I wish the few remarks which I may now make to be comprehensive and
instructive.
The subject upon which Brother Wells has spoken this afternoon is a
very intricate one to define. It is very difficult to convey even the
ideas which we may have respecting the operations of, to us, invisible
spirits upon the hearts of the children of men; and it is very
difficult to frame in the mind a system of thinking and reasoning upon
this subject that is at all satisfactory. It is very difficult to form in the mind an even, and unbroken, and correct thread of ideas
which will truthfully and satisfactorily explain the variations which
we see in the motives and actions of mankind, and to understand the
varied motives and feelings of the people, and what they design in
performing such and such acts. There are some who have a correct and
clear thread of ideas framed in their minds relating to this subject,
but cannot convey them to their fellow beings. This is a weakness that
I believe is inherent to a greater or less degree in each and every
one of us.
The opposition which we find in the hearts of the children of men to
the Gospel of life and salvation, Brother Wells has been setting
before us this afternoon in a very able manner. Upon this subject I
have my own reflections, and my own way of revealing those reflections
to others.
The opposition which we see manifested against the truth in this our
day has been manifested in every day and age of the world wherein the
Gospel of the Son of God has been preached to the children of men.
There is no difference today in this respect from what it was
formerly. Our opponents tell us that were it not for the doctrine we
believe, teach, and practice, there would be no difficulty—no strife
between the Latter-day Saints and those who call themselves Gentiles.
We are all Gentiles by birth who are not of Jewish descent. We who are
called Latter-day Saints are Gentiles by birth—we are nationally so.
The opposition which we have to meet is not because we believe in
polygamy. That principle is not the real bone of contention, but it is
the power of Satan against the power of Jesus Christ here upon this
earth. It is no matter what the doctrines are; it is no matter by what
name they are called, in what manner they are presented, or by whom
they are believed; it is the power of God on the one hand, and the
power of Satan on the other. We can see the workings of the two
spirits upon the hearts and dispositions of the children of men.
Opposition to the truth is made manifest by those who render
themselves servants to obey false principles or false ideas, and their
actions are directed by the power of Satan against the truth of heaven
in the persons of those who love and advocate it.
We have been told that when error is introduced it is generally done
in a most genteel, religious, scientific, and most refined and
civilized manner. The servants of sin should appear polished and
pious. It is necessary they should be learned, and be able to call to
their assistance the accomplishments and elegancies of science and
art, and the subtle, persuasive power of rhetoric. Jesus Christ
describes this class of deceivers very forcibly in the following
words—"But all their works they do to be seen of men: they make broad
their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And
love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the
synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men,
Rabbi, Rabbi." This external polish is really necessary for them as a
covering to make successful the introduction of false theories and
false principles, and to cover up licentious and wicked lives.
The servants of God have truth, and nothing but truth, to present to
the world, that the world may be sanctified by the truth. The truth
needeth no polish to make it lovely and desirable to those who love
it. The principles of truth and goodness, and of eternal lives and the
power of God are from eternity to eternity. The principle of falsehood
and wickedness, the power of the devil and the power of death are also
from eternity to eternity. These two powers have ever existed
and always will exist in all the eternities that are yet to come.
Although in relation to this earth, some time in its future history
there will be no death, and him that hath the power of death will be
destroyed. It is written in the Book of Mormon, "For it must needs be,
that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, righteousness
could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor
misery, neither good nor bad."
When man is born into the world he is at once subject to the
influences of life and death, and to the innumerable and varied
vicissitudes which he meets in his passage from birth to the grave, to
give him an experience which will prepare him to enter into and enjoy
life everlasting. He is endowed with agency to choose either life or
death, and must abide the consequences in the next life of the choice
which he makes in this. Were it not that evil exists with good, man
could not have been an agent unto himself. When the spirit of man
enters the earthly tabernacle, it is as pure as an angel of God. When
man, as a child, is brought forth to the light, and begins to live,
move, and have a visible and an individual being in this world, he is
brought in contact with the principle of evil—he receives the mark of
sin, and as passes the usual stages from infancy to manhood, he learns
to become disobedient to the requirements of heaven, disobedient to
the laws of man, and disobedient to the laws of his own nature; he
engenders the spirit of hatred, malice, wrath, strife, and all that
class of evils which render him unfit to return again to the presence
of his Father and God; but if he will obey the Gospel and walk in the
ways of the Lord, his mortal existence and his proneness to sin, which
he has inherited through the fall, become profitable and essentially
ne cessary to the full enjoyment of salvation and eternal life.
These ideas may be profitable to the Saints and aid them in
understanding to some extent why things are as they are.
Then the opposition to the truth is not because we have no wife,
because we have one wife or many wives; it is not because we are
Socialists and have all things common; it is not because we believe in
or practice this or that doctrine as individuals and as a people; but
it is the spirit of him who is an enemy to all righteousness that is
in the hearts of those who yield themselves to obey false principles.
Paul, in his writing to the Romans, says, "Neither yield ye your
members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield
yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God." "Know ye not, that
to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are whom
ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?" When truth comes, error comes also. When the Gospel of
the Son of God is introduced among the children of men, it comes with
light and intelligence, with pure and holy principles. It embraces all
morality, all virtue, all light, all intelligence, all greatness, and
all goodness. It introduces a system of laws and ordinances, and a
code of moral rectitude which, if obeyed by the human family, will
lead them back to the presence of God. As we were exhorted this
morning to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, be baptized for the
remission of sins, receive the laying on of hands for the reception of
the Holy Ghost, receive the spirit of prophecy, the spirit of
discerning of spirits, the gift of healing, and, in short, all the
gifts, and graces, and laws, and ordinances of the Gospel, which are for life and salvation. Now, the power of Satan is opposed to
all this.
Now, let me state somewhat the reason why the devil appears as a
gentleman when he presents himself to the children of men. The
children of men have good principles dwelling within them. When their
spirits came into this mortal flesh, they brought with them the love
of all truth, virtue, and goodness; but the sin that has contaminated
the mortal tabernacle through the fall creates what the Apostle Paul,
when writing in Timothy, calls a "warfare." When Joseph Smith first
preached the Gospel to this generation the Spirit of God attended it,
and that Spirit met an opposing spirit, which was the spirit of Satan,
exerting his power to lead away mankind from the truth to everlasting
ruin; while the Spirit of the Gospel, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ, sought to lead to exaltation and everlasting life. Here are
the two powers in opposition to each other.
Now, remember that it is not because we are called "Mormons," or
Latter-day Saints, that we meet opposition; there is nothing odious in
mere names and titles. Joseph Smith has as good a right to his name as
John Smith has to his. There is nothing criminal in the simple name of
Joseph Smith; yet, he being a servant of God and a preacher of
righteousness, his name became odious to the wicked, and the three
simple words, "Old Joe Smith," were sufficient to arouse in their
hearts every vindictive and bloodthirsty desire. It was not, however,
this simple name that aroused the worst feelings of the human heart
against those who loved and obeyed the truth; but it was the spirit of
Satan working in the hearts of the children of disobedience against
the truth. Why was Joseph Smith, and why are his brethren, so odious
to those who are not of us? Because we have the words of eternal life
to offer to the world. The devil is opposed to this, and offers
resistance to the progress of the spirit of the Gospel by arousing the
wicked, who are under his influence, to hate, and persecute, and annoy
in every possible way, the true followers of the Lord Jesus.
Let me say to you, my friends (and if I have foes here I say it also
to them), there is no spirit inhabiting a mortal tabernacle (that has
not sinned away the day of grace), but what naturally loves and adores
the truth, and would bless and honor all those who seek to walk in the
way of the Lord, were it not for the influence and power of evil by
which they are controlled. There is a constant warfare between the
good and the evil. The mortal tabernacle is of the earth earthy, and
came forth for the express purpose of being prepared to serve as a
dwelling for the eternal spirit; and the spirit has come here for the
express purpose of getting a tabernacle; and the sin that is in the
fleshy tabernacle is against the good that is in the spirit. The
Apostle Paul, when writing to the Romans, says, "For I delight in the
law of God, after the inward man: But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members."
It is not the name of a man or the name of a sect which inspires this
warfare, but it is a war which has always existed, and will always
continue to exist, between the good and the bad, between the power of
God and the power of the devil. To these who are not instructed in the
things of God it appears to be a warfare between sects and parties.
The votaries of the bad excuse themselves for their persecutions of
the good by supposing that they, themselves, as individuals, or their
nations, are about to suffer some great wrong from the
upholders of the good. As an example of this I will quote from the
Gospel according to St. Luke—"And the whole multitude of them arose,
and led him (Jesus Christ) unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him,
saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to
give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king."
This is the cunning of the devil, and a means by which he leads down
to destruction great numbers of the human family. He gets the
political world to believe that they are, or are going to, be
infringed upon; he makes the religious world believe that the sanctity
and rights of their holy religion are in danger, and thus he gets them
to make his cause their own; they are lashed into a frenzy of
excitement and hatred against the Saints; every high-toned, honorable
and truthful feeling of the human heart is blunted or entirely subdued
in them; they plan for the destruction of God's people, and, in many
instances, the blood of the Saints—the blood of innocence—has been
shed by their hands. It is written in the book of Revelation: "And the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels with him."
Paul in view of the power of this great deceiver and his host exhorted
the Saints anciently to, "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places." A great number of those who oppose the
truth, and mob and rob and kill the followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ, know not what they oppose, but they are moved to commit
depredations against the people of God by men who are desperately
wicked; these are among the bitterest enemies of the truth. The
multitude in the days of Jesus cried out: "Crucify him." The chief
priests had delivered him up from envy. Pilate knew this; "But the
chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas
unto them. When Pilate inquired what evil he had done, they cried out
more exceedingly: crucify him." They know not what they did.
Wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been preached, either in these
or in former days, it has met with a class of men to whom the truth
looked lovely and Godlike, and the spirit within would prompt them to
embrace it; but they find themselves so advantageously connected in
the world, and have so many interests at stake if they should embrace
it, they conclude that it will not do, and here comes the warfare
again. Some few will overcome the reasonings of the flesh, and follow
the dictates of the Spirit; while the great majority of this class of
persons are won over by sordid considerations and cleave to their
idols. The good spirit tries to overcome the wayward will of the
flesh, and the flesh, aided by the cunning and power of the devil,
maintains a strong warfare; but, notwithstanding this great power
against which the spirit has to contend, the power of God is greater
than the power of the wicked one; and unless the Saints sin against
light and knowledge, and willfully neglect their plain and well
understood duties, and the Spirit of God is grieved and it ceases to
strive with them, the Spirit is sure to prevail over the flesh, and
ultimately succeeds in sanctifying the tabernacle for a residence in
the presence of God.
The spirit which inhabits these tabernacles naturally loves truth, it naturally loves light and intelligence, it naturally loves
virtue, God and godliness; but being so closely united with the flesh
their sympathies are blended, and their union being necessary to the
possession of a fullness of joy to both, the spirit is indeed subject
to be influenced by the sin that is in the mortal body, and to be
overcome by it and by the power of the devil, unless it is constantly
enlightened by that spirit which enlighteneth every man that cometh
into the world, and by the power of the Holy Ghost which is imparted
through the Gospel. In this, and this alone, consists the warfare
between Christ and the devil.
It is not in my being called a Quaker, a Methodist, or a "Mormon" that
is the true cause of contention between these two great powers—Christ
and Belial; but it is in the fact that God has established His kingdom
upon the earth and restored the Holy Priesthood, which gives men
authority and power to administer in His name.
It has been told us this afternoon, and was this morning also, that we
must be baptized in order to be saved. Much remains to be said on the
means necessary to effect salvation in its completeness. We might as
well say that a beautiful temple could be built and all its details
completed and finished in a day, as to say that we can tell all we
know about the plan of man's salvation in a short hour and a half or
in a day. It is plain to every enlightened person that the Lord has
introduced fit and proper laws by which he will save His children and
exalt them into his presence. If these laws are not obeyed by the
human family, they cannot be saved, nor be exalted to the presence of
God. What will become of all those who will not obey the laws of
salvation? Will they be confined throughout an endless eternity in
that bottomless pit, where their worm dieth not, and where their fire
is not quenched?
It is necessary that men should become acquainted with the laws of
God, and the ordinances of His kingdom, and receive of the power of
the world to come in order to fit them to become angels of the devil,
and that the devil may have full power over them; and these are the
only ones who are cut off from every degree of salvation. Jesus
said, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all men unto me."
He has been lifted up, and He will save every son and daughter of Adam
and Eve, except the sons of perdition, in some kingdom where there
shall be no more death, no more aches and pains to afflict and torment
them; and let me assure you that none of those kingdoms will be any
worse than the one we now inhabit. Jesus Christ will draw all men unto
him, except those who contend against the power of God and against his
kingdom until they have sealed their own damnation.
The adversary presents his principles and arguments in the most
approved style, and in the most winning tone, attended with the most
graceful attitudes; and he is very careful to ingratiate himself into
the favor of the powerful and influential of mankind, uniting himself
with popular parties, floating into offices of trust and emolument by
pandering to popular feeling, though it should seriously wrong and
oppress the innocent. Such characters put on the manners of an angel,
appearing as nigh like angels of light as they possibly can, to
deceive the innocent and the unwary. The good which they do, they do
it to bring to pass an evil purpose upon the good and honest followers of Jesus Christ. Yet the little good, if any, that is in
them, they have received from God. Lucifer, the son of the morning,
has not got a good principle, does not say a good word, perform a good
act, or present a good idea to any people upon this earth or any other
earth that he has not received from that God whom you and I serve.
Everything that is good, everything that is lovely and truthful,
virtuous and kind, everything to be admired and desired by the pure in
heart comes from God, our Father, who dwells in heaven. The most
wicked person that ever dwelt upon the earth, the Lord supports; He
gives to him the breath of life, and causes His sun to rise upon that
poor miserable wretch, who would, if he had the power, destroy
everything that is good. The Lord our God sends His rain upon the just
and upon the unjust, and gives food and raiment to the good and to the
evil; He parcels out the earth among his children, and his mercy and
loving kindness are over all the works of his hands. Though the Lord
is thus kind and merciful to all, yet he saith, "them that honor me I
will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed."
In the days before Noah's flood those who served God and kept his
commandments were prepared to receive glory, immortality and eternal
life, according to the law of the Gospel. When this law was given to
the people in any age, the kingdom of God was established, and the
devil and his hosts were made mad even as they are at this day.
We are told that if we would give up polygamy—which we know to be a
doctrine revealed from heaven, and it is God and the world for it—but
suppose this Church should give up this holy order of marriage, then
would the devil, and all who are in league with him against the cause
of God, re joice that they had prevailed upon the Saints to refuse to
obey one of the revelations and commandments of God to them. Would
they be satisfied with this? No; but they would next want us to
renounce Joseph Smith as a true prophet of God, then the Book of
Mormon, then baptism for the remission of sins and the laying on of
hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. Then they would wish us to
disclaim the gift of prophecy, and the other gifts and graces of the
Holy Spirit, on the ground that they are done away and no longer
needed in our day, also prophets and apostles, etc.
They want us to yield all these points, transgress the laws God has
revealed for the salvation of the world, and change all the ordinances
of God's house, and conform to the dogmas of modern Christianity and
to the corruptions of the age. Will the Latter-day Saints do this? No;
they will not to please anybody. Shall we have a warfare? We shall; we
will war and contend for the right, and trust in our God until
righteousness is established upon the earth, until peace shall reign
everywhere, until the children of men shall lay down the weapons of
their warfare and cease to exhaust their ability and ingenuity in
forming weapons of destruction to slay their fellow men, until the
minds and affections of mankind shall be turned unto the Lord their
God, and their energies be directed to beautifying the earth and
making it like the garden of Eden. We calculate to struggle on, and
continue to exercise faith and enjoy our religion, keeping all the
commandments of God, observing the ordinances of his house, trying to
fulfill all his words, trusting in him, and we shall see what this
course will come to.
I can tell the whole world that we shall preach the gospel of life and salvation and call upon the children of men to cease their
wickedness and their warring against God and one another, and embrace
those saving principles that will lead them to life here and to
eternal life hereafter. We shall preach on, we shall struggle on until
the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and
his Christ. To be gentle and kind, modest and truthful, to be full of
faith and integrity, doing no wrong is of God; goodness sheds a halo
of loveliness around every person who possesses it, making their
countenances beam with light, and their society desirable because of
its excellency. They are loved of God, of holy angels, and of all the
good on earth, while they are hated, envied, admired and feared by the
wicked.
What, then, is the mission of Satan, that common foe of all the
children of men? It is to destroy and make desolate. When this house
was built, every principle, every desire that prompted the putting of
these materials together, had good for its object in making the people
comfortable and happy. The desire to build cities, open farms, set out
orchards and adorn and beautify the earth in every possible way is of
God. But you say that those who do not believe in religion at all do
that. Very good, are not their lives as much in the hands of God as
yours and mine? Does He not prompt them day by day to do good, and
blessed are they who resist not the Spirit. There is a spirit of truth
gone forth to all the inhabitants of the world. The book of Job says,
"But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth them understanding." Again, it is written of Jesus, "That was
the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
"For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth
cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God."
There is that in all men which prompts them to do good and forsake
evil; then there is another principle which prompts them to do evil
and forsake the good. The few who have moral courage enough to yield
obedience to the promptings of the Spirit of God, bringing themselves
in subjection to his will, are the ones who compose the church and
kingdom of God on the earth, so far as they have opportunity.
Whatsoever is good is of God, no matter by whom possessed or
presented. If the devil presents principles that are good and pure and
lovely, they are not of him, but they are of God.
The devil delights in the work of destruction—to burn and lay waste
and destroy the whole earth. He delights to convulse and throw into
confusion the affairs of men, politically, religiously and morally,
introducing war with its long train of dreadful consequences. It is
evil which causeth all these miseries and all deformity to come upon
the inhabitants of the earth. But that which is of God is pure,
lovely, holy, and full of all excellency and truth, no matter where it
is found, in hell, in heaven, upon the earth, or in the planets. Let
us live in obedience to the good; let us live our religion.
I do not know that I have explained these things sufficiently clear to
you. The thread of the whole subject is clearly defined in my mind. I
know what the children of men are when they come upon the earth, and
the influence that attends them, and the power of Satan who lives upon
the earth by permission like the wicked and ungodly do. Will we live
our religion? I hope so. It was asked me by a gentleman how I
guided the people by revelation. I teach them to live so that the
Spirit of revelation may make plain to them their duty day by day that
they are able to guide themselves. To get this revelation it is
necessary that the people live so that their spirits are as pure and
clean as a piece of blank paper that lies on the desk before the
inditer, ready to receive any mark the writer may make upon it. When
you see the Latter-day Saints greedy, and covetous of the things of
this world, do you think their minds are in a fit condition to be
written upon by the pen of revelation? When people will live so that
the Spirit of revelation will be with them day by day, they are then
in the path of their duty; if they do not live according to this rule,
they live beneath their duty and privileges. I hope and pray that we
may all live up to our privileges. Amen.