Remarks by Elder F. D. Richards, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, March 22, 1857.

In these times, when Israel as a people in these mountains are reviewing their past lives, and are taking into consideration so carefully as they now are doing the course of life which they shall hereafter pursue, it should be the diligent study of the Elders, when they rise up to speak to the people, to address them by the dictation of the Holy Ghost upon such subjects and such matters as shall strengthen them in their faith, increase the energy and power of the people, and lead them to do good and that which is well-pleasing in the sight of God. For it is with the people of Israel in the latter days, as it was in former days, that righteousness has got to exalt this nation—I mean the nation of Israel; therefore the more diligent and faithful we are in sustaining the Priesthood and practicing righteousness, the more rapidly shall we acquire strength from God, become sanctified from our sins and weaknesses, and become a pure and strong people in the earth, such as the Lord wishes us to be, that by us His will may be done on the earth as in heaven.

This people that were not a people have become a people, even the people of God. They must have the bread of life continually as well as those who administer unto them in the word of life. We not only need it who rise up to preach, but every man and woman needs it; they need it in their families; they need fresh supplies from heaven by the ministrations of the Holy Ghost daily, hourly, and every moment, to qualify them for their duties.

Now, in what way can we best promote the favor of God, so that he will give us the bread of life, so that he will give us strength and energy, and so that he will empower us, that we may adopt and live by every word which we hear from our beloved Prophet, and thereby increase confidence in each other, as he taught us last Sunday. This should be the design of every man and woman—at least, so it appears to me.

We have had a most blessed winter in which to acquire knowledge of ourselves. Indeed, I think that this people can say they never had such a winter before. The Prophet and Apostles had taught us the things of the kingdom so fully that we could not seek for more revelation; but we have been reviewing ourselves and our conduct to discover wherein we have not lived up to what has been revealed; and so great have been the apparent deficiencies, that the people have nearly all realized, when they examined themselves, that there was a great cause for lack of confidence in themselves and in each other. This has been a general feeling; and it becomes us to bestir ourselves and obtain strength by the power of the Holy Ghost, so that we may overcome every evil propensity, resist the adversary of our souls in whatever shape he may present himself, and live our religion.

This is not a work that belongs only to the First Presidency, or to the Twelve, or to any of the Presidents of the Quorums only, but it belongs to every man and to every woman. If we could feel this and realize it individually, we certainly should prevail against and escape from those influences that do tend to impair our confidence in God and each other: there is no doubt of it. It had become so that iniquity could be found dwelling among us, passing in our streets, and stalking forth rampant in our midst, almost without a frown, and unrebuked. So extensive had this become, that those who had not committed sins had become partakers of the influence and of the spirit of those who had, and this because they had not been swift to rebuke and disfellowship sin and sinners. The righteous had become partakers of other men’s crimes; hence this sleepy, deadening, and damning influence among us, because we have not put sin away from us as diligently and faithfully as we should have done.

This winter the people have been looking at this, and they have got to see themselves in a different light to what they ever have before. Shall it be so in the future? Let the Saints determine it shall not; and when men and women see in themselves or in their neighbors the workings of sin and iniquity, let them rebuke it at once, and thereby put an end to transgression.

We have got to purge out all ungodliness from our own souls, and we have to help others to do it also; and especially, if I may be allowed to make any distinction, it should be the business of the Bishops, because they have the oversight of the people in a Ward capacity, and they can have an eye through the Church which many of the Presidents of Quorums cannot have. When a man rises in the morning and calls upon God to qualify and strengthen him for the duties and warfare of the day, he should go out with a determination to carry that feeling of hostility to sin with him, and not only war the good warfare himself, but be able to help his neighbor to do battle also.

Some people deal honestly because they are watched and are obliged to; but a truly honest man will do right because he loves righteousness and honesty the best. These things indicate greater things. It is said a straw will show the way the wind blows. If a man is willing to be dishonest, or to do anything or permit anything that will bring mischief upon you in your absence, your interests would not be safe in his hands. That spirit will lead him to persuade your wives and children away from you, when you are dead, if he can, or to let someone else do it unrebuked; and upon the same principle the spread of good and great things are made to depend and to bring their consequences.

We do see and hear occasionally instances of the kind where men take measures and endeavor to rob the dead. This awful dishonesty in eternal things is the fruit of dishonesty in smaller matters. If men will do honestly in small things, and perform their duties as servants of God to each other, they will by-and-by be honored for their acts, and vast responsibilities will be laid upon them with safety; but if men in this Church will be dishonest in the smaller matters of everyday life, they will soon be overthrown thereby; and so it is with every species of unrighteousness. Then let all be diligent to cleanse themselves of all that is evil upon its first appearance.

When men go to the canyon for wood or lumber, those that have this difficult labor to perform should take with them a rich portion of the Holy Spirit; and they should realize that they have it to enable them to live their religion there—that God protects them in the canyons as well as any other place: and let them take all their religion with them that they carry to or from this Tabernacle. If they find that the elements are changed from what they are in the city or in this Tabernacle, let them know that they require more of the Gospel. Do not leave your religion at the mouth of the canyon, or with the gatekeeper; do not leave it with your wagon; but take your religion and the Spirit of your God with you clear up to where you get your wood. It will help you to keep your axe sharp: you will not be so likely to get hurt yourself, or to lose your bowpins, chains, or axe. Your cattle will be more kindly; for you will not beat them so much, and they will do more work for you. You will not be so likely to break down your wagon; but you will be able to do a better day’s work, bring home a better load, and to feel more thankful for it.

If you find a man there that is swearing and profaning the name of the Lord, remember that you are an Elder in Israel, and that you are authorized to call him to an account. If you find a man that will blaspheme the name of the Lord, do not forget to remind him that the Lord whose name he blasphemes gave him strength to go there, and that He caused the trees to grow, and has permitted him to go and help himself to the timber; and inform him that he should do it decently and without blaspheming the name of the Giver. If you cannot influence him with these importunities, and if you cannot prevail upon him to do right, as an Elder in Israel lay hands upon him, and do it as one having authority; and if you will do this, you will cause the name of God to be honored in the canyons. I mean that you should lay hands on as ministers of God—as those who have authority to talk to men in the canyon, and thereby give them to understand that they shall not blaspheme the name of God in your presence. If you will do this, I tell you the Holy Ghost will rest upon you and enable you to ferret out iniquity—to honor the truth and the priesthood which you hold.

I talk to you Elders who want to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. If you will do this you will soon have more confidence in yourselves; your neighbors will have confidence in you, and will find out that you are preachers of righteousness. The man whom you rebuke will also learn that he must stop blaspheming and swearing in your presence. This is one of the subjects that the Elders of Israel should feel themselves called upon to act in. It is not only so in relation to the brethren who hold the Priesthood, but it is so with every right, good-meaning man; and it is that man whom the Lord will love; for while you are doing this you are honoring God. If you will talk to and labor with them in this manner, you will bring about much salvation; and should you have to administer the whole ordinance, they will bless you for it, and God will bless you.

We have to rebuke iniquity whenever it is presented before us; and if we have not already commenced, we should begin, one and all, to sanctify the name of the Lord our God in these valleys. How are we going to do this while we allow blaspheming, and swearing, and all manner of wickedness to go on in our midst? Let no man of God suppose that he has not authority to oppose sin. Suppose Phinehas had said, “I am not Moses, nor Aaron, nor Caleb, nor Joshua, and I am not called to rebuke sin in Israel,” he would not have secured to himself the “covenant of peace;” but because he rose up and slew the adulterer, God sealed the priesthood upon him and his seed forever. The Lord will seal blessings upon you if you are jealous for the honor of His name and are valiant for righteousness and truth. His Spirit will strengthen you in body and in spirit. This is life.

I tell you, brethren, we have been too careless in these matters, and because of this we have been partakers of other men’s sins. All are called upon to divest themselves of sin, and then to aid their neighbors, if need be.

It is not only in going to the canyons, in going to the fields to plow and to sow, that the Lord desires this people to rise up and put iniquity away from them, but in everything with which we have to do.

It is by works of righteousness that we shall become a holy and happy people whose God is the Lord, while sinners will find our society too uncomfortable to dwell in. If we thus live our religion, we shall have confidence in ourselves, in each other, and in our God.

I do not wish to talk much or long; but I feel like calling upon the men in the Priesthood, and upon men that have not received any ordination, and also the women, and requesting them not to hear the name of God, or of his servants, or the doctrines of the Gospel blasphemed with impunity, but to sanctify the name of the Lord in this city, in this Territory, and in all Israel; for this is the way that this people will become sanctified.

Brethren, may the Lord enlighten our minds, that we may see our duty and do it, and that we may also assist others to walk in the way of life, become ministers of righteousness and saviors in his kingdom. This is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President D. H. Wells, Delivered at the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 22, 1857.

Brethren and sisters—I feel it a privilege to have a part in the work of the latter days, and I feel thankful that I have been brought upon the stage of existence in this period of time. It is a privilege which you all enjoy as well as myself, and one which we should appreciate more than we do. When we reflect upon the misery and degradation that prevail in the world, we ought to highly prize the privilege we enjoy.

I heard one remark in the forenoon that he looked younger than he did twenty years ago. This brought to my mind what I had heretofore observed among what we term the world’s people. Men and women plod along in the “even tenor of their way” for fifteen, twenty, or more years, and become perfectly rusty—as rusty as iron that has been long exposed to the action of the elements. But let the Spirit of truth come upon persons and their minds expand, and you at once see a difference in their countenances. Who among us has not noticed this? I know that the Spirit of the Lord gives life, and that men grow younger when they come into this kingdom and live their religion. This is true, although unbelievers may make sport of it. I know that the feelings of the righteous are enlivened, their flesh and blood are quickened, and they become a glorious people; they receive and enjoy the Spirit of the Lord.

Look at the nations of the earth, and see them plodding along without improvement in the knowledge of the things of God—without being touched in their spirits with the life-giving power, and they rust out; they do not enjoy themselves near so much as do the “Mormons,” who enjoy themselves a great deal better than any people within my knowledge; for it is a peculiarity of “Mormonism” that its followers enjoy themselves. Upon the Plains you can see them dancing and kicking up their heels. There is not much formal sanctity about them; and in this particular they are also right; for the Lord loves a cheerful heart and a buoyant spirit; and those who receive the Spirit of the Lord are full of life and animation. They are not apt to have the “blues;” or if at times they do, they do not go into their graves with that complaint. They are ready to do anything that will subserve the interests of the kingdom of God and their religion, even though it may be contrary to their natural feelings. This is one principle that makes us so different from the world; the “Mormons” know that all is right, if they carry out the instructions given them.

It is a fact, whether you believe it or not, that this people were getting into their old sectarian traditions: they were getting so that they had not time to do scarcely anything to the cause of God, and they had begun to be very dull and sleepy. It has been with them as the Lord said in the parable, when the men slept the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.

Now we are livened up again, we feel the lively emotions of the Spirit of God, and we are ready to do anything that may be counseled by whoever has the right to counsel. We are ready to walk in the path of strict obedience. Let us keep right from this time forth, and not go to sleep again, nor let the enemy sow tares as he did before.

We have no need of being roused from a state of lethargy, if we will let the Spirit lead us; and the Lord will prosper us; for the man and the woman that keeps His Spirit is right: with it the people can bring as much again to pass as they can otherwise. They are stronger in their minds and in their judgments, and are more capable of gathering around them the comforts of life for their subsistence. Instead of “Mormonism” disqualifying us, it qualifies us for all things that ought to be done. Let us be careful not to allow the enemy to come and sow tares, but keep alive to the duties enjoined upon us.

I have a few words to say to the Bishops. Much has been said to them, and I attribute a large share of the improved condition of the people to their faithful instructions. They have done much; but still there is one thing more to which I wish to direct their attention. There are many people who do not know how to set themselves advantageously to work. We call the Bishops the Fathers of the Wards; and, by the exercise of a little care and judgment, they can do much towards putting many of the people in a better way for obtaining a living, and thereby strengthen their feeble knees. A man lately came to me from the north who had land and team, but no seed, and wanted to be put in the way to get a living. I gave him a note to his Bishop. What should be the duty of that Bishop? He should say, I will find you seed this spring, and you can pay it back after harvest. In this manner such individuals may easily be placed in the way for obtaining their own support.

This Gospel brings the silk weavers, potters, and many other tradesmen from the old country; and many could form a vessel who have only learned a single branch of a trade. It often happens, in the manufacture of earthenware, that one turns the clay, another bakes it, and another burns it; but neither can operate in the department of another. Until there are openings here for such mechanics, they labor under many disadvantages. There are hundreds of such persons in your Wards; and what does it become you to do in such cases? To take pains and plan to make their services of some use and profit. The Bishops and their counselors and assistants should have a wise oversight of such persons, and devise ways and means for them to raise vegetables and grain. They should plan some kind of employment that will make them and their families useful. Put them in a position that will enable them to procure a subsistence and do good for themselves and the great cause in which we are engaged. It is a duty that we owe society to use our influence to build each other up, that we may be united and become strong and able, and by assisting the poor and strengthening the feeble, become a people in whom the Lord will have delight, and assist in bringing to pass His purposes.

Do we realize what these purposes are? Saints who have received the Gospel and live their religion know, by the vibrations of the heart and the operations of the Spirit, what they are. The Lord’s people will become exceedingly numerous; they are rising fast; and the responsibilities of this kingdom will rest upon the sons of Zion, and He will hasten His work in its time. The day will come in which the earth will tremble and the nations quake with fear because of the wickedness of her inhabitants.

We read that Satan shall be bound a thousand years. How is this to be accomplished? By our becoming so impregnated with the principles of the Gospel—with the Holy Ghost—that the enemy will have no place in us or in our families, and shedding forth that influence in our neighborhoods. The adversary is first to be driven from ourselves, then from our families, then from our neighbors, next from our Territory, and eventually from the nations, until he shall find no place upon the face of the whole earth: then will he not be bound? Yes, so far as this earth is concerned; and that is the way in which it is to be done, in my humble opinion. He will be chained to all intents and purposes when he can have no influence—no power—no tabernacles into which he can enter: he will then have no place of entertainment. When he finds that he is cornered that close, will he not consider himself bound? I think he will, whether he thinks so or not.

This is a work at which we can all labor; for it is by our united efforts that Zion will be produced in our own bosoms, in this city, in our Territory, or anywhere else. If we will do this, and be united as the heart of one man, we shall banish Satan from our presence, and eventually from this earth; and this we have to do. If we resist him, he will flee from us; and you know that the Lord is quick to answer, if we rightly call upon Him for assistance. We shall be made exceedingly numerous and strong, and shall be able to build up a temple to the name of our God.

We are a good people; the Lord loves us, and it will be His delight to bless us more and more. And the more we are capable of receiving, the more He will give; for the heavens are ready to drop with blessings: but we also have a work to perform. We can preach and do much, but we must do still more than we have done.

If we can banish Satan from our presence, we shall do a good work; for he it is who steps in and causes bickerings and strife. But if we will be wide awake, and not let the enemy come in, there will be no bickerings or strife; and we will be able to move the heavens and the earth if necessary; we will be able to drive Satan from our midst, with all the kindred spirits that are seeking our destruction.

Shall we take this course? Or shall we be like the sectarian world, and suffer ourselves to wither and dry up, and have no strength? Before us are light and joy, and an entrance into the celestial kingdom of our God; on the other hand are degradation, poverty, and misery, such as we know nothing about. Let us be alive to our business; for it is our business and interest to look to the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, not only in spiritual, but in temporal matters.

We are constituted to need food and the necessary facilities and appliances for operating successfully, such as the cattle, horses, and the various conveniences for carrying on business. They are all the Lord’s, and He will bless us with those things that are for our good and comfort. If we are faithful we shall increase in the things of God. The Devil can claim no right to the blessings of the Lord; for those things belong to the Saints: therefore let us do all we can for the building up of the kingdom of God, and He will furnish us all we need; for all belongs to Him. No part of the human family belongs to the Devil, unless they sell themselves to him. But the Lord cannot consistently bless us, unless He knows that we will serve Him and make a good use of what He bestows.

Let us be faithful, alive to our duties, and perform our mission upon the earth we inhabit, no matter what it is that we have been sent to do. Let us seek unto the Lord Almighty, and ask for His Spirit to be with us; and if we are faithful He will give it, for He regardeth those who are faithful. We read that He giveth liberally to those who ask of Him, and upbraideth not. Let us not be lazy, but let us ever be alive to the interests of the kingdom of God, and expend our time and strength for the interest and benefit of that kingdom; for the Devil has had the use and benefit of this world nearly long enough.

I feel as though we were all going to do better in future. I feel that this is the intention of this people; for I see them feel alive to each other’s interests. I saw this manifested last fall; and every call that is made upon them they feel anxious to comply with to the utmost. And they feel richer with half the means than they did before, and they will have means doubled and trebled upon them. I am not guessing at this, for I know that it is, if we will only use those means and blessings in the service of our God. If we will entirely cease serving the Devil, we will be still more obviously better and richer than any people upon the face of the earth.

Treasure up the words of wisdom that we hear from time to time, and be cleanly in our persons and in our habitations; for the Holy Ghost will not dwell in unholy temples. It is an insult to the Holy Spirit for us to be filthy, and it may be grieved away if we do not observe cleanliness. Be careful to treasure these things up in your minds. Keep the commandments of God; do not take His name in vain; do not be seen loafing about at the corners of the streets, and spending your time in idleness. When you go to plough and plant, ask God to bless the ground and the seed, and let us have His blessing on all that we do, and have our faith centered upon the things that we are called upon to perform, and we shall be blessed and prospered, and will see the work of the Almighty roll forth with might and power, even until we shall redeem Zion and build a temple upon the consecrated spot where it is said that the glory of God shall rest upon it as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night.

Are we now prepared for the coming of the Son of Man and for the resurrection? Do we ever think of this? Brethren and sisters, let us be faithful, keep our covenants, and press onward until that time shall come. Important events and duties transpire quite as fast as we are prepared for them; therefore let us round up our shoulders—gird up our loins; and if we can bear greater burdens, there is more coming, and we shall have all that we can do.

If we will not do this, the Lord can raise up a people that will. The hearts of all men are in His hands; and if we do not appreciate the blessings given, He will give them to somebody else. Ancient Israel transgressed, and would not keep the covenants and obey the Lord; consequently, they could not enter into the promised land. But was it much trouble to raise up a people that would? No.

May the Lord bless us, and enable us to keep our covenants and be faithful continually, is my prayer, through Christ our Redeemer. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, March 22, 1857.

When any of the Presidency of this Church, or of the Quorum of the Twelve, or any of the Elders rise in this stand to speak, this people look unto them, and expect they will enjoy the Holy Spirit sufficiently to say something that will edify them. The people almost unanimously look for this. I will say, on the other hand, that the Presidency, the Twelve, and the Elders who preach in this house expect that the people will have the Spirit of the Lord, that they may come to understanding; and this is just as much required that they may comprehend what is said unto them, as it is required of the brethren who speak, to teach doctrine, principle, truth, and the revelations of Jesus Christ. When the minds of the people are quickened and enlightened by the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost, that they can appreciate and prize the principles of eternal truth and the revelations which God has given through his servant Joseph, or the things which he has revealed during the past winter through the mouth of his servants unto the inhabitants of this city, or those which he has revealed unto the inhabitants of the earth, then they are prepared to be benefited by those blessings which are poured out upon them. Any of you that have experienced this blessing—and I presume that all have at times—have been astonished at certain periods of their lives that there has been such a difference in their minds. I know this is the case with myself, and I presume it is with others. There have been times that the vision of my mind has been opened to comprehend the word of God and the teachings of his servants. The vision of my mind has been opened and quickened by the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost, so that when I have sat here and heard the Presidency and the servants of God teach the principle of righteousness and the word of God unto us, I have felt the force, the power, and the importance of these eternal truths which they have presented unto our minds, while at other times the same truths may have been taught, but they have passed off without making the same impression upon my mind.

We have, as brother Franklin says, spent an interesting time the past winter. Much truth has been spoken: men have been inspired by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost to teach us the things of God; and this I consider to be a matter of great importance to the people. I consider it important that we labor to obtain that Spirit, to have it increased upon us, and carry it with us, that when we hear teaching our minds may be prepared to receive it. Why is it that this Gospel of the kingdom has been preached to the world for twenty-five years, and that there are but so small a number of the children of men who have received those truths, been governed by them, and suffered them to govern one single act of their lives? It is because their minds have been darkened and have not valued the Gospel, or considered the consequences of rejecting it. It is true we have a large congregation here today, and that there are a few thousands in these valleys and throughout this Territory. Yet compare them with the masses of mankind, and how few they are. I am not capable of making a calculation to say whether there is one to five or ten thousand who have embraced the Gospel. One of the old Prophets said that there would be one of a city and two of a family. This has been fulfilled in many instances. When the Elders proclaimed the Gospel unto you; those of you who are here received that word, meditated upon it, so much so that you have been willing to forsake all that you possessed and come to Zion. The seed has produced good fruit; it has caused you to come to Zion; but there are millions of the masses who heard the Gospel, but they have hardened their hearts and darkness has taken hold of their minds, and hence they have rejected the Spirit of God which has striven with them: they, in acting upon their agency, have given way to seducing spirits and rejected the Gospel of Christ, and consequently the Spirit of God has been withdrawn from them; and because of this the Lord has been taking his Spirit from the nations of the earth. We see the fruits of it. It needs no argument to prove a truth so visible.

I will now say that inasmuch as many of us have received the Gospel and gathered with the Saints of God, it is important that we labor today—that we live under the influence of that Spirit, that it may continue to increase and to govern us in our acts among the children of men. Now, when a man has the Holy Spirit and hears the plain, simple truths of salvation, they appear more valuable than all else besides, and he is ready to sacrifice everything of a temporal nature to secure himself salvation; but when people’s minds become darkened, they lose the Holy Spirit and the value of that Gospel, and they do not realize the privilege and the honor of being associated with the Saints of God in these valleys of the mountains, neither do they maintain their allegiance to their Heavenly Father, and honor his name upon the earth, or prize their association with those that bear the holy Priesthood, and therefore they go into darkness. Why has the word reformation ever been named in Zion? It has been because we did not labor to keep within us that holy principle of life, that our minds might be quickened day by day, and receive and prize those truths delivered unto us. Now we marvel and wonder when we are enlightened by the Spirit of God and the revelations which he has given unto us; and when we are aroused to a sense of the importance of these things, we then see the effect and the bearing they will have upon us—not only the fitting of our minds to go into the world of spirits, but to prepare us to meet with our Father in heaven. Now, we should live in that way and manner that the Holy Spirit will dwell with us, and so that we may be prepared to receive those truths which are daily delivered unto us by Presidents Young, Kimball, Wells, or any other man who rises up here to speak unto us the words of life. We should give attention to what is said. As brother Kimball says, the man who speaks to you from this stand is the center, and we should give him our attention, prayers, and faith; and if we do this we shall receive out of the abundance of his heart those things which will benefit us. It should be our chief study to treasure up the words of life, that we may grow in grace, and advance in the knowledge of God, and become perfected in Christ Jesus, that we may receive a fulness, and become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

The revelations of Jesus Christ teach us that the Savior was born in the flesh; and the Father said that He did not give him a fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace until he had received a fulness, and was called the Son of God because he did not receive a fulness at first. We in like manner should seek with all our souls to grow in grace, light, and truth, that in due time we may receive a fulness. The Lord has a great many principles in store for us; and the greatest principles which he has for us are the most simple and plain. The first principles of the Gospel which lead us unto eternal life are the simplest, and yet none are more glorious or important unto us. Men may labor to make a great display of talent, learning, and knowledge, either in printing or preaching. They may try to preach the mysteries and to present something strange, great, and wonderful, and they may labor for this with all their might, in the spirit and strength of man without the aid of the Holy Spirit of God, and yet the people are not edified, and their preaching will not give much satisfaction. It is the plainest and the most simple things that edify us the most, if taught by the Spirit of God; and there is nothing more important or beneficial unto us. If we have that Spirit dwelling with us—if it abides with us continually, enlightening our minds by day and by night, we are in the safe path; and when we have finished the work of the day, we reflect upon it and are satisfied with it, feeling that it is approbated of the Lord. It is our privilege to live in this way, that all our time may be spent so that we have a conscience void of offense towards both God and man. When we reflect on the day that is past and see wherein we have done evil, we should labor to improve and to advance in the things of the kingdom of God. I feel that in order for us to prize the gifts of God, the blessings of the Gospel, the privilege that we have of building tabernacles, and of living here in peace, and kneeling down in our family circles in peace, having in our society the Prophets of God, men filled with wisdom, who are capable of leading us to salvation, and of leading us into the paths of life, who do teach us the principles of truth, which will lead us back to our Father and our God—I say, when we consider these things we ought to prize our privileges as Saints of the Most High. Brethren, we must invariably have the Spirit of God with us, that we may ever be kept in the line of our duty.

I feel to exhort you in regard to these things, that we may prize those blessings which God has given unto us, and pursue a course wherein we may be justified of the Lord. Now, if we attempt to do anything that is not right, the Spirit of the Lord will not approbate us, but we shall feel condemned. The Lord has blessed us during the past winter; He has poured out upon us a great amount of knowledge, wisdom, and treasures, that we ought to prize. Now, as the spring is coming upon us, and as we turn our attention to the plough and to cultivating the earth, if we forget our prayers, the Devil will take double the advantage of us. We have renewed our covenants by baptism, and we have received great blessings from the Lord, and much of the Holy Spirit has been shed abroad among this people. And, as brother Richards has said—and I consider the counsel right—we should not only reprove ourselves when wrong, but we should reprove sin wherever we see it, whether in ourselves, in our streets, or in our quorums. We should always show our disapprobation of those that are wrong—that are sinful and wicked.

I do not feel, this morning, like occupying a great portion of your time, but I do feel that the Lord is gracious unto us, and that we should prize above all things upon the earth the words of eternal life that are given unto us. As long as we are governed by the Holy Spirit, our minds are strengthened, and our faith is and will be increased, and we shall labor for the building up of the kingdom of God. And I pray that our hearts may be inspired to magnify our calling and the holy Priesthood, and honor God, keep his commandments, and live our religion, which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 15, 1857.

It is immaterial who the authorities invite to speak in this stand, that man should be so pliable that God can dictate him to speak to this people the very things that are necessary to correct our judgments and understandings, to inform our minds, and to set in order, organize and attach every quorum to the vine where it should be. Also to teach this people that there should be order and government in families; that they should be connected together by the same spirit with which a man is connected to the Priesthood. When this is done, then every man is connected to the Priesthood, and the wife to the man, and the children to their parents, from generation to generation. Were we all thus actually connected like the limbs and branches of one tree, and there was no disturbance or obstruction by any evil principle, would we not be in a far better condition than we now are for accomplishing the work we have to perform.

While brother McAllister was speaking, I could not avoid the reflection that there is time and opportunity for all to improve, if they will. When persons cease to make improvement, they either go back or have become stereotyped, that is, fixed, unchangeable in regard to true progression, and then of what use are they towards promoting the welfare of the cause in which we are engaged? While a tree is growing, while it is thrifty and limber, it is passive and submissive to the man that labors to give it form. But I will let that subject drop, and pass to another which is on my mind.

Some may very naturally suppose that there is a host of subscribers to The Deseret News, especially when the character of its matter is fairly considered, as also the fact that it is entirely owned by the Church, and controlled for the mutual benefit of all, who are interested in building up the kingdom of God on the earth. I had supposed that there were at least ten thousand subscribers, but I have learned that there are not so many, and not near as many as it seems to me there should be; and I was perfectly astonished that the circulation was not much greater than I found it to be. Some may be careless in this matter, under the supposition that brother Carrington is part owner or proprietor of the News, when such is in nowise the case, for, as I have already stated, the presses, type, and all that pertains to the Printing Office and Bookbindery, are the property of the Church.

I presume that there are from twelve to twenty thousand families in this Territory, and I really know of no reason why every family should not take, read, and pay for one copy of the News, for some large families now take from two to six copies. And I am all the more surprised at the slackness of the people in this matter, from the fact that the manner of payment is so easy, every kind of article of any real value being received, even to “hemlock slabs after harvest.”

Again, I am considerably astonished at the apparent indifference manifested by some of the Agents for the News, for they are allowed a very liberal percentage for a very small amount of time and attention; and instead of using a little skill and exertion to devise ways for the poor to pay for the paper in labor, some make little or no effort, either to increase the number of subscribers or to collect and remit payments. And what is still worse, some receive cash from the subscribers and retain it, paying the Office in something else, and that, too, at their leisure.

The Agents should become acquainted with each family within their agency, and wherever they find poor persons who would rejoice to take the paper, read it, and be profited thereby, it will be easy for them to lay plans for their being accommodated, especially since the modes of payment are so numerous, and thereby confer a benefit upon their neighbors and the great cause of truth, while at the same time extending their own sphere of influence for good, and earning the sum so liberally awarded to them. In this, so useful an operation, the Bishops, where they are not also Agents, can lend most essential aid, and soon the News will gladden and enlighten every family within our borders.

To the people in Utah it is almost invaluable, for in it first appear the History of Joseph Smith, the public counsels and teachings of the First Presidency, the Twelve and others at headquarters, and all home items and news of interest, besides such foreign news and matter as may be deemed interesting, amusing, or instructive. And it often happens that one sermon alone is of more real value than the subscription price of many copies of the paper, to any person who will read and properly appreciate it by the Spirit that should connect us to the vine. You should properly appreciate everything you hear from every man that speaks from this stand; but memories are often treacherous, and comparatively but few can assemble here to hear for themselves, but when those sayings are printed, you can read, ponder, and reflect upon them at your leisure, and again and again, as your memories may require; and your sons and your daughters will acquire a taste for reading and treasuring up useful knowledge.

It has always been the case that the few have had to bear the burden attendant upon opposing evil principles, but there is now quite a number who are earnestly striving to establish righteousness upon the earth, by listening to the dictates of the Spirit and the counsels of the Living Oracles, and by striving to be active in every laudable undertaking. For this reason our publications will be sustained, whether subscribers are many or few, but will anyone professing to be a Saint look idly on and see others reap the reward due to diligence?

What is the use in pursuing the indifferent course that some are doing here? I will call a vote, and I want every man in this congregation, who takes the News, to manifest it by raising his right hand, for I wish to show you what proportion take the paper. [The subscribers present raised their hands.] There is not more than one quarter of this congregation that take The Deseret News, and that, too, the only paper printed in the mountains, and one of the most useful and interesting papers that ever was published. And if you had a lively interest for the truth, and was living your religion, let me tell you that you never would rest or cease your operations of taking every course and every advantage to obtain every word that is uttered from this stand.

At the prices of stock, wheat, lumber, labor, &c., all of which command PRICES FULLY IN PROPORTION TO THE PRICE OF THE News, how easy a matter it is to pay for a most valuable kind and variety of reading matter admirably adapted to your wants, and furnished at weekly intervals which afford opportunity for reading it. And with a little care it can be preserved and handed down to your children, from generation to generation, and they will prize it a hundred degrees more than many of you now do.

How much would you give for even a cane that Father Abraham had used? Or a coat or ring that the Savior had worn? The rough oak boxes in which the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum were brought from Carthage, were made into canes and other articles. I have a cane made from the plank of one of those boxes, so has brother Brigham and a great many others, and we prize them highly, and esteem them a great blessing. I want to carefully preserve my cane, and when I am done with it here, I shall hand it down to my heir, with instructions to him to do the same. And the day will come when there will be multitudes who will be healed and blessed through the instrumentality of those canes, and the devil cannot overcome those who have them, in consequence of their faith and confidence in the virtues connected with them.

Some do not appreciate these things nor the counsels of their leaders. And then again many do appreciate brother Brigham; they love him and his counsels, and his words are jewels to them. When persons do not care anything about his words, what do they care about mine? And if they do not care for his words, they will not care for those of any righteous man.

If I had those relics of Abraham and the Savior which I have mentioned, I would give a great deal for them. In England, when not in a situation to go, I have blessed my handkerchief, and asked God to sanctify it and fill it with life and power, and sent it to the sick, and hundreds have been healed by it; in like manner I have sent my cane. Dr. Richards used to lay his old black cane on a person’s head, and that person has been healed through its instrumentality, by the power of God. I have known Joseph, hundreds of times, send his handkerchief to the sick, and they have been healed. There are persons in this congregation who have been healed by throwing my old cloak on their beds.

To return to The Deseret News; I have alluded to a few items to show you the advantages and blessings of that paper, aside from its great present benefit, if you will take care of it and hand it down to your children, and they to theirs, and so on, until you see it in the resurrection. Such publications are not going to be burned up, according to my faith they will go into the resurrection. And I trust that Bishops, Agents, and the Saints in Utah, generally, will take a lively interest in this matter, as in tithings, donations, consecrations, and other important duties, and thereby magnify their callings and professions, and gain honor to themselves by doing the good within their power.

Having used the word resurrection, I will make a few remarks touching it. After my body is laid in the grave, and after the Prophet Joseph has received his resurrected body, he probably will not suffer my body to remain long in the ground, but will be apt to say, “Come and let us go and help brother Heber to again take his body.” Do you suppose that if brother Brigham were to die tomorrow, and if Joseph is resurrected, which he will be so soon as his mission is filled in the spirit world, that Joseph will permit brother Brigham’s body to remain longer in the grave than may be requisite? No, for he then will have need of the assistance of his faithful resurrected brethren, as he now has of faithful spirits.

Why do you not all have confidence in God? I would not give a cent for your confidence in God, unless you have confidence in those men He has appointed to lead and counsel you. If you will have confidence in brother Brigham, I care not so much whether you have confidence in me and in brother Daniel or not, for if you have it in him, you are sure to have it in us, because we are actuated by the same Spirit.

We should be like the branches of one tree, and except we become one like unto that, we shall never be saved with that salvation which we are striving for. Nobody can be saved in a celestial kingdom, except those connected with the celestial tree. Then there is a terrestrial tree pertaining to the terrestrial kingdom, and you will never go there without being grafted in it. I make use of figures in order to make my ideas plain, and to rivet your attention and assist your memories.

Let us be active and diligent in the performance of all duties, that the Lord our God may sustain us in living our holy religion. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 15, 1857.

I am not in the habit of taking a text, when I preach to the Saints; but I will quote a portion of Scripture, and offer a few remarks upon it.

It is recorded, concerning the Savior Matthew xii. 46-50, that “While he yet talked to the people, behold his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

The Savior’s reply to the questions, “Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?” is fraught with a principle that is very little noticed by many. I frequently hear the brethren, and you may hear both them and the sisters, in the prayer meetings, where they have a privilege of speaking, say, “I have not a father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first nor second cousin, nor any relative whatever in this Church.” Do you not hear such expressions made by the Saints? Yes; and I sometimes here them from this stand.

Whether to the understanding of his hearers at that time, or whether to ours, those questions were correctly answered by our Savior in the observation, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” So far as I am concerned, I do not claim relationship anywhere else. And I do not think that the Savior will claim any son or daughter of Adam to be his brother, sister, mother, or kin, or connection of any kind or description, according to the flesh, except those who do the will of our Father in heaven—the will of Jesus and his Father.

We presume that the Savior perfectly understood his origin, for he was then over thirty years of age, and had been instructed by his Father in heaven and by the Holy Ghost, and had had the visions of his mind repeatedly opened, according to the history given by his disciples; therefore we have no hesitation in believing that he understood his origin, who he was, the errand for which he came into the world, the business he had to attend to here, and understood the end of his mission in the meridian of time. He understood that which you and I do not understand, without the same kind of revelations and teachings as he enjoyed.

Let the human family do as they did in the days of Adam, in the days of Noah, or even as they did in the days of Lot; let parents propagate children, and let one generation succeed another, and this does not change the blood, flesh, bones, sinews, &c., pertaining to our organization in the flesh; this does not change in the least the peculiar characteristics of the organization of our bodies. The Apostle merely hinted at this subject when he said, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” (Acts xvii. 26.)

No matter who they are, nor whether they are upon the islands, or upon the continents; no matter whether they are the wild Arabs who traverse the scorching sands of Arabia, the aborigines of our own country, who roam over its plains and moun– tains, or the delicately nurtured dwellers in highly civilized nations; they are all of one flesh and blood.

Consequently we can readily and safely draw the conclusion that a man or woman who has sprung from the loins of Father Adam and Mother Eve, whether upon the islands of the sea, in the west, in the east, or on the opposite side of this globe, is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, as much so as any person now in this house or in this Territory. But the relationship that I claim, is to those who do the will of our Father in heaven; they are my brethren and sisters.

I know a great many here who have no relatives in this Church, using that term in its customary acceptation. Sometimes wives leave their husbands, to come here; mothers also leave their children, and children their parents. Ask them, “Where is your husband?” “In England,” or in some other country. “Have you any children?” “Yes.” “Where are they?” “They would not come with me.” “Have you any brothers and sisters, or parents?” “Yes, my father and mother are living” “Did they believe the Gospel?” “No.” “Did your brothers and sisters believe it?” “No, I am a lone person.”

Such persons are apt to feel a spirit of despondency, to mourn and complain, “O that I had a Father’s house to go to; or if I had one person whom I could visit and call sister, how happy I should be; but I am a stranger here, I have no relatives in this kingdom.” Is that feeling correct or incorrect? I say that it is incorrect; such conclusions are not true. That man or woman that is a child of God, that honors his or her calling in the kingdom of God on the earth, is just as much your brother or sister as any person you have been accustomed to claim that relationship with. If you see a woman who lives her religion, who is owned of God, you see a person that is flesh of your flesh, blood of your blood, and bone of your bone, although she may have been born upon the opposite side of the earth from where you were born. Those who actually live the religion we profess, are as much your brothers and sisters as are those born of the same earthly parents. Jesus understood this, as we may learn from his expression, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Let your hearts be at rest, for you have brothers and sisters here to visit; they are your connections, your relatives, your brethren and sisters.

A great many have an experience that has proven to them the truth of this doctrine. Ask those individuals, those who at times have desponding feelings about the absence of their relatives, when they are in the light of the Spirit, when the joys of salvation fill their bosoms, whether they would prefer the society of their fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters whom they have left behind, or whether they would like to associate with them better than with their neighbors here, and they will tell you, “No.” Would you visit them, as quick as you would a good Saint? “No.” Do you have the same feeling and fellowship for them, as for a Saint? “No.” Are they as near and dear to you as those who are Saints? “No.” And yet, when the Spirit is gone from them and they are left to themselves, they are apt to feel lonesome and cast down, to be filled with desponding feelings, and to cry out, “I wish I could see my father, my mother, my brothers and sisters; I wish they were here.” And I wish you to understand that your brethren and sisters are here, even according to the flesh. Yes, according to the connection and relationship we bear to each other, to our Father and God, and to our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ.

It is true that I have not altogether the experience that those have whose parents would not embrace the Gospel, nor any of their father’s family. My father and stepmother embraced the plan of salvation as revealed through Joseph the Prophet; and four of my brothers, five sisters, and their children and their children’s children, almost without exception, are in this Church; also many of my cousins, uncles, and other classes of what we call relatives or relations, are in this Church. But I had this trial when I embraced this Gospel, “Can you forsake your friends and your father’s house?” This was in the vision of my mind, and I had just as much of a trial as though I had actually been called to experience all that some really have. I felt, yes, I can leave my father, my brothers and sisters, and my wife and children, if they will not serve the Lord and go with me.

I did not ask my wife whether she believed the Gospel; I did not ask her whether she would be baptized. Faith, repentance, and baptism are free for all. I did not know, when I was baptized, whether my wife believed the Gospel or not; I did not know that my father’s house would go with me. I believed that some of them would, but I was brought to the test, “Can I forsake all for the Gospel’s sake?” I can, was the reply within me. “Would you like to?” “Yes, if they will not embrace the Gospel.” “Will not these earthly, natural ties be continually in your bosom?” “No; I know no other family but the family of God gathered together, or about to be, in this my day; I have no other connection on the face of the earth that I claim.” And from that day to this, if my father was still living, or my mother, and would not believe the Gospel, embrace it, and then live it, or if any of my living brothers and sisters would not, I would rather meet a Saint who was a beggar in the streets and bid him welcome to my house, than to receive a visit from any of my unbelieving connections, even though they had the wealth of the Indies. I was brought to this test in my own feelings, in the first of my experience in this Church.

Here are our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. And perhaps it would be strictly correct to say that we have fathers in the Gospel, spiritual Fathers, for the Apostle Paul called Timothy, whom he brought into the Church, his “own son in the faith,” and charged him to “be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient;” to be careful, cautious, with regard to the people that believed in Jesus Christ; to learn the disposition and the nature of the people, that he might understand himself and those he taught; and alluded to others that were traveling and preaching; building up Churches, or presiding over them after they were built up.

Looking at the conduct of many, yea, very many, as we can see it exhibited in this our day, they want the mastery, the influence, the power. They want to be able to say to the people, “Do this or do that,” and have no objections raised. They would have the people obey their voice, and yet they do not know how to gain the affections of the people; they do not understand the dispositions of the people.

Paul observed the same difficulty in his day. Many Elders were preaching and presiding, who were ignorant, aspiring, and tyrannical, and but few of them treated the people as kind and benevolent fathers treat their children. There were not many fathers, but there was a disposition to be “many masters,” as we see here.

The most of our Elders want to be obeyed, as strictly as you are taught by them from this stand that this people ought to obey brother Heber, or brother Brigham; as strictly as they preach to you to obey our counsel. I do not threaten you much; No. If I have not wisdom and power to gain the influence necessary for me to wield in the midst of this people, without cursing them, without telling them that they and their substance shall be cursed, and that if they do not do as I say they shall go to hell—without threatening the people all the time with my judgments and the judgments of the Almighty—I say, let Brigham sink a little lower, and get into the field where I can find my true level, where I can be made more useful.

You never hear me plead with nor threaten the people much, nor chastise them often and severely for not obeying my counsel. Is it right that others should do so? Yes, it is all right, if they are so disposed; I have no fault to find with regard to others urging the people to obey counsel. But if I do not give the Saints and others the counsel of the Almighty, and that too by the Spirit of my mission, they are at liberty to dictate me, or to correct me in every error I commit; and certainly I should commit great errors, if I did not enjoy and have the Spirit of my mission, and counsel according to the will of the Lord. If all who are called to responsible stations would look at themselves precisely as they are, I will venture that we would have many more fathers than we now have, and fewer masters to drive the people.

As I have frequently said to the brethren, stop, hold on. If you have sheep and have become a shepherd in the fold of Christ, you must bear in mind that you must know your sheep, and that then they will know you, that is, if you have got sheep. Perhaps some of you are nursing a flock of goats, and do not know the difference. But if you actually have a flock of sheep, you should, instead of hallooing, “Shoo, shoo, shoo, get out of the way,” and instead of driving them, take a course that when they hear your voice they may begin to bleat and run for their shepherd, because he has a little salt for them. When the sheep hear the voice of a good shepherd they expect to hear the words of life; and everyone that has the knowledge of God will know and understand that such a shepherd is acting in his duty, and they will walk up to his counsels and example. Do all the shepherds take a wise course? No, and the reasons have been told here enough times.

Elders of Israel and Bishops, be fathers, and take a course by which you will win the affections of the people. How? With your silken lips? No, no; but with the fear of the Almighty. Do you know that men and women of God love truth? They do not love sophistry, it is an abomination to them. When men are smooth as oil, with a smile always upon their countenances, as some Elders have, to gain an influence, the love people have for such men is rotten, is without foundation; and in the day of trouble, when they need a foundation in their people, they will find that it will fall to the ground, and that the people will pass by them and say, “We do not know those men.” Let your influence and your power be gained by the power of the Lord Almighty, by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and see that you have within you a well of water, springing up to everlasting life. Then when your brethren and sisters come around you they will drink at that fountain, and say, “We are one with you.”

You hear the Elders teaching the people to try and have confidence in God, and saying, “Do have confidence in the ordinances of the house of God; brethren and sisters try and live your religion; try and have confidence in your religion; have confidence in your God; have confidence in the Elders of Israel, that lead you; have confidence in your Bishops and other presiding officers, &c.”

You know that almost every man who becomes a public speaker uses certain peculiar words to convey particular ideas, selects a vocabulary and arrangement more or less peculiar to himself, thereby causing that great variety of style observed in speakers and writers. I have mine, which is peculiar to me. Did you ever see a man who had such a peculiar vocabulary as brother Heber has? I never did. Orson Hyde has a mode of expression peculiar to himself, and so has every public speaker. My use of language is good to me; and though others may use different words to convey the same ideas, let me give out those ideas in my own style, according to my understanding.

Now to return to those teachings by the Elders, in such cases I would say to my dear brethren, to those who are of the household of faith, try to get a little confidence in yourselves, and then try to live so as to have confidence in your God. Ask even an infidel whether he believes that the wonder workings of nature, the strange phenomena which he sees and cannot account for, are produced, and he will answer, “Yes, I know they are.” Do you know that men, women, and children are healed? Yes, you know they are. You behold those remarkable phenomena, though you cannot fully account for them. You believe in a great many things which you do not understand, but do you believe in yourselves? No, that is the grand difficulty with everyone of us.

I will take my own experience. When men and women bring their sick to me, if I had the power I would heal all that should be healed. And if I had perfect confidence in myself, and the Lord had that confidence in me which I should then have in Him, no power beneath the heavens could prevent the power of God from coming on them and healing them through me. But I have not yet attained to perfect confidence in myself in all circumstances, neither has God in me, for were such the case, He would answer every request I made of Him, every wish of mine would be answered to the letter. And this is the difficulty with the people, they have not attained to perfect confidence in themselves, neither have we as yet sufficient grounds for that degree of confidence.

We lay hands on the sick and wish them to be healed, and pray the Lord to heal them, but we cannot always say that He will. We do not always know that He will actually hear our prayers and answer them. Sometimes the Elders will get that faith, and the sisters will often lay hands on their children and have faith and confidence in themselves that God will answer their prayers, and say to fevers and pains, “Be ye rebuked and stand far off from this the afflicted,” and it is done. But you have to attain to this power by your faithfulness and confidence in yourselves, that God will answer your prayers. We know that the Lord often heals the sick; and we believe all the time that He is able to do so, but will He because we ask Him to? That is the question, and we are often doubtful about it.

Do you think that I would have let my brother die, if I had the power the Lord has? Would I have let Jedediah gone behind the veil, had I had that power? No; though in that I might have gone contrary to the wishes of the Almighty. For want of the knowledge which the Lord has, if I had power I might bring injury upon myself and this people.

We must have knowledge pertaining to ourselves, and that knowledge will give us the key to know how to ask and obtain, and without that knowledge we cannot have eternal life, which is “to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.” If we have that knowledge we will know how to ask so as to obtain, and not ask amiss, we will ask and have our requests granted. How can we have that knowledge? By applying our hearts to wisdom and our lives to rectitude; by living as perfectly before God as we know how; by doing those things that we know to be right, those about which we have no doubt or dubiety, and never doing that which we are suspicious is wrong, and then be satisfied and not crave after that which is not for us, but let it remain in the hands of God. If we can obtain faith and confidence in ourselves, there is no lack in the power of God; neither is there any lack in His diligence, for He is always on the alert.

In our ignorance and darkness we may be led into error, if we follow our feelings, as I just now observed might have been the case in regard to retaining brother Jedediah, as also brother Willard, brother Whitney, and many others. Had we had the power, would we have parted with Joseph? No, notwithstanding his work was finished on the earth. Many ideas have been imbibed and advanced concerning the death of Joseph. It was precisely as the Lord had decreed, designed, willed and brought about. No power could have altered it in the least. He had finished his work on the earth. Still if you and I had had the power without the knowledge, we would have kept Joseph on this earth, and then he would have failed to perform his mission in the spirit world.

I learned during the intermission, that several understood brother Heber to say, in his remarks in the forenoon, that Joseph was resurrected. He did not say any such thing, but left the sentence with a word understood at each end of it, or a sort of conjunction disjunctive at each side of it. I thought at the time that many would understand brother Heber as saying that Joseph was resurrected, and I take this opportunity to correct that misunderstanding. Joseph is not resurrected; and if you will visit the graves you will find the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum yet in their resting place. Do not be mistaken about that; they will be resurrected in due time.

Jesus had a work to do on the earth. He performed his mission, and then was slain for his testimony. So it has been with every man who has been foreordained to perform certain important missions. Joseph truly said, “No power can take away my life, until my work is done.” All the powers of earth and hell could not take his life, until he had completed the work the Father gave him to do; until that was done, he had to live. When he died he had a mission in the spirit world, as much so as Jesus had. Jesus was the first man that ever went to preach to the spirits in prison, holding the keys of the Gospel of salvation to them. Those keys were delivered to him in the day and hour that he went into the spirit world, and with them he opened the door of salvation to the spirits in prison.

Compare those inhabitants on the earth who have heard the Gospel in our day, with the millions who have never heard it, or had the keys of salvation presented to them, and you will conclude at once as I do, that there is an almighty work to perform in the spirit world. Joseph has not yet got through there. When he finishes his mission in the spirit world, he will be resurrected, but he has not yet done there. Reflect upon the millions and millions of people that have lived and died without hearing the Gospel on the earth, without the keys of the kingdom. They were not prepared for celestial glory, and there was no power that could prepare them without the keys of this Priesthood.

They must go into prison, both Saints and sinners. The good and bad, the righteous and the unrighteous must go to the house of prison, or paradise, and Jesus went and opened the doors of salvation to them. And unless they lost the keys of salvation on account of transgression, as has been the case on this earth, spirits clothed with the Priesthood have ministered to them from that day to this. And if they lost the keys by transgression, someone who had been in the flesh, Joseph, for instance, had to take those keys to them. And he is calling one after another to his aid, as the Lord sees he wants help.

Jedediah is not asleep, his spirit is not dead, he is not idle; neither is Willard idle, asleep, or dead. Joseph needed them there, also brother Whitney, and all the rest of the faithful who have departed in our day; and he is now anxious to get a few more of the faithful Elders to assist him in the great labors in the prison house. He is there attending to the business of his mission; and if they did lose the keys of the Priesthood in the spirit world, as they have formerly done on the earth, Joseph has restored those keys to the spirits in prison, so that we who now live on the earth in the day of salvation and redemption for the house of Israel and the house of Esau, may go forth and officiate for all who died without the Gospel and the knowledge of God.

Brother Heber did not say that Joseph was resurrected, though I was satisfied that many of the hearers would draw such a conclusion. As quick as Joseph finishes his mission in the spirit world he will be resurrected.

I do not know that any news would come to my ears so sad and discouraging, so calculated to blight my faith and hope as to hear that Joseph is resurrected and has not made a visit to his brethren. I should know that something serious was the matter, far more than I now apprehend that there is. When his spirit again quickens his body, he will ascend to heaven, present his resurrected body to the Father and the Son, receive his commission as a resurrected being, and visit his brethren on this earth, as did Jesus after his resurrection. Mary met the Savior after his resurrection, and, “supposing him to be the gardener, saith, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him.” But when she learned who he was, and was about to greet him, he said, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” As quick as Joseph ascends to his Father and God, he will get a commission to this earth again, and I shall be the first woman that he will manifest himself to. I was going to say the first man, but there are so many women who profess to have seen him, that I thought I would say woman.

I should feel worse than I now do, if I knew that Joseph was resurrected and had not paid us a visit, which he most assuredly will do, when that period arrives.

When Jesus was resurrected they found the linen, but the body was not there. When Joseph is resurrected you may find the linen that enshrouded his body, but you will not find his body in the grave, no more than the disciples found the body of Jesus when they looked where it was lain.

To return more closely to the subject I have in my mind, I will ask, can we do anything to restore confidence in ourselves? Yes, we can; and those principles that will actually give us confidence in ourselves, are what we ought to have constantly before us. But those who have been intimately acquainted with this people can see a difficulty on the other hand. A man would get exceeding great faith, if he did not outweigh and outmeasure himself, for it is but a short time before some are prone to take the glory to themselves, and say, “I have laid hands on the sick and they have been healed. Stand out of the way, everybody, I am the man for you to look at,” and they go to the devil.

Again, many will pray for the sick and for themselves, for this blessing and that, without receiving an answer, and think “I am so unworthy, I have not lived my religion and walked up to my privileges, though I have thought of everything that I can confess.” Some people will come and confess to me things as simple as it would be for a woman to take the last egg from her hen’s nest, and then reflect, “what an evil I have done to rob that poor hen of her last egg,” and talk about that which the Lord cares nothing about, and say within themselves, “I do not receive the blessings I desire; I have tried to humble myself and do the best I know, and yet I do not receive that faith and power I want, that I am looking for and expect.” You cannot receive it, until you are capable of using it, neither should you. It would not be wisdom in the Lord to give you power any faster than you gain knowledge.

Those who humble themselves before the Lord, and wait upon Him with a perfect heart and willing mind, will receive little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, “Now and again,” as brother John Taylor says, until they receive a certain amount. Then they have to nourish and cherish what they receive, and make it their constant companion, encouraging every good thought, doctrine and principle and doing every good work they can perform, until by and by the Lord is in them a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life.

Some of you may remember hearing Elder Taylor preach on that subject some years ago. He illustrated it most beautifully, I never heard it so beautifully illustrated, by instancing people’s applying their words, works, and wisdom, in seeking first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, seeking to build up the kingdom of God on the earth, and exhorted that every other interest should sleep to wake no more; that every man and woman should have a lively interest for the kingdom of God, and let narrow, contracted, sectional, individual interests lie dormant, asleep, severed from us, and taught that our whole lives would then be occupied in loving God and doing good, until Jesus would form in us that living fountain from which we may have revelation and gain wisdom.

Can you learn by what you see? Yes, if you know how. No matter what your circumstances are, whether you are in prosperity or in adversity, you can learn from every person, transaction, and circumstance around you. You can learn from yourselves and your neighbors, and can apply all your energies to the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth, if your knowledge, interests, hopes, joys, efforts, and labors are concentrated therein; and you will be in that almighty big root that brother Heber was talking about in the forenoon.

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and his Father is the husbandman. In reality his Father was the root of that vine, and Jesus was the vine, though he did not tell them that for they could not understand anything about it. His Father was the root, the living fountain, and the God whom we have to serve. Let us be branches and cling to this vine, hang to the true principles, and all that we do, let it be to nourish, cherish, love, build, increase, and multiply the size, glory, power, and excellency of this tremendous great vine. There will be but one big vine in the vineyard, according to that. Never mind, we will be the branches, and the roots will fill the whole soil and the branches the heavens.

It may be just as well to have one tree that will bear a million bushels of peaches, as to have a million trees that will only produce one bushel each. All can partake and be filled; all who will can rejoice, and all can strive to build up this one kingdom, or to nourish this great tree.

I now wish to particularize a little, and will commence by asking whether any persons here are sick, and if so, I will tell you what their disease is, when I get ready. Some men and women fairly get sick, so that they have to go to bed. What is the matter? “O I feel that I cannot stand it any longer.” What is the matter, sister? “My husband knows something that he cannot tell me.” Do some of you men know something that you cannot tell your wives? “O, I have received something in the endowment that I dare not tell my wife, and I do not know how to do about it.” The man who cannot know millions of things that he would not tell his wife, will never be crowned in the celestial kingdom, never, NEVER, NEVER. It cannot be; it is impossible. And that man who cannot know things without telling any other living being upon the earth, who cannot keep his secrets and those that God reveals to him, never can receive the voice of his Lord to dictate him and the people on this earth.

Does brother Heber know things that I do not? Yes, facts that have slept in his bosom from the time I first knew him. Did he ever have a thought, a wish, or desire, to tell them to me? No. Do I know anything that I should keep fast locked in my bosom? Yes, thousands of things pertaining to other people, that ought to sleep as in the silent grave. Do those things go from me to brother Heber? No. To my wife? No, for I might as well at once publish them in a paper. Not that I wish to undervalue the ability, talent, and integrity of woman, for I have many women to whom I would rather reveal any secret that ought to be revealed, than to nine hundred and nine out of a thousand men in this Church. I know that many can keep secrets, but that is no reason why I should tell them my secrets. When I find a person that is good at keeping a secret, so am I; you can keep yours, and I mine.

Now I want to tell you that which, perhaps, many of you do not know. Should you receive a vision of revelation from the Almighty, one that the Lord gave you concerning yourselves, or this people, but which you are not to reveal on account of your not being the proper person, or because it ought not to be known by the people at present, you should shut it up and seal it as close, and lock it as tight as heaven is to you, and make it as secret as the grave. The Lord has no confidence in those who reveal secrets, for He cannot safely reveal Himself to such persons. It is as much as He can do to get a particle of sense into some of the best and most influential men in the Church, in regard to real confidence in themselves. They cannot keep things within their own bosoms.

They are like a great many boys and men that I have seen, who would cause even a sixpence, when given to them, to become so hot that it would burn through the pocket of a new vest, or pair of pantaloons, if they could not spend it. It could not stay with them; they would feel so tied up because they were obliged to keep it, that the very fire of discontent would cause it to burn through the pocket, and they would lose the sixpence. This is the case with a great many of the Elders of Israel, with regard to keeping secrets. They burn with the idea, “O, I know things that brother Brigham does not understand.” Bless your souls, I guess you do. Don’t you think that there are some things that you do not understand? “There may be some things which I do not understand.” That is as much as to say, “I know more than you.” I am glad of it, if you do. I wish that you knew a dozen times more. When you see a person of that character, he has no soundness within him.

If a person understands God and godliness, the principles of heaven, the principle of integrity, and the Lord reveals anything to that individual, no matter what, unless He gives permission to disclose it, it is locked up in eternal silence. And when persons have proven to their messengers that their bosoms are like the lockups of eternity, then the Lord says, I can reveal anything to them, because they never will disclose it until I tell them to. Take persons of any other character, and they sap the foundation of the confidence they ought to have in themselves and in their God.

If you cannot have confidence in God, try and have it in yourselves. If you lay on hands for the recovery of the sick, or for the reception of the Holy Ghost, or to bless or curse, unless you know that God hears you and will answer you, your administration is liable to fall to the ground. When you have confidence in yourselves you will have confidence in your God. You know that God is able to do what you desire of Him in righteousness, but the question is, will He? No, He will not do for this people that which we want Him to, until we prove to Him and to the angels that we are the friends of God, and will never betray Him in any way, shape, or manner. If we are His friends, we will keep the secrets of the Almighty. We will lock them up, when He reveals them to us, so that no man on earth can have them, and no being from heaven, unless he brings the keys wherewith to get them legally. No person can get the things the Lord has given to me, unless by legal authority; then I have a right to reveal them, but not without. When we can keep our own secrets, when we can keep the secrets of the Almighty strictly, honestly, truly in our own bosoms, the Lord will have confidence in us. Will He before? No. Are we going to become secret keepers in any other way than by applying our lives to the religion we profess to believe? No.

We want confidence in each other. The Bishops, Presiding Elders, and men in authority seek for the obedience and confidence of the people. How are they going to get it? By abusing the people? By scolding them? Are they going to get it by flattering them with smooth, deceitful tongues? No, they will not get it in any of those ways. There is only one way to get it. This people are a good people. As I said last Sabbath, they are willing to do anything to obtain eternal life, to secure to themselves a seat in the boxes, as brother Orson Hyde termed it. If you have a blank ticket for a theater, you may fill it up for the boxes, or the gallery, or the pit, just as you please. Your lives must fill that blank, and if you would fill it for one of the best seats in the kingdom, you must live accordingly.

Do not flatter the man of influence, or the rich man. I know that the brethren might turn round and say, “Brother Brigham, do you see any of this, very lately?” The brethren have learned, years ago, that if a man was to give me a gold watch, a suit of clothes, a span of horses, a fine carriage, or a purse containing a million of dollars to buy my friendship, that does not buy it, has nothing to do with it, consequently I have not much opportunity of knowing whether the people have this spirit or not, for they do not exhibit it to me. If they feel to give me anything, they give it because they wish to give brother Brigham something.

If a man should offer to make me a present of a thousand dollars, though I knew at the time that he would be kicked out of the Church in the next minute, I would accept it and try to make good use of it. On the other hand, if a man was in beggary, and owing this Church a thousand dollars and lacking a suit of clothes, but with his heart right, brother Brigham would say, “Come along here, you are the man I want to see; come to my table and eat, and I will also give you clothing to put on.” Let a man have the power of God with him—the Holy Ghost within him—so that when he talks you can see, feel, and understand that power; so that you can see and understand that the water of life is in him, insomuch that when he speaks, the sweet words of life flow out; then I am ready to exclaim, “Come, here, my brother, you are the man for me.”

When every person will cease to hang upon the brittle, rotten threads upon which the world hang, and turn round and say, in the power of God, “I will make friends and gain my influence, by that power; I will have all I do have in the name and power of God, and that which I do not thus get, I will not have,” then you will begin to gain the influence you want, and to have confidence in yourselves and in each other. Can the people have confidence in each other, and continue to conduct themselves as many have? No, they have got to be strictly honest.

I will take myself as an example, with all the influence I have in the midst of this people and over them (and I really and honestly think that I have a great deal more influence here than Moses had among the children of Israel), and suppose that I lie to that man, and deceive that woman; pilfer from that neighbor, and have what the Indians call two tongues, talk this way and that way to gain power; and be very plausible, very soft and kind to those present, and say that the brother who is not before me is the devil, and when he is gone, that the other is the same; while each one is with me all is smooth and fine weather; but of the absent say, that man who was just here, I am glad I have found out his iniquity, he is full of it; and be dishonest with this and the other person, falsifying my words here and there, how long would I have confidence in the midst of this people? I would lose it at once, and ought to, because I would not be deserving of their confidence.

When a man or woman ought to be chastised, I am able to do it, and I will do it righteously. If they need a severe chastisement, I can put it on severely; if a light one, I can bear on with a light hand.

When people come to me, I look at them to see them as they are, though I am not yet perfect in this. I have not yet the eyes I wish to have, nor the wisdom. Do I wish to know how they look with man, or to my brother? No, but how they appear before the God of heaven. If I can gain that knowledge, if I can know precisely how an individual appears to my Father in heaven, and be able to look at him with the same kind of eyes as do the Holy Ghost and holy angels, then I can judge the good or evil in the person, without further trouble.

That is the method by which I settle so many difficulties. I can go to the High Council, even should they have forty cases of the most difficult kind, and if I would dictate, I could wind up the forty cases, while they would wind up one or two. The reason is this, I bring the individuals before me, and they cannot deceive. If there is lying, wickedness, malice, and deception, I will detect them and judge them from the words that flow from their own mouths. I take the parties and hear them, and I can know at once as much as a dozen witnesses could show, so far as pertains to the truth in the case. Look at people as the Lord sees them, and then deal with them accordingly; and be honest with that man, woman, or neighbor.

Brethren and sisters, you know that often, when you hear that anyone has spoken against you, your feelings are irritated, disturbed by anger, and you imagine that that person is your enemy, when, in reality, such is not the case. Are you never liable to err? If your neighbor has spoken something derogatory to your character, go to that neighbor and say to him, “I heard that you said so and so, and with such and such reason, and I connected this and that with it,” and you can soon learn the facts in the case. It is often all right, when we talk calmly together, like brethren; and we think alike about each other, about this circumstance and that. When we hear a part of a conversation, we may easily make a wrong and false construction, and thereby bring evil. How many evils do we produce by this course?

If we take isolated sentences of Scripture, and pick out words here and there, and place them together, how inconsistent we can make the Bible. It would be as inconsistent as some individuals now say it is, whereas, if read by the Spirit in which it was given, it is not inconsistent.

We often make the consistent acts of our fellow beings inconsistent, by thinking that someone has done us an injury, when after all the heart of the person was honest, and no harm was designed. If a brother has spoken ten thousand words wrong, if he is full of error, full of weakness, a man of passions like unto ourselves, but is honest at heart, what then? Overlook their follies, and do not watch for iniquity in our brethren. If the real sentiments of honesty are in every man and woman, be unsuspicious of evil intent, and have confidence in their fidelity, and you will have confidence in yourselves, and will restore confidence in each other, so that every word will be as the law to each other.

Then when the Lord sees that we have confidence in each other, that we are full of integrity, that we never forsake each other, nor violate our covenants, nor the keys of the kingdom, nor are untrue to our God, He will say, “There is a people I can reveal myself to and tell what I please, and they will keep my secrets and their own, and no power can get them from them.” This is the way you will get confidence in your God and in yourselves. We may have confidence in God until doom’s day, until we carry out in our lives all that we now know about God, and it will profit us little, unless we take a course that He may have confidence in us, and reveal unto us His secrets, as the Prophets have said, for His secrets are with the Prophets.

There are other things that I might speak upon, for my mind is pretty full and fruitful, but I have spoken about as much as my health will permit.

I feel to wish that I could bless you as I want to, but I have not yet perfect confidence in myself. If I had, would I not lift the curtain, that you might see things as they are? I would rend it, so that you might see heavenly things; though, perhaps, that would not be prudent.

May the Lord enable us to increase in that which we have, and to continually do and say according to the knowledge we gain. May God bless us. Amen.

A Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 8, 1857.

Brethren and sisters—I arise this morning to make a few remarks to you; and I crave your prayerful and watchful attention. I must necessarily be careful and guarded in my speech and communication, in order to preserve my lungs, having used them pretty freely of late—often in the open air, and sometimes in the storm, in the midst of large assemblies of the Saints; and, consequently, I feel the effects of constant labor and exposure; but if I now begin on a low key, and guard and restrain my voice, I may be able to make you all hear and understand me, at least before I shall come to a close.

While sitting here and reflecting upon our condition, this morning, the words of our Savior came to my mind with peculiar force, which say, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for I say unto you, that many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” These words, in and of themselves, cannot fail to awaken and alarm every reflecting mind—that many will seek to enter in and not be able? Is this thy state and condition? Let each one answer the question. It is like the awakening peals of Mount Sinai’s thunders. It is a summon of itself—a volume. It should serve to us all as the warning cry to be up and doing, and to seek in the right way to enter in. If we were to seek for a lost treasure in places where it was not, we might seek as diligently, and even more so than the person who sought where it was and found it. How necessary, then, that truth and wisdom guide our steps! To this point I wish to call your attention today.

We have had a good season during the past winter, and a precious opportunity to improve our minds and to gain knowledge and information preparatory to our assuming those responsibilities, and to act that part in the great drama of God’s eternal kingdom, which our profession, office, and calling imperatively demand at our hand. But if the season had been open and mild, as it sometimes is in this country, we might, perhaps, through a great desire to accumulate comforts around us, have been led away by our worldly interests to the great neglect of the “one thing needful.” If, therefore, an overruling Providence has mercifully laid an embargo upon our temporal pursuits by the pitiless storms of a long and dreary winter, and poured out His Holy Spirit upon us to awaken us to reformation, we have double reason to acknowledge His hand and to praise Him forever for the good and benevolent designs He has manifested towards us.

It now behooves us, in this time of prosperity, when Zion shines under the smiling face of her God, to lay by in store a good foundation against the time to come. To the faithful Saints, it matters not whether the seasons are mild and pacific, or boisterous and severe. If we do right, we shall all have abundant reason to say, “True and righteous are Thy ways, Thou King of Saints.”

You were taught, brethren and sisters, before my arrival from Carson (which was on the 9th of December last), to awake from your sleep—to repent of your sins, and then to restore to the injured according to the wrongs you may have done them. Next, you were taught in doctrine and in principle—reproved, admonished, comforted, and guided in the path wherein you might seek, and seek not in vain.

Truths of almost every character and kind have been declared and dealt out to you with a profuse and a liberal hand. Day after day, and night after night, the voice of inspiration has been heard in your midst. Truths adapted to every character, every state, and every condition in life, have been faithfully portrayed unto you in letters of living light, and in words of most burning and soul-stirring eloquence—even such as the Holy Ghost inspired—from the simple to the sublime, and from the tone of the harp to the voice of thunder.

Have you performed the tasks given you? Have you done the work and kept abreast with your instructions? Or have you indulged a wish to get some new thing—something far-fetched, which can have no effect other than to allure your minds from the truths that worthily demand your sincere attention and observance? It sometimes happens that a scholar at school, anxious to advance, takes a lesson today in one branch of science, and tomorrow in another, and the third day in another, and so on, until, in his own estimation, he comes out a polished and refined student, a professor and a sage—when, in fact, he understands nothing that he has read, and is only cherishing a deception that he has practiced upon himself.

Is this the case with us? Have we thoroughly learned the lessons that have been given us, and reduced them to practice? There is nothing better calculated to imprint upon the mind any science or theory than to reduce it to practice and really act upon it. Then we see its force and bearing; and while engaged in the practical part, it stamps indelibly upon our minds, never to be forgotten, the principles we have imbibed.

If we have practiced upon the lessons and teachings we have received, we know that they will stand by us; but if we have merely heard them, and not entered into the practical duties thereof, they will die in our memory, never having been incorporated in our organization, and we became like the man beholding his natural face in the glass, and straightway goeth away and forgetteth what manner of man he is.

I might explain to you all about the art of printing; yet, with all the knowledge that my explanation could give you respecting this important art, who of you that is not a compositor can take my sermon and go into an office and set it up? “Practice makes perfect.” If we learn righteous principles and practice them, they have power to change our natures in conformity with themselves. They become a part and parcel of ourselves, bringing us into an alliance with them that knows no separation. Hence we become a righteous people; and, if we continue, we not only strive, but shall be able to enter in.

Each of you can recollect acting upon certain things taught you in the days of your childhood. They are as fresh in your recollection now as they were in the day you acted upon them. Therefore, let us ever act upon true and righteous principles, and they will remain with us, and we shall become righteous in our natures; and if we never act upon an evil principle, we shall forget all the evil we ever knew, and God will forget it also; and our natures will never be evil inclined.

If we have reduced to practice all the teachings and instructions given us from this stand and from other places, we are a blessed and happy people. If we have not, we have not done justice to ourselves. Let us honor the teachings we have received, and we shall find ample ground to occupy without anything far-fetched and dear bought.

We are a congregation of Latter-day Saints (so called), assembled here this morning to hear the words of life or edification concerning the kingdom of God. This question arises in my mind—Are we all Saints of the Most High God? Or, are we composed of individuals bearing that name, when, indeed, we all may not merit it?

I will present to you a figure to illustrate my idea; for I wish to make plain to your understanding the thoughts of my own heart; and if I can transmit them to you as they exist in my bosom, they may operate on your minds as they do upon mine. It is now the time of seeding. Our farmers are sowing at the north and in the south—a matter of great satisfaction to me. And here allow me to express a wish, that while they sow in faith, they may reap with joy! By-and-by, when this wheat grows up, you may see it waving in the wind, and you will say, Here is a beautiful field of wheat. It is fine, healthy, and presages a bountiful harvest. It gradually matures in the sun’s scorching rays; and you see the field white already to harvest. You call it all wheat. Now, the question is, Is it all wheat? Is not the greater portion of it straw? Though you call it all wheat, even as you call this congregation all Saints, may not a portion of the products of that field be chaff likewise? Certainly. Then, again, is there not often considerable smut in that which you call wheat? Yes, and a great many shrunken kernels that will yield no flour, but will be blown away. In bulk you call it all wheat; yet, come to analyze and separate its different properties and qualities, you find from the bulk of the growth of that field which you called all wheat but a small portion that is really genuine wheat. Then, after the plump berry is separated from the straw, chaff, smut, &c., there remains yet a finer quality of chaff, which you call bran. Then there are different qualities of flour—No. 1, or superfine, No. 2 and 3, or shorts. But a small portion of the produce of that field, we discover, is really fit for the Master’s table!

Now, then, here is a thing which I wish you to consider, which is this: The chaff, straw, &c., produced in that field draw their nourishment from the very same source that the berry does from the moisture and fatness of the soil! They all feed upon the very same food! Not only so, but we perceive that, by ligaments and fibers, the chaff, the straw, and the berry are all connected together; and in view of a similar principle, our Savior said, “Root not up the tares until the time of harvest, lest, by rooting up the tares, ye root up the wheat also.”

It is necessary that the straw exist to sustain the wheat, the chaff to protect the berry, by serving as an overcoat and shield from the various and varied influences of the weather, from insects, and to keep it warm. The same nourishment that supports the berry and keeps it alive also sustains and keeps alive the chaff as its cloak or mantle. There is not a sparrow that flies in the air that partakes not of the goodness of our God. He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. All the tribes of men, the swarms of insects, the herds of animals, the flocks of the feathered millions that fly over our heads, are all sustained by the same liberal hand of our Heavenly Father. His providence provides for all, even for the wolf and the poisonous rattlesnake.

Now, in the midst of all this, who among us are prepared to say whether we are straw, chaff, smut, or wheat—bran, shorts, or flour? “Many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able.”

Perhaps I shall be able, ere I close my remarks, to give you some key to this matter, which, if it shall enable you fully to determine, may at least materially aid you in your inferences in relation to yourselves. But of this one thing rest perfectly assured, that the way to life is straight and very narrow. The straw and the chaff are growing up and striving to enter the granary; but they will be hardly able.

As I look about upon this congregation, and as I mingle with the Saints at large, I discover that there are different spirits. Every organization has a spirit peculiar to itself. I do not say that there is any fatality in this. Do not understand me to convey that idea. But I do say this, that every spirit connected with an earthly organization may be tempered by the Spirit of God according to its fidelity, intelligence, and faith, so that there is no excuse. If I point you to the horse, you find a peculiar spirit attending the organization of that animal. When he is fine and in good condition, there is something stately and grand about him.

When we see the beautiful dove flying through the air, a pleasing sensation is produced in us by its graceful movements, because the Holy Spirit was once sent in that form. Again, we look at the serpent, and another feeling is produced—a fear—a chill—a horror. So every creature, beast and bird, man and woman, has a spirit peculiar to its own organiza– tion; and no organization is entirely independent of the Spirit of God; for all have some intelligence. Were the spirits and temperaments all alike, the same instructions would serve for all. But as it is, every man must receive his portion of meat in due season. And the word must be rightly divided—giving to every man his portion that is adapted to his organization and temperament, that he may thereby be saved.

Man is composed of matter and spirit; and the Spirit of God operates upon and tempers man’s organization according to his faith and good works. Some are tempered very highly. Such not only carry a keen edge, but are susceptible of a high polish. Others are of low temper, because of a low, dull, and sluggish disposition and character, which they have indulged, and consequently formed. They are not a very smooth or sweet cutting tool. They have not sought to cultivate their temperament by seeking and courting the Spirit of God as they should.

Yet these may be guilty of no outbreaking sin. They keep within the pale of the law, pay their tithing, and keep along, and are considered good, peaceable, and honorable citizens. They despise to steal, are willing to labor, and pursue an even, straightforward course. Still, we cannot look upon them as being tempered by the Holy Spirit to the extent of their privilege. Yet they work righteousness as far as they work at all. These persons are fond of going to meeting, and are often heard to say, “What a good sermon we have had!”

This is all right, if you did have a good sermon. They will ask you a thousand and one questions in order to draw out something to satisfy their eager desire for knowledge and understanding, not hardly recollecting their privilege to ask of God and receive for themselves. But there is no crime in this. Still, one can hardly refrain from thinking, when he sees his neighbor begging and borrowing bread, how much more commendable it would be in him to apply himself to labor and produce thereby bread from the soil by his own exertion.

And inasmuch as our Heavenly Father is accessible to all, it is far better to store our minds with the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, by our own spiritual labors and toil, direct from the great Fountain of celestial light and love, than to trust wholly to the testimony and teachings of others. Obtain the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. Startle not at the idea of prophecy and prophets; for I would to God that all the Lord’s people were prophets. There is no professing Christian in the world, who does not possess the spirit of prophecy, that can tell whether he is wheat, straw, chaff, smut, or tares. And no person can have the spirit of prophecy who declares that the days of the prophets are gone by and are not needed now, unless that spirit should be given to seal condemnation upon the narrow-minded bigot who will not confess it and give God the glory, after it may have fallen upon him; for he loves the praise of men more than the praise of God.

The sun, moon, and stars are the representatives of the final homes of the departed dead, if not their real homes. The sun is said to shine by its own light inherent in itself. I might not admit this under some circumstances; but the popular thing will here answer my purpose. The moon and stars shine by borrowed light. These stars or planets vary in their size, motion, distance from the earth, and intensity of heat, cold, &c. Some of them may revolve in eternal day, while others roll in endless night; and still others, like our earth, may have alternate day and night.

Here are homes for all grades of spirits, from the faithful martyr to Christ’s kingdom and Gospel, whose glory is represented by the sun in the firmament, to the wicked tare, who will be sent away into outer darkness, upon some planet destined to roll in endless night. “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. One star differs from another star in glory; so also is the resurrection of the dead.

The children of this world who love darkness rather than light, will find themselves, finally, to be inhabitants of those planets that move in outer darkness; having a home adapted to their disposition and character.

The inspired Apostles and Prophets, together with the martyrs of Jesus, and all the pure and sanctified ones, will inherit a glory like the sun; while the hypocritical professor, the liar, the adulterer, the profane swearer, with all who hold to a religion without Prophets and Apostles, without inspiration and miracles, without revelation, prophecy, keys, and powers to bind on earth and in heaven, after the call is made upon them by the messengers of the true religion, will be damned and sent away into outer darkness, even into prison, where they will gnaw their tongues for pain.

In this prison they must remain until they have paid the utmost farthing. The antediluvians were in this prison for a long time, until at length Christ preached the Gospel to their spirits, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh. He opened the prison doors to them that were bound, and proclaimed a release to the captive sons and daughters of earth, enslaved by sin in the days of Noah.

While the Savior’s body lay entombed in the sepulchre, his spirit was not inactive. He was preaching the Gospel to the spirits in prison. But after they have suffered in prison and are finally released, after many a thousand years’ servitude in pain and darkness, their glory cannot be like that of the sun, neither like that of the moon, nor yet like the stars of the first magnitude; but, perhaps, like the faint glimmer of a distant star—so distant from the sun, that a ray from that brilliant orb can hardly reach it.

The foolish virgins, not having the means of light in themselves, could never enter a mansion or world that shines by its own light; but as they had no oil in their vessels, they were compelled to borrow; and hence, they must go to a world or mansion that shines by borrowed light. Have light in yourselves! You may borrow all you can of me, and I will cheerfully lend all in my power; but have, at least, some light in yourselves, and salt likewise.

Oh that the testimony of Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy, were freely shed upon all this people! It would be, if we were all pure and worthy. Then one need no longer say to another, Know ye the Lord; for they would all know Him, from the least unto the greatest. Then we should know that we were neither straw, chaff, smut, bran, nor tares, but pure and genuine, superfine No. 1, and labeled for the celestial kingdom—“Right side up, with care.”

With the light and knowledge which we, through the grace of God, have obtained, let us press forward with boldness and a laudable ambition to secure the prize bought by a Savior’s blood, and freely offered unto us in the full blaze of inspiration, which light is despised by the world, scoffed at by the religionists, and hated of all nations. God grant to establish this light in the earth, and us in this light, and this light in us, and the love thereof, forever and ever. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in Great Salt Lake City, March 8, 1857.

I presume there will not any person object to my talking this morning, although there may be many who wish to occupy the time.

There are a few items that I wish to lay before the brethren; the first is concerning our northern mission. A good many names of persons invited to go north have been read here, and I want to say to all those brethren that we do not desire any of them to go north with us this spring, unless they would like so to do, and can make it convenient to take the trip to see the country. We will excuse all who do not wish to go, also all whose circumstances rather forbid their going, and whose other duties of greater importance prevent them. Again, I would like to have all who wish to go on that journey consider that they have an invitation, so far as they can go consistently with their circumstances. I invite all to go who wish to and can do so conveniently. I think that the brethren understand, both those who live in the country and in this city, that the invitation to go north is not given in respect of persons, but any who have not been invited and who wish to go, may have the privilege; and those who have been invited but cannot go consistently, we will excuse.

The brethren who have been called upon foreign missions we expect to respond to the call cheerfully, where it is a duty; but where we invite persons to accompany us in visiting dif– ferent regions of country for our gratification, health, information, and satisfaction, the case is a little different.

Last Sabbath I was here in the forenoon, but I did not feel able to come in the afternoon. However, I gave brother Kimball a text with regard to this people to preach upon in the afternoon, and I expect that he did so, and presume that it proved satisfactory to the congregation.

Concerning what has been said by brother Orson Hyde since I came in, pertaining to light and knowledge, it is worth our serious attention. I understand that this people do not all live up to their privileges. I have told you that I was really mortified to hear the Elders of Israel preaching a reformation; this is a source of mortification to me, and the reasons are these. When life and salvation are put into the possession of individuals, or of a community, and they have all the means of obtaining the knowledge of God, and the wisdom of God, to understand the ways of God and to secure to themselves light, life, and immortality; and when those means are in them and round about them, and in all their communications and avocations of life are present with them, then to think that those individuals, or that community, should neglect such a great opportunity and prize, a prize beyond all earthly prizes or wealth of this earth, which can bear no comparison to it, is exceed– ingly marvelous; and to see them neglect this great prize, their conduct is like, speaking after the manner of the world, that of a miser who should turn from a mountain of gold which is so valuable, and go to a sand bank to scratch it over, to pick out shot to make himself wealthy.

When life and salvation are put in the possession of individuals, or of a people, to see them neglect those principles for anything pertaining to this world, or to let sorrow or affliction, or trials, or temptations, or buffeting, or smiting, or driving with the sword, fire, or anything else in the shape of persecution that can be poured on them, and to see them turn away from the things of God and be driven from the path of righteousness that would lead them to eternal glory, and crown them with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives, is mortifying to my feelings, and I feel mortified when we have to say, “Reformation,” yet such is often the case. And many times when people have received and enjoyed great light and intelligence, the things of this world choke the good word, thorns and thistles spring up, and they seem to have but little root in themselves. The sun rises and scorches the tender plants that seem to be growing in them, and we have to cry to the people, “Reform, reform, REFORM,” when in reality it is a disgrace that such instruction should ever be necessary. It is a great disgrace; it is mortifying to angels, and I will insure that it is mortifying to our Father Adam. His heart is pained with such things; and the Prophets are pained with them, and so are all who understand and have proved themselves worthy of eternal life, both those who now live on the earth and those who have gone behind the veil.

For us to be repenting and reforming is really a disgrace. If it is annoying to borrow light from others, it is a disgrace to take a course in life to have to repent of the use made of that light. It is a disgrace to our organization, to the design of heaven, and to the intelligence God has given to man for his benefit. Truly wise persons hate to look upon such conduct, they look upon it with contempt. They are more worthy and noble than to condescend to take a course in life which they have continually to be repenting of.

As to light, a subject that brother Hyde has been speaking upon, I will present a few of my views in somewhat different terms. In the first place, to say that we “borrow light from one another,” I do not know that I precisely understand that idea, for I have no light to lend. Perhaps I am not so well endowed with light as some who have lived on the earth, but I have none to lend. I will use another term, and I might say, perhaps, with a good deal of propriety, that the poet conveys my idea pretty correctly in his lines concerning the wise and foolish virgins— “Go to them that sell and buy, And get yourselves a full supply.”

Another wrote— “The richest man I ever saw, was him that begged the most; His soul was filled with Jesus, and with the Holy Ghost.” I will go to begging instead of borrowing. But it is no great matter whether light is borrowed or begged, for it is not so much the way in which I obtain knowledge, as in the use I make of the knowledge I have obtained. The wrong use of our knowledge is what brings default in me or you.

I say that I have no light to lend. If God has given me light, if I possess the light of the Spirit of revelation, and bestow that knowledge upon my brethren, that same fountain increases in me; whereas, if I were to shut it up—to close up the vision—and keep it from the people, it would be like the candle lighted and put under the bushel, where of course the want of free air would extinguish it; and if the light in me becomes darkness, how great is that darkness! This is my explanation with regard to the light that is in me. If I receive from the fountain, the more I give the more I receive. The freer I am to hand out that which the Lord bestows on me, the better my mind is prepared to receive more from the fountain; that is the experience of every individual.

Here let me say what I do know and understand every branch of knowledge, of wisdom, of light, of understanding. All that I know, all that is within my organization mentally or physically, spiritually or temporally, I have received from some source. So it is with you. There is no knowledge, no light, no wisdom that you are in possession of, but what you have received from some source. Do you think this is true?

When will we possess knowledge, and power, and glory, and wisdom independently? When Jesus has finished his work. When we have proved ourselves worthy to be crowned, when we have passed through all the ordeals of suffering, trials, and temptations, and proven to our Father and our God that we are His friends, that we will live and serve Him, and not forsake our parents—will not forsake our Father’s house and His precepts; when we have proven ourselves faithful in the flesh and have gone through the veil into the spirit world—have done all that is required of us in preaching to those who are in prison, and are faithful until we receive our bodies again—until these tabernacles which we now occupy are resurrected and brought again to the spirits, and the spirits to the tabernacles, and Jesus calls on us to come up and be crowned among the faithful who will receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal life, then we will receive that power, knowledge, and wisdom, and possess it as independently as the Gods possess their power. It will then be bequeathed to them that they will have light within themselves. Why? Because they have control over the elements, and it will never be until then.

We have no light, no power at present, only what is given to us. Brother Hyde calls it borrowing, but I call it a free gift, or begging. The Lord’s giving does not diminish His fountain of spirit that our philosopher brother Orson Pratt speaks of, that he believes occupies universal space, or, in other words, that universal space is filled with, and that every particle of it is a Holy Spirit, and that that spirit is all powerful and all wise, full of intelligence and possessing all the attributes of all the Gods in eternity. I hardly dare say what I think and what I know, but that theory, though apparently very plausible and beautiful, is not true, for it is, or would be contradicted by the Prophets, by Jesus and the Apostles, and by all good men who understand the principles of eternity, both those who have lived and are now living on the earth. Brother Hyde was upon this same theory once, and in conversation with brother Joseph Smith advanced the idea that eternity or boundless space was filled with the Spirit of God, or the Holy Ghost. After portraying his views upon that theory very carefully and minutely, he asked brother Joseph what he thought of it? He replied that it appeared very beautiful, and that he did not know of but one serious objection to it. Says brother, Hyde, “What is that?” Joseph replied, “it is not true.”

With all the knowledge and wisdom that are combined in the person of brother Orson Pratt, still he does not yet know enough to keep his foot out of it, but drowns himself in his own philosophy, every time that he undertakes to treat upon principles that he does not understand. When he was about to leave here for his present mission, he made a solemn promise that he would not meddle with principles which he did not fully understand, but would confine himself to the first principles of the doctrine of salvation, such as were preached by brother Joseph Smith and the Apostles. But the first that we see in his writings, he is dabbling with things that he does not understand; his vain philosophy is no criterion or guide for the Saints in doctrine. According to his philosophy, the devils in hell are composed of and filled with the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, and possess all the knowledge, wisdom, and power of the Gods. If he believes his own doctrine pertaining to the celestial and other kingdoms, viz., that the devils in hell possess the same power as the Gods, they being opposed to Jesus and his Father, the whole fabric must fall. When I read some of the writings of such philosophers, they make me think, “O dear, granny, what a long tail our puss has got!” The influences of the Almighty, by the Holy Spirit, have got to work upon us to revolutionize us. We must with our organization, as we are organized to become independent beings, though not yet independent of the influences around us, bring into subjection our own wills and efforts, and subject ourselves to the principle of obedience to the celestial law. And when we have overcome the seeds of sin that are in our mortal tabernacles, and brought our bodies and spirits in subjection to the celestial law of Christ, and proven ourselves worthy to receive that exaltation promised to the faithful, then it will be high time for us to receive independent kingdoms, thrones, principalities, and powers. We have them not now, and if we had we would not know what to do with them.

There are but few men that know how to govern in temporal things; fewer still who know how to control the feelings of the people, how to guide the power of any kingdom that was ever organized on the earth. Nations and kingdoms of this world rise up and flourish only for a season. What is the difficulty? They contain the seeds of their own destruction, sown therein by the framers of human governments; those combustive elements are organized in their construction from the first. With all the excellency, and all the carefulness and correctness exhibited in the formation of constitutions and laws, they have the seeds of destruction within themselves. In the laws of every government now on this earth, there are certain principles in their constitutions that will ere long sap the foundations of their existence; and so it will be, so long as men continue to persist in ruling and making laws, in regulating and controlling by human wisdom alone, and in issuing their mandates and sending their officers to administer laws, made by the wisdom of man. I repeat, that just so long they will continue to throw into their laws, into the constitutions of their governments, principles that are calculated to destroy the fabrics.

Why are they thus lead to sow the seeds of their own destruction? Because the kingdoms of this world are not designed to stand. When men are placed at the head of government who are actually controlled by the power of God—by the Holy Ghost—they can lay plans, they can frame constitutions, they can form governments and laws that have not the seeds of death within them, and no other men can do it. Consequently I say that there are but few who know how to control or govern even in temporal affairs on this earth. Then why should we have kingdoms and thrones committed to our charge, when we are not capacitated to rule over them? We are now trying to frame our lives in a way that we may be prepared to live in a kingdom that is eternal, and it will be just about as much as we can do to prepare ourselves to enter into that kingdom which will endure forever, without our being made Kings and Priests in that kingdom for some time yet.

Can any man tell the variety of the spirits there are? No, he cannot even tell the variety that there is in the portion of his dominions in which God has placed us, on this earth upon which we live, for we can see an endless variety on this little spot, which is nothing but a garden spot in comparison to the rest of the kingdoms of our God. Again, you may observe the people, and you will see an endless variety of disposition, and an endless variety of physiognomy. Bring the millions of faces before you, and where can you find two faces precisely alike in every point? Where can you find two human beings precisely alike in the organization of their bodies with the spirits? Where can you point out two precisely alike in every particular in their temperaments and dispositions? Where can you find two who are so operated upon precisely alike by a superior power that their lives, their actions, their feelings, and all pertaining to human life are alike? I conclude that there is as great a variety in the spiritual as there is in the temporal world, and I think that I am just in my conclusion.

You will see people possessed of different spirits; but I will say to you what I have heretofore frequently said, and what brother Joseph Smith has said, and what the Scripture teaches, your spirits when they came to take tabernacles were pure and holy, and prepared to receive knowledge, wisdom, and instruction, and to be taught while in the flesh; so that every son and daughter of Adam, if they would apply their minds to wisdom, and magnify their callings and improve upon every grace and means given them, would have tickets for the boxes, to use brother Hyde’s figure, instead of going into the pit. There is no spirit but what was pure and holy when it came here from the celestial world. There is no spirit among the human family that was begotten in hell; none that were begotten by angels, or by any inferior being. They were not produced by any being less than our Father in heaven. He is the Father of our spirits; and if we could know, understand, and do His will, every soul would be prepared to return back into His presence. And when they get there, they would see that they had formerly lived there for ages, that they had previously been acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and gardens; and they would embrace their Father, and He would embrace them and say, “My son, my daughter, I have you again;” and the child would say, “O my Father, my Father, I am here again.”

These are the facts in the case, and there are none ticketed for the pit, unless they fill up that ticket themselves through their own misconduct. Are all spirits endowed alike? No, not by any means. Will all be equal in the celestial kingdom? By no means. Some spirits are more noble than others; some are capable of receiving more than others. There is the same variety in the spirit world that you behold here, yet they are of the same parentage, of one Father, one God, to say nothing of who He is. They are all of one parentage, though their is a difference in their capacities and nobility, and each one will be called to fill the station for which he is organized, and which he can fill.

We are placed on this earth to prove whether we are worthy to go into the celestial world, the terrestrial, or the telestial, or to hell, or to any other kingdom or place, and we have enough of life given us to do this. And as I frequently say, and think more frequently, it is a disgrace for the Latter-day Saints to say, “Let us lay hold now, and have a reformation.” We should never cease reforming and seeking to the Lord our God; and wherein we can better any trait in our lives, let us go to with our mights and reform ourselves, and not ask an Elder to come and preach reformation to us, and we will find that every one of us will be ticketed for the boxes, if we will do what we ought to do. If we fill out tickets so as to pass Joseph, Peter, Jesus, the Prophets, Abraham and the Patriarchs, our tickets will take us into the celestial kingdom. And if we can pass the Prophet Joseph, answer his questions, and bear his scrutiny, we shall consider ourselves pretty safe. We may fill out our tickets for seats in the celestial, terrestrial, telestial, or some other kingdom, just as we please. We have got to fill out our own tickets; our own lives will fill them up, and we will be judged according to the deeds done in the body, every one of us, and that is the filling up of the ticket.

I remarked to brother Kimball last Sabbath, that this people are the best people that ever lived upon the earth; I am actually a good deal inclined to think so. Do not marvel at this remark. How long did it take Enoch to purify his people—to become holy and prepared for what we want this people to be prepared for in a very few years? It took him 365 years. How long has this people lived? It will be 27 years on the sixth of next month, since this Church was organized. What do you think about this people? I say that the virtuous acts of their lives beat the whole world. Were the children of Israel ever so obedient to Moses, as this people are to me? No, they never began to be; for obedience they could not favorably compare with this people. Moses led his people forty years in the wilderness in rebellion, fighting, stealing, whoring, and every manner of iniquity; and their evils were so great, that God cut every one of them off in the wilderness, except Caleb and Joshua. He did not suffer one of them to go into the land of Canaan, except the two I have named; they never revolted from Moses, but held up his hands all the time. They never turned away, not even when Aaron, his half-brother and right hand man, made the golden calf. When Aaron gathered up the earrings, and finger rings, and jewels, and made a calf, and led the children of Israel astray to worship an image, and say, “These be thy Gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,” while Moses was in the mountain talking to the Lord, Caleb and Joshua did not turn away; and if they were in that company, their souls shuddered while the people were making that calf.

Were Enoch’s men as obedient and advanced as far as this people in the same time? I think not. Let this people continue to make the improvement they have made, and it would not be 165 years before they could take this part of the country and go off, should it be necessary, until the earth is purified. Yet Enoch had to live and strive, and toil during 365 years, in order to bring his people under the principle of strict obedience. This contrast is encouraging to this people.

Now let me tell you that there are hundreds of men and women in this community that believe they ought to repent, but cannot find out for what, cannot tell wherein to do differently, from what they do, and do not know what to do. Do you do everything you know to be right and pleasing in the sight of God? Yes, say hundreds and thousands of the people. Do you do anything you know to be wrong? Hundreds may reply, “We do not know that we do, but we do not feel as though we enjoyed as much as we should.” Hold on, do not get away from us. If you were now in the enjoyment of the things you have a presentiment of in your own feelings, that in the anxiety of your own hearts you are longing for, if you could get all that in your possession, you would not stay here; we should lose you, for you would be too pure to tarry in our society. Do not be in a hurry; let us stay together and fight the devil a little longer. Some of you think that by next fall you must obtain all that the Elders preach. If you do, you will go behind the veil, and we cannot have your society.

With many, a presentiment arises in their hearts like this, “We want something wonderful, or we must do something that we have not done. We must revolutionize our lives; we must reform,” but they do not know wherein. Serve God according to the best knowledge you have, and lay down and sleep quietly; and when the devil comes along and says, “You are not a very good Saint, you might enjoy greater blessings and more of the power of God, and have the vision of your mind opened, if you would live up to your privileges,” tell him to leave; that you have long ago forsaken his ranks and enlisted in the army of Jesus, who is your captain, and that you want no more of the devil.

Should a sister, full of faith, happen to lay her hands on the sick, and they thereby be relieved in the hour of distress, then the devil will come along and say, “Sister, I tell you that you have more faith than brother Brigham, brother Heber, or the Twelve.” In such cases just tell Mr. Devil to kiss your foot and leave, that you have no more faith and knowledge than your Father and God has given you; that you are not any more or less than His child, and mean to serve Him, and that you have broken friendship with the devil, and therefore he must leave forthwith. Some of you sisters will get to thinking, “O that I knew what to do. Brother Kimball pours it out on me and tells me to repent; brother Brigham pours it on me, and brother Hyde and others, and they tell me that I am not half so good as I should be.” Hold on, do not get so nervous that you cannot eat your bread and meat.

We have Zion in our view in her perfection, as you have. Do you know how you looked on Zion when you first embraced the Gospel? You thought there would be no more trial, no more sorrow or vexation of spirit; that everybody would do right, and that there would be no more wrong; that if you once reached the gathering place, there your souls would be full of glory, and you expected that you could then sit and “sing yourself away to everlasting bliss.” You have to go through the smut mill, in order to be made clean; then you have to be winnowed, then ground, and then go through the bolt; and in this operation a good many will actually “bolt.” There are many pretty good men who want to go to California and to the States; they have felt the effect of the boltings. You have come here, and many have undergone a great deal of trouble to do so, in order to serve your God and live your religion; and when you do not know what to do to make yourselves better, be contented, and eat your food with a thankful heart to the glory of God. And when you lay down, say “All is peace, all is right; and if the Lord wishes to take me away tonight, I am ready to go.” There are thousands of this people who, if they were to live ten thousand years in the flesh and according to the chance they have had, would be no better than they are now.

It is said to be eternal life, “to know the only wise God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” I will tell you one thing, as brother Hyde has said, it would be an excellent plan for us to go to work and find out ourselves, for as sure as you find out yourselves, you will find out God, whether you are Saint or sinner. A man cannot find out himself without the light of revelation; he has to turn round and seek to the Lord his God, in order to find out himself. If you find out who Joseph was, you will know as much about God as you need to at present; for if He said, “I am a God to this people.” He did not say that He was the only wise God. Jesus was a God to the people when he was upon earth, was so before he came to this earth, and is yet. Moses was a God to the children of Israel, and in this manner you may go right back to Father Adam.

If you look at things spiritually, and then naturally, and see how they appear together, you will understand that when you have the privilege of commencing the work that Adam commenced on this earth, you will have all your children come and report to you of their sayings and acts; and you will hold every son and daughter of yours responsible when you get the privilege of being an Adam on earth.

Suppose that one of us had been Adam, and had peopled and filled the world with our children, they, although they might be great grandchildren, &c., still, say I, had I been Adam, they would be my flesh, blood, and bones, and have the same kind of a spirit put into them that is in me. And pertaining to the flesh they would all be my children, and I would call them to account, and by and by I would call every one of them home. They would have to render up to father an account, that he may know what their works have been on earth, for man is judged according to his works on the earth.

Comparing spiritual with temporal things, it must be that God knows something about temporal things, and has had a body and been on an earth, were it not so He would not know how to judge men righteously, according to the temptations and sin they have had to contend with. If I can pass brother Joseph, I shall stand a good chance for passing Peter, Jesus, the Prophets, Moses, Abraham, and all back to Father Adam, and be pretty sure of receiving his approbation. If I can pass all this ordeal, shall I not be pretty safe? I think I shall.

When we get before father Adam and the innumerable company that will come before him—when we draw near to the Ancient of Days with the rest of his children, and receive his approbation, shall we not be safe? If we can pass the sentinel Joseph the Prophet, we shall go into the celestial kingdom, and not a man can injure us. If he says, “God bless you, come along here;” if we will live so that Joseph will justify us, and say, “Here am I, brethren,” we shall pass every sentinel; there will be no danger but that we will pass into the celestial kingdom. Will we all become Gods, and be crowned kings? No, my brethren, there will be millions on millions, even the greater part of the celestial world, who will not be capable of a fulness of that glory, immortality, eternal lives and a continuation of them, yet they will go into the celestial kingdom. Will this people all go into that kingdom? I think a good many will have to be burnt out like an old pipe, before they can go into any decent kingdom.

Think how many have come into this church, from the commencement of it until now, and apostatized. Will our present population equal them in number? No, it would be like a drop in a bucket, compared with them. Do you know of any other people’s striving to enter in at the strait gate besides this people? Yes, many in the sectarian world, and the honest among the heathen nations are seeking with all their mights to enter in, and I do not know but what they are the foolish virgins that brother Hyde has been talking about. The parable will apply to them, as well as to a portion of this people. They live according to the moral law given to them, and no people can be morally any better than are thousands and millions of them, for they have spent days and years on their knees to get the power we have, but could not obtain it. Why? Because they had not the keys of the everlasting Priesthood. Where will they go? To heaven, and they will have all the heaven, bliss, and crowns that they have anticipated in the flesh, and then you may add a hundredfold more. Can they go into the celestial kingdom? No, not without the keys of that kingdom.

Well, brethren and sisters, may the Lord bless you and comfort your hearts. Be true to your God and to your religion. Do not forsake them, but forsake sin wherever you may see it. Shun sin, whether it is in me or in any other person, and cleave to righteousness and to the Lord. Do not betray your God nor your covenants, and I say, God bless you and prepare us all for His celestial kingdom. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 1, 1857.

About the Devil’s Gate, and the property left there last season. We expect to start back some teams, according to the notice which was read this morning, as soon as the season will permit us to carry feed for the different stations on the route. Those who have goods left at the Devil’s Gate, by making proper arrangements, can have them brought in; and if any persons prefer going for their own goods, of course they have the privilege.

I have been highly interested and entertained this day by the instructions and exhortations we have received; they are calculated to inspire confidence and love towards our Father and our God.

Brother Heber and brother Lorenzo Snow have spoken upon the unity of our feelings and the identifying of our interests; and it is frequently urged upon this people to identify their interests, that we may have no undivided interests—no half-heartedness. To be powerful we must be united, and to be united we must have our interests identified. How can we have them better identified than in that we have set our hands to do—than in consecrating all our property to the Lord? We have started out in a good cause; let us not look back, but let us urge forward in the things of God, and work together for each other’s benefit, for in this we shall not sacrifice anything.

We talk a great deal about sacrifi– ces, when strictly there is no such thing; it is a misnomer—it is a wrong view of the subject, for what we do in the kingdom of God is the best investment we can possibly make. It pays the best, whichever way we may look at it, it is the principle of all others to be coveted—to be appreciated—and is the best investment we can make of all that pertains to us in this life. It is an inestimable privilege, and should be so esteemed by the community. We cannot fully fathom it, we cannot as yet altogether understand it, for ear hath not heard, nor eyes seen the benefit that will accrue to the individual that will be faithful unto the end in this Church and kingdom, and receive the exaltation to which he is looking forward. There is virtually no sacrifice about it. It is like sacrificing the things of time in time, to gain eternal riches, and such a sacrifice sinks into insignificance in a moment. All the sacrifice we could make, even of life itself, in this world, is nothing to those who are faithful. Let us not be half-hearted, but let us go into this matter whole souled, and cleave unto God and His servants, and identify our interests in His kingdom.

As to the devil, what have we to do with him? It is true, what we heard this forenoon while brother Joseph Young was talking. If we could breathe twice where we now do once, the Holy Ghost is ready every moment to administer to our salva– tion, and the evil spirit is also ready to lead us into temptation. That is true, but look at the word the Lord gave us through our first parents, when He planted us on this earth. He said to the serpent, “Because thou has done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” We have that advantage over the devil; we can, if we have a mind to, resist him, and he will flee from us. He can be cast out, and he is subject to us. We have the length and breadth of ourselves clear from being contaminated with him. I will say that, without fearing successful contradiction. If he overcomes us, we first let down the bars, and invite him to enter; or he would not come further than our heels.

The Lord gave us our agency to do as we please, and it is for us to say whether we will be for God or the devil. We may make ourselves angels to the devil, or Saints of the Most High. We may have the blessings of the Almighty assisting us, or reject them and go to the devil; it is optional with ourselves. I will admit that we have been corrupted in our generations for thousands of years, and that the devil has power over us through this cause in a measure that he otherwise would not have; and were it not for the multiplicity of the blessings of the Almighty that gives us power and strength, we would most likely be overcome of the devil. We have become small in stature and short in years—weak in body and mind—compared with our forefathers in the primitive ages of the world. We know they attained to a great age, and large in stature, and had great power with God. We know there has been a falling away, and we have come down through the loins of progenitors who have corrupted their ways, changed the ordinances, and but little of the blood of Abraham may be flowing in our veins.

God has looked at the generations of men, and has brought spirits into the world, and they have come through this long line of corrupted generation. What has He made known unto us? He has developed little by little the ways of the Lord, if we will pursue the course His servants have laid out through the channels of the holy and eternal Priesthood. He has again opened to the children of men the channels of life, and we may bring ourselves back again to the might and power, life and immortality spoken of this morning. The Lord will cut His work short in righteousness, and will permit us, if we are faithful, to progress so fast that we may make up in a few years what we have lost in a thousand. We may gain, in a few generations of righteousness, what twenty of unrighteousness have robbed us of. It is a work of righteousness which the Lord will bless and prosper.

The principles of plurality have been established, in order to raise up a righteous seed unto God. The way has been pointed out, and it is a blessing that has been restored to this generation. It is a turning back to the holy principles of ancient days, even to that purity that was known in primitive ages. In this way only may we rise from corruption, through the Holy Priesthood of our God. We do not handle these things with proper sacredness, perhaps. It is a principle that is calculated to produce health, strength, and happiness here, as well as salvation hereafter. It is so esteemed by many, and when you see the principle as it really is, you will say that it is as I tell you.

I know our forefathers have changed the ordinance, and corrupted their ways in their generations, and it has brought misery and degradation on the human family. And now, if we can turn round and reform in this, ourselves—our posterity—will be better prepared to reform themselves and become mighty before God. They will be better capable of receiving those principles which have been made known to us; they can lay hold with greater power and faith on the blessings of the Priesthood, and can obtain greater power than we now can, because they will not have the traditions around them that we have. They will be measurably free from the corruptions which have been entailed on us.

I do not wish to take up much time, but I wish to impress these facts upon the people. I wish to have my sisters feel that this order is the order of God, and that in it they will find happiness and exaltation; in it they will find every principle that is calculated to lead them to glory and favor with God, and exaltation into His presence; and by it they are redeeming themselves and their posterity from the corruptions of man, that have been in existence for many generations before us, and from which they have been brought out by the sound and proclamation of the Gospel. I believe they do feel to appreciate and understand this; and I wish to exhort the brethren also, that they adhere to these holy principles and try to see and understand them as they exist, and act according to the principles of life and salvation, and not according to those of death and destruction; that they make allowance for thousands of things they may have around them in their families.

There are many men who think they have an understanding of these things, and make no allowance for the traditions that hang around the women. Do you realize that they have been brought up in their Gentile notions, as well as yourselves? A man may have, perhaps, three or four wives, and not make such allowance for them as they do for him, and find fault, and be very exacting in requiring of them the most perfect obedience to every whim and notion. By taking such a course he is liable to lose the Holy Ghost, and if he does, he will lose his women. It is upon the principle that you are a man of God—that you have the Holy Ghost and desire to raise up a holy seed to the name of the Most High—that your wives have been sealed to you; they would not upon any other principle have come to you. Now if your wives discover that you lack in any virtues pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and if you take a course that is not calculated to exalt them, do you not see that you lose their confidence? You will lose them also.

The reformation has touched the hearts of both men and women. The people generally are turning round, and they will serve God more perfectly than hitherto. Many of you have never tried this order until now, and let me tell you, brethren, that it is necessary for you to keep the Holy Ghost. If you have not got it, you must get it, and never be without it. You must shed forth that influence on your family, as brothers Joseph and Heber told you this morning, or they will leave you. They will not stay with a man who is destitute of it, if they are good women, neither should they. This is a word for you, my brethren, who are now starting out on this principle. It is a good, virtuous, and holy principle, and not to be trifled with. The women, as a general thing, have power and faith in this kingdom, and they come into this order with full purpose of heart, desiring to do right; and in leading them, if you will be careful of your own feelings, and have a little magnanimity of mind, it will be better for you, and they will stick to you, because it is for their salvation in the kingdom of our God. It is for this they are here, and they will cleave to you for it; and it is your office, right, and privilege to extend that blessing to them. I do not make these remarks for wives to run ahead of their husbands, for they seek their salvation through them. Of course there are exceptions to all general rules. I am speaking upon general principles, to Saints of the Most High. This is a good people, generally.

I say to the sisters, seek to have confidence in your husbands, and believe that they are capable of leading you; and when you seek instruction, believe them capable of giving it to you; and be faithful, humble, and obedient to them. Their feelings should not be concentrated in you, but your feelings should be in them, and their’s should be in those who lead them in the Priesthood. Their feelings are concentrated in the Lord their God and what is ahead, and there is where they should be. You should be glad to see them step forward and walk onward in the path of their duty, and not require them to devote themselves to you to the exclusion of things and duties of life which lie before them. As they progress and lead on, you will feel to travel in the same road. This is the order, and if order is maintained in this thing, you will see the beauty of it; and it will be a satisfaction to you and them to believe that your husband, he who is at your head, is progressing in the things of God. That should be a satisfaction to you, and it will be, if you are inspired by the right spirit and feeling. In this way you will have happiness, and see good times.

I have heard brother Brigham remark, many times, that he did not believe that Enoch had a better peo– ple than this, a people who progressed half as fast in the things of God as have the Latter-day Saints, notwithstanding they lived in primitive ages when they were comparatively pure, when they were not corrupted as our progenitors have been. They built and perfected a city in 365 years. I believe, and I have often heard brother Brigham and Heber so express themselves, that this people have made far more progress towards perfection in the same time than did Enoch’s people. I rejoice in this and to see this people obedient to their head, to their Bishops, and to their God.

There are great blessings, happiness, and salvation for this people, so long as they continue faithful in these things. And the more they identify their interests and become subservient and passive in the hands of this Priesthood here, they will be, both men and women, the more satisfied and happy in this life, and better prepared to live in the flesh, as well as to enter into the life which is to come.

May the Lord bless us and help us to do right; and may we be worthy to receive His blessings. The Lord delights to bless His servants and handmaidens, and He will bless us until we become powerful in this land, and are made capable of bringing to pass His purposes and designs in the last days.

If we are in the world, we are not of it, because they will not let us be. They drive us and scatter us, and try to destroy us, but it matters not. We have been brought to these chambers of the Lord; we have nothing to do but praise His holy name, and we can make the arch of heaven ring with praises to our God and King, and no one to make us afraid; though it makes the sinner fear and tremble, while there is none to make the Saints afraid in Zion.

Let us do the things that are for us to do, no matter what they are, whether spiritual or temporal, for they are united together, and we do not wish to sever them; it is not necessary we should. We have to do with spiritual and temporal things, they go hand in hand, and the Lord will bless us, if we are faithful, which is what we seek. Do we not feel well when we do that which meets the approbation of our Father and our God? Then let us be careful how we do anything to displease Him, for then we do not feel well. The idea of offending or grieving our Heavenly Father is unpleasant. Let us also be careful how we do anything to displease our Bishops, and let the wives be careful how they do anything to displease their husbands, and let us all be united and dwell in harmony, and see how beautifully we shall move forward as a people—as the Saints of the Most High God—being such in character as well as in name.

Let us cultivate good feelings one towards another, that we may promote our own peace, happiness, and final exaltation in the kingdom of God. We can enjoy ourselves in heaven only upon this principle, and if we can bring out minds to enjoy that principle here, then we have a heaven here. If we have a heaven at all, we have to make it, and for this reason we have the power given us to make it; the devil cannot get into our hearts, unless we give him a welcome there.

May the Lord bless us, and preserve us, and help us to do His will on the earth and bring to pass His purposes, which favors I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 1, 1857.

A more sensitive man than brother Joseph Smith never lived, and that sensitiveness was in proportion to the light he had. So it is with brother Brigham, and so it is with brother Heber, and so it is with brother Daniel, and it will increase upon him as he presses his way forward, and works in the harness, and becomes used to it; and he will be just as good a team-horse as the Lord ever used, and I know it.

I will speak of brother Joseph Young, I often speak of him; he is one of the most sensitive men that ever walked on the earth, and that is in proportion to the light he has, and if the Lord had not laid His hands on him and said, “My servant Joseph, be thou sick and go to thy bed and rest,” he would have been in his grave long ago. His late sickness saved his life. That may be a curiosity to you, but the best days I ever had with re– gard to the happiness of my spirit, have been when I was prostrate on my bed, and in reality could not help myself. People will say, “O how I pity such and such brethren and sisters, because they are unwell.” If persons would appreciate their blessings when they are on beds of sickness, and say, “Father, thy will be done, and not mine,” there would be no room for that pity. When necessary in God’s providences towards me, I would as soon lay on a bed of sickness as to do anything else, for we have got to learn that lesson. I have to struggle, and brother Brigham has to struggle to exist here on the earth.

I will say, not that I speak of these things to boast, that if this people, both men and women, would pray, and that devoutly before God in their secret places, one quarter as much as brother Brigham, and I, and brother Joseph Young do, you would see dif– ferent days from what you see today. When Jesus came to his people on this continent, and appeared in their midst, they could not at first realize and appreciate him. They saw him and felt the wounds in his side, in his hands, and in his feet, and he talked with them and instructed them, and chose and instructed twelve disciples. And after healing their sick and blessing their children, he administered bread and wine to the people, and taught them to “watch and pray always.” He could not heal their sick, until through prayer they had become humble, and got the power of God on them. And when he had done this he said, bring all your children, and he blessed them one by one, and the power of God rested on them, and angels descended from heaven and encircled them round about, and ministered to them before the eyes of the people.

What do you suppose we are going to do with you? Are you ever going to be prepared to see God, Jesus Christ, His angels, or comprehend His servants, unless you take a faithful and prayerful course? Did you actually know Joseph Smith? No. Do you know brother Brigham? No. Do you know brother Heber? No, you do not. Do you know the Twelve? You do not, if you did, you would begin to know God, and learn that those men who are chosen to direct and counsel you are near kindred to God and to Jesus Christ, for the keys, power, and authority of the kingdom of God are in that lineage. I speak of these things with a view to arouse your feelings and your faithfulness towards God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, that you may pray and be humble, and penitent.

When Jesus Christ came to this earth, he came to fulfil the law, and he taught the people to seek to the Father with a broken heart and contrite spirit, and then whatever they asked He would give. If you so come unto Him, repenting and being sorry for your sins, then He will hear you and forgive you, and He will forgive this whole people. Why? Because brother Brigham never would have said to you that God would forgive you if you would repent, unless he had received some intimation of that kind from the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But brother Brigham told you the truth, and the Lord will forgive you, if you stop sinning now, and begin anew today to work righteousness with full purpose of heart. Then through continued faithfulness that Spirit, light, and glory will rest upon you, that brother Joseph has been talking about this morning.

I am speaking of these things to comfort you, for they comfort me. I am talking to you of nothing more than what I know, feel, and have experienced. What brother Joseph Young has said, is good. I feel very well in my body and in my spirit, that is, I feel well in regard to the things of God. I feel well, because there are some trying to live their religion, and worship their God in spirit and in truth. When they hear the servants of God declare the truth here, they understand it, and the seed springs up, and brings forth fruit to the glory of God, and that fruit will remain. But there are others who hear the word and do not conceive; they sit and hear the voice of God speaking through His servants, and like the sound thereof, but the moment they leave this place they forget it.

Some say that they have not faith, that they cannot believe. What is faith? It is confidence. What is confidence? It is faith. Some people are striving and striving to get faith, when saving faith is simply confidence in God, flowing from walking in obedience to His commandments. When you have confidence in yourself, in any man, woman, or child, you have faith; and when you have not confidence, you have not faith. I believe they are co-partners, and the principle of faith and confidence is synonymous to me.

If you have not faith to deed your property over to the Trustee-in-Trust, it is because you have not confidence in the Trustee-in-Trust. If you had confidence in him, you would have faith in him. You may pay your tithing—you may tithe your sage, mint, and catnip, and this and that, and the other, and after all you may be leaving the more weighty matters undone. It is not best to become stereotyped in paying tithing and stop at that; but if you are going to become stereotyped, I wish you to stereotype the whole edition, and let it remain so, and then go on and make another. I do not object to your stereotyping one letter at a time, if you will go on through the whole edition.

In regard to deeding over your property, no one compels you to do it. I do not compel you to do it, the Trustee-in-Trust does not, God does not; but He says that if you will do this, that and the other thing which He has counseled for our good, do so, and prove Him. He goes to work and proves us, as we go to work and prove one another under various circumstances. The Lord says, cast in your tithes, and then your offerings. Tithing is one thing, and offerings are another. And when that is done, consecrate your property to the Church, and make strong the hands of our President, and he will handle and distribute it to the best advantage. We are to be tried in all things, like unto Abraham, and God even told Abraham to offer up his son Isaac. He went and built the altar, got the wood and the knife, and was ready to do the work; but instead of offering up his son, the Lord said to him, take this ram and offer him up, and put your son to usury, and be shall become a multitude of nations—his offspring shall be as numerous as the sands on the seashore, and as the stars in the firmament. It will be just so with the property deeded over to the Trustee-in-Trust; every man becomes a steward, and puts out his property to usury. The principle of the consecration is to hold property secure and in the channel of blessings and increase.

Our property should not be dearer to us than salvation, and should freely be put to the best use for building up the kingdom of God. To illustrate my ideas, I will use a comparison. Here is my little finger, does not the blood go into that finger as freely and as fully, in proportion as it goes into my leg, or into my arm? Does it always stay there? Does that little finger become selfish—superstitious with the principle of idolatry—and never restore that blood to the fountain? No, for if it did, the fountain would be weakened, and the finger would wither, because of an interrupted communication. How can this Church exist upon any other principle than that of free interchange according to the dictation of the head? My finger restores back the blood to the fountain, where it again becomes impregnated with the principles of life, and then when it goes back again is not that finger impregnated with the power of my vitality—of my attributes? If that is a fact, when we take the same course with the things of God and turn in our property, it will become empowered with the attributes of God and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, and of all those who act with them in the eternal worlds, and from them to us, and from us back to the throne of God. And except we become impregnated with saving principles as they exist with God, with Jesus Christ, with angels, with Peter and with Joseph, you may bid farewell to salvation, every soul of you.

I wish that this whole people would so get religion that brother Brigham and myself, and other good men could always freely and fully teach you all things pertaining to salvation, and show you your condition, even as the Lord views it. Here is the kingdom of God, here are the Prophet and the Apostles, the Patriarch, and all the leading men of Israel, and where is there a man in Europe, or in any other country, who sprung from this Church, but what sprung from the authority, the life, vitals, and power of this Church and kingdom? If he has not got his power unto salvation in this Church, he has not any power towards an exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our God. And those who have power from the true source have not predominance over those who hold the keys in advance of them, for the kingdom of God is a kingdom of order. How can you become impregnated with the spirit and power of God, except you become impregnated through us? There is no true path, except to do as you are told by those whom the Lord has called and chosen, and placed to direct you.

I do not care so much whether you have faith or not, for if you have confidence in yourselves, I would risk the confidence you should have in us. And if you have lost confidence in yourselves, you will not have much confidence in your brethren; and in that case I want to know what confidence you can have in your God? The Lord often takes a course to try the confidence of His people, for He planted a branch of the olive tree in the poorest spot in all the land of His vineyard, and He caused it to yield much fruit that was good. That was considered a marvelous work, and one of His servants said, “How camest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard. And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; but go to and do all things as I command you.”

Now suppose I should say, here, John, William, and Richard, I want you to go up near the arsenal and dig a well, and when you have dug ten feet you will find water. They would be very apt to say, “We have not a particle of confidence in that operation.” I would reply, I do not care about that; it is the well I want, and that will afford water. They go to work without one particle of confidence in what I say, and dig to the depth of ten feet, and come to good water. By so doing, have they not obtained knowledge without confidence? Yes, by their works. And Jesus says, by your works shall you be judged, and by your works shall you be justified. John, Bill, and Dick, dig the well, and I have accomplished my design with them, though they had not a particle of confidence in me, nor in God. And when they have found water, they say, “That gives me confidence in you, brother Heber, and in your God.” The result of their works gives them confidence. It may stimulate some of you to go to work upon that principle, viz., to do as you are told, without knowing whether you will get water or not.

Well, go to work and dig the Big Cottonwood canal on the same principle. Begin tomorrow morning, and do not cease until that canal is done, and I will warrant the water to come, and when it comes, that will increase your confidence. Brethren, will you all with your Bishops lay aside everything that is not of greater importance, and go to work on that canal until it is finished? If you will work, instead of merely saying you will, and go to with all your hearts, it will be but a short time before you see the rock being boated on it for our Temple; and it need not be only a few years before the Temple is built, wherein you will receive your endowments and blessings. And God our Father will protect us and give us good peace, until we have accomplished that work and many other things. He will strengthen our feet and fill our granaries.

Will you go to work at once on the canal, letting your Bishops lead out and you follow? If you will, raise your right hands. [All hands were raised.] If you live up to the covenant now made, you will soon accomplish the work; and it will be but a few days before the ground will be in readiness for ploughing and seeding, and God will bless the earth and strengthen it to yield an abundance, through your going and doing that little work, and letting the water into that canal, so that we can boat rock from the quarry unto this place. Let us go to and do, instead of merely saying. That is drawing our feelings into the one reservoir.

Upon the same principle, let every man render over his property with an eternal deed that cannot be broken; throw it all into the big reservoir. Suppose that one puts in one drop, another two, another ten, and another a hundred, do you not see, when you throw in your property—your substance—into one reservoir, that it makes us all one, and that you cannot become one without this principle? You may work to all eternity, and never connect the branch with the vine, upon any other principle than that of putting your property and temporal blessings with your spiritual interests, whereby they will both become one. If you do not do that, I do not mean in one thing only, but in everything that God requires of you by His servants, if you do not bring your substance forward and lay it down at the Apostle’s feet, you will be stripped. Brother Brigham is the chief Apostle of Jesus, and he is our President, our Prophet, and our leader, and we the Twelve are his brethren, and you have got to lay down your substance at their feet, as the Saints did in the days of the ancient Apostles of Jesus.

Look at Ananias and Sapphira. I have heard you read their history a great many times, and talk about it. They came with a part of their substance, and lied about it. You may do as you have a mind to. In one sense, we do not care whether you lie, or tell the truth. If you tell the truth and do right, who is blessed? Is it anyone but yourselves? It is not brother Brigham, nor brother Heber, only in connection with you, inasmuch as you take a course to do right; for being members of the same body to which we are connected, it influences the whole body, and the whole body is blessed at the same time. It does not particularly make any difference with us, as individuals.

You have got to render an account of everything you have, for we are all stewards. You Bishops, Seventies, High Priests, Elders, Priests, Teachers, Deacons, and members, where did you get the Priesthood and authority you hold? It came from this very authority, the First Presidency that sits here in this stand. There was an authority before us, and we got our authority from that, and you got it from us, and this authority is with the First Presidency. Now do not go off and say that you are independent of that authority. Where did you get your wives? Who gave them to you? By what authority were they given to you? Where did you get anything?

If you do not take the course you have been told to take, and as I am trying to tell you, viz., to render all you have on this earth, every man in this Church and kingdom will be as bare when he leaves this earth as he will find himself when he gets out of it for he cannot even take his shroud with him nor a pair of stockings. I do not care if he has forty wives and a thousand children, every soul of them will be taken from him. Your wives are given to you as a stewardship to improve upon in building up and establishing the kingdom of God, and your children are given to you as a stewardship. Where did their spirits came from? Did they come from you? No; they came from God. Who is the Father of those spirits? God, and He will require them of you, and those spirits have also got to give an account to their Father from whom they came; they have got to render up an account. Thus you see, that you have to render an account of your wives and children, of your substance, and everything that pertains to this earth, and you cannot avoid it, without suffering a loss.

I want to get you to live your religion, and worship our God. I am not troubled about our not prospering; I trouble myself about living my religion and being faithful to the things of God, and that leads me to confidence, if not in myself, in my leader. It is not so much a matter about my trying to obtain confidence in myself, or in you. We are to be connected like a vine, and then when we receive any good thing we will become impregnated with God, with Jesus Christ, with the Holy Ghost, and with angels, and it is the only way in which we can become one.

I feel as brother Joseph Young feels. God bless him, and may he live a hundred years, if he wants to. I pray that God may renew him in body and blood, and bless him with every good thing that he desires; also brother Brigham, and brother Daniel, and brother Heber, and every other good man. That is my prayer and my feeling. And may the Lord bless every good woman with the same blessings.

Brethren, tumble in your interest into this great reservoir, and we will drink up the earth. And if you do not do it, as the Lord lives, the First Presidency of this Church and the Twelve will drink you up. If you trifle with me, when I tell you the truth, you will trifle with brother Brigham; and if you trifle with him, you will also trifle with angels and with God, and thus you will trifle yourselves down to hell. You cannot with impunity trifle with God, for the day is too far advanced for that. Do not trouble yourselves about your sins if you have repented of them; and if you have not, it is time you did.

I will say to the Bishops in general, take those who are humble, those who have repented and made restitution, and baptize them for the remission of their sins, and then lay hands upon them, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, and they will receive it, if you take counsel and do right. And you will feel as you never felt before since you were born, and the works of God will continue, if you will do right, for the time has come.

God bless you, peace be with you forever. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, February 22, 1857.

Brethren and sisters, while brother Samuel Richards was addressing you, a great many reflections passed through my mind, a few of which I will try to lay before you, in regard to the parable of the sower and the seed. The Scripture reads—“Behold a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up, and choked them: But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.” I have thought of this parable considerably this winter. You will find that when the seed is cast into stony ground, it will spring up quickly and grow rapidly, but when the sunbeams come upon it with strength and power, it will wither and die. Have any received the good word during what we have called the reformation, and will they now wither and die? Or will they be like the seed that is cast into good ground which takes root downward, and springs upward, and bring forth the works of righteousness unto salvation? And now, as the season advances, we will have to be more specially engaged in our various business avocations, and shall not have so much time to spend in hearing the word of the Lord as we have had during the past winter, therefore let us see to it, that the plants now growing in our bosoms do not wither and die.

I have told you, and others have, that we have no expectations in this life of a worldly nature but what will go into the grave with us when we go. “Mormonism” and the Priesthood which we have resting upon us reach behind the veil, and what we have to do here is to prepare ourselves in this channel for the blessings we expect to receive hereafter.

It is a true remark, “He that seeks to save his life shall lose it.” What is there worth having outside of our faith and religion? If we want to live either here or in eternity, this is the only channel wherein we can obtain that which is really worth having. If we want to be prospered, let us put on the yoke of Christ and keep it on, seeking first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and all other things will be added thereto. This is the only principle upon which we can obtain aught that is of lasting worth, no matter what it is that we want.

In order to redeem Zion, we had to come from Nauvoo to the mountains, and we must abide here until the Lord shall say to the contrary. If we want wives and children in eternity, we must be faithful stewards over over those committed to our trust in time, that we may receive an inheritance in eternity. If we want inheritances in this world—if we want worldly possessions—we must be faithful stewards in the things of this world, and hold them as from the Lord, always keeping them upon the altar. No matter whether in spiritual or temporal affairs, the principle is the same, faithfulness is required. And if we do not feel willing to devote ourselves with heart, mind, and talent, as well as our worldly possessions, to the cause of God, we are not worthy to receive the inheritance to which we are looking forward.

How is it with those who turn away and wither and die, after having partaken of the good word of life, and partaken of the powers of the world to come? In view of these things the Savior said unto the generation in which he lived, “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for you.” This will strictly apply to us, if we turn away. Or might it not be said with equal force, it shall be more tolerable for Carthage and Warsaw than for us in that great day, if we turn away from the principles of life and salvation that are poured upon us? There is no damnation so complete as that which will come on those persons, who, after having tasted the good word of God, after having received the principles of life and salvation, and been made acquainted with the powers of the world to come, again turn unto the beggarly elements of the world. Then it becomes us to hang onto these principles and to this power—to this principle of life and salvation which has been revealed to us—and not let them slip from us, and we finally go down to perdition.

Do we see and appreciate the blessing of this Gospel which has been made known to us? Sometimes I think we do, and at other times I think we become careless and indifferent. This should never be, but we should progress and increase in the knowledge of God and in faith, for it is a treasure indeed, and is like all other things pertaining to the kingdom of God. We must be faithful to increase in it, as well as in light and knowledge. Let us get the truth and stick to it, and not let it slip through our fingers.

We go to the ends of the earth, and proclaim this Gospel to those who sit in darkness, and we feel desirous for the salvation of Israel—we desire to impart to the world the good and saving feelings we possess. This is good, and there is nothing in the world that begins to compare with the things accomplished by the Latter-day Saints. They go upon the principle of faith for their support, and they prosper. There is no people equal to this people. They are the pure in heart, which constitutes Zion. If they will only apply to their everyday lives the principles which have brought them together, and faithfully live their religion, they are the happiest people in the world, and a people the Lord delights to bless, when He can do it without sending them to hell; and there is nothing but what they will be able to accomplish, inasmuch as they are faithful.

They love the authorities of this Church; they love brother Brigham, and he has great influence over them. What fault has the world to find with brother Brigham? None, except that the people are united in sustaining him, and that his word and counsel are as the law unto them. What right have they to find fault with or complain of this? He has a just right to his popularity; Joseph Smith had a right to his; the Lord gave it to them. And there is no governor, president, emperor, or king, but what would be glad to get just such a popularity, and is seeking for it all the time. They seek to gain an affection in the breasts of the people over whom they preside, but they have not that wisdom, and hence cannot obtain it, it is not for them. But brother Brigham has obtained it, and all the rulers and all the world are seeking the same thing and finding fault with him, and would take his life, because he has that which they are seeking for and cannot find. That fact of itself shows up their inconsistency.

Would not the governors of the United States be called the best men in the world, if they had and could retain the popularity which President Brigham Young enjoys? If there was any such person among them, the people would say, “Let him be the governor, for his equal cannot be found!” and yet they would destroy Governor Young, because the people are willing to adhere to his counsel. They are afraid of the union of Church and State, this they dread very much. Any person would like to have all the popularity that brother Brigham has, but the people of the world are afraid to trust any of their men with the affairs of the nation, especially if the person happened to be a preacher, for they have no confidence in each other nor in any of their numerous religions. They have no confidence in their clergy’s knowing anything about politics or temporal affairs in general, but they say, “We know more about such things than you do. It is your calling to administer in spiritual things only; you may have the keeping of our consciences, but when it comes to temporal matters you must stand aside.” They consider that their clergy, and of course their God, knows no more about temporal things than they do about spiritual things. They leave all spiritual matters to their sectional clergy, to whom they dare not trust their temporal matters, but, on the contrary, do thrust their clergymen from their national halls.

This shows clearly all the faith and confidence they have in their God and in their clergy, for if they had any faith or confidence in their God, they would also have in their clergy, who should be His servants. But this is in strict keeping with their religion, for they go to meeting to hear their clergy dilate upon an imaginative something, filling the immensity of boundless space, sitting upon a topless throne, and which they call God. We are entirely different, and I rejoice that it is so. We have men to counsel and guide us in whom we repose unlimited confidence, men who are before us and lead ahead, and the counsels they give we feel to appreciate and abide both in spiritual and temporal things. We hold ourselves ready to go at a moment’s warning to the uttermost parts of the earth to subserve the principles of our holy religion, by making them known to others, to save Israel and bring out those the Lord has scattered, to aid in building up Zion, and in building temples of the Most High, wherein we may go and receive the blessings of eternity. We hold our property—our possessions—on the altar, ready at a moment’s notice to be handed over to subserve the cause of Zion.

Notwithstanding these are our feelings, our governmental and temporal affairs are kept as distinct from our religious concerns as are those of any other people, and far more so than are those of many others. We have never organized a political party, as some people have done, to enable us to express our peculiar conscientious notions about freedom, slavery, and Catholicism, about which so much frenzied zeal has been exhibited during the past ten years. Our holy religion does not interfere with our political or governmental affairs, only to make us more competent, faithful, and energetic in the duties pertaining thereunto. It is eminently above all such considerations, and only influences them, as it does all the varied duties of life, by lending its aid, light, and intelligence.

These are the principles which unite us together; let us keep them warm in our bosoms, and be alive and continue to increase in the knowledge of God. Let us strive to have our minds expand, and let us perform our duties with an eye single to the glory of God, and the advancement of His cause. In this course we see our own salvation and eternal exaltation, and find the road we ought to travel, and we cannot find anything outside of this worth having. We are interested in it; it is the best investment we can make. No matter how poor a person may be, he can be faithful and work the work of righteousness, and it is the poor and meek that will inherit the earth.

I ask my Heavenly Father to bless us one and all, individually and collectively, and to preserve us and enable us to remain firm in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may not go astray but cling to the principles of life and salvation, cleaving to the Lord our God, serving Him with willing hearts and minds perfectly, and do it because we like to do it, being partakers of the truth because we love it, and for the principle’s sake, and because it is better than anything else. It is meat, drink, clothing, and lodging to us, as well as everything else worth having. If we will do this, we need not fear for the future.

If we have our wives and children arising around us and multiplying greatly, let us all be for God, and other things will come along in their season. We sacrificed all things when we came into this kingdom, laid aside our former associations in life, and left everything that pertained to them, regardless of the future and of the consequences resulting therefrom, and can we not keep on this same road, preserve those feelings which filled our bosoms when we came into the Church and kingdom of our God, and strip ourselves of every earthly tie for God? We can do this, if we are disposed. We will do it, and I verily believe that we will get the majority of this people at last. Many may turn aside, but that makes no difference. Those who remain faithful will get their reward, while those who turn away will, in a time to come, see where they have missed it.

Let me exhort you to do the works of righteousness and be faithful in the kingdom of God, and cleave together unto Him with full purpose of heart, and work the works of righteousness all your days, and never falter and fall. I know we shall not fall, but the kingdom will increase and grow and spread abroad, and her stakes will be strengthened, and her cords will be lengthened, and the kingdoms of this world will be broken in pieces, and become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. We shall accomplish this work, or our children will. The purposes of the Almighty cannot fail; the kingdom is set up and established, never more to be thrown down.

We are aware that the world is arrayed against us, and has it not been so from the beginning? But what have they been able to accomplish against this people? If they have driven and scattered us, they have scattered the seed still wider, and it will be so again. They do not know who they are fooling with; they are fooling with the Lord. He knows how to set up His kingdom, and if we are submissive in His hands, like clay in the hands of the potter, we shall not again be scattered and peeled. We have heretofore been driven measurably because of our unrighteousness, and of our unworthiness, and God’s inability through that cause to bless us, and because of the wickedness of the wicked. How soon would another persecution have come on us I cannot say, if the people had not turned around and sought the Lord with penitent hearts.

I trust that persecution will be warded off now a few years longer, and that the blessings of the Almighty will be drawn upon the people. I know that He delights to bless His people, but He has to chastise them like a parent has to chastise an unruly child. These chastisements have not hindered the rolling on of His work, for it has rolled on with accelerated power all the time. The people have had to suffer, more or less, but we are in His hands, and if we want to draw down His blessings upon us, we must do our duty, or the chastisements of the Almighty will be upon us again, as in times past, for our good. They will not impede the progress of His work, but it will go forth with still greater accelerated power.

May God bless us and enable us to work the work of righteousness in His sight all the days of our lives, for His Son’s sake. Amen.