Journal of Discourses Volume 26

BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR,

HIS COUNSELORS, THE TWELVE APOSTLES AND OTHERS.

REPORTED BY GEO. F. GIBBS, JOHN 
IRVINE AND OTHERS.

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO 
THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS IN ALL THE WORLD.

VOL. XXVI.

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.

LIVERPOOL: 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY DANIEL H. 
WELLS, 42, ISLINGTON.

LONDON: 
LATTER-DAY SAINTS' BOOK DEPOT, 19, 
SUTHERLAND STREET, PIMLICO, LONDON, S. W.

1886.[p.iii] 

Preface

Vol. 26,  p.iii
BY the blessing of our Heavenly Father we are enabled to present to
our readers Volume Twenty-six of the JOURNAL of DISCOURSES.

Vol. 26,  p.iii
It will not be less appreciated because its completion has been some
what delayed by the unsettled condition of things in Utah, caused by
persecution. The First Presidency and many of the Apostles have had to
partially withdraw from public life to avoid the consequences of mock
trials and packed juries with which a prejudiced and wicked judiciary
are seeking to harass the servants of God, and hence public discourses
by these brethren have lately been rare.

Vol. 26,  p.iii
But while power is thus given to our enemies for a little season, when
the purposes of the Almighty have been accomplished thereby, this
temporary cloud will pass away and leave Zion purer, freer and more
powerful than before.

THE PUBLISHER[p.1] 

Franklin D. Richards, October 5, 1884

Blessings Follow Certain Ordinances

Discourse By Apostle F. D. Richards, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 5th, 1884.

(Reported By John Irvine)

[Being the portion omitted in last volume.]

Vol. 26,  p.1
The whole tenor of God's dealings and instructions to His people have
been enriched and adorned with affectionate remembrance, instruction
and illustration of the youth of His people. They are the redeemed of
Christ from before the foundation of the world. Jesus said their
angels or spirits do always behold the face of my Father which is in
heaven. He has promised that they shall come forth in the first
resurrection, that they "shall grow up until they become old," and
when he would demonstrate who should be greatest in the kingdom of
heaven,—He took a little child and placed him in their midst, saying,
"Except ye repent and become as this little child, ye can in no wise
enter therein; but whosoever shall humble himself as this little
child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven; and whosoever
shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me."

Vol. 26,  p.1
In relation to all these matters, there is a great deal of importance
attached to them, not only in the matter of our children—which seems
to be of primary importance to us,—but in the preaching of the Gospel.
We that have ministered in the Gospel have learned of the truth of
that Gospel, and are able to comprehend by the Spirit in some degree
the revelations and commandments which have been given for the
guidance of the Church. It is by virtue of repentance and baptism for
the remission of sins that men's sins are remitted. It is by attending
to certain ordinances that the blessings of eternity are sealed upon
us, and by which in the plain language of the Scriptures, our calling
and election are made sure. But we must obey those ordinances in faith
or their efficacy will not avail. Our Elders go abroad and preach to
the world, and their hearts are filled with charity and loving
kindness towards their fellow creatures. They administer to the sick
among the Saints, and they are often called upon to administer to
those who do not belong to the Church, to whom they administer
according to their faith, and thus the power of faith through the
ordinance of God is made manifest among the children of men.

Vol. 26,  p.1
But there is one ordinance that the Elders may have perhaps neglected
and I do not know but I have myself—and that is, that if we enter a
house and the people thereof receive us, there our peace should abide.
This was the instruction of the Savior in His day; and if we enter
[p.2] a house and the people receive us not, then we should go away
and return not again to that house, and wash our feet with pure water,
as testimony against them in the day of judgment, and thus bear
witness unto the Lord that we have offered them salvation, that we
have sought to preach to them the principles of everlasting life that
we have offered to them the Gospel of peace and desired to administer
unto them a blessing. The same is applicable to a town, village or
city that rejects you. In this way you do your duty and leave them in
the hands of the Lord. You are not called upon to contend with any
body in public congregations, or to do anything that would stir up
wrath and indignation. The Savior simply told his disciples to wash
their feet as a testimony against such people. But the generous,
charitable feeling of our Elders prompts them not to do a thing
against anybody; they would rather pour out a blessing upon the whole
people. Consequently, it is a very rare thing that this ordinance is
attended to by the Elders of this last dispensation—speaking from my
own experience, and conversation had with the brethren. But when it
comes to this, that we are persecuted and our lives taken, it would
seem as if this was a duty depending upon those Elders who are thrust
out, and warned away from their fields of labor. These things have
happened of late, and it seems a duty devolving upon the Elders to do
that which the law requires and leave the responsibility of its
reception or rejection with the people and their God. We have no
quarrel with anybody. We simply preach the Gospel to the inhabitants
of the earth. If they receive it, well and good; if they will not,
then it is a matter between them and their God; but the Lord requires
this duty at the hands of his servants.

Vol. 26,  p.2
Again, we go abroad and gather in many people to this place, and they
desire to find work. One of the brethren has referred to this matter
and likened it unto a man going into a field and working diligently to
plow the field, sow the grain, harrow it in, harvest it, and then
leave it to waste. It is too much so in bringing home our brethren and
our sisters to this country and not furnishing them labor. It is a
very pleasing thought that occasionally companies of 400 or 500
people, or even 1,000, are delivered here from abroad. Why is it
pleasing? Because it shows the work of God is progressing; it shows
that God is gathering home His Saints, and soon after their arrival,
the new comers are taken home by their friends and relatives, and
provided for, made comfortable until another spring, or until they
look around and find or make a home. And it is a blessed thought that,
notwithstanding hundreds and thousands of people are brought here
yearly and cared for, so great a proportion of them live in their own
homes, raise their own cows, pigs, chickens, etc.

Vol. 26,  p.2
Frequently when we go to the Seventies and ask some of them if they
are willing to go on a mission to preach the Gospel, one replies: "I
am no preacher at all; I could not preach a sermon if I were to try:"
and wind up by saying: "If I can't go out myself and preach, I am
willing to help support the families of missionaries while they are
gone." Many have said this, and many more of them have thought it.

Vol. 26,  p.2
The Seventies are a numerous concourse of men who are called in
connection with the Twelve to see [p.3] that the Gospel is carried to
the nations of the earth. Many of them are aged—some having been in
the Church almost from the days of its first organization in Ohio, and
many since the days of Nauvoo—too aged to be called to go upon
missions—yet they could help their brethren coming in to find
employment, and as do the Twelve after having labored in the vineyard
to help gather the harvest, labor together in the threshing floor to
help garner the wheat, clean it, and assist to make it fit for the
Master's use. The younger men, after having secured homes for their
families, feel free to go on missions, knowing that their interests at
home are not being neglected.

Vol. 26,  p.3
If the aged Seventies and all men of experience would interest
themselves in the different parts of the Territory, and find or make
work for the newcomers, they might do a vast deal of good. They might
help their brethren who come in from the old country so obtain a
living. When we first came here every man had to be a farmer, had to
cultivate the land in order to obtain a living. Today many of the
brethren who come from the old country have no idea of farming, and
have never, perhaps raised a chicken, a pig or a cow. The brethren
should take hold, therefore, and assist each other in these things.
Let us help to build each other up more earnestly and more extensively
than we have done. Let us not cultivate feelings of covetousness to
the crowding out of those ennobling and generous sentiments which
should fill the bosom of every Latter-day Saint.

Vol. 26,  p.3
My brethren, you are Elders in Israel, and the blessing and power of
the Priesthood are upon you. Therefore we should do all the good we
can, that those of our brethren who are constantly coming in here may
obtain work, that they may not be led away, through idleness, into
sin, and their hearts be turned away from the Gospel which they have
embraced.

George Q. Cannon, November 20, 1884

Causes that Govern Us in Settling New Places—Our 
Respect for the Constitution of Our Country—We Must not 
Concede Principle for the Privilege of State Government—Practical 
Men Have Held Office—the Kingdom of God Protects All 
Religion—Holding the Priesthood Should not Disqualify 
From Holding Civil Office or Giving Counsel

Discourse By President George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Provo, Sunday Afternoon, Nov. 20th, 1884.

Reported By John Irvine

Vol. 26,  p.3
IN attempting to address you this afternoon, my brethren and sisters,
I trust I shall have the assistance of your faith and prayers, that I
may be led to speak upon those principles that are adapted to your
[p.4] circumstances and wants. We as a people are living at a time
when we need the assistance and direction of the Spirit of God. To be
taught by men and by men's wisdom in our position would be of little
or no avail to us, from the fact that the conditions which surround us
are different in many respects from those which surround every other
people. We are a peculiar people. We are not bound together by
associations such as exist among other peoples. We have not come
together because this land suited us, and was desirable for us to make
a living in, but we have gathered to this land through force of
circumstances over which, to a certain extent, we had no control. We
have come together impelled by motives such as do not operate upon
ordinary people, and having objects to accomplish such as are not
thought of nor labored for by others. Other people, when they form
settlements such as we have in these mountains, are generally drawn
together, if they are new settlements, by the advantages of locality,
by the opportunities for making a living or in creating wealth, or for
some consideration or reason of this character—that is in the first
place. Afterwards, in succeeding generations, they stay there because
it is their birth place, because it is the home in which they have
been reared. But these considerations have not influenced us in our
settlement in these valleys. It is due to none of these causes that we
are organized in communities as we are to-day, but it is due to causes
that are higher and diverse from those that operate upon other people
where they form settlements such as we have done. Hence, this being
our condition, it requires wisdom, it requires strength, it requires
enlightenment from God, to enable us to maintain ourselves upon the
principle that we came here in the beginning for, and to escape the
evils by which we are threatened. We believe that it was God who led
us to this land; that it was God who prepared this land as an abode
for us; that it has been His Almighty power that has preserved us thus
far, and has ameliorated the condition of affairs—that is the soil and
the climate and the water—that has produced changes that have made
this land desirable and a delightful home for us—and that there has
been a purpose and a design in all this, and that we have been the
instruments in the hands of God of working out and accomplishing that
design up to the present time. Hence there is, as I have said, a
necessity that we should receive from the same source that has
hitherto guided us, continued guidance and continued instruction, so
that we shall not stop hallway in the work that we have undertaken,
but by divine help be able to accomplish it.

Vol. 26,  p.4
There were some reflections that passed through my mind as I sat in
your meeting this morning concerning the circumstances which surround
us, that if I can get the Spirit I would like to speak upon.

Vol. 26,  p.4
In the first place it will not do to judge or measure us by the
standards that obtain among other people, and by which people are
measured in other places. To form a correct judgment of the Latter-day
Saints, men must understand the motives which prompt them to action,
the considerations which affect them, and the objects they have in
view to accomplish; to form a correct estimate of our character these
all must be taken into consideration. But it is often the case that we
are measured by standards that do not apply to us, which may very well
answer for [p.5] measuring other people and other communities, but not
for us, and in consequence of this we are frequently misjudged, and
men and women come to incorrect conclusions respecting us. Fault is
constantly found with us by our enemies because of these peculiarities
which they do understand, or which if they do not understand, they pay
no attention to. For instance, it is frequently said to us that we are
a disloyal people, that we are not friends to the government, that we
respect a power and an authority in our midst which we consider
paramount to the authority of the government; and because of the
circulation of this accusation and its wide-spread belief, we are
refused rights to which we are fully entitled, which belong to us,
which should not be withheld from or denied to us. It is very
remarkable when we think about our numbers, how few we are,
comparatively speaking,—it is very remarkable that there should be
such jealousy entertained about us as there is. Pharaoh and the
Egyptians were never more afraid apparently of the great power of the
children of Israel in their midst than our fellow-citizens, and many
of them too that are in high places, appear to be afraid of us. They
seem to look upon us as aliens, as an alien power, and treat us
accordingly, when there is not the least justification for doing so.

Vol. 26,  p.5
Now, you remember, doubtless, Pharaoh's treatment of the Israelites,
He saw that they were increasing, and he became alarmed. "Why," said
he, "If we were going to have a war, these Israelites are becoming so
numerous they may join our enemies and take away our kingdom from us.
We must stop their increase." And he counseled with his people as to
the best method to stop this increase. He issued a decree that all
male children that were born of the Israelites should be destroyed and
cast into the river Nile, but that the female children should be
spared. In this way he hoped to check the increase of the children of
Israel in Egypt. There is nothing in history that has come down to us
to furnish grounds or justification for this cruel action on the part
of this king. But this action was well adapted to force the children
of Israel into the feeling that the government under which they lived
was a harsh, a cruel and an unfriendly government, and to create
antipathy in their breasts against it. In this way this tyrant—as all
tyrants have ever della—in trying to accomplish the object he had in
view, took the very means to bring upon himself and his nation the
evils that he dreaded; because if he had desired to make the
Israelites join the enemies of the nation and be traitors in the midst
of the kingdom he could not have taken a more effective method than
that which he did take.

Vol. 26,  p.5
And so it is with us. If we had not had a profound attachment to the
Constitution of the United States and to the institutions of this
government, the course that is taken against us by those who have
represented the government has been and is of a character to have
driven us into open and avowed enmity to the government years and
years ago. Without that deep-rooted attachment we should have lost all
our respect for a government under which we have suffered such cruel
wrongs. There could be no better evidence of the kind feeling and the
loyalty of the Latter-day Saints to the government of the United
States, than the fact that in our breasts and throughout these
mountains, there prevails an unquenchable love and [p.6] respect for
the Constitution and the institutions that spring therefrom,
notwithstanding we have been denied our rights and been treated with
the utmost cruelty. There is scarcely an act of oppression that could
be practiced that we have not had to endure, from the time the church
of which we are members, was organized up to the present time. We have
been falsely accused of all kinds of crimes, have been mobbed and
repeatedly driven from our homes with the entire loss of our property,
have been outraged, warred upon, subjected to violence of almost every
description, and murdered. One by one our rights have been assailed.
We have been stripped of them under forms of law; we have been denied
justice, and treated with extreme vindictiveness. Our families—if
those who had the execution of the laws in their hands could have
accomplished it—would have been rent asunder; wives would have been
torn from their husbands, children from their parents; households
would have been destroyed; distrust and enmity and hatred would have
been engendered in the breasts of the people one towards another—that
is, if the measures that have been framed against us could have been
successfully carried out as they were designed by those who framed
them. Just think of it! Think of the manner the women of this
community have been tempted to turn traitors to their husbands and
their friends! Every inducement possible has been offered to them to
turn against and betray their husbands, and the seeds of enmity have
been sown, or have endeavored to be sown, in the breasts of families,
and of children against parents, and against each other, throughout
the entire land. When you contemplate all these acts, they equal in
cruelty and perfidy, and inhumanity, any of the acts of which we read
in the Scriptures. Men are shocked when they read the story of the
treatment of the Israelites by Pharaoh. All the preachers throughout
the land, when they read that, comment more or less upon it to their
congregations, and talk about the cruelty of which that king was
guilty, and praise the Israelites, and praise Moses for that which
they did. At the same time they are guilty themselves of as great
crimes. They are guilty of inciting a government against its
citizens—its peaceful citizens—and stirring up the government to acts
of harshness, of cruelty, and even some of them go so far as to defend
the use of the army by the government to destroy a peaceful people
from the face of the earth.

Vol. 26,  p.6
Now, as I have said, no people in the world have given greater proofs
of attachment to their own government, and of devotion to those sacred
principles of liberty that we have inherited than the Latter-day
Saints have done in these mountains. But, as I have said, the cry is
still that we are disloyal; that we unite church and state; that we
have an authority in our midst that we respect and obey, while we
disregard the civil authority of the land. These things are a frequent
cause of complaint against us, and we are denied our rights. We
to-day, should be a State. This Territory of Utah should be one of the
United States. We should have the right to elect our own Governor, to
elect our own Judges, to elect every officer in fact that executes the
laws or has anything to do with the administration of the government
in our own land. We have been here 37 years, and during 34 years of
that [p.7] time we have been an organized Territorial government,
longer than any other community on the continent except New Mexico,
which was organized at the same time. Other Territories have sprung up
and had speedy recognition as States, and are now numbered as members
of the Union years after we settled this country. There is no good
reason why we should not have had this same right granted unto us; no
good reason whatever. We have shown our capability for good
government, for maintaining good government. Our Territory to day is
an example for maintaining to all the Territories and to many States,
so far as good government is concerned, and freedom from debt, and
everything in fact that makes life enjoyable and easy for the citizen.
We are lightly taxed, and we have maintained ourselves without aid
from the general government or from any other community; while other
communities that have had nothing like the difficulties to contend
with that we have had, have been beggars either at the door of the
National Congress, or of their neighboring States and their fellow
citizens. When other places were visited by grasshoppers, the whole
land resounded with appeals for aid; but though we for five years in
succession, in some of our settlements, had crops destroyed by the
same cause, yet no wail went up from Utah, asking the nation for help.
We have been so independent, and so disposed to sustain ourselves, and
to fight our own battles with the difficulties that environed us, that
we have managed to get along without having recourse to this method of
obtaining assistance, and in this respect our course has been
unexampled.

Vol. 26,  p.7
Now, as I say, there is no good reason why we should not have been
admitted as a State in the Union, except for the reason, and that has
no foundation in truth, that we are not to be trusted, that we are in
such a condition that if we were to get a State government there would
be danger resulting from that grant of power unto us. Of course all of
you, my brethren and sisters, know how untrue this is, how utterly
without foundation such accusations are, but, nevertheless, they are
listened to and believed.

Vol. 26,  p.7
Efforts have been made among us to change this condition of affairs.
There have been, and still are, perhaps, some who call themselves
Latter-day Saints, who are almost ready to lend themselves to any
scheme that has for its object the obtaining of a State organization
for Utah. Such persons look upon this as so great a blessing and so
great a boon, that they are almost willing to forego their religious
belief and to pander to those who have got power, and to make some
sort of a concession to them, in order to achieve this, what they
consider, very desirable end. There has been some agitation in years
past respecting plural marriage, and some people, calling themselves
Latter-day Saints, have been almost ready to go into the open market,
and bid for a State government, at the price of conceding this
principle of our religion, for the privilege of becoming a State of
the Union. Those who are ready to do this are ready also to cast off
obedience to the Priesthood of the Son of God, and to say, "We do not
believe that men who hold an office in the Church should have any
voice in the affairs of the State." They are ready to sell out their
belief as Latter-day Saints, and their veneration and reverence for
that power which God has restored, for the sake of obtaining a little
recognition [p.8] of their rights as citizens, on the part of those in
power. It does not require much familiarity with the Spirit of God, or
with the principles of our holy religion to understand exactly the
position that such persons as these to whom I allude, occupy among us.
When a man is ready to barter any principle of salvation for worldly
advantage, that man certainly has reached the position that he esteems
worldly advantage above eternal salvation. Can such persons retain the
Spirit of God, and take such a course as this? No, they cannot. That
other spirit will lead such persons astray, and they will be left to
themselves. Will there be such persons continue among us and be
associated with us? I do not question it. I expect we shall have such
characters with us, during our future career as we have had in the
past. We have had all sorts of people connected with this Church. As
the work rolls forth, as it increases in numbers, so will these
characters increase—that is, for a certain time, until the day comes
when the kingdom of God and the reign of righteousness shall be fully
ushered in.

Vol. 26,  p.8
Now, regarding this accusation that is made concerning the Priesthood:
It is the most common charge that is made against us that we listen to
the Priesthood, that we are more obedient to the Priesthood than we
are to those who hold civil authority. The question may be very
properly asked: Have we not had good reason for this? Should we not be
most consummate fools it we did not listen to our friends instead of
our enemies? From the time that President Young was superseded as
Governor of this Territory, until the present time, what kind of
officers have we had sent into our midst to administer the affairs of
the government? Has there been a man who has come here as Governor,
who has had the ability, even if he had the disposition, to guide and
to counsel the people of this Territory, and to manage its affairs as
well as the men among us who have had leading positions in the
Priesthood? Why, there is not an instance of the kind. You take the
best disposed Governor we have had—and they are easily mentioned, the
few that we have had who have been well disposed—you take them and
compare them with the men who laid the foundation of this
commonwealth, who laid the foundation of this Territorial government,
and built up this government, and there is no comparison between them.
So that, aside from every other consideration, men are ustified in
seeking wisdom and guidance at the best fountain, at the best source.
If I want counsel I will go to the men who are fitted to give me
counsel. If I were not a Latter-day Saint it would make no difference
to me who the person was if lie could give me good counsel. If he was
a man of ripe experience I would feel justified in going to that man
and getting his advice.

Vol. 26,  p.8
This has been our position as a people. We have had men among us who
have proved themselves in the best possible manner, beyond dispute, to
to be entirely capable of directing and managing and counseling in all
matters that pertain to our earthly existence. Have they not shown
this through years and years of experience? The people have proved
them. Now, would not the people be great fools, would it not be the
height of folly for people who have this knowledge to say: "No, I
won't ask these men for counsel; I won't go to them for advice; I
won't listen to anything they say, because [p.9] if I do so, I am
listening to the Priesthood; but I will go to somebody who does not
know anything; I will go to some"—I was going to say
ass—(laughter)—for if ever men have proved themselves to be fools, it
has been some of our governmental officials—"I will go to some man of
this kind and ask his counsel, and have him to tell me what to do,
because I am anxious to show that I am loyal to the government of the
United States."

Vol. 26,  p.9
Now, would you not call any man who would do this an idiot, when he
could have got good counsel from his friends; when he would turn his
back on his friends, and go to somebody for counsel who did not know
anything, not as much as he, the person, did himself about the
question he submitted to him? I would say, and you would say, that
people who would do such a thing were little less than idiots.

Vol. 26,  p.9
Well, now, what crime are we guilty of? If we have men among us who
have more experience than they, and who have proved themselves capable
of guiding the people, what crime are we guilty of in giving heed to
their counsel and seeking it? Because they hold the Priesthood are
their mouths to be stopped up so that they cannot speak; are they to
be deprived of the rights of citizenship, and all the rights that men
have that are born free, because they hold the Priesthood? Is that a
good reason? A more senseless reason never was given. If these
government officials and these men that represent the government are
so much better and so much more capable of guiding the people, and
have so much greater right to be listened to and obeyed, let them show
it by their works. When they have proved it, I suppose there will be
no lack of disposition on the part of the people to go to them, and to
listen to them, and to expect from them all the necessary teachings
and counsels. There will be no lack of disposition on the part of
sensible men and women such as we profess to be; but until they do
this, until they show this capability and this power, they had better
hold their tongues and say nothing about others leading the people.
The fact is this, and it is apparent to all of us, that there are
certain men who can destroy much easier than they can build up. It
required a great deal of skill to build the Temple at Ephesus: it
required the highest skill in architecture: but a fool destroyed it
with a little blaze. It takes men to build up, but children can burn
down and destroy. It takes men to build a commonwealth, and lay the
foundation of that which we see around us; it takes labor and years of
experience and wisdom to accomplish such results; but any poor
creature that is half-witted can destroy all these labors in a very
short time, and those that have come among us in too many instances
representing the government have been men of this calibre; they would
like to destroy, tear down, and reduce to chaos. That would suit them
far better than it would to build up.

Vol. 26,  p.9
My brethren and sisters, I would like to have us as a people look at
these matters, if we can, from a sensible point, from the standpoint
of common sense and reason, and not allow ourselves to be diverted
from the course that we have adopted by the outcry that is made
against us and by the howls that are raised about us. It would be
exceedingly foolish for us to do so.

Vol. 26,  p.10
God has given unto us, as we believe and as we testify, His
Gospel;[p.10] He has given unto us His Church; lie has given unto us
the authority by which men and women are led into His Church and
governed in His Church—the authority which He Himself recognizes and
the only authority that He has given to man on the earth to act in His
stead. We believe this, we testify of it. At the same time while we
have this belief, and form ourselves into a Church organization, we
never have at any time in our history attempted to make our Church
organization the only organization and the dominant organization in
matters that pertain to every day affairs and to civil government.
There has always been among the Latter-day Saints, great respect shown
for civil authority, and for the laws of the land. In fact, as soon as
possible after our first settlement here, a Legislature was organized
and the provisional government of Deseret was formed, when there was
no one but Latter-day Saints in the country at the time. We could have
been governed by our Church organization; it was sufficient for our
purpose during the winter of 1847-8, and daring the summer of 1848. It
was quite sufficient. There was no other organization. But as soon as
the Pioneers returned, President Young and the rest of the
brethren—there was no time lost in organizing a civil government—the
Provisional Government of the State of Deseret—and laws were enacted
in due form by the civil authority, and from that day until the
present it has been respected and honored among us, and will be from
this time forward, as long as this people exist. There is no people on
the face of the earth that draw a nicer distinction than we between
that which belongs to the Church and that which belongs to the State,
But it is frequently said—and I have had to meet it often in my life
time, particularly in Washington; they have said and do say, "Why,
your Probate Judges are Elders and Bishops, and your other officials
hold offices in the Church."

Vol. 26,  p.10
Well, is this a crime? Is there anything in the law or the
Constitution of our country, or is there anything else that is
recognized as binding among men that would prevent Elders and Bishops
from holding office? I do not know of anything. I do not know that a
man is any worse for being a Bishop or an Elder, or any more unfitted
for civil employment, or the discharge of civil functions, than if he
were not a Bishop or an Elder, especially among a people organized as
we are. As I say this charge has been frequently brought against us in
my hearing, and I have had to meet it before committees of Congress
and elsewhere. The reply I have made to such charges is this: that
among the Latter-day Saints in Utah every reputable man in the
community bears some office in the Church. As soon as he arrives at a
sufficient age if be is a reputable man he receives an ordination in
the Priesthood. The best and the most active men in our community are
the men who become prominent in Church affairs. Our Bishops live
without salaries, or support from the people, they, before being
chosen, having shown their ability to sustain themselves. They are not
like members of other denominations who are a burden to the people, or
who receive an education especially for those duties, and thus live by
the salaries that are furnished them by the members of their
congregation. In a community where there is a class of that kind there
may be some propriety in saying that ministers [p.11] of religion
shall not take part in the affairs of state, although there is nothing
of that kind said anywhere in the constitution or the laws; but there
may be some propriety in saying this where men are educated especially
for the ministry—where they devote themselves to that labor and
withdraw themselves from the practical affairs of life and depend upon
their parishioners furnishing them support. There might be some
propriety in saying to a class of that kind, "you are not fit to take
part in civil affairs, and the practical, every day affairs of life,
because of your calling and because of the nature of your duties." But
we say there is great impropriety in saying that those who labor in
the ministry among us shall not take part; for this reason: that all
the men among us who are the most practical, the most energetic, and
the most business like—from these men the ministers are chosen, that
is, men who labor in the ministry as Bishops, as Elders, as
missionaries, and in other capacities. They have proved that they are
capable of sustaining themselves by their own efforts, and at the same
time devote a certain portion of their time to public affairs. Hence,
you will find among us as a rule that our Bishops are all practical
men; our Presidents of Stakes and their Counselors, and the Bishops
and their Counselors, the Teachers and others, are all active business
men among us. They have gained experience, and because of that they
are sometimes chosen to fill local offices. Take the Legislature of
Utah Territory, composed as it has been of some holding positions in
the Church, and you will find a body of practical men, the superiors
of whom are not to be found—I say it without fear of truthful
contradiction—anywhere in any Legislature in this country, men who
understand the wants of their constituents and of the people, and the
kind of laws that are best adapted to them. I have had some experience
in mingling with men in public life, and I must say that for practical
wisdom, and for a knowledge of the affairs of the country and of the
people represented in Utah Territory, there was found, previous to the
passage of the Edmunds law, a class of men that had not their
superiors anywhere in this land, for practical wisdom and the ability
necessary to lay the foundation, and to perpetuate the institutions of
a great country.

Vol. 26,  p.11
Is it wrong for men who have the Priesthood, and who act in this
capacity, to act in civil offices and to let the people have the
benefit of their experience in these matters—is there any wrong in
this? I can see none, and I am sure that no man who is a true friend
to his country can. There is no good reason why these men should be
excluded; in fact there is every reason why they should be invited to
take part in establishing the affairs of the country. I have often
said, in speaking to our brethren and sisters in various parts of the
Territory, that that which we behold to-day in our Territory—the good
order, the peace, the freedom from debt, the lightness of taxation,
and all the circumstances that are so favorable to us as a people, are
due to the men who have borne the Priesthood, commencing with
President Brigham Young, his Counselors, and the Twelve Apostles, and
the leading men in Israel—the circumstances which surround us, I say,
are due to the wisdom that God has given unto them in managing these
affairs. At the same time, because this is [p.12] the case, there is
no necessity that there should be a blending of church and state.
There is no necessity for this; it is not wise to blend church and
state. I do not believe that as members of the Church we should pass
decrees or laws that would bind other people. I have no such belief,
never did have. I do not think I ever shall have. But because a man is
a member of a church, and because a man is a servant of God, and
because a man bears the Priesthood of the Son of God, he should not be
prevented because of that from acting in any civil capacity, from
taking part in civil matters and executing the laws that are enacted
by civil authority.

Vol. 26,  p.12
The province of the Kingdom of God that Daniel saw, the kingdom that
would be established in the last days, is to be as a shield to the
Latter-day Saints, to be as a bulwark around about that Church, and
around about that Church alone? No. The apostate will have his civil
rights under that kingdom. The non-Mormon, or Gentile as he is called,
will have his rights under that kingdom. The Chinaman, the negro, and
the Indian each of them will have his rights under that kingdom, and
yet not be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A good many of our people confound the Kingdom of God with the Church
of God. Now there is a very wide distinction between the two. A man
may, in one sense, be a member of the Church of Christ, and not a
member of the Kingdom of God. The two organizations are entirely
distinct. The Kingdom of God when it shall prevail in the earth—as it
will do—will be the civil power which will shield and protect the
Church of Christ against every attack, against every unlawful
aggression, against every attempt to deprive it of its legitimate
rights. At the same time it will protect the Methodist just as much as
it will the Latter-day Saint; it will protect the Roman Catholic just
as much as it will the Methodist; it will protect men of every creed;
it will protect the worshipper of idols in his civil rights, in his
rights as a man and as a citizen. A man may be an infidel; a man may
have been a Latter-day Saint, and denied the faith and lost his
standing in the Church of God, and yet so far as the civil authority
is concerned, so far as the power that is wielded by that which we
call the Kingdom of God is concerned, that man will receive the
amplest protection; he will have the fullest enjoyment of his rights.

Vol. 26,  p.12
President Taylor told us this morning—told us as plainly as it could
be told—the manner in which all men should be treated. And that is the
design of God; and therein our friends in the east are trampling upon
the true principles of liberty in their attacks upon us, and in their
treatment of us. Such treatment will just as surely bring down
condemnation and destruction upon a government that practices these
things, as that the setting of the sun will bring darkness upon the
earth. It is not possible for men to continue in such a course of
oppression and wrong doing as has been pursued by our fellow citizens
that have had the reins of government in their hands, without
involving themselves in trouble. It is impossible that they can
perpetuate their power, and conduct themselves as they have been doing
towards us and towards others. There are eternal principles of justice
that cannot be violated without injury to the person who violates
them. A government [p.13] that lends itself to the oppression of its
citizens, will sooner or later receive punishment. That which it sows
it will reap. It will be a harvest that will be most bitter and
sorrowful for those who reap it.

Vol. 26,  p.13
We are now citizens of this Territory. We fled here. As Latter-day
Saints we came here as exiles, seeking for a home in the wilderness.
God led us to this land, in which, notwithstanding all that maybe said
to the contrary, we have laid the foundation of this Territory, we
have made this land a peaceful, a happy land. There is no man in the
country, no matter what his creed may be, that is oppressed or has
been oppressed by the Latter-day Saints. We have not been tyrannical
in the exercise of our power. We have not discriminated against those
not of us. We have given them the same rights that we have ourselves.
The same peace that we have desired to enjoy we have been willing that
they should enjoy, and we have extended these privileges to them in
common with ourselves. We have sought in no manner to interfere with
their belief, nor with the exercise of it. The Roman Catholic in Salt
Lake City, has been as unmolested as the Latter-day Saint has been. We
may not believe in their religion; we may think the Methodist religion
a poor religion to believe in and practice, and so with other forms of
religion; but while we believe this, we have no right, neither have we
ever exercised any power towards restraining them or restricting them,
or in any manner depriving them of the free exercise of their rights
of conscience and of faith, and no government can stand and prosper
that will do it upon this land, for God has made promises concerning
this land that no government can stand that will do this. None of us
has any right to interfere with the faith and the worship of our
fellow citizens, unless their faith and their worship interfere with
our rights. That is a proposition that is easily comprehended. If I do
not interfere with any man's right by my worship, and by that which I
consider right to do to my Maker, no man has any right under any form
of government to interfere with me.

Vol. 26,  p.13
Hence it is that all this action concerning marriage is wrong—this
interference with marriage—it is all wrong from beginning to end,
especially in view of the fact that it is an important principle of
our religion. We are ready to testify that our belief in marriage and
our practice of it, is interwoven with our hopes of eternal salvation.
Select every man who has had more wives than one and retained the
faith of the Gospel; take him and his wives and interrogate them
respecting their faith, and every one would say: "this principle is
so-intimately interwoven with my hopes of eternal salvation, that I
would be afraid that I would be damned if I did not obey it." I
believe that in nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand
where people are in the faith they would make this response.

Vol. 26,  p.13
Well, now, what right has any number of people—there may be unnumbered
millions who say this is not religion—but what right have they to do
this? If there was only one person on the face of the earth that
entertained that belief, and he were alone and all the rest of mankind
were opposed to him, it would be just as precious to him as if
millions entertained a belief in common with him. Therefore,[p.14]
because there are millions who say it is not religion, this does not
make it so. We testify in the most solemn manner that it is a part of
our religion, and that we cannot forego this principle without feeling
that we forego our salvation, our eternal exaltation, by so doing.

Vol. 26,  p.14
Then the question arises in the practice of this principle—do those
who practice it infringe upon the rights of their fellow citizens? Is
society disturbed? Are there wrongs done to society at large by the
practice of this principle? Let those who have lived among us answer
this question. There never was a more peaceful society than our
society—that is, not for the past few hundred years at least. Go
through our settlements, and is there quarreling, is there strife, are
there bad examples set to the rising generation, is impurity taught,
or any examples of impurity shown? No, there is not. We all know this,
and we know that in practicing our religion we do not infringe upon
the rights of our fellow-citizens.

Vol. 26,  p.14
But this attempt has been made just as it was in ancient days. I look
upon it as a revival of the same spirit that prompted Pharaoh to seek
the destruction of the male children among the Israelites. If we were
guilty of those crimes so fashionable in the world whereby the
increase of families is prevented, I do not suppose there would be one
word said about our system of marriage; I have no idea there would be.
But the fact that we do raise children—the fact that our houses and
settlements are full of healthy offspring, is a standing protest
against the crimes of the age; it is a standing protest against those
abominable practices that are destroying the foundation of many
communities within the confines of the United States, and they are
determined—those who are guilty of these things—that we shall not
exist. The loudest outcry against us, and the most devoted efforts
against us, come from the region where these dreadful practices
prevail, where women murder their offspring befor they are born, are
guilty of this pre-natal murder, among the people of the United States
who think themselves the most enlightened. Twenty-five years ago when
I was laboring in the ministry in that region I visited one of the
towns, and the President of the branch of the Saints there, (an old
resident, whose ancestors were among the first settlers of the town)
told me his wife was continually jeered at—and this was 25 years
ago—by her associates, because she bore children, and bore them
regularly—that she did not take means to prevent the increase of her
family! If I had not known him I could scarcely have believed it, it
was too horrid. I have learned since, however, that that is a common
practice in that region. The feature of that society that impresses
most vividly a traveler from Utah is the fewness of children in what
are called the best families. And yet it is from there that the
principal outcry is raised against us, and the determination expressed
to break up our families and to destroy us.

Vol. 26,  p.14
God has gathered a few people out from the nations of the earth, out
of Babylon. But shall they partake of these influences? I say to you,
my sisters, you teach your daughters against this accursed practice,
or they will go to hell, they will be damned, they will be murderers,
and the blood of innocence will be found upon them. A man that [p.15]
would sanction such a thing in his family, or that would live with a
woman guilty of such acts, shares in the crime of murder. I would no
more perform the ordinance of laying on of hands on a woman who is
guilty of that crime, if I knew it, than I would put my hands on the
head of a rattlesnake. We must set our faces like flint against such
acts. These dreadful practices are coming up like a tidal wave and
washing against our walls; for there are women among us who
secretly—so I am told, I know nothing about this personally, but I am
told there are women among us who are instilling this murderous and
accursed idea into the breasts of women and girls in our midst. Now
just as sure as it is done, and people yield to it, so sure will they
be damned, they will be damned with the deepest damnation; because it
will be the damnation of shedding innocent blood, for which there is
no forgiveness; and I would no more, as I say, administer to such
women, baptize them, or perform any ordinance of the Gospel for them,
than I would for a reptile. They are outside the pale of salvation.
They are in a position that nothing can be done for them. They cut
themselves off by such acts from all hopes of salvation.

Vol. 26,  p.15
As a people we should encourage marriage. I am always delighted when I
hear President Taylor speak as he did this morning on the principle of
brothers taking their brothers' widows to wife. There are many young
women among us pining away, that should be mothers in Israel, that
should be raising posterity, because the brothers are so indifferent
to the rights that belong to the institution of marriage as to let
these young women stay in this condition. And there is one thing that
I am impressed with, and that is, there will be considerable
condemnation rest down upon the Elders of this Church for their
neglect in these matters. Women are led astray and fall into the hands
of wicked men because of relatives to the dead neglecting to do that
which is their duty; acting as though the Lord cannot reward a man for
keeping His law. "Oh," says a man, and as President Taylor has
remarked, "I want to raise up a family for myself." He forgets God can
bless him sad his seed after him. Look at the case of Boaz and Ruth.
He took Ruth, who was the wife of his kinsman. She had no children,
but he took her when another kinsman who had a prior right to her,
rejected her. From that alliance sprang the noblest men that were in
Israel—Ohed, Jesse, David, Solomon, and through Boaz and Ruth came the
Son of God. And that was a proxy case, as it is called. Ruth was the
wife of Boaz's kinsman who had died. Boaz took her to wife, and raised
up an honorable posterity. And it is a wicked thing among us to allow
such cases to go uncared for. A young woman is left a widow, sometimes
without a son to represent her deceased husband; she should be cared
for, and not left to fall into bad hands, as frequently is the case
among us for the want of care on the part of those whose duty it is to
attend to such matters.

Vol. 26,  p.15
My brethren and sisters, God is watching over us, and He holds us to a
strict accountability for the things He has revealed to us. He has
revealed to us eternal principles. Let us be faithful to that
Priesthood which He has gives unto us; let us honor it, and not be
intimidated by the outcry that is raised against us that we are doing
wrong because [p.16] we listen to the Priesthood. There is no such
thing as wrong connected with this. God has inspired His servants, and
has given them wisdom to manage the affairs of this people, and to
guide them in spiritual matters. They have tull authority to do this,
and they will do it if the people will listen to them, and then in
temporal matters they will guide them as far as they have the
opportunity. Because they are Priests of the Most High God, they are
no worse for that; they are not handicapped because they have the
Priesthood. In a civil capacity they can act as fairly, justly,
wisely, as those who do not have the Priesthood. They do not act with
any less wisdom or any less power because they have the Priesthood
than they would do if they did not have it. I have heard so much of
this sort of talk that to me it is perfectly ridiculous. They talk
about our management of elections, and management of other affairs. I
will tell you my experience, and I have had some experience in these
matters. I have attended caucuses elsewhere; I know the machinery that
is used; I know the wire pulling; I have seen it in operation, and I
say to you that there is not the interference on the part of leading
men here with the will of this people that there is in the States in
political circles. And I tell you this: that leading men in other
communities seek to exercise more influence and lay their plans to
have their wishes carried out to a far greater extent than the leading
men of this community do among us—I mean those who have the
Priesthood. There is a disposition on the part of the leading
Priesthood to let the people have their way, not to interfere with
their selections. There is that disposition, and it is encouraged, and
the desire is to have all the people be wise and exercise wisdom, and
have the Spirit of God to discern who are suitable for office. If the
people could do this I can tell you that President Taylor and his
Counselors, and the Twelve, and the other leading men of Israel would
be very glad indeed. But you know as well as we do that there are
unwise men among us who would, if they had the power, destroy the
people; not because they would design to do it, but because of their
ignorance; they are ignorant and would do it, without knowing what the
consequences would be; and on this account it is right that
experienced men should give the people the benefit of their knowledge,
not however, interfering with the rights of the people, not in the
least; and it never has been done, at least within my knowledge, in my
public experience among the people. And I repeat there has been less
of this among us, considering the influence the Priesthood have, than
in any other community or any other people that I am acquainted with
anywhere in the land. I wanted to say this much, because I know there
is a great deal of misapprehension upon these points. There are men,
agitators, who talk about interference on the part of the Priesthood,
and try to breed disturbance and confusion among the people, unsettle
their minds and have them think there is something very wrong going on
here. I speak of it to remove these wrong impressions, and to disabuse
the minds of those who entertain them, for they are not correct. There
are more caucuses, more plans, more pipe laying, more log rolling,
more wire pulling in the States in one day, than you will see in a
month or a year among us. They resort to all sorts of devices to get
their man elected under promise [p.17] of preferment and office. Why,
there is scarcely a man that gets an office in the United States that
is not bound by pledges of this kind. A man cannot be Speaker of the
House of Representatives, without being hampered by promises he is
compelled to give in order to get the position, promises to put this
man on this committee, and the other man upon another committee, some
to be chairmen of committees, and so on. So with the President of the
United States. Probably Grover Cleveland will be an exception, because
he has not been much in public life: but it is a rule that the
nominees of the different parties give certain promises as to what
they will do, and who will get leading positions. They are just as
much fettered as though chains were on their wrists and ankles. They
cannot move only in a certain direction. All freedom is taken away. A
President is nearly killed after he gets his position in endeavoring
to satisfy the clamors and wishes of those who claim they elected him
to office. This is the case all through the government. There is no
office, even to that of a constable, but is obtained in the same way.

Vol. 26,  p.17
I hope we shall never be in such a position as this, for it would lead
to the destruction of liberty and free government among us, if we
should ever give way to these things. Let men go into office free and
untrammelled. Let them be elected because they are the men most
suitable, and not because they want the office. Let us, as a people,
endeavor to find men who do not seek for office, and who do not want
it, but who take it because it is the wish of their fellow citizens.
And let us keep our salaries so low that men will not scramble for
office and live on the people as office-holders, than which there is
nothing more hateful in a free land.

Vol. 26,  p.17
I pray God to fill you with the Holy Ghost, to guide you in the path
of righteousness, to enable you to avoid the many evils abroad in the
world, and as Zion progresses to avoid evils that will crowd upon us;
because as Zion increases there will be new temptations and
circumstances thrown around us that will be a trial to us, unless we
have the aid of our God to help us contend with and overcome them; and
that we may have this aid is my prayer in the name of Jesus,
Amen.[p.18] 

Charles W. Penrose, November 16, 1884

The Personality of God—Vagueness of the Common Idea 
of Deity—Who and What God Is—the Spirits of Men the Offspring 
of God—Spirit not Immaterial—the Trinity Creed of 
Christendom—Man May Become Like 
God in His Glory

Discourse Delivered By Elder Charles W. Penrose, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, November 16, 1884.

(Reported By Arthur Winter)

Vol. 26,  p.18
THE remarks which have been made to us this afternoon by Bishop
Preston are of a practical nature and calculated to lead our minds to
reflection upon our duties as Latter-day Saints.

Vol. 26,  p.18
The religion of God is a practical religion, and God is a real and
practical being. It has been stated by one of our leading men that God
is "a business God," and many remarks have been made concerning that
expression by persons opposed to us, with the desire of turning it to
ridicule. It has not been stated by any of our brethren that God is
only a business God, but the remark was made with reference to some of
his attributes and of His works. The people of the present day who
profess to believe in God, generally speaking, have very little idea
in regard to what He is. They consider that He is incomprehensible.
Their ideas concerning Him are very vague, and the attempts which have
been made to explain God to the children of men, by persons who claim
to be teachers of religion, and to have authority to speak in the name
of the Lord, are of such a character that no one can understand them.
The reason of this is because those persons who have attempted to make
an explanation have not understood the subject themselves; and when a
person does not understand a thing it is very difficult for him to try
and make somebody else understand it. Now, I do not pretend to say
that there is anybody living who fully and entirely comprehends God;
but there are many people living who have some definite ideas
concerning Him, concerning His attributes, concerning His ways,
concerning His will; and what they understand they are at liberty to
declare and to try and make other people understand, particularly if
they are called upon by the Lord, and authorized by Him so to do.
People very frequently refer to that passage of Scripture which says:
"God is a spirit," and as their notions concerning what spirit is, are
not very clear, that passage of Scripture does not make very plain to
their understanding what God is. People, generally speaking, have an
idea that spirit is something intangible, something that cannot [p.19]
be comprehended, nor seen, nor handled; that it is far different in
every respect from anything that is material; in fact, the
philosophers and theologians call spirit "immaterial substance." Now,
this is for want of knowing better. Men in these times, like men in
former days, have tried to find out God and the things of God by human
wisdom and learning, and they have failed: for "man by searching," the
Scripture says, "cannot find out God." But God can manifest Himself to
man · and if God chooses to make Himself manifest to His children they
can measurably comprehend Him. But in their mortal state, in this
state of probation in which we live, mankind cannot fully grasp Deity
to comprehend Him as He is in His majesty, and might, and power and
glory; but, as I said, they can measurably comprehend God when He
manifests Himself to them, and they can understand Him to the extent
that He manifests. Himself to them.

Vol. 26,  p.19
According to the hook called the Bible, God the Eternal Father has
manifested Himself at different times to individuals living upon the
face of this earth, and according to the testimony of the Latter-day
Saints, God has manifested Himself in this age of the world in a
similar way to men whom He culled and appointed to act in His name;
and from what we read of God's revelations in former days as well as
in latter days, we learn that He is a person, an individual: that He
is not a myth, not an imaginary being, but a reality, and that He is
in the form and likeness of man, or in other words, that man is made
in the image of God. In the opening book of the Bible, in the very
first chapter of that book, we read: "And God said, Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness.  *  *  *  *  So God created man in His
own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created
he them." God is a spirit; but it does not follow that because God is
a spirit, He lies no form, no shape, no extent, no limit; or that He
can be, as an individual, in every place at the same time, as many
people imagine. We are told that God dwells in heaven, and when Jesus
Christ was upon the earth He always taught His disciples that their
Father was in heaven. He said that as He came from the Father so He
was going back to the Father. This individual, then, has a location, a
place of residence. He occupies a certain position, He dwells in the
heavens, and He made math in His image, in His likeness. Jesus, we are
told, was in the "express image" of His Father's person. When He was
upon the earth He came to represent His Father, and we are told
concerning Him, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God." And the Apostle Paul, who makes this
declaration, advised his brethren to have the same mind in them that
was in Christ Jesus:

Vol. 26,  p.19
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus;

Vol. 26,  p.19
"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God;

Vol. 26,  p.19
"But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men;

Vol. 26,  p.19
"And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;

Vol. 26,  p.19
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name
which is above every name;

Vol. 26,  p.20
"That at the name of Jesus,[p.20] every knee should how, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things trader the earth;

Vol. 26,  p.20
"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.—Philipplans li, v. 2."

Vol. 26,  p.20
Now Jesus, who was in the form of God, was only one of the sons of
God. He called His disciples His brethren, and He impressed upon them
the great fact that His Father was their Father, that His God was
their God, that He was one of them. When He returned, or was about to
return to the Father, with His resurrected body, He told Mary to tell
His disciples that He was going to ascend to His Father and their
Father, to His God and their God.

Vol. 26,  p.20
In the Old Testament, which gives accounts of God's occasional
manifestations of His presence to men upon the earth, we find that
they all saw Him as a person, with the form of a man. Moses talked
with Him face to face. Nadab and Abihu and seventy Elders of Israel,
with Moses and Aaron, went up in the mount.

Vol. 26,  p.20
"And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet as it
were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of
heaven in His clearness; also upon the children of Israel He laid not
His hand, also they saw God, and did eat and drink.—[Exodus xxiv, 10,
11.)"

Vol. 26,  p.20
I might refer to a number of passages of Scripture in the Old
Testament, showing that whenever God appeared to man, manifesting
Himself to man, He appeared in the form of a man. We are told
repeatedly in the Scriptures that the children of men are the sons of
God. He is the Father and God of the spirits of all flesh. The spirit
of man, which inhabits his body, and which is the life of the body in
addition to the blood—blood being the life of the flesh, but the
spirit animated all—comes from God, and is the offspring of God.
Because of this, we understand what is said in 1 John, iii, 2:

Vol. 26,  p.20
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like
him; for we shall see Him as He is."

Vol. 26,  p.20
God, then, the God of the Bible, who is called Jehovah, the person who
manifested Himself to Israel as Jehovah, is an individual, a
personality, and He made man in His image and His likeness. Now, if we
are the children of God, and if Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we can
upon that reasoning understand something about what God is like, for
there is an eternal principle in heaven and on earth. that every seed
begets of its kind, every seed brings forth in its own likeness and
character. The seed of an apple, when it is reproduced, brings forth
an apple, and so with a pear, and so with a plum, and so with all the
varieties of the vegetable kingdom. It is the same with all the
varieties of the animal kingdom. The doctrine of evolution, as it is
called, is true in some respects—that is, that species can be
improved, exalted, made better, but it remains of the same species.
The advancement is in the same line. It is unfoldment. We do not find
any radical change from one species to another. It is an eternal
principle that every seed produces its own kind, not another kind. And
as we are the children of God, we can follow out the idea and perceive
what God our Father is, the Being who is the progenitor of our
spiritual [p.21] existence, the being from whom we have sprung. We
being the seed of God, that Being is a personality, an individual, a
being in some respects like us, or rather we are made in His image.

Vol. 26,  p.21
"Man also is spirit," we are told in the revelations of God to the
Latter-day Saints. Man, the real man, is a spirit, an individual that
dwells in a body, a spiritual person clothed upon with earth; a being
who will live when the earth goes back to mother dust. Man's spirit,
then, is an individual, a personality, and the spirit is in the
likeness and shape of the body which it inhabits. When the spirit goes
out of the body there is a person, a perfectly formed individual,
looking like the body which we now see with our natural eyes. Spirits
living in the flesh, unless operated upon abnormally by some spiritual
influence, cannot see spiritual beings. A spirit can see spirit.
Spirit ministers to spirit; and when the spirit goes out of the body
that spirit can see other spirits, beings of the same character and
nature, and we shall find when we have emerged from this body, that we
will be in the company of a great many persons like ourselves; and if
we should have the experience that the Prophet Joseph had when the mob
took him and tore his flesh with their nails, and tried to poison him
with a vial of some corrosive substance, if our spirits should be
separated from our bodies as his was, we, like him, could look at our
bodies and see that they are in form like our living spiritual
realities.

Vol. 26,  p.21
"The body without, the spirit is dead." The spirit without the body is
not dead; that is a real personality,, a living individual, and the
body of flesh is but a house to dwell in or a covering for it to wear;
not essential to its existence, but essential to its progress,
essential to its experience on the earth and ultimately in its
glorified condition, essential to its eternal happiness, and progress
and power in the presence of the Father.

Vol. 26,  p.21
While our Father, then, is a person, an individual, it may be asked:
"How can He be here, there and everywhere at the same time?" Well, He
is not, in His personality; but He can be omnipresent in a certain
sense. There is a spirit, an influence, that proceeds from God, that
fills the immensity of space, the Holy Spirit, the Light of Truth. As
the Sun itself, a planet or heavenly body, is not present in any other
place except that which it actually occupies, so the individual Father
occupies a certain locality; and as the light that proceeds from the
sun spreads abroad upon all the face of the earth and lights up other
planets as well as this earth, penetrating to the circumference of an
extended circle in the midst of God's great universe, so the light of
God, the Spirit of God, proceeding forth from the presence of God,
fills the immensity of space." It is the light and the life of all
things. It is the light and the life of man. It is the life of the
animal creation. It is the life of the vegetable creation. It is in
the earth on which we stand; it is in the stars that shine in the
firmament; it is in the moon that reflects the light of the sun: it is
in the sun, and is the light of the sun, and the power by which it was
made; and these grosser particles of light that illuminate the heavens
and enable us to behold the works of nature, are from that same Spirit
which enlightens our minds and unfolds the things of God. As that
light comes forth from the sun, so the light of God comes to us. That
[p.22] natural light is the grosser substance or particles of the same
Spirit.

Vol. 26,  p.22
Spirit is a substance, it is not immaterial; it may have some
properties that are different from that which we see and handle, which
we call matter, but it is a reality, a substantial reality. And spirit
can understand spirit and grasp spirit. A spiritual person can take
the hand of another spiritual person and it is substantial. A person
in body could not grasp a spirit, for that spirit has different
properties to those of our bodies, and it is governed by different
laws to those that govern us in this sphere of mortality. A spiritual
substance, organized into form, occupies room and space just as much
in its sphere as these natural particles occupy in this sphere.

Vol. 26,  p.22
God our Father, then, is a person, an individual, and He really is our
Father, actually and literally. We sprang from Him. He is the Father
of our spirits, and not only the Father of the spirits of the
Latter-day Saints, but the Father of the spirits of latter-day
sinners. He is the God and the Father of the spirits of all flesh. Not
only those that now dwell on the earth, but all people who dwelt
aforetime; all people who ever lived upon the face of this planet, are
the children of God. And so with people who dwell upon other planets,
they are the offspring of God. And our Father and our God is an
individual, a personality; He is a spirit, and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth; but He dwells in a
tabernacle, in a body, though that body is different from our bodies,
it being a spiritual body. It is quickened by spirit. Our bodies are
quickened by that corruptible substance which we call blood; but our
Heavenly Father's body is quickened by spirit. It is not governed by
the same laws as those by which earthly bodies are governed. It is a
body something similar to that which Jesus had after His resurrection.
Jesus Christ, when He rose from the dead, had the same body that He
had upon the earth, but a change had been wrought upon it. He had shed
His blood for the remission of sins. This body was quickened by
spirit. "He was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the
Spirit;" so we are told in the Scriptures, and He was raised up from
the dead by that Spirit. Paul says, in his Epistle to the Romans, viii
ch. 11 v.:

Vol. 26,  p.22
"But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you."

Vol. 26,  p.22
Jesus Christ's body was put in the sepulchre a natural body; it was
raised a spiritual body. It was placed there in weakness; it was
raised in strength. It was a mortal body when placed in the sepulchre;
but when it carne forth quickened by spirit, it was no longer a
natural or mortal body, it was a spiritual and an immortal body; and
with that immortal body He ascended from the earth. It was no longer
bound by the laws of earthly gravitation, as it was before. He stood
upon the mount of Olives, in the presence of His disciples, and
ascended up to heaven from their midst and disappeared front their
view. He could manifest Himself to them, and then take Himself away
from their gaze He could enter the room when the doors were shut, as
He did in the case when His disciples gathered in secret for fear of
the Jews, and manifest Himself to them. And yet at the same time
[p.23] His body was tangible, and the unbelieving Thomas could reach
forth his hand and thrust it into His side, and put his fingers into
the prints of the nails. Bat this body was a glorious body, "the
glorious body of the Son of God," and it was in the fashion and
likeness of the glorious body of His Eternal Father. It was a
celestial body quickened by the celestial glory. And if we wish to
attain to the Heavenly kingdom we must walk in the ways of life, and
sanctify ourselves before God, as Jesus did, so that the influence and
power of the celestial kingdom can be with us. Then, in the
resurrection, when we come forth from the grave, we shall be quickened
also by the operation of the celestial glory and receive of the same,
even the fullness thereof, and be made like unto Jesus Christ, and
thus become like unto God the Father.

Vol. 26,  p.23
As I have previously explained, God is not everywhere present
personally, but He is omnipresent in the power of that spirit—the Holy
Spirit—which animates all created things; that which is the light of
the sun, and of the soul as well as the light of the eye, that which
enables the inhabitants of the earth to understand and perceive the
things of God. As the light of the sun reveals natural objects to our
eyes, so the spirit that comes from God, with a fitting place to
occupy and conditions to operate in, reveals the things of God. We see
natural things by the light of the sun. We see spiritual things by
spiritual light, and he that is spiritual discerneth all things and
judgeth all things, and he that is not spiritual cannot comprehend
spiritual things. They are foolishness to him. And while the Saints of
God, quickened by the spirit which they have obtained through
obedience to he Gospel, can comprehend these things of which I am
speaking and discern their meaning and signification, those that are
wicked and corrupt and obey not the ordinances of God, cannot see
these things nor comprehend them as they are, but they are foolishness
to them.

Vol. 26,  p.23
But, if God is an individual spirit and dwells in a body, the question
will arise, "Is He the Eternal Father?" Yes, He is the Eternal Father.
"Is it a fact that He never had a beginning?" In the elementary
particles of His organism, He did not. But if He is an organized
Being, there must have been a time when that being was organized.
This, some one will say, would infer that God had a beginning. this
spirit which pervades all things, which is the light and life of all
things, by which our heavenly Father operates, by which He is
omnipotent, never had a beginning and never will have an end. It is
the light of truth; it is the spirit of intelligence. We are told in
the revelations of God to us that, "Intelligence or the light of truth
never was created, neither indeed can be." And we are told further,
that this Spirit, when it is manifest, is Got moving in His glory.
When we look up to the heavens and behold the starry worlds, which are
kingdoms, we behold God moving in His Majesty and in His power. Now,
this Spirit always existed; it always operated, but it is not,
understood, and cannot be comprehended except through organisms. If
you see a living blade of grass you see a manifestation of that Spirit
which is called God. If you see an animal of any kind on the face of
the earth having life, there is a manifestation of that Spirit. If you
see a man you behold its most perfect earthly manifestation. And if
you see a glorified man, a man who has passed through [p.24] the
various grades of being, who has overcome all things, who has been
raised from the dead, who has been quickened by this spirit in its
fullness, there you see manifested, in its perfection, this eternal,
beginningless, endless spirit of intelligence.

Vol. 26,  p.24
Such a Being is our Father and our God, and we are following in His
footsteps. He has attained to perfection. He has arisen to kingdoms of
power. He comprehends all things, because in Him dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead, bodily. He is a perfect manifestation, expression and
revelation of this eternal essence, this spirit of eternal,
everlasting intelligence or light of truth. It is embodied in His
spiritual personality or spiritual organism. This spirit cannot be
fully comprehended in our finite state. It quickens all things. As we
are told in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, it is:

Vol. 26,  p.24
"The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things,
which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of
God, who sitteth upon His throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who
is in the midst of all things.—Sec. lxxxviii, p. 13."

Vol. 26,  p.24
That spirit exists wherever there is a particle of material substance;
that spirit is round about it, and in it, and through it; but that we
may comprehend it, it must be manifested through organisms. The
perfection of its manifestation is in the personality of a being
called God. That is a person who has passed through all the gradations
of being, and who contains within Himself the fullness, manifested and
expressed, of this divine spirit which is called God.

Vol. 26,  p.24
Some people may think this is rather a low idea of a Divine Being. But
I think it a most exalted one. The person whom I worship I acknowledge
as my Father. Through Him I may learn to understand the secrets and
mysteries of eternity, those things that never had a beginning and
will never have an end. He has ascended above all things after
descending below all things. He has fought his way from the depths up
to the position He now occupies. He holds it by virtue of His
goodness, of His might, of His majesty, of His power. He occupies that
position by virtue of being in perfect harmony with all that is right,
and true, and beautiful, and glorious and progressive. He is the
perfect embodiment and expression of the eternal principles of right.
He has won that position by His own exertions, by His own
faithfulness, by His own righteousness. Jesus Christ, the only
begotten son of God in the flesh, but His firstborn in the spirit, has
climbed His way up in a similar manner. He loved righteousness and
hated iniquity. He kept every law and every commandment. He knew no
sin, and guile was not found in His mouth. He loved not His own life,
as a paramount cosideration but sacrificed it to atone for the sins of
others. Whatever He learned was right, He practised, and He broke no
commandment of the Father, but obeyed every one. He came not to do His
own will, but the will of the Father that sent Him, and because He did
this and was faithful unto death, He was exalted on high. He overcame
evil. He conquered mortality. He triumphed over death. He conquered
that being who is the expression of evil principles, who is the
embodiment of the principles of darkness, who is the embodiment of all
the principles that are in opposition to those that exist and burn in
the bosom of Deity. He met him and conquered him and overcame him
[p.25] He, being in the truth and living by the truth; therefore he is
now to us, "the way, the truth, and the life." Overcoming all things
He was entitled to inherit all things, and all that the Father hath
was given unto Him. And we read:

Vol. 26,  p.25
"The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do;
for what thing soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."
(John v, 20.)"

Vol. 26,  p.25
As the Father had taken His upward course in worlds before this, so
Jesus Christ followed in his footsteps in every respect; therefore he
is entitled to sit down at the right hand of God in the heavens, to
sit on his throne and be one with the Father in all things; and all
the power and glory, and dominion that the Father hath he conferred
also upon Jesus. And the promise to the sons of God on the earth is,
that if they will follow in the footsteps of Jesus, they shall be also
exalted and shall partake of that glory which he partakes of and they
shall become Gods, even the sons of God, and "all things" shall be
theirs." And we are told in the revelations of God to us in the latter
days, that if we are faithful in all things, "all that Father hath"
shall be given unto us. We shall become like Him, and we shall receive
power and dominion and glory similar to that which he enjoys, only He
will always be above us, God as our Father, and Jesus Christ our elder
brother.

Vol. 26,  p.25
Now, we can understand a little about a being like this, but a being
of the character that divines attempt to describe is one we cannot
understand at all. They say that there are three of them, and yet
there is only one; that God has no body, neither parts nor passions.
Yet this thing that has no substance, and no parts, we are told, has
three parts, one part of which had a body, and that body was composed
of parts. And we are told also that it has no passions. Yet this one
part of that thing which has no body and no parts and no passions had
a body and parts and had passions. Jesus experienced the same things
that a man experiences, lived like a man, and died like a man, to some
extent. Now, who can understand these contradictions which are to be
found in the creeds of modern Christendom? The Athanasian Creed was
read in the Church of England, as it is called, when I was a boy, and
I believe it is now. I think the American Episcopal Church has
discarded it, which was very sensible. It says:

Vol. 26,  p.25
"Whosoever will be saved, before all things he must hold the Catholic
faith, which faith except he do keep whole and undefiled he shall,
without doubt, perish everlastingly. and the Catholic faith is this:
"That we worship one God in Trinity, and trinity in unity, neither
confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one
person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy
Ghost, but their glory is equal, and their majesty co-eternal. Such as
the Father is, such is the Son, and such the Holy Ghost. The Father is
God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God; and yet there are not
three Gods, but one God. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the
Holy Ghost is Lord, and yet there are not thee Lords, but one Lord.
For while we are compelled by Christian verity to acknowledge each
person by himself to be both God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the
Catholic faith to say that there be three Gods or three Lords."

Vol. 26,  p.26
It goes on to show how that these [p.26] three are all exactly Mike,
and then to declare that they are all essentially different. It
explains that the Son is begotten while the Father is not, and then
that the Holy Ghost is proceeding not begotten, while the Son is not
proceeding, neither is the Father, yet at the same time they are all
the same, and to cap the climax of the pile of absurdities it
announces that:

Vol. 26,  p.26
"The Father is incomprehensible, the Son is incomprehensible, and the
Holy Ghost is incomprehensible, yet they are not three
incomprehensibles, but one incomprehensible."

Vol. 26,  p.26
Well, that is all attempt of mini to explain God. As I said in the
beginning of my remarks, we do not pretend that we can comprehend God
in his fullness in our finite and mortal condition here on the earth,
because he is an infinite being. But we are promised that "the day
shall come when we shall comprehend God, being quickened in him."
Jesus said:

Vol. 26,  p.26
This is life eternal, to know thee the only living and true God, and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

Vol. 26,  p.26
How can we learn to know God We can learn of our Father by hearkening
to his voice by listening to the whisperings of the holy Spirit, that
spirit that comes from him. "They that are led by the Spirit of God
are the sons of God." We can understand much concerning him by the
power of the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost is conferred on us
that we may learn something about God, so that we may go on to
perfection; that we may walk in his ways; that we may climb the ladder
which he has climbed to perfection; that we may peradveuture overcome
and be made like him, share in his glory, and be one with him. And if
we will take the course that our Father has taken, living by every
word that comes from his mouth, we shall know what is right, for he
will reveal unto us what is true, and it is the knowledge and practice
of truth that exalts. If we will learn this as be learned it, advance
step by step, overcoming the Evil One; overcome the world and the
flesh, grapple with evil as we meet it and conquer it, we will have
the help of the Lord, and may raise ourselves by our own exertions, by
our faithfulness, by our obedience, and peradventure will overcome all
things, and inherit all things. We may thus rise above all things. We
may obtain glorious bodies like unto the glorious body of the Son of
God. We may prepare ourselves for the celestial glory in which the
Father dwells, and in which the Son dwells, and be made like him in
every respect, becoming spiritual beings dwelling in spiritual bodies,
quickened with the celestial glory, among the Gods, and enter into
holy order which is without beginning of days or end of years—the
everlasting order of the holy Priesthood—which Jesus Christ has, and a
portion of which he imparted unto his disciples when he was upon the
earth, and which he has restored to the earth in these latter days.

Vol. 26,  p.26
There are things connected with this that we cannot dwell upon in a
short discourse. But the keys of this Priesthood have been restored,
and by them we can obtain heavenly knowledge; learn to comprehend our
Father who is at the head of that Priesthood; learn to comprehend
Jesus Christ our Great High Priest. By this same Priesthood, a portion
of which we have received, we can obtain communion with the heavenly
Jerusalem, with the [p.27] spirits of just men made perfect, with
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and with God who is the
holiest of all. That Priesthood had no beginning, and will never have
an end. As we are told in Scripture it is "without father or mother,
without beginning of days or end of years;" it always existed. The
individual, the organized person may have had a beginning, but that
spirit of which and by which they organized never had a beginning.
That Priesthood which is the power of government in the heavens, never
had a beginning, and it will never come to an end. The works of that
eternal spirit of intelligence, the great Eternal God, manifested to
us in our Father and through Jesus Christ, never had a beginning.
There never was a first world or man; there will never be a last. We
cannot grasp that in its fullness, but we can understand a little of
it by comparing it with other things. For instance, we will take
space. This tabernacle contains so much space, bounded by the walls of
the building; but go outside of these walls and space is there. Go to
the farthest bounds of this Territory, space is there. Go to the ends
of the earth, if you can find them, and there is space beyond. Mount
upward to the stars; go to the sun, pass above the sun to the two
worlds that govern it, that we read about in the Book of Abraham, in
"The Pearl of Great Price;" go even unto Kolob, the nearest to the
throne of God, and there is just as much space beyond as that which
you have left. There is no outside to space—no beginning, no end.

Vol. 26,  p.27
Thus there is boundless space, and we cannot fully comprehend it, yet
we must admit that it exists without limit. "There is no kingdom in
the which there is no space, and no space in the which there is no
kingdom, either a greater or a lesser kingdom." So we learn in the
Doctrine and Covenants. So travel where we will, there we find space,
and also inexhaustible material. And the elements, whether they be
spiritual or what we call natural—we use these terms to distinguish
them—never had a beginning—the primal particles never had a beginning.
They have been organized in different shapes; the organism had a
beginning but the elements or atoms of which it is composed never had.
You may burn this book, but every atom of which the book was composed,
every particle of substance that entered into its composition, still
exists; they are indestructible. When you go right down to the primary
elements, they never had a beginning, they will never have an end. For
in their primal condition they are not "created." They did not come
from nothing; they were organized into different forms, but the
elementary parts of matter as well as of spirit, using ordinary terms,
never had a beginning, and never will have an end.

Vol. 26,  p.27
Now, here are some things that you can understand to some extent, that
are beginningless and endless. It is the same with duration. Duration
never had a beginning, and it never will have an end. We measure
portions of time, but time itself, cannot be counted. Go back as far
as we can think, and there was just as much time or duration before
that period as since, and think as much as we can down the stream of
time there is just as much ahead. There is no limit to duration, no
beginning, no end. Thus there are boundless space, an infinity of
substance, endless duration. The elements of that eternal [p.28]
spirit which exists in and through and round about all things, and is
the law by which all things are governed, never had a beginning and
will never have an end. There was no beginning and there will be no
end to its operations. And therefore we are told that "the works of
God are one eternal round." There was no beginning to the works of
God, and there will be no end. The Priesthood, as I have quoted to
you, is without beginning of days or end of years. It was always
existent and always active. And therefore there was never a first
world or being, neither will there be a last one. We are here to learn
those principles that pertain to this lower sphere; to learn how to
raise ourselves from this groveling mortal condition, and make
ourselves like God, that we may dwell with him, come into perfect
harmony with that spirit of which I have been speaking, be one with
the Father and participate with him in the power which he wields, in
the midst of eternity.

Vol. 26,  p.28
Now, my brethren and sisters, will we walk in this way? Will we fit
ourselves to enter into our next estate with honor? We have come down
from God as his offspring. That part of us which is spirit was with
him in the eternal world. We have come down here in our time and
season, and God "determined the time before appointed and the bounds
of our habitation." We are here to learn the laws that govern this
lower world; to learn to grapple with evil and to understand what
darkness is. We came from an abode of bliss to understand the pain and
sorrow incident to this probation. We came here to comprehend what
death is. We existed in our first estate among the sons of God in the
presence of our Father, "when the morning sears sang together, and the
sons of God shouted for joy." The knowledge of our former state has
fled from us. Like Jesus, "in our humiliation our judgment is taken
away," and the veil is drawn between us and our former habitation.
This is for our trial. If we could see the things of eternity, and
comprehend ourselves as we are; if we could penetrate the mists and
clouds that shut out eternal realities from our gaze, the fleeting
things of time would be no trial to us, and one of the great objects
of our earthly probation or testing would be lost. But the past has
gone from our memory, the future is shut out from our vision and we
are living here in time, to learn little by little, line upon line,
precept upon precept. Here in the darkness, in the sorrow, in the
trial, in the pain, in the adversity, we have to learn what is right
and distinguish it from what is wrong, and lay hold of right and truth
and learn to live it. For it is not only the learning of it that is
needful, but we must live it, being guided and governed by it in all
things. If we have any evil propensities—inherited from progenitors
who for ages have gone astray from God—we have to grapple with them
and overcome them. Each individual must find out his own nature, and
what there is in it that is wrong, and bring it into subjection to the
will and righteousness of God. He must work with it until he is master
of it; until he can say to this mortal flesh which is continually
warring against the spirit, "I am your master by the grace of God."
Every passion, every inclination, every desire must be controlled and
made subject to the will of God. Though we mingle with the world, yet
we must not pattern after their evil ways nor "touch the unclean
[p.29] thing." We need not partake of the sins of the world. We can be
wrapped around by the influence of our religion as by the garments
that we wear, and be separate even though in the midst of the wicked.
We need not follow their ways nor be guided by their enticements, or
be governed by their nations, but should live according to the light
of God; and when evil spirits tempt us and seek to turn us aside from
the strait path that leads to the celestial city, stand firm in the
spirit of the Gospel and overcome them. And if we overcome all things
we shall inherit all things.

Vol. 26,  p.29
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even
as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Rev.
iii, 21."

Vol. 26,  p.29
We are the children of God, and when we go back into the presence of
our Father, if we return with honor, there will be joy in heaven;
there will be joy in our own bosoms, such joy as is not expressible.
How we shall rejoice! We will then comprehend all we knew before we
came here. We will comprehend everything we learned when we d welt in
the flesh; and we will be clothed upon with the spirit and power of
God in its fullness, and kingdoms and power and glory eternal will be
given unto us. We shall have the gift of eternal and endless increase.
Our families will be with us and be the beginning of our dominion, and
upon that basis we shall build forever. Our wives and our children
will be ours for all eternity. Our increase shall never cease while
duration rolls along and the works of God spread forth, and our
posterity and kingdoms will grow and extend till they shall be as
numerous as the stars, and we will enter into the rest of our Father
and enjoy his presence and society for evermore. God help us to attain
to the fullness of this glory, for Christ's sake. Amen.[p.30] 

John Taylor, December 14, 1884

Object of Gathering—Our Principles and Organization 
Revealed From God—He is Cognizant of All Things—Our 
Faith not Affected By the Ideas of Men—Our Dependence Upon 
God—Enoch's City—God's Justice in Sending the Flood, and 
in the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—His Judgments 
Will Come Upon Those Who Persecute His Saints—the 
Lord Will Bless His People—We Will Stand By the 
Constitution Though Others Ignore It

Discourse By President John Taylor, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Evening, December 14th, 1884.

Reported By John Irvine

Vol. 26,  p.30
WE hear a great many things associated with the Church and Kingdom of
God in which, as a people, we are very much interested.

Vol. 26,  p.30
We meet together, from, time to time, to sing, to pray, to speak, to
hear and to attend to the various duties and responsibilities that
devolve upon us. We are taught of things pertaining to time and things
pertaining to eternity, and perhaps we are more favored—well, there is
no perhaps about it—we are more favored than any other people that
dwell upon the face of the whole earth. We have been gathered together
from among the nations of the earth in order that we may be instructed
in the laws of God, and in the principles of truth and life, that we
may be able to comprehend our relationship to our heavenly Father, to
his Son Jesus Christ, to the Priesthood that exists in the heavens,
and to the inhabitants of the earth by whom we are surrounded, and
among whom we dwell.

Vol. 26,  p.30
There is something very peculiar about the position which we occupy
among the nations of the earth. We have not received any of the
intelligence which we possess from these nations, with the exception
of some matters pertaining to science, to art, and the common
education of the day. But as regards our religious principles we are
not indebted to any men who live upon the earth for them. These
principles emanated from God. They were given by revelation, and if we
have a First Presidency, if we have High Priests, if we have
Seventies, if we have Bishops, Elders, Priests and Teachers, if we
have Stake and other organizations, we have received them all from
God. If we have Temples, if we administer in them, it is because we
have received instruction in relation thereto from the Lord. If we
know anything pertaining to the future, it comes from him, and in fact
we live in God. we move in God, and from him we derive our being. Men
generally will not acknowledge this, but we as Latter-day [p.31]
Saints believe in these truths. Not one of us could have entered this
house this evening without being sustained by the power of God. Not
one of us could leave this house without guidance, strength and power
from hint to accomplish it. We have been taught to believe that he is
the Creator of all things visible and invisible, whether they be
things in the heavens or on the earth, whether they belong to this
world or other worlds, and that there is an all wise, all powerful
Being, who controls, manipulates and manages all the affairs of the
human family, and this is true whether it relates to the world in
which we live, to the heavens that are above us, or to other worlds by
which we are surrounded. It relates to our bodies and to our spirits,
and to all things associated therewith. Hence we are very dependent
beings. In the organization of man, in the organization of this earth,
and in the organization of the heavens, there were certain things
designed by the Almighty to be carried out, and that will be carried
out according to the purposes of the Most High, which things were
known to him from the beginning. There exists all manner of curious
opinions about God, and many people think it impossible for him to
take cognizance of all men, but that is very easily done. If I had
time to enter into this subject alone I could show you upon scientific
principles that man himself is a self-registering machine, his eyes,
his ears, his nose, the touch, the taste, and all the various senses
of the body, are so many media whereby man lays up for himself a
record which perhaps nobody else is acquainted with but himself; and
when the time comes for that record to be unfolded all men that have
eyes to see, and ears to hear, will be able to read all things as God
himself reads them and comprehends them, and all things, we are told,
are naked and open before him with whom we have to do. We are told in
relation to these matters that the hairs of our heads are numbered;
that even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without our heavenly
Father's notice; and predicated upon some of these principles are some
things taught by Jesus, where he tells men to ask and they shall
receive. What! the millions that live upon the earth? Yes, the
millions of people, no matter how many there are. Can he hear and
answer all? Can he attend to all these things? Yes. "Ask, and it shall
be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." It is difficult
for men to comprehend some of these things, and, as they cannot
comprehend them they begin to think they are all nonsense—that, is,
many do—and, hence, infidelity and skepticism prevail to a great
extent. A great many strange notions are entertained in regard to God
and his dealings with humanity. This is because men do not understand
the things of God. I read in one of our papers a short time ago, that
there was some kind of a commission going to meet—some two or three
professors or scientists, men who are supposed to possess superior
intelligence—to examine the manuscript of the Book of Mormon, to find
out whether it was true or not, and I suppose if these
people—especially if they should be pious inert, possessing a little
learning and science—should come out and say the Book of Mormon was
not true, we all of us should have to lay it [p.32] aside should we
not? This to me is the veriest nonsense. It would not make one hair's
difference with us whether such a commission should decide that the
Book of Mormon is right or wrong. If they decide that it is true it
will not increase our faith in it; if they decide that it is not true,
it will not decrease our faith in it. Yet these are ideas that men
entertain.

Vol. 26,  p.32
Speaking upon this point I am reminded of an incident that took place
a number of years ago. Several prominent European scientists called
upon me, and they talked a little upon our religious principles. Then
they asked me if I was acquainted with the advanced ideas in regard to
geology. I told them I knew a little about them from what I had read.
"What do you think," said one of them to me, of these views as
compared with the scriptural account of the creation of the world?"
"Well," said I "the great difficulty is that men do not understand the
Scriptures." They could not see any difficulty on that ground, for
they all had their eyes to see, and they had an understanding of
words, languages, etc. "Well," said I, "we won't go through the whole
Bible, for that is quite a large book; but I will take one or two of
the first lines in the Bible. 'In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth.' Will you please tell me when the beginning
was? "We don't know," "When you find that out," said I, "then I will
tell you when the world was created." A good many other things
transpired associated with this interview, that I do not wish now to
repeat. Suffice it to say that before they got through, one of them
said: "I have read a good deal, I have studied a good deal, I find I
have a good deal more to read and study yet." I thought so too. I
thought if men could not understand the first two lines of the Bible,
it would be quite a task to teach them the whole of it.

Vol. 26,  p.32
In regard to the work in which we are engaged, as I said before and as
you have heard over and over again, it emanated from God, and all the
principles pertaining to it, came from Him. We talk sometimes about
this work, and how it is going to be accomplished. The work we are
engaged in is the work of God. If it is accomplished it will be
accomplished by the power of God, by the wisdom of God, by the
intelligence of God, and by the Priesthood that dwells with the Gods
in the eternal worlds, together with that which he has conferred upon
his people here upon the earth, and not by any other power or
influence in existence. We talk of a Zion that is to be built up. If a
Zion is ever built up on this earth, it will have to be under the
guidance and direction of the Almighty. We talk about a Church that is
to be built up and purified. If it is ever built up and purified, it
will be under the influence of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power
of God manifested among his people, whereby iniquity will be rooted
out, righteousness sustained, the principles of truth advanced, honor,
integrity, truth and virtue maintained, and hypocrisy, evil, crime and
corruption of every kind be rooted out. That will have to be done by
the aid and under the guidance of the Almighty. There is no man living
in and of himself, can guide the ship of Zion or regulate the affairs
of the Church and Kingdom of God unaided by the Spirit of God, and
hence he has organized the Church as he has with all the various
quorums and organizations as they exist to-day.[p.33] Who can boast or
has anything to say in relation to these things? No man living, no man
that has lived. If Joseph Smith knew anything about these things, it
was because God revealed it, and He has revealed many great and
precious principles in which the children of men are interested
pertaining to this world and to the next, pertaining to the living and
the dead, pertaining to time and eternity, and pertaining to all
things associated with the happiness and exaltation of man. All these
things emanated from God. And if Brigham Young knew anything he
received his intelligence from God and from the Prophet of God; and if
any of us know anything we have received it from the same source. We
are told that He is in all things, through all things, and about all
things, and by Him all things exist. He is the light of the sun and
the power thereof, by which it was made; the light of the moon and the
power thereof, by which it was made; and the light of the stars and
the power thereof, by which they were made; and it is the same light
that enlighteneth the understanding of man. This may seem strange
doctrine to some. We have been taught to believe that there was a
difference between mental and visual light; nevertheless the above
statement is philosophically true.

Vol. 26,  p.33
In regard to the earth, is it the Lord's? Yes. We are told that he
made it, that he created all things, visible and invisible, whether
pertaining to the earth or to the heavens. And where did man
originate? As we read it, he originated also from God. Who formed man
according to the Bible record? The Lord. Whence came our spirits? We
are told that God is the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh.
Then He of course is interested in the welfare of all flesh and all
people of all languages, of all tongues, of every color, and of every
clime. That is the way that I understand these things. Our spirits are
eternal and emanate from God. So we, as a people, have always
understood and do understand to-day. We possess our bodies also, and
they also emanated from God. The Bible tells us something in relation
to these matters in tracing out genealogies. Who was Seth? He was the
son of Adam. Who was Adam? The son of God. In another place we are
told that "all we are His offspring"—that is, according to that, we
are all the offspring of God.

Vol. 26,  p.33
Now, this earth was formed for a certain purpose, and man was also
formed for a certain purpose. And there are certain principles laid
down—you will find them in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and in the various revelations that
God has made through his servants—there are certain principles laid
down indicating that there are different grades of men possessing
varied powers and privileges, and that these men have to pass through
a certain ordeal—called by many a probation—that is, that we are here
in a probationary state, in a state of trial; and that as men live and
act according to the intelligence they are in possession oil—the
privileges which they enjoy, and the deeds that they perform, whether
for good or evil, there will be a time of judgment, and that there
will be a separation, of these various peoples according to the way in
which they have lived and acted upon the earth. Hence Paul tells that
there are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial, that there is one
glory of the sun, another of the [p.34] moon, and another of the
stars, and as one star differeth from another star in glory, so shall
it also be in the resurrection. Joseph Smith, in speaking on the same
subject, tells us that there are bodies celestial bodies terrestrial,
and bodies telestial, which agrees precisely with the remarks made by
Paul, only in other language. Thus there are many curious things
associated with our existence here upon the earth, which the natural
man does not and cannot comprehend. No man can know the things of God,
but by the Spirit of God.

Vol. 26,  p.34
Now, then, on this earth—which we call the Lord's vineyard—He has sent
forth His servants from time to time to gather people into His fold,
to gather out a few here and a few there who would be prepared to act
and operate with Him, and then, generally, these have been a
comparatively small number, Jesus said when He was upon the earth
"Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be who go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it." And it would seem, according to the testimonies we have both In
the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, that the Lord has taken great
pains in different ages of the world to send forth His servants to
preach the Gospel to the people. We find this especially so in Noah's
day, and in the days of Enoch. There was a remarkable work performed
then according to the revelations which have been given to us, which
will be more fully developed when the Lord shall see fit to reveal
other things associated therewith. But we learn that there was a
Church organized about as ours may be; we learn that they went forth
and preached the Gospel; we learn that they were gathered together to
a place called Zion; we learn that the people of Zion were under the
guidance, direction and teaching of the Almighty; in order that they
might be prepared for another Zion in the grand drama associated with
the dealings of God and his purposes pertaining to this earth and the
heavens. We read that they walked with God for 365 years. We are told
in the Bible a little short story about it, because it was one of
those things that it was not necessary that everybody should know. We
are told that "Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him."
But there was more about it than that. Enoch preached the Gospel to
the people, and so did hundreds of Elders as they are doing to-day;
and they gathered the people together and built up a Zion to the Lord,
and when Enoch was not, but was caught up, Enoch's city was not, but
was caught up, and there were certain things associated therewith that
are very peculiar. Why were they taken away from the earth? Because of
the corruptions of men, because of the wickedness of men, because
mankind had forsaken God, and become as broken cisterns that could
hold no water, because they were not fulfilling the measure of their
creation, and because it was not proper that they should live and
perpetuate a race that was so corrupt and abominable. But before this
was done, the righteous, the virtuous, the honorable, the pure, the
upright were gathered together, and taught and instructed in the
things of God. And what came next? Why, the destruction of the world.
It was overflowed, we read, by the flood. What! And all the people
destroyed? Yes, except a very few, according to the statements [p.35]
we have. "Well," say some of our wise men, "was not that cruel to
destroy so many people?" Perhaps it would be according to your ideas,
but it was not according to the Lord's ideas: because he looked upon
men as immortal beings. These men were accountable to their Maker,
they had a dual existence, they were associated with time and with
eternity, and we might go still farther and say they they were
associated with the past, the present and the future, and the Lord as
a great cosmogonist, took in the various stages of man's existence,
and operated for the general benefit of the whole. But was it not
cruel to destroy them? I think God understood precisely what He was
doing. They were His offspring, and He knowing things better than they
did, and they having placed themselves under the power and dominion of
Satan, He thought they had better be removed and another class of men
be introduced. Why? There were other persons concerned besides them.
There were millions of spirits in the eternal worlds who would shrink
from being contaminated by She wicked and corrupt, the debauchee, the
dishonest, the fraudulent, the hypocrite, and men who trampled upon
the ordinances of God. It might seem harsh for these men to be swept
off from the face of the earth, and not allowed to perpetuate their
species thereon; but what about the justice of forcing these pure
spirits to come and inhabit tabernacles begotten by debauched corrupt
reprobates, the imagination of whose heart was only evil, and that
continually—what about them Had they no rights that God was bound to
respect? Certainly they had, and He respected them. He cut off the
wicked. What did he do with them? He did with them as we do with some
of the wicked, and that we do not do with a great many others—that is,
they were put in prison. Had He a right to do that? I think He had.
They were his offspring. I think He had the right to act according to
the counsel of His own will. At any rate he took the liberty of doing
it. And who was there to say, "Why doest thou this?" First He called
upon them to forsake their wickedness, but they would not, and a while
after He destroyed them. Had He a right to do it? He had and He sent
them to hell. Some people talk about roasting there. That is something
of man's getting up. He sent them to prison, and they were confined
there, and when the proper time, came, Jesus, when He was put to death
in the flesh, was quickened by the Spirit, and went and preached to
those spirits that sometime were disobedient in the days of Noah.
Perhaps they had time enough during their stay, to reflect upon their
acts, and to become a little steadier, and to reflect upon God and His
laws. At any rate Jesus went and preached to those spirits in prison.

Vol. 26,  p.35
What, then, became of the inhabitants of the world? There were a few
who went through the narrow gate that Jesus spoke of, and they were
caught up and Zion with them, and the Lord is taking care of them in
his own way. They will be dealt with according to His purposes and
designs, and be numbered among His jewels. The others, as I have said,
were cast into prison, and there they remained about 2,500 years. It
was a pretty long imprisonment. Still the Lord had a right to
manipulate these things as He pleased, and He so manipulated them, and
although this time seems very long, yet in the eternities to come it
would only be a comparatively short period;[p.36] and if they needed a
schooling of this kind He, as their Father and Creator, was the proper
one to adjudge their punishment.

Vol. 26,  p.36
Sometime after this there were certain cities that had become very
corrupt, such as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord had a reckoning with
them, handled them in His own way according to His best judgment.
Abraham was a man who feared God, and God said: "Shall I bide from
Abraham that thing which I do." So He informed Abraham about it.
Abraham plead with the Lord, "Why," said he, "Lot lives down there, a
nephew of mine, and a pretty good sort of a man, and there may be a
great many others." The Lord said: "If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous, within the city, then I will spare all the place for their
sakes." Abraham, however, thought this was more than he could pick
out. I expect there was a crowd of mean "cusses" among them as we have
among us. And finally the Lord said that if ten righteous could be
found in the city, He would not destroy it for ten's sake. But ten
righteous people could not be found, and therefore the city had to be
destroyed. What! All the people? Yes, all the people. But before they
were destroyed he sent two angels and they brought out Lot, his wife
and daughters. His wife was a little tinctured with gentilism: she
looked back, and the Scriptures tell us she was turned into a pillar
of salt. When they got away, brimstone and fire fell upon the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them. Thus the Lord has taken the
privilege in many instances of correcting mankind. He used the
children of Israel to kill the people who dwelt in the land of Canaan,
and directed them to spare them not, because of their wickedness, to
cut them off root and branch. He raised up one nation and put down
another, and raised up one king and put down another.

Vol. 26,  p.36
There were times when the iniquity of these people was not yet full.
In Abraham's day the Lord told that Patriarch that he should go to his
fathers in peace, but in the fourth generation his posterity should
"come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full:"
by the days of Moses they appear to have filled the cup of their
iniquity, for he enjoined upon the Israelites, thou shalt utterly
destroy them," "as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee." So that the
Lord takes upon Himself to manipulate the nations according to the
counsels of His own will, and as they all of them have to do with
eternity as well as time, He adjudges them according to the eternal
laws and principles by which He is governed; and hence we are told
that eternal punishment is God's punishment, and everlasting
punishment is God's punishment, thus men and nations are adjudged by
the Almighty, according to the infinite and eternal laws and
principles which exist in the heavens, and with a reference to eternal
duration and not according to the finite, erratic and limited ideas of
men. Jonah was sent to the city of Ninevah, to tell the people to
repent, and that if they did not repent they would all be destroyed.
But they listened to the voice of the Prophet. They clothed themselves
in sackcloth and sat in ashes and repented before the Lord, and then
the Lord forgave them. Why was it that a great many people were thus
judged by the Almighty? It was because of their iniquity. The same
thing prevailed upon this continent. The spirit of evil and
contention, war and strife, existed among the ancient [p.37]
Jaredites, when they forsook their God, and violated his laws. They
fought one with another; They were maddened by fury, even that fury
which was lit up by the fires of hell and by the spirit of fiends,
until they completely destroyed one another. So it was with the
Nephites who had departed from the law of God, and trampled under foot
his ordinances. They and the Lamanites were stirred up one against
another, until at last they gathered together thousands and tens of
thousands and hundreds of thousands of fighting men—they were four
years in gathering their armies, and they fought and sited blood and
spread destruction and death wherever they went. We can read the
account of it in the Book of Mormon, and I do not propose to repeat it
here this evening.

Vol. 26,  p.37
Now, how is it pertaining to the last days? As it was in the days of
Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. As
it was in the days of Lot, so Shall it also be in the days of the
Coming of the Son of Man. In what respect? In the days of Noah did
they have the Gospel preached unto them? Yes. Did the people generally
reject it? Yes. Did the people gather gather together and build up a
Zion? Yes. How is it in these days? The Lord has revealed his Gospel
to us as he did to them. He has sent forth the words of life, and is
sending them to the nations of the earth. Hundreds of Elders are going
to-day, and taking their lives in their hands, and some of them have
to sacrifice their lives? and others, in this land of liberty, because
they will be virtuous and keep the commands of God, are today
weltering in prison. Woe! to those who have a hand in these things. I
tell you and I tell them, as a servant of God, in the name of God,
that he will be after them and they shall suffer worse than that which
they inflict upon innocent, pure and virtuous men. Now, I bear
testimony to this, and you will know it when it comes to pass. Woe! to
them that fight against Zion, for God will fight against
them—hypocrites! who are wallowing in filthiness, corruption,
adultery, fornication and deception, in the name of virtue are seeking
to destroy a virtuous people, and those who dare honor and obey the
commandments of God.

Vol. 26,  p.37
Then, in regard to the work in which we are engaged. Will it go on? I
tell you it will. Will Zion be built up? I tell you it will. Will the
Zion that Enoch built up, descend? It host assuredly will, and this
that we are building up will ascend, and the two will meet and the
peoples thereof will fall on each other's necks, and embrace each
other. So says the word of God to us. Will we go on with our work?
With the help of the Lord we will. He has told us to do a work, and we
will try to carry it out—we of the First Presidency, we of the Twelve,
we of the Seventies, we of the Elders, we of the High Priests, we of
the Presidents of Stakes, we of the Bishops, and we of the Holy
Priesthood in all its various forms. By the help of the Lord, we will
try, first, to purify ourselves, to purify our households, to get rid
of Covetousness, deception and fraud of every kind, to act honorably
before God and before all men, and to love not the world, nor the
things that are in the world; for if any man love the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. Anything that we may have or possess
comes from God; and if we are exalted, if we possess the good things
of the world—which I tell you in the name of Israel's God we shall, in
spite of all men and all [p.38] their influences, for the people of
Zion will be the richest of all people. This is in accordance with the
Scriptures. The Scripture tells us: "For brass I will bring gold, and
for iron I will bring sliver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron:
I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
Violence shall no more be heard in the land, wasting nor destruction
within thy borders."

Vol. 26,  p.38
The Lord has gathered us together that we may learn His law; that we
may be instructed in the principles of truth, righteousness and
virtue; that we may be prepared to honor and magnify our calling, and
glorify our God.

Vol. 26,  p.38
Well, what would you have us do when men are so corrupt—when it is
enough for a man here, because he has the kindness to take some
chickens for a poor woman to sell for her—when that is enough evidence
to convict him that he is an adulterer, and must be placed under bonds
and subjected to trial and punishment. What do they do with their
Christian whores that they have in our midst? Where do they come from?
They are not our institution. But they are protected, they can vote,
they can do as they please, no process can be introduced against them,
for they are a part of their institution, and must be protected; but
anything "in the marriage relation," you know, is different from that.

Vol. 26,  p.38
Well, what shall we do? We will treat all decent men very well, and we
will give the others a wide berth. These corrupt and villainous men
who are seeking to trample under foot the rights of free men and
deprive them of everything in life that is worth having, will suffer
the bondage they are seeking to bring upon us. I tell you that, and we
need not try to make these affairs any worse. We will treat them as
well as we can. There are thousands and tens of thousands who despise
their meanness and corruption—honorable Americans, thousands and tens
of thousands of them who are ashamed of the meanness and corruption of
these wretches; and there are thousands of men abroad who have just
the same feeling. I saw and conversed with a member of the British
Parliament recently, and in speaking about Rudger Clawson's case, said
he: "It is one of the most infamous things I ever heard of, and if you
will permit me I will go to the President of the United States, and
ask him to pardon that man." "Why, yes," said I, "you have my
permission certainly." That is the way a British member of Parliament
talked about the acts and doings of some of our officials here right
in our midst. Yet, notwithstanding the wickedness, the corruption,
venom, the hypocrisy, and the deception that is practiced here, right
under our noses, we will stand still and see the salvation of God, and
God in His own time will remove these vindictive men out of their
places. Meantime we will continue to fear God, and work righteousness;
we will cleave to the truth, live our religion, be humble before God,
train up our children in purity, virtue and holiness, and set
ourselves against everything that is corrupt, hypocritical,
fraudulent, and contrary to the principles of righteousness. We will
trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of
those that believe. We will do fight, we will treat all men right, and
we will maintain every institution of our country that is according to
the Constitution of the United States, and the laws thereof, and we
will sustain them.[p.39] By and by, you will find they will tear the
Constitution to shreads, as they have begun now; they won't have to
begin; they have started long ago to rend the Constitution of our
country in pieces; and in doing so they are letting loose and
encouraging a principle which will react upon themselves with terrible
consequences; for if law-makers and administrators can afford to
trample upon justice, equity, and the Constitution of this country,
they will find thousands and tens of thousands who are willing to
follow in their wake in the demolition of the rights of man, and the
destruction of all principles of justice, and the safeguards of the
nation; but we will stand by and maintain its principles and the
rights of all men of every color, and every clime; we will cleave to
the truth, live our religion and keep the commandments of God, and God
will bless us in time and throughout the eternities that are to come.

Vol. 26,  p.39
God bless you and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of Jesus,
Amen.

George Q. Cannon, December 7, 1884

The Second Coming of Our Savior—Preaching of the 
Gospel and the Signs Following—the Gathering—Hatred 
of the World Toward the Latter-Day Saints—No Power Can 
Overthrow the Work of God—Exhortations to Faithfulness

Discourse By President George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon Dec. 7th, 1884.

Reported By John Irvine

Vol. 26,  p.39
THE speaker commenced by reading the 24th chapter of Matthew; after
which he spoke as follows:

Vol. 26,  p.39
I have read this chapter to call your attention to the predictions of
the Son of God concerning the last days, and the circumstances which
would surround His people previous to His making His second appearance
on the earth. Great interest has been manifested at different periods
by the inhabitants of the earth who have believed in Jesus, respecting
His second coming. Great desires have been manifested from time to
time to understand the signs [p.40] of His advent, and some have gone
so far as to predict the day and even the exact time when He would
make his appearance. According to the revelations that we have
received upon this subject, the day and the hour are not revealed unto
man, neither is it probable that they will be, but we have been told
that that time is near at hand, and that it is our duty as the people
of God, to prepare ourselves for that great a, and terrible day. The
message which the Elders of this Church were commissioned to declare
unto the inhabitants of the earth 54 years ago, and which they have
since that time been declaring wherever they have gone is, that the
time is near at hand for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to make His
second appearance, and the Elders of this Church have been sent with a
warning message to all the nations of the earth, to declare unto them
that the hour of God's judgment is near at hand; that the time for the
fulfillment of the prediction of the holy Prophets has arrived, and
that it is the duty of the inhabitants of the earth to prepare
themselves for the great events that are about to take place connected
with the last days. And in order that they might the better prepare
themselves, the servants of God are commanded to call upon the people
to gather out from the various nations where they are living to a
place that God has designated as a place of gathering for His elect,
where they might prepare themselves for the coming of our Lord and
Savior. This was the message which the Elders were sent forth to bear
54 years ago, and from that time until the present they have been, to
the extent of their ability, proclaiming it to the various nations to
which they have had access, warning them in meekness and in humility,
that the time was near at hand for the fulfillment of all that had
been spoken by the mouths of the servants of God in ancient days
concerning the last days. Yet, as I have said, we have had no
authority given unto us, no message to designate the hour nor the day,
nor even the year when the Lord would make His appearance. That has
been kept by the Father. The angels diet not know the hour nor the day
when our Savior spoke the words that I have read in your hearing; and
if the angels have since been informed of it, we have not been advised
to that effect. We have been told that the time is near at hand, and
as an evidence of the near approach of this event we have seen the
fulfillment of many things that were told should take place. This
Gospel of the Kingdom, Jesus said, had to be preached unto all nations
as a witness—the same Gospel that was preached by Him and His
disciples when they were upon the earth—that Gospel of the Kingdom had
to be preached unto all nations be