It is always a source of pleasure to me to meet with my brethren and
sisters in the Gospel covenant. I rejoice exceedingly in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and that I have the privilege of being numbered with the
Saints of latter days. I am thankful for the blessings that we enjoy
as a people in these valleys. I feel grateful for the many evidences
we have experienced of God's mercy and protection. I am thankful that
I have been able to see his hand in our deliverance from the powers
and machinations of our enemies, from the earliest period of our
existence as a people; and I am thankful that I am able to see the
hand of the Lord over us at present as conspicuously and as clearly as
at any former period of our history.
We read in the revelations that have come to us through the Prophets,
both ancient and modern, concerning the purposes of the Lord in the
latter days, and the restoration of the Gospel to the earth by a holy
angel, that it is to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and
people under the whole heavens, that every son and daughter of Adam
shall have the privilege of hearing it, embracing it, partaking of its
blessings, and of being saved by its power. We read that the Lord is
going to do this work, and that he is going to cut it short in
righteousness; that it is his design to gather out the honest in
heart—those who are willing to hearken to his counsels and obey his
laws. It is his design to gather all such out from the nations of the
earth, that he may make of them a people worthy of his name and his
blessings, and prepare them to meet him when he shall come to make up
his jewels; when he shall come to take vengeance upon the wicked and
ungodly, who know not God, and who keep not his commandments upon the
earth.
The hand of the Lord has been visible in the gathering together of
this people for the last twenty-eight years; yes, for the last
forty-five years, and no more so in that than in everything connected
with the labors of his servants, their counsels unto, and their
guidance of, the people by the inspiration of the Almighty that was in
them from the very beginning. At no time in the history of this Church
has the hand of the Lord been withdrawn from this people, his
power shortened, or his eye slept, but his eye has been upon us, his
hand has been over us, and his providences have been in our favor.
Circumstances have been overruled for good, the hand of the enemy has
been turned away paralyzed, the efforts of the wicked to destroy us
have resulted in our good and in their own discomfiture. The greater
the efforts on the part of our enemies to destroy us, the greater the
growth of the Church and kingdom of God, and the closer has our union
been, the better have we been able to see the hand of the Lord over
us, and the inspiration of the Almighty in the counsels of his
servants, and the more have we been inclined to respect and abide by
the counsels given. The very fact that the spirit of bitterness in the
hearts of the wicked toward us at the present time is as virulent as
it ever was, and is every way similar to that manifested against the
former-day Saints, against the Savior when he was upon the earth, and
against his disciples, or the people of God in any former age of the
world, is an unmistakable evidence that the Lord God Almighty is with
us today as much as he ever was since the organization of the Church,
or as much as he ever was with any people he ever acknowledged as his
since the world began. I do not believe there ever was a people who
were guided by revelation, or acknowledged of the Lord as his people,
that were not hated and persecuted by the wicked and the corrupt, and
perhaps no people were ever more persecuted than this people would be,
if it were in the power of the enemy today to persecute us, as it was
in the power of Nero and the Romans to persecute the Saints in their
day. There never was a time when it was more fixed and determined in
the heart of the wicked to fight against, and destroy the kingdom from
the earth, than now, and their failure will be due only to the
impossibility of the task they have undertaken. And this is an
evidence to everyone that possesses the least spark of the light of
the Holy Spirit—and should be to all mankind—that the kingdom of God
is established, that his Priesthood is here, that the Saints, or many
of them, are magnifying their calling and honoring the Priesthood, and
also the Lord, both with their lives and with their substance, which
are his.
For my part I do not fear the influence of our enemies from without,
as I fear that of those from within. An open and avowed enemy, whom we
may see and meet in an open field, is far less to be feared than a
lurking, deceitful, treacherous enemy hidden within us, such as are
many of the weaknesses of our fallen human nature, which are too often
allowed to go unchecked, beclouding our minds, leading away our
affections from God and his truth, until they sap the very foundations
of our faith, and debase us beyond the possibility or hope of
redemption either in this world or that to come. These are the enemies
that we all have to battle with, they are the greatest that we have to
contend with in the world, and the most difficult to conquer. They are
the fruits of ignorance, generally arising out of unrebuked sin and
evil in our own hearts. The labor that is upon us, is to subdue our
passions, conquer our inward foes, and see that our hearts are right
in the sight of the Lord, that there is nothing calculated to grieve
his Spirit and lead us away from the path of duty.
Those only who possess the light of the Spirit of God and the faith of
the Gospel, which can only be possessed through faithfulness and
obedi ence to the requirements of heaven, can discern and know
the voice of the true Shepherd when they hear it. We need not expect
to be able to discern the right from the wrong, the truth from error,
and light from darkness, unless our eye is single, and we have
declared ourselves for God and his work. If we are divided in our
thoughts, affections, and interests, like the rest of the world, we
need not expect to comprehend the will of the Lord when made known to
us, no matter how powerfully or directly it may come. It will be all
the same to us unless we are in a position to receive the light and
the truth when it is offered unto us.
What shall we do if we have neglected our prayers? Let us begin to
pray. If we have neglected any other duty, let us seek unto the Lord
for his Spirit, that we may know wherein we have erred and lost our
opportunities, or let them pass by us unimproved. Let us seek unto the
Lord in humility, determined to forsake everything that would be an
obstruction to our receiving the intelligence and the light that we
need, and an answer to our prayers, that we may approach him confident
that his ears will be open to our petitions, that his heart will be
turned unto us in mercy, that our sins may be forgiven, our minds
enlightened by the influence and power of God, that we may comprehend
our duty and have a disposition to perform it, not to postpone it, not
to set it aside, nor to say in our hearts, "We must serve the world or
the devil a little longer; we are not yet prepared to serve the Lord
fully, to give up our evil habits, to lay aside this and that folly,
and walk straightforward in the path of duty; we must sow a few more
wild oats before we can fully make up our minds and determine upon
serving the Lord and doing his will upon earth as it should be done,
and as we know how to do it, if we but yield obedience to the light
that has come into the world." But when we see what is necessary to be
done, it becomes our duty, and we should go to with all our might and
do it, no matter what our desires may be to the contrary. Whatever
comes from the Priesthood by inspiration we should be willing to
receive as the counsel of the Almighty, which we must of necessity
obey and execute in order that we may be accepted of him.
This is a lesson that we, as God's people, should cheerfully learn. Do
you think, my brethren and sisters, that we can climb up some other
way, or enter in at some other door? Do you think that we can take the
things of God and bring them to our standard, or square the principles
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by our rule? Do you think that we would
ever succeed in an effort to dictate to the Almighty the terms of our
salvation? If we think so we are mistaken, deceived; we cannot do it.
The purposes of the Almighty are unchanged and unchangeable, his laws
endure, and he is the same yesterday, today and forever. His purposes
will ripen and be consummated, and his designs be completed.
Therefore, if we do not conform to his will, obey his laws and yield
to his requirements in this world, we will be consigned to "the prison
house," where we will remain until we pay the debt to the uttermost
farthing. This is a Scriptural, a reasonable, and a true doctrine; for
it is a doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Saints
understand it, but there may be some here who do not, and for their
benefit, as well as to refresh the memories of those who may not have
reflected for a little season upon this principle, I will re fer to it as briefly expressed in the third and fourth chapters of the
first Epistle of Peter. There you will see that Jesus himself preached
the Gospel to the spirits in prison, "which some time were
disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls
were saved by water." This may seem strange to some, that Jesus should
go to preach the Gospel unto the wicked, rebellious antediluvians;
whose bodies had been destroyed in the flood because they rejected the
testimony of Noah, who had been sent to rebuke their iniquities and
warn them of destruction decreed against them if they did not repent,
nevertheless it is true. From this Scripture we not only learn the
condition of those who are cut off in their sins because of their
wickedness in rebelling against the laws of God and rejecting his
servants, but such of them as have not sinned against the Holy Ghost,
however wicked they may have been in this world—save committing that
unpardonable sin—will have the privilege of hearing the Gospel in the
spirit world; "for," as the Apostle says, "for this cause was the
Gospel preached also to them that are dead." "Yes," says one,
"dead in
sin, but not dead as to the flesh." But the Apostle does not say so,
but to the contrary, for the dead here referred to had perished in the
flesh and the Apostle continues—"That they might be judged according
to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit;" that
is, out of the body until the resurrection from the dead. But first
they must remain in hell—the "prison house," until they have paid the
penalty of their sins in the flesh, even to the "uttermost farthing."
"But," says one, "is this possible?" The people in Europe, where
we have been preaching, were struck with wonder and astonishment when we
mentioned this doctrine, and say they, "We had supposed that, 'as the
tree fell so it should lie,' and that 'there was no salvation in the
grave.'" Neither is there any salvation in the grave, and "as the tree
falls, so it lies," but this is pertaining to the flesh. Does the
spirit lie with the body? Is the spirit confined in the grave? No. As
the body falls, so it will lie until the resurrection; there is no
salvation in the grave, but in Christ, who is the "light of life," and
the spirit soars beyond the grave; it does not slumber in the dust,
but is wafted to the place prepared for it in the spirit world, to
receive its reward or punishment, having passed the first judgment of
God, there to await his mercy, and the resurrection from the dead and
the final judgment of the great last day.
Thus we see those wicked, unrepentant antediluvians who even had the
privilege of hearing the Gospel in the flesh, as preached by Noah, and
who rejected the message of that servant of God, were actually visited
in the "prison house" by the Savior himself, and heard the Gospel from
his own mouth after he was "put to death in the flesh." Their prison
was opened, and liberty was proclaimed unto them in their captivity,
in fulfillment of the prediction of the Prophet Isaiah, as you might
read in his 61st chapter, that they may come forth, when they shall
have fulfilled the decree of judgment upon them in the prison, or
hell, to do the first works necessary unto salvation, which they
refused to do in the beginning.
Here will come in the principles of baptism for the dead, and of proxy
and heirship, as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith,
that they may receive a salvation and an exaltation, I will not say a
fullness of blessing and glory, but a reward according to their merits
and the righteousness and mercy of God, even as it will be with you
and with me. But there is this difference between us and the
antediluvians—they rejected the Gospel, consequently they received not
the truth nor the testimony of Jesus Christ; therefore they did not
sin against a fullness of light, while we have received the fullness
of the Gospel; are admitted to the testimony of Jesus Christ, and a
knowledge of the living and true God, whose will it is also our
privilege to know, that we may do it. Now if we sin, we sin against
light and knowledge, and peradventure we may become guilty of the
blood of Jesus Christ, for which sin there is no forgiveness, neither
in this world nor in the world to come. Jesus himself declares (Matt.
12, 31), that "all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto
men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven
unto men, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." This
is not a new doctrine that has just been revealed through the Prophet
Joseph Smith, or President Brigham Young, but it is the doctrine of
Jesus, a part and portion of that Gospel which is the power of God
unto salvation or unto damnation. For whosoever will believe, repent,
and be baptized for the remission of sins shall be saved, and he that
believes not and is not baptized shall he damned. And he that
believes, is baptized and receives the light and testimony of Jesus
Christ, and walks well for a season, receiving the fullness of the
blessings of the Gospel in this world, and afterwards turns wholly
unto sin, violating his covenants, he will be among those whom the
Gospel can never reach in the spirit world; all such go beyond its
saving power, they will taste the second death, and be banished from
the presence of God eternally.
I feel well in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it is true, and
I never like to have an opportunity pass me without bearing my
testimony to it. I, therefore, bear my testimony to you, that God has
restored the Gospel, that Joseph Smith was and is a true Prophet, and
that President Young is his rightful successor.
I have been surprised before now at hearing remarks from the
disaffected and apostates against the Priesthood, as if there was
something terrible concealed beneath that term. What constitutes the
Priesthood? A legal and direct commission from God to man. And who are
clothed with its authority and power? President Young? Yes. But is he
the only man who holds the Priesthood? No. Nor are his counselors and
the Twelve, the only ones who hold it, but the High Priests, the
Seventies, the Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, all hold a
portion of the Holy Priesthood. There is scarcely a member of the
Church who is not numbered in the ranks of those clothed upon by this
power; certainly it is so with every man who has received blessings in
the house of the Lord, inasmuch as he has continued faithful, and of
such is the Church composed, for the unfaithful cut themselves off in
a measure both from the Church and from the power and privileges of
the Priesthood, and are not to be relied upon. Therefore, when the
Priesthood—or those holding it—are ridiculed, reviled, or persecuted,
the blow is aimed, and the evil is designed, against the whole Church
and not individuals, although as our enemies single out
individuals as targets on whom to vent their wrath and spleen. A blow
openly aimed at President Young, is secretly destined against the
whole people constituting the Church over which he presides; any
attempt to proscribe or destroy him or his brethren as individuals,
because of their influence or position among the people, is so far
indirectly an attempt to proscribe and destroy the whole community of
which they are but members, and every member of the community should,
and so far as guided by a proper sense of justice and right, most
assuredly does, consider himself or herself personally assailed and
aggrieved by any such attempts. How contemptible in the eyes of this
whole people, therefore, must they be who rail against the Priesthood,
and at the same time make themselves so conspicuously loud in their
professions of friendship to the masses. They leave the covering of
their designs too thin to conceal their hypocrisy and their determined
bitterness and enmity against the people and the work of God.
A deacon in the Church should exercise the authority of that calling
in the Priesthood, and honor that position as sincerely and faithfully
as a high Priest or an Apostle should his calling, feeling that he
bears a portion of the responsibility of the kingdom of God in the
world, in common with all his brethren. Every man should feel in his
heart the necessity of doing his part in the great latter-day work.
All should seek to be instrumental in rolling it forth. More
especially is it the duty of everyone who possesses any por tion of
the authority of the Holy Priesthood to magnify and honor that
calling, and nowhere can we begin to do so to better advantage than
right here, within ourselves, and when we have cleansed the inside of
the platter, cleansed our own hearts, by correcting our own lives,
fixed our minds upon doing our whole duty towards God, and man, we
will be prepared to wield an influence for good in the family circle,
in society, and in all the walks of life.
We should seek to do, and to be, good. It is true that Jesus says
there is none good but one, that is God; we must accept this in the
fullest sense of the word, but there are other degrees of goodness, so
that we may be good, righteous, and even perfect in our spheres, as
God is good, righteous, or perfect in his exalted and glorious sphere.
These excellent qualities of mind and soul should govern our lives in
the midst of our families and neighbors, among our brethren of the
household of faith, and in all our intercourse with mankind, that we
may win souls from error, ignorance, folly and crime, to God and his
Christ, and help them to stand until they become strong in the faith,
and thus become saviors of men upon Mount Zion, worthy of the name of
our God.
May the Lord bless you and all Israel, and especially his aged servant
who stands at our head, and his associates in counsel, the loved face
of one of whom, on looking round, I find gone from our midst, but his
lifelong example still lives with us, and will live forever.
Amen.
- Joseph F. Smith