I feel thankful to meet with the Latter-day Saints in this house to
participate in the enjoyment of this Conference; for it is really
enjoyment to me to listen to the instructions imparted to the Saints
by the power of the Holy Ghost through the covenants of God. It is not
supposed that when we come together as we do this morning, that we
wish to be treated to the views and opinions of men. The Lord has
instructed his servants to speak as they are moved upon by the Holy
Ghost, and it has been shown to us that it is our privilege when we
assemble on such occasions to receive instructions, not in the
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration and power of
the Holy Ghost; and this will be the case when we assemble in the
right way and unite our faith and our attention and our spiritual
energy so as to call down upon us the blessings of the Almighty, and
to have the presence of those influences, those ministering spirits
who are sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation. It is our
privilege in these public gatherings appointed for the worship of God,
to have the presence of these holy ones in our midst, and to have the
power of the Almighty to rest upon both speaker and hearer, that we
may be fed and nourished by the bread of life that comes down from
heaven, and that when we part and go to our respective callings and
places of abode we may each carry with us "a live coal from the
altar."
We meet here today to manifest that we are willing to sustain the
brethren appointed of God in their several callings and offices of the
holy priesthood. It may seem rather a dry and formal matter to some of
the people to come together and lift up their hands to sustain the
authorities of the Church, but it is a necessary duty and, if we look
at it properly, we shall take pleasure therein. It may seem a little
monotonous, but, as I have said, it is necessary, for it was designed
by the Almighty in the organization of this Church, that the voice of
the people should respond to the voice of the Lord. It is the voice of
the Lord and the voice of the people together in this Church that
sanctions all things therein. In the rise of the Church the Lord gave a revelation which said that "all things shall be done by
common consent." And the Lord designs that every individual member
shall take an interest therein, shall bear a part of the
responsibility, and shall take upon him or her the spirit of the
Church, and be an active living member of the body. It is designed
that this Church shall be alive in its parts; that every individual
particle shall be influenced by the spirit thereof. When the human body
is in a healthy condition, the spirit that dwells therein animates
every portion; but when the body gets into an unhealthy condition,
there are parts of it through which the spirit does not circulate. So
with the Church that the Lord has established upon the earth. There
are plenty of dead forms in the world; religious institutions that are
not alive, but are forms without the power. The Lord is building up a
society, a kingdom, if you will, which he designs to animate by his
power in every part of it. And this is necessary for the good of the
whole that every individual member of the Church may be inspired by
the spirit that dwells in the body, and that the inspiration thereof
may not only rest upon the twelve apostles, upon the various
presidents of Stakes and the bishops who take charge of the various
wards, and upon the teachers who minister among the people, but that
it may go to every individual member of the Church, that the whole
body may be filled with life, and all be in unison with the highest
powers. Therefore, we are called together from time to time to
manifest our willingness to sustain the men presiding over us, through
whom comes the word of the Lord to us in an organized capacity. It is
our privilege individually to receive the word of the Lord direct. The
twelve apostles stand to communicate the word of the Lord to the
Church as a whole. The word of the Lord to the Church comes through
its presidency. In the various stakes it comes through the authorities
appointed there, and is given to the wards through the bishops. But it
is our privilege also to receive the word of the Lord direct to
ourselves each in our individual sphere and capacity, for we hold a
relationship to God as individuals, as well as a community. It is our
privilege if we live aright, each one for himself to receive direct
from the fountain of life, intelligence, wisdom and knowledge for our
individual guidance, inspiration to direct us in all things that we
are called upon to perform. The father of a family has a right to
receive the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to direct him in all things
pertaining to his household, to give words of wisdom and counsel to
his wives and his children and all within the sphere of his authority
and influence. It is the privilege of every mother to have the spirit
of the Lord to direct her in the course she shall take with her
children. And it is the privilege of every boy and girl, who has been
baptized into the Church, to receive the Holy Ghost for their
guidance, so that the whole Church may be quickened, bodily and
spiritually, with that life that comes from above; so that God may be
able to impress us as individuals with desires and intelligence for
the accomplishment of his purposes. And we should so live as to be in
harmony with the authorities of the Church; in harmony with those who
preside over us, that we may be able to see as they see, and act as
they desire us to act when they give us the word of the Lord. But we
cannot do that unless we possess this spirit. And not only should we
be in harmony with those men, but with the powers behind the
veil; and we should be so tuned that our whole natures will be in
perfect accord with the influences that come from on high, and be
sensitive to the impressions God intends to make upon us.
We sustain our brethren of the twelve, as prophets, seers, and
revelators; and I have heard it remarked by some brethren, that they
could not see any need of doing so, and that holding up their hands
does not make those men prophets, seers and revelators. That is true
enough as far as it goes. But by sustaining these brethren in our
customary way, we manifest to God and the powers behind the veil, who
work with the brethren in the flesh that we are willing to receive any
revelation that the higher powers may see fit to communicate through
them in that capacity. We have a great deal of principle and doctrine
given to us through the means of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the
Doctrine and Covenants, etc., with which we ought to make ourselves
thoroughly familiar. At the same time we have men presiding over us in
this Church through whom the word of the Lord will come in our present
circumstances for our guidance and for the guidance of the whole
Church in its onward march, as the exigencies of the case may require.
And when we lift up our hands to heaven to sustain them, we manifest
that we hold ourselves in readiness to receive the word of the Lord
whenever he sees fit to impart it to us. They are the legal channels;
they are the appointed receptacles to receive the words of the Lord
for us as an organized body; and by lifting up our hands to heaven in
this way, we show to God and to angels, that we are ready at any time,
if the Lord has a word of revelation to communicate to us, to receive
it, no matter how it may come; whether by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, or otherwise; by means of the Urim and Thummim, if he sees fit
to restore it to the Church, which he will do as sure as we are
gathered here today, and a man will stand up like unto Moses, who
will communicate the word of the Lord unto us, line upon line and
precept upon precept, until God brings forth everything needed for the
building up of his work; and the things kept hidden from the
foundation of the world will be brought forth, and all the ancient
records that have been lost will be brought to light, by men through
whom God shall operate by means of the Urim and Thummim as well as by
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. We manifest to him by our uplifted
hands that we will receive his word by inspiration, by the Urim and
Thummim, or by revelation, or the ministration of angels, or in any
way he may be pleased to communicate. It is fitting then that we
should do this. We do not know when the Lord may have some new word
for us. I am sorry to say we do not all know what is placed on record,
for we do not often read it. Nevertheless the Lord may see fit to
impart to us something not placed on record, and we should be ready
and willing to receive every word of counsel, or instruction, or
command, or rebuke that he may see fit to impart. It is necessary also
that we should show to our brethren who are called to these various
offices that we are willing to sustain them. For they have not called
themselves, neither do they run for office; we are not office seekers
in this Church. It is very generally the case that a man who seeks an
office is not a fit and proper person to occupy it. But we are
willing to receive any appointment or calling the Lord may see fit to
place us in; we are on hand, we are ready; but we are not
office seekers. As I have said the men whom we voted to sustain this
morning, the presidency of the stake, bishops, home missionaries,
etc., did not call themselves, but have been called to act in those
positions; and they are not paid for it either, that is in worldly
wealth. Of course they are blessed and paid, as every man is paid when
doing good, in the blessings pertaining to his calling. For every man
called to occupy any position can, if he seeks aright, obtain the
spirit of that calling, and in that there is peace and joy and
satisfaction, so that he is paid in his labors in any office which he
may be called to fill. But our brethren do not thrust themselves
forward to seek for position. Somebody else calls them, and we,
today, manifest our willingness to sustain them in those callings,
and to give them the benefit of our faith and prayers, and to assure
them that so far as we are placed under their counsel we will accept
it and act upon it. So this is a good work we do. It does not take a
great deal of time or labor and it is a fitting duty for Latter-day
Saints to perform, and I feel that we are privileged in so doing.
As the children of God, we need to rally around our brethren who are
acting in the various offices in this Church, and be one with them and
not only manifest this by lifting up our hands, but by really
sustaining them in the positions they are called to fill, so far as
lies within our power, each one taking an interest in these things,
each one feeling that he has a part in this matter. For this work does
not rest altogether upon those required to act in official positions,
but upon every individual called by the name of Latter-day Saint. Some
people think that the sphere of labor they are called to occupy, is
not a great one, that if they were called to occupy some office in the
Church they could accomplish more good and have something more to live
for. But I think we shall discover that if we are all anxious to fill
our sphere of action, we can find ample opportunity for the exercise
of those powers with which God has endowed as; every man and woman can
find a sphere of usefulness if they are desirous; each one can find
his or her own place, and we will all come to it by and by. I believe
it to be one of the powers and authorities of this priesthood that God
has revealed from heaven, to find out the place for which every
individual in the church is adapted, and to get them into place.
"A place for everything, and
Everything in its place."
And the time will come when the Lord shall have established his Church
perfectly upon the earth, and all things move in their proper course,
that God will find a place adapted to every person, in which each will
have more joy than in any other place and be able to do more good to
the community than in any other. And we can find this measurably
today if we are desirous to do so. For there is an ample sphere of
labor for every man, and also for every woman, in this Church. Every
man in this house, this morning, whether bishop, teacher, or
missionary to preach the Gospel, can find something to do for the
exercise of the powers with which he is endowed, magnifying his office
or calling in the priesthood—for we nearly all have some portion of
the priesthood. If we seek for the spirit of that calling, we shall find plenty of opportunity for the exercise of its duties. But
the great difficulty is, many of us are content simply to be ordained
to the priesthood. "I am a high priest, or seventy, or an elder, as
the case may be, and am satisfied with my calling; and do not seek for
anything further." Now, my brethren, there are privileges and powers
pertaining to these callings—and we can read about them here in this
book (Doctrine and Covenants), and what the various duties are of
these different callings in the priesthood. The powers of the Aaronic
priesthood reach out a great way, for we are told that that priesthood
holds the keys of the ministration of angels. I wonder how many there
are who obtain such a blessing as this? I do not know whether we are
fit for communion with the higher powers, the beings sent forth to
"minister unto the heirs of salvation." But we read that the
Melchizedek priesthood contains greater powers than that. It not only
holds the keys of the ministration of angels, but of communion with
the heavenly Jerusalem, the general assembly and Church of the
Firstborn with Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new covenant and God
the highest and holiest of all. And the time will come when under this
priesthood to those who hold this authority and calling, and have the
spirit of it and minister in that spirit and obtain the power thereof,
the Lord will unveil his face and they shall gaze upon his glory. That
time will come, for there is no word of the Lord revealed but what
will come to pass. It may not come in the time and season we expect
it, or when we are looking for it; but we may be assured that
everything that God has promised by the power of the Holy Ghost
through his servants will come to pass in his due time. The time will
come when the servants of the living God will purify themselves before
him until they will be fit to receive these blessings. When that holy
temple is built in Zion God will take away the veil from the eyes of
his servants; and the day is yet to dawn when the sons of Moses and
Aaron, having become sanctified to the renewing of their bodies, will
administer in that holy house, and the veil will be taken away, and
they will gaze upon the glories of that world now unseen, and upon the
faces of beings now to them invisible; but it will be when they have
purified themselves from the evils of this world, and are really the
servants of the living God, and temples of the Holy Ghost.
We can get a measure of the spirit of this calling today, and by the
power thereof we can have communion with our Father. Not only through
the living oracles in a Church capacity, but as individual members of
the Church we can come near unto the Lord, so that there will be no
barrier between us and him, and so that his Spirit can come upon us
freely, and the light of God can illuminate our souls and so direct us
that we may have the life and strength of this eternal priesthood. For
this priesthood is a reality and not a mere name; it is not a mere
calling in word, but an office which confers upon us power and
influence that comes from the Almighty. I know that men holding the
priesthood, and who magnify it and receive the spirit and power of it,
are different from other men, their influence and motives are
different, their feelings are different and the spirit and influence
they carry with them are different. Such men can go forth in the midst
of the wicked, enwrapped in the power and influence of their
priesthood, like the garments they wear, and be separate from the
world, and they can carry an influence in the world which other men
cannot carry. There is force in it, there is power and salvation in
it; and every man called to hold this priesthood should be a minister
of salvation in the midst of the earth. If he is not called to
minister abroad in the world, he can be a minister of peace and
righteousness at home; he can strengthen the weak hands and confirm
the feeble knees, and drive away doubt from the skeptical mind; bear
testimony to the truth which he has received and understands and
wherever he goes he can carry the Spirit and blessing of God that will
build the people together, and thus help to build up the kingdom of
God. And he will not spread contention or encourage any spirit which
would prompt men to speak evil of each other; he will not encourage
anything that savors of contention and strife and disunion, but, on
the contrary, will encourage all that tends to unite the people
together. And any man holding the priesthood has power to do that much
in the sphere which he is called to occupy. And also of speaking a
word in due season, and of standing in his calling and of being a
representative of the Most High God.
And the sisters, too, have also a good, wide sphere. I was pleased to
see that the presidency of the Relief Society was presented and
sustained at this Conference. The sisters are one with the brethren in
their labors, and have duties peculiar to themselves, in carrying on
the work which God has given them to do. It has been well said, that
"Man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the
Lord." And we shall find that through all eternity the sexes go
together, and that the female portion of God's children have a part
and a lot in this matter as well as the male. These Relief Societies
give opportunity for our sisters to do much good, and even those who
do not belong to the society have frequent opportunities for doing
good. Every mother has a field of usefulness at home among her own
children; this is her peculiar sphere. Do not let me be understood to
mean that woman should be a fixture in the house, to be tied up to a
table leg, or to a washtub. I think many of our sisters stay at home
too much. If they would make it their business to take more outdoor
exercise they would find it a relief to the monotony of household
work. I do not believe that women should be tied up at home; but I say
that home is woman's peculiar sphere. She reigns there as queen; she
can make that home comfortable, peaceful and pleasant for the husband,
so that he would rather come there than any other place on earth; and
that woman is foolish, I think, who does not do this. Women should
make their homes as comfortable as they can, with the means at their
command, that the husband, the children and all that belong to the
family may be glad to come home to enjoy the society of the family
circle. Right there is where a woman can exercise the great power God
has given unto her. What a blessing it is when the Lord gives to a
woman children, boys and girls born heirs to the covenant, heirs to
the holy priesthood, that they may grow up with natural rights to the
blessings of the priesthood; to become servants of the Most High; to
become vessels for the Holy Spirit to dwell in; to become
representatives of the Lord upon the earth; to become ministers
of salvation for the living and the dead! What a sphere for the labors
of these sisters, to train up the minds of their children in the fear
of the Lord; to teach the boys good principles; to teach them as well
as the girls to be virtuous, pure, chaste, and holy, for those that
are unholy cannot receive the fullness of the blessing and power of
God, that is, like those who keep themselves pure before him. And the
brethren can plant these ideas in the minds of their boys, and if not
fully at first, by and by they will be enabled to comprehend their
full meaning. Fathers should take all the time they can in instructing
their children but the mothers are with them so much more and have so
much greater influence over them in a certain direction, and therefore
they should seek to exercise their powers by training up their
children in the way they should go. And we are not required to train
them up by word and precept alone, but by example. If we do not want
our children to use strong drink, it will not do for us to use it. Try
therefore to set our children examples which we would feel perfectly
willing that they should imitate. Our sisters can work in this way
both by precept and example, and above all things by the spirit they
carry; they can impress the minds of the young and rising generation
so that they may grow up with a natural tendency to that which is
holy. Let girls be brought up by a mother who is full of kindness and
love and charity—which are much more beautiful adornments than the
glittering show of jewelry; earthly jewels are nothing in comparison
to those precious jewels of eternity, and all the finery that woman
could put on is nothing to the adornment of the mind which peculiarly
shines out in the mothers and daughters of Israel—let a mother be
imbued with this good, kind, teachable spirit and she can surround her
children with it, she can have that spirit in the home where she
resides. And although she may have a great many cares and tribulations
and trials which may tempt her to anger, yet, she can conquer all the
passions that will rise up in her nature and subdue them, and can
train up her children in the midst of these adverse circumstances, in
the fear of God, and her tribulations will be turned to her good, and
it will be easy for her children to walk in the way of God, and they
will grow up with a natural repugnance for the things which are evil,
and a natural desire to receive in their hearts everything that is
good. The Lord is saying to the north, "Give up; and to the south,
keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends
of the earth." He has brought us to this place from the nations of the
earth that we may become a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a peculiar people zealous of good works. This is why he
has given unto us laws with regard to the marriage relations, that
Israel shall not marry Gentiles; that Israel shall wed Israel; that
the daughters of God shall marry the sons of God, etc., in order that
our children may be heirs to the blessings pertaining to the
everlasting covenant, that by and by there may be a race of men and
women upon the earth who will be holy unto the Lord, born with natural
desires in them to do right, which they have inherited from their
parents, who shall train them up in the way they should go, with that
holy atmosphere surrounding them, that they may be thoroughly under
the influence of the spirit that comes from on high, that their
whole natures may be sensitive to the whisperings of Almighty God,
that they may grow up, his sons and daughters, and that it may be a
mark of honor that such and such men were "born in Zion." The Lord
will give honor unto such people. And their sons will go to nations
afar off and the earth will tremble under their voice, and evil
spirits that are deceiving the sons of men will flee before them, for
the power of the priesthood will be with them. And they will search
out the seed of Israel wherever they preach to them the Gospel in
their own tongue by the power of the Almighty—for this the gift of
tongues was designed—and they will gather in the seed of Israel to the
Zion of our God. And he will be their strength; he will go before them
and be round about them. And our daughters will grow up pure and
virtuous, and the angels of God will be round about them. And the Lord
will multiply his people upon the earth until all things are
fulfilled, his kingdom will be built up, the Lord Jesus Christ will
come, and all that has been spoken by the prophets will be brought to
pass.
Now, these things are right before us. God expects us to be a
different kind of people from those in the world. He does not expect
us to be of the world, worldly. We have come here to be separate from
the world, that we may purge ourselves from the spirit of Babylon. We
must have different motives from the world, we must not have the same
desires as the Gentiles, for their hearts are set upon the things of
this life. They worship the wealth of the world. I hope to see the
time when every Latter-day Saint will have plenty, and the time will
come when God will give unto his people all the wealth they desire,
but that will be when they know how to use it aright, and when their
hearts are right and set upon the law of the Lord and upon the counsel
of his will, and when they will be willing to use it for his glory and
the blessing of their race. We must remember we are Latter-day Saints,
having come here to serve the Lord, to learn his ways and walk in his
paths, and to unite ourselves together, that we may be a solid,
compact body, a living body filled with the spirit of life and light
that comes from God, ready at any moment, as individuals or as an
organized church community to move forward in any direction required,
that the word of God may be proclaimed, that Israel may be gathered
and the Kingdom of God built up, and the power taken out of the hands
of the wicked and vested in the hands of the servants of God, who will
rule in righteousness in the midst of the earth.
I bear my testimony to this congregation, many of whom are strangers
to me, and some of whom I have met, conversed with and labored with in
foreign lands; I can say to you all that I know this work is true. I
know by the revelation of the Holy Spirit that the Lord has commenced
the great work of the latter days spoken of by the prophets. I know
it will remain, and will prevail; though all the world rise up against
it—as they will do some day, not only this nation, but others—and will
say, "Let her be defiled." But they know not the Lord, neither do they
understand the counsels of his will. For he will say unto Zion, "Arise
and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I
will make thine hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many
people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and
their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." Though all nations
oppose, this work will roll onward to completion; for the power of
God will be in our midst and we shall be able to accomplish with
greater ease and facility everything we are directed to do. This
kingdom will prevail, and this work will roll on and accomplish
everything predicted. And the time will come when the pure and good of
every clime will gather up to Zion; and the Temple will be built in
the center city of Zion, the New Jerusalem, and the glory of God will
rest upon it, and the purposes of God will be developed and his
kingdom roll on, while the kingdoms of this world, with all their pomp
and splendor, will be brought low; and God through his priesthood,
will rule from the rivers to the ends of the earth. And Christ our
Redeemer will come and bring his reward with him.
May God help us to be faithful in this work, so that when he shall
come, we may as individuals and a church be purified and prepared to
enter into the joy of our Lord to receive the fullness of the
blessings of the Gospel of peace. Amen.
- Charles W. Penrose