In rising before a congregation of Saints, I generally feel as though
I want to say something that will be for the benefit of my brethren
and sisters. Something that will be of some real practical use is, in
my opinion, what we want; but to talk about abstract theories,
idealities, and things that have not much substance or reality in
them, I do not think is of much use to anybody. In regard to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is so great, so extensive, so
comprehensive, so deep, so high, and so various, that it is almost
impossible for a person to present anything that is wrong. A man can
never speak upon anything that is wrong, so long as he confines
himself to the limits of truth.
In relation to our present position, the things with which we are
surrounded, the prospects that lie before us, and our hopes, cares,
and anxieties, these are things that operate upon our minds, or that
ought to have some influence with us. For instance, I am an Elder in
Israel; so are many of you; and we all profess to be Saints, nearly
the whole of this congregation. Now, the question is, What is it to be
a Saint? And how far am I, and how far are you fulfilling the
obligations that devolve upon us as Saints of God—as Elders in
Israel—as fathers of families and mothers of families? Let us ask
ourselves these questions—Are we performing our various duties in
building up the kingdom of God, in rolling forth his work upon the
earth? And what are we doing to bring about the latter-day glory?
Which of our acts tends to this? Do any of them? Or do all of them?
And what is really our position? These are things that it is well for
us to weigh, consider, and find out the real responsibilities that are
resting upon us.
Why did I become a "Mormon?" And why did we all become
"Mormons?" We
should say, Because we believed "Mormonism" to be true. What is truth?
And what part of it did we believe? In this case we should say, All of
it. What did we embrace "Mormonism" for? It cer tainly was not
to profess religion, in order that we might have the honor of men;
for there was nothing of that associated with it. We had to endure
considerable reproach, and have our names cast out as evil, and to
associate with a people that were universally despised. And so they
are now. But we have got along with it, so that we now care nothing
about it. Now, there is or ought to be a reality about it. So far as I
am personally concerned, if anyone wants to know why I became a
"Mormon," I will answer, Because I considered that I was an
intelligent, rational being—that I had to do with eternity as well as
time; and having to do with both, I wanted to act in that way I could
secure the approbation of my Father in heaven, that I might be
prepared to enter into a better, purer, and more exalted state of
being in the eternal world. These were some of the first thoughts and
sentiments that governed my mind.
In the next place, I was called upon to be an Elder. What was my
object then? It was to obey the truth and teach others, that they
might have the same blessings that I possessed. I presume you felt so
too, and rejoiced that you knew something of the life to come—that your
hope bloomed with immortality and eternal life; and when you were
ordained you tried to magnify that calling and Priesthood. You were
mobbed, persecuted, and afflicted, and passed through scenes of
difficulty, privation, and trial, which you endured patiently and
joyfully, knowing it was from the Lord and intended for your good; and
you were trying to obtain salvation in the eternal worlds.
Many of you have passed through affliction of various kinds. If it was
an affliction to be robbed of your property—if it was a trial to be
robbed of your good name, you have endured that and passed through it.
What did you do it for? And why did you endure it? Just for the same
reason that the ancient Saints did. I never read in the Bible, nor
anywhere else, of the Saints having any other kind of treatment than
that which you have received.
When I embraced the Gospel, I expected to have my name cast out as
evil. I expected to be persecuted and to be mobbed, and, if necessary,
to lay down my life; and I have come pretty near it a number of times.
But this was nothing particularly new; for I had learned before I was
a "Mormon" that there was an antagonism between truth and error,
purity and iniquity—that the righteous always were persecuted, and
that many of the ministers of Jesus had been called to lay their lives
down for their religion; and I never expect to see anything different;
and my feelings and ideas are precisely the same on this subject as
they were twenty years ago. There is still that same spirit of
antagonism existing between truth and error that there was then. Let a
man join this Church—I don't care how honorable he is—the moment he
does it, that man will be despised, as sure as Jesus was. Has he
injured anybody? No. He was probably a good man, and esteemed by his
neighbors, and continued so; but when he became a servant of God, the
powers of darkness were let loose upon him; men began to persecute him
and speak evil of him, and his name was cast out as evil. This is the
lot of every man that receives the truth—I don't care where he comes
from. In the United States, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France,
Switzerland, Germany, or any part of the world, you will find the same
spirit existing; and if you were to ask our persecutors, they could
not tell you the cause of their doing it. But although they cannot
explain the cause, yet it is "God damn the Mormons!" Ask them, Have they injured you? No, they have not. Have they taken anything
from you, or robbed you of your liberty? No, they have not. But still
it is, "God damn the Mormons!" And the simple reason why they cannot
tell the cause is because they do not know by what spirit they are
governed and controlled. If they knew by what spirit they were
governed, they would know why they are constantly using their
influence against the workers of righteousness. You may go back to the
Apostolic dispensation. Take Peter, James, and John, and inquire who
interfered with them before they became Christians, while they were
fishermen? And supposing they had a knock down about the separation
and division of the fish, no matter: they were all one; they were of
the world, all pulling in the same net, one with the world. After
awhile they became Christians, and then they were persecuted from city
to city, from state to state, and their names were cast out as evil.
Take Jesus for example: what harm did he do? He healed the sick,
opened the eyes of the blind, and unstopped the ears of the deaf. He
found some rascals in the Temple, it is true, and took a whip and
drove them out, and said, "It is written, my house shall be a house of
prayer, and you have made it a den of thieves." This, of course, made
a disturbance. Jesus amazed them by teaching them good principles, by
telling them of their evils, exposing their iniquities, and telling
them that they were whited walls and painted sepulchres. But it was
the truth. They did not wish to hear it: they loved darkness rather
than light. That was the kind of feeling and state of things then, and
it is the same now. Truth has precisely the same effect now that it
had then, and I presume it always will have. And if they will have
done these things in the green tree, what will they do in the dry?
A good man is willing to have his deeds brought to light. He don't
care how big a light it is. He is willing to say, "If there is any
wickedness in me, search me and let it be seen." But not so with many
of the religious professors and hypocrites of the present day. Like
the ancient Pharisees, these modern sepulchres, the moment you open
them, are discovered to be filled with nothing but rottenness and dead
men's bones. And these whited walls are the same: there is the same
hypocrisy; and whenever you examine them, there is nothing but
rottenness and corruption. They might as well complain of the sun
shining as to complain of the establishment and spread of truth. The
workers of iniquity love darkness rather than light, because their
deeds are evil. If the evil did not exist, the light could not make it
manifest. All the harm we have ever done the world is to tell them
the truth as God has revealed it, and seek to make them happy. For
doing this we have been persecuted, and expect it.
Peter, in speaking of this subject, said—"Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be
revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." (1 Peter iv. 12,
13.) He might just as well have told them that it would be so, so long
as there was a God in heaven and a Devil in hell; and it is absolutely
necessary that it should be so. Concerning these matters, I do not
have any trouble. What if we have to suffer affliction! We came here
for that purpose: we came in order that we might be purified; and this
is intended to give us a knowledge of God, of our weakness and
strength, of our corruptions, and to develop the evils that are
within us—to give us a knowledge of eternal life, that we may
be enabled to overcome all evil and be exalted to thrones of power and
glory. Hence, when people talk to me about being severely tried, I
have to inform them that I do not know much about it. I feel, however,
to sympathize with others. It is very natural for a man to say, Why am
I placed in such a position? Why have I to grapple with these
things—with these afflictions?
So far as I am personally concerned, I am here as a candidate for
eternity—for heaven and for happiness. I want to secure by my acts a
peace in another world that will impart that happiness and bliss for
which I am seeking. If I am driven with my brethren as I have been, I
ask myself what is the meaning of it? If I have to pass through
afflictions, I wish them to be sanctified to my good. If I had nothing
to do, and you had nothing to do, but to sit and sing ourselves away
to everlasting bliss, as the Methodists and others do, it would be
very easy. Why, the Lord could easily remove these afflictions; but he
has not a mind to do it.
We read about the patience of Job; but I do not think he was a very
patient man. Probably he was, sometimes, in some things; and in some
things he was not. He cursed the day he was born, and wished the light
had never shone upon him. He was a good man according to his own
account. It was said by some that his afflictions came because of his
iniquities; but nobody was found to say and show what they were. It
appears that the Gods had a council or conference together, and the
Devil appeared amongst them. "And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence
comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and
fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it. And the Lord said
unto Satan, Hast thou considered my ser vant Job, that there is none
like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God and escheweth evil?" (Job i. 7, 8.)
It appears from this that he was a man such as we ought to be—one that
feared God and acted for eternity, and that he eschewed all evil. We
are told still further that the Devil complained that the Lord had set
a hedge round about him, so that it was next to impossible to touch
him; but promised, if he would take that away and let him have a rap
at him, that his faith in God would be shaken. From this same chapter
we learn that the Lord said he could have a chance—that he might try
Job, and see how he would act. I have no doubt but the Devil chuckled
over Job, and determined to destroy him and his family; and he went to
work and gathered together the lightning, knocked down the house where
the children of Job were assembled, and killed them all. Then be
stirred up the Sabeans, who stole his oxen and asses, and the
Chaldeans, who stole his camels and slew his servants. And the
servants of Job came in, one after another, and told him the news; and
each messenger said, "And I only escaped alone to tell thee."
What was the reason? The hedge was taken away, and Satan was allowed
to do with him just what he saw proper, only to spare his life. What
did Job say? He is reported to have said a great deal; but he was
probably more patient than many of us would have been; for he said,
after the report of all his misfortunes, "The Lord gave, and the Lord
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." He did not say it
was the "damned Gentiles" and Sabeans or Philistines that had done
these things.
If I had cattle, houses, and possessions, the Lord gave them to me,
and he has the right to take them away. If I have any of the blessings
of this life, I received them from the Lord. It was the
Almighty that gave them to me; and if they are taken away, I ought to
say with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the
name of the Lord." Was not that a good feeling that Job possessed? And
do you not think we should have similar feelings? I don't think that
these "damned Gentiles," as some of you term them, have so much to do
with it as you suppose. They are servants to whom they yield
themselves servants to obey; and therefore I do not think you ought to
blame so much as you do, for they are under an influence that they
cannot resist, and are merely doing the will of their father. They
calumniate you and they lie, as you say, like the Devil. But, bless
you, they cannot help it, and the Lord permits it to be so. They
cannot do any more than they are permitted to do. It is just as the
Scriptures say—"The wrath of man shall praise me, and the remainder of
wrath I will restrain, and I will put in order and accomplish my
purpose upon the earth." Now, if it was not the Sabeans, the
Philistines, and the lightning that did all this to Job, I do not
think it is the Missourians, but it is their father, who is—Where?
[Laughter.] We ought not to complain of our position, I think. I do
not want to complain. I never have felt a spirit of faultfinding or
complaining.
From what I have quoted from the Book of Job, you discover that the
Devil was accustomed in those days to appear before the Lord, as he
has done in these last days; and I can assure you that he has been
above once. In regard to Job he said, "I have tried him, and only let
me touch his body: skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for
his life." "Well," says the Lord, "he is in your hands, only you
shall spare his life." The Devil then smote him with boils, and Job began to
curse things around him, and it appears that the Devil was pretty near
right about it.
But Job would not deny his God. He was firm in his integrity, and he
possessed the spirit of revelation, had a right kind of belief in
God—in futurity, and was submissive to the will of the Almighty. It is
said that he got mad: and who would not be? I do not know that the
Lord would be displeased with a man for getting mad when the Devil was
let loose upon him. At any rate, we are informed that, "In all this Job
sinned not."
I remember hearing a woman say in Missouri, "I'll be damned if I will
stand it any longer; for this is the fifth house the mob have burned
down for me in less than two years." Job did not feel so. He was
indeed severely tried; but when he came down to sober reflection, he
said in his heart, "The Sabeans may take my asses, and the Chaldeans
may fall upon my servants, and kill them and steal my sheep, and my
house be thrown down with the storm, and I may lie in the ashes, and
men that I would not associate with the dogs of my flocks may wear
away my life, and my body may go to dust; yet, though worms prey upon
it, in my flesh shall I see God. Naked I came into the world, and
naked I shall go out: blessed be the name of the Lord." Was not this a
good feeling to manifest? Let us try to imitate it and acknowledge the
chastening rod of the Almighty.
Now, I will consider the character of Jesus for a short time. I will
take him for an example, and ask why he was persecuted and afflicted?
Why was he put to death? We are told by the Apostle that it was
necessary for him, of whom are all things, to make the captain of our
salvation perfect through suffering. It was absolutely necessary that
he should pass through this state, and be subject to all the
weaknesses of the flesh—that he should also be subjected to the
buffetings of Satan the same as we are, and pass through all the
trials incident to humanity, and thereby comprehend the weakness and
the true character of human nature, with all its faults and foibles,
that we might have a faithful High Priest that would know how to
deliver those that are tempted; and hence one of the Apostles, in
speaking of him, says, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Heb. iv. 15.)
Here, then, we find the reason why he was tempted and afflicted. He
stood at the head of that dispensation, and came to atone for the
transgressions of men—to stand at the head as the Savior of men.
It was necessary that he should have a body like ours, and be made
subject to all the weaknesses of the flesh—that the Devil should be
let loose upon him, and that he should be tried like other men. Then,
again, in Gethsemane, he was left alone; and so great was the
struggle, that we are told he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood.
In the great day when he was about to sacrifice his life, he said, "My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He has passed through all
this, and when he sees you passing through these trials and
afflictions, he knows how to feel towards you—how to sympathize with
you. It was necessary that he should pass this fiery ordeal; for such
is the position of things, and such the decrees of the Allwise
Creator.
In regard to any circumstances that have taken place with regard to
this people, my feelings are and have been for over twenty years, that
I am aiming at eternal life, and am independent of the derision of
fools. If a man has a mind to determine upon pursuing another course,
I have nothing to do with it. I believe in God, in Jesus Christ, and
in the exaltation of the human family, and consequently have acted and
do act in accordance with that belief. If others choose to do
otherwise, that is their business. But, says one, Don't you want to
send them all to hell? No, I don't; but I would be glad to get them
out of it; and if I could do them any good, I would do it with
pleasure. I do not believe in this wrath and dread; but if a man acts
meanly, I will tell him that he is a poor, mean curse. Then, if I find
him hungry, I would feed him; or if I found him naked, I would clothe
him; for the Gospel teaches me to do good and benefit mankind as far
as lies in my power.
I believe that everything is permitted of God, although I am far from
believing that he sanctions everything. By this, some will consider
that I am a fatalist. So far as this goes, I am; but not in the way
that the term is generally understood. These things are permitted for
our good and perfection.
Suppose that you are wealthy and abound in the things of this world,
and have everything good, and have the honor of the world, what would
it amount to? Let me know that I have the approbation of God, that I
am to my word, that I do not do wrong, that I treat everybody right,
and withal possess the favor of the Almighty, then I am satisfied. I
do not trouble as to these minor things. If I can only have the
blessing and smiles of my heavenly Father, whether that comes in the
shape of wealth or poverty, in the shape of affliction or peace, it is
a matter of very little consequence to me; but if prosperity, wealth,
and peace come along with it, all is right. And I consider things of
this kind, for I know that all we have is in the hands of God.
Now, suppose that the President of the United States should issue a
manifesto ordering the "Mormons" to leave or be destroyed, who would
care? If I were to express my feelings, I should say it was
exceedingly mean. Suppose he should send another army here, who would
care about it? We are in the hands of God, and he can say as he said
to the Devil in regard to Job. Do you think anybody can injure or take
the lives of God's people, unless he permits it? No; there is no power
this side of heaven that can do it. God controls his people and his
people's affairs, and there is no power can interfere farther than he
lets them. Now, who is hurt? Why a lot of the folks were tremendously
scared when those soldiers were sent out! (Laughter.) Were you not
very much afraid? I will admit that some few felt afraid; but was
there anything the matter? No, there was nothing the matter in
particular. If the Lord wanted to have me killed, I would just as soon
be killed as not. I do not believe in a religion that has not got all
my affections; but I believe in a religion that I can live for or die
for. I am not talking about things that I do not understand. I have
wrestled with death, and had the Devil aiming at me, and I cared
nothing for it. Let me be deprived of this hope, and my religion is
vain. I would just join in upon the principle that the Gentiles
do—viz., "Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." It
is for us to act upon the principle that we started upon—to trust and
have faith in God—to let this influence us in our acts one towards
another.
Let us now turn and examine ourselves. Why did you become a "Mormon?"
Simply because you wanted to be saved, and to work righteousness by
keeping your spirits and bodies pure. Did you not in times past hope
that you would be come pure by obedience to the Gospel and helping to
build up the kingdom of God? How do you expect to bring this about
now? Do you expect to do it by riotousness and indulging in rowdyism?
Has the Gospel changed? Or how is it?
I observed that there are some very good scholars among us who can
learn some things very quickly. There are some men who call themselves
Elders that are trying if they cannot swear better than the Gentiles.
Now, let such men go before God with their mouths full of foulness, or
get their families together to ask God to bless them, and see what
liberty they have. Such acts are the result of ignorance, blindness,
and corruption. Are such going to be saviors upon Mount Zion? Some of
these are Elders who are going to teach the people the ways of
salvation!
This reminds me of a man that went from Liverpool to introduce me into
Ireland. He told the people what a glorious Gospel we had got, and
what blessings were in reserve for the faithful, and he was drunk
three parts of his time. He was a pretty messenger of life!
I consider that all such persons ought to be ashamed of themselves. I
would like to see these things stopped; and if you won't stop them, I
will tell you one thing that will stop—you will cease to have the
Spirit of God upon you to give you light and intelligence, and you
will cease to be Saints of the Most High God. You will go back into
darkness and folly, like the sow that was washed and again returns to
her wallowing in the mire. I would like to see all the Saints do
better than the Gentiles, for they do not pretend to be religious. I
would like to see the Gentiles also do better; and if there are any of
them here, I hope they will pay attention to this. It is too
mean to utter such low-lived expressions: it is humiliating and
unmanly to go and get his brain muddled, and all the faculties of his
mind darkened with his intemperate habits. It is a disgrace for men of
education and intelligence to be unable to utter five words without an
oath. Every child ought to point the finger of scorn at any man that
will come down to such a mean standard; and you Elders in Israel and
Saints, do not let people laugh at you for getting drunk and rowdying
in the streets of Zion. Before I would be so mean, I would go and
stick my head into a barrel, and crawl out of sight, and would not be
seen for twelve months.
Let us fear God with our hearts—not with our lips, store up the truth
in our minds, work righteousness, do good one to another, and do right
to everybody: then your peace will flow as a river; then we can bow
before the Lord our God, and ask his blessings upon us and our
families; then there will be no wrangling in our bosoms, nor any bad
or unpleasant feelings towards our fellow creatures.
If it was right for us to commence on these principles, it is right
for us to fear God in our hearts. Brethren and sisters, fear God in
your lives and conduct; speak nothing but what you know to be true; keep
a guard over your actions; keep the Spirit of God within you, and the
Lord will be with you all the day long.
I pray God to keep us in the way of truth, in the name of Jesus. Amen.