I want to say a few words to the congregation before we dismiss, for
we shall be under the necessity of separating soon, and probably we
shall hold another meeting this evening.
I have heard the exhortations of the brethren who have spoken today
with joy. They seem to be in good spirit; and certainly—yea, most
assuredly, there is the most novelty in "Mormonism" than there is in
anything upon the face of the earth. It is musical; it pleases both
the eye and the ear, and I may say every sense of the man.
When I heard the brethren exhorting those who are going out on
missions, I wished them to impress one thing upon the minds of these
Elders, for it is necessary that it should be uppermost there, which
may be the means of preserving them from receiving stains on their
characters, from which very probably they may never recover. If we get
a blight upon our characters before the Lord, or in other words, lose
ground and backslide by transgression, or in any other way, so that we
are not up even with the brethren as we are now, we never can come up
with them again. But this principle must be carried out by the Elders
wherever they go, whatever they do, or wherever they are. One thing
must be observed and be before them all the time in their meditations
and in their practice, and that is, clean hands and pure hearts
before
God, angels, and men.
If the Elders cannot go with clean hands and pure hearts, they had
better stay here and wash a little longer. Do not go thinking, when
you arrive at the Missouri River, at the Mississippi, at the Ohio, or
at the Atlantic, that then you will purify yourselves; but start from
here with clean hands and pure hearts, and be pure from the crown of
the head to the soles of your feet; then live so every hour. Go in
that manner, and in that manner, labor, and return again as clean as
a piece of pure white paper. This is the way to go; and if you do not
do that, your hearts will ache. How can you do it? Is there a way?
Yes. Do the Elders understand that way? They do. You cannot keep your
own hands clean and your hearts pure without the help of the Lord;
neither will he keep you pure without your own help.
Will you be liable to fall into temptation and be overtaken by sin?
Yes, unless you live so as to have the revelation of Jesus Christ
continually, not only to live in it today or while you are preaching,
in a prayer meeting, or in a Conference; and when you are out of these
meetings, when you are guarded more particularly by the Spirit, say
that you can get along without the Holy Ghost. You must have it all
the time—on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and every day through the
week, and from year to year, from the time you leave home until you
return; so that when you come back, you may not be afraid if the Lord
Almighty should come into the midst of the Saints and reveal all the
acts and doings and designs of your hearts in your missions; but be
found clean like a piece of white paper. That is the way for the
Elders to live in their ministry at home and abroad.
There are a great many things that could be said here, which would add
to the comfort and consolation of us all—a great many principles that
could be taught to the Elders, which they must learn when they go
abroad. I will notice one thing with regard to learning. You will hear
a great many Elders say, If I could go to preaching, I could become a
man like many and others: I should receive knowledge and understanding; I
should be noted—become a great man and a wise man. Many have such
feelings, that they are greater who are in the world preaching the
Gospel than those who remain here. It is a grand mistake; for if those
who have lived with us all the time have not a knowledge of true
principles—do not understand the root and foundation of the
superstructure—are not filled with knowledge and understanding here,
they need not appeal to the Gentile world for it. If they have not the
foundation within themselves of talent and tact, they need not go
abroad for the Spirit of the Lord to instruct them in things they
cannot be instructed in here at home, and to obtain improvement where
improvement cannot be made.
We may live here year after year, and store up knowledge all the time,
and yet not have an opportunity of exhibiting it to others; but if I
have knowledge by the Spirit of the Lord, I gain it at the fountain;
and if not quite at the fountainhead, the nigher I am to that place,
the more I get. Though I have not the privilege of exhibiting it to
the people, it is on hand whenever the time comes it should be used.
It is a vain idea to suppose that we can send Elders into the world
who have not got good common sense, to make men of them. If they have
good sense here, they will have it yonder; if they have good sense
yonder, they will have good common sense here. Whether they are there
or here does not alter the foundation that is in them. If the Elders
have natural ability and have obtained great wisdom or learning, to go
abroad gives them an opportunity to improve upon what they have.
I want to refer to the last speech made here. Brother Phelps feels
very joyful, as the rest of us do. When we hear the glad tidings of
salvation among the nations, it gives a spring to our feelings and
fills us with unspeakable joy.
Perhaps in the case before us, as in others, we might say that men
become children. We are children in the first place, then become men;
and in the second place men become children in their understanding. As
to the correctness of the exalted views that brother Phelps has of
myself, I leave it to the congregation to decide for themselves; but
to place me on a par with the personages he has named, who have
overcome and entered into the presence of God, or even to compare me
with Joseph Smith, our martyred Prophet, is too much; though I expect,
if I am faithful, I shall be as great as they are now, and so can
every other faithful man. But am I now to be compared with these
exalted characters? Not at all—not even with Joseph; and he is at
present inferior to others brother Phelps has named. But I expect, if
I am faithful with yourselves, that I shall see the time with
yourselves that we shall know how to prepare to organize an earth like this—know how to people that earth, how to redeem it, how
to sanctify it, and how to glorify it, with those who live upon it who
hearken to our counsels.
The Father and the Son have attained to this point already; I am on
the way, and so are you, and every faithful servant of God.
One of the greatest queries on the minds of the Saints is to
understand the nature, the principle of the foundation of our
existence. To say nothing about what has been, if you will follow out
that which is before you, you can learn all about it. I have a notion
to tell you, though I have not time to say much about it now. I will,
however, just tell to you the simple story relating to the exaltation
of man in the celestial kingdom of God. We will take Joseph for
instance: he is faithful to his calling—has filled his mission to this
earth, and sealed his testimony with his blood; he has done the work
his Father gave him to do, and will soon come to the resurrection. His
spirit is waiting for the resurrection of the body, which will soon
be. But has he the power to resurrect that body? He has not. Who has
this power? Those that have already passed through the
resurrection—who have been resurrected in their time and season by
some person else, and have been appointed to that authority just as
you Elders have with regard to your authority to baptize.
You have not the power to baptize yourselves, neither have you power
to resurrect yourselves; and you could not legally baptize a second
person for the remission of sins until some person first baptized you
and ordained you to this authority. So with those that hold the keys
of the resurrection to resurrect the Saints. Joseph will come up in
his turn, receive his body again, and continue his mission in the eternal
worlds until he carries it out to perfection, with all the rest of the
faithful, to be made perfect with those who have lived before, and
those who shall live after; and when the work is finished, and it is
offered to the Father, then they will be crowned and receive keys and
powers by which they will be capable of organizing worlds. What will
they organize first? Were I to tell you, I should certainly spoil all
the baby resurrection that Elder Hyde and others ever preached, as
sure as the world.
After men have got their exaltations and their crowns—have become
Gods, even the sons of God—are made Kings of kings and Lords of lords,
they have the power then of propagating their species in spirit; and
that is the first of their operations with regard to organizing a
world. Power is then given to them to organize the elements, and then
commence the organization of tabernacles. How can they do it? Have
they to go to that earth? Yes, an Adam will have to go there, and he
cannot do without Eve; he must have Eve to commence the work of
generation, and they will go into the garden, and continue to eat and
drink of the fruits of the corporeal world, until this greater matter
is diffused sufficiently through their celestial bodies to enable
them, according to the established laws, to produce mortal tabernacles
for their spiritual children.
This is a key for you. The faithful will become Gods, even the sons of
God; but this does not overthrow the idea that we have a father. Adam
is my father (this I will explain to you at some future time); but it
does not prove that he is not my father, if I become a God: it does
not prove that I have not a father.
I am on the way to become one of those characters, and am nobody in
the world but Brigham Young. I never have professed to be brother
Joseph, but brother Brigham, trying to do good to this people. I am no better, nor any more important than another man who is trying
to do good. If I am, I don't know it. If I improve upon what the Lord
has given me, and continue to improve, I shall become like those who
have gone before me; I shall be exalted in the celestial kingdom, and
be filled to overflowing with all the power I can wield; and all the
keys of knowledge I can manage will be committed unto me. What do we
want more? I shall be just like every other man—have all that I can,
in my capacity, comprehend and manage.
I am on my way to this great exaltation. I expect to attain unto it. I
am in the hands of the Lord, and never trouble myself about my
salvation, or what the Lord will do with me hereafter. It is for me to
do the will of God today, and, when tomorrow comes, to inquire what
is his will concerning me; then do the will of my Father in the work
he has appointed me to do, and that is enough for me. I am serving a
God who will give me all I merit, when I come to receive my reward.
This is what I have always thought; and if I still think so, it is
enough for me.
I say to the brethren who are leaving home—When you go from home,
leave everything you have got here: don't take anything with you but
the Lord and yourselves.
You will want horses to bear you over the Plains; but don't carry your
wives or your children in your hearts or in your affections with you
one rod. Dedicate them to the Lord God of Israel, and leave them at
home; and when you are in England, or among other nations, no matter
where, when you pray for your families, pray for them as being in the
Great Salt Lake Valley, and do not bring them close to you, as though
they were in your carpetbag. Pray for them where they are. You must
feel—If they live, all right; if they die, all right; if I die, all
right; if I live, all right; for we are the Lord's, and we shall soon
meet again.
I wish to say to you that are left here, whose husbands and fathers
are going away for a season—Don't cling to them one particle, but let
them go as cheerfully as you would give a weary traveler a cup of
cold water. If you live, it is all right; and if you fall asleep
before they return, it is all right. Don't send your hearts after them
one step, nor suffer your spirits to cling to them one moment. Then
you wives in very deed will be blessed, and be helpmeets to your
husbands.
But if a wife should yet cling round a husband's neck and say, Oh, how
I love you, dear husband! and keep him in her embraces, that woman is
a dead weight to that man, and not a help to him. Women should be
loyal to the cause of God, and help to build up his kingdom by their
husbands, in assisting them to fulfil their missions; and if they do
not do it, they are not helpmeets to their husbands. I know there are
a great many here who have had an experience in these things. It is no
matter if they are on the other side of the globe, apart, let them
long for each other, and there will be a thread of communication
between them; the man cannot be useful in his labors while she is all
the time weeping and mourning every day of her life. Let a man suffer
his mind to be drawn out all the time after his family, and he will
become inactive in the work of the Lord.
When you leave, understand it, you have neither wife nor children: you
have handed them all over to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let the brethren
go and say, I will keep my eyes straight before me on the object of my
mission, and not look behind me to my family; but I will accomplish my
mission; and when I have done, it is all right. I am willing to go home, if the Lord wishes me to do so.
The time is far spent, and it is necessary for our meeting to be
brought to a close. May the Lord bless you; and I say he does bless
us. We are greatly blessed above all people upon the face of this
earth. Let us be faithful to God and the covenant we have made. Amen.