Brethren: In consequence of the deep fall of snow, the present assembly
is not so large this morning as usual, still we may feel thankful that
the spirit of gathering to this Tabernacle predominates with the
Saints.
On the subject of reformation I presume, brethren, most of us feel
alike its importance and necessity, and that great diligence is
required, and much faith and spiritual energy, in order to obtain
immediate possession of gifts and powers, which, through our great
neglect and dilatoriness we have failed heretofore in obtaining, but
must absolutely have in order to pass the fiery ordeal that, by the
whisperings of the Holy Spirit, we feel is fast approaching. We cannot
obtain those blessings unless we sincerely repent of our sins, and
with deep humility and with prayer and fasting call mightily on the
God of our Fathers whom we have neglected and whose words we have set
at naught, to listen once more to the voice of our supplications and
pour out His Holy Spirit upon us, that we may trim our lamps and have
them burning.
Brethren, is it not strange, and should we not be ashamed of ourselves
that after receiving the words of life, and coming to a knowledge of
glory and immortality and eternal lives, instead of pressing forward
and preparing ourselves for those blessings, we slacken our pace,
close our eyes, and sink into a state of drowsiness? It was so with
the people of the Lord in ancient times, and they were sorely
chastised, and such as would not repent were destroyed.
The word of the Lord through brother Brigham to this people is to
repent speedily and seek the God of heaven with deep repentance, and
this is the mind of the Lord, and the voice of the Lord which is quick
and powerful, peace and salvation to the humble and obedient,
confusion and destruction upon the willful and disobedient.
Brethren, most of you hold high and important positions in this
kingdom, indeed but few men have lived on the earth that were placed
in so important and responsible situations; the salvation of the
present world, also many generations past and generations to come look
to you for life, exaltation, and happiness. High Priests, Seventies,
and ye Elders of Israel, are you this day prepared with wisdom and
power to officiate for the living and the dead, and to lay a pure and
holy foundation through your wives and children, that salvation may go
forth to the rising generations; or have you neglected qualifying
yourselves in your holy callings, and let the cares of the world
occupy your entire thoughts and attention, and your minds become dull,
your spiritual armor rusty and but little room found in you for the
Holy Ghost to abide?
Brethren, your eye should be single to the glory of God, to hearkening
to the counsel of brother Brigham, and to the building up of
Zion, then your bodies would be filled with spirit, and your
understandings with light, and your hearts with joy, and your souls
would be quickened into eternal life with the power of the Holy Ghost,
you would then become the depositories of that wisdom and knowledge
which would qualify you to be saviors unto your brethren and your
posterity.
It is the case with many in this community that instead of preparing
themselves for positions in the eternal world, they have been
satisfied with the cares of this life, and attending to those things
which have been for the comfort of themselves and their wives and
children; they have been satisfied in exercising themselves in this
small way of ambition. They have forgotten the salvation of their
forefathers, and that on them lay the responsibility of laying a holy
and pure foundation upon which their posterity may build and obtain
life and salvation, and upon which the generations to come might
return back to their pristine purity. Instead of being sanctified this
day as the people might have been had they sought it diligently, they
are weak in their intellects, weak in their faith, weak in their power
in reference to the things of God, and many of them this day, setting
aside their being saviors of men, are incapable of administering
salvation to their individual wives and children. This, brethren,
whatever you may think about it, is a solemn consideration, and you
must know it, for at the present you do not see this as you want to
see it, and as you should see it.
The men who are sitting here this day ought to be, when in the
presence of their families, filled with the Holy Ghost, to administer
the word of life to them as it is administered in this stand from
sabbath to sabbath. When they kneel down in the presence of their
wives and children they ought to be inspired by the gift and power of
the Holy Ghost, that the husband may be such a man as a good wife will
honor, and that the gift and power of God may be upon them
continually. They ought to be one in their families, that the Holy
Ghost might descend upon them, and they ought to live so that the wife
through prayer may become sanctified, that she may see the necessity
of sanctifying herself in the presence of her husband, and in the
presence of her children, that they may be one together, in order that
the man and the wife may be pure element, suitable to occupy a place
in the establishment and formation of the kingdom of God, that they
may breathe a pure spirit and impart pure instruction to their
children, and their children's children. But it is otherwise than this
now; the man is full of tradition, and has not got rid of that which
was taught him in the Gentile world, he has not become one with his
file leader, as brother Kimball frequently remarks.
That principle which I spoke of last Sunday, in regard to a man
becoming his own daddy is correct, for a man that feels so has not
subjected himself to the Priesthood, but is disposed to become his own
leader and his own head, and it is the case with many in this Church,
they have not become one with their file leader, and therefore the
Spirit is not transmitted to their wife or wives, and not having
learned true obedience themselves, the wife cannot receive that which
the husband has not got to impart. How can it be expected that the
wife can obtain that which the husband has not received.
In regard to being one I will say that if ever there was a day when it
was necessary for us to be one, now is the time, now is the day and
the hour that we are called upon to be one, as Jesus and His Father
are one; it is for us to be one together, as brother Brigham
and brother Kimball are one, that we may be one indeed.
The Twelve are determined to be one, and to be inspired by the same
Holy Ghost, and that we may all have the same spirit continually, and
that we may echo the same feeling and intelligence unto the people
that exists in brother Brigham, that we may be one with him in all
things, and that we carry out his sayings at the expense of our all,
our property, our wives and children, that we may stand up with them,
and be inspired by the same Spirit, that inasmuch as they walk in the
light of eternity and in the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, that we may have
the same spirit, and that inasmuch as they are determined to lay down
everything for the work of purging out iniquity, we may do likewise.
In this way we, the Twelve, are resolved to lay down everything that
would draw our attention from the path of duty, that we may be one as
the Presidency are one, and be bound together by the principle of love
that binds the Son of God with the Father. It is an impossibility for
a man to love another unless he has the same Holy Spirit that is in
himself.
Now I will respect a man because he is a High Priest, a Seventy; I
respect him, I honor him because he is the anointed of the Lord, but
can I respect him as I wish to do, and move in him and he in me,
unless he moves in the same spirit, and moves heart and hand with me,
and is willing to clear out iniquity with me? When the Holy Ghost
teaches and inspires me to lift my hand against that which is causing
our destruction and is bringing sin among the people, how can we be
inspired and walk in the same spirit unless our minds are one, and
unless we are united in all things?
We have got to be one, and to make ourselves worthy to receive the
same Holy Spirit, and to receive it alike one with another. Jesus
prayed to His Father that those He had given Him out of the world might
be one, as He and the Father were one, and says he, I pray that thou
wilt give them the same love which thou hast for me, that I may be in
them, and thou in me, that all may be one. There is something very
important in this, and we have got to practice ourselves until we
become like the Father and the Son, one in all things.
When we are cold-hearted we respect men because they are the anointed
of the Lord, but I tell you it is a perfect uphill business to have
to do this. Now if a man is not the anointed of the Lord we may have a
fellow feeling for him, that feeling which human nature teaches, but
when a man is the anointed of the Lord, we feel like David did with
Saul. David would not lift his hand against Saul, because, said he, he
is the anointed of the Lord, but how could they move hand in hand and
be one, when they were of a different spirit? There was an opposite
spirit in Saul, but yet David would not put forth his hand and slay
him, although he had him in his power; he had a respect for him
because he was the Lord's anointed. A man may move on the same car or
in the same kingdom, and yet be of a different spirit from another
man, and he may pass quietly along for a time, because he is the
Lord's anointed, but still he will not exert himself for the carrying
out of the principles of the kingdom, he lies dormant all the time.
How can he who is filled with the principles of righteousness and with
the love of Jesus love that man? He cannot do it as he desires. We
have got to be inspired by the same Spirit and by the same kind of
knowledge, in order that we may love one another and be of one heart
and one mind.
Now, brethren, there is no use for us to occupy time talking
about this, for it is necessary and it has got to be done. We talk
about repenting of our sins, and I suppose the brethren have heard a
great deal of talk about this, and hence I say there is no necessity
for a great deal of talk upon this question, for we call ourselves
Saints, the children of God, but the word has come to us that we are
in sin and transgression.
I want to ask is there any need of hammering and pounding all the time
in our speeches to convince the people of this fact? I say there is
not. A man that has any life in him soon catches the fire of the
Almighty when the word of the Lord comes to his ears, he is waked up,
and like the king of Nineveh, he humbles himself, that peradventure he
may get the Spirit of the Lord bestowed upon him again.
We have got to attend to our duties, make use of that intelligence
which is given us, that we may be one with each other. The High
Priesthood have got to do this, every husband must do this, that he
may be full of the Holy Ghost, that he may be the means of sanctifying
his wife and his children, and that he may be an instrument in the
hands of the Lord of extending the kingdom of God, and of aiding in
the accomplishment of His purposes.
When a man is full of sin he is not capable of lifting his voice to
teach his family. How does a man expect he can be a Patriarch to a
large family when he is going on in sin and darkness, and is becoming
more blind to the things of the kingdom? He goes forward and gathers
other wives and increases his family, but how does he expect to teach
them when he is not susceptible of instruction himself? I tell you he
will see the day when he will be too late and will have to stand out
of the way. A man has to look well at the foundation upon which he
builds; a man has to look to the Lord for strength, he has to be
purified and sanctified, and he has to purify those that are around
him, and among that number will be his one wife, if she is worthy of
salvation, and if she is susceptible of being saved. He must have
sufficient in him of the saving principle to impart to her, and
inasmuch as she can conform to that, she can thereby become
sanctified, and be prepared for an exaltation; but if he cannot get
faith enough to receive the principles of life and salvation, so that
he can communicate those truths to others, he may get one wife, and
then he may get another, and after that another, and still another,
and then he is worse off than before, and is no nearer to the kingdom
of God, but much farther off.
Brethren we have got to think of these things, and to enter into the
practice of them, and to understand them as they are, and to
acknowledge this one fact—that we have been slack, negligent, and in
the background, and we must see this and acknowledge ourselves before
God and our brethren, and walk up to those principles which are being
taught, and have our religion in practice as well as in theory.
Men who wish to retain their standing before God in the Holy
Priesthood, must have the spirit of prophecy, and be qualified to
administer life and salvation to the people: and if they cannot do it
to the world, they must do it at home, in their families, in their
shops, and in the streets, that their hearts may be inspired with
words of life at their firesides, in teaching the Gospel to their
children, and to their neighbors, as much so as when they are speaking
to their brethren from this stand. This having a little of the Spirit
when before the people and then laying it aside, will not do. Some men
will speak to the people and then go home and be just as dry
as molding stock, and instead of having the words of life in them,
they become perfectly dry and dead, but this will not do any longer.
It becomes the duties of fathers in Israel to wake up and become
saviors of men, that they may walk before the Lord in that strength of
faith, and that determined energy, that will insure them the
inspiration of the Almighty to teach the words of life to their
families, as well as to teach them when they are called into this
stand. Then all our words will savor of life and salvation wherever we
go, and wherever we are.
In this we will see a spirit of determination that will enable us to
become one, that we may learn how to love each other, and I pray to
the Lord that He will deposit that love in each of our hearts which He
deposited in Jesus His Son, and that He will continue to deposit a
knowledge of that which is good.
Let us remember that we have all got to show by our works that we are
worthy of this life and of this salvation which is now offered.
Now when a man is not willing to sacrifice for the benefit of his
brethren, and when he knows that he trespasses upon the feelings of
his brethren, and yet he has not that love which will enable him to
make satisfaction, that man is not right before the Lord, and where is
the love of that individual for his brother?
When one brother is not willing to suffer for his brother, how is it
in his power to manifest that he has love for his brother? I tell you
it is in our folly and weakness that we will not bear with our
brethren, but if they trespass upon our rights we immediately
retaliate, and if they tread upon our toes we immediately jump upon
theirs, the same as the people do in the Gentile world, where it is
thought necessary to act in a state of independence, and to defend
oneself against aggressors.
It is all nonsense for us any longer to act upon this principle, for
there is a day coming that we will have to suffer for each other, and
even be willing to lay down our lives for each other, as Jesus did for
the Twelve Apostles in his day, and as they did for the cause which he
established. When I see a brother that has been trespassed against,
and then he turns round and jumps upon the offender, then I say, how
far is that brother from the path of duty, and I say to him you must
learn to govern yourself, or you never will be saved in the kingdom of
God.
We are all called upon to think of these things, and we might as well
think now, at the present time as to defer it till the future, for we
have got to do it, or we never will receive the Spirit of the Lord to
a great degree, nor the advantages of this reformation, nor the
outpouring of that Holy Spirit which is anticipated.
Why do I say these things when we are all so far advanced in the
knowledge of God? I make these remarks because they are the only
things which will save us at the present time.
This quarrelling and bickering will not do; it is the work of
salvation we are engaged in. Now for an example, and what is the use
of going to heaven for an example when there is one here? The
Presidency of this Church are one, there is no jar existing between
them; and the Twelve Apostles have got to be one like them, and when
we see perfect union with ourselves, we expect others to imitate our
example. Did you ever see us rebel when the Presidency saw fit to
chastise us? No, we are one with them, and we will not stop the Spirit
that is in them, nor attempt to stop up the channel through which the
Holy Ghost designs to prepare us for that which is to come.
Did they see proper to chastise, we will not rebel, neither will we
lose our confidence in them.
Well, the High Priests and Seventies, they ought to be one with the
Twelve Apostles, and they ought to learn to echo our sentiments as we
echo forth those of the First Presidency, for we must all learn to be one.
Just so far as we echo forth the words of President Young and brother
Heber, just so far are the High Priests and Seventies under
obligations to echo forth our words. Now ye High Priests and
Seventies, if you do right you will carry out this counsel; you are
obliged to carry out those counsels, if you walk in the light of the
Holy Ghost which is now manifest. And why is it not so at the present
time?
The Seventies were spoken to and counseled to pursue a certain course
a few days ago, but did they do it? No, they did not. It is not the
Seventies that speak, it is not the High Priests, neither is it the
Twelve, nor Brigham Young, but it is the Holy Ghost through those
various channels that is calling upon the people to carry out the mind
and will of our Father who is in heaven. It is God that is all in all,
Him whom we call our Father in heaven, He qualifies us upon the earth,
and we speak forth by the dictation of His Spirit the things that are
necessary to be laid before the people.
Brethren, I will not take up any more time; may the Lord bless you and
enable you to see things as they should be seen; may He give you power
to double your diligence as I am determined to do, and may He give you
power to see your duties, and to have the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost as I feel to have it, and may you see by the spirit of prophecy
those things that are approaching, that they may awaken you to a true
sense of your position before God and your brethren, that you may have
the qualifications which are necessary for you to possess, which I ask
in the name of Jesus: Amen.