We have had a very interesting Conference, and a great many very
excellent principles have been presented to the people. As I told the
Priesthood last evening we are occupying a very peculiar position in
the earth, a position that has not been of our own seeking. God has
set His hand to accomplish His purposes upon the earth, and for this
purpose He has revealed Himself from the heavens, as we have heard
since this Conference commenced. In pursuance of this He has
mani fested Himself and His Son Jesus Christ, and has restored the Holy
Priesthood by and through the medium of a Priesthood, or various parts
of a Priesthood that existed in former ages—those holding that
everlasting Priesthood, which administers in time and in eternity,
have been commissioned from the heavens to come to the earth to bring
to pass the very things of which they themselves had prophesied.
Although we are, comparatively speaking, a small people, few in
number, yet as it was in the days of Jesus so it is today.
The Gospel is like a little leaven put into a certain portion of meal,
and it is working and operating, and the ultimate result will be that
the whole lump will be leavened. Not that everybody that is in the
world will obey the Gospel; but the Lord will have His own way in
manipulating His affairs, and great tribulation will overtake the
inhabitants of the earth. As you have heard, many of the wicked will
slay the wicked; but after these things have taken place the good, the
honorable, the virtuous, the pure, those that are desirous to serve
God will all have their position, and that thing will be fulfilled
which was spoken of by Jesus—"Blessed are the meek: for they shall
inherit the earth." The time will yet come when the Saints of the Most
High will take the kingdom and hold dominion under the whole heavens.
These are principles that are familiar to us all. In the meantime,
however, many important events have to take place, and a great labor
has to be performed, and will be performed by the agencies which have
been introduced by the Lord, and which will be hereafter introduced by
Him for the accomplishment of His purposes, and the bringing to pass
of His righteous will. For this purpose the Holy Priesthood has been
restored; for this purpose the message of life and salvation has been
proclaimed to the nations of the earth; for this purpose after the
reception of the Gospel, the people have been gathered together in
order that the Lord might have a people who would be under the
influence of His Holy Spirit. We have all been baptized by one
baptism, and have all partaken of the same Spirit, and wherever these
ordinances have been administered according to the order of God, and
have been received by the faithful among the nations of the earth,
these effects have always followed. I have been among the nations
myself, and I have baptized people and confirmed them at least in
three different languages, and the same spirit rested upon all of
those different peoples, and so it is throughout all nations. The Lord
has said he would gather together His elect from the four quarters of
the earth. And how does He do it? By operating upon the minds of those
who obey the Gospel. Jesus said in His day and it is true today—"My
sheep hear my voice and know it, and follow me and a stranger they
will not follow because they know not the voice of a stranger." It is
under the influence of this Spirit that we have been gathered
together. We used to sing:
Whither shall we follow, follow, follow;
Whither shall we follow, follow thee?
All the way to Zion, all the way to Zion,
All the way to Zion,
We will follow thee.
What made you gather here? The impulse of the Spirit of the living
God, and you could not keep away. We have representatives here from
very many nations today. Here are Elders who have preached the Gospel
in many nations. A few years ago we had some twenty-five nationalities
represented at one of our public demonstrations. And thus our work is
to go on and spread and increase. The Apostles, the Seventies, the
Elders, and men who have received the light of truth, will spread
forth that light to others of the family of God throughout the world.
This is a labor resting upon the Elders of Israel, and until it is
accomplished we shall not have fulfilled our mission here upon the
earth. Then, again, we have other works to perform associated
with the Church, with the Kingdom, and with the Zion of God. I think
sometimes that we as a people are a good deal sectarian in our
feelings, and it is necessary for us occasionally to look at the pit
from whence we were dug, and the rock from whence we were hewn. We are
all too ready to cry out, as the sectarians do in their different
orders,
"The temple of the Lord, the temple of the
Lord,
The temple of the Lord are we."
And we are apt to forget sometimes the mission that God has placed
upon us, which is a mission of mercy, a mission of light, a mission of
intelligence, a mission that is calculated to elevate the world of
mankind, even all those who will receive and obey it. It is not
intended for us alone; it is intended for all men. Who are the world,
and who are we? We say we are the children of God our Heavenly Father.
That is true; we are the children of God our Heavenly Father. And is
God our Father? The Scriptures say so. But what of the rest of the
world—say of this nation, and all other nations—what of them? Whose
children are they? They are also the children of our Heavenly Father,
and He is interested in their welfare as He is in ours; and as a kind
and beneficent father towards His children, He has been seeking from
generation to generation to promote the welfare, the happiness, and
the exaltation of the human family. And let me say here, that He is
the fountain of life, the fountain of light, and the fountain of
intelligence, as we used to say in the Church of England when I was a
little boy, and I suppose they say so now; "it is He that hath made us,
and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture,"
He provides for us. We sometimes talk about the hand of God being over
us. Of course it is, and will be over us forever, if we will only
serve Him, for He is always true. But His hand is over the nations of
the earth also. He is interested in the welfare of this nation and all
other nations and all other peoples as well as in our welfare. What
was the greatest blessing conferred upon Abraham? One was that his
seed should be numerous as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon
the seashore. I do not know that he would have got along very well in
this land nowadays; they would have been after him for polygamy.
People do not believe so much in these things now as they did
formerly. Nevertheless, the Lord told him to take another wife; but,
then, perhaps the Lord made a mistake, He had not studied modern
Christianity; He was, to use the language of the advanced Christian,
behind the times. But whatever may be thought or said about it,
according to the record that has come down to us, He used to talk to
people in that day.
But let me refer you to another blessing connected with Abraham,
namely, that in him and his seed should all the nations of the earth
be blessed. Or, in other words, that God would honor him by making of
him and his seed agents through whom He would communicate truth,
intelligence and salvation to the world. It is said "the glory of God
is intelligence," and He is desirous to impart this intelligence to
the human family, that through it they may be exalted to the Godhead.
Abraham's posterity were to stand as messengers of God, as legates of
the skies, commissioned of the great Jehovah to proclaim His word to
fallen man, even to His children; for God has made, we are
told, of one blood all the families of the earth, and has given unto
them a portion of His Spirit, if haply they would feel after Him,
although He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live, and
move, and have our being. And under the influence of His Spirit man
has accomplished very much good; and today there are hosts of
honorable, upright men who in their hearts fear God, but they have not
yet found the right way. But in the providences of His mercy He has
gathered a people from the nations that they may be taught and
instructed in regard to the laws of life and salvation. And this has
been brought about in fulfillment of ancient prophecy. Jeremiah, for
instance, in referring to it said, that he would take them one of a
city and two of a family, and bring them to Zion. And what was He to
do with them when He should get them there? He would give them pastors
after His own heart who should feed them with knowledge and
understanding. And the same great event is referred to by other
Prophets.
I was very much pleased with the remarks made by Brother Erastus Snow,
with regard to our own nation, in which he said that it had been by
and through the power of Almighty God, and in accordance with the
words of the Lord as contained in the Book of Mormon, that the people
were, in the first place, impelled to come here, and after coming
here, to contend for human freedom upon this land; and it was by and
through the power of God, that the fathers of this country framed the
Declaration of Independence, and also that great palladium of human
rights, the Constitution of the United States. There is nothing of the
bigoted, narrow, contracted feeling about that instrument; it is broad
and comprehensive. And they had a bell in Philadelphia, which I, and
perhaps many of you have seen, upon which was written, "Proclaim
liberty throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof;" but
I was sorry to see that the bell was cracked. I suppose it got cracked
after the grand effort that was made to proclaim liberty throughout
the land; and I have thought since that it has not been soldered up
yet. But with all the weaknesses and imperfections associated with
men, the government of this nation has been a great bulwark for human
freedom, and I felt proud at the time when Mr. Edmunds, with his
colleagues, introduced his bill, known as the Edmunds' bill, that
there was such a number of gentlemen who had the manhood and the moral
courage to oppose it in the bold and manly way in which they did,
showing plainly that they cherished in their bosoms the principles
contained in the Constitution. I respect such men, and they command
the respect and esteem of all honorable, right-thinking people. They
could afford to render themselves unpopular in the eyes of religious
bigots and fanatical politicians, but they could not afford to be
amongst those that are ready to tear down the bulwarks of human
freedom, and trail in the dust the flag of our country. They did not
believe in our religion. Of course, that is a matter of their own, it
is none of our business, neither is our religion any of their
business, which they understand and appreciate. There are two things
that I have felt very decided upon ever since I could comprehend
anything; one was that I would worship God as I pleased without
anybody's dictation; and that I would dictate to no man his
faith, neither should any man dictate to me my faith; and the other
was that I would vote as I pleased. And I entertain the same
sentiments today. When the Commissioners, operating under the
Edmunds' law, made their extraordinary rulings and authorized the
administering of the test oath, declaring who should vote and who
should not, I could not help remarking that people were acting very
foolishly, that they did not know what they were doing; but whether
they knew it or not their attempts to wrest from this people their
rights and liberties, were no more or less than indirect attempts to
tear down the bulwarks of American liberty. But in this inexcusable
attack upon human rights and the principles of liberty we can take no
part. What then will we do? They have no right, it is true, to
interfere with us in the way they have done; they have no right, it is
true, to prohibit us from voting without a hearing and without a
trial; they have no right, it is true, to present to us a test oath,
it being illegal and contrary to our rights as American citizens. But
we will submit gracefully for the time being, withdraw from the polls,
rather than act in the capacity of obstructionists; and when the time
comes we will test these proceedings according to the laws of the
land, and the principles of liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of
the United States, which we recognize and respect. Have we yielded up
our franchises? No, we have not. Will we ever do it? No, never; no,
never. Have we in the least backed down from the principles by which
we have been guided from the beginning? No; we still mean to live by
them and to maintain them, and to contend for our rights, not by
dynamite or nitroglycerine, but to do so legally and
constitutionally, not only in defense of our own rights, but the
rights and liberties of our children and those of every free man
throughout the land. This is the course we purpose taking.
As I before stated we have been called from the nations of the earth
by Him who is our Father, we being His children. And He has told us to
ask, and we shall receive. He has told us to seek and we shall find;
to knock and it shall be opened to us. Very well. What shall we do? We
will use the best means we can to defend our rights; and after we have
done this we will then go to our Heavenly Father and ask Him to help
us. Will He do it? Yes. Has He done it? Yes, and we acknowledge His
hand in regard to these things. He has heard our prayers without
noise, without tumult. He has told us thus far that if we will
continue to obey Him and to observe His laws, He will deliver us and
direct us even to the end. And we need have no fears whatever about
the result. He has promised us that inasmuch as we do His will and
keep His commandments, He will fight our battles. And I feel confident
and perfectly easy, and I felt just as easy during the furor and
commotion that raged through the land a few months ago as I do today;
knowing, as I do, that if we will perform our part, the Lord will not
fail to do His. Because others act foolishly we cannot afford to
imitate them. We profess to be the Zion of God, the pure in heart. We
profess to be men and women of integrity, of truth and virtue, and to
have faith in God. This must not only be our profession, but our
practice; we must carry out and fulfill the word and will and
law of God. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. Said He: "Our
Father who art in heaven." That is, your Father and my Father, the God
and Father of the spirits of all flesh. "Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name," O, God, we reverence thee; we observe thy law,
and we wish to keep thy commandments, and purge ourselves from all
evil, that we may be acceptable to thee. "Hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come." We reverence thee, O, God, and attribute to thee all
that we have in this world, and all that we expect to have in the
eternities to come. "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come." Thy
what? Thy kingdom come. That is the rule of God, the government of
God, the dominion of God, the time when men will not be ashamed to
acknowledge God as their Father, their friend and benefactor. "Thy
kingdom come." When all will submit to thy rule, to thy law, to thy
jurisdiction, to thy dominion; that thy will may be done on earth as
it is done in heaven. How was it done in heaven? God spake, chaos
heard, and this world rolled into existence; and so did other worlds
under the same divine impulse and power. And all those systems that
revolve around us were made and are upheld by the mighty power of God,
who governs in the heavens above, and upon the earth beneath, and
among the worlds. Whether men acknowledge that or not, the time will
come on this earth when every knee shall bow to Him, and every tongue
shall confess that Jesus is the Christ, to the glory of God the
Father. That time will come. It is not here now; but as I have said He
has introduced this Gospel as the entering wedge, as the little leaven
by which he can operate, that He may have a people under the influence
of the Holy Ghost, a people that can hold communion with him, like so
many thousand strings penetrating the eternal worlds and drawing down
blessings from the Almighty, drawing fire, and life, and intelligence
from Him; for we ourselves are sparks struck from the blaze of His
eternal fire, emanating from God our Father, and we wish to operate
with Him and for Him and under His guidance, for the accomplishment of
His purposes here upon the earth. This is what we are here for. Now I
come to another point. We pray "Thy will be done on earth, as it is
done in heaven." How is it done there? As I said, God spake, chaos
heard, and the world rolled into existence, and it is supported by the
mighty power of God, and who can stay His hand. Do you think that if
all the Legislatures, all the Congresses, all the Parliaments, and all
the Reichstags, all the Chambers of Deputies and Senates of the earth
were to get together and pass a decree that the sun should rise five
or ten minutes, or half an hour later or earlier than it does—do you
think it would have any effect upon it! I do not think it would—I
think it would still go on in its usual course, and they would feel
that they were dependent upon God. Do the world know that in Him we
live and move and have our being? Does this congregation know that
there is not one of them could leave this house unless God permitted
it and sustained them in so doing? Do the nations of the earth
comprehend that they are in His hands, and that he puts down one
nation and raises up another according to the counsels of His will,
and none can say, "Why doest thou thus." What have we to do? To begin
with, we should deal justly and honorably with all men, and
should seek to protect all men in their rights so far as we have the
power to do so, and then to maintain our own on the same principle.
And what then? Fear God and observe His laws, and we ought every one
of us to place ourselves in communication with the Lord, and He has
tried to make us understand this, but it seems very difficult for us
to do so. It was in former times, and it is now. He says, "Ask and ye
shall receive." Is it not a very simple thing? "Seek and ye shall
find." Is it not very easy. "Knock and it shall be opened unto you."
But says He, you do not understand it aright. Now, let me mention a
thing to you. If a child ask of you bread, would you give it a
stone—you fathers and you mothers? I think not. If the child asked a
fish would you give it a scorpion?" Why, no. The mother would say,
"Sammy, or Mary," as the case might be, "you want some
bread—well I
will give you some with butter and molasses." The mother would try to
meet the wishes of the children, and sometimes give them a little
candy to boot. Now, then, says the Lord, "If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give His Holy Spirit to them that ask him."
It is very plain when you get at it, and it is very simple, and people
wonder sometimes, they think it an astonishing thing that God should
hear people's prayers. Why, bless your souls, that is the strongest
fort we have, and when we get into any difficulty in the nation or
anywhere else, we humble ourselves before the Lord—and we all need to
do this, for we all have our weaknesses and imperfections; and it is
necessary that He should be very merciful to us. And He is, and knows
how to bear with us. We need also to know how to bear with one
another, and to place ourselves in communion with God, and in doing
this to purge ourselves from everything that is wrong and evil. And I
tell you—you Elders of Israel, you brethren and you sisters, that if
you will begin to do the will of God on the earth as it is done in
heaven, the power and blessing of God will rest upon you and upon this
people, and no power will be able to injure you from this time forth.
God expects us to do His will, to carry out his purposes, and if His
will is ever done on the earth as it is done in heaven, where in
creation will it start, if it does not start here? Let every man put
himself right, and every woman and every family do the same, and all
the Priesthood in all its various departments and ramifications, and
let every one walk up to the line and perform his duty, and in the
name of Israel's God, Zion shall arise and shine, and the glory of
God shall rest upon her. Our progress is onward and upward, until the
kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ,
and loud anthems be sounded from among the nations—glory and honor and
power and might and majesty and dominion be ascribed unto Him that
sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and forever. Amen.