I did not anticipate speaking to you this morning, brethren and
sisters, but expected to be a hearer only. Since my return to the
city, I have been so busily engaged that I have not had time
[humorously] to prepare a sermon for this morning; and if I had had
ever so much time for that purpose, I should, probably, be no better
prepared to address you than I am at this moment.
Jesus said to his disciples, "Take no thought beforehand what ye shall
say or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in the same hour
what ye ought to say." In this doctrine I repose implicit confidence;
and being requested to speak to you at this time, I readily comply,
and proceed at once to the work before me.
The current of life is made up of small springs, streams, and
rivulets, or rather of little incidents which in the aggregate
constitute the character of man here on earth. So small a thing as a
kind word timely spoken to the sorrowful and afflicted often results
in great good, and secures the esteem and gratitude of those to whom
it may be addressed, while an ill word may do much harm. My discourse
this morning may be made up of small items or incidents.
I want to say a little about the government of God—of the manner and
spirit of its administration when infinite wisdom guides its policy. I
know no better way to illustrate the administration of this government
than to refer you to the government of parents over their children,
and to the manner of their teaching and character of their instruction
to them. When your child first begins to talk, do you attempt to teach
it grammar, algebra, astronomy, or anything else wholly beyond its
comprehension or understanding? No. But you adapt your teachings to
the capacity of the child, using words and phrases of the very
simplest kind to teach and amuse it. By-and-by, when he runs about
pretty dexterously and begins to handle things, he attempts, for
instance, to take up a bucket of water. You say to it, "Don't do that;
it is too heavy for you; but take the hammer, the doll, the rattlebox,
or the toy." Your words are thus adapted to the ability of the child
and to his appreciation of the things that he handles. As his mental
powers become developed, you combine a little intelligence in your
sayings to him; and then, when his age and strength will allow him,
you tell him to bring a bucket of water from the spring or brook. Thus
you require him to do the very thing which you once forbade him to
attempt. Now, if anyone should charge you with falsehood, because
your instructions to your child were not uniform under all
circumstances, you would consider the charge very ill-founded. I speak
thus to show you that what is suitable to the child at one time may
not at all suit it at another.
Many persons who have joined the Latter-day Saints have run well for a
season; but, understanding not that the Gospel is a progressive work
with those who honor it, they have turned away from the faith—charged
the Saints with inconsistency, but yet claim to believe in what they
call "ancient Mormonism." The garment that is made for a child just
born must be worn by a man when thirty years of age, is the doctrine
of those stereotyped "Mormons." The Church is now nearly thirty years
old; yet this kind of "Mormons" want us now to wear our bibs and
diapers, and to be fed on milk and pap as in the days of Joseph. Paul,
however, tells us that when he was a child, he spake as a child, he
understood as a child; but when he became a man, he put away childish
things.
Were I to invite you into my garden at a proper season and show a
plant just sprung up out of the ground, you might ask me its name, if
you were unacquainted with it. I tell you it is corn. In the course of
two months' time, you see it again when the silk and tassel appear.
You then ask me what it is. I tell you that it is corn. You may say
that I was mistaken in the first or last instance, as the two are by
no means alike. Some two months later you come along and see a basket
full of golden ears. You ask me what it is. I tell you that it is
corn. But say you, "I do not believe it, for it is unlike either of
the others that you told me was corn. You have now contradicted
yourself three times, and I will not believe that any of them is corn;
I will not believe you at all." To such conclusions many persons
arrive in relation to "Mormonism," from very similar premises.
How very necessary that we increase in intelligence in a ratio equal
to the growth or increase of the kingdom of God! If we do not, we fall
in the rear, and our eyes become blinded by the god of this world.
When we become stereotyped in our feelings, there is an end to
corrections, enlargements, and improvements.
To what shall we look as our guide in this our earthly pilgrimage?
Shall we look to the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or to the Book of
Covenants? Answer: To none of them. These sacred and holy records
contain the history, teachings, and results in part of the travels of
the ancient and modern people of God. They are true, but are not
designed to lead the people. Remember that the "letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life." We do not want to be killed; but we want
life. God has set in his Church, first, Apostles; secondly, Prophets;
thirdly, Teachers, &c., to guide his people—the oracles (or in other
words, the Holy Ghost), not on paper, bound in calf, sheep, or any
other manufactured article, but in the hearts of his chosen servants.
Paul says—"We have this treasure (not in a book, but) in earthen
vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
I will produce an example where the spirit gave life when the letter
would have killed. There was, in the days of Christ, a woman taken in
the very act of adultery. The self-righteous Jews, by the letter of
the law, arrested her and brought her before the Savior; and they
said unto him, "Master, Moses in the law commanded us, that such should
be stoned: but what sayest thou?" Jesus said unto them, "He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." But they,
being convicted in their own conscience, went out, leaving the woman
alone with Jesus. He asked her if no man had condemned her. She said,
"No man, Lord." Said he to her, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and
sin no more." The letter of the law would have killed that woman then
and there. But the Spirit of God, in the person of his Son, the living
oracle, opened her way unto life. It is the living oracles that lead
the people of God. In them there is life; but in the letter of the law
there is death.
The early commandments of God to his Church and the manner in which we
were led at that time will not fit our case in all respects now. We
must have teachings and revelations adapted to our present
circumstances and condition. Were we never to advance, but remain
stationary eternally, then the same code of laws and commandments
might with more propriety answer. But in this world of change, where
we are required to make advancement, we must have an increase of
intelligence to satisfy the craving development of our own mental
powers. There is no stopping place for a man of God.
I do not know but that I will now take my text. My sermon, however,
will be short. Jesus says—"The light of the body is the eye: if
therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
light."
You know that when we want to examine anything very
closely—particularly you marksmen and hunters, who are in the habit of
using arms, when you want to take deliberate aim, and make sure of the
object you desire to hit, you close one eye, and with the other look
along the barrel of the gun until the lead rests upon the object. Now,
says the Savior, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be
full of light."
This had reference not only to the natural eye, but to the whole moral
powers of man as well. Set it down as granted that if thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light. Now, let me
ask, do we not indulge the hope, if faithful in this life, of being
rulers over kingdoms and peoples, and nations, and tongues? Jesus
says—"He that is faithful over a few things shall be made ruler over
many things."
Let me ask you how it is with you when you go to prayer. Have you that
control and dominion over your own minds that they cannot be caught
away by anything that is foreign to the purpose or object that engages
your attention? For instance, while we call upon the Lord for his
blessings, is it not sometimes the case that we think the old ox may
be in the stackyard? Do we not sometimes think we shall be cheated
here, and lose that amount of money there? If you have never been
aware of this, when you go home and pray again, see if you have power
to control your mind and keep it from wandering on something else.
Until we discipline our minds, and have the complete control of them,
we cannot make that advancement that we ought.
If we cannot discipline and control our own minds, how can we
discipline and control kingdoms, nations, tongues, and people?
Suppose any of you mechanics erect a mill, and the stream is a small
one—though, if properly and economically applied, it would be quite
sufficient to drive the machinery you wish it to; but instead of the
water being properly confined to exert the greatest amount of power,
it is spread all over the face of the land—has it that amount of
force to drive the machinery that it otherwise would have? No. But
conduct the water through a narrow channel, and apply it properly on
the wheel, then your machinery rolls. It is just so with our minds:
when they are scattered on different objects, when we are calling
upon the name of the Lord, there is no power in that mind. Why?
Because the eye is not single. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body
shall be full of light." Again: The agent steam possesses great power
when confined and properly applied to shafts and wheels. But let the
boiler explode and the steam pass into the atmosphere, what power is
there then in that agent? None. Confine it, and it is as it were an
almighty power, or it is a portion of almighty power drawn out of the
elements that surround us. So it is with the mind: let it be
concentrated and applied to any subject, and it has great power. "If
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." I have
wondered a great many times what our Savior could mean when he said,
"If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this
sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in
the sea; and it should obey you." Again, he says, "For verily I say
unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove;
and nothing shall be impossible to you." What does this mean? I have
exercised all the faith, seemingly, that is in my power, and could
hardly heal the sick, let alone remove a mountain, or pluck up a
sycamore tree, or any other tree. What does it mean? I begin to
discover that the Devil comes along when I get my mind set, and throws
some object in view to divert it from the thing before me.
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." I
have an idea that the Devil comes and catches away the word that is
sown in our hearts, to defeat the designs the Lord has in sowing it.
Whereas, if we could control our minds, and not allow them to be
caught away, then our eye would be single, and the whole body would be
full of light.
Again: When Moses was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, they murmured because they had no water to drink. He was
grieved with them, but he had power to concentrate his mind. And what
power was there in that mind? He smote the rock, and out gushed the
water. Did his rod have power to split the rock? No; but the
concentration of his mind on that rock did. There was a power in it to
split the rock and bring out water to the thirsty thousands. The mind
is armed with almighty power; and if we could concentrate its powers,
and overcome the power of the Devil, we could remove that mountain as
easily as to heal a sick person. It requires only faith as a grain of
mustard seed, or a concentrated effort of mind. Solomon was once
applied to by two women claiming one child, for his decision in the
case. Said Solomon, "Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before
the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give
half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose
the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her
son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise
slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but
divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof." To divide that
child would have destroyed it, just like dividing the mind: it
destroys its power and efficacy. Let the mind be concentrated, and it
possesses almighty power. It is the agent of the Almighty clothed with
mortal tabernacles, and we must learn to discipline it, and bring it
to bear on one point, and not allow the Devil to interfere and confuse
it, nor divert it from the great object we have in view.
It is a good deal of work to preside over our own families and keep
all things right side up there. But set a man alone, and it is just as
much as he can do to govern his own mind. He has great need to watch
and pray; and while he is watching, he must mind and not see any other
object but that he is praying for. What could we not do, if our minds
were properly disciplined? "For if thine eye be single, thy whole body
shall be full of light." If thine eye were single, thou mightest
sometimes see through the veil. We read something about the veil of
the covering that is cast over all people being removed.
Sometimes you see the sun covered with a thin fleecy cloud; yet you
can see that luminary all the time through that veil. Then again comes
up a dark thundercloud, and overcasts the whole sky, so that we
cannot see where the sun is. So, if our eye be not single, we do not
see clearly; but the veil becomes thick, and we are in darkness; we
cannot see the sun of righteousness; we cannot tell the place where he
is. But if thine eye be single, although there may be a thin fleecy
veil over the sun, we can see it. If we cannot see clearly, we may be
able to "see men as trees walking," at least. The fact is, if our eye
be single, and we train it to that, I do not know why mortal man here
in earthly tabernacles may not look through the veil, and see as he is
seen, and know as he is known.
We have got to learn to discipline our minds. Sometimes, because our
children do not do as we want them, when out of our sight, we feel
grieved at it; but here we have our own minds to ourselves. Now, the
question is, Are they not as bad to control and govern as our
children, who are running here and there? If we could control our own
minds, we could control our children and our families and the kingdom
of God, and see that everything went right, and with much more ease
than we can now.
Let it be, then, the labor of our minds to train them when at
home, and when we bow down in our families, or in private.
I recollect being once on shipboard; the wind was on her side, and the
ship was going very nicely. The captain looked at the compass, and he
ripped out something that is not uncommon with seamen, saying to the
man at the wheel, "Why do you let her round off? Keep her up." Do not
let the mind run off, but keep it up to the point; then we shall make
the port: but if you let it run off the course, it will be found
drifting on the lee shore somewhere. We have got to keep it up, and
not let it swing off. We must not let the mind depart, but keep it on
the true course. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
of light."
May God grant it, for Christ's sake! Amen.