One of the proverbs common among the Saints of God in the dispensation
in which we live—the dispensa tion of the fullness of times, is, "The
kingdom of God or nothing." President Young has been trying to get us to labor to build up the kingdom of God. This kingdom has
been given into the hands of the Latter-day Saints to establish on the
earth, and unless we labor for its advancement we shall certainly fall
short of salvation, for all the salvation there is, whether for Jew,
Gentile, Saint or sinner, is in connection with this kingdom.
We have had a great many plain truths presented before this
Conference, and if we will observe the counsels that have been given
we shall be led to salvation. Every one of the propositions made by
President Young has this tendency. It is our duty as Latter-day Saints
to sustain the Zion of God on the earth. What he has said to us is
true. We have heard it thousands of times. We have been counseled for
many years to try to lay a foundation for our own independence in
these mountains. It is a well known principle in political economy,
that any nation or people that expend more than they produce, or buy
from other nations more than they sell in return, will grow poor. We
should produce what we use—what we eat and wear, and as for what we
drink, why the mountain streams supply that of the purest quality.
There are several items to which I would like to call your attention.
President Young has taken the lead in establishing woolen factories in
this Territory. Others have assisted in this work, but he has done
much more than any other man, and now we have several good mills for
the manufacture of cloth and other fabrics owned and run by the Saints
in Utah. Still we send many large quantities of wool abroad instead of
using it in our own mills, and import goods of outside manufacture
instead of making them at home. How long will it be before we are
poor, and our Territory drained of all the money we can raise, if we
continue this? We should not send our wool to be manufactured in the
States, and then pay our money for cloth brought from there here.
Where are our wool growers? What are they thinking about when they do
this? This is an item which I consider of vital importance to the
Latter-day Saints. We should keep our wool at home, and we should
manufacture this wool into cloth, and we should buy and pay for that
cloth, and support home manufactures. This is a principle which we
have neglected in a great degree; but we have got to come to it
sometime. We have got either to make ourselves self-sustaining, or we
shall have to go without a good many things that we now regard as
almost indispensable for our welfare and comfort, for there is not a
man who believes in the revelations of God but what believes the day
is at hand when there will be trouble among the nations of the earth,
when great Babylon will come in remembrance before God, and his
judgments will visit the nations. When that day comes, if Zion has
food and raiment and the comforts of life she must produce them, and
there must be a beginning to these things.
This is the Zion of God, this is the work of God. The servants of God
have borne record and testimony to this now for more than forty years,
and the Lord has backed up their testimony, fulfilling his word in the
events which have transpired in the earth. The Lord says, "I am angry
with none except those who acknowledge not my hand in all things." As
a people, we have been obliged to acknowledge the hand of God in our
salvation and guidance. Some of the speakers have referred to the
drivings and persecutions of the Saints in the past. The Lord
says, "Offenses must needs come, but woe to him by whom they come." If
we had not been driven from Jackson, Caldwell and Clay Counties, and
from Kirtland and Nauvoo, Utah today would have been a barren
desert, there would have been no railroad from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, and we should not have fulfilled, I may say, thousands of the
revelations of God as we have done. The hand of the Lord has been
manifest in all these matters. He has watched this people, and over
this work from its foundation until today, and he will continue to do
so. But it is certainly true that, as a people, we must heed the
counsels of the Lord through his servants, for these counsels, if
observed, will secure us salvation, and lead us to prosperity, union
and happiness.
President Young, as an instrument in the hands of God, has brought his
tens of thousands from the old world who never were worth, I may say,
a farthing, who never owned a horse, carriage, wagon, cow, pig or
chicken, and hardly had bread enough to keep soul and body together.
There are thousands upon thousands now in these valleys of the
mountains who were brought here by the donations of the Saints of God,
and the mercies of God unto them. They are now settled through this
valley for six hundred miles. They have enough to eat, drink and wear,
houses and lands of their own, and plenty of this world's goods to
make them comfortable.
Everything that leads to good and to do good is of God, and everything
that leads to evil and to do evil is of the wicked one. I will ask,
Has not good grown out of the whole work of God from the organization
of this Church until today? Has not this Gospel been offered for more
than forty years to the nations of the earth in its plainness, truth
and simplicity, as it was anciently by Jesus and his Apostles? It has,
and thousands who are in this Territory today can bear testimony to
its truth. The example is before the world. Zion is like a city set on
a hill that cannot be hid. She is a beacon to the nations of the
earth. The Saints of God are fulfilling the revelations of God; they
are fulfilling the prophecies and sayings of the ancient Patriarchs
and Prophets, who spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and
no prophecy is of private interpretation. If those holy men of God
spoke the word of God, what they said will have its fulfillment, and
no power can stay this work.
The set time has come for the Lord to establish his kingdom of which
Daniel spoke, that Zion which Isaiah saw and portrayed, and about
which he and many other Prophets have left so many sayings in their
prophecies. The history of the progress of this Church is before the
world. It is the work of God, and not a saying ever made about it by
an inspired man, whether in the Bible, Book of Mormon, or in the
Doctrine and Covenants, will fail of its fulfillment. No matter
whether these words came by the voice of God out of the heavens, by
the ministration of angels, or by the voice of the servants of God in
the flesh, it is the same; although the heavens and the earth may pass
away, they will not go unfulfilled.
This is the foundation upon which the Latter-day Saints labor, and
upon which they have labored from the beginning of this Church. Joseph
Smith has often been termed an illiterate, unlearned man. He was a
farmer's son, and had very small chance of education. What primer had
he to reveal the fullness of the Gospel to the world? None at
all, only as he was taught by the administration of angels from
heaven, by the voice of God and by the inspiration and power of the
Holy Ghost. The principles which have been revealed to the world
through him are true as the throne of God. Their influence is already
felt in the earth, and will continue to increase until the coming of
the Son of Man; and the blood of the Prophets which has been shed in
testimony thereof will remain in force upon all the world until the
scene is wound up.
What other people on the face of the earth are preparing for Jesus
Christ? The Lord Jesus Christ is coming to reign on earth. The world
may say that he delays his coming until the end of the earth. But they
know neither the thoughts nor the ways of the Lord. The Lord will not
delay his coming because of their unbelief, and the signs both in
heaven and earth indicate that it is near. The fig trees are leafing
in sight of all the nations of the earth, and if they had the Spirit
of God they could see and understand them.
The Latter-day Saints cannot stand still; we cannot become
stereotyped. God has decreed that his Zion must progress. We cannot
remain in one groove or position. This kingdom has continued to
progress from the beginning, and the little one is now more than a
thousand, and it will hasten to become a strong nation, for it is
God's work, and its destiny is in his hands. It becomes us, as
Latter-day Saints, to realize these things as they are, and also our
position and calling before God. We must build up the Zion and kingdom
of God on the earth, or fail in the object of our calling and
receiving the Priesthood of God in these latter days. The full set
time has come, which the Lord decreed before the foundation of the
world—the great dispensation of the last days, and a people must be
prepared for the coming of the Son of Man. How can they do it? By
being gathered out from Babylon. How often has the question been
asked, "Why cannot the Latter-day Saints live abroad in the world and
enjoy their religion?" We can hardly enjoy it as we are
today—gathered together, the wicked will follow us up; and then we
are overwhelmed like a mountain with tradition. But we have gathered
together that we may be taught by Prophets, Patriarchs and inspired
men, and we are endeavoring, under their instructions, to throw off
the trammels with which we and our forefathers have been bound for
generations. We are not prepared for the coming of the Son of Man, and
if he were to come today we could not endure it. There is no people on
the earth prepared for that. But the Lord is laboring with us, he has
carried us through a school of experience now for forty years, and we
should certainly have been dull scholars if we had not learned some
wisdom. The Lord intends that we shall unite ourselves together, and
in building up the Zion of God, if we cannot attain to all that is
required of us today, we will do what we can, and progress as fast as
we can, that the way may be prepared for the fulfillment of the words
of the Lord.
Here is the Bible, the record of the Jews, given by the inspiration of
the Lord through Moses and the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets. Is it
an imposture, and as the infidels say, the work of man? No, it is not
in the power of any man who ever breathed the breath of life to make
such a book without the inspiration of the Almighty. It is just
so with the Book of Mormon—all the ingenuity of all the men under
heaven could not compose and present to the world a book like the Book
of Mormon. Its principles are divine—they are from God. They could
never emanate from the mind of an impostor, or from the mind of a
person writing a novel. Why? Because the promises and prophecies it
contains are being fulfilled in the sight of all the earth. So with
the revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith contained in
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—they are being fulfilled.
We, the Latter-day Saints, have this great almighty work laid upon us,
and our hearts should not be set upon the things of the world, for if
they are we shall forget God and lose sight of his kingdom. The
counsels, exhortations and instructions which we receive from the
servants of God are just and true. As a people if we will do the will
of God we have the power to build up Zion in beauty, power and glory,
as the Lord has revealed it through the mouth of the Prophet. It rests
with us, the Lord working with us. We are called upon to work with the
Lord just as fast as we are prepared to receive the things of his
kingdom. But I am satisfied there has got to be a great change with us
in many respects before we are prepared for the redemption of Zion and
the building up of the New Jerusalem. I believe the only way for us is
to get enough of the Spirit of God that we may see and understand our
duties and comprehend the will of the Lord.
This is a great day, an important time—a time in which great events
await the world—Zion, Babylon, Jew, Gentile, saint and sinner, high
and low, rich and poor. Great and important events will follow each
other in quick succession before the eyes of this generation. No
generation that ever lived on the earth, lived in a more interesting
period than the one in which we live; and when we consider that our
eternal destiny depends upon the few short years that we spend here,
what manner of persons ought we to be? Men spend their lives for what
they call wealth or happiness, but they seek not after the way of
life, and in a few years they lie down and die and open their eyes in
the spirit world, and they will come forth at some time and be judged
according to the deeds done in the body.
A great deal has been said with regard to "Mormonism" and the strange
people who dwell in these mountains. Many strangers have come to visit
this city, thinking that their lives were hardly safe because of the
horrid stories they had heard about these terrible "Mormons," when the
fact is, if they had only known it, they were a great deal safer here,
than in any of the great cities of the world.
The Lord has been working, and this people have been working, and the
object of their labor has been and is to establish the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and to spread truth and righteousness. We came here, a few
pioneers, on the 24th of July, 1847, and we found a desert. It looked
as though no white man could live here. We have to acknowledge the
hand of God in all the blessings we have today. This Territory is now
filled with cities, towns, villages and gardens. The earth has
blossomed like a rose, and the desert has brought forth streams of
water from dry places. The Lord has blessed the people, we have to
acknowledge his hands in this. This is only a beginning. The world
have opposed us from the beginning, even very many
honest-hearted men, ignorant of the nature and object of "Mormonism,"
have opposed us. If the veil were lifted one minute from the eyes of
the world, and they could see the things of eternity as they are,
there is not a man living, not excepting our friend brother Newman, or
President Grant, or any other man that breathes, who would not bow
down before God and pray for Brigham Young and the prosperity of this
work. But there is a veil over men's minds. Darkness covers the earth
and gross darkness the minds of the nations, and this is to prove
whether they will or will not walk in the covenant of the Lord. There
are a few who have had sufficient independence of mind and stability
of character to obey the celestial law. But how few friends the
Almighty and his servants have had in this age of the world? As it was
in the days of Noah and Lot, so it will be in the days of the coming
of the Son of Man. The numbers of the servants of God are few. Let the
Lord Almighty send a message to the world now as he did in the days of
Noah, Enoch, Lot, Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and few among the
nations of the earth would be willing to receive it. In the days of
Jesus the High Priests, Sadducees, Essenes, Stoics and every sect and
party then known in the Jewish nation cried—"Crucify him! Crucify
him!" So it was with Joseph Smith. From the day that he laid the
foundation of this work, Priest and people, doctors and lawyers, high
and low, rich and poor, with but few exceptions, have been ready to
crush it to the earth. Why? Because, ignorant of its character and
mission, they have believed that it interfered with their religion.
Joseph Smith had to walk in deep water, he had to row uphill or
upstream all the days of his life in order to try and plant the Gospel
in the midst of the sons of men. A few here and there heard and were
disposed to receive that Gospel, and the Spirit of God bore record
unto them of its truth, and they went before the Lord and asked him if
it was true, and the Lord revealed it unto them and they embraced it.
From that day until the present this message has gone to the world. I
have preached it to millions of my fellow men, so has President Young,
and I may say the same of hundreds of the Elders of this Church; and I
do not believe that ever a man, with his ears open, stopped a moment
to listen to the testimony of the servants of God about the truth of
the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith being a Prophet of God, and the
restoration of the fullness of the Gospel, but what a measure of the
Spirit of God has backed up that testimony to him. When men have
rejected these testimonies they have done so against light and truth,
and herein is where condemnation rests upon this generation—Light has
come into the world and men love darkness rather than light, because
their deeds are evil.
"Mormonism" is not popular, and few, comparatively speaking, have
embraced it. Jesus Christ was never popular in his day. The old
Patriarchs and Prophets had but few friends, yet they were called and
inspired by God, and held in their hands the issues of life and death,
the keys of salvation on earth and in heaven. What they bound on earth
was bound in heaven. Whosesoever sins they remitted were remitted, and
whosesoever sins they retained were retained. Yet the world was ready
to destroy them. It is so today. But the unbelief of this generation
will not make the truth of God without effect today any more
than it did in any other period of the world. Therefore I say to my
brethren and sisters, let us try and prepare our minds and hearts by
prayer before the Lord, that we may obtain enough of the light of the
Spirit, and of the influence of the Holy Ghost, to see and be
preserved in the path of life, and when we receive the teachings and
counsels of the servants of God, that we may be disposed to treasure
them up in our hearts and practice them in our lives.
We shall soon pass away; in a little while we shall be on the other
side of the veil. There is no man or woman who has ever lived on the
earth and kept the commandments of God who will be ashamed of, or
sorry for it, when they go into the presence of God. Our eyes have not
seen, our ears have not heard, it has not entered into the heart of
man to conceive the joy, glory and blessings which God has in store
for his faithful Saints. As President Young told us yesterday, whether
men believe or disbelieve, the Lord Almighty has wrought out salvation
for the world. We are laboring for this; the Prophets and Patriarchs
in days past and gone did the same. In these latter days Saviors have
come up on Mount Zion, and they are laboring to save the world—the
living and the dead. The Lord requires this at our hands, and if we do
not labor to promote this cause and to build it up, we shall be under
condemnation before him.
The Gospel is the same today as it was in the days of Jesus Christ.
The word to his disciples was—"Go ye into all the world and preach the
Gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." That is a very
plain and simple declaration, yet it involved the destiny of the whole
human family. It is just so today. The Gospel has been offered to the
world now for over forty years, in its purity, plainness and
clearness, according to the ancient order of things, and the Elders of
Israel have promised the world that if they would receive their
testimony and be baptized for the remission of their sins, they should
receive the Holy Ghost. When a man receives the Holy Ghost he has a
testimony that cannot deceive him or anybody else. In the days of
Moses and Pharaoh the magicians could work as many miracles as Moses,
almost; and you may go into our theater here, or any other, and you
may see and hear that which will deceive your eyes and ears, and all
the senses you have; but get the Holy Ghost and you have a testimony
that cannot deceive you. It never deceived any man, and it never
will. It is by this power and principle that the Elders of Israel have
been sustained from the first day they commenced their labors until
today. It was this power which sustained Joseph Smith from his
boyhood up, in all his labors until he planted the kingdom of God on
the earth to be thrown down no more forever. He lived until he
accomplished all that God raised him up to do here in the flesh, then
he went to the other side of the veil to fill his place and mission
there. His works will follow him there, and he and his brethren will
labor for the accomplishment of the purposes of God there, as we are
doing here. The Lord raised up President Young to be our leader and
lawgiver, and he has been so from the day that Joseph was taken away.
His works are before the world and before the heavens; they show for themselves. The tree is known by the fruit it brings forth.
The Lord has revealed in this day every key that was ever held by any
Patriarch or Prophet from the days of Father Adam, in the Garden of
Eden, down to the days of Joseph Smith, that was necessary for the
salvation of the sons of men. They have been sealed on the head of
Brigham Young and other servants of God, and they will be held on the
earth until this scene is wound up. What a glorious thing it is that
we, like the ancient Saints, can be baptized for the dead, and thus
open the prison doors and set the prisoners free! The Lord is no
respecter of persons, and the fifty thousand millions of human beings
who are supposed to have lived on the earth from the days the ancient
servants of God were put to death, to the restoration of the Gospel
through Joseph Smith, never having had the privilege of hearing the
Gospel, are not going to remain in the eternal world without the
privilege of hearing the Gospel; but they will be preached to by
Joseph Smith and the Prophets, Patriarchs and Elders who have received
the Priesthood on the earth in these latter days. Many of them will
receive their testimony, but somebody must administer for them in the
flesh, that they may be judged according to men in the spirit, and
have part in the first resurrection, just the same as though they had
heard the Gospel in the flesh. The Lord has revealed this to us, and
commanded us to attend to this duty, the same as Jesus, while his body
was in the grave, preached three days and nights to the spirits in
prison who were rebellious during the long-suffering of God in the
days of Noah. They lay in prison until Jesus went and preached to
them.
This and every other principle which the Elders of this Church preach
and teach are from heaven—the Lord has revealed them. They are before
the world, and all who hear them will investigate if they are wise. If
there is a man on the face of the earth who has got a true principle
that we have not, will he please let us have it? As President Young
has said many a time, we will change a dozen errors for one truth, and
thank God for it. We are after light and truth. We are not afraid of
the doctrines of the inhabitants of the earth being presented before
us or our children. We have truth, we have been called to present it
to the world. We have done it. If they have truths that we have not we
would like to obtain them.
I will say by way of conclusion that I thank God for the privilege of
attending these Conferences for so many years, and for seeing the
increase and progress of his work. Here we meet from every nation
under heaven, just as the Prophets said. We have been gathered by the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had the privilege, last night and this
morning, of meeting with Father Kington, the old patriarch whom I met
with over in Herefordshire, England, where, like John the Baptist, he
was a forerunner of the Gospel of Christ. Through his administrations
the people in that county had been prepared to receive the Gospel, and
when we went and preached to them, he and all his flock but one,
numbering six hundred, entered into the kingdom, and that opened a
door which enabled us to baptize eighteen hundred in about seven
months' labor. I never expected to see him again in this city, but he
came to my house last night, and he came to meeting today, and
I felt more pride and joy in meeting him than I should if it had been
the Emperor of Russia. I thank God that I have the privilege of
meeting with the Saints with whom I ate and drank in foreign lands,
who have listened to the voices of the Elders of Israel, have received
their testimonies, have been baptized for the remission of sins, and
received the testimony of the Holy Ghost.
Brethren and sisters, we are in the school of the Saints. Let us
progress, and try to improve and set our hearts on the things of God
and truth, and carry out and do the work of righteousness for Jesus'
sake. Amen.