October 1894
Cannon, George Q. "Condition of Church and People." The Deseret Weekly, November 10, 1894: pg. 641-642.
Cannon, George Q. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, December 1, 1894: pg. 737-740.
Grant, Heber J. "Word of Wisdom." The Deseret Weekly, December 22, 1894: pg. 1-2.
Richards, Franklin D. "The Very Eternal Father." The Deseret Weekly, December 29, 1894: pg. 33-35.
Smith, John Henry. "The Duty of Prayer." The Deseret Weekly, January 26, 1895: pg. 161-162.
Smith, Joseph F. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, November 23, 1894: pg. 705-706.
Snow, Lorenzo. "Glory Awaiting the Saints." The Deseret Weekly, November 3, 1894: pg. 609-610.
Teasdale, George. "Necessity of Repentance." The Deseret Weekly, December 8, 1894: pg. 769-771.
The Deseret Weekly. "General Semi-Annual Conference." October 13, 1894: pg. 529-533.
Woodruff, Wilford. "Remarks." The Deseret Weekly, October 20, 1894: pg. 545-546.
Young, Brigham. "Word of Wisdom." The Deseret Weekly, January 19, 1895: pg. 129-130.
GENERAL SEMI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE
President George Q. Cannon
Condition of Church and People
Elder Brigham Young
Word of Wisdom
President Joseph F. Smith
Discourse
Afternoon Session
President Lorenzo Snow
Glory Awaiting the Saints
Elder Francis M. Lyman
Elder John Henry Smith
The Duty of Prayer
Second Day. Morning Session, October 6th
Elder Moses Thatcher
Elder George Teasdale
Necessity of Repentance
Elder Heber J. Grant
Word of Wisdom
Afternoon Session
Elder John W. Taylor
Elder Marriner W. Merrill
Elder A. H. Cannon
Third Day: Sunday, Oct. 7
President George Q. Cannon
Discourse
President Wilford Woodruff
Remarks
Afternoon Sessions. In the Assembly Hall
Elder Seymour B. Young
Elder Jonathan G. Kimball
Apostle Marriner W. Merrill
Elder Heber J. Grant
The names of the general authorities
Elder Francis M. Lyman
Elder Brigham Young
In the Tabernacle
President George Q. Cannon
Sustaining of General Authorities
Elder Franklin D. Richards
The Very Eternal Father
President Joseph F. Smith
Cannon, George Q. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, December 1, 1894: pg. 737-740.
Grant, Heber J. "Word of Wisdom." The Deseret Weekly, December 22, 1894: pg. 1-2.
Richards, Franklin D. "The Very Eternal Father." The Deseret Weekly, December 29, 1894: pg. 33-35.
Smith, John Henry. "The Duty of Prayer." The Deseret Weekly, January 26, 1895: pg. 161-162.
Smith, Joseph F. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, November 23, 1894: pg. 705-706.
Snow, Lorenzo. "Glory Awaiting the Saints." The Deseret Weekly, November 3, 1894: pg. 609-610.
Teasdale, George. "Necessity of Repentance." The Deseret Weekly, December 8, 1894: pg. 769-771.
The Deseret Weekly. "General Semi-Annual Conference." October 13, 1894: pg. 529-533.
Woodruff, Wilford. "Remarks." The Deseret Weekly, October 20, 1894: pg. 545-546.
Young, Brigham. "Word of Wisdom." The Deseret Weekly, January 19, 1895: pg. 129-130.
GENERAL SEMI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE
President George Q. Cannon
Condition of Church and People
Elder Brigham Young
Word of Wisdom
President Joseph F. Smith
Discourse
Afternoon Session
President Lorenzo Snow
Glory Awaiting the Saints
Elder Francis M. Lyman
Elder John Henry Smith
The Duty of Prayer
Second Day. Morning Session, October 6th
Elder Moses Thatcher
Elder George Teasdale
Necessity of Repentance
Elder Heber J. Grant
Word of Wisdom
Afternoon Session
Elder John W. Taylor
Elder Marriner W. Merrill
Elder A. H. Cannon
Third Day: Sunday, Oct. 7
President George Q. Cannon
Discourse
President Wilford Woodruff
Remarks
Afternoon Sessions. In the Assembly Hall
Elder Seymour B. Young
Elder Jonathan G. Kimball
Apostle Marriner W. Merrill
Elder Heber J. Grant
The names of the general authorities
Elder Francis M. Lyman
Elder Brigham Young
In the Tabernacle
President George Q. Cannon
Sustaining of General Authorities
Elder Franklin D. Richards
The Very Eternal Father
President Joseph F. Smith
GENERAL SEMI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Sixty-fifth Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a. m., on Friday, Oct. 5th, 1894, President Wilford Woodruff presiding.
Conference called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The following were on the stand: Of the First Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith; 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, Abraham H. Cannon; Patriarch John Smith; of the Presidency of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjelsted, B. H. Roberts and George Reynolds; 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.
The choir and congregation sang:
The time is far spent, there is little remaining
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.
The opening prayer was offered by President Lorenzo Snow.
Singing by the choir:
Praise ye the Lord!
My heart shall join
In work so pleasant so divine.
The Sixty-fifth Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a. m., on Friday, Oct. 5th, 1894, President Wilford Woodruff presiding.
Conference called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The following were on the stand: Of the First Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith; 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, Abraham H. Cannon; Patriarch John Smith; of the Presidency of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjelsted, B. H. Roberts and George Reynolds; 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.
The choir and congregation sang:
The time is far spent, there is little remaining
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.
The opening prayer was offered by President Lorenzo Snow.
Singing by the choir:
Praise ye the Lord!
My heart shall join
In work so pleasant so divine.
President George Q. Cannon
announced that President Wilford Woodruff had been suffering from a severe cold, which had almost prostrated him for a number of days. He had sufficiently recovered, however, to be able to attend the Conference, though his voice was in such a condition that he would not be able to speak to the congregation this morning. President Cannon referred to the present comparatively satisfactory conditions in Utah, remarking that the Lord had wonderfully blessed and preserved all those who dwelt in these mountain valleys. This was, indeed, a land favored of the Lord, one of the most choice spots on the whole continent of America. In every direction the protecting hand of God was seen over this people. In the northwestern and southern states the Elders had been of late greatly favored and encouraged in their labors. It should be the aim of the presidents of stakes to call young men in to the ministry and put upon them the burden of preaching the true gospel. In the islands of the sea, a great work was being accomplished and many were being brought into the fold of Christ. The speaker incidentally adverted to the successful labors of the Elders in Australia, Tasmania, Sweden and elsewhere, and said that other fields seemingly remote and impenetrable were being opened to the missionaries. At present the presidents of the European and other missions had been instructed not to rush the people who joined the Church out here too fast, because many had arrived in Utah before they had become thoroughly rooted in the faith and prepared to meet the vicissitudes which they had necessarily to contend with on coming to a strange land. They did not want people to join the Church, come out and join the general body of the Saints and then apostatize. Looking over the entire field, the prospects of the Latter-day Saints were now most encouraging, and God and the heavenly host were doing their part in the furtherance of this great work which our Father had established.
Many other important points were mentioned and treated upon in President Cannon’s opening discourse.
announced that President Wilford Woodruff had been suffering from a severe cold, which had almost prostrated him for a number of days. He had sufficiently recovered, however, to be able to attend the Conference, though his voice was in such a condition that he would not be able to speak to the congregation this morning. President Cannon referred to the present comparatively satisfactory conditions in Utah, remarking that the Lord had wonderfully blessed and preserved all those who dwelt in these mountain valleys. This was, indeed, a land favored of the Lord, one of the most choice spots on the whole continent of America. In every direction the protecting hand of God was seen over this people. In the northwestern and southern states the Elders had been of late greatly favored and encouraged in their labors. It should be the aim of the presidents of stakes to call young men in to the ministry and put upon them the burden of preaching the true gospel. In the islands of the sea, a great work was being accomplished and many were being brought into the fold of Christ. The speaker incidentally adverted to the successful labors of the Elders in Australia, Tasmania, Sweden and elsewhere, and said that other fields seemingly remote and impenetrable were being opened to the missionaries. At present the presidents of the European and other missions had been instructed not to rush the people who joined the Church out here too fast, because many had arrived in Utah before they had become thoroughly rooted in the faith and prepared to meet the vicissitudes which they had necessarily to contend with on coming to a strange land. They did not want people to join the Church, come out and join the general body of the Saints and then apostatize. Looking over the entire field, the prospects of the Latter-day Saints were now most encouraging, and God and the heavenly host were doing their part in the furtherance of this great work which our Father had established.
Many other important points were mentioned and treated upon in President Cannon’s opening discourse.
Condition of Church and People
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday morning, October 5th, 1894, by
President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
It must be a pleasure to all of us to have President Woodruff with us this morning. He has been suffering from a very severe cold that almost prostrated him for a number of days; but he is recovering and is able to be with us. He desires, however, an explanation made to the Conference that his voice is in such a condition that he does not feel able to speak this morning. In other respects his health is good.
The Lord has been kind to us in permitting us to once more meet together in general conference, in the enjoyment of a great many blessings, especially that we can come here undisturbed and offer our praise and our thanksgivings to our God.
Though the season that is now passing has been in some respects a trying one, in consequence of the financial straits in which the people have been placed, I think we can come before our Father in heaven and worship Him with hearts filled with gratitude for His mercy, His kindness, and His longsuffering toward us His people. Our land in the most of places has produced in abundance. There is no likelihood of famine in the land, either for man or beast. Our fields have yielded plenteously, and forage for our animals is abundant; food also of all kinds necessary for human beings is plentiful throughout all our settlements. It is true many suffer for lack of employment; but this is not confined to Utah, it being almost universal. And even in this respect our circumstances are undoubtedly better than those of the great majority of the inhabitants of this continent. We have escaped tempests, cyclones, fires, and great disasters; war has not obtruded itself upon us; there has not been even elemental warfare to disturb us such as has prevailed in some places. The Lord has blessed the Latter-day Saints, and not only them, but all who live in these mountains and valleys. We believe that His blessing is upon this land, and will be upon it as long as the people are disposed to keep His commandments. I believe that not only do the Latter-day Saints appreciate the bounties of providence that we enjoy here, but that others not of our faith plainly see that this is a blessed land, and that the favor of God is shown to it in its climate, and in all the elements necessary for the comfort and sustenance of human beings. Hundreds of people bear this testimony, and when they leave Utah they look back to their residence here as a delightful spot in their memories. If others not of our faith can appreciate these features, certainly we who have been gathered here by the hand of God can appreciate them and feel thankful for them. And I believe that in no part of this great republic do the prayers of a thankful people ascend more unitedly unto the God of heaven morning and evening, for the blessings bestowed upon them than in Utah. The incense of praise, the thanksgiving of grateful hearts, ascends from the habitations of the Latter-day Saints, and nowhere throughout this broad land is this praise offered more unitedly and more sincerely than from the hearts of those who compose the majority of the people of this territory. Heaven is not deaf to these thanksgivings. This incense ascends gratefully unto God our Eternal Father, and the angels rejoice over a people who appreciate the blessings of the Great Creator. It has seemed to me, in view of all the Lord has done for us, every tongue that has railed against the Saints because of their willingness to obey the doctrine of gathering and to come to this desert land, would now keep silent; for prosperity has attended the Latter-day Saints since they came here, and the eyes of the whole nation are now attracted to this land, which is one of the choicest spots upon the whole continent. What a contrast there is between the feeling that now exists and the feeling that prevailed when the Latter-day Saints came here and for years subsequent thereto! How plain it is to be seen that God did not make promises in vain, or that His servants in making promises to the people did not speak without authority. Today our land is almost the envy of the people, and our situation is looked upon as most desirable. The wisdom, the foresight, the intelligence, the unselfishness that have been manifested by the leaders of the Latter-day Saints in the arrangement of these settlements, in the distribution of the land, in the conservation course taken in regard to water, and in the distribution of the blessings of providence with as much equality as possible, and in the care that has been shown for the welfare of the poor—all these things are beginning to receive attention. People now are beginning to recognize that the men who led the Latter-day Saints here, and who founded this commonwealth, were men of great wisdom. They will admit now that they were men who labored for the public weal. I never heard a stronger eulogium delivered about any man than I listened to in Denver recently in the testimony that was borne by a prominent gentleman at the Irrigation Congress concerning President Young. The truth upon these points is beginning to be recognized, and the day is not far distant when the example of the men of Utah will be quoted for others to follow, in building up communities that shall be self-sustaining, free from debt, and in which the earth and the waters and other blessings shall be distributed with some degree of equality and with respect to the rights of all. I thank God for the change that has taken place in this respect, and that though recognition has been so long deferred it is coming our way, and the worth of the people, their patient labors, their constant and untiring endurance, their fidelity to principle, their attachment to the soil, combined with their frugality, and their disposition to help each other, are now beginning to be recognized as they should be. This ought to be a cause of rejoicing for all of us, because we know that we have suffered in the past through misrepresentation, falsehood and the misconstruction of motives.
Look now where we will, wherever the Elders of this Church are laboring, and we can see the hand of God with them and His Providence over them. Our Elders who go out to preach the Gospel have the same success in some respects that they had in early days. They may not convert so many, but the same blessings, the same gifts, the same power that attended the preaching of the gospel in the beginning of this dispensation still accompanies that preaching by the Elders of this Church. They bear testimony to the inhabitants of the earth that God is as willing today to bestow gifts, graces and blessings upon those who do His will as He ever was, giving the lie to the false statements of those who have apostatized from the truth, and showing the world that God has organized His Church, that He has restored the Priesthood, and that that Priesthood will be continued until Jesus shall come, through the authority of the apostleship which He conferred upon His servant Joseph and upon his servant Oliver Cowdery.
During the past six months, in the Northwestern and Southern States, the Elders have been very successful in finding people willing to listen to their testimony. There has not been that spirit of persecution that our brethren suffered from in former years, and the Elders are encouraged in their labors. Throughout our own Territory there has been a great deal of traveling and visiting done by the Apostles and others. In the various Stakes of Zion missionaries do a great deal of local labor. It is necessary in the growth of the work of God that the labors of the ministry should be more widely distributed, because the people are increasing, and it is out of the power of the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles and the Seven Presidents of Seventies to do all the labor that was done formerly. It should be the aim of the Presidents of Stakes to call into the ministry young men and to lay the burden upon them of preaching the Gospel at home. Let them cultivate the gifts that they may be enabled to speak in power, and in the demonstration of the Holy Ghost, to the people, and I know, and you know, that when men have that power resting upon them, though they are not Apostles, or members of the First Presidency, the people listen to them with delight, and receive their teachings with avidity. I hope the idea will never prevail among our people that God confines his gifts and graces to the First Presidency or to the Twelve Apostles, or to the Seven Presidents of Seventies. I know that God is the God of this people, and every young man, or middle-aged man, or aged man who will seek for the power of God can obtain it, and he can declare the truth of God in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost, and it is just as good as if it were told by the President of the Church or by one of the Twelve Apostles. I would like to encourage the Elders with that view. The field is white for the harvest, and laborers are wanted. It is beyond the power of the First Presidency and Twelve to do all the labor. Therefore, the Elders are called to the ministry, and they should seek for the gifts and for the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood and exercise it, and not think because they are not Apostles, or Presidents, that therefore they have not the right to teach and to speak with authority. If you have any doubts upon this, read the sixty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants and see what the Lord says upon this point.
Among the nations where the Elders are laboring the blessings of God rest upon them. In the islands of the sea a great work is being done. Samoa has received the glad tidings. The Friendly Islands have been preached to. Doors are being opened there for the conversion of these degraded remnants of the House of Israel. The Sandwich Islands is a long-established mission. The Elders are laboring there with a good deal of success. On the Society Islands our Elders are bringing many into the fold of Christ. In New Zealand and Australia the work is prospering. The Elders have lately opened a new field in Tasmania, and are laboring there with some degree of encouragement. In Scandinavia the work is progressing, particularly in Sweden, and souls are being gathered out. In Germany the accounts are most favorable. There is an immense field opening up before the Elders in those regions. Austria and Hungary and the Danubian principalities will yet hear the Gospel. The Lord will break down the barriers. As the Elders go forth He will open the way before them, and they will be the means of bringing souls into the fold. There are regions which seem almost impenetrable at present, but if we are zealous in our labors, if the spirit of our calling rests upon us, and our souls are filled with ardor, the Lord will open the way for the preaching of the Gospel in lands now closed to the bearers of the Gospel. In Great Britain the work is apparently reviving there, and we receive reports that there are more baptisms now than there have been. The people are paying better attention to the preaching of the Elders, and at a recent conference at Preston the hall was filled to overflowing. Preston, you know, is the place where the Gospel was first preached in Great Britain.
These are encouraging reports, considering the circumstances which have surrounded the Elders and the missions. The First Presidency have been led to advise the President of the European mission not to rush the people out here too hastily. We have suffered from this. Some of our Elders in the south and in the northwest and our Elders in Europe have seemed to think that as soon as a man is baptized into the Church he must be rushed off to Zion. This is unwise, and we have cautioned the presidents of these missions not to do this. Let the Saints stay there and get a little knowledge and experience of the work, and not come here almost entirely unacquainted with the trials that Latter-day Saints generally have to contend with. Let them remain and be a sustenance for the Elders who are laboring there, to comfort them and strengthen their hands, and not leave the mission wholly destitute of experienced members. There has been too much of this disposition manifested by many Elders. You who have had experience know that to have new members immediately gather to Zion is not attended with good results. They come here unprepared to meet the trials that they have to contend with, and frequently apostatize. We do not want to bring people to this country to apostatize. We want to bring them here to be steadfast to the faith and to prove a support to the work of God. Their faith should be ripe through experience, so that they can endure the vicissitudes and trials which naturally have to be contended with in coming to a strange land. We believe that this policy will be attended with good results. According to my view there has been too much of a spirit prevailing that Elders must go away from here well equipped financially—not without purse and scrip, as in former years. I do not believe in such doctrine. I never have believed in it. God will have to give me revelation that I have not yet received to cause me to believe in it as a proper method of preaching the Gospel of the Son of God to the nations of the earth. I do not believe in the Elders going with purse and scrip. I believe God is able to feed and clothe His Elders today as He ever was. This is my personal expression. I do not speak for everybody. It may help the Elder, if branches can be left awhile to be strengthened by the addition of new members and to be a support to the Elders who go there to preach.
Our prospects, therefore, looking over all the field, are encouraging. We have nothing to mourn over, unless it be our follies and sins. God is doing His part. As every one of you who read the newspapers must be conscious of, He is bearing testimony now by the judgments which He said should follow the testimony of His Elders. His agents also, invisible to us, are doing their part. We need not think that we are alone; for God and the Heavenly host and the agents whom He sends here are doing their part in this great work and are bringing to pass His glorious designs. Every one of us should be encouraged to labor while the day lasts in this great work. And He will open our way and will lift us up on high if we are obedient to Him. There is no promise that He could give that He has not given to us. I pray God to bless us, and to fill us with the Holy Spirit and the gifts of our religion, which I humbly ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday morning, October 5th, 1894, by
President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
It must be a pleasure to all of us to have President Woodruff with us this morning. He has been suffering from a very severe cold that almost prostrated him for a number of days; but he is recovering and is able to be with us. He desires, however, an explanation made to the Conference that his voice is in such a condition that he does not feel able to speak this morning. In other respects his health is good.
The Lord has been kind to us in permitting us to once more meet together in general conference, in the enjoyment of a great many blessings, especially that we can come here undisturbed and offer our praise and our thanksgivings to our God.
Though the season that is now passing has been in some respects a trying one, in consequence of the financial straits in which the people have been placed, I think we can come before our Father in heaven and worship Him with hearts filled with gratitude for His mercy, His kindness, and His longsuffering toward us His people. Our land in the most of places has produced in abundance. There is no likelihood of famine in the land, either for man or beast. Our fields have yielded plenteously, and forage for our animals is abundant; food also of all kinds necessary for human beings is plentiful throughout all our settlements. It is true many suffer for lack of employment; but this is not confined to Utah, it being almost universal. And even in this respect our circumstances are undoubtedly better than those of the great majority of the inhabitants of this continent. We have escaped tempests, cyclones, fires, and great disasters; war has not obtruded itself upon us; there has not been even elemental warfare to disturb us such as has prevailed in some places. The Lord has blessed the Latter-day Saints, and not only them, but all who live in these mountains and valleys. We believe that His blessing is upon this land, and will be upon it as long as the people are disposed to keep His commandments. I believe that not only do the Latter-day Saints appreciate the bounties of providence that we enjoy here, but that others not of our faith plainly see that this is a blessed land, and that the favor of God is shown to it in its climate, and in all the elements necessary for the comfort and sustenance of human beings. Hundreds of people bear this testimony, and when they leave Utah they look back to their residence here as a delightful spot in their memories. If others not of our faith can appreciate these features, certainly we who have been gathered here by the hand of God can appreciate them and feel thankful for them. And I believe that in no part of this great republic do the prayers of a thankful people ascend more unitedly unto the God of heaven morning and evening, for the blessings bestowed upon them than in Utah. The incense of praise, the thanksgiving of grateful hearts, ascends from the habitations of the Latter-day Saints, and nowhere throughout this broad land is this praise offered more unitedly and more sincerely than from the hearts of those who compose the majority of the people of this territory. Heaven is not deaf to these thanksgivings. This incense ascends gratefully unto God our Eternal Father, and the angels rejoice over a people who appreciate the blessings of the Great Creator. It has seemed to me, in view of all the Lord has done for us, every tongue that has railed against the Saints because of their willingness to obey the doctrine of gathering and to come to this desert land, would now keep silent; for prosperity has attended the Latter-day Saints since they came here, and the eyes of the whole nation are now attracted to this land, which is one of the choicest spots upon the whole continent. What a contrast there is between the feeling that now exists and the feeling that prevailed when the Latter-day Saints came here and for years subsequent thereto! How plain it is to be seen that God did not make promises in vain, or that His servants in making promises to the people did not speak without authority. Today our land is almost the envy of the people, and our situation is looked upon as most desirable. The wisdom, the foresight, the intelligence, the unselfishness that have been manifested by the leaders of the Latter-day Saints in the arrangement of these settlements, in the distribution of the land, in the conservation course taken in regard to water, and in the distribution of the blessings of providence with as much equality as possible, and in the care that has been shown for the welfare of the poor—all these things are beginning to receive attention. People now are beginning to recognize that the men who led the Latter-day Saints here, and who founded this commonwealth, were men of great wisdom. They will admit now that they were men who labored for the public weal. I never heard a stronger eulogium delivered about any man than I listened to in Denver recently in the testimony that was borne by a prominent gentleman at the Irrigation Congress concerning President Young. The truth upon these points is beginning to be recognized, and the day is not far distant when the example of the men of Utah will be quoted for others to follow, in building up communities that shall be self-sustaining, free from debt, and in which the earth and the waters and other blessings shall be distributed with some degree of equality and with respect to the rights of all. I thank God for the change that has taken place in this respect, and that though recognition has been so long deferred it is coming our way, and the worth of the people, their patient labors, their constant and untiring endurance, their fidelity to principle, their attachment to the soil, combined with their frugality, and their disposition to help each other, are now beginning to be recognized as they should be. This ought to be a cause of rejoicing for all of us, because we know that we have suffered in the past through misrepresentation, falsehood and the misconstruction of motives.
Look now where we will, wherever the Elders of this Church are laboring, and we can see the hand of God with them and His Providence over them. Our Elders who go out to preach the Gospel have the same success in some respects that they had in early days. They may not convert so many, but the same blessings, the same gifts, the same power that attended the preaching of the gospel in the beginning of this dispensation still accompanies that preaching by the Elders of this Church. They bear testimony to the inhabitants of the earth that God is as willing today to bestow gifts, graces and blessings upon those who do His will as He ever was, giving the lie to the false statements of those who have apostatized from the truth, and showing the world that God has organized His Church, that He has restored the Priesthood, and that that Priesthood will be continued until Jesus shall come, through the authority of the apostleship which He conferred upon His servant Joseph and upon his servant Oliver Cowdery.
During the past six months, in the Northwestern and Southern States, the Elders have been very successful in finding people willing to listen to their testimony. There has not been that spirit of persecution that our brethren suffered from in former years, and the Elders are encouraged in their labors. Throughout our own Territory there has been a great deal of traveling and visiting done by the Apostles and others. In the various Stakes of Zion missionaries do a great deal of local labor. It is necessary in the growth of the work of God that the labors of the ministry should be more widely distributed, because the people are increasing, and it is out of the power of the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles and the Seven Presidents of Seventies to do all the labor that was done formerly. It should be the aim of the Presidents of Stakes to call into the ministry young men and to lay the burden upon them of preaching the Gospel at home. Let them cultivate the gifts that they may be enabled to speak in power, and in the demonstration of the Holy Ghost, to the people, and I know, and you know, that when men have that power resting upon them, though they are not Apostles, or members of the First Presidency, the people listen to them with delight, and receive their teachings with avidity. I hope the idea will never prevail among our people that God confines his gifts and graces to the First Presidency or to the Twelve Apostles, or to the Seven Presidents of Seventies. I know that God is the God of this people, and every young man, or middle-aged man, or aged man who will seek for the power of God can obtain it, and he can declare the truth of God in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost, and it is just as good as if it were told by the President of the Church or by one of the Twelve Apostles. I would like to encourage the Elders with that view. The field is white for the harvest, and laborers are wanted. It is beyond the power of the First Presidency and Twelve to do all the labor. Therefore, the Elders are called to the ministry, and they should seek for the gifts and for the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood and exercise it, and not think because they are not Apostles, or Presidents, that therefore they have not the right to teach and to speak with authority. If you have any doubts upon this, read the sixty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants and see what the Lord says upon this point.
Among the nations where the Elders are laboring the blessings of God rest upon them. In the islands of the sea a great work is being done. Samoa has received the glad tidings. The Friendly Islands have been preached to. Doors are being opened there for the conversion of these degraded remnants of the House of Israel. The Sandwich Islands is a long-established mission. The Elders are laboring there with a good deal of success. On the Society Islands our Elders are bringing many into the fold of Christ. In New Zealand and Australia the work is prospering. The Elders have lately opened a new field in Tasmania, and are laboring there with some degree of encouragement. In Scandinavia the work is progressing, particularly in Sweden, and souls are being gathered out. In Germany the accounts are most favorable. There is an immense field opening up before the Elders in those regions. Austria and Hungary and the Danubian principalities will yet hear the Gospel. The Lord will break down the barriers. As the Elders go forth He will open the way before them, and they will be the means of bringing souls into the fold. There are regions which seem almost impenetrable at present, but if we are zealous in our labors, if the spirit of our calling rests upon us, and our souls are filled with ardor, the Lord will open the way for the preaching of the Gospel in lands now closed to the bearers of the Gospel. In Great Britain the work is apparently reviving there, and we receive reports that there are more baptisms now than there have been. The people are paying better attention to the preaching of the Elders, and at a recent conference at Preston the hall was filled to overflowing. Preston, you know, is the place where the Gospel was first preached in Great Britain.
These are encouraging reports, considering the circumstances which have surrounded the Elders and the missions. The First Presidency have been led to advise the President of the European mission not to rush the people out here too hastily. We have suffered from this. Some of our Elders in the south and in the northwest and our Elders in Europe have seemed to think that as soon as a man is baptized into the Church he must be rushed off to Zion. This is unwise, and we have cautioned the presidents of these missions not to do this. Let the Saints stay there and get a little knowledge and experience of the work, and not come here almost entirely unacquainted with the trials that Latter-day Saints generally have to contend with. Let them remain and be a sustenance for the Elders who are laboring there, to comfort them and strengthen their hands, and not leave the mission wholly destitute of experienced members. There has been too much of this disposition manifested by many Elders. You who have had experience know that to have new members immediately gather to Zion is not attended with good results. They come here unprepared to meet the trials that they have to contend with, and frequently apostatize. We do not want to bring people to this country to apostatize. We want to bring them here to be steadfast to the faith and to prove a support to the work of God. Their faith should be ripe through experience, so that they can endure the vicissitudes and trials which naturally have to be contended with in coming to a strange land. We believe that this policy will be attended with good results. According to my view there has been too much of a spirit prevailing that Elders must go away from here well equipped financially—not without purse and scrip, as in former years. I do not believe in such doctrine. I never have believed in it. God will have to give me revelation that I have not yet received to cause me to believe in it as a proper method of preaching the Gospel of the Son of God to the nations of the earth. I do not believe in the Elders going with purse and scrip. I believe God is able to feed and clothe His Elders today as He ever was. This is my personal expression. I do not speak for everybody. It may help the Elder, if branches can be left awhile to be strengthened by the addition of new members and to be a support to the Elders who go there to preach.
Our prospects, therefore, looking over all the field, are encouraging. We have nothing to mourn over, unless it be our follies and sins. God is doing His part. As every one of you who read the newspapers must be conscious of, He is bearing testimony now by the judgments which He said should follow the testimony of His Elders. His agents also, invisible to us, are doing their part. We need not think that we are alone; for God and the Heavenly host and the agents whom He sends here are doing their part in this great work and are bringing to pass His glorious designs. Every one of us should be encouraged to labor while the day lasts in this great work. And He will open our way and will lift us up on high if we are obedient to Him. There is no promise that He could give that He has not given to us. I pray God to bless us, and to fill us with the Holy Spirit and the gifts of our religion, which I humbly ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Elder Brigham Young,
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
said it was always a pleasure to him to hear his brethren bear testimony to the importance of this great latter-day work, and he trusted that the words just uttered by President Cannon would be firmly sealed upon all our hearts. He referred to the responsibilities resting upon the Saints. If these were the last days, if the coming of the Son of Man was nigh at hand, if the calamities and judgments of the Almighty were to follow our testimony to the people, just as the judgments followed the testimony of Noah, then it was all-important that we be upon the watch-tower. All who sought God earnestly might find Him, if they only prayed to Him with a pure and undivided heart. The speaker deprecated the craving of the people for luxuries, and said he believed the Lord had amply provided for our sustenance in this mountain region, independent of other places. Elder Young called upon the Saints to observe the Word of Wisdom more steadfastly than heretofore, that their children, the succeeding generation, might be healthy and strong, and said we could not enjoy the peace, inspiration and Spirit of God if we indulged in those things which God had commanded we should not use. When he heard read statistics setting forth that more tea, coffee, tobacco, and other articles deleterious to health were being used now than ever before, he wondered whether the floating population of Utah, of Salt Lake City, was responsible in part for such increase. He believed not. The ark of safety was offered to us; would we not renounce the things of this world and accept a place in it? The judgments of God were increasing and we must be prepared for them if we desired to be saved hereafter.
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
said it was always a pleasure to him to hear his brethren bear testimony to the importance of this great latter-day work, and he trusted that the words just uttered by President Cannon would be firmly sealed upon all our hearts. He referred to the responsibilities resting upon the Saints. If these were the last days, if the coming of the Son of Man was nigh at hand, if the calamities and judgments of the Almighty were to follow our testimony to the people, just as the judgments followed the testimony of Noah, then it was all-important that we be upon the watch-tower. All who sought God earnestly might find Him, if they only prayed to Him with a pure and undivided heart. The speaker deprecated the craving of the people for luxuries, and said he believed the Lord had amply provided for our sustenance in this mountain region, independent of other places. Elder Young called upon the Saints to observe the Word of Wisdom more steadfastly than heretofore, that their children, the succeeding generation, might be healthy and strong, and said we could not enjoy the peace, inspiration and Spirit of God if we indulged in those things which God had commanded we should not use. When he heard read statistics setting forth that more tea, coffee, tobacco, and other articles deleterious to health were being used now than ever before, he wondered whether the floating population of Utah, of Salt Lake City, was responsible in part for such increase. He believed not. The ark of safety was offered to us; would we not renounce the things of this world and accept a place in it? The judgments of God were increasing and we must be prepared for them if we desired to be saved hereafter.
Word of Wisdom.
Remarks made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Friday, October 5th, 1894, by
Elder Brigham Young.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
It is always a pleasure for me to hear the testimonies of my brethren in relation to this great work. I rejoice in the words of President George Q. Cannon, and I pray that his instructions may be sealed upon our hearts; for God requires at our hands a faithful performance of our duty. He has placed upon us a responsibility that few people have had since the world began. If these are the last days, and all things are to be gathered in one, and we are in truth the forerunners of the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, what a vast responsibility rests upon us! We cannot comprehend it unless we are inspired by the Spirit of God. If our message is like unto that which Noah declared to the antediluvians, then it is just as important to this generation as his message was to the people in the day in which he lived. If we have the truth, if the coming of Son of Man is nigh at hand, if the judgments of Almighty God are to follow our testimonies to the people as the flood followed the testimony of Noah, then I say it is all important that we be upon the watchtower. These quorums of the Priesthood and these organizations which God has established to carry light and intelligence to the children of men should not stay their hands nor close their mouths, but proclaim the glad tidings of this Gospel which God has revealed unto the people who know Him not.
I feel in my own heart that if I were not diligent, according to the light that God gives me, in declaring His word to people, I would be under condemnation when the judgments of God should come. The testimony of the truth has been given to me, and to this people, I know that all who seek God may find Him; for He is not hidden to the least that will seek Him with an undivided heart. Paul says, “If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” But the Gospel is not hid to this people. God has bestowed upon them light and intelligence necessary to qualify them for the duties and labors that rest upon them. Abundance is in the land. Some few are suffering for the want of money; but there is plenty of everything that God has placed upon the earth for the sustenance and comfort of man. We never saw a more bounteous time for the necessaries of life, or harder work to get the luxuries. I look upon the time in which we live as a day when we are forced, I may say, to do away with luxuries. The imported articles that come unto us should not be necessities. These luxuries that we crave so much because of our pampered appetites are not necessary to the welfare of the Latter-day Saints. While I believe that a great deal of good can come to us from the north and south, and from the east and west, yet I believe God has furnished us with ample means for our sustenance independent of every other people upon the face of the earth.
I cannot see the necessity of importing vast quantities of beef and pork, tea and coffee, tobacco and liquor, which now are brought here and find a ready market among the Latter-day Saints. Yet our streets are full of purchasers of things from abroad which are unnecessary to our comfort. People do not realize that those things which are brought to us so plentifully from abroad are, in many instances, impure. The demand for them is becoming so great that the pure article cannot be furnished in sufficient quantities to meet it. The tobacco that we use, the tea and coffee that we drink, are all adulterated in such a manner as to destroy the purity of the blood of those who indulge in their use. Do you believe it? I know it. They are adulterated to that extent that no man can indulge in their use continuously and preserve his health. If I remember aright, I heard from this stand the servant of God say that the time was when the Word of Wisdom came to us as a word of persuasion and counsel, but now, he said, it is a commandment from God that this people observe it. Does anyone remember hearing those words from this stand more than twenty years ago? I remember it—and yet I have broken it many times. Is the time coming in my life when I will observe it? Is the time coming in the lives of this people when they will observe it, and before God and man carry out the revelation that God has given for the protection of his people, that they dwindle not, that their children may be healthy and strong, and a generation be raised up in these mountains that will honor God, having pure blood in their veins, and strong and healthy tabernacles wherein the spirit of God may dwell to the protection of the work of the Lord in these latter days? This is what is incumbent upon us, and I know that we cannot enjoy the blessing and the inspiration of God if we do those things that God has commanded us not to do.
I said to myself this morning, has the time come when I will assert myself and honor the Priesthood that God has given me, and observe the commandments which He has given? When I hear statistics read that there is more tobacco used, more tea and coffee drunk, than ever before, more imported pork used, and other things that are deleterious to health—when I hear these statistics read I wonder if the floating population of Utah is responsible for the increase. I do not think so. I think we are. I heard a brother remark that one of the Apostles had preached a sermon on the Word of Wisdom in a certain place, and had laid it down just as straight as it could possibly be done, but that from the President of the Stake down it had made no impression whatever; they indulged themselves just as freely alter as they did before the sermon. They had made up their minds apparently to gratify their own desires, and let the word of the Lord go unfulfilled.
Now is the time, in my opinion, when these revelations on the Word of Wisdom and tithing must be observed by this people, or they must take the consequences. I do not believe God will stay His hand much longer if we fail to observe these things. Preaching has been done long and loud. We have all been preached to in relation to these matters, and I firmly believe that the time has come when these things must be observed by the people or they must take the consequences of disobedience.
Now if this exhortation does no one else any good, I pray God it may do me good; that I may be strengthened and observe the things which God commands; that when the Elders preach unto me and my family and friends that judgment is coming upon the earth, and they testify that this is the path of safety, we may heed their words. This is the way to sanctify the land unto the people who dwell upon it. It is the way which the Lord has signified. This ark of safety is offered to us. Shall we receive it? Or shall we go blindly forward, determined in our hearts to follow our own inclinations, and let the flood come, and say, “There is still a place of safety for me and mine; I can float with the current and be saved with the balance of the Saints of God?” I do not think I can do this. On the contrary, I think that the judgments of God are increasing, and that they are flooding the earth, and the Latter-day Saints must make this place of refuge a sanctified place for their salvation and the salvation of those who will listen to their testimonies.
God help us, my brethren and sisters, to make our calling and election sure. God help us to do our duty, and to build up Zion in His own appointed way; perfect ourselves and our families, and have a forgiving spirit in our hearts, not a spirit to find fault with everything we see. That God may help us in all things requisite to make us perfect in the day of the Lord, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Remarks made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Friday, October 5th, 1894, by
Elder Brigham Young.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
It is always a pleasure for me to hear the testimonies of my brethren in relation to this great work. I rejoice in the words of President George Q. Cannon, and I pray that his instructions may be sealed upon our hearts; for God requires at our hands a faithful performance of our duty. He has placed upon us a responsibility that few people have had since the world began. If these are the last days, and all things are to be gathered in one, and we are in truth the forerunners of the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, what a vast responsibility rests upon us! We cannot comprehend it unless we are inspired by the Spirit of God. If our message is like unto that which Noah declared to the antediluvians, then it is just as important to this generation as his message was to the people in the day in which he lived. If we have the truth, if the coming of Son of Man is nigh at hand, if the judgments of Almighty God are to follow our testimonies to the people as the flood followed the testimony of Noah, then I say it is all important that we be upon the watchtower. These quorums of the Priesthood and these organizations which God has established to carry light and intelligence to the children of men should not stay their hands nor close their mouths, but proclaim the glad tidings of this Gospel which God has revealed unto the people who know Him not.
I feel in my own heart that if I were not diligent, according to the light that God gives me, in declaring His word to people, I would be under condemnation when the judgments of God should come. The testimony of the truth has been given to me, and to this people, I know that all who seek God may find Him; for He is not hidden to the least that will seek Him with an undivided heart. Paul says, “If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” But the Gospel is not hid to this people. God has bestowed upon them light and intelligence necessary to qualify them for the duties and labors that rest upon them. Abundance is in the land. Some few are suffering for the want of money; but there is plenty of everything that God has placed upon the earth for the sustenance and comfort of man. We never saw a more bounteous time for the necessaries of life, or harder work to get the luxuries. I look upon the time in which we live as a day when we are forced, I may say, to do away with luxuries. The imported articles that come unto us should not be necessities. These luxuries that we crave so much because of our pampered appetites are not necessary to the welfare of the Latter-day Saints. While I believe that a great deal of good can come to us from the north and south, and from the east and west, yet I believe God has furnished us with ample means for our sustenance independent of every other people upon the face of the earth.
I cannot see the necessity of importing vast quantities of beef and pork, tea and coffee, tobacco and liquor, which now are brought here and find a ready market among the Latter-day Saints. Yet our streets are full of purchasers of things from abroad which are unnecessary to our comfort. People do not realize that those things which are brought to us so plentifully from abroad are, in many instances, impure. The demand for them is becoming so great that the pure article cannot be furnished in sufficient quantities to meet it. The tobacco that we use, the tea and coffee that we drink, are all adulterated in such a manner as to destroy the purity of the blood of those who indulge in their use. Do you believe it? I know it. They are adulterated to that extent that no man can indulge in their use continuously and preserve his health. If I remember aright, I heard from this stand the servant of God say that the time was when the Word of Wisdom came to us as a word of persuasion and counsel, but now, he said, it is a commandment from God that this people observe it. Does anyone remember hearing those words from this stand more than twenty years ago? I remember it—and yet I have broken it many times. Is the time coming in my life when I will observe it? Is the time coming in the lives of this people when they will observe it, and before God and man carry out the revelation that God has given for the protection of his people, that they dwindle not, that their children may be healthy and strong, and a generation be raised up in these mountains that will honor God, having pure blood in their veins, and strong and healthy tabernacles wherein the spirit of God may dwell to the protection of the work of the Lord in these latter days? This is what is incumbent upon us, and I know that we cannot enjoy the blessing and the inspiration of God if we do those things that God has commanded us not to do.
I said to myself this morning, has the time come when I will assert myself and honor the Priesthood that God has given me, and observe the commandments which He has given? When I hear statistics read that there is more tobacco used, more tea and coffee drunk, than ever before, more imported pork used, and other things that are deleterious to health—when I hear these statistics read I wonder if the floating population of Utah is responsible for the increase. I do not think so. I think we are. I heard a brother remark that one of the Apostles had preached a sermon on the Word of Wisdom in a certain place, and had laid it down just as straight as it could possibly be done, but that from the President of the Stake down it had made no impression whatever; they indulged themselves just as freely alter as they did before the sermon. They had made up their minds apparently to gratify their own desires, and let the word of the Lord go unfulfilled.
Now is the time, in my opinion, when these revelations on the Word of Wisdom and tithing must be observed by this people, or they must take the consequences. I do not believe God will stay His hand much longer if we fail to observe these things. Preaching has been done long and loud. We have all been preached to in relation to these matters, and I firmly believe that the time has come when these things must be observed by the people or they must take the consequences of disobedience.
Now if this exhortation does no one else any good, I pray God it may do me good; that I may be strengthened and observe the things which God commands; that when the Elders preach unto me and my family and friends that judgment is coming upon the earth, and they testify that this is the path of safety, we may heed their words. This is the way to sanctify the land unto the people who dwell upon it. It is the way which the Lord has signified. This ark of safety is offered to us. Shall we receive it? Or shall we go blindly forward, determined in our hearts to follow our own inclinations, and let the flood come, and say, “There is still a place of safety for me and mine; I can float with the current and be saved with the balance of the Saints of God?” I do not think I can do this. On the contrary, I think that the judgments of God are increasing, and that they are flooding the earth, and the Latter-day Saints must make this place of refuge a sanctified place for their salvation and the salvation of those who will listen to their testimonies.
God help us, my brethren and sisters, to make our calling and election sure. God help us to do our duty, and to build up Zion in His own appointed way; perfect ourselves and our families, and have a forgiving spirit in our hearts, not a spirit to find fault with everything we see. That God may help us in all things requisite to make us perfect in the day of the Lord, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
President Joseph F. Smith
spoke of the numerous calls from abroad for more Elders. Occasionally it was difficult to meet those demands, although when Elders were called they were generally willing to go. A few wished time to settle up their affairs and pay their debts. The speaker deemed a time of stringency suitable for the settlement of financial obligations and the forming of a resolution not to get involved again. He enumerated different parts of the world from which Elders had come, and then dwelt upon the fact that the Word of Wisdom was associated with the missionary field, as young men who used tobacco were not in a condition to go into the world to preach the Gospel. The necessity of selecting men for this calling who are honest, pure and consistent was insisted upon. The financial benefits of refraining from articles that are detrimental to health formed a part of the discourse. The saving would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The speaker made many profitable remarks upon the subject of the Word of Wisdom in its various features, the benefits of observing and the evil results of disregarding it.
spoke of the numerous calls from abroad for more Elders. Occasionally it was difficult to meet those demands, although when Elders were called they were generally willing to go. A few wished time to settle up their affairs and pay their debts. The speaker deemed a time of stringency suitable for the settlement of financial obligations and the forming of a resolution not to get involved again. He enumerated different parts of the world from which Elders had come, and then dwelt upon the fact that the Word of Wisdom was associated with the missionary field, as young men who used tobacco were not in a condition to go into the world to preach the Gospel. The necessity of selecting men for this calling who are honest, pure and consistent was insisted upon. The financial benefits of refraining from articles that are detrimental to health formed a part of the discourse. The saving would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The speaker made many profitable remarks upon the subject of the Word of Wisdom in its various features, the benefits of observing and the evil results of disregarding it.
Discourse
Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Friday, October 5th, 1894, by
President Joseph F. Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I feel that I can certainly bear my testimony to those things which I have heard this morning, and I am very grateful to our Heavenly Father that we have so many evidences of His kindness and mercy towards Zion. We are constantly called upon from almost every quarter of the globe for more Elders to be sent out to preach the Gospel, and we have found it somewhat difficult to supply the demand, although the calls that are made upon the Elders are as a rule responded to with pleasure and alacrity. The general answer made by the Elders is, “I feel honored to be considered worthy to be called to go on a mission, and with the help of the Lord, I will be on hand at the time appointed.” But all of the answers are not of this kind. Occasionally, and especially of late, we receive replies that run somewhat in this way, “I am pleased to be honored with a call to go on a mission. But I am sorry to say that at present I do not see how it is possible for me to respond. I am in debt, and my affairs are in such a shape that it would be impossible for me to arrange them so that I could leave upon the mission at the time appointed, and I would be pleased if you could grant me six months’ or a year’s time and I will endeavor to straighten up my affairs and by that time be ready to respond to the call.” Of late we have had quite a number of responses of this kind from the Elders. Of course, we regret this, not only because we need their services in the missionary field, but because it grieves us to know that our brethren are in debt. As we are passing through a time of stringency and scarcity of means, it is the best time, probably, that we will experience to pay our debts, to get square with the world, and then resolve in our minds that for the future we will keep out of debt as far as possible. I have noticed that in times when money is plentiful and everything is flourishing the people are more prone to incur obligation that they are liable to fail in meeting them. In times of scarcity it is easier to economize, to retrench and to settle up our obligations as far as we can.
We have demands for missionaries for Holland, and we search all over the country to find Hollanders who can go back to their native land to preach the Gospel. We find it difficult, however, to meet the calls that are made upon us for missionaries to that land. We are constantly called upon for Norwegians and Swedes to go to their native land to preach the Gospel, and we find it somewhat difficult to obtain sufficient number for this purpose. It is not so difficult to find Danes to go to Denmark. We are generally pretty well supplied with Elders of this nationality. We need Elders to go to Germany. It seems hard to find good, bright, intelligent men who can speak the German language and who can go to Germany to preach the Gospel. The Gospel is being opened up remarkably in that land, and religious toleration is enlarging there. We have had calls made upon us for Elders to go to the Holy Land, and we find it difficult to supply the demand. It is the same in other directions. Not that Elders are scarce; but to find those who are really suited for these calls is what makes it difficult. When a man is wanted to go to Sweden, we want to send a man that can talk Swedish; to Norway, a man who can talk Norwegian; to Germany, a man who can talk German. When we send Elders to the islands of the sea we are under the necessity of calling young men who are capable of acquiring with facility a knowledge of a foreign language. In consequence of this it is not an easy task to obtain a sufficient number of Elders to meet the calls that are made upon us. In addition to this, as I have said, when Elders are called upon, one is in debt and cannot go; another has married a wife, must make a home and cannot go; another has bought him a farm and he cannot go; and another has entered land and he has to stay until his time to prove up shall come; and there are a number of excuses of this kind, which adds to the difficulty we experience in meeting the many calls that are made upon us. But it must be said that these are the exceptions. The rule is that those who are called upon respond cheerfully, and this is very gratifying.
You will please excuse me for talking a little about missionaries. There is a committee of Apostles appointed to look directly after the calls that are made for Elders to go out to preach the Gospel, and I happen to be a member of that committee; therefore, I have something to do in relation to these matters. The word of wisdom, also, concerning which Brother Young has been speaking, has something to do with these matters. For when we call upon a young man to go upon a mission and we find that he is addicted to the pernicious habit of using tobacco, it is an obstacle to his going. It will not do to send a man out to preach the Gospel with a cigarette, or a cigar, or a pipe in his mouth. It is a sorry thing to know that numbers of the young men of Zion who ought to be fitting themselves for any position in the Kingdom of God are addicted to this pernicious habit of smoking tobacco. Brother Heber J. Grant, probably, when he shall talk to you, will tell you about how many hundred thousand of dollars worth of tobacco is smoked every year. The amount would astonish you. Brother Heber is a mathematician, and he has been making calculations upon this subject, the result of which will astonish you, I think. A young man who is addicted to these habits of using tobacco and drinking is not a fit subject for a mission. He is under the necessity of reforming before he can become qualified to go out to preach the Gospel to the world. Then think of it for a moment—the idea of calling a young man to go out to preach the Gospel who needs to be preached to, and to reform! Is it not a sad reflection on the youth of Zion that there should be a single young man in Israel who, when called upon to take a mission, would have to undergo radical changes in himself in order to be prepared for that glorious work? We do not send young men abroad to preach the Gospel, if we know it, who are addicted to any pernicious practices. We must send young men that are exemplary in every way; who are pure-minded and faithful, and who will go out into the world and do good, not only by precept, but by example also. I do not know whether there are any young men in this conference who need preaching to upon this subject, but there may be a good many fathers where who have sons that will be called to go out to the world to preach the Gospel, and I would like to enjoin it upon the young men that are here and upon the fathers and mothers of the young men that are not here that from this time forth they will set their minds upon pruning out all these dry branches and bringing themselves to the standard that is set for us in the Kingdom of God, that when we are called upon for anything we shall be ready and be willing to say, “Here I am; the Lord can command me, and I am ready to obey His commands.”
It is important, therefore, that we should observe the Word of Wisdom that has been given to us. If the members of the Church were to abstain one year from the use of tobacco, intoxicating drinks, and tea and coffee, there would remain in this country enough money to pay every debt owned by the people. Talk about hard times and scarcity of money, when we are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for these articles that are injurious and hurtful, unfitting us for the ministry and for good standing in the Church of God. The money expended for these articles is not kept in this territory; for these things are not produced here. They are articles that have to be imported from abroad, and every dollar that is expended for them by the Latter-day Saints goes out of the country. If there was no other cause than this, it would be ample cause for a scarcity of means in the territory. We believe that it is unwise for us to expend our means in this direction. It is doubly unwise. In the first place, it is unwise for the reason that these articles do not give us health or vitality. They are not necessary to life or to health. They are only necessary to our supposed happiness in so far as we have become happy in pernicious practice. The drunkard becomes a slave to his drink; others become slaves to the use of tea, coffee and tobacco, and therefore they consider them necessary to their happiness; but they are not really necessary to their happiness nor to their health. You cannot find an intelligent physician in the world that will tell you these things are not hurtful for common use. Every man that knows anything about the laws of life will tell you that the use of these articles is injurious to the human system. Yet we will use them, and we will become slaves to them, in defiance of the laws of nature and the word of the Lord unto us. Thus it is an evil and wrong. Furthermore, it is wrong because it takes our means from us and gives it to the stranger. Probably every drop of spirituous liquor consumed by those who profess to be Latter-day Saints is imported from abroad. Consequently every dollar that is expended for it goes abroad. We have a number of breweries, I am sorry to say, in Salt Lake City, and there are a number of people engaged in the brewing of beer. Of course, the money that is spent in this direction does not go abroad; but it is a business that is calculated to build up no one but the brewer and the vendor of his product. It does not build up the man that buys and drinks the beer. It does not give him strength or health. The brewer and the seller may become rich and build palaces out of this business; but they are the only ones that are benefited by this traffic, while those who patronize them only become the poorer for it. But aside from all this, the thing is, it is wrong for the Latter-day Saints to do it. The Lord has laid down a rule for us to go by. He has told us what is good for man and what is not good for man; and if we will only humble ourselves and acknowledge that the Lord knows what is best for us, and do as He tells us, we will begin to see the effects of it and be able to appreciate the beauties of it better than we can now. It is by putting the word of the Lord into practice that we will be able to appreciate it, not by simply looking upon it without doing it. When we do the will of the Lord, then shall we know of the doctrine, that it is of God; then shall we build upon the rock; then when the floods descend and the storms beat upon the house, it will not fall.
Let us be doers of the word, and not hearers of it only. Let us keep the commandments of God, and not merely pretend to believe in them; for it is an axiom among mankind that when a man says he believes in something and yet does not do it, he either is deceiving himself or he is trying to deceive others; but when a man believes a thing and puts it into practice he is consistent. A man should walk according to his belief or his knowledge of that which is good. He must be consistent with his professions, or God will reject him. These are my sentiments. I believe in obeying the commandments of God, or else get out of the way. We ought not to be stumbling blocks to those who are trying to enter in at the door. God will hold us responsible for this. If there is a man on earth that has done wrong because I have set him the example, I am in some measure responsible for that wrong, and I will have to pay the debt in some way. Therefore, that I may not be stumbling block; that I may not stand at the door and hinder those who would enter, but that I may be an assistance to those that are faltering, I want to be consistent with my professions and do the things that I am commanded to do. No doubt I fail in a great many things, and others may see my weaknesses and failings much better than I do. We have not all yet attained the power to see ourselves as others see us, yet it stands to reason that every man ought to know himself better than his neighbor, and I believe that every intelligent man does know himself better than anybody else, unless it may be his wife or his children. Of course, your wife knows you better than you do yourselves, and your children have a great deal of knowledge concerning you. If there are any defects in a man or virtues either, the wife and the children will be pretty apt to see them, because he is right with them, and they see every side of his life—in his unguarded moments, in his thoughtless hours, as well as when he is on his knees before the Lord. They know him on every hand. And when a man’s wife and children respect and honor him because of his good examples, you may depend upon it he is a pretty good man.
My brethren and sisters, may God bless you, and help us all to live righteously. May we keep the commandments of God, save our means at home, pay our debts, be free men and free women, and not bondmen and bondwomen, as many of us are today. Many of us are in the bondage of debt, and it may be difficult for us to get out of it; but if we possible can get out of it in honor, let us bend all our efforts to that end and do it; that when we are called to go on missions we can say, “Yes. I am ready and willing to do,” and what is more, “I do not owe anybody, and I have the means to go with, and to provide for my family while I am gone, that they shall not become a charge upon the Bishop.” If this people will only quit using strong drinks, and tea and coffee, and tobacco in any shape, and then cut off a great many foolish extravagances that they have become addicted to, they will have abundance of means to provide for themselves and their families; and with all, they will have health, the destroyer shall pass them by, they shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and they shall have access to the treasures of knowledge and of wisdom. For these are the promises that have been made to those who will keep the Word of Wisdom. God grant that we may be able to do it, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang: Jesus, I my cross have taken.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Friday, October 5th, 1894, by
President Joseph F. Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I feel that I can certainly bear my testimony to those things which I have heard this morning, and I am very grateful to our Heavenly Father that we have so many evidences of His kindness and mercy towards Zion. We are constantly called upon from almost every quarter of the globe for more Elders to be sent out to preach the Gospel, and we have found it somewhat difficult to supply the demand, although the calls that are made upon the Elders are as a rule responded to with pleasure and alacrity. The general answer made by the Elders is, “I feel honored to be considered worthy to be called to go on a mission, and with the help of the Lord, I will be on hand at the time appointed.” But all of the answers are not of this kind. Occasionally, and especially of late, we receive replies that run somewhat in this way, “I am pleased to be honored with a call to go on a mission. But I am sorry to say that at present I do not see how it is possible for me to respond. I am in debt, and my affairs are in such a shape that it would be impossible for me to arrange them so that I could leave upon the mission at the time appointed, and I would be pleased if you could grant me six months’ or a year’s time and I will endeavor to straighten up my affairs and by that time be ready to respond to the call.” Of late we have had quite a number of responses of this kind from the Elders. Of course, we regret this, not only because we need their services in the missionary field, but because it grieves us to know that our brethren are in debt. As we are passing through a time of stringency and scarcity of means, it is the best time, probably, that we will experience to pay our debts, to get square with the world, and then resolve in our minds that for the future we will keep out of debt as far as possible. I have noticed that in times when money is plentiful and everything is flourishing the people are more prone to incur obligation that they are liable to fail in meeting them. In times of scarcity it is easier to economize, to retrench and to settle up our obligations as far as we can.
We have demands for missionaries for Holland, and we search all over the country to find Hollanders who can go back to their native land to preach the Gospel. We find it difficult, however, to meet the calls that are made upon us for missionaries to that land. We are constantly called upon for Norwegians and Swedes to go to their native land to preach the Gospel, and we find it somewhat difficult to obtain sufficient number for this purpose. It is not so difficult to find Danes to go to Denmark. We are generally pretty well supplied with Elders of this nationality. We need Elders to go to Germany. It seems hard to find good, bright, intelligent men who can speak the German language and who can go to Germany to preach the Gospel. The Gospel is being opened up remarkably in that land, and religious toleration is enlarging there. We have had calls made upon us for Elders to go to the Holy Land, and we find it difficult to supply the demand. It is the same in other directions. Not that Elders are scarce; but to find those who are really suited for these calls is what makes it difficult. When a man is wanted to go to Sweden, we want to send a man that can talk Swedish; to Norway, a man who can talk Norwegian; to Germany, a man who can talk German. When we send Elders to the islands of the sea we are under the necessity of calling young men who are capable of acquiring with facility a knowledge of a foreign language. In consequence of this it is not an easy task to obtain a sufficient number of Elders to meet the calls that are made upon us. In addition to this, as I have said, when Elders are called upon, one is in debt and cannot go; another has married a wife, must make a home and cannot go; another has bought him a farm and he cannot go; and another has entered land and he has to stay until his time to prove up shall come; and there are a number of excuses of this kind, which adds to the difficulty we experience in meeting the many calls that are made upon us. But it must be said that these are the exceptions. The rule is that those who are called upon respond cheerfully, and this is very gratifying.
You will please excuse me for talking a little about missionaries. There is a committee of Apostles appointed to look directly after the calls that are made for Elders to go out to preach the Gospel, and I happen to be a member of that committee; therefore, I have something to do in relation to these matters. The word of wisdom, also, concerning which Brother Young has been speaking, has something to do with these matters. For when we call upon a young man to go upon a mission and we find that he is addicted to the pernicious habit of using tobacco, it is an obstacle to his going. It will not do to send a man out to preach the Gospel with a cigarette, or a cigar, or a pipe in his mouth. It is a sorry thing to know that numbers of the young men of Zion who ought to be fitting themselves for any position in the Kingdom of God are addicted to this pernicious habit of smoking tobacco. Brother Heber J. Grant, probably, when he shall talk to you, will tell you about how many hundred thousand of dollars worth of tobacco is smoked every year. The amount would astonish you. Brother Heber is a mathematician, and he has been making calculations upon this subject, the result of which will astonish you, I think. A young man who is addicted to these habits of using tobacco and drinking is not a fit subject for a mission. He is under the necessity of reforming before he can become qualified to go out to preach the Gospel to the world. Then think of it for a moment—the idea of calling a young man to go out to preach the Gospel who needs to be preached to, and to reform! Is it not a sad reflection on the youth of Zion that there should be a single young man in Israel who, when called upon to take a mission, would have to undergo radical changes in himself in order to be prepared for that glorious work? We do not send young men abroad to preach the Gospel, if we know it, who are addicted to any pernicious practices. We must send young men that are exemplary in every way; who are pure-minded and faithful, and who will go out into the world and do good, not only by precept, but by example also. I do not know whether there are any young men in this conference who need preaching to upon this subject, but there may be a good many fathers where who have sons that will be called to go out to the world to preach the Gospel, and I would like to enjoin it upon the young men that are here and upon the fathers and mothers of the young men that are not here that from this time forth they will set their minds upon pruning out all these dry branches and bringing themselves to the standard that is set for us in the Kingdom of God, that when we are called upon for anything we shall be ready and be willing to say, “Here I am; the Lord can command me, and I am ready to obey His commands.”
It is important, therefore, that we should observe the Word of Wisdom that has been given to us. If the members of the Church were to abstain one year from the use of tobacco, intoxicating drinks, and tea and coffee, there would remain in this country enough money to pay every debt owned by the people. Talk about hard times and scarcity of money, when we are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for these articles that are injurious and hurtful, unfitting us for the ministry and for good standing in the Church of God. The money expended for these articles is not kept in this territory; for these things are not produced here. They are articles that have to be imported from abroad, and every dollar that is expended for them by the Latter-day Saints goes out of the country. If there was no other cause than this, it would be ample cause for a scarcity of means in the territory. We believe that it is unwise for us to expend our means in this direction. It is doubly unwise. In the first place, it is unwise for the reason that these articles do not give us health or vitality. They are not necessary to life or to health. They are only necessary to our supposed happiness in so far as we have become happy in pernicious practice. The drunkard becomes a slave to his drink; others become slaves to the use of tea, coffee and tobacco, and therefore they consider them necessary to their happiness; but they are not really necessary to their happiness nor to their health. You cannot find an intelligent physician in the world that will tell you these things are not hurtful for common use. Every man that knows anything about the laws of life will tell you that the use of these articles is injurious to the human system. Yet we will use them, and we will become slaves to them, in defiance of the laws of nature and the word of the Lord unto us. Thus it is an evil and wrong. Furthermore, it is wrong because it takes our means from us and gives it to the stranger. Probably every drop of spirituous liquor consumed by those who profess to be Latter-day Saints is imported from abroad. Consequently every dollar that is expended for it goes abroad. We have a number of breweries, I am sorry to say, in Salt Lake City, and there are a number of people engaged in the brewing of beer. Of course, the money that is spent in this direction does not go abroad; but it is a business that is calculated to build up no one but the brewer and the vendor of his product. It does not build up the man that buys and drinks the beer. It does not give him strength or health. The brewer and the seller may become rich and build palaces out of this business; but they are the only ones that are benefited by this traffic, while those who patronize them only become the poorer for it. But aside from all this, the thing is, it is wrong for the Latter-day Saints to do it. The Lord has laid down a rule for us to go by. He has told us what is good for man and what is not good for man; and if we will only humble ourselves and acknowledge that the Lord knows what is best for us, and do as He tells us, we will begin to see the effects of it and be able to appreciate the beauties of it better than we can now. It is by putting the word of the Lord into practice that we will be able to appreciate it, not by simply looking upon it without doing it. When we do the will of the Lord, then shall we know of the doctrine, that it is of God; then shall we build upon the rock; then when the floods descend and the storms beat upon the house, it will not fall.
Let us be doers of the word, and not hearers of it only. Let us keep the commandments of God, and not merely pretend to believe in them; for it is an axiom among mankind that when a man says he believes in something and yet does not do it, he either is deceiving himself or he is trying to deceive others; but when a man believes a thing and puts it into practice he is consistent. A man should walk according to his belief or his knowledge of that which is good. He must be consistent with his professions, or God will reject him. These are my sentiments. I believe in obeying the commandments of God, or else get out of the way. We ought not to be stumbling blocks to those who are trying to enter in at the door. God will hold us responsible for this. If there is a man on earth that has done wrong because I have set him the example, I am in some measure responsible for that wrong, and I will have to pay the debt in some way. Therefore, that I may not be stumbling block; that I may not stand at the door and hinder those who would enter, but that I may be an assistance to those that are faltering, I want to be consistent with my professions and do the things that I am commanded to do. No doubt I fail in a great many things, and others may see my weaknesses and failings much better than I do. We have not all yet attained the power to see ourselves as others see us, yet it stands to reason that every man ought to know himself better than his neighbor, and I believe that every intelligent man does know himself better than anybody else, unless it may be his wife or his children. Of course, your wife knows you better than you do yourselves, and your children have a great deal of knowledge concerning you. If there are any defects in a man or virtues either, the wife and the children will be pretty apt to see them, because he is right with them, and they see every side of his life—in his unguarded moments, in his thoughtless hours, as well as when he is on his knees before the Lord. They know him on every hand. And when a man’s wife and children respect and honor him because of his good examples, you may depend upon it he is a pretty good man.
My brethren and sisters, may God bless you, and help us all to live righteously. May we keep the commandments of God, save our means at home, pay our debts, be free men and free women, and not bondmen and bondwomen, as many of us are today. Many of us are in the bondage of debt, and it may be difficult for us to get out of it; but if we possible can get out of it in honor, let us bend all our efforts to that end and do it; that when we are called to go on missions we can say, “Yes. I am ready and willing to do,” and what is more, “I do not owe anybody, and I have the means to go with, and to provide for my family while I am gone, that they shall not become a charge upon the Bishop.” If this people will only quit using strong drinks, and tea and coffee, and tobacco in any shape, and then cut off a great many foolish extravagances that they have become addicted to, they will have abundance of means to provide for themselves and their families; and with all, they will have health, the destroyer shall pass them by, they shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and they shall have access to the treasures of knowledge and of wisdom. For these are the promises that have been made to those who will keep the Word of Wisdom. God grant that we may be able to do it, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang: Jesus, I my cross have taken.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
Afternoon Session.
The choir and congregation sang:
How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
Prayer by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing by the choir:
Zion Stands with hills surrounded--
Zion, kept by power divine;
All her foes will be confounded.
Though the world in arms combine.
The choir and congregation sang:
How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
Prayer by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing by the choir:
Zion Stands with hills surrounded--
Zion, kept by power divine;
All her foes will be confounded.
Though the world in arms combine.
President Lorenzo Snow,
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
was the first speaker. He said that the remarks made by those who addressed the congregation at this morning’s services were full of instruction to the Saints and most profitable for their future guidance. There were promises made to the Saints in former days as well as in the latter-days, by revelation, which were most precious, and they would all be fulfilled in the Lord’s own time. The Latter-day Saints had many obstacles to overcome, and their faith would be tested in many ways. The Lord had placed before us incentives of the grandest character, and these we found in the revelations of the present day as well as those of ancient times. The speaker then proceeded to explain the heights of exaltation to which man could attain by constant and undeviating faithfulness to and progress under the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He showed that such could, in eternity, become like God, who is the Father of the intelligences who inhabit the earth. These matters were explained in ancient revelations and God had also revealed them in this age, he having had a divine communication under this subject to himself. Elder Snow then dwelt upon the course necessarily pursued by those who have this hope in them—to follow righteousness always, whether under the eyes of their fellow-beings or when beyond their observation. He adduced reasons in support of what had been revealed by God upon this great subject. He assured the Saints that by a course of faithfulness and self-sacrifice they would attain to their highest possible ideals of increase, glory and honor in the future life.
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
was the first speaker. He said that the remarks made by those who addressed the congregation at this morning’s services were full of instruction to the Saints and most profitable for their future guidance. There were promises made to the Saints in former days as well as in the latter-days, by revelation, which were most precious, and they would all be fulfilled in the Lord’s own time. The Latter-day Saints had many obstacles to overcome, and their faith would be tested in many ways. The Lord had placed before us incentives of the grandest character, and these we found in the revelations of the present day as well as those of ancient times. The speaker then proceeded to explain the heights of exaltation to which man could attain by constant and undeviating faithfulness to and progress under the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He showed that such could, in eternity, become like God, who is the Father of the intelligences who inhabit the earth. These matters were explained in ancient revelations and God had also revealed them in this age, he having had a divine communication under this subject to himself. Elder Snow then dwelt upon the course necessarily pursued by those who have this hope in them—to follow righteousness always, whether under the eyes of their fellow-beings or when beyond their observation. He adduced reasons in support of what had been revealed by God upon this great subject. He assured the Saints that by a course of faithfulness and self-sacrifice they would attain to their highest possible ideals of increase, glory and honor in the future life.
Glory Awaiting the Saints.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, October 6th, 1894, by
President Lorenzo Snow.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
The sentiment conveyed in three lines of the hymn which has just been sung, I think the Latter-day Saints can cheerfully respond to:
“Though the world in arms combine, Happy Zion, What a favored lot is thine!”
I presume to say that every Latter-day Saint within these walls naturally expects to receive something before leaving that will be of great advantage, and whoever comes here with this desire and with an honest heart will never be disappointed. There were none who listened to the remarks of the brethren this morning with an honest heart but received something that cheered them and that will be of use to them. Some ideas were advanced that I never I thought of before, and they were very profitable. We have found in our experience, and will still find, that the road we have to travel in some respects is a very hard one, while in other respects it is not so hard. Much depends upon ourselves in this matter. There are, however, promises which have been made to the Latter-day Saints that are very precious. We have found undoubtedly in our experience that it requires something of a desirable nature to incite us to action. If a person had a strong idea that there was a very precious mine undiscovered in one of these mountains east he would travel along the road to secure its discovery, and would be willing to make many sacrifices and perform much labor and toil in order to get at that mine, and he would endure the scorn that he might hear daily while endeavoring to reach this. This is natural. The Lord knew our natures and dispositions, and He knew exactly what to place before us in order to stimulate us to that course of action which will enable us to overcome the various difficulties that arise in our path of progress.
The first hymn that we sung this afternoon speaks of the firm foundation which the Latter-day Saints have to build upon. We know from our experience that the foundation upon which we have placed our faith is grand and glorious. I know this for myself. I had been in this Church but a short time when I succeeded in securing the most perfect knowledge that there was a God, that there was a Son, Jesus Christ, and that Joseph Smith was acknowledged of God as His prophet. It was a knowledge that no man could communicate. It came through a revelation from the Almighty. That is a very good starting point for a Latter-day Saint, and it is something that every person, who has any ambition at all to advance in this path, will need at some time or other. He will come into circumstances of such a nature that he will need strength, and that strength will come from a knowledge of the fact that the path in which he is traveling will lead him to the possession of his highest and best desires.
The Lord has placed before us incentives of the grandest character. In the revelations which God has given, we find what a person can reach who will travel this path of knowledge and be guided by the Spirit of God. I had not been in this Church more than two years when it was clearly shown to me what a man could reach through a continued obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God. That knowledge has been as a star continually before me, and has caused me to be particular in trying to do that which was right and acceptable to God. There are many things that people may do without being seen by man. But if those things are wrong, they feel in themselves that they are wrong and that God sees them. It is a long time since the knowledge of which I speak was communicated to me in a vision. But it has not been forgotten. When it was first shown to me it was personal property; I dared not communicate it. It was something that I had never heard before. Now, however, it is public property. It seems, after all the education that we had in things pertaining to the celestial worlds, that there are some Latter-day Saints who are so well satisfied with simply knowing that the work is true, that when you come to talk to them of our great future they seem surprised and think it has nothing to do particularly with them. John the Revelator, in the third chapter of his fist epistle, says:
Now are we the sons of God.
That is a strange thing for a person to assert—that he is a son of God. And he goes on:
And it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as God is pure.
These are strange sentiments. Such passages of scripture as this are not very often repeated in pulpits in the sectarian world because they do not believe what is there said. But the Spirit of God has conveyed to us that there are solid and solemn truths in expressions of this kind. Paul, in speaking to the Philippians, suggested that they cultivate an ambition which is quite strange to the people at the present time, though not so to the Latter-day Saints, especially those who are not satisfied to be but babes in the things of God. He says:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
What a strange teaching that would be in the pulpits of the sectarian world! But this what Paul taught, and he understood what he was talking about. He was caught up to the third heaven and heard things, he tells us, that were unlawful for man to utter. Whether Paul got beside himself and taught things that were unlawful, we leave others to judge. But this was what he suggested to the Saints to whom he was writing. Would it be wrong for us to ask the people here to cultivate an ambition of this character? There are a number of sayings in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, that seem strange to people not in possession of the Spirit of the Lord.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things.
What an expression is that? Who believes it? If a father were to say to his son, “My son, be faithful, and follow my counsels, and when you become of age you shall inherit all that I possess,” it would mean something, would it not? If the father told the truth, that son would have something to encourage him to be faithful. Did Jesus to deceive us when He made use of this expression? I will assure you that there is no deception in the language. He meant precisely what He said. Again, Jesus said:
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.
That is a wonderful saying. Is there any truth in it? It is all true. It is the Lord Almighty that said it. We are told in the Scriptures by the Apostle Paul:
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
I believe that. And when he says that Jesus “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” I believe that also. Do the Latter-day Saints believe these things that I am talking about? You must, of course, believe them. Again:
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.
Could anyone think of anything more that could be given? As President Cannon said this morning, everything that can be given the Lord has given to the Latter-day Saints. Paul comprehended these things very well, for he said “he pressed forward to the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
In these remarks which I have made we may see something in regard to the nature of this high calling in Christ Jesus. Now I will say what I received in vision, which was just as clear as the sun ever shone. The knowledge that was communicated to me I embraced in this couplet:
As man now is, God once was.
As God now is, man may be.
That is a wonderful thing. It was to me. I did not know but that I had come into possession of knowledge that I had no business with; but I knew it was true. Nothing of this kind had ever reached my ears before. It was preached a few years after that; at least, the Prophet Joseph taught this idea to the Twelve Apostles. Now, however, it is common property; but I do not know how many there are here that have got a real knowledge of these things in their hearts. If you have, I will tell you what its effects will be. As John said:
Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as God is pure.
Now, how is it that God proposes to confer this mighty honor upon us and to raise us to this condition of glory and exaltation? Who are we that God should do all this for us? Why, we are just beginning to find out that we are the offspring of God, born with the same faculties and powers as He possesses, capable of enlargement through the experience that we are now passing through in our second estate. Let me illustrate. Here is an emperor sitting upon his throne, governing and controlling his empire wisely and properly. He has an infant son that sits upon the knee of its mother. That son he proposes to one day set upon his throne, to govern and control his empire. Here is that infant, perfectly helpless, not knowing how to sustain its own life, not able to walk alone, without any knowledge, and here is this mighty emperor sitting upon his throne and governing his vast empire. Who would believe that he could raise that infant up to such a condition as to make it suitable to be placed on his throne? No one would, unless he had seen such things accomplished in his experience; seen the infant develop into boyhood, and then to manhood, possessing all the powers, faculties and possibilities of its father. Now, we are the sons and daughters of God. He has begotten us in His own image. He has given us faculties and powers that are capable of enlargement until His fulness is reached which He has promised—until we shall sit upon thrones, governing and controlling our posterity from eternity to eternity, and increasing eternally. That is the fact in regard to these matters, and there are some people who understand distinctly what I am saying. Does it seem a hard thing that God should raise His posterity and place them upon thrones, to govern and control their posterity from eternity to eternity?
There are a thousand things that might be said in connection with this subject, but I refrain from saying more because my time has expired. There are many things that we have to attend to, and it would pay us well to attend to them. God has pointed out the results of traveling upon this road of glory and exaltation and the promises are sure. The Lord knew precisely what He could do. He knew what materials He had to operate with, and He knew just what He said. If we do the part that He has assigned unto us, and keep our second estate, we shall be sure to realize these promises in every particular, and more than you and I can possibly comprehend. God bless you, my brethren and sisters. Do not be discouraged. The path may be rough, but much of its roughness arises from our own indifference and carelessness. It would be much smoother if we would diligently observe the commandments of God and keep the Spirit of the Lord continually in our hearts. Yet, after all, there are sacrifices to make, but in making these sacrifices there is a possibility of having enjoyment in the anticipation of what will be the final result. Amen.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday, October 6th, 1894, by
President Lorenzo Snow.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
The sentiment conveyed in three lines of the hymn which has just been sung, I think the Latter-day Saints can cheerfully respond to:
“Though the world in arms combine, Happy Zion, What a favored lot is thine!”
I presume to say that every Latter-day Saint within these walls naturally expects to receive something before leaving that will be of great advantage, and whoever comes here with this desire and with an honest heart will never be disappointed. There were none who listened to the remarks of the brethren this morning with an honest heart but received something that cheered them and that will be of use to them. Some ideas were advanced that I never I thought of before, and they were very profitable. We have found in our experience, and will still find, that the road we have to travel in some respects is a very hard one, while in other respects it is not so hard. Much depends upon ourselves in this matter. There are, however, promises which have been made to the Latter-day Saints that are very precious. We have found undoubtedly in our experience that it requires something of a desirable nature to incite us to action. If a person had a strong idea that there was a very precious mine undiscovered in one of these mountains east he would travel along the road to secure its discovery, and would be willing to make many sacrifices and perform much labor and toil in order to get at that mine, and he would endure the scorn that he might hear daily while endeavoring to reach this. This is natural. The Lord knew our natures and dispositions, and He knew exactly what to place before us in order to stimulate us to that course of action which will enable us to overcome the various difficulties that arise in our path of progress.
The first hymn that we sung this afternoon speaks of the firm foundation which the Latter-day Saints have to build upon. We know from our experience that the foundation upon which we have placed our faith is grand and glorious. I know this for myself. I had been in this Church but a short time when I succeeded in securing the most perfect knowledge that there was a God, that there was a Son, Jesus Christ, and that Joseph Smith was acknowledged of God as His prophet. It was a knowledge that no man could communicate. It came through a revelation from the Almighty. That is a very good starting point for a Latter-day Saint, and it is something that every person, who has any ambition at all to advance in this path, will need at some time or other. He will come into circumstances of such a nature that he will need strength, and that strength will come from a knowledge of the fact that the path in which he is traveling will lead him to the possession of his highest and best desires.
The Lord has placed before us incentives of the grandest character. In the revelations which God has given, we find what a person can reach who will travel this path of knowledge and be guided by the Spirit of God. I had not been in this Church more than two years when it was clearly shown to me what a man could reach through a continued obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God. That knowledge has been as a star continually before me, and has caused me to be particular in trying to do that which was right and acceptable to God. There are many things that people may do without being seen by man. But if those things are wrong, they feel in themselves that they are wrong and that God sees them. It is a long time since the knowledge of which I speak was communicated to me in a vision. But it has not been forgotten. When it was first shown to me it was personal property; I dared not communicate it. It was something that I had never heard before. Now, however, it is public property. It seems, after all the education that we had in things pertaining to the celestial worlds, that there are some Latter-day Saints who are so well satisfied with simply knowing that the work is true, that when you come to talk to them of our great future they seem surprised and think it has nothing to do particularly with them. John the Revelator, in the third chapter of his fist epistle, says:
Now are we the sons of God.
That is a strange thing for a person to assert—that he is a son of God. And he goes on:
And it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as God is pure.
These are strange sentiments. Such passages of scripture as this are not very often repeated in pulpits in the sectarian world because they do not believe what is there said. But the Spirit of God has conveyed to us that there are solid and solemn truths in expressions of this kind. Paul, in speaking to the Philippians, suggested that they cultivate an ambition which is quite strange to the people at the present time, though not so to the Latter-day Saints, especially those who are not satisfied to be but babes in the things of God. He says:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
What a strange teaching that would be in the pulpits of the sectarian world! But this what Paul taught, and he understood what he was talking about. He was caught up to the third heaven and heard things, he tells us, that were unlawful for man to utter. Whether Paul got beside himself and taught things that were unlawful, we leave others to judge. But this was what he suggested to the Saints to whom he was writing. Would it be wrong for us to ask the people here to cultivate an ambition of this character? There are a number of sayings in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, that seem strange to people not in possession of the Spirit of the Lord.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things.
What an expression is that? Who believes it? If a father were to say to his son, “My son, be faithful, and follow my counsels, and when you become of age you shall inherit all that I possess,” it would mean something, would it not? If the father told the truth, that son would have something to encourage him to be faithful. Did Jesus to deceive us when He made use of this expression? I will assure you that there is no deception in the language. He meant precisely what He said. Again, Jesus said:
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.
That is a wonderful saying. Is there any truth in it? It is all true. It is the Lord Almighty that said it. We are told in the Scriptures by the Apostle Paul:
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
I believe that. And when he says that Jesus “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” I believe that also. Do the Latter-day Saints believe these things that I am talking about? You must, of course, believe them. Again:
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.
Could anyone think of anything more that could be given? As President Cannon said this morning, everything that can be given the Lord has given to the Latter-day Saints. Paul comprehended these things very well, for he said “he pressed forward to the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
In these remarks which I have made we may see something in regard to the nature of this high calling in Christ Jesus. Now I will say what I received in vision, which was just as clear as the sun ever shone. The knowledge that was communicated to me I embraced in this couplet:
As man now is, God once was.
As God now is, man may be.
That is a wonderful thing. It was to me. I did not know but that I had come into possession of knowledge that I had no business with; but I knew it was true. Nothing of this kind had ever reached my ears before. It was preached a few years after that; at least, the Prophet Joseph taught this idea to the Twelve Apostles. Now, however, it is common property; but I do not know how many there are here that have got a real knowledge of these things in their hearts. If you have, I will tell you what its effects will be. As John said:
Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as God is pure.
Now, how is it that God proposes to confer this mighty honor upon us and to raise us to this condition of glory and exaltation? Who are we that God should do all this for us? Why, we are just beginning to find out that we are the offspring of God, born with the same faculties and powers as He possesses, capable of enlargement through the experience that we are now passing through in our second estate. Let me illustrate. Here is an emperor sitting upon his throne, governing and controlling his empire wisely and properly. He has an infant son that sits upon the knee of its mother. That son he proposes to one day set upon his throne, to govern and control his empire. Here is that infant, perfectly helpless, not knowing how to sustain its own life, not able to walk alone, without any knowledge, and here is this mighty emperor sitting upon his throne and governing his vast empire. Who would believe that he could raise that infant up to such a condition as to make it suitable to be placed on his throne? No one would, unless he had seen such things accomplished in his experience; seen the infant develop into boyhood, and then to manhood, possessing all the powers, faculties and possibilities of its father. Now, we are the sons and daughters of God. He has begotten us in His own image. He has given us faculties and powers that are capable of enlargement until His fulness is reached which He has promised—until we shall sit upon thrones, governing and controlling our posterity from eternity to eternity, and increasing eternally. That is the fact in regard to these matters, and there are some people who understand distinctly what I am saying. Does it seem a hard thing that God should raise His posterity and place them upon thrones, to govern and control their posterity from eternity to eternity?
There are a thousand things that might be said in connection with this subject, but I refrain from saying more because my time has expired. There are many things that we have to attend to, and it would pay us well to attend to them. God has pointed out the results of traveling upon this road of glory and exaltation and the promises are sure. The Lord knew precisely what He could do. He knew what materials He had to operate with, and He knew just what He said. If we do the part that He has assigned unto us, and keep our second estate, we shall be sure to realize these promises in every particular, and more than you and I can possibly comprehend. God bless you, my brethren and sisters. Do not be discouraged. The path may be rough, but much of its roughness arises from our own indifference and carelessness. It would be much smoother if we would diligently observe the commandments of God and keep the Spirit of the Lord continually in our hearts. Yet, after all, there are sacrifices to make, but in making these sacrifices there is a possibility of having enjoyment in the anticipation of what will be the final result. Amen.
Elder Francis M. Lyman
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
remarked that the speakers in this Church did not prepare their discourses beforehand, but depended upon the Spirit and inspiration of the Lord for what they might say. Every one bearing the holy Priesthood was expected to bear his share of the burden in the work of the Lord. We had undertaken to build up God’s kingdom and accomplish His purposes, and every man bearing the Priesthood who failed to do his duty was under reproach. It was a reproach to teachers when they were unsuccessful in the performance of their duties; so were individual members of the Church when they failed to properly regulate their own affairs and those of their families; and the same might be said of the Bishops when they fell short of their duty towards those who looked up to them for guidance. So also with the High Councils of the Stakes. When we, as a people, failed to obey the Word of Wisdom, which had been given us for our temporal good, and neglected to keep the Lord’s commandments, it was a reproach to us. Our sins would be forgiven if we were genuinely repentant, which was eternal repentance, and none other could possibly be effectual. We covenanted to serve the Lord when we went into the waters of baptism, and if a man would be saved hereafter he must resolve upon final reformation. There was a spirit of carelessness today among the people not only in regard to the law of tithing, but in other matters.
Our fastday offerings were but nominal, whereas the Saints should always remember the wants of the poor. This was what the Lord required of us. In how many of the fast meetings in Zion today, he asked, were prayers offered as extensively as they should be? He believed there were many things which might be accomplished by fasting and prayer which could not be carried out and attained by individual effort. The Saints were unfortunately too apt to lose sight of this. The speaker condemned an excessive love of pleasure, and deprecated card playing, drinking and other evils practiced by the young in Zion. The subject of faith was briefly dwelt upon, and the importance of daily prayer urged upon the Saints. Some among the Latter-day Saints were excusing themselves, for one reason and another, from paying their tithing, but He who provided for us should receive as our offerings the choicest gifts that we could bestow in that direction. When the Lord had so abundantly blessed us we should remember the poor. We had had a bountiful harvest, and hence out of our store should give liberally to those of our brethren who were placed in less fortunate positions. There was joy, happiness and salvation in doing the will of God and in the faithful carrying out of the duties required of us. In conclusion Elder Lyman invoked the blessing of God upon President Woodruff, whose life he prayed might be prolonged for years yet to come, that he might remain at the head of this people.
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
remarked that the speakers in this Church did not prepare their discourses beforehand, but depended upon the Spirit and inspiration of the Lord for what they might say. Every one bearing the holy Priesthood was expected to bear his share of the burden in the work of the Lord. We had undertaken to build up God’s kingdom and accomplish His purposes, and every man bearing the Priesthood who failed to do his duty was under reproach. It was a reproach to teachers when they were unsuccessful in the performance of their duties; so were individual members of the Church when they failed to properly regulate their own affairs and those of their families; and the same might be said of the Bishops when they fell short of their duty towards those who looked up to them for guidance. So also with the High Councils of the Stakes. When we, as a people, failed to obey the Word of Wisdom, which had been given us for our temporal good, and neglected to keep the Lord’s commandments, it was a reproach to us. Our sins would be forgiven if we were genuinely repentant, which was eternal repentance, and none other could possibly be effectual. We covenanted to serve the Lord when we went into the waters of baptism, and if a man would be saved hereafter he must resolve upon final reformation. There was a spirit of carelessness today among the people not only in regard to the law of tithing, but in other matters.
Our fastday offerings were but nominal, whereas the Saints should always remember the wants of the poor. This was what the Lord required of us. In how many of the fast meetings in Zion today, he asked, were prayers offered as extensively as they should be? He believed there were many things which might be accomplished by fasting and prayer which could not be carried out and attained by individual effort. The Saints were unfortunately too apt to lose sight of this. The speaker condemned an excessive love of pleasure, and deprecated card playing, drinking and other evils practiced by the young in Zion. The subject of faith was briefly dwelt upon, and the importance of daily prayer urged upon the Saints. Some among the Latter-day Saints were excusing themselves, for one reason and another, from paying their tithing, but He who provided for us should receive as our offerings the choicest gifts that we could bestow in that direction. When the Lord had so abundantly blessed us we should remember the poor. We had had a bountiful harvest, and hence out of our store should give liberally to those of our brethren who were placed in less fortunate positions. There was joy, happiness and salvation in doing the will of God and in the faithful carrying out of the duties required of us. In conclusion Elder Lyman invoked the blessing of God upon President Woodruff, whose life he prayed might be prolonged for years yet to come, that he might remain at the head of this people.
Elder John Henry Smith,
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
was the succeeding speaker. He said here were a great many subjects which might be advantageously dwelt upon at this conference. The theme of those who had spoken thus far on the present occasion had been a reformation of our individual lives, and on this head some excellent counsel had been given. Each and everyone of us could look into our own souls and seek wisdom, prudence and judgment to guide us aright. Elder Smith spoke of the obligation resting upon the Latter-day Saints of constant and earnest prayer, in the family circle and in secret as well as in our public meetings. He was fearful, however, that in the midst of the excitement and cares of the day many of us become unmindful of the responsibilities which attached to us in this respect. He believed that among many of the duties which we neglected was the expression of our thanks to God for having in His providence preserved us and our families amid the surrounding temptations of life, and which beset us on every hand. He wondered sometimes whether, in the midst of present experiences, our sisters were as mindful in this regard of their responsibilities as they were wont to be in the days that are past—now that they are more largely endowed with the comforts and blessings of life. There was no doubt as to the correctness of this latter-day work, for God himself was at its head. The road to repentance was ever open to the Saints, and let them see to it that their lives were so directed that hereafter they would attain celestial glory. May the Lord bless us with a proper comprehension and in our daily life continue to watch over and protect His people.
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
was the succeeding speaker. He said here were a great many subjects which might be advantageously dwelt upon at this conference. The theme of those who had spoken thus far on the present occasion had been a reformation of our individual lives, and on this head some excellent counsel had been given. Each and everyone of us could look into our own souls and seek wisdom, prudence and judgment to guide us aright. Elder Smith spoke of the obligation resting upon the Latter-day Saints of constant and earnest prayer, in the family circle and in secret as well as in our public meetings. He was fearful, however, that in the midst of the excitement and cares of the day many of us become unmindful of the responsibilities which attached to us in this respect. He believed that among many of the duties which we neglected was the expression of our thanks to God for having in His providence preserved us and our families amid the surrounding temptations of life, and which beset us on every hand. He wondered sometimes whether, in the midst of present experiences, our sisters were as mindful in this regard of their responsibilities as they were wont to be in the days that are past—now that they are more largely endowed with the comforts and blessings of life. There was no doubt as to the correctness of this latter-day work, for God himself was at its head. The road to repentance was ever open to the Saints, and let them see to it that their lives were so directed that hereafter they would attain celestial glory. May the Lord bless us with a proper comprehension and in our daily life continue to watch over and protect His people.
The Duty of Prayer
Remarks made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Friday, October 5th, 1894, by
Elder John Henry Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
There are so many subjects upon which an Elder, if he can but enjoy the influence of the Holy Spirit, may speak, that unless the promptings are direct to him it is difficult sometimes to make a selection. Up to this point the Lord, by His Spirit, has aided every one of our brethren that have either prayed or spoken to us, as also our brethren and sisters who have given us sweet strains of music to gladden our hearts.
The theme thus far in this Conference, if I have been enabled to partake of the alt of the Conference, has been a reformation in our lives; curing ourselves, so far as possible, and seeing to it that in the example we set among our fellow creatures it shall be of that character that no reflection shall come upon us because we preach something that we do not practice; that when we occupy a station among the Latter-day Saints, whether it be President, Apostle, Bishop, High Priest, Seventy, Elder, or of the lesser Priesthood, or whether perchance it be as mothers of the sons and daughters of Zion, each of us can look into our own souls, consider the circumstances in our own homes, the necessary reformation therein, and seek in prudence, wisdom and judgment those besetments that are in our pathway and that hedge up our influence.
Among the requirements laid upon we Latter-day Saints by our Father in heaven is the obligation to attend to our prayers; to pray not alone in the family circle, not alone to teach our children to pray, but that they who have become conversant with the will of our Father should retire to their secret places and in the humility of their souls should ask Him, the Giver of all good, to bestow upon them the faith, the fortitude and the strength to overcome within themselves those things that He has pronounced improper for us to say or to do. I am fearful that in the midst of the excitements that attend us in our experiences many of us become unmindful of the responsibilities that attach to us in this respect. Too frequently we go to our labors in the morning having failed to bow with our households and return to our Father in heaven gratitude that He has permitted us to rest in peace during the night. I am fearful also that too many of us, before we retire to that rest which is so desirable after the labors and cares of the day, forget to get down upon our knees and, casting our eyes back over the experience of the day, ask our Father to forgive us for the wrongs or for the mistakes that we may have committed, and thank Him that He has preserved us and our households from sickness and death. Probably there is greater neglect of this among the Latter-day Saints than of any of our other duties. Yet it is a simple requirement, for which there is no outlay of our worldly means, and only calls for the simple expression of our gratitude to the Being whom we reverence; thanking Him that we have life, that we have families, that we have some knowledge of the truth; thanking Him that upon us, in the midst of our weaknesses, have been bestowed the rights of His Priesthood, and that in His providence, if we can be but faithful in the discharge of the duties that rest upon us, we shall stand at the latter day in the presence of the Living God, the saviors of the races from which we have sprung. But if perchance in the midst of the cares, temptations and trials of life we become forgetful of the Being who planted within us that faith that caused us to leave the lands of our birth and to unite destinies with the Latter-day Saints, believing in the promises of the Father and in the hopes inspired by the knowledge of the Gospel—if we forget Him and cease to importune him for the aid of His Holy Spirit, and permit the cares that press upon us in the morning to shut us off from the discharge of this responsibility, or if perchance we find ourselves at the close of the day worn and tired and so annoyed with things that have arisen during the day that we dare not upon our knees present ourselves before our Father, we shall find that step by step as the days roll by this sacred requirement of our Father will grow to be disregarded by us until we permit ourselves to drift away entirely. I am wondering whether in the midst of this experience of ours, our sisters are as mindful in regard to this responsibility today as they were wont to be in the days of the past, when they were seemingly more dependent upon the goodwill, love and esteem of our Father than in these times when around them are more of the comforts and blessings of life. I regard this requirement as resting upon the Latter-day Saints in the most sacred form; that it enters into our very lives; that it is the source of spiritual life itself; and that in a little period of time the neglect of this requirement will shut them off from accomplishing the sweetest mission ever given to them—the hope of becoming indeed the uniter of race under the laws and ordinances of His house and in harmony with the rules that He has given by which the hearts of the fathers are to be turned to the children and the hearts of the children to be turned to their fathers.
My brethren and sisters, the principles of everlasting life are indeed harmonious in every respect. The man who ceases to pray and pour out to God the necessities of His own life and the conditions of his own soul is taking a step that leads him to cease in striving to fulfill the obligations that rest upon him in honoring the primary laws given for our government, and by which we may stand free before our fellow men, such as the words of wisdom, upon which the brethren have dwelt with such telling force, and the payment of our tithes and offerings.
Let us reflect upon the great plan that has been presented to us by our Master himself, the Father introducing His Son, and the Son directing the introduction and spread of this work, and giving us the rules and regulations, principles and doctrines by which the people of the world may hear the truth, and by which the hosts who have gone before, in the justice and mercy or our Father, shall hear the Gospel and shall receive or reject, as they elect, having placed before them the principles of everlasting life so clearly and so distinctly that there can be no misunderstanding. These, my brethren and sisters, are principles of eternal life. They lay the axe at the root of the tree. Therefore, say your prayers. In honor before God and in honesty of heart. Enter the sacred precincts of the places dedicated to his worship. Feel as you enter there that you have done your part in fulfilling every obligation. There is no question in regard to the sacredness of this work. Our Father himself introduced it. He sent His Son to see that they who should herald it should know that He lived; to point out the way by which the evils of the world might be cured, and that men should be lifted up and redeemed by obedience to law, through the exercise of their agency. And many of us are deceiving ourselves, because forsooth we believe we can tamper with these laws, neglect the fulfillment of these requirements, and forget our prayers. When He comes to make up His jewels such ones will discover that they are not among them. The road to repentance is ever open to the Latter-day Saints, and it is a good time now to see to it that so far as possible their lives shall be spotless. Therefore, my brethren and sisters, I plead with you who stand at the head of a house to be praying men. I plead with you, my sisters, who preside in the home in connection with your husbands to be praying women. I say to you that I am an absolute believer in the doctrine that no son or daughter will ever be lost from the house where the father and mother bow to their God in humility and ask Him for His aid and seek to exhibit in their lives consistency and action in keeping with the prayers that they offer; that step by step they will move onward, and should their son or daughter wander away for a season from the home, they will come back and by the fireside where they were wont to bow and remember in gratitude that that father and that mother taught them to lisp a prayer to their Maker and sought to instill into them by example everything that tended to ennoble and make man respected among his fellows as well as with His Father in Heaven.
My testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, is that the instructions which have fallen from the lips of God’s servants are the words of eternal truth to everyone that has listened to them, and should go forth from this assembly and create such a revolution in favor of everything that is good and pure and true, that a condition would be brought about in which every man, woman and child would rejoice. We will rejoice when no longer the fumes of whisky and tobacco are no longer upon the breath of our brethren. We will rejoice in the victory of that man who can say, “I hold God and His laws in advance of a cigarette, in advance of a drink of liquor, in advance of a chew of tobacco, or in advance of any of those things which He has designated as improper for us to use.” We should seek by every means in our power to lay these things aside, and observe to keep his commandments.
May the Lord bless us with faith. May He bless us with a proper comprehension of the doctrines we have espoused. Above all, may He bless us with the moral courage to be what we decided we would be when we entered the waters of baptism and received our confirmation in His Church, believing and sensing by the witness He gave that it was true. Amen.
The anthem, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord,” was sung by the choir.
Benediction by Elder Seymour B. Young.
Remarks made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Friday, October 5th, 1894, by
Elder John Henry Smith.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
There are so many subjects upon which an Elder, if he can but enjoy the influence of the Holy Spirit, may speak, that unless the promptings are direct to him it is difficult sometimes to make a selection. Up to this point the Lord, by His Spirit, has aided every one of our brethren that have either prayed or spoken to us, as also our brethren and sisters who have given us sweet strains of music to gladden our hearts.
The theme thus far in this Conference, if I have been enabled to partake of the alt of the Conference, has been a reformation in our lives; curing ourselves, so far as possible, and seeing to it that in the example we set among our fellow creatures it shall be of that character that no reflection shall come upon us because we preach something that we do not practice; that when we occupy a station among the Latter-day Saints, whether it be President, Apostle, Bishop, High Priest, Seventy, Elder, or of the lesser Priesthood, or whether perchance it be as mothers of the sons and daughters of Zion, each of us can look into our own souls, consider the circumstances in our own homes, the necessary reformation therein, and seek in prudence, wisdom and judgment those besetments that are in our pathway and that hedge up our influence.
Among the requirements laid upon we Latter-day Saints by our Father in heaven is the obligation to attend to our prayers; to pray not alone in the family circle, not alone to teach our children to pray, but that they who have become conversant with the will of our Father should retire to their secret places and in the humility of their souls should ask Him, the Giver of all good, to bestow upon them the faith, the fortitude and the strength to overcome within themselves those things that He has pronounced improper for us to say or to do. I am fearful that in the midst of the excitements that attend us in our experiences many of us become unmindful of the responsibilities that attach to us in this respect. Too frequently we go to our labors in the morning having failed to bow with our households and return to our Father in heaven gratitude that He has permitted us to rest in peace during the night. I am fearful also that too many of us, before we retire to that rest which is so desirable after the labors and cares of the day, forget to get down upon our knees and, casting our eyes back over the experience of the day, ask our Father to forgive us for the wrongs or for the mistakes that we may have committed, and thank Him that He has preserved us and our households from sickness and death. Probably there is greater neglect of this among the Latter-day Saints than of any of our other duties. Yet it is a simple requirement, for which there is no outlay of our worldly means, and only calls for the simple expression of our gratitude to the Being whom we reverence; thanking Him that we have life, that we have families, that we have some knowledge of the truth; thanking Him that upon us, in the midst of our weaknesses, have been bestowed the rights of His Priesthood, and that in His providence, if we can be but faithful in the discharge of the duties that rest upon us, we shall stand at the latter day in the presence of the Living God, the saviors of the races from which we have sprung. But if perchance in the midst of the cares, temptations and trials of life we become forgetful of the Being who planted within us that faith that caused us to leave the lands of our birth and to unite destinies with the Latter-day Saints, believing in the promises of the Father and in the hopes inspired by the knowledge of the Gospel—if we forget Him and cease to importune him for the aid of His Holy Spirit, and permit the cares that press upon us in the morning to shut us off from the discharge of this responsibility, or if perchance we find ourselves at the close of the day worn and tired and so annoyed with things that have arisen during the day that we dare not upon our knees present ourselves before our Father, we shall find that step by step as the days roll by this sacred requirement of our Father will grow to be disregarded by us until we permit ourselves to drift away entirely. I am wondering whether in the midst of this experience of ours, our sisters are as mindful in regard to this responsibility today as they were wont to be in the days of the past, when they were seemingly more dependent upon the goodwill, love and esteem of our Father than in these times when around them are more of the comforts and blessings of life. I regard this requirement as resting upon the Latter-day Saints in the most sacred form; that it enters into our very lives; that it is the source of spiritual life itself; and that in a little period of time the neglect of this requirement will shut them off from accomplishing the sweetest mission ever given to them—the hope of becoming indeed the uniter of race under the laws and ordinances of His house and in harmony with the rules that He has given by which the hearts of the fathers are to be turned to the children and the hearts of the children to be turned to their fathers.
My brethren and sisters, the principles of everlasting life are indeed harmonious in every respect. The man who ceases to pray and pour out to God the necessities of His own life and the conditions of his own soul is taking a step that leads him to cease in striving to fulfill the obligations that rest upon him in honoring the primary laws given for our government, and by which we may stand free before our fellow men, such as the words of wisdom, upon which the brethren have dwelt with such telling force, and the payment of our tithes and offerings.
Let us reflect upon the great plan that has been presented to us by our Master himself, the Father introducing His Son, and the Son directing the introduction and spread of this work, and giving us the rules and regulations, principles and doctrines by which the people of the world may hear the truth, and by which the hosts who have gone before, in the justice and mercy or our Father, shall hear the Gospel and shall receive or reject, as they elect, having placed before them the principles of everlasting life so clearly and so distinctly that there can be no misunderstanding. These, my brethren and sisters, are principles of eternal life. They lay the axe at the root of the tree. Therefore, say your prayers. In honor before God and in honesty of heart. Enter the sacred precincts of the places dedicated to his worship. Feel as you enter there that you have done your part in fulfilling every obligation. There is no question in regard to the sacredness of this work. Our Father himself introduced it. He sent His Son to see that they who should herald it should know that He lived; to point out the way by which the evils of the world might be cured, and that men should be lifted up and redeemed by obedience to law, through the exercise of their agency. And many of us are deceiving ourselves, because forsooth we believe we can tamper with these laws, neglect the fulfillment of these requirements, and forget our prayers. When He comes to make up His jewels such ones will discover that they are not among them. The road to repentance is ever open to the Latter-day Saints, and it is a good time now to see to it that so far as possible their lives shall be spotless. Therefore, my brethren and sisters, I plead with you who stand at the head of a house to be praying men. I plead with you, my sisters, who preside in the home in connection with your husbands to be praying women. I say to you that I am an absolute believer in the doctrine that no son or daughter will ever be lost from the house where the father and mother bow to their God in humility and ask Him for His aid and seek to exhibit in their lives consistency and action in keeping with the prayers that they offer; that step by step they will move onward, and should their son or daughter wander away for a season from the home, they will come back and by the fireside where they were wont to bow and remember in gratitude that that father and that mother taught them to lisp a prayer to their Maker and sought to instill into them by example everything that tended to ennoble and make man respected among his fellows as well as with His Father in Heaven.
My testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, is that the instructions which have fallen from the lips of God’s servants are the words of eternal truth to everyone that has listened to them, and should go forth from this assembly and create such a revolution in favor of everything that is good and pure and true, that a condition would be brought about in which every man, woman and child would rejoice. We will rejoice when no longer the fumes of whisky and tobacco are no longer upon the breath of our brethren. We will rejoice in the victory of that man who can say, “I hold God and His laws in advance of a cigarette, in advance of a drink of liquor, in advance of a chew of tobacco, or in advance of any of those things which He has designated as improper for us to use.” We should seek by every means in our power to lay these things aside, and observe to keep his commandments.
May the Lord bless us with faith. May He bless us with a proper comprehension of the doctrines we have espoused. Above all, may He bless us with the moral courage to be what we decided we would be when we entered the waters of baptism and received our confirmation in His Church, believing and sensing by the witness He gave that it was true. Amen.
The anthem, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord,” was sung by the choir.
Benediction by Elder Seymour B. Young.
Second Day.
Morning Session,
October 6th.
Singing by the choir and congregation:
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 Deliv’rer, our all!
Prayer was offered by Elder Jesse N. Smith.
The choir sang:
All hail the glorious day!
By Prophets long foretold.
Morning Session,
October 6th.
Singing by the choir and congregation:
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 Deliv’rer, our all!
Prayer was offered by Elder Jesse N. Smith.
The choir sang:
All hail the glorious day!
By Prophets long foretold.
Elder Moses Thatcher,
of the quorum of the Apostles,
was the first speaker. He said he had been very much edified with the instructions given at this Conference and he prayed that the same Spirit and power which had been manifested thus far would remain with them to the end. The only source of happiness lay in walking in the strait and narrow path which leadeth unto life eternal. We should ever remember the covenants we had made with the Lord and with each other. New obligations might devolve upon us from time to time, but we should never forget the cause which we had espoused—that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing should swerve us from it. The Lord expected us to be governed by principle, to be true to Him and each other.
A variety of subjects had already been touched upon, all for the edification of those who had listened to the remarks made by the brethren. If we kept the commandments of God all would be well with us; on the other hand, if we had been weak and changeable and partook of the spirit of the world we were on the wrong path. We had partaken of that spirit in many ways and had not always been prudent in our acts. Nothing, in his opinion, had done more to weaken the faith of some among us than the wider introduction and consideration of state matters in our midst. This had engendered in some quarters a spirit of which we had no reason to be proud. The theory of state government was wholly different from that of the Church, the latter being governed only by the law of God, through the constituted authorities of His Church. Could it be said that the Gospel of the Son of God had failed to make us charitable, generous and broad? While when administrations changed the dominant party might feel it its duty to change the workers in the municipalities, states and in the national government, for a man in this Church to carry his politics so far, if he were a Republican, that he felt he could not employ a Democrat, or vice versa, showed a narrowness of mind which, he thought we ought to get rid. If he himself had employment to give, he never asked a man what his politics or his religion was. That made no difference to him so long as the man was a good workman; and he could truthfully say that some of his dearest friends in the world were those who did not see eye to eye with him politically. He said this much because he had seen a spirit in the midst of the Latter-day Saints that was not commendable, broad and generous, and not equal to the example set to us by our outside friends. He trusted that hereafter we should look better to these things and manage them upon the broad and not the narrow gauge. The speaker also addressed himself to the youth of Zion, expressing the hope that those who were over them would watch vigilantly that their steps were directed aright, in order that they might be kept aloof from the sins of the world which in these days beset them on every hand.
of the quorum of the Apostles,
was the first speaker. He said he had been very much edified with the instructions given at this Conference and he prayed that the same Spirit and power which had been manifested thus far would remain with them to the end. The only source of happiness lay in walking in the strait and narrow path which leadeth unto life eternal. We should ever remember the covenants we had made with the Lord and with each other. New obligations might devolve upon us from time to time, but we should never forget the cause which we had espoused—that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing should swerve us from it. The Lord expected us to be governed by principle, to be true to Him and each other.
A variety of subjects had already been touched upon, all for the edification of those who had listened to the remarks made by the brethren. If we kept the commandments of God all would be well with us; on the other hand, if we had been weak and changeable and partook of the spirit of the world we were on the wrong path. We had partaken of that spirit in many ways and had not always been prudent in our acts. Nothing, in his opinion, had done more to weaken the faith of some among us than the wider introduction and consideration of state matters in our midst. This had engendered in some quarters a spirit of which we had no reason to be proud. The theory of state government was wholly different from that of the Church, the latter being governed only by the law of God, through the constituted authorities of His Church. Could it be said that the Gospel of the Son of God had failed to make us charitable, generous and broad? While when administrations changed the dominant party might feel it its duty to change the workers in the municipalities, states and in the national government, for a man in this Church to carry his politics so far, if he were a Republican, that he felt he could not employ a Democrat, or vice versa, showed a narrowness of mind which, he thought we ought to get rid. If he himself had employment to give, he never asked a man what his politics or his religion was. That made no difference to him so long as the man was a good workman; and he could truthfully say that some of his dearest friends in the world were those who did not see eye to eye with him politically. He said this much because he had seen a spirit in the midst of the Latter-day Saints that was not commendable, broad and generous, and not equal to the example set to us by our outside friends. He trusted that hereafter we should look better to these things and manage them upon the broad and not the narrow gauge. The speaker also addressed himself to the youth of Zion, expressing the hope that those who were over them would watch vigilantly that their steps were directed aright, in order that they might be kept aloof from the sins of the world which in these days beset them on every hand.
Elder George Teasdale,
of the quorum of the Apostles,next addressed the Conference. He spoke of the Mexican mission. It was going along with fair success. More help was wanted, in the shape of men of endurance and courage, to build up the settlements and establish new ones. Sonora needed aid in getting out water to enable the people to redeem the land. The mission had all the organizations for the progress of advancement of the Saints in the truth of the Gospel that existed in other divisions of the Church. These associations were in good operating condition. Repentance was the next subject dwelt upon, the speaker insisting that it was needed among the Saints. It was more noble to overcome bad habits in youth than to do so later in life. The lives of the people should be uniformly good throughout. There was no excuse for those professing membership in the Church using tobacco and other articles, the action of which was deleterious to the body, as well as being detrimental to the moral nature. Those who indulged in such habits ought to call upon the Lord to assist them to put aside all practices that were opposed to the commandments of God, instead of allowing those things to overcome and control them. The word of God to His people was “repent of all your shortcomings and vicious habits and prepare for the Kingdom of God and the coming of the Lord. The Lord knows the hearts of the Authorities of the Church, that they call upon Him to have mercy upon His Saints and move upon them to turn more fully unto Him. The necessity of compliance with the law of tithing was next treated, the speaker holding that strict conformity to the requirement was the way out of our present financial embarrassment. This, he said, was the word of the Lord, for God would open the windows of heaven and pour out an abundance of blessings upon His Church if its people, as a whole, would fully comply with the revelations that had been given on this subject. Elder Teasdale continued for some time in the same strain, giving valuable suggestions to people who were addicted to habits at variance with the requirements of the Gospel, indicating how they could overcome and be delivered from their weaknesses. He himself had been forced from such conditions by individual persistence in resisting them and by assistance from God, on whom he relied for help.
of the quorum of the Apostles,next addressed the Conference. He spoke of the Mexican mission. It was going along with fair success. More help was wanted, in the shape of men of endurance and courage, to build up the settlements and establish new ones. Sonora needed aid in getting out water to enable the people to redeem the land. The mission had all the organizations for the progress of advancement of the Saints in the truth of the Gospel that existed in other divisions of the Church. These associations were in good operating condition. Repentance was the next subject dwelt upon, the speaker insisting that it was needed among the Saints. It was more noble to overcome bad habits in youth than to do so later in life. The lives of the people should be uniformly good throughout. There was no excuse for those professing membership in the Church using tobacco and other articles, the action of which was deleterious to the body, as well as being detrimental to the moral nature. Those who indulged in such habits ought to call upon the Lord to assist them to put aside all practices that were opposed to the commandments of God, instead of allowing those things to overcome and control them. The word of God to His people was “repent of all your shortcomings and vicious habits and prepare for the Kingdom of God and the coming of the Lord. The Lord knows the hearts of the Authorities of the Church, that they call upon Him to have mercy upon His Saints and move upon them to turn more fully unto Him. The necessity of compliance with the law of tithing was next treated, the speaker holding that strict conformity to the requirement was the way out of our present financial embarrassment. This, he said, was the word of the Lord, for God would open the windows of heaven and pour out an abundance of blessings upon His Church if its people, as a whole, would fully comply with the revelations that had been given on this subject. Elder Teasdale continued for some time in the same strain, giving valuable suggestions to people who were addicted to habits at variance with the requirements of the Gospel, indicating how they could overcome and be delivered from their weaknesses. He himself had been forced from such conditions by individual persistence in resisting them and by assistance from God, on whom he relied for help.
Necessity of Repentance
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Saturday, October 6th, 1894, by
Elder George Teasdale.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I hope that the same Spirit that has inspired the speakers in this conference may be granted unto me while I shall address you.
With regard to the Mexican Mission, my field of labor, I wish to say that we are as successful as could be expected. Some of our settlements require more colonists; especially is this the case in Sonora. Getting out the water and putting it on the land requires some good solid bone and muscle. We need good pioneers, men that are practical workers, and who are able to subdue the elements; for in the establishment of settlements, as well as in the preaching of the Gospel, it requires men of nerve and determination. Every organization in the Mexican Mission, I am happy to say, is complete. There is a presidency, there are two patriarchs, a high council, bishops, and teachers, relief societies, young men’s and young ladies’ mutual improvement associations, primaries, Sabbath schools and day schools. We have all the difficulties to meet that are incident to the formation of new settlements. Our aged brethren, who helped to lay the foundation of this territory, know the obstacles that they had to contend with, and those who have been favored with experience in opening new settlements, in making the barren places “blossom like the rose,” know what a glorious work it is to be engaged in, and fully understand the necessity of hard labor as well as of patience, faith, hope and sterling integrity.
I have been wonderfully impressed at this conference with the necessity for all of repentance. I think the Saints who have listened to the burning words that have been uttered by the inspired words that have been uttered by the inspired servants of God realize that our Heavenly Father requires us to repent and to turn unto Him with full purpose of heart if we desire to prosper in the land. The promise was made many years ago to the ancient inhabitants who dwelt upon this continent that those who would serve God and keep His commandments should prosper in the land. And this is the word of the Lord to us today. We are told that if we desire to be a prosperous people we much be a God-fearing people; that we must not be hearers of the word alone, but doers of it also. I tell our little children in our Sabbath schools that the reason we are here in this state of probation, is for the purpose of making a good record, the record of a well-spent life, and that the foundation of such a life is laid in our youth. As we lay the foundation, so are we likely to build upon it. Although we make every allowance for the exuberance of youth, if our children desire to be successful in this life they must not lay the foundation in bad habits. It is easier to resist these habits in youth than it is in after life. It is so satisfactory to men and women to have the record of a well-spent life. There cannot be true liberty without virtue. Chastity, purity of thought and holiness of life alone can produce peace and lasting happiness. Under the influence and power of the Spirit of God we realize our own weakness, our own nothingness, and how dependent we are upon our Heavenly Father for everything that we enjoy or ever expect to enjoy. I have thought what must be the feelings of men in the Church who are under the baneful influences arising from the use of tobacco, intoxicants or from other bad habits? What excuse can be given? What can we say to our file leaders; what can we say to the Lord Jesus Christ, in justification of anything of the kind? Let me ask my brethren, if there are any here under those influences, have you any faith? Do you not believe in God? Do you not believe that it is by His grace that we are able to overcome? Overcome what? Our bad dispositions, our bad habits, our evil propensities. Is not this promised to us in its most literal sense? Our Father hath said, “Though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow,” Unto whom does he say so? To the sinner. When we go and preach the Gospel we carry these glad tidings of great joy, and what are the conditions required? That we shall cease to do evil. Is it not evil to set a bad example in the midst of Israel? Is it not evil to be under the influence of pernicious habits? Is it not time that we should repent and that we should call unto the Lord that He would give us power over our bad habits, and enable us to set a godly example in the midst of Israel? My fellow laborers, I can assure you that you will have the faith and the prayers of the Presidency and the Twelve Apostles that God will give you grace, to overcome and put away all your evils. My feelings of compassion go forth to men under these baneful influences. When I was engaged in business in this city, a friend of min on one occasion came to me for some tobacco, and he said to me, “Brother George, I would give all that I possess if I could overcome this baneful habit.” A good sister, purchasing tobacco for her husband said, “Brother Teasdale, we are obliged to have tobacco, for there is no living in the house with the man unless he has his tobacco.” In either case was the man a bad man? No, each was a faithful laborer in his sphere. God had gathered them from the islands of the sea. They knew that the gospel was true. But they had not the strength of character to overcome this habit. One was a friend of mine, that I had known when I was traveling and preaching the Gospel. He and his family would give the best that they had to the servants of God, and would turn out of their beds that the Elders might have a comfortable place to lay their heads, treating them as they would our divine Master. Do you not think that I have tender compassion for such men? I have. They are my fellow laborers. They are men whom the Lord has thought fit to gather and whose grace is able to give them strength to overcome all evil habits.
A powerful influence rested upon the servants of God while speaking yesterday on the Word of Wisdom and the necessity of paying tithing. What was the word of the Lord to Israel? It was, Repent, O ye, my people, put away all your pernicious habits, sanctify yourselves before the Lord, and prepare for His kingdom and coming. The question is, will we do it? Will I do it? It comes to me as to every individual member of the Church. Will the boys and the young men say, “As for me, I am going to prepare myself for the Kingdom of God and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” O, my young brethren, that you would be wise, and that while these habits are yet new to you you would rise in the dignity of the children of Zion, born heirs of the everlasting covenant, and say, “As for me, by the grace of God, I will put away every bad habit, and will separate myself from evil companions and examples.” If we want prosperity, if we want to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, let us hearken to the word of the Lord, and with broken hearts and contrite spirits let us call upon Him in mighty prayer, and ask him to deliver us from our besetting sins. And, as I have said, for our encouragement we have the prayers of the faith of the authorities of the Church, who speak as they are moved upon by the Spirit of God. The Lord knows their hearts; He knows they are touched with the infirmities of the people, and they plead before Him to have mercy upon His heritage. Oh! that we would rise up in the dignity of our calling and plead before the God of Israel, and no longer feel, “I cannot do it,” but say, “I will, by the grace of God.” It is only by His grace that we are enabled to do anything. What have we but what the Lord has given us? We are so self-sufficient sometimes, in our own estimation, we think we are wonderful financiers, if we are successful, and sometimes sit in judgment upon those who are not so fortunate. I do not consider that this is a right spirit. Should we not acknowledge the hand of our Heavenly Father in all things?
We talk about financial pressure. There never was a time when we ought to be more strict in the payment of our tithing than now. You that are in financial difficulties, I say unto you, that if you will pay your tithing honestly and act acceptably before the Lord, and your offerings for the poor, God will deliver you from your financial difficulties. If you doubt it, try it. “Prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” That is the word of the Lord to the people. The question is, will we do it? The Lord will have our hearts or nothing. If He has our hearts, then He will have everything that we possess. He has given us all that we enjoy today. May I ask you what you expect to enjoy in the future that you do not look to our Heavenly Father to bestow? I do not know anything that I have but what the Lord has given me and it belongs to Him. I am merely a steward, and there is nothing I look forward to in the future but I expect to receive from His hands. I acknowledge His hand in all things to the best of my endeavor. And I know it is the mind and will of the Lord that the people should repent. These were my feelings under the inspiration of the Spirit that rested upon those who have addressed us. They direct our labors; we strive to be their faithful servants and sustain them in their positions. We do not merely hold up our hands at Conference, and covenant with Almighty God to sustain them as Prophets, Seers and Revelators, and as the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and then go on the street corners and sit in harsh judgment upon them and their doings. That is not the way to sustain the Presidency. That is not keeping our covenants. We have covenanted to sustain them, and if we want to understand what they are doing, let us have faith to ask the Lord to open our eyes, that we may see and thus be in harmony with Him and His servants. That is what I want. I want to be in harmony with the Spirit of the Lord. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” How can we sit in judgment? By what right and authority? Are we living our religion? Are we keeping the commandments of God? Is there greater light and intelligence given to us than to them? One would sometimes think so, to hear the unfortunate reflections of men who love to sit in judgment upon others. It would be a thousand times better for us if we would sit in judgment upon ourselves, and criticize our own weaknesses and our own nothingness.
I pray God that He will have compassion upon us, and upon His heritage, and give my brethren power to overcome all their bad habits and to be exemplary men in the midst of Israel. This is my prayer, and it is the prayer of my beloved fellow laborers. They plead for the heritage of God. Who could listen to the discourse of President Lorenzo Snow yesterday and not feel his littleness? How unworthy we are to dream of attaining to the heights of glory and excellency he portrayed as being promised unto us in the Gospel of the Redeemer. Shall we be an ungrateful people, or shall we be determined, by the grace of God, to do His will and keep His commandments? Oh! my brethren and sisters, as I desire to be saved, as I desire your salvation, and that we should not only be associated together here in the establishment of His righteousness upon the earth, but that we shall be associated together throughout the countless ages of eternity in the presence of our Father—as these are my feelings, I do entreat you, I entreat myself, to be reconciled to God and accept of eternal conditions. I know how we feel when we are in meeting. I know when we are under the droppings of the sanctuary, when the burning influence of the Spirit of God is in our very bones, we feel that we will never again be guilty of doing a wrong thing; but when we get outside, and in the battle of life, and under the pernicious influences that lead to destruction, we weaken, and we are guilty of wrong-doing. That old pipe cannot be laid aside; that cigarette is bound to be smoked. “I shall have a headache all day if I don’t take a cup of tea.” “I shall never survive, if I don’t take my coffee. That is the feeling we have, and we justify ourselves in it. What is the philosophy of tea and coffee drinking? Why do we take it? Well, it’s a warm drink, and it is comforting to us. What do you want to send to China for? What do you want to send to Mexico and the islands of the sea for? Why do you not take some native barley and roast it, and take your warm drink? Why do you not take some native herbs and make your own tea, if you are obliged to have the warm drink? If you cannot drink cold water and cold milk, take it warm. I say this especially to these aged brethren and sisters. An aged sister said to me the other day: “It will never do; I can’t drink any more tea or coffee. What’s the matter? Why, it was under the influence and power of the Spirit of God that was upon my brethren in their addresses that conviction came to her heart, and to a great many others that were present.
Now, I say, be kind to yourselves, be wise in your day and generation. Be careful and do not put yourselves in bondage. What you do, do when you are converted, and when you are converted, convert your brethren. I am reminded of an incident that occurred while I was traveling in London. Going to a sister’s house to tea, in company with some of the brethren, we sat down and had warm milk and water, and she did not drink any tea. You know it is common in England to drink tea, just as common as it is to drink coffee in the States, and I said to her, “Good sister, don’t you drink tea?” She said, “No, Brother Teasdale.” I said, “How is that?” “Well,” She said, “I see that the Elders who visit me never drink tea, they always drink water or warm water and milk, and I thought that if they could do without it, I could.” “Well,” I said, “what has been the result? Do you feel as well since you have given up the habit of drinking tea?” “Oh, Bro. Teasdale,” she said, “I feel a great deal better, for while I was drinking tea, I was subject to nervousness and was low spirited, but since I have quit, I have been another woman.” We can overcome these habits if we want to. I was raised on tea and coffee, like the rest of the English; but the Lord has delivered me, insomuch that I cannot take any credit to myself for not drinking tea or coffee, simply because I do not want it. I have no desire for it now, consequently I cannot say that there is any particular credit to me. I can bear my testimony, however, that God has delivered me from bad habits through faith and prayer. Hence I can say to my beloved brethren and sisters that there is a God in Israel who hearts and answers prayer, and if it is the desire of our hearts to keep His commandments, He will help us to do it. I am a living testimony of this, and that is the reason I say to you who are under these influences, ask the Lord for strength to resist them and He will deliver you. I heard of an old gentleman who came into this country at the time when they used to bring the emigration by teams. He had lived in Scotland and had been addicted there to snuffing, and that practice has just as much influence over a person as anything. When he came to the point in Emigration canyon where he could see the city (not such a delightful looking city as it is today by any means), he quietly took a pinch of snuff, then laid down his box, walked away from it and never touched snuff afterwards. There are men who have had the tobacco habit born and bred in them. They commenced it as children. They came into this Church, they understood the Word of Wisdom, the requirements of the servants of God, and in order that they might be clean men they have been able, by the grace of God, to overcome this habit and put it away, insomuch that today it is repulsive to them.
I say this in encouragement to any that are under these baneful influences. God bless you, my beloved brethren, who are subject to these habits. God bless you and deliver you from your trouble, for I know it is a curse to you. You feel ashamed of yourself, especially when you come into the society of the servants of God, and you hear the word of the Lord that you should not be guilty of these things. You feel humiliated to the dust and wish you could overcome it, and I have pointed out the way. I say unto you, go in faith to your Heavenly Father, and ask Him for the promise and He will deliver you from all evil. I am sorry when I see little boys smoking cigarettes. I wish they would be more kind to themselves. It is through the pernicious example of their elders. They think it manly to smoke. It is manly to overcome bad habits; it is manly to resist evil and to do right; it is manly to be meek; to be gentle, and to overcome our bad dispositions. Do you not believe these principles? I am thoroughly converted to them, and I have been converted by the power of God’s Spirit. He has delivered me, and I know that He has delivered my brethren. Sometimes we get over harsh towards those who are not yet delivered. As God has been merciful to us in delivering us from pernicious habits, so I plead that the same kindness may be extended to my fellow laborers.
Brethren and sisters, I am happy beyond expression to be with you and to be your humble servant and fellow-laborer in the glorious cause of the Redeemer. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that by faith and prayer miracles can be wrought, not only to the healing of the sick, but to the overcoming of our bad propensities. I know that Joseph Smith was a true servant of the Son of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presided over by Presidents Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, is the Church of the living God. I bear this solemn testimony to you, and rejoice that I have the privilege. You may ask me how I now it. I have had an experience of over forty years in it. I have seen the power of God manifested. I have seen the signs follow the believer. Above all, I have had the witness of the Holy Spirit. No matter what course I may take in the future, though I may be overcome and fall away, it will invalidate this testimony, for I testify in solemnity that God has spoken from the Heavens, He has established His Church upon the earth, and blessed are they who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to comprehend the glorious principles of this everlasting Gospel.
I wish to testify that I am in harmony with the First Presidency and the Apostles, and that I strive, in my weak way, to magnify my calling and to fulfil the individual mission that our heavenly Father has given unto me. May He give us all grace to accomplish the missions that He has given unto us. We have come many miles to hear the word of the Lord, and I am well repaid, if I do not hear another word, for my long journey and the difficulties and fatigues thereof. I suppose there is not a man or woman that has come to Conference but that feels to say, “Glory be to the God of Israel, who hath spoken in these days, who feeds us with the bread of life, and who teaches us of His ways that we may walk in His paths.” That we may have the understanding heart and grace to overcome and endure unto the end in His kingdom is my earnest prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Saturday, October 6th, 1894, by
Elder George Teasdale.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I hope that the same Spirit that has inspired the speakers in this conference may be granted unto me while I shall address you.
With regard to the Mexican Mission, my field of labor, I wish to say that we are as successful as could be expected. Some of our settlements require more colonists; especially is this the case in Sonora. Getting out the water and putting it on the land requires some good solid bone and muscle. We need good pioneers, men that are practical workers, and who are able to subdue the elements; for in the establishment of settlements, as well as in the preaching of the Gospel, it requires men of nerve and determination. Every organization in the Mexican Mission, I am happy to say, is complete. There is a presidency, there are two patriarchs, a high council, bishops, and teachers, relief societies, young men’s and young ladies’ mutual improvement associations, primaries, Sabbath schools and day schools. We have all the difficulties to meet that are incident to the formation of new settlements. Our aged brethren, who helped to lay the foundation of this territory, know the obstacles that they had to contend with, and those who have been favored with experience in opening new settlements, in making the barren places “blossom like the rose,” know what a glorious work it is to be engaged in, and fully understand the necessity of hard labor as well as of patience, faith, hope and sterling integrity.
I have been wonderfully impressed at this conference with the necessity for all of repentance. I think the Saints who have listened to the burning words that have been uttered by the inspired words that have been uttered by the inspired servants of God realize that our Heavenly Father requires us to repent and to turn unto Him with full purpose of heart if we desire to prosper in the land. The promise was made many years ago to the ancient inhabitants who dwelt upon this continent that those who would serve God and keep His commandments should prosper in the land. And this is the word of the Lord to us today. We are told that if we desire to be a prosperous people we much be a God-fearing people; that we must not be hearers of the word alone, but doers of it also. I tell our little children in our Sabbath schools that the reason we are here in this state of probation, is for the purpose of making a good record, the record of a well-spent life, and that the foundation of such a life is laid in our youth. As we lay the foundation, so are we likely to build upon it. Although we make every allowance for the exuberance of youth, if our children desire to be successful in this life they must not lay the foundation in bad habits. It is easier to resist these habits in youth than it is in after life. It is so satisfactory to men and women to have the record of a well-spent life. There cannot be true liberty without virtue. Chastity, purity of thought and holiness of life alone can produce peace and lasting happiness. Under the influence and power of the Spirit of God we realize our own weakness, our own nothingness, and how dependent we are upon our Heavenly Father for everything that we enjoy or ever expect to enjoy. I have thought what must be the feelings of men in the Church who are under the baneful influences arising from the use of tobacco, intoxicants or from other bad habits? What excuse can be given? What can we say to our file leaders; what can we say to the Lord Jesus Christ, in justification of anything of the kind? Let me ask my brethren, if there are any here under those influences, have you any faith? Do you not believe in God? Do you not believe that it is by His grace that we are able to overcome? Overcome what? Our bad dispositions, our bad habits, our evil propensities. Is not this promised to us in its most literal sense? Our Father hath said, “Though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow,” Unto whom does he say so? To the sinner. When we go and preach the Gospel we carry these glad tidings of great joy, and what are the conditions required? That we shall cease to do evil. Is it not evil to set a bad example in the midst of Israel? Is it not evil to be under the influence of pernicious habits? Is it not time that we should repent and that we should call unto the Lord that He would give us power over our bad habits, and enable us to set a godly example in the midst of Israel? My fellow laborers, I can assure you that you will have the faith and the prayers of the Presidency and the Twelve Apostles that God will give you grace, to overcome and put away all your evils. My feelings of compassion go forth to men under these baneful influences. When I was engaged in business in this city, a friend of min on one occasion came to me for some tobacco, and he said to me, “Brother George, I would give all that I possess if I could overcome this baneful habit.” A good sister, purchasing tobacco for her husband said, “Brother Teasdale, we are obliged to have tobacco, for there is no living in the house with the man unless he has his tobacco.” In either case was the man a bad man? No, each was a faithful laborer in his sphere. God had gathered them from the islands of the sea. They knew that the gospel was true. But they had not the strength of character to overcome this habit. One was a friend of mine, that I had known when I was traveling and preaching the Gospel. He and his family would give the best that they had to the servants of God, and would turn out of their beds that the Elders might have a comfortable place to lay their heads, treating them as they would our divine Master. Do you not think that I have tender compassion for such men? I have. They are my fellow laborers. They are men whom the Lord has thought fit to gather and whose grace is able to give them strength to overcome all evil habits.
A powerful influence rested upon the servants of God while speaking yesterday on the Word of Wisdom and the necessity of paying tithing. What was the word of the Lord to Israel? It was, Repent, O ye, my people, put away all your pernicious habits, sanctify yourselves before the Lord, and prepare for His kingdom and coming. The question is, will we do it? Will I do it? It comes to me as to every individual member of the Church. Will the boys and the young men say, “As for me, I am going to prepare myself for the Kingdom of God and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” O, my young brethren, that you would be wise, and that while these habits are yet new to you you would rise in the dignity of the children of Zion, born heirs of the everlasting covenant, and say, “As for me, by the grace of God, I will put away every bad habit, and will separate myself from evil companions and examples.” If we want prosperity, if we want to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, let us hearken to the word of the Lord, and with broken hearts and contrite spirits let us call upon Him in mighty prayer, and ask him to deliver us from our besetting sins. And, as I have said, for our encouragement we have the prayers of the faith of the authorities of the Church, who speak as they are moved upon by the Spirit of God. The Lord knows their hearts; He knows they are touched with the infirmities of the people, and they plead before Him to have mercy upon His heritage. Oh! that we would rise up in the dignity of our calling and plead before the God of Israel, and no longer feel, “I cannot do it,” but say, “I will, by the grace of God.” It is only by His grace that we are enabled to do anything. What have we but what the Lord has given us? We are so self-sufficient sometimes, in our own estimation, we think we are wonderful financiers, if we are successful, and sometimes sit in judgment upon those who are not so fortunate. I do not consider that this is a right spirit. Should we not acknowledge the hand of our Heavenly Father in all things?
We talk about financial pressure. There never was a time when we ought to be more strict in the payment of our tithing than now. You that are in financial difficulties, I say unto you, that if you will pay your tithing honestly and act acceptably before the Lord, and your offerings for the poor, God will deliver you from your financial difficulties. If you doubt it, try it. “Prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” That is the word of the Lord to the people. The question is, will we do it? The Lord will have our hearts or nothing. If He has our hearts, then He will have everything that we possess. He has given us all that we enjoy today. May I ask you what you expect to enjoy in the future that you do not look to our Heavenly Father to bestow? I do not know anything that I have but what the Lord has given me and it belongs to Him. I am merely a steward, and there is nothing I look forward to in the future but I expect to receive from His hands. I acknowledge His hand in all things to the best of my endeavor. And I know it is the mind and will of the Lord that the people should repent. These were my feelings under the inspiration of the Spirit that rested upon those who have addressed us. They direct our labors; we strive to be their faithful servants and sustain them in their positions. We do not merely hold up our hands at Conference, and covenant with Almighty God to sustain them as Prophets, Seers and Revelators, and as the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and then go on the street corners and sit in harsh judgment upon them and their doings. That is not the way to sustain the Presidency. That is not keeping our covenants. We have covenanted to sustain them, and if we want to understand what they are doing, let us have faith to ask the Lord to open our eyes, that we may see and thus be in harmony with Him and His servants. That is what I want. I want to be in harmony with the Spirit of the Lord. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” How can we sit in judgment? By what right and authority? Are we living our religion? Are we keeping the commandments of God? Is there greater light and intelligence given to us than to them? One would sometimes think so, to hear the unfortunate reflections of men who love to sit in judgment upon others. It would be a thousand times better for us if we would sit in judgment upon ourselves, and criticize our own weaknesses and our own nothingness.
I pray God that He will have compassion upon us, and upon His heritage, and give my brethren power to overcome all their bad habits and to be exemplary men in the midst of Israel. This is my prayer, and it is the prayer of my beloved fellow laborers. They plead for the heritage of God. Who could listen to the discourse of President Lorenzo Snow yesterday and not feel his littleness? How unworthy we are to dream of attaining to the heights of glory and excellency he portrayed as being promised unto us in the Gospel of the Redeemer. Shall we be an ungrateful people, or shall we be determined, by the grace of God, to do His will and keep His commandments? Oh! my brethren and sisters, as I desire to be saved, as I desire your salvation, and that we should not only be associated together here in the establishment of His righteousness upon the earth, but that we shall be associated together throughout the countless ages of eternity in the presence of our Father—as these are my feelings, I do entreat you, I entreat myself, to be reconciled to God and accept of eternal conditions. I know how we feel when we are in meeting. I know when we are under the droppings of the sanctuary, when the burning influence of the Spirit of God is in our very bones, we feel that we will never again be guilty of doing a wrong thing; but when we get outside, and in the battle of life, and under the pernicious influences that lead to destruction, we weaken, and we are guilty of wrong-doing. That old pipe cannot be laid aside; that cigarette is bound to be smoked. “I shall have a headache all day if I don’t take a cup of tea.” “I shall never survive, if I don’t take my coffee. That is the feeling we have, and we justify ourselves in it. What is the philosophy of tea and coffee drinking? Why do we take it? Well, it’s a warm drink, and it is comforting to us. What do you want to send to China for? What do you want to send to Mexico and the islands of the sea for? Why do you not take some native barley and roast it, and take your warm drink? Why do you not take some native herbs and make your own tea, if you are obliged to have the warm drink? If you cannot drink cold water and cold milk, take it warm. I say this especially to these aged brethren and sisters. An aged sister said to me the other day: “It will never do; I can’t drink any more tea or coffee. What’s the matter? Why, it was under the influence and power of the Spirit of God that was upon my brethren in their addresses that conviction came to her heart, and to a great many others that were present.
Now, I say, be kind to yourselves, be wise in your day and generation. Be careful and do not put yourselves in bondage. What you do, do when you are converted, and when you are converted, convert your brethren. I am reminded of an incident that occurred while I was traveling in London. Going to a sister’s house to tea, in company with some of the brethren, we sat down and had warm milk and water, and she did not drink any tea. You know it is common in England to drink tea, just as common as it is to drink coffee in the States, and I said to her, “Good sister, don’t you drink tea?” She said, “No, Brother Teasdale.” I said, “How is that?” “Well,” She said, “I see that the Elders who visit me never drink tea, they always drink water or warm water and milk, and I thought that if they could do without it, I could.” “Well,” I said, “what has been the result? Do you feel as well since you have given up the habit of drinking tea?” “Oh, Bro. Teasdale,” she said, “I feel a great deal better, for while I was drinking tea, I was subject to nervousness and was low spirited, but since I have quit, I have been another woman.” We can overcome these habits if we want to. I was raised on tea and coffee, like the rest of the English; but the Lord has delivered me, insomuch that I cannot take any credit to myself for not drinking tea or coffee, simply because I do not want it. I have no desire for it now, consequently I cannot say that there is any particular credit to me. I can bear my testimony, however, that God has delivered me from bad habits through faith and prayer. Hence I can say to my beloved brethren and sisters that there is a God in Israel who hearts and answers prayer, and if it is the desire of our hearts to keep His commandments, He will help us to do it. I am a living testimony of this, and that is the reason I say to you who are under these influences, ask the Lord for strength to resist them and He will deliver you. I heard of an old gentleman who came into this country at the time when they used to bring the emigration by teams. He had lived in Scotland and had been addicted there to snuffing, and that practice has just as much influence over a person as anything. When he came to the point in Emigration canyon where he could see the city (not such a delightful looking city as it is today by any means), he quietly took a pinch of snuff, then laid down his box, walked away from it and never touched snuff afterwards. There are men who have had the tobacco habit born and bred in them. They commenced it as children. They came into this Church, they understood the Word of Wisdom, the requirements of the servants of God, and in order that they might be clean men they have been able, by the grace of God, to overcome this habit and put it away, insomuch that today it is repulsive to them.
I say this in encouragement to any that are under these baneful influences. God bless you, my beloved brethren, who are subject to these habits. God bless you and deliver you from your trouble, for I know it is a curse to you. You feel ashamed of yourself, especially when you come into the society of the servants of God, and you hear the word of the Lord that you should not be guilty of these things. You feel humiliated to the dust and wish you could overcome it, and I have pointed out the way. I say unto you, go in faith to your Heavenly Father, and ask Him for the promise and He will deliver you from all evil. I am sorry when I see little boys smoking cigarettes. I wish they would be more kind to themselves. It is through the pernicious example of their elders. They think it manly to smoke. It is manly to overcome bad habits; it is manly to resist evil and to do right; it is manly to be meek; to be gentle, and to overcome our bad dispositions. Do you not believe these principles? I am thoroughly converted to them, and I have been converted by the power of God’s Spirit. He has delivered me, and I know that He has delivered my brethren. Sometimes we get over harsh towards those who are not yet delivered. As God has been merciful to us in delivering us from pernicious habits, so I plead that the same kindness may be extended to my fellow laborers.
Brethren and sisters, I am happy beyond expression to be with you and to be your humble servant and fellow-laborer in the glorious cause of the Redeemer. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that by faith and prayer miracles can be wrought, not only to the healing of the sick, but to the overcoming of our bad propensities. I know that Joseph Smith was a true servant of the Son of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presided over by Presidents Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, is the Church of the living God. I bear this solemn testimony to you, and rejoice that I have the privilege. You may ask me how I now it. I have had an experience of over forty years in it. I have seen the power of God manifested. I have seen the signs follow the believer. Above all, I have had the witness of the Holy Spirit. No matter what course I may take in the future, though I may be overcome and fall away, it will invalidate this testimony, for I testify in solemnity that God has spoken from the Heavens, He has established His Church upon the earth, and blessed are they who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to comprehend the glorious principles of this everlasting Gospel.
I wish to testify that I am in harmony with the First Presidency and the Apostles, and that I strive, in my weak way, to magnify my calling and to fulfil the individual mission that our heavenly Father has given unto me. May He give us all grace to accomplish the missions that He has given unto us. We have come many miles to hear the word of the Lord, and I am well repaid, if I do not hear another word, for my long journey and the difficulties and fatigues thereof. I suppose there is not a man or woman that has come to Conference but that feels to say, “Glory be to the God of Israel, who hath spoken in these days, who feeds us with the bread of life, and who teaches us of His ways that we may walk in His paths.” That we may have the understanding heart and grace to overcome and endure unto the end in His kingdom is my earnest prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Heber J. Grant,
of the quorum of the Apostles,
next addressed the congregation. He said his heart was full of gratitude to his Heavenly Father for the privilege of being present at this Conference, and for the valuable counsel which had been given them by those brethren who had preceded him. The speaker endorsed the remarks of Elder Teasdale in regard to the pernicious and too common indulgence in the use of tea and coffee among the Latter-day Saints, and expressed his deep regret that the Word of Wisdom was so lightly observed. Excuses were too common among the people, on the slightest pretext, and this referred to the law of tithing and other matters as well as the Word of Wisdom. The commandments of God were not kept as they should, be even by some of those in authority. If a man thought more of a cup of tea or coffee, a cigarette or a chew of tobacco than he did of his priesthood, he thought he ought to resign his priesthood. That had been the feeling in his heart lately. We heard a good deal of hard times. On this head Elder Grant drew a striking picture. He said that the total amount paid in tithing by the Latter-day Saints in the year 1893 was a little over $151,000, and they expended in breaking the commandment of God, by disobeying the Word of Wisdom, in round numbers, a little over $1,000,000. In other words, they expended over $6 in cash in that same way for every dollar paid in tithing. He had faith in the integrity, honesty and testimony existing in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. He knew that they desired the honor and advancement of God’s kingdom, and that the mistakes they made were, as a rule, mistakes of the head and not the heart. But when they reflected upon what he had already said, did they not think that some of those mistakes of the head ought to be remedied? Because he certainly did. The average price of wheat in this Territory today was 40 cents; yet he had been informed that there came in here over 100,000 pounds per annum of one particular brand of smoking tobacco. Hence it took 160,000 bushels of wheat to pay for that one brand of tobacco, and this notwithstanding the fact that the Latter-day Saints had been preached to for the last fifty or sixty years that tobacco was fit only for sick cattle. The statement had been made by the agent for this particular tobacco that Utah led every state and territory west of the Missouri river, in proportion to her population, in the consumption of that one brand of this weed. He prayed with all his heart, and without railing at anybody, that a change for the better would take place at once in this respect.
The speaker adverted to the monument about to be erected to the memory of the late President Brigham Young. Many thousands of dollars, he said, were still owing to the statue, and it had been therefore decided to call upon the Latter-day Saints to contribute something toward it. He hoped that every man, woman and child among this people would give what they could spare towards so laudable an object, from 5 cents up, so that all of them might have the privilege of saying that they helped towards the erection of that memorial. In conclusion Elder Grant invoked the Lord’s blessing upon the Saints.
of the quorum of the Apostles,
next addressed the congregation. He said his heart was full of gratitude to his Heavenly Father for the privilege of being present at this Conference, and for the valuable counsel which had been given them by those brethren who had preceded him. The speaker endorsed the remarks of Elder Teasdale in regard to the pernicious and too common indulgence in the use of tea and coffee among the Latter-day Saints, and expressed his deep regret that the Word of Wisdom was so lightly observed. Excuses were too common among the people, on the slightest pretext, and this referred to the law of tithing and other matters as well as the Word of Wisdom. The commandments of God were not kept as they should, be even by some of those in authority. If a man thought more of a cup of tea or coffee, a cigarette or a chew of tobacco than he did of his priesthood, he thought he ought to resign his priesthood. That had been the feeling in his heart lately. We heard a good deal of hard times. On this head Elder Grant drew a striking picture. He said that the total amount paid in tithing by the Latter-day Saints in the year 1893 was a little over $151,000, and they expended in breaking the commandment of God, by disobeying the Word of Wisdom, in round numbers, a little over $1,000,000. In other words, they expended over $6 in cash in that same way for every dollar paid in tithing. He had faith in the integrity, honesty and testimony existing in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. He knew that they desired the honor and advancement of God’s kingdom, and that the mistakes they made were, as a rule, mistakes of the head and not the heart. But when they reflected upon what he had already said, did they not think that some of those mistakes of the head ought to be remedied? Because he certainly did. The average price of wheat in this Territory today was 40 cents; yet he had been informed that there came in here over 100,000 pounds per annum of one particular brand of smoking tobacco. Hence it took 160,000 bushels of wheat to pay for that one brand of tobacco, and this notwithstanding the fact that the Latter-day Saints had been preached to for the last fifty or sixty years that tobacco was fit only for sick cattle. The statement had been made by the agent for this particular tobacco that Utah led every state and territory west of the Missouri river, in proportion to her population, in the consumption of that one brand of this weed. He prayed with all his heart, and without railing at anybody, that a change for the better would take place at once in this respect.
The speaker adverted to the monument about to be erected to the memory of the late President Brigham Young. Many thousands of dollars, he said, were still owing to the statue, and it had been therefore decided to call upon the Latter-day Saints to contribute something toward it. He hoped that every man, woman and child among this people would give what they could spare towards so laudable an object, from 5 cents up, so that all of them might have the privilege of saying that they helped towards the erection of that memorial. In conclusion Elder Grant invoked the Lord’s blessing upon the Saints.
Word of Wisdom.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Saturday, October 6th, 1894, by
Elder Heber J. Grant.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
My heart is full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the privilege that I have enjoyed at being present at this conference, and I am grateful indeed for the teachings which have been given to us. I do pray with all the earnestness of my heart that every soul that has listened to the advice and counsel which have been given during this conference may seek to God for the aid and assistance of His Holy Spirit, that they may be enabled to carry out in their lives the words of God that have been delivered to us here today. I confess to you, my friends and fellow laborers in the cause of God, that I have been humiliated beyond expression to go to one of the Stakes of Zion, to stand up and preach to the people and call upon them to obey the Word of Wisdom, and then to sit down to the table of a President of a Stake, after having preached with all the zeal, energy and power that I possessed, calling upon the people to keep the commandments of God, and to have his wife ask me if I would like a cup of tea or a cup of coffee. I have felt in my heart that it was an insult, considering the words that I had spoken, and I have felt humiliated to think that I had not sufficient power, and enough of the Spirit of God to enable me to utter words that would penetrate the heart of a President of a Stake, that he at least would be willing to carry out the advice which I had given. I remember going to a Stake of Zion but a short time ago and preaching with all the energy I possessed and with all the Spirit that God would give me upon the necessity of retraining from the drinking of tea and coffee, and I heard also at that conference a very eloquent appeal to the Latter-day Saints by a man who, I understood, was a president of a quorum of Seventy. But when we came to take our meal, he jokingly said that he could not do without his tea and coffee, and he proposed to have it and suffer the consequences. I remember going to another Stake of Zion and preaching to the people on the necessity of refraining from tea and coffee and giving some figures upon the wasting of the people’s means; and the president of the Stake remarked, after I got through, that he thought the Lord would forgive them if they did drink their coffee, because the water in that Stake of Zion was very bad. I did not say anything, but I thought a good deal, and I had to pray to the Lord and to bite my tongue to keep from getting up and doing something that I never have done in my life, and that is, to pick out a man and thrash him from the public stand. I felt that God owed me a blessing for not publicly reproving that man, because I wanted to do it so badly.
Now, I had made up my mind before I came to this conference that I would not open my mouth upon the Word of Wisdom. I have become so discouraged, so disheartened, so humiliated in my feelings, after preaching year after year both by precept and example, to realize that there are Bishops, Bishops’ Counselors, President of Stakes, and Patriarchs among the Church of God whose hearts I have not been able to touch, that I had about made up my mind that I would never again say Word of Wisdom to the Latter-day Saints. I felt that it was like pouring water on a ducks back. It had seemed to me as if I could not get sufficient of the Spirit of God to penetrate the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. But after listening to the remarks that have been made here, I feel to rejoice and thank God for what has been said; and I feel that my labors are approved of God among the people, whether they listen to what I say or not. We seem to get into ruts as a people, and we justify ourselves in doing that which is not pleasing in the sight of God. A man who does not pay his tithing makes excuses for not doing it. A man who does not keep the Word of Wisdom makes excuses for not doing that. I want to say that there is not a man or a woman among all the Latter-day Saints but who could keep the Word of Wisdom if they got down on their knees, as Brother Teasdale has advised, and pray to God for help. The Lord has said that these words of wisdom are adapted to the weakest of the weak among the Latter-day Saints, and I have not only felt but said within the last week or two, to the Presidency of the Church, that I was on hand to make the motion to call upon certain individuals holding high and responsible positions it this church to resign their offices or keep the commandments of God. I endorse with all my heart a remark made here yesterday by President Joseph F. Smith that if a man is standing in the doorway that leads to life eternal and by his pernicious habits he is blocking up that doorway and crowding others out, let him stand aside or let him reform his life. Now, I want to make all mistakes on the side of mercy; but once in a great while I want to see justice get just a little bit of a chance among the people. If a man thinks more of a cup of tea or coffee, or a cigarette, or a chew of tobacco, than he does of his Priesthood, let him resign his Priesthood. That is the way that I have been feeling lately. I want to say that if I hold the Apostleship with the spirit of an Apostle, I feel as though I am almost justified if after preaching to the people a president of a Stake gets up and casts doubt upon what I have said, in saying something from the stand against that man, whether he likes it or not. I am naturally earnest in my makeup, and I realize that I make greater mistakes than drinking a cup of tea or coffee; but I do try for the Spirit of the Lord, to know these mistakes and to endeavor to overcome them; and I want my brethren who preside over me in the Presidency and in the Apostleship to tell me of my mistakes. I also pray God to help me to overcome them. Those of us who know our mistakes and our errors, if we will seek for the light and the inspiration of the Spirit of God to overcome them, we can do so.
We hear a great deal about hard times. The Latter-day Saints last year expended in breaking a commandment of God by disobeying the Word of Wisdom, over a million dollars. In other words, the Latter-day Saints expended more cash in breaking a commandment of God than they paid tithing. I have faith in the integrity and honesty and in the testimony existing in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. I know that the Latter-day Saints desire the onward advancement of God’s kingdom. I know that the mistakes they make as a rule are mistakes of the head and not of the heart. But when we stop to reflect that a great deal more is expended by the people in breaking a commandment of God than they pay in tithing, do you not think that some of the mistakes of the head ought to be remedied? I do. The average price paid today for wheat in this Territory is about forty cents, and yet I am told that there comes into Utah Territory every year over one hundred thousand pounds of one brand of smoking tobacco called the Duke of Durham, and as I understand it retails at 80 cents a pound, it takes one hundred and sixty thousand bushels of wheat to pay for that one brand of smoking tobacco! And we have had preached to us for the past fifty or sixty years that tobacco is only fit for sick cattle! The agent of this tobacco gives us the proud distinction, if you consider it so, that Utah Territory leads every other State and Territory west of the Mississippi river, in proportion to its population, in buying Duke of Durham smoking tobacco. Do you know that it is humiliating to me to realize that a man can make such a statement? There must be more or less truth in it, or I do not think he would say it. We raise in this territory some four or five millions of bushels of wheat a year, and at forty cents a bushel it would take 2,500,000 bushels of that wheat to pay for all we consume in breaking the Word of Wisdom. A pound of coffee amounts to thirty cents and a bushel of wheat only amounts to forty cents, and there are sixty pounds in it. I went out to Wasatch Stake not long ago, and took dinner with Brother Hatch, the President of the Stake. He gave me a cup of coffee, and it was very good indeed, and it only cost three fourths of a cent a pound, because it was made of wheat. I am acknowledged to be a crank on home productions and home manufactures, and when I get first class coffee for three fourths of a cent a pound, I ought not to be such a fool as to pay thirty cents for it. If a man pays one cent a pound for wheat, and makes coffee of it, he is making twenty nine cents profit by not drinking the other article. Brother Hatch told me that by browning it good and steeping it a long while, it was not necessary to grind it up and that it made first class chicken feed after you had had it for coffee. Then, if it is worth one-third the original price for chicken feed, that would make the coffee only half a cent a pound, and the actual profit made by drinking home-made coffee would be 6000 per cent. Now, if we could only make 6000 per cent in investing in some business, how soon we would all get wealthy. And every one of you coffee drinkers can make 6000 per cent on your coffee if you do not on your other investments—that is, Brother Cannon says, if you keep chickens. (Laughter.)
I will not say anything about the greater blessings that you will receive by keeping the commandments of God; that when you have any sick you are entitled to call down the healing influences of the Spirit of God into your homes; that you are to have health and strength and power given unto you, and hidden treasures of knowledge. All these things you will find recorded in the Word of God revealed to us and known as the Word of Wisdom. But I have been requested by President Smith to give a few figures, and that is why I am talking on this side of the question. We have it given as a fact that in the business that is transacted only about five per cent of it is actually in money; the balance is in exchange of values. Money represents to the business world what the blood represents to the body of man. The heart takes that blood every few hours and it goes through the body over and over again. Tons and tons are pumped by the little heart within us in a day or two. Yet it is the same blood going over and over again. It is the same with money. It goes over and over again. Brother Brigham Young stated to us here yesterday that twenty years ago the Prophet of God laid it down to this people that the Word of Wisdom was no longer given merely by way of constraint, but that it was from that time a commandment of God that we keep it. Now, if we have expended from half a million to a million dollars a year for twenty years in breaking this commandment, the total amount would be at least fifteen millions of dollars of money during that time, and with compound interest semi-annually at 10 per cent for the term of twenty years it would amount in round numbers from thirty five to forty millions of dollars, or enough to build Salt Lake City. As I have said, it takes two and a half million bushels of wheat, at the present price, to pay for breaking the Word of Wisdom. Where are there any Latter-day Saints who would contribute a bushel of wheat to have a match set to it? Where are there any Latter-day Saints who would gather together 2,500,000 bushels of wheat and burn it up? Yet I say that it would not be half the crime in the sight of God to burn that quantity of wheat as it is to spend its equivalent in breaking a commandment of the Almighty God. I am informed that there is in the neighborhood of $250,000 worth of tobacco consumed in this territory by the Latter-day Saints alone. Figuring on the basis of $5 of actual circulation of money to every $100 of business that is done, if we could save in this Territory a million dollars a year of hard cash that goes out for these articles, that amount of money, circulating around during the year, would cancel twenty million dollars of the bondage of indebtedness which today rests upon the people. I remember hearing Brother George L. Farrell in the Assembly Hall six months ago make a statement with reference to home made goods, and I have quoted it at every conference I have been at since, and I expect to go on quoting it. He stated that he bought some home made shoes, and he met at the depot the man he owed for making these shoes. He went up to him and gave the $5. This man turned around, saw another person that he owed, and handed him the $5. He saw another and gave it to him; and he saw another and gave it to him; and he saw another and gave it to him, and the fourth man walked up to Brother Farrell and said, “Brother Farrell, I owe you $6; here is $5 of it, I will give you the other dollar the next time we meet.” The $5 cancelled, in about the same length of time it takes to tell it, $25 of debts. And debt is bondage; therefore, it lifted $25 of bondage from the shoulders of those people. Now, if this $5 cancelled $25 in ten minutes, to make a mathematical calculation, how much will it cancel in the remaining 364 days and twenty three hours and fifty minutes of the year? Figuring on what a million dollars would do to the Latter-day Saints if they were to obey the Word of Wisdom, I say to you that it would make the Latter-day Saints in twenty years from today, the wealthiest rural and laboring people in these United States, in pro portion to their population, if they would save this money that is now worse than burned up. In speaking in this way I do not wish to rail at anybody, because I want to say that some of the sweetest spirited men whom I have ever known, and men as true to the Gospel as I ever could be, have disobeyed the Word of Wisdom. But I endorse with all my heart and in all humility President Smith’s remark that if any are standing in the door of salvation and their example is injuring other people, let them step aside.
I want to make a few remarks on another subject. A statue of President Young and the Pioneers has been executed and a great many thousands of dollars are due on it. It has been decided by the Presidency of the Church to call upon the Latter-day Saints to pay something towards that statue, and I hope that every man woman and child will pay from five cents up, so that every one of us can say, when the monument is erected on the corner of this block, “I contributed something toward erecting that.” I take pleasure in being able to say when I enter the Temple at Logan that I gave some means towards erecting that monument to the name of God. When I went to the St. George Temple to be married I felt to thank God that I did something towards erecting that house, where I was to receive that great blessing from God—a wife. I feel to thank God that I did something towards erecting the Manti Temple and the Salt Lake Temple. And there is not a child but who will rejoice in after years, in seeing the statue of the Prophet of God upon this block, to know that he cast in his mite towards erecting it. President Cannon told us last night that the Senator from Wyoming recently stated at a public gathering in Denver that President Young was one of the greatest men America had ever produced. He was to us the Prophet of God, the mouthpiece of God. In this Tabernacle, in the Temples, in Z. C. M. I. store, and in the theater, we see the monuments of his greatness. In the settlements, from the north to the south, we find the labors that he did for us. Many an Elder in Israel today owns 160 acres of beautiful land that he owes to the foresight, inspiration and determination of President Young. Why? Because they themselves lacked faith to settle the very places they now occupy. I understand that in all the beautiful valley of Cache the finest agricultural spot is the town of Lewiston. I am told that when the Bishop was sent there under the direction and inspiration of the Spirit of God to Brigham Young, he felt as though he was called upon to sacrifice almost everything and to live in poverty all the days of his life and he wanted to go back to Richmond, have his twenty acres of land and live and die there. Yet I do not think today that that man would give twenty acres of land in Lewiston for about forty acres in Richmond. It was the carrying out of the inspiration of God that located Lewiston, and scores of other places in this Territory. I feel in my heart a debt of gratitude for the material wealth that Brigham Young has given to this people, and I want to be one of those who shall erect that statue to his memory. I have had influential men from the east and the west say to me times without number, “Why, Mr. Grant, I am surprised in travelling around this beautiful city and seeing the evidences of the ability and statesmanship of Brigham Young, to find no monument to his name.” He has monuments that he left to his own name, as in the case of this Tabernacle; but we have erected no monument to show our appreciation of his life and labors for us. Let us all do something, and have our children do something, and the burden will be very light. I have contributed my mite, and I want to make another contribution, and I propose that every one of my children shall save their nickels and dimes until they get a dollar, and let them remember by the sacrifice they made in saving these nickels that they did something to erect the statue to our beloved prophet. May God bless you is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir and congregation sang:
Come, let us anew our journey pursue,
Roll round with the year.
And never stand still till the Master appear.
Benediction by Elder B. H. Roberts.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Saturday, October 6th, 1894, by
Elder Heber J. Grant.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
My heart is full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the privilege that I have enjoyed at being present at this conference, and I am grateful indeed for the teachings which have been given to us. I do pray with all the earnestness of my heart that every soul that has listened to the advice and counsel which have been given during this conference may seek to God for the aid and assistance of His Holy Spirit, that they may be enabled to carry out in their lives the words of God that have been delivered to us here today. I confess to you, my friends and fellow laborers in the cause of God, that I have been humiliated beyond expression to go to one of the Stakes of Zion, to stand up and preach to the people and call upon them to obey the Word of Wisdom, and then to sit down to the table of a President of a Stake, after having preached with all the zeal, energy and power that I possessed, calling upon the people to keep the commandments of God, and to have his wife ask me if I would like a cup of tea or a cup of coffee. I have felt in my heart that it was an insult, considering the words that I had spoken, and I have felt humiliated to think that I had not sufficient power, and enough of the Spirit of God to enable me to utter words that would penetrate the heart of a President of a Stake, that he at least would be willing to carry out the advice which I had given. I remember going to a Stake of Zion but a short time ago and preaching with all the energy I possessed and with all the Spirit that God would give me upon the necessity of retraining from the drinking of tea and coffee, and I heard also at that conference a very eloquent appeal to the Latter-day Saints by a man who, I understood, was a president of a quorum of Seventy. But when we came to take our meal, he jokingly said that he could not do without his tea and coffee, and he proposed to have it and suffer the consequences. I remember going to another Stake of Zion and preaching to the people on the necessity of refraining from tea and coffee and giving some figures upon the wasting of the people’s means; and the president of the Stake remarked, after I got through, that he thought the Lord would forgive them if they did drink their coffee, because the water in that Stake of Zion was very bad. I did not say anything, but I thought a good deal, and I had to pray to the Lord and to bite my tongue to keep from getting up and doing something that I never have done in my life, and that is, to pick out a man and thrash him from the public stand. I felt that God owed me a blessing for not publicly reproving that man, because I wanted to do it so badly.
Now, I had made up my mind before I came to this conference that I would not open my mouth upon the Word of Wisdom. I have become so discouraged, so disheartened, so humiliated in my feelings, after preaching year after year both by precept and example, to realize that there are Bishops, Bishops’ Counselors, President of Stakes, and Patriarchs among the Church of God whose hearts I have not been able to touch, that I had about made up my mind that I would never again say Word of Wisdom to the Latter-day Saints. I felt that it was like pouring water on a ducks back. It had seemed to me as if I could not get sufficient of the Spirit of God to penetrate the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. But after listening to the remarks that have been made here, I feel to rejoice and thank God for what has been said; and I feel that my labors are approved of God among the people, whether they listen to what I say or not. We seem to get into ruts as a people, and we justify ourselves in doing that which is not pleasing in the sight of God. A man who does not pay his tithing makes excuses for not doing it. A man who does not keep the Word of Wisdom makes excuses for not doing that. I want to say that there is not a man or a woman among all the Latter-day Saints but who could keep the Word of Wisdom if they got down on their knees, as Brother Teasdale has advised, and pray to God for help. The Lord has said that these words of wisdom are adapted to the weakest of the weak among the Latter-day Saints, and I have not only felt but said within the last week or two, to the Presidency of the Church, that I was on hand to make the motion to call upon certain individuals holding high and responsible positions it this church to resign their offices or keep the commandments of God. I endorse with all my heart a remark made here yesterday by President Joseph F. Smith that if a man is standing in the doorway that leads to life eternal and by his pernicious habits he is blocking up that doorway and crowding others out, let him stand aside or let him reform his life. Now, I want to make all mistakes on the side of mercy; but once in a great while I want to see justice get just a little bit of a chance among the people. If a man thinks more of a cup of tea or coffee, or a cigarette, or a chew of tobacco, than he does of his Priesthood, let him resign his Priesthood. That is the way that I have been feeling lately. I want to say that if I hold the Apostleship with the spirit of an Apostle, I feel as though I am almost justified if after preaching to the people a president of a Stake gets up and casts doubt upon what I have said, in saying something from the stand against that man, whether he likes it or not. I am naturally earnest in my makeup, and I realize that I make greater mistakes than drinking a cup of tea or coffee; but I do try for the Spirit of the Lord, to know these mistakes and to endeavor to overcome them; and I want my brethren who preside over me in the Presidency and in the Apostleship to tell me of my mistakes. I also pray God to help me to overcome them. Those of us who know our mistakes and our errors, if we will seek for the light and the inspiration of the Spirit of God to overcome them, we can do so.
We hear a great deal about hard times. The Latter-day Saints last year expended in breaking a commandment of God by disobeying the Word of Wisdom, over a million dollars. In other words, the Latter-day Saints expended more cash in breaking a commandment of God than they paid tithing. I have faith in the integrity and honesty and in the testimony existing in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. I know that the Latter-day Saints desire the onward advancement of God’s kingdom. I know that the mistakes they make as a rule are mistakes of the head and not of the heart. But when we stop to reflect that a great deal more is expended by the people in breaking a commandment of God than they pay in tithing, do you not think that some of the mistakes of the head ought to be remedied? I do. The average price paid today for wheat in this Territory is about forty cents, and yet I am told that there comes into Utah Territory every year over one hundred thousand pounds of one brand of smoking tobacco called the Duke of Durham, and as I understand it retails at 80 cents a pound, it takes one hundred and sixty thousand bushels of wheat to pay for that one brand of smoking tobacco! And we have had preached to us for the past fifty or sixty years that tobacco is only fit for sick cattle! The agent of this tobacco gives us the proud distinction, if you consider it so, that Utah Territory leads every other State and Territory west of the Mississippi river, in proportion to its population, in buying Duke of Durham smoking tobacco. Do you know that it is humiliating to me to realize that a man can make such a statement? There must be more or less truth in it, or I do not think he would say it. We raise in this territory some four or five millions of bushels of wheat a year, and at forty cents a bushel it would take 2,500,000 bushels of that wheat to pay for all we consume in breaking the Word of Wisdom. A pound of coffee amounts to thirty cents and a bushel of wheat only amounts to forty cents, and there are sixty pounds in it. I went out to Wasatch Stake not long ago, and took dinner with Brother Hatch, the President of the Stake. He gave me a cup of coffee, and it was very good indeed, and it only cost three fourths of a cent a pound, because it was made of wheat. I am acknowledged to be a crank on home productions and home manufactures, and when I get first class coffee for three fourths of a cent a pound, I ought not to be such a fool as to pay thirty cents for it. If a man pays one cent a pound for wheat, and makes coffee of it, he is making twenty nine cents profit by not drinking the other article. Brother Hatch told me that by browning it good and steeping it a long while, it was not necessary to grind it up and that it made first class chicken feed after you had had it for coffee. Then, if it is worth one-third the original price for chicken feed, that would make the coffee only half a cent a pound, and the actual profit made by drinking home-made coffee would be 6000 per cent. Now, if we could only make 6000 per cent in investing in some business, how soon we would all get wealthy. And every one of you coffee drinkers can make 6000 per cent on your coffee if you do not on your other investments—that is, Brother Cannon says, if you keep chickens. (Laughter.)
I will not say anything about the greater blessings that you will receive by keeping the commandments of God; that when you have any sick you are entitled to call down the healing influences of the Spirit of God into your homes; that you are to have health and strength and power given unto you, and hidden treasures of knowledge. All these things you will find recorded in the Word of God revealed to us and known as the Word of Wisdom. But I have been requested by President Smith to give a few figures, and that is why I am talking on this side of the question. We have it given as a fact that in the business that is transacted only about five per cent of it is actually in money; the balance is in exchange of values. Money represents to the business world what the blood represents to the body of man. The heart takes that blood every few hours and it goes through the body over and over again. Tons and tons are pumped by the little heart within us in a day or two. Yet it is the same blood going over and over again. It is the same with money. It goes over and over again. Brother Brigham Young stated to us here yesterday that twenty years ago the Prophet of God laid it down to this people that the Word of Wisdom was no longer given merely by way of constraint, but that it was from that time a commandment of God that we keep it. Now, if we have expended from half a million to a million dollars a year for twenty years in breaking this commandment, the total amount would be at least fifteen millions of dollars of money during that time, and with compound interest semi-annually at 10 per cent for the term of twenty years it would amount in round numbers from thirty five to forty millions of dollars, or enough to build Salt Lake City. As I have said, it takes two and a half million bushels of wheat, at the present price, to pay for breaking the Word of Wisdom. Where are there any Latter-day Saints who would contribute a bushel of wheat to have a match set to it? Where are there any Latter-day Saints who would gather together 2,500,000 bushels of wheat and burn it up? Yet I say that it would not be half the crime in the sight of God to burn that quantity of wheat as it is to spend its equivalent in breaking a commandment of the Almighty God. I am informed that there is in the neighborhood of $250,000 worth of tobacco consumed in this territory by the Latter-day Saints alone. Figuring on the basis of $5 of actual circulation of money to every $100 of business that is done, if we could save in this Territory a million dollars a year of hard cash that goes out for these articles, that amount of money, circulating around during the year, would cancel twenty million dollars of the bondage of indebtedness which today rests upon the people. I remember hearing Brother George L. Farrell in the Assembly Hall six months ago make a statement with reference to home made goods, and I have quoted it at every conference I have been at since, and I expect to go on quoting it. He stated that he bought some home made shoes, and he met at the depot the man he owed for making these shoes. He went up to him and gave the $5. This man turned around, saw another person that he owed, and handed him the $5. He saw another and gave it to him; and he saw another and gave it to him; and he saw another and gave it to him, and the fourth man walked up to Brother Farrell and said, “Brother Farrell, I owe you $6; here is $5 of it, I will give you the other dollar the next time we meet.” The $5 cancelled, in about the same length of time it takes to tell it, $25 of debts. And debt is bondage; therefore, it lifted $25 of bondage from the shoulders of those people. Now, if this $5 cancelled $25 in ten minutes, to make a mathematical calculation, how much will it cancel in the remaining 364 days and twenty three hours and fifty minutes of the year? Figuring on what a million dollars would do to the Latter-day Saints if they were to obey the Word of Wisdom, I say to you that it would make the Latter-day Saints in twenty years from today, the wealthiest rural and laboring people in these United States, in pro portion to their population, if they would save this money that is now worse than burned up. In speaking in this way I do not wish to rail at anybody, because I want to say that some of the sweetest spirited men whom I have ever known, and men as true to the Gospel as I ever could be, have disobeyed the Word of Wisdom. But I endorse with all my heart and in all humility President Smith’s remark that if any are standing in the door of salvation and their example is injuring other people, let them step aside.
I want to make a few remarks on another subject. A statue of President Young and the Pioneers has been executed and a great many thousands of dollars are due on it. It has been decided by the Presidency of the Church to call upon the Latter-day Saints to pay something towards that statue, and I hope that every man woman and child will pay from five cents up, so that every one of us can say, when the monument is erected on the corner of this block, “I contributed something toward erecting that.” I take pleasure in being able to say when I enter the Temple at Logan that I gave some means towards erecting that monument to the name of God. When I went to the St. George Temple to be married I felt to thank God that I did something towards erecting that house, where I was to receive that great blessing from God—a wife. I feel to thank God that I did something towards erecting the Manti Temple and the Salt Lake Temple. And there is not a child but who will rejoice in after years, in seeing the statue of the Prophet of God upon this block, to know that he cast in his mite towards erecting it. President Cannon told us last night that the Senator from Wyoming recently stated at a public gathering in Denver that President Young was one of the greatest men America had ever produced. He was to us the Prophet of God, the mouthpiece of God. In this Tabernacle, in the Temples, in Z. C. M. I. store, and in the theater, we see the monuments of his greatness. In the settlements, from the north to the south, we find the labors that he did for us. Many an Elder in Israel today owns 160 acres of beautiful land that he owes to the foresight, inspiration and determination of President Young. Why? Because they themselves lacked faith to settle the very places they now occupy. I understand that in all the beautiful valley of Cache the finest agricultural spot is the town of Lewiston. I am told that when the Bishop was sent there under the direction and inspiration of the Spirit of God to Brigham Young, he felt as though he was called upon to sacrifice almost everything and to live in poverty all the days of his life and he wanted to go back to Richmond, have his twenty acres of land and live and die there. Yet I do not think today that that man would give twenty acres of land in Lewiston for about forty acres in Richmond. It was the carrying out of the inspiration of God that located Lewiston, and scores of other places in this Territory. I feel in my heart a debt of gratitude for the material wealth that Brigham Young has given to this people, and I want to be one of those who shall erect that statue to his memory. I have had influential men from the east and the west say to me times without number, “Why, Mr. Grant, I am surprised in travelling around this beautiful city and seeing the evidences of the ability and statesmanship of Brigham Young, to find no monument to his name.” He has monuments that he left to his own name, as in the case of this Tabernacle; but we have erected no monument to show our appreciation of his life and labors for us. Let us all do something, and have our children do something, and the burden will be very light. I have contributed my mite, and I want to make another contribution, and I propose that every one of my children shall save their nickels and dimes until they get a dollar, and let them remember by the sacrifice they made in saving these nickels that they did something to erect the statue to our beloved prophet. May God bless you is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir and congregation sang:
Come, let us anew our journey pursue,
Roll round with the year.
And never stand still till the Master appear.
Benediction by Elder B. H. Roberts.
Afternoon Session.
Singing by the choir:
Softly beams the sacred dawning
Of the great millennial morn.
Prayer by Elder Jonathan G. Kimball.
Singing by the choir:
We’re not ashamed to own our Lord
And worship him on earth;
We learn to love His holy word
And know what souls are worth.
Singing by the choir:
Softly beams the sacred dawning
Of the great millennial morn.
Prayer by Elder Jonathan G. Kimball.
Singing by the choir:
We’re not ashamed to own our Lord
And worship him on earth;
We learn to love His holy word
And know what souls are worth.
Elder John W. Taylor,
of the quorum of the Apostles,
addressed the congregation. He prayed that the Spirit of the Lord would accompany his remarks, that they might be directed aright. He had been greatly edified, he said by the words which had fallen from the preceding speakers, for same excellent advice had been given for the guidance of the Saints, and which, if carried into practice, could not fail to accomplish great good. The speaker adverted to what was termed the doctrine of Christian science, by which it claimed people could be healed of their infirmities. But the gift of healing was no new thing in this, the Church of Jesus Christ, and he would deplore to see any of the Latter-day Saints drawn away by the mere doctrines of men. Power was given unto the evil one to deceive the children of men—even the elect of God, if it were possible. The speaker bore his testimony to the successful gift of healing among the Latter-day Saints, based upon his own individual experience, and remarked that by faith nothing was impossible. The Lord would give us faith and strength sufficient unto all things if we only sought Him with a true heart and a contrite spirit. God bless the sons and daughters of Zion; let them not doubt the servants of God, those in authority over them, but cease to criticize the authorities of this Church, who acted in all things as the Lord inspired them from time to time. It was always safe to follow their counsels; for had they not brought this people through trial and persecution up to this day? If we kept the commandments of God our salvation would be sure. Let us be faithful and seek to bring as many souls as possible into the fold of Christ. Following in the line of previous speakers, Elder Taylor deprecated the use of tea, coffee and intoxicating drinks among the Latter-day Saint, and, in conclusion, besought his hearers to do their utmost in helping to build up the kingdom of God on earth.
of the quorum of the Apostles,
addressed the congregation. He prayed that the Spirit of the Lord would accompany his remarks, that they might be directed aright. He had been greatly edified, he said by the words which had fallen from the preceding speakers, for same excellent advice had been given for the guidance of the Saints, and which, if carried into practice, could not fail to accomplish great good. The speaker adverted to what was termed the doctrine of Christian science, by which it claimed people could be healed of their infirmities. But the gift of healing was no new thing in this, the Church of Jesus Christ, and he would deplore to see any of the Latter-day Saints drawn away by the mere doctrines of men. Power was given unto the evil one to deceive the children of men—even the elect of God, if it were possible. The speaker bore his testimony to the successful gift of healing among the Latter-day Saints, based upon his own individual experience, and remarked that by faith nothing was impossible. The Lord would give us faith and strength sufficient unto all things if we only sought Him with a true heart and a contrite spirit. God bless the sons and daughters of Zion; let them not doubt the servants of God, those in authority over them, but cease to criticize the authorities of this Church, who acted in all things as the Lord inspired them from time to time. It was always safe to follow their counsels; for had they not brought this people through trial and persecution up to this day? If we kept the commandments of God our salvation would be sure. Let us be faithful and seek to bring as many souls as possible into the fold of Christ. Following in the line of previous speakers, Elder Taylor deprecated the use of tea, coffee and intoxicating drinks among the Latter-day Saint, and, in conclusion, besought his hearers to do their utmost in helping to build up the kingdom of God on earth.
Elder Marriner W. Merrill,
of the quorum of the Apostles,
bore an earnest testimony to the truth of this work. He had the satisfaction of learning this before he joined the Church, when about only nine years of age, in answer to prayer, and had received evidences of that truth all along the line. The Lord sustained the Prophet Joseph Smith in the midst of all his trials, and He had sustained those who had since followed him at the head of the Church. Those who attempted to criticize the actions of the servants of God stood on dangerous ground. The Lord had chosen these brethren himself, and not one of them had sought the position which he occupied. Was it our place to regulate the Presidency of this Church? No, and the man or woman who continued to do this would, sooner or later, lose the spirit, and their minds would become darkened. He trusted the Saints would be humble, meek and lowly and avoid anything that was calculated to engender a feeling of dissension or ill will. Elder Merrill spoke upon the gift of healing, the power of which, he said, was in the midst of the Saints today. The Presidency of the Church had a deep interest in the people and their welfare, and that was why they exhibited so much anxiety in their keeping the commandments of God. Temple work was dwelt upon by the speaker, who said the spirit of this labor had not yet rested upon the people to the extent that it should. It was important that we should minister not only for the living but for the dead—those of our kindred who had died without a knowledge of the true Gospel. As to the financial depression with which we were now face to face, the Lord would deliver us in his own due time. The speaker besought the people to live within their means and not to mortgage their homes under any circumstances. To those who owed money he would say, pay to the utmost farthing as soon as you can, and so relieve yourselves of the burden which presses so heavily upon you. He feared we had been too extravagant in the past and trusted that a lesson had been taught us in this regard as to the future. The speaker prayed that the blessings of heaven would be poured down abundantly upon this people.
of the quorum of the Apostles,
bore an earnest testimony to the truth of this work. He had the satisfaction of learning this before he joined the Church, when about only nine years of age, in answer to prayer, and had received evidences of that truth all along the line. The Lord sustained the Prophet Joseph Smith in the midst of all his trials, and He had sustained those who had since followed him at the head of the Church. Those who attempted to criticize the actions of the servants of God stood on dangerous ground. The Lord had chosen these brethren himself, and not one of them had sought the position which he occupied. Was it our place to regulate the Presidency of this Church? No, and the man or woman who continued to do this would, sooner or later, lose the spirit, and their minds would become darkened. He trusted the Saints would be humble, meek and lowly and avoid anything that was calculated to engender a feeling of dissension or ill will. Elder Merrill spoke upon the gift of healing, the power of which, he said, was in the midst of the Saints today. The Presidency of the Church had a deep interest in the people and their welfare, and that was why they exhibited so much anxiety in their keeping the commandments of God. Temple work was dwelt upon by the speaker, who said the spirit of this labor had not yet rested upon the people to the extent that it should. It was important that we should minister not only for the living but for the dead—those of our kindred who had died without a knowledge of the true Gospel. As to the financial depression with which we were now face to face, the Lord would deliver us in his own due time. The speaker besought the people to live within their means and not to mortgage their homes under any circumstances. To those who owed money he would say, pay to the utmost farthing as soon as you can, and so relieve yourselves of the burden which presses so heavily upon you. He feared we had been too extravagant in the past and trusted that a lesson had been taught us in this regard as to the future. The speaker prayed that the blessings of heaven would be poured down abundantly upon this people.
Elder A. H. Cannon,
of the quorum of the Apostles,
referred to the pointed instructions which had been given to the Saints during this Conference, and said he trusted to see a practical application made of the truths to which they had listened. If such were the case revelation would increase in our midst. He was convinced that the heavens were full of instructions for this people; and it was our duty to seek for revelation and seek to learn the mind and will of God upon every matter which came under the consideration of the Saints. It was improper on the part of the people to approach the Presidency of the Church upon trifling matters which they themselves should settle, thus leaving the authorities to devote all their time to the more weighty things of the Church. He did not know of a single instance where the heads of the Church had ever led the people astray. When they gave counsel the Lord was with them.
Elder Cannon said he desired to speak against a spirit which had been growing to some extent among some of the younger members of this Church who had given their time to the study of theology. There was a danger against which they should guard themselves, and this lay in the disposition toward a criticism of the doctrines of the Church as presented by the living authorities. When any counsel came from President Woodruff which seemed to be in conflict with the written word of God we should follow the living oracles, and the time would come when we would appreciate a reconciliation of these. It was absolutely necessary that the spirit of revelation should guide the authorities of this Church, to enable them to deal justly with all. The speaker urged the Saints to exhibit the spirit of charity, mercy and long-suffering towards each other, and said he was thankful for the spirit of reformation which was extending among this people. If necessary the Saints should be prepared to die in support of the principles of truth which God had revealed to them.
The choir sang: The Song of the Redeemed.
Benediction by Elder C. D. Fjeldsted.
of the quorum of the Apostles,
referred to the pointed instructions which had been given to the Saints during this Conference, and said he trusted to see a practical application made of the truths to which they had listened. If such were the case revelation would increase in our midst. He was convinced that the heavens were full of instructions for this people; and it was our duty to seek for revelation and seek to learn the mind and will of God upon every matter which came under the consideration of the Saints. It was improper on the part of the people to approach the Presidency of the Church upon trifling matters which they themselves should settle, thus leaving the authorities to devote all their time to the more weighty things of the Church. He did not know of a single instance where the heads of the Church had ever led the people astray. When they gave counsel the Lord was with them.
Elder Cannon said he desired to speak against a spirit which had been growing to some extent among some of the younger members of this Church who had given their time to the study of theology. There was a danger against which they should guard themselves, and this lay in the disposition toward a criticism of the doctrines of the Church as presented by the living authorities. When any counsel came from President Woodruff which seemed to be in conflict with the written word of God we should follow the living oracles, and the time would come when we would appreciate a reconciliation of these. It was absolutely necessary that the spirit of revelation should guide the authorities of this Church, to enable them to deal justly with all. The speaker urged the Saints to exhibit the spirit of charity, mercy and long-suffering towards each other, and said he was thankful for the spirit of reformation which was extending among this people. If necessary the Saints should be prepared to die in support of the principles of truth which God had revealed to them.
The choir sang: The Song of the Redeemed.
Benediction by Elder C. D. Fjeldsted.
Third Day:
Sunday, Oct. 7.
Morning Session.
The choir and congregation sang the hymn beginning:
We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,
To guide us in these latter days.
Prayer was offered by Elder L. W. Shurtliff.
The choir sang:
High on the mountain tops
A banner is unfurled;
Ye nations now look up;
It waves for all the world.
Sunday, Oct. 7.
Morning Session.
The choir and congregation sang the hymn beginning:
We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,
To guide us in these latter days.
Prayer was offered by Elder L. W. Shurtliff.
The choir sang:
High on the mountain tops
A banner is unfurled;
Ye nations now look up;
It waves for all the world.
President George Q. Cannon
addressed the congregation. His discourse was of a general character and therefore embraced a variety of subjects, among which were: The wide existence in this generation of the unbelief in God and the danger to which some of our young men were exposed by contact with it; genuine and spurious revelation; influences which seek to weaken the authority of the Holy Priesthood; opposition to the Gospel of self-denial and the conflict between God and Satan; the power of the Lord shown in the building up of this community, whom He designed to be a united people; the curse of God that would follow those who prevented the bringing of children into the world; the comprehensiveness of the Gospel, which is the panacea for all the ills that afflict humanity, and the greatness of the promises made to the faithful. The speaker concluded by predicting a great and influential future in the earth for the people of God.
addressed the congregation. His discourse was of a general character and therefore embraced a variety of subjects, among which were: The wide existence in this generation of the unbelief in God and the danger to which some of our young men were exposed by contact with it; genuine and spurious revelation; influences which seek to weaken the authority of the Holy Priesthood; opposition to the Gospel of self-denial and the conflict between God and Satan; the power of the Lord shown in the building up of this community, whom He designed to be a united people; the curse of God that would follow those who prevented the bringing of children into the world; the comprehensiveness of the Gospel, which is the panacea for all the ills that afflict humanity, and the greatness of the promises made to the faithful. The speaker concluded by predicting a great and influential future in the earth for the people of God.
Discourse
Delievered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Sunday, October 7th, 1894, by
President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
In standing up this morning to address you, my brethren and sisters, I humbly crave an interest in your faith and prayers; for if I say anything that will be instructive, it will have to be through the aid of the Spirit of God. It is seldom that I have felt as weak as I now do in standing in the presence of this vast assembly.
The conference thus far has been one of great interest to me. I have enjoyed the remarks of the brethren very much, and I feel that the Spirit of the Lord has been with His servants in addressing us, and much valuable instruction has been given that if remembered and acted upon will cause us to be a better people. I think there is no people that ever lived—at least, I do not find an account of any—that has had such a wealth of instruction and counsel as the Latter-day Saints have had since the organization of the Church in these days. It is true that there have been dispensations in which the people have been further advanced than we are, because the Lord and His servants had worked among them for a greater period of time than they have among us, as, for instance, in the days of Enoch; but for the length of time that the Church has been established there has been an outpouring of instruction and counsel that, I think, is without parallel in the history of mankind. If we are not a great people, through goodness and fidelity to the principles of the Gospel, it is because we have neglected the opportunities that the Lord has given unto us, and the counsels and revelations that have been so freely imparted to us. I do trust that the words that have been spoken at this conference have not been spoken in vain; that they have not fallen on barren soil; that they have not reach unwilling hearts; but that the spirit which has prompted them will rest upon us and inspire us to carry them out in our lives.
I am deeply impressed myself with the importance of the Latter-day Saints living so close to the Lord that they will feel for themselves the importance of the principles which are taught to them. We live in a peculiar time. There are a great many agencies at work among the children of men; a great many false and delusive spirits; and a great deal of unbelief concerning God and His power and interposition in the affairs of the children of men. There may have been times in the history of mankind when an equal amount of skepticism upon these points prevailed; but I doubt very much whether there ever was a generation that was so completely hardened in their hearts in regard to God and His providences as this generation in which we live. You can scarcely find a people now who have any faith that God interposes in the affairs of the children of men. Those who call themselves the most enlightened proclaim that the universe is governed by fixed and immutable laws; that effect follows cause, and that God does not suspend these laws, nor interpose in any manner to prevent their operation. Therefore, they say, it is useless to ask Him, in the name of Jesus, to interpose in behalf of mankind; men must endure the consequences of their own acts, and there is no way of avoiding the operation of these laws. There is, no doubt, an element of truth in these theories; still, they mislead and have a wrong effect upon the mind. For God does ask us to have faith in Him, to believe in Him, and to appeal to Him; and He gives us the promise that if we do so in faith He will interpose in our behalf, and He will bless us in ways that are unknown to men and by means which are invisible to mortal sight. He gives us this encouragement in the Gospel, and He calls upon us to exercise faith in Him and in His word; and we have proved His words to be true upon these points. But it is a difficult thing in the midst of this widespread unbelief, and these false doctrines and theories which come to us and to our children in the guise of science, to prevent the spirit of unbelief from influencing us. This also is one of the great obstacles in the way of the education of our children. The books which are in our schools, and from which our children are taught, contain theories that are unsound; they are based upon false premises, and that lead to wrong conclusions; and it requires the utmost care on the part of parents and teachers to prevent bad effects following education based upon such text books. Hence it is that when our young men go east to obtain education they are exposed to dangers that are more terrible, according to my view, than a contagious disease. I would rather my sons and daughters should run the risk of some infectious disease than be exposed to the influences that prevail in some of the schools of the land and in the text books that are used therein—that is, without some influence to counteract their effect and to show wherein they are fallacious and unsound.
We have all these things to contend with. The rising generation have to be watched over with a care that in former times was not necessary. There is danger in education of this kind. Yet there is an ardent desire on our part that our children should be educated, and upon their part to receive education, because it is the spirit of the age. Our young people are full of desire to obtain knowledge and to qualify themselves for the duties and labors that are likely to devolve upon them. But while giving them education there is danger of their losing their faith in the eternal truths of heaven. Although we have taken pains to organize our young men who go east to school, and to have them hold regular meetings, partake of the sacrament and bear testimony, yet the information comes to us that there is an inclination in the minds of some of our young men to adopt the false theories that are taught and to yield to the spirit of unbelief that is prevalent in these institutions of learning.
We have also another influence that is seeking to obtain power in the midst of the people of God. There was a time when revelation from God was universally denied. The religious world announced that the day of miracles had passed; that God had given all His revelation, and they were embodied in the Bible, and that it was in vail to look for further revelation from Him. This belief was universally taught. Even the Catholic Church, that considers itself the successor of the churches organized by the Apostles while claiming great power for its priesthood, did not believe in revelation from God. Of course, those who did not believe in God denied it as a natural consequence of their unbelief. But what a change has taken place! In the days when the Saints were driven from Jackson County, Missouri, one of the chief charges brought against the Latter-day Saints was that they believed in miracles, that they believed in a prophet, and that that prophet received revelations from God. But who is there now that does not believe that there are means of obtaining communication with the spirit world? That belief has become almost as universal as the former unbelief was. The spiritualists, as they are called, have risen up, as well as other organizations, entertaining this belief, until now no one scarcely will assert that communication with the spirit world is not attainable. The probability of it, at least, will be admitted. Right in this Territory we have pretenders arising, claiming that they have the authority of the Priesthood, or that they have the power to work miracles, and even going so far, in some instances, as to reproach the Latter-day Saints for a lack of power to work miracles, asserting that they possess it to a greater extent than we do. All these influences exist around us, tempting the unwary and having influence upon those who are weak in their faith concerning the divinity of the work of God and the authority of the Holy Priesthood.
Then, again, there are influences at work which deny the authority of the Holy Priesthood, asserting that it is contrary to man’s liberty; that it is in opposition to the principle of liberty to pay any special respect to the utterances of the bearers of the Priesthood of the Son of God. This is becoming somewhat common. There is a fear in the minds of many that some influence of an improper kind, and which they do not want, will operate upon the minds of the Latter-day Saints, because they believe that God has appointed a Priesthood in His Church, and that He has given authority to that Priesthood. The effort seems to be to destroy, if possible, the influence of the Priesthood, and to show how dangerous a power it would be if it were allowed to be exercised as it is supposed that the Latter-day Saints believe it should be exercised.
All these things are operating at the present time in our midst, as well as in the earth, the evident object being to destroy, if possible, the work of God and to deceive the people, so that they will not receive the doctrines of the Son of God. Of course, if men can be taught to believe that miracles can be wrought by some power that they can obtain without submitting to the ordinances of the Gospel, that weakens the influence of the gospel. If you say to mankind, “You must believe in Jesus Christ, you must repent of your sins, you must put away evil far from you, you must deny yourselves, and bring your appetites and passions into subjection to the Gospel of Christ, in order to receive the Holy Ghost and the power which accompanies it; and if at the same time they are taught, through some other agency, that it is not necessary to repent of sin, to forego the gratification of lust and to put away evil, can you not see how it weakens the influence of the Gospel, and how cunning a plan it is to destroy the children of men? So in relation to these other things of which I have spoken. When men and women found that they could receive communication from the spirit world through some other agency than the Gospel, of course they seized hold of that. They did not want revelation and communication from God when it had to be obtained by self-denial and by a strict compliance with the laws of God. But when the bars were thrown down and they were told that, no matter what they were—drunkards, whoremongers, or sinful in every respect—they could obtain spiritual communication, then the whole world, speaking generally, ran after this false doctrine and these pernicious practices, because they could obtain these without any regard to purity of conduct or of life. Satan has taken these methods to destroy the children of men. Men say, “Oh, there is no devil.” They deny the existence of that being. But you Latter-day Saints who have received the Gospel, do you not know, by your personal experience, that there is a being of this kind, though your eyes may never have beheld him? Certainly you do. You know it by these evidences that I have mentioned; but you know it better perhaps by personal experience. When you joined the Church in your native lands, you know the storm of opposition that raged against you. You saw the effect of Satan’s influence; and you have seen it ever since. We have constant evidence of the existence of this power in the falsehoods and misrepresentations that have been indulged in and the murderous spirit that has been manifested against the people of God. If the world were to open their eyes, they would behold before them the evidences of these two great powers—the power of God and the power of Satan. Satan has inspired men with murderous hate and with the spirit of falsehood. He has done this from the beginning. Jesus, in speaking of Satan, said he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. And those who follow him receive the same spirit. We have seen it manifested. It has cost the best blood of this nineteenth century. It is this spirit that has stirred up hatred and animosity against us, through which all manner of persecutions have been visited upon the Latter-day Saints. It has cost human suffering to an indescribable extent in our generation. It has cost human life beyond computation. Men, women and children have died through the sufferings that have been entailed upon them through this inhuman spirit which Satan has disseminated among the children of men. It would require the pen and the tongue of an angel to describe the sufferings that have been entailed upon the people of God through this power of Satan. God alone knows the anguished hearts, the pain and the sorrow which it has caused. Virtue has been trampled under foot. Truth has been maligned and vilified, until it has been made to appear of the blackest character. All this has been done through the influence of which I speak. Satan has reigned in the earth; he has built up a great power in the earth; he has built up a great power in the earth; and he is determined that he will maintain his dominion in this earth. He and those associated with him are bent on destroying the work of God and wresting from the hands of Jehovah the authority that belongs to Him. This is his determined purpose, and he has sought to accomplish it from the time when man was placed upon the earth until the present. Under his influence, blood has flown in torrents. He is the father of contention and of strife, and he seeks to destroy the children of men. He is determined to destroy the work of our Father, and to bring us into subjection to him. The great contest that is going on in these last days is a contest for the control and supremacy of this earth, Satan being determined that he will maintain his control, and the Lord having spoken and said that the day is at hand when the earth shall be redeemed from the power and dominion of Satan, and wickedness shall be swept from its face. We are engaged, my brethren and sisters, in this great contest. We have been told repeatedly that God has reserved int he heavens choice spirits to come forth in this last dispensation, because of the greatness and the magnitude of the work to be accomplished. Of course, among the spirits of men, as we have proved in our mortal existence, there are differences of degree. It has required apparently the most valiant men and women to come forth in the last days for reasons which ought to be plain to those who reflect. This is not a short-lived dispensation; it is to go on increasing in power and volume until it shall fill the whole earth, and the earth be redeemed and sanctified. And, of course, it requires great valor, great obedience, and great gifts in order to accomplish the end that is to be attained under the promises of God. The Lord has permitted spirits to be born among the various races of mankind that are fitted and qualified to accomplish this great work. He has called His servants as fishers and as hunters to go forth to the various nations of the earth, and hunt and gather out there from those spirits who shall be drawn to the Gospel. The Gospel has been like a magnet among the nations. It has drawn to it the pure, the meek, the lowly. Thousands can testify that when they heard the servants of God proclaim the message which they bore, that God had again spoken from the heavens, that the everlasting Gospel was restored and that the authority to administer its ordinances had been given unto men, they embraced the message with all their hearts. The only fear that they entertained was that it was almost too good to be true. The Elders who have gone forth know how this has been. They have found these men and women just as fishers and hunters find the object of their toil and search. They have drawn these people together, and the power of God has been poured out as never before. No human being has ever witnessed, nor mortal pen has ever written, anything like this work. Never has there been such a work as this in which we are engaged. Never has the power of God been poured out so universally upon the people of every land and clime as it has been in our day. Under its influence the people have been impelled to gather into one place, there to worship God, to keep His commandments, to build up His kingdom and to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
My brethren and sisters, are you not impressed with the greatness of the undertaking that God has assigned unto us? Are you not impressed with the necessity of faithfulness to this work? Are you not impressed with the importance of upholding the authorit which God has restored to the earth? True, He has chosen the weak things of the world; but it is no evidence of the inferiority of their standing before God. The lowliness of their birth, the lowliness of their surroundings and of their connections is no proof that they are inferior in the sight of God. The Son of God was born in a stable, cradled in a manger. Who among the sons of men had such lowly surroundings as this glorious Being? One of the Godhead, the Son of the Eternal Father, the Redeemer of the world! Think of it, born in a stable, cradled in a manger! And who were His associates? They were fishermen—of the most despised occupation in the land, and yet, who were they? Jesus said of them,
“Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
That was to be the dignity that they should attain unto. They should sit as judges of the house of Israel. And Paul told the Saints in his day,
“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”
It is a blessing to us that our fathers were in such lowly circumstances as the Gospel found them; for very few of those who are in what are called the upper classes of society have received the Gospel of the Son of God. It has seemed as though these spirits were purposely sent into lowly homes, into obscure families, and into places where, when the Gospel was sounded in their ears, there was not so much to sacrifice in order to receive it.
This is the work we are engaged in, my brethren and sisters, and we should be engaged in it with all our hearts. We should contend against the evil influences that are around us. We should keep our hearts open to the influences of the Spirit of God. We call upon the people with unwearying effort and with unceasing voice to live so near to God that they shall know for themselves. You remember the instance of the two young men in the camp of Israel upon whom the spirit of prophecy fell. Their brethren of the seventy had gone out of the camp unto the tabernacle but they remained, and the spirit of prophecy fell upon them and they prophesied in the camp. Joshua, the servant of Moses was jealous because of their having received this spirit, and he told Moses about it. The reply of Moses was that of a man of God, who understood the things of the Kingdom of God. There was no narrowness, no jealousy in the heart of that noble man. He said unto Joshua,
Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!
He was glad to hear that the spirit of prophecy had rested upon these two men. He would have been glad if it had rested upon every man in Israel. So it is today. Would God that all the Elders of Israel, and all the Latter-day Saints, were filled with every gift and grace that God ever bestows on human kind! Would to God that this entire people would live so as to commune constantly with Him! Would the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles be jealous? Not in the least. Oh! how easy it would be to govern this people, to direct these apostles, these bishops, and these elders if they were filled with the Spirit of God and the power of the everlasting priesthood. Who could be jealous under such circumstances? It would be hailed as the most glorious day that had ever dawned upon the human family if every man and woman in this church were to live so near to God that they would have the visions of eternity before them and comprehend the things of God as they really are. Do I speak now of something that cannot be reached? No, it is within the reach of every human being that will keep the commandments of God. You can walk in the light, brethren; you can walk in the light, sisters. You can have the light and power of God constantly with you, to lead and guide you in all the things of the kingdom. And that is what we are laboring for; that is why we preach to you; that is why we visit you when we can, and talk to you as we do. Our purpose is to stir you up, as sons and daughters of God, to have the power of God, and to be in close communion with your Heavenly Father. He is not our Father alone. He is your Father, and He sends us as His messengers to you. He tells us what to say to you. He fills us with his Holy Spirit, till it seems, at times, as though it would burn us up. No human tongue can express the great desire that fills our hearts toward you. We want you to be saved. We want you to be exalted. We want you to fill your missions and to build up the Kingdom of God, never to be thrown down. That is our desire. It is with us by night and by day. We yearn over this people as a mother does over her children, and we testify to you concerning these things because we ourselves have proved them. God himself had told us concerning these matters, and we do not speak that which we do not know. And the Lord is going to hold us as a people accountable for the light and knowledge He has given and the opportunities he has offered us. I say to you, therefore, we must be obedient to the voice of God; we must listen to His counsels; we must seek to know His mind and will. Can I describe the glory that awaits us if we are faithful? I cannot. No human tongue can describe it. The only way to know it is by having the spirit and power of God, and revelations and visions given to us. But I know that He intends to exalt you, to give you glory, to crown you, and to have you sit upon the thrones. This is no imaginary thing. You will not wield a barren sceptre. You will not wear a crown that will not be emblematical of power. God intends to bestow power upon you. But He will have you faithful, He will have you humble and obedient, and He will have you united. We are now passing through things to test us.
Allusions was made yesterday by Elder Moses Thatcher to the spirit of acrimony that he said existed among the people; such a spirit is wrong. We must cultivate a spirit that will make us united, though we may differ in our views concerning the methods of government. The Latter-day Saints have got to be tried in this. The Lord has permitted it for a wise purpose, and He wants us to be a wise people and not forget the principles of the Gospel. For I tell you, my brethren and sisters, that we have not for years been saying to you in vain that the time is coming when the people of God will exercise great influence in this land. If we will be wise, temperate in the exercise of power, and conform to the principles that He has taught us, we shall be a shining light in the midst of this nation. The eyes of the nation will be directed toward us. They will see that God is with us—or some power that they have not got. They will see that there is a superiority about our organization that they do not have.
Already the course that the Lord has pointed out for His servants to take has been vindicated and is being vindicated more and more, and the day is not far distant when these things will be recognized by the nations, our own nation especially. Therefore we should prove ourselves worthy, and show that we are indeed a people such as they have heard we are. We are noted for a few good qualities, and we should maintain these qualities. One of them is our honesty. We should be an honest people. We should be honest in our dealings one with another, and no man, if he act honestly in all things will ever fail to receive the Spirit of God to help him, while no dishonest man can ever hope to have the Spirit of God with him to any extent. We must not take advantage of one another. We must carry out the principles of the Gospel in our personal dealings. Another characteristic that we are noted for is our frugality. We are said to be a frugal and an economical people. This is true in part, but we should cultivate this. We are said to be a united people. This is true to a certain extent. It is thought—I wish it were so, in some respects—that if the First Presidency were to tell you to do a certain thing you would do it without question. That is not correct. There are no more independent people on this land than the Latter-day Saints. They have proved it by embracing the Gospel in the midst of the adverse circumstances which surrounded them, but if the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles and other officers of the Church have influence it is because they teach the people correct principles, and the people recognize them and carry them out. It is only in this and their influence consists. But we should be more united than we are. These characteristics, for which we are noted, should increase among us.
Now in relation to virtue. While I think we compare very favorably with many communities, I fear that there is too great a laxity in some quarters in this direction. I know however, that God will cleanse that element from our midst. One of the inevitable consequences of the practice of unchastity is the departure of the Spirit of God from those who indulge in it. They become weak in the faith, and are severed from the Church of Christ. This has been the case from the beginning; it will continue to be the case, for this work has within itself the power of purification. The principles of the Gospel have the effect of self-purification. The Church is kept cleansed by the power that is within it. Those who do wrong and continue therein lose the Spirit of God and go into darkness. There is one thing that I am told is practiced to some extent among us, and I say to you that where it is practiced and not thoroughly repented of the curse of God will follow it. I refer to the practice of preventing the birth of children. I want to lift my voice in solemn warning against this, and I say to you that the woman who practices such devilish arts, or the man who consents to them, will be cursed of God. Such persons will be cursed in their bodies, cursed in their minds, cursed in their property, cursed in their offspring. God will wipe them out from the midst of this people and nation. Remember it. Mothers, teach this to your daughters, for I tell you it is true. I need not pronounce any curse, whatever my authority may be, but I say to you that women who take this course, and men who consent to it, will be cursed of God Almighty, and it will rest upon them until their generation shall be blotted out, and their name shall be lost from the midst of the Saints of God, unless, as I have said, there is deep, thorough and heartfelt repentance. God will also cleanse the adulterer from our midst. The man that is an adulterer and the woman that is an adulteress God will curse. The Lord’s vengeance will be kindled against such, and it will follow them unless they repent with full purpose of heart. I warn you, therefore, on this day of our Lord, in this solemn assembly, against these practices. A man cannot look upon a woman to lust after her without using the Spirit of God, unless he repent with all his heart. God will have a pure people. He will have a people in whom His Holy Spirit can take up its abode; their tabernacles must be pure; their thoughts must be pure; their words must be pure; all their actions must be holy or God will reject them. Hear it, ye Latter-day Saints! for I tell you it is true. Girls, shun vice and the society of the vicious. Do not hope that you can convert a wicked man. God with those who are disposed to be pure and virtuous men. Choose them for your companions, and shun the society of the evil-doer. Both sexes should do this. Do not go with those who drink, or with those who gamble, or with those who swear. God with those who want to serve God. These are things that our young people should observe.
There is another point that occurs to me that I will speak about, and that is a disposition on the part of many of the Latter-day Saints to scatter. They hear of some good valley afar off where they think they can do better than where they are living, and the draw off, some going in one direction and some in another. Now I want to bear testimony to you, in this conference, that this is not the spirit of this dispensation. The spirit of the dispensation is to gather together. Do not be afraid to get too close. Do not encourage the desire to go to places remote from the body of the Church; but fill up the land that God has given unto us. This valley of Salt Lake can sustain thousands of people more. There is plenty of land if proper steps were taken. Families need not scatter and break away from home influences and from the social associations that we have. The policy that characterized the building up of the first settlements in this country of the first settlements in the country is the true policy—not to scatter out on farms, but to keep in communities where every member can have all the advantages of society, of education, and of amusements, and where the children can be kept under these influences. As I travel through the land and see houses scattered miles apart, I wonder how human beings can live in that condition and develop. It is not the way that God designs His children should live. It is not necessary for Latter-day Saints to live in that manner, only when a settlement is being formed. But we should be able to organize wards, and to have meetings, schools, and places of amusement for our young people. Not that I am opposed to the Saints going, under certain circumstances, to distant places; but let it be done under the direction of the servants of God, and let the new settlements be formed under the proper influence. I feel to caution the Saints about this. Cling together. Live as close together as you can, and maintain that intercourse that has been so delightful in the past.
Another thing in connection with this. We have frequent appeals to us about benevolent societies. I need not mention any names. We are not opposed to any society that is formed for a good purpose. We want them to do all the good they can. We desire them to proper in their labors for charitable and benevolent purposes. But I want to say to all the Latter-day Saints that God has founded Zion, and the poor of His people, the Prophet says, shall put their trust in it. Now, this Zion of ours is a grand charitable and benevolent institution. No institution or organization on the face of the earth possesses any good thing that we do not have already. As Latter-day Saints we need not join temperance associations, nor benevolent associations. I say to you that these are not object that we should seek after. We should cling to Zion and put our trust in God. If you will read the revelations of God, you will find a plan marked out plainly for the care of the poor that is broader than can be found anywhere on the earth, and it has come from God. But you say, “That has not come.” Nor it never will come if the Latter-day Saints divide their strength and go elsewhere. Let us concentrate our strength in Zion. Let us unite our faith to bring this glorious plan into operation as soon as we can. For Zion is the place, and this is the redemption of the poor among the children of men. It is a perfect plan, for it is revealed by the God of perfection. I would like my words concerning this a reach all the people of God, and I say to them, God has founded Zion, and it is for us to put our trust in it. There is nothing better. We have done more for the poor than any organization on the face the earth, and we expect to do more. We are organized for the purpose of saving the poor, to be kind to them, to feed and clothe them, and to teach them how to earn their own living. We do not want to become paupers, nor to be dependent upon other people. We do not want their funds to bury our dead. We want to bury our own dead, and to take care of the widow and the orphan, after the husband and father has gone. And here in Zion exists the power to do this, and the willingness to do it, to some extent, which willingness, I trust, will continue to grow until there shall be no suffering in our land. This is what we desire. We receive letters from one and another, saying they have joined such and such an organization, and asking whether they cannot do this. We say, “Yes, do as you please, you are your own agents.” But we are already organized; it is no new thing for us to help the poor and the afflicted; it has been the work of our lives, and we expect to continue to do it until the perfect system is organized on the earth. And the organization of this system only depends upon the faith of the people. But if one draws off, and another draws off, when do you think the Zion of God will be built up? God will have to remove the people who do this, and choose someone else to do the work. Pray for the welfare of Zion. Pray for the prosperity of Zion. Use your exertions to make Zion powerful in the earth. For it is Zion that will save the world. Like Noah’s ark to the antediluvians, Zion is the place of safety today.
My brethren and sisters, I pray God to bless you and to fill you with His Holy Spirit. I pray that the spirit of this conference and the instructions of it shall rest upon us all, and it shall be infused into the minds of our wives and children and belonging to us. I pray for this with all the faith and energy that I have; for I do desire to see Zion prosper. I do desire to see this people progress. As I have often said, I do not think I could be perfectly happy unless this people were saved. For I love this people and I love this work. You love it too. I only give expression to your thoughts when I speak in this way. I do not suppose that there is a man in this Church today, in my hearing, that would not gladly, if it were necessary, and with God to aid him, lay down his life rather than do anything to injure the work of God. I know the women feel that way also. They love God; they love the Lord Jesus; they love the institutions that He has established; they are thankful that they are Latter-day Saints; they are full of praise to God for having given to them these precious things. But there are times when our minds become obscure and we get away from the influence of the Spirit of God. Then we forget ourselves and give way to influences that are not of God. Let us therefore be on our guard, and not allow the adversary to get advantage over us. For we will conquer him. We will establish Zion, with the help of God. We will establish righteousness in the earth. The day will come when there will be none to molest or make afraid, and Satan will not have power over the hearts of the children of men. Until that day comes, let us labor with all the powers that God has given to us to accomplish this glorious end. I pray that we may all do so until we shall meet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ int he realms of bliss. Amen.
Delievered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Sunday, October 7th, 1894, by
President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
In standing up this morning to address you, my brethren and sisters, I humbly crave an interest in your faith and prayers; for if I say anything that will be instructive, it will have to be through the aid of the Spirit of God. It is seldom that I have felt as weak as I now do in standing in the presence of this vast assembly.
The conference thus far has been one of great interest to me. I have enjoyed the remarks of the brethren very much, and I feel that the Spirit of the Lord has been with His servants in addressing us, and much valuable instruction has been given that if remembered and acted upon will cause us to be a better people. I think there is no people that ever lived—at least, I do not find an account of any—that has had such a wealth of instruction and counsel as the Latter-day Saints have had since the organization of the Church in these days. It is true that there have been dispensations in which the people have been further advanced than we are, because the Lord and His servants had worked among them for a greater period of time than they have among us, as, for instance, in the days of Enoch; but for the length of time that the Church has been established there has been an outpouring of instruction and counsel that, I think, is without parallel in the history of mankind. If we are not a great people, through goodness and fidelity to the principles of the Gospel, it is because we have neglected the opportunities that the Lord has given unto us, and the counsels and revelations that have been so freely imparted to us. I do trust that the words that have been spoken at this conference have not been spoken in vain; that they have not fallen on barren soil; that they have not reach unwilling hearts; but that the spirit which has prompted them will rest upon us and inspire us to carry them out in our lives.
I am deeply impressed myself with the importance of the Latter-day Saints living so close to the Lord that they will feel for themselves the importance of the principles which are taught to them. We live in a peculiar time. There are a great many agencies at work among the children of men; a great many false and delusive spirits; and a great deal of unbelief concerning God and His power and interposition in the affairs of the children of men. There may have been times in the history of mankind when an equal amount of skepticism upon these points prevailed; but I doubt very much whether there ever was a generation that was so completely hardened in their hearts in regard to God and His providences as this generation in which we live. You can scarcely find a people now who have any faith that God interposes in the affairs of the children of men. Those who call themselves the most enlightened proclaim that the universe is governed by fixed and immutable laws; that effect follows cause, and that God does not suspend these laws, nor interpose in any manner to prevent their operation. Therefore, they say, it is useless to ask Him, in the name of Jesus, to interpose in behalf of mankind; men must endure the consequences of their own acts, and there is no way of avoiding the operation of these laws. There is, no doubt, an element of truth in these theories; still, they mislead and have a wrong effect upon the mind. For God does ask us to have faith in Him, to believe in Him, and to appeal to Him; and He gives us the promise that if we do so in faith He will interpose in our behalf, and He will bless us in ways that are unknown to men and by means which are invisible to mortal sight. He gives us this encouragement in the Gospel, and He calls upon us to exercise faith in Him and in His word; and we have proved His words to be true upon these points. But it is a difficult thing in the midst of this widespread unbelief, and these false doctrines and theories which come to us and to our children in the guise of science, to prevent the spirit of unbelief from influencing us. This also is one of the great obstacles in the way of the education of our children. The books which are in our schools, and from which our children are taught, contain theories that are unsound; they are based upon false premises, and that lead to wrong conclusions; and it requires the utmost care on the part of parents and teachers to prevent bad effects following education based upon such text books. Hence it is that when our young men go east to obtain education they are exposed to dangers that are more terrible, according to my view, than a contagious disease. I would rather my sons and daughters should run the risk of some infectious disease than be exposed to the influences that prevail in some of the schools of the land and in the text books that are used therein—that is, without some influence to counteract their effect and to show wherein they are fallacious and unsound.
We have all these things to contend with. The rising generation have to be watched over with a care that in former times was not necessary. There is danger in education of this kind. Yet there is an ardent desire on our part that our children should be educated, and upon their part to receive education, because it is the spirit of the age. Our young people are full of desire to obtain knowledge and to qualify themselves for the duties and labors that are likely to devolve upon them. But while giving them education there is danger of their losing their faith in the eternal truths of heaven. Although we have taken pains to organize our young men who go east to school, and to have them hold regular meetings, partake of the sacrament and bear testimony, yet the information comes to us that there is an inclination in the minds of some of our young men to adopt the false theories that are taught and to yield to the spirit of unbelief that is prevalent in these institutions of learning.
We have also another influence that is seeking to obtain power in the midst of the people of God. There was a time when revelation from God was universally denied. The religious world announced that the day of miracles had passed; that God had given all His revelation, and they were embodied in the Bible, and that it was in vail to look for further revelation from Him. This belief was universally taught. Even the Catholic Church, that considers itself the successor of the churches organized by the Apostles while claiming great power for its priesthood, did not believe in revelation from God. Of course, those who did not believe in God denied it as a natural consequence of their unbelief. But what a change has taken place! In the days when the Saints were driven from Jackson County, Missouri, one of the chief charges brought against the Latter-day Saints was that they believed in miracles, that they believed in a prophet, and that that prophet received revelations from God. But who is there now that does not believe that there are means of obtaining communication with the spirit world? That belief has become almost as universal as the former unbelief was. The spiritualists, as they are called, have risen up, as well as other organizations, entertaining this belief, until now no one scarcely will assert that communication with the spirit world is not attainable. The probability of it, at least, will be admitted. Right in this Territory we have pretenders arising, claiming that they have the authority of the Priesthood, or that they have the power to work miracles, and even going so far, in some instances, as to reproach the Latter-day Saints for a lack of power to work miracles, asserting that they possess it to a greater extent than we do. All these influences exist around us, tempting the unwary and having influence upon those who are weak in their faith concerning the divinity of the work of God and the authority of the Holy Priesthood.
Then, again, there are influences at work which deny the authority of the Holy Priesthood, asserting that it is contrary to man’s liberty; that it is in opposition to the principle of liberty to pay any special respect to the utterances of the bearers of the Priesthood of the Son of God. This is becoming somewhat common. There is a fear in the minds of many that some influence of an improper kind, and which they do not want, will operate upon the minds of the Latter-day Saints, because they believe that God has appointed a Priesthood in His Church, and that He has given authority to that Priesthood. The effort seems to be to destroy, if possible, the influence of the Priesthood, and to show how dangerous a power it would be if it were allowed to be exercised as it is supposed that the Latter-day Saints believe it should be exercised.
All these things are operating at the present time in our midst, as well as in the earth, the evident object being to destroy, if possible, the work of God and to deceive the people, so that they will not receive the doctrines of the Son of God. Of course, if men can be taught to believe that miracles can be wrought by some power that they can obtain without submitting to the ordinances of the Gospel, that weakens the influence of the gospel. If you say to mankind, “You must believe in Jesus Christ, you must repent of your sins, you must put away evil far from you, you must deny yourselves, and bring your appetites and passions into subjection to the Gospel of Christ, in order to receive the Holy Ghost and the power which accompanies it; and if at the same time they are taught, through some other agency, that it is not necessary to repent of sin, to forego the gratification of lust and to put away evil, can you not see how it weakens the influence of the Gospel, and how cunning a plan it is to destroy the children of men? So in relation to these other things of which I have spoken. When men and women found that they could receive communication from the spirit world through some other agency than the Gospel, of course they seized hold of that. They did not want revelation and communication from God when it had to be obtained by self-denial and by a strict compliance with the laws of God. But when the bars were thrown down and they were told that, no matter what they were—drunkards, whoremongers, or sinful in every respect—they could obtain spiritual communication, then the whole world, speaking generally, ran after this false doctrine and these pernicious practices, because they could obtain these without any regard to purity of conduct or of life. Satan has taken these methods to destroy the children of men. Men say, “Oh, there is no devil.” They deny the existence of that being. But you Latter-day Saints who have received the Gospel, do you not know, by your personal experience, that there is a being of this kind, though your eyes may never have beheld him? Certainly you do. You know it by these evidences that I have mentioned; but you know it better perhaps by personal experience. When you joined the Church in your native lands, you know the storm of opposition that raged against you. You saw the effect of Satan’s influence; and you have seen it ever since. We have constant evidence of the existence of this power in the falsehoods and misrepresentations that have been indulged in and the murderous spirit that has been manifested against the people of God. If the world were to open their eyes, they would behold before them the evidences of these two great powers—the power of God and the power of Satan. Satan has inspired men with murderous hate and with the spirit of falsehood. He has done this from the beginning. Jesus, in speaking of Satan, said he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. And those who follow him receive the same spirit. We have seen it manifested. It has cost the best blood of this nineteenth century. It is this spirit that has stirred up hatred and animosity against us, through which all manner of persecutions have been visited upon the Latter-day Saints. It has cost human suffering to an indescribable extent in our generation. It has cost human life beyond computation. Men, women and children have died through the sufferings that have been entailed upon them through this inhuman spirit which Satan has disseminated among the children of men. It would require the pen and the tongue of an angel to describe the sufferings that have been entailed upon the people of God through this power of Satan. God alone knows the anguished hearts, the pain and the sorrow which it has caused. Virtue has been trampled under foot. Truth has been maligned and vilified, until it has been made to appear of the blackest character. All this has been done through the influence of which I speak. Satan has reigned in the earth; he has built up a great power in the earth; he has built up a great power in the earth; and he is determined that he will maintain his dominion in this earth. He and those associated with him are bent on destroying the work of God and wresting from the hands of Jehovah the authority that belongs to Him. This is his determined purpose, and he has sought to accomplish it from the time when man was placed upon the earth until the present. Under his influence, blood has flown in torrents. He is the father of contention and of strife, and he seeks to destroy the children of men. He is determined to destroy the work of our Father, and to bring us into subjection to him. The great contest that is going on in these last days is a contest for the control and supremacy of this earth, Satan being determined that he will maintain his control, and the Lord having spoken and said that the day is at hand when the earth shall be redeemed from the power and dominion of Satan, and wickedness shall be swept from its face. We are engaged, my brethren and sisters, in this great contest. We have been told repeatedly that God has reserved int he heavens choice spirits to come forth in this last dispensation, because of the greatness and the magnitude of the work to be accomplished. Of course, among the spirits of men, as we have proved in our mortal existence, there are differences of degree. It has required apparently the most valiant men and women to come forth in the last days for reasons which ought to be plain to those who reflect. This is not a short-lived dispensation; it is to go on increasing in power and volume until it shall fill the whole earth, and the earth be redeemed and sanctified. And, of course, it requires great valor, great obedience, and great gifts in order to accomplish the end that is to be attained under the promises of God. The Lord has permitted spirits to be born among the various races of mankind that are fitted and qualified to accomplish this great work. He has called His servants as fishers and as hunters to go forth to the various nations of the earth, and hunt and gather out there from those spirits who shall be drawn to the Gospel. The Gospel has been like a magnet among the nations. It has drawn to it the pure, the meek, the lowly. Thousands can testify that when they heard the servants of God proclaim the message which they bore, that God had again spoken from the heavens, that the everlasting Gospel was restored and that the authority to administer its ordinances had been given unto men, they embraced the message with all their hearts. The only fear that they entertained was that it was almost too good to be true. The Elders who have gone forth know how this has been. They have found these men and women just as fishers and hunters find the object of their toil and search. They have drawn these people together, and the power of God has been poured out as never before. No human being has ever witnessed, nor mortal pen has ever written, anything like this work. Never has there been such a work as this in which we are engaged. Never has the power of God been poured out so universally upon the people of every land and clime as it has been in our day. Under its influence the people have been impelled to gather into one place, there to worship God, to keep His commandments, to build up His kingdom and to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
My brethren and sisters, are you not impressed with the greatness of the undertaking that God has assigned unto us? Are you not impressed with the necessity of faithfulness to this work? Are you not impressed with the importance of upholding the authorit which God has restored to the earth? True, He has chosen the weak things of the world; but it is no evidence of the inferiority of their standing before God. The lowliness of their birth, the lowliness of their surroundings and of their connections is no proof that they are inferior in the sight of God. The Son of God was born in a stable, cradled in a manger. Who among the sons of men had such lowly surroundings as this glorious Being? One of the Godhead, the Son of the Eternal Father, the Redeemer of the world! Think of it, born in a stable, cradled in a manger! And who were His associates? They were fishermen—of the most despised occupation in the land, and yet, who were they? Jesus said of them,
“Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
That was to be the dignity that they should attain unto. They should sit as judges of the house of Israel. And Paul told the Saints in his day,
“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”
It is a blessing to us that our fathers were in such lowly circumstances as the Gospel found them; for very few of those who are in what are called the upper classes of society have received the Gospel of the Son of God. It has seemed as though these spirits were purposely sent into lowly homes, into obscure families, and into places where, when the Gospel was sounded in their ears, there was not so much to sacrifice in order to receive it.
This is the work we are engaged in, my brethren and sisters, and we should be engaged in it with all our hearts. We should contend against the evil influences that are around us. We should keep our hearts open to the influences of the Spirit of God. We call upon the people with unwearying effort and with unceasing voice to live so near to God that they shall know for themselves. You remember the instance of the two young men in the camp of Israel upon whom the spirit of prophecy fell. Their brethren of the seventy had gone out of the camp unto the tabernacle but they remained, and the spirit of prophecy fell upon them and they prophesied in the camp. Joshua, the servant of Moses was jealous because of their having received this spirit, and he told Moses about it. The reply of Moses was that of a man of God, who understood the things of the Kingdom of God. There was no narrowness, no jealousy in the heart of that noble man. He said unto Joshua,
Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!
He was glad to hear that the spirit of prophecy had rested upon these two men. He would have been glad if it had rested upon every man in Israel. So it is today. Would God that all the Elders of Israel, and all the Latter-day Saints, were filled with every gift and grace that God ever bestows on human kind! Would to God that this entire people would live so as to commune constantly with Him! Would the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles be jealous? Not in the least. Oh! how easy it would be to govern this people, to direct these apostles, these bishops, and these elders if they were filled with the Spirit of God and the power of the everlasting priesthood. Who could be jealous under such circumstances? It would be hailed as the most glorious day that had ever dawned upon the human family if every man and woman in this church were to live so near to God that they would have the visions of eternity before them and comprehend the things of God as they really are. Do I speak now of something that cannot be reached? No, it is within the reach of every human being that will keep the commandments of God. You can walk in the light, brethren; you can walk in the light, sisters. You can have the light and power of God constantly with you, to lead and guide you in all the things of the kingdom. And that is what we are laboring for; that is why we preach to you; that is why we visit you when we can, and talk to you as we do. Our purpose is to stir you up, as sons and daughters of God, to have the power of God, and to be in close communion with your Heavenly Father. He is not our Father alone. He is your Father, and He sends us as His messengers to you. He tells us what to say to you. He fills us with his Holy Spirit, till it seems, at times, as though it would burn us up. No human tongue can express the great desire that fills our hearts toward you. We want you to be saved. We want you to be exalted. We want you to fill your missions and to build up the Kingdom of God, never to be thrown down. That is our desire. It is with us by night and by day. We yearn over this people as a mother does over her children, and we testify to you concerning these things because we ourselves have proved them. God himself had told us concerning these matters, and we do not speak that which we do not know. And the Lord is going to hold us as a people accountable for the light and knowledge He has given and the opportunities he has offered us. I say to you, therefore, we must be obedient to the voice of God; we must listen to His counsels; we must seek to know His mind and will. Can I describe the glory that awaits us if we are faithful? I cannot. No human tongue can describe it. The only way to know it is by having the spirit and power of God, and revelations and visions given to us. But I know that He intends to exalt you, to give you glory, to crown you, and to have you sit upon the thrones. This is no imaginary thing. You will not wield a barren sceptre. You will not wear a crown that will not be emblematical of power. God intends to bestow power upon you. But He will have you faithful, He will have you humble and obedient, and He will have you united. We are now passing through things to test us.
Allusions was made yesterday by Elder Moses Thatcher to the spirit of acrimony that he said existed among the people; such a spirit is wrong. We must cultivate a spirit that will make us united, though we may differ in our views concerning the methods of government. The Latter-day Saints have got to be tried in this. The Lord has permitted it for a wise purpose, and He wants us to be a wise people and not forget the principles of the Gospel. For I tell you, my brethren and sisters, that we have not for years been saying to you in vain that the time is coming when the people of God will exercise great influence in this land. If we will be wise, temperate in the exercise of power, and conform to the principles that He has taught us, we shall be a shining light in the midst of this nation. The eyes of the nation will be directed toward us. They will see that God is with us—or some power that they have not got. They will see that there is a superiority about our organization that they do not have.
Already the course that the Lord has pointed out for His servants to take has been vindicated and is being vindicated more and more, and the day is not far distant when these things will be recognized by the nations, our own nation especially. Therefore we should prove ourselves worthy, and show that we are indeed a people such as they have heard we are. We are noted for a few good qualities, and we should maintain these qualities. One of them is our honesty. We should be an honest people. We should be honest in our dealings one with another, and no man, if he act honestly in all things will ever fail to receive the Spirit of God to help him, while no dishonest man can ever hope to have the Spirit of God with him to any extent. We must not take advantage of one another. We must carry out the principles of the Gospel in our personal dealings. Another characteristic that we are noted for is our frugality. We are said to be a frugal and an economical people. This is true in part, but we should cultivate this. We are said to be a united people. This is true to a certain extent. It is thought—I wish it were so, in some respects—that if the First Presidency were to tell you to do a certain thing you would do it without question. That is not correct. There are no more independent people on this land than the Latter-day Saints. They have proved it by embracing the Gospel in the midst of the adverse circumstances which surrounded them, but if the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles and other officers of the Church have influence it is because they teach the people correct principles, and the people recognize them and carry them out. It is only in this and their influence consists. But we should be more united than we are. These characteristics, for which we are noted, should increase among us.
Now in relation to virtue. While I think we compare very favorably with many communities, I fear that there is too great a laxity in some quarters in this direction. I know however, that God will cleanse that element from our midst. One of the inevitable consequences of the practice of unchastity is the departure of the Spirit of God from those who indulge in it. They become weak in the faith, and are severed from the Church of Christ. This has been the case from the beginning; it will continue to be the case, for this work has within itself the power of purification. The principles of the Gospel have the effect of self-purification. The Church is kept cleansed by the power that is within it. Those who do wrong and continue therein lose the Spirit of God and go into darkness. There is one thing that I am told is practiced to some extent among us, and I say to you that where it is practiced and not thoroughly repented of the curse of God will follow it. I refer to the practice of preventing the birth of children. I want to lift my voice in solemn warning against this, and I say to you that the woman who practices such devilish arts, or the man who consents to them, will be cursed of God. Such persons will be cursed in their bodies, cursed in their minds, cursed in their property, cursed in their offspring. God will wipe them out from the midst of this people and nation. Remember it. Mothers, teach this to your daughters, for I tell you it is true. I need not pronounce any curse, whatever my authority may be, but I say to you that women who take this course, and men who consent to it, will be cursed of God Almighty, and it will rest upon them until their generation shall be blotted out, and their name shall be lost from the midst of the Saints of God, unless, as I have said, there is deep, thorough and heartfelt repentance. God will also cleanse the adulterer from our midst. The man that is an adulterer and the woman that is an adulteress God will curse. The Lord’s vengeance will be kindled against such, and it will follow them unless they repent with full purpose of heart. I warn you, therefore, on this day of our Lord, in this solemn assembly, against these practices. A man cannot look upon a woman to lust after her without using the Spirit of God, unless he repent with all his heart. God will have a pure people. He will have a people in whom His Holy Spirit can take up its abode; their tabernacles must be pure; their thoughts must be pure; their words must be pure; all their actions must be holy or God will reject them. Hear it, ye Latter-day Saints! for I tell you it is true. Girls, shun vice and the society of the vicious. Do not hope that you can convert a wicked man. God with those who are disposed to be pure and virtuous men. Choose them for your companions, and shun the society of the evil-doer. Both sexes should do this. Do not go with those who drink, or with those who gamble, or with those who swear. God with those who want to serve God. These are things that our young people should observe.
There is another point that occurs to me that I will speak about, and that is a disposition on the part of many of the Latter-day Saints to scatter. They hear of some good valley afar off where they think they can do better than where they are living, and the draw off, some going in one direction and some in another. Now I want to bear testimony to you, in this conference, that this is not the spirit of this dispensation. The spirit of the dispensation is to gather together. Do not be afraid to get too close. Do not encourage the desire to go to places remote from the body of the Church; but fill up the land that God has given unto us. This valley of Salt Lake can sustain thousands of people more. There is plenty of land if proper steps were taken. Families need not scatter and break away from home influences and from the social associations that we have. The policy that characterized the building up of the first settlements in this country of the first settlements in the country is the true policy—not to scatter out on farms, but to keep in communities where every member can have all the advantages of society, of education, and of amusements, and where the children can be kept under these influences. As I travel through the land and see houses scattered miles apart, I wonder how human beings can live in that condition and develop. It is not the way that God designs His children should live. It is not necessary for Latter-day Saints to live in that manner, only when a settlement is being formed. But we should be able to organize wards, and to have meetings, schools, and places of amusement for our young people. Not that I am opposed to the Saints going, under certain circumstances, to distant places; but let it be done under the direction of the servants of God, and let the new settlements be formed under the proper influence. I feel to caution the Saints about this. Cling together. Live as close together as you can, and maintain that intercourse that has been so delightful in the past.
Another thing in connection with this. We have frequent appeals to us about benevolent societies. I need not mention any names. We are not opposed to any society that is formed for a good purpose. We want them to do all the good they can. We desire them to proper in their labors for charitable and benevolent purposes. But I want to say to all the Latter-day Saints that God has founded Zion, and the poor of His people, the Prophet says, shall put their trust in it. Now, this Zion of ours is a grand charitable and benevolent institution. No institution or organization on the face of the earth possesses any good thing that we do not have already. As Latter-day Saints we need not join temperance associations, nor benevolent associations. I say to you that these are not object that we should seek after. We should cling to Zion and put our trust in God. If you will read the revelations of God, you will find a plan marked out plainly for the care of the poor that is broader than can be found anywhere on the earth, and it has come from God. But you say, “That has not come.” Nor it never will come if the Latter-day Saints divide their strength and go elsewhere. Let us concentrate our strength in Zion. Let us unite our faith to bring this glorious plan into operation as soon as we can. For Zion is the place, and this is the redemption of the poor among the children of men. It is a perfect plan, for it is revealed by the God of perfection. I would like my words concerning this a reach all the people of God, and I say to them, God has founded Zion, and it is for us to put our trust in it. There is nothing better. We have done more for the poor than any organization on the face the earth, and we expect to do more. We are organized for the purpose of saving the poor, to be kind to them, to feed and clothe them, and to teach them how to earn their own living. We do not want to become paupers, nor to be dependent upon other people. We do not want their funds to bury our dead. We want to bury our own dead, and to take care of the widow and the orphan, after the husband and father has gone. And here in Zion exists the power to do this, and the willingness to do it, to some extent, which willingness, I trust, will continue to grow until there shall be no suffering in our land. This is what we desire. We receive letters from one and another, saying they have joined such and such an organization, and asking whether they cannot do this. We say, “Yes, do as you please, you are your own agents.” But we are already organized; it is no new thing for us to help the poor and the afflicted; it has been the work of our lives, and we expect to continue to do it until the perfect system is organized on the earth. And the organization of this system only depends upon the faith of the people. But if one draws off, and another draws off, when do you think the Zion of God will be built up? God will have to remove the people who do this, and choose someone else to do the work. Pray for the welfare of Zion. Pray for the prosperity of Zion. Use your exertions to make Zion powerful in the earth. For it is Zion that will save the world. Like Noah’s ark to the antediluvians, Zion is the place of safety today.
My brethren and sisters, I pray God to bless you and to fill you with His Holy Spirit. I pray that the spirit of this conference and the instructions of it shall rest upon us all, and it shall be infused into the minds of our wives and children and belonging to us. I pray for this with all the faith and energy that I have; for I do desire to see Zion prosper. I do desire to see this people progress. As I have often said, I do not think I could be perfectly happy unless this people were saved. For I love this people and I love this work. You love it too. I only give expression to your thoughts when I speak in this way. I do not suppose that there is a man in this Church today, in my hearing, that would not gladly, if it were necessary, and with God to aid him, lay down his life rather than do anything to injure the work of God. I know the women feel that way also. They love God; they love the Lord Jesus; they love the institutions that He has established; they are thankful that they are Latter-day Saints; they are full of praise to God for having given to them these precious things. But there are times when our minds become obscure and we get away from the influence of the Spirit of God. Then we forget ourselves and give way to influences that are not of God. Let us therefore be on our guard, and not allow the adversary to get advantage over us. For we will conquer him. We will establish Zion, with the help of God. We will establish righteousness in the earth. The day will come when there will be none to molest or make afraid, and Satan will not have power over the hearts of the children of men. Until that day comes, let us labor with all the powers that God has given to us to accomplish this glorious end. I pray that we may all do so until we shall meet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ int he realms of bliss. Amen.
President Wilford Woodruff
made brief concluding remarks, expressive of his joy at witnessing the spirit of the Apostleship manifested through the brethren who had spoken. He stated that the pointed instructions given upon the Word of Wisdom and other subject applied to himself and all other authorities of the Church as well as to the body of the people. He exhorted all to conform to those teachings in their lives, and concluded by directing attention to the fact that the judgments of God were being poured out upon the earth.
made brief concluding remarks, expressive of his joy at witnessing the spirit of the Apostleship manifested through the brethren who had spoken. He stated that the pointed instructions given upon the Word of Wisdom and other subject applied to himself and all other authorities of the Church as well as to the body of the people. He exhorted all to conform to those teachings in their lives, and concluded by directing attention to the fact that the judgments of God were being poured out upon the earth.
Remarks
Made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, October 7th, 1894, by
Prest. Wilford Woodruff.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I feel as though I want to say a few words to the Latter-day Saints, although I am in very poor condition physically to talk to the public. This has been one of the most interesting conferences I have ever attended; and if I am allowed to be proud of anything, I certainly have felt proud and have rejoiced at the spirit that has been manifested by the Apostles in their teachings. One of the subjects that they have dwelt upon I desire to speak of, and that is with regard to the Word of Wisdom. The brethren have dwelt very strongly upon this subject, and it is right that they should. The Word of Wisdom applies to Wilford Woodruff, the President of the Church, and it applies to all the leaders of Israel, as well as to the members of the Church; and if there are any of these leading men who cannot refrain from using tobacco or liquor in violation of the Word of Wisdom, let them resign, and let others take their places. As leaders of Israel, we have no business to indulge in these things. There may be things contrary to the Word of Wisdom that we indulge in, and that we think we cannot live without; if we cannot, let us die.
President George Q. Cannon has been laying before us the truth with regard to the position which we occupy here. This is the work of God, and we stand as an example to the world. Therefore, all of us, from head to foot, should make up our minds to keep the commandments of God. I do not value my standing, my salvation, my crown of glory and eternal life more than I value those things which are represented as being unwise for us to use, then I am not fit to occupy my position. And this applies to every man in Israel. We all ought to take a course whereby we might be justified before the Lord. We live in the last dispensation and fulness of times, and we are placed here to guide and direct the affairs of the Church of God on the earth. Hence we ought to be men that will stand in a position to receive the spirit of God to guide and direct us. If we do not standing this position, we are not fit to perform this work.
Brethren and sisters, give heed to the teachings that we have received during this conference. As a people, we are advancing, and not standing still. We send Elders abroad, and they report to us every little while what they are doing; but there is a class of Elders at work every week that do not report to us. You see their works, though you may not comprehend them. As the Savior said, “Ye may discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” The Latter-day Saints should observe the signs of the times. The Lord is fulfilling everything that He has said. There is nothing given in these records of divine truth but will have its fulfilment. Messengers have gone forth in the world to make the commencement and to carry out these great events that are spoken of in the revelations of God. I think it is time we should improve and advance. The Lord is going to cut His work short in righteousness, or no flesh will be saved. The Lord is at work for Zion, and He has made no mistake in calling the Latter-day Saints to these Rocky Mountains—the everlasting hills which old father Jacob gave to joseph in blessing him. We are here and laboring to promote the interest and welfare of the Church of God. I feel to rejoice at the manifestation of the Spirit of God during this conference. Many of us have been in this Church a good while and are advanced in years. I hope that what time we remain here we may spend to good advantage. Let us try to do our duty in all matters appertaining to the work of God. I am thankful for the blessings we enjoy today. Zion is growing. The earth is advancing. The judgments of God are approaching. The Lord says:
After your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground, and shall not be able to stand.
And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea, heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.
The revelations of god have got to be fulfilled. When? Some time before the coming of the Son of Man—and that is not far off. Therefore, let us try to live our religion, and set an example before one another and the world. I accept the reproof of any Apostle or Elder if there is any requirement of the Lord that I am not fulfilling. That is the way I feel, and I think we all should feel so. We are greatly blessed in having received the Gospel of Christ, in having received the Priesthood and the power to go forth and warn the nations, that they may be left without excuse in the day of God’s judgment. And the honest and meek of the earth have been gathered to the mountains of Israel, that they may stand here in holy places while the judgments of God overtake the world. Joseph Smith was raised up by the power of God, and the Priesthood and Apostleship has been with us from that day to this, and will continue until Christ comes to reign. Christ has passed through His trials and afflictions; He has redeemed the world; He has gone home, and He sits in glory with the righteous, and will come with them. All the prophets and apostles, those of our day as well as of other generations, will come with Him. Joseph Smith stood at the head of the greatest dispensation God ever gave to man.
These things are true. Let us try to do our duty, walk uprightly before the Lord, and appreciate the blessings we enjoy. Let our prayers ascend before the Lord to assist and guide us in everything, that when we get through with our work we may be satisfied. If the eyes of this people were open to comprehend the truths of eternity, they would see the importance of laboring while the day lasts. Our sons and daughters, if their eyes were open to comprehend what lies before them, would also labor with all their might to qualify themselves for it, and our sons would be prepared to go to the nations to warn them, that their garments shall be clean from the blood of all men. Elders are being sent to almost every part of the earth, and the cloud is beginning to lift from off Zion. The world is beginning to see us as we are. They open their eyes and marvel at what they see here. We are beginning to be understood better than we have been, and this will go on until a great many in the world will feel that Utah is a good place to live in. Our lakes and rivers will not overflow and drown us; but we will be protected from the earthquakes, from the cyclones, and from the judgments that are now overtaking the world. Very strange things have taken place during this year, and the judgments of God will continue.
I pray God that His blessings may rest upon us; that our eyes may be opened to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to understand our duty and what He requires at our hands, that we may be justified when we get through. We are all passing along. Many of our missions will close in a short time, and we will go as others have done. Then, if not before, we will comprehend the blessings we enjoy. When we get the other side of the veil we will appreciate this dispensation in which we live. I do not know whether we do here or not. I think many times we do not. I have a desire myself that as President of the Church, as Counselors, as Apostles, we may be united as the heart of one man; that our spirits may run together, and we may see alike, feel alike, and understand alike, and that we may be a bulwark at the head of Israel, that we may be justified before the Lord, so that when these judgments come upon the earth we may be prepared to meet them; which may God grant, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
The choir sang: O, my Father.
Benediction by Elder Rulon S. Wells.
Made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, October 7th, 1894, by
Prest. Wilford Woodruff.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
I feel as though I want to say a few words to the Latter-day Saints, although I am in very poor condition physically to talk to the public. This has been one of the most interesting conferences I have ever attended; and if I am allowed to be proud of anything, I certainly have felt proud and have rejoiced at the spirit that has been manifested by the Apostles in their teachings. One of the subjects that they have dwelt upon I desire to speak of, and that is with regard to the Word of Wisdom. The brethren have dwelt very strongly upon this subject, and it is right that they should. The Word of Wisdom applies to Wilford Woodruff, the President of the Church, and it applies to all the leaders of Israel, as well as to the members of the Church; and if there are any of these leading men who cannot refrain from using tobacco or liquor in violation of the Word of Wisdom, let them resign, and let others take their places. As leaders of Israel, we have no business to indulge in these things. There may be things contrary to the Word of Wisdom that we indulge in, and that we think we cannot live without; if we cannot, let us die.
President George Q. Cannon has been laying before us the truth with regard to the position which we occupy here. This is the work of God, and we stand as an example to the world. Therefore, all of us, from head to foot, should make up our minds to keep the commandments of God. I do not value my standing, my salvation, my crown of glory and eternal life more than I value those things which are represented as being unwise for us to use, then I am not fit to occupy my position. And this applies to every man in Israel. We all ought to take a course whereby we might be justified before the Lord. We live in the last dispensation and fulness of times, and we are placed here to guide and direct the affairs of the Church of God on the earth. Hence we ought to be men that will stand in a position to receive the spirit of God to guide and direct us. If we do not standing this position, we are not fit to perform this work.
Brethren and sisters, give heed to the teachings that we have received during this conference. As a people, we are advancing, and not standing still. We send Elders abroad, and they report to us every little while what they are doing; but there is a class of Elders at work every week that do not report to us. You see their works, though you may not comprehend them. As the Savior said, “Ye may discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” The Latter-day Saints should observe the signs of the times. The Lord is fulfilling everything that He has said. There is nothing given in these records of divine truth but will have its fulfilment. Messengers have gone forth in the world to make the commencement and to carry out these great events that are spoken of in the revelations of God. I think it is time we should improve and advance. The Lord is going to cut His work short in righteousness, or no flesh will be saved. The Lord is at work for Zion, and He has made no mistake in calling the Latter-day Saints to these Rocky Mountains—the everlasting hills which old father Jacob gave to joseph in blessing him. We are here and laboring to promote the interest and welfare of the Church of God. I feel to rejoice at the manifestation of the Spirit of God during this conference. Many of us have been in this Church a good while and are advanced in years. I hope that what time we remain here we may spend to good advantage. Let us try to do our duty in all matters appertaining to the work of God. I am thankful for the blessings we enjoy today. Zion is growing. The earth is advancing. The judgments of God are approaching. The Lord says:
After your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground, and shall not be able to stand.
And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea, heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.
The revelations of god have got to be fulfilled. When? Some time before the coming of the Son of Man—and that is not far off. Therefore, let us try to live our religion, and set an example before one another and the world. I accept the reproof of any Apostle or Elder if there is any requirement of the Lord that I am not fulfilling. That is the way I feel, and I think we all should feel so. We are greatly blessed in having received the Gospel of Christ, in having received the Priesthood and the power to go forth and warn the nations, that they may be left without excuse in the day of God’s judgment. And the honest and meek of the earth have been gathered to the mountains of Israel, that they may stand here in holy places while the judgments of God overtake the world. Joseph Smith was raised up by the power of God, and the Priesthood and Apostleship has been with us from that day to this, and will continue until Christ comes to reign. Christ has passed through His trials and afflictions; He has redeemed the world; He has gone home, and He sits in glory with the righteous, and will come with them. All the prophets and apostles, those of our day as well as of other generations, will come with Him. Joseph Smith stood at the head of the greatest dispensation God ever gave to man.
These things are true. Let us try to do our duty, walk uprightly before the Lord, and appreciate the blessings we enjoy. Let our prayers ascend before the Lord to assist and guide us in everything, that when we get through with our work we may be satisfied. If the eyes of this people were open to comprehend the truths of eternity, they would see the importance of laboring while the day lasts. Our sons and daughters, if their eyes were open to comprehend what lies before them, would also labor with all their might to qualify themselves for it, and our sons would be prepared to go to the nations to warn them, that their garments shall be clean from the blood of all men. Elders are being sent to almost every part of the earth, and the cloud is beginning to lift from off Zion. The world is beginning to see us as we are. They open their eyes and marvel at what they see here. We are beginning to be understood better than we have been, and this will go on until a great many in the world will feel that Utah is a good place to live in. Our lakes and rivers will not overflow and drown us; but we will be protected from the earthquakes, from the cyclones, and from the judgments that are now overtaking the world. Very strange things have taken place during this year, and the judgments of God will continue.
I pray God that His blessings may rest upon us; that our eyes may be opened to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to understand our duty and what He requires at our hands, that we may be justified when we get through. We are all passing along. Many of our missions will close in a short time, and we will go as others have done. Then, if not before, we will comprehend the blessings we enjoy. When we get the other side of the veil we will appreciate this dispensation in which we live. I do not know whether we do here or not. I think many times we do not. I have a desire myself that as President of the Church, as Counselors, as Apostles, we may be united as the heart of one man; that our spirits may run together, and we may see alike, feel alike, and understand alike, and that we may be a bulwark at the head of Israel, that we may be justified before the Lord, so that when these judgments come upon the earth we may be prepared to meet them; which may God grant, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
The choir sang: O, my Father.
Benediction by Elder Rulon S. Wells.
Afternoon Sessions.
In the Assembly Hall.
An overflow meeting was held in the Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 7th.
Apostle Brigham Young presided. Singing, page 212, Redeemer of Israel.
Prayer by Elder Jonathan Golden Kimball.
Singing, Is it well with my soul? by Sister Minnie J. Snow, assisted by Sister Maria B. Winder and Brothers J. H. Dean and Jos. Christenson.
In the Assembly Hall.
An overflow meeting was held in the Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 7th.
Apostle Brigham Young presided. Singing, page 212, Redeemer of Israel.
Prayer by Elder Jonathan Golden Kimball.
Singing, Is it well with my soul? by Sister Minnie J. Snow, assisted by Sister Maria B. Winder and Brothers J. H. Dean and Jos. Christenson.
Elder Seymour B. Young
said he rejoiced at the spirit characterizing the Conference, and the word of the Lord to the people in our day. The progress of the work adverted to, in which the speaker traced the hand of Providence. Closed by enjoining strict obedience to the admonitions received.
said he rejoiced at the spirit characterizing the Conference, and the word of the Lord to the people in our day. The progress of the work adverted to, in which the speaker traced the hand of Providence. Closed by enjoining strict obedience to the admonitions received.
Elder Jonathan G. Kimball
said he felt the time had come for Saints to live up to their professions or step aside. Had been converted to the Word of Wisdom. Deprecated the justifying of indulgence in ourselves as also the too free use of money by our missionaries for their support abroad.
said he felt the time had come for Saints to live up to their professions or step aside. Had been converted to the Word of Wisdom. Deprecated the justifying of indulgence in ourselves as also the too free use of money by our missionaries for their support abroad.
Apostle Marriner W. Merrill
of the Council of the Apostles, spoke of the impressiveness with which the instructions we had received were given. Quoted President Brigham Young as announcing the Words of Wisdom to be a commandment thenceforth. A strict payment of tithes and offerings was enjoined. He said the Prophets Joseph and Brigham had visited our Temples and were working diligently for Zion, on the other side of the veil.
Who are these arrayed in white? was sung by the Temple choir.
of the Council of the Apostles, spoke of the impressiveness with which the instructions we had received were given. Quoted President Brigham Young as announcing the Words of Wisdom to be a commandment thenceforth. A strict payment of tithes and offerings was enjoined. He said the Prophets Joseph and Brigham had visited our Temples and were working diligently for Zion, on the other side of the veil.
Who are these arrayed in white? was sung by the Temple choir.
Elder Heber J. Grant
was convinced of the good effects of the teachings of the Conference. He closed by invoking the blessings of the Lord upon Zion.
was convinced of the good effects of the teachings of the Conference. He closed by invoking the blessings of the Lord upon Zion.
The names of the general authorities of the Church were placed before the assembly by Elder Francis M. Lyman and all were unanimously sustained.
Elder Francis M. Lyman
further quoted President Woodruff as saying that he had never heard such apostolic preaching as at this Conference. Dwelt upon our duties to the poor. Placed the obligation to pay our tithing ahead of that to any other creditor and held the word of the Lord through his servants today as equal in authority to the Scriptures.
further quoted President Woodruff as saying that he had never heard such apostolic preaching as at this Conference. Dwelt upon our duties to the poor. Placed the obligation to pay our tithing ahead of that to any other creditor and held the word of the Lord through his servants today as equal in authority to the Scriptures.
Elder Brigham Young
read an extract from the Book of Mormon enjoining repentance and a “preparation for eternity.” He bore testimony to all the instructions of the Conference as being true and from God, and invoked God’s blessings upon the assembly.
Singing: Do what is right.
Benediction by Elder Robert T. Burton.
read an extract from the Book of Mormon enjoining repentance and a “preparation for eternity.” He bore testimony to all the instructions of the Conference as being true and from God, and invoked God’s blessings upon the assembly.
Singing: Do what is right.
Benediction by Elder Robert T. Burton.
In the Tabernacle.
The choir sang the anthem: Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!
Prayer was offered by Elder W. W. Cluff.
The choir sang the hymn:
Jesus once of humble birth,
Now in glory comes to earth.
The choir sang the anthem: Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!
Prayer was offered by Elder W. W. Cluff.
The choir sang the hymn:
Jesus once of humble birth,
Now in glory comes to earth.
President George Q. Cannon
presented the general authorities of the Church to the Conference, which sustained them unanimously 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, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Edward Stevenson.
President Cannon here alluded feelingly to the death of Elder John Morgan, whom he characterized as a valiant soldier of Christ. His demise had created a vacancy which was filled by the selection of Elder Edward Stevenson to be one of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies.
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.
A report of the Primary association was read, showing 447 associations, 31,300 members, an average attendance of 14,160; 9,449 meetings were held. There were five Stakes not included in the report.
A report from Elder Karl G. Maeser, regarding the Church schools, was read, showing 18 schools in Utah, 4 in Idaho, 3 in Arizona, and 2 in Mexico, 27 in all. There were 2,080 male and 1,750 female students.
President Cannon made an explanation relative to the Church University, which had been established in pursuance to a resolution passed by the General Conference. It had been found necessary to concentrate efforts in education, and as the Territory could not sustain more than one university, proposals made to the First Presidency by the Chancellor and Regents of the University, to consolidate educational efforts, and these were accepted; the Church University was discontinued, and support given to the University of Utah. President Cannon spoke of the labors performed in establishing the Deseret University, now the University of Utah, and stated that it would be almost a calamity to have it stricken down. There had been those who wished to withhold support from it, but the Presidency could not think of seeing it go down, so when the proposals referred to were submitted, regarded it as a proper to adopt them. The speaker stated that the Church had endowed a chair of geology in the University; religion could not be taught in the institution, and there was no occasion for infidelity being taught here. The Salt Lake Latter-day Saints’ college was open to students of the University who could go there and be taught theology if they desired. In this way they could receive the full benefit of instruction in that department.
presented the general authorities of the Church to the Conference, which sustained them unanimously 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, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Edward Stevenson.
President Cannon here alluded feelingly to the death of Elder John Morgan, whom he characterized as a valiant soldier of Christ. His demise had created a vacancy which was filled by the selection of Elder Edward Stevenson to be one of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies.
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.
A report of the Primary association was read, showing 447 associations, 31,300 members, an average attendance of 14,160; 9,449 meetings were held. There were five Stakes not included in the report.
A report from Elder Karl G. Maeser, regarding the Church schools, was read, showing 18 schools in Utah, 4 in Idaho, 3 in Arizona, and 2 in Mexico, 27 in all. There were 2,080 male and 1,750 female students.
President Cannon made an explanation relative to the Church University, which had been established in pursuance to a resolution passed by the General Conference. It had been found necessary to concentrate efforts in education, and as the Territory could not sustain more than one university, proposals made to the First Presidency by the Chancellor and Regents of the University, to consolidate educational efforts, and these were accepted; the Church University was discontinued, and support given to the University of Utah. President Cannon spoke of the labors performed in establishing the Deseret University, now the University of Utah, and stated that it would be almost a calamity to have it stricken down. There had been those who wished to withhold support from it, but the Presidency could not think of seeing it go down, so when the proposals referred to were submitted, regarded it as a proper to adopt them. The speaker stated that the Church had endowed a chair of geology in the University; religion could not be taught in the institution, and there was no occasion for infidelity being taught here. The Salt Lake Latter-day Saints’ college was open to students of the University who could go there and be taught theology if they desired. In this way they could receive the full benefit of instruction in that department.
Elder Franklin D. Richards
of the Council of the Apostles,
addressed the congregation. He suggested that this was a time when there could be expected more diligence and care in the people regarding obedience to Gospel principles than was anticipated in the past. The people had gained inexperience and should have increased in intelligence and in the power of overcoming evil tendencies. The Saints could not, however, throw down their guard, lest the adversary should take advantage of it. There was need for the people to have that spirit which would enable them to act the part of Saints, and should not be moved to ill-feelings or narrow-minded contrivances for the benefit of the few to the injury of the whole. There should be nothing in the political arena that could weaken or interfere with the faith of the Saints and their fidelity to the truth. The speaker said the people would be made the subject of many vicissitudes, and should possess that united faith which would enable them to call upon the Lord and receive His blessings in their hour of need. This was a period of revolution, not with weapons of steel, but with mental and moral forces. The way to be safe was to daily keep the commandments of the Lord, and follow the counsel given through His servants. The Saints should search diligently the scriptures and learn to comprehend the character of the Lord that they could serve Him acceptably. The Elders had been directed to get together and expound the scriptures to each other. Those who were most diligent in seeking and observing the things of heaven were the ones who received the favor of the Lord. On this subject, Elder Richards referred to the history of the Apostles in the early Christian Church, and of earlier times. He also cited scriptural references to the man titles given to the Lord, as descriptive of His character; and also spoke of the attributes of the Father. Elder Richards strongly exhorted the people to search for knowledge of their Father in heaven and of His requirements of them, that they might be in a position to receive the inspiration and guidance of His spirit.
of the Council of the Apostles,
addressed the congregation. He suggested that this was a time when there could be expected more diligence and care in the people regarding obedience to Gospel principles than was anticipated in the past. The people had gained inexperience and should have increased in intelligence and in the power of overcoming evil tendencies. The Saints could not, however, throw down their guard, lest the adversary should take advantage of it. There was need for the people to have that spirit which would enable them to act the part of Saints, and should not be moved to ill-feelings or narrow-minded contrivances for the benefit of the few to the injury of the whole. There should be nothing in the political arena that could weaken or interfere with the faith of the Saints and their fidelity to the truth. The speaker said the people would be made the subject of many vicissitudes, and should possess that united faith which would enable them to call upon the Lord and receive His blessings in their hour of need. This was a period of revolution, not with weapons of steel, but with mental and moral forces. The way to be safe was to daily keep the commandments of the Lord, and follow the counsel given through His servants. The Saints should search diligently the scriptures and learn to comprehend the character of the Lord that they could serve Him acceptably. The Elders had been directed to get together and expound the scriptures to each other. Those who were most diligent in seeking and observing the things of heaven were the ones who received the favor of the Lord. On this subject, Elder Richards referred to the history of the Apostles in the early Christian Church, and of earlier times. He also cited scriptural references to the man titles given to the Lord, as descriptive of His character; and also spoke of the attributes of the Father. Elder Richards strongly exhorted the people to search for knowledge of their Father in heaven and of His requirements of them, that they might be in a position to receive the inspiration and guidance of His spirit.
The Very Eternal Father
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Sunday, October 7th, 1894, by
Elder Franklin D. Richards
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
Beloved hearers, having been absent during the early part of this Conference, attending to the funeral of a near relative, I realize that I am suffering under a double bereavement by the loss of the precious instruction that has been given during the sessions of this conference. I was much cheered to hear President Woodruff this morning say that it was one of the best that he had ever attended. I realize by personal acquaintance with my brethren of the Presidency and Twelve Apostles that in their instructions to you they would be earnest, fervent, full of intelligence, and that you would be fed with the bread of life.
I wish to say, in attestation of the discourse I listened to this morning by President George Q. Cannon that I feel a most hearty concurrence in and sympathy with the serious importance of the instructions that were given to the people. The principles and doctrines of the everlasting Gospel, which have been given to us in the years that are past, have brought many of the Saints to a period approaching manhood in the Gospel, by which we have reason to I look for and expect more thorough going and more faithful attention to, and consideration of, the doctrines of the Gospel and Priesthood than we could expect years ago. It is true that by bringing new members into our gathering they partake, to a greater or less degree, of the increased intelligence which the older members possess, and this fact renders it all the more important that the older members should be living up to the full standard and pattern of their holy faith, so that they who come later shall find themselves associating with those who are of greater faith, more extended knowledge, and who are able to assist them forward in the way of life and godliness.
It is important for us that we do not permit any of the pernicious influences that are working among us, whether from the pretension of false prophets or false christs, or whatever may be imposed upon the people publicly or privately, to diminish our strength and faith in the least degree. All these tendencies should serve to arouse in us an increasing energy and fidelity, leading us to seek God more and more, that we may contend individually and collectively against all these evil influences that are brought in among us. We cannot cease our watchfulness; we must not lay down our armor; we are under the necessity of watching unto prayer constantly. We cannot sit down and take it easy in these matters, lest the adversary, in a moment we think not, get advantage of us; for although present necessities may not seem to be bringing us to a test, there is coming a time when we shall all be brought to the standard of measurement and weight, to know whether we bear the seal of the everlasting Gospel’s requirements, and are accounted worthy for such advancement, for such gifts and blessings, for such trust of power and influence as shall enable us to give proof of our faithfulness. There is no time for us to waste in these things; and while we are thus delving in the way of life, and are made subject to “booms,” to oppressions and hard times, as they are called, and to divisions of party feelings because of politics, we have great need, in order to stand successfully and squarely in all these matters, of that measure of the Spirit that shall enable us under every circumstance to act the part of a Latter-day Saint, and not, as is sometimes said of us, to act more gentilish than the Gentiles themselves.
It is expected of men who have attained to maturity in life that they will accomplish careful, difficult and intricate labors which younger ones cannot be expected to do. We are supposed to be so far advanced in the knowledge of God, in the power of the Priesthood, and in the understanding of the truth, that none of these things shall move us. Whether a man is of one party or another party, he should understand that what he is doing ought to be for the interest of the whole. There should be no sectional narrow minded contrivances for the benefit of the few, to the injury of the whole. These are some of the finer works that the Elders used anciently to tell us of. We have heard the Presidency in former times tell us how that we had to be made very fine and put through the finest of screens to become fit for the Master’s use. Now is the time for us to be looking to it, to cease all strife and contention and put down everything of the kind. There should be nothing allowed in the political arena that can hurt the faith of any brother or sister or prevent them from sitting down together at the table of the Lord’s supper and partaking of that ordinance in the most worthy and acceptable manner. Is this the case with us? If it is not, how far are we off from it, and how much work have we to do with ourselves to obtain that status and remain there? For be it known that unless we maintain the unity of the faith and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, we are not the Lord’s neither shall we be able to find Him when we shall most need Him. We have to maintain our fellowship with the heavens complete, or in a trying hour we may find ourselves without God in the world. We have then to be on the alert continually, that no spirit no machination of man or Satan can have power to turn us from the right way of the Lord.
The Lord has very great designs concerning this people, just so fast as He can bring us up to realize them. Now, my brethren, when everything is quiet and still, and there is no particular demand made of us, we all seem to be very much united. But how often is it the case that something comes up and we find that we are a revelation to ourselves directly? We find within us a spirit or frame of mind different from what we previously entertained brought out by something that we had not before experienced. We are being made subject to changes and vicissitudes in all the trials of life, as much as mortal men and women can be made subject to; and I will venture to quote the saying of the Savior in a revelation to us in these last days, that all things that can be shaken shall be shaken. Then who is he that has got his lamp trimmed and burning? Who is he that has got that measure of faith for himself that under every trying circumstance be can go to the lord and find grace and help in every time of need, to enable him to conform his feelings, faith and fellowship to the conditions that surround him? This is a period of revelation. It is a battle that is being carried on, not with steel nor with any carnal weapons, but it is the silent peaceful and powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in the hearts of those whom we can prevail upon to become subject to the same, to change us from our naturally selfish inclinations, desires and designs into the ways and purposes of the true and living God; and the way to do that is that we daily keep his commandments, hearken to the words of wisdom, and continually live by every precept that proceedeth from the mouth of God. We are yet a great way from the perfection of the Lord.
I wish the brethren and sisters, the Elders particularly, could be stirred up to search the scriptures and to find out something more of the character of the Lord; for if we cannot find Him out personally, we can learn very much of His character by reading the sacred word of God that is left for us. As we say of one another, “We do not know you personally, but we have come to know you by reputation,” so we can learn, in the word of God, if we will study it, much of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wish we had more desire to study these things. I am thankful that this disposition is increasing in the Sunday schools, the theological classes, and among the Elders, and that they are also studying the principles of our church history. Great is the mystery of godliness, said one anciently, and it is just as mysterious now. Some men are going nearly crazy over trying to reconcile some of the scriptures. The Apostle Peter said Paul had written epistles, “in which are some things hard to be understood.” There are scriptures that are difficult to be understood, unless we can obtain the light of the Holy Spirit to shine upon our understandings.
We are apt to read over a great many scriptures just as we walk over portions of these valleys and mountains, in which are lying, perhaps within a few inches of our feet, treasures of gold, silver and other precious metals, and it only needs a little stirring of the soil to find where the great deposits of this wealth are, where the rich pockets of gold are treasured up, and the veins of silver are waiting to be gathered out. It is so with the scriptures. There are many passages that we read over hastily and do not comprehend, which, if we would stop and search other scriptures relating to them, we would often find wonderful developments of truth in their explanations. In the early days of the Church the Lord instructed the Elders to meet together and expound His scriptures to one another, that they might comprehend them and be built up in their holy faith, which they did.
When the Savior was upon the earth and had His apostles with Him, there were some that adhered very closely to Him. They learned things of Him which others did not get, or if they did they have not left them on record for us. John, the beloved disciple, continued much with the Savior. He was very fond of being in His company. At the last supper he sat next to Him, and laid his head upon His breast. The Lord was fond of him, insomuch that he was called the beloved disciple, and he, being familiar with the Savior, obtained many precious items of revelation, choice sayings and parables that the others did not get. The evangelists Matthew and Mark wrote many things that the Savior and other brethren did, but there were some things omitted by them which are contained in Luke’s and more particularly in John’s writings. Indeed so strong and mutual were their attachments that when the Savior was about to leave the earth He gave John the insuperable blessing that he should not die, but that he should tarry till He, Christ, should come. History tells us that John was placed in a caldron of boiling oil and came out unhurt. We have no authentic account of his death or burial. The Savior said, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee?” When he was a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos, working in the mines, he received the wonderful revelation, contained in the Bible, in which he saw a character riding upon a white horse, and his name was, “The Word of God.” (Rev. xix, 13.) In writing his Gospel and giving some account of this being, John says,
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
This is the description of the coming of the Savior in the flesh. This character in the beginning was the One by whom the world was created. “Without Him was not anything made that was made.” Before He was tabernacled in the flesh He did His mighty works in creating the earth with all its inhabitants, fish, fowls, beast and man; teaching Enoch to build a city, then translating it for him and his people. He destroyed the wicked with a flood; established Noah and his race, then educated a righteous people, delivered them from oppression by miraculous providences through the Red Sea and made them a powerful nation. Moses, whom Jehovah had employed to do so many of his wondrous works, asked the Lord to show him concerning “this Heaven and this earth.”
The Lord has not thought proper to reveal unto us much of the vastness of His heavenly works; but He once received Moses into His presence on the mountain and showed him “concerning this heaven and this earth,” and there gave him the revelation concerning the creation of the earth and the seven days’ work and commanded him to write it. In this interview he was a personage of spirit. He also showed Himself unto the brother of Jared, Mohonri Moriancumr, and informed him that His body of spirit was just the figure that His body of flesh should be when born of woman.
He not only had this name, “The Word of God,” but He had other titles. By searching the Scriptures we find some twenty or thirty of them. But in speaking of this, He said to Moses, (Exodus vi, 3,) “Your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom I revealed myself, knew me by the name of Almighty God, but by my name Jehovah they did not know me.” At different times He told Israel that He was Jehovah until He came and dwelt in the flesh. Then He was the Son of God—the Christ. It is said concerning Him by one of the ancient prophets (Isaiah ix, 6) that “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the EVERLASTING FATHER, the Prince of Peace.” These were a few of the names that were given to Him besides some that John saw—such as the Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now this name of Father is a wonderful name. It is over this that some of the brethren stumble, and they get very erroneous ideas concerning the Savior. One man has worried at it until he has nearly worried himself out of the Church, and it was thought he would have gone to the asylum because of his incongruous ideas over it. What is it to be a father? We understand generally the term father to mean one who becomes the parent of children. The fact that he is endowed with power to procreate his species by the blessing of God enables him to become a father. There is a beginning to his fatherhood. As John said, “In the beginning was the Word.” There was a beginning to the creation of the earth. There is a beginning to the creation of a man’s family. But that is not the only sense of a father. A father when taken in a more general sense signifies something more, according to the Scriptures. Joseph said to his brethren, (Genesis xlv, 18,) “He [God] hath made me a father to Pharaoh.” Why? Because he had given him the power, the wisdom and the understanding to lay up food during the seven years of plenty, so that he saved not only Egypt, but enabled Pharaoh and Egypt to save the nations around by letting them have food to eat in their terrible necessities. In the Scriptures Satan is called the father of lies, the father of deceit, of misrepresentation, contention and strife. George Washington is called the father of this nation, by his skill, his warlike prowess and the readiness to stand at the head of his people, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, and he so became the father of our country. Just so we may say concerning others. As for instance the man who discovered the control of lightning. Although Franklin brought it down from heaven in safety, yet it was left for Professor Morse to be the father of telegraphy and otherwise communicate intelligence by it around the world. Mr. Watt was the father of steam power, by discovering its elasticity and applying it to mechanics as motive power. So with the Prophet Brigham Young. He was the father of Utah, because under God he led the people and established them here, to become a Territory or state, and made it possible for many others to come and live here. We see, by the foregoing, the meaning of a father in this general and broad sense, is a creator, a controller, a manager. Hence it was that the Prophet Isaiah said concerning the Lord Jesus, He shall be called, “the Everlasting Father.” The Prophet Mosiah (Book of Mormon, fifteenth chapter, verses 2, 3 and 4,) has told us that because of the Spirit He was the Father, and because of His having been born in the flesh, He was the son, and therefore He is called the very Eternal Father of Heaven and earth, which really means that He was the very eternal Creator of Heaven and earth. In the beginning, He created the heavens and the earth. Thus when we get an understanding of the things of God and comprehend them, some of the difficult sayings of the Scripture become plain and easy to be understood. If we turn to the first chapter of John’s revelation, and sixth verse, we find that great glory and dominion will be given unto Him “Who hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” So we see that He does not assume to be the Father of all, but He was the Father of heaven and earth, and was to make men kings and priests unto Himself and His Father, knowing that He and His Father were two persons, as is distinctly maintained in all the Scriptures. By this we can see that as we read the Scriptures we read over great and descriptions of knowledge, just as when we uncover the mines we find great treasures of wealth. The mines, when they are found, are not pure gold or silver, but other materials have to be brought together to put with them—what they call fluxing materials—to separate the pure metal from the dross, and to bring out the genuine article fit for market. So if we search the Scriptures we find the principles described and the instructions given by which we are enabled to understand these truths in a similar way, and to comprehend the difference between the truth and the error.
I wish the brethren would study the Scriptures more and encourage those that do it. Study them as you would study the analysis of any material thing, and you would find treasures of knowledge and understanding, and that they are simple and plain, comforting the heart, satisfying to the mind and food for the soul. It is given unto us in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants section cxxi, 23-33 what we may find if we can only obtain the Holy Spirit. We shall find that we have great latitude for study and for research, and for blessing and knowledge in the word of God. The revelation says that:
“God shall give unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now; which our forefathers waited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, and which their minds were pointed to by the angel as held in reserve for the fulness of that glory—a time to come in which nothing shall be withheld; whether there shall be one God or many Gods, they shall be manifest; all thrones, and dominions, principalities and powers shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and also it there be bounds set to the heavens, or to the seas, or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon or stars, all the times of their revolutions, all the appointed days, months and years, and all the days of their days, months and years, and all their glory, laws and set times shall be revealed in the days of the dispensation of the fulness of times according to that which was ordained in the midst of the councils of the eternal God of all other Gods before this world was, that shall be reserved until the finishing and the end thereof when every man shall enter into His eternal presence and into his immortal rest.”
Is there not a field of exploration that is worth the talent of anybody who has the disposition and purpose to keep the commandments of God and so live that they can receive of His Spirit? I know there are many in these days that are very technical, very stickish, asking questions requiring a good deal of hair splitting argument and I want to say to you that it is not best to dally upon those things that are unprofitable, but search the principles of the Gospel and study them by the light of the Holy Spirit. When you cannot see and understand what you want, try, by the grace of God, to get that measure of Spirit which will throw the light, the more than calcium light, upon the subject, and so get to comprehend it. But remember, brethren and sisters, these things have to be held in righteousness. We have to hold the truth in righteousness, or else we cannot grow in Christ, or in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ our living head.
May the Lord bless us with His Spirit to enrich us with the knowledge of the truth; but above all to establish in us a determined purpose that as for us and ours we will serve Him, and we will treasure up line upon line, precept upon precept, until we get to see as we are seen and know as we are known. May God help us to do so, in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Discourse Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt City, Sunday, October 7th, 1894, by
Elder Franklin D. Richards
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
Beloved hearers, having been absent during the early part of this Conference, attending to the funeral of a near relative, I realize that I am suffering under a double bereavement by the loss of the precious instruction that has been given during the sessions of this conference. I was much cheered to hear President Woodruff this morning say that it was one of the best that he had ever attended. I realize by personal acquaintance with my brethren of the Presidency and Twelve Apostles that in their instructions to you they would be earnest, fervent, full of intelligence, and that you would be fed with the bread of life.
I wish to say, in attestation of the discourse I listened to this morning by President George Q. Cannon that I feel a most hearty concurrence in and sympathy with the serious importance of the instructions that were given to the people. The principles and doctrines of the everlasting Gospel, which have been given to us in the years that are past, have brought many of the Saints to a period approaching manhood in the Gospel, by which we have reason to I look for and expect more thorough going and more faithful attention to, and consideration of, the doctrines of the Gospel and Priesthood than we could expect years ago. It is true that by bringing new members into our gathering they partake, to a greater or less degree, of the increased intelligence which the older members possess, and this fact renders it all the more important that the older members should be living up to the full standard and pattern of their holy faith, so that they who come later shall find themselves associating with those who are of greater faith, more extended knowledge, and who are able to assist them forward in the way of life and godliness.
It is important for us that we do not permit any of the pernicious influences that are working among us, whether from the pretension of false prophets or false christs, or whatever may be imposed upon the people publicly or privately, to diminish our strength and faith in the least degree. All these tendencies should serve to arouse in us an increasing energy and fidelity, leading us to seek God more and more, that we may contend individually and collectively against all these evil influences that are brought in among us. We cannot cease our watchfulness; we must not lay down our armor; we are under the necessity of watching unto prayer constantly. We cannot sit down and take it easy in these matters, lest the adversary, in a moment we think not, get advantage of us; for although present necessities may not seem to be bringing us to a test, there is coming a time when we shall all be brought to the standard of measurement and weight, to know whether we bear the seal of the everlasting Gospel’s requirements, and are accounted worthy for such advancement, for such gifts and blessings, for such trust of power and influence as shall enable us to give proof of our faithfulness. There is no time for us to waste in these things; and while we are thus delving in the way of life, and are made subject to “booms,” to oppressions and hard times, as they are called, and to divisions of party feelings because of politics, we have great need, in order to stand successfully and squarely in all these matters, of that measure of the Spirit that shall enable us under every circumstance to act the part of a Latter-day Saint, and not, as is sometimes said of us, to act more gentilish than the Gentiles themselves.
It is expected of men who have attained to maturity in life that they will accomplish careful, difficult and intricate labors which younger ones cannot be expected to do. We are supposed to be so far advanced in the knowledge of God, in the power of the Priesthood, and in the understanding of the truth, that none of these things shall move us. Whether a man is of one party or another party, he should understand that what he is doing ought to be for the interest of the whole. There should be no sectional narrow minded contrivances for the benefit of the few, to the injury of the whole. These are some of the finer works that the Elders used anciently to tell us of. We have heard the Presidency in former times tell us how that we had to be made very fine and put through the finest of screens to become fit for the Master’s use. Now is the time for us to be looking to it, to cease all strife and contention and put down everything of the kind. There should be nothing allowed in the political arena that can hurt the faith of any brother or sister or prevent them from sitting down together at the table of the Lord’s supper and partaking of that ordinance in the most worthy and acceptable manner. Is this the case with us? If it is not, how far are we off from it, and how much work have we to do with ourselves to obtain that status and remain there? For be it known that unless we maintain the unity of the faith and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, we are not the Lord’s neither shall we be able to find Him when we shall most need Him. We have to maintain our fellowship with the heavens complete, or in a trying hour we may find ourselves without God in the world. We have then to be on the alert continually, that no spirit no machination of man or Satan can have power to turn us from the right way of the Lord.
The Lord has very great designs concerning this people, just so fast as He can bring us up to realize them. Now, my brethren, when everything is quiet and still, and there is no particular demand made of us, we all seem to be very much united. But how often is it the case that something comes up and we find that we are a revelation to ourselves directly? We find within us a spirit or frame of mind different from what we previously entertained brought out by something that we had not before experienced. We are being made subject to changes and vicissitudes in all the trials of life, as much as mortal men and women can be made subject to; and I will venture to quote the saying of the Savior in a revelation to us in these last days, that all things that can be shaken shall be shaken. Then who is he that has got his lamp trimmed and burning? Who is he that has got that measure of faith for himself that under every trying circumstance be can go to the lord and find grace and help in every time of need, to enable him to conform his feelings, faith and fellowship to the conditions that surround him? This is a period of revelation. It is a battle that is being carried on, not with steel nor with any carnal weapons, but it is the silent peaceful and powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in the hearts of those whom we can prevail upon to become subject to the same, to change us from our naturally selfish inclinations, desires and designs into the ways and purposes of the true and living God; and the way to do that is that we daily keep his commandments, hearken to the words of wisdom, and continually live by every precept that proceedeth from the mouth of God. We are yet a great way from the perfection of the Lord.
I wish the brethren and sisters, the Elders particularly, could be stirred up to search the scriptures and to find out something more of the character of the Lord; for if we cannot find Him out personally, we can learn very much of His character by reading the sacred word of God that is left for us. As we say of one another, “We do not know you personally, but we have come to know you by reputation,” so we can learn, in the word of God, if we will study it, much of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wish we had more desire to study these things. I am thankful that this disposition is increasing in the Sunday schools, the theological classes, and among the Elders, and that they are also studying the principles of our church history. Great is the mystery of godliness, said one anciently, and it is just as mysterious now. Some men are going nearly crazy over trying to reconcile some of the scriptures. The Apostle Peter said Paul had written epistles, “in which are some things hard to be understood.” There are scriptures that are difficult to be understood, unless we can obtain the light of the Holy Spirit to shine upon our understandings.
We are apt to read over a great many scriptures just as we walk over portions of these valleys and mountains, in which are lying, perhaps within a few inches of our feet, treasures of gold, silver and other precious metals, and it only needs a little stirring of the soil to find where the great deposits of this wealth are, where the rich pockets of gold are treasured up, and the veins of silver are waiting to be gathered out. It is so with the scriptures. There are many passages that we read over hastily and do not comprehend, which, if we would stop and search other scriptures relating to them, we would often find wonderful developments of truth in their explanations. In the early days of the Church the Lord instructed the Elders to meet together and expound His scriptures to one another, that they might comprehend them and be built up in their holy faith, which they did.
When the Savior was upon the earth and had His apostles with Him, there were some that adhered very closely to Him. They learned things of Him which others did not get, or if they did they have not left them on record for us. John, the beloved disciple, continued much with the Savior. He was very fond of being in His company. At the last supper he sat next to Him, and laid his head upon His breast. The Lord was fond of him, insomuch that he was called the beloved disciple, and he, being familiar with the Savior, obtained many precious items of revelation, choice sayings and parables that the others did not get. The evangelists Matthew and Mark wrote many things that the Savior and other brethren did, but there were some things omitted by them which are contained in Luke’s and more particularly in John’s writings. Indeed so strong and mutual were their attachments that when the Savior was about to leave the earth He gave John the insuperable blessing that he should not die, but that he should tarry till He, Christ, should come. History tells us that John was placed in a caldron of boiling oil and came out unhurt. We have no authentic account of his death or burial. The Savior said, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee?” When he was a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos, working in the mines, he received the wonderful revelation, contained in the Bible, in which he saw a character riding upon a white horse, and his name was, “The Word of God.” (Rev. xix, 13.) In writing his Gospel and giving some account of this being, John says,
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
This is the description of the coming of the Savior in the flesh. This character in the beginning was the One by whom the world was created. “Without Him was not anything made that was made.” Before He was tabernacled in the flesh He did His mighty works in creating the earth with all its inhabitants, fish, fowls, beast and man; teaching Enoch to build a city, then translating it for him and his people. He destroyed the wicked with a flood; established Noah and his race, then educated a righteous people, delivered them from oppression by miraculous providences through the Red Sea and made them a powerful nation. Moses, whom Jehovah had employed to do so many of his wondrous works, asked the Lord to show him concerning “this Heaven and this earth.”
The Lord has not thought proper to reveal unto us much of the vastness of His heavenly works; but He once received Moses into His presence on the mountain and showed him “concerning this heaven and this earth,” and there gave him the revelation concerning the creation of the earth and the seven days’ work and commanded him to write it. In this interview he was a personage of spirit. He also showed Himself unto the brother of Jared, Mohonri Moriancumr, and informed him that His body of spirit was just the figure that His body of flesh should be when born of woman.
He not only had this name, “The Word of God,” but He had other titles. By searching the Scriptures we find some twenty or thirty of them. But in speaking of this, He said to Moses, (Exodus vi, 3,) “Your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom I revealed myself, knew me by the name of Almighty God, but by my name Jehovah they did not know me.” At different times He told Israel that He was Jehovah until He came and dwelt in the flesh. Then He was the Son of God—the Christ. It is said concerning Him by one of the ancient prophets (Isaiah ix, 6) that “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the EVERLASTING FATHER, the Prince of Peace.” These were a few of the names that were given to Him besides some that John saw—such as the Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now this name of Father is a wonderful name. It is over this that some of the brethren stumble, and they get very erroneous ideas concerning the Savior. One man has worried at it until he has nearly worried himself out of the Church, and it was thought he would have gone to the asylum because of his incongruous ideas over it. What is it to be a father? We understand generally the term father to mean one who becomes the parent of children. The fact that he is endowed with power to procreate his species by the blessing of God enables him to become a father. There is a beginning to his fatherhood. As John said, “In the beginning was the Word.” There was a beginning to the creation of the earth. There is a beginning to the creation of a man’s family. But that is not the only sense of a father. A father when taken in a more general sense signifies something more, according to the Scriptures. Joseph said to his brethren, (Genesis xlv, 18,) “He [God] hath made me a father to Pharaoh.” Why? Because he had given him the power, the wisdom and the understanding to lay up food during the seven years of plenty, so that he saved not only Egypt, but enabled Pharaoh and Egypt to save the nations around by letting them have food to eat in their terrible necessities. In the Scriptures Satan is called the father of lies, the father of deceit, of misrepresentation, contention and strife. George Washington is called the father of this nation, by his skill, his warlike prowess and the readiness to stand at the head of his people, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, and he so became the father of our country. Just so we may say concerning others. As for instance the man who discovered the control of lightning. Although Franklin brought it down from heaven in safety, yet it was left for Professor Morse to be the father of telegraphy and otherwise communicate intelligence by it around the world. Mr. Watt was the father of steam power, by discovering its elasticity and applying it to mechanics as motive power. So with the Prophet Brigham Young. He was the father of Utah, because under God he led the people and established them here, to become a Territory or state, and made it possible for many others to come and live here. We see, by the foregoing, the meaning of a father in this general and broad sense, is a creator, a controller, a manager. Hence it was that the Prophet Isaiah said concerning the Lord Jesus, He shall be called, “the Everlasting Father.” The Prophet Mosiah (Book of Mormon, fifteenth chapter, verses 2, 3 and 4,) has told us that because of the Spirit He was the Father, and because of His having been born in the flesh, He was the son, and therefore He is called the very Eternal Father of Heaven and earth, which really means that He was the very eternal Creator of Heaven and earth. In the beginning, He created the heavens and the earth. Thus when we get an understanding of the things of God and comprehend them, some of the difficult sayings of the Scripture become plain and easy to be understood. If we turn to the first chapter of John’s revelation, and sixth verse, we find that great glory and dominion will be given unto Him “Who hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” So we see that He does not assume to be the Father of all, but He was the Father of heaven and earth, and was to make men kings and priests unto Himself and His Father, knowing that He and His Father were two persons, as is distinctly maintained in all the Scriptures. By this we can see that as we read the Scriptures we read over great and descriptions of knowledge, just as when we uncover the mines we find great treasures of wealth. The mines, when they are found, are not pure gold or silver, but other materials have to be brought together to put with them—what they call fluxing materials—to separate the pure metal from the dross, and to bring out the genuine article fit for market. So if we search the Scriptures we find the principles described and the instructions given by which we are enabled to understand these truths in a similar way, and to comprehend the difference between the truth and the error.
I wish the brethren would study the Scriptures more and encourage those that do it. Study them as you would study the analysis of any material thing, and you would find treasures of knowledge and understanding, and that they are simple and plain, comforting the heart, satisfying to the mind and food for the soul. It is given unto us in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants section cxxi, 23-33 what we may find if we can only obtain the Holy Spirit. We shall find that we have great latitude for study and for research, and for blessing and knowledge in the word of God. The revelation says that:
“God shall give unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now; which our forefathers waited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, and which their minds were pointed to by the angel as held in reserve for the fulness of that glory—a time to come in which nothing shall be withheld; whether there shall be one God or many Gods, they shall be manifest; all thrones, and dominions, principalities and powers shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and also it there be bounds set to the heavens, or to the seas, or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon or stars, all the times of their revolutions, all the appointed days, months and years, and all the days of their days, months and years, and all their glory, laws and set times shall be revealed in the days of the dispensation of the fulness of times according to that which was ordained in the midst of the councils of the eternal God of all other Gods before this world was, that shall be reserved until the finishing and the end thereof when every man shall enter into His eternal presence and into his immortal rest.”
Is there not a field of exploration that is worth the talent of anybody who has the disposition and purpose to keep the commandments of God and so live that they can receive of His Spirit? I know there are many in these days that are very technical, very stickish, asking questions requiring a good deal of hair splitting argument and I want to say to you that it is not best to dally upon those things that are unprofitable, but search the principles of the Gospel and study them by the light of the Holy Spirit. When you cannot see and understand what you want, try, by the grace of God, to get that measure of Spirit which will throw the light, the more than calcium light, upon the subject, and so get to comprehend it. But remember, brethren and sisters, these things have to be held in righteousness. We have to hold the truth in righteousness, or else we cannot grow in Christ, or in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ our living head.
May the Lord bless us with His Spirit to enrich us with the knowledge of the truth; but above all to establish in us a determined purpose that as for us and ours we will serve Him, and we will treasure up line upon line, precept upon precept, until we get to see as we are seen and know as we are known. May God help us to do so, in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
President Joseph F. Smith
was the next speaker. He dwelt for a time upon the excellence of the Conference and then devoted his discourse to the subject of taking up land in and near settlements already established, instead of scattering out into distant places, apart from Church organizations. He also made remarks upon the use of land for purposes adapted to its soil and upon the need of the utilization of irrigation water and its more economic use. President Smith also spoke deprecatingly of a manifest disposition on the part of some of the young men to avoid the responsibilities of the marriage relation, and explained the eternal nature of the marriage covenant under the Gospel of the Son of God. He concluded with a powerful exhortation to parents and to the Elders of Israel to each the young to avoid those who are corrupt and sensual, and addicted to the abominations that are already in the world.
The Conference was adjourned for six months—to 10 a.m., April 6, 1895.
The choir sang the anthem, God of Israel, hear my prayer.
Benediction was pronounced by President George Q. Cannon.
John Nicholson,
Clerk of Conference.
was the next speaker. He dwelt for a time upon the excellence of the Conference and then devoted his discourse to the subject of taking up land in and near settlements already established, instead of scattering out into distant places, apart from Church organizations. He also made remarks upon the use of land for purposes adapted to its soil and upon the need of the utilization of irrigation water and its more economic use. President Smith also spoke deprecatingly of a manifest disposition on the part of some of the young men to avoid the responsibilities of the marriage relation, and explained the eternal nature of the marriage covenant under the Gospel of the Son of God. He concluded with a powerful exhortation to parents and to the Elders of Israel to each the young to avoid those who are corrupt and sensual, and addicted to the abominations that are already in the world.
The Conference was adjourned for six months—to 10 a.m., April 6, 1895.
The choir sang the anthem, God of Israel, hear my prayer.
Benediction was pronounced by President George Q. Cannon.
John Nicholson,
Clerk of Conference.