The speaker commenced by reading the 19th, 20th and 21st verses of the
17th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, and then said:
It is a question in my mind when reflecting upon the subject herein
contained whether we take into proper consideration the great purposes
that God has in view with regard to the human family, and the manner
in which he proceeds to accomplish them. When the Lord calls an
individual or a class of individuals out from the world, it is not
always with an object to benefit that particular individual or
individuals. The Lord has not in view merely the salvation of a few
people called Latter-day Saints, who have been or who may be gathered
into these valleys, but the salvation of all men, the living and the
dead. When the Lord called Abraham he made him certain promises
concerning the glory that should come upon him and his posterity, and
in these promises we find this remarkable saying: that in him and in
his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. Paul in
offering an explanation to this, says, in speaking of seed, it did not
have reference "to seeds as of many, but one which was Christ Jesus;"
that is, in Abraham and in Christ Jesus, his seed, all the families of
the earth should be blessed; showing that in calling Abraham and in
making this promise, the design of the Lord was to bless not only him
and his posterity, but all the families of the earth.
In the dealings of God with man, we find that he often called upon the
heathen nations with a view to the accomplishment of certain purposes.
The Ninevites, for instance, received a communication from the Lord
through the Prophet Jonah, telling them that in forty days their city
should be destroyed. This people was worthy to receive warning by a
revelation from God, as they manifested afterward in their repentance.
And Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord, for he knew that the
Almighty had respect for not only one nation and people, but for all
nations and peoples that feared Him, and lived according to the light
which they possessed; and he believed that the Lord would forgive that
people; and therefore that he, as a Prophet, would fail in his
prediction, and would suffer in his char acter as a Prophet.
However, we find that Jonah turned up at last in Nineveh, a wiser, if
not a better man. And he went to work in earnest, performing the
mission to which he had been called, and delivered the message to the
people. The king heard of it, and he had that faith in and that
knowledge of the character of the Almighty that he believed and
humbled himself, and used his influence with his nobles and people
that they should do likewise, that the wrath of God might be turned
and he had his people preserved. So he came down off his throne and
called upon his nobles to put on sackcloth, and commanded that the
beasts of the field should be covered with sackcloth, and the people
repented and humbled themselves before God in the hope that he would
turn away his wrath from them. And they so fully complied with the
requirements that his judgment was reversed, and the great city
preserved.
And when the Lord called upon the Prophet Jeremiah, he told him that
his purposes were not confined to the people of Israel, but that he
was interested in the welfare and salvation of all nations. On a
certain occasion he was commanded to make yokes and to place them upon
his neck; and when the messengers from the various nations should come
to visit Israel, he was to send those yokes to their masters, their
kings, and tell them what his mind and will were concerning them. The
yokes were sent to six different nations, with a message requiring of
those several kings certain duties. Those nations did not profess to
believe in God; they worshipped idols, but God had respect to them
notwithstanding. And it would not be a matter of astonishment to know
that those people stood upon a far higher plane of morality and faith
in God than the people of our boasted nineteenth century. Now, the
Lord told them that it was his intention to make a certain person king
over all the nations including theirs, and he required them to submit
to this change in their governmental affairs, as he had appointed
Nebuchadnezzar to hold dominion over all nations and peoples, and over
the beasts of the field. "All these things are mine (says the Lord)
and have I not the right to do with them as I please? Now you nations,
if you do not wish to be uprooted, listen to the voice of my servant
Jeremiah, and bow your necks to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar." Even His
own people Israel whom He had called and proposed to lift up in the
eyes of the nations, Jeremiah was commanded to tell them to submit to
Nebuchadnezzar, and thus permit themselves to go into captivity; which
if they did not they should be overthrown, and Jerusalem destroyed.
But they would not listen. They worshipped false gods, and they obeyed
not the voice of the Almighty; but were guilty of all kinds of
abominations, and were so full of wickedness that the anger of the
Lord was kindled against them; and he permitted him, whom he called
his servant, Nebuchadnezzar, to destroy their Temple, break down their
altars, and scatter them throughout his kingdom. On a certain occasion
the Lord inspired King Nebuchadnezzar to issue an edict in which His
people Israel were much interested, as they were in captivity.
Nebuchadnezzar had discovered the true and living God, and he felt to
honor Him; and in order to fully satisfy his feelings in this respect
he passed an edict to the effect that whosoever would not
respect the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego should be cut to
pieces and a dunghill be made of their houses. In this way the people
in Jerusalem and in the country round about while in captivity were
compelled to have regard to the true God, according to the edict of
the heathen king. This is the way God worked in those days.
Finally when Jesus came, he came as a sacrifice not simply in the
interest of Israel, or the posterity of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but
in the interest of the whole human family, that in Him all men might
be blessed, that in Him all men might be saved; and His mission was to
make provision by which the whole human family might receive the
benefits of the everlasting Gospel, not, as I say, Israel alone, but
the whole human race; and not alone those dwelling upon the earth, but
those also in the spirit world. The Apostles at first did not
comprehend the universality of the purpose of the Lord, and it took
the Lord some time to convince them. There was Peter, he had the idea
that the Gospel was to be confined to the Jews; and in order to show
him to the contrary the Lord sent a special manifestation, in the form
of a sheet let down from heaven containing all manner of beasts, and
then commanded him to arise, slay and eat. But Peter demurred, giving
as a reason, that nothing unclean had entered his mouth. But he was
told that what the Lord had made clean no man should call unclean. And
after he had received this heavenly vision, he was waited on by
messengers sent by a distinguished personage. It appears that the Lord
had found a Gentile who honored Him, who gave much alms to the poor,
and who prayed honestly and fervently unto Him. When Peter was
conducted by the messenger to the place he learned that it was
Cornelius, a Gentile, who had sent for him; who had assembled with his
friends to hear what the Lord had to communicate. When Peter
discovered himself in the company of Gentiles he considered it highly
improper for one who was a Jew to be seen associating with that class
of people. And then Cornelius explained how that an angel had appeared
to him instructing him to send to Joppa to the house of one Simon, a
tanner, etc. On hearing this Peter commenced preaching to him and his
Gentile friends. And while he was speaking the Holy Ghost fell upon
them, and they spake in tongues and prophesied. His eyes were now
opened, and his views became changed from those narrow conceptions
that he had entertained in regard to the dispensation of the blessings
of the Lord being confined to a few. But when he saw that the Holy
Ghost was upon them as it had fallen upon his own people, he asked,
Who can forbid water that they should not be baptized? And he
commanded that they be baptized. Peter learned that the Gospel of the
kingdom was to go to all nations, that all might receive the benefits
of the same, according to the promise made to Abraham, that in him and
in Christ, his seed, all the nations of the earth should be blessed.
It was equally difficult to convince the other Apostles in regard to
this matter, for when they found what Peter had done they chided him
for so doing; so he explained to them how this departure occurred; how
that the Lord had convinced him as to the propriety of allowing the
Gentiles to be baptized.
I have thought sometimes that we take too narrow a view of the
character and purposes of God. When the Lord introduces a dispensation
to His servants, as a general thing it becomes necessary for them to
operate in the interests of many. There is one thing, however, that
should not escape our notice. From the verses which I have read the
importance and the necessity of the Apostles being united, was shown,
in order that the purposes of the Lord might be effective in the
world. For unless the Apostles and those that believed on them were
united, the world could not believe in the mission and purposes of the
Savior. Therefore Jesus prayed to the Father that all those whom the
Father had given Him might be one as He and the Father were one, that
the world might believe that the Father had sent Him. In fact this is
what the Lord designed to effect through Israel in bringing them out
from Egyptian bondage; He wished to make of them a united people, a
peculiar nation, a nation of people whom God could honor and respect
in order that the world might believe, and that they might receive the
blessings which He wished to bestow upon them, inasmuch as the human
race are all the offspring of God; and if Israel had carried out His
requirements, the world, no doubt would have been greatly benefited
thereby, and the purposes of God more fully effected. The Lord wished
to show His character, and the character of the heavens, and wished to
extend his love and blessings through Israel to the whole human
family; but Israel was disobedient and would not hearken to His voice.
And as to the Apostles, so far as their fulfilling the wishes of the
Savior concerning their being one, we are told by the revelations of
the Lord through the Prophet Joseph, that his disciples in days of old
had feelings one against another, and forgave not one another in their
hearts, and for this reason they were chastened, yes, they were sorely
chastened. The Apostles were persecuted, and with one exception
perhaps, were finally martyred. And the churches they established
never came to that union which the Savior prayed for, and consequently
they failed to stand the tide of opposition. The Latter-day Saints are
trying to do the work that Israel failed to do; and that the former
Saints did not accomplish, and we can only do it by becoming one even
as the Father and the Son are one, and this in order that the world
may believe that we are sent of God. We have got to be perfect, and
come to the measure of the stature of Christ Jesus, in order that the
world may know that Jesus has sent and commissioned His Apostles, and
restored the holy Priesthood. If we have division in our midst; if we
be divided either spiritually or temporally, we never can be the
people that God designs us to become, nor can we ever become
instruments in His hands of making the world believe that the holy
Priesthood has been restored, and that we have the everlasting Gospel.
In order for us to effect the purposes of God, we shall have to do as
Jesus did—conform our individual will to the will of God, not only in
one thing, but in all things, and to live so that the will of God
shall be in us. We have the same Priesthood that Jesus had, and we
have got to do as He did, to make sacrifice of our own desires and
feelings as He did, perhaps not to die martyrs as He did, but we have
got to make sacrifices in order to carry out the purposes of God, or
we shall not be worthy of this holy Priesthood, and be saviors
of the world. God intends to make us saviors not only of many that now
dwell on the earth, but of many in the spirit world. He will not only
place us in a position to save ourselves, but He will make us
competent to assist in the redemption of many of the offspring of the
Almighty. And that we may assist in the salvation of other people we
are building the Temple on yonder plateau; and all Latter-day Saints
in this Temple district are called upon to aid in accomplishing this
work.
I have come now to what I wish to say about the business of this
Temple, in reference to which I desire to speak a few minutes. I
suspect that many of the Saints are anticipating the completion of
this Temple next spring. As to when it will be finished I am not able
to say; I think, however, it will depend upon the efforts we make to
that end.
The speaker then went on to speak of the work that was necessary to be
done, and proposed a way to accomplish the same; and then said:
I would not be afraid to prophesy, if I were in the habit of
prophesying, that the people of this Temple dis trict will be found
ready and willing to do all that may be required by way of completing
this building. And I have not the least doubt in the world—I believe
it full, that angels will minister to the people, and the power of the
Almighty will be made manifest to a greater extent than at any other
time, or in any other house, since the days of Jesus. You know how it
was in that Kirtland Temple, Jesus the Son of God, appeared in His
glory standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, His eyes like a
flaming fire, and His hair as white as the driven snow, while His
countenance shown like the sun in his brightness. And those who saw
Him testify to this fact, and they describe His voice as the sound of
rushing waters, as He said: I am He that was slain; I am He that
lives; I am your advocate with the Father. Your sins are forgiven you.
And He then blessed those who had assisted in building the Temple to
His name, and He accepted it at their hands. And this people will be
entitled to those blessings that Jesus in His glory pronounced upon
those who aided in building the Kirtland Temple, inasmuch as they
contribute in the future as liberally as they have in the past.