If I have the Spirit of the Lord sufficiently, I may have a word for
each and all classes present; though in a few remarks I by no means
expect to comprehend all the duties that devolve upon the Saints. Here
are newcomers who, for the first time, have the privilege of
assembling with the Saints at the gathering place; some of them
perhaps have been here one Sabbath, and others two. You have traveled
thousands of miles to be assembled with the Saints. Here is another
class of persons who have been living here for years, and who also
need teaching. And here is still another class that needs teaching,
perhaps, more than unbelievers. I refer to the Elders who are about to
start on their missions.
We say to them, Go forth and preach the Gospel, gain an experience,
learn wisdom, and walk humbly before your God, that you may receive
the Holy Ghost to guide and direct you, and teach you all things past,
present, and to come. I cannot say that this is sufficient to say to
them, for it is not.
We say to the citizens of these valleys who have lived here and are
going to stay here, Seek unto the Lord your God with all your hearts,
ye Latter-day Saints, and so live, that the Holy Ghost will be your
constant companion. It will teach you all things; it will bring to
your remembrance past things that you have forgotten, things that are
now present, and show you the providences of God, the dealings of the
Lord with his people, his designs in organizing the world and in
peopling it, &c. You Latter-day Saints, live humbly and live your
religion faithfully, that you may enjoy the spirit of revelation to a
fulness.
We say to the newcomers, If you will live your religion—live to the
light that was given to you when you embraced the truth, you will
enjoy the same Spirit you then received, and there is not the least
danger but what in so doing you will be Saints at home and abroad, in
the morning and in the evening, enjoying the light of the Holy Spirit;
and the Holy Ghost will be your constant companion, teaching you all
things, which will constantly suffice for you.
For unbelievers we will quote from the Scriptures—"Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Again—"Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God." I will now give my scripture—"Whosoever
confesseth that Joseph Smith was sent of God to reveal the holy Gospel
to the children of men, and lay the foundation for gathering Israel,
and building up the kingdom of God on the earth, that spirit is of
God;" and every spirit that does not confess that God has sent Joseph
Smith, and revealed the everlasting Gospel to and through him, is of
Antichrist, no matter whether it is found in a pulpit or on a
throne, nor how much divinity it may profess, nor what it professes
with regard to revealed religion and the account that is given of the
Savior and his Father in the Bible. They may say that they
acknowledge Him until doomsday, and he will never own them, nor bestow
the Holy Spirit upon them, and they will never have visions of
eternity opened to them, unless they acknowledge that Joseph Smith
is sent of God. Such people I call unbelievers. They tell about
believing in Jesus Christ, but they might as well talk about birds
understanding the Hebrew language. This statement is no more positive
than true.
The spirit that confesses that this is the kingdom of God and his
Church has the Spirit that fills the heavenly worlds, and every other
spirit is of Antichrist. All whom I call unbelievers, if they will
repent of their sins, obey the requirements in the New Testament, be
baptized for the remission of sins by a man who holds the key and
authority to lead them into the waters of baptism, and receive the
laying on of hands for the Holy Ghost, shall receive a witness that
Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that he was sent of God to
build up his kingdom in this last dispensation. You will receive a
Spirit that will bring all things to your remembrance, past, present,
and to come, teaching you all things necessary for you to understand.
There are but a few in this generation who will do this. "Will one to
a thousand?" Doubtful. "One to ten thousand, or a hundred thousand?"
I
hope so. Of the Latter-day Saints there will be many who will not so
live their religion as to fully enjoy the Holy Ghost. The Latter-day
Saints are like children who have to be taught continually, and still,
like children, they handle, figuratively speaking, razors, glasses,
cups, sau cers, &c., contrary to the teachings that are given them.
Those Elders about to start on their missions will declare before this
congregation and before the whole world that they do know, by the
power of God, that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God, and that
this is the work of God; that God has set to his hand to gather
Israel: but let them neglect their duty and get into darkness, and
they will lose this Spirit and testimony. They do not see this with
their natural eyes, for it is spiritually discerned, as all things of
God are. Let them do wrong and lose the Spirit, and by-and-by they
apostatize and declare that they do not know "Mormonism" to be true,
and think that they never did. How many are there of this class?
Brethren, live your religion. As a mischievous child needs constant
watching to keep it from falling into the fire, or otherwise injuring
itself, so you need watching, warning, teaching, and admonishing all
the time; you need to be continually teased to your duty.
A spirit prompts both the good and the evil: an invisible influence
seems to be shed abroad upon all nations. Let us seek unto the Lord,
that we may be prompted by a good spirit. It matters not what your
neighbors do, look to your God with all your heart, instead of
watching your neighbors, and there will be no danger of your leaving
the true path. If they will only live up to it, there has already been
enough taught the brethren who have lived here for years to prepare
them to enter into the strait gate and into the New Jerusalem, and be
prepared to enjoy the society of the holy angels.
No other people are under the obligations to God that we are, who have
been privileged to meet here Sabbath after Sabbath. We have the
privilege of being gathered—the privilege of the law of the
celestial kingdom, of receiving revelation, of enjoying the keys and
power of the blessings of the Priesthood as sons of God. What other
people have these privileges? No other that we have any knowledge of.
This brings us under deep obligation to one another, to angels, to
Jesus, and to God our Father. We have to live close to the Lord, in
order to have his Spirit to learn and understand what he requires of
us. You hear some say—"I wish I had influence and power, and were in a
situation to do good!" Is there a man in this community deprived of
the privilege of doing all the good his heart can desire? You can
every day live to promote the cause of our God, and your whole lives
can be filled with doing good.
The travels and labors of the Elders about to go on missions will
throw them into positions which will cause them to seek unto the Lord.
They need to live their religion, to go forth with pure hearts and
clean hands, and then preach the Gospel by the power of God sent down
from heaven. They should touch not and taste not of sin, and when they
return they should come pure and clean, ready to meet the Saints with
open countenances. To all appearance, the Elders on missions have been
in the habit of making their pockets a matter of more consideration
than the souls of men. I am not going to suffer this any longer.
I want every Elder to make his calculations to get rich here, and not
go abroad to get riches from the Saints there. Plan and operate here
to make as much property as you please; and if you can put it in a
shape to gather the Saints, do so; and when you are abroad use every
sovereign to emigrate the poor. You may have one shirt on and one at
the washerwoman's, and decent and comfortable clothing; but what you
obtain over this must be used to gather the poor. "May I obtain money
enough to come home?" Yes. "How many coats and pantaloons may we
bring, and how many trunks packed with clothing of the most expensive
kinds, for our wives and children?" I utterly forbid this practice. I
forbid your bringing or sending home silk dresses and the like. Send
and bring home the poor. I forbid your coming home in your carriages;
I forbid your going out preachers and coming home merchants, but come
home bringing your sheaves with you—the souls of the children of
men—spirits clothed in tabernacles. I forbid the Elders of Israel
coming home as they have; but men, women, and children must be all the
property, means, wealth, glory, and power that they bring home.
O ye gentiles, let me tell you that every Elder will do as I have told
him, when he learns that the opposite course is wrong. And let me tell
you that you will see the day when you will wish that you were
"Mormon" Elders. By-and-by the Elders of Israel will have gold and
silver for plates, cups, saucers, &c.; and when we have adorned and
furnished our houses we will have gold and silver to pave our streets,
and their enemies will be in hell, unable to raise a decent fiddler
there, or any liquor, for it will all burn up, and every decent
fiddler will go into a decent kingdom: we will have them. We are going
to have the kingdom of God and the fulness thereof, and all the
heights and depths of glory, power, and knowledge; and we shall have
fathers and mothers, and wives and children.
Brother Cannon remarked that people wondered how many wives and
children I had. He may inform them that I shall have wives and
children by the million, and glory, and riches, and power, and
dominion, and kingdom after kingdom, and reign triumphantly.
"What will you do with all those who have sought to kill you?" Make
them soap boilers and kitchen flunkeys. We are not going to send them
into hell fire, for it takes a good Latter-day Saint apostatized to
get down into that deep (did I say bottomless?) pit. A person, to
become an angel of the Devil, has first to be a good Saint, and then
deny the Lord who bought him.
Do you query why we give endowments to A., B., and C.? It is to make
devils of those who will deny the faith, for that is also necessary,
as a host of devils will be needed. We also want Saints, angels, holy
ones, and those that are exalted to the highest glory—we want them to
inherit kingdoms that number millions on millions.
Brother Hooper stated that he had charity. My charity is that God has
provided for his children, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve,
where all who have lived according to the best light they had will
have better kingdoms than ever entered into their hearts to conceive.
That is the charity of God in his plans to save his people. Will the
Latter-day Saints so live that they can enjoy the fulness of the
heights, depths, glory, and intelligence in which the Father and the
Son dwell? If they do not, they must go into another kingdom. He has
designed that we should become Gods—the sons of God—fathers of eternal
lives, like Abraham. This is the promise he received—to be the father
of endless lives, that his posterity and generation should never
cease, in time nor eternity.
Some may think that the restrictions upon our Missionaries are greater
than they should be; but if they learn to be practical men, they will
learn that my system is the best. Send Elders forth to attend to the
business of the churches—to the spiritual and the financial
departments, and to preside over them, and the care and toil are very
laborious. But if, at the same time, their minds are upon speculation,
and they lay awake at night to calculate how they are going to
speculate—how many teams they need to bring a lot of goods across the
Plains, &c., the labor becomes so severe as to nearly drive them
crazy: it at least causes them to have but little spiritual strength
when they return; and I really think it best to relieve them from this
extra burden. To study, plan, and labor to be merchants, and to bring
home silks, satins, velvet, &c., for their wives and children, is a
great burden; and we wish to relieve them from that, and let them come
home, bringing the poor with them.
If Elders go and fill their missions, they have enough to do; and if
they at the same time study to be merchants and to speculate, it will
crush them into weakness and poverty. Those who have mixed speculation
with preaching, and have thereby oppressed and hedged up the
emigration of the poor, upon their return seem to have no spirit left
for anything except speculation. Your best plan, if you wish to make
money, is to make it here at the gathering place. This is the place
for you to accumulate property—to make your families comfortable, that
when you go on your missions you can go stript for the race and
harnessed for the battle, for the work before you, and have nothing
else in your hearts.
If the Lord ever revealed anything to me, he has shown me that the
Elders of Israel must let speculation alone and attend to the duties
of their calling, otherwise they will have little or no power in their
missions or upon their return. It commenced long ago in England, and
those who have practiced it are in poverty; and it is high
time that it was put a stop to, which I am going to do, God and good
brethren being my helpers.
I am in earnest in this matter, and God will sustain me in it. Quit
sending or bringing silks, satins, and furbelows for your wives to
flaunt in. I am strongly opposed to it.
Some may inquire whether I did not make money when on missions. If I
did, it has been expended to gather the poor. When I returned from
England, I had but one sovereign left when I reached home. Brother
Joseph asked me what I was going to do for a living. I told him that I
was going to borrow fifteen cents to put with my sovereign to buy a
barrel of flour, visit my friends, and when that flour was eaten I
should be ready to do what the Lord required. I went on my mission to
England, performed its duties, and returned with clean hands and a
pure heart; and all who desire to honor God and their holy calling to
the Priesthood must pursue this course.
From this time forth every man that goes on a mission with a view to
speculation will be overtaken by poverty, for speculation is no part
of the duties devolving upon the Elders. They should practice the
strictest economy, especially while on their missions. I have not
sought for riches, nor placed my affections upon the things of this
world. I do not at home any more than I did abroad. When I obtain
money and other property, I study to dispose of it to the best
advantage for promoting the cause in which we are engaged. And I tell
you, in the name of Israel's God, that it is my counsel and imperative
command that our Missionaries let speculation alone, and preach the
Gospel, and so live that when you blow the Gospel trump your words
will be like melted lead in the hearts of the people, and not return
unto you void, that you may glory and do good in the labor to which
God has called you. Do not operate as some have, but let your minds
and energies be devoted to the business on which you are sent.
Publications have been issued from the Liverpool Office and crowded
upon the people, seemingly regardless of the wants or ability of the
brethren, and creating what is known as the "Book Debt," the very
sound of which is disagreeable; lithographed and engraved likenesses
of Elders have been forced upon Conferences; and in some instances the
money on hand in London and Liverpool has been taken and used by the
Elders to the estimated amount of the publications and likenesses, a
large portion of which remain lumbering storerooms as dead stock,
except where sold out of the way as waste paper. Brethren have been
obliged to take more or less copies of publications, whether they
could use them, or afford to pay for them, or not; and this very
system of forcing publications upon the brethren and Conferences has
prevented hundreds and thousands of the Saints from emigrating, turned
a great deal of money from its legitimate channel, and left us useless
articles instead of the money the Church or the people should have
had. Put thousands of pounds into the hands of an Elder in this
manner, and it will go from him without his being able to tell where
or how it has gone: it seems impossible for him to keep it or its
value; it slips away.
There are thousands of pounds' worth of books, &c., now lying useless
in the Liverpool Office, that have been paid for with Tithing money,
which ought to have been used for emigrating the poor, paying debts,
and otherwise carrying on the work, in accordance with counsel from
here: but instead of this, the books lie use less in the
Office. And a few have tried to get rich, but all their riches seem to
have had the wings of the morning and have flown far from them.
How many in Utah pay Tithing on their money? Comparatively very few.
Probably we do not get one dollar to a thousand on cash Tithing. And
if horses, oxen, or cows could be sold for money, probably but few of
them would be turned in on Tithing; and if wheat could be sold for
money, we should get no wheat except from a very few. But we get along
and are not dead yet; and we shall live and do well, while others will
be dead and in their graves. The humble will live, their spirits will
be buoyant, and they will live to a great age.
You Elders who are selected to go on missions, be virtuous and holy
before the Lord your God, that you may be filled with his Spirit. And
when you reach your respective fields of labor in the States, in
England, or elsewhere, do not begin to pull down your predecessors. So
far as their conduct will permit speak of them as your brethren, and
as men who have done the best they knew how. Testify that you know
them to be good men, when you know that they have been doing according
to their best judgment and understanding; and do not say hard words
about your predecessors in the vineyard. Not one who does this will
gain anything by it. Do not discourage, deride, or bring anything
against any of your predecessors to lessen the character of anyone
who has done the best he knew how. You have not heard me say that I
disfellowship them, for I believe that they have not intended to do a
wrong thing in all that is past. All that I blame them for is because
I believe that they could or should have known better. I consider that
having lived till now, they should so live as to have the Holy Ghost
within them continually, to guide them in the way of life.
We are so organized that we need preaching to all the time. This is
because of our weaknesses, and we shall have to bear with one another
until we become stronger and wiser. Until then, we will travel and
preach and do all the good we can. And those that put their shoulders
to the wheel, with a desire and determination to preach the Gospel,
save souls, and aid in whatever they are called upon to do for the
rolling forth of this great work, will live the longest, have the most
gold and silver, and enjoy more eternities of happiness and exaltation
than those who do nothing but grumble and find fault with what others
do and say.
It is not necessary, in crossing the Plains, for our Missionaries to
travel on foot and carry their valises; and we wish you to be provided
to cross the Plains comfortably, and to take prudent care of your
bodies while absent and to come home as comfortably as you can: but do
not get money from the poor Saints to buy a carriage with. I have
traveled and preached a great deal, and had to live, and I have
always had a large family to support. I have had to borrow money to
come home with, and I do not remember that I ever brought any money
home, but what it has gone directly to relieve the Prophet of his
burdens. He used to ask me how I managed to support myself and family.
I told him that I made a sixpence go, perhaps, as far as some would
make a quarter of a dollar go—that I had done what I could, and the
Lord had done the rest, and that was all I knew about it. Of course
there are some things I know, and many that I do not; but I do know
that Heber C. Kimball and myself used 86 dollars in board and other
expenses when tra velling on a mission, and that when we started
we had but 13 dollars, 50 cents. And I do know that I once took a
five-dollar bill out of my pocket, when we were raising money for
brother Joseph, and threw it in, and that the next day I had just as
much as I had before I gave away the five dollars. I do know that when
I went to pay some money that I owed, after giving some away to the
poor, I had just as much when I came to pay my debts as I had before
I gave any to the poor. I do know that I handed out a half-eagle to a
poor man in my office, and then found two half-eagles in my pocket
that I never put there. And I also do know that I never hungered or
thirsted for property.
Some may say—"Brother Brigham, you are boasting, and you may be
tried." I may be tried; but if I am, I pray God to give me strength to
bear the trial. I feel under the most positive and strict obligation
to make every penny go as far as I can towards preaching the Gospel,
gathering Israel, and doing good. I do not lust after property; and I
wish my brethren could see my heart as I see theirs. I know the hearts
of my brethren who are around me, whether I chasten them or not. You
act out what is naturally in you, and I can tell, by the acts, by the
faces, and by the doings of men, what is in their hearts. We are here,
and we have the kingdom of God to build up as the Lord directs, and
carry out his requirements in all things.
The Saints abroad are required to pay their Tithing, but they have
been made to donate and pay so much that they have felt that the cords
were drawn pretty tight. Of late we have let the strings loose, and
the people in the European Missions have become slack in regard to
paying even their Tithing. This is a natural result, and I expected
it. The brethren will now exhort them to renew their good works in
again paying Tithing, and we must have a correct account of it, and
must have the privilege of directing its expenditure for gathering the
Saints and building up the kingdom. We wish to hurry and gather the
brethren, that they may receive their endowments, and either remain
Saints or apostatize; and those who continue faithful may be taught to
more and more honor their faith and cooperate in building up the
kingdom of God on the earth.
I have detained you long enough. God bless you! Amen.