Discourse 1880-12-12
Sunday Afternoon, December
12th, 1880.
REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE.
WHEN we hear a young man get up
in our midst—twenty-six years of
age—and say that he was born and
reared in this city, it conveys to our
minds in a limited measure some-
thing of the length of time we have
dwelt here, something of the age of
our city. In fact, when I contem-
plate our position in these moun-
tains, when I look back to the 24th
of July, 1847, when we as pioneers
came into this barren desert, the
time appears very short to me. We
had never lived anywhere until we
came into these mountains but a
very short time in a place; in fact,
quarter of the time that our brother
has lived here in this city since his
birth would limit us in our existence
in any city or town almost wherever
we have lived.
It is interesting to me as an indi-
vidual to listen to the testimonies of
our young elders who have been
born and reared in the land of Zion,
who never saw Babylon, nor the
world, until they were sent abroad
upon their missions. It is interest-
ing to me to reflect upon our position
and condition as a people here in the
mountains of Israel, in fulfilment
of the words of the Lord.
There has been a great deal said
by our enemies since the organiza-
tion of this church concerning Joseph
Smith; concerning the Book of Mor-
mon having been written by Spauld-
ing as a novel; and of this work be-
ing a deception. Yet, after all, it is
rather a wonder to the world that
an illiterate boy like Joseph Smith,
if he was not taught by the God of
Israel and by the spirit of revelation,
could possess the power to bring
forth such principles as are recorded
in the Book of Mormon and in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
and to organize a system of govern-
ment, a system of religion, a system
of the church upon the face of the
earth, that was far beyond all the
combined power of the whole Chris-
tian world. You may take all the
learned men of the earth, all the
doctors of divinity, with all the
knowledge that they possess, put
them all together, and they had not
the power to organize such a church
as has been organized by Joseph
Smith.
This should be some evidence, a
little evidence at least, to the world,
and to the unbeliever, that there is
something connected with Mormon-
ism that they do not comprehend
and understand. Let any man take
the Book of Mormon and read it
through from beginning to end—read
that history, read what the prophets
say upon the principle of faith, hope
and charity, the administrations of
Jesus Christ upon this land, the or-
ganization of the Church, and the
miracles wrought here upon the land
of America—and let them ask them-
selves if they suppose that Solomon
Spaulding could sit down in a corner
and write a novel covering these
principles? No; they know better.
Any reflecting mind on earth knows
very well that the Book of Mormon
never originated from a source of
that kind, any more than they can
accuse the Bible of having been
brought forth by the same cause. If
one originated from God, the other
did.
Again. Let any man read the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants; let
him read the revelations therein
given, and he will find the strongest
language, the most sublime language,
that God every revealed to man. There
is no language I ever read in any
record given to the human family,
that will compare with the sublimity
and power of these revelations given
through that boy, Joseph Smith.
Read the revelation called the "Olive
Leaf;" [Doctrine and Covenants 88] read any of the revelations
given in the early days of the pro-
phet, and you will find them full of
the power of God, full of eternal
principles. Read the prayer of Jo-
seph Smith in Liberty Jail, and the
answer of the Lord unto him; take
the very least of any of the revela-
tions recorded in that book, and see
if any man could go to work and get
up anything of the kind. Do they
sound anything like the compositions
of a man trying to write a novel?
No; they are the word of the Lord,
and the Spirit of God bears record of
the truths it contains.
We have every cause as the Saints
of the living God to exercise faith in
the revelations of heaven, and in the
fulfilment of his promises unto us
as Latter-day Saints. In fact, as
the Apostle James has said, "Faith,
if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone. Yea, a man may say, I have
faith, but do not believe in works:
shew me thy faith without thy
works, and I will shew thee my faith
by my works." [James 2:17–18] The Saints of God
—and I believe myself all Gods and
all intelligent beings from eternity
to eternity—have all had to exercise
this principle of faith. "Faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen." [Hebrews 11:1] By
faith we understand the worlds were
made. God spake, chaos heard, and
the world came into order. I believe
that our Heavenly Father, and all
intelligent beings in the heavens
have to exercise faith in their labors
the same as the inhabitants of the
earth. I believe it is an eternal
principle, that has existed from eter-
nity to eternity, and will exist for-
ever, not only on the earth with
mortal beings, but in the eternal
world of immortal beings. In the
Bible we have many examples of
what the ancient apostles and pro-
phets performed by faith. Noah,
being warned of God, went to work
and built an ark, but owing to the
wickedness and unbelief of the peo-
ple, only eight souls were saved
from the flood. The same principle
of faith exists with us. It has been
by faith that this assembly has been
brought here to-day. What would
have been our condition, if when
we heard the gospel in our own coun-
try, we had not exercised faith?
Why, we would have stayed in our
own country; Utah would have been
as barren as we found it in 1847.
Had there not been faith in the pro-
clamation of the gospel of Christ,
both with the preacher and with the
hearer; had there not been the Spirit
of God to back up the testimony of
the elders of Israel in their labors
abroad among the nations of the
earth, nobody would have gathered
here to these valleys of the moun-
tains. But it has been the work of
the Almighty. It is in accordance
with the decrees of God to establish
his kingdom upon the earth in the
latter days. Joseph Smith was
called by revelation. He labored in
faith. Angels of God taught him.
He received instructions from these
holy messengers; but notwithstand-
ing all this, he had to exercise faith
in the organization of the church, in
the calling of men to the ministry,
and in sending them forth to the nat-
tions of the earth—all these things
had to be performed by faith as
much as a man who plants grain.
The farmer sows his wheat, or any-
thing else, believing that it will
grow. If the elders had not believed
that God had called them, that the
Lord would sustain and uphold them,
they never would have gone abroad
upon their missions. But the prin-
ciple of faith has been exercised by
this people, and we must still con-
tinue to exercise it. The Lord is
with us. The Lord has set his hand
to build up his kingdom. He is
gathering a people from the nations
of the earth to Zion. He has set his
hand to establish it in its beauty,
power and strength, and I have be-
lieved, and believe still, that the
Lord will not disappoint us, nor will
he disappoint this generation; "but
a litte one will become a thousand,
and a small one a strong nation. I
the Lord, will hasten it in its time." [Isaiah 60:22]
We should labor to exercise this
principle of faith in our lives. We
may look forward for the fulfilment
of all the prophecies and promises
which have been made since the
world began concerning this genera-
tion. There are many things which
have been reserved from the creation
of the world, to be revealed in the
last dispensation and fulness of
times. We have not got through
receiving revelation. The Lord has
a great many things to reveal in the
latter days, when we are prepared
as a people to receive them.
I rejoice in the progress of the
work of God. I rejoice in listening
to the testimonies of the elders of
Israel. A new generation has risen up
since we came to these valleys of
the mountains. The Lord has
raised up the sons and daughters of
prophets, apostles and elders and
fathers in Zion; and as I often re-
mark to our young men they have
got to round up their shoulders and
bear off this kingdom. The work
will not stop because men die. It
matters not who dies. When the
Prophet Joseph Smith was taken
away—I was going to say the saints
themselves felt as though all was
lost. The world supposed that
would be the end of Mormonisim.
It is true the death of Joseph Smith
caused mourning to rest upon all the
Latter-day Saints, but that did not
stop the work of God. Joseph Smith
lived until he obtained all the keys
of the kingdom of God which be-
longed to this generation, and sealed
them upon the heads of other men.
The Lord called him to the other
side of the vail to unlock the prison
doors; but his dying did not stop the
work of God. When President
Young was called away the world
had the same views. People had an
idea that when Brigham Young died
that would be the end of Mormon-
ism; that the apostles and leaders
would quarrel as to who should lead
the Church; that Mormonism would
all break up and go to the devil.
But they were entirely disappointed
in this. As I have already said, it
makes no difference who dies, wheth-
er it be Wilford Woodruff, Orson
Pratt, President John Taylor or any
one else, there will always be some-
body to lead the Church, Israel will
never be without a law-giver from
this time henceforth and forever.
Zion will continue to progress, and
the God of Israel will sustain her no
matter what the feelings of the world
may be, no matter how much opposi-
tion there may be to the kingdom
of God. I should be sorry if the
world were of one heart and mind
with us. I would fear and tremble
if such were the case; for the Lord
has said, "I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth
you. If they have persecuted me
they will persecute you also." [John 15:19-20] We
look upon persecution, then, as the
legacy that has been given to the
Saints of God in their day and genera-
tion. But there is one thing that I
think we should exercise faith in,
and that is in the perpetuity of this
Church and kingdom: and in the
destiny of the Latter-day Saints; in
the fulfilment of prophecy and re-
velation in regard to what God has
decreed upon the earth in this great
and last dispensation. We should
exercise faith in these things. If it
were not for this we should be in
the same condition as other genera-
tions have been. But as the Lord
lives there is no power on e[a]rth, or
under the earth, that has power, or
ever will have power, to stay the
progress of this Church and kingdom
or destroy it from off the earth be-
cause the God of heaven has decreed
it, and the little stone cut out of the
mountains without hands will roll
forth and fill the whole earth, no
matter what opposition is brought
to bear against it. No other dispen-
sations on earth have had this privi-
lege, and this has strengthened us, it
strengthened Joseph Smith, Brigham
Young, and the elders, of Israel.
Among the first things Moroni in-
stilled into Joseph Smith before
he received the priesthood before the
organization of this was the prophe-
cies of Isaiah, and told him that the
day had come when the God of
heaven was about to set up his king-
dom on earth never more to be
thrown down. The Lord had de-
creed that this should take place and
it must come to pass. Joseph Smith
believed the testimony of Moroni.
He believed the testimony of the
angel whom God had sent to admin-
ister to him. He taught those prin-
ciples to his brethren, and his breth-
ren believed them. The apostles in
their travels abroad, notwithstanding
the difficulties they had to overcome
upon their early missions, had these
principles continually before them.
We have them before us to-day; and
I know as God lives that the proph-
ecies will be fulfilled concerning the
establishment of the kingdom of God
in the latter-days. It was this king-
dom of our God that the Prophet
Isaiah, in looking down to our day
and generation, exclaimed, "Sing,
O heaven; and be joyful, O earth;
break forth into singing, O, ye moun-
tains: for the Lord hath comforted
his people, and will have mercy upon
his afflicted. But Zion said, The
Lord hath forsaken me, and my God
has forgotten me. Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she
should not have compassion on the
son of her womb? Yea, they may for-
get, yet will I not forget thee." [Isaiah 49:13-15]
Why? Because Zion has been before
the Lord from the creation of the
world, and the day has come to build
it up. The prophets saw it: they
believed in. We see it: we believe
it, for we have faith in God. We
should labor to build up this Zion dur-
ing the little time we dwell here. We
have been prospered, we are blessed;
and the Zion of our God is held in
the hands of the Almighty or we
would not have power to gather
here. Were it not that we are sus-
tained by Almighty God, we would
not have power to build these tem-
ples, to fill the mountains with cities
and towns and villages and gardens
and orchards, and raise crops and
flocks and herds as we have done.
These things are the gifts of God un-
to us, and it is all in the great pro-
gramme of the last dispensation, the
fulness of times.
But, says the world, what are you
going to do when a great nation like
the United States say you shall not
do these things, you shall not dwell
here and enjoy your religion? Well,
I will tell you what we are going to
do—we are going to trust in God,
that is what we are going to do, and
if this nation with its fifty millions
of inhabitants has more power than
God, then Zion will fail, the kingdom
of God will fall, and all the purposes
of the Almighty will come to an end.
It just hinges right there. The
Lord thus far has never failed in
his promises, it is the Lord and the
nation for it. I think the Lord holds
the most power. He holds the des-
tiny of this and every other nation
in his hands. I know he has made
certain promises in regard to this
land of Zion. He has fulfilled many
of these promises already. It is
upon this principle that we have
built these tabernacles and are erect-
ing these temples. We are trying
to keep the commandments of God,
and we shall continue to do so until
the kingdom of God is established
upon the earth to be thrown down
no more forever.
We expect to be subject to all con-
stitutional laws of the land and main-
tain the constitution of our country
which we believe was given by in-
spiration and guarantees unto all
men the right to worship God accord-
ing to the dictates of their own con-
science. That is about all I wanted
to say. I desire, however, to bear
my testimony to the truth of this
work. No man will ever gain any-
thing by taking a stand against this
kingdom. The Lord is going to
break in pieces every weapon that is
formed against Zion. He is going
to do another thing, too, and that is,
every nation, kindred, tongue and
people that does not serve the Lord
in the latter days will be cut off;
for the Lord God hath spoken it.
Now, these are solemn sayings, but
they are nevertheless true.
I want the Latter-day Saints to
exercise faith in God. I want them
to be true and faithful, and not fear
what man can do. In the Scriptures
we read: "Fear not them who have
power to kill the body, but are not
able to kill the soul: but rather fear
him who is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell." [Matthew 10:28] That is a being
we should all fear to sin against; and
I rejoice when I see our young men,
the rising generation of Zion, will-
ing to take upon them the name of
Christ, willing to go forth and bear
record of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
willing to magnify the holy priest-
hood; for our young men have this
work to do. I hope, therefore, they
will qualify themselves for the work
of the ministry. We are not going
to stay here always. Many of our
brethren have passed away. I ex-
pect to follow them; I have never
comtemplated anything else. There
is none of us going to stay in the
world without death. The law of
death is upon all mankind, and all
will meet it in some shape or other.
Even Elijah, Moses, the inhabitants
of the city of Enoch, and the three
Nephites, who had a change come
over them and are on the earth to-
day, and perhaps visit us occasion-
ally—understood this.
I desire, during the few days I may
remain on the earth, to do all the
good I can. I want to strengthen
the faith of the Latter-day Saints; I
want to encourage the rising genera-
tion to keep the faith and qualify
themselves to inherit eternal life.
We have started out for celestial
glory. The man who rejects light
and truth may pay the penalty of
so doing, and will be deprived of the
privilege of going into the presence
of God and the Lamb. If the world
could only see and comprehend these
things, they would not treat lightly
the testimony of the servants of
God. But the devil rules over his
own kingdom; the Lord will rule
over his Saints.
I pray God, my Heavenly Father,
to bless us, that we may be faithful
to our God, faithful to the covenants
we have made; that we may exercise
faith in the Lord, and overcome the
world, the flesh, and the devil, and
inherit eternal life, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
