I am pleased to have the privilege of meeting with the Saints in this
place, and of speaking to them such things as the Lord may place in my
mind to communicate. I am well aware that I do not know how to speak,
and that you do not know how to hear, unless we are all under the
influence and guidance of the Spirit of the living God. We are
spiritual beings, and liberal and temporal beings; we have to do with
time and eternity, and, as we can know nothing about eternity and
nothing about God only as he shall reveal it unto us, it follows as a
necessary consequence that all the theories, ideas and dogmas of men
can be of no avail in instructing the human family in things
pertaining to God and eternity. This holds good in regard to all of
our affairs in life, whether it be the life that now is or the life
that is to come. We know very little about the world we live in. We
know very little about ourselves, about our own bodies, about the
spirit and mind of man, or the operation of the Spirit of God upon
that spirit and mind, and much less about eternity, about God and
heaven, and about the designs and purposes of the Almighty; and it is
folly for man, unaided and undirected by the Almighty, to attempt to
teach things pertaining to the kingdom of God or to the welfare and
happiness of the human family. We, as human beings, and especially as
Latter-day Saints, who have given some attention to these matters, and
feel ourselves identified with the Church and kingdom of God upon the
earth, have ideas that differ very materially from those of the world,
and that difference may be traced to the influence and operation of
the Spirit of God upon our minds through obedience to the first principles of the Gospel of Christ; for, while the world of
mankind generally have repudiated the order of God and the
institutions of his house, we as believers in him and in the
establishment of his kingdom upon the earth in these latter days,
occupy a very different position from that of the rest of the world.
The Scriptures definitely inform us that no man knoweth the things of
God but by the Spirit of God. The Gospel teaches us how we may obtain
a knowledge of that Spirit, and that is, by repenting of our sins,
being baptized in the name of Jesus for their remission, and having
hands laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost. And as we have
complied with the first principles of the Gospel of Christ and
partaken of the Holy Ghost, we have had some slight manifestations of
the will, designs and purposes of the Almighty in relation to us, to
those who have lived before us, and those who shall come after us; in
relation to the worlds that are and that are to come. I say that we
have had some slight idea of these things, and that it has originated
from the peculiar position that we occupy through our obedience to the
first principles of the Gospel of Christ. Other men do not—
cannot—comprehend things as we do; they have not the means of
demonstrating the truth of the Gospel as we have, not having complied
with its first principles. That which is light, intelligence,
intelligent, happifying and glorious to us, is confusion and darkness
to them. They cannot conceive of it; they cannot comprehend the laws
of life, nor understand anything pertaining to the kingdom of God. I
do not care what intelligence they may possess in regard to other
matters; I do not care how profoundly learned they may be in the arts
and sciences of the world; they may have studied mathematics, examined
the physiology of the human system, and may have made themselves
acquainted with geology, mineralogy, and the structure of the earth on
which we live, and of the planetary system and the motion of worlds
with which we are surrounded; they may have made themselves acquainted
with history, geology, botany, law, physics, literature and theology,
and all this knowledge, and much more than this, and if they are not
in possession of the Holy Ghost, the principle of revelation, the
light of eternal truth, they cannot comprehend the kingdom of God.
You have all read about Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night. Nicodemus
thought there was something good about Jesus, but there was not enough
manhood about himself. He was something of a sneak, the same as you
sometimes see some men now. He wanted to come to Jesus, but he had not
manhood to do so by daylight, so he came by night—under cover of
darkness, and said he, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come
from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except
God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God." Nicodemus did not understand this, and he said unto Jesus,
"How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God." He could not even see the
kingdom of God unless he was born of water, and he could not enter
into it unless he was born of water and of the Spirit.
This was the statement of Jesus, and it may account for the singular
feeling we see manifested among the children of men towards us as a
people. Men of ability and learning will come into our midst and say,
"You have a remarkably fine country here, and you have exhibited a
large amount of intelligence, industry and perseverance. We do not know
anything about your religion, nor about its principles. We were
inclined to think unfavorably of it from the many reports we heard
abroad concerning you; but now that we see your order, diligence,
perseverance, improvements, your beautiful cities and villages, your
railroads and the various enterprises you have engaged in; when we see
your freedom from the vices which generally prevail in the world, we
think there is something peculiar about it, but what it is we do not
know." They cannot see the kingdom of God—they have not been born of
water, that is the trouble with them. I frequently talk with ministers
of various denominations on these subjects, but they are as blind as
bats—they do not know anything about them. They can talk about
politics and history, and they can discourse philosophically on
various branches of art and science, but when you come to the kingdom
of God they are egregiously ignorant, and they fulfill the words of
Jesus, that no man can see that kingdom unless he is born again.
Take a retrospective view of the history of this people. See their
position and the position of the Church and kingdom of God, years ago
and now, and then look at the things to come; talk of the kingdom as
it was, as it is, and as it will be. There is something great,
magnificent, and glorious to reflect upon—something which every
Latter-day Saint, who has his mind lit up with the Spirit,
intelligence and revelation which flow from God, admires; and he feels
to say in his heart, as one said in former days: "Let this people be
my people, let their God be my God; where they live let me live also,
and where they die let me be buried; and let me be their associate and
mingle with them in time and in eternity." This is the kind of feeling
that the Spirit of God imparts to every Latter-day Saint who lives his
religion and keeps the commandments of God.
We are engaged in a work that God has set his hand to accomplish, and
he has made use of us as instruments, and he will also use others who
shall yet be gathered, to build up his kingdom, and to introduce
correct principles of every kind—principles of morality, social
principles, good political principles; principles relative to the
government of the earth we live in; principles of salvation pertaining
to ourselves and our progenitors and to our posterity, and pertaining
to the world that was, that is and that is to come; and as I said, he
is using us as instruments. It is true that we blunder and stumble; it
is true that we are surrounded with all the weaknesses and infirmities
of human nature, but with all our weaknesses and foibles clinging to
us the Lord has called us from the nations of the earth to be his
co-adjutors and co-laborers, his fellow workmen and assistants, in
rolling forth his purposes and bringing to pass those things that he
designed before the world was. It is true that the Lord made man
perfect, but man has found out many inventions, and he is very much
degenerated, and is all the time prone to weakness, corruption, folly
and vanity, and God knows it, and he knew it when he selected us. But
what could he do? He could not select angels to associate with him in regenerating the earth and its inhabitants, for they were not
very proper associates. He had to select just such beings as there
were, and in the first place he revealed himself from the heavens to
Joseph Smith. He made known to him some of the first principles of the
Gospel of Christ, and then unfolded unto him certain things pertaining
to the organization of the Church of God upon the earth, the Church in
its organization, with Presidents, Apostles, High Priests, Seventies,
Bishops and their councils, high councils, for their instruction and
guidance, and with teachers, priests and deacons, and so forth. He
organized his Church here upon the earth, and revealed unto these
various quorums their several duties, and placed upon them certain
responsibilities, told them what they were, and revealed unto Joseph
Smith all things pertaining to the first organization of his kingdom
upon the earth. He told his disciples, as Jesus told his, to go forth
without purse or scrip, to preach the Gospel to every nation and
kindred and people and tongue—to call upon them to repent of their
sins, to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their
sins, to have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy
Ghost; to lay hands upon the sick and to cast out devils, just as
Jesus told his disciples to do; and said he: "Freely you have
received, freely give." "Go without purse or scrip, trust in me, I am
your father, I am the God and father of all the spirits of all flesh.
I have you under my special control, I will stand by, I will sustain
you, my spirit shall go with you, mine angels shall go before you to
prepare the way for you." This is what he told Joseph Smith, and the
Elders went forth, according to the word that God had given them, and
they told you and told others to repent of your sins and be baptized
in the name of Jesus for the remission of them. And what then? You
should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which should take of the
things of God and show them unto you; it should unveil the heavens to
one, give the spirit of prophecy to another, the gift of
interpretation to another, the gift of healing to another, and so
forth, the Spirit dividing to each man severally as he saw fit.
These Elders went forth and preached to you Latter-day Saints now
before me, this very Gospel I have been laying before you, and there
was something in your spirit ready to receive it. You could not tell
why or wherefore, but you believed it to be a message sent from God,
and you went forth into the waters of baptism and were baptized, and
you received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and you then knew for
yourselves of the truth of that doctrine which God had committed unto
them; and you, in turn, were ordained, and you also went forth to
preach the same Gospel, with the same results, for you saw the power
of God manifested. You saw the sick healed, and the power of God
attend your ministrations. You saw the lame leap for joy, those who
were downcast, inspired and led to rejoice through the principles of
eternal life, and thus the Lord has perpetuated the same thing until
the present day. Mixed up with that have been other things. We have
been gathered here. What for? What did we come here for? Who knows? We
came here because God said he would build up his Zion in the latter
days.
Under the teachings of Joseph Smith and President Young, the Elders of
the Church have preached the gathering, and this is a gathering dispensation. But there is something else to be done besides
simply being introduced into the spiritual ordinances of the Church of
God: there is a kingdom to be established. We have gathered from the
east and the west, from the north and the south, for a spirit rested
upon the people to gather together, and no man could prevent them. All
of you know how this feeling operated upon you, just as much as when
it operated upon you by baptism—when you had the Spirit of God upon
you you could not resist it. I remember a circumstance that transpired
in Liverpool some thirty years ago. We were told at that time by
Joseph Smith not to preach the gathering, for we had been driven from
Missouri, and as there was no particular specific place, he thought it
was not well to say anything about gathering until a place should be
prepared, then we should have instructions and could teach it. That
was all well enough, but we could not keep it from the people. Why?
They had received the Holy Ghost, and that took of the things of God
and showed them to the people, and you could not hide the gathering
from them. I remember a sister coming to me on one occasion and
saying, "Brother Taylor, I had a curious kind of a dream the other
night." "What was it?" "Well," said she, "I dreamed there was a whole
lot of Saints standing at the pier head down below here, in Liverpool;
and there was a vessel there and it was going off to America, and we
were going to some place they called Zion. I was going, you were
going, and the Saints were all going. I thought I would ask you the
meaning of it." I told her I would tell her one of these times. We
could not keep it away from the people. If we had been told not to
baptize and lay hands on them we could have kept it from them, but
when they had been baptized and had hands laid upon them they received
the Holy Ghost, and that Spirit showed the things of God to them and
we could not hide them from them, hence from the time the people in
the nations began to obey the Gospel to the present there has been a
feeling in their hearts to gather up to Zion. The Saints abroad have
desired to come here, and the Saints here have desired that they
should come, and this is why we have sent as many as five hundred
teams in a year to fetch our brethren from the Missouri River who were
unable to come without assistance. What have we done this for? Well,
some people may say it is a grand emigration scheme; but we say it is
a scheme of the Lord to build up his kingdom and to gather the people
together, according to the saying of the old prophets—"I will take one
of a city and two of a family and bring them to Zion." "What, will you
do with them?" "I will give them pastors after my own heart, who shall
feed them with knowledge and understanding," that is what I will do
with them when I get them to Zion.
Well, we have gathered from the nations year after year, until today
we find ourselves a large people, actually occupying a Territory some
five hundred miles in length. What is the result of this? Why we have
got to have a political organization—we cannot avoid it. The Church
has gathered us together, the Spirit of God has operated on our minds,
and we are here an integral part of the United States of America, and
we cannot help ourselves. If we wished to do so we could not
annihilate ourselves or blot ourselves out of existence, and we do not
want to if we could. But the necessities of the case have
forced us into the very position that we now occupy—namely, a
Territory in the United States of America; and as we are here, we like
other people, have to eat, drink, wear clothing, build houses, make
farms, and so on. God has ordained all these things before, and we, as
part of his creatures, have to do our part towards beautifying his
footstool.
Finding ourselves in this capacity, we must have our courts. It is
true that, formerly, our individual matters were regulated by our High
Councils, Bishops' Councils, teachers, and so forth: but in some of
the revelations it says, "Let him that steals be delivered up to the
laws of the land." Well, here we are, and we occupy a political
position, and we cannot help it, and nobody else can help it. You who
live here, form a city, and you must have city regulations. You want
police to guard you from the inroads of wicked men, either among
ourselves or outsiders, no matter who, to protect the peaceable,
industrious, honest and virtuous, and you must have some kind of
government to do it. In a church capacity, whether here or abroad, we
could cut the thief or drunkard from the Church if we had a mind to,
but here, if we cut a man from the Church, we cannot cut him from the
State, he is still a citizen of the United States, and in the United
States. In other places they make laws to punish theft, licentiousness
and other crimes. It is true they do not carry them out; they do not
care to do it, but they have such laws, and a variety of others to
regulate property matters, and so forth. And we are compelled to enact
such laws for safeguards around the whole community, for among other
things we are beginning to possess property. We have farms, and they
are in the United States, and we have to apply for patents for them,
just as they do anywhere else, and we have to conform to the processes
of law in all these matters, the same as any other people have. We
have also to plow the ground, and to fence it, and to have our
neighborhood, city and county regulations in Utah among the Saints,
just as the people do elsewhere, for, as I have already said, we are
part of the body politic of the United States.
It has been thought good to apply for a State government for us. Here
is Brother George A. Smith going down for that purpose. Why so? Why do
you do that? Is not that of the world? Yes, and we are of the world
and in the world, and we cannot get out of it until we are called out
of it by old age or some accidental death. We are here and we have got
to act, and we live, move and have our being, like other people. We
are not here to interfere with the rights of anybody. People may want
to rob us, but we do not want to rob anybody. We want to protect
ourselves in every legal and equitable way from the aggressions of
those who would seek our overthrow, and the overthrow of the kingdom
of God on the earth.
Well, finding ourselves thus organized, what have we to do? Why, we
have our bodies and our spirits, we are temporal beings, we are
immortal beings; we have to do with time and with eternity. We had
very little to do with coming here, we came by some manner of means,
we hardly know how, and we have to leave when the time comes, and we
cannot help ourselves. Then the only thing we ought to do is to act
as wise, intelligent beings before God. The world have no idea of God,
and they do not acknowledge him. He may develop, through one person, the principle of electricity, but the world will say it is
some wise man that did it. He may, through another, develop the power
of steam, but they say, Some wise man did it. Through another, God may
make known the light-giving power of gas, to another the tapping of
the earth to bring forth oils for illuminating purposes; but the world
say, "Some wise man has done this." Men do not like to acknowledge
God; it is just as the Scriptures say: they will not acknowledge him
in all their thoughts. They want to get rid of him, and they give the
glory to men for doing this, that and the other. Fools that they are!
What do they know about these principles? Who organized the principles
which they found out? Did man? Did he organize the principle of
electricity or give it its vitality and power? Did any of our savants?
No, they could not. Who placed the principle of power in steam? Did
man? No, he could not do it. They want to throw off God where they
can, while we want to bring him in and have him one of our crowd; that
is the difference between us and them. They find out something which
God has made, just as the little child when it discovers its fingers
for the first time. It had them long before, but when they first
attracted its attention it seemed to fancy it had made a great
discovery. God organized the child and placed its spirit within its
body, and it at last found out that it had a hand. And the scientific
babies of the world just discover some of the properties of matter,
some of nature's laws created by God long before, and like
Nebuchadnezzar they cry, in the pride of their hearts, "Is not this
great Babylon which I have built?" Yes it is, and it is as much of a
Babylon or Babel as the other was.
Well, God has commenced to do a work, and he began, in the first
place, with the very first principles of the Gospel, and he has led us
on gradually, until we find ourselves in our present position, and we
have got a beautiful land here, haven't we? And yet they call our
leader a murderer, and those who are his co-laborers the most infamous
blackhearted scoundrels that ever existed. Are these the works of
murderers that you see around here? Excuse me for referring to these
things, but I do it to contrast between one thing and another. We
always knew they were liars, and do today.
What are we after? What are the world after? Say they, "Is not this
great Babylon that we have built?" They tell us what magnificent
stripes and stars, and what glorious freedom we have got here in this
land of liberty; and in our Fourth of July orations we talk about the
great blessings that we enjoy, and how we have got bigger flags,
higher mountains, taller trees and deeper rivers than anybody else,
and we are the most magnificent people in existence. All over the land
this is the kind of talk and feeling that prevails, and men boast of
their wisdom, intelligence and prowess. But they are in the hands of
God—this nation and all others are in his hand, and he will deal with
them just as he sees proper. By and by he will cause the nations to
tremble to their foundations. Empires will be overthrown, kingdoms
destroyed, and the powers that be will fade away like "the baseless
fabric of a vision;" and he will exalt and ennoble those who put their
trust in him, and work the works of righteousness. We are here to do a
work; not a small one, but a large one. We are here to help the Lord
to build up his kingdom, and if we have any knowledge of
electricity, we thank God for it. If we have any knowledge of the
power of steam, we will say it came from God. If we possess any other
scientific information about the earth whereon we stand, or of the
elements with which we are surrounded, we will thank God for the
information, and say he has inspired men from time to time to
understand them, and we will go on and grasp more intelligence, light
and information, until we comprehend as we are comprehended of God.
This is what we are after. We are here to introduce correct principles
upon the earth on which we live; but we cannot do it any more than any
of these men can understand the laws of nature, unless God reveals
them to us. The world is all confusion, and men need the illuminating
influence of the Spirit of God.
We talk sometimes about our political status, and think that we have
been dreadfully oppressed and crowded here. Why, there are millions
and millions worse off in the United States than we are today. We
need not grunt much. Besides, we expect that the wicked will grow
worse, deceiving and being deceived. You Elders of Israel, have you
not prophesied about it? And if you have, are you surprised that men
begin to expose themselves, and to manifest the works of the devil in
every form—religiously, socially and politically, trampling under foot
every principle of honor and integrity? Are you surprised at it? I am
not, I expect it, and I expect it to grow worse and worse. But don't
you think we have got over all our difficulties. Not quite; not by a
long way. I expect things will grow worse and worse. As we increase in
power, the power of Satan and his emissaries will increase also. I
expect that all the time; but in the future God will put the opposers
of his cause and people to shame, as he has done the wretches now in
our midst. I expect that he will stand by Israel, maintain his
kingdom, uphold his people, and lead them on from victory to victory,
from strength to strengh, from power to power, from intelligence to
intelligence, until "the kingdoms of this world shall become the
kingdoms of our God and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and
ever," until a universal hosannah shall go up from the nations of the
earth, and "blessing, and glory and honor, and power, and might,
majesty and dominion shall be ascribed to him who sits on the throne
and unto the Lamb forever."
We are associated with these principles today. God is our God and our
Father. We approach him and we say: "We thank thee, O God, our Father,
for the mercies thou hast vouchsafed to thy people. We humble
ourselves before thee, because thou art our Father, and thy mercy
endures forever." This is the kind of feeling we have when we feel
right.
Well, we are here, and God is going to build up his kingdom. He will
do it, and we need not trouble ourselves about outsiders and their
notions, or about foolish men or their thoughts, practices and
calculations. It is a matter of very little difference to us. God is
at the helm—he manages, he guides, he directs and controls, he
influences his people, and he will continue to influence them. Well,
we are here, in the capacity, say, of a kingdom, and people tell us
that we are different from anybody else. Of course we are; we do not
expect to be like others. It is true that smoke goes out of our
chimneys, as out of the chimneys of others, because it is a law of
nature. It is true that potatoes, wheat and corn grow here as
elsewhere. It is true we have to attend to the common affairs
of life—eat, drink, sustain ourselves, clothe and keep ourselves warm,
as others do, and we have to take care of and protect ourselves from
the incursions and machinations of those who seek to destroy us. In
all these respects we have to take the same course that other people
do; but the difference between us is—we have an organization, a Church
organization, given by revelation from God, and which does not exist
anywhere else in this little world.
But what about other things relative to temporal affairs? If God can
organize us as a Church, if he can unveil the heavens to us, draw
aside the curtain of futurity, and enable us to penetrate the veil and
gain a certain knowledge in regard to the future, certainly he can
make known or reveal something about a few temporal things, such as
plowing, sowing, building, planting, trading, manufacturing, making
railroads, and a thousand other little things that have to be attended
to in this world. If he can do the bigger things, I think he can do
the less.
"Well, we are capable of doing that ourselves," say some people, some
of these philosophers I have referred to—they are all wise men, and
you would think wisdom would die with them, but it will not be
entirely extinguished when they are gone, not quite. God will still
lead, govern and direct his people. "But," say they, "we think we
could do things so much better than somebody else. Well then, go at it
and try; there is plenty of room in the world for you to exhibit your
intelligence.
We are in the hands of God. We have come here. What for? The Lord
says, "I will take them one of a city and two of a family, and bring
them to Zion." What will you do with them? "Give them pastors after my
own heart, who shall feed them with knowledge and understanding." It
is a fact, today, that the wise men and great men, and statesmen, and
men in position in various parts of the world, as they come here to
visit, us with all our failings and infirmities, tell us that we are
the best and most orderly people they have ever seen. And they say we
have a beautiful country, and that we are governed by wisdom, by sage
counsels, and by a high order of intelligence. That is the opinion of
the leading statesmen of this day who pass through our midst, and many
of them come through here. The question naturally arises, Where does
this wisdom come from? Why, God inspired Joseph Smith; then he
inspired President Young with the same kind of spirit and feeling.
Then he inspired the devil, or the devil inspired his imps—one of the
two—and drove us from our former possessions, and it all worked
together, the Lord inspired on the one hand, and the devil on the
other, and by hook or by crook, we got here, just as we are today.
We commenced to build a temple in Kirtland, and we built it. We built
another in Nauvoo, and we are building another here. We are attending
to the ordinances pertaining to the Church of God, temporal and
spiritual, ordinances pertaining to the body, and ordinances
pertaining to the spirit. And then, as men having to do with the world
on which we live, with the Territory that we possess, we have to enact
laws, and we have to conduct ourselves properly, and seek the
assistance of the Almighty to direct us in all our affairs, and the
Lord has promised if we would do that, he would show us that the
wisdom of God is greater than the cunning of the devil. Well, he does
keep showing that from time to time, and if we do right he
will keep on doing it. But to ensure this there is something
devolving upon us.
Says one, "If I could have so much money, such a farm, or this, that,
and the other, I would feel satisfied." I say, get the Spirit of God
in your hearts! Let the light of revelation burn in your bosoms like
living fire, then you will know something about God, something about
the blessings of salvation, something about the benefits that will
accrue to Zion. "But, sometimes, I have to make a little sacrifice if
I carry out the counsel given." Well, make it then. If it is a
sacrifice, it ought to be a pleasure to help build up the kingdom of
God, establish righteousness, plant the standard of truth, and to be
on the side of God, angels and eternal realities, to be saviors of
men. To be thus situated is the most honorable position in this world
or the world to come. Now, God could not get the world to do anything
towards building up his kingdom, they would not do it, they could not
see it, and he had to get you baptized before you could see it; and
seeing it now, will you barter it away for the follies of this world,
for the smiles and promises of the ungodly? Or are you going to cleave
to the truth, live by it, and, if necessary, die by it? What are you
going to do?
I am glad we have come here. I am pleased that these meetings have
been instituted, that the people get together, and that we have a
chance to talk with them, in their assemblies, about the things of
God. We are God's people, God is our Father, and we should spend a
little time in these things. This is our duty, and we should feel an
interest in them. That is what we set out for, and we mean to go
forward, and we will go on and on, for our motto is eternal progress.
This kingdom will advance, the purposes of God will roll forward, and
no power on this side of hell, or the other either, can stop it. God
will sustain his people, and Israel will rejoice and be triumphant.
Now then, we come to the management of our affairs. Talking of the
wise men of the world, why we have had many of them ever since the
world was. And what have they accomplished in the nations of the
earth? They have built cities, and some have raised themselves to fame
by trampling under foot thousands of others. They have waded through
seas of blood sometimes to get upon the throne of power. What to do?
That they might trample still lower poor humanity, and bring men down,
as it were, to the dust of death, and make serfs of them. What else
have they done? They have established every kind of government, as
they have every kind of religion. Do you not think that we need
revelation about government as much as anything else? I think we do. I
think we need God to dictate to us as much in our national and social
affairs as in church matters. Some people are willing to have their
souls looked after, but they think they are smart enough to look after
temporal affairs themselves. In the world they want a doctor to look
after their bodies, a parson to look after their souls, and a lawyer
to take care of their property. In these respects we differ from them.
We begin with God. Our light comes from him, our religion is from him,
and we need his guidance and instruction in all these other matters.
Is not that simple, plain and reasonable? They are in confusion in the
world about their religion, because there is no God in it. That is
what's the matter. The Scriptures say, "There is one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God, who is in all and through you all." They
have a religion without God, and they are going to heaven without God,
and when they get there they will find no God, and they will still
have a chance to have their own way inasmuch as the Lord will let
them.
Well, as I said, we begin first with God, religiously, spiritually if
you please—teaching first, the first principles of the Gospel. Then we
go on to other matters—to temporal matters. A Bishop, you know, in the
world, is a kind of being who has nothing to do but to attend to
spiritual matters, and he does very little of that. Our Bishops have
to take care of the poor, and see that they are provided for, that is,
see they have something to eat, and they have also to attend to many
secular affairs that are naturally connected with common humanity.
Well, what then? We build churches and temples, and we administer in
those temples, according to the revelations which God has given to us.
And they would like to know something about that, but they cannot,
for that belongs to the Saints only. Then, what next? We find
ourselves, as I said before, in a governmental capacity, and perform
our duties as good citizens and attend to all the duties and
responsibilities thereof. But then it is no trouble for us to keep the
laws of the land. What difficulty is there for other people? Can they
live then? I am sure we can. No law of any land will interfere with or
molest the man who does not cheat or defraud his neighbor, but pursues
an honorable, honest, upright course. Laws are made for the unruly and
turbulent, for lawbreakers and for men who violate right. Then there
are many other things besides these in which we differ from the world,
in their social, political and religious affairs. I will refer to
one—their method of treating the acknowledged head of the Government,
the President of the United States. At one time it was "Hurrah for
General Grant," he was almost a demi-god. What do they say now? If you
can believe the papers, he is one of the biggest rascals that was ever
unhung. I do not know whether they told the truth before or now, but
they do talk these things, and who would stand by him if he were
thrown out? Very few. Here is President Young, whom his enemies have
been calling a murderer; did anybody forsake him? No, oh no! Did any
of your knees tremble? Perhaps a little, not much; but still you had
faith in him, and you would as soon see him today as any other man on
God's footstool, wouldn't you? (Congregation answered "Yes.") There is
the difference. There is a principle implanted in the hearts of men,
that no man can tear therefrom; the Spirit of God plants it there, and
there it dwells and will remain, and it cannot be rooted out. It is
true you act foolishly about here, sometimes. I know you do, because
we do among us yonder, and you are just as we are, and you act very
foolishly sometimes; but when we let the Spirit of God operate upon
our minds, it is "Hurrah for Brigham Young," "Hurrah for the Twelve,"
"Hurrah for the kingdom of God!" That is the feeling, isn't it? Well,
now let us carry it out, and live it, and do what is right and God
will bless us. Don't be particular about having your own way, for it
is not always the right way, and that which seems pleasing in our eyes
is not always right, and that which looks the most profitable is not
always right. It is the most profitable and right for the Saints of
God to keep the commandments and be governed by the counsels
of God; and if you are governed by that he will lead you on from light
to light, from strength to strength, from intelligence to intelligence
until you will be exalted among the Gods, there to rejoice forever
and ever. We have commenced the race and we will go on and win it; we
have commenced a battle, and we shall triumph, for the kingdom of God
will go on, and no power can stop it.
May God help us to be faithful in the name of Jesus, Amen.