I sometimes ask the Saints a question with regard to our meetings, but
I have not done so lately. We come here on Sabbath mornings to this
large hall, which will contain a great many people, but only a few, in
pro portion to the number there is in the city who should be here,
attend; and I ask myself and have heretofore asked the people why they
do not attend? Do they love their meetings, do they love their
religion, and do they love to hear the servants of the Lord
bear testimony to the truth? How is it? Perhaps many of the brethren
and sisters think we are not as interesting in our conversation as we
should be. I will say to such, we will give the ground to you at any
time you will take the stand, and we will sit and hear. But when we
talk to you we give you such ideas as we have, and we clothe them in
the best language that is in our possession, according to the ability
and the gift and grace that we possess. Whether they are interesting
to you or not is not for me to say. It is true the Saints may ask me
why I do not attend meetings more strictly than I do. I will say that,
in my life, I have been very strict in attending meetings, and when I
attend now I feel that the Saints require me to speak to them; that is
their desire and their faith; but I have met with and talked to them
and the inhabitants of the earth so much that I very frequently feel
that my talk is almost finished, it is pretty much gone out of me; not
the subjects to talk upon or the ideas, but the strength of my human
existence, and in consequence of this during the winter just passed I
have stayed at home. I have not asked the Saints to excuse me on this
account, for I think that I know my own duty and what I should or
should not do better than anybody else; but as I am feeling much
better with regard to my stomach and lungs, though I have no complaint
to make of my lungs as to the wind chest—I have plenty of strength
there; but the organs of speech in this tabernacle are actually worn;
but as I am feeling better I expect to meet with you more frequently.
It is my highest delight and pleasure to serve God and keep his
commandments; there is great delight in the law of the Lord to me, for
the simple reason—it is pure, holy, just, and true; and those
principles which the Lord has revealed are the only correct principles
that man possesses on the earth. We may imagine to ourselves that we
possess a great deal of human wisdom independent of the Lord, but this
is a mistake, for every truth that is in the possession of the
children of men upon the earth came from God. The sciences understood
by man came from God, and when we demonstrate a truth, we demonstrate
a portion of the faith, law, or power by which all intelligent beings
exist, whether in heaven or on earth, consequently when we have truth
in our possession we have so much of the knowledge of God. I delight
in this, because truth is calculated to sustain itself; it is based
upon eternal facts and will endure, while all else will sooner or
later perish.
It was observed here just now that we differ from the Christian world
in our religious faith and belief; and so we do very materially. I am
not astonished that infidelity prevails to a great extent among the
inhabitants of the earth, for the religious teachers of the people
advance many ideas and notions for truth which are in opposition to
and contradict facts demonstrated by science, and which are generally
understood. Says the scientific man, "I do not see your religion to be
true; I do not understand the law, light, rules, religion, or whatever
you call it, which you say God has revealed; it is confusion to me,
and if I submit to and embrace your views and theories I must reject
the facts which science demonstrates to me." This is the position, and
the line of demarcation has been plainly drawn, by those who profess
Christianity, between the sciences and revealed religion. You take,
for instance, our geologists, and they tell us that this earth has
been in existence for thousands and millions of years. They
think, and they have good reason for their faith, that their
researches and investigations enable them to demonstrate that this
earth has been in existence as long as they assert it has; and they
say, "If the Lord, as religionists declare, made the earth out of
nothing in six days, six thousand years ago, our studies are all vain;
but by what we can learn from nature and the immutable laws of the
Creator as revealed therein, we know that your theories are incorrect
and consequently we must reject your religions as false and vain; we
must be what you call infidels, with the demonstrated truths of
science in our possession; or, rejecting those truths, become
enthusiasts in, what you call, Christianity."
In these respects we differ from the Christian world, for our religion
will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any
particular. You may take geology, for instance, and it is a true
science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions
and deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles
are; they are facts—they are eternal; and to assert that the Lord made
this earth out of nothing is preposterous and impossible. God never
made something out of nothing; it is not in the economy or law by
which the worlds were, are, or will exist. There is an eternity before
us, and it is full of matter; and if we but understand enough of the
Lord and his ways, we would say that he took of this matter and
organized this earth from it. How long it has been organized it is not
for me to say, and I do not care anything about it. As for the Bible
account of the creation we may say that the Lord gave it to Moses, or
rather Moses obtained the history and traditions of the fathers, and
from these picked out what he considered necessary, and that account
has been handed down from age to age, and we have got it, no matter
whether it is correct or not, and whether the Lord found the earth
empty and void, whether he made it out of nothing or out of the rude
elements; or whether he made it in six days or in as many millions of
years, is and will remain a matter of speculation in the minds of men
unless he give revelation on the subject. If we understood the process
of creation there would be no mystery about it, it would be all
reasonable and plain, for there is no mystery except to the ignorant.
This we know by what we have learned naturally since we have had a
being on the earth. We can now take a hymn book and read its contents;
but if we had never learned our letters and knew nothing about type or
paper or their uses, and should take up a book and look at it, it
would be a great mystery; and still more so would it be to see a
person read line after line, and give expression therefrom to the
sentiments of himself or others. But this is no mystery to us now,
because we have learned our letters, and then learned to place those
letters into syllables, the syllables into words, and the words into
sentences.
Fifty or a hundred years ago, if anyone had told the people of the
East Indies that water could be congealed, and form ice so thick and
hard that you could walk on and drive teams over it, they would
probably have said, "We do not believe a word of it." Why? Because
they did not know anything about it. A proper reply for all mankind to
make under similar circumstances would be, "We do not know anything
about what you say, and do not know whether we should have faith in it
or not. Perhaps we should, but we have no evidence at present
on which to found such a belief." You go down south here among some of
our native Indian tribes, where some of the very best of blankets are
made, and you will find them twisting their yarn with their fingers
and little sticks, and their loom attached to the limbs of trees for
weaving purposes. Show them a loom such as white people use, and it
would be a perfect mystery to them. Sixty or seventy years ago a loom
worked by water power would have been a mystery to an American, but,
there is no mystery in that today, because the process is understood.
So it is with the East Indians and ice, for the chemist now, by a
chemical process, will congeal the water and make ice of it before
their eyes, and it is in this way, by testimony, evidence, and
demonstration that ignorance and prejudice are removed, faith
implanted and knowledge acquired. It is so with regard to all the
facts in existence that we do not understand.
We differ very much with Christendom in regard to the sciences of
religion. Our religion embraces all truth and every fact in existence,
no matter whether in heaven, earth, or hell. A fact is a fact, all
truth issues forth from the Fountain of truth, and the sciences are
facts as far as men have proved them. In talking to a gentleman not
long ago, I said, "The Lord is one of the most scientific men that
ever lived; you have no idea of the knowledge that he has with regard
to the sciences. If you did but know it, every truth that you and all
men have acquired a knowledge of through study and research, has come
from him—he is the fountain whence all truth and wisdom flow; he is
the fountain of all knowledge, and of every true principle that exists
in heaven or on earth." The gentleman said that such ideas conflicted
with his traditions; but said he, "I like to hear such talk and such
principles taught, for we do know, from scientific research and
investigation, that certain facts exist in nature which those called
Christians discard or throw away; they do not want anything to do with
them; they say this has nothing to do with religion; but you talk very
different to this."
Yes, we do differ in these respects from the Christian world; with
them it is "glory, hallelujah," shouting "Praise the Lord," singing,
praying and preaching; and when they are out of meeting they are too
apt to enter into the spirit of the world. The religion that we have
embraced must last a man from Monday morning until Monday morning, and
from Saturday night until Saturday night, and from one new year until
another; it must be in all our thoughts and words, in all our ways and
dealings. We come here to tell the people how to be saved; we know
how, consequently we can tell others. Suppose our calling, tomorrow,
is to conduct a railroad, to go into some philosophical business, or
no matter what, our minds, our faith or religion, our God and his
Spirit are with us; and if we should happen to be found in a room
dedicated for purposes of amusement and an accident should occur, and
an Elder engaged in the dance is called upon to go and lay hands on
the sick, if he is not prepared to exercise his calling and his faith
in God as much there as at any other time and in any other place, he
never should be found there, for none have a legal right to the
amusements which the Lord has ordained for his children except those
who acknowledge his hand in all things and keep his commandments. You
see from this that our religion differs very much from others.
A gentleman said to me not long since, "You 'Mormons' don't
seem to be very religious; I do not make any pretensions to be
religious; and I like you very well." I replied, "That is a mistake,
we are the most religious people on the face of the earth. We do not
allow ourselves to go into a field to plough without taking our
religion with us; we do not go into an office, behind the counter to
deal out goods, into a counting house with the books, or anywhere to
attend to or transact any business without taking our religion with
us. If we are railroading or on a pleasure trip our God and our
religion must be with us. We are the most religious people in the
world; but we are not so enthusiastic as some are. We have seen plenty
of enthusiasm, but we do not care about it." Said I, "This shouting
and singing one's self away to everlasting bliss, may be all very well
in its place; but this alone is folly to me; my religion is to know
the will of God and do it.
I will say a few words to the Saints now. Shall I come right out plain
to you? I think I will. Suppose I were to get up a party here and say,
"You are welcome, I will find music and a good dinner," do you not
think this room would be crowded? Yes, to overflowing, it would not be
large enough; but when it is opened for the worship of God how
different! O, Saints, all the fear that I have with regard to us as a
people, is that we may neglect our God and our religion! We have
passed through the narrows, and have run the gauntlet for forty years
now and have come out unscathed, and what do you say? Will we serve
God?
Latter-day Saints, have your chil dren come to meeting. Sisters, let
your little girls go to Sunday school or come to meeting! Brethren,
let your children go to Sunday school, or to meeting, and advise your
neighbors to do the same, and let this hall be crowded; and when more
want to gain admittance than it will accommodate we will resort to the
New Tabernacle, as we intend to do this afternoon. Some of the sisters
say it is so warm in here; but let me ask them whether they would go
without breakfast rather than cook it because the stove is hot. If
there were a breakfast or dinner here, I expect you would come
notwithstanding the warmth. I do not fear the scoffs of the world;
but, as I have already said, if I fear anything with regard to this
people, it is that they will neglect God and their religion.
We have heard something about Joseph Smith this morning. Brother
Woodruff has been talking about the Prophet. I can say that if the
whole world of mankind had known Joseph Smith and this people as well
as we know them, the biggest infidel in the world, or the wickedest
man living, if he had not passed the day of redemption and grace, so
that the Spirit of the Lord had ceased to operate on his mind, that
man would thank God for the Latter-day Saints, for we are for the
salvation of all who can be saved, and we calculate to continue until
the work is done. Jesus is our captain and leader; Jesus, the Savior
of the world—the Christ that we believe in, is the "one-man power" so
much talked about; and we calculate to do his will as far as we know
it. May God help us to do it! Amen.