In occupying the time this morning, I wish in the first place to call
your attention to the fact that we are Latter-day Saints, or at least
ought to be, and that as such we are dependent upon the Lord for our
instruction; this is in accordance with our faith that we have to look
to him for assistance under all circumstances, in all places, in all
our affairs of life, and in all matters pertaining to furthering us on
in the principles of godliness.
Assembled together as we are this morning, it is very necessary that
we ask the Lord for his spirit, the spirit of inspiration, to rest
upon us as speakers and as hearers, that we may be enabled to
comprehend things that may be spoken, and that they may be adapted to
our individual needs.
It is impossible to advance in the principles of truth, to increase in
heavenly knowledge, except we exercise our reasoning faculties and
exert ourselves in a proper manner. We have an instance recorded in
the Doctrine and Covenants of a misunderstanding on the part of Oliver
Cowdery, touching this principle. The Lord promised him the gift to
translate ancient records. Like many of us today, he had
misconceptions in regard to the exercise of the gift. He thought all
that was necessary for him to do, inasmuch as this gift had been
pro mised him of God, was to allow his mind to wait in idleness
without effort, until it should operate spontaneously. But when those
records were placed before him, there was no knowledge communicated,
they still remained sealed, as it were, for no power to translate came
upon him.
Although the gift to translate had been conferred, he could not
prosecute the work, simply because he failed to exert himself before
God with the view of developing the gift within him; and he became
greatly disappointed, and the Lord, in his goodness and mercy,
informed him of his mistake, using the following language—
"Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give
it unto you when you took no thought, save it was to ask me; but,
behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then
you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that
your bosom shall burn within you," etc.
So in regard to us, respecting the things which we are undertaking. If
we expect to improve, to advance in the work immediately before us,
and finally to obtain possession of those gifts and glories, coming up
to that condition of exaltation we anticipate, we must take thought
and reflect, we must exert ourselves, and that too to the utmost of
our ability.
The text given us by President Young yesterday, and to which we, in
our prayer this morning, asked God to direct our remarks, was the work
with which we are now immediately concerned, pertaining to our present
wants and necessities. The question here arises, How shall we regulate
our temporal affairs so as to qualify us to perform the duties and
obligations devolving upon us today, and secure to ourselves the
blessings of eternal life?
To this subject, so far as the Lord will give me his Holy Spirit,
through the exercise of your faith, I wish to speak this morning. I
desire, however, to confine myself more particularly to the subject
relating to our financial union, uniting ourselves together as
brethren who have entered into the everlasting covenant of the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, expecting to dwell together in the presence
of God in the celestial world.
We have been told, through the revelations of God, and to which our
attention has often been called, that unless we became one in temporal
as well as spiritual things, it was useless anticipating the fullness
of celestial glory, or a state of oneness in the spiritual things of
God. But what course we are to take in order to arrive at this most
desirable condition seems to remain a difficult, unsolved problem.
Doubtless many have asked themselves, what can we do, and how shall we
do it?
Well, let our minds revert for a few minutes to the time when we
received the fullness of the everlasting Gospel, in the countries
where it first reached us. As soon as we became convinced of the truth
and that the Elders who preached the Gospel were the servants of God,
we offered ourselves as candidates for baptism for the remission of
sins, receiving the Holy Ghost through the laying on of their hands,
and then felt determined to do whatever the Lord should require
through his servants and continue to follow their counsels in all
things, even to the sacrifice of all we possessed, if necessary,
whether pertaining to the world's wealth or that which we held in higher and dearer esteem.
We learned an important and significant fact, that we were his
offspring, inheriting, though only in infantile form, the same
attributes he himself possessed, and that, through probationary
experience, by passing the ordeals of earth, rejecting the evil and
accepting the good, these attributes could be developed until
eventually we might receive a fullness of the godhead, and dwell in
the presence of the Father. We became acquainted with this fact, and
were convinced in our hearts that the object which now appeared before
us, was well worthy of all that we could bestow upon it. Hence we
resolved that we would accomplish the undertaking, though at the
sacrifice of our all. We well understood that in order to attain to
that position that would entitle us to this exaltation, it would be
necessary to submit ourselves wholly to the mind and will of God. We
felt in our hearts to consecrate our wives, our children and our
property, if we had any, and our time and abilities, to the service of
God. Had this law of consecration been presented at that time it no
doubt would have been hailed with joy, as it was in exact accordance
with the spirit of our covenants.
According to the order of the celestial world, as revealed to the
Latter-day Saints, respecting the property we might possess, we were
required to consecrate all to the Lord, and then to be made stewards,
as pointed out by revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
and were to continue to devote that which might be entrusted to us to
the service of God; and so far as we increased the property of our
stewardship we were to devote the same to the benefit of the king dom
of God, which would be used for the building of Temples, emigrating
and sustaining the poor, and for carrying on the great work of
redeeming Israel. This feeling, which we entertained at the beginning,
was to continue to burn in our bosoms, and we were to be faithful and
honest in our professions.
I know that many of us when we came to the valleys, conformed to this
law of consecration, which is now published in the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants. We deeded our property, and many were willing, perhaps
not all, that, if necessary, every part and portion of it should have
been used as the servants of God should have directed. This was the
kind of feeling that we then entertained, and just as long as we
maintained this condition of mind, of willing obedience, it was all
that was required. But I fear that this feeling, which gave us so much
joy, which tended to increase our faith and confidence in God and in
one another, has not continued to grow correspondingly with our
general prosperity, experience and knowledge of the Gospel. My
testimony to you is that, so far as this is the case, we stand this
day not wholly approved of God, although we have the privilege of
worshipping in this Temple, reared to his holy name. But just so far
as this willingness exists in our hearts to appropriate our means that
we have accumulated for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God on the
earth, and that too without grudging, even as the former-day Saints
laid down theirs at the feet of the Apostles, so far are we approved
and accepted of God. Who, among the Latter-day Saints within the
hearing of my voice this day, could fail to comprehend this?
In much of our business relations one with another, there does not
exist that spirit of union and brotherly interest that should be
maintained. We need to take such a course as will enable us to acquire
it, and this spirit should prevail throughout all our settlements.
Who cannot perceive the hand of God in bringing us away from the
turmoil and strife of the business world to these mountain vales,
where we have the opportunity and the privilege of building up
villages and cities upon the principle of unity which has been
revealed to us, thus affording that necessary discipline which we
could not have obtained among the cities of the Gentiles? This
training cannot be acquired in one year, nor in five years, but its
acquisition is enhanced in proportion to our willingness to make
sacrifices in order to obtain it. By and by the Lord will have
prepared the way for some to return to Jackson County, there to build
up the Center Stake of Zion. How easy this work can be accomplished,
after we have learned to build up cities and Temples here to his
divine acceptance! Our present experience is a very needful one.
Without it, we should be totally unfitted for the performance of such
a work. We read that the Temple which Solomon built was erected
without the sound of a hammer being heard. There had been a previous
preparation and an experience gained in some distant locality, and a
proper training. The materials were accurately prepared elsewhere, and
when brought together were ready for setting, each piece to its proper
place. As knowledge and efficiency are obtained gradually, we may
expect that the experience that we are getting now in learning how to
build up cities in our present condition, conforming as near as
possible to the holy order of God, is, in order to prepare us by and
by to return to Missouri, whence we were driven, and there build up
cities and Temples to the name of the Most High, upon which his glory
will descend. A condition of willingness to conform our will to the
divine will is what we need. It might not be deemed policy to enter
into covenants by deed, in our property matters, though it may be
hereafter. But so long as the emotions of our souls prompt us to
exclaim, in the language of Joshua, that "I and my household will
serve the Lord," so long as this willingness dwells in our hearts, to
give ourselves up entirely to the service of God, we are then in the
condition to ask the Father to hasten the day when his will shall be
done on earth as in heaven; and further, when the proper time comes to
require the use of our property in the interests of the great work we
are engaged in, the bare mention of it will be sufficient. But, we
ask, should not the Bishop who operates in our temporal matters be a
very wise and good man? Certainly he should, and a man of honor and
integrity, full of the Holy Ghost, loving his neighbor as himself, and
loving the Lord our God with all his might, mind and strength. On
this, we are told, "hang the law and the Prophets." Blessed is he in
whom these two principles are developed, for such a one is without
condemnation; he stands the peer of him referred to in the Scriptures
by the Savior as one "without guile." The people will soon learn to
confide in such a man, as he can establish unmistakable proof before
God and before his brethren that he obeys these commandments in which
are involved all that the Prophets ever lived for.
We will suppose, further, that such an individual as I have described,
who really had obeyed these commandments, were placed to preside over
a city of a thousand people, all of whom too were living in the
advanced condition referred to. He must bear in mind his important
position, high responsibilities, and who appointed him to this
position, he or they in whom God had vested the authority. Why is such
a man called to act as president over a people? Is it in order to
acquire an influence and then to use that influence directly for his
own aggrandizement? No, but on the contrary, he is called to act in
such a position on the same principle as the Priesthood was given to
the Son of God, that he should make sacrifice. For himself? No, but in
the interests of the people over whom he presides. Would he be required
to offer himself up on the cross as did the Savior? No, but to become
the servant of his brethren, not their master, and to work in their
interest and welfare. Not to exercise the influence thus obtained to
benefit himself, his family and relatives and personal friends, but
esteeming all as his brethren, having rights in common with himself
and, therefore, seeking to bless and benefit all equally according to
the talents and worthiness they may possess, and thus by so doing
develop in himself that fatherly feeling which always exists in the
bosom of the Father.
At the present time it is too often the case that the men who are
called to act in such positions, instead of thus acting according to
their holy calling, use their influence, their Priesthood, the sacred
powers referred upon them, for their own benefit and that of their
children and personal friends. This is highly improper, it is wrong
and displeasing in the sight of God; and of this sin we are called
upon to repent, by putting it away from us, and beginning to live the
lives of Latter-day Saints, according to the sacred covenants we have
entered into.
When you find a man who takes the same interest in those over whom he
presides as he does in himself and family, you will naturally begin to
have confidence in that individual. But as soon as you find
that his feelings, by day and by night, and the course of his conduct
are such as to tend directly to benefit himself and his family, you
will say, "What interest has he for us. We must look out for
ourselves." But where a man works for the interest of the community,
he becomes truly a father to that people, working for them with the
same feeling, desire and interest as he would for himself. It might be
said of him, as it should be said of all men, that he loves his
brethren, or in other words, "his neighbor," as himself. Now let the
man who acts as the presiding Elder of his ward, manifest by word and
action these fatherly feelings towards those he presides over, and how
soon we would begin to perceive perfect confidence restored!
Possibly such a man might not always possess financiering abilities,
and possibly the people themselves might not have confidence in his
abilities to manage or direct temporal affairs. This is quite
supposable, for good sound principled men are not always endowed with
great financiering abilities. Yet from the fact of his having
established himself in the hearts of the people, and his being known
by them for his integrity and honesty, and his disposition to work for
the interests of God and the people, willing to make any sacrifice
that might be required of him, he possesses their confidence, and when
once in possession of so sacred a trust, what then might he do in
order to satisfy the minds of the people, which are, more or less,
inclined to be progressive? Let such a man call to his aid those of
his brethren who are the most capable, letting them share his
responsibilities. Because you will find, as a general thing, that
talent is diffused through the many and rarely combined in single
individuals; and it only needs opportunity in order to be developed. He
might say to one, "Here Brother So and so, you are better adapted to
fill this or that position than I am;" or, to another, "You are the
man best fitted for this department;" and so on until he gets the
talents of all brought out, and instead of diminishing the public
confidence in himself, such a course would add to it. Further, he
would be doing for his brethren that which the United Order designs to
do for all, namely to afford opportunity to develop the gift that
Nature has endowed us with. Therefore, I say that all these matters
can be got along with, provided we have the sure and safe foundation,
which should be based on honesty and integrity to God and the true
interests of his kingdom and people. With a people of one heart and
mind, possessed of the same feelings and aspirations as we were when
we first embraced the Gospel, in connection with our present know ledge
and experience in the practical workings of building up the kingdom,
how easy it would be to establish our home industries or mercantile
institutions and carry them on successfully! Everyone would be on
hand, like Israel when, in the desert, and journeying to the land of
Canaan, they were required to build a movable tabernacle for certain
sacred purposes, and the people brought their offerings etc., even
more than were sufficient, and Moses had to cry out to the people to
stop. So it would be with us, as far as willingness on the part of the
people was concerned to take an active part in any general movement
that might be projected. Whatever means or property or time might be
devoted by the community for the establishing of any certain
enterprise, would be done in good faith, for every heart would be
inspired with confidence, everyone considering his interest identified
with that of the whole.
But it takes time to get the people into this condition. Here, in this
southern country, we understand that the people have been endeavoring
to work together in the United Order, meeting with more or less
disappointment. Because of reverses or failures in our attempts to
successfully operate our temporal affairs, we should not allow such
disappointment to detract from the principle itself; but rather let us
attribute our misfortunes to human weaknesses, regarding the principle
as divine, revealed for our special benefit and blessing, and in every
instance of apparent failure let us ever be resolved to "try again."
The principles of Plural Marriage were revealed for the benefit and
exaltation of the children of men, but how much unhappiness has arisen
through failure, on the part of some who have contracted this order of
marriage, to conform to the laws that govern it! But does it arise
through any defect in the order of the marriage system? O no; but from
ignorance and the folly and wickedness of those individuals who enter
into it, who abuse, rather than righteously obey, it. So in regard to
the principles of the United Order. Its principles too are sacred, and
I assure you we will never go back to Jackson County, Missouri, there
to build up the new Jerusalem of the latter days, until there is a
perfect willingness on our part to conform to its rules and
principles. Many years have transpired since we received the
revelation of the United Order, and in one sense that long period of
time bespeaks negligence on our part in not more fully obeying it. The
very principles of that order, in my estimation, were given for our
temporal and spiritual salvation. In order to derive the benefit that
God designed should flow from them, they must be established and
systematized on the principle of righteousness, each per son learning to love his neighbor as himself. For us to undertake to deal
with them on any other principle would virtually open the way to
bitter disappointment.
Then allow me to repeat, let me find a community that is willing to
conform to this, bringing to mind the covenants made in the beginning
when we received the fullness of the Gospel, willing to bring to mind
when they dedicated all they possessed—their property, their talents,
their mental and physical powers, to the building up of his kingdom;
remembering the time when we did this, the blessings of God were upon
us, and his Spirit burned within us. Then let those who preach in the
midst of that community of Saints, realize what the Priesthood was
placed upon them for; let them know and fully sense why they were
appointed to fill such and such an office, viz., that they should act
in the spirit of our Master, a servant of all, that they learn to
consider and esteem in the same affectionate interest, the welfare of
all, as they do that of themselves, and be in very deed fathers to the
people. Then will they enter into the spirit of the two great commands
upon which, said the Savior, "hang the law and the Prophets," namely,
loving the Lord with all our might, mind and strength, and our
neighbor as ourselves. This, in my opinion, is the foundation of our
future success, temporally and spiritually, in this United Order.
Until we come down to the bedrock of honesty and sincerity in this
matter, dealing with temporal as with spiritual things,
wholeheartedly, holding all and ourselves sacred to the service of
God, we may expect more or less failure.
Let me say to the brethren who are and who contemplate connecting
themselves actively and entirely with this holy Order, that the
Priesthood was bestowed upon you, as upon the Son of God himself, for
no other purpose than that, through sacrifice, you might be proven,
that, peradventure, at the last day, you might stand approved before
God, and before perfect and holy beings and that, in order to merit
this divine approval, it may be necessary to forget self and
individual aggrandizement and seek the interest of your brethren. If
you are ready and willing to do this, and if your everyday life and
conduct, and the spirit within you testify the fact, you will
establish confidence in the hearts of those who know you and with
whom you are more immediately associated in temporal matters.
Confidence is ofttimes referred to by our brethren, especially when
speaking on the subject of the United Order. It is spoken of and
written on by the religious, the political, and the financial world;
and the present condition of the whole is such as to force itself upon
our serious attention. We may confidently apprehend that, as history
shall chronicle the developments of this our progressive world, we
shall witness more and more the necessity of it. For as palpable and,
what may be termed, legitimate fraud increases, and the whole world
ripens in iniquity generally, confidence will lessen and become more
priceless and precious. This is quite obvious to all men in whose
hearts dwell a spark of that Spirit by which the Prophets foretold the
destiny of the nations. Confidence can be acquired only on the
principle of righteousness, whether it be applied to the monarch or
the peasant, the religionist or the non-religionist; merit alone
commands it.
Then let us live the lives of Latter-day Saints, that we may first
beget confidence in ourselves; then we shall begin to have confidence
in each other, in God, and in his promises. A people in this condition
of progress would know no failures, everything would prosper that they
put their hands to, they would grow in faith and in good works. I tell
you, in the name of the Lord God, that the time is coming when there
will be no safety only in the principles of union, for therein lies
the secret of our temporal and spiritual salvation. We have been
enabled to establish settlements, towns, and villages, and we have
been abundantly blessed with the necessaries and conveniences of life,
notwithstanding we have been slow to hearken to and obey the commands
of Jehovah. I would to God that every Bishop and presiding officer
would this day, in this holy Temple, covenant and swear before him,
the Lord our God, that they would turn and serve him with all their
might, mind and strength, and work in the interest of the people as
they would for themselves. For my greatest desire is to see Zion
established according to the revelations of God, to see her
inhabitants industrious and self-sustaining, filled with wisdom and
the power of God, that around us may be built a wall of defense, a
protection against the mighty powers of Babylon; and while the
disobedient of our Father's family are contending, and filling up
their cup of iniquity, even to the brim, and thus preparing themselves
for the burning, we, who are the acknowledged children of the kingdom,
being filled with the righteousness and knowledge of God, may be like
the wise virgins, clothed in our wedding garments, and properly
prepared for the coming of our Lord and Savior.