I think it is pretty well understood, by my brethren and sisters, that
my labors, as a public speaker, are somewhat limited, compared with
what they used to be.
The first season the Twelve went on a mission as the Twelve Apostles
I became acquainted with the father of brother William Hyde, who has
just addressed you. Brother Hyde, deceased, was then a boy. He with
his father's family gathered with the Saints; he went to Missouri and
returned to Illinois, and got married. And this afternoon we have
heard one of his sons speak to us. It is forty years this summer since
I first knew the father of this young man. For three years previous to
this I had been engaged preaching the Gospel, and the Spirit of God
would rest down upon me to that degree that, if I did not open my
mouth to preach to the people, it seemed as though my bones would
consume within me, consequently I used to preach long and loud.
For forty-three years I have been more or less engaged preaching to
the people. My talking organs are now pretty much exhausted, but my
general health is good, even better than when I was a young man. I
never felt better than I do at present. I have lungs enough to serve
me to preach a hundred years, providing the talking organs of my
stomach were correspondingly good.
I came here to rest, to get away from much talking. Since being here,
I have been waited on by the Indians who are passing through, and I
have had to do a good deal of talking to them, besides having to
converse with the brethren.
I sometimes feel that I can hardly desist from telling the Latter-day
Saints how they should live, but my talking organs will not permit me
to say as much as I wish to. The Celestial Kingdom of God is worth
seeking for, and there are times when I see the importance of the
people living their religion that I almost feel to cry aloud and spare
not, if I had the strength to do it. When I consider the greatness of
the kingdom of God, and the privilege afforded us of becoming heirs to
God our Father, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ our elder brother,
and then sense the condition of the Latter-day Saints, I do not wonder that the question was asked of the Savior by his disciples:
"Who, then, can be saved?" There are very few of the children of
Father Adam and Mother Eve, who will be prepared to go into the
Celestial Kingdom. Those who prepare themselves here, below, through
obedience to the Gospel, receiving through their faithfulness the keys
of the Priesthood, and sanctifying themselves through the truth, they
are preparing themselves to become the sons of God. If we become the
sons of God, we shall be joint heirs with Jesus Christ to all the
inheritances that the Father hath prepared for the faithful. But there
are few of all the human family that will ever attain to this highest
state of glory.
We have a work to do just as important in its sphere as the Savior's
work was in its sphere. Our fathers cannot be made perfect without us;
we cannot be made perfect without them. They have done their work and
now sleep. We are now called upon to do ours; which is to be the
greatest work man ever performed on the earth. Millions of our fellow
creatures who have lived upon the earth and died without a knowledge
of the Gospel must be officiated for in order that they may inherit
eternal life (that is, all that would have received the Gospel). And
we are called upon to enter into this work.
The Latter-day Saints who turn their attention to moneymaking soon
become cold in their feelings toward the ordinances of the house of
God. They neglect their prayers, become unwilling to pay any
donations; the law of Tithing gets too great a task for them; and they
finally forsake their God, and the providences of heaven seem to be
shut out from them—all in conse quence of this lust after the things of
this world, which will certainly perish in handling, and in their use
they will fade away and go from us. We, as well as the whole world of
mankind, know that our time is short, our days but a span. And yet we
lust after this filthy lucre, the world's wealth. It matters not how
much of this world's goods a man may possess, his few days soon
expire, and he sleeps with the fathers. To him his riches are no more;
it was only seeming wealth. We cannot expect to receive real wealth
until we receive the riches of eternity, which are eternal. Those
riches will not be committed to us, until we shall have filled our
measures here, having done all the Lord requires of us, towards
perfecting ourselves, and assisting him in the work of the salvation
of the human family. Not until Jesus shall present all things to the
Father, saying, I have completed the work thou gavest me to do; here
are the results of my labors. Then, and not until then, can we possess
real riches, true riches, eternal riches.
How vain it is in man to allow himself to think that he can make
himself happy with the pleasures of this world. There is no lasting
pleasure here, unless it is in God. When men leave the kingdom of God,
their lives are filled with bitterness, their thoughts are full of
fearfulness, and they are sorrowful, day by day. They may tell you
they are happy. But when you probe them, and find out the inmost
recesses of the heart, it is a cup of gall; they are not happy. They
may seek, to the uttermost parts of the earth, for happiness, but they
find it not. Where is happiness, real happiness? Nowhere but in God.
By possessing the spirit of our holy religion, we are happy,
in the morning, we are happy at noon, we are happy in the evening; for
the spirit of love and union is with us, and we rejoice in the spirit
because, it is of God, and we rejoice in God, for he is the giver of
every good thing. Each and every Latter-day Saint, who has experienced
the love of God in his heart, after having received the remission of
his sins, through baptism, and the laying on of hands, realizes that
he is filled with joy, and happiness, and consolation. He may be in
pain, in error, in poverty, or in prison, if necessity demands, still,
he is joyful. This is our experience, and each and every Latter-day
Saint can bear witness to it.
There has been much said with regard to our becoming a united people,
living together in what is called the United Order. One man rises up
here, and another there, saying "The Lord does not want my property;
it is brother Brigham, or it is the Bishop," and don't feel disposed
to enter into this organization. This, I admit, is partly true; the
Lord does not care anything about his property. Who made the earth,
and the riches thereof? To whom does the earth belong? "The earth is
the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." Do you suppose that the Lord
cares anything about a man's farm? Nothing at all, for the whole earth
is his. At his command it is gone, and the man who claimed possession
of any part of it, knoweth not whither it has gone. But what does the
Lord want of his people? It is written in this Bible, and is said to
be the words of the Lord, "Son, give me thine heart." Without it, you
are not worth anything; with it, he has your gold and silver, your
houses and lands, your wives and children, your all.
I have taught from the stand in this place, and in other places, for
years, the necessity of our becoming one. I can say to the Latter-day
Saints, you have never heard brother Brigham make a demand for your
property. All I want is to see this people devote their means and
interests to the building up of the kingdom of God, erecting Temples,
and in them officiate for the living and the dead, and be instruments
in the hands of God of bringing up from their graves those who have
slept without having had the privilege of receiving the Gospel, that
they may be crowned sons and daughters of the Almighty. We do not want
your property, we want you. When we all become one in faith and in
spirit, we shall be one in our acts, having the kingdom of God at
heart. And the inquiry will be from the brethren, "What can I do for
my fellow creatures? Can I be the means of saving a soul? Can I do
anything for my friends who have slept without a knowledge of the
truth, or can I do anything for those who are living in foreign lands?
Yes, I can." These should be the sentiments of our hearts, and this is
required of us.
Many of us have spent considerable of our time in preaching the Gospel
at home and abroad, and in otherwise assisting to establish the
kingdom of God upon the earth, and we are still engaged in this work.
We have donated towards the deliverance of the poor from foreign
lands, bringing them here, where they have the privilege of being
taught further in the plan of salvation, and where they can assist
more materially in the establishment of Zion in the earth.
Many of the poor, after having been brought here, relieved in many
instances, from the depths of pover ty, no sooner do they
become the possessors of a little means, than they lift their heels
against the Gospel. This is painful to the Latter-day Saints, who
rendered them assistance; it is grieving to God who delivered them.
Still, it is our duty to send the Gospel to all nations, and to
continue to donate means to gather out the poor. The Lord will save a
few, all that will accept salvation according to the design which the
Lord has devised. He has made the plan, not us. It is not the
conception of man. It was the Gods who sat in council together—they
planned it and now offer it to us. Will we accept of it?
There are only two churches on the earth—only two parties. God leads
the one, the devil the other. As soon as a man hears the Gospel
preached and becomes convinced of its truth fulness, he is tempted of
the devil, who, whenever there is an opportunity, suggests doubt for
his reflection. If he entertain these doubting influences, it is not
long before what he believed true becomes a matter of conjecture.
Another may receive the Gospel, travel and preach it faithfully,
feeling in his heart to exclaim, "Glory to God in the highest!" having
no other motive than to do good to his fellow beings. By and by he
perhaps is left to himself; he now begins to question himself,
saying—"I wonder if I really was right?" This single doubt is perhaps
the beginning of his apostasy from the Church. In the days of Joseph,
people were inclined to turn away from the faith and go into apostasy,
as much as they do now in proportion to our numbers, and I have
sometimes thought more so. You allow the devil to suggest to you that
I am not leading you right, and allow that thought to abide in your
hearts, and I will promise you that it will lead you to apostasy. You
allow yourselves to doubt anything that God has revealed, and it will
not be a great while before you begin to neglect your prayers, refuse
to pay your Tithing, and find fault with the authorities of the
Church. You will be repeating what apostates all say, "The Tithing is
not used aright," etc. There is a feeling that sometimes prompts me to
ask, "Did you ever pay any Tithing to me that I kept? If so, let us be
informed about it." God has so blessed me with regard to things
pertaining to this world, that if it can be shown that I ever received
the benefit of any man's Tithing, I am able to restore it a hundred
fold. This perhaps is a little levity in me, but I indulge in such
things sometimes.
When brother Joseph was alive, he appointed me to appraise property in
the Nauvoo Temple. On one occasion, a saddle was brought in; it was
valued at two dollars, and being in need of a saddle I used it.
Brother Joseph, too, once sent me the half of a pig which weighed
ninety-three pounds. And while preaching in Boston, I received two and
a half dollars in Tithing, which I also used and reported to brother
Joseph. Otherwise not a dime of the Tithing did I ever use in the days
of Joseph; and since his day the right to dictate the use of the
Tithing belongs to me, and I have used what I thought was necessary,
but I have no knowledge of using one dollar of Tithing money for my
own purposes. Though after these statements I will say that I dictate
the Tithing very little. Neither the Bishops nor my clerks ever ask me
anything about it, they do what they please with it. I do not care
what is done with it, if it be rightfully and properly used. They are
perfectly welcome to use my Tithing in common with yours; the Lord will hold them responsible for its use. If my brethren whom I
employ to take care of and raise my stock, do as I wish them to do,
they pay my stock Tithing. No man in this Church pays his full
Tithing. I do not pay mine, but I pay as much as anybody; and I never
inquire what is done with it.
When we neglect any one of these duties, the enemy says, "I have made
so much ground." If the devil can induce an Elder to drink a little,
he is not satisfied with this triumph, but says to him, "Your wife and
children know it, don't pray tonight." The Elder says to his family,
"I feel tired tonight, we won't have prayers." The enemy says, "I
have gained another point." You indulge still further, and you will
find other excuses. Your head is not right, your heart is not right,
your conscience is not right, and you retire again without praying. By
and by, you begin to doubt something the Lord has revealed to us, and
it is not long before such a one is led away captive of the devil.
You Elders of Israel, do you not see the necessity of an advance? Do
you not see that we have traveled just as far as we can, without
adopting the revelation the Lord gave at Independence, Jackson County,
namely, that "the property of the Saints should be laid at the feet of
the Bishops, etc., and unless this was done a curse would befall
them?" They refused to do it, and the consequence was, they were
driven from their homes. Unless we obey these first revelations, the
people will decline in their faith, and they will leave the faith of
the holy Gospel. Do the Elders sense this? Yes, a great many of them
do—also a great many of the sisters. Were it not for the faith and
prayers of the faithful ones, this Church would have been given into
the hands of our enemies. It is the faith of the Priesthood, who cling
to the commandments of the Lord, that holds the people where they are.
Supposing you were in a state to say, We will do what is required of
us. It would be enough for me to say, It is your duty to finish that
house (the Tabernacle) without delay, and it would be done, every man
doing his part cheerfully. But, instead of that being the case, we
might apply to brother John for his team: says brother John, "It is
very hard of you to ask for my team. I have only the one span, and I
don't see that I can let you have it." Brother John keeps his team;
but if he could have had faith sufficient to obey the request, the
Lord would have blessed him with two teams. But because he keeps it,
that is his all, and very probably, will remain his all. Again, say
the Priesthood, "I want your house." "Take it." "Your
garden." "Take
it." Says one—"Do you feel so, brother Brigham?" Precisely so,
I want
to entertain no other feeling. I have nothing but what, if the Lord
requires, it must go freely. He can take nothing more than is already
his. I say, take it, I will trust in him for more. This is the only
safe ground to walk upon. It is the only way by which we can secure
eternal life. Jesus says, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,
which leads to life eternal," but which the New Translation made, that
leads to "the lives," and few there be who find it. But wide is the
gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be
who go in thereat.
The Lord would like to see us take the course that leads unto the
strait gate, that we might be crowned sons and daughters of God, for
such are the only ones in the heavens who multiply and increase, and
who frame and make and redeem worlds. The rest take an
inferior kingdom, where this privilege is denied them. This the Lord
has made known unto us through the Prophet Joseph; it is published and
so plainly written, that we can read and understand for ourselves. It
is for us to choose whether we will be sons and daughters, joint heirs
with Jesus Christ, or whether we accept an inferior glory; or whether
we sin against the Holy Ghost, which cannot be pardoned or forgiven in
this world, nor in the world to come; the penalty of which is to
suffer the second death. What is that we call death, compared to the
agonies of the second death? If people could see it, as Joseph and
Sidney saw it, they would pray that the vision be closed up; for they
could not endure the sight. Neither could they endure the sight of the
Father and the Son in their glory, for it would consume them.
The Lord gives us little by little, and is ever willing to give us
more and more, even the fullness; when our hearts are prepared to
receive all the truths of heaven. This is what the Lord desires, what
he would delight in doing, for his children.
These are only a few reflections, when we take into consideration our
Christian religion, for it incorporates every act of a person's life.
We never should presume to do anything unless we can say, "Father,
sanction this, and crown the same with success." If the Latter-day
Saints live so, the victory is ours. There are a great many who want
to live so, and I say God bless all such. Amen.