About the Devil's Gate, and the property left there last season. We
expect to start back some teams, according to the notice which was
read this morning, as soon as the season will permit us to carry feed
for the different stations on the route. Those who have goods left at
the Devil's Gate, by making proper arrangements, can have them brought
in; and if any persons prefer going for their own goods, of course
they have the privilege.
I have been highly interested and entertained this day by the
instructions and exhortations we have received; they are calculated to
inspire confidence and love towards our Father and our God.
Brother Heber and brother Lorenzo Snow have spoken upon the unity of
our feelings and the identifying of our interests; and it is
frequently urged upon this people to identify their interests, that we
may have no undivided interests—no half-heartedness. To be powerful we
must be united, and to be united we must have our interests
identified. How can we have them better identified than in that we
have set our hands to do—than in consecrating all our property to the
Lord? We have started out in a good cause; let us not look back, but
let us urge forward in the things of God, and work together for each
other's benefit, for in this we shall not sacrifice anything.
We talk a great deal about sacrifi ces, when strictly there is no such
thing; it is a misnomer—it is a wrong view of the subject, for what we
do in the kingdom of God is the best investment we can possibly make.
It pays the best, whichever way we may look at it, it is the
principle of all others to be coveted—to be appreciated—and is the
best investment we can make of all that pertains to us in this life.
It is an inestimable privilege, and should be so esteemed by the
community. We cannot fully fathom it, we cannot as yet altogether
understand it, for ear hath not heard, nor eyes seen the benefit that
will accrue to the individual that will be faithful unto the end in
this Church and kingdom, and receive the exaltation to which he is
looking forward. There is virtually no sacrifice about it. It is like
sacrificing the things of time in time, to gain eternal riches, and
such a sacrifice sinks into insignificance in a moment. All the
sacrifice we could make, even of life itself, in this world, is
nothing to those who are faithful. Let us not be half-hearted, but let
us go into this matter whole souled, and cleave unto God and His
servants, and identify our interests in His kingdom.
As to the devil, what have we to do with him? It is true, what we
heard this forenoon while brother Joseph Young was talking. If we
could breathe twice where we now do once, the Holy Ghost is ready
every moment to administer to our salva tion, and the evil
spirit is also ready to lead us into temptation. That is true, but
look at the word the Lord gave us through our first parents, when He
planted us on this earth. He said to the serpent, "Because thou has
done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of
the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all
the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel." We have that advantage over the
devil; we can, if we have a mind to, resist him, and he will flee from
us. He can be cast out, and he is subject to us. We have the length
and breadth of ourselves clear from being contaminated with him. I
will say that, without fearing successful contradiction. If he
overcomes us, we first let down the bars, and invite him to enter; or
he would not come further than our heels.
The Lord gave us our agency to do as we please, and it is for us to
say whether we will be for God or the devil. We may make ourselves
angels to the devil, or Saints of the Most High. We may have the
blessings of the Almighty assisting us, or reject them and go to the
devil; it is optional with ourselves. I will admit that we have been
corrupted in our generations for thousands of years, and that the
devil has power over us through this cause in a measure that he
otherwise would not have; and were it not for the multiplicity of the
blessings of the Almighty that gives us power and strength, we would
most likely be overcome of the devil. We have become small in stature
and short in years—weak in body and mind—compared with our forefathers
in the primitive ages of the world. We know they attained to a great
age, and large in stature, and had great power with God. We know there
has been a falling away, and we have come down through the loins of
progenitors who have corrupted their ways, changed the ordinances, and
but little of the blood of Abraham may be flowing in our veins.
God has looked at the generations of men, and has brought spirits into
the world, and they have come through this long line of corrupted
generation. What has He made known unto us? He has developed little by
little the ways of the Lord, if we will pursue the course His servants
have laid out through the channels of the holy and eternal Priesthood.
He has again opened to the children of men the channels of life, and
we may bring ourselves back again to the might and power, life and
immortality spoken of this morning. The Lord will cut His work short
in righteousness, and will permit us, if we are faithful, to progress
so fast that we may make up in a few years what we have lost in a
thousand. We may gain, in a few generations of righteousness, what
twenty of unrighteousness have robbed us of. It is a work of
righteousness which the Lord will bless and prosper.
The principles of plurality have been established, in order to raise
up a righteous seed unto God. The way has been pointed out, and it is
a blessing that has been restored to this generation. It is a turning
back to the holy principles of ancient days, even to that purity that
was known in primitive ages. In this way only may we rise from
corruption, through the Holy Priesthood of our God. We do not handle
these things with proper sacredness, perhaps. It is a principle that
is calculated to produce health, strength, and happiness here, as well
as salvation hereafter. It is so esteemed by many, and when you see
the principle as it really is, you will say that it is as I tell you.
I know our forefathers have changed the ordinance, and
corrupted their ways in their generations, and it has brought misery
and degradation on the human family. And now, if we can turn round and
reform in this, ourselves—our posterity—will be better prepared to
reform themselves and become mighty before God. They will be better
capable of receiving those principles which have been made known to
us; they can lay hold with greater power and faith on the blessings of
the Priesthood, and can obtain greater power than we now can, because
they will not have the traditions around them that we have. They will
be measurably free from the corruptions which have been entailed on
us.
I do not wish to take up much time, but I wish to impress these facts
upon the people. I wish to have my sisters feel that this order is the
order of God, and that in it they will find happiness and exaltation;
in it they will find every principle that is calculated to lead them
to glory and favor with God, and exaltation into His presence; and by
it they are redeeming themselves and their posterity from the
corruptions of man, that have been in existence for many generations
before us, and from which they have been brought out by the sound and
proclamation of the Gospel. I believe they do feel to appreciate and
understand this; and I wish to exhort the brethren also, that they
adhere to these holy principles and try to see and understand them as
they exist, and act according to the principles of life and salvation,
and not according to those of death and destruction; that they make
allowance for thousands of things they may have around them in their
families.
There are many men who think they have an understanding of these
things, and make no allowance for the traditions that hang around the
women. Do you realize that they have been brought up in their Gentile
notions, as well as yourselves? A man may have, perhaps, three or four
wives, and not make such allowance for them as they do for him, and
find fault, and be very exacting in requiring of them the most perfect
obedience to every whim and notion. By taking such a course he is
liable to lose the Holy Ghost, and if he does, he will lose his women.
It is upon the principle that you are a man of God—that you have the
Holy Ghost and desire to raise up a holy seed to the name of the Most
High—that your wives have been sealed to you; they would not upon any
other principle have come to you. Now if your wives discover that you
lack in any virtues pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and if you take
a course that is not calculated to exalt them, do you not see that you
lose their confidence? You will lose them also.
The reformation has touched the hearts of both men and women. The
people generally are turning round, and they will serve God more
perfectly than hitherto. Many of you have never tried this order until
now, and let me tell you, brethren, that it is necessary for you to
keep the Holy Ghost. If you have not got it, you must get it, and
never be without it. You must shed forth that influence on your
family, as brothers Joseph and Heber told you this morning, or they
will leave you. They will not stay with a man who is destitute of it,
if they are good women, neither should they. This is a word for you,
my brethren, who are now starting out on this principle. It is a good,
virtuous, and holy principle, and not to be trifled with. The women,
as a general thing, have power and faith in this kingdom, and they
come into this order with full purpose of heart, desiring to do right;
and in leading them, if you will be careful of your own feelings, and have a little magnanimity of mind, it will be better for
you, and they will stick to you, because it is for their salvation in
the kingdom of our God. It is for this they are here, and they will
cleave to you for it; and it is your office, right, and privilege to
extend that blessing to them. I do not make these remarks for wives to
run ahead of their husbands, for they seek their salvation through
them. Of course there are exceptions to all general rules. I am
speaking upon general principles, to Saints of the Most High. This is
a good people, generally.
I say to the sisters, seek to have confidence in your husbands, and
believe that they are capable of leading you; and when you seek
instruction, believe them capable of giving it to you; and be
faithful, humble, and obedient to them. Their feelings should not be
concentrated in you, but your feelings should be in them, and their's
should be in those who lead them in the Priesthood. Their feelings are
concentrated in the Lord their God and what is ahead, and there is
where they should be. You should be glad to see them step forward and
walk onward in the path of their duty, and not require them to devote
themselves to you to the exclusion of things and duties of life which
lie before them. As they progress and lead on, you will feel to travel
in the same road. This is the order, and if order is maintained in
this thing, you will see the beauty of it; and it will be a
satisfaction to you and them to believe that your husband, he who is
at your head, is progressing in the things of God. That should be a
satisfaction to you, and it will be, if you are inspired by the right
spirit and feeling. In this way you will have happiness, and see good
times.
I have heard brother Brigham remark, many times, that he did not
believe that Enoch had a better peo ple than this, a people who
progressed half as fast in the things of God as have the Latter-day
Saints, notwithstanding they lived in primitive ages when they were
comparatively pure, when they were not corrupted as our progenitors
have been. They built and perfected a city in 365 years. I believe,
and I have often heard brother Brigham and Heber so express
themselves, that this people have made far more progress towards
perfection in the same time than did Enoch's people. I rejoice in this
and to see this people obedient to their head, to their Bishops, and
to their God.
There are great blessings, happiness, and salvation for this people,
so long as they continue faithful in these things. And the more they
identify their interests and become subservient and passive in the
hands of this Priesthood here, they will be, both men and women, the
more satisfied and happy in this life, and better prepared to live in
the flesh, as well as to enter into the life which is to come.
May the Lord bless us and help us to do right; and may we be worthy to
receive His blessings. The Lord delights to bless His servants and
handmaidens, and He will bless us until we become powerful in this
land, and are made capable of bringing to pass His purposes and
designs in the last days.
If we are in the world, we are not of it, because they will not let us
be. They drive us and scatter us, and try to destroy us, but it
matters not. We have been brought to these chambers of the Lord; we
have nothing to do but praise His holy name, and we can make the arch
of heaven ring with praises to our God and King, and no one to make us
afraid; though it makes the sinner fear and tremble, while there is
none to make the Saints afraid in Zion.
Let us do the things that are for us to do, no matter what
they are, whether spiritual or temporal, for they are united together,
and we do not wish to sever them; it is not necessary we should. We
have to do with spiritual and temporal things, they go hand in hand,
and the Lord will bless us, if we are faithful, which is what we seek.
Do we not feel well when we do that which meets the approbation of our
Father and our God? Then let us be careful how we do anything to
displease Him, for then we do not feel well. The idea of offending or
grieving our Heavenly Father is unpleasant. Let us also be careful how
we do anything to displease our Bishops, and let the wives be careful
how they do anything to displease their husbands, and let us all be
united and dwell in harmony, and see how beautifully we shall move
forward as a people—as the Saints of the Most High God—being such in
character as well as in name.
Let us cultivate good feelings one towards another, that we may
promote our own peace, happiness, and final exaltation in the kingdom
of God. We can enjoy ourselves in heaven only upon this principle, and
if we can bring out minds to enjoy that principle here, then we have a
heaven here. If we have a heaven at all, we have to make it, and for
this reason we have the power given us to make it; the devil cannot
get into our hearts, unless we give him a welcome there.
May the Lord bless us, and preserve us, and help us to do His will on
the earth and bring to pass His purposes, which favors I ask in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
- Daniel H. Wells