We hear a great many things associated with the Church and Kingdom of
God in which, as a people, we are very much interested.
We meet together, from time to time, to sing, to pray, to speak, to
hear and to attend to the various duties and responsibilities that
devolve upon us. We are taught of things pertaining to time and things
pertaining to eternity, and perhaps we are more favored—well, there is
no perhaps about it—we are more favored than any other people that
dwell upon the face of the whole earth. We have been gathered together
from among the nations of the earth in order that we may be instructed
in the laws of God, and in the principles of truth and life, that we
may be able to comprehend our relationship to our heavenly Father, to
his Son Jesus Christ, to the Priesthood that exists in the heavens,
and to the inhabitants of the earth by whom we are surrounded, and
among whom we dwell.
There is something very peculiar about the position which we occupy
among the nations of the earth. We have not received any of the
intelligence which we possess from these nations, with the exception
of some matters pertaining to science, to art, and the common
education of the day. But as regards our religious principles we are
not indebted to any men who live upon the earth for them. These
principles emanated from God. They were given by revelation, and if we
have a First Presidency, if we have High Priests, if we have
Seventies, if we have Bishops, Elders, Priests and Teachers, if we
have Stake and other organizations, we have received them all from
God. If we have Temples, if we administer in them, it is because we
have received instruction in relation thereto from the Lord. If we
know anything pertaining to the future, it comes from him, and in fact
we live in God, we move in God, and from him we derive our being. Men
generally will not acknowledge this, but we as Latter day Saints believe in these truths. Not one of us could have entered this
house this evening without being sustained by the power of God. Not
one of us could leave this house without guidance, strength and power
from him to accomplish it. We have been taught to believe that he is
the Creator of all things visible and invisible, whether they be
things in the heavens or on the earth, whether they belong to this
world or other worlds, and that there is an all wise, all powerful
Being, who controls, manipulates and manages all the affairs of the
human family, and this is true whether it relates to the world in
which we live, to the heavens that are above us, or to other worlds by
which we are surrounded. It relates to our bodies and to our spirits,
and to all things associated therewith. Hence we are very dependent
beings. In the organization of man, in the organization of this earth,
and in the organization of the heavens, there were certain things
designed by the Almighty to be carried out, and that will be carried
out according to the purposes of the Most High, which things were
known to him from the beginning. There exists all manner of curious
opinions about God, and many people think it impossible for him to
take cognizance of all men, but that is very easily done. If I had
time to enter into this subject alone I could show you upon scientific
principles that man himself is a self-registering machine, his eyes,
his ears, his nose, the touch, the taste, and all the various senses
of the body, are so many media whereby man lays up for himself a
record which perhaps nobody else is acquainted with but himself; and
when the time comes for that record to be unfolded all men that have
eyes to see, and ears to hear, will be able to read all things as God
himself reads them and comprehends them, and all things, we are told,
are naked and open before him with whom we have to do. We are told in
relation to these matters that the hairs of our heads are numbered;
that even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without our heavenly
Father's notice; and predicated upon some of these principles are some
things taught by Jesus, where he tells men to ask and they shall
receive. What! The millions that live upon the earth? Yes, the
millions of people, no matter how many there are. Can he hear and
answer all? Can he attend to all these things? Yes. "Ask, and it shall
be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." It is difficult
for men to comprehend some of these things, and, as they cannot
comprehend them they begin to think they are all nonsense—that is,
many do—and, hence, infidelity and skepticism prevail to a great
extent. A great many strange notions are entertained in regard to God
and his dealings with humanity. This is because men do not understand
the things of God. I read in one of our papers a short time ago, that
there was some kind of a commission going to meet—some two or three
professors or scientists, men who are supposed to possess superior
intelligence—to examine the manuscript of the Book of Mormon, to find
out whether it was true or not, and I suppose if these
people—especially if they should be pious men, possessing a little
learning and science—should come out and say the Book of Mormon was
not true, we all of us should have to lay it aside should we
not? This to me is the veriest nonsense. It would not make one hair's
difference with us whether such a commission should decide that the
Book of Mormon is right or wrong. If they decide that it is true it
will not increase our faith in it; if they decide that it is not true,
it will not decrease our faith in it. Yet these are ideas that men
entertain.
Speaking upon this point I am reminded of an incident that took place
a number of years ago. Several prominent European scientists called
upon me, and they talked a little upon our religious principles. Then
they asked me if I was acquainted with the advanced ideas in regard to
geology. I told them I knew a little about them from what I had read.
"What do you think," said one of them to me, of these views as
compared with the scriptural account of the creation of the world?"
"Well," said I, "the great difficulty is that men do not understand the
Scriptures." They could not see any difficulty on that ground, for
they all had their eyes to see, and they had an understanding of
words, languages, etc. "Well," said I, "we won't go through the
whole
Bible, for that is quite a large book; but I will take one or two of
the first lines in the Bible. 'In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth.' Will you please tell me when the beginning
was? "We don't know," "When you find that out," said I,
"then I will
tell you when the world was created." A good many other things
transpired associated with this interview, that I do not wish now to
repeat. Suffice it to say that before they got through, one of them
said: "I have read a good deal, I have studied a good deal, I find I
have a good deal more to read and study yet." I thought so too. I
thought if men could not understand the first two lines of the Bible,
it would be quite a task to teach them the whole of it.
In regard to the work in which we are engaged, as I said before and as
you have heard over and over again, it emanated from God, and all the
principles pertaining to it, came from Him. We talk sometimes about
this work, and how it is going to be accomplished. The work we are
engaged in is the work of God. If it is accomplished it will be
accomplished by the power of God, by the wisdom of God, by the
intelligence of God, and by the Priesthood that dwells with the Gods
in the eternal worlds, together with that which he has conferred upon
his people here upon the earth, and not by any other power or
influence in existence. We talk of a Zion that is to be built up. If a
Zion is ever built up on this earth, it will have to be under the
guidance and direction of the Almighty. We talk about a Church that is
to be built up and purified. If it is ever built up and purified, it
will be under the influence of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power
of God manifested among his people, whereby iniquity will be rooted
out, righteousness sustained, the principles of truth advanced, honor,
integrity, truth and virtue maintained, and hypocrisy, evil, crime and
corruption of every kind be rooted out. That will have to be done by
the aid and under the guidance of the Almighty. There is no man living
in and of himself, can guide the ship of Zion or regulate the affairs
of the Church and Kingdom of God unaided by the Spirit of God, and
hence he has organized the Church as he has with all the various
quorums and organizations as they exist today. Who can boast or
has anything to say in relation to these things? No man living, no man
that has lived. If Joseph Smith knew anything about these things, it
was because God revealed it, and He has revealed many great and
precious principles in which the children of men are interested
pertaining to this world and to the next, pertaining to the living and
the dead, pertaining to time and eternity, and pertaining to all
things associated with the happiness and exaltation of man. All these
things emanated from God. And if Brigham Young knew anything he
received his intelligence from God and from the Prophet of God; and if
any of us know anything we have received it from the same source. We
are told that He is in all things, through all things, and about all
things, and by Him all things exist. He is the light of the sun and
the power thereof, by which it was made; the light of the moon and the
power thereof, by which it was made; and the light of the stars and
the power thereof, by which they were made; and it is the same light
that enlighteneth the understanding of man. This may seem strange
doctrine to some. We have been taught to believe that there was a
difference between mental and visual light; nevertheless the above
statement is philosophically true.
In regard to the earth, is it the Lord's? Yes. We are told that he
made it, that he created all things, visible and invisible, whether
pertaining to the earth or to the heavens. And where did man
originate? As we read it, he originated also from God. Who formed man
according to the Bible record? The Lord. Whence came our spirits? We
are told that God is the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh.
Then He of course is interested in the welfare of all flesh and all
people of all languages, of all tongues, of every color, and of every
clime. That is the way that I understand these things. Our spirits are
eternal and emanate from God. So we, as a people, have always
understood and do understand today. We possess our bodies also, and
they also emanated from God. The Bible tells us something in relation
to these matters in tracing out genealogies. Who was Seth? He was the
son of Adam. Who was Adam? The son of God. In another place we are
told that "all we are His offspring" —that is, according to that, we
are all the offspring of God.
Now, this earth was formed for a certain purpose, and man was also
formed for a certain purpose. And there are certain principles laid
down—you will find them in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and in the various revelations that
God has made through his servants—there are certain principles laid
down indicating that there are different grades of men possessing
varied powers and privileges, and that these men have to pass through
a certain ordeal—called by many a probation—that is, that we are here
in a probationary state, in a state of trial; and that as men live and
act according to the intelligence they are in possession of—the
privileges which they enjoy, and the deeds that they perform, whether
for good or evil, there will be a time of judgment, and that there
will be a separation, of these various peoples according to the way in
which they have lived and acted upon the earth. Hence Paul tells that
there are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial, that there is one
glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the
stars, and as one star differeth from another star in glory, so shall
it also be in the resurrection. Joseph Smith, in speaking on the same
subject, tells us that there are bodies celestial, bodies terrestrial,
and bodies telestial, which agrees precisely with the remarks made by
Paul, only in other language. Thus there are many curious things
associated with our existence here upon the earth, which the natural
man does not and cannot comprehend. No man can know the things of God,
but by the Spirit of God.
Now, then, on this earth—which we call the Lord's vineyard—He has sent
forth His servants from time to time to gather people into His fold,
to gather out a few here and a few there who would be prepared to act
and operate with Him, and then, generally, these have been a
comparatively small number. Jesus said when He was upon the earth
"Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be who go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it." And it would seem, according to the testimonies we have both in
the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, that the Lord has taken great
pains in different ages of the world to send forth His servants to
preach the Gospel to the people. We find this especially so in Noah's
day, and in the days of Enoch. There was a remarkable work performed
then according to the revelations which have been given to us, which
will be more fully developed when the Lord shall see fit to reveal
other things associated therewith. But we learn that there was a
Church organized about as ours may be; we learn that they went forth
and preached the Gospel; we learn that they were gathered together to
a place called Zion; we learn that the people of Zion were under the
guidance, direction and teaching of the Almighty; in order that they
might be prepared for another Zion in the grand drama associated with
the dealings of God and his purposes pertaining to this earth and the
heavens. We read that they walked with God for 365 years. We are told
in the Bible a little short story about it, because it was one of
those things that it was not necessary that everybody should know. We
are told that "Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him."
But there was more about it than that. Enoch preached the Gospel to
the people, and so did hundreds of Elders as they are doing today;
and they gathered the people together and built up a Zion to the Lord,
and when Enoch was not, but was caught up, Enoch's city was not, but
was caught up, and there were certain things associated therewith that
are very peculiar. Why were they taken away from the earth? Because of
the corruptions of men, because of the wickedness of men, because
mankind had forsaken God, and become as broken cisterns that could
hold no water, because they were not fulfilling the measure of their
creation, and because it was not proper that they should live and
perpetuate a race that was so corrupt and abominable. But before this
was done, the righteous, the virtuous, the honorable, the pure, the
upright were gathered together, and taught and instructed in the
things of God. And what came next? Why, the destruction of the world.
It was overflowed, we read, by the flood. What! And all the people
destroyed? Yes, except a very few, according to the statements we have. "Well," say some of our wise men, "was not that cruel to
destroy so many people?" Perhaps it would be according to your ideas,
but it was not according to the Lord's ideas: because he looked upon
men as immortal beings. These men were accountable to their Maker,
they had a dual existence, they were associated with time and with
eternity, and we might go still further and say they were
associated with the past, the present and the future, and the Lord as
a great cosmogonist, took in the various stages of man's existence,
and operated for the general benefit of the whole. But was it not
cruel to destroy them? I think God understood precisely what He was
doing. They were His offspring, and He knowing things better than they
did, and they having placed themselves under the power and dominion of
Satan, He thought they had better be removed and another class of men
be introduced. Why? There were other persons concerned besides them.
There were millions of spirits in the eternal worlds who would shrink
from being contaminated by the wicked and corrupt, the debauchee, the
dishonest, the fraudulent, the hypocrite, and men who trampled upon
the ordinances of God. It might seem harsh for these men to be swept
off from the face of the earth, and not allowed to perpetuate their
species thereon; but what about the justice of forcing these pure
spirits to come and inhabit tabernacles begotten by debauched corrupt
reprobates, the imagination of whose heart was only evil, and that
continually—what about them? Had they no rights that God was bound to
respect? Certainly they had, and He respected them. He cut off the
wicked. What did he do with them? He did with them as we do with some
of the wicked, and that we do not do with a great many others—that is,
they were put in prison. Had He a right to do that? I think He had.
They were his offspring. I think He had the right to act according to
the counsel of His own will. At any rate he took the liberty of doing
it. And who was there to say, "Why doest thou this?" First, He called
upon them to forsake their wickedness, but they would not, and a while
after He destroyed them. Had He a right to do it? He had and He sent
them to hell. Some people talk about roasting there. That is something
of man's getting up. He sent them to prison, and they were confined
there, and when the proper time came, Jesus, when He was put to death
in the flesh, was quickened by the Spirit, and went and preached to
those spirits that sometime were disobedient in the days of Noah.
Perhaps they had time enough during their stay, to reflect upon their
acts, and to become a little steadier, and to reflect upon God and His
laws. At any rate Jesus went and preached to those spirits in prison.
What, then, became of the inhabitants of the world? There were a few
who went through the narrow gate that Jesus spoke of, and they were
caught up and Zion with them, and the Lord is taking care of them in
his own way. They will be dealt with according to His purposes and
designs, and be numbered among His jewels. The others, as I have said,
were cast into prison, and there they remained about 2,500 years. It
was a pretty long imprisonment. Still the Lord had a right to
manipulate these things as He pleased, and He so manipulated them, and
although this time seems very long, yet in the eternities to come it
would only be a comparatively short period; and if they needed a
schooling of this kind He, as their Father and Creator, was the proper
one to adjudge their punishment.
Sometime after this there were certain cities that had become very
corrupt, such as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord had a reckoning with
them, handled them in His own way according to His best judgment.
Abraham was a man who feared God, and God said: "Shall I hide from
Abraham that thing which I do." So He informed Abraham about it.
Abraham plead with the Lord, "Why," said he, "Lot lives down there,
a
nephew of mine, and a pretty good sort of a man, and there may be a
great many others." The Lord said: "If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous, within the city, then I will spare all the place for their
sakes." Abraham, however, thought this was more than he could pick
out. I expect there was a crowd of mean "cusses" among them as we have
among us. And finally the Lord said that if ten righteous could be
found in the city, He would not destroy it for ten's sake. But ten
righteous people could not be found, and therefore the city had to be
destroyed. What! All the people? Yes, all the people. But before they
were destroyed he sent two angels and they brought out Lot, his wife
and daughters. His wife was a little tinctured with gentilism: she
looked back, and the Scriptures tell us she was turned into a pillar
of salt. When they got away, brimstone and fire fell upon the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them. Thus the Lord has taken the
privilege in many instances of correcting mankind. He used the
children of Israel to kill the people who dwelt in the land of Canaan,
and directed them to spare them not, because of their wickedness, to
cut them off root and branch. He raised up one nation and put down
another, and raised up one king and put down another.
There were times when the iniquity of these people was not yet full.
In Abraham's day the Lord told that Patriarch that he should go to his
fathers in peace, but in the fourth generation his posterity should
"come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full:"
by the days of Moses they appear to have filled the cup of their
iniquity, for he enjoined upon the Israelites, thou shalt utterly
destroy them," "as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee." So that the
Lord takes upon Himself to manipulate the nations according to the
counsels of His own will, and as they all of them have to do with
eternity as well as time, He adjudges them according to the eternal
laws and principles by which He is governed; and hence we are told
that eternal punishment is God's punishment, and everlasting
punishment is God's punishment, thus men and nations are adjudged by
the Almighty, according to the infinite and eternal laws and
principles which exist in the heavens, and with a reference to eternal
duration and not according to the finite, erratic and limited ideas of
men. Jonah was sent to the city of Ninevah, to tell the people to
repent, and that if they did not repent they would all be destroyed.
But they listened to the voice of the Prophet. They clothed themselves
in sackcloth and sat in ashes and repented before the Lord, and then
the Lord forgave them. Why was it that a great many people were thus
judged by the Almighty? It was because of their iniquity. The same
thing prevailed upon this continent. The spirit of evil and
contention, war and strife, existed among the ancient Jaredites, when they forsook their God, and violated his laws. They
fought one with another. They were maddened by fury, even that fury
which was lit up by the fires of hell and by the spirit of fiends,
until they completely destroyed one another. So it was with the
Nephites who had departed from the law of God, and trampled under foot
his ordinances. They and the Lamanites were stirred up one against
another, until at last they gathered together thousands and tens of
thousands and hundreds of thousands of fighting men—they were four
years in gathering their armies, and they fought and shed blood and
spread destruction and death wherever they went. We can read the
account of it in the Book of Mormon, and I do not propose to repeat it
here this evening.
Now, how is it pertaining to the last days? As it was in the days of
Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. As
it was in the days of Lot, so shall it also be in the days of the
coming of the Son of Man. In what respect? In the days of Noah did
they have the Gospel preached unto them? Yes. Did the people generally
reject it? Yes. Did the people gather together and build up a
Zion? Yes. How is it in these days? The Lord has revealed his Gospel
to us as he did to them. He has sent forth the words of life, and is
sending them to the nations of the earth. Hundreds of Elders are going
today, and taking their lives in their hands, and some of them have
to sacrifice their lives! And others, in this land of liberty, because
they will be virtuous and keep the commands of God, are today
weltering in prison. Woe! to those who have a hand in these things. I
tell you and I tell them, as a servant of God, in the name of God,
that he will be after them and they shall suffer worse than that which
they inflict upon innocent, pure and virtuous men. Now, I bear
testimony to this, and you will know it when it comes to pass. Woe! to
them that fight against Zion, for God will fight against
them—hypocrites! who are wallowing in filthiness, corruption,
adultery, fornication and deception, in the name of virtue are seeking
to destroy a virtuous people, and those who dare honor and obey the
commandments of God.
Then, in regard to the work in which we are engaged. Will it go on? I
tell you it will. Will Zion be built up? I tell you it will. Will the
Zion that Enoch built up, descend? It most assuredly will, and this
that we are building up will ascend, and the two will meet and the
peoples thereof will fall on each other's necks, and embrace each
other. So says the word of God to us. Will we go on with our work?
With the help of the Lord we will. He has told us to do a work, and we
will try to carry it out—we of the First Presidency, we of the Twelve,
we of the Seventies, we of the Elders, we of the High Priests, we of
the Presidents of Stakes, we of the Bishops, and we of the Holy
Priesthood in all its various forms. By the help of the Lord, we will
try, first, to purify ourselves, to purify our households, to get rid
of covetousness, deception and fraud of every kind, to act honorably
before God and before all men, and to love not the world, nor the
things that are in the world; for if any man love the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. Anything that we may have or possess
comes from God; and if we are exalted, if we possess the good things
of the world—which I tell you in the name of Israel's God we shall, in
spite of all men and all their influences, for the people of
Zion will be the richest of all people. This is in accordance with the
Scriptures. The Scripture tells us: "For brass I will bring gold, and
for iron I will bring sliver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron:
I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
Violence shall no more be heard in the land, wasting nor destruction
within thy borders."
The Lord has gathered us together that we may learn His law; that we
may be instructed in the principles of truth, righteousness and
virtue; that we may be prepared to honor and magnify our calling, and
glorify our God.
Well, what would you have us do when men are so corrupt—when it is
enough for a man here, because he has the kindness to take some
chickens for a poor woman to sell for her—when that is enough evidence
to convict him that he is an adulterer, and must be placed under bonds
and subjected to trial and punishment. What do they do with their
Christian whores that they have in our midst? Where do they come from?
They are not our institution. But they are protected, they can vote,
they can do as they please, no process can be introduced against them,
for they are a part of their institution, and must be protected; but
anything "in the marriage relation," you know, is different from that.
Well, what shall we do? We will treat all decent men very well, and we
will give the others a wide berth. These corrupt and villainous men
who are seeking to trample under foot the rights of free men and
deprive them of everything in life that is worth having, will suffer
the bondage they are seeking to bring upon us. I tell you that, and we
need not try to make these affairs any worse. We will treat them as
well as we can. There are thousands and tens of thousands who despise
their meanness and corruption—honorable Americans, thousands and tens
of thousands of them who are ashamed of the meanness and corruption of
these wretches; and there are thousands of men abroad who have just
the same feeling. I saw and conversed with a member of the British
Parliament recently, and in speaking about Rudger Clawson's case, said
he: "It is one of the most infamous things I ever heard of, and if you
will permit me I will go to the President of the United States, and
ask him to pardon that man." "Why, yes," said I, "you have my
permission certainly." That is the way a British member of Parliament
talked about the acts and doings of some of our officials here right
in our midst. Yet, notwithstanding the wickedness, the corruption,
venom, the hypocrisy, and the deception that is practiced here, right
under our noses, we will stand still and see the salvation of God, and
God in His own time will remove these vindictive men out of their
places. Meantime we will continue to fear God, and work righteousness;
we will cleave to the truth, live our religion, be humble before God,
train up our children in purity, virtue and holiness, and set
ourselves against everything that is corrupt, hypocritical,
fraudulent, and contrary to the principles of righteousness. We will
trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of
those that believe. We will do right, we will treat all men right, and
we will maintain every institution of our country that is according to
the Constitution of the United States, and the laws thereof, and we
will sustain them. By and by, you will find they will tear the
Constitution to shreds, as they have begun now; they won't have to
begin; they have started long ago to rend the Constitution of our
country in pieces; and in doing so they are letting loose and
encouraging a principle which will react upon themselves with terrible
consequences; for if lawmakers and administrators can afford to
trample upon justice, equity, and the Constitution of this country,
they will find thousands and tens of thousands who are willing to
follow in their wake in the demolition of the rights of man, and the
destruction of all principles of justice, and the safeguards of the
nation; but we will stand by and maintain its principles and the
rights of all men of every color, and every clime; we will cleave to
the truth, live our religion and keep the commandments of God, and God
will bless us in time and throughout the eternities that are to come.
God bless you and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of Jesus,
Amen.