I think that all of us as Latter-day Saints should have our hearts
filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to God our Heavenly Father for
his mercies and blessings which we enjoy this day. It is certainly a
source of much pleasure to me to have the privilege of meeting with so
many of the Latter-day Saints, and with so many bearing the Holy
Priesthood in this dispensation of God to man. I cannot but re joice
when I reflect upon the history of this people, and contemplate the
dealings of God with us, how that He has protected us and sustained us
and delivered us and made us a community in the land, and that too under
adversity and opposition.
In tracing the history of the Prophets and Apostles of old, as well as
those of our day, we find that there have been some very peculiar
manifestations of the trust and con fidence in God which they
have exercised. Consider, for instance, the position of the Three
Hebrews. They could afford to trust themselves in the hands of God;
they could afford to meet whatever punishment or affliction or
persecution which might be heaped upon them in consequence of their
obeying the law of God. But they could not afford to bow down and
worship the image which Nebuchadnezzar had caused to be set up,
because it was contrary to the commandments of God. The history of the
result of their refusing to obey the royal edict, commanding all
Babylon to fall down and worship it, we are familiar with; also with
the similar circumstance in which the Prophet Daniel figured. In any
and every age of the world when God has called or commanded a man or a
people to perform a certain work, they through determination and
perseverance, and faith in him, have been enabled to accomplish it;
and I do not know of a single instance wherein anything ennobling or
exalting has been gained when his command has been shunned or willfully
disobeyed. I will here mention the case of Jonah, which presents
itself to my mind, when the Lord sent him to deliver a message to
Ninevah. The requirement was a little too much for Jonah, and he
thought he would try to avoid it; but after he had spent three days
and nights in the belly of a whale, he thought, no doubt, that if ever
he got to land he would unhesitatingly obey the commandments of the
Lord. The result we know. We take our Savior, and also the Apostles
who followed him; we read the history of what they suffered and passed
through. All of the Apostles suffered death (excepting one, whom they
could not destroy), including the Son of God himself, in order to seal
their testimony with their blood; while the Savior had to suffer upon
the cross, to fill the mission which he had been preordained to
perform; which, by the way, is a very strange ensample to man, to see
the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father on the earth, the
Firstborn in the spirit world, a person of His high exaltation and
glory, condescending to come forth to be born in a stable and cradled
in a manger; and after he grew up, how he traveled about in adversity
and suffering, never shrinking from any duty imposed upon him—it
should certainly be a good ensample to all of his followers. And the
Apostles themselves, because of their integrity to the truths of the
Gospel which they had received through their Master, the Savior, they
like him, suffered death, and thus sealed their testimony with their
blood. They could perform no more than he could towards turning the
hearts of the people to the truth; but they determined to risk
whatever suffering, trouble or tribulation they were called to pass
through for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus, that they
might receive eternal life.
I bring this home to ourselves. I bring it home to the Latter-day
Saints; I bring it home to our day and generation. Many of us have
been acquainted with our Prophet and Patriarch, Joseph and Hyrum
Smith. We know their lives; we know the suffering and trouble they
passed through. These men are true and faithful unto death. They could
afford to do it; but they could not afford to deny the faith; they
could not afford to shrink from the important message which God had
given unto them, of establishing this Church and kingdom upon the
earth, but they could afford to be true and faithful to the
last moments of their lives, in advocating and defending the
principles of the Gospel of the Son of God. I wish to say to our
leading men, the Presidency of this Church, the Twelve Apostles, the
Presidents of Stakes and their Counselors, the Bishops, the Seventies,
the High Priests and Elders, and to all men bearing the Holy
Priesthood, as well as to all who have entered into covenant with God,
that we can, as individuals and as a people, afford to maintain our
integrity in this our day and generation, regardless of consequences.
We can afford to be true and faithful to God; we can afford to carry
out every principle and commandment which God has given unto us; we
can afford to do this, as much so as Prophets and Apostles and people
of God of other dispensations and generations. And I would say to all
Israel, there is not one soul of us who can afford to compromise one
of the revelations or one of the commandments which God has committed
to our charge. No man can afford to do this who is called of God to
build up this Kingdom. We can afford, however, to meet the
consequences, whatever they may be. And I would say to all present
this day, that we should have, and that we have as much comfort, as
much hope and as much cause to trust in God, and have received as much
encouragement, by the overruling hand of Almighty God in our behalf,
to go on magnifying our calling and to be true and faithful to every
commandment which God has given unto us, as the people of any other
generation had in their day; and for one I can say, "It is the kingdom
of God or nothing for me and I am willing to risk the consequences. I
know that I cannot afford to disobey any com mandment which God has
given to me, because there is no man who holds the Priesthood, and
possessing the inspiration and the gifts of God and the light of
truth, but would be ashamed both in the flesh and in the spirit world
to meet his God, and to be obliged to acknowledge that he did not obey
His commandments. And I will here say that whenever we do our duty,
whenever we keep the commandments which have been made known to us, we
will see the fulfillment of the promises which God has made to us with
regard to this day, age and dispensation. There is no promise which
God has made to us but what will be fulfilled to the very letter. I
read these—the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants,
and I regard them as eternal truths. I cannot find any revelations
given from the days of Moses down to the days of Joseph Smith, nor
from the days of Joseph to our day, by men who have spoken as they
were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, but what has been fulfilled to the
very letter, as far as time would admit of. Though the heavens and the
earth pass away, not one jot or tittle which will fall unfulfilled.
When I read these solemn, these eternal declarations made through the
mouth of Joseph Smith, my heart swells with gratitude and praise to
God, my heavenly Father. I consider that the Doctrine and Covenants,
our Testament, contains a code of the most solemn, the most Godlike
proclamations ever made to the human family. I will refer to the
"Vision" alone, as a revelation which gives more light, more truth,
and more principle than any revelation contained in any other book we
ever read. It makes plain to our understanding our present condition, where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going
to. Any man may know through that revelation what his part and
condition will be. For all men know what laws they keep, and the laws
which men keep here will determine their position hereafter; they will
be preserved by those laws and receive the blessings which belong to
them.
I say again, the Latter-day Saints have every encouragement; their
pathway is plain and inviting before them. And the nearer we adhere to
the commandments of God, the more confident we shall become that God
is our friend and that He is watching over us, and that his Son Jesus
is our advocate, with the Father, that he is in the midst of this
people, and that he will contend for the rights of his Saints, and
will ward off every weapon which is formed against Zion. So far at
least we have been sustained; the arm of Jehovah has been made bare in
our behalf ever since we have been in these valleys, and all Israel
whose eyes are open to see, and whose minds can comprehend the
dealings of God with his people, know it. We have been sustained by
the power of God from the beginning to this day, and nothing short of
the power of God could have saved us and brought us through; and
nothing but the power of God can preserve us, and nothing but his
wisdom can pilot us safe to the high destiny which awaits us. Perhaps
I may be permitted to say, we met with a good deal of persecution and
oppression and suffering before we came to these valleys, and still
the hand of oppression is stretched out against us, and the public
mind everywhere within the pale of Christendom is more or less set on
our destruction, and that because a certain Biblical principle—the
patriarchal order of marriage is practiced by us. When Earl Rosborough
was visiting this city, he inquired of President Taylor what excuse
the State of Missouri had in driving ten thousand of this people
beyond their borders into the State of Illinois; and what excuse the
people of this nation had who took part in, and those who countenanced
the persecution which we have endured, for persecuting us before the
principle of patriarchal marriage was practiced by the Latter-day
Saints. President Taylor replied, it was because we believed in
revelation, because we believed in Prophets and Apostles, and because
we believed in the ancient, the apostolic, the everlasting Gospel,
with all its gifts and blessings. Then, said Earl Rosborough, "it
would make no difference, as far as your being at variance with the
Christian world is concerned, whether you practice plural marriage or
not, unless you renounce all other principles you hold to that caused
your persecution heretofore; you would be persecuted still." I say the
same today. The nation cares no more about our practicing the order
of plural marriage than any other principle of the Gospel; it would
make no difference with us today. Were we to compromise this
principle by saying, we will renounce it, we would then have to
renounce our belief in revelation from God, and our belief in the
necessity of Prophets and Apostles, and the principle of the
gathering, and then to do away with the idea and practice of building
Temples in which to administer ordinances for the exaltation of the
living and the redemption of the dead; and at last we would have to
renounce our Church organization, and mix up and mingle with the
world, and become part of them. Can we afford to do this? I
tell you no, we cannot; but we can afford to keep the commandments of
God. And I will here say, that we have been sustained by the hand of
Jehovah in a marvelous and miraculous manner ever since we came to
these valleys and proclaimed to the world our belief in the revelation
of celestial or plural marriage; and I will say further, and in the
name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Elder Brother, we shall be
sustained from this time until he comes in the clouds of heaven,
inasmuch as we shrink not from the performance of our duties. We have
somebody to deal with besides man. The God of heaven holds our
destiny; he holds the destiny of our nation and of all the nations,
and he controls them. Therefore, I say to the Latter-day Saints, let
us be faithful; let us keep the commandments; let us not renounce a
single principle or command which God has given to us. Let us keep the
word of wisdom. Let us pay our tithes and offerings. Let us obey the
celestial law of God, that we may have our wives and children with us
in the morning of the first resurrection; that we may come forth
clothed with glory, immortality and eternal lives, with our wives and
children bound to us in the family organization in the celestial
world, to dwell with us throughout the endless ages of eternity,
together with all the sons and daughters of Adam who shall have kept
the commandments of God.
I pray that we may be able to do our duty in this world. I pray that
we may not fear man who can only kill the body, but fear God who hath
power to cast both body and soul into hell. I feel to say that there
is no people under heaven who have so much cause to rejoice and to be
grateful as the Latter-day Saints. There is no other people since the
foundation of the world called to perform the work which you,
Latter-day Saints, are called to perform. The God of heaven has given
you the kingdom, the great and last kingdom, the only kingdom which
has ever been set up on this earth to remain until the coming of the
Son of Man. Although in its infancy, this work has a great and a
mighty future; and as I have often said, the eyes of all the hosts of
heaven are over us; the eyes of God Himself, and the eyes of all the
Prophets and Apostles who have ever lived in the flesh are watching
this people. They know that they are not neither can they be made
perfect without you; and they fully understand that we cannot be made
perfect without them. They understand the greatness, the extent, the
power and the glory of this dispensation.
When I contemplate the fact that the few men and women dwelling in
these mountain valleys have had committed to them this great and
mighty work, I feel that of all people under heaven we ought to be the
most grateful to our God; and that we ought to remember to keep our
covenants, and humble ourselves before him, and labor with all our
hearts to discharge faithfully the responsibilities which devolve upon
us, and the duties which are required at our hands. For we can afford
to do anything which God requires of us; but none of us can afford to
do wrong. It would cost far more than this world with all its wealth
is worth for the Latter-day Saints to do wrong and come under the
disfavor of Almighty God. Our prayers, one and all, should be that of
David's—"Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I
shall be innocent from the great transgression."
I pray God to bless this assembly of His people; and to bless the
Presidency of the Church, the Apostles and all bearing the holy
Priesthood, together with all who have entered into covenant with him.
My earnest prayer is that the blessings of our God may be over us in
time, that when we get through and shall pass behind the veil, we
shall have done all that was required of us, and be prepared to dwell
with the sanctified and the just made perfect through the blood of the
Lamb. Amen.