direct us, and to make us faithful for the testimony of Jesus, that we may be true and valiant unto the doing of His will and the accomplishment of His purposes. I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder John Henry Smith
was the succeeding speaker and his opening remarks were directed to the subject of revelation. There had been one continuous stream of light and knowledge, he said, coming to the Latter-day Saints, through the various channels which our Heavenly Father had selected, ever since this Church was first organized. We were too apt, however, to become forgetful of the great responsibilities which rested upon us as a people. Men and women were too unmindful of the obligations which they took upon themselves when they entered into their covenant with God. Let us henceforward resolve to be more faithful, and more earnest in our efforts to advance the onward progress of this great latter-day work. He dwelt for some time upon the authorities and regulation existing in the Church for the maintenance of peace and union, and urged the strictest conformity thereto. Much depended upon due regard being paid to this matter. The judgments of the ecclesiastical tribunals should be respected, as they were based upon the evidence presented and a clear understanding obtained therefrom as to the rights of the principals interested. The system was so organized as to give the fullest protection to those who give the fullest protection to those who had differences with their brethren. A spirit which had appeared in some localities to foment dissension should be rebuked wherever it was exhibited. Instances had occurred where people whose cases had been adjusted by the Church tribunals had shown dissatisfaction with the result, because it had not been favorable to them. Others had sympathized with them instead of directing them to appeal to a higher court than that which had investigated the dispute. Thus a spirit of disunion had been encouraged by those who ought to have counseled wisely in the interests of peace.
The speaker turned his attention to the world, and the threatening and unsatisfactory condition existing in its affairs. It had been taught the Latter-day Saints to place their affairs in such a condition as would enable them to rise above such disastrous situations and furnish an object lesson to all peoples. The question of the necessity for their doing this was becoming more and more apparent. If we failed in conforming of the commandments of God in this respect we would not deserve His full confidence and approval. He urged the people to patronize and encourage home manufactures.
was the succeeding speaker and his opening remarks were directed to the subject of revelation. There had been one continuous stream of light and knowledge, he said, coming to the Latter-day Saints, through the various channels which our Heavenly Father had selected, ever since this Church was first organized. We were too apt, however, to become forgetful of the great responsibilities which rested upon us as a people. Men and women were too unmindful of the obligations which they took upon themselves when they entered into their covenant with God. Let us henceforward resolve to be more faithful, and more earnest in our efforts to advance the onward progress of this great latter-day work. He dwelt for some time upon the authorities and regulation existing in the Church for the maintenance of peace and union, and urged the strictest conformity thereto. Much depended upon due regard being paid to this matter. The judgments of the ecclesiastical tribunals should be respected, as they were based upon the evidence presented and a clear understanding obtained therefrom as to the rights of the principals interested. The system was so organized as to give the fullest protection to those who give the fullest protection to those who had differences with their brethren. A spirit which had appeared in some localities to foment dissension should be rebuked wherever it was exhibited. Instances had occurred where people whose cases had been adjusted by the Church tribunals had shown dissatisfaction with the result, because it had not been favorable to them. Others had sympathized with them instead of directing them to appeal to a higher court than that which had investigated the dispute. Thus a spirit of disunion had been encouraged by those who ought to have counseled wisely in the interests of peace.
The speaker turned his attention to the world, and the threatening and unsatisfactory condition existing in its affairs. It had been taught the Latter-day Saints to place their affairs in such a condition as would enable them to rise above such disastrous situations and furnish an object lesson to all peoples. The question of the necessity for their doing this was becoming more and more apparent. If we failed in conforming of the commandments of God in this respect we would not deserve His full confidence and approval. He urged the people to patronize and encourage home manufactures.
Proper Redress of Grievances.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder John Henry Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I have enjoyed the remarks that were made this morning by President Woodruff and the other brethren who have spoken to us, as well as the remarks that have been made this afternoon by Brothers Grant and Teasdale. There is certainly no lack so far as the teaching of the Saints in a knowledge of the principles of the Gospel is concerned. From the days that the heavens were opened in this dispensation until the present time there has been on continuous stream of light and knowledge through the various channels that our Father in heaven has selected, coming to the Latter-day Saints. There is no condition of our lives, whether we regard it in the light of our temporal or spiritual well-being, that in His mercy He has not sought to impress upon our minds the sacredness of the obligations which rest upon us in this day and time. It is true that we have not always been as ready to obey the promptings of the Spirit and fulfil the obligations which rest upon us as we might have done; but my observation has convinced me that the great mass of Latter-day Saints are desirous of having the companionship of the Spirit, of following its lead and of enjoying the results that flow from obedience to the wishes of our Father expressed in the revelations that were given in the early days of the Church and that have come to us in these latter times. We, like our children—for we are but children of a larger growth—become forgetful of the responsibilities that rest upon us; but when we are confronted with the truths contained in the Gospel, and they are expounded in our hearing, I have yet to find among the branches of the Church men and women so far unmindful of the character of the obligations into which they entered, when the witness of the spirit of truth was given to them, and the ordinances of the Lord’s house were administered unto them, that they do not call up in remembrance those teachings, and their hearts are gladdened and they are awakened to the character of the responsibilities that rest upon them.
There are, however, evils in our midst, and warnings are necessary to be given to us from time to time. Some of our spirits are cold and do not receive the impress as they should do upon some occasions; while on other occasions the warnings that may be sounded in our ears find at once a place in our hearts, and we renew our covenants with our Father in prayer, signifying our determination to be more faithful, more fruitful in good works, more earnest in a desire to be proper in our own lives and to encourage those with whom we mingle in exhibiting more fidelity and more faith, and in general striving to advance the cause of our heavenly Father.
Among the evils, in my judgment, which need correction among the Latter-day Saints is one that arises frequently in wards and neighborhoods from not complying with the conditions prescribed in the Gospel in regard to our course of conduct. The Bishop of a ward with his Counselors may possibly call in question some member of the ward. This member may have been perchance, a sabbath-breaker, or he may have failed in the payment of his tithes and offerings to the Church. It may be that he has forgotten himself in the midst of anger and been guilty of using profane language. This individual who is called in question, instead of desiring to conform to the requirements that may be placed upon him, commences an agitation in the neighborhood where he resides, directing the efforts of this agitation against his presiding officers, and our brethren and sisters, instead of assuming the position that they should, commence to sympathize with the individual. We have discovered, in mingling among the Saints, and in seeking to adjust among them troubles that are continually arising, that it frequently happens that wards, or branches, or districts become divided in the sentiment in regard to the character of the treatment that the Bishop and his associates, or the Presidency of the Stake and the High Council, may have prescribed in the case of some individual, and, as a result of this continued agitation and gossip an effort is made to overturn the Church government in the ward or stake and belittle the officers, who should be respected and esteemed in the positions that they occupy. Recognizing the fact that in the Church of Christ it was the design of Providence to guard sacredly the rights and liberties of every man, woman and child, He placed upon us the responsibility of seeking, so far as lay in our power, first to adjust our own troubles. If we have wronged one of our neighbors, or if, perchance, we may imagine that our neighbor has wronged us, the obligation rests upon us to seek to adjust those matters and preserve our individuality intact. If we fail in the accomplishment of that reconciliation, then we may call in any of our brethren who act as teachers, who will exercise a spirit to modify our feeling and to bring us into that condition where we would desire to act justly and fairly to our brother or our sister. Failing in the accomplishment of this, under the rule that exists in the Church, we go before the judges of the Church in the form of an organized Bishopric. They pass their judgment upon us, after having sought, by persuasion, to modify the conditions. They make that judgment from the best light and knowledge they can obtain. If we are not satisfied with the decisions made by our brethren, then an appeal lies to the Presidency of the Stake and the High Council; and as elders of the Church we should learn that it is a violation of the obligations resting upon us to create dissension and to try to belittle the men whom the Lord has chosen to be our counselors and advisers. Instead of working up an agitation against them we should seek to guard their reputation and their honor, as well as the principles that the Almighty has established. When judgment has been given we should conform to the requirements of that judgment as near as it is possible for us to do. But there is an increasing tendency, in my judgment, in a wrong direction, in that the Bishops, High Councils and Presidents of Stakes are being assailed from time to time by men and women in the Church of Christ, who should know better their duties and responsibilities, and who should fulfil their obligations in the form our Father has prescribed, instead of working up agitations and exciting their wives and children, and causing neighborhood troubles which result in confusion, disorganization and the hurting of men as innocent of a desire to do wrong to their fellows as men can possibly be. I trust, in the spread of the good work, in the understanding of the principles of life and salvation that our Father has given to us and in the love that we bear to our kind, exercising judiciously and prudently our rights with each other, that none of us will make the effort to destroy and overturn the influence of our brethren. I believe that men in this Church should be handled for their fellowship who become agitators in the wards and branches where they live, looking to the disunion and destruction of the organization that our Father has created. Having the way pointed out before them by which their grievances can be adjusted and failing to receive satisfaction from the organizations of the Stakes of Zion, there lies a door open to the presiding quorum of the whole Church. I trust, therefore, that the spirit which has grown up in some neighborhoods to agitate, to create confusion and dissension and to cause strife shall be met and rebuked wherever it presents itself, until the Latter-day Saints, comprehending the justice of the system which our Father has established (which seeks to guard sacredly the liberties of every member of the Church), shall keep themselves within the purview of the discharge of their duties, and that the day will soon pass by when any of us, having misunderstandings with our brethren, shall seek to exercise what influence and power we may have to their hurt or injury.
I do not know, my brethren and sisters, but that this is enough for me to say upon this subject. It is a subject, however, that should be considered, and considered wisely and well in every branch of the Church of Christ. We should frown down, under every circumstance and in every place, this tendency which has been awakened in neighborhoods to an alarming extent, in some places dividing wards into two and creating a condition of things that no man who holds the priesthood of the Son of God should encourage. During the past year the nations of the world, including our own nation, have passed through an experience fraught, I trust, with eventual good to the human family. We have at least learned this—that no matter how wisely or prudently men may build, it takes but a few moments to unsettle the conditions that surround them and change in a great measure the whole bent of their lives. This Gospel has been preached now sixty-four years among the children of men. We have been sent into the world to say unto them, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Our Father in heaven has revealed to us that the creations of man shall fall in pieces when the touch of Deity rests down upon them; and that nothing shall be able to withstand the fierceness of His wrath, only that which is builded upon the rock of eternal truth. We have seen the world it its great financial concerns shaken to its very center; and distress, suspicion and fear engendered in the breasts of the strong ones, who had regarded themselves as possessing the influence and power to wield and control the destinies almost of the human race. We have anticipated, in the grown and development of the system that our Father has revealed, and which we preach to the world as the Gospel of Christ, that there would come a time, after the witness had been borne to all lands and climes, when the world would be in confusion, when suspicion, doubt and fear would find place in the hearts of men and they would look abroad to see where they could go or how they could act to avert the calamities that were pressing upon them which foreboded the destruction of the systems they had established and an overturning of that which man had built. The day may not have yet arrived when this will occur in its fulness; but the experience of the past year has borne its witness in stronger language and with more force and power than the voices of the elders of the Church have been able to do among the children of men, that when the time shall arrive to accomplish His designs in the regeneration and the humbling of His children, it lies within His power to accomplish that purpose and bring them to His feet, their pride broken, and they willing to acknowledge His hand and bow to His wish. In the time that has gone by it was the view entertained by the Latter-day Saints—in fact, it was part and parcel of their faith,--that it was their duty to make every effort within their power to put themselves in a condition of independence, that when these storms should come and the winds should break with fierceness upon our brethren and sisters who refused the faith we had espoused, and they should long to know whence to flee, there would be a people so established and so fixed in the principles of right and of proper government to whom they could go and in whose companionship and association they could be freed from their unsettled surroundings. I trust that the Gospel which we have embraced has written itself so thoroughly upon our minds and has become so established in our hearts that we can see and sense fully the gravity of the responsibility that attaches to us, and, so far as lies in our power seek by every means we have to enhance every temporal interest of the people, providing for their wants and necessities, and giving to them the employment by and through which they can obtain that which will sustain them and the households that our Father has placed under their watchcare. To my mind, we are unworthy of the confidence and esteem of our Father in heaven if we fail in seeking to the best of our ability to advance every temporal interest and to establish everything wherein it is possible to bring independence to ourselves as well as to those not of our faith who may reside within our borders and be interested in the upbuilding and development of that which is around us.
My brethren and sisters, I look over this congregation and I wonder how many hats worn by the men have been made within the confines of our own Territory. I look around and see the heads of my sisters bedecked with hats and bonnets and the question arises in my mind, how many of them are the workmanship of their own hands, or go to create employment for our brethren and sisters? I might go on and name a hundred things that are necessary for the comfort and well-being of man, which it is possible for us to provide for ourselves; and before we can reach that condition of independence that the Lord expects us to reach, we will not only be making our hats and bonnets, but everything that is necessary to the clothing and adornment of men and women and the beautifying of Zion will be brought into being by the industrious and earnest hands of those reared within this commonwealth.
That we may learn the truth; that we may appreciate the principles which have been taught unto us, bearing upon the observance of those requirements which rest upon us in seeking to preserve peace and harmony, and in making the proper provision for those who lack the ability to care for themselves; that the sons and daughters of our heavenly Father may be a united family, blessing each other and all with whom they come in contract, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang the anthem, Jerusalem, my glorious home.
Benediction by Elder C. D. Fjelsted.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday, April 6, 1894, by Elder John Henry Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I have enjoyed the remarks that were made this morning by President Woodruff and the other brethren who have spoken to us, as well as the remarks that have been made this afternoon by Brothers Grant and Teasdale. There is certainly no lack so far as the teaching of the Saints in a knowledge of the principles of the Gospel is concerned. From the days that the heavens were opened in this dispensation until the present time there has been on continuous stream of light and knowledge through the various channels that our Father in heaven has selected, coming to the Latter-day Saints. There is no condition of our lives, whether we regard it in the light of our temporal or spiritual well-being, that in His mercy He has not sought to impress upon our minds the sacredness of the obligations which rest upon us in this day and time. It is true that we have not always been as ready to obey the promptings of the Spirit and fulfil the obligations which rest upon us as we might have done; but my observation has convinced me that the great mass of Latter-day Saints are desirous of having the companionship of the Spirit, of following its lead and of enjoying the results that flow from obedience to the wishes of our Father expressed in the revelations that were given in the early days of the Church and that have come to us in these latter times. We, like our children—for we are but children of a larger growth—become forgetful of the responsibilities that rest upon us; but when we are confronted with the truths contained in the Gospel, and they are expounded in our hearing, I have yet to find among the branches of the Church men and women so far unmindful of the character of the obligations into which they entered, when the witness of the spirit of truth was given to them, and the ordinances of the Lord’s house were administered unto them, that they do not call up in remembrance those teachings, and their hearts are gladdened and they are awakened to the character of the responsibilities that rest upon them.
There are, however, evils in our midst, and warnings are necessary to be given to us from time to time. Some of our spirits are cold and do not receive the impress as they should do upon some occasions; while on other occasions the warnings that may be sounded in our ears find at once a place in our hearts, and we renew our covenants with our Father in prayer, signifying our determination to be more faithful, more fruitful in good works, more earnest in a desire to be proper in our own lives and to encourage those with whom we mingle in exhibiting more fidelity and more faith, and in general striving to advance the cause of our heavenly Father.
Among the evils, in my judgment, which need correction among the Latter-day Saints is one that arises frequently in wards and neighborhoods from not complying with the conditions prescribed in the Gospel in regard to our course of conduct. The Bishop of a ward with his Counselors may possibly call in question some member of the ward. This member may have been perchance, a sabbath-breaker, or he may have failed in the payment of his tithes and offerings to the Church. It may be that he has forgotten himself in the midst of anger and been guilty of using profane language. This individual who is called in question, instead of desiring to conform to the requirements that may be placed upon him, commences an agitation in the neighborhood where he resides, directing the efforts of this agitation against his presiding officers, and our brethren and sisters, instead of assuming the position that they should, commence to sympathize with the individual. We have discovered, in mingling among the Saints, and in seeking to adjust among them troubles that are continually arising, that it frequently happens that wards, or branches, or districts become divided in the sentiment in regard to the character of the treatment that the Bishop and his associates, or the Presidency of the Stake and the High Council, may have prescribed in the case of some individual, and, as a result of this continued agitation and gossip an effort is made to overturn the Church government in the ward or stake and belittle the officers, who should be respected and esteemed in the positions that they occupy. Recognizing the fact that in the Church of Christ it was the design of Providence to guard sacredly the rights and liberties of every man, woman and child, He placed upon us the responsibility of seeking, so far as lay in our power, first to adjust our own troubles. If we have wronged one of our neighbors, or if, perchance, we may imagine that our neighbor has wronged us, the obligation rests upon us to seek to adjust those matters and preserve our individuality intact. If we fail in the accomplishment of that reconciliation, then we may call in any of our brethren who act as teachers, who will exercise a spirit to modify our feeling and to bring us into that condition where we would desire to act justly and fairly to our brother or our sister. Failing in the accomplishment of this, under the rule that exists in the Church, we go before the judges of the Church in the form of an organized Bishopric. They pass their judgment upon us, after having sought, by persuasion, to modify the conditions. They make that judgment from the best light and knowledge they can obtain. If we are not satisfied with the decisions made by our brethren, then an appeal lies to the Presidency of the Stake and the High Council; and as elders of the Church we should learn that it is a violation of the obligations resting upon us to create dissension and to try to belittle the men whom the Lord has chosen to be our counselors and advisers. Instead of working up an agitation against them we should seek to guard their reputation and their honor, as well as the principles that the Almighty has established. When judgment has been given we should conform to the requirements of that judgment as near as it is possible for us to do. But there is an increasing tendency, in my judgment, in a wrong direction, in that the Bishops, High Councils and Presidents of Stakes are being assailed from time to time by men and women in the Church of Christ, who should know better their duties and responsibilities, and who should fulfil their obligations in the form our Father has prescribed, instead of working up agitations and exciting their wives and children, and causing neighborhood troubles which result in confusion, disorganization and the hurting of men as innocent of a desire to do wrong to their fellows as men can possibly be. I trust, in the spread of the good work, in the understanding of the principles of life and salvation that our Father has given to us and in the love that we bear to our kind, exercising judiciously and prudently our rights with each other, that none of us will make the effort to destroy and overturn the influence of our brethren. I believe that men in this Church should be handled for their fellowship who become agitators in the wards and branches where they live, looking to the disunion and destruction of the organization that our Father has created. Having the way pointed out before them by which their grievances can be adjusted and failing to receive satisfaction from the organizations of the Stakes of Zion, there lies a door open to the presiding quorum of the whole Church. I trust, therefore, that the spirit which has grown up in some neighborhoods to agitate, to create confusion and dissension and to cause strife shall be met and rebuked wherever it presents itself, until the Latter-day Saints, comprehending the justice of the system which our Father has established (which seeks to guard sacredly the liberties of every member of the Church), shall keep themselves within the purview of the discharge of their duties, and that the day will soon pass by when any of us, having misunderstandings with our brethren, shall seek to exercise what influence and power we may have to their hurt or injury.
I do not know, my brethren and sisters, but that this is enough for me to say upon this subject. It is a subject, however, that should be considered, and considered wisely and well in every branch of the Church of Christ. We should frown down, under every circumstance and in every place, this tendency which has been awakened in neighborhoods to an alarming extent, in some places dividing wards into two and creating a condition of things that no man who holds the priesthood of the Son of God should encourage. During the past year the nations of the world, including our own nation, have passed through an experience fraught, I trust, with eventual good to the human family. We have at least learned this—that no matter how wisely or prudently men may build, it takes but a few moments to unsettle the conditions that surround them and change in a great measure the whole bent of their lives. This Gospel has been preached now sixty-four years among the children of men. We have been sent into the world to say unto them, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Our Father in heaven has revealed to us that the creations of man shall fall in pieces when the touch of Deity rests down upon them; and that nothing shall be able to withstand the fierceness of His wrath, only that which is builded upon the rock of eternal truth. We have seen the world it its great financial concerns shaken to its very center; and distress, suspicion and fear engendered in the breasts of the strong ones, who had regarded themselves as possessing the influence and power to wield and control the destinies almost of the human race. We have anticipated, in the grown and development of the system that our Father has revealed, and which we preach to the world as the Gospel of Christ, that there would come a time, after the witness had been borne to all lands and climes, when the world would be in confusion, when suspicion, doubt and fear would find place in the hearts of men and they would look abroad to see where they could go or how they could act to avert the calamities that were pressing upon them which foreboded the destruction of the systems they had established and an overturning of that which man had built. The day may not have yet arrived when this will occur in its fulness; but the experience of the past year has borne its witness in stronger language and with more force and power than the voices of the elders of the Church have been able to do among the children of men, that when the time shall arrive to accomplish His designs in the regeneration and the humbling of His children, it lies within His power to accomplish that purpose and bring them to His feet, their pride broken, and they willing to acknowledge His hand and bow to His wish. In the time that has gone by it was the view entertained by the Latter-day Saints—in fact, it was part and parcel of their faith,--that it was their duty to make every effort within their power to put themselves in a condition of independence, that when these storms should come and the winds should break with fierceness upon our brethren and sisters who refused the faith we had espoused, and they should long to know whence to flee, there would be a people so established and so fixed in the principles of right and of proper government to whom they could go and in whose companionship and association they could be freed from their unsettled surroundings. I trust that the Gospel which we have embraced has written itself so thoroughly upon our minds and has become so established in our hearts that we can see and sense fully the gravity of the responsibility that attaches to us, and, so far as lies in our power seek by every means we have to enhance every temporal interest of the people, providing for their wants and necessities, and giving to them the employment by and through which they can obtain that which will sustain them and the households that our Father has placed under their watchcare. To my mind, we are unworthy of the confidence and esteem of our Father in heaven if we fail in seeking to the best of our ability to advance every temporal interest and to establish everything wherein it is possible to bring independence to ourselves as well as to those not of our faith who may reside within our borders and be interested in the upbuilding and development of that which is around us.
My brethren and sisters, I look over this congregation and I wonder how many hats worn by the men have been made within the confines of our own Territory. I look around and see the heads of my sisters bedecked with hats and bonnets and the question arises in my mind, how many of them are the workmanship of their own hands, or go to create employment for our brethren and sisters? I might go on and name a hundred things that are necessary for the comfort and well-being of man, which it is possible for us to provide for ourselves; and before we can reach that condition of independence that the Lord expects us to reach, we will not only be making our hats and bonnets, but everything that is necessary to the clothing and adornment of men and women and the beautifying of Zion will be brought into being by the industrious and earnest hands of those reared within this commonwealth.
That we may learn the truth; that we may appreciate the principles which have been taught unto us, bearing upon the observance of those requirements which rest upon us in seeking to preserve peace and harmony, and in making the proper provision for those who lack the ability to care for themselves; that the sons and daughters of our heavenly Father may be a united family, blessing each other and all with whom they come in contract, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang the anthem, Jerusalem, my glorious home.
Benediction by Elder C. D. Fjelsted.
Second Day. Saturday, April 7, 10 a.m.
The choir and congregation sang:
Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation;
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam,
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,
And shortly the hour of redemption will come.
Prayer by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing by the choir:
Glory to God on high;
Let heaven and earth reply.
The choir and congregation sang:
Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation;
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam,
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,
And shortly the hour of redemption will come.
Prayer by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing by the choir:
Glory to God on high;
Let heaven and earth reply.
Elder F. M. Lyman
was the first speaker. He said he believed he felt the importance of the present gathering and the business transacted more than ever he did in his life before. In the month of January last he was called to go on a mission to Southern California, and it fell to the lot of Elder B. H. Roberts to be his traveling companion and spokesman. They spent nearly two months there, visiting the principal cities of the state, and gave the people the privilege of hearing the Gospel as the Latter-day Saints had received it. But they found there were other people who claimed to be Latter-day Saints, professed followers of the Prophet Joseph Smith; and some of their hearers were somewhat doubtful as to whether they should listen to them or to others who claimed to be the legitimate followers of the Prophet and the Church which he established.
This was about the 101st Conference that had been held since the death of the Prophet Joseph, and from that time until now the Latter-day Saints had gathered together twice every year and by their unanimous vote had sustained those men who were designated by the voice of the Lord to bear the keys of the kingdom. The Latter-day Saints should keep a little account of the line of the Priesthood that had come down to us, in order that every man might know that he had received his ordination from these who stand in fellowship with the Church. The Josephites claimed that we had been cast out; that when the Saints left Nauvoo and went out into the wilderness they went away from Zion; that Nauvoo is Zion, and no other part of the country. But fortunately the Prophet Joseph, during the very last Conference of the Church that he attended, in April, 1844, announced that the continent of America was the land of Zion, both north and south. And on the following day the Prophet Hyrum Smith stated the same fact. This Church was as much the work of God now as it was in the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and there had never been a moment when there was a chance for any reorganized church, or any other, to come in and break the thread of authority and succession of the Church that we had here today. When, therefore, he saw this body of men gathered together in this place, bearing the Priesthood, he knew that God was still with this great latter-day work and would never desert it. The people must guard the authority of the Priesthood, then, as steadfastly as they would their lives. The Twelve never would be disorganized, from this day forth; and God had so ordained it that this Church would remain and endure, and its greatness would increase from this time forward until the final winding up of the scene.
was the first speaker. He said he believed he felt the importance of the present gathering and the business transacted more than ever he did in his life before. In the month of January last he was called to go on a mission to Southern California, and it fell to the lot of Elder B. H. Roberts to be his traveling companion and spokesman. They spent nearly two months there, visiting the principal cities of the state, and gave the people the privilege of hearing the Gospel as the Latter-day Saints had received it. But they found there were other people who claimed to be Latter-day Saints, professed followers of the Prophet Joseph Smith; and some of their hearers were somewhat doubtful as to whether they should listen to them or to others who claimed to be the legitimate followers of the Prophet and the Church which he established.
This was about the 101st Conference that had been held since the death of the Prophet Joseph, and from that time until now the Latter-day Saints had gathered together twice every year and by their unanimous vote had sustained those men who were designated by the voice of the Lord to bear the keys of the kingdom. The Latter-day Saints should keep a little account of the line of the Priesthood that had come down to us, in order that every man might know that he had received his ordination from these who stand in fellowship with the Church. The Josephites claimed that we had been cast out; that when the Saints left Nauvoo and went out into the wilderness they went away from Zion; that Nauvoo is Zion, and no other part of the country. But fortunately the Prophet Joseph, during the very last Conference of the Church that he attended, in April, 1844, announced that the continent of America was the land of Zion, both north and south. And on the following day the Prophet Hyrum Smith stated the same fact. This Church was as much the work of God now as it was in the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and there had never been a moment when there was a chance for any reorganized church, or any other, to come in and break the thread of authority and succession of the Church that we had here today. When, therefore, he saw this body of men gathered together in this place, bearing the Priesthood, he knew that God was still with this great latter-day work and would never desert it. The people must guard the authority of the Priesthood, then, as steadfastly as they would their lives. The Twelve never would be disorganized, from this day forth; and God had so ordained it that this Church would remain and endure, and its greatness would increase from this time forward until the final winding up of the scene.
The True Church.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894, by Elder Francis M. Lyman.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I have enjoyed myself very well during this Conference, and I trust that the same spirit that has animated my brethren will also rest upon me. I believe that I feel the importance of these gatherings and of the business transacted on occasions like this more today than ever before in my life.
In the month of January I was called to go into Southern California on a brief mission, and it fell to the lot of Elder B. H. Roberts to be my companion and spokesman. We spent nearly two months, and in several important cities in Southern California obtained halls, advertised, and gave the people the privilege of hearing the Gospel as we have received it. We found that there are other people in the world who claim to be Latter-day Saints and followers of the Prophet Joseph and our hearers were somewhat confused to know whether they should listen to us or to others who claimed to be the legitimate successors of the Prophet Joseph and the Church that He established. I am reminded that this Conference makes about one hundred and one conferences of the Church that have been held since the death of the Prophet Joseph. Examining the history, we find that at the death of the Prophet Joseph there were standing, in their places in the Church, ten of the Twelve Apostles, including Brigham Young, President of the Twelve Apostles, ten of the very men who were designated by the voice of God himself as the chosen Twelve in this last dispensation to bear the keys of the Kingdom of God among all the nations of the earth. From then until now the Latter-day Saints have gathered together twice every year and by their unanimous vote have sustained the men who were designated by the voice of the Lord to bear the keys of the kingdom. Today you see on this stand ten of that same quorum who have been selected and designated by the voice of God to fill vacancies occasioned by death, or by the re-organizations, from time to time, of the First Presidency of the Church. From the day of the Prophet Joseph until the present time there has not been a conference but has sustained, by unanimous vote, the men that were selected by the Lord during the days of the Prophet Joseph, or their lawfully selected successors, chosen by the voice of God just as perfectly as they were selected in the days of the Prophet Joseph. There has never been a man placed in this quorum or in the Presidency of the Church but has been placed there by the word of God; and they have been sustained by the people up to the present time. I have thought it would be wise if we would keep an account individually of the line of the priesthood that is given to us, so that every man may know that he received his ordination from men in fellowship with the Church. It takes the whole of the quorum of the Twelve to hold the keys of the kingdom; one cannot lead off from the body and build up a kingdom himself. Every Apostle is subject to the direction and counsel of the Presidency of the Church. With all the authority and power that an Apostle holds, he has not right to go to California, or to any part of the earth, and build up a church independent of the direction and counsel of the Presidency of the Church. Yet every Apostle, in his labors and travels in the earth under the direction of the First Presidency of the Church, has power to organize churches and to regulate them in all parts of the earth. And when there is no First Presidency the Twelve are the presiding quorum over the Church. The Lord provided that the quorum of the Twelve Apostles should be equal in authority to the First Presidency of the Church for the very emergencies that arise whenever a president of the Church passes away; so that there should still be a quorum with the same authority as the Presidency of the Church. But can one of these Apostles separate and, without asking any odds of his brethren in the quorum or of the Presidency of the Church, build up a church and accomplish the purposes of the Lord? No. Whenever an Elder, a High Priest, a Seventy, or an Apostle leads off on his own account and operates contrary to the rules and regulations of the Church as the Lord has laid them down, Amen to that man’s authority. There have been but about two of the Twelve who have gone off and undertaken to establish a church unto themselves—William Smith and Lyman Wight. President Rigdon led off also, but he was never one of the Twelve. The authority and power that Apostles hold must be exercised upon the principles of righteousness and in accordance with church rule and discipline or their operations are void in the sight of God.
We find that the “Josephites” claim that we have been cast out; that when we left Nauvoo and came into the wilderness we were going away from Zion; that Missouri is Zion and no other part of the country. But, fortunately, the Prophet Joseph, during the very last conference of the Church that he attended—in April, 1844—announced that America, both North and South, is Zion, and on the following day the Prophet Hyrum Smith announced the same fact. It would be very small for our Heavenly Father to be satisfied with the State of Missouri. Why, we would want the State of Missouri with just the few Latter-day Saints there are today. We occupy very much more country than there is in the state of Missouri. But this is the land of Zion; from one extreme to the other, as announced by the prophets of God. The “Josephites” hold that when we left Nauvoo we went wrong because we were going away from Jackson County, Missouri. I wonder if we had not good company when we left Independence. The Prophet Joseph was at the head of the people when they departed from Independence and went to Far West and to Adam-Ondi-Ahman, and on up to Nauvoo. The Prophet was with the people in all these movements. Not only that, but he crossed the Mississippi and was on his way for the west when his friends—his false friends—began to complain that he was cowardly and like a shepherd leaving the sheep. The Prophet Joseph replied, “If my life is not valuable to you, it is not to me.” And to all human appearances the Prophet Joseph would have been living today and at our head had it not been for that. But the Prophet Joseph directed us here. He announced before his death that many of the brethren who were present on a certain occasion, while across the river in Iowa, would live to go to the Rocky Mountains and would help build cities, towns and villages. He understood that, as also did the Prophet Brigham and his brethren—the very men that were designated by the voice of the Lord. Read of this, if you please, in the revelation given in 1841. The Lord says:
“I give unto you my servant Brigham Young to be a president over the Twelve traveling Council.
Which Twelve holds the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth, and after that to send my word to every creature;
They are: Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, William Smith, John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, Geo. A. Smith.”
Every one of these men stood solid and firm by the side of the Prophet Brigham after the death of the Prophet Joseph. Later some of them fell away, but not very man. Apostles have not apostatized and fallen away from the Church since the days of the Prophet Joseph so frequently as they did before. They have been men who have been found worthy, and who have been willing to lay down their lives for the kingdom and for their brethren, just as did the Prophets Joseph and Hyrum did; and these men have stood at the forefront of the people and they have walked in the very path that the Prophet Joseph trod all his life—the path of persecution and trial. As the Prophet Joseph, from the very beginning, was wrought upon in regard to the building of temples and died while a temple in Nauvoo was being built, just so was President Young; and he passed away while temples in these valleys of the mountains were being built. He laid down his life, not by violence, but in peace at home, and at the time when this great temple here, now finished, and others were being built. The burden of his anxiety and that of his brethren was that these temples should be finished and the work of God accomplished in them for the living and the dead. We have been a temple-building people Are there any other temple-building people today? Not on this earth. There are no other people on this earth doing work of the dead, giving endowments, sealings for eternity and the like. There are no other people preaching the gospel of the gathering. The very missions that were opened and established under the direction of the Prophet Joseph had been worked from that day to the present, and many others have been opened. The Prophet Joseph gave the word of the Lord to the Latter-day Saints in his life time, and when he spoke by the inspiration of the almighty he spoke the revelations of the Lord just as much as he did when he wrote. The words of the Prophet Joseph, when remembered and known today, are prized just as highly as though they had been shaped into a revelation, for he spoke by the power of God. And I say that he did not speak more by the power of God than did President Brigham Young and his brethren who have followed up to this day. When the Prophet Wilford Woodruff, standing at the head of the Church, the mouthpiece of God, gives to us the word of the Lord, it is just as binding and just as sacred as that that was given by the Prophet Joseph. When the word of the Lord is given through the Apostles, as they travel among the people, laboring, organizing, regulating and setting in order the Church of Christ, that is also binding on the people; and the labor performed by them, under the inspiration of the Lord, is as much the work of the Lord as that that was done by the Prophet Joseph.
This is my testimony to you today, my brethren and sisters. I say that there never has been a moment when there was a necessity for any re-organized church or any other church to come in and break the thread of authority and of succession in the Presidency of the Church that we have here today. This body of men gathered together today, bearing the holy priesthood, is the nucleus of the kingdom of God upon the earth. This is the Church that Christ established himself; and the God of heaven graced the earth with His presence when it was established, in accordance with the words recorded in the Old Testament by Daniel, that in the last days the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should stand upon the earth and all other kingdoms and powers should pass away. The Lord has established this Church and His authority is among men. We must hold that authority and guard it as sacredly as we would our lives. A man should prize the authority of God more than he does this mortal life; for it would be much better that a man should lose his life than that he should forfeit his right to the priesthood, or in any manner dishonor it. We cannot afford to dishonor it, for it is a most precious legacy that God has given to us. It is to bring us back into His presence, that we may dwell with Him and have eternal life with our families, our kindred and our friends.
This is the testimony that I desire to bear to all Israel—that the Church has never been disorganized. There has never been but one quorum in the Church disorganized, and that is the quorum of the First Presidency, when the President has passed away. The quorum of the Twelve has never been disorganized; and never will be from this time henceforth and forever. The Twelve will remain standing at the head of the people, in the absence of a Presidency, bearing the same authority and power and the keys of the kingdom. God has so ordered that this Church is to remain and endure, and no power is to interfere with its progress and its advancement; and its greatness will increase from this time forward. God bless you, my brethren and sisters and all Israel, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894, by Elder Francis M. Lyman.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I have enjoyed myself very well during this Conference, and I trust that the same spirit that has animated my brethren will also rest upon me. I believe that I feel the importance of these gatherings and of the business transacted on occasions like this more today than ever before in my life.
In the month of January I was called to go into Southern California on a brief mission, and it fell to the lot of Elder B. H. Roberts to be my companion and spokesman. We spent nearly two months, and in several important cities in Southern California obtained halls, advertised, and gave the people the privilege of hearing the Gospel as we have received it. We found that there are other people in the world who claim to be Latter-day Saints and followers of the Prophet Joseph and our hearers were somewhat confused to know whether they should listen to us or to others who claimed to be the legitimate successors of the Prophet Joseph and the Church that He established. I am reminded that this Conference makes about one hundred and one conferences of the Church that have been held since the death of the Prophet Joseph. Examining the history, we find that at the death of the Prophet Joseph there were standing, in their places in the Church, ten of the Twelve Apostles, including Brigham Young, President of the Twelve Apostles, ten of the very men who were designated by the voice of God himself as the chosen Twelve in this last dispensation to bear the keys of the Kingdom of God among all the nations of the earth. From then until now the Latter-day Saints have gathered together twice every year and by their unanimous vote have sustained the men who were designated by the voice of the Lord to bear the keys of the kingdom. Today you see on this stand ten of that same quorum who have been selected and designated by the voice of God to fill vacancies occasioned by death, or by the re-organizations, from time to time, of the First Presidency of the Church. From the day of the Prophet Joseph until the present time there has not been a conference but has sustained, by unanimous vote, the men that were selected by the Lord during the days of the Prophet Joseph, or their lawfully selected successors, chosen by the voice of God just as perfectly as they were selected in the days of the Prophet Joseph. There has never been a man placed in this quorum or in the Presidency of the Church but has been placed there by the word of God; and they have been sustained by the people up to the present time. I have thought it would be wise if we would keep an account individually of the line of the priesthood that is given to us, so that every man may know that he received his ordination from men in fellowship with the Church. It takes the whole of the quorum of the Twelve to hold the keys of the kingdom; one cannot lead off from the body and build up a kingdom himself. Every Apostle is subject to the direction and counsel of the Presidency of the Church. With all the authority and power that an Apostle holds, he has not right to go to California, or to any part of the earth, and build up a church independent of the direction and counsel of the Presidency of the Church. Yet every Apostle, in his labors and travels in the earth under the direction of the First Presidency of the Church, has power to organize churches and to regulate them in all parts of the earth. And when there is no First Presidency the Twelve are the presiding quorum over the Church. The Lord provided that the quorum of the Twelve Apostles should be equal in authority to the First Presidency of the Church for the very emergencies that arise whenever a president of the Church passes away; so that there should still be a quorum with the same authority as the Presidency of the Church. But can one of these Apostles separate and, without asking any odds of his brethren in the quorum or of the Presidency of the Church, build up a church and accomplish the purposes of the Lord? No. Whenever an Elder, a High Priest, a Seventy, or an Apostle leads off on his own account and operates contrary to the rules and regulations of the Church as the Lord has laid them down, Amen to that man’s authority. There have been but about two of the Twelve who have gone off and undertaken to establish a church unto themselves—William Smith and Lyman Wight. President Rigdon led off also, but he was never one of the Twelve. The authority and power that Apostles hold must be exercised upon the principles of righteousness and in accordance with church rule and discipline or their operations are void in the sight of God.
We find that the “Josephites” claim that we have been cast out; that when we left Nauvoo and came into the wilderness we were going away from Zion; that Missouri is Zion and no other part of the country. But, fortunately, the Prophet Joseph, during the very last conference of the Church that he attended—in April, 1844—announced that America, both North and South, is Zion, and on the following day the Prophet Hyrum Smith announced the same fact. It would be very small for our Heavenly Father to be satisfied with the State of Missouri. Why, we would want the State of Missouri with just the few Latter-day Saints there are today. We occupy very much more country than there is in the state of Missouri. But this is the land of Zion; from one extreme to the other, as announced by the prophets of God. The “Josephites” hold that when we left Nauvoo we went wrong because we were going away from Jackson County, Missouri. I wonder if we had not good company when we left Independence. The Prophet Joseph was at the head of the people when they departed from Independence and went to Far West and to Adam-Ondi-Ahman, and on up to Nauvoo. The Prophet was with the people in all these movements. Not only that, but he crossed the Mississippi and was on his way for the west when his friends—his false friends—began to complain that he was cowardly and like a shepherd leaving the sheep. The Prophet Joseph replied, “If my life is not valuable to you, it is not to me.” And to all human appearances the Prophet Joseph would have been living today and at our head had it not been for that. But the Prophet Joseph directed us here. He announced before his death that many of the brethren who were present on a certain occasion, while across the river in Iowa, would live to go to the Rocky Mountains and would help build cities, towns and villages. He understood that, as also did the Prophet Brigham and his brethren—the very men that were designated by the voice of the Lord. Read of this, if you please, in the revelation given in 1841. The Lord says:
“I give unto you my servant Brigham Young to be a president over the Twelve traveling Council.
Which Twelve holds the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth, and after that to send my word to every creature;
They are: Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, William Smith, John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, Geo. A. Smith.”
Every one of these men stood solid and firm by the side of the Prophet Brigham after the death of the Prophet Joseph. Later some of them fell away, but not very man. Apostles have not apostatized and fallen away from the Church since the days of the Prophet Joseph so frequently as they did before. They have been men who have been found worthy, and who have been willing to lay down their lives for the kingdom and for their brethren, just as did the Prophets Joseph and Hyrum did; and these men have stood at the forefront of the people and they have walked in the very path that the Prophet Joseph trod all his life—the path of persecution and trial. As the Prophet Joseph, from the very beginning, was wrought upon in regard to the building of temples and died while a temple in Nauvoo was being built, just so was President Young; and he passed away while temples in these valleys of the mountains were being built. He laid down his life, not by violence, but in peace at home, and at the time when this great temple here, now finished, and others were being built. The burden of his anxiety and that of his brethren was that these temples should be finished and the work of God accomplished in them for the living and the dead. We have been a temple-building people Are there any other temple-building people today? Not on this earth. There are no other people on this earth doing work of the dead, giving endowments, sealings for eternity and the like. There are no other people preaching the gospel of the gathering. The very missions that were opened and established under the direction of the Prophet Joseph had been worked from that day to the present, and many others have been opened. The Prophet Joseph gave the word of the Lord to the Latter-day Saints in his life time, and when he spoke by the inspiration of the almighty he spoke the revelations of the Lord just as much as he did when he wrote. The words of the Prophet Joseph, when remembered and known today, are prized just as highly as though they had been shaped into a revelation, for he spoke by the power of God. And I say that he did not speak more by the power of God than did President Brigham Young and his brethren who have followed up to this day. When the Prophet Wilford Woodruff, standing at the head of the Church, the mouthpiece of God, gives to us the word of the Lord, it is just as binding and just as sacred as that that was given by the Prophet Joseph. When the word of the Lord is given through the Apostles, as they travel among the people, laboring, organizing, regulating and setting in order the Church of Christ, that is also binding on the people; and the labor performed by them, under the inspiration of the Lord, is as much the work of the Lord as that that was done by the Prophet Joseph.
This is my testimony to you today, my brethren and sisters. I say that there never has been a moment when there was a necessity for any re-organized church or any other church to come in and break the thread of authority and of succession in the Presidency of the Church that we have here today. This body of men gathered together today, bearing the holy priesthood, is the nucleus of the kingdom of God upon the earth. This is the Church that Christ established himself; and the God of heaven graced the earth with His presence when it was established, in accordance with the words recorded in the Old Testament by Daniel, that in the last days the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should stand upon the earth and all other kingdoms and powers should pass away. The Lord has established this Church and His authority is among men. We must hold that authority and guard it as sacredly as we would our lives. A man should prize the authority of God more than he does this mortal life; for it would be much better that a man should lose his life than that he should forfeit his right to the priesthood, or in any manner dishonor it. We cannot afford to dishonor it, for it is a most precious legacy that God has given to us. It is to bring us back into His presence, that we may dwell with Him and have eternal life with our families, our kindred and our friends.
This is the testimony that I desire to bear to all Israel—that the Church has never been disorganized. There has never been but one quorum in the Church disorganized, and that is the quorum of the First Presidency, when the President has passed away. The quorum of the Twelve has never been disorganized; and never will be from this time henceforth and forever. The Twelve will remain standing at the head of the people, in the absence of a Presidency, bearing the same authority and power and the keys of the kingdom. God has so ordered that this Church is to remain and endure, and no power is to interfere with its progress and its advancement; and its greatness will increase from this time forward. God bless you, my brethren and sisters and all Israel, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Brigham Young
next addressed the assemblage. He was specially glad to be once more among the Saints in General Conference, as he had been absent from Salt Lake City for several months, visiting members of the more southern stakes of the Church, including Mexico. He had been much interested in witnessing the improvements that had been made in those remote settlements, especially in Juarez, which was already a beautiful little city. He had never witnessed so much of the power of God manifested in the Church as recently. The Saints had been forgiven their sins at the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, and it was evident they had not returned the special exercise of the clemency of the Almighty. Experience had taught the speaker that although the Saints did not fully obey the commandments embodied in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, if they strove to reach as high a degree of perfection as practicable the Lord would forgive them their trespasses. They knew that the revelations contained in that book were true. All these things were for the perfecting of the people of the Lord, and for the building up of the Kingdom of God. The day would come when the law of God must be kept upon this and every other land, when the flat would go forth, “Thus saith the Lord God,” and it would affect not only this people, but every other nation under the whole heavens; it would be obeyed and Christ would come whose right it is to reign. The times were near at hand when the commandments of God would be given to us in things which never had been before. In conclusion the speaker prayed that His heavenly blessing would rest down abundantly upon this people.
next addressed the assemblage. He was specially glad to be once more among the Saints in General Conference, as he had been absent from Salt Lake City for several months, visiting members of the more southern stakes of the Church, including Mexico. He had been much interested in witnessing the improvements that had been made in those remote settlements, especially in Juarez, which was already a beautiful little city. He had never witnessed so much of the power of God manifested in the Church as recently. The Saints had been forgiven their sins at the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, and it was evident they had not returned the special exercise of the clemency of the Almighty. Experience had taught the speaker that although the Saints did not fully obey the commandments embodied in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, if they strove to reach as high a degree of perfection as practicable the Lord would forgive them their trespasses. They knew that the revelations contained in that book were true. All these things were for the perfecting of the people of the Lord, and for the building up of the Kingdom of God. The day would come when the law of God must be kept upon this and every other land, when the flat would go forth, “Thus saith the Lord God,” and it would affect not only this people, but every other nation under the whole heavens; it would be obeyed and Christ would come whose right it is to reign. The times were near at hand when the commandments of God would be given to us in things which never had been before. In conclusion the speaker prayed that His heavenly blessing would rest down abundantly upon this people.
Elder Franklin D. Richards
rejoiced in the opportunity which had been given to the Latter-day Saints of again meeting together in General Conference, and in the testimonies which had been borne by preceding speakers. A variety of subjects had been touched upon. When this Gospel first reached us and we were permitted to investigate it, we found therein that which would amply satisfy the human soul in its longing and searching after the truth. And what blessings it gave to the repentant sinner, to know that by going down into the waters of baptism, under the hand of one authorized to officiate in that ordinance, his sins were all forgiven. The power of the Latter-day Saints had been increasing and extending ever since the organization of this Church, not merely under earth but with the heavens. The Lord had watched over this people and would never desert them nor suffer their prayers to go unanswered. We were on the road to exaltation, in fellowship with angels, with the just made perfect, to be made hereafter partakes of God’s kingdom. Elder Richards spoke on the subject of the building of temples and the sacred work for the dead performed therein; he also touched eloquently upon the beauty and importance of the labors of the Saints in that direction. If we were living correctly before the Lord our testimonies would increase, our light would shine brighter and brighter, and we would be still further strengthened in the ways of righteousness and truth. He counseled the Latter-day Saints to be diligent in keeping God’s commandments and to remain steadfast to their covenants with Him. Let them depend not on falling Babylon. The speaker touched briefly upon the question of home industries and advocated the supporting of these as far as possible by the people. Utah had obtained a good reputation in the East for the firm stand which she had made during the late trying crisis, and there was no reason why we should not continue to maintain it. If the Latter-day Saints only kept their lamps trimmed and sought to do the will of God, the Holy Spirit would give them understanding and guide them onward unto the perfect day.
rejoiced in the opportunity which had been given to the Latter-day Saints of again meeting together in General Conference, and in the testimonies which had been borne by preceding speakers. A variety of subjects had been touched upon. When this Gospel first reached us and we were permitted to investigate it, we found therein that which would amply satisfy the human soul in its longing and searching after the truth. And what blessings it gave to the repentant sinner, to know that by going down into the waters of baptism, under the hand of one authorized to officiate in that ordinance, his sins were all forgiven. The power of the Latter-day Saints had been increasing and extending ever since the organization of this Church, not merely under earth but with the heavens. The Lord had watched over this people and would never desert them nor suffer their prayers to go unanswered. We were on the road to exaltation, in fellowship with angels, with the just made perfect, to be made hereafter partakes of God’s kingdom. Elder Richards spoke on the subject of the building of temples and the sacred work for the dead performed therein; he also touched eloquently upon the beauty and importance of the labors of the Saints in that direction. If we were living correctly before the Lord our testimonies would increase, our light would shine brighter and brighter, and we would be still further strengthened in the ways of righteousness and truth. He counseled the Latter-day Saints to be diligent in keeping God’s commandments and to remain steadfast to their covenants with Him. Let them depend not on falling Babylon. The speaker touched briefly upon the question of home industries and advocated the supporting of these as far as possible by the people. Utah had obtained a good reputation in the East for the firm stand which she had made during the late trying crisis, and there was no reason why we should not continue to maintain it. If the Latter-day Saints only kept their lamps trimmed and sought to do the will of God, the Holy Spirit would give them understanding and guide them onward unto the perfect day.
Growth of Faith and Works
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894 by
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
Beloved hearers, I rejoice greatly in the opportunity that is given us in this Conference. The testimony that has been given by the brethren who have spoken has been so varied and diversified that it would seem as if every inquiring mind must have found something that he could take home to himself and feel that he had been fed, edified and enlightened in the knowledge of the truth. The growth of the work of God in these latter days brings to us from day to day such new developments of experience as to call forth also corresponding instructions suited to our every condition; so that as varied as our circumstances are, or may be, we get line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, for all the conditions through which we are brought to pass; and it brings to those who are truly living their religion increased testimonies of the truth. Those who were in the world living honestly before God according to the light they had prior to the revelations of the present dispensation by the Prophet Joseph, were in a position of justification. Nevertheless, there was a constant yearning for something more, which we did not yet possess; and in looking around and trying to find that something else which would satisfy the human soul, we could not find it among our fellows. They who claimed to be our teachers had it not to give to us. We were told we must not pry into mysteries, and that what had been revealed and laid down was all they had the right, or the power, to offer us.
When this Gospel came to us and we were permitted to look into it; when our near kinsmen came and told us that God had raised up a Prophet, that He had given new revelations, that He had revealed a record called the Book of Mormon, behold, what did we find? We found that in searching these principles thus revealed, there was that which satisfied this hungering and thirsting that we had after something more. We found that in giving obedience unto these principles there was given us in turn from the heavens a testimony that made us to know, and that verified the word of the Lord wherein He had promised that if any man would render obedience to those doctrines he should know, and that knowledge should be increased. We commenced thus searching, and in that search we have been successful to find that which satisfies the soul, even the most intelligent among mankind, when they apply humbly at the feet of Jesus for the knowledge of the truth and the testimonies of His Spirit. Finding a fulfillment of His promises at the very threshold of our search into the order of the kingdom of God, we were thus satisfied, thus fed, thus strengthened, and led to feel that for these testimonies we could offer ourselves, all that we were and had, and lay our lives upon the altar, for the knowledge which God had thus given unto us. This was the solid and satisfying start that we made in our search for the truth. And oh! what blessing it gave to the repentant sinner to know that by going down into the water and coming forth out of the water, under the hands of one authorized of God, his sins were forgiven and remitted; and further, to receive by the laying on of hands that gift of the Holy Ghost which should abide with him. It abode with us, and led us from knowledge to knowledge, from faith to faith, increasing our light, and it has been growing brighter and brighter, as the faithful can all testify to this day.
With the knowledge of every new principle our joy has been increased, our cup has been filling up; and if we have been active laborers in the ministry, our influence and power have been increasing and extending, not merely with our fellow men on the earth, but with the heavens, so that the blessings and favor, intelligence and revelation to which the Saints are entitled, have been increasing and growing brighter and brighter until the present time. The great and grand object with us is that they shall by our faithful lives grow brighter still until the perfect day, when what we now see in part we shall then see in full, and when we, having placed our evil propensities under our feet and triumphed over them by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and by our testimony, shall obtain the crown in the kingdom of our God. The pathway to this is through obedience to every principle that has been revealed, and that shall be revealed, making it a part of our lives and practice.
The Lord graciously told the brethren in the early days that “the Priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers, for ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and your lives have been hid from the world with Christ in God.” What a glorious development! What! the Priesthood come down from the days of the ancients, through the dark and bloody channels of war and rumors of war, crusades and persecutions? Yes, certainly. It is evident the eye of God has been over us, and the eyes of His angels have watched over the continuation of the fathers down through the generation that have come unto us. This is shown by the very fact that the Lord has cared for a lineage which has given you and me the right to the Holy Priesthood, and has awakened our souls to trace back that lineage as far as it can be discovered by records, or dreams, or visions, or revelations, or by the Urim and Thummim, until we go back with our labors on that lineage, and thus return the only grateful acknowledgement we can make to them for being our fathers and mothers and giving us such honorable birth, and at such a period of time, when the Priesthood is revealed again, and that we can receive blessings of untold worth, that we never ourselves shall know the full value of, until we overcome this mortality, put on immortality and enter into the exaltation which is promised unto the faithful.
Speaking concerning the testimony of Elder Lyman about those who have sought to rise up and appear to the world as having a right to the Presidency. They claim to have obeyed all the revelations which were given to the Prophet Joseph. The Prophet received the word of the Lord that it was our duty in Nauvoo to build a temple, which, said He, “my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.” Yet concerning those who make the claim to being the only true Latter-day Saints on earth, we have not heard even of their undertaking to build a temple; while we have built half a dozen of them. I need not stop to talk about that. We are on the road to exaltation, in intelligence, in fellowship with the angels and with the just made perfect, and are already made partakers in some measure of the powers of the world to come.
How glorious it was after that Elijah had come and revealed this ancient order of things concerning the fathers and the children in the Temple at Kirtland, in pursuance of what the Prophet Malachi had said he would do, before the great and terrible day of the Lord! How our fathers that have gone before have turned unto us! And so have we turned as children unto our fathers, to love them and to seek after them, and to know that we cannot be made perfect without them, nor they without us. It is a glorious work. People come into the Church and gather with the Saints almost from the antipodes. They have received the Holy Ghost, and what does it do? It makes them just as one of the Apostles anciently said: “God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” They naturally incline after the lineage of their fathers; and if they have not obtained it, they persevere until they find one who shall teach, instruct and lead them along unto eternal life. If they cannot find their lineage, they feel afflicted and distressed and cut off in their parts. This is that feeling which comes upon the people when they receive the Holy Spirit that makes them to cry, Abba, Father. They want to know the spirit of the fathers and the doctrines of the Gospel revealed unto them. We have great reason to rejoice in God, who has revealed these things. Soon after the Prophet Elijah appeared in the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph was led to teach us the doctrine of baptism for the dead.
Oh, what a world of labor that has given us! What a joy it has imparted to us! Many felt that they would die cheerfully if they could give to their fathers and mothers who where dead the blessings that they enjoyed in the Church of Christ? Yet there are many who have not yet put off the ways of the Gentiles, and have not come to this sensibility. We have only just begun with this labor, and perhaps some of us have not begun just right. I recollect when the Prophet Joseph first revealed the baptism for the dead, some when down to the river and were baptized, men for women and women for men. But the Lord soon gave to the Prophet Joseph to organize and systematize the whole thing, and so He will about this order of the fathers being turned and united, bound and sealed to the children, and the children to the fathers; and we will yet have the privilege of seeing our generations connected back. If we continue on and inherit eternal life, we shall see them connected clear back, no doubt, to ancient Noah and to our more ancient Father Adam. In the early days of tribulation in the Church the Lord encouraged the brethren by telling them that they were laying the foundation of a great and mighty work. I recollect how it used to cheer us up in the midst of our persecutions.
If we are living correctly before the Lord, our testimonies increase, our light grows clearer and clearer, and we are strengthened in the way of righteousness and truth. I testify that during the past year I have realized more abundantly the freedom of the Holy Spirit, more blessing and manifestation of the power of God among the people, than before. The blessings in the increased flow of the Spirit that have come upon them since the dedication of the Temple in this city has been like an endowment of the whole people. Brethren and sisters, cling to it. Be diligent in keeping the commandments of God, abiding in the covenants, seeking to do good, and in your temporal things to provide for your wants, and not depend upon falling Babylon. If prophecy is fulfilled in us today, what about that prophecy that says that a great cry shall come up from Babylon, “and the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more?” Brother Brigham tried incessantly to persuade us to establish home industries here; provide our own boots and shoes, and our own clothing; and he talked to the sisters about making their own hats, instead of sending our money abroad as we have done for everything that we wanted. We have been like a carcass with eagles gathered around. They have found that we are a good people to trade with. We have had the credit of keeping our promises, and we have earned a character in the East as being a people that have the fewest number of bad debts of any territory or state in the West. They love to come and deal with us, persuading us to buy this, that and the other. If we would be constrained to make our own boots, shoes and clothes, and patronize home productions, we could soon get the balance of trade on to the other columns of our ledgers. Why cannot the Latter-day Saints take this as a piece of counsel from the authorities of the Church? Let us also raise our own provisions. There is no part of the broad land of Zion that yields better wheat, better grain of nearly all kinds, better potatoes, or better fruit. We were renowned from ocean to ocean for our choice fruit until the worms and insects got into it and made it undesirable; but if we will turn to the Lord with all our hearts and put away our wrong dealing wherein we strew our wrong dealing wherein we strew our ways to strangers He will turn away the destroyer for our sakes, and will make everything again to bloom and prosper for us. Then the merchants from abroad will be able to say that nobody buys their goods, because we will have the goods of our own manufacture.
What did the angel of the Lord who brought the Gospel through the midst of heaven to every nation, kindred, tongue and people say? He said, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” Do we not see that His judgments are spreading destruction all around us? But we have not yet had to taste much of them. He has been uncommonly merciful unto us, making our fields to abound with plenty, and giving us to rest in peace here. His judgments are in the earth, and in all our calculations we ought to remember this.
Let us keep in mind the parable of the rich man, whose ground brought forth plentifully, and who thought to build larger barns to hold his produce. He said within himself, “Soul, thou has much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” What was the result? The Lord said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” We should be frugal and enterprising; provide for our necessities and for those who may come to us, and become an independent people. We can do it if we will. All these necessaries come out of the earth. It is the farmer that should be the independent man; get up and cultivate his land in the season thereof, and at his convenience he can read his newspapers and his books. There is no branch of human labor that gives a man such a variety of exercise for all his faculties as does that of good agriculture. The farmer is the man that should be encouraged. The miners could not dig the mountains down nor open the bowels of the earth if they had not bread to eat. The gold and silver would have to lay there till eternity came and went if they did not have the victuals to eat and clothes to wear. President Young was sensible and wise in this. He told us if we would raise the bread and dinner, others would come and do the uncertain work of digging down the hills.
My brethren and sisters, this our great work, as I have said, opens new methods of conduct, new features of corresponding doctrine and precept to guide us. If we but keep our lamps trimmed and the Holy Ghost burning in us to give us understanding in all our ways, the pathway of our feet will grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. May the Lord grant this to be the common lot of His people, and the particular lot of every man and woman that will take the revelations of divine truth for the light of their counsel, keep the commandments and covenants they have made diligently and faithfully to the end; God will help us according to His own good pleasure, to accomplish the work He has assigned unto us. Amen.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894 by
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
Beloved hearers, I rejoice greatly in the opportunity that is given us in this Conference. The testimony that has been given by the brethren who have spoken has been so varied and diversified that it would seem as if every inquiring mind must have found something that he could take home to himself and feel that he had been fed, edified and enlightened in the knowledge of the truth. The growth of the work of God in these latter days brings to us from day to day such new developments of experience as to call forth also corresponding instructions suited to our every condition; so that as varied as our circumstances are, or may be, we get line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, for all the conditions through which we are brought to pass; and it brings to those who are truly living their religion increased testimonies of the truth. Those who were in the world living honestly before God according to the light they had prior to the revelations of the present dispensation by the Prophet Joseph, were in a position of justification. Nevertheless, there was a constant yearning for something more, which we did not yet possess; and in looking around and trying to find that something else which would satisfy the human soul, we could not find it among our fellows. They who claimed to be our teachers had it not to give to us. We were told we must not pry into mysteries, and that what had been revealed and laid down was all they had the right, or the power, to offer us.
When this Gospel came to us and we were permitted to look into it; when our near kinsmen came and told us that God had raised up a Prophet, that He had given new revelations, that He had revealed a record called the Book of Mormon, behold, what did we find? We found that in searching these principles thus revealed, there was that which satisfied this hungering and thirsting that we had after something more. We found that in giving obedience unto these principles there was given us in turn from the heavens a testimony that made us to know, and that verified the word of the Lord wherein He had promised that if any man would render obedience to those doctrines he should know, and that knowledge should be increased. We commenced thus searching, and in that search we have been successful to find that which satisfies the soul, even the most intelligent among mankind, when they apply humbly at the feet of Jesus for the knowledge of the truth and the testimonies of His Spirit. Finding a fulfillment of His promises at the very threshold of our search into the order of the kingdom of God, we were thus satisfied, thus fed, thus strengthened, and led to feel that for these testimonies we could offer ourselves, all that we were and had, and lay our lives upon the altar, for the knowledge which God had thus given unto us. This was the solid and satisfying start that we made in our search for the truth. And oh! what blessing it gave to the repentant sinner to know that by going down into the water and coming forth out of the water, under the hands of one authorized of God, his sins were forgiven and remitted; and further, to receive by the laying on of hands that gift of the Holy Ghost which should abide with him. It abode with us, and led us from knowledge to knowledge, from faith to faith, increasing our light, and it has been growing brighter and brighter, as the faithful can all testify to this day.
With the knowledge of every new principle our joy has been increased, our cup has been filling up; and if we have been active laborers in the ministry, our influence and power have been increasing and extending, not merely with our fellow men on the earth, but with the heavens, so that the blessings and favor, intelligence and revelation to which the Saints are entitled, have been increasing and growing brighter and brighter until the present time. The great and grand object with us is that they shall by our faithful lives grow brighter still until the perfect day, when what we now see in part we shall then see in full, and when we, having placed our evil propensities under our feet and triumphed over them by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and by our testimony, shall obtain the crown in the kingdom of our God. The pathway to this is through obedience to every principle that has been revealed, and that shall be revealed, making it a part of our lives and practice.
The Lord graciously told the brethren in the early days that “the Priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers, for ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and your lives have been hid from the world with Christ in God.” What a glorious development! What! the Priesthood come down from the days of the ancients, through the dark and bloody channels of war and rumors of war, crusades and persecutions? Yes, certainly. It is evident the eye of God has been over us, and the eyes of His angels have watched over the continuation of the fathers down through the generation that have come unto us. This is shown by the very fact that the Lord has cared for a lineage which has given you and me the right to the Holy Priesthood, and has awakened our souls to trace back that lineage as far as it can be discovered by records, or dreams, or visions, or revelations, or by the Urim and Thummim, until we go back with our labors on that lineage, and thus return the only grateful acknowledgement we can make to them for being our fathers and mothers and giving us such honorable birth, and at such a period of time, when the Priesthood is revealed again, and that we can receive blessings of untold worth, that we never ourselves shall know the full value of, until we overcome this mortality, put on immortality and enter into the exaltation which is promised unto the faithful.
Speaking concerning the testimony of Elder Lyman about those who have sought to rise up and appear to the world as having a right to the Presidency. They claim to have obeyed all the revelations which were given to the Prophet Joseph. The Prophet received the word of the Lord that it was our duty in Nauvoo to build a temple, which, said He, “my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.” Yet concerning those who make the claim to being the only true Latter-day Saints on earth, we have not heard even of their undertaking to build a temple; while we have built half a dozen of them. I need not stop to talk about that. We are on the road to exaltation, in intelligence, in fellowship with the angels and with the just made perfect, and are already made partakers in some measure of the powers of the world to come.
How glorious it was after that Elijah had come and revealed this ancient order of things concerning the fathers and the children in the Temple at Kirtland, in pursuance of what the Prophet Malachi had said he would do, before the great and terrible day of the Lord! How our fathers that have gone before have turned unto us! And so have we turned as children unto our fathers, to love them and to seek after them, and to know that we cannot be made perfect without them, nor they without us. It is a glorious work. People come into the Church and gather with the Saints almost from the antipodes. They have received the Holy Ghost, and what does it do? It makes them just as one of the Apostles anciently said: “God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” They naturally incline after the lineage of their fathers; and if they have not obtained it, they persevere until they find one who shall teach, instruct and lead them along unto eternal life. If they cannot find their lineage, they feel afflicted and distressed and cut off in their parts. This is that feeling which comes upon the people when they receive the Holy Spirit that makes them to cry, Abba, Father. They want to know the spirit of the fathers and the doctrines of the Gospel revealed unto them. We have great reason to rejoice in God, who has revealed these things. Soon after the Prophet Elijah appeared in the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph was led to teach us the doctrine of baptism for the dead.
Oh, what a world of labor that has given us! What a joy it has imparted to us! Many felt that they would die cheerfully if they could give to their fathers and mothers who where dead the blessings that they enjoyed in the Church of Christ? Yet there are many who have not yet put off the ways of the Gentiles, and have not come to this sensibility. We have only just begun with this labor, and perhaps some of us have not begun just right. I recollect when the Prophet Joseph first revealed the baptism for the dead, some when down to the river and were baptized, men for women and women for men. But the Lord soon gave to the Prophet Joseph to organize and systematize the whole thing, and so He will about this order of the fathers being turned and united, bound and sealed to the children, and the children to the fathers; and we will yet have the privilege of seeing our generations connected back. If we continue on and inherit eternal life, we shall see them connected clear back, no doubt, to ancient Noah and to our more ancient Father Adam. In the early days of tribulation in the Church the Lord encouraged the brethren by telling them that they were laying the foundation of a great and mighty work. I recollect how it used to cheer us up in the midst of our persecutions.
If we are living correctly before the Lord, our testimonies increase, our light grows clearer and clearer, and we are strengthened in the way of righteousness and truth. I testify that during the past year I have realized more abundantly the freedom of the Holy Spirit, more blessing and manifestation of the power of God among the people, than before. The blessings in the increased flow of the Spirit that have come upon them since the dedication of the Temple in this city has been like an endowment of the whole people. Brethren and sisters, cling to it. Be diligent in keeping the commandments of God, abiding in the covenants, seeking to do good, and in your temporal things to provide for your wants, and not depend upon falling Babylon. If prophecy is fulfilled in us today, what about that prophecy that says that a great cry shall come up from Babylon, “and the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more?” Brother Brigham tried incessantly to persuade us to establish home industries here; provide our own boots and shoes, and our own clothing; and he talked to the sisters about making their own hats, instead of sending our money abroad as we have done for everything that we wanted. We have been like a carcass with eagles gathered around. They have found that we are a good people to trade with. We have had the credit of keeping our promises, and we have earned a character in the East as being a people that have the fewest number of bad debts of any territory or state in the West. They love to come and deal with us, persuading us to buy this, that and the other. If we would be constrained to make our own boots, shoes and clothes, and patronize home productions, we could soon get the balance of trade on to the other columns of our ledgers. Why cannot the Latter-day Saints take this as a piece of counsel from the authorities of the Church? Let us also raise our own provisions. There is no part of the broad land of Zion that yields better wheat, better grain of nearly all kinds, better potatoes, or better fruit. We were renowned from ocean to ocean for our choice fruit until the worms and insects got into it and made it undesirable; but if we will turn to the Lord with all our hearts and put away our wrong dealing wherein we strew our wrong dealing wherein we strew our ways to strangers He will turn away the destroyer for our sakes, and will make everything again to bloom and prosper for us. Then the merchants from abroad will be able to say that nobody buys their goods, because we will have the goods of our own manufacture.
What did the angel of the Lord who brought the Gospel through the midst of heaven to every nation, kindred, tongue and people say? He said, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” Do we not see that His judgments are spreading destruction all around us? But we have not yet had to taste much of them. He has been uncommonly merciful unto us, making our fields to abound with plenty, and giving us to rest in peace here. His judgments are in the earth, and in all our calculations we ought to remember this.
Let us keep in mind the parable of the rich man, whose ground brought forth plentifully, and who thought to build larger barns to hold his produce. He said within himself, “Soul, thou has much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” What was the result? The Lord said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” We should be frugal and enterprising; provide for our necessities and for those who may come to us, and become an independent people. We can do it if we will. All these necessaries come out of the earth. It is the farmer that should be the independent man; get up and cultivate his land in the season thereof, and at his convenience he can read his newspapers and his books. There is no branch of human labor that gives a man such a variety of exercise for all his faculties as does that of good agriculture. The farmer is the man that should be encouraged. The miners could not dig the mountains down nor open the bowels of the earth if they had not bread to eat. The gold and silver would have to lay there till eternity came and went if they did not have the victuals to eat and clothes to wear. President Young was sensible and wise in this. He told us if we would raise the bread and dinner, others would come and do the uncertain work of digging down the hills.
My brethren and sisters, this our great work, as I have said, opens new methods of conduct, new features of corresponding doctrine and precept to guide us. If we but keep our lamps trimmed and the Holy Ghost burning in us to give us understanding in all our ways, the pathway of our feet will grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. May the Lord grant this to be the common lot of His people, and the particular lot of every man and woman that will take the revelations of divine truth for the light of their counsel, keep the commandments and covenants they have made diligently and faithfully to the end; God will help us according to His own good pleasure, to accomplish the work He has assigned unto us. Amen.
Elder Lorenzo Snow
was the next speaker. He read from the Book of Doc. and Cov., section 84. The question refers to the blessings predicated upon the reception and magnifying of the two Priesthoods, and also the results of turning away from the Priesthood after having received it. The speaker also read from the 8th section of the same book. He had sometimes asked himself the question, where did he come from, why was he here and what was his destiny? We had a first estate and had obeyed its laws and conditions, otherwise we would not be here. We were here because we were worthy to come, having kept our first estate. It was his view that before our advent to mortality we made certain covenants with those who were in control—that we would seek to discover the will of God as it should be revealed. We had forgotten these things, but God was bringing them to our recollection. What we wanted to know was how to be worthy of securing the positions we formerly occupied in the previous life, together with the additions resulting from experience gained in mortality. No man nor woman could afford to do anything in this life except it be what was in accord with what God revealed. As a general thing there would be no failure associated with the work of the Lord. It might seem as if we were moving backward, because we had sacrificed what was dear to us. We had come along through these conditions and there had been no failure, because the majority of the people had sought to be guided by the Spirit of the Lord. There was a course that could be taken which would obviate failure. It was implied in the verses which had been read, “If your eye be single your whole body will be filled with light.” There was the key. The Lord had said “I can of my own self do nothing, as I hear I judge, and My judgment is just because I seek not to do my own will but the will of my Father who sent me.” According to this saying we should forget ourselves and try to discover how to spend our energy and our means to the honor and glory of God. If we did this there could be no failure. When our Elders were sent into the world, who sent them? It was the Lord who sent them, and none were so much interested in them as He. A man’s mind should be single to the glory of God in everything he undertook. Here was the grand secret. We were too apt to forget that we were working for God. The work in which we were engaged was that of the Almighty, and His watchful eye was constantly upon us. God bless the Latter-day Saints, and he prayed we might so live as to be worthy to receive the blessings which had been promised upon the faithful.
was the next speaker. He read from the Book of Doc. and Cov., section 84. The question refers to the blessings predicated upon the reception and magnifying of the two Priesthoods, and also the results of turning away from the Priesthood after having received it. The speaker also read from the 8th section of the same book. He had sometimes asked himself the question, where did he come from, why was he here and what was his destiny? We had a first estate and had obeyed its laws and conditions, otherwise we would not be here. We were here because we were worthy to come, having kept our first estate. It was his view that before our advent to mortality we made certain covenants with those who were in control—that we would seek to discover the will of God as it should be revealed. We had forgotten these things, but God was bringing them to our recollection. What we wanted to know was how to be worthy of securing the positions we formerly occupied in the previous life, together with the additions resulting from experience gained in mortality. No man nor woman could afford to do anything in this life except it be what was in accord with what God revealed. As a general thing there would be no failure associated with the work of the Lord. It might seem as if we were moving backward, because we had sacrificed what was dear to us. We had come along through these conditions and there had been no failure, because the majority of the people had sought to be guided by the Spirit of the Lord. There was a course that could be taken which would obviate failure. It was implied in the verses which had been read, “If your eye be single your whole body will be filled with light.” There was the key. The Lord had said “I can of my own self do nothing, as I hear I judge, and My judgment is just because I seek not to do my own will but the will of my Father who sent me.” According to this saying we should forget ourselves and try to discover how to spend our energy and our means to the honor and glory of God. If we did this there could be no failure. When our Elders were sent into the world, who sent them? It was the Lord who sent them, and none were so much interested in them as He. A man’s mind should be single to the glory of God in everything he undertook. Here was the grand secret. We were too apt to forget that we were working for God. The work in which we were engaged was that of the Almighty, and His watchful eye was constantly upon us. God bless the Latter-day Saints, and he prayed we might so live as to be worthy to receive the blessings which had been promised upon the faithful.
The Object of this Probation.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894, by President Lorenzo Snow.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I will read from Section 84 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two Priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies; They become the sons of Moses and Aaron and the seek of Abraham, and the church and the elect of God;
And also all they who receive this Priesthood receiveth me, saith the Lord;
For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;
And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
And he that receiveth my Father, receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him;
And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the Priesthood.
Therefore, all those who receive the Priesthood, receiveth this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved;
But whoso breaketh this covenant, after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have the forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.
In connection with this, I will read the following, from the 88th section:
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the day will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
Brethren and sisters, with your help, through the exercise of your faith and prayers, I wish to say a few things. I have been very much pleased and edified by what has been said during this conference. It has been to me a feast of fat things. The instructions that have been given and the principles that have been elucidated have been presented to the people by the power of God.
I often ask myself, what am I in the world for? Where did I come from, and where am I going? Well, we have learned something in regard to this. We have learned that we existed with God in eternity before we came into this life, and that we kept our estate. Had we not kept what is called our first estate and observed the laws that governed there, you and I would not be here today. We are here because we are worthy to be here, and that arises, to a great extent at least, from the fact that we kept our first estate. I believe that when you and I were in yonder life we made certain covenants with those that had the control that in this life, when we should be permitted to enter it, we would do what we had done in that life—find out the will of God and conform to it. I have not the least idea that I would be here today talking to you, unless it was distinctly understood in that life that when I came into this I would be obedient to the will of God as it should be revealed. Of course, we have forgotten these things; but the Lord is bringing to our recollection certain things in regard to how we were there, and for what we have come into this world. What you and I now want to know is how to secure the position we occupied in the other life when we go back, and that which will naturally be added to us in consequence of the experience that we had in this life; for the Lord has told us that those who would keep their second estate, glory should be added upon their heads forever and ever. It seems to me that no man or woman can afford to do anything in this life only that which directly or indirectly will be in conformity to the will of God.
There is a course that men and women may pursue wherein there will be no failure. Whatever disappointments may arise or seeming failures may result, there will be in reality no failure, as a general thing. As we have heard from the different speakers, there has been no stoppage with this Church. Apparently there has been. There have been time when it seemed as though we were moving backward; at least, it has to those who were not full enlightened in regard to the mind and will of God. The Church has passed through very strange experiences, and the people have made great sacrifices. No people were ever raised up, excepting perhaps Enoch’s, that have sacrificed to the extent that this people have. But we have come along through these sacrifices, and as a people there has been no failure. Why has there been no failure? Because the people, as a whole, have had their minds fixed upon the true principles of life, and they have conformed to their duty, as they did in the other life. The people generally have had the spirit of the Lord, and have followed it. Hence there has been no failure. So it may be with individuals. There is a course for every person to pursue in which there will be no failure. It will apply to temporal as well as spiritual matters. The Lord has given us the keyword in these verses that I have read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
If your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God.
That is the key by which a person can also be successful. Paul says:
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
A grand object that every Latter-day ought to have before him constantly. What is that prize? I have been reading it. “All that my Father hath shall be given unto him.” The Savior on one occasion made an extraordinary statement. It is in the 5th chapter of St. John, and is as follows:
I can of mine own self do nothing.
It is remarkable that God who made the worlds, who came down here clothed with flesh, performed mighty miracles, and sacrificed his life on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the human family—that He should say, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” And He goes on to say:
As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
That is a wonderful saying, and there is a great deal in it. Now, what we want is to have that spirit in every act of our lives and in every undertaking, whether temporal or spiritual, and not think of self. We should try to ascertain how we should spend the money and the information that God has given us. The answer is simple—for the glory of God. Our eye should be single to the glory of God. That is what we have left the other life for and come into this. We should seek to promote the interests of the Most High God, and to feel as Jesus felt, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Inasmuch as we act today and tomorrow, this week and next week, in the interest of God, and have our eye single to His glory, there can be no failure. We send our Elders to preach the Gospel. Who sends them? President Woodruff? In one sense, no. The God of Israel sends them. It is His work. There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an Elder when he is preaching the gospel as the lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children. He begot them in yonder world, and they came here because the Lord wanted them to come. As we are told by the Apostle Paul, “The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope.” It was not a pleasing idea to come here. No one wished to come, only as it was the will of God, and that we would receive through this greater glory. I have not found it so very pleasant in my experience; still I have tried in the scenes through which I have been called to pass to enjoy the circumstances as far as God would give me wisdom and power to do so. A man’s mind should be single to the glory of God in everything that he starts to accomplish. We should consider that of ourselves we can do nothing. We are the children of God. We are in darkness, only as God enlightens our understanding. We are powerless, only as God helps us. The work that we have to do here is of that nature that we cannot do it unless we have the assistance of the Almighty. Those who go into these temples to accomplish the glorious labors there performed feel that they cannot do this work satisfactorily to the parties in whose interest they are officiating unless God gives them His Holy Spirit. Here is the great trouble with men of the world, and too much so with the Elders of Israel; we forget that we are working for God; we forget that we are here in order to carry out certain purposes that we have promised the Lord that we would carry out. It is a glorious work that we are engaged in. It is the work of the Almighty; and He has selected the men and the women whom He knows from past experience will carry out His purposes, as a general thing.
What wonderful promises are contained in this 84th section! Can you comprehend them? I cannot. I can see that God means a great deal in these promises which He has made to us. There may be some strangers here who will say, “You read that from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which we do not know anything about. Why don’t you read something from the books that we believe in?” Now, what I have read here conforms exactly with what the Lord has said in the Bible. The Lord has said that He will give us all that He hath—and this according to the oath and covenant which belongs to the Priesthood. Nobody ought to doubt that Jesus says, and He declares, as recorded in the Revelations of St. John, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” Can anything be said greater than that? Does not that comprehend everything? And there are many statements of this kind recorded in the Old and New Testament.
Brethren and sisters, my testimony is that this is the work of God in which we are engaged. I had not been in this Church two weeks when the Lord revealed to me a knowledge that He was God, and that He sent His Son into the world to be crucified for the sins of the world. No man ever did or ever could receive a more perfect knowledge in regard to the existence of God and of the truth of this work than God gave to me by revelation and the opening of the heavens. From that time on I have tried to live in such a ways as not to lose His Holy Spirit, but to be guided by it continually, trying to get rid of my selfishness and any wrongful ambition, and endeavoring to work in His interest. I believe these are the intentions and feelings of the Latter-day Saints generally.
God bless President Woodruff and his two counselors with a fullness of His Holy Spirit; and may we all live in that way that we may be prepared at any moment to go back into the other life and inherit the position that we occupied there, with the additional blessing and glory that we receive by conforming to the mind and will of God in this life. The prayer which Jesus made before His crucifixion may be offered by the Latter-day Saints: “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and may we so live as to be worthy to receive these wonderful blessings and promises is may prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang the anthem: Praise ye the Father.
Benediction by Elder Seymour B. Young; after which Conference adjourned till 2 p. m.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894, by President Lorenzo Snow.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I will read from Section 84 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two Priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies; They become the sons of Moses and Aaron and the seek of Abraham, and the church and the elect of God;
And also all they who receive this Priesthood receiveth me, saith the Lord;
For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;
And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
And he that receiveth my Father, receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him;
And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the Priesthood.
Therefore, all those who receive the Priesthood, receiveth this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved;
But whoso breaketh this covenant, after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have the forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.
In connection with this, I will read the following, from the 88th section:
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the day will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
Brethren and sisters, with your help, through the exercise of your faith and prayers, I wish to say a few things. I have been very much pleased and edified by what has been said during this conference. It has been to me a feast of fat things. The instructions that have been given and the principles that have been elucidated have been presented to the people by the power of God.
I often ask myself, what am I in the world for? Where did I come from, and where am I going? Well, we have learned something in regard to this. We have learned that we existed with God in eternity before we came into this life, and that we kept our estate. Had we not kept what is called our first estate and observed the laws that governed there, you and I would not be here today. We are here because we are worthy to be here, and that arises, to a great extent at least, from the fact that we kept our first estate. I believe that when you and I were in yonder life we made certain covenants with those that had the control that in this life, when we should be permitted to enter it, we would do what we had done in that life—find out the will of God and conform to it. I have not the least idea that I would be here today talking to you, unless it was distinctly understood in that life that when I came into this I would be obedient to the will of God as it should be revealed. Of course, we have forgotten these things; but the Lord is bringing to our recollection certain things in regard to how we were there, and for what we have come into this world. What you and I now want to know is how to secure the position we occupied in the other life when we go back, and that which will naturally be added to us in consequence of the experience that we had in this life; for the Lord has told us that those who would keep their second estate, glory should be added upon their heads forever and ever. It seems to me that no man or woman can afford to do anything in this life only that which directly or indirectly will be in conformity to the will of God.
There is a course that men and women may pursue wherein there will be no failure. Whatever disappointments may arise or seeming failures may result, there will be in reality no failure, as a general thing. As we have heard from the different speakers, there has been no stoppage with this Church. Apparently there has been. There have been time when it seemed as though we were moving backward; at least, it has to those who were not full enlightened in regard to the mind and will of God. The Church has passed through very strange experiences, and the people have made great sacrifices. No people were ever raised up, excepting perhaps Enoch’s, that have sacrificed to the extent that this people have. But we have come along through these sacrifices, and as a people there has been no failure. Why has there been no failure? Because the people, as a whole, have had their minds fixed upon the true principles of life, and they have conformed to their duty, as they did in the other life. The people generally have had the spirit of the Lord, and have followed it. Hence there has been no failure. So it may be with individuals. There is a course for every person to pursue in which there will be no failure. It will apply to temporal as well as spiritual matters. The Lord has given us the keyword in these verses that I have read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
If your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God.
That is the key by which a person can also be successful. Paul says:
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
A grand object that every Latter-day ought to have before him constantly. What is that prize? I have been reading it. “All that my Father hath shall be given unto him.” The Savior on one occasion made an extraordinary statement. It is in the 5th chapter of St. John, and is as follows:
I can of mine own self do nothing.
It is remarkable that God who made the worlds, who came down here clothed with flesh, performed mighty miracles, and sacrificed his life on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the human family—that He should say, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” And He goes on to say:
As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
That is a wonderful saying, and there is a great deal in it. Now, what we want is to have that spirit in every act of our lives and in every undertaking, whether temporal or spiritual, and not think of self. We should try to ascertain how we should spend the money and the information that God has given us. The answer is simple—for the glory of God. Our eye should be single to the glory of God. That is what we have left the other life for and come into this. We should seek to promote the interests of the Most High God, and to feel as Jesus felt, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Inasmuch as we act today and tomorrow, this week and next week, in the interest of God, and have our eye single to His glory, there can be no failure. We send our Elders to preach the Gospel. Who sends them? President Woodruff? In one sense, no. The God of Israel sends them. It is His work. There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an Elder when he is preaching the gospel as the lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children. He begot them in yonder world, and they came here because the Lord wanted them to come. As we are told by the Apostle Paul, “The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope.” It was not a pleasing idea to come here. No one wished to come, only as it was the will of God, and that we would receive through this greater glory. I have not found it so very pleasant in my experience; still I have tried in the scenes through which I have been called to pass to enjoy the circumstances as far as God would give me wisdom and power to do so. A man’s mind should be single to the glory of God in everything that he starts to accomplish. We should consider that of ourselves we can do nothing. We are the children of God. We are in darkness, only as God enlightens our understanding. We are powerless, only as God helps us. The work that we have to do here is of that nature that we cannot do it unless we have the assistance of the Almighty. Those who go into these temples to accomplish the glorious labors there performed feel that they cannot do this work satisfactorily to the parties in whose interest they are officiating unless God gives them His Holy Spirit. Here is the great trouble with men of the world, and too much so with the Elders of Israel; we forget that we are working for God; we forget that we are here in order to carry out certain purposes that we have promised the Lord that we would carry out. It is a glorious work that we are engaged in. It is the work of the Almighty; and He has selected the men and the women whom He knows from past experience will carry out His purposes, as a general thing.
What wonderful promises are contained in this 84th section! Can you comprehend them? I cannot. I can see that God means a great deal in these promises which He has made to us. There may be some strangers here who will say, “You read that from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which we do not know anything about. Why don’t you read something from the books that we believe in?” Now, what I have read here conforms exactly with what the Lord has said in the Bible. The Lord has said that He will give us all that He hath—and this according to the oath and covenant which belongs to the Priesthood. Nobody ought to doubt that Jesus says, and He declares, as recorded in the Revelations of St. John, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” Can anything be said greater than that? Does not that comprehend everything? And there are many statements of this kind recorded in the Old and New Testament.
Brethren and sisters, my testimony is that this is the work of God in which we are engaged. I had not been in this Church two weeks when the Lord revealed to me a knowledge that He was God, and that He sent His Son into the world to be crucified for the sins of the world. No man ever did or ever could receive a more perfect knowledge in regard to the existence of God and of the truth of this work than God gave to me by revelation and the opening of the heavens. From that time on I have tried to live in such a ways as not to lose His Holy Spirit, but to be guided by it continually, trying to get rid of my selfishness and any wrongful ambition, and endeavoring to work in His interest. I believe these are the intentions and feelings of the Latter-day Saints generally.
God bless President Woodruff and his two counselors with a fullness of His Holy Spirit; and may we all live in that way that we may be prepared at any moment to go back into the other life and inherit the position that we occupied there, with the additional blessing and glory that we receive by conforming to the mind and will of God in this life. The prayer which Jesus made before His crucifixion may be offered by the Latter-day Saints: “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and may we so live as to be worthy to receive these wonderful blessings and promises is may prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang the anthem: Praise ye the Father.
Benediction by Elder Seymour B. Young; after which Conference adjourned till 2 p. m.
Afternoon Session. 2 p.m.
The choir and congregation sang the hymn beginning:
Our God, we raise to Thee,
Thanks for Thy blessings free.
Prayer by Elder B. H. Roberts.
The choir sang the anthem: Light and truth the world are waking.
The choir and congregation sang the hymn beginning:
Our God, we raise to Thee,
Thanks for Thy blessings free.
Prayer by Elder B. H. Roberts.
The choir sang the anthem: Light and truth the world are waking.
The Authorities of the Church
were presented by President George Q. Cannon for the votes of the assembly, as follows:
Wilford Woodruff, as Prophet, Seer and Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
George Q. Cannon as First Counselor in the First Presidency.
Joseph F. Smith as Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
Lorenzo Snow as President of the Twelve Apostles.
As members of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Moses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Anthon H. Lund and Abraham H. Cannon.
The Counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.
Patriarch to the Church—John Smith.
First Seven Presidents of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjeldsted, John Morgan, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball and Rulon S. Wells.
William B. Preston as Presiding Bishop, with Robert T. Burton as his First and John R. Winder as his Second Counselor.
Franklin D. Richards as Church Historian and General Church Recorder, and John Jaques as his assistant.
John Nicholson as Clerk of the General Conference.
As the Church Board of Education: Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Willard Young, George W. Thatcher, Anthon H. Lund, James Sharp and Joseph F. Smith.
As Trustee-in-Trust for the body of religious worshippers known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Wilford Woodruff.
All the voting to sustain the authorities as presented was unanimous.
An approximate statistical summary of the Stakes of the Church was read. It was stated, however, that it was somewhat incomplete. It did not include the missions in this nor in foreign lands.
A report of the Young Ladies’ Improvement Associations for the last seventeen months was read. Among other matters of information it showed as follows: Number of associations, 386; number reported, 358; number of members, 18,872, Increase, 1,815; average attendance, 6,786. Number of books in library, 5,587. The receipts were—Cash on hand at last report, $2,085.83 cash received, $5,173.02; total, $7,258.85. Property on hand at last report, $2,605.89; property received, $761.49; total, $3,367.38. The disbursements were: to charities, $1,772.65; miscellaneous, $3,557.85; balance on hand, $1,928.35. Property disbursed, $436.98; property on hand, $2,930.40; total, $3,367.38. Also on hand, fifty-three bushels of wheat. The report is signed by Elmina S. Taylor, president; Maria Y. Dougall, first counselor; Martha H. Tingey, second counselor.
The Sunday schools report for the year ending Dec. 31st, 1894, showed as follows: Number of male officers and teachers, 5,593; number of female officers and teachers, 3,842; total 9,435. Male pupils, 36,627; female pupils, 37,595; total, 74,222; Grand total 83,657.
were presented by President George Q. Cannon for the votes of the assembly, as follows:
Wilford Woodruff, as Prophet, Seer and Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
George Q. Cannon as First Counselor in the First Presidency.
Joseph F. Smith as Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
Lorenzo Snow as President of the Twelve Apostles.
As members of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Moses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Anthon H. Lund and Abraham H. Cannon.
The Counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.
Patriarch to the Church—John Smith.
First Seven Presidents of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjeldsted, John Morgan, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball and Rulon S. Wells.
William B. Preston as Presiding Bishop, with Robert T. Burton as his First and John R. Winder as his Second Counselor.
Franklin D. Richards as Church Historian and General Church Recorder, and John Jaques as his assistant.
John Nicholson as Clerk of the General Conference.
As the Church Board of Education: Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Willard Young, George W. Thatcher, Anthon H. Lund, James Sharp and Joseph F. Smith.
As Trustee-in-Trust for the body of religious worshippers known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Wilford Woodruff.
All the voting to sustain the authorities as presented was unanimous.
An approximate statistical summary of the Stakes of the Church was read. It was stated, however, that it was somewhat incomplete. It did not include the missions in this nor in foreign lands.
A report of the Young Ladies’ Improvement Associations for the last seventeen months was read. Among other matters of information it showed as follows: Number of associations, 386; number reported, 358; number of members, 18,872, Increase, 1,815; average attendance, 6,786. Number of books in library, 5,587. The receipts were—Cash on hand at last report, $2,085.83 cash received, $5,173.02; total, $7,258.85. Property on hand at last report, $2,605.89; property received, $761.49; total, $3,367.38. The disbursements were: to charities, $1,772.65; miscellaneous, $3,557.85; balance on hand, $1,928.35. Property disbursed, $436.98; property on hand, $2,930.40; total, $3,367.38. Also on hand, fifty-three bushels of wheat. The report is signed by Elmina S. Taylor, president; Maria Y. Dougall, first counselor; Martha H. Tingey, second counselor.
The Sunday schools report for the year ending Dec. 31st, 1894, showed as follows: Number of male officers and teachers, 5,593; number of female officers and teachers, 3,842; total 9,435. Male pupils, 36,627; female pupils, 37,595; total, 74,222; Grand total 83,657.
President Joseph F. Smith
addressed the Conference. His introductory remarks were directed to the concert to be given in the Tabernacle this evening and its worthy object. He invited the whole audience to attend it.
He then turned his attention to Sabbath schools and the necessity of men and women qualifying themselves to be efficient workers in those institutions, and spoke commendably of the normal class which had been established at Provo to enable the brethren and sisters to graduate for this work. Similar remarks were made in reference to the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement normal class in the Brigham Young Academy. He announced that, to meet the expense connected with this important department, it was expected that the members of the Church would contribute 50 cents a year.
The speaker next alluded to card playing, the tendency of which was in the direction of evil.
In relation to round dancing, he said he did not believe that any good came from it and it ought not to be encouraged. He understood this to be the sentiment of the First Presidency who regretted that the young people were disposed to go to extremes in this matter.
The discourse then turned in the direction of Latter-day Saints becoming connected with secret societies. This theme was elaborately and instructively dwelt upon, the position of the Church in reference to it being clearly defined.
The closing remarks of Brother Smith were mostly devoted to the correction of certain fallacious ideas in reference to the Godhead, in which the three were represented as one person. The speaker read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and the Bible, passages showing clearly the erroneous character of the views to which he referred.
addressed the Conference. His introductory remarks were directed to the concert to be given in the Tabernacle this evening and its worthy object. He invited the whole audience to attend it.
He then turned his attention to Sabbath schools and the necessity of men and women qualifying themselves to be efficient workers in those institutions, and spoke commendably of the normal class which had been established at Provo to enable the brethren and sisters to graduate for this work. Similar remarks were made in reference to the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement normal class in the Brigham Young Academy. He announced that, to meet the expense connected with this important department, it was expected that the members of the Church would contribute 50 cents a year.
The speaker next alluded to card playing, the tendency of which was in the direction of evil.
In relation to round dancing, he said he did not believe that any good came from it and it ought not to be encouraged. He understood this to be the sentiment of the First Presidency who regretted that the young people were disposed to go to extremes in this matter.
The discourse then turned in the direction of Latter-day Saints becoming connected with secret societies. This theme was elaborately and instructively dwelt upon, the position of the Church in reference to it being clearly defined.
The closing remarks of Brother Smith were mostly devoted to the correction of certain fallacious ideas in reference to the Godhead, in which the three were represented as one person. The speaker read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and the Bible, passages showing clearly the erroneous character of the views to which he referred.
Discourse
Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894, by President Joseph F. Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I shall require the assistance of the congregation this afternoon in order that I may make myself heard and speak of those things which will do good. I feel my dependence upon the Lord for His Spirit and for strength to do my duty on this occasion. We have had a variety of subjects treated upon during our meetings, ten of the Twelve Apostles having addressed you, each of them having spoken upon one or more different subjects—all of interest to the people, and it is necessary that these things should be weighed carefully by us, that our coming together may not be in vain.
The Tabernacle Choir.
There are a few things which I would like to call to your attention. One thing is the concert that is to be given here this evening by the Tabernacle Choir. Perhaps many of the Latter-day Saints are not aware of the fact that it is through the proceeds of these concerts that Brother Evan Stephens and the Choir are able to meet their legitimate and necessary expenses—and the expenses of so large a choir are by no means inconsiderable. They have their music to procure, and many other expenses attending their labors; and they raise means to meet those expenses by giving to the people their delightful music. It is through practice and indefatigable labor that they have attained the proficiency which they have reached, by which, as you are away, they went to the World’s Fair last summer, and if justice had been done them they would undoubtedly have carried away the first prize as the best singers in competition with all those contestants from the United States and from foreign countries. Without being an authority on the subject, my decision was rendered on the spot that the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir carried off the first prize at the Fair, but they were awarded second. Having said this much, I invite this whole congregation to be present this evening, no matter what it costs. It will not cost you a great deal, and you will get your money’s worth, if you love music. If you don’t love music, you ought to come here and get a little of the love of it stirred up within you.
Sunday School and Y. M. M. I. A. Normal Classes.
I suppose the Latter-day Saints are generally aware of the fact that we have Sabbath schools, which are of vast importance to our children, and which are necessary for the good of our youth. It is requisite at this advanced stage of our proceedings and experience that men and women should have opportunity of becoming qualified for the labor and duty of Sabbath school instructors. For this purpose we have established the Brigham Young Academy at Provo a normal class, to which Sunday school teachers may go and receive instruction from the best intelligence and under the best rules that we know of, by which they may become qualified to more efficiently and effectively teach the children in the Sabbath schools. To meet the expenses of this normal class in the Brigham Young Academy provisions have been made by the Sunday school authorities.
There are also Mutual Improvement Associations organized throughout the land. In these associations many a young man has received that impetus in the work of the Lord which has made of him in after life a successful minister of the Gospel to the nations of the earth. Your sons who attend these associations will give you pride and joy when they are called to go out to the world to preach the Gospel, because having attended these associations and qualified themselves to preach the Gospel, they go out prepared to meet the errors and traditions of men, and to advocate the principles of the Gospel with power and in the demonstration of the Spirit of God. They do themselves and the cause which they represent honor; they do their parents honor; and they do honor to the associations in which they have received their preparation. Yet these associations are comparatively in their incipiency and much more labor is necessary to make them more effective in the education and qualification of our young men for this work. In order that we may the better teach our young men in regard to these matters, we have also established a normal class in the Brigham Young Academy at Provo, where today there are in attendance from sixty to ninety young men, from all parts of the country, taking a ten weeks’ course of instruction, that they may go home and become in turn teachers to the young men of the associations to which they belong. But, unfortunately for the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, we have not been so successful as the Sunday school have been in collecting means for the payment of the expenses of teaching this large class of our young brethren; and it has been agreed by the General Superintendency that fifty cents a year shall be required of every member of the associations in order to pay for this and for other expenses connected with publishing the record books, certificates and circular letters which are necessary. The object in referring to this matter here is to say, before the President of the Church (who is also the General Superintendent of the Y. M. M. I. A.) and the Twelve Apostles, and the Presidents of Stakes and Bishops, as well as those who are associated more directly with the mutual improvement work, that we expect to collect from the members of these associations the sum of fifty cents a year from each one, in order that we may meet our legitimate expenses; as the choir have to have means to meet their expenses so do we to meet ours; in getting theirs they give you music and enjoyment; we help to educate your sons. So with the Sunday schools. What benefit do the people receive from these sources? Can you compute the value of these institutions in dollars and cents? You cannot; and yet it costs you very little, while you are preparing a corps of intelligent and valiant men and women for this good work by the little contribution required. So you are preparing your sons to be ministers of the Gospel, defenders of the faith, and exponents of the principles of life and salvation to the world by merely contributing this insignificant sum of fifty cents per year. Parents ought to urge their children to be faithful to this little duty; and children who are not able to furnish themselves ought to ask their parents to assist them, that we may not allow these interests to be uncared for and not sustained while they are such means of benefit to the whole people of the Church.
Card-Playing.
Brother M. W. Merrill referred yesterday to the subject of card-playing. I desire not to prolong the meeting by going over this subject again, but merely to refer to it by way of emphasizing, if I can, that which he said. I want to tell you a circumstance that I heard of. I think the person is in this house who told me, and I shall therefore be very careful to tell you only what I heard from that person, for fear I might be charged with overstating matters. This person is aged, reliable, and a good Latter-day Saint. I am not going to tell you whether it was a woman or a man; at all events, I shall no tell you if I can help it, though it may slip out. This person told me that he or she went to Manti to attend to some Temple work. While at Manti she (laughter) or he was stopping at a house where a number of other people were stopping who had gone to Manti for a similar purpose that my informant had gone for. After supper, a number having gathered together, the question arose, “What shall we do to pass the time?” And it was determined that the best and most profitable, the most intellectual and useful expenditure of the time, from then until three o’clock the next morning, was to sit down at the tables and play cards. A gentleman whose wife was at a distant settlement in order that she might be present to enjoy this game of cards, had sent all the way to her home and invited her to come by rail and take a hand in it. My informant was invited to play also, but refused, but was there and witness the others’ enjoyment until a late hour and finally retired to bed, but was informed the next day that this party had kept up their card-playing until three o’clock in the morning.
Here is an instance of people who have gone to administer in the ordinances of the House of God for their dead, occupying their time in the worse than idle habit of playing cards. I say that this was an evil. I say that evil will grow out of such practices as this; and I say that every Latter-day Saint, whether he goes to the Temple or stays at home, ought to constitute himself a teacher in relation to this matter, and set his face like a flint against this evil and pernicious practice. The best you can say of it is that there is no good in it, except to kill time; and if people have time which they can murder in this manner, they have more leisure on their hands that ever I have. I call it the murder of time; and not only so, but the murder of the spirituality of men and women that engage in such a practice. Its natural tendency is to evil, and not to good. I asked one person what good there was in it, and I was told, “Oh, it killed time!” This is the only virtue that I have ever yet heard in regard to card-playing. I do not signalized card-playing as a pernicious thing in contradistinction to other practices that simply tend to consume time, to waste precious moments and to dull the sensibilities of the head and the heart. Anything that ends to a morbid desire for that which is not beneficial is a sin in the sight of God, and it ought to be cried down, whatever it is. It is no more card-playing than it is checker-playing, if checker-playing is indulged in to the wasting of time. Perhaps the one is as pernicious as the other, although I have not noticed in my life the same tendency to evil in playing checkers for amusement as there is in playing cards. As I understand it takes four or more to make a good party at card-playing, and they get to cheating one another and practicing fraud in order to win. You cannot do that in checkers. I know a little about checkers myself. I protest against every practice that has no better recommendation for it than the wasting of precious time. I pronounce it wrong. And I say to the Latter-day Saints that idleness is one of those things set down in the revelations of God to this Church as evil, which we should not indulge in, “for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer,” and “the idler shall not have place in the Church, except he repents and mends his ways.” Card-playing creates idleness, and worse than that. Much might be said to show you the great danger there is of people who indulge in this practice being led from step to step until they become gamblers—and worse than that; for one crime leads to another, and when men get started upon the road of crime, however small the beginning, they go with accelerated speed the longer they continue in that path, until they fall finally into utter ruin.
Round-Dancing.
I am going to preach another little discourse in regard to round dancing. I have been out in the country lately, visiting the conferences, and at one place I understood that the President of the Stake had finally concluded that the Presidency of the Church had let up with regard to their objection to round dancing, and he had actually gone and danced in that way himself. Wherever I have been, the Presidents of Stakes have enquired of me as to what is the wish of the Presidency of the Church with regard to this practice of round dancing; for they say that in the parties in Salt Lake City and those held int he theater, round dancing is all the rage, and “is it possible for us to prevent this practice here when it prevails so much at headquarters?” The question is, have the Presidency of the Church let up on this matter, and do they counsel the people now to round-dance all they please? Now, I do not suppose that any more evil would grow out of two innocent persons dancing a waltz (if innocent persons do such a thing), than would out of the playing of a game of cards. Two or three persons might sit down and play a game of cards and no evil come out of it, for that once; but if they indulged in it until they became infatuated with it, then it results in harm and may lead to destruction. So in relation to round-dancing; people become infatuated with it. It is a practice, to say the least of it, out of which nothing can possibly come calculated to ameliorate the condition of mankind or to elevate the moral standard of men and women. Therefore, the Latter-day Saint ought not to tread where no good can be found. We ought not to cross the line from our own ground on to that of the adversary; for when we do we place ourselves in his power and he will take advantage of us if he can. I think I may safely say here, speaking as I do in the presence of the authorities of the Church, that the First Presidency do not encourage, do not endorse, and do not recommend round-dancing. On the contrary, they deprecate it. They are sorry that some of our young people desire it and will indulge in it in spite of counsel; and we hope and pray that the day will come when they will pay stricter attention to the counsels of men who have experience, and whose only desire is the welfare of the youth of Zion. We do not give you counsel with a view of curtailing your legitimate enjoyment. We would rather increase your enjoyment in every proper way. But this is not something that will add to your enjoyment ultimately, because the tendency of it is toward passion, lust and immorality. Some may call me an old fogy for making this declaration; but I have been young myself, and have passed through the stages of youth, as many are passing through them today. I have had an experience perhaps that some of my younger friends have not; and I say, without fear of successful contradiction, that round-dancing is an evil, because, if for nothing else, there is no good in it. Further than that, it is wrong because evil may come out of it, and often very great evil, too. As a result of this familiar contact of men and women in the dance, their native modesty, and that respectful regard for each other, and proper decorum which should exist between men and women, are broken down. They become familiar with each other’s touch and feelings in such a way as to lead on to greater evil. Therefore, I say it is an evil in Zion. And I think I can say, as speaking the minds of the Presidency of the Church on this subject, that we deprecate it, and wish that it did not exist among us, and we would like you to curtail it as much as you can and if possible stop it. We do not want you to be unwise in this matter. A skillful horse trainer who has a fractious horse does not draw the reins tight all at once, but he pulls up gently, guiding and directing and, so far as possible, steering clear of the obstructions in the road, until in time he is successful in quieting his fractious animal and getting it under control. Deal gently with the youth. Act cautiously and warily with them, and kindly withal; for it is our love, for them that causes us to speak in this way. We want to save and exalt the youth of Zion, and bring them back into the presence of God. Therefore we talk this way. We say to the Presidents of Stakes, to the High Councils, to the Bishops, to the presidents of Seventies and the Seventies, to the High Priests, and to the Elders in Israel, set an example in these matters that I have referred to, and wield an influence where you labor that will be felt for good. It is necessary that this should be done.
Secret Societies.
There is another little thing I want to speak upon. It is in relation to a subject that has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the Presidency, and especially to my attention while I have been attending the conferences in the outer Stakes for the last few weeks. Last night, after meeting, a good brother approached me. I trust he is here, because I want to talk to him. He is an eminent man, in some respects. He has been on missions, I believe, and has borne many responsibilities at one time and another in the Church. He put into my hand a copy of the constitution and by-laws of a certain society which is seeking to enlist the Latter-day Saints as its members. When he spoke to me about it, I saw in a moment that he was thoroughly imbued with the idea that to join this secret association was the proper thing for Latter-day Saints to do. I read it in his countenance and saw it down deep in his heart. This alarmed me. I have been alarmed a little about it a good many times, from the representations that have come to us in relation to this matter. I could read you the principles laid down in the constitution of this particular association, but I do not wish to name it, because I wish to make no distinctions, nor to antagonize one against another. I do not consider one better or worse than another. For my part I held this position: that as for me and my house, we have enlisted to serve God, and I have come to the conclusion long since that it is impossible for me to serve God and Mammon. I cannot carry water on both shoulders without spilling some of it. I cannot wear the yoke of Christ and the yoke of Belial at the same time, and call the yoke of Christ easy and His burden light. Some of these articles in this constitution are most excellent. There are no better contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, simply because they are taken directly from the Gospel. They are: peace on earth and good will to men, charity, forgiveness, longsuffering, patience, love unfeigned, kindness one towards another, every effort to be exerted to prevent brethren from going to law one with another, and to settle their difficulties between themselves. They have a chaplain, and a lecturer or preacher, and among other things it is the duty of the chaplain to be present and open the meetings and officiate in all the burial services of the members of the association. I suppose that these are some things that are common to all these secret organizations. It is no harm for any one to believe in all these good things. President Woodruff has been preaching these very same principles for some sixty years, and he has at no time advised you to join a secret association in order that you may be taught these principles or that you may the better practice them. He has taught that these are the commandments of God to the people, and that it is their duty to observe these precepts, and that, too, without taking an oath to become associated with any secret society. But one of the provisions of this constitution requires that each member of this secret association shall stand by the principles of the association unto death. That is pretty strong. Suppose, for instance, an Elder of the Church has entered into this association and has taken upon himself this covenant and something should arise which should be derogatory to his interests as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what position would he be in? He would be under the necessity of either violating his covenants with the Church or the oath that he had taken in that secret society. He would prove himself in either case a traitor. Therefore, it is better that we should not mix up with these entangling alliances. I tell you, in the name of Israel’s God, that the Almighty has established in this Church every principle necessary for the salvation, for the happiness, prosperity, development and growth, both in temporal and spiritual things, of the children of God; and we have no need to go outside to find these. In connection with this, I want to read a word or two from the revelations of God to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith:
Otherwise Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not things which are prepared for them.
Wherefore a commandment I give unto you, to prepare and organize yourselves by a bond or everlasting covenant that cannot be broken.
And he who breaketh it shall lose his office and standing in the church, and shall be delivered over to the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption.
Behold, this is the preparation wherewith I prepare you, and the foundation, and the ensample which I give unto you, whereby you may accomplish the commandments which are given you.
That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world.
This is the purpose that God had in view in establishing this Church and calling you from darkness into the marvelous light of the Gospel, that His “church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world,” in which the foundation is laid of every provision necessary to be carried out for the feeding and clothing of the poor, the protection of the weak, and the administering of comfort and cheer unto the widows and fatherless, the destitute and sick. All these provisions have been amply established in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and there is not a soul within the pale of the Church upon the earth that needs to go and seek succor or comfort from the world, whereby he enters into covenant and agreement with the world that he may find protection, or assistance, or means for his burial. Cannot the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bury its own dead who unfortunately lack the means for their own burial? Are we so poor that we cannot look after our members under such circumstances? Have we ever deserted the widow and the fatherless when they have made application for assistance? Have we turned our back upon the poor, the imprisoned, and upon those that were afflicted, when they were faithful and worthy members in the Church? Never, to my knowledge; and we never will. It is wrong to join these associations. By doing it you place upon yourselves burdens and you put bands around your necks by which others will lead you whithersoever they will; and you are no longer free to serve God as men and women ought to be who are made free by the liberty of the Gospel of Christ.
Personality of God.
I have one more subject in mind, though it may be unnecessary to speak of it before this congregation, or to dignify those who are in error by mentioning them here; but when you take into consideration the fact that these very men who are advocating error and false doctrine, and finding sympathizers in the Church, and Elders in Israel, men who have been on missions, you may see the propriety of referring to them here. They have got their thoughts fixed on one idea, which they have followed to an extreme, and they have formulated a plan by which they suppose they have defined how God can be three Persons and yet one Person, and they tell you all about it by publishing a series of pamphlets. Taking the scriptures for a standard, they try to show that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are one Person, as well as being one in attributes. If you will indulge me just a few moments, I desire to call your attention to a few things that are written with regard to this matter, and then I trust there will be no necessity of talking about it any more. Those who are indulging in this fallacy ought to be guided by the Holy Spirit, by common sense and by the judgment of men who have had experience in the Church, and forsake their error and folly, call in their pernicious publications, and cease to try to lead away the unwary and the ignorant. In the first place, I will read a few words from the Second Lecture on Faith in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
“We here observe that God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent [that is, not in person, but by His power and spirit], and omniscient: without beginning of days or end of life; and that in him every good gift and every good principle dwell; and that he is the Father of lights; in him the principle of faith dwells independently, and he is the object in whom the faith of all other rational and accountable beings center for life and salvation.”
Again, in the Seventh Lecture on Faith:
“All these sayings put together give as clear an account of the state of the glorified saints as language could give—the works that Jesus had done they were to do, and greater works than those which he had done among them should they do, and that because he went to the Father. He does not say that they should do these works in time; but they should do these works in time; but they should do greater work, because we went to the Father. He says in the 24th verse: ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.’ These sayings, taken in connection, make it very plain that the greater works which those that believed on his name were to do were to be done in eternity, where he was going and where they should behold his glory. He had said, in another part of his prayer, that he desired of his Father that those who believed on him should be one in him, as he and the Father were one in each other. ‘Neither pray I for these (the Apostles) alone, but for them also who should believe on me through their words, that they all may be one,’ that is, they who believed on him through the apostles’ words, as well as the apostles themselves, ‘that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee; that they also may be one in us.’”
Here is the language of the Savior himself, quoted by the Prophet Joseph, distinctly setting forth a principle that your minds cannot be blinded upon, if you will only open your eyes and your understanding to this saying. How can the Apostles become one in Christ as Christ and God are one, if Christ and God are one person? Can the Twelve Apostles become one person? And how can all they that believe on the words of the Apostles also become one with the Apostles in Christ as Christ is with God, if God and Christ are one person? Of course, the absurdity appears at once. I do not need to multiply words in regard to this matter, because every child ought to know better than that because Christ is God because of the Spirit and the Son, because of the flesh, therefore that He and the Father are one person, or body, and the Holy Ghost is one in them, and they three are only one being. Strange as it may seem to you, this is the doctrine advocated by men who profess to be Elders in the Church.
In conclusion upon this matter, I want to read the positive word of the Lord, that cannot be denied. You may twist the scriptures as you please; but if you believe the truth and are willing to be guided by it, you will have to come back to this that I shall read to you, and then it will clear up all mystery from your minds with relation to the personality of the Father and the Son. Joseph Smith, on April 2nd, 1843, declared as follows:
“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as mans; the Son also.”
Then how are you going to get them into one person? President Cannon says this agrees with what Paul says. Of course; it agrees with all the scriptures of divine truth, and with every manifestation of God to man since the beginning of the world to the present time. Then the Prophet says:
“But the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”
When Joseph Smith, a boy of 14 years of age, went out into the woods to ask the Lord to guide him into the right church, he knelt down and prayed, and after he was delivered from the power of the adversary, who tried to destroy him, two heavenly personages appeared before him. One of these personages, pointing to the other, and calling Joseph by name, said, “This is my beloved Son; hear him.” Here were two distinct persons—the Father and the Son, each with a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Father bearing testimony of the Son, not only to Joseph Smith, but through Joseph Smith to all the world of mankind. These are truths, and you need not care what you read about the Father and the Son being one. Of course, they are one—in attributes. They are one in love, one in knowledge, one in mercy, one in power, one in all things that make them united and powerful, glorious and great, because in them is perfected all truth, and virtue, and all righteousness. But they are two persons, as much as my father and I are two person. Yet there is unto us but one living and true God. Paul says:
“There be gods many, and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
And Jesus Christ says:
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
That alone should be enough to dispel from the mind of every intelligent man and woman the fallacy that the Father and the Son are not two beings.
Let us seek for the knowledge of life eternal. Let us work out our salvation in fear and trembling before our Father, and be faithful to the end. Remember that you have enlisted in this work for time and for all eternity. There is no backing out of it, no falling away from it, except in sin, and then comes the penalty of transgression. But if you expect exaltation; if you expect fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, kindred and friends; if you expect glory, intelligence and endless lives, you must get them in God’s work; for nowhere outside can you get them. Therefore, let every sympathy and interest be centered in this cause, and this alone. Let the world go. Let it have its secret combinations, and let it have its own way; but let us preach the Gospel to them and show them a better way, and that men can only become one when they are Christ’s. They can never be united until they do become Christ’s; but when they become Christ’s, then they can be one with the Father and with the Son, as the Father and the Son are one. God grant that we may come to this knowledge, and be faithful to the end. Amen.
Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 7, 1894, by President Joseph F. Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I shall require the assistance of the congregation this afternoon in order that I may make myself heard and speak of those things which will do good. I feel my dependence upon the Lord for His Spirit and for strength to do my duty on this occasion. We have had a variety of subjects treated upon during our meetings, ten of the Twelve Apostles having addressed you, each of them having spoken upon one or more different subjects—all of interest to the people, and it is necessary that these things should be weighed carefully by us, that our coming together may not be in vain.
The Tabernacle Choir.
There are a few things which I would like to call to your attention. One thing is the concert that is to be given here this evening by the Tabernacle Choir. Perhaps many of the Latter-day Saints are not aware of the fact that it is through the proceeds of these concerts that Brother Evan Stephens and the Choir are able to meet their legitimate and necessary expenses—and the expenses of so large a choir are by no means inconsiderable. They have their music to procure, and many other expenses attending their labors; and they raise means to meet those expenses by giving to the people their delightful music. It is through practice and indefatigable labor that they have attained the proficiency which they have reached, by which, as you are away, they went to the World’s Fair last summer, and if justice had been done them they would undoubtedly have carried away the first prize as the best singers in competition with all those contestants from the United States and from foreign countries. Without being an authority on the subject, my decision was rendered on the spot that the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir carried off the first prize at the Fair, but they were awarded second. Having said this much, I invite this whole congregation to be present this evening, no matter what it costs. It will not cost you a great deal, and you will get your money’s worth, if you love music. If you don’t love music, you ought to come here and get a little of the love of it stirred up within you.
Sunday School and Y. M. M. I. A. Normal Classes.
I suppose the Latter-day Saints are generally aware of the fact that we have Sabbath schools, which are of vast importance to our children, and which are necessary for the good of our youth. It is requisite at this advanced stage of our proceedings and experience that men and women should have opportunity of becoming qualified for the labor and duty of Sabbath school instructors. For this purpose we have established the Brigham Young Academy at Provo a normal class, to which Sunday school teachers may go and receive instruction from the best intelligence and under the best rules that we know of, by which they may become qualified to more efficiently and effectively teach the children in the Sabbath schools. To meet the expenses of this normal class in the Brigham Young Academy provisions have been made by the Sunday school authorities.
There are also Mutual Improvement Associations organized throughout the land. In these associations many a young man has received that impetus in the work of the Lord which has made of him in after life a successful minister of the Gospel to the nations of the earth. Your sons who attend these associations will give you pride and joy when they are called to go out to the world to preach the Gospel, because having attended these associations and qualified themselves to preach the Gospel, they go out prepared to meet the errors and traditions of men, and to advocate the principles of the Gospel with power and in the demonstration of the Spirit of God. They do themselves and the cause which they represent honor; they do their parents honor; and they do honor to the associations in which they have received their preparation. Yet these associations are comparatively in their incipiency and much more labor is necessary to make them more effective in the education and qualification of our young men for this work. In order that we may the better teach our young men in regard to these matters, we have also established a normal class in the Brigham Young Academy at Provo, where today there are in attendance from sixty to ninety young men, from all parts of the country, taking a ten weeks’ course of instruction, that they may go home and become in turn teachers to the young men of the associations to which they belong. But, unfortunately for the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, we have not been so successful as the Sunday school have been in collecting means for the payment of the expenses of teaching this large class of our young brethren; and it has been agreed by the General Superintendency that fifty cents a year shall be required of every member of the associations in order to pay for this and for other expenses connected with publishing the record books, certificates and circular letters which are necessary. The object in referring to this matter here is to say, before the President of the Church (who is also the General Superintendent of the Y. M. M. I. A.) and the Twelve Apostles, and the Presidents of Stakes and Bishops, as well as those who are associated more directly with the mutual improvement work, that we expect to collect from the members of these associations the sum of fifty cents a year from each one, in order that we may meet our legitimate expenses; as the choir have to have means to meet their expenses so do we to meet ours; in getting theirs they give you music and enjoyment; we help to educate your sons. So with the Sunday schools. What benefit do the people receive from these sources? Can you compute the value of these institutions in dollars and cents? You cannot; and yet it costs you very little, while you are preparing a corps of intelligent and valiant men and women for this good work by the little contribution required. So you are preparing your sons to be ministers of the Gospel, defenders of the faith, and exponents of the principles of life and salvation to the world by merely contributing this insignificant sum of fifty cents per year. Parents ought to urge their children to be faithful to this little duty; and children who are not able to furnish themselves ought to ask their parents to assist them, that we may not allow these interests to be uncared for and not sustained while they are such means of benefit to the whole people of the Church.
Card-Playing.
Brother M. W. Merrill referred yesterday to the subject of card-playing. I desire not to prolong the meeting by going over this subject again, but merely to refer to it by way of emphasizing, if I can, that which he said. I want to tell you a circumstance that I heard of. I think the person is in this house who told me, and I shall therefore be very careful to tell you only what I heard from that person, for fear I might be charged with overstating matters. This person is aged, reliable, and a good Latter-day Saint. I am not going to tell you whether it was a woman or a man; at all events, I shall no tell you if I can help it, though it may slip out. This person told me that he or she went to Manti to attend to some Temple work. While at Manti she (laughter) or he was stopping at a house where a number of other people were stopping who had gone to Manti for a similar purpose that my informant had gone for. After supper, a number having gathered together, the question arose, “What shall we do to pass the time?” And it was determined that the best and most profitable, the most intellectual and useful expenditure of the time, from then until three o’clock the next morning, was to sit down at the tables and play cards. A gentleman whose wife was at a distant settlement in order that she might be present to enjoy this game of cards, had sent all the way to her home and invited her to come by rail and take a hand in it. My informant was invited to play also, but refused, but was there and witness the others’ enjoyment until a late hour and finally retired to bed, but was informed the next day that this party had kept up their card-playing until three o’clock in the morning.
Here is an instance of people who have gone to administer in the ordinances of the House of God for their dead, occupying their time in the worse than idle habit of playing cards. I say that this was an evil. I say that evil will grow out of such practices as this; and I say that every Latter-day Saint, whether he goes to the Temple or stays at home, ought to constitute himself a teacher in relation to this matter, and set his face like a flint against this evil and pernicious practice. The best you can say of it is that there is no good in it, except to kill time; and if people have time which they can murder in this manner, they have more leisure on their hands that ever I have. I call it the murder of time; and not only so, but the murder of the spirituality of men and women that engage in such a practice. Its natural tendency is to evil, and not to good. I asked one person what good there was in it, and I was told, “Oh, it killed time!” This is the only virtue that I have ever yet heard in regard to card-playing. I do not signalized card-playing as a pernicious thing in contradistinction to other practices that simply tend to consume time, to waste precious moments and to dull the sensibilities of the head and the heart. Anything that ends to a morbid desire for that which is not beneficial is a sin in the sight of God, and it ought to be cried down, whatever it is. It is no more card-playing than it is checker-playing, if checker-playing is indulged in to the wasting of time. Perhaps the one is as pernicious as the other, although I have not noticed in my life the same tendency to evil in playing checkers for amusement as there is in playing cards. As I understand it takes four or more to make a good party at card-playing, and they get to cheating one another and practicing fraud in order to win. You cannot do that in checkers. I know a little about checkers myself. I protest against every practice that has no better recommendation for it than the wasting of precious time. I pronounce it wrong. And I say to the Latter-day Saints that idleness is one of those things set down in the revelations of God to this Church as evil, which we should not indulge in, “for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer,” and “the idler shall not have place in the Church, except he repents and mends his ways.” Card-playing creates idleness, and worse than that. Much might be said to show you the great danger there is of people who indulge in this practice being led from step to step until they become gamblers—and worse than that; for one crime leads to another, and when men get started upon the road of crime, however small the beginning, they go with accelerated speed the longer they continue in that path, until they fall finally into utter ruin.
Round-Dancing.
I am going to preach another little discourse in regard to round dancing. I have been out in the country lately, visiting the conferences, and at one place I understood that the President of the Stake had finally concluded that the Presidency of the Church had let up with regard to their objection to round dancing, and he had actually gone and danced in that way himself. Wherever I have been, the Presidents of Stakes have enquired of me as to what is the wish of the Presidency of the Church with regard to this practice of round dancing; for they say that in the parties in Salt Lake City and those held int he theater, round dancing is all the rage, and “is it possible for us to prevent this practice here when it prevails so much at headquarters?” The question is, have the Presidency of the Church let up on this matter, and do they counsel the people now to round-dance all they please? Now, I do not suppose that any more evil would grow out of two innocent persons dancing a waltz (if innocent persons do such a thing), than would out of the playing of a game of cards. Two or three persons might sit down and play a game of cards and no evil come out of it, for that once; but if they indulged in it until they became infatuated with it, then it results in harm and may lead to destruction. So in relation to round-dancing; people become infatuated with it. It is a practice, to say the least of it, out of which nothing can possibly come calculated to ameliorate the condition of mankind or to elevate the moral standard of men and women. Therefore, the Latter-day Saint ought not to tread where no good can be found. We ought not to cross the line from our own ground on to that of the adversary; for when we do we place ourselves in his power and he will take advantage of us if he can. I think I may safely say here, speaking as I do in the presence of the authorities of the Church, that the First Presidency do not encourage, do not endorse, and do not recommend round-dancing. On the contrary, they deprecate it. They are sorry that some of our young people desire it and will indulge in it in spite of counsel; and we hope and pray that the day will come when they will pay stricter attention to the counsels of men who have experience, and whose only desire is the welfare of the youth of Zion. We do not give you counsel with a view of curtailing your legitimate enjoyment. We would rather increase your enjoyment in every proper way. But this is not something that will add to your enjoyment ultimately, because the tendency of it is toward passion, lust and immorality. Some may call me an old fogy for making this declaration; but I have been young myself, and have passed through the stages of youth, as many are passing through them today. I have had an experience perhaps that some of my younger friends have not; and I say, without fear of successful contradiction, that round-dancing is an evil, because, if for nothing else, there is no good in it. Further than that, it is wrong because evil may come out of it, and often very great evil, too. As a result of this familiar contact of men and women in the dance, their native modesty, and that respectful regard for each other, and proper decorum which should exist between men and women, are broken down. They become familiar with each other’s touch and feelings in such a way as to lead on to greater evil. Therefore, I say it is an evil in Zion. And I think I can say, as speaking the minds of the Presidency of the Church on this subject, that we deprecate it, and wish that it did not exist among us, and we would like you to curtail it as much as you can and if possible stop it. We do not want you to be unwise in this matter. A skillful horse trainer who has a fractious horse does not draw the reins tight all at once, but he pulls up gently, guiding and directing and, so far as possible, steering clear of the obstructions in the road, until in time he is successful in quieting his fractious animal and getting it under control. Deal gently with the youth. Act cautiously and warily with them, and kindly withal; for it is our love, for them that causes us to speak in this way. We want to save and exalt the youth of Zion, and bring them back into the presence of God. Therefore we talk this way. We say to the Presidents of Stakes, to the High Councils, to the Bishops, to the presidents of Seventies and the Seventies, to the High Priests, and to the Elders in Israel, set an example in these matters that I have referred to, and wield an influence where you labor that will be felt for good. It is necessary that this should be done.
Secret Societies.
There is another little thing I want to speak upon. It is in relation to a subject that has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the Presidency, and especially to my attention while I have been attending the conferences in the outer Stakes for the last few weeks. Last night, after meeting, a good brother approached me. I trust he is here, because I want to talk to him. He is an eminent man, in some respects. He has been on missions, I believe, and has borne many responsibilities at one time and another in the Church. He put into my hand a copy of the constitution and by-laws of a certain society which is seeking to enlist the Latter-day Saints as its members. When he spoke to me about it, I saw in a moment that he was thoroughly imbued with the idea that to join this secret association was the proper thing for Latter-day Saints to do. I read it in his countenance and saw it down deep in his heart. This alarmed me. I have been alarmed a little about it a good many times, from the representations that have come to us in relation to this matter. I could read you the principles laid down in the constitution of this particular association, but I do not wish to name it, because I wish to make no distinctions, nor to antagonize one against another. I do not consider one better or worse than another. For my part I held this position: that as for me and my house, we have enlisted to serve God, and I have come to the conclusion long since that it is impossible for me to serve God and Mammon. I cannot carry water on both shoulders without spilling some of it. I cannot wear the yoke of Christ and the yoke of Belial at the same time, and call the yoke of Christ easy and His burden light. Some of these articles in this constitution are most excellent. There are no better contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, simply because they are taken directly from the Gospel. They are: peace on earth and good will to men, charity, forgiveness, longsuffering, patience, love unfeigned, kindness one towards another, every effort to be exerted to prevent brethren from going to law one with another, and to settle their difficulties between themselves. They have a chaplain, and a lecturer or preacher, and among other things it is the duty of the chaplain to be present and open the meetings and officiate in all the burial services of the members of the association. I suppose that these are some things that are common to all these secret organizations. It is no harm for any one to believe in all these good things. President Woodruff has been preaching these very same principles for some sixty years, and he has at no time advised you to join a secret association in order that you may be taught these principles or that you may the better practice them. He has taught that these are the commandments of God to the people, and that it is their duty to observe these precepts, and that, too, without taking an oath to become associated with any secret society. But one of the provisions of this constitution requires that each member of this secret association shall stand by the principles of the association unto death. That is pretty strong. Suppose, for instance, an Elder of the Church has entered into this association and has taken upon himself this covenant and something should arise which should be derogatory to his interests as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what position would he be in? He would be under the necessity of either violating his covenants with the Church or the oath that he had taken in that secret society. He would prove himself in either case a traitor. Therefore, it is better that we should not mix up with these entangling alliances. I tell you, in the name of Israel’s God, that the Almighty has established in this Church every principle necessary for the salvation, for the happiness, prosperity, development and growth, both in temporal and spiritual things, of the children of God; and we have no need to go outside to find these. In connection with this, I want to read a word or two from the revelations of God to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith:
Otherwise Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not things which are prepared for them.
Wherefore a commandment I give unto you, to prepare and organize yourselves by a bond or everlasting covenant that cannot be broken.
And he who breaketh it shall lose his office and standing in the church, and shall be delivered over to the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption.
Behold, this is the preparation wherewith I prepare you, and the foundation, and the ensample which I give unto you, whereby you may accomplish the commandments which are given you.
That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world.
This is the purpose that God had in view in establishing this Church and calling you from darkness into the marvelous light of the Gospel, that His “church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world,” in which the foundation is laid of every provision necessary to be carried out for the feeding and clothing of the poor, the protection of the weak, and the administering of comfort and cheer unto the widows and fatherless, the destitute and sick. All these provisions have been amply established in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and there is not a soul within the pale of the Church upon the earth that needs to go and seek succor or comfort from the world, whereby he enters into covenant and agreement with the world that he may find protection, or assistance, or means for his burial. Cannot the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bury its own dead who unfortunately lack the means for their own burial? Are we so poor that we cannot look after our members under such circumstances? Have we ever deserted the widow and the fatherless when they have made application for assistance? Have we turned our back upon the poor, the imprisoned, and upon those that were afflicted, when they were faithful and worthy members in the Church? Never, to my knowledge; and we never will. It is wrong to join these associations. By doing it you place upon yourselves burdens and you put bands around your necks by which others will lead you whithersoever they will; and you are no longer free to serve God as men and women ought to be who are made free by the liberty of the Gospel of Christ.
Personality of God.
I have one more subject in mind, though it may be unnecessary to speak of it before this congregation, or to dignify those who are in error by mentioning them here; but when you take into consideration the fact that these very men who are advocating error and false doctrine, and finding sympathizers in the Church, and Elders in Israel, men who have been on missions, you may see the propriety of referring to them here. They have got their thoughts fixed on one idea, which they have followed to an extreme, and they have formulated a plan by which they suppose they have defined how God can be three Persons and yet one Person, and they tell you all about it by publishing a series of pamphlets. Taking the scriptures for a standard, they try to show that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are one Person, as well as being one in attributes. If you will indulge me just a few moments, I desire to call your attention to a few things that are written with regard to this matter, and then I trust there will be no necessity of talking about it any more. Those who are indulging in this fallacy ought to be guided by the Holy Spirit, by common sense and by the judgment of men who have had experience in the Church, and forsake their error and folly, call in their pernicious publications, and cease to try to lead away the unwary and the ignorant. In the first place, I will read a few words from the Second Lecture on Faith in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
“We here observe that God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent [that is, not in person, but by His power and spirit], and omniscient: without beginning of days or end of life; and that in him every good gift and every good principle dwell; and that he is the Father of lights; in him the principle of faith dwells independently, and he is the object in whom the faith of all other rational and accountable beings center for life and salvation.”
Again, in the Seventh Lecture on Faith:
“All these sayings put together give as clear an account of the state of the glorified saints as language could give—the works that Jesus had done they were to do, and greater works than those which he had done among them should they do, and that because he went to the Father. He does not say that they should do these works in time; but they should do these works in time; but they should do greater work, because we went to the Father. He says in the 24th verse: ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.’ These sayings, taken in connection, make it very plain that the greater works which those that believed on his name were to do were to be done in eternity, where he was going and where they should behold his glory. He had said, in another part of his prayer, that he desired of his Father that those who believed on him should be one in him, as he and the Father were one in each other. ‘Neither pray I for these (the Apostles) alone, but for them also who should believe on me through their words, that they all may be one,’ that is, they who believed on him through the apostles’ words, as well as the apostles themselves, ‘that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee; that they also may be one in us.’”
Here is the language of the Savior himself, quoted by the Prophet Joseph, distinctly setting forth a principle that your minds cannot be blinded upon, if you will only open your eyes and your understanding to this saying. How can the Apostles become one in Christ as Christ and God are one, if Christ and God are one person? Can the Twelve Apostles become one person? And how can all they that believe on the words of the Apostles also become one with the Apostles in Christ as Christ is with God, if God and Christ are one person? Of course, the absurdity appears at once. I do not need to multiply words in regard to this matter, because every child ought to know better than that because Christ is God because of the Spirit and the Son, because of the flesh, therefore that He and the Father are one person, or body, and the Holy Ghost is one in them, and they three are only one being. Strange as it may seem to you, this is the doctrine advocated by men who profess to be Elders in the Church.
In conclusion upon this matter, I want to read the positive word of the Lord, that cannot be denied. You may twist the scriptures as you please; but if you believe the truth and are willing to be guided by it, you will have to come back to this that I shall read to you, and then it will clear up all mystery from your minds with relation to the personality of the Father and the Son. Joseph Smith, on April 2nd, 1843, declared as follows:
“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as mans; the Son also.”
Then how are you going to get them into one person? President Cannon says this agrees with what Paul says. Of course; it agrees with all the scriptures of divine truth, and with every manifestation of God to man since the beginning of the world to the present time. Then the Prophet says:
“But the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”
When Joseph Smith, a boy of 14 years of age, went out into the woods to ask the Lord to guide him into the right church, he knelt down and prayed, and after he was delivered from the power of the adversary, who tried to destroy him, two heavenly personages appeared before him. One of these personages, pointing to the other, and calling Joseph by name, said, “This is my beloved Son; hear him.” Here were two distinct persons—the Father and the Son, each with a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Father bearing testimony of the Son, not only to Joseph Smith, but through Joseph Smith to all the world of mankind. These are truths, and you need not care what you read about the Father and the Son being one. Of course, they are one—in attributes. They are one in love, one in knowledge, one in mercy, one in power, one in all things that make them united and powerful, glorious and great, because in them is perfected all truth, and virtue, and all righteousness. But they are two persons, as much as my father and I are two person. Yet there is unto us but one living and true God. Paul says:
“There be gods many, and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
And Jesus Christ says:
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
That alone should be enough to dispel from the mind of every intelligent man and woman the fallacy that the Father and the Son are not two beings.
Let us seek for the knowledge of life eternal. Let us work out our salvation in fear and trembling before our Father, and be faithful to the end. Remember that you have enlisted in this work for time and for all eternity. There is no backing out of it, no falling away from it, except in sin, and then comes the penalty of transgression. But if you expect exaltation; if you expect fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, kindred and friends; if you expect glory, intelligence and endless lives, you must get them in God’s work; for nowhere outside can you get them. Therefore, let every sympathy and interest be centered in this cause, and this alone. Let the world go. Let it have its secret combinations, and let it have its own way; but let us preach the Gospel to them and show them a better way, and that men can only become one when they are Christ’s. They can never be united until they do become Christ’s; but when they become Christ’s, then they can be one with the Father and with the Son, as the Father and the Son are one. God grant that we may come to this knowledge, and be faithful to the end. Amen.
President Woodruff
expressed the hope that if mothers brought small children here tomorrow that they would take seats near the doors, so that they could leave the building, if the little ones should begin to cry. It was desirable that all should hear what would be said, as matters of great importance would be presented.
The choir sang: Let the mountains shout for joy, after which the congregation joined in singing the Doxology.
Benediction by Elder Moses Thatcher.
expressed the hope that if mothers brought small children here tomorrow that they would take seats near the doors, so that they could leave the building, if the little ones should begin to cry. It was desirable that all should hear what would be said, as matters of great importance would be presented.
The choir sang: Let the mountains shout for joy, after which the congregation joined in singing the Doxology.
Benediction by Elder Moses Thatcher.
Third Day. Sunday, April 8th.
The choir and congregation sang:
The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!
The latter-day glory begins to come forth.
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
And angels are coming to visit the earth.
Prayer by Elder John Nicholson.
Singing by the choir:
Earth, with her ten thousands flowers,
Air, with all its beams and showers
Heaven’s infinite expanse, Sea’s resplendent countenance,
All around and all above Bear this record,
God is love.
The choir and congregation sang:
The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!
The latter-day glory begins to come forth.
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
And angels are coming to visit the earth.
Prayer by Elder John Nicholson.
Singing by the choir:
Earth, with her ten thousands flowers,
Air, with all its beams and showers
Heaven’s infinite expanse, Sea’s resplendent countenance,
All around and all above Bear this record,
God is love.
President Wilford Woodruff
addressed the Conference. After he had made a few preliminary remarks upon the necessity of the servants of God being influenced by the power of His Spirit in their ministrations, he announced that President George Q. Cannon would read from the 128th section of the book of Doctrine and Covenants. This revelation treats upon the power of the Priesthood to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven; also of the means of salvation or redemption of the living and the dead. After the reading President Woodruff resumed his remarks and delivered an important and instructive discourse, throwing additional light upon the process, under the law of adoptions, by which the children and the fathers are to be united and bound together by indissoluble ties. The method of procedure for the accomplishment of this great purpose had been manifested by the Lord to the President and his counselors in the First Presidency, and also the Twelve Apostles had received a witness on the same subject. The presidents of the Temples and their associates were to be henceforward governed by the principles of adoption enunciated by President Woodruff in their labors in that department. The subject is too important to admit of the presentation of a mere synopsis of the discourse in which it was embodied.
addressed the Conference. After he had made a few preliminary remarks upon the necessity of the servants of God being influenced by the power of His Spirit in their ministrations, he announced that President George Q. Cannon would read from the 128th section of the book of Doctrine and Covenants. This revelation treats upon the power of the Priesthood to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven; also of the means of salvation or redemption of the living and the dead. After the reading President Woodruff resumed his remarks and delivered an important and instructive discourse, throwing additional light upon the process, under the law of adoptions, by which the children and the fathers are to be united and bound together by indissoluble ties. The method of procedure for the accomplishment of this great purpose had been manifested by the Lord to the President and his counselors in the First Presidency, and also the Twelve Apostles had received a witness on the same subject. The presidents of the Temples and their associates were to be henceforward governed by the principles of adoption enunciated by President Woodruff in their labors in that department. The subject is too important to admit of the presentation of a mere synopsis of the discourse in which it was embodied.
The Law of Adoption.
Discourses delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, April 8, 1894, by President Wilford Woodruff
I feel thankful for the privilege of meeting with so many of the Latter-day Saints this morning. In order to present my position before the Saints I wish to say that I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over sixty years, a member of the Quorum of the Apostles fifty-five years, and the President of the Church for a short time. During all these years, and in all my travels, I have never seen a moment when I have had the power to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ or to administer in any of the ordinances of the House of the Lord, acceptably to God or to myself, only by the assistance of the Holy Ghost; and I do not know of any other man that could ever do this. Even the Son of God, in referring to His work, said: “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” So it has been with all the prophets and patriarchs in every age of the world; they have had to be assisted by the power of God. I occupy that position today before this assembly. Therefore, as the Lord commanded us not to speak only as we are moved upon by the Holy Ghost, I desire that, and in order to obtain it I want the prayers and faith of the Latter-day Saints.
I have some things resting upon me that I wish to present before the Latter-day Saints, and in order to do this I will call upon President George Q. Cannon to read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants concerning the subject which I wish to speak upon.
[President Cannon read from sec. 128, as follows:
It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of—a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?
And again, for the precedent, Matthew 16:18, 19: 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.
Now the great and grand secret of the whole matter, and the summum bonum of the whole subject that is lying before us, consists in obtaining the powers of the Holy Priesthood. For him to whom these keys are given there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of facts in relation to the salvation of the children of men, both as well for the dead as for the living.
Herein is glory and honor, and immortality and eternal life—The ordinance of baptism by water, to be immersed therein in order to answer to the likeness of the dead, that one principle might accord with the other; to be immersed in the water and come forth out of the water is in the likeness of the resurrection of the dead in coming forth out of their graves; hence, this ordinance was instituted to form a relationship with the ordinance of baptism for the dead, being in likeness of the dead.
Consequently, the baptismal font was instituted as a similitude of the grave, and was commanded to be in a place underneath where the living are wont to assemble, to show forth the living and the dead, and that all things may have their likeness, and that they may accord one with another—that which is earthly conforming to that which is heavenly, as Paul hath declared, 1 Corinthians 15:46, 47, and 48:
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as are the records on the earth in relation to your dead, which are truly made out, so also are the records in heaven. This, therefore, is the sealing and binding power, and, in one sense of the word, the keys of the kingdom, which consist in the key of knowledge.
And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:29: Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?
And again, in connection with this quotation I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the restoration of the priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6th: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times.
Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!
And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!
And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!
Resuming, President Woodruff said:
Thus you have before you the subject which is resting upon us, and which we wish to present to the Latter-day Saints. Let me say that age has very little to do with revelation. In the early age of the world, old father Adam, three years previous to his death—he being nearly one thousand years of age—called together his posterity in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and he stood upon his feet for hours, clothed with the power of God and the revelations of heaven, and blessed his posterity, some seven of whom, each representing a generation, were High Priests. Among them were Enoch and Methusaleh, both great men of their day and generation. He prophesied upon them what should transpire with their posterity unto the end of time. His old age did not have any effect whatever upon the revelations of God to him. Joseph Smith, when fourteen years of age, while calling upon God in the wilderness, had the heavens opened unto him. Both the Father and the Son presented themselves unto him in the clouds of heaven, and the Father said, “This is my beloved Son; hear him.” The age of man is very short indeed in this day to what it was in ancient days. Men anciently lived to a very great age. When four or five hundred years old they took wives, begat children, and raised up posterity. Today our age is limited to something like three score years and ten.
I wish to say to the Latter-day Saints that we live in a very important generation. We are blessed with power and authority, holding the Holy Priesthood by the commandment of God, to stand upon the earth and redeem both the living and the dead. If we did not do it, we should be damned and cut of from the earth, and the God of Israel would raise up a people who would do it. The Lord would not permit me to occupy this position one day of my life, unless I was susceptible to the Holy Spirit and to the revelations of God. It is too late in the day for this Church to stand without revelation. Not only the President of the Church should possess this gift and give it unto the people, but his counselors and the Apostles and all men that bear the Holy Priesthood, if they magnify their calling, should possess that gift for themselves and to assist them in their duties, although they may not be called to give revelations to lead and direct the Church. The spirit of revelation belongs to the Priesthood.
But to come to the subject before us. Perhaps it may be said by the inquiring or the objecting mind, What have you to say about redeeming the dead, or about baptism for the dead, or the work of the Temples of our God, that is not already revealed? I will say this: When the Prophet Joseph had this revelation from heaven, what did he do? There are witnesses here of what he did. He never stopped till he got the fulness of the word of God to him concerning the baptism for the dead. But before doing so he went into the Mississippi river, and so did I, as well as others, and we each baptized a hundred for the dead, without a man to record a single act that we performed. Why did we do it? Because of the feeling of joy that we had, to think that we in the flesh could stand and redeem our dead. We did not wait to know what the result of this would be, or what the whole of it should be. Finally the Lord told the Prophet: “When any of you are baptized for your dead, let there be a recorder, and let him be eye witness of your baptism; let him hear with his hears, that he may testify of a truth, saith the Lord; that in all your recordings it may be recorded in heaven; whatsoever you bind on earth may be bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth, may be loosed in heaven.” That was the beginning of this work.
Joseph Smith, instead of living to be nearly a thousand years of age as Adam did, lived to be about thirty-eight years of age. He brought forth the record of the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim—the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. By the power of God he translated that, and it has been published in many languages. Besides this, he organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone. Men were ordained to the Priesthood and sent forth, from the various occupations of life, to carry this Gospel to the world. God informed Joseph Smith that he was called to prune the vineyard once more for the last time before the coming of the Son of Man. Since that, thousands of Elders of Israel have been sent into the world to preach the Gospel. Joseph Smith did all this during the fifteen years he held the Priesthood. Let any man read the revelations in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which were given through him during the little time he spent here in the flesh. It is one of the greatest records that any man ever gave to the human family. Not only this, but he organized the endowments and did a great deal of other work. Who could expect him, during the short time he lived in the flesh, to do more than he did? I received my endowments from under his hands. He brought forth all these ordinances that have been given unto the Latter-day Saints. In fact, it is a marvel and a wonder that he performed as much as he did.
I want to say, as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that we should now go on and progress. We have not got through revelation. We have not got through the work of God. But at this period we want to go on and fulfill this commandment of God given through Malachi—that the Lord should send Elijah the prophet, “and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Ye sons of men, I say unto you, in the name of Israel’s God, those very principles that God has revealed are what have stayed the judgments of the Almighty on the earth. Were it not for these principles, you and I would not be here today. We have had prophets and apostles. President Young, who followed President Joseph Smith, led us here. He organized these Temples and carried out the purposes of his calling and office. He laid the foundation of this great Temple on this block, as well as others in the mountains of Israel. What for? That we might carry out these principles of redemption for the dead. He accomplished all that God required at his hands. But he did not receive all the revelations that belong to this work; neither did President Taylor, nor has Wilford Woodruff. There will be no end to this work until it is perfected.
I want to lay before you what there is for us to do at the present time; and in doing this I desire particularly the attention of President Lorenzo Snow, of the Salt Lake Temple: President M. W. Merrill, of the Logan Temple; President J. D. T. McAllister of the Manti Temple, and President D. H. Cannon, of the St. George Temple, and those associated with them. You have acted up to all the light and knowledge that you have had; but you have now something more to do than what you have done. We have not fully carried out those principles in fulfillment of the revelations of God to us, in sealing the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. I have not felt satisfied, neither did President Taylor, neither has any man since the Prophet Joseph who has attended to the ordinance of adoption in the temples of our God. We have felt that there was more to be revealed upon this subject than we had received. Revelations were given to us in the St. George Temple, which President Young presented to the Church of God. Changes were made there, and we still have more changes to make, in order to satisfy our Heavenly Father, satisfy our dead and ourselves. I will tell you what some of them are. I have prayed over this matter, and my brethren have. We have felt as President Taylor said, that we have go to have more revelation concerning sealing under the law of adoption. Well, what are these changes? One of them is the principle of adoption. In the commencement of adopting men and women in them Temple at Nauvoo, a great many persons were adopted to different men who were not of the lineage of their fathers, and there was a spirit manifested by some in that work there that was not of God. Men would go out and electioneer and labor with all their power to get men adopted to them. One instance I will name here: A man went around Nauvoo asking every man he could, saying, “You come and be adopted to me, and I shall stand at the head of the kingdom, and you will be there with me.” Now, what is the truth about this? Those who were adopted to that man, if they go with him, will have to go where he is. He was a participator in that horrible scene—the Mountain Meadow massacre. Men have tried to lay that to President Young. I was with President Young when the massacre was first reported to him. President Young was perfectly horrified at the recital of it, and wept over it. He asked: “Was there any white man had anything to do with that?” The replay was, No; and by the representations then made to him he was misinformed concerning the whole transaction. I will say here, and call heaven and earth to witness, that President Young, during his whole life, never was the author of the shedding of the blood of any of the human family; and when the books were opened int eh day of judgment these things will be proven to heaven and earth. Perhaps I had not ought to enter into these things, but it came to me. Men are in danger sometimes in being adopted to others, until they know who they are and what they will be. Now, what are the feelings of Israel? They have felt that they wanted to be adopted to somebody. President Young was not satisfied in his mind with regard to the extent of this matter; President Taylor was not. When I went before the Lord to know who I should be adopted to (we were then being adopted to prophets and apostles,) the Spirit of God said to me, “Have you not a father, who begot you?” “Yes, I have.” “Then why not honor him? Why not be adopted to him?” “Yes,” says I, “that is right.” I was adopted to my father, and should have had my father sealed to his father, and so on back; and the duty that I want every man who presides over a Temple to see performed from this day henceforth and forever, unless the Lord Almighty commands otherwise, is, let every man be adopted to his father. When a man receives the endowments, adopt him to his father; not to Wilford Woodruff, nor to any other man outside the lineage of his fathers. That is the will of God to this people. I want all men who preside over these temples in these mountains of Israel to bear this in mind. What business have I to take away the rights of the lineage of any man? What right has any man to do this? No; I say let every man be adopted to his father; and then you will do exactly what God said when he declared He would send Elijah the prophet in the last days. Elijah the prophet appeared unto Joseph Smith and told him that the day had come when this principle must be carried out. Joseph Smith did not live long enough to enter any further upon these things. His soul was wound up with this work before he was martyred for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. He told us that there must be a welding link of all dispensations and of the work of God from one generation to another. This was upon his mind more than most any other subject that was given to him. In my prayers the Lord revealed to me, that it was my duty to say to all Israel to carry this principle out, and in fulfillment of that revelation I lay it before this people. I say to all men who are laboring in these temples, carry out this principle, and then we will make one step in advance of what we have had before. Myself and counselors conversed upon this and were agreed upon it, and afterwards we laid it before all the Apostles, who were here (two were absent—Brothers Thatcher and Lund, the latter being in England,) and the Lord revealed to every one of these men—and they would bear testimony to it if they were to speak—that that was the word of the Lord to them. I never met with anything in my life in this Church that there was more unity upon than there was upon that principle. They all feel right about it, and that it is our duty. That is one principle that should be carried out from this time henceforth. “But,” says one, “suppose we come along to a man who perhaps is a murderer.” Well, if he is a murderer, drop him out and connect with the next man beyond him. But the Spirit of God will be with us in this matter. We want the Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers. Have children sealed to their parents, and run this chain through as far as you can get it. When you get to the end, let the last man be adopted to Joseph Smith, who stands at the head of the dispensation. This is the will of the Lord to this people, and I think when you come to reflect upon it you will find it to be true.
Another principle connected with this subject I want to talk about. A man has married a woman, and they have a family of children. The man lays down in death without ever hearing the Gospel. His wife afterwards hears the Gospel and embraces it. She comes to the temple and she wants to be sealed to her husband, who was a good man. The feeling has been to deny this and to say, “No, he was not in the Church and you cannot be sealed to your husband.” Many a woman’s heart has ached because of this, and as a servant of God I have broken that chain a good while ago. I have laid before every woman this principle and let her have her choice. Why deprive a woman of being sealed to her husband because he never heard the Gospel? What do any of us know with regard to him? Will he not hear the Gospel and embrace it in the spirit world? Look at Joseph Smith. Not one of Joseph Smith’s fathers or brothers or sisters were in the covenant when he received the keys of the kingdom of God and translated the Book of Mormon. They afterwards received it. Every brother and sister that he had, and his father and his father’s brothers, except Uncle Jesse Smith, embraced the Gospel. Now, suppose that any of these had died before they had the opportunity of entering into the covenant with the Lord through the Gospel, as his brother Alvin did, they would have been in the same position as Alvin, concerning whom the Lord, when Joseph saw him in the celestial kingdom, said:
All who have died without a knowledge of this Gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom, for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.
So it will be with your fathers. There will be very few, if any, who will not accept the Gospel. Jesus, while His body lay in the tomb, went and preached to the spirits in prison, who were destroyed in the days of Noah. After so long an imprisonment, in torment, they doubtless gladly embraced the Gospel, and if so they will be saved in the kingdom of God. The fathers of this people will embrace the Gospel. It is my duty to honor my father who begot me in the flesh. It is your duty to do the same. When you do this, the Spirit of God will be with you. And we shall continue this work, the Lord adding light to that which we have already received. I have had friends adopted to me. We all have, more or less. But I have had peculiar feelings about it, especially lately. There are men in this congregation who wish to be adopted to me. I say to them today, if they can hear me, Go and be adopted to your fathers, and save your fathers, and stand at the head of your father’s house, as saviors upon Mount Zion, and God will bless you in this. This is what I want to say, and what I want carried out in our temples.
The Almighty is with this people. We shall have all the revelations that we will need, if we will do our duty and obey the commandments of God. When any of us get so that we cannot receive these revelations, the Lord will take us out of the way and put someone in our places who can. I am here today, on borrowed time, I may say. I would have been in the spirit world today, mingling with the spirits in the presence of God, had it not been for the cry of this people for my life when I lay at the gates of death a year ago. I have been preserved by the power of God. How long I shall live I do not know. It does not make any difference to me. But while I do live I want to do my duty. I want the Latter-day Saints to do their duty. Here is the Holy Priesthood in these mountains. Their responsibility is great and mighty. The eyes of God and all the holy prophets are watching over us. This is the great dispensation that has been spoken of ever since the world began. We are gathered together in these mountains of Israel by the power and commandment of God. We are doing the work of God. This is not our home, as far as mortality is concerned. We shall soon pass away. But while here let us fill our mission. I want to say to Brother L. Snow, Brother M. W. Merrill, Brother J. D. T. McAllister and Brother D. H. Cannon, and all associated with you, carry these things before the Lord and see for yourselves. If you are not satisfied with this order of things, go and ask the Lord about it, and the Holy Ghost will reveal to you the truth of these principles.
This is all I ought to say at this time perhaps upon this subject. I am glad to meet with you. I have had a great anxiety over this matter. I have had a great desire that I might live to deliver these principles to the Latter-day Saints, for they are true. They are one step forward in the work of the ministry and in the work of the endowments in these temples of our God. When you get to the last man in the lineage, as I said before, we will adopt that man to the Prophet Joseph, and then the Prophet Joseph will take care of himself with regard to where he goes. A man may say, “I am an Apostle, or I am a High Priest, or I am an Elder in Israel, and if I am adopted to my father, will it take any honor from me?” I would say not. If Joseph Smith was sealed to his father, with whom many of you were acquainted, what effect will that have upon his exaltation and glory? None at all. Joseph Smith will hold the keys of this dispensation to the endless ages of eternity. It is the greatest dispensation God ever gave to man, and he was ordained before the world was to stand in the flesh and organize this work. He was martyred for the word of God and testimony of Jesus, and when he comes in the clouds of heaven he will wear a martyr’s crown. Those of you who stand here—I do not care whether you are Apostles or what you are—by honoring your fathers you will not take any honor from your heads; you will hold the keys of the salvation of your father’s house, as Joseph Smith does. You will lose nothing by honoring your fathers and redeeming your dead. It is a glorious work. When I returned from England in 1841 and heard Joseph Smith give this revelation, that we had power to redeem our dead, one of the first things I thought was, “I have a mother in the spirit world.” My father was in the flesh. I baptized and ordained him and brought him up to Zion, where he is buried. But I never saw my mother to know her. She died when I was an infant. I had power to seal my mother to my father. Was not that a satisfaction? It was to me. I have gone to work with the assistance of my friends and redeemed my father’s and my mother’s house. When I went to inquire of the Lord how I could redeem my dead, while I was in St. George, not having any of my family there, the Lord told me call upon the Saints in St. George and let them officiate for me in that temple, and it should be acceptable unto Him. Brother McAllister and the brethren and sisters there have assisted me in this work, and I felt to bless them with every feeling of my heart. This is a revelation to us. We can help one another in these matters, if we have not relatives sufficient to carry this on, and it will be acceptable unto the Lord.
Brethren and sisters, lay these things to heart. Let us go on with our records, fill them up righteously before the Lord, and carry out this principle, and the blessings of God will attend us, and those who are redeemed will bless us in days to come. I pray God that as a people our eyes may be opened to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to understand the great and mighty work that rests upon our shoulders, and that the God of heaven requires at our hands. Great and glorious are these principles which God has revealed to us concerning the redemption of our dead. I tell you when the prophets and apostles go to preach to those who are shut up in prison, and who have not received the Gospel, thousands of them will there embrace the Gospel. They know more in that world than they do here. I pray God that as a people we may have power to magnify our callings in this great and mighty dispensation while we dwell in the flesh, that when our work is done we may be satisfied with this life and this work. This is my prayer and the desire of my heart, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Discourses delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, April 8, 1894, by President Wilford Woodruff
I feel thankful for the privilege of meeting with so many of the Latter-day Saints this morning. In order to present my position before the Saints I wish to say that I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over sixty years, a member of the Quorum of the Apostles fifty-five years, and the President of the Church for a short time. During all these years, and in all my travels, I have never seen a moment when I have had the power to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ or to administer in any of the ordinances of the House of the Lord, acceptably to God or to myself, only by the assistance of the Holy Ghost; and I do not know of any other man that could ever do this. Even the Son of God, in referring to His work, said: “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” So it has been with all the prophets and patriarchs in every age of the world; they have had to be assisted by the power of God. I occupy that position today before this assembly. Therefore, as the Lord commanded us not to speak only as we are moved upon by the Holy Ghost, I desire that, and in order to obtain it I want the prayers and faith of the Latter-day Saints.
I have some things resting upon me that I wish to present before the Latter-day Saints, and in order to do this I will call upon President George Q. Cannon to read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants concerning the subject which I wish to speak upon.
[President Cannon read from sec. 128, as follows:
It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of—a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?
And again, for the precedent, Matthew 16:18, 19: 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.
Now the great and grand secret of the whole matter, and the summum bonum of the whole subject that is lying before us, consists in obtaining the powers of the Holy Priesthood. For him to whom these keys are given there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of facts in relation to the salvation of the children of men, both as well for the dead as for the living.
Herein is glory and honor, and immortality and eternal life—The ordinance of baptism by water, to be immersed therein in order to answer to the likeness of the dead, that one principle might accord with the other; to be immersed in the water and come forth out of the water is in the likeness of the resurrection of the dead in coming forth out of their graves; hence, this ordinance was instituted to form a relationship with the ordinance of baptism for the dead, being in likeness of the dead.
Consequently, the baptismal font was instituted as a similitude of the grave, and was commanded to be in a place underneath where the living are wont to assemble, to show forth the living and the dead, and that all things may have their likeness, and that they may accord one with another—that which is earthly conforming to that which is heavenly, as Paul hath declared, 1 Corinthians 15:46, 47, and 48:
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as are the records on the earth in relation to your dead, which are truly made out, so also are the records in heaven. This, therefore, is the sealing and binding power, and, in one sense of the word, the keys of the kingdom, which consist in the key of knowledge.
And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:29: Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?
And again, in connection with this quotation I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the restoration of the priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6th: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times.
Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!
And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!
And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!
Resuming, President Woodruff said:
Thus you have before you the subject which is resting upon us, and which we wish to present to the Latter-day Saints. Let me say that age has very little to do with revelation. In the early age of the world, old father Adam, three years previous to his death—he being nearly one thousand years of age—called together his posterity in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and he stood upon his feet for hours, clothed with the power of God and the revelations of heaven, and blessed his posterity, some seven of whom, each representing a generation, were High Priests. Among them were Enoch and Methusaleh, both great men of their day and generation. He prophesied upon them what should transpire with their posterity unto the end of time. His old age did not have any effect whatever upon the revelations of God to him. Joseph Smith, when fourteen years of age, while calling upon God in the wilderness, had the heavens opened unto him. Both the Father and the Son presented themselves unto him in the clouds of heaven, and the Father said, “This is my beloved Son; hear him.” The age of man is very short indeed in this day to what it was in ancient days. Men anciently lived to a very great age. When four or five hundred years old they took wives, begat children, and raised up posterity. Today our age is limited to something like three score years and ten.
I wish to say to the Latter-day Saints that we live in a very important generation. We are blessed with power and authority, holding the Holy Priesthood by the commandment of God, to stand upon the earth and redeem both the living and the dead. If we did not do it, we should be damned and cut of from the earth, and the God of Israel would raise up a people who would do it. The Lord would not permit me to occupy this position one day of my life, unless I was susceptible to the Holy Spirit and to the revelations of God. It is too late in the day for this Church to stand without revelation. Not only the President of the Church should possess this gift and give it unto the people, but his counselors and the Apostles and all men that bear the Holy Priesthood, if they magnify their calling, should possess that gift for themselves and to assist them in their duties, although they may not be called to give revelations to lead and direct the Church. The spirit of revelation belongs to the Priesthood.
But to come to the subject before us. Perhaps it may be said by the inquiring or the objecting mind, What have you to say about redeeming the dead, or about baptism for the dead, or the work of the Temples of our God, that is not already revealed? I will say this: When the Prophet Joseph had this revelation from heaven, what did he do? There are witnesses here of what he did. He never stopped till he got the fulness of the word of God to him concerning the baptism for the dead. But before doing so he went into the Mississippi river, and so did I, as well as others, and we each baptized a hundred for the dead, without a man to record a single act that we performed. Why did we do it? Because of the feeling of joy that we had, to think that we in the flesh could stand and redeem our dead. We did not wait to know what the result of this would be, or what the whole of it should be. Finally the Lord told the Prophet: “When any of you are baptized for your dead, let there be a recorder, and let him be eye witness of your baptism; let him hear with his hears, that he may testify of a truth, saith the Lord; that in all your recordings it may be recorded in heaven; whatsoever you bind on earth may be bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth, may be loosed in heaven.” That was the beginning of this work.
Joseph Smith, instead of living to be nearly a thousand years of age as Adam did, lived to be about thirty-eight years of age. He brought forth the record of the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim—the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. By the power of God he translated that, and it has been published in many languages. Besides this, he organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone. Men were ordained to the Priesthood and sent forth, from the various occupations of life, to carry this Gospel to the world. God informed Joseph Smith that he was called to prune the vineyard once more for the last time before the coming of the Son of Man. Since that, thousands of Elders of Israel have been sent into the world to preach the Gospel. Joseph Smith did all this during the fifteen years he held the Priesthood. Let any man read the revelations in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which were given through him during the little time he spent here in the flesh. It is one of the greatest records that any man ever gave to the human family. Not only this, but he organized the endowments and did a great deal of other work. Who could expect him, during the short time he lived in the flesh, to do more than he did? I received my endowments from under his hands. He brought forth all these ordinances that have been given unto the Latter-day Saints. In fact, it is a marvel and a wonder that he performed as much as he did.
I want to say, as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that we should now go on and progress. We have not got through revelation. We have not got through the work of God. But at this period we want to go on and fulfill this commandment of God given through Malachi—that the Lord should send Elijah the prophet, “and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Ye sons of men, I say unto you, in the name of Israel’s God, those very principles that God has revealed are what have stayed the judgments of the Almighty on the earth. Were it not for these principles, you and I would not be here today. We have had prophets and apostles. President Young, who followed President Joseph Smith, led us here. He organized these Temples and carried out the purposes of his calling and office. He laid the foundation of this great Temple on this block, as well as others in the mountains of Israel. What for? That we might carry out these principles of redemption for the dead. He accomplished all that God required at his hands. But he did not receive all the revelations that belong to this work; neither did President Taylor, nor has Wilford Woodruff. There will be no end to this work until it is perfected.
I want to lay before you what there is for us to do at the present time; and in doing this I desire particularly the attention of President Lorenzo Snow, of the Salt Lake Temple: President M. W. Merrill, of the Logan Temple; President J. D. T. McAllister of the Manti Temple, and President D. H. Cannon, of the St. George Temple, and those associated with them. You have acted up to all the light and knowledge that you have had; but you have now something more to do than what you have done. We have not fully carried out those principles in fulfillment of the revelations of God to us, in sealing the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. I have not felt satisfied, neither did President Taylor, neither has any man since the Prophet Joseph who has attended to the ordinance of adoption in the temples of our God. We have felt that there was more to be revealed upon this subject than we had received. Revelations were given to us in the St. George Temple, which President Young presented to the Church of God. Changes were made there, and we still have more changes to make, in order to satisfy our Heavenly Father, satisfy our dead and ourselves. I will tell you what some of them are. I have prayed over this matter, and my brethren have. We have felt as President Taylor said, that we have go to have more revelation concerning sealing under the law of adoption. Well, what are these changes? One of them is the principle of adoption. In the commencement of adopting men and women in them Temple at Nauvoo, a great many persons were adopted to different men who were not of the lineage of their fathers, and there was a spirit manifested by some in that work there that was not of God. Men would go out and electioneer and labor with all their power to get men adopted to them. One instance I will name here: A man went around Nauvoo asking every man he could, saying, “You come and be adopted to me, and I shall stand at the head of the kingdom, and you will be there with me.” Now, what is the truth about this? Those who were adopted to that man, if they go with him, will have to go where he is. He was a participator in that horrible scene—the Mountain Meadow massacre. Men have tried to lay that to President Young. I was with President Young when the massacre was first reported to him. President Young was perfectly horrified at the recital of it, and wept over it. He asked: “Was there any white man had anything to do with that?” The replay was, No; and by the representations then made to him he was misinformed concerning the whole transaction. I will say here, and call heaven and earth to witness, that President Young, during his whole life, never was the author of the shedding of the blood of any of the human family; and when the books were opened int eh day of judgment these things will be proven to heaven and earth. Perhaps I had not ought to enter into these things, but it came to me. Men are in danger sometimes in being adopted to others, until they know who they are and what they will be. Now, what are the feelings of Israel? They have felt that they wanted to be adopted to somebody. President Young was not satisfied in his mind with regard to the extent of this matter; President Taylor was not. When I went before the Lord to know who I should be adopted to (we were then being adopted to prophets and apostles,) the Spirit of God said to me, “Have you not a father, who begot you?” “Yes, I have.” “Then why not honor him? Why not be adopted to him?” “Yes,” says I, “that is right.” I was adopted to my father, and should have had my father sealed to his father, and so on back; and the duty that I want every man who presides over a Temple to see performed from this day henceforth and forever, unless the Lord Almighty commands otherwise, is, let every man be adopted to his father. When a man receives the endowments, adopt him to his father; not to Wilford Woodruff, nor to any other man outside the lineage of his fathers. That is the will of God to this people. I want all men who preside over these temples in these mountains of Israel to bear this in mind. What business have I to take away the rights of the lineage of any man? What right has any man to do this? No; I say let every man be adopted to his father; and then you will do exactly what God said when he declared He would send Elijah the prophet in the last days. Elijah the prophet appeared unto Joseph Smith and told him that the day had come when this principle must be carried out. Joseph Smith did not live long enough to enter any further upon these things. His soul was wound up with this work before he was martyred for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. He told us that there must be a welding link of all dispensations and of the work of God from one generation to another. This was upon his mind more than most any other subject that was given to him. In my prayers the Lord revealed to me, that it was my duty to say to all Israel to carry this principle out, and in fulfillment of that revelation I lay it before this people. I say to all men who are laboring in these temples, carry out this principle, and then we will make one step in advance of what we have had before. Myself and counselors conversed upon this and were agreed upon it, and afterwards we laid it before all the Apostles, who were here (two were absent—Brothers Thatcher and Lund, the latter being in England,) and the Lord revealed to every one of these men—and they would bear testimony to it if they were to speak—that that was the word of the Lord to them. I never met with anything in my life in this Church that there was more unity upon than there was upon that principle. They all feel right about it, and that it is our duty. That is one principle that should be carried out from this time henceforth. “But,” says one, “suppose we come along to a man who perhaps is a murderer.” Well, if he is a murderer, drop him out and connect with the next man beyond him. But the Spirit of God will be with us in this matter. We want the Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers. Have children sealed to their parents, and run this chain through as far as you can get it. When you get to the end, let the last man be adopted to Joseph Smith, who stands at the head of the dispensation. This is the will of the Lord to this people, and I think when you come to reflect upon it you will find it to be true.
Another principle connected with this subject I want to talk about. A man has married a woman, and they have a family of children. The man lays down in death without ever hearing the Gospel. His wife afterwards hears the Gospel and embraces it. She comes to the temple and she wants to be sealed to her husband, who was a good man. The feeling has been to deny this and to say, “No, he was not in the Church and you cannot be sealed to your husband.” Many a woman’s heart has ached because of this, and as a servant of God I have broken that chain a good while ago. I have laid before every woman this principle and let her have her choice. Why deprive a woman of being sealed to her husband because he never heard the Gospel? What do any of us know with regard to him? Will he not hear the Gospel and embrace it in the spirit world? Look at Joseph Smith. Not one of Joseph Smith’s fathers or brothers or sisters were in the covenant when he received the keys of the kingdom of God and translated the Book of Mormon. They afterwards received it. Every brother and sister that he had, and his father and his father’s brothers, except Uncle Jesse Smith, embraced the Gospel. Now, suppose that any of these had died before they had the opportunity of entering into the covenant with the Lord through the Gospel, as his brother Alvin did, they would have been in the same position as Alvin, concerning whom the Lord, when Joseph saw him in the celestial kingdom, said:
All who have died without a knowledge of this Gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom, for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.
So it will be with your fathers. There will be very few, if any, who will not accept the Gospel. Jesus, while His body lay in the tomb, went and preached to the spirits in prison, who were destroyed in the days of Noah. After so long an imprisonment, in torment, they doubtless gladly embraced the Gospel, and if so they will be saved in the kingdom of God. The fathers of this people will embrace the Gospel. It is my duty to honor my father who begot me in the flesh. It is your duty to do the same. When you do this, the Spirit of God will be with you. And we shall continue this work, the Lord adding light to that which we have already received. I have had friends adopted to me. We all have, more or less. But I have had peculiar feelings about it, especially lately. There are men in this congregation who wish to be adopted to me. I say to them today, if they can hear me, Go and be adopted to your fathers, and save your fathers, and stand at the head of your father’s house, as saviors upon Mount Zion, and God will bless you in this. This is what I want to say, and what I want carried out in our temples.
The Almighty is with this people. We shall have all the revelations that we will need, if we will do our duty and obey the commandments of God. When any of us get so that we cannot receive these revelations, the Lord will take us out of the way and put someone in our places who can. I am here today, on borrowed time, I may say. I would have been in the spirit world today, mingling with the spirits in the presence of God, had it not been for the cry of this people for my life when I lay at the gates of death a year ago. I have been preserved by the power of God. How long I shall live I do not know. It does not make any difference to me. But while I do live I want to do my duty. I want the Latter-day Saints to do their duty. Here is the Holy Priesthood in these mountains. Their responsibility is great and mighty. The eyes of God and all the holy prophets are watching over us. This is the great dispensation that has been spoken of ever since the world began. We are gathered together in these mountains of Israel by the power and commandment of God. We are doing the work of God. This is not our home, as far as mortality is concerned. We shall soon pass away. But while here let us fill our mission. I want to say to Brother L. Snow, Brother M. W. Merrill, Brother J. D. T. McAllister and Brother D. H. Cannon, and all associated with you, carry these things before the Lord and see for yourselves. If you are not satisfied with this order of things, go and ask the Lord about it, and the Holy Ghost will reveal to you the truth of these principles.
This is all I ought to say at this time perhaps upon this subject. I am glad to meet with you. I have had a great anxiety over this matter. I have had a great desire that I might live to deliver these principles to the Latter-day Saints, for they are true. They are one step forward in the work of the ministry and in the work of the endowments in these temples of our God. When you get to the last man in the lineage, as I said before, we will adopt that man to the Prophet Joseph, and then the Prophet Joseph will take care of himself with regard to where he goes. A man may say, “I am an Apostle, or I am a High Priest, or I am an Elder in Israel, and if I am adopted to my father, will it take any honor from me?” I would say not. If Joseph Smith was sealed to his father, with whom many of you were acquainted, what effect will that have upon his exaltation and glory? None at all. Joseph Smith will hold the keys of this dispensation to the endless ages of eternity. It is the greatest dispensation God ever gave to man, and he was ordained before the world was to stand in the flesh and organize this work. He was martyred for the word of God and testimony of Jesus, and when he comes in the clouds of heaven he will wear a martyr’s crown. Those of you who stand here—I do not care whether you are Apostles or what you are—by honoring your fathers you will not take any honor from your heads; you will hold the keys of the salvation of your father’s house, as Joseph Smith does. You will lose nothing by honoring your fathers and redeeming your dead. It is a glorious work. When I returned from England in 1841 and heard Joseph Smith give this revelation, that we had power to redeem our dead, one of the first things I thought was, “I have a mother in the spirit world.” My father was in the flesh. I baptized and ordained him and brought him up to Zion, where he is buried. But I never saw my mother to know her. She died when I was an infant. I had power to seal my mother to my father. Was not that a satisfaction? It was to me. I have gone to work with the assistance of my friends and redeemed my father’s and my mother’s house. When I went to inquire of the Lord how I could redeem my dead, while I was in St. George, not having any of my family there, the Lord told me call upon the Saints in St. George and let them officiate for me in that temple, and it should be acceptable unto Him. Brother McAllister and the brethren and sisters there have assisted me in this work, and I felt to bless them with every feeling of my heart. This is a revelation to us. We can help one another in these matters, if we have not relatives sufficient to carry this on, and it will be acceptable unto the Lord.
Brethren and sisters, lay these things to heart. Let us go on with our records, fill them up righteously before the Lord, and carry out this principle, and the blessings of God will attend us, and those who are redeemed will bless us in days to come. I pray God that as a people our eyes may be opened to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to understand the great and mighty work that rests upon our shoulders, and that the God of heaven requires at our hands. Great and glorious are these principles which God has revealed to us concerning the redemption of our dead. I tell you when the prophets and apostles go to preach to those who are shut up in prison, and who have not received the Gospel, thousands of them will there embrace the Gospel. They know more in that world than they do here. I pray God that as a people we may have power to magnify our callings in this great and mighty dispensation while we dwell in the flesh, that when our work is done we may be satisfied with this life and this work. This is my prayer and the desire of my heart, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
President George Q. Cannon
followed on the same theme, and showed the beauty, power and efficacy of the Gospel, by which, through the authority of the Priesthood, all the endearing relations of life were made eternal, because they were by that means cemented under the law and the direction of the Almighty.
followed on the same theme, and showed the beauty, power and efficacy of the Gospel, by which, through the authority of the Priesthood, all the endearing relations of life were made eternal, because they were by that means cemented under the law and the direction of the Almighty.
The Law of Adoption.
President George Q. Cannon
I am sure that every Latter-day Saint who has heard the announcement made by President Woodruff, will feel thankful in his heart for that which the Lord has made manifest through him. The subject of adoption is one that has engaged the attention of the Saints, to a greater or less extent, for some time. It was revealed by Prophet Joseph that there is a principle of adoption by which one generation will be sealed t and connected with another, and in his words which have been read he foreshadows the welding together, by the principle of adoption, of the various dispensations. In a revelation that the Lord gave through him, He said:
And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me, or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power—then it is not valid, neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world, it cannot be received there, because the angels and the Gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot therefore, inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God.
On this account, marriages of the children of men are only binding as between themselves while the covenant lasts. Our fathers made their covenants with our mothers for time, and when time ended our course the covenant and the union ended also. Now, the Holy Spirit revealed that this being the case, every man and woman, and every child born as the offspring of these unions, would stand separately, unless a new bond were formed. Without this should be done, there would be no binding link to unite woman to man and children to parents; for all the obligation and all the covenants had terminated; and, therefore, members of families would each stand separately, without any connection of a binding character between themselves. Of course, there was what we call the bond of blood existing; (there is no blood, however, in resurrected being) or, in other words, there was the bond that arose through kindred. That would remain. The Lord has taught us, however, that this is not all that is required; that there must be an authority exercised by which parents should be bound together, and then their children bound to them. We have been taught also that through the revelation of the Priesthood and its bestowal upon men, and the exercise of that Priesthood in sealing wives to husbands, the children begotten in these marriages are born, as we phrase it, in the covenant, that is, they are recognized by the Lord as legitimate children of the covenant, He having recognized the marriage of their parents, having given the authority to man on the earth to bind on earth, and that bond should be sealed in heaven. In this way the Latter-day Saints are being bound together in the new and everlasting covenant, wives being sealed to their husbands, and children, the offspring of these marriages, being born in the covenant, under the blessing and the recognition by the Almighty of the bond that exists between their parents Thus you see that there is a new order of things growing up among us. It is not necessary, where the parents are sealed together by the authority of the Holy Priesthood for time and for eternity, that their children should be adopted or sealed to them. They are legitimate heirs of the Priesthood and of the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant. But not so with those who have been born outside of this covenant. There has to be some ordinance performed in order to make them legitimate; and that ordinance, the Prophet Joseph revealed, was the ordinance of adoption: that is, the word covers the ordinance or law, although we do not use the word adoption when we seal children to parents; we call that sealing. But to illustrate the principle and explain the law, the word “adoption” is used. You will find it frequently in the scriptures, and it has become a subject among us that has been very much thought about; and every man and woman, who has wished to do all that is required of them in order to obtain all the blessings that can be had through obedience to the commands of God, has desired to understand something about this principle of adoption.
We are told in the words that were read in our hearing that one dispensation must be linked to another, or, in other words, that the dispensations given to the children of men must be united; that we must all be united to our father Adam; that there must be a bond or union between us and our great parent and that will be done through the ordinance of adoption where children are not born in the covenant.
Hence it is that it falls to our duty to trace our lineage; and, as has been beautifully explained this morning by President Woodruff, it is our duty to be sealed to our parents, that our lineage may be preserved; that we may preserve our families in direct descent, and trace them back, ascending lineally until we reach, if it be possible, our ancestors who held the everlasting Priesthood, and who were either born in the covenant or who were sealed to their parents under the law of adoption when the Priesthood was upon the earth. This has to be done by this generation and their successors. It is the labor devolving upon us as a people to perform this. The Prophet Joseph revealed this, but he died before it was fully explained.
When President Young died, the St. George temple was the only one finished, and it had barely been dedicated when he passed away. There is not a doubt in my mind that, had he lived, his mind would have been directed to this great subject and he would have inquired of the Lord to know that which was right; for in the minds of many there has been a feeling of doubt in regard to this principle of adoption as it was being practiced among us. I well remember myself in my boyhood days that which President Woodruff has referred to—the spirit that was manifested by many at the dedication of the temple in Nauvoo when the ordinances were administered there. some men thought to build up kingdoms to themselves; and they appeared to think that by inducing men and women to be adopted into their families they were adding to their own glory. From that day until the present, I have never thought of this subject of adoption without having a certain amount of fear concerning it.
There is nothing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that leads to disunion. There is no true principle of the Gospel that will produce division. There is no true principle of the Gospel that will separate this people and divide them. And this revelation that God has given to His servant, the President of our Church, removes all the danger which seemed to threaten us through an imperfect understanding of the manner in which the law of adoption should be carried out.
To illustrate this point, let me suppose that the First Presidency of this Church were to seek to build up families for themselves from among this people, each one seeking to have men and women sealed to him in order that he might have a large following; and suppose each of the Twelve Apostles was to do the same; and suppose the High Priests and the brethren officiating in the temples were to do the same, what would be the result? You can see at once that in a little time we would be divided into tribes and clans, each having his own following, and each following looking to the man to whom they had been adopted for counsel and guidance, and in this way the governing authority of the Holy Priesthood in our midst would be divided and lessened. Who can not understand the danger there would be under such a condition of affairs? But how to obviate it, how to remove it so that it should no longer exist? God has removed it by making it plain that it is the duty of every man to be sealed to his father, where his father is not a man that has proved entirely unworthy. And when such a case arises—which will be very seldom—we have the man in our midst who has the keys of the Priesthood and unto whom this question can be submitted for him to decide what should be done.
My brethren and sisters, I have this belief concerning us: that it was arranged before we came here how we should come, and through what lineage we should come. We were not born of the seed of Ham; we were not born of some questionable race; but, as the Lord has taught us in the eighty-sixth section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, our Priesthood has been hid with God. That section says:
Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the Priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers,
For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God;
Therefore your life, and the Priesthood hath remained and must needs remain through you and your lineage, until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
I am as convinced that it was predestined before I was born that I should come through my father as I am that I stand here. And if God chose to give to Wilford Woodruff’s father the honor of begetting him, and it was so arranged before they were born, who shall step in and deprive him of the honor which God gave to him, and give it to somebody else? Reflect upon it and you will see that it would lead to endless confusion if this were done. We would be broken up in families and in our lineage, and there would be no distinction, consequently it would result in great confusion. Paul says, “that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” I believe we were predestined to come here. I believe that it was arranged that we should come here as we have done. No doubt when we trace our ancestors back, we will find that they trod in muddy places. We shall find that there was wickedness among them. There can be little doubt about this, because they were human beings; they were exposed to temptation and to sin. Nevertheless, that was the arrangement, and when we meet with cases about which there will be question, we can then inquire of the Lord concerning them, and whether it would be right to continue the sealing of the children to the, and through them to somebody else or whether there shall be a break in the link; for we shall all be linked together as a chain. One generation will be linked to another by the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood until we get back to the earth, and when the authority to administer these ordinances was among men in former times.
Another thing that what we have heard today will effect. There has been a disposition manifested among our people, to some extent, for some men and women to gather up all the names of families they could find, whether they were related or not, and perform ordinances for them. I am a believer in this when it does not interfere with the rights of heirship. We should do all we can for those for whom we have friendship, or to whom we are attached in any way, and who have no living representatives that we know of in the Church. But you can see the advantage of pursuing now the course that is pointed out by the word of God to us. It will make everyone careful to obtain the connection, and to get the names properly of the sons and of the daughters of men, to have them sealed to their parents. It will draw the line fairly. It will define the lineage clearly. “But,” says one, “that may take a long time.” Well, we have got a thousand years to do it in. We need not be in such a hurry as to create confusion. The Lord will give us time enough to do it all; and when we have gone as far as appears possible, He will give to us opportunities that, at the present time, we are ignorant of; and we will find that everything will be made plain, and each man will trace his genealogy clear back, and we will know our connection, and what to do in relation to these matters, for the Lord will reveal it to us.
My brethren and sisters, suppose that each of us should seek some great man in the Church to be sealed to. For instance, we would like to be sealed to the President of the Church, because it would be a great honor to be adopted to him, and we think, “well, that man is much better than my father. I would rather be adopted to him than to be sealed to my father. I do not think very much of my father or my mother.” Now, I think, when we feel that way, that we are, to a certain extent, despising the arrangement which the Lord has made. We should not despise our origin. On the contrary, we should seek to preserve it, and honor those who have given us birth.
It always has seemed to me, in reflecting upon this, that the Prophet Joseph honored his father who begot him; yet Joseph was the man chosen by the Almighty to stand at the head of the entire people of this dispensation. We all have to look to him. Every Apostle, and every great man in the Church, must of necessity turn his eyes towards the Prophet of God, whom He chose to lay the foundation of this work. You don’t find anything in Joseph’s life nor in his history, as it is recorded, that would give the least idea that he thought himself of so superior a nature that he could not honor his father and mother. In fact, I remember well the Prophet, in speaking about the sepulchre that he had prepared near the temple block, describing the joy that he would have in rising from the dead and striking hands with his father and with his kindred, and how delighted he would be to come up in the resurrection and grasp them by the hand. That spirit attended him in all his allusions to his kindred, to his father and mother especially. There is no doubt in my mind that the Prophet Joseph would be sealed to his father. He will honor his father and his mother. He will be sealed to them, and they and their lineage will doubtless be connected with him by the sealing ordinance as the head of this dispensation. They will have to be connected with him by some link or bond that will be created, if it does not already exist, as we all will be connected with him because he is the head of the dispensation. But as a son he will be connected with his parents; he will honor his parents; and in his turn he will be honored by his ancestry and all who come within the range and under the jurisdiction of this dispensation. All such will necessarily be sealed by some bond to the Prophet Joseph. In this way we shall all be united; and there can be no question on our part as to the propriety of being all connected with Joseph, carrying up every lineage directly as far as we can, and then linking them on to the head of the dispensation. There need be no jealousy then. There need be none to say, “Well, I am sealed or adopted to a greater man than you. I am adopted to Joseph, or to Brigham, or to John Taylor, or to Wilford Woodruff, or to this man or the other man.” There will be no need to pride and plume ourselves on the fact that we are adopted to these various men, and thus divide the people asunder in their feelings, creating to a certain extent a feeling of rivalry which does not belong to the gospel of the Son of God. Every man that reflects upon it can see that this revelation which God has given through His servant Wilford Woodruff removes that danger out of our pathway and prepares danger out of our pathway and prepares us to go forward and honor our kindred and do everything we can for their salvation, concentrating our feeling upon our ancestors, and not upon somebody else’s ancestors. In thus honoring our parents we also observe that ancient law which was given by God to the children of Israel, and which has such a great blessing attached to it:
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Why should a man come to one of the Apostles and be sealed to him and then trace his genealogy through him and his ancestors, and neglect his own? There have been some cases of adoption, I suppose, where the parties have not felt clear in their minds concerning this. This light, however, that we now have clears it all up and makes it plain; and we can see and understand it.
God bless you, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
The choir sang the anthem, Daughter of Zion.
President Cannon here stated that it had been deemed proper to discontinue from this time forward the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper at the regular services held in the Tabernacle on the Sabbath day. He cited the 18th chapter of third Nephi, Book of Mormon, which embodies reasons for the taking of this step. In future this ordinance would be administered under the direction of the Bishops of the wards, in their Sunday meetings, where they could carry out the requirement which forbids that the unworthy shall partake of the sacred emblems.
Benediction by Elder Jonathan G. Kimball.
President George Q. Cannon
I am sure that every Latter-day Saint who has heard the announcement made by President Woodruff, will feel thankful in his heart for that which the Lord has made manifest through him. The subject of adoption is one that has engaged the attention of the Saints, to a greater or less extent, for some time. It was revealed by Prophet Joseph that there is a principle of adoption by which one generation will be sealed t and connected with another, and in his words which have been read he foreshadows the welding together, by the principle of adoption, of the various dispensations. In a revelation that the Lord gave through him, He said:
And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me, or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power—then it is not valid, neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world, it cannot be received there, because the angels and the Gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot therefore, inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God.
On this account, marriages of the children of men are only binding as between themselves while the covenant lasts. Our fathers made their covenants with our mothers for time, and when time ended our course the covenant and the union ended also. Now, the Holy Spirit revealed that this being the case, every man and woman, and every child born as the offspring of these unions, would stand separately, unless a new bond were formed. Without this should be done, there would be no binding link to unite woman to man and children to parents; for all the obligation and all the covenants had terminated; and, therefore, members of families would each stand separately, without any connection of a binding character between themselves. Of course, there was what we call the bond of blood existing; (there is no blood, however, in resurrected being) or, in other words, there was the bond that arose through kindred. That would remain. The Lord has taught us, however, that this is not all that is required; that there must be an authority exercised by which parents should be bound together, and then their children bound to them. We have been taught also that through the revelation of the Priesthood and its bestowal upon men, and the exercise of that Priesthood in sealing wives to husbands, the children begotten in these marriages are born, as we phrase it, in the covenant, that is, they are recognized by the Lord as legitimate children of the covenant, He having recognized the marriage of their parents, having given the authority to man on the earth to bind on earth, and that bond should be sealed in heaven. In this way the Latter-day Saints are being bound together in the new and everlasting covenant, wives being sealed to their husbands, and children, the offspring of these marriages, being born in the covenant, under the blessing and the recognition by the Almighty of the bond that exists between their parents Thus you see that there is a new order of things growing up among us. It is not necessary, where the parents are sealed together by the authority of the Holy Priesthood for time and for eternity, that their children should be adopted or sealed to them. They are legitimate heirs of the Priesthood and of the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant. But not so with those who have been born outside of this covenant. There has to be some ordinance performed in order to make them legitimate; and that ordinance, the Prophet Joseph revealed, was the ordinance of adoption: that is, the word covers the ordinance or law, although we do not use the word adoption when we seal children to parents; we call that sealing. But to illustrate the principle and explain the law, the word “adoption” is used. You will find it frequently in the scriptures, and it has become a subject among us that has been very much thought about; and every man and woman, who has wished to do all that is required of them in order to obtain all the blessings that can be had through obedience to the commands of God, has desired to understand something about this principle of adoption.
We are told in the words that were read in our hearing that one dispensation must be linked to another, or, in other words, that the dispensations given to the children of men must be united; that we must all be united to our father Adam; that there must be a bond or union between us and our great parent and that will be done through the ordinance of adoption where children are not born in the covenant.
Hence it is that it falls to our duty to trace our lineage; and, as has been beautifully explained this morning by President Woodruff, it is our duty to be sealed to our parents, that our lineage may be preserved; that we may preserve our families in direct descent, and trace them back, ascending lineally until we reach, if it be possible, our ancestors who held the everlasting Priesthood, and who were either born in the covenant or who were sealed to their parents under the law of adoption when the Priesthood was upon the earth. This has to be done by this generation and their successors. It is the labor devolving upon us as a people to perform this. The Prophet Joseph revealed this, but he died before it was fully explained.
When President Young died, the St. George temple was the only one finished, and it had barely been dedicated when he passed away. There is not a doubt in my mind that, had he lived, his mind would have been directed to this great subject and he would have inquired of the Lord to know that which was right; for in the minds of many there has been a feeling of doubt in regard to this principle of adoption as it was being practiced among us. I well remember myself in my boyhood days that which President Woodruff has referred to—the spirit that was manifested by many at the dedication of the temple in Nauvoo when the ordinances were administered there. some men thought to build up kingdoms to themselves; and they appeared to think that by inducing men and women to be adopted into their families they were adding to their own glory. From that day until the present, I have never thought of this subject of adoption without having a certain amount of fear concerning it.
There is nothing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that leads to disunion. There is no true principle of the Gospel that will produce division. There is no true principle of the Gospel that will separate this people and divide them. And this revelation that God has given to His servant, the President of our Church, removes all the danger which seemed to threaten us through an imperfect understanding of the manner in which the law of adoption should be carried out.
To illustrate this point, let me suppose that the First Presidency of this Church were to seek to build up families for themselves from among this people, each one seeking to have men and women sealed to him in order that he might have a large following; and suppose each of the Twelve Apostles was to do the same; and suppose the High Priests and the brethren officiating in the temples were to do the same, what would be the result? You can see at once that in a little time we would be divided into tribes and clans, each having his own following, and each following looking to the man to whom they had been adopted for counsel and guidance, and in this way the governing authority of the Holy Priesthood in our midst would be divided and lessened. Who can not understand the danger there would be under such a condition of affairs? But how to obviate it, how to remove it so that it should no longer exist? God has removed it by making it plain that it is the duty of every man to be sealed to his father, where his father is not a man that has proved entirely unworthy. And when such a case arises—which will be very seldom—we have the man in our midst who has the keys of the Priesthood and unto whom this question can be submitted for him to decide what should be done.
My brethren and sisters, I have this belief concerning us: that it was arranged before we came here how we should come, and through what lineage we should come. We were not born of the seed of Ham; we were not born of some questionable race; but, as the Lord has taught us in the eighty-sixth section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, our Priesthood has been hid with God. That section says:
Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the Priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers,
For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God;
Therefore your life, and the Priesthood hath remained and must needs remain through you and your lineage, until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
I am as convinced that it was predestined before I was born that I should come through my father as I am that I stand here. And if God chose to give to Wilford Woodruff’s father the honor of begetting him, and it was so arranged before they were born, who shall step in and deprive him of the honor which God gave to him, and give it to somebody else? Reflect upon it and you will see that it would lead to endless confusion if this were done. We would be broken up in families and in our lineage, and there would be no distinction, consequently it would result in great confusion. Paul says, “that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” I believe we were predestined to come here. I believe that it was arranged that we should come here as we have done. No doubt when we trace our ancestors back, we will find that they trod in muddy places. We shall find that there was wickedness among them. There can be little doubt about this, because they were human beings; they were exposed to temptation and to sin. Nevertheless, that was the arrangement, and when we meet with cases about which there will be question, we can then inquire of the Lord concerning them, and whether it would be right to continue the sealing of the children to the, and through them to somebody else or whether there shall be a break in the link; for we shall all be linked together as a chain. One generation will be linked to another by the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood until we get back to the earth, and when the authority to administer these ordinances was among men in former times.
Another thing that what we have heard today will effect. There has been a disposition manifested among our people, to some extent, for some men and women to gather up all the names of families they could find, whether they were related or not, and perform ordinances for them. I am a believer in this when it does not interfere with the rights of heirship. We should do all we can for those for whom we have friendship, or to whom we are attached in any way, and who have no living representatives that we know of in the Church. But you can see the advantage of pursuing now the course that is pointed out by the word of God to us. It will make everyone careful to obtain the connection, and to get the names properly of the sons and of the daughters of men, to have them sealed to their parents. It will draw the line fairly. It will define the lineage clearly. “But,” says one, “that may take a long time.” Well, we have got a thousand years to do it in. We need not be in such a hurry as to create confusion. The Lord will give us time enough to do it all; and when we have gone as far as appears possible, He will give to us opportunities that, at the present time, we are ignorant of; and we will find that everything will be made plain, and each man will trace his genealogy clear back, and we will know our connection, and what to do in relation to these matters, for the Lord will reveal it to us.
My brethren and sisters, suppose that each of us should seek some great man in the Church to be sealed to. For instance, we would like to be sealed to the President of the Church, because it would be a great honor to be adopted to him, and we think, “well, that man is much better than my father. I would rather be adopted to him than to be sealed to my father. I do not think very much of my father or my mother.” Now, I think, when we feel that way, that we are, to a certain extent, despising the arrangement which the Lord has made. We should not despise our origin. On the contrary, we should seek to preserve it, and honor those who have given us birth.
It always has seemed to me, in reflecting upon this, that the Prophet Joseph honored his father who begot him; yet Joseph was the man chosen by the Almighty to stand at the head of the entire people of this dispensation. We all have to look to him. Every Apostle, and every great man in the Church, must of necessity turn his eyes towards the Prophet of God, whom He chose to lay the foundation of this work. You don’t find anything in Joseph’s life nor in his history, as it is recorded, that would give the least idea that he thought himself of so superior a nature that he could not honor his father and mother. In fact, I remember well the Prophet, in speaking about the sepulchre that he had prepared near the temple block, describing the joy that he would have in rising from the dead and striking hands with his father and with his kindred, and how delighted he would be to come up in the resurrection and grasp them by the hand. That spirit attended him in all his allusions to his kindred, to his father and mother especially. There is no doubt in my mind that the Prophet Joseph would be sealed to his father. He will honor his father and his mother. He will be sealed to them, and they and their lineage will doubtless be connected with him by the sealing ordinance as the head of this dispensation. They will have to be connected with him by some link or bond that will be created, if it does not already exist, as we all will be connected with him because he is the head of the dispensation. But as a son he will be connected with his parents; he will honor his parents; and in his turn he will be honored by his ancestry and all who come within the range and under the jurisdiction of this dispensation. All such will necessarily be sealed by some bond to the Prophet Joseph. In this way we shall all be united; and there can be no question on our part as to the propriety of being all connected with Joseph, carrying up every lineage directly as far as we can, and then linking them on to the head of the dispensation. There need be no jealousy then. There need be none to say, “Well, I am sealed or adopted to a greater man than you. I am adopted to Joseph, or to Brigham, or to John Taylor, or to Wilford Woodruff, or to this man or the other man.” There will be no need to pride and plume ourselves on the fact that we are adopted to these various men, and thus divide the people asunder in their feelings, creating to a certain extent a feeling of rivalry which does not belong to the gospel of the Son of God. Every man that reflects upon it can see that this revelation which God has given through His servant Wilford Woodruff removes that danger out of our pathway and prepares danger out of our pathway and prepares us to go forward and honor our kindred and do everything we can for their salvation, concentrating our feeling upon our ancestors, and not upon somebody else’s ancestors. In thus honoring our parents we also observe that ancient law which was given by God to the children of Israel, and which has such a great blessing attached to it:
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Why should a man come to one of the Apostles and be sealed to him and then trace his genealogy through him and his ancestors, and neglect his own? There have been some cases of adoption, I suppose, where the parties have not felt clear in their minds concerning this. This light, however, that we now have clears it all up and makes it plain; and we can see and understand it.
God bless you, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
The choir sang the anthem, Daughter of Zion.
President Cannon here stated that it had been deemed proper to discontinue from this time forward the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper at the regular services held in the Tabernacle on the Sabbath day. He cited the 18th chapter of third Nephi, Book of Mormon, which embodies reasons for the taking of this step. In future this ordinance would be administered under the direction of the Bishops of the wards, in their Sunday meetings, where they could carry out the requirement which forbids that the unworthy shall partake of the sacred emblems.
Benediction by Elder Jonathan G. Kimball.
Afternoon Session. Overflow Meeting at the Assembly Hall.
At 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon an overflow meeting was held in the Assembly Hall. Apostle Franklin D. Richards presided.
The services were commenced by singing the hymn:
We thank thee, O God, for a prophet,
To guide us in these latter days;
We thank thee for sending the Gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.
Prayer was offered by Elder Lyman Martineau, and the congregation sang the hymn beginning:
Come, come ye saints, no toil nor labor fear,
But with joy wend your way.
At 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon an overflow meeting was held in the Assembly Hall. Apostle Franklin D. Richards presided.
The services were commenced by singing the hymn:
We thank thee, O God, for a prophet,
To guide us in these latter days;
We thank thee for sending the Gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.
Prayer was offered by Elder Lyman Martineau, and the congregation sang the hymn beginning:
Come, come ye saints, no toil nor labor fear,
But with joy wend your way.
Elder H. J. Grant
was the first speaker. He was very pleased, he said, to meet with the Saints, and rejoiced in the fact that the Tabernacle was full to overflowing; that so large an attendance was present and that there were as many people outside as would fill over again the building in which they had met. He rejoiced to see so great a manifestation on the part of the Saints of the spirit that brought them together to hear the Gospel, and hoped that they would be strengthened and built up in their most holy faith. The sooner the people awoke to the truth of the fact that it is in proportion to their faithfulness that the Lord will pour out His blessings upon them, the greater would be their progress. He rejoiced exceedingly to have had the privilege of listening to the remarks made in the forenoon by Presidents Woodruff and Cannon, for the doubts that have hitherto been in the minds of the Saints concerning the ordinance of sealing and the principle of adoption had been cleared away. The speaker urged the necessity of a general work of purification among the Saints, and asserted that there was no question but that sacrifice brought forth the blessings of heaven. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so broad and magnificent in its proportions that there is sufficient for all to do, and there was no necessity to infringe on the prerogatives of others. If the commandments of God are kept, the Gospel is the power of life and salvation unto all who believe. Not only will it secure exaltation in the eternal world but it would promote prosperity in material things in the present life. He thought that some of the Saints had been too narrow and contracted in their opinion of the plan of life and salvation, and was glad to hear the servants of God say that, though it was written but few in this probation walk the narrow path that leads to eternal life, in the spirit world the great majority of souls would accept the Gospel and be redeemed through the vicarious work of the Saints on earth. Reflection on the boundlessness and magnificence of the plan of redemption was fraught with thoughts of the great love and mercy of the Heavenly Father; and in further elucidation of the Gospel of Christ the speaker read the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, from which he said he derived more joy and pleasure than all besides. In conclusion he hoped that as the Saints grew in years they would also continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, which he asked in the name of Jesus Christ.
was the first speaker. He was very pleased, he said, to meet with the Saints, and rejoiced in the fact that the Tabernacle was full to overflowing; that so large an attendance was present and that there were as many people outside as would fill over again the building in which they had met. He rejoiced to see so great a manifestation on the part of the Saints of the spirit that brought them together to hear the Gospel, and hoped that they would be strengthened and built up in their most holy faith. The sooner the people awoke to the truth of the fact that it is in proportion to their faithfulness that the Lord will pour out His blessings upon them, the greater would be their progress. He rejoiced exceedingly to have had the privilege of listening to the remarks made in the forenoon by Presidents Woodruff and Cannon, for the doubts that have hitherto been in the minds of the Saints concerning the ordinance of sealing and the principle of adoption had been cleared away. The speaker urged the necessity of a general work of purification among the Saints, and asserted that there was no question but that sacrifice brought forth the blessings of heaven. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so broad and magnificent in its proportions that there is sufficient for all to do, and there was no necessity to infringe on the prerogatives of others. If the commandments of God are kept, the Gospel is the power of life and salvation unto all who believe. Not only will it secure exaltation in the eternal world but it would promote prosperity in material things in the present life. He thought that some of the Saints had been too narrow and contracted in their opinion of the plan of life and salvation, and was glad to hear the servants of God say that, though it was written but few in this probation walk the narrow path that leads to eternal life, in the spirit world the great majority of souls would accept the Gospel and be redeemed through the vicarious work of the Saints on earth. Reflection on the boundlessness and magnificence of the plan of redemption was fraught with thoughts of the great love and mercy of the Heavenly Father; and in further elucidation of the Gospel of Christ the speaker read the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, from which he said he derived more joy and pleasure than all besides. In conclusion he hoped that as the Saints grew in years they would also continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, which he asked in the name of Jesus Christ.
Elder A. H. Cannon
knew of no doctrine or principle, he said, that gave him more joy and pleasure than that which he had heard that morning. It was one of the advanced doctrines of the Gospel. It opened up to view the great depth and breadth of the plan of salvation more than had been hitherto accepted, and answered many questions that had come up in the minds of the Saints for many years. As soon as the first principles of the Gospel had been preached to the nations of the earth, the people had naturally concerned themselves as to the condition of their ancestors; for if faith, repentance and baptism were essential to salvation now, they had always been and always would be. Hence, when the Gospel came to them and they were told of the plan of the redemption of the dead, it filled them with great joy and satisfaction. It was a pleasure to know that before the bar of God no man would be judged without having had an opportunity of accepting or rejecting the Gospel, and that it would be preached to them in the spirit world. The family organization existing on the earth was symbolical of that which will exist throughout eternity, and through the medium of the plan of salvation all would be united in the world to come. The speaker treated upon the principle of sealing husbands and wives and stated that though in years gone by there were but few instances where wives had been sealed to husbands who had died, without the faith, yet good men withal, the opportunities now were greater because of increased knowledge having been received. To think that the family organization is to extend back link by link to the very beginning; that those who are dead would not be robbed of their children whose progress, integrity and faithfulness their hearts are yearning for, and who by such would yet stand at the head of their kindred as saviors upon Mount Zion, was replete with comfort and joy. But those who at that day do not stand as saviors upon Mount Zion will not receive the highest glory in the Kingdom of God. There are none so feeble now who can not perform some work, and though they have but few kindred that they know, they can perform the work for others and obtain a blessing. To those who are faithful and anxious to do this, God will reveal to them the names and lineage of their kindred as He has done to many in the temples before. The Lord does not wait till the millennial day for such work to be done. Link by link must be completed now and henceforward, and during the millennial reign the chain of ancestry will be revealed back to the beginning of the race. This is a principle new to this people, but old as eternity, and the increased light shed upon it by the servants of God had come in fulfilment of a desire on the part of the people. They had longed for this with which to satisfy their souls. They had gone as far as they could and it was necessary for God to reveal His mind and will. This shows that God must needs be sought, that He desires His people to draw near to Him. “Coming events cast their shadows before,” and in like manner the necessity for further light had foreshadowed itself through the general anxiety in the hearts of the people and was known to God. If the people are discontented and feel that the Lord has withdrawn His face from them, the way to overcome the difficulty is to draw near to Him that the soul may be satisfied. The speaker rejoiced that God had filled the hearts of the Saints with love and charity to all mankind, both living and dead for God Himself was full of mercy and was loving and kind. He was not one to condemn by outward appearances nor to condemn to all eternity any who sinned against Him, unless they placed themselves beyond the pale of pardon. Though their sins were as scarlet they might be made as white as wool if they would but repent.
knew of no doctrine or principle, he said, that gave him more joy and pleasure than that which he had heard that morning. It was one of the advanced doctrines of the Gospel. It opened up to view the great depth and breadth of the plan of salvation more than had been hitherto accepted, and answered many questions that had come up in the minds of the Saints for many years. As soon as the first principles of the Gospel had been preached to the nations of the earth, the people had naturally concerned themselves as to the condition of their ancestors; for if faith, repentance and baptism were essential to salvation now, they had always been and always would be. Hence, when the Gospel came to them and they were told of the plan of the redemption of the dead, it filled them with great joy and satisfaction. It was a pleasure to know that before the bar of God no man would be judged without having had an opportunity of accepting or rejecting the Gospel, and that it would be preached to them in the spirit world. The family organization existing on the earth was symbolical of that which will exist throughout eternity, and through the medium of the plan of salvation all would be united in the world to come. The speaker treated upon the principle of sealing husbands and wives and stated that though in years gone by there were but few instances where wives had been sealed to husbands who had died, without the faith, yet good men withal, the opportunities now were greater because of increased knowledge having been received. To think that the family organization is to extend back link by link to the very beginning; that those who are dead would not be robbed of their children whose progress, integrity and faithfulness their hearts are yearning for, and who by such would yet stand at the head of their kindred as saviors upon Mount Zion, was replete with comfort and joy. But those who at that day do not stand as saviors upon Mount Zion will not receive the highest glory in the Kingdom of God. There are none so feeble now who can not perform some work, and though they have but few kindred that they know, they can perform the work for others and obtain a blessing. To those who are faithful and anxious to do this, God will reveal to them the names and lineage of their kindred as He has done to many in the temples before. The Lord does not wait till the millennial day for such work to be done. Link by link must be completed now and henceforward, and during the millennial reign the chain of ancestry will be revealed back to the beginning of the race. This is a principle new to this people, but old as eternity, and the increased light shed upon it by the servants of God had come in fulfilment of a desire on the part of the people. They had longed for this with which to satisfy their souls. They had gone as far as they could and it was necessary for God to reveal His mind and will. This shows that God must needs be sought, that He desires His people to draw near to Him. “Coming events cast their shadows before,” and in like manner the necessity for further light had foreshadowed itself through the general anxiety in the hearts of the people and was known to God. If the people are discontented and feel that the Lord has withdrawn His face from them, the way to overcome the difficulty is to draw near to Him that the soul may be satisfied. The speaker rejoiced that God had filled the hearts of the Saints with love and charity to all mankind, both living and dead for God Himself was full of mercy and was loving and kind. He was not one to condemn by outward appearances nor to condemn to all eternity any who sinned against Him, unless they placed themselves beyond the pale of pardon. Though their sins were as scarlet they might be made as white as wool if they would but repent.
Elder Moses Thatcher
was the next speaker. He had not sufficiently recovered his strength of body, he said, to be able to speak with perfect ease to so large an audience, and he desired the aid of their faith and prayers and careful attention. He had not the good fortune to to be present with his brethren during the discussions they may have had in connection with the subject just mentioned, but this much he would say: The Almighty, in order to turn aside a curse that should come upon the world, ordained or foreordained that one of His servants should come and turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children, and how this could be brought about more fully than by the plan outlined by the brethren in the Tabernacle during the morning services could not be conceived. He was glad to have had none of other kindred sealed to any of his family nor any of his family to theirs, for a doubt had always remained with him as to the accuracy of such a proceeding. But the principle as now revealed, and which has turned away the curse that must have come upon the world, was such that all should truly appreciate it.
In a recent visit to California there was one thing, the speaker said, that had been deeply impressed upon his mind, and it was this: Thirty-eight years ago the Elders of the Church had been sent out to buy a tract of land which was known as the San Bernardino ranch. It was purchased and payments made upon it. The best location was selected upon which to build a city—that upon which the town of San Bernardino now stands. Not far away is the city of Riverside, a perfect Garden of Eden in many respects, where there is everything to gladden the heart of man. Everywhere around a picture of surpassing loveliness enchants the eye, and beauty reigns in a wealth of tree and flower. San Bernardino had a quarter of a century of the start of Riverside and thirty years of Redlands, but what is its condition today? It is almost a picture of desolation; fences are down, weeds and decaying vegetation cover the ground, and insects blight the growth of tree and shrub. All around the alkali glistens in the sun as if the land were sown with salt. Has a blight fallen upon San Bernardino, because it has also fallen upon her people? Shall the inhabitants of this glorious mountain valley permit that same spirit of inertia to fall upon them? Shall they cease to beautify their homes, trim their lawns, and plant trees and flowers to gladden the hearts of wives and children? The speaker made a comparison between the condition of this city and Riverside, and urged that the spirit of sloth and carelessness be abandoned. He hoped that by next October the many thousands of acres of untilled land would be made to produce something more than weeds.
The evils of ambition were then taken up. The priests of India, Elder Thatcher said, held that all disease was the result of unsatisfied ambition, and that man being the highest creation of God, his mind should have control over all matter. The latter part of the proposition is a true doctrine, and it is a part of Mormonism. These priests also hold that to do this there must be concentration of thought; it was necessary in its application, such as in healing the sick and such like.
“When I hear the word ‘great’ mentioned in reference to the servants of God,” said the speaker, “it makes me shudder. I think of Alexander, Napoleon, Grant and Lee and others. History has been so written that these men have been marked out as great; but in the life of Jesus Christ every word and act breathes of love and power. One word from Him would have called down the hosts of heaven, but it was not to be. His whole life was one of sacrifice. It is, therefore, goodness we want, not greatness, the crucifying of ambition. The very foundation on which we rest is the principle of vicarious sacrifice. Why do we try to love our neighbor as ourselves? Because in its practice alone is peace and power. There is no greater mistake than to suppose that peace or power will come to us if we become imbued with the spirit of the world.”
Continuing, he said that gold was the god of this world, and because money was recognized as a power men tampered with legislatures and governments with it. The world was bowing down to the golden calf, but the Saints should look to the power of love. A people could not be controlled without love and confidence, even as a father could not control a son without them. Confucius has said that three things essential to the perpetuation of a stable government were an army, a well-fed people and confidence in their rules; that the first could be dispensed with if necessary, the second also, since it was ordained that all had to die, but that if a nation lost confidence in its rulers that nation would perish. Confidence was being lost in the government of this country, as was evidenced by the growth of anarchism, nihilism and other societies, and this was something that the Church should forever prevent as far as lay in its power. He had done business in Cache valley for ten years and never asked a bond nor a mortgage, but trusted to honor and had never lost a cent. He hoped that a change for the better would be instituted in our dealings one with the other, and that the Saints would follow their file leaders as they followed Christ.
was the next speaker. He had not sufficiently recovered his strength of body, he said, to be able to speak with perfect ease to so large an audience, and he desired the aid of their faith and prayers and careful attention. He had not the good fortune to to be present with his brethren during the discussions they may have had in connection with the subject just mentioned, but this much he would say: The Almighty, in order to turn aside a curse that should come upon the world, ordained or foreordained that one of His servants should come and turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children, and how this could be brought about more fully than by the plan outlined by the brethren in the Tabernacle during the morning services could not be conceived. He was glad to have had none of other kindred sealed to any of his family nor any of his family to theirs, for a doubt had always remained with him as to the accuracy of such a proceeding. But the principle as now revealed, and which has turned away the curse that must have come upon the world, was such that all should truly appreciate it.
In a recent visit to California there was one thing, the speaker said, that had been deeply impressed upon his mind, and it was this: Thirty-eight years ago the Elders of the Church had been sent out to buy a tract of land which was known as the San Bernardino ranch. It was purchased and payments made upon it. The best location was selected upon which to build a city—that upon which the town of San Bernardino now stands. Not far away is the city of Riverside, a perfect Garden of Eden in many respects, where there is everything to gladden the heart of man. Everywhere around a picture of surpassing loveliness enchants the eye, and beauty reigns in a wealth of tree and flower. San Bernardino had a quarter of a century of the start of Riverside and thirty years of Redlands, but what is its condition today? It is almost a picture of desolation; fences are down, weeds and decaying vegetation cover the ground, and insects blight the growth of tree and shrub. All around the alkali glistens in the sun as if the land were sown with salt. Has a blight fallen upon San Bernardino, because it has also fallen upon her people? Shall the inhabitants of this glorious mountain valley permit that same spirit of inertia to fall upon them? Shall they cease to beautify their homes, trim their lawns, and plant trees and flowers to gladden the hearts of wives and children? The speaker made a comparison between the condition of this city and Riverside, and urged that the spirit of sloth and carelessness be abandoned. He hoped that by next October the many thousands of acres of untilled land would be made to produce something more than weeds.
The evils of ambition were then taken up. The priests of India, Elder Thatcher said, held that all disease was the result of unsatisfied ambition, and that man being the highest creation of God, his mind should have control over all matter. The latter part of the proposition is a true doctrine, and it is a part of Mormonism. These priests also hold that to do this there must be concentration of thought; it was necessary in its application, such as in healing the sick and such like.
“When I hear the word ‘great’ mentioned in reference to the servants of God,” said the speaker, “it makes me shudder. I think of Alexander, Napoleon, Grant and Lee and others. History has been so written that these men have been marked out as great; but in the life of Jesus Christ every word and act breathes of love and power. One word from Him would have called down the hosts of heaven, but it was not to be. His whole life was one of sacrifice. It is, therefore, goodness we want, not greatness, the crucifying of ambition. The very foundation on which we rest is the principle of vicarious sacrifice. Why do we try to love our neighbor as ourselves? Because in its practice alone is peace and power. There is no greater mistake than to suppose that peace or power will come to us if we become imbued with the spirit of the world.”
Continuing, he said that gold was the god of this world, and because money was recognized as a power men tampered with legislatures and governments with it. The world was bowing down to the golden calf, but the Saints should look to the power of love. A people could not be controlled without love and confidence, even as a father could not control a son without them. Confucius has said that three things essential to the perpetuation of a stable government were an army, a well-fed people and confidence in their rules; that the first could be dispensed with if necessary, the second also, since it was ordained that all had to die, but that if a nation lost confidence in its rulers that nation would perish. Confidence was being lost in the government of this country, as was evidenced by the growth of anarchism, nihilism and other societies, and this was something that the Church should forever prevent as far as lay in its power. He had done business in Cache valley for ten years and never asked a bond nor a mortgage, but trusted to honor and had never lost a cent. He hoped that a change for the better would be instituted in our dealings one with the other, and that the Saints would follow their file leaders as they followed Christ.
Elder Seymour B. Young
spoke on the subject of the redemption of the dead on the same lines as those followed by Elder A. H. Cannon, and he rejoiced exceedingly that the Saints had a Prophet and revelator who gave them the word of God. He bore testimony to the truth of the work and the purity of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
spoke on the subject of the redemption of the dead on the same lines as those followed by Elder A. H. Cannon, and he rejoiced exceedingly that the Saints had a Prophet and revelator who gave them the word of God. He bore testimony to the truth of the work and the purity of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Elder F. D. Richards
aided his testimony to the truth of the words already spoken and said that this was the beginning of the restoration of that which was lost by ancient Israel. He urged the people to be more diligent in tracing their genealogy and performing the duties devolving upon them in behalf of the dead. If they only could see through the veil, a world of anxiety would appear because of the desire the spirits in prison had for the hour of their release to come, and the Saints ought not to shut their eyes to the importance of this great work. Though there were many difficulties in the way at times, everything pertaining to the work of the Lord opens up continuously as the ear of corn does until it is filled with ripeness. In conclusion he called upon the Saints to cherish every virtue that attaches to the family, the Church and the Sate, that all may be steadfast in the principles of government and prepared to act in time of need.
Oh, say what is truth, ‘tis the fairest gem
That the riches of words can produce,
was sung by the congregation, and benediction was pronounced by Elder B. H. Roberts.
aided his testimony to the truth of the words already spoken and said that this was the beginning of the restoration of that which was lost by ancient Israel. He urged the people to be more diligent in tracing their genealogy and performing the duties devolving upon them in behalf of the dead. If they only could see through the veil, a world of anxiety would appear because of the desire the spirits in prison had for the hour of their release to come, and the Saints ought not to shut their eyes to the importance of this great work. Though there were many difficulties in the way at times, everything pertaining to the work of the Lord opens up continuously as the ear of corn does until it is filled with ripeness. In conclusion he called upon the Saints to cherish every virtue that attaches to the family, the Church and the Sate, that all may be steadfast in the principles of government and prepared to act in time of need.
Oh, say what is truth, ‘tis the fairest gem
That the riches of words can produce,
was sung by the congregation, and benediction was pronounced by Elder B. H. Roberts.
At the Tabernacle. 2 p.m.
The anthem, “Let all Israel sing,” was sung by the choir.
Prayer by Elder William W. Cluff.
The choir sang the hymn beginning:
O, my Father, Thou that dwellest
In the high and glorious place.
The anthem, “Let all Israel sing,” was sung by the choir.
Prayer by Elder William W. Cluff.
The choir sang the hymn beginning:
O, my Father, Thou that dwellest
In the high and glorious place.
President George Q. Cannon
took up the thread of the remarks made by him at the morning session and further elaborated the subject of the organizing and binding character of the Gospel, by the power and efficacy of which the whole human family would be placed in perfect order clear up to Father Adam. In this great scheme of redemption no individual, no matter how insignificant he or she might appear to be, would be overlooked. Only those who committed the unpardonable sin would be omitted from the benefits or the divine plan. This great labor devolved upon the Church of Christ, with whose Priesthood there would always be sufficient light from the Lord to conduct it.
The speaker then treated upon the subject of secret organizations, and showed with great clearness that the Church possessed all the organization, power and principles to correct every evil existing in society and was destined to accomplish this mighty reformatory triumph. It was unnecessary for any person claiming to be a Latter-day Saints to seek relief elsewhere. President Cannon also spoke of the system (the United Order) concerning which God had already given revelation, and which would some time when conditions were propitious, be established, and all the children in mortality would finally enjoy its beneficent effects.
took up the thread of the remarks made by him at the morning session and further elaborated the subject of the organizing and binding character of the Gospel, by the power and efficacy of which the whole human family would be placed in perfect order clear up to Father Adam. In this great scheme of redemption no individual, no matter how insignificant he or she might appear to be, would be overlooked. Only those who committed the unpardonable sin would be omitted from the benefits or the divine plan. This great labor devolved upon the Church of Christ, with whose Priesthood there would always be sufficient light from the Lord to conduct it.
The speaker then treated upon the subject of secret organizations, and showed with great clearness that the Church possessed all the organization, power and principles to correct every evil existing in society and was destined to accomplish this mighty reformatory triumph. It was unnecessary for any person claiming to be a Latter-day Saints to seek relief elsewhere. President Cannon also spoke of the system (the United Order) concerning which God had already given revelation, and which would some time when conditions were propitious, be established, and all the children in mortality would finally enjoy its beneficent effects.
The Linking of Generations by the Law of Adoption—Equality in Temporal Affairs and How to Attain It.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, April 8, 1894, by President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
This is an immense congregation, and in order to edify those assembled it will require the presence and assistance of the Spirit of God. It would seem presumptuous for any man to arise to address such an audience of intelligent human beings if he were depending upon himself for that which he should say. I sincerely trust that in the remarks I shall make I may be assisted by the faith and prayers of those who are present.
I look upon this as one of the most interesting conferences that has been held for a long time. It must be gratifying to the Latter-day Saints to receive, as they do, the continued evidences that God is with the people, that He has not forgotten His promises, and that He has the oversight of the affairs of His Church, and regulates and conducts those affairs according to the counsel of His own will. I never attend a meeting where the Spirit of God is manifested in power without feeling profoundly grateful in the reflection that God is with us, and that He condescends to honor us and to testify to the people by giving His Holy Spirit. This, also, brethren and sisters, is a consolation and a comfort that no human tongue can describe: to know by testimony from the Lord that we are in the path that He has marked out for our salvation; to know that we have a standing among the people whom He acknowledges to be His, and that through His condescension we have the communion of the Holy Spirit. It is a consolation to know, when light is needed, when questions arise which require more than human wisdom for their solution, that we have access unto our Great Creator, which He has promised to bestow, we can know and understand for ourselves. What mighty importance attaches to that which was explained to us this morning by President Woodruff! How wide-spread and far-reaching is the ordinance to which allusion was made, by which children will be sealed to their parents, one generation connected with another, and the whole human family be brought within the family of God, to be His recognized and acknowledged sons and daughters are bound together by the power of the everlasting Priesthood and in the new and everlasting covenant which He has given to man. What a glorious system of salvation spreads out before us in the contemplation of that which the Lord has revealed! What a feeling of tenderness and love wells up in our hearts in thinking that we are the children of God, and that we are and shall be bound together by ties that never can be broken! How this draws us together and makes us feel interested in one another! How it causes our souls to expand as wide as eternity; not confining our homes and our labors to any individual, or to any one family, but embracing in our feelings the entire brotherhood of man.
Certainly the Latter-day Saints should be the most thankful of any people upon the face of the earth. You travel throughout the earth and ask the wisest and the most learned what object our Creator had in placing man on the earth, in surrounding him with the circumstances with which he is environed, and what He has in view for him in the future, and who could answer you? I know that religious denominations have their explanations concerning the future; but how unsatisfactory they are! How little there is in them to comfort and cheer, to create hopes and anticipations that are bright! Even the Indian, when he talks about his happy hunting grounds, probably expresses a more cheerful view. In the sectarian world there is vagueness. In the pictures they present as to the future life there is nothing that is really satisfactory. Very few of them believe that these ties which make our human lives so delightful will be perpetuated in the eternity to come. The great majority believe that husbands and wives, parents and children will be nothing to each other in the eternal world; that is, their relations to each other within the family circle will be no more close or definite than their relations to beings without that holy tie. Now, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us that ties are formed here which are eternal in their character; that family associations are created that never can be dissolved; that men and women are bound together for eternity; that man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord; that they have their children; and that the greatest blessing they can enjoy is to have confirmed unto them forever the privileges which they possess in this life. There is something grand in the contemplation of this glorious principle. It gives certainty unto every man and woman who will seek for it. The woman is not lost, the man is not lost. However obscure and insignificant we may be, we cannot be lost sight of. We will be felt after and brought out, unless we have committed unpardonable sins, and somebody will take interest in us. There is no one in the whole family that will be so insignificant as to be forgotten. This creates peculiar feelings in our hearts, and it ought to make the Latter-day Saints a broad and expansive people in their minds, and I have no doubt it will have that effect.
I look for the communication that was made today by our President to have a great effect upon this people. It will stimulate our love for our families. At the same time it will check any feeling of building up anything like tribes among us. It will attach us to our own kindred and race. It will promote the love of race in our hearts, and it will give our children something to live for; for when a man comes of a family that is an honorable family, there is something that appeals to his pride to do nothing that will bring discredit or disgrace upon his name. Our lineage is not known to all of us. We may not know our origin; but this we may be assured of: that we who have received the truth are choice spirits. The Latter-day Saints have shown their integrity their valor, and their independence of character in the midst of contumely and reproach, of persecution and hatred, and the threatened loss, in many instances, of employment, property and life. They have come out from the world and have been indifferent to its popularity. They have espoused the principles of truth and righteousness, and valued them more than any other earthly consideration. Where do you think this nobility of character has come from? It has come from ancestors who obtained promises from God, through their faithfulness, in regard to their posterity. Our ancestors may have come through poverty and obscure channels; and some of them may not have possessed any noted characteristics; but when our ancestry is known it will be found that the noblest men and women of God have been the progenitors of this people. God has chosen us for a great purpose. He has brought us out of the world, has shaped our lives and the lives of our parents, and has thrown around them His providences, for the purpose of bringing a people forward in the last days that would help lay the foundation of His kingdom and be willing to bear every persecution and trial connected with it. Of this I feel assured. I can testify of it, and know it to be so. As we said this morning, the communication which the Lord has designed to give to us through His servant enables us to see how we can honor the ancestry through which we have come, and also prevent the breaking of the ties that should connect us with them, and avoid confusion and disorder in regard to these matters.
There are many things that the Lord will give us revelations about from time to time. He has done this in a marvelous manner thus far. There has been nothing that we have needed for the progress of the Church that has not been given. We have built these Temples, and we are doing a very important work connected with them; and it is necessary that that which we do should be done aright. It is necessary that adoptions should be correctly made. Think how important this is! It affects the whole human family. How important it is that we should know the plan that the Lord wants carried out, and not the plan that man wants! And there will be many things revealed from time to time. You will see difficulties probably in carrying this out, and it will require the wisdom of heaven and word of the Lord to settle points connected with it; but the Lord is able to give the necessary light. His hand will be manifest, and we shall see how good and kind He is to us in making communications upon every point that is necessary for the progress of His work.
There are other matters that I would like to mention this afternoon, if I can get the Spirit to do so. We have heard from President Joseph F. Smith a little concerning secret organizations. I do not know any subject that needs to be spoken upon with greater plainness to the Latter-day Saints than this.
Of course, there are many other things that we need to be warned about. We need to be warned about these false spirits that are going abroad. I do not suppose there ever was a time when there were so many delusive spirits going abroad among the people as at the present time—false Christs, false prophets, and all sorts of things to lead away the people of God. Everything, it is said, will be shaken that can be shaken. God is going to have a pure people. Those who commit sin and persist in it, will lose the Spirit of God and be removed from among the people of God. We may expect that sinners will leave us, and that we shall have men and women falling into the dark because of transgression, but it is our duty, as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and as the shepherds of the flock of Christ, to lift up our voices and warn the people of the dangers there are around them, and to point out the path of safety, that they may not stray away from the flock and be devoured. We therefore feel to warn the Latter-day Saints in regard to these delusive spirits. We warn you to be on your guard, to watch carefully, to pray earnestly, to live in purity, so that you shall have constantly the light of the Spirit of God to be with you. Do not be carried away by every wind of doctrine, nor by deceivers; but listen to the voice of the Spirit of God, which bears testimony to you in your hearts concerning the truths which you hear. You ought to be able to tell the voice of the true Shepherd from all other voices, so that no one assuming sheep’s clothing and professing to be what he is not can deceive you. It is your privilege to recognize the voice of the true Shepherd, and to know by the testimony of Jesus whether that which you are taught is true or not.
There are now many societies being formed that make great professions. They claim to be benevolent societies and to do great good to the people. I have not the least objection to this. I would not say one word to cast any reproach upon any organizations, by whatever name it may be called, that has objects of this character in view. It is not my purpose to decry them. It is not my purpose to belittle philanthropic efforts by individuals or by societies for the welfare of their fellow creatures. The Lord forbid that I should ever do anything of this kind! It is not in that spirit that I allude to these things. But I want to say to the Latter-day Saints that the Lord has organized a system which is perfect in all its details. There is no need to have it supplemented by anything of man’s device. It is that thought which I desire to impress upon the Latter-day Saints. God has founded Zion, and the poor of His people will put their trust in it. There is nothing lacking in this organization. There is no benevolent society that exists, or that can be formed by human beings, that will reach the wants of the children of men as effectively as the organization which the Lord has given to us, and of which we now are a part. I know that there are men who have very plausible and attractive ideas concerning the evils that exist in society and the manner of correcting them. Attempts to correct them have been made for years and years; but they have not resulted successfully. I can state, without the least fear of successful contradiction, that the Latter-day Saints have done more as an organized society towards redeeming the people and correcting the evils that exist in society, and under which society groans, than any other organization on the face of the earth. I make that statement with a full understanding on my peart of its meaning and extent. And that which we have done is only the beginning of that which we propose to do in the Lord’s good time. The Lord has not left us in ignorance concerning these matters. This doctrine of equality that the anarchists, nihilists, socialists and such people dwell upon (some of them are resorting to the most dreadful violence to carry out their schemes), is understood by us, for the Lord has revealed to us how and to what extent it shall be fulfilled. He has given us the law with a great deal of plainness. but we are not prepared to carry it out. The leaders of the people are doing their best in teaching the people the primary principles of equality; but it will take time, it will take the power of God, it will take circumstances that will almost compel us to adopt that which God has revealed, in order to carry out that which He has laid before us as a duty that we must perform. I want to say to you that the day will come—and it will be brought about the Latter-day Saints—when there will be such an equality in all things among us that there will be no want, no deficiency of any element necessary for one man will not have more than he can use and another man be destitute. We are aiming at that, my brethren and sisters, and we are the only people, I am free to say, that can entertain the least hope that they will ever accomplish it. There secret organizations may throw down thrones; they may destroy dynasties; they may cause blood to flow in torrents; but they will never accomplish this reform that we shall achieve, and that, too, by peaceful methods—by the operation of laws which God has made plain, so plain that, as the Bible says, a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.
The Lord has given enough to the earth to make all its inhabitants happy. There is no element that is not in sufficient abundance for all. And it is contrary to the will of God, so He has revealed to us, that one man shall possess so much above another—one wallow in luxury while his neighbor goes destitute. He has taught us the way by which this shall be corrected. This being the case, shall we turn our eyes from the Zion of God in this or in the other direction, looking for something better? If we do, we despise the wisdom and counsel of God; we throw aside that which He has revealed in the greatest plainness, and we turn our backs upon the history and experience of this people.
Let me say to you that it is in vain for men to endeavor to patch up systems to remedy the existing evils. They have not the wisdom to do it. You can see the condition of the world in consequence of man’s wisdom being exercised. On every hand there is confusion, turmoil, strife. There is poverty and misery on one hand and luxury and a superabundance on the other hand. This is not right, and it will be corrected. How? Well, the Lord attempted it in the early days of this Church; but the people did not have faith. He is now schooling us. We shall have faith sooner or later, and we shall be chastened probably till we do it. I do not want to prophesy any evil concerning Zion. I do not want to threaten. I have none of the spirit of gloom about me connected with Zion. I feel to prophesy good always about Zion. But the Lord will bring us through circumstances that will open our eyes, and cause us to see the value of the counsel that He has given to us. We should teach it to our children. We must unlearn the traditions that we have received from our fathers. Those traditions teach us that it is the duty of each one to look out for himself and to care but little for his neighbor. We have got to unlearn that lesson. We have got to live for the benefit of all. But, like all benefactors, in doing so we shall very likely be misjudged. Did you ever see a man that was a benefactor, from the Lord Jesus down, that was not loaded with opprobrium, and misunderstood? Jesus set the example of self-sacrifice. What a life His was! The Redeemer of the world, coming down from the mansions of glory, taking upon himself mortality, living in humility, and doing all that He could for man’s redemption; yet He was hung upon the cross, crucified between two thieves! So it has been, to a greater or less extent, with every man that has attempted to benefit his fellowman. He must expect to be misunderstood, to be misrepresented, and to have his motives traduced. He must not expect to have the love of those he is trying to save. He may have a little of it; but men are so ungrateful by nature that they do not recognize their true benefactors. It requires the Spirit of God to enlighten the mind. You Bishops who have labored incessantly; you Presidents of Stakes, you Apostles, and all who have labored among the people, you know by experience that your labors are not appreciated as they ought to be, that your motives are frequently misunderstood and traduced, and you have to labor with the expectation of getting reward from the Lord and with the satisfaction of having the approval of your conscience. So it is in relation to this whole people. We are the benefactors of mankind; but we do not get credit for that which we are doing. We need not expect to get the praise of the world, or even ordinary credit. Nevertheless, the labor devolves upon us. We shall, doubtless, see evidences of selfishness in carrying it out, and advantage will be taken by one and another before this system can be fairly introduced among the children of men.
In these remarks I refer to what is known among us as the United Order. I know that many have thought that this has passed off; that it is a phantasy, an idea that cannot be carried out; that it is impossible, as human nature is constituted, to make it practical. Probably many among us entertain that idea. But I can assure you that this is not the case. It is the plan that God has devised, and I want to hold it up before you if I can, so that you will see it and understand that God has devised a plan that is far superior to that which men have concocted. And it can be and will be carried out. By what means has Satan power today over the hearts of the children of men? It is by the misuse of this world’s goods. Would there be any thieving if men did not have property as it is now? Here is what the Lord said sixty years ago:
It is wisdom in me; therefore, a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall organize yourselves and appoint every man his stewardship.
That every man may give an account unto me of his stewardship which is appointed unto him;
For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as stewards over earthly blessings, which I have made the prepared for my creatures.
I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth as a very handy work, and all things therein are mine.
And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine;
But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low;
For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.
Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not of his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.
He will go with the rich man under whose table Lazarus would pick the crumbs that fell, and whose dogs licked the sores of the poor man. Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom; but the rich man, as this says, lifted up his eyes in torment, being in hell.
In another part of the revelation the Lord says:
And again, a commandment I give unto you concerning your stewardship which I have appointed unto you.
Behold, all these properties are mine, or else your faith is vain, and ye are found hypocrites, and the covenants which ye have made unto me are broken;
And if the properties are mine, then ye are stewards, otherwise ye are not stewards.
But, verily I say unto you, I have appointed unto you to be stewards over mine house, even stewards indeed;
And all moneys that you receive in your stewardships, by improving upon the properties which I have appointed unto you, in houses, or in lands, or in cattle, or in all things save it be the holy and sacred writings, which I have reserved unto myself for holy and sacred purposes, shall be cast into the treasury as fast as you receive moneys, by hundreds, or by fifties, or by twenties, or by tens, or by fives;
Or in other words, if any man among you obtain five talents, (dollars,) let him cast them into the treasury; or if he obtain ten, or twenty, or fifty, or an hundred, let him do likewise;
And let not any man among you say that it is his own, for it shall not be called his, nor any part of it;
And there shall not any part of it be used, or taken out of the treasury, only by the voice and common consent of the order,
And this shall be the voice and common consent of the order, that any man among you say unto the treasurer, I have need of this to help men in my stewardship;
If it be five talents, (dollars,) or if it be ten talents, (dollars,) or twenty, or fifty, or an hundred, the treasurer shall give unto him the sum which he requires, to help him in his stewardship.
Until he be found a transgressor, and it is manifest before the council of the order plainly that he is an unfaithful and an unwise steward;
But so long as he is in full fellowship, and is faithful, and wise in his stewardship, this shall be his token unto the treasurer, that the treasurer shall not withhold.
This is the plan that the Lord has devised. Will this be abused? Some men say, “Yes; the men that are wise and prudent, and good managers will work for the rest, and the idle man and the poor manager will derive the benefit.” That is the argument used. But the Lord who has devised this plan will be able to provide means to carry it out successfully. On what principle can you make men equal in earthly things, you make men equal in heavenly things, unless it is upon some such principle as this? Here are men who have labored their entire life for the benefit of this people. Are they any poorer for it? Here is the oldest man among us, the people’s leader, the longest in the service of God—Wilford Woodruff—who for years and years worked in his Apostleship and never drew a dollar to support himself or his family. Here is Lorenzo Snow, eighty years of age, who did likewise. Ask these two veterans in the cause of God if they have not worked incessantly and without thought about themselves for the work of God, supporting their families as best they could; and ask them if God has not blessed them abundantly for all they have done. Do they begrudge the labor they have bestowed upon this people? And when I allude to them I also allude to their predecessors, from Joseph down, who labored night and day, in season and out of season, for the benefit of the people. Have they lost anything by it? No, they have not. God has been with them, and has rewarded them. So it will be whenever we carry out this Order. There will be men, doubtless, that will labor harder and to greater profit than others; but God will reward them, because they are carrying out His purposes and seeking to elevate their fellow beings, laboring with an eye single to the glory of God and the salvation of the human family.
I do now know that you understand how this will be done. Suppose that we have our stewardships appointed to us, each according to his family. That was the order. Edward Partridge as the Bishop of the Church, was instructed in very early days to assign to the people property, each according to his family. Now, a man takes his stewardship. He has his land, his cattle, his horses, or whatever his vocation requires. It is assigned to him. He manages it, and makes a profit on it. Is that profit his? No; that goes to the treasury, for the benefit of others who may need. But suppose he is a wise steward. He manages his affairs in a way to bring profit. He wants more capital. When this is brought before the council of the Order, and it is allowed to him, if the circumstances are such as to admit of it, he makes increase with that also. But he does not build himself up. He does not take all the profit of that business and consume it upon his own family. He does not take it and build fine houses, or spend it one horses and carriages, or on elaborate furnishings. He does not do this, only so far as will be compatible with the general weal. All will be built up together. But will all under these circumstances, have the same? If this Order were established, would every man have the same sized house, the same sized garden or field, the same number of fruit trees, or the same number of cows? Why, no. That is not the equality that the Lord means. The Lord will give to us according to our circumstances and our wants. Some families will be larger than others. Some men will need more cows than others. Some men’s business will require more horses than other men’s business will. In this way there will be differences. Then there will also be diversified circumstances. Every man will have the opportunity of exercising all his talents. There will be no restriction. He will have the opportunity for the exercise of the most commanding talents. The field will be before him, and he will have means to carry out His purposes and plans, if they be wise and such as his brethren will think prudent and judicious. Thus the poor will have their wants supplied, and there will be no want in the land. The equality which the Lord teaches us to look for is this:
And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, or the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just;
And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talents, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church.
So that each man in his stewardship will not laboring for himself; he will be laboring for the whole, every man and woman being looked after, having a common interest, through inheritance, from our Great Creator, who created this earth for us. He did not create it for a few, not for a class, not for an aristocracy, not for monopolists; but for every one of us, each of us having an equal claim on the elements, and all laboring for the whole human family. Every want supplied, every proper desire of the heart gratified, until misery will flee from the face of this fair earth, until want will be unknown, until the cry of the widow and the fatherless and the distressed will not be heard in the land. The heavens will not be pierced with the cries of suffering humanity, and neither man nor beast will be destitute of that which is good for him. This is the plan which God has devised. It may require what many trained as we have been under the old and existing conditions may look upon as sacrifices to bring it about; but it will come; for God has devised it, and it is the only plan by which we can ever get into the celestial kingdom and become joint heirs with Jesus Christ. He has set us the example of deserting all things in the heavens, leaving His power and high estate to come down here and suffer for his brethren and sisters. We must look to Him and follow him.
The lesson that I would like to impress upon our hearts—for in speaking to you I speak to myself—is, let us teach our children these principles; let us teach them that they are in the earth, not to labor for their own gratification, and to accumulate wealth for themselves, but to benefit humanity, to be a blessing to their race, to fill the earth as far as they can with gladness by their presence, that we may raise an unselfish race of men, men that will have higher aspirations and aims than the mere gratification of their personal wants, passions and appetites. Teach the children self-denial. It is a thing that is much needed among us. Brethren and sisters, I want to say to you that as sure as God lives this Order will be brought about; and it will be with us as it was with the children of Israel who came out of Egypt—if we do not do it we will be removed, and a generation will be raised up that will do it; for God is going to carry out His purposes, and no power can prevent it. Remember the condition of the children of Israel and what befell them. Their carcasses fell by the roadside in the wilderness, because they would not come up to the standard that God had revealed. They not only perished, but the Melchisedek Priesthood was taken from their midst, and everyone over twenty years of age that came out of Egypt, laid down his life in the wilderness. We do not want to be in this condition. We want to live, and our children to live, and to be the heirs of all the ages. We want to lay the foundation of this great work in this manner; for it is the great reform that cries aloud to be carried out among mankind at the present time.
Our circumstances at present do not admit of our entering upon these things. There are many changes that will have to occur in order to make that which I have said unto you practical. Laws perhaps will have to be changed, because they might interfere with this now; and it might not be wisdom for us under the present circumstances. I do not speak of this because I think it ought to be carried out immediately. I do not want you to go away from this Conference with the idea that I, as one of the First Presidency, am giving counsel to you to carry out the United Order. What I have desired to do is to draw your attention to the fact that God has revealed a plan, and that you need not go after every will-o’-the-wisp, every false guide, every deceptive light that may appear, and think, “Oh! if I join this, we shall have the millennium right off.” I speak on this to warn you; to put you on your guard; to show you that the Lord’s plan is broad enough to cover the whole subject and to furnish all the relief that could ever be desired by human beings. I trust that we will be a stable people. We have the credit in the world for being united; and I would say to you, do not act unwisely and foolishly. When you hear any new doctrines, political as well as religious, do not be deluded by them and run after them; but maintain your steadfastness. You have divided on party lines. Do not split up into fragments because you have done this. Do not think you are manifesting your independence by cutting loose from everything; but be a stable and a conservative people, and act up to your convictions. Maintain the influence that God has given you, and by your wise course cause it to increase in the land, so that men from all parts of our nation will look towards this community and say, “There in the Rocky mountains the Mormon people live; they are a reliable people; they mind their own business, pay their debts, are punctual in their engagements, are an honest people, are not all the time running after office, but are content to maintain good government.” Let us get a character of this kind. We have it to some extent, and let us maintain it. I want to say that whenever you see men aspiring for office and planning to get office, do not encourage them. Let the office seek the man, and let us not be plotting and resorting to all sorts of dodges to secure success to our party, in order that some of us may get into office. Such arts are despicable. They are the arts of the low politician. We want to stand on a higher plane, and look at these things as men who have been enlightened by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and try to maintain our credit; for I say to you, that the people in Washington or in Kane County in the south, or in Cache or Rich County in the north, or anywhere else in the territory, cannot be guilty of folly without its reflecting on the entire people of God. We are a part of a great whole in that respect; and the Saints in Idaho or Arizona can do foolish things and entail a great deal of trouble upon the Church in this country because of their want of wisdom. Therefore, be wise. Why do I say this? If you get into trouble, to whom do you come? You know how it has been in our troubles that commenced nine years ago. We looked all around and where could we see friends? To whom could we appeal? Why, the eyes of this people turned to the men who were their leaders, who had planted these settlements in these mountains, and who had made everything successful that they had put their hands to. The people appealed to them to know what they should do. So it will be always when there is trouble. Therefore, it is the duty of leading men to counsel the people in wisdom—not to take away the people’s agency—to avoid snares and to pursue a course that will avert trouble, so that we will not have burdens to bear. I do not say this because of any desire to interfere in the least with political matters, but to give you a little counsel on these points.
I pray God to bless you and to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and to help you to remember the excellent instructions you have heard during this Conference, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, April 8, 1894, by President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
This is an immense congregation, and in order to edify those assembled it will require the presence and assistance of the Spirit of God. It would seem presumptuous for any man to arise to address such an audience of intelligent human beings if he were depending upon himself for that which he should say. I sincerely trust that in the remarks I shall make I may be assisted by the faith and prayers of those who are present.
I look upon this as one of the most interesting conferences that has been held for a long time. It must be gratifying to the Latter-day Saints to receive, as they do, the continued evidences that God is with the people, that He has not forgotten His promises, and that He has the oversight of the affairs of His Church, and regulates and conducts those affairs according to the counsel of His own will. I never attend a meeting where the Spirit of God is manifested in power without feeling profoundly grateful in the reflection that God is with us, and that He condescends to honor us and to testify to the people by giving His Holy Spirit. This, also, brethren and sisters, is a consolation and a comfort that no human tongue can describe: to know by testimony from the Lord that we are in the path that He has marked out for our salvation; to know that we have a standing among the people whom He acknowledges to be His, and that through His condescension we have the communion of the Holy Spirit. It is a consolation to know, when light is needed, when questions arise which require more than human wisdom for their solution, that we have access unto our Great Creator, which He has promised to bestow, we can know and understand for ourselves. What mighty importance attaches to that which was explained to us this morning by President Woodruff! How wide-spread and far-reaching is the ordinance to which allusion was made, by which children will be sealed to their parents, one generation connected with another, and the whole human family be brought within the family of God, to be His recognized and acknowledged sons and daughters are bound together by the power of the everlasting Priesthood and in the new and everlasting covenant which He has given to man. What a glorious system of salvation spreads out before us in the contemplation of that which the Lord has revealed! What a feeling of tenderness and love wells up in our hearts in thinking that we are the children of God, and that we are and shall be bound together by ties that never can be broken! How this draws us together and makes us feel interested in one another! How it causes our souls to expand as wide as eternity; not confining our homes and our labors to any individual, or to any one family, but embracing in our feelings the entire brotherhood of man.
Certainly the Latter-day Saints should be the most thankful of any people upon the face of the earth. You travel throughout the earth and ask the wisest and the most learned what object our Creator had in placing man on the earth, in surrounding him with the circumstances with which he is environed, and what He has in view for him in the future, and who could answer you? I know that religious denominations have their explanations concerning the future; but how unsatisfactory they are! How little there is in them to comfort and cheer, to create hopes and anticipations that are bright! Even the Indian, when he talks about his happy hunting grounds, probably expresses a more cheerful view. In the sectarian world there is vagueness. In the pictures they present as to the future life there is nothing that is really satisfactory. Very few of them believe that these ties which make our human lives so delightful will be perpetuated in the eternity to come. The great majority believe that husbands and wives, parents and children will be nothing to each other in the eternal world; that is, their relations to each other within the family circle will be no more close or definite than their relations to beings without that holy tie. Now, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us that ties are formed here which are eternal in their character; that family associations are created that never can be dissolved; that men and women are bound together for eternity; that man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord; that they have their children; and that the greatest blessing they can enjoy is to have confirmed unto them forever the privileges which they possess in this life. There is something grand in the contemplation of this glorious principle. It gives certainty unto every man and woman who will seek for it. The woman is not lost, the man is not lost. However obscure and insignificant we may be, we cannot be lost sight of. We will be felt after and brought out, unless we have committed unpardonable sins, and somebody will take interest in us. There is no one in the whole family that will be so insignificant as to be forgotten. This creates peculiar feelings in our hearts, and it ought to make the Latter-day Saints a broad and expansive people in their minds, and I have no doubt it will have that effect.
I look for the communication that was made today by our President to have a great effect upon this people. It will stimulate our love for our families. At the same time it will check any feeling of building up anything like tribes among us. It will attach us to our own kindred and race. It will promote the love of race in our hearts, and it will give our children something to live for; for when a man comes of a family that is an honorable family, there is something that appeals to his pride to do nothing that will bring discredit or disgrace upon his name. Our lineage is not known to all of us. We may not know our origin; but this we may be assured of: that we who have received the truth are choice spirits. The Latter-day Saints have shown their integrity their valor, and their independence of character in the midst of contumely and reproach, of persecution and hatred, and the threatened loss, in many instances, of employment, property and life. They have come out from the world and have been indifferent to its popularity. They have espoused the principles of truth and righteousness, and valued them more than any other earthly consideration. Where do you think this nobility of character has come from? It has come from ancestors who obtained promises from God, through their faithfulness, in regard to their posterity. Our ancestors may have come through poverty and obscure channels; and some of them may not have possessed any noted characteristics; but when our ancestry is known it will be found that the noblest men and women of God have been the progenitors of this people. God has chosen us for a great purpose. He has brought us out of the world, has shaped our lives and the lives of our parents, and has thrown around them His providences, for the purpose of bringing a people forward in the last days that would help lay the foundation of His kingdom and be willing to bear every persecution and trial connected with it. Of this I feel assured. I can testify of it, and know it to be so. As we said this morning, the communication which the Lord has designed to give to us through His servant enables us to see how we can honor the ancestry through which we have come, and also prevent the breaking of the ties that should connect us with them, and avoid confusion and disorder in regard to these matters.
There are many things that the Lord will give us revelations about from time to time. He has done this in a marvelous manner thus far. There has been nothing that we have needed for the progress of the Church that has not been given. We have built these Temples, and we are doing a very important work connected with them; and it is necessary that that which we do should be done aright. It is necessary that adoptions should be correctly made. Think how important this is! It affects the whole human family. How important it is that we should know the plan that the Lord wants carried out, and not the plan that man wants! And there will be many things revealed from time to time. You will see difficulties probably in carrying this out, and it will require the wisdom of heaven and word of the Lord to settle points connected with it; but the Lord is able to give the necessary light. His hand will be manifest, and we shall see how good and kind He is to us in making communications upon every point that is necessary for the progress of His work.
There are other matters that I would like to mention this afternoon, if I can get the Spirit to do so. We have heard from President Joseph F. Smith a little concerning secret organizations. I do not know any subject that needs to be spoken upon with greater plainness to the Latter-day Saints than this.
Of course, there are many other things that we need to be warned about. We need to be warned about these false spirits that are going abroad. I do not suppose there ever was a time when there were so many delusive spirits going abroad among the people as at the present time—false Christs, false prophets, and all sorts of things to lead away the people of God. Everything, it is said, will be shaken that can be shaken. God is going to have a pure people. Those who commit sin and persist in it, will lose the Spirit of God and be removed from among the people of God. We may expect that sinners will leave us, and that we shall have men and women falling into the dark because of transgression, but it is our duty, as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and as the shepherds of the flock of Christ, to lift up our voices and warn the people of the dangers there are around them, and to point out the path of safety, that they may not stray away from the flock and be devoured. We therefore feel to warn the Latter-day Saints in regard to these delusive spirits. We warn you to be on your guard, to watch carefully, to pray earnestly, to live in purity, so that you shall have constantly the light of the Spirit of God to be with you. Do not be carried away by every wind of doctrine, nor by deceivers; but listen to the voice of the Spirit of God, which bears testimony to you in your hearts concerning the truths which you hear. You ought to be able to tell the voice of the true Shepherd from all other voices, so that no one assuming sheep’s clothing and professing to be what he is not can deceive you. It is your privilege to recognize the voice of the true Shepherd, and to know by the testimony of Jesus whether that which you are taught is true or not.
There are now many societies being formed that make great professions. They claim to be benevolent societies and to do great good to the people. I have not the least objection to this. I would not say one word to cast any reproach upon any organizations, by whatever name it may be called, that has objects of this character in view. It is not my purpose to decry them. It is not my purpose to belittle philanthropic efforts by individuals or by societies for the welfare of their fellow creatures. The Lord forbid that I should ever do anything of this kind! It is not in that spirit that I allude to these things. But I want to say to the Latter-day Saints that the Lord has organized a system which is perfect in all its details. There is no need to have it supplemented by anything of man’s device. It is that thought which I desire to impress upon the Latter-day Saints. God has founded Zion, and the poor of His people will put their trust in it. There is nothing lacking in this organization. There is no benevolent society that exists, or that can be formed by human beings, that will reach the wants of the children of men as effectively as the organization which the Lord has given to us, and of which we now are a part. I know that there are men who have very plausible and attractive ideas concerning the evils that exist in society and the manner of correcting them. Attempts to correct them have been made for years and years; but they have not resulted successfully. I can state, without the least fear of successful contradiction, that the Latter-day Saints have done more as an organized society towards redeeming the people and correcting the evils that exist in society, and under which society groans, than any other organization on the face of the earth. I make that statement with a full understanding on my peart of its meaning and extent. And that which we have done is only the beginning of that which we propose to do in the Lord’s good time. The Lord has not left us in ignorance concerning these matters. This doctrine of equality that the anarchists, nihilists, socialists and such people dwell upon (some of them are resorting to the most dreadful violence to carry out their schemes), is understood by us, for the Lord has revealed to us how and to what extent it shall be fulfilled. He has given us the law with a great deal of plainness. but we are not prepared to carry it out. The leaders of the people are doing their best in teaching the people the primary principles of equality; but it will take time, it will take the power of God, it will take circumstances that will almost compel us to adopt that which God has revealed, in order to carry out that which He has laid before us as a duty that we must perform. I want to say to you that the day will come—and it will be brought about the Latter-day Saints—when there will be such an equality in all things among us that there will be no want, no deficiency of any element necessary for one man will not have more than he can use and another man be destitute. We are aiming at that, my brethren and sisters, and we are the only people, I am free to say, that can entertain the least hope that they will ever accomplish it. There secret organizations may throw down thrones; they may destroy dynasties; they may cause blood to flow in torrents; but they will never accomplish this reform that we shall achieve, and that, too, by peaceful methods—by the operation of laws which God has made plain, so plain that, as the Bible says, a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.
The Lord has given enough to the earth to make all its inhabitants happy. There is no element that is not in sufficient abundance for all. And it is contrary to the will of God, so He has revealed to us, that one man shall possess so much above another—one wallow in luxury while his neighbor goes destitute. He has taught us the way by which this shall be corrected. This being the case, shall we turn our eyes from the Zion of God in this or in the other direction, looking for something better? If we do, we despise the wisdom and counsel of God; we throw aside that which He has revealed in the greatest plainness, and we turn our backs upon the history and experience of this people.
Let me say to you that it is in vain for men to endeavor to patch up systems to remedy the existing evils. They have not the wisdom to do it. You can see the condition of the world in consequence of man’s wisdom being exercised. On every hand there is confusion, turmoil, strife. There is poverty and misery on one hand and luxury and a superabundance on the other hand. This is not right, and it will be corrected. How? Well, the Lord attempted it in the early days of this Church; but the people did not have faith. He is now schooling us. We shall have faith sooner or later, and we shall be chastened probably till we do it. I do not want to prophesy any evil concerning Zion. I do not want to threaten. I have none of the spirit of gloom about me connected with Zion. I feel to prophesy good always about Zion. But the Lord will bring us through circumstances that will open our eyes, and cause us to see the value of the counsel that He has given to us. We should teach it to our children. We must unlearn the traditions that we have received from our fathers. Those traditions teach us that it is the duty of each one to look out for himself and to care but little for his neighbor. We have got to unlearn that lesson. We have got to live for the benefit of all. But, like all benefactors, in doing so we shall very likely be misjudged. Did you ever see a man that was a benefactor, from the Lord Jesus down, that was not loaded with opprobrium, and misunderstood? Jesus set the example of self-sacrifice. What a life His was! The Redeemer of the world, coming down from the mansions of glory, taking upon himself mortality, living in humility, and doing all that He could for man’s redemption; yet He was hung upon the cross, crucified between two thieves! So it has been, to a greater or less extent, with every man that has attempted to benefit his fellowman. He must expect to be misunderstood, to be misrepresented, and to have his motives traduced. He must not expect to have the love of those he is trying to save. He may have a little of it; but men are so ungrateful by nature that they do not recognize their true benefactors. It requires the Spirit of God to enlighten the mind. You Bishops who have labored incessantly; you Presidents of Stakes, you Apostles, and all who have labored among the people, you know by experience that your labors are not appreciated as they ought to be, that your motives are frequently misunderstood and traduced, and you have to labor with the expectation of getting reward from the Lord and with the satisfaction of having the approval of your conscience. So it is in relation to this whole people. We are the benefactors of mankind; but we do not get credit for that which we are doing. We need not expect to get the praise of the world, or even ordinary credit. Nevertheless, the labor devolves upon us. We shall, doubtless, see evidences of selfishness in carrying it out, and advantage will be taken by one and another before this system can be fairly introduced among the children of men.
In these remarks I refer to what is known among us as the United Order. I know that many have thought that this has passed off; that it is a phantasy, an idea that cannot be carried out; that it is impossible, as human nature is constituted, to make it practical. Probably many among us entertain that idea. But I can assure you that this is not the case. It is the plan that God has devised, and I want to hold it up before you if I can, so that you will see it and understand that God has devised a plan that is far superior to that which men have concocted. And it can be and will be carried out. By what means has Satan power today over the hearts of the children of men? It is by the misuse of this world’s goods. Would there be any thieving if men did not have property as it is now? Here is what the Lord said sixty years ago:
It is wisdom in me; therefore, a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall organize yourselves and appoint every man his stewardship.
That every man may give an account unto me of his stewardship which is appointed unto him;
For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as stewards over earthly blessings, which I have made the prepared for my creatures.
I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth as a very handy work, and all things therein are mine.
And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine;
But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low;
For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.
Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not of his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.
He will go with the rich man under whose table Lazarus would pick the crumbs that fell, and whose dogs licked the sores of the poor man. Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom; but the rich man, as this says, lifted up his eyes in torment, being in hell.
In another part of the revelation the Lord says:
And again, a commandment I give unto you concerning your stewardship which I have appointed unto you.
Behold, all these properties are mine, or else your faith is vain, and ye are found hypocrites, and the covenants which ye have made unto me are broken;
And if the properties are mine, then ye are stewards, otherwise ye are not stewards.
But, verily I say unto you, I have appointed unto you to be stewards over mine house, even stewards indeed;
And all moneys that you receive in your stewardships, by improving upon the properties which I have appointed unto you, in houses, or in lands, or in cattle, or in all things save it be the holy and sacred writings, which I have reserved unto myself for holy and sacred purposes, shall be cast into the treasury as fast as you receive moneys, by hundreds, or by fifties, or by twenties, or by tens, or by fives;
Or in other words, if any man among you obtain five talents, (dollars,) let him cast them into the treasury; or if he obtain ten, or twenty, or fifty, or an hundred, let him do likewise;
And let not any man among you say that it is his own, for it shall not be called his, nor any part of it;
And there shall not any part of it be used, or taken out of the treasury, only by the voice and common consent of the order,
And this shall be the voice and common consent of the order, that any man among you say unto the treasurer, I have need of this to help men in my stewardship;
If it be five talents, (dollars,) or if it be ten talents, (dollars,) or twenty, or fifty, or an hundred, the treasurer shall give unto him the sum which he requires, to help him in his stewardship.
Until he be found a transgressor, and it is manifest before the council of the order plainly that he is an unfaithful and an unwise steward;
But so long as he is in full fellowship, and is faithful, and wise in his stewardship, this shall be his token unto the treasurer, that the treasurer shall not withhold.
This is the plan that the Lord has devised. Will this be abused? Some men say, “Yes; the men that are wise and prudent, and good managers will work for the rest, and the idle man and the poor manager will derive the benefit.” That is the argument used. But the Lord who has devised this plan will be able to provide means to carry it out successfully. On what principle can you make men equal in earthly things, you make men equal in heavenly things, unless it is upon some such principle as this? Here are men who have labored their entire life for the benefit of this people. Are they any poorer for it? Here is the oldest man among us, the people’s leader, the longest in the service of God—Wilford Woodruff—who for years and years worked in his Apostleship and never drew a dollar to support himself or his family. Here is Lorenzo Snow, eighty years of age, who did likewise. Ask these two veterans in the cause of God if they have not worked incessantly and without thought about themselves for the work of God, supporting their families as best they could; and ask them if God has not blessed them abundantly for all they have done. Do they begrudge the labor they have bestowed upon this people? And when I allude to them I also allude to their predecessors, from Joseph down, who labored night and day, in season and out of season, for the benefit of the people. Have they lost anything by it? No, they have not. God has been with them, and has rewarded them. So it will be whenever we carry out this Order. There will be men, doubtless, that will labor harder and to greater profit than others; but God will reward them, because they are carrying out His purposes and seeking to elevate their fellow beings, laboring with an eye single to the glory of God and the salvation of the human family.
I do now know that you understand how this will be done. Suppose that we have our stewardships appointed to us, each according to his family. That was the order. Edward Partridge as the Bishop of the Church, was instructed in very early days to assign to the people property, each according to his family. Now, a man takes his stewardship. He has his land, his cattle, his horses, or whatever his vocation requires. It is assigned to him. He manages it, and makes a profit on it. Is that profit his? No; that goes to the treasury, for the benefit of others who may need. But suppose he is a wise steward. He manages his affairs in a way to bring profit. He wants more capital. When this is brought before the council of the Order, and it is allowed to him, if the circumstances are such as to admit of it, he makes increase with that also. But he does not build himself up. He does not take all the profit of that business and consume it upon his own family. He does not take it and build fine houses, or spend it one horses and carriages, or on elaborate furnishings. He does not do this, only so far as will be compatible with the general weal. All will be built up together. But will all under these circumstances, have the same? If this Order were established, would every man have the same sized house, the same sized garden or field, the same number of fruit trees, or the same number of cows? Why, no. That is not the equality that the Lord means. The Lord will give to us according to our circumstances and our wants. Some families will be larger than others. Some men will need more cows than others. Some men’s business will require more horses than other men’s business will. In this way there will be differences. Then there will also be diversified circumstances. Every man will have the opportunity of exercising all his talents. There will be no restriction. He will have the opportunity for the exercise of the most commanding talents. The field will be before him, and he will have means to carry out His purposes and plans, if they be wise and such as his brethren will think prudent and judicious. Thus the poor will have their wants supplied, and there will be no want in the land. The equality which the Lord teaches us to look for is this:
And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, or the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just;
And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talents, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church.
So that each man in his stewardship will not laboring for himself; he will be laboring for the whole, every man and woman being looked after, having a common interest, through inheritance, from our Great Creator, who created this earth for us. He did not create it for a few, not for a class, not for an aristocracy, not for monopolists; but for every one of us, each of us having an equal claim on the elements, and all laboring for the whole human family. Every want supplied, every proper desire of the heart gratified, until misery will flee from the face of this fair earth, until want will be unknown, until the cry of the widow and the fatherless and the distressed will not be heard in the land. The heavens will not be pierced with the cries of suffering humanity, and neither man nor beast will be destitute of that which is good for him. This is the plan which God has devised. It may require what many trained as we have been under the old and existing conditions may look upon as sacrifices to bring it about; but it will come; for God has devised it, and it is the only plan by which we can ever get into the celestial kingdom and become joint heirs with Jesus Christ. He has set us the example of deserting all things in the heavens, leaving His power and high estate to come down here and suffer for his brethren and sisters. We must look to Him and follow him.
The lesson that I would like to impress upon our hearts—for in speaking to you I speak to myself—is, let us teach our children these principles; let us teach them that they are in the earth, not to labor for their own gratification, and to accumulate wealth for themselves, but to benefit humanity, to be a blessing to their race, to fill the earth as far as they can with gladness by their presence, that we may raise an unselfish race of men, men that will have higher aspirations and aims than the mere gratification of their personal wants, passions and appetites. Teach the children self-denial. It is a thing that is much needed among us. Brethren and sisters, I want to say to you that as sure as God lives this Order will be brought about; and it will be with us as it was with the children of Israel who came out of Egypt—if we do not do it we will be removed, and a generation will be raised up that will do it; for God is going to carry out His purposes, and no power can prevent it. Remember the condition of the children of Israel and what befell them. Their carcasses fell by the roadside in the wilderness, because they would not come up to the standard that God had revealed. They not only perished, but the Melchisedek Priesthood was taken from their midst, and everyone over twenty years of age that came out of Egypt, laid down his life in the wilderness. We do not want to be in this condition. We want to live, and our children to live, and to be the heirs of all the ages. We want to lay the foundation of this great work in this manner; for it is the great reform that cries aloud to be carried out among mankind at the present time.
Our circumstances at present do not admit of our entering upon these things. There are many changes that will have to occur in order to make that which I have said unto you practical. Laws perhaps will have to be changed, because they might interfere with this now; and it might not be wisdom for us under the present circumstances. I do not speak of this because I think it ought to be carried out immediately. I do not want you to go away from this Conference with the idea that I, as one of the First Presidency, am giving counsel to you to carry out the United Order. What I have desired to do is to draw your attention to the fact that God has revealed a plan, and that you need not go after every will-o’-the-wisp, every false guide, every deceptive light that may appear, and think, “Oh! if I join this, we shall have the millennium right off.” I speak on this to warn you; to put you on your guard; to show you that the Lord’s plan is broad enough to cover the whole subject and to furnish all the relief that could ever be desired by human beings. I trust that we will be a stable people. We have the credit in the world for being united; and I would say to you, do not act unwisely and foolishly. When you hear any new doctrines, political as well as religious, do not be deluded by them and run after them; but maintain your steadfastness. You have divided on party lines. Do not split up into fragments because you have done this. Do not think you are manifesting your independence by cutting loose from everything; but be a stable and a conservative people, and act up to your convictions. Maintain the influence that God has given you, and by your wise course cause it to increase in the land, so that men from all parts of our nation will look towards this community and say, “There in the Rocky mountains the Mormon people live; they are a reliable people; they mind their own business, pay their debts, are punctual in their engagements, are an honest people, are not all the time running after office, but are content to maintain good government.” Let us get a character of this kind. We have it to some extent, and let us maintain it. I want to say that whenever you see men aspiring for office and planning to get office, do not encourage them. Let the office seek the man, and let us not be plotting and resorting to all sorts of dodges to secure success to our party, in order that some of us may get into office. Such arts are despicable. They are the arts of the low politician. We want to stand on a higher plane, and look at these things as men who have been enlightened by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and try to maintain our credit; for I say to you, that the people in Washington or in Kane County in the south, or in Cache or Rich County in the north, or anywhere else in the territory, cannot be guilty of folly without its reflecting on the entire people of God. We are a part of a great whole in that respect; and the Saints in Idaho or Arizona can do foolish things and entail a great deal of trouble upon the Church in this country because of their want of wisdom. Therefore, be wise. Why do I say this? If you get into trouble, to whom do you come? You know how it has been in our troubles that commenced nine years ago. We looked all around and where could we see friends? To whom could we appeal? Why, the eyes of this people turned to the men who were their leaders, who had planted these settlements in these mountains, and who had made everything successful that they had put their hands to. The people appealed to them to know what they should do. So it will be always when there is trouble. Therefore, it is the duty of leading men to counsel the people in wisdom—not to take away the people’s agency—to avoid snares and to pursue a course that will avert trouble, so that we will not have burdens to bear. I do not say this because of any desire to interfere in the least with political matters, but to give you a little counsel on these points.
I pray God to bless you and to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and to help you to remember the excellent instructions you have heard during this Conference, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
President Wilford Woodruff
made a few closing remarks relating to the importance of the subject treated in his morning discourse—the binding of the children and the fathers together back through the generations according to lineal descent.
The choir sang the anthem, “Hosanna.”
Benediction by President Wilford Woodruff.
Conference adjourned until October 6, 1894.
John Nicholson,
Clerk of Conference
made a few closing remarks relating to the importance of the subject treated in his morning discourse—the binding of the children and the fathers together back through the generations according to lineal descent.
The choir sang the anthem, “Hosanna.”
Benediction by President Wilford Woodruff.
Conference adjourned until October 6, 1894.
John Nicholson,
Clerk of Conference