I have been very much interested and instructed during our Conference,
and in rising at this time—a few moments only remaining before the
close of our forenoon meeting—I feel that I can only bear my testimony
to, and express my conviction of, the truths that we have had
delivered unto us during our meetings from the first day of our
Conference. We have had instructions here upon spiritual and upon
temporal matters sufficient, if they were carried out, to make this
people the best, purest, noblest, and greatest people that inhabit the
world. The instructions that have been given unto us in regard to
temporal matters, and in regard to bringing us to a union of faith and
works, are calculated in their nature, if adopted and carried out in
the practices of the Latter-day Saints, to make them the most
independent people that live upon the face of the earth, depending
indeed only upon the Lord our God, the giver of every good and perfect
gift. I can see, as clearly as it is possible for me to see the light
of the sun, that if the instructions that were given here yesterday,
and the day before, in relation to uniting ourselves together in
temporal affairs, were carried out by the people, we would soon no
longer be beholden to the world, and it would be said of us, that we
were dependent upon no power upon the earth but the power of God. It
is very different, however, with us at present, for now we are very
dependent, notwithstanding the vast amount of blessings that the Lord
has poured out upon us—blessings of the soil, of the labors of our
hands, of the elements that surround us. He has given us an abundance
of everything our hearts can desire in righteousness, insomuch, as it
was remarked yesterday, that we have become almost recreant to these
blessings; we squander and waste them, run over them, trample them
under our feet as it were, and regard them as of very little
importance, or worthless. The Lord truly has blessed his people; he
has poured out his Spirit upon us, opened our way, delivered us from
our enemies, blessed and enriched the soil, tempered the elements, and
made them favorable to us, turned away cursings, and given us
blessings on every hand, and has prospered us in the earth.
But we have been careless, and in a measure blind to the presence and
value of the blessings that have been poured out upon us so
abundantly, and have failed to recognize, as we should at all times,
the hand of God therein. We have also come far short of appreciating
our brethren the Prophets, who have borne the burden in the heat of
the day; who have stood boldly and fearlessly, filled with wisdom and
intelligence from above, to give us counsel, and to guide and direct
us in the channels of prosperity, peace, and happiness.
Will we come to a knowledge of the truth? Will we learn to appreciate
the blessings that we enjoy, and to realize from whence they come?
Will we begin to follow more faithfully the counsels that are given to
us by the servants of the Lord, and come together in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, that we may become
perfect men in Christ Jesus, even to the fullness of the measure of
his stature?
There is a circumstance recorded in the Scriptures, that has been
brought forcibly to my mind while listening to the remarks of the
Elders who have spoken to us during Conference. A young man came to
Jesus and asked what good thing he should do that he might have
eternal life. Jesus said unto him—"Keep the commandments." The young
man asked which of them. Then Jesus enumerated to him some of the
commandments that he was to keep—he should not murder, nor commit
adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness, but he should honor his
father and mother, and love his neighbor as himself, &c. Said the
young man—"All these I have kept from my youth up, what lack I yet?"
Jesus said—"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and
follow me." And we are told that he turned away sorrowful, because he
had great possessions. He would not hearken to, or obey the law of God
in this matter. Not that Jesus required of the young man to go and
sell all that he possessed and give it away; that is not the principle
involved. The great principle involved is that which the Elders of
Israel are endeavoring to enforce upon the minds of the Latter-day
Saints today. When the young man turned away in sorrow, Jesus said to
his disciples—"How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
kingdom of God!"
Is this because the rich man is rich? No. May not the rich man, who
has the light of God in his heart, who possesses the principle and
spirit of truth, and who understands the principle of God's government
and law in the world, enter into the kingdom of heaven as easily, and
be as acceptable there as the poor man may? Precisely. God is not a
respecter of persons. The rich man may enter into the kingdom of
heaven as freely as the poor, if he will bring his heart and
affections into subjection to the law of God and to the principle of
truth; if he will place his affections upon God, his heart upon the
truth, and his soul upon the accomplishment of God's purposes, and not
fix his affections and his hopes upon the things of the world. Here is
the difficulty, and this was the difficulty with the young man. He had
great possessions, and he preferred to rely upon his wealth rather
than forsake all and follow Christ. If he had possessed the spirit of
truth in his heart to have known the will of God, and to have loved
the Lord with all his heart and his neighbor as himself, he would have said to the Lord—"Yea, Lord, I will do as you require, I
will go and sell all that I have and give it to the poor." If he had
had it in his heart to do this, that alone might have been sufficient,
and the demand would probably have stopped there, for undoubtedly the
Lord did not deem it essential for him to go and give his riches away,
or to sell his possessions and give the proceeds away, in order that
he might be perfect, for that, in a measure, would have been
improvident. Yet, if it had required all this to test him and to prove
him, to see whether he loved the Lord with all his heart, mind, and
strength, and his neighbor as himself, then he ought to have been
willing to do it, and if he had been he would have lacked nothing, and
would have received the gift of eternal life, which is the greatest
gift of God, and which can be received on no other principle than the
one mentioned by Jesus to the young man. If you will read the sixth
lecture on faith in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants you will learn
that no man can obtain the gift of eternal life unless be is willing
to sacrifice all earthly things in order to obtain it. We cannot do
this so long as our affections are fixed upon the world.
It is true that we are in a measure of the earth, earthly; we belong
to the world. Our affections and our souls are here; our treasures are
here, and where the treasure is there the heart is. But if we will lay up
our treasures in heaven; if we will wean our affections from the
things of this world, and say to the Lord our God—"Father, not my will
but thine be done," then may the will of God be done on earth as it is
done in heaven, and the kingdom of God in its power and glory will be
established upon the earth. Sin and Satan will be bound and banished
from the earth, and not until we attain to this condition of mind and
faith will this be done.
Then let the Saints unite; let them hearken to the voices of the
servants of God that are sounded in their ears; let them hearken to
their counsels and give heed to the truth; let them seek their own
salvation, for, so far as I am concerned, I am so selfish that I am
seeking after my salvation, and I know that I can find it only in
obedience to the laws of God, in keeping the commandments, in
performing works of righteousness, following in the footsteps of our
file leader, Jesus, the exemplar and the head of all. He is the way of
life, he is the light of the world, he is the door by which we must
enter in order that we may have a place with him in the celestial
kingdom of God.
May God grant that we may see and comprehend the whole truth, and be
submissive to the requirements of the Gospel and obedient to the
Priesthood of God upon the earth in all things, that we may obtain
eternal life, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
- Joseph F. Smith