My brethren and sisters: I can say that I have had some very pleasant
and interesting reflections while listening to Brother Fowler's
remarks, and think the purpose for which we have met this evening has
been a success. I have felt that I have been fed, that I have been
blessed, and that I shall carry with me more or less of the influence
and spirit of those remarks, and upon re flection we all understand
that this is really the purpose for which we come together.
Mormonism, in a sense, is opposed to formality. All that there is
associated with it is meant for use, and there are results expected to
accrue from all the practices of the Church that have been established
by revelation, and everything is intended to aid in the great work which we call salvation. To be sure, that is a very common
word, it is a word that we are all familiar with, it is something that
we have heard from the time that we were children, from the time that
we went to Sabbath school, and before we went there, and after we
attained to youth and manhood. But in the light of the Gospel how
narrow and contracted and how offensive the word in its sectarian
sense becomes to us, so much so that many of us scarcely like to use
it; we would prefer to use another expression which more thoroughly
carries with it all the ideas associated with the reception and
practice of the Gospel.
Our memory has been cited to the fact that during the history of this
Church, and during the history of the primitive church, there were
those who possessed the spirit of unbelief, there were those who
became more or less indifferent and negligent in regard to that which
they received, and we have been referred to the history of those who
have fallen from this Church—men who have seen great things, men who
have had wonderful experiences, men whom we might have considered as
stable as the eternal hills by virtue of that experience. Now what is
the difficulty in such cases? What is the difficulty in any cases, in
your case, and in my case, when we lose an interest in the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God? Is it a healthy sign? Or is it not
rather, if continued, a sign of approximating death? Is the man or the
woman who are alive to their duties—are they those who apostatize? Is
it the faithful man or the active, stirring woman, who are laboring
earnestly, following the practice and principles of the Gospel, that
leave the Church? No, it is not, but it is those who, from some cause
or other, become cold, heartless, indifferent, and neglectful of their
duties.
Salvation, in its largest aspect, consists in the proportion of truth
received; men and women only are saved in proportion to the truth
which they appropriate. An ignorant man will only obtain the salvation
which belongs to the ignorant. The idler will only obtain that
salvation which belongs to an idle man. Is it not "the hand of the
diligent that maketh rich?" And there are parallels running through
all the actions of the Saints in a religious sense similar to those
which run through the actions of men in a social sense, even down to
the lowest details of human life, into every avenue of life, in every
direction in which human happiness is involved, constituting as they
do in their entirety that which is spoken by the Apostle Paul, "how
shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" I presume, if I am
to judge by my experience, that every man and every woman realizes
that it is just in proportion to our experience, our use of the
opportunities of life, our understanding of the principles involved,
that we are successful. If you find a man who essays to be a merchant,
who desires the accumulation of wealth, you will find a man who
points his energies in that direction. He is a man who not only looks
at things in general but at things in detail; he not only looks at his
business as a whole but he looks at it in its parts; and if he were to
abstain or refrain from a consideration of the details which insure
success the probability is that he would find himself in the courts of
liquidation. Many a man, fortunate in a mercantile sense, has gone
to the wall through carelessness in regard to little things as boxes,
paper, time, etc., through trivial waste that every prudent man
would be disposed to notice; but the successful merchant in almost any
instance—and these instances are the exception and not the rule, is
the man who is economical, prudent and careful of the details of his
business. If you go into our houses, and you take our girls that are
grown up, and they are unable to bake bread, unable to cook a potato,
unable to wash and attend to all the duties which belong to domestic
life, how much of a domestic salvation will they receive? What
attraction will there be for the husband, working away in the battle
of life, when he comes home to find that rest which is so desirable?
Our domestic salvation depends upon attention to the details which lie
at the foundation of domestic happiness, and there can be no peace in
the domestic circle where there is a lack of intelligence, there can
be no success only where the good housewife masters the details of her
daily life.
As it is in these two everyday yet diverse instances of life, so also
it is in all other directions, and the same principle is just as
prominent and just as applicable to the details of our most holy
faith. You go out into the missionary field and preach the Gospel of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After you have finished your
discourse some one may come up to you and say, "my friend, I believe
the doctrine which you teach, I acknowledge the existence of the
Deity, I believe in the message of his son, I understand the necessity
of obedience to the first principles—including baptism." But mark when
a man has been baptized if he becomes careless and indifferent and
says "Well, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints to this extent." In your estimation now, what would be the
amount of salvation that man would receive? Why, he might receive the
remission of his sins and that is all he is entitled to, but the
salvation which belongs to the ordinance of the "laying on of hands"
would form no part of his blessings. But supposing he advances a step
further and says: "Having done so well I would like to enjoy a little
more of the blessings," and he goes and receives the laying on of
hands. He feels the promptings of the spirit of intelligence from
above, he rejoices in its influence; it suggests, persuades, counsels,
and advises. Supposing that under the operations of this spirit he
should turn a deaf ear to its promptings—suppose that it prompts him
to go in one direction and he feels to run the other, suppose that he
should resist this influence, how much of a salvation in that respect
would he receive? For instance, you are all aware of the power of the
spirit, or rather the impulse it gives to gathering. We have all felt
this. It has been a part of our experience when we have been under the
influence of that spirit; we desired to associate with the Saints in a
local capacity in their general assemblies, and in a larger sense we
have been desirous of gathering with them to the great gathering place
wherever that may be. Suppose that spirit of gathering is resisted,
and a man says "Well, I have got a good situation here, a nice little
home, I enjoy the society in which I mingle" —and he continues in that
course, how on earth or heaven or anywhere else, can that man get the
special and particular salvation which belongs to gathering? It cannot
be done; it is not in the nature of things. If he would enjoy that
salvation he must absorb the principle of gathering until it grows
and blossoms into life. And there are those even in this Territory who, when they get among the Saints believe that all the
purposes of their holy religion have been served in their experience,
and they set themselves down and say, "Well now, I will endeavor to
get for myself a good home; I will try to make myself comfortable; I
will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and as for some
duties which pertain to my religion—well, I have not time to attend to
them, they absorb too much of my attention, and I will give my life to
making myself and family comfortable." They think that because they
have been baptized, because they enjoy the spirit of the Lord through
the laying on of hands, because they have forsaken fatherland and come
to the mountains, that, therefore, they are sure of "the great
salvation" which the Gospel brings. Why, it is all a mistake. They
will get the salvation which is necessary consequent upon the truth
which they have absorbed and put into practice; no more and no less.
Again, we find that some of our people when Christmas comes round will
begin to make excuses in regard to their tithing. Now, tithing is one
of the eternal principles which pertains to the order of God. But a
man goes up to his Bishop and says, "Well now, it's all I can do to
make both ends meet; the necessities of my family, the
responsibilities and cares that belong to the position in which I
move, compel me to use all the income I receive, and it scarcely
suffices to serve my wants." Do you believe that that man will ever
enjoy that particular portion of salvation which belongs to those who
promptly pay their tithes to the Lord? No, it cannot be done; that man
never can enjoy the special and peculiar blessing that belongs to all
those who pay their tithing.
You go into a man's house and you find there disorder, children
disputing, the wives—two or three as the case may be—at loggerheads
(to use a rather vulgar expression) in fact the spirit of peace has
fled from the hearthstone, what salvation in a domestic sense does
that man enjoy? Is that the outcome of the order of family government,
or rather was it not instituted to promote peace and harmony, so that
we might have a type of the great heaven which we desire to enjoy in
the not far distant future? The man who would have domestic salvation
has got to work for it. He must understand the nature of the element
with which he deals, he must so manipulate that it will bring forth
the domestic salvation which he earnestly seeks. But supposing a man
has got the peace he desires in this respect, yet in the morning as in
the evening the song of prayer or praise is never heard in his house.
Now there is a certain position of domestic salvation which pertains
to the carrying out of these ideas and principles which we have
received that cannot be secured by any other process, and the man who
neglects to have family prayers, and to induce and persuade his family
to join in, has lost one of the great elements which operate and
secure for him and his, domestic salvation.
Well, now, there are some who attend to all these duties; but still
there are a great many other principles that require to be observed. A
man, for instance, has got the wife of his youth and a little family
growing up, yet there is a principle in the Church of Christ called
patriarchal marriage, and many a woman in regard to this will say to
her husband, "Now let us be satisfied to leave well enough alone. If
your family circle is enlarged, you will increase your responsibility, and there is great risk connected with the introduction of a
foreign element in your family. It is true there may be peace, but it
is far more likely that there will be contention or division." Now, is
there any advantage in the practice of the patriarchal order? That is
the question. If there is—and I know there is, in spite of any
difficulty connected therewith—how can you expect to enjoy any benefit
which accrues from the practice of this eternal principle and yet
remain in neglect or disobedience of that principle. It cannot be
done. A great many think that it can, and they will employ all manner
of subterfuge to back up their position. They will read the revelation
on the subject, and they will construe and misconstrue all that it
says, in order to justify themselves in the position which they have
assumed; but every man and every woman may rest satisfied that the
blessings which flow from this order of the Church of Christ cannot be
secured by any other process than the one pointed out by Divine
authority. "But," says one, "I have known in my experience where
difficulties have originated through the practice of this principle."
Very true. Have you never known of difficulties originating in any
other direction or arising from the practice of any other principle?
Were there no difficulties set before you when you were baptized? Were
there no difficulties presented before you when you thought of
gathering? Were there no difficulties in your way when you endeavored
to make your feet fast in the valleys of the mountains? Is it not
difficulties that make the man? Is it not difficulties that make the
woman? Is it not those circumstances and changes of life that call
forth every energy and arouse us to continued action so that we may
ensure success? In the common walks of life we are accustomed to
notice men and women who pride themselves in the assurance that where
others have failed they have brought forth success. The same idea is
applicable to many in the direction of the patriarchal order. Where a
man has failed in one or some other given direction, that failure
should be an impetus to his neighbor, requiring and stirring him to
use all his ability so as to secure success.
Now when I was in the old world I met a great many of the brethren
there who were engaged like myself in the work of the ministry, and
whenever I met a man of the character I have described I invariably
found that he was shorn of power, that he did not carry with him that
full influence which a missionary of the Gospel should carry; at all
events he had not that influence which practice and experience gives
in this direction and I have imagined a case to myself sometimes. In
going into any small town or country village, into the midst of those
peculiar influences which exist in England, you will find an audience
congregated on the village green or elsewhere listening to the
missionary. After he is through with his discourse a man steps up and
says, I have heard the remarks you have made; I believe in the
principles that you advocate; but I am at the mercy of the squire, or
of the 'Lord of the Manor' here, or the owner of this coal pit, or the
one who runs this factory, and if I should embrace the doctrine that
you preach I should be turned out of my cottage; I should lose the
opportunity of earning my bread, my boys and girls would be thrown out
of employment, and I should soon be all astray in a financial and
industrial sense." What does the elder say in a case of that
kind? He says, "My friend I hear all your argument. It is very good,
that is so far as it goes, but the Lord has promised to take care of
his Saints; he has promised that when one door shuts another shall
open; and he has declared by revelation that it is his business to
provide for his Saints; and now if you will go down in humility and be
baptized and associate yourselves with the church and kingdom of God
upon the earth your way will be opened before you." The elder believes
what he is advocating. The man goes down and is baptized, and sure
enough directly it comes to his employer's ears, he receives a week's
notice to quit his work, or quit his cottage, as the case may be. He
pulls a long face when the elder comes round again, but the elder
says, "never mind, all will come out right; exercise your faith; trust
in Providence; do what is right and let the consequence follow." Soon
after this the man gets a good situation and an advance of a few
shillings per week probably; the Lord has blessed him, he has opened
up his way before him, and the words of the servant of God have been
fulfilled. By and by through this increase he gets to Zion, and
arriving there he goes to visit the house of this missionary and be
introduced to his family. After awhile he takes the elder to one side
and says, "How long have you been in Utah?" And the answer is ten,
fifteen, or twenty years, as the case may be. "You are pretty
comfortable, nice little house well furnished." "Oh yes, first rate."
"Is this all the family you have got?" "Yes, this is all I have got;
never had but one wife; I could not maintain any more families." "But,"
says the man, "did you not tell me when I got baptized to keep all the
commandments of God; did you not tell me it was the Lord's business to
provide for the Saints; did you not make the assertion that the path
of duty was the path of safety?" "Yes," says the elder, "that
may do
very well for Babylon, but it won't do here in Zion." Now there is
something not right here; there is surely a weak point somewhere. If
the principle is good in the midst of the nations, it is good at home,
and if men are honest and honorable in the practice of that which they
know to be right in the valleys of the mountains, the path of success
will as surely open before them as it did to the man who received the
Gospel in a foreign land. A great many of the brethren think they
cannot afford to keep any more families. I remember when I was a lad
I used to think and say I should not be able to keep myself, and on
remarking this to my landlady she replied: "I have often found that a
man who thinks he cannot keep himself can keep a wife and five or six
children." Why? Because the responsibility called forth his energies;
he became speculative and energetic in order to secure success. There
is a blessing, there is an element of salvation, there is something
which tends to progress in the obedience to every principle that has
been received, so far, in connection with the church and kingdom of
God, and every man and every woman will receive only that amount of
salvation for which they work. Our measure of salvation, then,
consists in the absorption of the truth we hear. Truth neglected,
truth unemployed, truth unappropriated, is as valueless as the snows
of ten winters ago are for the irrigation of our fields in the coming
summer. But where the spirit of life is, where the spirit of vitality
exists, where throughout the whole organization of a man there
burns the spirit of intelligence, the spirit of advancement, he will
lead out continually in the right direction, and his wives and
children will follow after him, they will catch his spirit, his
neighbors will feel his influence, the ward to which he belongs will
feel after and emulate his example, and society generally will be the
better for his presence; but when this coldness, this indifference,
this negligence comes in, why, the blessings that belong to obedience
will not be received any more than the blessings that belong to our
attending meeting on a Sunday can be received if we stay at home. I
recollect a person saying to me once, "Well, who preached today?" "Oh
brother so and so." "Well, I know all he can say; and besides when
such and such persons preach I can stay at home and read the
Bible" —and not much of that I think—"I can read the Book of
Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, DESERET NEWS, and any of the books published
by the Church and I enjoy myself better than I do in going to
meeting." Now is that a fact? A man may think so; but is it a fact
that a man can increase in the knowledge of the things of God if he
absents himself from the services of the sanctuary as established by
divine appointment? I say, no. The meetinghouse is the place where
the table is spread, where the food is prepared by the eternal spirit,
and when we go there and hear men speak to us under the influence of
that spirit, and we are in possession of the same spirit—we are fed,
we grow and increase, and the roots and fibers of our being run
deeper, and so enable us to "bring forth more fruit."
I presume the time is exhausted. I desire to continue faithful to the
appropriation of truth, wheresoever it may originate: no matter where,
for all truth is divine. It is my privilege to enjoy the spirit of
inspiration, to feel the flow of revelation from above; and that God
may grant us peace and wisdom and save us in his kingdom is my prayer,
through Jesus Christ. Amen.
- Henry W. Naisbitt