I have been extremely gratified in the remarks that have been made by
brother Gates. The instructions which he has given us have been
imparted, as I believe, by the gift of the Holy Ghost. I feel truly
grateful that we live in an age of the world when we can receive
instructions by the power and wisdom of that Spirit which searches all
things—that Spirit that understands all things, and discerns the
thoughts and intents of the heart. All other preaching is vain. I can
say, with him, that it is one of the greatest pleasures of my life to
speak, when I can have the Spirit of the Lord to assist me. Without
it, I would rather do the hardest kind of bodily labor. Indeed, I do
not think that it is the privilege of any of the servants of God to
speak in the name of the Lord without that Spirit. But I have
oftentimes thought that no per son who was living according to the
commandments of God could rise before a congregation of Saints like
this before me, and open his mouth in humility and simplicity of
heart, but what the Lord would give him something to say. It is
through the united faith of the people of God—through that confidence
which they have in the Being whom they worship, that he, for their
edification and benefit, will grant his Spirit unto his humble and
faithful Saints. But we oftentimes deprive ourselves of the blessings
and enjoyments which we might receive, through the darkness of our
minds, through our selfishness, through our neglect of keeping the
commandments of God, through our disobedience, and through the
abundance of cares and perplexities with which we have to contend in
this mortal existence. All these things have a tendency, more or less, to darken the understanding and drive away from the heart
that peaceable Spirit which whispers peace to the minds of the sons
and daughters of God. I often reflect upon this subject much, and
inquire in my own mind, and try to search out some of the causes of
our being so far beneath the privileges which are guaranteed to us in
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not because the promises of God have
failed. It is not because we are not worshipping the same Being whom
the Saints worshipped in ancient days. It is not because there are
insurmountable obstacles in our way; but the cause lies in our own
selves. We are the individuals that shut out this light of heaven—this
light of truth that would otherwise shine upon our understandings. Do
you ever compare yourselves with those people that we read of in
ancient times that were called the people of God? I mean some of the
best of them. Not but that there were individuals who lived then,
professing to be the children of God, who were just as imperfect in
their ways and doings and conduct as some of us are. But, then, there
were others who lived in ancient times who were far in advance of us.
They attained to greater faith and to greater privileges than those we
enjoy.
Where is there a servant of God in all the Church of Latter-day Saints
that has enjoyed the same privileges that many of the first of the
servants of God did 1,800 years ago on the Eastern continent? There
are scarcely any. Have we beheld Jesus face to face? Have we conversed
with him as Peter, James, and John, and the others of the Twelve did
in that day and age of the world? No, we have not. There may have been
some few exceptions. Have we attained even to the blessings of the
lesser Priesthood, to say nothing about the higher blessings of the
greater Priesthood? What are the blessings promised to the lesser
Priesthood? They are not only to hold authority and administer in the
name of the Lord in temporal things, and administer in certain outward
ordinances; but there are privileges that the lesser Priesthood enjoy
far exceeding those temporal administrations. They were to have the
privilege of conversing with angels. Did you ever reflect or realize
how great a privilege this is?
Is it not a great privilege to go before the Lord and receive the
ministration of angels, and instructions from their mouths with regard
to what should be spoken to the people? But very few of the lesser
Priesthood who sit under the sound of my voice, or who are to be found
upon the whole earth, have attained to this privilege. If the lesser
Priesthood have not attained to it, let us inquire concerning those
that hold still higher authority, concerning the Elders, Seventies,
High Priests, the Twelve, the various Bishops, and the various
authorities and presiding Elders over different Branches and
settlements. Have they even attained to the blessings of the lesser
Priesthood? No. With the exception of a very few individuals who may
have come up to their privileges, who may have had the visions of
eternity opened to them, and may have conversed with angels, and
received instructions with regard to their callings and duties, and
what they shall say to the people; but, with the exception of these
few individuals, the others are away in the background. And when we
come to speak of the higher privileges, beyond that of receiving the
administration of angels, you can scarcely find a man in all the
Latter-day Kingdom that has come up to them. I have not. I speak it to
my shame, and I speak it, as brother Gates spoke concerning himself,
with shame, that I have not attained to the privileges that
pertain to the higher Priesthood. What are these privileges? They are
plainly laid down in the word of God. Those holding that Priesthood
have the privilege not only of receiving the ministration of angels,
but to have the heavens opened to them, and to behold the face of God.
Now, no man, without the Spirit of the Lord resting upon him to
quicken him in body and mind, can have this great and exalted
privilege to behold the face of God the Father who is in the heavens.
But few have attained to this great and exalted privilege. Are there
not some reasons—some causes? Have we not been members of this Church,
some of us for sixteen, eighteen, or twenty years, and some of us for
twenty-five and almost thirty years? It will be twenty-nine years
tomorrow since I was baptized into this Church; and I feel ashamed
that I have not made greater progress in the things of the kingdom of
God, when compared with the promises that have been made to us.
Notwithstanding all this, when I reflect upon the advancement which we
have made, compared with our former ignorance, I can truly say that
the contrast is very great. We have learned many things pertaining to
the first principles of our religion, and pertaining to the first
principles of our conduct as Saints of the Most High; and we have
learned this lesson most thoroughly too. It is not merely a
theoretical lesson, but we have learned it practically.
Many of us have learned to be subject to every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God. We have learned that it is not only necessary for us
to cease from taking the name of the Lord our God in vain, but to
never mention his name only by constraint of his Spirit. We have
learned to impose a guard upon our tongues, to speak no evil
concerning the children of God. We have learned not to backbite our
neighbors and friends. Many of us have learned this lesson, but not
all of us.
We have learned, also, practically, the necessity of ceasing from all
light-mindedness and levity and excessive laughter. But there are
many, I am sorry to say, who have not learned the first principle of
this lesson. We have learned that we can be cheerful without yielding
to much laughter; for this is accounted in the revelations of God as
sin in the sight of Heaven.
We have learned a great many important principles pertaining to family
government. We have learned many important principles pertaining to
giving heed to all the counsels of the Priesthood that may be imparted
unto us, from time to time, by the voice of the Spirit of God. We have
learned, in a great measure, to discern those who have the Spirit and
those who have it not, when they speak to us in Church or in Ward
meetings. We have learned that our religion consists in doing the
things required at our hands, instead of hearing from Sabbath to
Sabbath, and not doing.
We have learned the necessity of giving the most earnest heed to every
counsel and word which the Lord our God has given to regulate our
conduct. And many of us have learned, also, that when the Lord speaks,
not by command, but by the word of wisdom and advice, that we should
give heed to the same, in order to enjoy that flow of the Spirit of
the living God in our hearts which is necessary to prepare us for
further blessings. But, after all we have learned during the last
quarter-of-a-century in this Church, we have not yet prepared
ourselves sufficiently to receive the great and important blessings I
have named pertaining to the two Priesthoods of the living God.
When shall we learn this lesson? When we have learned to
govern ourselves more perfectly than we have hitherto done—to guard
ourselves on the right hand and on the left from the encroachments of
evil—to set a seal upon our mouths and tongues, and only to use them
according to the principles of eternal truth—according to the mind and
will of God. When we have learned to do unto others as we would have
them do unto us in all things, and to regulate ourselves not only by
the written commandments of the Most High God, but by the words of
wisdom and counsel imparted to us day by day through his servants—when
we have learned these important lessons more perfectly, then we may
expect the promise of the Lord to be more perfectly fulfilled to us,
and not before.
I can recollect, twenty-nine years ago this present autumn, that I
went into the chamber of father Whitmer, in whose house the Lord
manifested himself in the organization of this Church, consisting of
six members. I went into that chamber with the Prophet Joseph Smith,
to inquire of the Lord; and he received a revelation for my benefit,
which was written from the mouth of the Prophet by John Whitmer, one
of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. I was then only about nineteen
years of age, and was desirous to know what my duty was. The Lord
commanded in this revelation that I should preach his Gospel. I
thought that was a very great and important calling, and I felt
altogether incompetent unless the Lord qualified me by his Spirit.
Among other things contained in this revelation, the Lord gave me a
command in these words—"Therefore lift up thy voice and prophesy, and
it shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost." I thought to
myself, that unless the Lord shall pour out his Spirit upon me more
fully than anything I ever yet have experienced, I never can perform
these duties acceptably in his sight.
To prophesy without the Holy Ghost—to reveal—was something I dare not
do. I would rather have had my head severed from my body than to have
been guilty of so great a crime. Indeed, there is one of the most
awful denunciations pronounced upon that man who undertakes to
prophesy in the name of the Lord, without the Holy Ghost to inspire
him. Such a man in ancient days was to be cut off from the midst of
Israel.
I felt, therefore, the importance of those sayings; and truly, when I
looked at the magnitude and importance of the command given to me to
prophesy by the power of the Holy Ghost, I felt oftentimes to tremble
and shrink, for fear I never should be able to fulfil and accomplish
so great a work.
And I recollect another revelation that requires all the servants of
God who are sent forth, to lift up their voices and preach and
prophesy as it shall be given by the Spirit of God. Have we attained
to this gift of prophecy as we ought as the servants of the living
God? How few of us have obtained a message beforehand by the Spirit of
the living God to deliver to the people, as Jacob, one of the ancient
servants of God, did on the American continent. Jacob, the brother of
Nephi, came into the temple to preach to the people, and declared to
them that the Lord had previously revealed to him what he should say
to them. He went and inquired of the Lord, and he revealed his mind
and will, and thus Jacob found out what was wanted for the people: he
understood their condition and what sins they had committed before the
Most High, and he knew how to reprove them, because God had visited
him by the Spirit of revelation.
How many of us have gone forth and received our errand from
the Lord by the voice of the Spirit of revelation, before we have
ventured before the people to teach the things of the kingdom of God?
Although I have often prayed and sought earnestly and humbly that I
might be assisted to preach to the people, and to say something to
benefit them, yet I have not, by my earnestness and diligence and
faith, been able to obtain those revelations and visions that belong
to the High Priesthood and to the Apostleship, that I might know what
to preach to the people to the extent of our privileges for their
edification. Yet I do know the Lord has blessed me and my brethren,
and given us a portion of his Spirit; and our hearts have been
dictated, as I believe, by the spirit of wisdom and counsel; and the
things of the kingdom of God have been made known to us in the very
moment; and we have been able to speak to them, but not in that power
and demonstration that belongs to the Priesthood of the living God.
I recollect reading the prophecy of Enoch, that he, after having
gathered together his people from the different parts of the earth,
the same as we are doing, commenced preaching righteousness to them.
He built up the city called Zion, and the Lord revealed himself to
Enoch, and he saw him face to face. God walked and talked with him,
and he dwelt in the midst of the city of Zion for the space of three
hundred and sixty-five years; and then God took Enoch, city, people
and all, to heaven.
I recollect reading of Enoch's having gathered his people, and that
their enemies came up against them to battle. What kind of weapons did
Enoch use to destroy his enemies? It says, "And he (Enoch) spake the
word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled,
according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of
their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the
wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word
of Enoch, and so great was the power of language which God had given
him."
That was the power given to that Priesthood and authority which was
conferred upon Enoch in the early ages of the world. It is also your
privilege, ye servants of the living God, to obtain by faith the same
blessings and the same power, that when you shall be appointed upon
foreign missions, you can open your mouths by the power of the same
Spirit that rested upon Enoch—that you cannot only teach them what
they shall do, but prophesy to the people and tell them what shall be
in the future—tell them of the judgments and calamities that shall
overtake the wicked. It is your privilege to prophesy to the great and
to the low, to the king on his throne, to great men in high places, to
the inhabitants of the earth, and to foretell that which shall befall
their cities, villages, nations, countries, and kingdoms—to foretell
all these things, not by your wisdom, nor by the spirit of false
prophecy, but by the power of that Spirit which rested on Enoch in
ancient days. With such a qualification, you could go forth and
perform the mission appointed to you acceptably in the sight of God.
What is the privilege of the servants of God that are remaining here
in the midst of the settlements of Zion? It is our privilege to
sanctify ourselves and have even greater power than those who go to
the nations. Why? Because here is the great central place of
gathering, and here should center all the powers of the everlasting
Priesthood. Here, in our midst, should be poured out the blessings of
that Priesthood to their fullest extent. Here the ser vants of
God should be clothed upon from on high with the glory of God, and be
able to foretell all things which would be for the welfare and benefit
of the children of Zion. All these blessings belong to the Priesthood
here.
You have the keys of the Priesthood; you have the key words of the
Priesthood here; you have the signs of the Priesthood here; you have
all the ordinances of the Priesthood here which have been revealed;
you have learned the rules and laws of the Priesthood; and why not, ye
Elders of Israel—ye servants of the Most High God, rise up in the
power of the Priesthood and magnify your callings throughout the
settlements in this Territory? Why give way to darkness, to
debauchery, to low and degraded things, and mix with those who are
calculated to fill you with the spirit of evil continually?
Why suffer a cloud of darkness to hover over your minds, even a cloud
of thick darkness that is almost impenetrable? Why suffer your faith
to die away, that you cannot prevail with the heavens and obtain the
blessings of the Priesthood revealed in the last days?
Awake, awake, O ye Elders of Israel, and be clothed with the spirit
and power of your callings, and do the work assigned you, and prepare
for the great day of the Lord, which is at hand.
I feel, in some measure, the importance of these things. It rests on
my mind; it weighs me down by day, and oftentimes I lay awake at
nights contemplating the greatness of our privileges and the
backwardness of the Saints of God to claim them.
But I do not wish to occupy too much of the time. May God bless you!
Amen.