We have just been listening to the testimony of one of the Apostles of
the Lord Jesus Christ, also an Apostle of him whom the Lord has called
in our day to establish his kingdom no more to be overcome by
wickedness on the earth. To say that we are Apostles of Joseph Smith
is rather a dark saying to many. Jesus Christ being sent of the Father
to perform a certain work, became an Apostle. It is written in the
book called Hebrews, "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him,
as also Moses was faithful in all his house." The Savior called upon
a number of men to assist him in the work his Father had sent him to
do, and sent them into the world to proclaim his mission and Gospel,
instructing them to bap tize all believers. In this way they became the
Apostles of Jesus Christ, and at the day of his coming they will stand
at his right hand in a pillar of fire, being clothed with robes of
righteousness, with crowns upon their heads, in glory to judge the
whole house of Israel.
Joseph Smith was the first Apostle of this Church, and was commanded
of Jesus Christ to call and ordain other Apostles and send them into
all the world with a message to all people, and with authority to
baptize all who should believe the fulness of the Gospel and sincerely
repent of all their sins. These other Apostles are Apostles of Jesus
Christ, and of Joseph Smith the chief Apostle of this last
dispensation.
Joseph Smith has laid the foundation of the kingdom of God in the last
days; others will rear the super structure. Its laws and
ordinances, its blessings and privileges have been laid before all
people who would hear; the testimony of God's servants has sounded
like the voice of a trumpet from nation to nation, and from people to
people, warning the honest and meek of the earth to flee from Babylon
to the chambers in the mountains for safety until the indignation
shall be past. If all the inhabitants of the earth had been as
diligent in searching out the truth and as willing to receive it as
hundreds in this congregation have been, the world would have been
converted long ago. But few people, compared with the masses, have
ever received and lived the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in any age of the
world in which it has been preached.
Enoch possessed intelligence and wisdom from God that few men ever
enjoyed, walking and talking with God for many years; yet, according
to the history written by Moses, he was a great length of time in
establishing his kingdom among men. The few that followed him enjoyed
the fulness of the Gospel, and the rest of the world rejected it.
Enoch and his party were taken from the earth, and the world
continued to ripen in iniquity until they were overthrown by the great
flood in the days of Noah; and, "as it was in the days of Noah, so
shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man."
So sure as the Lord called upon Joseph Smith, Jun., to bring forth his
Gospel and establish his kingdom, just so sure will he hold this
generation accountable for their acts in relation thereto. If any
people reject the Gospel, God will destroy that people or nation. The
majority of the people of the world declare that Joseph Smith was not
called of God. If they know that, then are they safe in rejecting his
testimony. I know that he was called of God, and this I know by the
reve lations of Jesus Christ to me, and by the testimony of the Holy
Ghost. Had I not so learned this truth, I should never have been what
is called a "Mormon," neither should I have been here today. The
world is as uncertain of the calling of Joseph Smith, as their
religious ministers are that they are called of God; they hope they
are so called; they hope they have experienced a change of heart; they
hope they are renewed in spirit; they hope their sins are forgiven;
they hope the Lord is gracious to them, &c., &c. If I did not know
that my sins were forgiven, my hope would do me but little good.
For argument's sake I will say, if we should be mistaken as to the
legality of Joseph Smith's calling, we still bear the same
relationship towards the heavens as any other portion of mankind, and
have the same chance of salvation, standing on equal grounds with
them. Joseph told us that Jesus was the Christ, the Mediator between
God and man, and the Savior of the world. He told us that there was
no other name in the heavens nor under the heavens, neither could
there be, by which mankind could be saved in the presence of the
Father, but by and through the name and ministry of Jesus Christ, and
the atonement he made on Mount Calvary. Joseph also told us that the
Savior requires strict obedience to all the commandments, ordinances
and laws pertaining to his kingdom, and that if we would do this we
should be made partakers of all the blessings promised in his Gospel.
We have already been made partakers of the blessings of the Gospel
which he promised to his disciples. One in particular I will name, and
that is peace. Jesus says, "These things I have spoken unto you, that
in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." There are
hundreds now before me who can testify that in the world they have had
tribulation, but in the Gospel, as we believe it, they have found
peace. Again, "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they
shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and
cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in
that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven,
for in the like manner did their fathers unto the Prophets." Have the
world separated the Latter-day Saints from their company? They have.
For what? For disobeying the laws of the land? No. They cast them out
for believing in Jesus Christ and in Joseph Smith as his Prophet. This
whole people were cast out for believing that God spake to Joseph
Smith and chose him to be his messenger—his Apostle—to this
generation. I testify to you that we were not cast out for teaching
and practicing the Patriarchal doctrine, as our enemies now declare,
for at that time it not been published to the world, but it was for
believing, preaching, and practicing the doctrines of the New
Testament; for believing in the events to take place in the latter
days, as foretold by the ancient Prophets; and, for believing the
declarations of Joseph Smith, that Jesus was indeed the Christ and
the Savior of all men, but especially of them that believe, and that
he had set to his hand the second time to gather his people, to
establish his kingdom, to build up Zion, redeem Jerusalem, empty the
earth of wickedness and bring in everlasting righteousness.
Joseph Smith testified that he had received revelations from God, that
holy angels had administered to him, that he had seen the heavens
opened, had seen Jesus Christ and knew that he lived, and that all the
people must acknowledge him to be the Christ, the Savior of the world,
and to obtain salvation through him must obey his ordinances, keep
inviolate their covenants with him and with each other, and try with
all their might to restore the covenants broken by the fathers, that
the celestial gates leading to the presence of God may be opened to
all believers. And this is our testimony, last of all, that God has
spoken from the heavens, commanding us to preach repentance to this
generation, giving us authority to baptize for the remission of sins,
and to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.
The remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the favor of
God cannot be obtained in any other way. These are God's unchangeable
conditions for mankind to observe, when they are called upon to enter
into an everlasting covenant with him to serve him and none else. For
preaching this Gospel Joseph Smith was cast out and murdered; and for
the same cause this people have been persecuted and afflicted, and
finally cast out beyond the confines of so-called civilization.
What do we now see abroad? Confusion in all the ramifications of
society. In the days of the great tower of Babel God confounded their
language, and spread confusion and dismay among them, and ultimately
scattered them to the four winds of heaven. The confusion will be no
less great in these days, and the destruction of human life will be so
great that but few men will be left. With the people in Christendom it
is "oh, here," and "lo, there" —"Christ, is here, and
Christ is there."
Some say, "observe one ordinance and no more;" others say, "observe two
ordinances and no more;" some say, "observe none at all;" and so on.
There is no true faith, for all is uncertainty—every man pursuing his own way. They have no light of revelation to guide them, and
that which would have saved this nation from its present awful
chastisement they have cast out from them, therefore, "Behold, the Lord
maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside
down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. The land shall be
utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this
word."
When Joseph Smith came to the people with the message of the Gospel in
its fullness, they said, "let us kill him, or he will change our
customs, overthrow our religions, make proselytes in foreign lands and
flood our country with them, expose our political corruptions, and may
take away our place in the nation; come, let us kill him." They did
kill him, that debt is upon them, and they have it to pay. The Lord
pity them; I do. I pity them because they are so shortsighted, so
wicked, and so determined to fight God and his laws. They killed
Joseph Smith, and cast out this people for believing in him. Are they
still upon our track? They are.
In a correspondence between Mr. Greeley, of New York, and the
President, Mr. Lincoln declared it was his intention to do everything
in his power that he thought would save the Union. This was very just
and correct in him, but has his course invariably tended to save the
Union? Time will show. There is no man can see, unless he sees by the
gift and power of revelation, that every move that has been made by
the Government has been made to fulfil the sayings of Joseph Smith the
Prophet, and all earth and hell cannot help it. The wedge to divide
the Union was entered in South Carolina, and all the power of the
Government could not prevent it. The Lord spoke to Joseph Smith, on
the 25th day of December, 1832, as follows—"Verily, thus saith the
Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning
at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate
in the death and misery of many souls; And the time will come that war
will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. For
behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern
States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the
nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call
upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other
nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations," &c. The
wickedness of the wicked is onward and downward, while the
righteousness of the righteous is onward and upward. Light and
darkness, or in other words, right and wrong are with us, and men
choose darkness rather than light, wrong rather than right. This is
their condemnation. They despise the truth and those who will declare
it.
On one occasion, in the wars of the kings of Israel and Judah with the
King of Syria, the kings of Israel and Judah sent for all the Prophets
they could find to prophesy good concerning their going down to the
battle; and a lying spirit was sent to speak through the Prophets to
lure Ahab, King of Israel, to the battlefield. Jehosaphat, King of
Judah, inquired whether there was not yet another Prophet of the Lord
that they might inquire of. "And the King of Israel said unto
Jehosaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we
may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good
concerning me, but evil." Micaiah was brought before the king and
said, "I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have
not a shepherd." Ahab ordered Micaiah to be put in prison and fed on
the bread of affliction, until he should return in peace. An
archer drew a bow at a venture and slew Ahab, who went to the field of
battle in disguise, and the words of the Prophet were fulfilled. It is
so in this day; the man who will speak the word of the Lord fearlessly
is hated, while false prophets and false teachers, who pander to human
vanity and to human greatness for gain, are fostered by wicked rulers
and exalted to the chief seats in the synagogues.
We are determined to build up the kingdom of God on the earth; to
bring forth Zion, to promote the cause of righteousness on the earth,
and to walk under foot sin and wickedness. There is an opposing party
who are determined that the kingdom of God shall not be built up, and
who do all in their power to destroy it and its supporters. This has
been the case from the beginning, and wickedness has triumphed,
because the measure of the earth was not complete, and those mighty
spirits calculated to bring to pass the winding up scene had not yet
been born in the flesh. The time has now come when this work will be
consummated. Satan's rule and Satan's kingdom will be destroyed, and
everlasting righteousness and peace will be brought in upon the face of
the whole earth.
Joseph Smith knew what was coming upon the nation of the United
States, and said, "If they will let me, I will save the nation." They
would not let him, but treated him as a traitor. They arrested him in
Missouri for treason, when he had not said a word with regard to
political affairs, but preached the Gospel to his brethren. They put
him in Carthage Jail in Illinois, under the same false allegation, and
slew him without a trial before his peers. At this day, if they had
the power, they would show us that their malignity is no less than it
was in the days of Joseph Smith, but they have not the power to injure
the kingdom of God and the Lord's anointed. They do not make a move on
the national checkerboard without my knowing their designs. They may
send men here, with their mouths sealed as to their instructions, to
dictate and guide affairs in Utah as they would have them, but all
their deep laid plots will vanish into thin air and their fondly
anticipated purposes will fail.
Our course is onward to build up Zion, and the nation that has slain
the Prophet of God and cast out his people will have to pay the debt.
They will be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel; yea worse, they
will be ground to powder. "And whoever shall fall on this stone shall
be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to
powder." If there is a people within the pales of this nation that is
worthy of the constitution, good laws and institutions of the American
Government, it is this people called Latter-day Saints. It is the best
earthly Government that ever was framed by man, and the true and
righteous are alone worthy of it. It cannot long be administered by
wicked hands. "When the wicked rule, the people mourn."
My heart is filled with pain for the inhabitants of the earth. We
desire with all our hearts to do them good. There are scores of Elders
beneath the sound of my voice who have preached enough to convert the
world. I have myself traveled many thousands of miles, carrying my
valise and sustaining myself, to preach the Gospel to this generation
and to bear testimony to the truth as I do today. I take liberties
here, in referring to the world and its vanities, that I wish my
brethren not to take. It is our duty to pray for them and place before
them the holy principles of the Gospel by precept, and in the acts of
our lives, rather than to hold prominently forward their
manifold corruptions. They are in the hands of God, and so are we.
Great and mighty empires are raised to the summit of human greatness
by him, to bring to pass his inscrutable purposes, and at his pleasure
they are swept from existence and lost in the oblivion of antiquity.
All these mighty changes are pointing to and preparing the way for the
introduction of his kingdom in the latter times, that will stand
forever and grow in greatness and power until a holy, lasting, religious,
and political peace shall make the hearts of the poor among men exult
with joy in the Holy One of Israel, and that his kingdom is everywhere
triumphant.
The Lord is willing that we should be the pioneers of this work, and
it is now our duty to prove ourselves worthy of his confidence, by
educating ourselves until our traditions are precisely according to
the Gospel and will of God. The revelations of God to Joseph Smith
instruct the Latter-day Saints to live their religion day by day, and
to meet on the first day of the week to break bread, confess their
faults one to another and pray with and for each other. I would like
this tradition fastened not only upon the people generally, but
particularly upon the Bishops and other leaders of this Church.
We should seek substantial information, and trust little to that kind
of so-called learning that is based entirely upon theory. We should
pluck fruit from the tree of knowledge, and taste, then shall our eyes
be open to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to understand. I would
recommend the same course to those who have not embraced and tasted
the sweets of "Mormonism." We should get wisdom by reading and by
study. We should introduce the best books into our schools for the
education and improvement of our children. Let our schoolteachers
seek constantly to fasten upon the young mind useful information, and
banish from their schools every study that only tends to perplex the
student and waste his valuable time. I know of no branch in the
rudiments of English education that is more difficult to conquer than
its orthography; indeed, very few men have ever become perfect in it,
and I know of no branch of learning that needs more reforming.
After introducing into our schools every useful branch of education,
let our teachers ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to bestow upon
them and upon their scholars the Spirit of wisdom and intelligence
from heaven; ask for skill to control and ability to teach on the part
of the teacher, and willingness to be controlled and aptability to be
taught on the part of the scholars. Let parents aid the teacher in his
labors, by seeing that their children attend school punctually, with
a proper supply of books, slates, pencils, &c.; and permit not a good,
diligent, faithful schoolteacher to suffer for the common necessaries
of life, while he is laboring to educate and bless their children.
Every good and perfect gift cometh from God. Every discovery in
science and art, that is really true and useful to mankind, has been
given by direct revelation from God, though but few acknowledge it. It
has been given with a view to prepare the way for the ultimate triumph
of truth, and the redemption of the earth from the power of sin and
Satan. We should take advantage of all these great discoveries, the
accumulated wisdom of ages, and give to our children the benefit of
every branch of useful knowledge, to prepare them to step forward and
efficiently do their part in the great work.
Endless variety is stamped upon the works of God's hands. There are no
two productions of nature, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, that are exactly alike, and all are crowned with a degree of
polish and perfection that cannot be obtained by ignorant man in his
most exquisite mechanical productions. Man's machinery makes things
alike; God's machinery gives to things which appear alike a pleasing
difference. Fields and mountains, trees and flowers, and all that fly,
swim, or move upon the ground are lessons for study in the great school
our heavenly Father has instituted for the benefit of his children.
Let us explore this great field of information that is open before us
in good books and in the great laboratory of nature, and let every man
become his own lawyer, every family have its own doctor, and every
person be his own accountant, &c. Let even the female portion of our
community be taught how to do business, in the absence of their
guardians. It is an erroneous idea that a very learned man should not
work with his hands, and is better than other people because he is
learned. Education is the handmaid to honest labor. I should be
pleased to have our young females study the fine arts, music,
painting, &c., for which there is fine talent here, but I would not
have them suppose that education in the fine arts alone constitutes
them ladies, or will fit them for the active duties of life. It is
more necessary that they should know themselves and the duties that
will be required of them when they are wives and mothers; to educate
them thus, is a duty that is particularly binding upon mothers.
Let there be a mutual desire in every man to disseminate knowledge,
that all may know. I have always followed out the rule of dispensing
what I know to others, and been blessed in so doing. After all our
endeavors to obtain wisdom from the best books, &c., there still
remains an open fountain for all; "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask
of God." Let every Latter-day Saint constantly practice himself in the
performance of every good word and work, to acknowledge God to be God,
to be strict in keeping his laws and learning to love mercy, eschew
evil, and delight in constantly doing that which is pleasing to God.
This is the only sure way to obtain influence with God and all good
men. I want the fellowship and confidence of those who are justified
before the heavens, and to have this I must walk in the path Christ
has marked out, and let all the rest go their own way. Let all who are
for God and his laws, walk with me and gain influence with those
heavenly powers, and there is no danger but what they will gain
influence with all good persons who labor for the same influence,
which will bear us off conquerors over all our enemies, spiritual and
temporal. May the Lord bless you. Amen.