The principles which have been advanced this afternoon are so strictly
in accord with the principles which were taught by the servants of God
in ancient days, that every one, upon reflection, must acknowledge
that to have a church professing to be the Church of Christ there must
of necessity be in it, if the ancient principles be adhered to, the
spirit of revelation. In the Bible that has come to us as the record
of God's dealings with his people from the days of Adam our father
down to the days of the last disciples of Jesus Christ: in that record
we are told that every man who professed to be a follower of the Lord,
and especially those who belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ,
enjoyed from the Lord that spirit of revelation. It is difficult to
conceive—if we did not see around us organizations professing to be
his followers and not enjoying His Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost,
which communicates his mind and his will unto those who seek for it.
Of course we see around us in Christendom any number of churches which
profess to be the churches of Christ, the members of which deny
present communication from God, who say that revelation is no longer
needed; that the canon of scripture is full, that all the revelations
that God had to give to men he has given, and that they are
embodied in the Old and New Testament. We have, as I have said, any
number of churches which make this statement, teach these doctrines
and train the children and the grown people in the belief that God had
ceased to speak, that he has ceased to communicate his mind and will
unto his children; that the channel of revelation which was once
opened and by which all who were his true children were
distinguished—that that is forever closed. But, as I have said, if it
were not the existence of these organizations; if it were not for the
fact that these are the teachings that mankind receive; if we were to
read the Book itself, and rely upon its statements, the natural
conclusion would be that it would be the privilege of every man and of
every woman who belonged to the Church of Christ to have
communications from him, for the reason, as I have already stated,
that it was the distinguishing characteristic of the organization
known as the Church of Christ in the Messianic dispensation. It was
the distinguishing characteristic also of the men who were the
servants of God anterior to the days of Jesus. It would be a most
singular idea—if it were not for the existence of those traditions to
which I have referred—that God, our eternal Father, our Great Creator,
should cut off his children from all communication with him, and leave
them to grope in the dark, wandering hither and thither without any
certain means of knowing his divine mind, of comprehending his divine
will concerning themselves and the affairs of the earth. I can join
with Brother Nicholson, who gave expression to his joy and
gratification that we live in a day when God has once more broken the
silence which has reigned for ages, and has revealed his mind and made
known the plan of salvation in its old plainness and purity to the
inhabitants of the earth. And if there is one thing that causes my joy
to be greater than another, it is the fact that this knowledge, as he
has stated, is not confined to one man, nor to three men, nor to
twelve men, but that it is communicated unto every humble soul who
seeks for it in a spirit which is acceptable unto God. It is a
constant cause of thanksgiving to me that a people have been gathered
together who are relieved, to a very great extent, from the
uncertainty, and from the strifes, contentions and divisions upon
points of doctrine that prevail throughout Christendom. There is in
every human heart a desire to know something concerning God. I think
it is Bancroft who says that the natural man, the barbarian, believes
in God naturally; but skepticism and unbelief are the attendants of
civilization, of enlightenment so called. There is no man who has not
stifled that portion of the spirit of God which is born in him, who
does not desire to know something concerning God; concerning his
purposes, concerning the plan of salvation, concerning the object of
his creation and of his being placed on the earth, and also concerning
his future destiny. And because this knowledge does not come in the
way in which men would like it to come, because God does not conform
to men's ideas and to men's expectations, a great many deny the
existence of God, and say that if there be a God, he certainly would
reveal something to those who seek earnestly to comprehend him. But
there is one saying recorded by an ancient Prophet, that experience
proves to be true, even the experience of those who have known
God best, and have been best acquainted with the plan of salvation.
The Lord said that, "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." We
cannot comprehend God; we cannot dictate to him the plan that he shall
pursue in saving his children. Men frequently say, "How easy it would
be for God to reveal himself; how easy it would be for him to make his
mind and will known so indisputably that no one could cavil about or
reject it; how easy it would be for him to open the heavens and make
manifest his glory, and send angels that all might see." No doubt the
Elders of this Church have been frequently met by the
objection—whenever they had testified that God had established His
Church in its ancient power, with its ancient gifts, restored the
everlasting Gospel, and the authority to administer its ordinances,
and that he had done this by the administration of holy angels—they
have been met by the objection "Well, if this testimony be true, why
did he not send angels to somebody or to some people whom all would
believe, and concerning whose testimony there could be no doubt,
instead of sending them to an obscure youth, an illiterate boy, in the
State of New York, and withholding from the rest of mankind all
knowledge concerning this wonderful event." Of course this sort of
argument applies to the Savior himself, it applies to the whole plan
of salvation, it applies to every Prophet that ever lived, and cannot
be confined alone to Joseph Smith or to the Latter-day Saints. With
equal force it might apply to those who lived at the time of the
resurrection of the Savior. Why was he not seen by all the people? Why
was the Son of God born in so obscure a place, born in a stable and
cradled in a manger? Why did he not reveal himself in power? Why did
he not convince all the inhabitants of the earth so irresistibly that
they would be compelled to accept Him as the Son of God. This argument
would apply to other dispensations than that of the Son of God. It
would apply to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, and to the whole of the
Prophets and Apostles that ever lived. But God, as I have said, has a
way of doing these things that does not comport with the ideas of men.
There is one thing that we as a people should understand, and that is,
that God has purposely drawn a veil between himself and the
inhabitants of the earth to accomplish his own designs. He has the
power—we all admit it, that is, all who believe in God—to reveal
himself in his fulness; he has the power to open the heavens and show
every living being all that the heavens contain. There is no limit to
his power. He controls the innumerable hosts of heaven. He has but to
utter his command and they obey. Jesus said, on one occasion,
"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall
presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" But God, as I
have said, has purposely drawn a veil over the inhabitants of the
earth. He permitted Adam to fall; he permitted him to transgress his
law, to bring about the fall of the human race, in order that man
might be, for without the fall man would not have had an existence
upon the earth. "Adam fell," therefore, "that man might be, and men
are that they may have joy." There was a purpose in this. God, through
his foreknowledge, comprehended it all. He knew the end from
the beginning. It was all arranged. The Son of God was foreordained,
to come as a Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, to
die for man and atone for the original sin, and to bring to pass the
resurrection from the dead, he being the firstfruits of them that
slept. God designed that he should come here and be clothed upon with
humanity. He designed we should struggle and contend here in this
probation with a glimmering of knowledge, a little light. He gave unto
us his word. He has commanded us to seek unto him, and he that seeks
shall find, to him that knocks it shall be opened, and he that asks
shall receive. How? Will it come in such a manner as to convince all
the world? No. There would be no faith if this were the case; there
would be no room for the exercise of faith. God wishes his children to
be developed. And what better position could we be placed in for
development of every kind than in such a school of experience as that
through which we are now passing on the earth? If God were to reveal
himself as many would like, there would be no room for the exercise of
faith, there would be no necessity to struggle. But there are two
great powers on the earth. Here is the power of God on the right hand,
and on the left hand here is the power of evil, and as the Book of
Mormon tells us, "it must needs be that there is an opposition in all
things." We could not enjoy the sweet if we had never tasted the
bitter. There are two principles at work, and we have to contend with
them. Jesus, our Great High Priest and Elder Brother, when he was upon
the earth had to contend against evil. He was not free from
temptation. He was tempted in all things like unto us, but he differed
from us in being able to overcome temptation, in being sinless through
the power that he had through his sonship. But he set us the example.
He knows through that which he had to contend against the weakness of
human nature. He stands as mediator at the right hand of the Father,
pleading for his brethren and sisters who, like himself, are subject
to the trials, temptations and afflictions that exist in this mortal
life. But because of this shall we say that God does not speak?
Because we do not see his face, shall we say he does not exist? Because
we do not hear his voice, shall we say he has no voice? Because we do
not see his hand or his arm—that is, that which we call a hand or an
arm—shall we say that he has neither hand nor arm? Certainly not. He
will be sought after and all those who seek him will receive his
blessing. He will give certainty, he will remove doubt and
misapprehension, and give light and enable all such to comprehend and
see as far as necessary that which is good for them; he will lead them
on step by step, until they reach his presence if they will obey his
commandments. They will not have to do this in darkness or in doubt,
they will not have to throw aside or surrender their judgment, but he
will give unto them his mind and will in such plainness that they will
know and comprehend for themselves, although they may be tempted and
tried and afflicted.
The proclamation of the Gospel as it has been taught in our day, has
brought peace to thousands and thousands of seeking souls. It was very
remarkable at the time that this Church was organized, how the spirit
of God moved upon a great many people throughout the United States, in
Canada, in Great Britain, Denmark, and in other countries to
which the Elders went, carrying the glad tidings of the restoration of
the ancient Gospel. In many places members of churches were
dissatisfied with the want of power in the churches to which they
belonged, dissatisfied with the absence of gifts, and they met
together and prayed unto God to reveal himself or to give unto them
some knowledge concerning the old plan of salvation. Here are my two
brethren on this stand, President Taylor and President Woodruff, aged
men, who in their early youth or early manhood were in this
condition—President Taylor in Canada, and President Woodruff in
Connecticut, one of them a Methodist preacher, and the other a member
of no denomination. Both of them for years sought God with all the
earnestness of their souls to make manifest unto them his mind and
will. They were dissatisfied with the existing condition of affairs.
President Taylor with other members of the church to which he
belonged, would gather together to read the Scriptures, and
investigate the principles taught by the Savior and his Apostles, such
as the gifts following believers, but in the church to which they
belonged and other churches around them no such gifts existed. They
were dissatisfied with this condition of things, being conscious that
God was the same then as he had been 1,800 years before. They sought
for the restoration of these gifts, and when an Elder came along with
the glad tidings that a church had been organized after the old
pattern, and they were convinced it was true, it filled their souls
with gladness, and President Taylor and a number of others who are now
in this city, or in this Territory, members of this Church, received
the doctrines gladly. At first they doubted its truth. It seemed too
good to be true. And they also felt a good deal like the people of
Judea in olden times when Jesus was on the earth. People asked them,
"Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" So they feel in
respect to this Church. People say, "What good can come from such a
source as this is reported to be from." The same with Brother
Woodruff, the same with hundreds of men and women. And I do not know
that it should be limited to hundreds; it may be said hundreds and
thousands had a yearning, anxious desire for something higher,
something nobler, something more certain, something that was from God.
This feeling animated thousands of hearts in various lands, and the
Elders were guided to them, and when they saw their faces, when they
heard their teachings and humbled themselves in obedience to the
commandments of God, they became profoundly convinced by the testimony
of Jesus Christ, that the Gospel they taught was indeed the ancient
Gospel restored. And from every land where the glad tidings have been
carried by the Elders of this Church have these humble people crossed
continents and oceans, forsaking all because of the Gospel, glad in
their hearts that they had received it; like the man that had found
the pearl of great price, they were ready to sell all for the purchase
of that, so that they could have it in their possession. They were
ready to forsake home, kindred, old associations; they were ready to
sacrifice their good name—for that had to be sacrificed—all the past
repute that they might have had, everything had to be thrown as it
were to the winds. But they had found the pearl of great price. They
had obtained a testimony from God, and they could endure
persecution. Mobs could not extinguish the love of truth. The burning
of houses, the destruction of property, and even the loss of life
itself, could not cause them to abandon the truth. They cast their lot
with the Saints. This feeling of unity has pervaded this entire
people, go where you will. You may go to the antipodes and find a
branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They may
have never seen an Elder from Utah, and yet when you go into their
congregations and meet them, you find that they believe in the same
doctrines, they have precisely the same spirit and the same faith.
Before they heard the truth they might not have desired and never
thought of leaving their native land, but as soon as they have
received the Gospel, you will find in their bosoms, even if no Elder
has ever taught it, an unquenchable desire to come and associate with
the people of God in the Rocky Mountains, and they are never content
until they can gratify their desire. Go to the north and the south, to
the east and the west, and to the most distant lands, upon the face of
the earth and you will find in their hearts the same feeling, nothing
else will satisfy them. God has spoken, God has touched their hearts
by the power of the Holy Ghost, and it is this that has sustained us.
It is this feeling we should cherish. It is dearer to us than life
itself. It is the spirit of God that unites heart to heart, that
unites man and woman with bonds that are stronger than death—death
cannot break them. Where that feeling is cherished, persecution may
rage with all the fierceness that is possible, it cannot destroy it. I
thank God from the depths of my heart, when I think of it, that I live
in such a day and that I belong to a church of this kind, that I am
permitted to have a membership in the Church, for go where you will on
the earth you cannot find anything like it. This brotherhood comes
from God. It is a foretaste of that brotherhood that will exist in the
heavens; it is a foretaste of that union and that love that will
prevail there, and without which heaven would not be heaven. And
whence its origin? Where did it originate? It originated in heaven,
and it was communicated through an humble instrument whom men
despised.
It is a test of faith to embrace a Gospel taught by a man with the
repute that the world gave to Joseph Smith, with all the falsehoods
that were circulated concerning him. It is a test of faith today to
the inhabitants of the earth to receive anything that has an origin
among the "Mormon" people. Why, you might as well accuse a man of
being a leper in some societies as accuse him of being a "Mormon!" Men
will shun coming in contact with him. To those who know the Latter-day
Saints, it is laughable to see the feeling that is manifested, and
there is no greater cause of wonder in the minds of this class than
when they come to Utah and see the condition of things existing here,
it is so different from everything they have expected. Men and women
frequently get filled with the most outrageous ideas respecting the
Latter-day Saints. They come here expecting to see monsters, as though
you wore horns or were beings of a different species to other people.
Now, as I have said, it takes faith and a love of the truth to embrace
the Gospel under such circumstances. And the devil is doing all he
can, as he always has done, to prejudice men's minds, to
deceive them, to throw dust in their eyes by maligning the servants of
God and the people of God. He did it with the Savior. Why was it that
all Judea did not believe in the Savior, a holy being whose life was
spotless, performing mighty miracles in the midst of the people? Could
they not all have embraced the Gospel? Was it God's design that they
should not embrace it? No. God gives unto us our agency, and we do not
ourselves realize how great this is. There is no limit to our agency.
The power to choose good, the power to refuse evil, the powers to
choose evil and refuse good is given to every human being. We can, if
we choose, accept God, we can, if we choose, reject God. There is no
compulsion about Him, about His Gospel, or about the plan of
salvation. If you and I are saved, we will be saved because we have
been obedient, and we have exercised the power that God has given unto
us. There is no limit to this. We can seek unto Him in humility in the
name of Jesus, and continue faithful to the end; we can walk humbly
and uprightly with all the ability of which we are capable, observing
virtue, chastity, honesty and truthfulness, or we can on the other
hand turn to evil, we can reject everything that is good, we can be
untruthful, we can be unvirtuous, we can be dishonest, we can practice
iniquity. As the Lord said to Cain, "If thou doest not well, sin lieth
at the door." If he would do right, he would be accepted. The agency
was within him; God had given it to him, and he would not take it from
him. We should cease to be the beings he designs us to be if he did.
We are not automatons to be moved by some master hand or pulled with a
string. God will control our ac tions, but he will not dictate to us
and compel us. He overrules all things for his glory and for the
accomplishment of his purposes. Your acts and mine, and the acts of
all the inhabitants of the earth are subject to God, who is the
overruling providence over all, and he controls all to suit his divine
purposes through his superior knowledge and supreme power. But if you
get to heaven, as I have said, if you sing the songs of the redeemed,
you will do it, because you yourselves have chosen that path and have
determined, by his aid, to walk therein all your days; if any are ever
numbered with the damned, if any, ever go into outer darkness and
endure the misery of those who have rejected the truth and violated
those laws which God has given, violated, in other words, the light
that was within them, and which comes from God—if any be there it will
be because they have chosen to walk in the path that leads in that
direction, and Jesus came not to save them unless they seek to save
themselves; it would be contrary to the plan of salvation if he were
to do so. There is divine wisdom, therefore, in our seeing as little
of the divine presence as we do, it is a test of our faith, and yet
those who follow the right course receive the light that is necessary.
I can testify of this to you this day in all solemnity before the
Lord, I know that God is a God of revelation. I know it for myself. I
know that he is a God that hears and answers prayer. I know that he is
a God that heals the sick when he is approached in faith and that the
mighty works that were done in ancient days he is as willing that they
should be done today if his people will exercise faith. He has not
gone to sleep like old Baal did. You remember Elijah and the Pro phets of Baal. Elijah believed in a God that heard and answered
prayer, but the believers in Baal called upon Baal. They called upon
him throughout the day, but he heard them not, and Elijah mocked them
and said, "Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is
pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must
be awaked." But Elijah's God was not asleep. He had not gone so far
but what he could hear the prayer of his chosen servant. The God of
heaven never sleeps. His ear is open constantly to the cries that come
up unto him; his eye is never closed; he looks upon all his creations;
and though he rules in the heavens above and regulates the motions of
the universe and controls the planets with which the heavens are
emblazoned, there is none of us so insignificant, small or obscure
that he cannot hear our prayers and our cries. We have proved this
time and time again in the history of this people. His preserving care
has been round about us; he has never forsaken us; and often, when
everything seemed as though destruction was inevitable, and that there
was no path of deliverance, he has calmed the angry elements, he has
opened the path and made it plain, he has caused the light of his
glory to shine upon that path, and it has been clear to those who have
been walking humbly and uprightly before him. This people are a
standing witness in the midst of all the nations of the earth that God
lives, and that he is the Being the Scriptures say he is. Think of the
plots that have been devised against us; think of the plans that have
been laid for our destruction; no end to them, and yet this little
handful of people, six in the beginning, have gone on increasing,
trusting in God as their Deliverer. We have been mobbed, tried and
persecuted in various ways, but all these things have had the effect
of cleansing us, they have all had their purpose. I would not give
much for this Church today if all who had joined it were members of
it—that is, members of it with their sins and corruptions and
inclinations to do wrong. I am thankful for one thing connected with
this work, namely, that every trial has the effect of cleansing the
Church, of keeping it pure, of taking away from it the dross and
leaving the somewhat purer element. It would not do for the tares to
grow up and choke the wheat. Therefore all these things have served a
wise purpose in the economy of God; and there is this peculiarity
about this Church, it has the power of self-purification, it carries
with it, as it were, the power of self-purification. Let a man or a
woman in this Church do wrong and persist in that wrong, and sooner or
later the Spirit of God will be grieved and they will lose that spirit
and their attachment to the truth, and will fall away. In this way we
have been preserved. The union of the people to a great extent has
been preserved. It is true that those who have left us are opposed to
us; it is true there is opposition from various sources; but this does
not change nor affect the fact that there are those who do right, nor
does it detract from nor lessen the spirit of God which they have
received, the spirit of union and of love. That spirit burns as
brightly today in the midst of faithful people as it ever did.
Now there are a good many who look upon this work—and some of our
faithful Saints, too—and get discouraged because they see iniquity around them, because of evil here in our city, for instance.
There was a time when we were free from these evils, many of which now
abound, and some are fearful that the evil is overcoming the good. I
do not share in these apprehensions. I think it is our duty to be
vigilant, to be watchful, and to be all the time doing our best to
repel every iniquity, to extinguish as far as we can every temptation,
every wrong that is practiced; to use our influence against it, and to
do all in our power to stamp it out. For instance, there is
drunkenness and the sale of spirituous liquors or intoxicating drinks.
I think it is the duty of every Latter-day Saint to help put away such
things and to do all in their power to put down gambling houses,
houses of ill fame, and other haunts of vice; to discourage blasphemy,
the use of profane language, dishonesty, taking advantage of our
neighbor, everything of this character. I believe this is our duty,
and every man and woman should exercise himself and herself to this
end; but after having done that and those efforts do not succeed in
preventing or in extirpating them entirely, then what? Shall we be
discouraged? Not in the least. You and I cannot sustain this work
alone; it is no use thinking the burden of the work is upon us. It is
God's work. I have been made to feel this a good many times when I
have been concerned in my mind, being in a strait, as it were, as
though everything was closing around me. But I have learned by
experience that this work is not the work of man; that the
responsibility of carrying it forward and gaining success and
preventing evil does not depend upon me alone. I of course have my
part, but God presides over it, God has it in his keeping, he is
arranging and overruling everything for its final success and triumph.
He will make the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of
wrath will he restrain. All, therefore, that we have to do is to do
that which devolves upon us individually and collectively, and leave
the rest to him, and borrow no trouble. One-half of our unhappiness is
due to borrowed trouble, looking forward to something that will never
occur. The Savior gave us a very wise admonition upon this point. Said
he, "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." Enjoy today, not
improperly, but properly. Take pleasure today and let the threats
come. The clouds may be dark here in the west, when the sun sets, and
you may think tomorrow is going to be a stormy day; but how unwise it
would be for us to make ourselves miserable in anticipation of the
storm tomorrow, when we have the sun shining upon us today, when the
heavens are glad and all nature is thankful for the goodness of God.
Why should we think of the storms tomorrow? Let them come, and let us
be prepared to meet them as best we can. Let us put our trust in God,
and while we have peace today, let us enjoy the peace. Be happy as
you progress. Enjoy the day as it comes. If adversity comes you will
be prepared to meet it, just as well as if you had been brooding over
it for months or years. The Latter-day Saints should be the happiest
people upon the face of the whole earth. I believe we are. There is
one thing the Lord has done for us. He has removed that uncertainty
and fear that people have respecting the future. And if we do right,
if we keep the commandments of God to the best of our ability,
confessing our sins and repenting of them, we have no cause to be un happy. If afflictions come, if death enters our habitations,
shall we bow down our heads and mourn as though We had no hope? No.
Let us accept it as from God, believing that he controls all things
for the good of his people. And remember this, my brethren and
sisters, that God has said through his Son Jesus Christ, that not one
hair of our heads shall fall to the ground unnoticed. He is watching
over us. He cares for the humblest. Even the very sparrows are the
objects of his care, and we are worth more than many sparrows.
I pray God the Eternal Father to bless you, to fill you with His Holy
Spirit. Let it be read in your countenance. God loves a glad heart and
a cheerful countenance. Carry these into your homes. Husbands: instead
of carrying your cares unto your homes to afflict your family with
them, throw them off outside and go in with a glad face, so that your
children may welcome you with gladness and joy, as they would the
presence of the sun after a storm. Let your wife also receive you with
gladness and if she has had anxiety and care let your presence
comfort her. One of the most painful things to me, is to see men cross
in their families, carrying into their houses a spirit that incites
fear in the hearts of the mothers and children, and that makes them
feel glad when the man goes out. Why, such a man ought not to have a
wife, he is unworthy of children. Husbands when they go into their
homes ought to carry with them a spirit of peace and joy, so that all
might be cheered by his presence, the children glad to meet him, glad
to have him come, and sorry when he goes away and the wife, on her
part, gladdened by the same spirit.
I pray God to bless you, my brethren and sisters, and to fill you with
His Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
- George Q. Cannon