At the request of my brethren, I arise to offer a few remarks. And in
order to give them to some extent the character of a sermon, I will
read the seventh verse of the third chapter of the Prophet
Amos—"Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret
unto his servants the prophets."
It is my design merely to draw the attention of our friends to the
subject presented in this text. When God has a people upon the face of
the earth he can own and bless as his, he always has Prophets among
them. "Surely," says the Prophet Amos, "the Lord will do nothing, but
he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets."
Now, it is not certain that the Prophet always reveals those secrets
unto the people. It may happen in many instances, that the Lord
will reveal unto his servants the Prophets many things that are to
come, and yet leave those who are not enlightened by the Spirit of
Prophecy to wait until those things transpire before they are apprised
of them.
There appears to be in the midst of the Saints a very great stress
laid upon the word "prophet," and the words of Amos seem to be
definitely pointed at in the minds of a great many individuals, to
show, as it were, there was but one. But when the Spirit of the Lord
was poured out in the camp of Israel, and Eldad and Medad began to
prophesy, persons whose minds were contracted went to Moses and
complained that Eldad and Medad were prophesying. "Would to God," said
Moses "that all the Lord's people were prophets!" There are in the
Church a variety of gifts, and these gifts are all combined together,
and are necessary for the development of the principles we understand,
the diffusion of knowledge, and the complete organization of the whole
body. There are Apostles, Prophets, and Teachers, and all these
officers bring about the great and complete organization of the whole.
In tracing through the history of the sacred writings, we find that
the Lord in some instances chose men that were ignorant. I presume he
did this in many instances from necessity, for those who had been
learned in the world were seldom found to possess humility enough to
humble themselves before the Lord to get the Spirit of Prophecy, and
to be a Prophet is to have the Spirit of Prophecy, and to have the
testimony of Jesus, "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy," nothing more nor nothing less. The man who can testify that
Jesus is the Christ has this testimony, and as he improves upon his
gift he becomes a Prophet. It is not one individual, it is not three,
it is not twelve individuals, but it is for all the Saints who have
the testimony of Jesus and live in the exercise of that testimony. A
man that does not foresee by the Spirit of God, who does not learn
things to come by it, is not living up to his privilege and
profession, is not living in the enjoyment of that testimony which he
has received; he is blinded by the mists of darkness and is liable to
fall into a snare. The Apostle Peter in exhorting his brethren tells
them that it was necessary they should add to their faith virtue; and
to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in
you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, that
you will be made partakers of the Divine mind, the Holy Spirit
dwelling in you, you will know for yourselves of the principles and
the doctrines which you have received. The storms of adversity which
surround us amount to nothing with the man who has this knowledge
planted in his breast, he cares not for slanders, for abuse, for
sacrifices or losses of earthly goods. He who does not possess this
testimony, and is not made a partaker of the Divine nature, and does
not struggle to attain to exaltation, is turning away and falling into
darkness. It is strange to me that persons who have been many years in
this Church, who have borne their testimony of the truth of the work
of God in the last days many times, should finally come to the
conclusion that they have gone astray, and must go in some other
direction. Why is this? It is simply because they have suffered the
mists of darkness to overcome them; they have not lived up to the principles they have professed, and instead of advancing to be
made partakers of the divine nature and overcome the wiles that are in
the world through lust, they suffer them to have dominion over them,
and they fall back into darkness. When the storm of persecution
surrounds us, then, of course, we are apt to be zealous, but when we
are as it were left to ourselves we are tried in another way; and when
the Lord commenced giving revelations to this people he said to them,
through his servant Joseph, that they should be tried in all things.
If there is any one thing that is calculated to try us more than
another, that thing we may expect to encounter. I know this people
will bear poverty and affliction, they will bear persecution, they
will suffer their houses to be burned, their property to be destroyed,
and sacrifice what the Lord has given them of earthly goods, expose
themselves to suffering and hardship for the sake of the principles
they have received, joyfully; but how many of these, when the smiles
of Providence have beamed upon them, when prosperity has surrounded
them, and they have been blessed and are in affluent circumstances,
have forgotten the Lord, like the Prophet said of Jeshurun, "They
waxed fat, and kicked, and forgot the Lord." Such is the fact with
hundreds of Latter-day Saints. Now a man that expects to be exalted to
thrones and dominions must be just as good a Saint when he is
surrounded with wealth, with the comforts and blessings of life in
abundance, as he is, when he is in poverty—when being robbed of his
possessions, and deprived of the means of subsistence; and the one
condition is just as necessary to try some individuals as the other
condition is to try any other.
From the time that I first became acquainted with the principles of
this Church, I have watched the progress of the development of the
Spirit of Prophecy among the Saints. I have never made pretensions to
prophesy, though many things have been made manifest to me before they
were fulfilled. I have foreseen many results which have been
astonishing, in many instances, to others. The man that wishes to know
the future let him study well the present, let him be careful that the
present is all right; that the principles which he professes are not
abused; that he lives up to the doctrines which he has received, and
that he maintains his integrity towards his fellow beings as God
requires at his hands; let him do this, and the future will be
unfolded to him, and he will be prepared for it just as fast as
necessary.
As Elder Middlemas said, he knew some things that were manifested to
him, and knew how it would be beforehand. There are hundreds that can
foresee by the Spirit of the Almighty, the Spirit of Prophecy, things
that are to come to pass, without being able to know the precise
manner how it will be effected. But I can tell you from the day of
Joseph Smith's first commencement to testify of the things of God unto
the present, that the very results that have been predicted have come
to pass, but the manner has seldom been understood until it came. When
the Saints were in Jackson County, surrounded by our enemies who were
determined to destroy us, and had no other idea but what the steps
that were being taken would put an utter end to our organization as a
religious society, the future was as plainly laid open to thousands,
and the present time was as plainly understood by hundreds of the
Saints as it is now. The future is before us and many can look into it
and know its results. This is the work of the Almighty. God has set
his hand in the last days to esta blish a people on the earth,
he has not only commenced to do it, but is now accomplishing it—all
the efforts of our enemies to hinder it to the contrary; and all
efforts to stay its progress will be futile. They may cast men into
prison, cause men to make great sacrifices, cause them to be brought
into trying circumstances and endure much suffering, but the result is
a fixed fact, no man can help it, no power can interfere with it, even
the folly and corruptions of men that profess to be associated with
the Saints cannot stay its progress. The work has commenced and onward
it will roll, and no power can stay it. I know it is so. They may
destroy my life, they may destroy yours, they may cause us to see much
sorrow and trouble, place us in a hundred unpleasant positions; the
corruptions of our own brethren may cause our hearts to bleed; our
blood may be spilled, our enemies may beset us on every side, but we
are engaged in the work of the Almighty God who says in the Doctrine
and Covenants, "I will save those who fall in the defense of Zion."
Brethren, let us then be faithful, and diligently observe and do all
things that are required at our hands by our heavenly Father, that the
light of his countenance may constantly shine upon us, for we are
engaged in the great and glorious work he has commenced in the last
days. His hand steadies the ark, his arm guides and sustains it, his
Divine mind, will and power control it, and all that has been done by
those who have interfered with it, simply shows the weakness and
vanity of men that think to stay the hand of the Almighty. And this
testimony I bear continually. It is a day for us to act, to act upon
principle, to conquer ourselves by doing right, and while we conquer
ourselves by doing right we are enabled to control others. What we do,
we should do because it is right, and refuse to do wrong.
And the great questions that should reign in our breast are, What is
right? What is wrong? And when we are not certain, wait until we
understand, until we know we are right, and then go ahead. May the
blessing of Israel's God rest upon us, is my prayer in the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- George A. Smith