There is a proverb or saying which I have heard a good many times in
my life, and which I think bears a great deal of weight, and that is,
"truth is mighty and will prevail." I think this has been manifested
in every capacity in which truth has been used, whether applied
temporally or spiritually; whether applied in the capacity of nations,
or families, or individuals; whether applied to the world or to the
kingdom of God. I think that in every age of the world, truth, whether
it has been popular or unpopular, has proved itself, in the end of its
labor, to prevail in all cases. When Columbus was moved upon by the
Spirit of God, to cross the ocean to find a new continent, his object
and desires were unpopular with those by whom he was surrounded, and
it was only after a good deal of labor that he gained favor in the
eyes of any of the rulers of the nations whereby to receive assistance
sufficient to carry out his wishes. But in the end he prevailed. He
found a new world, as it were, which today contains a population of
the Anglo-Saxon race, numbering fifty millions of people. The
commencement of Columbus' project was certainly unpopular, but the
result has proved it true. And so in all cases, whenever men have been
inspired to receive truth, or to promulgate any principle, which would
be a benefit to the human family, they have generally been unpopular.
When Robert Fulton undertook to demonstrate the power of steam in a
steamboat, the crowd which gathered to behold the event, did not
gather to see success; they gathered there to ridicule, to see a man
fail in performing a work which they considered impossible. But when
the steam was applied to the vessel it moved. The invention was
certainly very crude, but there was truth in it, and it has
prevailed to a great extent; for steam is the great motive power of
all the machinery in the world, in a great measure. And so with a
Scottish Earl when he announced that there was a man going to try and
light the City of Edinburgh with smoke. The man was looked upon as
crazy. But there was truth in that smoke, and it lit the city, and it
has given light to a good many other cities since. The principle
prevailed, and is now adopted throughout the world. So with Mr. Morse,
the electrician. He unsuccessfully in the first instance [in 1837-8],
sought aid both from the American Congress and the English government
to enable him to carry out his ideas; but, ultimately [in 1843] he
gained assistance from Congress, and his invention of telegraphy was
demonstrated a success, and is now made use of throughout the
civilized world. And so we might go on to show that in almost every
instance when men have undertaken to introduce new
principles—principles of truth—principles that would benefit the human
family—they have generally been very unpopular, until the truth was
made manifest to the world.
The same thing may be applied to the introduction of the principles of
eternal truth pertaining to the salvation of the human family in a
spiritual point of view. When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
stepped forth into the world to occupy the position to which He had
been ordained of God, there were but few individuals who had faith in
Him, or who were looking for the coming of the Son of Man in
fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus, all His life, it may be said, from the
manger to the cross, was very unpopular with the mass of the human
family, more particularly the inhabitants of Jerusalem. His history is
before the world. He died an ignominious death upon the cross, and
those of His own Father's house, the High Priests, and the leading men
of Jerusalem, were all in favor of His death. Yet the Savior possessed
truth. He offered truth to the world; He offered life and salvation to
the world. But the principles He taught were unpopular in His day. He
gathered around Him a few followers; but the acceptance of His
principles cost them their lives, as it did the life of the Savior
Himself. I do not know of a man—except it was John the Revelator—who
escaped. They all died violent deaths. They had to seal their
testimony with their blood. Some were crucified; others were sawn
asunder, beheaded, or in some way put to death for the word of God,
and the testimony of Jesus Christ. They were put to death for their
religion. How is it today? What name has been more honored, or more
held up as an ensample to the world than the name of Jesus Christ? The
Catholic world, the Protestant world, in fact the whole Christian
world are professing to honor the name of Jesus Christ. The Savior had
truth, but it was not received in His day and time.
With regard to our own time my mind is often led to reflect upon it.
Half a century has past and gone before the eyes of this generation,
since the God of heaven commenced, as in former ages of the world, the
fulfillment of prophecy and revelation contained in the Bible—this
good old book that the Christian world profess to believe in so much.
The Lord has set His hand to bring to pass some of these prophecies
and principles which He had foreordained before the world was, and which He has left on record through the medium of holy men who
wrote and spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost from
generation to generation. Those prophecies are with us today. They
are contained in the Bible, a book that is published by millions
throughout the Christian world. The Christian world profess to honor
the Bible and to honor the prophecies and sayings of Christ and the
Apostles. But do they believe in the fulfillment of these things? Do
they believe in the fulfillment of these principles and truths which
are today being fulfilled in the eyes of heaven and earth? No. Those
prophecies and those principles—which the God of heaven has set His
hand to carry out—are as unpopular today throughout the Christian
world as they were when Jesus of Nazareth stood in the flesh and
proclaimed the same to the Jewish nation. We occupy the same position
that they did in that day and generation with regard to these truths.
Now, as I have said, truth is mighty. It always has prevailed in every
age of the world. It will prevail in this dispensation as it has done
in others. The God of Israel will no more fail today to carry out the
principles which He has stretched forth His hand to establish, than he
did in the days of either Adam, Enoch, Noah, or Jesus, or in the days
of any other dispensation.
The principles to which I allude—the principles of the Gospel—are
worthy the attention and comprehension of at least the Latter-day
Saints, and it would be well for the Christian world to take them into
consideration also; for if truth is going to prevail in the earth it
certainly will involve the destiny of this whole generation, Jew and
Gentile, high and low, rich and poor, Zion and Babylon. It will
involve the destiny of the whole world—of the fourteen hundred
millions of people who breathe the breath of life in it. And I bear
record and testimony, as a servant of God, that the God of heaven has
set His hand to carry out those great and eternal principles which He
decreed before the world was made and which He has left on record
through the mouths of His prophets, to be fulfilled in the last
dispensation and fullness of times. Are these principles popular
today? They are not. Why not? Because the world is not governed by
the spirit of inspiration; because its people do not seek the Lord;
because they do not honor His name; but they are governed and
controlled by other principles. But the Lord will rule over His own
Kingdom, notwithstanding the Devil has great dominion today as he has
had in almost every age of the world. The inhabitants of the earth
have their agency. They must use that agency according to the desires
of their own hearts, whether they be for good, or whether they be for
evil. But the day is at hand when the Lord will show the children of
this generation that there is a God in Israel, as He has done in other
dispensations when He has reigned. In all the history of the dealings
of God with man this one principle, sooner or later, has manifested
itself: that virtue exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any
people. You will see that this has been manifested in the history of
all nations under heaven—in their rise and progress and prosperity,
and in their fall and decline and in their final overthrow and
destruction. You will find in every instance that sin, error,
darkness, falsehood, wrongdoing, have laid the foundation of the
overthrow of every nation and city under heaven from the
foundation of the world until the present time. What men sow they will
reap, and what measure they measure to others will be measured unto
them.
Today we occupy a peculiar position as a people—as Latter-day Saints
here in these mountains. Here is a people growing up in the earth who
are organized into a Church, called the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. How did the organization of that Church come about?
Why, the God of heaven has proclaimed through His prophets Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others, whose writings are contained within the
lids of the Bible, that in the latter days He would set His hand to
call forth His Church out of the wilderness and out of darkness and
error, and establish it upon the foundation of truth, Christ Jesus
being the chief corner stone. The God of heaven also proclaimed
through Daniel, 4,000 years ago, that in the latter days he would set
up a kingdom which should never be destroyed; and the kingdom should
not be left to other people, but it should break in pieces and consume
all these kingdoms, and it should stand forever. That prophet also
declared that a little stone should be cut out of the mountain without
hands; that the stone should become a great mountain and fill the
whole earth; and that it should break in pieces all other kingdoms.
Was that Prophet inspired by the Spirit and power of God? I say in the
name of Israel's God he was, and so was Isaiah when he spoke of the
gathering of the people unto the mountains of Israel to establish the
Zion of God in its beauty, strength, power and glory. The God of
heaven also inspired a prophet as he stood upon the Isle of
Patmos—John the Revelator—and in connection with the great events of
the last dispensation and fullness of times he saw, in vision, an
"angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and
give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." Now I want
this congregation; I want the world; I want the Christian world; I
want the priests of the day who cry aloud for the blood of innocence
to be shed to carry out their desires—I want these priests and all who
are laboring to overthrow "Mormonism," to carefully inquire, whether
those prophets were inspired of God. And if they were inspired of God,
whether it is right for them to make war against the work of God in
the earth? Whether it would not be better to let these things alone—to
leave them in the hands of the Lord, and allow Him to govern and
control as He sees fit? And if these men were inspired of the Lord and
made those proclamations—with thousands of others in the Bible and in
the revelations of God—the question is, whether this warfare against
God and against His work is going to prevail? The wicked will have no
such power; for the Lord has set His hand to fulfill these things
which have been predicted by His Prophets—to establish His Church and
Kingdom upon the earth. He has called Prophets, and they were inspired
of God. Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. He was a man raised up by
the power of God. He received the testimony of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ by visions and revelation as did John the Revelator. Angels
appeared unto him and taught him the ways of life. Those men who
held the Priesthood—who were put to death in the flesh for the word
of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ—visited Joseph Smith. John
the Baptist conferred upon him the Aaronic Priesthood; Peter, James
and John, the Apostleship and Melchizedek Priesthood; and all the
Prophets who held any keys and powers belonging to the Gospel these
also visited Joseph Smith, and conferred upon him those keys and
powers and authority to administer them on the earth. These are
eternal truths, as the God of heaven lives, and they will prevail
whether men believe them or not, or whether the wicked war against
them or not. These truths belong to God Himself. He is the author of
them. He has given forth certain decrees, and they will have their
fulfillment in the earth.
Now, as far as the Latter-day Saints are concerned, I will say to my
brethren and sisters, we ought to contemplate these principles. There
is no power organized beneath the heavens that can stay the hand of
Almighty God. He has set His hand to carry out His purposes. The world
hate this people, because the Lord has called them forth out of the
world, the same as He called His disciples of old. This is the
position we occupy today, as His people. Though our numbers are
small, yet "a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a
strong nation:" and the Lord will hasten it in His time. A little one
has already become more than a thousand, or a hundred thousand, and in
spite of all opposition this small one will become a great nation, and
God will hasten it in His time, because God is our friend. Now, these
are truths. They have emanated from God Himself.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the law of salvation. No man can be
saved without it. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth—to Jew or Greek, Catholic, Methodist,
Baptist, or any other sect or party on the face of the earth.
We, as Latter-day Saints, are called upon to build up Zion. We have
been gathered to be instructed by inspiration and through the medium
of the Holy Priesthood, in the principles of eternal truth. This is
our condition today. Fifty-three years have passed since this work
commenced. Joseph Smith dwelt in the flesh some fourteen years after
he organized this Church. He holds the keys of this dispensation on
both sides of the veil, and will hold them forever. God ordained him
to perform a certain work. He performed it. He stayed on earth until
his work was finished. All the keys, powers and principles which God
gave unto him he left with his brethren; although whatsoever he left
with his brethren did not take from him; for as Jesus says in a
revelation given in regard to the Priesthood:
"Whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I
have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the
Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.
"And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom;
therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.
"And this is according to the oath and the covenant which belongeth to
the priesthood.
"But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and
altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in
this world nor in the world to come." —Doc. and Cov., Sec. 84.
Thus, although the Lord bestows upon His servants the same powers and
blessings that He Himself holds, it does not take away these powers
and blessings from the Father. The Father possesses all He had before.
The Son possesses all that he hath given unto him. So do the sons of
the living God. When a man bestows those gifts and blessings and
powers upon others, he does not lose them himself. The Lord raised up
Joseph Smith. He organized this Church. It has been organized for 54
years next April. And what has been the consequence? Have we had
opposition? Yes. Have we had persecution? Yes. Is not the desire of a
great many millions of people for our overthrow? Yes; and a great many
wish us put to death. Some men go so far as to be willing to slay,
utterly, men, women and children, because they believe what is termed
"Mormonism," but which is really the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These
things are proclaimed to the world today. What is the matter?
Mormonism is unpopular. Why is it unpopular? "Because," say the
priests of the day, "it interferes with our rights. We preach for hire
and divine for money, and if the Mormons were to prevail in the earth,
we should lose our business, and we cannot endure it." "Why," says the
world, "you profess to believe in polygamy, and that is why you are
persecuted." No, you are mistaken about that. The worst persecution
this Church ever endured was before polygamy was revealed to the
Church. We have had more prosperity since we carried out that law, and
endeavored to fulfill it according to the command of God, than we ever
had as a people before. And here is the principle with me—I speak as
an individual; I speak for myself—if this work is of God; if the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, as revealed to Joseph Smith, is true, then God
will take care of it; if the patriarchal law of marriage comes from
the God of Israel, He will take care of it; He will protect and defend
it, and He will uphold the people that carry it out. I say this is in
the name of Israel's God, And if it is not of God, who wants it? I
don't, neither do this people. I speak of this principle because I
want my brethren and sisters to understand the views I have upon it.
I know we are engaged in the work of the Lord. I know this is His
Church. He has organized it with Prophets and Apostles in fulfillment
of predictions made thousands of years ago. This is a work which was
ordained before the world was. The Lord Almighty never created a world
like this and peopled it for 6,000 years, as he has done, without
having some motive in view. That motive was, that we might come here
and exercise our agency. The probation we are called upon to pass
through, is intended to elevate us so that we can dwell in the
presence of God our Father. And that eternal variety of character
which existed in the heavens among the spirits—from God upon his
throne down to Lucifer the son of the morning—exists here upon the
earth. That variety will remain upon the earth in the creations of
God, and for what I know, throughout the endless ages of eternity. Men
will occupy different glories and positions according to their
lives—according to the law they keep in the flesh.
But I want the Latter-day Saints to understand their position. Our
trust is in God. With regard to men, it is our duty to treat our fel lowmen aright, to leave them in the hands of God if they
persecute us. The Lord has a controversy with this generation. This
Bible, the Old and New Testament, contains a vast amount of, I will
say, tremendous revelations, tremendous events, which hang over the
heads of the people of this dispensation. Are these events going to
fall unfulfilled? No; no more than they did in the days of the fall of
Babylon, of Nineveh, of Jerusalem, and of other cities in the nations
of the earth. When the inhabitants of Jerusalem became ripe in
iniquity; though Jerusalem was the royal city, in which was the Urim
and Thummim, and in which sacrifices were made unto the Lord, yet the
city was laid low, and the Jews have been trampled under the feet of
the Gentiles for 1,800 years. We are living at the commencement of the
Millennium, and near the close of the 6,000th year of the world's
history. Tremendous events await this generation. You can read an
account of them in the revelations of St. John; the opening of the
seals; the blowing of the trumpets; the pouring out of the plagues;
the judgments of God which will overtake the wicked when Great Babylon
comes in remembrance before God, and when the sword that is bathed in
heaven shall fall on Idumea, or the world, who shall be able to abide
these things? Here we are living in the midst of these tremendous
events.
We are in the hands of God; our nation is, and so are the nations of
the earth; and when they undertake to overthrow the Kingdom of God,
which is decreed shall be established, they have somebody to fight
against besides Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, or John Taylor, or any
other of the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. This warfare is between God and the devil, between light and
darkness, truth and error, between the heavens and the earth; and that
God who has supported His work from the creation of the world, is
bound to do it unto the end. Where have you ever read that the Kingdom
of God would be overthrown in the last days? You cannot find it
anywhere on the pages of the records of divine truth. No; the
revelations of God will be fulfilled. And we must exercise faith in
that direction. As the ancients had faith; as the world was created by
faith; as Noah built an ark and preached the Gospel of repentance for
120 years by faith; as Abraham went out not knowing where he was going
by faith; as the ancients performed many mighty works, such as the
subduing of cities and kingdoms by faith; therefore I say to the
Latter-day Saints, you are required by the God of Israel, your
Heavenly Father, by his Son Jesus Christ, by the holy angels, and by
every principle of eternal truth, to exercise faith in the revelations
of God, for they will be fulfilled as the Lord lives. God is with this
people. But we are required to hearken to his voice, obey his
commandments, and humble ourselves before him. And I thank the Lord
that I have lived to see the time when I believe there is a great
improvement among the Latter-day Saints. I believe they are exercising
greater faith in God. And there is a calmness prevailing among the
Mormons—so called—that is a marvel and a wonder to the world. The
world wonder why we are not excited over the opposition that is
brought to bear upon us by the millions of people who inhabit this
continent, as well as by the people of the nations of the earth. The reason of our calmness is—God is our friend, our lawgiver, our
deliverer. If the Lord cannot sustain His work, we certainly cannot.
But He can. He has always done it, and will do it to the end.
Therefore I say to the Saints, fear not. Trust in God. Let not your
hearts be faint. Let your prayers ascend to the ears of the Lord of
Sabaoth, day and night. Ask what you want. When you do that, the Lord
will answer your prayers, if you ask what is right. There is where our
our strength lies. It is in God. I have no hope in anything else. But
I do look upon the Latter-day Saints as occupying a most glorious
position in this day and age of the world. This is the first time
since God created the world that he has ever established a
dispensation to remain on the earth until the coming of the Son of
Man—to remain in power and strength and glory, until the Millennium,
until He reigns whose right it is to reign. Behold what lies before
you! Behold the power of God! Behold the prosperity of Zion! Behold
the blessings which have rested upon your houses, your lands, your
flocks and herds, your children—the blessings of the earth as well as
of the heavens—in this mighty barren desert! Then should we have any
doubts or fears with regard to the Kingdom of God? No! As a people we
should rise up in faith and power before God, and make our wants
known, and leave our destiny in His hands. It is there anyhow. It will
remain there. And with regard to our nation, I leave them in the hands
of God; but I would to God their eyes were open to see and understand
the responsibilities that rest upon them. I would to God that the
rulers of our land—the President of the United States, the Congress of
the United States, the Supreme Court of the United States—would learn
the responsibility the God of heaven will hold them to in the
administration of those glorious principles laid down in the
Constitution of the government of this country. The God of heaven will
hold this nation, as well as all other nations, responsible for the
manner in which these principles are used. If they misuse them, it
will be their loss. If they trample the Constitution under foot; if
they undertake to deprive any portion of citizens of the rights the
Constitution guarantees unto them, they will be held responsible, and
will have to pay the bill. When innocent blood is shed, it costs
something; and I would to God that our nation could understand the
blessings they enjoy. There is no nation on the face of the earth that
has the same liberty that is guaranteed to us by the Constitution of
our country.
Have we any warfare with our Government? Have we any reproach to offer
them? Not at all. I feel sorry that this nation should sow seeds which
when ripe will bring destruction; for I know as God lives that if this
or any other government departs from the principles of truth, becomes
ripened in iniquity, forsakes the Lord, forsakes the principles of
life and liberty, the God of heaven will hold it responsible.
Judgments will come upon the wicked. When men depart from the
principles of truth and cleave unto darkness and wickedness, they reap
the whirlwind; they lay the foundation for desolation.
I pray God my heavenly Father, that his blessing may rest upon us as
Latter-day Saints; that we may comprehend and understand our position,
our duties and our responsibilities to God. When I look, brethren and sisters, upon this handful of men and women here in these
mountains of Israel, say 150,000, out of the fourteen hundred million
people that dwell on the earth; when I realize the responsibility that
God has laid upon the Latter-day Saints, the responsibility of
building up this great kingdom of our God, of proclaiming the
principles of eternal life, light and truth to the world; when I
reflect upon these things I ask myself the question, What manner of
men ought we to be? Our numbers are small compared even with the
inhabitants of this nation, not to speak of the inhabitants of the
world; yet, as I said before I say again, the God of heaven looks to
the Latter-day Saints to carry on His work.
Then let us be careful. Let us realize our condition. Let us realize
we are here upon a mission. Let us realize that we will be held
responsible for the manner in which we fill it. We should be willing
to sacrifice everything for the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God. Any
man who will seek to save his life and desert the principles of the
Gospel, is not worthy of eternal life. How many have laid down their
lives since the creation of the world for the sake of the truth? Jesus
Himself descended below all things. He descended, I believe, lower
than any other man will be called to descend. Are we greater than
Jesus? If we are called upon today to lay down our lives, what of it?
Is it not as well to die for the Gospel's sake as to die for anything
else? A million of men, a few years ago, sacrificed their lives for
the honor of this nation. No matter what we may be called to pass
through, let us maintain our integrity to God. Where is the man whose
mind has been lit up by the inspiration of God to comprehend the
celestial kingdom, or the celestial law, or the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, who can bear the idea of pursuing a course whereby he will be
cut off from inheriting the blessings for which he has hoped in the
future? No, I would rather die a thousand deaths than be deprived of
these blessings. We have a long time to live when we get through here.
There is all eternity before us. It will pay you, it will pay me—no
matter what comes, no matter what this nation may do to oppress us—to
be true and faithful to our covenants, to our wives and children, to
our God and to our country; it will pay us to be faithful to the end.
I pray God that this may be our lot, that we may be true and faithful
unto death, and inherit eternal life, for Jesus' sake. Amen.