I will read a portion of the 7th chapter of Paul's Epistle to the
Hebrews.
[The speaker read the whole of the 7th chapter.]
Proceeding he said: This chapter that I have read in your hearing is
the 7th chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews. In this entire book
of Hebrews, Paul reasons with the Jews, unto whom the epistle was
addressed, to show them that Jesus, the Son of God, whom they had
crucified, was a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and that the
Priesthood which had been taken away during the days of Moses in the
wilderness, had been restored through Him. The Jews entertained the
idea that Priesthood necessarily came through the tribe of Levi, and
that the power and the authority thereof—that is, to minister in all
things pertaining to the Priesthood were confined to that tribe, and
that no one had the right outside of that tribe to officiate in the
ordinances pertaining to God and to mediation between God and the
people or the people and God. But Paul very clearly proved in his
reasoning with them that there was a Priesthood higher than that which
had been exercised by the descendants of Aaron.
It is well for us, who, as a people, believe in Priesthood, that we
should understand the nature and character and power of the Priesthood
which God confirms upon man when He calls him to act in His stead in
the midst of the people. As a people we differ in our views upon these
points from almost every other church. There are one or two
sects in existence which attach a great importance to Priesthood, but
the most of them which form the so-called Christian world reject the
idea of Priesthood, and deny that it is necessary for it to he
bestowed upon man. This feeling has doubtless arisen as a consequence
of the abuses that have grown up through the maladministration of what
is termed the Priesthood. In rebelling against the Catholic Church and
its pretensions men have gone to the other extreme, and have discarded
the idea of Priesthood entirely, and claimed that all men are alike
before God; that all men are equally endowed with authority from God,
and to exercise the power and the authority that were originally
bestowed upon those who held the truth.
In these last days, in the organization of this Church, God, in His
infinite wisdom, impressed upon his servant Joseph Smith the necessity
of there being a rebestowal of the Priesthood, in order to give him
the authority to officiate in the ordinances of the Kingdom of God.
This must have been impressed upon the prophet's mind at a very early
day, from the fact that, notwithstanding he had been brought up among
the protestant sects, and had doubtless shared in the views which they
entertained respecting the right of all men who were impressed by the
spirit, and who were prompted by an inward call to act as ministers of
God, he refrained from attempting in the least degree to do anything
in the name of God or of Jesus Christ until he had received the power
and authority from on high through the bestowal of the Priesthood upon
him. The revelations he had received from the Lord, with the
ministration of holy angels, did not, he plainly perceived, authorize
him to act as a minister of the Lord in the administration of
ordinances. He never attempted to do anything in administering
ordinances, or anything that a Priest might do, until he had been
ordained of God through the administration of John the Baptist. Then,
and not till then, did he officiate in the ordinance of baptism. Much
as he and his companion desired that ordinance; much as they desired
to become participants in the blessings that flow from the reception
of an ordinance of that holy character, he never attempted, until he
had been thus empowered from on high, to administer it.
Now, the prevalent idea in the world has been that if a man should be
so favored as to receive the ministrations or visitations of angels,
or to receive any manifestations of what might be termed a
supernatural character, he would be completely invested with the power
necessary to preach the Gospel unto his fellow men and to administer
all the ordinances thereof. But the Prophet Joseph not only received
the ministrations of angels, but actually had revelations from God,
which are written in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and which are
now the word of God to the Church. He received these revelations
through the inspiration of the Almighty. He also by means of the Urim
and Thummim translated the Book of Mormon; was, in fact, a seer as
well as a revelator; had the spirit of prophecy to predict those
things that should take place in the future, and many events that have
since taken place were prophesied of by him before he was really
ordained of God to administer the ordinances of life and salvation. I
know that this is an exceptional instance. It may be possible that
there is not another like it in the history of our race where
a man was so highly favored of God, endowed with such authority, such
power and had such manifestations of the mind and will of God as he
received without having the Holy Priesthood. But it accords with the
ideas so frequently expressed by the brethren respecting the Prophet
Joseph and many others, that they were ordained before the foundations
of the world were laid to come forth and accomplish the labor and the
work that they did. There is no room for doubt in regard to the truth
of this statement that is so frequently made. In the early boyhood of
the Prophet Joseph, he was moved upon in a mysterious manner to seek
unto God. By the exercise of a faith that was uncommon, and in fact it
may be said unknown upon the earth, he was able to receive the
ministrations of God the Father, and of His Son Jesus Christ; thus
showing in the very beginning of his career, that he was a man or a
spirit that was highly favored of God—a man to whom God desired to
give particular manifestations of his kindness and goodness and power,
and this was followed up from that time until his death by continued
manifestations of the favor and the will and the power of God unto
him. But it is a remarkable fact—and I wish to impress it, I think it
is worthy of remembrance by all of us—that notwithstanding the Prophet
Joseph had all these manifestations, and was, as I have said, a
prophet and seer and revelator, he never attempted—notwithstanding the
ideas that were so prevalent among mankind, and especially in the
region where he lived and where he received his education—to officiate
in any of the ordinances of the house of God, or of the Gospel of
salvation, until he received the everlasting Priesthood. When that was
bestowed upon him; when he received the Priesthood after the order of
Aaron, and was ordained by the angel who alone held the keys, who was
a literal descendant of Aaron, and by virtue of that descent entitled
to the keys of that Priesthood, having exercised the authority thereof
while in the flesh—then and not till then did he administer the
ordinance of baptism for the remission of sins. And then he refrained
from acting in ordinances belonging to the Melchizedek Priesthood,
that higher Priesthood, by the authority of which the baptism of fire
and the Holy Ghost is administered unto the children of men. Having
authority to baptize in water given unto him, he did not go any
further, until the Lord in His kindness and mercy bestowed upon him,
through the administration of those apostles who held the keys after
the death of our Savior, the authority to administer in those higher
ordinances and to exercise the power and authority of this higher
Priesthood. This illustrates most perfectly how careful men ought to
be in acting in the name of God, not to overstep the bounds of the
authority conferred upon them, but to carefully keep within those
limits that are assigned to them in which to exercise authority. It is
a lesson unto us as a people. We should be particular ourselves and
should impress every man with the great care that he should exercise
to confine his acts to the authority which he has received from the
Almighty.
Jesus himself, no doubt, was equally careful in regard to the
authority which He held. He was called to be a Priest after the order
of Melchizedek—that is, this higher Priesthood. He exercised the
authority thereof among the children of men. He still is a
Priest after that holy order. It was by virtue of that Priesthood that
He officiated in the ordinances that He administered unto men. Though
the Son of God, the Savior himself, did not attempt, because of His
sonship, because of His high descent, to officiate among the
children of men aside from and independent of the authority of the
Holy Priesthood, that is, the Priesthood after the order of
Melchizedek. It was by virtue of that Priesthood and authority that he
officiated, that he administered the baptism of fire and of the Holy
Ghost, which John the Baptist announced unto the people he would do
when He came. Jesus in administering that baptism and conferring that
blessing, did so by virtue of and in the authority of the Melchizedek
Priesthood. He would not, as I have said, have dared to do this
independent of that authority; so in laying His hands upon His
Apostles He conferred upon them this power and this authority. He
commanded them to go forth and administer unto the children of men by
virtue of that power and authority, and the Church that He built up,
and this Church of His that is now established in these last days, and
the officers of it, derive their authority from that source. It has
come down legitimately from the days of Melchizedek; in fact it has
come down from our great father Adam. He received the Priesthood of
the Son of God; He was ordained to that Priesthood, and it has come
down by lineal descent from him unto all his children who have that
authority today and who exercise it upon the earth. It can be traced
in the same manner as the descent of man can be traced. It can be
traced to Father Adam. He received it through angelic
administration. It was bestowed upon him and upon his son Abel and
upon his son Seth, and from them it has come down through the line
of the Priesthood—from Seth to Enos, from Enos to Cainan, from Cainan
to Mahalaleel, and so on down until the days of Noah, who received it
from his grandfather. These men were ordained in their various
generations to this Priesthood, the Priesthood after the holiest
order, the Priesthood after the order of the Son of God. By virtue of
this Priesthood Noah and his sons ministered and labored, as we are
told, among the children of men to persuade them to forsake their sins
and to turn to righteousness, lest the Lord should overwhelm them with
a flood. This flood had been predicted long before it came. Enoch had
beheld it in vision, and he went forth, as we are told in the record
that has come down to us from him, and labored to the best of his
ability among the children of men to avert the dreadful consequences
of this threatened flood, which he had been informed by the Lord would
overwhelm the inhabitants because of their wickedness. He labored in
this Priesthood for 365 years and upwards—that is, he walked with God
for that length of time—and by the exercise of that Priesthood he
obtained such great power from God that he and his people were
translated. Zion was not. It was taken to the bosom of the Lord. The
Priesthood, however, was still left. His son Methuselah received it,
and he bestowed it upon Lamech, and Noah received it, from Methuselah,
and the sons of Noah received and exercised the authority of it in the
midst of the children of men in order to save them, but were
unsuccessful. Melchizedek received it, and because of his greatness
and the power that he attained unto with God, he became so
distinguished that the Priesthood after the order of the Son of God
has been called after his name from that time until the present, to
avoid, as we are told in the revelations, the too frequent repetition
of the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then Abraham received
it, and he bestowed it upon his children. Moses, however, received it
through a different line, as we are told. He received it from his
father-in-law, Jethro, and exercised it among the people. It was the
same Priesthood that his ancestor Abraham held, and by it he performed
the mighty works that he accomplished.
To return again to Melchizedek. We find here that Paul in speaking
about him says that he was "King of peace." And he goes on to say, as
we have it translated, that he was "without father, without mother,
without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life,"
and the whole Christian world have gone astray over this expression of
Paul, not being able to understand it, thinking that that which I read
in your hearing referred to Melchizedek himself, when in reality it
was the Priesthood he bore. It was after the power of an endless life.
It had no beginning; no end. It is eternal as our Father and God, and
it extends into the eternities to come, and it is as endless as
eternity is endless, and as our God is endless: for it is the power
and authority by which our Father and God sits upon His throne and
wields the power He does throughout the innumerable worlds over which
He exercises dominion. It is the power and authority by which the Son
of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has attained unto that which
has been promised unto Him, and by which He has become the Savior and
the Redeemer of the world.
This Priesthood, as I have said, came down unto Moses, but the
children of Israel would not have it in their midst. We are told very
plainly in the revelation that Moses sought diligently to sanctify his
people and to lead them into the presence of God by means of this
Priesthood, but they would not have it. The ordinances of godliness
that were administered by it were not acceptable to that generation;
they rejected them, and besought Moses to stand between them and their
Father and God, for they could not endure His presence. Hence the
Priesthood was taken away, and there was no exercise of the power and
the authority of it among the Jews, except occasionally, when Prophets
received authority from the Lord, until the days of the Savior, when
it was restored once more in its fullness and in the plenitude of its
power to the earth, and men began to exercise the authority thereof.
My brethren and sisters, we are building temples at the present time
in which we have ordinances administered unto us for those who have
died. Why is this necessary? It is because the Priesthood of the Son
of God was withdrawn for a long period of time from the earth. The
children of men have been born, they have lived, they have died
without any of the ordinances being administered unto them by those
who held the Priesthood of the Son of God. It is true that many sought
after God in a certain manner and according to the light they had, and
many obtained some degree of knowledge concerning God. Some of them
had a testimony of Him through their faith and died at peace with God.
Many of our ancestors lived in this condition, and God bore
witness to them by His Holy Spirit that He was pleased with them. But
what of that? Is that all that is necessary to place them in a saved
condition? By no means. Something more than that is necessary to
obtain for them the full remission of their sins and to place them in
a condition where they can be saved and exalted in God's presence. As
I said to you in the beginning, something more was necessary for
Joseph than that he was a Revelator, a Seer, and a Prophet to
constitute him a servant of God empowered to administer the ordinances
of life and salvation. A Wesley, a Luther, a Calvin, a Wycliffe, and a
host of others who have arisen in the world, imbued with the highest
and purest motives, and the highest and most intense desires for the
salvation of their fellow men, have labored zealously to turn men to
God, and to bring them to a knowledge of the Savior; but they have not
had the authority of the Holy Priesthood. They themselves could not
usher people into the Church of God. They could not legitimately
administer an ordinance pertaining to the salvation of the human
family. Yet God, in many instances, accepted of them, where they
sought unto Him according to the best light they possessed; He
accepted of them and their labors, and He witnessed unto them, by the
outpouring of His Spirit upon them, that He was pleased with them and
He whispered peace to their souls. In every land, in every nation, and
among the people of every creed, men and women of this kind have been
found, and according to their faith and diligence their works have
been acceptable to our Father. Men have thought that the Christian
lands and the Christian people, so called, have been the most favored
of God in this respect. No doubt they have, because they have had
knowledge concerning the Savior that other lands and other peoples
have not had; but in pagan lands, where the name of Jesus has never
been heard, where men have sought after God and endeavored to live
according to the light that He has given unto them and the Spirit that
He has bestowed upon them, and which He bestows upon every man and
woman born into the world, He has accepted of them, and in the day of
the Lord Jesus, the heathen will have part in the first resurrection.
Our ancestors have, in common with others, been destitute of the power
and the authority of the Holy Priesthood. Hence we build temples;
hence we go into these temples and attend to the ordinances of life
and salvation for our kindred who have died in ignorance of this
power, or were in a position where they could not have it exercised in
their behalf. They could not be baptized for the remission of their
sins; they could not have hands laid upon them for the reception of
the Holy Ghost; they could not have any other ordinance administered
unto them, because the authority to administer was not upon the earth,
and whatever might be done in the name of God or in the name of Jesus,
by those who thought they had the authority, or who assumed to possess
it, was of no avail so far as salvation was concerned; so far as
acceptance by the Lord our God is concerned it was as though nothing
had been done. Hence it is that in these last days, God having in His
great kindness and mercy, opened the heavens once more and sent from
heaven that authority which has so long been withdrawn—God having done
this, we are put in possession of the authority to administer
to each other the ordinances of life and salvation, and not only to
administer to each other, but to exercise that authority in behalf of
those who have lived before us, lived in ages that are past, so that
we can connect generation unto generation until we reach back to the
time when our ancestors did hold the Holy Priesthood. In this manner
the work of salvation will progress, until throughout the millennium,
temples will be built, and the servants and handmaidens of God will go
into these temples and officiate, until all who have been born upon
the face of the earth, who have not become sons of perdition, will be
redeemed, and the entire family be reunited, Adam standing at the
head.
You can see, my brethren and sisters, the importance there is in our
having the Priesthood of the Son of God in our midst. You see how
necessary it is that it should be exercised and exercised properly.
You can see how necessary it is that the ordinances of life and
salvation should be administered by those who are legitimately
ordained to this authority. When a man lays his hands upon the head of
his fellow man and professes to bestow authority, the mere profession
of that authority will avail nothing unless he has indeed the
authority and has it legitimately. A man who may profess to have the
authority; a man who may say I have ordained this person or the other
person, unless he has the authority to do so is a mere pretender, and
his acts cannot be recognized nor acknowledged of God. I believe the
time will come when it will be necessary for every man to trace the
line in which he has received the Priesthood that he exercises. It is
therefore of great importance in our Church that records should be
kept, and that every man should know whence he derives his
authority—from what source, through what channel he has received the
Holy Priesthood, and by what right he exercises that authority and
administers the ordinances thereof. I believe this is of extreme
importance, and that where there are doubts as to a man's legitimately
exercising that authority, that doubt should be removed. Every man
should be careful on this point, to know where he gets his Priesthood;
that it has come to him clean and undefiled, legitimately; and when
men are cut off from that Priesthood by the voice of the servants of
God, there is an authority on the earth which God recognizes in the
heavens, and that man is cut off from the Priesthood. He said in
ancient days in speaking to His Apostles:
"Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and
whosesoever sins ye retain; they are retained."
"Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
In these last days God has, in like manner, restored this same
authority of the Holy Priesthood. He has restored to man the power to
bind on earth and it shall be bound in heaven. He has restored the
authority to remit sins on earth, and He, the Great Eternal, our
Father in heaven, says that when these sins are remitted they shall
be remitted, but when they are not remitted they shall stand against
those who commit the sins.
Therefore, there is this authority in the Church, and you can witness
the exercise of it, and the power of it, in your own experience.
When ever the voice of the people of God, and the authorities
that God has placed in His Church, whom He has ordained—whenever they
lift up their hands against a man to cut him off from the Church, to
withdraw from him the authority of the Priesthood that he has
exercised, in every instance without a single exception, from the
beginning of this Church until today, God has most signally and
wonderfully manifested His approval of their acts and has withdrawn
from that man (whosoever he may be, however great and mighty he may
have been in the Church), His power and His blessing. It was so with
Oliver Cowdery, the companion of Joseph, the man who received with him
the Priesthood, upon whose head John the Baptist laid his hands, and
upon whose head, also, the Apostles Peter, James and John laid their
hands. These glorious blessings and favors that God gave to him did
not prevent his falling into sin. When he did fall into sin and the
Church and the Priesthood united in lifting their hands to cut him off
from the Church, and take from him the Priesthood and the authority
that he had so powerfully exercised and which God had favored him with
so much, God recognized the action. Other men fell, also. Six of the
original twelve fell into transgression. They were men of ability, men
of talent. Some of them were greatly favored. Lyman Johnson had
wonderful manifestations given unto him; but when he fell into
transgression and the Church with the Priesthood united in lifting up
their hands against him the power and authority that had distinguished
him before was withdrawn and he became as other men. And so with all
of them. So with Sidney Rigdon, that mighty man, that eloquent man,
that spokesman for the Prophet Joseph, of whom the Book of Mormon had
spoken for hundreds, yes, it may be said for thousands of years before
his birth. He also, when the Priesthood and Church in Nauvoo lifted up
their hands against him, fell like Lucifer, who once was a mighty
angel in the presence of God, and exercised great authority; like
Lucifer he fell, and the authority and power that had attended him
were withdrawn, and he became like unto other men. This has been the
case in every instance. Can you point out an exception? Look at them
wherever you see them, the men that have held the Priesthood, who were
bright and influential and powerful, whom God blessed, whose
administrations God sealed when they were in the possession of that
authority, exercising it in purity and in singleness of purpose—when
this was the case He was with them; but when they went into
transgression and fell and the Priesthood was taken from them, they
became weak, and their strength was gone. They are marked among the
people wherever you see them. Thus showing that God in these last days
confirms the promise that He made unto His servants, that whatsoever
they bound on earth should be bound in heaven, and that whatsoever
they loosed on earth should be loosed in heaven.
It is by the exercise of this power in our midst that we are
preserved. God has given it unto us. It is true He has placed this
authority and power, it may be said, in earthen vessels. He has chosen
weak men, fallible men, men who are subject to all the failings and
weaknesses of human nature. But, nevertheless, it is the authority of
God. It is the authority by which He has built up His Church in all
ages. It is the authority, the only authority upon the earth
that can act in His name. When a man has this authority and goes forth
and confines himself to its legitimate exercise and keeps within the
bounds of his authority, God is with him; God confirms that which he
does; God places His seal and His blessing and approval upon his acts;
and though all the earth should endeavor to undo them and to say they
are of no effect, they will stand, nevertheless, and in the Courts of
heaven will be recorded and confirmed. There is no power among men
that can disannul these acts, that can revoke or invalidate them in
any manner. It is this that raises this Church beyond the power and
reach of man. Courts cannot affect in any manner the decisions or the
acts or the ordinances that are administered by the servants of God.
That which is done in the name of the Holy Priesthood will stand and
will be fulfilled both in the world and out of the world, both in time
and in eternity. Hence it is that when an Elder goes forth in the
authority of the Holy Priesthood, and baptizes a candidate who has
repented of his sins, God confirms that ordinance; God remits the sins
of that individual; God by bestowing His Holy Spirit witnesses unto
that soul that his sins or her sins are remitted. In like manner when
an Elder lays his hands upon the head of a man or a woman who has been
thus baptized and says unto that individual, "receive ye the Holy
Ghost," God in heaven, bound by the oath and the covenant that He has
made, bound by all the conditions that pertain to the everlasting
Priesthood, will cause the Holy Ghost to descend upon that soul, and
he or she will be filled therewith. He receives the baptism of fire
and the Holy Ghost, and it stands on the earth and it stands in heaven
recorded in favor of that soul if he continues to observe the
conditions under which that baptism and confirmation are administered.
There is no human power that can deprive that individual of the fruits
of that blessing which has been thus sealed upon him by authority of
the Holy Priesthood.
So with other ordinances. When men go forward and attend to other
ordinances, such as receiving their endowments, their washings, their
anointings, receiving the promises connected therewith, these promises
will be fulfilled to the very letter in time and in eternity—that is,
if they themselves are true to the conditions upon which the blessings
are promised. And so it is when persons go to the altar and are
married for time and eternity. When the man who officiates says: "I
seal upon you the power to come forth in the morning of the first
resurrection, crowned with glory, immortality, and eternal lives,"
just as sure as that promise is made, and the persons united (to whom
the promise is made) conform with the conditions thereof, just so sure
will it be fulfilled. There is no power anywhere in existence that can
invalidate the force, the efficacy, or that can prevent the
fulfillment of that promise when it is pronounced upon a man and woman
by the authority of the Holy Priesthood—that is, there is no power but
that which they themselves can exercise. It is a remarkable fact, that
there is no blessing that God has promised unto us that any human
being, that any angel, or any devil can take from us. There is no
power of that kind that can take it from us. But a man himself, by
sinning, can rob himself of his blessing; he can prevent its
fulfillment; but no human being can do it beside himself.
Remember this, Latter-day Saints; remember it, and treasure it up in
your hearts, that you have salvation within your own keeping. If you
are damned, you damn yourselves; you will be the instrument of your
own damnation. It will not be because God will damn you; it will not
be because Satan has such power that he can take away every blessing
from you; it will not be because of anything of that kind. How will it
come about? It will come to every soul by wrongdoing on the part of
that soul. He or she alone can bring condemnation on himself or
herself. There is no other power can do it. Hence if we are damned we
shall have no one to blame but ourselves; we shall have no one to
condemn but ourselves; it will be the result of our own agency, the
exercise of that power which God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden when he said, "of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not
eat." He gave them their agency. He said to them: "You can eat of
every tree but one, and you can eat that also; but I forbid you to eat
of it, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; if you do eat of
that tree you will have to endure the penalty."
In the exercise of their agency they did eat of that tree, and the
result was expulsion from the garden of Eden and death. And so it has
been with all the rest of the human family from that time unto the
present. Every one of us will bring upon ourselves either salvation or
condemnation as the case may be, according to the manner in which we
exercise our agency before God. It is by this Priesthood and the
exercise of it, that the blessings of God will flow unto us. It is by
this Priesthood that we are bound together. God has surrounded us by
bonds that are indissoluble. They cannot be separated. Time cannot
wear them out. They will endure throughout eternity. It is a most
wonderful tie, the binding tie of the Holy Priesthood. Never were a
people upon the face of the earth since the Priesthood was among men,
so bound together as we are being bound; and this is the glorious
feature of the tie that binds us together; it can only operate upon
those who are righteous; it can only have effect when righteousness
prevails and where people live in such a manner as to receive the
promises of God. A man who practices wrong may have all these
blessings pronounced upon him; he may have been baptized and have had
hands laid upon him; he may go through the Temple and have wives
sealed to him and have every blessing promised unto him that is
promised to the most faithful of the children of God, and yet if he
does not live so as to be worthy of these blessings he will not
receive them; he will, sooner or later, be bereft of them and left
destitute. This is the glorious feature of this great tie that God has
restored to the earth. It only binds the righteous. It does not bind
the wicked to the righteous. It does not bind the wicked to the
wicked. Its power and saving force can only be exercised or enjoyed
where righteousness prevails. Hence when the people of God come forth
in the resurrection, they will come forth pure. There will then be a
separation of the wicked from the righteous. The righteous will enjoy
their own society. In this probation it seems to be designed in
providence of our God that we should all be mixed up
together—no thorough separation. When we came to these valleys we
thought we had left the world behind us. We thought that because these
mighty mountains, which reared themselves on every hand as an
impassable barrier between us and the rest of the world, Babylon was
left behind. We thought we could live comparatively pure lives, and
that we would be comparatively free from the associations of the
world. But such ideas have been dispelled—very rudely dispelled—by
that which has occurred. Babylon followed us. We find that these
mountains are not sufficient to divide us from the rest of the world;
that we must share with the rest of mankind the evils and the
blessings that pertain to this mortal condition of existence. We have
these circumstances to contend with. We are mixed with the wicked. The
tares and the wheat grow together, and will grow until the harvest.
This seems to be designed in the providence of our Father. But the
time will come when there will be a separation, a final separation, of
the righteous from the wicked, and that separation will be brought
about by the exercise of the Priesthood which God has bestowed. That
Priesthood will draw up from the earth the pure, the holy, the worthy.
It will draw them up to the society of God. Everything that is not
pure will be left behind. Then we will feel and know the value of that
tie. By it the man will draw his wives to him; by it the father and
mother will draw their children to them; by it generation will be
linked to generation, until all will be united clear back to our
father Adam, the father of the human race on the earth. All this will
be accomplished by the power and authority of the Priesthood.
Do you understand, then, why the Priesthood of the Son of God is
hated; why the lives of the servants of God are sought after; why it
is that they are sought to be imprisoned and ensnared in various
forms? It is because the adversary of souls knows full well that if
this Priesthood remains on the earth, then farewell to his authority,
farewell to his kingdom, farewell to the dominion that he has
exercised over the children of men. It cannot continue its existence.
He knows that as well as we do. He understands it perfectly. Hence he
has ever sought to destroy from the face of the earth the men who have
held the Priesthood of the Son of God. He was not satisfied until the
earth drank the precious blood of the Savior of the world, and the
life of every man who has held the Priesthood, and has exercised it
from the days of righteous Abel down to the present time, has been
sought for to a greater or less extent by they adversary of souls. He
has used men as his agents to accomplish this. He cannot himself come
here and exercise his power in his own person, because it was
forbidden him, and his angels who rebelled with him, in consequence of
their great transgression, that they should have tabernacles of flesh.
This was their punishment, that they should not have tabernacles of
flesh. But from the day he entered into the serpent in the garden of
Eden to the present he has sought, through the agency of man or beast,
the lives of those who have held the Priesthood. In this way he has
sought to exercise his power and authority among men. He did so with
Cain. Read in the Pearl of Great Price what he did with him; how he
tempted him, and how Cain succumbed to his temptation. He said to
Cain, "believe it not," and he has been using the same words
to all the children of men from that time to the present. "Believe it
not!" When the servants of God have proclaimed the truth Satan has
ever been ready to say, "believe it not!" He has instilled into the
minds of the children of men hatred for the truth—that is, every one
that has been willing to listen to him. He has entered into them,
taken possession of their souls, and has used them to accomplish his
wicked purposes. He has done this through man. He could not do it
without he had some tabernacle to operate through. He could not
deceive Eve—or did not deceive her—except through the means of the
serpent. He entered into the serpent. The serpent was willing,
doubtless, to let him enter, and he spoke through the serpent. It was
the mouth of the serpent, but it was the voice of Satan that beguiled
the woman. He was determined that God's work should not prosper in the
earth. He has determined that the children of men shall do as he
wishes. He has been angry from the beginning because his plan was not
adopted; because the Father did not see proper to select him to save
man without the exercise of man's agency; because of this he has
determined that he will destroy the work. He has drenched the earth
with innocent blood to accomplish his purpose. He is still engaged in
that work. He would destroy us if he could. See what is being done
all over the Territory. See the agencies that are at work. See how
many men are being used by the adversary of souls to accomplish his
purposes in regard to this people—a people unexampled for sobriety,
for temperance, for industry, for frugality, for kindness, for good
order, for all the virtues that men revere. Where can you find a
people like them? There is no place upon the face of the earth where
these virtues are better exemplified in the lives of the people than
they are in Utah Territory. What woman cries aloud in our streets
because of being defiled? What woman cries in vain for protection in
all our land, from east to west, from north to south? Has the cry of
distress gone up? Has the cry of the poor and the oppressed ascended
from these valleys unto God unheard by the people? Do orphans and
widows mourn and weep because of the circumstances which surround
them? No, not in any part of our land. Not a beggar to be seen
throughout all our settlements. No cry of distress either from man or
beast. Virtue is upheld. Women are shielded as safely as they were
when they were infants in their mother's bosoms—shielded from harm,
shielded from the seducer, from those who would wreck their happiness.
This is the case throughout all our society. Do drunkards flourish
among us? Are they encouraged? We know they are not. Are persons
encouraged in litigation and quarrelling? No; nowhere in the land is
there anything of this kind. Peace prevails; good order prevails;
quarrellings are seldom heard; virtue is protected and encouraged.
Marriage is encouraged everywhere. Yet on this land we are threatened
as a people because of these things. Our liberty is jeopardized. All
kinds of machinery are put into operation to destroy us, or to entrap
and ensnare us, and deprive us of liberty.
Thank God, my brethren and sisters, for the restoration of the
Priesthood. Thank God for the blessings we receive every day. Thank God for the persecutions we are called upon to endure. As the
Savior said, let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad because the wicked
array themselves against us in this manner. It is a testimony to us
that we are not in harmony with the wicked; that we are not taking the
course that Belial would like us to take; that we are pursuing the
path that God has marked out for us. We can do this with perfect
safety, and with the perfect assurance that it will all come out
right. As I have said, there is no power that can separate a virtuous
man and woman who have been united by the power of the Holy
Priesthood; no power can do it; they must do it themselves if done at
all. These ties that bind us together will endure through time and
eternity. Let us so live that we shall never forfeit our claim upon
the promises of our God, and that we may ever be faithful from this
time forward, until we receive the fulfillment of all those promises
in the presence of God and the Lamb, I ask in the name of Jesus, Amen.
- George Q. Cannon