In trying to address so large an audience, I earnestly desire an
interest in the prayers of my brethren and sisters, that the few
remarks I may offer may be dictated by the Spirit of God. There are
many things that we, as Elders in Israel, should always be pleased to
speak of, and particularly in this the case in reference to the
kindness of our Father in heaven towards us as a people. We are
permitted to dwell in peace, surrounded with the blessings of
life and liberty, having pleasant homes wherein to dwell, and God to
be our Father and Friend. When I look around upon the homes of the
Latter-day Saints and see how the elements have been changed and made
so propitious, enabling us to produce food and clothing, the
necessities and many of the luxuries of life, my heart is exceedingly
grateful, for I must confess there is no land with which I am familiar
where the blessings of God are so abundantly bestowed as in our own.
It appears to me that every bud is not only willing, but does blossom,
and where seed by man is sown broadcast in the ground it comes forth,
bearing twenty, thirty, or fifty fold. This, my brethren and sisters,
is not the result of the work of man; but it is the blessings of our
Heavenly Father. And how any human being can look upon the mountains
by which we are surrounded, and gaze upon the beautiful fields and
smiling nature seen on every hand, and not be able to acknowledge God
in all these things is beyond my comprehension. In speaking to the
young people particularly I have had sometimes pleasure in referring
to the works of man, comparing them with the works of God. And while I
believe it proper for us to look with pleasure upon the
accomplishments of art and science, and upon the skilled workmanship
of man, yet I would have our young people always realize that God is
the originator; I would have them understand, as the arts and sciences
are being developed and new discoveries are being brought out by what
we call the genius of man, that God understood all these things before
they were made known to us. And while having them admire and wonder at
the grand achievement of man in chaining the lightning, thus making
it to serve his purposes; and while it was the work of man that
molded and fashioned the metal into the wire over which intelligence
is transmitted by the power of electricity, I would help to lead their
minds beyond, so that they may comprehend that the material of which
that wire is composed was the creation and work of God, and that the
electricity itself is at the bidding and mandate of the great Jehovah.
I believe, my brethren and sisters, if we take proper pains in the
education of the young, employing the right kind of men and women to
be their preceptors, that instead of the seeds of infidelity being
sown in their minds, we will have faith, and in that faith we will have
the manifestations of power.
In talking with the learned of the world we find that they have but a
faint conception of God and Godliness. Were you to tell them that they
hate God, or that the carnal mind is at enmity against God, they would
not understand you. And yet, when we come to the actual facts, we find
that the learned and many professors of Christianity really do hate
God. I do not mean to say they hate the God they themselves picture in
their own minds; but that they hate and fight against him whose
attributes and character are portrayed within the lids of the Bible.
The Supreme Ruler of the universe, the Creator of the heavens and the
earth, is not only the tender and loving Being that the pious
Christian of the 19th century pictures him to be—he is not only
willing to love and cherish and save the human family, but he is also
a Being of justice and judgment, having always power enough to inflict
punishment upon the breakers of his laws. Yet modern divines think with horror of a God who would inflict punishment, on the plea
that such would be revengeful; and yet, neither they nor any of our
professed Christian friends would for a moment find fault with the
judge of an inferior earthly court for passing judgment on a criminal,
though it might lead even to the loss of the life of a fellow
creature.
Having but a very short time to occupy this afternoon my remarks must
necessarily be brief. But before closing I feel to bear my testimony
that here in Utah is a people who are trying to serve the Lord. And I
testify too, that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the living God,
chosen of Him to open up the last dispensation to man—the dispensation
of the fulness of times; and that his successor, Brigham Young, was an
apostle of the Lord Jesus, and a prophet, seer and revelator. And I
feel to bear my testimony that this same power and revelation rests
upon his servant, Brother John Taylor. If we would live for the light
of God's Holy Spirit we might see not as with eyes through a glass
darkly, but with eyes that see clearly having also ears capable of
hearing, and hearts full to understand.
It is our duty, as young men, as middle aged men and as aged men to
bestow great care and attention on the education of the young. It is
not particularly the duty of the father, as I understand it, to place
in the hands of his son the writings of Payne and other infidel
authors unless they follow up the reading of such works with good
sound argument, and then place the Bible and the Book of Mormon in
their hands to be read and studied, and, when necessary, correctly
explained showing wherein the Lord has wrought out the literal
fulfillment of many of the predictions therein recorded. If they would
do this with prayerful hearts and with the wisdom God may give them,
there will be little or nothing to fear from the readings of infidel
works. I take the broad ground that in infidelity is ignorance. You
meet the infidel and you will find him as a general thing, ignorant in
regard to that which is laid down in the Bible, which he claims to
disbelieve. It has been so from the beginning. It is a truth that has
been uttered on many occasions by the servants of God, that it is
easier and more natural for mankind to believe a hundred falsehoods
than to accept a single truth. It must be apparent to all, that it is
more in harmony with our fallen nature to do wrong than to do right.
Let six boys be taken, for instance, and be carefully taught in the
principles of morality, virtue and truth; and another six in the
follies and wickedness of the world and see which of the two sets will
make the most rapid progress, those in the right, or those in the
wrong? All will readily agree with me that immorality is more easily
acquired than the virtues, and hence we may conclude that we are in a
fallen world, and that we have the battle against sin to fight.
May the blessings of God rest down upon the Latter-day Saints. And by
way of conclusion I will say, if we want to dream dreams or see
visions, it is our privilege to do so, but we must first purify our
hearts and seek to love the Lord our God with all our might, mind and
strength, and our neighbor as ourselves; and to do unto others as we
would have others do unto us. And permit me to say that in all my
experience in life I have found as yet but one thing that can afford
true happiness and true enjoyment, and that is a conscious ness of keeping the commandments of God. And if we,
Latter-day Saints, will live near unto him, he will be near unto us.
And instead of having to call in physicians to minister to the members
of our families when sickness makes its appearance, the power of God
will be upon us in such rich abundance as to enable us to rebuke it
from our dwellings, and to invoke the blessings of health to attend us
and ours, which was the case years ago in the primeval days of the
Church. If we have lost any of these blessings it is not through any
fault in the Lord, or that there is less power and efficacy in the
priesthood we bear, but rather in our own lack of faith in the
promises made to the faithful. Amen.