It is with very peculiar feelings, my brethren and sisters, that I
stand before you this morning to address you upon the principles of
life and salvation. In rising before you I request your faith and
prayers, that I may have the Spirit of the Lord to dictate unto me
those thoughts and reflections and instructions, which will be
profitable unto us. I feel myself that the Spirit of the Almighty is
here; I have enjoyed it very much this morning. While listening to the
singing, I felt that the singers had the Spirit of God resting upon
them.
We can enjoy ourselves while we are met together today; it is our
privilege to have a goodly outpouring of that Spirit which fills our
hearts with joy, with peace, light and intelligence. If we concentrate
our minds upon the object which has called us together, exercising
faith in our Father and God, these meetings will be counted among the
most delightful associations of our lives. I do not know that I ever
enjoyed myself so happily under any circumstances, as I have in
meeting with my brethren and sisters in conferences and in meetings
like these that we have had yesterday and today. At these meetings we
can throw aside the cares that press us from day to day, and
concentrate our minds upon the blessings which pertain to the kingdom
of God and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and understand to a greater
extent than we can probably on ordinary occasions, how much the Lord
our God has favored us in revealing unto us His everlasting Gospel,
and in sending unto us His servants, authorized to administer unto us
the ordinances thereof. When we are in meetings like the present, we
can think about these things and ponder upon them, and our hearts are
filled with renewed feelings of thanksgiving and gratitude to God for
His abundant mercies to us as individuals and as a people. Since my
arrival home from abroad this last time, I think that I never have
experienced such a feeling of thanksgiving, joy, and happiness as I
have during the last two or three weeks. My feelings have been
peculiarly solemn, and I have often felt as though it would be a great
luxury to get off in some corner alone and weep for joy for all the
blessings God has so bountifully bestowed on us as a people, and upon
myself as an individual. The older we grow, and the more the kingdom
becomes developed, the more apparent are the blessings heaven bestows
upon us. He must be indeed blind who cannot see that we are a people
highly favored of God our Father, especially if it should be his lot
to go forth among the nations, and come in contact with the evil which
abounds in other countries. I believe there is a feeling of
gratitude and thanksgiving pervading the breasts of the Saints
generally, which causes them to appreciate the kindness of the Lord
towards them. This feeling should increase more and more within us
every day we live.
The remarks which were made yesterday by the brethren who spoke were
to me highly edifying; I rejoiced greatly in them, and I could echo
the feeling expressed by Brother Woodruff when he said, we were the
most blessed people on the face of the earth, in having a father in
our midst who talks unto us in such plainness and simplicity the
principles of life and salvation. While Brother Brigham was speaking
unto us and dwelling upon the plain and simple principles of the
Gospel, and those things necessary for us to observe in order that we
may become developed before our heavenly Father, I felt that it
requires constant teaching and admonition on the part of the servants
of God to keep us in mind of our duty; it requires the servants of God
to be stirred up continually to diligence in preaching the plain and
simple principles of the Gospel to the people, that they may be duly
impressed therewith. Notwithstanding all we have heard, and we have
heard a great deal of the principles of righteousness, we still
require to be admonished day by day concerning our duty. It seems to
be one of the weaknesses of human nature that we are apt to forget the
principles of truth and righteousness, and to give way to influences
that are not of God. We are placed in this existence for the express
purpose of learning to overcome all these things. One of the great
objects, as I imagine, which God has in view in sending us here upon
the earth, is to give us experience in the influences of the earth
that we may contend with them successfully and overcome them, that
when we pass beyond the veil we may be in a position to comprehend
them to a greater extent than we could had we not come here and felt
the influences to which human nature is subject. I have thought that
we, as a people and as individuals, do not sufficiently realize the
importance of keeping guard upon ourselves, and upon our feelings, and
of resisting the influences that surround us.
While the brethren were speaking upon one point, namely, the
disposition of some people to imbibe spirituous liquor, it brought
some reflections to my mind connected with the influences that prevail
throughout the various portions of the earth. I believe there are
places and circumstances in which people can be placed, where there
are influences of this character brought to bear upon them that are
more difficult to resist than there would be under other circumstances
and in other places. I have often heard it remarked by the brethren,
and I have remarked it myself, that in some places there is a greater
disposition entertained by the people to commit adultery and indulge
in kindred sins of this description than there is in this country.
There seem to be influences in the atmosphere in those lands of such a
character, that unless a person is on his guard and constantly
watching and resisting them, he will be led down to destruction by
them. A spirit and disposition will creep over the people unless they
are careful, to lead them astray in the direction which I have named.
This is undoubtedly the case. There are spirits in the atmosphere that
are filled with that disposition, and who seek to influence those with
whom they are brought in contact, impressing those who are in the
tabernacle of flesh to indulge in the same sin.
There are influences in the atmosphere that are invisible to us that,
while we are here upon the earth, we ought to resist with all
our might, mind, and strength—influences which, if we would be led by
them, would lead us to destruction—influences that are opposed to the
Spirit of God—influences that would bring upon us destruction here and
hereafter, if we would yield to them. These influences we have to
resist. We have to resist the spirit of adultery, the spirit of
whoredom, the spirit of drunkenness, the spirit of theft, and every
other evil influence and spirit, that we may continually overcome;
and, when we have finished our work on the earth, be prepared to
govern and control those influences, and exercise power over them, in
the presence of our Father and God. I have no doubt that many of my
brethren and sisters have sensibly felt in various places and at
various times evil influences around them. Brother Joseph Smith gave
an explanation of this. There are places in the Mississippi Valley
where the influence or the presence of invisible spirits are very
perceptibly felt. He said that numbers had been slain there in war,
and that there were evil influences or spirits which affect the
spirits of those who have tabernacles on the earth. I myself have felt
those influences in other places besides the continent of America; I
have felt them on the old battle grounds on the Sandwich Islands. I
have come to the conclusion that if our eyes were open to see the
spirit world around us, we should feel differently on this subject
than we do; we would not be so unguarded and careless, and so
indifferent whether we had the spirit and power of God with us or not;
but we would be continually watchful and prayerful to our heavenly
Father for His Holy Spirit and His holy angels to be around about us
to strengthen us overcome every evil influence.
When I see young men indulging in drunkenness and in stealing, I come
to the conclusion that they are led captive by the evil spirits around
them. We call it the spirit of the evil one; but he has numerous
agencies at work, even as the Lord has numerous agencies to assist him
in bringing to pass the consummation of His great designs. The
adversary has numerous agencies at his command, and he seeks to
control and lead to destruction the inhabitants of the earth who will
be subject to them. If we could see with our spiritual senses as we
now see with our natural senses, we should be greatly shocked at the
sight of the influences that prompt us to disobey the counsels of God
or the Spirit of the Lord in our hearts. But we cannot see them, for
they are spiritually discerned; and he who discerns the most, is the
most fully impressed by the Spirit of God; he who does not discern,
has not profited by the instructions given to him, and yields to those
evil influences in an unguarded moment, and is taken captive in his
blindness. He who is imbued with the Spirit of God is sensibly aware
when the evil power approaches; but he does not welcome it to his
bosom; he resists it with all the might and strength God has given
unto him, and he obtains power over it, and it no more troubles him;
if it does, its influence is more weakened than previously.
We often talk about and desire to see angels. Every person who has
joined this Church has had a desire to have revelations from God our
Heavenly Father, and have knowledge poured out upon him as it was
poured out in abundance upon the prophets of old. I merely suppose
that this is so with everybody else, because I have these feelings
myself, and judge others in this respect by myself. But, until we can
learn to control and resist those evil influences that are now
invisible, I think it would be unprofitable to have the administra tion of angels personally or visibly unto us. Until we can do this,
I do not expect that we can have those other blessings profitably
bestowed upon us. I do not expect that in the providence of God we
will be favored with those other blessings until we can listen unto
and obey the counsels of those appointed to preside over us. I know it
is natural for people to be anxious to have some ministering spirit
wait on them, and reveal itself unto them. For my own part, my
reflections have caused me to view this in a different light than I
viewed it in the beginning. I then thought it would be a great
blessing to have that favor bestowed upon me. But when I have
reflected upon the character and calling of the men whom God has
called and sent in this generation—when I have thought of Brother
Joseph Smith, and his greatness, his magnanimity, and his faith, I
have thought, and still think, it is one of the greatest blessings of
God upon me to have been permitted to behold his face and to listen to
his teachings. I feel the same now towards the present leaders of
Israel. I am satisfied that this generation has been honored by as
great prophets as ever stood before God upon the earth, excepting the
Lord Jesus Christ; and how could I expect, if I disobeyed Brother
Joseph Smith's counsel, that I could be favored with the presence and
instruction of any being farther advanced than he was when he was in
the flesh? And so I feel in relation to Brother Brigham, whom we now
have with us; he is one of the noblest sons of God, a man whom God has
endowed with the wisdom of eternity, with the power in part that is
exercised in its fulness by the Gods of eternity. If we disobey his
counsel, disregard his warning voice, and are careless respecting his
teachings and the teachings of those associated with him, we are
indeed unworthy of the presence of personages who have been glorified
and who now dwell in the presence of God. I do not expect the day to
come when this people will be favored with the administration of
angels—with the presence of those holy and immortal beings—until we
can learn to appreciate the teachings and instructions of the men of
God in our midst. When that day does come that this people will
implicitly obey the voice of those whom God has placed over them, and
give heed to every instruction imparted to them by the spirit of
revelation through the servants of God, then I shall expect visits
from holy angels, and the glory and power of God to rest upon us to
that extent it has never done hitherto; but I cannot well expect it
before that time arrives, because if these blessings were to be
bestowed upon us before we are prepared to receive them, I should fear
they would turn to our condemnation, as they have done to many in the
early history of this Church.
There is nothing that we, as a people, have needed since our
settlement in these valleys, and I may say since the organization of
the Church, connected with the kingdom of God, in intelligence, in
wisdom and counsel, that we have had to wait for. We have had line
upon line, precept on precept, here a little and there a little, from
the beginning unto the present time, and there never was a day, an
hour, a moment, from the organization of this Church unto the present
time that we, as a people, have been destitute of the voice of God and
the instruction of the Holy Ghost. While this is the case, and we have
abundance of teachings poured out upon us, and we should refuse to
obey any of them, we need not expect visitations from higher
personages, coming down to administer unto us and impart unto us
things that we could know, if we would only learn to be obedient to the counsels and instructions we now receive. It is
necessary that we should be taught and instructed in the things of the
kingdom of God, and that our faith should be developed to such an
extent that we will have great confidence in those who labor in our
midst and who preside over us. It is for this purpose that the Gospel
is sent forth by the hand of the servants of God unto the inhabitants
of the earth. The Lord says through his servant Joseph Smith, in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, "Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the
calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called
upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven,
and gave him commandments; And also gave commandments to others, that
they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it
might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets—The weak things
of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong
ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the
arm of flesh—But that every man might speak in the name of God the
Lord, even the Savior of the world; That faith also might increase in
the earth; That mine everlasting covenant might be established; That
the fulness of my Gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the
simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers."
This is the reason of the Gospel being preached, that faith might
increase within us, and that the New and Everlasting Covenant might be
established in our midst. These things were preached unto us in the
beginning, because it is necessary that man should be impressed with
the importance of the Gospel and plan of salvation which God has
revealed, and that he might have confidence in the words of the
servants of God. We have to learn that those who are worthy to be
entrusted with our salvation, and with the direction of the affairs of
the kingdom of God, are also worthy to be entrusted with the guidance
of temporal affairs in the same kingdom. It was a difficult lesson to
learn in the beginning. The people of God could not understand, in the
beginning, that Brother Joseph had wisdom sufficient to direct them in
their temporal affairs as well as in their spiritual affairs. While
the Church was in Kirtland it was a lesson they had not learned; they
could admit that Joseph was a prophet of God, and chosen of Him to
establish His kingdom on the earth, but they would not admit that he
had wisdom sufficient to direct them in temporal affairs, and they had
to be whipped, scourged, and driven from place to place before they
could really believe that the servants of God had this wisdom; but,
by-and-by, this knowledge dawned upon them, and they began to see that
men, chosen of God to establish righteousness and build up His
kingdom, had also wisdom concerning temporal affairs, and that the
same God who made the earth so beautiful for the habitation of His
saints—He who organized the heavens and controls the movements of the
heavenly bodies, that same God had power to give Brother Joseph Smith
wisdom to guide them in temporal affairs. This is a lesson that we
have had taught unto us from that time until the present; and today I
feel as though we were but poor scholars, and that there are many
things yet to be impressed upon our understandings connected with this
lesson.
We have to learn that, in the first place, the Lord sent His servants
forth to preach the principles of the Gospel, to impress upon the
inhabitants of the earth the necessity of believing in Jesus Christ as
the Savior of the world, repenting of their sins, and being
baptized for the remission of them, and receive the Holy Ghost by the
laying on of hands, and it was hoped and expected that when the Holy
Ghost descended upon men and women they would be filled with the
spirit of obedience, and that their understandings would be so
awakened that they would begin to comprehend the object God had in
view in restoring the everlasting Gospel to the earth. It has had that
effect, but it has been slowly manifested; it has dawned upon us ray
by ray, gradually opening our minds to the comprehension of the great
work the Lord has established on the earth; and today, after years of
experience, the Church of Christ has barely commenced to comprehend
the great work God had in view in establishing His kingdom on the
earth. But we are learning it now more rapidly than we have in past
years. The knowledge is being brought home to us to a greater extent,
because we are in a position where we can be better taught these
things than before. We are beginning to understand that there is
something, besides that which concerns our spiritual welfare, needed
for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God on the earth; we begin to
understand that the Lord wishes us to be a people wise in the arts and
sciences, full of understanding and wisdom in the building up of
cities, in the erection of beautiful habitations and magnificent
temples, and in the exhumation of minerals from the bowels of the
earth, and their proper application for the beautifying of the cities
of Zion and the convenience of God's people. We begin to understand
that the Gospel has been revealed to show unto us the object of our
existence, that it affects every action of our lives from birth to the
grave, and that we cannot do anything but what is comprehended in the
Gospel. We hope our children will learn this lesson better than we
have, and to a greater perfection than we have learned it. As I have
said, it is necessary in the first place that we should have
confidence in the servants of God—in the affairs that pertain unto our
eternal salvation, and we would suppose we might trust them with the
direction of our temporal affairs, if, indeed, temporal and spiritual
can be divided, which really cannot be done.
There is one point we should be guarded against, and the brethren have
endeavored to impress it upon our minds, that is, in our seeking to
develop the resources of the earth and build up cities and temples and
the various works that are incumbent on us, that we should not forget
to keep our minds right before the Lord, that we should have his Holy
Spirit abiding within us. When the cares of everyday life increase
upon us, in the business of forming settlements, pioneering and
performing our labors from day to day, we are too apt to forget that
we should constantly seek to God with the same fervor and diligence
for His aid as we do for spiritual blessings. I find that I have to be
careful while engaged in business, for I know that the tendency of my
mind is to devote all my thoughts and all my time and attention to the
business that is in hand—that happens to occupy my attention at the
time. This is the tendency of people generally, and we have to guard
against it, and for which we have to be reproved, that we may not
yield to it to so great an extent as to drive the Spirit of God from
us. There is no necessity for this. If we grieve the Spirit of God
when we are performing our temporal duties, it is because we allow the
one idea to absorb our attention too much. While we are engaged in
these duties, we should have the Spirit of God resting upon us,
as if we were engaged in preaching the Gospel.
It is recorded in the Book of Mormon that when the Nephites were
oppressed by the Lamanites, who would not suffer them to pray orally
unto God, they prayed in their hearts, while engaged in their labors,
for the blessings of God to be granted unto them, for His deliverance
to be extended to them, and that their enemies might not have power to
hold them in bondage; and the word of the Lord came to them and
whispered peace, and told them that the day of their deliverance was
nigh at hand, the day in which He would emancipate them from the
thralldom of their enemies. This is a good example for us to follow. It
is possible for us to bring ourselves into such a condition that we
can pray unto God in our hearts, no matter what labor we are
performing. We are exhorted to pray constantly unto Him, and it is
possible for us to concentrate our thoughts on the things of God while
we are doing our labor, and our thanksgivings can ascend silently unto
God, and they are not unheard by Him, and His blessing can descend
upon us, and His joy can fill our hearts, and we can become the
happiest and the most blessed people upon all the face of the earth. I
know it requires a struggle to concentrate our thoughts on the things
of the kingdom of God, while we are engaged in business; but this is
one of the things which we have to train ourselves to and to overcome.
I am pleased to see our people developing the resources of the earth
as they are. It is gratifying to see them enjoying the blessings of
the earth, to see them wearing clothing of home manufacture, and to
see their houses carpeted with homemade carpets; to see the sisters
wearing beautiful dresses, spun with their own hands, is more pretty
to my mind than brocade silk or satin, or fine cloth imported from
foreign parts. In these things I can see the independence of our
people being gradually secured.
I will bring my remarks to a close, praying God to bless you, my
brethren and sisters, and those who may speak unto us, and to fill
them with His Holy Spirit, and also those who listen to their sayings,
that their hearts may rejoice together with exceeding great joy before
Him, which is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
- George Q. Cannon