Discourse by Elder Joseph F. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle, at St. George, Sunday, April 2, 1877.

During the time I may occupy, I desire to express my feelings with regard to my faith in the Gospel, and the great latter-day work in which we are all more or less engaged, that you as well as my brethren may know how I stand before God and man.

I was born in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but not under the sealing covenant; that principle was revealed to this Church subsequent to my birth. I have been reared in the midst of the people called Latter-day Saints, receiving most of my limited education in their society, and that during my childhood under the guidance of my mother. Since the age of 15 years, I have been engaged more or less in the ministry, and have received instruction through having the counsels and teachings of the servants of God, as you all have; but some, perhaps, have not enjoyed this privilege to so great an extent as others who have been less abroad. In my childhood I learned to believe the Gospel, and in the divine mission and calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the visitation of the angel Moroni, in the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth, and also in the gathering together of the people of the Lord, and many important things connected with this great latter-day work.

On my first mission I began to learn something for myself; I had hitherto believed the testimonies of the servants of God whom I had heard converse and preach, as well as the instructions I received from a most kind and affectionate mother, as also what I could comprehend through reading the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Bible. But in the ministry, where I labored earnestly, I began to comprehend more fully, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what I had read and been taught, and so they became in my mind established facts, of which I was as absolutely certain as I was of my own existence; and from the beginning of my experience as an Elder in the Church until the present, if there has been a moment in my life when I have doubted the divinity and truthfulness of these things, it has escaped my notice, and it is today as much a matter of fact with me, as it is that I live.

I long ago learned to prize the principles of the Gospel, as of far greater importance than all earthly things; they are of more value than this present life, for without the Gospel it is valueless, the grand ob– ject and purpose of life being attainable only through being obedient unto the Gospel.

A saying of the Savior is here forced upon my mind, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Again, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,” but only upon this plan can he be saved.

By the principles of the Gospel, as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, we are privileged to secure unto ourselves the gift of eternal life, which is the greatest gift of God. Without these principles we are as the dumb animal, so far as relates to the knowledge of God, for our fathers were unable to teach us, they knew no more of the ways of God, or the plans of salvation, than the children, notwithstanding their boasted enlightenment and their possession of the holy Scriptures. They were not acquainted with the principles of life, they knew not the law of the Lord, and neither did we until we received and obeyed the Gospel, thereby obtaining heavenly light through the channel of the Priesthood. Before this we were as they were, clinging to dead forms, puzzled to divine the meaning of many things which under the light of inspiration have become plain and easy to be understood. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

It behooves the Latter-day Saints, and all men, to make themselves acquainted with “the only true God, and Jesus whom he hath sent.” But can we through our own wisdom find out God? Can we by our unaided ingenuity and learning fathom his purposes and comprehend his will? We have, I think, witnessed examples enough of such efforts on the part of the intelligent world, to convince us that it is impossible. The ways and wisdom of God are not as the ways and wisdom of man. How then can we know “the only true and living God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent?” for to obtain this knowledge would be to obtain the secret or key to eternal life. It must be through the Holy Ghost, whose office is to reveal the things of the Father to man, and to bear witness in our hearts of Christ, and him crucified and risen from the dead. There is no other way or means of attaining to this knowledge. How shall we obtain the Holy Ghost? The method or manner is clearly marked out. We are told to have faith in God, to believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all who diligently seek him; to repent of our sins, subdue our passions, follies, and improprieties; to be virtuous, honest, and upright in all our dealings one with another, and enter into covenant with God that we will from thenceforth abide in the principles of truth, and observe the commandments which he has given us, then to be baptized for the remission of our sins, by one having authority; and when this ordinance of the Gospel is complied with, we may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands of those clothed with the authority of the Priesthood. Thus the Spirit and power of God—the Comforter, may be in us as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. He will bear record of the Father, testify of Jesus, and “take of the things of the Father and reveal them unto us,” confirming our faith, establishing us in the truth, that we shall be no longer tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine; but shall “know of the doctrine” whether it be of God or of man. This is the course—it is simple, reasonable, and consistent. Who is there with common abilities that can fail to see, or comprehend it? Indeed, in the language of the Scriptures, it is so plain, that “the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.”

Having entered into this covenant, being cleansed from sin, and endowed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, why should we not abide in the truth, continuing steadfast before God and firm in the great work he has established on the earth? We should never cease to serve Him, nor thwart his mercy and goodness towards us; but ever live so that the Holy Spirit may be within us as a living spring, calculated to lead us to perfection in righteousness, virtue, and integrity before God, until we accomplish our earthly mission, performing every duty that may be required at our hands.

In this way I have learned the Gospel which I was first taught to believe, which belief is now superseded by knowledge. For now I know that God lives, and that Jesus Christ was sent into the world to atone for the original sin, and also for the actual transgressions of mankind, inasmuch as they themselves will repent of their sins and humble themselves before Him in their pursuit of the gift and blessing of eternal life. We should not be satisfied with the testimony alone of our brethren. It is well and good, it is indeed encouraging and cheering to the heart to hear the testimonies of the servants of God—to believe that God has raised up men in this dispensation and made them witnesses of Him and his Son Jesus, and who have been shown the mysteries of heavenly things, and commanded to bear record of what they saw and heard; yes, it is a joy to the soul to have men among us who are in– spired by the Holy Spirit and full of the light of truth and of the power of God, bearing their testimony unto us that this is the work of God, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ—the Savior of the world, and that he has spoken to the inhabitants of the earth in the day in which we live, but is this sufficient to satisfy me? No. It will not suffice me to believe that you know the true and living God, etc. I must receive this knowledge for myself as you have received it. Is not the way open to me to comprehend the purposes and the will of God concerning my salvation, as to you? Certainly it is. It is for all, yea, every son and daughter of Adam to learn the will of God, to receive the testimony of the Spirit for him and herself, and not to depend alone upon the testimonies of these good men that God has raised up to fill the positions they occupy. And if we should pin our faith to them, although we might realize consolation and even joy and satisfaction in hearing their testimonies, yet, unless we receive the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the time will undoubtedly come when the winds will blow and the storms beat upon the house we thus may build and it will fall. What a deplorable condition we would then find ourselves in!

Is it not necessary for all to be capable of judging as to whether the testimonies of these men are of God or man? How can we know that what they testify of, is true? How can we know that they bear witness of the Almighty, or that they possess the holy Priesthood authorizing them to minister in the ordinances of the Gospel? I answer, only by and through the inspiration of that Holy Spirit which is given to all who diligently seek and obtain it according to the promise.

Then if we would know the Lord Jesus Christ, and his servants, who are in our midst, and that their testimonies are true, we must enjoy the light of the Spirit of the living God individually. The possession of this heavenly knowledge is absolutely necessary to keep us in the paths of life and truth, for without it we cannot distinguish the voice of the true shepherd, which is spiritually discerned; and although we may be in fellowship with the Church, fully believing the counsels of our brethren to be dictated by wisdom, yet without something more than mere belief or supposition we cannot stand; and furthermore under such circumstances we cannot consistently claim that we have part or lot in the kingdom of God. For as it is written, “An actual knowledge to any person, that the course of life which he pursues is according to the will of God, is essentially necessary to enable him to have that confidence in God without which no person can obtain eternal life.” For unless a person does know that he is walking according to the will of God, it would be an insult to the dignity of the Creator were he to say that he would be a partaker of his glory when he should be done with the things of this life. But when he has this knowledge, and most assuredly knows that he is doing the will of God, his confidence can be equally strong that he will be a partaker of the glory of God. Then let us search after truth—for the light of the Spirit which leadeth into all truth, that we may comprehend the Gospel, be able to sustain the hands of the servants of God in their efforts to build up Zion, and work out our own salvation. Though all the world should be saved but ourselves, we being excluded from the kingdom, what will it profit us? To see our fellow crea– tures enter into salvation and be exalted into the presence of God, and the door closed against us, would indeed be poor consolation or comfort. But if we would enter in, we must do the will of the Father, keep his commandments, possess the gift of the Holy Ghost, enjoy the testimony of Jesus, and become witnesses of the truth for ourselves; we then may build upon a foundation more lasting than the solid rock. That when trials come and temptations surge against us, as they will do, we may stand and endure to the end. For not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom, but he that doeth the will of the Father, etc.; or, as the wise man once said, “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill.” Nevertheless, “he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” I cannot believe for a moment that any of us will attain to the gift of eternal life, unless we shall qualify ourselves through the truth, in the manner God has prescribed, and in that way become worthy of it. We must obtain this light by revelation, we cannot do it by our own wisdom. God will give us knowledge and understanding, he will lead us in the path of truth if we put our whole trust in him and not in man. He then can and will preserve us, and all the powers of the earth combined cannot destroy us, for we are in His hands. Here are our fathers and leaders that have passed through the school of experience; they have seen what the enemies of this kingdom have tried to do, and know full well what they would do if they had it in their power. It has ever been the desire of the wicked to destroy the people of God. They have never slackened their efforts, nor failed to use all the means in their power, nor hesitated to resort to the most cruel, foul and fiendish acts to accomplish their nefarious purpose. This same cruel enmity, although for the time being, to some extent subdued or held in check by the Almighty, still smolders and rankles in their hearts, awaiting a favorable opportunity to burst forth as fiercely as at any time during the life of the Prophet Joseph. This is one of the strongest evidences we can have of the divine mission of President Brigham Young. Because of the inspiration of the Almighty and power of God which has rested upon him and accompanied his administrations, he has been the very center of the target at which all the deadly weapons of the enemy has been aimed ever since the death of the Prophet Joseph. I say this is one of the strongest evidences we can have of this fact, aside from the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which bringeth knowledge. It is unmistakable. The hatred of the wicked always has and always will follow the Priesthood and the Saints. The devil will not lose sight of the power of God vested in man—the Holy Priesthood. He fears it, he hates it, and will never cease to stir up the hearts of the debased and corrupt in anger and malice towards those who hold this power, and to persecute the Saints, until he is bound. He delights in apostasy and in apostates, and uses them for his purpose, but what does he or his emissaries care for their organizations? Do they hate them? Is the world moved with anger or malice against them? No. They become a part of the world, fraternize with the people of the world and lose their distinction or identity, as the people of God notwithstanding their claims and pretentions to being believers in the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the Gospel which he was instrumental in restoring to the earth.

What a host of apostasies there have been since the organization of this Church! There have been Rigdonites, Strangites, Benemites, Wightites, Gladdenites, Cutlerites, Morrisites, Josephites, and the duce knows what ites? But what does the world care about these? Nothing. Why? Because they have forfeited the Priesthood, they have not the power, nor the principles of salvation only in part; they have deserted the cause, have struck hands alike with the infidel and the bigot, and formed an alliance with the maligners and persecutors of the Saints, and therefore they are harmless in the eyes of the world and of their master whom they have blindly listed to serve. While these men who hold the keys of the Priesthood of the Son of God, who have led forth the Saints out of bondage and oppression, such as could not be endured in the States, who have gathered the people from afar, and planted them in happy homes and peaceful dwellings, who have reared cities, towns and villages well organized, well governed and prosperous, and in short wrought miracles in the deserts, and who still counsel and direct the Saints in the paths of life, are held up to the ridicule and contempt of the world. Their peace, good names, honor, possessions and lives are eagerly and persistently sought after, but with less effect, by the bloodthirsty hearts and crimson hands of relentless persecutors as during the lifetime of Joseph Smith the martyr, when the Saints were driven from Ohio, expelled from Missouri, or banished from their homes in Illinois. Such has always been and such is today the spirit of the world towards us. This alone is sufficient evidence to demonstrate the loyalty of this people to the kingdom of God, and their possession of the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. Do you want any stronger proof of this, when you contemplate the sayings of the Scriptures, “If ye were of the world the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John xv, 19.) “And ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake.” (Matt. x, 22. “If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you.” (John xv, 20.) “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” John xvi, 33.) “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.” (Matt. v, 11.) “Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim., 3, 12.) Therefore, “Marvel not my brethren if the world hate you.” (I John iii, 13.) “Yea the time cometh that whoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” (John xvi, 2.) This was the nature of the legacy the Savior left his disciples and followers. Is it strange that we should inherit the same? Certainly not, if we are the disciples and followers of Christ, for the same warfare continues between him and Belial, and will until Satan is bound and righteousness triumphs upon the earth.

It is a consolation therefore to know, that, notwithstanding our many shortcomings, frailties, and imperfections, the Evil one, with the world at his back, considers us of sufficient importance to oppose and persecute us with such bitter hatred as he does. Yes, I say it is encouraging to know, that, as a people we are sufficiently faithful and worthy before the Lord, notwithstanding our opportunities for improvement, to arouse the indignation and hatred of the wicked, and to entitle us to the chastisement of God, through his servants, for our improprieties, for “whomsoever the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” But we should not provoke the displeasure or incur the chastisement of the Almighty—presuming upon his forbearance and mercy by neglecting to perform those duties and responsibilities so justly required of us—but we should be most diligent, putting forth every energy in our power to correct our ways, and thus increase our faith that we may become more worthy of the blessings and protection of God, than hitherto. He is more willing to bestow blessings upon us than we are to use them properly when we obtain them, thus by our unworthiness we may prevent ourselves often from receiving the very blessings we desire, and that he is not only abundantly able, but willing and ready to shower upon us if we were worthy, for he cannot consistently bestow “pearls upon swine.” No blessing or good will be withheld from those who are prepared and worthy to receive and make a wise use of it. The kingdom of God is to be enjoyed by the Saints—those who are righteous, not those who are wicked. If we prove unworthy, Zion will have to be redeemed by our children, who may be more worthy, while we may be kept, like the ancient children of Israel, wandering in the wilderness, enduring hardships, persecution and trials, until we shall have suffered the penalty of neglected, not to say broken and unfulfilled covenants.

May the Lord bless us all that we may prove ourselves faithful and efficient servants unto him, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Oct. 7, 1867.

Never having had the opportunity of speaking to so large a congregation as the present, or at least in so large a house as the one which we are now assembled, I do not know whether I shall be able to adapt my voice so as to make the congregation hear me. I know the object of coming to meeting and preaching is to hear and to be edified and instructed more perfectly in the things pertaining to God and to godliness, and in our duties before the Lord. When I look upon this large tabernacle, which has been erected here in these high regions of our globe, I am forcibly reminded of the sayings of two of the ancient prophets, Isaiah and Micah, both of whom have spoken of an event that was to take place in the latter days. I will quote their sayings, for the language of both is almost identical. “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the tops of the mountains.” I have often wondered when I have read this portion of Scripture, what was meant by the mountain of the house of the Lord being erected, or established, in the tops of the mountains. The mountain of the house of the Lord is something, it seems, that God himself would establish in the mountains. When I entered this Territory in August last, on my return from my last mission, I beheld from the mouth of Parley’s Canyon the top of this building very prominent. It seemed to rear itself up above the surrounding buildings, and it was easily to be seen. It looked very much like an artificial mountain erected here, or like some of those mounds that we see down on the Missouri River, that were made by the ancient inhabitants of our country, only it is much larger and higher than some of them. Whether this is really what the prophet in ancient days meant, it is not for me to say, I only say that the shape of this building reminds me, or suggests to me what was prophesied anciently; but whether or not it is the fulfillment of that prophecy I do not know.

I will take this opportunity to express my gratitude and feelings of thanksgiving to the Almighty, that he has enabled this people to erect unto him so large a building in which they can assemble to worship his great and holy name. The Lord, in ancient days, when he constructed temples and tabernacles, did honor them by his presence. No doubt on some occasions his presence was made more manifest than on others. Oftentimes we read that the power and the glory of God, as manifested in his tabernacles and temples were so conspicuous that the people could behold them with their natural eyes. I do not say that this was the case under all circumstances, and in all houses that were built unto the name of the Lord. Many temples and houses were built on the American continent by the remnant of the House of Israel, to whom this land was given. It is not recorded whether the Lord manifested himself in all these houses or not; but it is recorded that at the temple which was built in the land Bountiful, in the northern part of South America, the Son of God, himself, did show forth his power and his glory to a certain congregation assembled in and around about the temple. Jesus, after his resurrection from the dead, was sent by his Father from the heavens to the American continent, to a congregation of two thousand and five hundred souls, men, women and children, who where assembled together for the purpose of worshipping God the Father in the name of Jesus. Consequently God did respect this temple built on the American continent, as well as the great temple built by Solomon in the days of old. When Solomon had built the temple, he spread forth his hands to the heavens, and prayed to the Father, in the presence of the congregation of Israel that was assembled, and the spirit of the Lord was poured out in such a wonderful manner that the people, through their faith, beheld the power and the glory of God as they were manifested in that temple. By this the people knew that God respected his own house. So it was in the days of Moses. When they journeyed in the wilderness, God commanded the Children of Israel to build a tabernacle. He gave them a pattern thereof. In that tabernacle the Lord showed forth his power among Israel. It became visible not only on the inside, but on the outside the glory of God was made manifest and rested upon it. By this the Children of Israel knew that God was near unto them. They not only believed, but the testimony manifested before their eyes gave them a knowledge that God was in the midst of their camp; although through their wickedness, unbelief, and darkness of mind God withdrew his immediate presence from the midst of the congregation, and Moses only was permitted to see the Lord and talk to him face to face, yet the display of God’s power and glory was so great that the Children of Israel knew that God was near them.

The question may arise, Will there be a time again when the glory of the Lord will be manifestly visible to and his voice heard by his people? I answer, yes. God has promised this in the last days. There is no doubt, as was said yesterday by Brother Kimball, that heavenly messengers hover around the congregation of the Saints here assembled. I have no doubt of this in my own mind, though I have not seen them and you may not have seen them; yet that God who has seen your labors and diligence in building a house to his name, has no doubt sent heavenly messengers to hover around us, to bluff off the powers of darkness, that seek to darken the minds of the people, and to close their hearts against understanding. The time will come when the faith of this people, the pure in heart, will be sufficiently great that when they build a house to the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to enter therein, that the Lord will come and grace it by his presence, as well as by the presence of his angels. That will be the time when the pure in heart, who enter into the house of God, will behold his face. O! what a grand, glorious, happy privilege that will be to the sons and daughters of the Most High, to behold the face of him who created them, the Father of their spirits, who created them before the foundation of the world. How great and glorious a privilege for the sons and daughters of God who are now shut out from his presence! For this cause the people of God are commanded at all times to build a house to his name, that he may reveal those ordinances devised by him for the salvation of the children before the world was laid.

I know there are some people who do not believe God has a face like unto man, or in other words that we are in his image and likeness. There has been a great variety of views among the inhabitants of our globe in regard to the being or beings whom they have worshipped and called God. Some have believed that he was an immaterial being. Some have believed that he had no properties, perfection or qualities in common with any other substance in nature; that he was entirely separated from all material nature. This seems to be the view of the great mass of the Christian world at the present day. Some two hundred millions of the inhabitants of our globe consider that God is something altogether indefinable, incomprehensible, a person, and yet has no parts; consisting of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and yet no part of these persons. That is a horrible idea in my mind. My mind is so constructed that, with all my reading and meditation, I never could conceive of a being of that description, and yet it is incorporated in the articles of the Church of England, also in the Methodist discipline, and is in accordance with the views of almost all the Christian world at the present day. “God consists,” say they in their creeds, “of three persons without body, parts or passions.” I do not wish to dwell upon this long; it is so inconsistent, so very absurd, so contrary to all intelligence, reason and revelation that I am willing to throw it by without contemplating it for any length of time. I merely mention it to call to your mind the inconsistencies of the religious world who profess Christianity. One of these persons, called the Son, without body and without parts, was actually crucified, died and was buried in a tomb, and the third day he rose again, and with his body ascended into heaven, when he did not possess a body. If anybody can believe such nonsense, they are perfectly welcome to it, only keep it away from me. I want nothing to do with it. I never expect to worship such a being here on earth or throughout all the future ages of eternity. I have no reverence whatever for such a being, for I do not believe that such a one ever existed, only in the hallucinations of disordered minds.

Perhaps the strangers who are present, if any there be, may be led to inquire what kind of a being do the Latter-day Saints worship? Let me reply according to my understanding. I believe that God—I mean God the Father is a material personal being; that he has a body and a spirit united together; that his spirit within his body is material; that he is a personage just as much as every man in this congregation is a personage; and let me go still further and say that he is a personage of flesh and of bones. Perhaps that may shock the ideas of some of the outsiders and they may think that to get over their immaterial god, without body or parts, we have gone to the other extreme. Well, whether it is to the other extreme or not, I wish to state to you my views, and I think they correspond with the views of the servants of God.

God is a being, then, who has a tabernacle of flesh and bones in which his spirit dwells; and this flesh, bones and spirit are material. Strangers may be anxious to know something more about this personal being whom we call God the Father. We are told that in the beginning man was created in the image of God, and we are also told that Jesus, the Son of God, was the express image of His Father. The doctrine that man, in his form and shape is in the image of God, may be or may seem something new and strange to those who are not acquainted with the principles in this church. But why should not men resemble God is the question, seeing that we are his offspring? Would you expect that sons and daughters of this world would be like a horse or like the fowls of the air or the fish of the sea? Or would you expect them to resemble their parents, and be in their image and likeness? Do we not see in the animal creation—of which the human species is said to be a part—a likeness between the parent and the offspring, certainly we do. If then this law prevails among all animated beings here on the earth, why should we imagine God to be entirely distinct and different from his own sons and daughters? Why not believe that there is a resemblance between them and him. When we look at our fellow man we behold him erect in the form of God. To be sure there may be many deformities among men and women, produced in many instances, perhaps, by wickedness, disease and by accident; but in the general outline there is resemblance among all the human species, and there should be in as much as their Father and God is indeed their Father, as any in this congregation are the literal fathers of their children. We, who compose this congregation, are all one family, and only a very small portion of the family of our Father and God. But when did he beget us? I answer before this world was made; not our flesh and bones, but that being called man that was created in the image and likeness of God and who dwells in his mortal tabernacle. That being is the offspring of God; we were all begotten by him before this world was made. We then dwelt in his presence and could behold his face as sons and fathers here on earth can behold each other. We then partook, in a measure, of his glory, and were acquainted with the glory and power of his kingdom. We were present with him in the grand and magnificent work of creation, and we saw and rejoiced in his handiwork. We sang praises in the presence of our Father and God; before we had tabernacles of flesh and bones. We then assembled ourselves together as we do here on the earth; we then accompanied our Father and God and his Son Jesus Christ, on the grand and glorious mission of the formation of the world we now inhabit. Did we know anything about the object for which this world was created? Yes, we knew that it was created expressly for us, and we sang and rejoiced over it as much as the people of God now rejoice, when they erect a temple or tabernacle to his name. When you erect a tabernacle to the Most High, you expect to enter at times, and be feasted with the words of eternal life, and to partake of the blessings of God. So it was in regard to the creation of this world. We were there and I think all this generation among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people were present on that occasion. Shall I limit it to this generation? No; I believe all the sons and daughters of God who had proved themselves faithful were assembled on that occasion. I do not include in this number the one-third part of the family that fell, but the two-thirds who kept the law of their first estate who were really and truly accounted the sons and daughters of God, the thousands and millions who inhabit this globe besides the generations of the past and all future generations. Think of this and try to conceive in your heart the magnitude of the great army of the sons and daughters of God assembled at the time the foundations of this world were laid.

The Lord put a very curious question to the old patriarch, Job, on a certain occasion. Job had been praising up the works of God, and so far as his narrow mind would permit him, he tried to magnify the greatness of his power; but, by putting a few questions to Job the Lord showed to him that his wisdom and knowledge were but foolishness in the sight of his creator. Said the Lord,”Where were you, Job, when I laid the foundation of the earth, and the cornerstones thereof? Where were you, Job, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” I do not know that Job understood the pre-existence of man, it might not have been revealed to him; at any rate he left the Lord to answer the question on the subject, knowing that he would give information on the matter that he, Job, could not give. If Job had been a sectarian, how easily he could have answered this question! “Why, Lord,” Job could have said, “I did not exist then, and why do you ask me such a question?” But Job very well understood that there must be something in the pre-existence of man, or the Lord would never have put such a question to him. The very question itself implied the pre-existence of Job at the time the foundations of the earth were laid, and it also implied a knowledge on the part of all the sons of God of the objects of the creations of this world; for if they had had no such knowledge, why should they have joined together in singing the songs of heaven on account of it? Well, then, we have come to the point, namely, that we did exist in the image and likeness of God before the foundations of the world were laid, and this is what is meant when the Lord says to his only begotten Son on the sixth day of creation, “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness, and give him dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowls of the air, the beasts of the earth, and over all the earth to subdue it,” and so forth. So God created man, male and female. He did not tell us all the particulars of the creation—that we were born male and female in the spirit world, and so on, but yet there are many sayings which indicate that such was the fact. For instance, in the books of Moses and in the books of the New Testament we read that God is the Father of all our spirits, that we were begotten sons and daughters unto God. The vision given in 1832 to our Prophet, Joseph Smith, shows this matter more clearly. Besides showing the vast number of worlds that the Lord had created, the voice of the Lord, in that vision, declares that all the inhabitants of all those worlds were begotten sons and daughters unto God. The Book of “Mormon” bears testimony to the same great doctrine. You who are familiar with that book will recollect reading in the book of Ether how that the brother of Jared fell to the earth with fear when he saw the finger of the Lord, after the veil fell from his natural eyes. And the Lord spoke to him, saying, “Why hast thou fallen?” Then the brother of Jared answered, “I saw the finger of the Lord, and I knew not that the Lord had flesh and bones.” It did resemble flesh and bone, but he, doubtless, thought it was so in reality, whereas it was the body of his Spirit. Then said the Lord, “I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people; I am Jesus Christ; I am the Father and the Son, and the body which thou now beholdest is the body of my spirit. Seest thou not that thou art created after the body of my spirit, and all men,” says Jesus to the brother of Jared, “have I created in the beginning after the image of the body of my spirit.” This, I believe, is the only passage in the Book of “Mormon” that directly teaches the pre-existence of man.

Well, that body—the body of the Lord—that the brother of Jared saw, was a personal body. It had fingers, a face, eyes, arms, hands, and all the various parts which the human body has, so much so that he thought, it was really flesh and bones, until he was corrected and found that it was the spirit of Jesus, that same spirit, says Jesus, which, in the meridian of time, should come and take a body, and die for the sins of the world. These beings, who, in the beginning, were created after the image of the spirit of Jesus, had a probation; they had law; they had intelligence. It was called their first estate. They were agents there just as much as you and I are here. They could obey the law that was given to them, or they could disobey that law. I have already alluded to a third part of the great family, who did not keep their first estate. What became of them? They were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels. Jude says they were reserved in chains of darkness, until the judgment at the great day. That was their doom; their transgressions were so great—sinning against God the Father, whom they could behold, and against the person of his Son, whom they could also see—disobeying the most sacred of all laws—seeking to dethrone the Almighty, and to take the power from that Being who had begotten them, into their own hands. For this they were thrust down, and were called Perdition, and the heavens wept over them. I do not know how faithful the remainder of the spirits were; that is not for me to say. I do not know whether they transgressed any of the laws of God, or not in their first estate. If they did, one thing I do know, and that is, that they understand about Jesus and his atonement; for he was as a Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, and inasmuch as he suffered in spirit as well as in body, I do not know but his sufferings in spirit would redeem them in their first estate as well as us who sin here in the body. I do not pretend to say that such was the case. Suffice to say, that the plan of redemption was known by them, and suffice it to say again, that they were faithful enough to retain their position in their first estate, and to have the privilege of coming forth in this world, and taking upon themselves tabernacles, or bodies, and having a second estate. We also read that all who come into this world were innocent. That shows that they never had sinned, or if they had, that they had been forgiven and made innocent. Which way it was I do not know. If they had sinned and were all made innocent through the blood of the atonement, and through the sufferings of Jesus in the spirit, as well as in the flesh, that would prepare them to come into this world without having any stain upon them. But if they never transgressed the law, never went beyond its bounds, or limits, they would be sanctified, purified, perfected, saved and be innocent by keeping the law. But let us come down a little further. When we came forth into this world, and took upon ourselves bodies of flesh, they were fallen bodies—subject to pain, sickness, sorrow, mourning, trials, and finally death, or dissolution. This death that came upon the bodies of the children of men, was brought to pass by the transgression of one man and woman, that is, by our first parents; as it is written, “By the transgression of one sin entered the world, and death by sin.” It matters not whether it is the little infant that dandles on the knee that has never sinned, or the youth, the middle-aged or the old, all have to feel this great penalty that has been inflicted upon all the posterity of Adam by reason of his transgression.

Now, there is a question that has often been asked of me by the Latter-day Saints, and by those outside of this Church—“Why is it that infants, who have never sinned, should die? Why should they be subject to death because their father some six thousand years ago sinned and transgressed?” I answer this by asking you a question, Why is it that children, oftentimes to the third, fourth and fifth generation, suffer from lingering diseases here in this life, because their forefathers were licentious, and broke the laws of life and happiness? Why, it is hereditary, is it not? Is it just that they should suffer, because their parents or some of their progenitors have sinned? No, it is hereditary. Why, then, may not all the inhabitants of the world, whether in their infancy or not, inherit death as well as these children who suffer through diseases entailed upon them by their forefathers? Not as a matter of justice particularly, but something that comes upon them in consequence of the fall of man. It is handed down among them. Now, that would be a very unpleasant condition if they were always to remain in that state. They are plunged into slavery, as it were, by one man; hence the Redeemer steps forth and rescues them from that slavery. When I say rescues them, I do not say that he does it at once, before they have had a chance to know the difference between good and evil, between the bitter and the sweet, to contrast between happiness and misery. It is wisdom that they should suffer, even should it be from hereditary disease, that they may gain experience. But I will tell you what he rescues them from, by his atoning blood. He breaks the bands of death and rescues them from the power of the grave, which, but for that, would have held the infant as well as the middle-aged in their power eternally. There is such a thing as a father, through his foolishness, plunging not only himself but all his children into a slavery from which he cannot redeem himself or them, so far as their bodies are concerned; but with Adam’s children this was the case with both their bodies and spirits, for the Book of “Mormon” says that all mankind, through Adam’s transgression, became subject not only to a temporal death—the separation of the body and spirit, but also to a spiritual death, eternal in its nature. If there were no atonement—no sufferings and death of our Redeemer—no infinite atonement to rescue men from the grave, their spirits, in consequence of the slavery entailed upon them by their first parents, could not have been rescued from eternal death. Could they have delivered themselves? No. They were in captivity—slavery—and their master, the devil, was there to bind them in that slavery. Could they turn the key of the prison doors and run back again? No! Could they say to the grave, Yield up my body and let me go again into the presence of my Father and God? No; there were potent enemies who had endless power over them had it not been for the atonement.

We are taught in the revelations of God that Jesus suffered the pain of all men. You will find it in the teachings of Jacob, the brother of Nephi, in the Second Book of Nephi. “He suffered the pains of all men, women and children,” says Jacob. What was this great suffering for? That the resurrection might come unto all men, women and children; that Jesus might have power to say to the grave “restore those captives you have taken, behold I have redeemed all whose bodies slumber in the grave. I have power to bring them forth by virtue of the atonement I have made.”

Could man have redeemed himself? Could one man have shed his blood for another, and said to the grave give up your dead? No. Why not? Because all were fallen; all were under the dominion and power of Satan. All were spiritually dead—dead to things pertaining to righteousness. It was universal, eternal death. A being greater than man was required to redeem him, hence Jacob says, in the passage to which I have already referred, in relation to the atonement, “that it must be infinite.” Wherein was the Son of God infinite? In the first place, he was begotten different from you and me. We were begotten by a mortal father, but Jesus was begotten by an Immortal Being, his Father and God. If then his body was begotten by that Being, do you not see that his body in that respect differed from ours? It is true that he inherited the same as we do so far as his mother was concerned, but on the part of the Father he was superior. Hence, being begotten by an Infinite Being, he could do that which no other man could do—redeem from spiritual death and the captivity of Satan. Hence it is said that “through Jesus came life and light into the world.” If it had not been for Jesus, darkness would have reigned eternally over this creation.

Talk about works of righteousness redeeming us without the atonement! Why the thing is preposterous in the highest degree. Why? Because we were spiritually dead, and can a person who is dead work righteousness? Can a person who is dead to everything good, holy, upright and Godlike, who is in captivity to Satan, work righteousness? Could a feast of salvation be prepared for him in that dead state, unless there was some redemption or atonement made to bring life to the world to impart to the human family? Light and life have come upon all men. Jesus is that light and life; He is the light and life of all things; and by reason of that light and life which he has purchased for us by his own blood, you and I have the privilege of working righteousness, which we never would have had without the atonement. We could not have done anything acceptable in the sight of God, without his atoning blood. That is the very foundation of the redemption of the children of men; without it, this would have been a lost and fallen creation, and not one could have been saved.

But let us pass on a little further. You recollect in the former part of my remarks, I was speaking about the personality of God. Now let us come along to the plan of redemption, and see how it is that we are exalted and brought back into the presence of God, and become as it were, gods, then we can form some idea concerning our Father and God. We are instructed, and we believe, that all of us who believe in Jesus Christ, in his sufferings and death, and receive the benefit of his atonement, will, if we remain faithful, be exalted into the presence of that being who is our Father, and that we will be made like unto him, and be crowned with glory, and shall have the privilege of sitting down with the Son upon his throne, as he has overcome, and has sat down with his Father upon his throne, and that we will become one with him, as he is one with the Father. We believe we will be perfected, purified and cleansed in him, and made not only the sons of God, but grow up unto him in all things, that we may become Gods like unto our Father who begat us.

This is consistent with analogy. Analogy shows that sons here upon the earth, grow up and become like their parents. Why then should we set a barrier between the sons of God, who are redeemed through the atonement, and their restoration to the mansions where they formerly dwelt? Why should we erect obstacles, and set a barrier so that we cannot become like him? Analogy would say at once that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Analogy would say that when he shall redeem our bodies from the grave, that he will fashion them after his own glorious body, and clothe them with power and glory, even as He is clothed with glory and power, in the presence of his Father and our Father and God.

But says one, if you adopt that sentiment, then your people believe in a plurality of gods, and we have all been taught in the Christian world that there is but one personal God, or rather three persons in the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Well, these three are called one, are they not? Yes, they are called one. Jesus prays that all his disciples may be made one, as he and the Father are one. If ever that prayer is answered, then, in one sense of the word, there would only be one God, but, in another sense of the word, there would not only be three, but a great many personal beings called gods. Let us for a few moments refer to that glorious saying in the revelations of St. John. In the visions of eternity that were shown to John, he beheld things that were to take place in future generations. Among other things that were shown to him, were the one hundred and forty-four thousand, standing on Mount Zion, who had been redeemed from among men. Who were they? Let us look at the inscription that John says was written on their foreheads. That will tell us that the name of their Father was written there. What was his name? God, translated into the English language. Ahman in the pure language. The Father’s name John saw inscribed on the foreheads of the hundred and forty-four thousand who were singing the new song before the Lord. What would you think if you were to have the future opened to you as John had, and could see these men with the word God, inscribed in bright and shining characters upon each of their foreheads? Would you think that God was making fun of them by putting such an inscription there? Would you suppose the inscription was a mere form without any meaning? No: every man permitted to see these things would at once say, “they are gods having been redeemed, and made like their Father.” This is what we believe. Then, when we come to personality, we not only believe in our personal Father, in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost, as personages, but we also believe that in the eternity of eternities, in the heaven of heavens there will be innumerable millions of persons who will occupy that exalted station—each one being a personal god, as much so as the God of this creation—the Father of our spirits is.

If time permitted, we might bring up the revelations of heaven, given in these days as well as anciently, in regard to the representations which God has given of Himself, not only representing himself by his person, but also by his attributes. But this is a subject upon which we do not feel to dwell at this time. Suffice it to say, that God has said that he is light and truth; that he is a spirit: that he dwells in tabernacles and temples, and so forth. I do not know, but that in my teachings in years past, where teaching upon these two distinct subjects, I may have left an impression upon the minds of the people that I never intended to convey in reference to the qualities, perfections, glories and attributes of these personages, for attributes always do pertain to substances, you cannot separate one from the other. Attribute cannot exist without substance; everywhere it shows its bearing and relation to substance and person, and if in any of my preaching or teachings I have ever conveyed the impression that attributes could exist separate and apart from substances I never intended to do so. I do not know that I have ever declared any such in my writings. I have said that God is love, and that he is truth because the revelations say so. I have said that he oftentimes represents himself by his attributes. The same as when he says I am in you; but he does not mean that his person, his flesh and bones are in us. When Jesus says I am in the Father, he does not mean that his person is in the Father. What does he mean? He means that the same attributes that dwell in his own person also dwell in the person of the other. I think I have heard this doctrine taught from the commencement, by the authorities of this Church, and I think it is taught, more or less, now, almost every Sabbath day. We are exhorted to develop and perfect those attributes of God that dwell within us in embryo, that we may more and more approximate to that high state of perfection that exists in the Father and the Son.

Attributes belong, in all cases, in this and all other worlds, to personages and substances, and without personages and substances, they cannot exist.

In the “Kingdom of God,” published in October, 1848, I have set forth the personality of the Father and the Son, and the glorious attributes that pertain to each. And again in many of my writings, to which I might refer, and could perhaps give the page, I have taught the same thing, and my views today concerning this matter are just the same as they were then, and then the same as they are now; only I think, by searching more fully, I have progressed and obtained some further light and information more than I had twenty or twenty-five years ago. I do not know, that, in my remarks this morning, concerning the atonement, and the personalities and glorious attributes of God, I have varied in my views from those of the rest of the authorities of the Church. If I have I hope they will correct me and tell me wherein I am wrong, for it is my desire, and ever has been, to go in accordance with the revelations of heaven, to abide in the word of God, and to have that word abide in me.

We are taught that the words of truth have power. The word of God we are commanded to live by. In one of the revelations we are taught and commanded that we shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, for says the revelation “the word of God is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is spirit, even the spirit of Jesus Christ, and the spirit gives light to every man that comes into the world, and the spirit directs every man through the world who will hearken to it; and he that hearkens to the voice of the spirit comes to God, even the Father, and he teaches him of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.”

Now, I want to abide in that. If the word of the Lord is truth, and whatever is truth is light, and whatever is light is spirit, I want to embrace it, and hold fast to it. Again, he says, when giving a revelation to the servants of God: “That which you hear is the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit, and my Spirit is truth, and truth abides forever and has no end.” I desire to abide in it forever and ever. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Bowery, Salt Lake City, July 21, 1867.

It has been very interesting to me, and no doubt it has to all who have been present, to listen to the remarks of our brethren this morning, in relation to the principles of the Gospel as taught by us, and their experience in this work. While Brother Lawrence was speaking in relation to our position in Nauvoo, my mind reverted to the time when we left there, and to the reluctance displayed by many of our people to cross the river and take their journey westward. It required a great amount of faith on the part of the people, to venture into an unexplored and desert country to attempt again to build up homes, and to perform the labors enjoined upon us by God, our Heavenly Father. There was a cry of exultation went up throughout all that country when we were broken up, and the hope was indulged in by all who were inimical to us, that the solution of the Mormon problem had been arrived at, and that the subject of Mormonism might henceforth be dismissed from every mind. We had gone forth into the wilderness, and it was not at all likely that we would ever trouble civilization again. It was naturally supposed, by those who knew but little of us, that we must be quite as bad as we had been represented to be; and if we were, of course we had nobody to steal from in the wilderness but ourselves; nobody to aggress and prey upon but ourselves, and these being our characteristics, as they believed, they very naturally came to the conclusion that we would quarrel one with another, and the result would be our extermination through our own quarrels, or that we should fall an easy prey to the Indians. How these anticipations have been realized, the lapse of twenty-one years has proved. For a number of years after leaving Nauvoo we were not deemed particularly worthy of notice. Men’s minds were attracted in other directions, and our operations here, being so far removed from all communication with them, were almost overlooked. But time has wrought great changes, not only with us and in our position, but also in the position and feelings of the world by which we are surrounded. Instead of being regarded as a people scarcely worthy of notice, we now, through the blessings of our Heavenly Father, inhabit a large Territory, and if we are alluded to at all by the world, it is in a national capacity. Have these changes been accidental and unlooked for? Did no one anticipate such results as we now behold being wrought out? Or were they anticipated years and years ago by those most familiar with the genius and organization of the kingdom of God? Those who are not familiar with our early history have but to read the utterances of those who were engaged in the founding of this work, to become convinced that they were anticipated long ago by those who contemplated the future growth and development of the kingdom of God. There is no feature connected with our circumstances today that has not been familiar for years to the minds of those who have contemplated the future of this work. When the church was organized, and a small house would hold all its members, predictions were indulged in that the circumstances of today but partially fulfil, and years will yet have to elapse before they are completely fulfilled. Our Heavenly Father poured out his spirit upon his servants in the beginning, which enabled them to comprehend the work he had established on the earth, and through the spirit of prophecy and revelation they could plainly see the great results which would be wrought out through the faithfulness of the people of God. Can we now see the limit of this work? Is the horizon of our vision bounded by those things actually transpiring around us, or do we still stretch forward to a future, for this people, too glorious for description? I do not suppose there is one here who has ever thought on this great subject and attempted to grasp the circumstances by which we are surrounded, that has not stretched forward in delightful anticipation of the glorious future that awaits the people of God, if they are only faithful to the truth that he has committed unto them. Would to God that all the inhabitants of the earth could see and comprehend these things! Would to God that they would divest themselves of their prejudices and preconceived ideas, and that they would calmly look truth in the face and reflect upon the work that God, our Heavenly Father, is performing in the midst of the nations of the earth! If they would do this, they might avoid a great many difficulties into which they will otherwise be inevitably involved. It is no more, nor no less, true today, than it was thirty-seven years ago, that God has stretched forth his hand to accomplish a great and a mighty work, that shall stand forever, and shall not be given into the hands of another people; but it will go on increasing and spreading abroad, until it has accomplished that for which it was destined by our Almighty Father. I say it is as true now as it was then, and no more true today than then, and they who paid heed to it then have never had cause to regret doing so; and they who give heed to it today will never have cause to regret it in the future. To us who are familiar with this work, and understand the operations of the spirit, and can see the design of God, our Heavenly Father, it seems strange that mankind should be so indifferent to so great a work as this in which we are engaged. Yet it is so. You would imagine that men going forth with the proclamation that the elders bear would receive everywhere that attention that the importance of their proclamation demands, at least until men were satisfied in their own minds of the truth or falsity of the message they bear. But this is not the case. No man ever calmly sat down with a prayerful heart to ex– amine the claims of this work, popularly termed Mormonism, who did not rise from the investigation convinced that there was a power, an influence and a spirit accompanying this work, that he had never met with before. Are they who investigate the ones who fight against this work, and persecute and slay the servants of God? No; they who do this are the ignorant, who have never investigated, or, having investigated and embraced it, have afterwards apostatized, and have thus become two-fold more the children of hell, through rejecting the truth. God our Heavenly Father has commenced a great and mighty work, and has given the strongest kind of evidence in favor of it, if the inhabitants of the earth would only receive it; but their condemnation will consist in their rejection of this work and the evidence of its truth which is spread before them. The whole history of this people, from the commencement until the present time, affords abundant evidence of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. When our elders go forth into the world men cry aloud for miracles, for some supernatural manifestation of power, that will convince them that we are the people we profess to be Jesus said, “A wicked and an adulterous generation seek a sign, but no sign shall be given them save the sign of the prophet Jonah.” But God, our Heavenly Father, has nevertheless left his handwriting, as it were, to be seen by all the nations of the earth on the work that he has established. Divinity is marked in every feature of this great work; in every step of its progress, from its commencement until the present time, we see divinity exhibited, and the power of God manifested in its preservation, growth and development. What is it that brings this people from the nations of the earth, binds them together, and makes a unity of the people of the various nationalities here assembled together? Is it the power of man? Is it delusion? Or, is it a manifestation of the restoration of that power bestowed upon men in ancient days, and which has been so long withdrawn from the earth? Why is it that we love one another? Is it as the Apostle John said, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren?” We love one another because we have bowed in obedience to the truth which God has revealed, and through the reception of the Holy Spirit of promise we have the love of God in our hearts. If mankind loved the truth and would examine these things, they would see something desirable about this work, and they would be prompted to investigate. But the difficulty now is, as it has been in every age when God has attempted to establish his work upon the earth—men in general are blinded by the traditions of their fathers. This, and the love of ease, and popularity, and other worldly objects that surround them, prevent men from seeing the work of God in its true light, and blinds them to their highest interests. They cannot see how they are going to receive any benefit from this work. That which is material is right before them, and they can understand the material advantages accruing to them through not obeying this work; but the advantages and blessings that would result from obedience are hidden from their sight, being discernible only by the light of the Spirit of God. Yet there is this peculiar feature about the work of God today, more especially than at any other time since the days of Enoch, that they who embrace it not only receive the Spirit of God, with its gifts, but they also receive blessings of a temporal nature, which they would never receive outside of it. Those who have joined the Church, as a mass, have been benefited temporally, though at the time of rendering obedience, they probably could not see how advantages of this nature could result. They could see that their names would be cast out as evil, that they would be hated of all men, persecuted and probably driven from place to place, but how they would be blessed temporally they could not see. But God, our Heavenly Father, has held in reserve until these days great and glorious blessings for his people, who are faithful to the truth. He has reserved for his Saints the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens. Not something beyond the bounds of time and space, not something that we will inherit in eternity alone; but he has also temporal advantages to bestow upon his people here. A great many people imagine that we hold these out as inducements to get people to join the Church; but they who join the Church for the love of these things, and with a desire to obtain them, are invariably disappointed. If people join the Church of God with any other motive than to embrace the truth and to be associated with the people of God, and to receive the spirit of the Gospel, they are invariably disappointed; but when they come in for the love of the truth, willing to take upon them the cross of Christ, and endure all the persecutions incident to the life of a Saint, submit, to the contumely and privation that in the providence of God they may be called to endure, God thus tests their faith, and if they continue faithful he will bestow upon them every blessing promised to the most faithful.

The work in which we are engaged differs in some respects from the work in which the Apostles were engaged in the days of Jesus Christ. Many things operated against them that we have not to contend with. They had to scatter out and preach the Gospel in various places; they could not gather together with the same facility that we can. But God, our Heavenly Father, reserved this—the land of promise—for the especial purpose of building up his kingdom in the latter days. As the “Book of Mormon” informs us, it has been hid from the eyes of the generations of men for this purpose. If it had not been thus hidden the nations of the earth would have overrun the land until there would have been no foothold found for the establishment of the kingdom of God upon it. But the Lord concealed it, from the days of the flood, from the eyes of men, excepting those whom he led hither; as we are informed by the “Book of Mormon” that no nation after the flood, knew anything about this land; although I believe it is said in the Norwegian Antiquarian researches, that this land was visited by the Icelanders in the eleventh century. But there is nothing authentic in this. But be that as it may, this land was kept secret until Columbus was moved upon by the Spirit of God, to go forth and penetrate the western ocean. Then the land was settled and a government was formed under the protecting aegis of liberty, and a place was found for the establishment of the kingdom of God, to which the Saints from every nation under Heaven could gather together. Hence we are surrounded by many more favorable circumstances than they who preceded us in the work of God in the days of Jesus and the Apostles. They did not possess the advantages that we enjoy; but we have them, and our Heavenly Father intends that we shall possess them, and that we shall build up his kingdom on the earth, establish righteousness and bring about that improvement alluded to by brother Jesse N. Smith, in his remarks. Our circumstances, then, being different, we can indulge in anticipations no other people have ever been able to indulge in, unless it be the people of Enoch and the Nephites, to whom Jesus appeared on this Continent.

Those who investigate the Gospel with a desire to keep the commandments of God, as I have remarked, rise from its investigation with convictions of its truth, for an honest man cannot go to the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ, and ask Him respecting this Gospel without receiving a knowledge for himself that it is true. In my preaching to the world, I have many times dared them to this test, that if they would go in honesty before the Lord and ask Him in the name of Jesus Christ to show to them the truth of this Gospel, I would pledge myself that the Lord would show them and they would become convinced that the principles we taught were indeed the principles of life and salvation. No person ever investigated this Gospel with that spirit without being convinced of its truth, because our Heavenly Father bestows upon everyone who embraces it with the right spirit a knowledge of the truth. What a glorious privilege it is to have this knowledge bestowed upon us. This testimony emboldens us to declare to the inhabitants of the earth, no matter to what nation we may be sent, that if they will embrace the truth, as it is taught by the Elders of this Church, they shall know for themselves that this is the work of God. This testimony it is the privilege of all to possess. It is this that binds us together, and gives the Priesthood influence over the Saints of God. My brethren and sisters, it is only by faithfulness that we can retain this knowledge. A man may be an Apostle and may have had the administration of holy angels, and the heavens opened to his view, and behold the things of eternity, but if he is not faithful himself, pursuing a right and proper course before God, he cannot retain his standing in this Church and keep that knowledge God has given him undimmed by error; but errors will creep into his heart and false spirits take possession of him, and sooner or later he will become alienated from the work of God. We should everyone be careful on these points. This is the work of God, and there is a well-established principle upon which we can remain connected with it, and that is by being true and faithful to the principles which God our Heavenly Father has revealed. We cannot grieve the Spirit of God with impunity; we cannot indulge in frivolity nor in anything that is wrong without driving that spirit from us with its holy and sweet influence. We should seek, therefore, as individuals, whether Apostles, High Priests, Seventies, High Councilors, Elders, Priests, Teachers, Deacons or members of the Church, to have the spirit of our holy religion continually resting upon us. How can we retain this? Can we retain it by being negligent and indifferent to its claims? Do men gather earthly riches around them by being negligent? We all know that, as a rule, the man who is the most diligent in business is he who gains the greatest amount of profit for his labor; we are proving this every day in earthly business, and if necessary in earthly business, it is equally so in the things of the kingdom of God. The men and women who most diligently keep the commandments of God, offer up prayers in sincerity, not with their lips, but with their hearts, making it a rule to live near the Lord, are they who retain the light of the Holy Spirit; and they are they who, when persecution or affliction comes, feel that God is near to them; and that when they pray He is not afar off, but He hears their prayers and pours consolation, peace, and every good gift upon them, and they can rejoice from morning to night among the changing vicissitudes to which we are exposed in this mortal life. My brethren and sisters, we are commanded not to give the whole of our attention to the accumulation of earthly things; we are commanded also to lay up treasures in heaven. We are required to build up Zion on the earth; then let us take a course that will ensure to us the blessing and favor of God our Heavenly Father, that our prayers and thanksgiving may be acceptable before Him. We should do this, especially when we reflect upon the nature of the work in which we are engaged, and the nature of the opposition with which we have to contend. We have the whole world to contend with to a certain extent, or rather, we have to defend ourselves against the whole world; they are combating us. There are probably thousands of honest men and women in the world who manifest no disposition to persecute or oppose us; but this is not the case with the majority. There is a spirit of opposition to this work gone abroad in the world; and, as in the beginning, we had a township to meet and contend with, afterwards a county and counties, then a State, and ultimately we had a nation, so to speak, in arms against us; so in the future we will have the whole world to contend with. Not only this nation, but every nation on the face of the earth will manifest greater or less opposition to us as a people, and we will have a thousand things to contend with. Why? Because Satan has influence over the hearts of the children of men; he has power with them, and so long as there is a foot of this earth upon which he can maintain foothold, so long may we expect warfare, and find difficulties to contend with, and it will only be by the power of God manifested in our behalf that we will overcome. This warfare will not be a contest with cannons, rifles, or earthly weapons of war, so much as a moral warfare. We are engaged in a great moral warfare; it is by the exercise of moral force that we are going to achieve the victories that God our heavenly Father has promised us. We may be threatened, as we have been, with weapons of war, and it will doubtless be necessary, so long as we have an existence on the earth, to be prepared for every contingency. This will no doubt be necessary, but the day is probably far distant when we will have to shoulder weapons and engage in actual warfare. I look for a moral contest, a moral triumph, and moral victories, gained by the force of truth, and the exercise of those Godlike qualities with which we have been endowed by our heavenly Father. And when the great victory is achieved, there will be no blood to mourn over, no sorrow to be indulged in, and nothing to prevent us from building the Temples of God, as was the case with David, because he was a man of blood. I anticipate that we will be free from this, and that we, like Solomon, can go forward and build the Temples of God according to His commandments. While brother Henry W. Lawrence was talking about the Temple in Nauvoo, I felt to echo the sentiment I have heard expressed by President Young respecting that Temple. I am glad it is destroyed; I am glad that it was burned and purified by fire from the pollution our enemies inflicted upon it, and I am glad there is nothing of it left; and I would prefer that this Temple in course of erection here, should never be completed, and that we should never build another, than to see those holy places built by God’s commands, pass into the hands of our enemies and be defiled by them.

May God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and enable us to be faithful and true in keeping His commandments, is my prayer for Christ’s sake. Amen.