We are occupying a very peculiar position in the world, and in many
respects different from the position that is occupied by any people
that at present live upon the earth. Our ideas, and views, theories
and doctrines; our principles and our mode of life generally are very
distinct from that of other people. We look at things from another
standpoint to that which the world generally do. Our ideas are
predicated upon the work that God has commenced, by the ministration
of holy angels, by the opening of the heavens, by the voice of God,
and by the revelation of His will to the human family; in which all
mankind, whether they comprehend it or not, are very much interested.
The Lord has been pleased to make known unto us certain things of
which we were ignorant; and certain things of which also the world of
mankind are ignorant; and of which we know nothing, and could know
nothing, only through the revelation of God to man.
The Gospel, we are told, brings "life and immortality to light" —life
for ourselves, life for our families, for our wives and children, life
for our progenitors, and life for our posterity; and consequently it
is pregnant with greater events than anything that has yet transpired
upon the earth. It goes back, back, back into the eternities that
were, it unfolds things that now exist, and are on the eve of
fulfillment, and it develops things which are to come. Consequently,
as I said before, we are in a different position from that of other
people. We do not look at things from the same standpoint which they
do. We have other ideas and feelings and anticipations, and are in
possession of another spirit and principle of intelligence other than
that which is generally diffused in the world. Men in the world talk
about the Gospel, but they do not comprehend it. We as Latter-day
Saints talk about the Gospel, yet we understand only very little about
it. Just in proportion as we live our religion and possess the
Holy Spirit, do we comprehend the position that we occupy and no more.
We read, in the Scriptures, of a dispensation of the fullness of
times, when God would gather together all things in heaven and all
things in the earth—that is, a certain dispensation which would
include everything that has existed in other times, and in other
dispensations, and would embrace in one dispensation what has been
scattered throughout the world in different dispensations, from the
commencement of time until the present. Hence this is a matter that
affects the earth and the heavens; it is a matter in which those who
are in the heavens are concerned, and also those that are upon the
earth. It reaches back to the commencement of time and goes forth to
the final winding-up scene of all things pertaining to this earth
whereon we dwell. Hence, as I said, we occupy a very peculiar position
before God, and also before the world. The world do not comprehend our
position, and hence they reason very strangely and very vaguely about
us, and they get some very strange notions pertaining to us. That is
not surprising. It is as much as we can do ourselves to comprehend our
position. It is as much as the Elders of this Church can do to magnify
their callings. It is as much as the Apostles or the Presidency of the
Church can do to comprehend their positions, and it needs continual
watchfulness, and prayer, and self-abnegation, and devotion to God,
and the continual guidance of His Spirit, that we may comprehend the
relationship which we sustain to each other, to our heavenly Father,
to the world in which we live, to the nation with which we are
associated, to the world of mankind generally, and the duties and
responsibilities that devolve upon us pertaining to all of these
matters, both to the living and the dead.
We have a fight to fight. We have a faith to contend for. We have
principle to learn, and to develop to others. We have our relationship
to God, and to holy angels, and to the world to maintain. We have
duties and responsibilities devolving upon us that mankind, and that
we ourselves comprehend only very little. It has been thought
generally that if men could secure in some way or other their
salvation, and get to heaven, as it is called, that they were doing a
great work. We have, however, got a great deal more than that to do.
We have first to learn ourselves the way of life; and then to teach
others that way. Hence, what mean our Seventies and our High Priests,
our Elders and our Apostles and men holding the Priesthood of God?
What mean those various missions they take to the nations of the
earth? What mean our gathering together here, and the efforts that we
make for that purpose? What mean the building of Temples and the
administering therein? What mean some of those things that we begin to
have a slight glimpse of regarding certain duties and responsibilities
resting upon us, pertaining to the dead as well as the living? What
mean those Scriptures that speak about saviors upon Mount Zion? What
mean our dedications to God, and the ordinances that we administer in
His house? What means the development of those great principles
pertaining to eternal lives that begin to enter into our minds
partially?
Man is a dual being. He possesses a body and a spirit. He is connected
with eternity as well as time. He existed before he came here. He
exists here. He will exist after he leaves here. Before he
came here he had to do with intelligences; he has here, if he will
only fulfill his part; and he will have to do with them hereafter. We
are here on a mission. What does that consist of? That is the
question. Some of us have to go to the ends of the earth and preach
the Gospel to every creature under the heavens. That is something
which God requires at our hands. Some of us have to assist in
establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth. Some of us have to aid
in purifying the Church of God. We have the same kind of material now
that they had in former ages for this very purpose. In former times
God placed in His Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and
Evangelists for the perfecting of the Saints. These officers were
requisite to the Church then, and they are requisite now. We all have
our follies and weakness. We all need the assistance of the power and
Spirit of God.
We talk sometimes about the world, we Latter-day Saints, and we are
very flippant in referring to their follies and foibles. We have
enough follies of our own; and I often very much question whether they
do not live as near to their religion as we do to ours. "How is that,"
says one, "we are a much more moral people than they are?" We ought to
be. We make greater professions than they do. They do not talk about
having revelation. They do not talk about having any special mission
to the nations of the earth, and we do. They do not talk about any
celestial glory, and know nothing about it. We profess to know a
little about it. They do not aim at a celestial glory, for they do not
know what it is; and we understand a very little about it. One thing
we do know; one thing is clearly told us, and that is if we are not
governed by the celestial law and cannot abide a celestial law, we
cannot inherit a celestial kingdom. What is it to obey a celestial
law? Where does the celestial law come from to begin with? From the
heavens. Very well. What have the people here to do with it
generally—that is, outsiders? Nothing. They do not say they have had
any revelation. They have had no principle of that kind unfolded to
them. They are living under what might be termed a terrestrial law;
and many of them, I think, under the circumstances, do quite as well
as we do under our circumstances. We profess to be moving on a more
elevated plane than they are. We profess to have come out from the
world; to have separated from the ungodly. We profess to be under the
guidance of Apostles and Prophets, Pastors and Teachers, etc., and to
be living under the inspiration of the Most High. They do not profess
anything of the kind.
These are some of the things we profess to believe in; and some of the
things that the world do not believe in. We have, however, enough to
do in attending to the duties of our Priesthood and calling without
troubling ourselves with the follies and foibles of those who are not
of us. As I have already said they do not profess what we do. We
profess to be governed by higher principles and nobler motives, and by
more exalted ideas. Let us try and live up to our profession. So far
as the people of the world are concerned, I look upon them very
charitably, myself. I do not entertain any vindictive feelings toward
them. "Well, say you, "have they not got curious ideas pertaining to
religious matters?" Yes, they have; but they have as much right to
their ideas as I have to mine. I have no right to interfere
with them. They have a right to worship whatever kind of a God they
please, or in any form that suits them. If a man has a mind to worship
a red dog it is none of my business. It is for me and for my brethren
to fulfill the duties that God has placed upon us. He has revealed
certain principles to us from the heavens for the benefit of the whole
human family, and we will do that which God has commanded us. Will
they persecute us? No matter about that. God has told us to do certain
things, and we will carry them out, persecuted or not persecuted. We
must perform our duty. At the same time we have rights and privileges
that belong to us in common with everybody that lives in the United
States. We have as many rights in these United States as any other
people have, and no man has the right to deprive us of them. They are
trying to deprive us of them all the time. That makes no difference.
The principle is still the same, and it is for us to look after our
rights. God has given us a goodly land here, and we have paid for it.
It is ours by right of purchase and possession. If we have got farms,
or city lots, or inheritances of any kind, we have paid for them
according to the laws of the United States. We have complied with all
the requisitions of the United States that are constitutional, and
mean to do that all the time. We simply contend for our rights. We
simply contend for the principles of human liberty, not only in behalf
of ourselves, but in behalf of thousands who are in these United
States. There are thousands of honorable men in these United States—in
the Senate and House of Representatives, and all through the land—who
are quite willing men should have the rights and privileges of free
men, and then there are thousands, and ten of thousands, and millions
of others who want to trample the principles of freedom under their
feet and deprive men of their liberties. In relation to the people of
the United States, I have nothing myself but kindly feelings. I feel
sorry for them. I am sorry to see people act under wrong influences,
influences that will lead them to destruction. The people of the world
are placed under influences that they do not comprehend. What is the
matter with them? I have numbers of prominent men call upon me from
the United States, and from all parts of Europe, prominent men of all
classes and grades, and when we meet together they talk very kindly
and very pleasantly. They admire our beautiful city and improvements,
and they do not believe one-hundredth part of the stories that are
circulated about us broadcast throughout the earth. They say, "We know
better than that." There are a great many honorable men among the
peoples of the earth, and we do not want to get a spirit of enmity and
hatred against anybody because of the infamous acts of a few
unprincipled men. We are here as saviors upon Mount Zion; and the time
will come, and it is not very far distant, when, in consequence of the
evils, the corruptions, the adulteries and licentiousness that prevail
throughout the land, that God will bring the people to judgment. Then
the time will come, and it is not very far distant, when the sinners
in Zion will be afraid, when fearfulness will surprise the hypocrites.
We are here to build up the Zion of God, and not to build up
ourselves. We are here to establish righteousness, and to establish it
first within ourselves; to feel that "as for me and my house
we will fear God." We should prepare ourselves for glory and for
eternal lives, that we may associate with the Gods in the eternal
worlds. We are the sons of God; but we occupy a different position in
many respects to the rest of the world, because we have obeyed the new
and everlasting covenant; been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and had hands laid upon us for the
reception of the Holy Ghost, and have lived up to our privileges, many
of us. Consequently we are aiming, as I said before, at a higher
exaltation and a greater glory than the world know anything about, and
that we ourselves at present comprehend, but very little. But we shall
improve from time to time and become better instructed in the laws of
life and in the principles of eternal truth. We are gathered together
for that purpose.
Well, brethren and sisters, God bless you and lead you in the paths of
life, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.