Those who are capable of contemplating upon and realizing the
relationship of mankind to the Heavens, the object of their existence
here, the common salvation that is provided for all who have lived,
now live, and will live upon the earth, and the power that is given to
each person to preserve his identity to an endless duration, must be
aware that there is a great deal to be said and done by those to whom
are committed the Priesthood of the Son of God and the management of
his work upon the earth in the last days.
It is written, "Thy watchman shall lift up the voice; with the voice
together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord
shall bring again Zion." Again, "Whereas thou hast been forsaken and
hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal
excellency, a joy of many generations." Again, "For, behold, I say
unto you that Zion shall flourish, and the glory of the Lord shall be
upon her; And she shall be an ensign unto the people, and there shall
come unto her out of every nation under heaven." And, again, "Zion
shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and
shall be assembled together unto the place which I have appointed,"
&c. We talk and read about Zion, we contemplate upon it, and in our
imaginations we reach forth to grasp something that is transcendent in
heavenly beauty, excellency, and glory. But while contemplating the
future greatness of Zion, do we realize that we are the pioneers of
that future greatness and glory? Do we realize that if we enjoy a Zion
in time or in eternity, we must make it for ourselves? That all who
have a Zion in the eternities of the gods organized, framed,
consolidated, and perfected it themselves, and consequently are
entitled to enjoy it.
Were we to send a hundred families of Saints into a valley not yet
inhabited, being acquainted with its climate, soil, and general
capabilities for productiveness, in the vision of our minds we could
see in the future comfortable and commodious houses for the people to
dwell in, buildings for religious worship and education; temples,
tabernacles, and academies; also houses for amusement and State
purposes, barns, and stables, yards, for the accommodation of animals,
well-fenced farms, granaries filled with grain, orchards and gardens,
wine, fruit, meat, silk, woolen, and cotton fabrics, and the people
clothed and beautified with the productions of the works of their own
hands, and entirely sustained by their industry and the blessings of
God through their righteousness. The Lord brings forth all those
temporal blessings precisely in the same way in which he will build up
Zion. He will build our houses, tabernacles, and temples, make our
farms, raise our wheat, meat, and fruit, make our
spinning wheels and looms, and weave our cloth, while we remain in a
state of complete inactivity, just as much as he will bring again Zion
without our cooperation. The Lord has done his share of the work; he
has surrounded us with the elements containing wheat, meat, flax,
wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify and
glorify the Zion of the last days, and it is our business to mold
these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the
knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the Heavens
through our faithfulness. In this way will the Lord bring again Zion
upon the earth, and in no other.
If we wish to make linen, we must prepare the soil that is suitable
for raising flax, cast the seed into the ground, cultivate it, gather
it, and prepare it to be spun and woven into linen. The Lord will not
do this for us. We must also raise our bread by sowing grain, after
the ground is prepared, then cultivating and watching it until it is
ripened, then passing it through all the different processes until it
is made into bread. The Lord will not do this for us anymore than he
will bring again Zion without our cooperation. He has placed within
our reach everything necessary for food, raiment, houses, and
possessions, and for beauty, goodness, excellency, exaltation, life,
glory, and bliss. The Lord would clothe these naked Indians, for they
are of the house of Israel, if he would clothe us. He will build up
Zion upon the same principle that he raises grain, flax, silk, wool,
fruit, &c., &c. There is not one thing wanting in all the works of
God's hands to make a Zion upon the earth when the people conclude to
make it. We can make a Zion of God on earth at our pleasure, upon the
same principle that we can raise a field of wheat, or build and
inhabit. There has been no time when the material has not been here
from which to produce corn, wheat, &c.; and by the judicious
management and arrangement of this ever-existing material a Zion of
God can always be built on the earth.
Man is the offspring of God. Who can fully realize this? Our Heavenly
Father orders all things that pertain to this earth and to multitudes
of worlds of which we are ignorant. We are as much the children of
this great Being as we are the children of our mortal progenitors. We
are flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone, and the same fluid that
circulates in our bodies, called blood, once circulated in his veins
as it does in ours. As the seeds of grains, vegetables and fruits
produce their kind, so man is in the image of God. We hope to be
exalted. We hope that God our Father will make us noble and good, but
he will only direct and aid us in making ourselves righteous. He has
formed us, and in his providences brought us forth upon this earth,
but he without our efforts will not make anything of us. What we
shall be, depends upon ourselves. We can improve this organization and
bring it back to its original purity and goodness, by faithfulness to
the will of Heaven, and by daily adding to the intelligence we now
possess until we are prepared to stand in the presence of our Creator.
When we conclude to make a Zion we will make it, and this work
commences in the heart of each person. When the father of a family
wishes to make a Zion in his own house, he must take the lead in this
good work, which it is impossible for him to do unless he himself
possesses the Spirit of Zion. Before he can produce the work of
sanctification in his family, he must sanctify himself, and by this
means God can help him to sanctify his family. There are many families in this community that have constantly with them the
Spirit of Zion. Visit them when you will, and you find them dwelling
in peace; a heavenly influence constantly broods over them and over
everything they possess. But are they perfect? No. It would not do for
them to be perfect because we have still to associate more or less
with that which is evil.
We have all the material we need to build up Zion, and I wish the
Spirit of Zion to extend from heart to heart, and from house to house.
This good work must commence in each person; there must be instituted
a watchful care over the passions to bring them under control, that an
angry feeling may not arise, that an evil passion may not gain the
mastery to the overthrow of wisdom and good, sound judgment, until the
power of the enemy that is sown within us is entirely subdued to the
will of Christ, for the purpose of the enemy of all righteousness is to
destroy the human family, and make them what they were not intended to
be.
I do not wish you to carry away a wrong impression of our true
situation before the heavens relative to perfection. For you to be
perfect, in one sense of the word, is to be prepared to inherit
eternal glory in the presence of the Father and the Son. Should any
mortal attain to this state of perfection, he could not longer remain
among his fellow mortals. I do not want you so very perfect, but I am
anxious that we should commence the growth of Zion in ourselves, and
when we do this, we shall cease to willingly hold fellowship with that
which is evil. But so long as we willingly hold fellowship with that
which tends to death and destruction, we cannot progress as we should
in the work of perfection in ourselves, nor in building up and
beautifying Zion.
The work of building up Zion is in every sense a practical work; it is
not a mere theory. A theoretical religion amounts to very little real
good or advantage to any person. To possess an inheritance in Zion or
in Jerusalem only in theory—only in imagination—would be the same as
having no inheritance at all. It is necessary to get a deed of it, to
make an inheritance, practical, substantial and profitable. Then let
us not rest contented with a mere theoretical religion, but let it be
practical, self-purifying, and self-sustaining, keeping the love of
God within us, walking by every precept, by every law, and by every
word that is given to lead us to truth, to God, and to life eternal.
I have Zion in my view constantly. We are not going to wait for
angels, or for Enoch and his company to come and build up Zion, but we
are going to build it. We will raise our wheat, build our houses,
fence our farms, plant our vineyards and orchards, and produce
everything that will make our bodies comfortable and happy, and in
this manner we intend to build up Zion on the earth and purify it and
cleanse it from all pollutions. Let there be an hallowed influence go
from us over all things over which we have any power; over the soil we
cultivate, over the houses we build, and over everything we possess;
and if we cease to hold fellowship with that which is corrupt and
establish the Zion of God in our hearts, in our own houses, in our
cities, and throughout our country, we shall ultimately overcome the
earth, for we are the lords of the earth; and, instead of thorns and
thistles, every useful plant that is good for the food of man and to
beautify and adorn will spring from its bosom.
We have certain laws to observe in order to obtain wheat. We do not
sow wheat on a bare rock, for we have learned by experience that it
will not grow there. We do not sow onion and carrot seed in
the middle of the street and expect to reap a bountiful crop, for our
experience teaches us differently. Instead of doing this, we observe
the laws in nature which govern the productions of the earth, as our
fathers before us have done, and prepare the ground properly, subduing
and enriching and cleansing from it every obnoxious weed. Then if we
wish to raise Toas wheat, we sow the seed that will produce it, and
proceed in like manner with whatever we desire to produce from the
ground, for every seed will produce its kind, and with care and
watchfulness the husbandman will reap an abundant increase. Thus it is
plainly manifest that we have the laws of nature and of God by which
we can build up Zion. Let us then take advantage of the laws and of
the blessings which God is willing to pour upon us, and cultivate and
subdue the ground, sow the good seed, fence it in that the enemy
cannot come and sow tares, and bar up the gates and keep the watchman
there to watch day and night.
Those who are sent to sow the good seed are faithfully waiting for the
ground to be prepared. Cultivate the seed well, and it will bring
forth its kind, that which pertains to the earth and that which
pertains to the grace of God and the principles of eternity. Plant and
cultivate in your hearts and bring forth the fruits of Zion. Let us
prepare our hearts, as we prepare our fields, to receive the good word
of God, and never let anything mar our peace, or step in between us
and our God and our holy religion, remembering that whatsoever a man
soweth that also shall he reap; and as your acts in life are, so you
may expect to be judged. The elements are here to produce as good a
Zion as was ever made in all the eternities of the Gods. Here are the
elements to produce grain which is good for the food of man, as also
the fruit of the vine, and that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the
ground or above the ground. Nevertheless, wheat for man, corn for the
ox, oats for the horse, and rye (not for whiskey) for fowls and for
swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful
animals and for mild drinks, as also other grain.
It is for us, as children of our heavenly Father, to arise and assume
the right the law of the Holy Priesthood gives us, and organize the
elements for a Zion, and bring it forth, no matter where we are. I
would not give much for a religion that is not thus practical. Some
Elders have in a manner to convey the idea that the practical part of
our religion is only manifest here. We should be sorry if this were
the case, and a little reflection will show them their mistake. Did
you ever have sore feet and aching limbs, while traveling abroad
preaching the Gospel? "Yes." Was that practical, or was it only
spiritual? After walking twenty-five miles to fill an appointment,
and, before eating a mouthful of food, preaching an hour or two, for
nobody had thought you wanted anything to eat, and then baptizing, and
then wading through the mud for miles in wet clothes before you could
get a dry sock, was that practical? I thought preaching the Gospel was
as nigh manual labor as anything I could work at.
We have the material here to build up Zion. Will we build it, up? What
do you say? (Voices, "Yes." ) Yes, we will establish it on the earth,
no more to be thrown down or removed forever. Amen.