I have a testimony, brethren and sisters, as to the truth of the work
of God, that it is a pleasure to me to bear to you, and to strangers
when opportunity offers. I have no particular text to speak upon at
the present time, save the one that should be at all times in the mind
of every Latter-day Saint, and that is, the kingdom of God, and its
growth and development upon the earth. This is a subject that should
be ever present with us; and when an individual whose interests are
professedly identified with that kingdom, forgets the duties devolving
upon him in connection with it, we may infer that he has ceased to be
useful therein.
We know, brethren, that it is impossible to please the Lord by
following the counsels of our own minds, unless they are enlightened
by the Spirit of the Almighty. The wisdom of man is not the wisdom of
God, and to be successful in extending and strengthening the cause of
God on the earth, we must have his Spirit to guide us. If our ways
were as God's ways, we would do as he would have us do; but it is
evident to all who are acquainted with the actions of the human
family, not excluding the Latter-day Saints, that the mind of man is
not as God's mind. A verse of Scripture, which now occurs to my mind,
will illustrate this. It will be found in the 11th verse of
the 2nd chapter of the 1st epistle to the Corinthians—"For what man
knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."
The experience that the Latter-day Saints have had has taught them
that this is true, and we know that when a man deems himself capable
of acting solely on his own intelligence, and neglects to seek for the
wisdom of Heaven to guide him, he is very apt to go astray. This
feeling of independence of the Almighty has caused the apostasy of
some, whom we, perhaps, have thought it would be almost impossible to
blind to the truths they once advocated so well; but it is the case.
Men do not look at things as God looks at them, therefore it is
indispensably necessary for each individual Latter-day Saint to have
the Spirit of God within him, that he may do His will and not carry
out his own views.
Look over the nations of the earth, and where is there a government
established on correct principles, that is, in accordance with the
commandments of God? There is not one, for they are all established by
the wisdom of men, and men's ways are so different from the ways of
God that it is impossible, with all their intelligence and
knowledge—and we know they possess a great deal—for men to establish a
government after the order of God. In some minor particulars such a
government might not be far out of the way, but in all the essentials
it would be dissimilar. It is the same with us, the Latter-day Saints,
without the inspiration and wisdom of Heaven to guide us, we cannot
hope to carry out and accomplish God's purposes. Many of us have not
had the educational advan tages enjoyed by the wealthy in the outside
world, having belonged to the laboring classes—to what is termed the
downtrodden portions of the population of Europe and America, and I
say thank God for it, for as a general thing the educated classes are
fast becoming unbelievers in the Old and New Testament. We, having
been taken from the lowly walks of life, have not, according to the
ideas of the world, the intelligence necessary to establish a form of
government equal to that which other men have established who have
been more learned, better educated than we are, and who have had more
wisdom than we seem to have, in a temporal point of view. But God, in
his infinite mercy, has inspired our leaders, he has endowed them with
wisdom and understanding to take the course and perform the work that
he desired. I have heard men of the world point out to President Young
and other leading men in this Church the course they should pursue
under certain circumstances, to ensure the approval and friendship of,
and to give satisfaction to, the leading men of our nation and the
nations abroad; and to my certain knowledge their counsel was
diametrically opposed to the course taken under those circumstances. I
have noticed these things, and I know it is true that God's ways are
not as men's ways; and for a man to undertake to be a Latter-day Saint
while groping in the dark by trusting wholly to the intelligence of
his own mind, is the hardest work imaginable; it is the most laborious
task that can be, for any individual on the earth to try to be what he
ought to be before his God without the Holy Spirit to assist and guide
him. We know that naturally our hearts are far removed from God; and,
speaking to the ancient Saints, one of the Apostles told them
they were blinded in part, and saw through a glass darkly. This is our
condition, then how necessary it is for us to seek continually for
that Spirit which will enable us to live as Saints of the Most High
should live, and to labor so that we may establish a kingdom on the
earth which God will delight in, and which, when the great men of the
earth see, they will be willing to acknowledge the wisdom manifested
therein, and to glorify God for the same. Today, if a stranger were
to come into this congregation, for instance, he would be very likely
to think, "These are the Latter-day Saints—the people who have
gathered out from the nations of the earth to worship God! Well, I do
not see a great amount of intellect manifested, there is no great
intellectual ability, not so much as among the people of other
congregations where I have been." That may be true, and hence the
proof is more striking that the work we have done has been directed
and dictated by the wisdom of the Almighty, and in its accomplishment
the very spirit, energy and determination which our leaders have
exhibited were required. You might have ransacked the world from one
end to the other, and you could not have found educated men—men
brought up in colleges—who would have come out and taken the axe and
the plow, driven the teams, made the roads, led the people and located
them as our leaders have done. They might have done these things if
they had been willing to bow in obedience to God; but they are too
highly educated, they are too full of the wisdom of the world to seek
unto God, in lowliness of heart, for his Spirit to guide them, as our
leaders have done. Such men as those I am referring to, could not have
trusted implicitly in the arm of Jehovah, when on the plains, to
protect them from the savages, the storms, and all the dangers
incident to such a journey; they could not understand and comprehend
the necessity of faith in God under such circumstances, their
education and worldly wisdom would have rendered it next to
impossible, and it required the very men who have been our leaders to
do the work that has been done, and it needs them still. They are
perfectly willing that God should guide this great ship Zion, they are
willing to act under his direction; and no matter who the man is, nor
where he comes from, if he identifies himself with this people, he
must be willing that God should lead and guide him, and to obey every
word that proceeds from His mouth, or he is not the man to help to
carry on this work.
To say that we are a perfect people, I cannot do it, neither can I
say that I am a perfect man. I am just as full of weaknesses as any
other man, and so are my brethren with whom I associate; but the Elder
of Israel, no matter how great his weaknesses, who humbly trusts in
God and continually strives to overcome evil and to do only that which
is right, will be enabled to triumph and be faithful to the end. What
matters it if a man likes whiskey, if he does not drink it? I do not
care how much a man in this Church likes it, if he does not drink it,
it makes no difference. I do not care how much he loves tobacco, or
this, that or the other, that is not good, if he brings his actions
and feelings into subjection to the dictates of the Spirit of God. I
do not care how much a man loves property, it will not harm him if he
does not set his heart upon it so that he could not sacrifice it, if
required to do so, to promote the interests of God's kingdom upon the
earth. I remember once, when a boy, Jedediah M. Grant saw me
chewing tobacco, and said he, "You chew tobacco, do you?" "Yes, sir."
"Well, I never had any taste for it; it is no virtue in me that I do
not use it, I tried hard enough, but it made me sick." The virtue,
brethren, is in putting away or overcoming habits which you know would
impede your progress in the kingdom of God. It was not a virtue in
Bro. Grant that he did not chew tobacco, he tried to learn how, but
could not do it. I tried, and succeeded. But, brethren and sisters,
the idea is, to bring our actions, thoughts and feelings into complete
subjection to the dictates of the Holy Spirit, and to be on hand at
all times to labor as we are directed for the building up of the
kingdom of God upon the earth; that should be the object with us. It
is no use for a man to say, "I am a Latter-day Saint, and they have
not cut me off yet. I have almost feared it sometimes, because I did
not do that which I knew to be right; but I am still within the pale
of the kingdom, and I hope to slip along with the balance." This is
just as great folly as for a man to claim the right to go a journey by
railway when he has no ticket and no means to pay his fare. He may
hang around, and declare that he is one of the crowd, and that he is
going along with them on that train; but, ignorant of the time it
starts, and destitute of the means to pay his way, he strays off for a
short time, and in the meanwhile the train starts and leaves him
behind. It is just so with an unfaithful Elder in this kingdom—he is
not prepared for events as they transpire, and, lacking the spirit of
the Gospel, is liable to be left behind.
I am talking to people who understand me, to people who have the word
of God. The Elders testify that God has spoken from the heavens, and,
that he revealed principles to the Prophet Joseph Smith and others,
for the salvation of the human family; they declare that the
principles revealed to them will save the people if they will practice
them in their lives. I am talking to people who have received a
testimony of these things for themselves, who have stood before, and
lifted up their voices to, the nations of the earth, and declared that
they knew Jesus was the Christ, that he had established his kingdom on
the earth, that he had revealed principles which would save us and
return us back into the presence of God, if we would practice them.
These are the men and women I am talking to; you know as well as I do
that the Gospel is true, and my talk is to inspire your hearts and my
heart to be more faithful to that which we know to be true. It is not
anything new to you and to me to be told that the kingdom of God is on
the earth, or to hear the principles of salvation proclaimed by the
Elders; but it is good to have our hearts warmed and inspired, and our
desires to be diligent and faithful, renewed and strengthened. I do not
want the train to start without me, I want to be on board the good
ship Zion, with my brethren. So does every soul present, I have no
doubt of it. I believe that the atheist—the man who has no belief in
God, or faith in any religion, would like the best berth to be had,
either on a sailing vessel or steamer, if he saw any chance to obtain
it. The Latter-day Saints have good berths in view. You can testify
with me that the Spirit of God has enlightened our minds; you can
testify with me that the power of God led us to these valleys; that
prophecies have been uttered in our hearing, and we have seen them fulfilled, and we know that God has spoken in our day.
Brethren and sisters, let us be faithful, let us be true to the
covenants we have made, for if we are, we insure to ourselves life and
salvation; but, on the other hand, if we are recreant, we shall go to
destruction. This is the testimony of modern as well as ancient
revelation; and we need not take our own works to convince the people
of the error of their ways; there is principle enough bound within the
lids of this book—the Bible—to convince all mankind of the error of
their ways, and to lead them from darkness to the Lord Almighty, if
they felt as humble before God as I suppose my brethren and sisters do
today. But it seems that, in the providence of God, things have been
ordered as they are, that is, he has suffered the wickedness of men to
transpire in the nations of the earth, and he has suffered priests to
be raised up to blind the minds of men. Why? Because men have their
agency to do as their hearts prompt them, and there is no power that
can prevent them doing this, that or the other; but their acts will be
overruled by a superior power. We have our free agency, to think and
act just as men think and act, independent of the promptings of the
Spirit of God; but that is not our object, our aim is to do the will
of God; and brethren, if we could only see the labor and toil that we
have to perform before we accomplish our salvation, we would bow in
humility before God and pray him to give us strength as our day.
Look at the immense number of people who have lived on the earth since
its creation! In what relationship do we stand to them? Who are they?
Our progenitors, and millions of them have died without the Gospel.
What an immense labor opens up before us when we think of these
things! Millions and hundreds of millions of men and women, just as
good as we are, according to the knowledge they had, must be
administered for by us, and we have to build temples in which the work
for their redemption may be performed. We have not only to build
temples, but cities; we have to redeem the earth, and we have a vast
amount of physical labor to do, that our progenitors did not have the
privilege of doing, it was never offered to them, but it has been laid
before us in plainness and simplicity. We can understand the principle
of baptism for the dead, it has been made plain to us, and
administering it, and performing the various duties that will arise in
building up the kingdom of God, will give us labor for centuries. Can
we, in view of these duties and responsibilities, be idle? Can we fail
to seek after the Spirit of God to guide us, that we may accomplish
these labors? If we do, we shall not only deprive ourselves of a great
privilege and of great glory, but we shall deprive others, perhaps, to
some extent, of receiving that which is theirs by right; they have
lived for it, and they are entitled to it at our hands.
What can injure the Latter-day Saints? I will ask Brother Hulse here.
Does it injure a man to be tarred and feathered? I understand that
while he was east he was tarred and feathered, or ducked, or something
of that kind, and I have no doubt he feels glad of the persecution.
Still, I would not like it just now. Our Elders have been tarred and
feathered, and they have suffered a good deal in their efforts to
spread the Gospel of the kingdom; but what have they suffered in
comparison with the blessings they have received? What is there that would induce a man to sacrifice that feeling of joy which he
experiences when preaching the Gospel in the nations? I have heard
Elders testify, and it is their general experience, that when abroad
preaching, depending for their food upon strangers, unsustained and
unsupported, save as the providences of God opened the way before them
that they have had a feeling of peace and joy such as they never
experienced before in their lives, and which they would not lose for
all the wealth on the face of the earth. What is that feeling and
where does it come from? It is the peace of God, and when a man
possesses it, his thoughts are not as man's thoughts, and, inspired
from on high, he goes forth freely, ready to endure any trial and to
make any sacrifice to declare the principles of life and salvation to
the people. This is the way that all Latter-day Saints should always
feel, and they who take this course are continually in possession of
the spirit of peace; they are worthy the name of Saints, and the
Scriptures inform us, that from such no good thing will be withheld,
and if a man wants anything that is bad he is not a Saint, he does not
belong to that catalogue.
My exhortation to you is to be faithful. You know the truth, honor it
by walking uprightly; serve God and you will be the most independent
men and women on the face of the earth. People come amongst us
sometimes and declare that there is no independence of character
amongst the Latter-day Saints, because they do the bidding of one
man—do just as one man says; but I heard a remark made last night,
that the Latter-day Saints are the most independent people on earth,
and I believe it. If it does not manifest independence of character
for men and women, who have been honest and upright all their days, to
leave their relatives, neighbors, friends and associates, by whom they
have always been respected, to join the Latter-day Saints and be
called everything that is mean, where will you find it on the face of
the earth. Such men have joined the Church in the States, and Bishop
Hunter is an instance. He was respected and honored by his neighbors,
and was known to have been an honest, upright, Godfearing man all his
days; and when such men have joined the Church they have been talked
of in the most scandalous manner. Vituperation has been heaped upon
them, the papers have slandered them, their neighbors have turned
against them, and called them thieves, robbers, murderers, and
everything mean, contemptible and bad. But this treatment never
changed the character of Bishop Hunter. He came to Nauvoo, and was a
good Latter-day Saint, a good, honest man, faithful and true to his
covenants, and he has proved so up to the present day. This has been
the treatment and the course of very many of the members of this
Church, and in enduring and pursuing it, they have shown an
independence of character that is rarely equaled. They have also
shown themselves possessed of inspiration from the Almighty, and when
men enjoy this, their ways are not as men's ways, but as God's ways
and they are willing to come out and acknowledge God, and to enter
into covenant to do his will as he makes it known to them. This is the
position of the Latter-day Saints—when God's will is made known to
them, the spirit within them testifies to the truth thereof, and they
know it is their business to perform their part of the contract. Who
can blame them for doing it?
As far as independence is concerned, we are a little too indepen dent of God, sometimes. I know that this is the feeling I have to
contend with. Brethren, let our hearts be uplifted to the Almighty!
Remember the covenants you have made; they are pure. Keep them so.
They are holy; keep them so! Do not disgrace them! Brethren and
sisters, if we value our salvation, temporal and spiritual, let us be
true to our covenants, and to the God we have engaged to serve.
May God bless you. Amen.