It appears in the economy of Heaven that there are a variety of gifts.
Gifts differ, as described by the Apostle to the Corinthians, in the
12th chapter of his First Epistle. He says—"For to one is given by
the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by
the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the
gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of
miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to
another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of
tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will."
These gifts are very apparent in the organization of this people. We
possess a great deal of zeal, and sometimes it has proved to be not
according to knowledge. For instance, the third number of the Evening
and Morning Star, which was published in Independence, Jackson County,
Missouri, by W. W. Phelps, held out the doctrine rather strongly that
about nine or ten years would be sufficient to wind up the whole
matter of the warning of the wicked nations and the gathering of the
Saints preparatory to the coming of the Messiah. So zealous were some
of the Elders at that time, and so certain that the Lord would shorten
his work, that we expected long before this to see the mil lennium in full
blast; and yet, although these anticipations have not been fully realized,
the work has progressed as rapidly as it possibly could without doing
injury to itself. In order that this may be properly understood it
may be well to consider the material of which this Church is composed.
Its doctrines have been taught to every nation, kindred, and tongue,
where the Elders have had an opportunity of preaching to the people,
and those who have from time to time embraced the doctrines of the
Saints have been gathered together, bringing with them all manner of
prejudices, notions, and whims, and if too great a body of such
material had been hurriedly brought together it might have been
impossible (though some people say there is nothing impossible with
the Almighty), but still I think that it might have been impossible to
hold such an incongruous mass of materials together.
When the Elders were scattered among the Gentiles to preach repentance
and baptism for the remission of sins, many would say how wonderfully
these men preached! What smart men they were considered by those who
heard them! These men acquired the ingenuity and the tact by which
they handled the Scriptures with such ability that they were actually
considered by the world to be very learned and talented men and some
of them are known yet by the sobriquet of "Walking Bible!" And
all these men in their way are shining and brilliant items of talent
and wisdom; a comparatively ignorant man, if he is humble, can go and
preach the Gospel, and proclaim by the power of the good Spirit the
principles of life and salvation. An ignorant man, who goes forth from
nation to nation to declare the truths which God in his mercy has
revealed, generally goes forth in humility and faith, and, by
diligence and perseverance, he picks up and gathers into the Church
men of every imaginable tradition, of every habit, of every custom and
of every nation; after which they go and make each man throw away part
of his foolish traditions just as fast as possible, and teach him true
principles instead thereof; make the people live together in a city, a
country, and a State, and all pull together, as one well-organized
community.
Now, I know really that we ought to be ashamed of our ignorance, and
yet brother Musser has told us that we are a great deal ahead of the
Western States. Really, if we are not we ought to be ashamed of
ourselves. We have had wiser teachers, and not only have we had good
tutors, but we have had practical lessons.
Mr. Trumbull, member of Congress from Illinois, made a remark at a
meeting during the Mormon war, to this effect—"I have been to Nauvoo;
I was there when the Mormons were there, and if the inhabitants and
citizens of the United States were as intelligent and industrious and
as thrifty as the Mormons were then, they would be a long way ahead
of what they are now." Lyman Trumbull is considerable authority upon
this subject, he was Secretary of State in Illinois when we lived in
Nauvoo, and no particular friend of ours. If we have not advanced as
much as we might have done, we have scattered the truth abroad. The
wisdom of our President has taken the poor from the distant nations of
the earth, brought them here and made them rich. You pass through this
Territory today and you strive to find the man or woman that cannot
get bread for supper. You cannot do it. You find the man or woman that
is destitute of clothing, if you can. Such destitution does not exist.
You may search the world in vain for a similar people, and you will
find that a people so universally comfortably situated do not exist;
and yet, these are the people who were so poor, who have been several
times robbed and plundered of all they possessed, and who then came
into the most desert country in the world, and here they have acquired
this abundance which surrounds everybody. A polity has been introduced
that benefits everybody, instead of leaving us to lay our own plans,
and be at the shrine of wickedness and corruption. When a poor man
comes to a Bishop and says, "I am hungry, I want some bread." The
Bishop, like a Father, says—"Well, what can you do? We must find you
some work, we must show you how to manage in this country so that
you can get a living." The Bishop might take the old Gentile plan,
give the hungry man a dollar, which he would spend and do nothing to
provide more, and thus he will be kept eternally poor, but instead of
this he finds him work, the man's way is opened, and, in a short time,
he is rich, for he is able to live from his own exertions. Herein is
manifested the wisdom of Heaven, which should be in the breast of
every man in Zion, and it also shows the wisdom of that head which God
has placed to guide us and make us a self-sustaining, independent
people.
If we go down into the States now we find them engaged in a war, and I
suppose that the language that is generally denominated the
King's English, fails to tell the extremes of folly, wickedness,
corruption, and degradation that brought this war on. Tongue cannot
tell it, the language we speak has not got words enough to describe it
accurately. Friends and brothers are killing each other. It actually
seems as though the vengeance of God was poured out upon them, and
every time that either party suffer a defeat that party is filled with
increased rage and vengeance, and they thirst for each other's blood.
Such are the facts in the case.
The Prophet said the Lord was about to sweep the earth with the besom
of destruction, and in that day the wicked would slay the wicked. I
cannot tell how fast things will go, but I feel astonished when I see
how the work has progressed since its commencement in the year 1830.
You go into a corn field where the stalks grow too rapidly and you
find them weak, and a very slight wind will break them down. You look
at the progress of nations when they grow too rapidly, you will
perceive that they immediately fall to pieces. It was so with the
Mahomedan empire; it swelled in eighty years from a solitary wanderer
to an empire constituting about a third part of the then inhabited
globe. It is not so with us. This people is rising gradually. You can
find men who have gone forth and baptized their hundreds, but few who
have baptized their thousands, and if all the numbers that have been
baptized into this Church since its first organization were added
together I do not suppose that there would be less than a million, and
but few of these have remained to the present time, the rest have
built up cities for the Gentiles, and have populated such towns as St.
Louis, San Francisco, and in fact almost all of the cities of
California and the Western States. The rest are still laboring to
build up Zion, to spread abroad the fulness of the everlasting Gospel
and to save all who will give heed to its teachings and the dictates
of the Holy Spirit, while those who cannot "bear the sieve of vanity"
are occasionally leaving the Church and going again to wallow in the
wickedness of the world. There is now and then, one will go off and
come back again, and they profess to be good brethren. They put me in
mind of an anecdote. A wealthy parishioner sent his negro servant Jack
to carry a sucking pig to his parson as a present for a Christmas
roast, while on his way, Cuffy was called into a public house by one
of his comrades to have a drink, and while quaffing his ale, some of
his mischievous friends took the pig out of the basket and placed a
puppy in its stead; Cuffy then went on his way and presented the
basket to the parson, saying, "Sir, massa has sent you a present of a
fine pig for a Christmas roast," the rev. gentleman pleased with the
prospect of a fine dinner, looked in the basket, and exclaimed, "pig,
you black rascal, it is a puppy; tell your master not to insult me by
sending me a puppy." Cuffy, on his return home, called at the ale
house for another glass, when his comrades slyly exchanged the pig for
the puppy: when Jack got home, his master said, "what did the parson
say for the fine present I sent him?" "Parson said the pig was a
puppy, that you insult him to send him a puppy." "Bring the basket to
me." He opened it, and exclaimed, "it is a pig, you black villain."
Cuffy in astonishment, and unable to account for what he saw, cried
out, "Massa, I believe he can be a pig or a puppy just as he likes."
This is just the character of those men that act in this way, they
can be pigs or puppies, Saints or apostates, just as they like, and I
do feel that if such men will leave and stay away we will be
contented with what we can raise independent of all those who are
wandering abroad and trying to shake hands with the Devil. But I find
that those who stay here, and do their duty and struggle to fulfil
counsel, will increase in all that is good, while the others—pig and
puppy—will all go to hell together. I know that we are very pious, and
for want of better understanding make mistakes in reference to
blessings. Joseph used very often to get up and bless the congregation
in the name of the Lord; President Young does so sometimes in a very
emphatic manner, but are these blessings appreciated?
Now I do not care how much wealth you pour into the laps of men,
unless there is in their bosoms the Spirit of God they are unhappy.
You may also fill a woman's lap with riches, surround her with every
imaginable comfort, and if she has not the Spirit of the Almighty
within her, and the spirit of contentment she will be miserable. It is
so with all of us; unless we have the spirit of contentment in our
hearts we are miserable, and unless we can enjoy that spirit which
brings happiness, inspires the soul and makes a heaven in every home,
we shall be constantly uneasy. Watch the men who have gone abroad; if
they become discontented the Spirit of the Most High leaves them, but
if they do not get uneasy and unsettled in their minds they have no
fear of death, but they rejoice in the enjoyment of the Spirit of the
Lord and the spirit of mercy, then the light of revelation, peace,
happiness and contentment are and forever will be their portion. So
will it be with all of us. These are the blessings of the Lord unto
his faithful people. If a man has all the wealth in creation, and has
heaped upon him all the honors and powers that the world can give,
his soul is discontented and miserable, unless he possesses the Spirit
of Christ.
I recollect reading in Seers' History of India of "an English envoy
sent on a mission to Delhi about ten years before the emperor's death,
on being introduced into their imperial presence, was surprised to see
a little old man, with a long silvery beard, dressed in plain white
muslin, standing in the midst of a group of omrahs (Hindoo noblemen)
whose rich robes sparkling with jewels, formed a striking contrast to
the unostentatious appearance of their sovereign." This Aurung-Zeb was
remarkable for the simplicity of his habits and manners, which he
constantly maintained amid the splendor of the most magnificent court
in the world. He died at the advanced age of eighty-nine, in the
fiftieth year of his reign. The very wealth and riches that were
around him were misery to him, and the crimes that had put the other
claimers to his throne into the grave, made him, in the midst of
splendor miserably miserable.
Brethren, study to be content, and when we want to see if we can't go
off to California and get some more spices and some things that we
cannot get here; to surround ourselves with sweet meats, let us just
remember brother Musser's remark—"Shake your head."
Emphatically, No;
I love Zion better than all things else.
Now the facts are, the comforts of life depend upon the manner good
things are used. You may get the choicest of this world's goods; I
don't care if the wealth of the world is used to get the most
delicious dishes for a man to live upon, in a short time they become
sickening and nauseous and are actually injurious to the human system.
Those who live in this way become weak and effeminate, and finally
rendered entirely useless. For my own part, I say give me the good
wheat and good plain living, then I shall have strength, and
stand a good chance for good health and long life.
There was a United States Judge died here, and just before his death
he said—"I have abused everything that is good, and know nothing that
is good." This is the condition of the world. But with proper exercise
and care, and the common food that is produced within ourselves, is
sufficient for us, and it is calculated to develop the mind and body
of man, and to lay a foundation for a race of men that shall rule the
world. Now this is no wild chimera of the brain, for we are laying the
foundation for the redemption of the human race; we are laying a
foundation to make a fraternity of brethren, and to secure to each and
all happiness and peace. The Lord himself has laid the foundation; and
if any man wants to go away from here, let him go, but let him
remember that he will be unhappy wherever he is.
May the Lord bless us and enable us to inherit a spirit of
contentment, that we may inherit celestial glory. Amen.
- George A. Smith