Trust in the Lord.

JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES.

the first thing before us, for if we
build up the kingdom of God we build
up ourselves, and if we do not we never
shall be built up. This is the truth.
There seems to be something connect-
ed with the kingdom of God and that
is righteousness; we are exhorted to
seek the righteousness that belongs to
it as well as the kingdom itself.

The kingdom of God is a righteous
kingdom, all its laws are righteous,
its government is a righteous govern-
ment, and the king who governs and
controls it does so upon righteous and
eternal principles, and we must act
upon the same principles of righteous-
ness. Who cannot see that if a man
seeks first the kingdom of heaven and
its righteousness that he will become
righteous and hence he will be blessed
and justified in all of his acts.

With regard to the feelings of the
people that brothers Wells and Rich-
ards have referred to, touching the
consecration of their property and de-
dicating themselves to God, I will say,
if we build up the kingdom of God
we should be in that kingdom, and all
we have should be in it, and we should
have faith enough in the Lord to
know it is in a safe place.

I am a good deal of the opinion of
old Captain Russell, who was an ex-
tensive ship-builder, and paid thou-
sands of dollars yearly to the Gentiles
as insurance fees. After he embraced
"Mormonism," he began to reflect,
"here am I paying thousands of dol-
lars yearly to the Gentiles to insure
my ships, and I have to trust to the
God of heaven after all to save my
ships from sinking, and to prosper me
in all my undertakings; this is not
right." So he went to Liverpool,
where the insurance office was, to
settle his insurance bills and close up
his business with the firm.

The gentlemen of the firm asked
him when he had got through, saying,
"Have we not treated you well, Mr.
Russell?" "Yes, I have no fault to
find with you." "What, then, is your
object in pursuing this course? We
have done business with you a good
many years; we want to know if you
are going to change your insurance
office?" "I am." "Will you tell
us where you are going to have your
business done in the future?" "Yes,
I am going to have it done in heaven,
for the insurance offices do not control
the winds, the elements are not obe-
dient to them, and I have been paying
ten thousand dollars a-year for insuring
a few ships, and I have to trust in the
Lord anyhow, so in the future I shall
pay my insurance fee into the Lord's
treasury."

The gentlemen of the office thought
he was cracked or beside himself, for
I tell you trusting in the Lord in
these days is an unpopular business
with the world. But the Saints have
to trust in the Lord, and we might as
well begin and seek this kingdom and
the interest of it, and the righteous-
ness of it, and build it up first as last.
I believe the people are reforming in
this thing; I believe they are increa-
sing in their faith, and have manifes-
ted it here in the city this winter, and
I am glad to see it.

The exhortation we have had this
morning is proper and seasonable, as
we have been sowing the seed of the
word this winter among the people,
and we should watch and see that the
seed is sown in good g[r]ound, and try
to cultivate the principles we hear
that the fruits of righteousness may
appear in abundance. In doing this
we will be saved.

We have had one of the most in-
teresting seasons this winter that we
have ever enjoyed since the Church
and kingdom of God has been organ-
ized in the last days. We have had
new lessons opened unto us by the
servants of the Lord, and among those
things the mercy of the Lord has
been manifested in a great degree to-
wards this people. I have reflected

Trust in the Lord.

228 JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES.

the first thing before us, for if we build up the kingdom of God we build up ourselves, and if we do not we never shall be built up. This is the truth. There seems to be something connected with the kingdom of God and that is righteousness; we are exhorted to seek the righteousness that belongs to it as well as the kingdom itself.

The kingdom of God is a righteous kingdom, all its laws are righteous, its government is a righteous government, and the king who governs and controls it does so upon righteous and eternal principles, and we must act upon the same principles of righteousness. Who cannot see that if a man seeks first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness that he will become righteous and hence he will be blessed and justified in all of his acts.

With regard to the feelings of the people that brothers Wells and Richards have referred to, touching the consecration of their property and dedicating themselves to God, I will say, if we build up the kingdom of God we should be in that kingdom, and all we have should be in it, and we should have faith enough in the Lord to know it is in a safe place.

I am a good deal of the opinion of old Captain Russell, who was an extensive ship-builder, and paid thousands of dollars yearly to the Gentiles as insurance fees. After he embraced "Mormonism," he began to reflect, "here am I paying thousands of dollars yearly to the Gentiles to insure my ships, and I have to trust to the God of heaven after all to save my ships from sinking, and to prosper me in all my undertakings; this is not right." So he went to Liverpool, where the insurance office was, to settle his insurance bills and close up his business with the firm.

The gentlemen of the firm asked him when he had got through, saying, "Have we not treated you well, Mr. Russell?" "Yes, I have no fault to find with you." "What, then, is your object in pursuing this course? We have done business with you a good many years; we want to know if you are going to change your insurance office?" "I am." "Will you tell us where you are going to have your business done in the future?" "Yes, I am going to have it done in heaven, for the insurance offices do not control the winds, the elements are not obedient to them, and I have been paying ten thousand dollars a-year for insuring a few ships, and I have to trust in the Lord anyhow, so in the future I shall pay my insurance fee into the Lord's treasury."

The gentlemen of the office thought he was cracked or beside himself, for I tell you trusting in the Lord in these days is an unpopular business with the world. But the Saints have to trust in the Lord, and we might as well begin and seek this kingdom and the interest of it, and the righteousness of it, and build it up first as last. I believe the people are reforming in this thing; I believe they are increasing in their faith, and have manifested it here in the city this winter, and I am glad to see it.

The exhortation we have had this morning is proper and seasonable, as we have been sowing the seed of the word this winter among the people, and we should watch and see that the seed is sown in good ground, and try to cultivate the principles we hear that the fruits of righteousness may appear in abundance. In doing this we will be saved.

We have had one of the most interesting seasons this winter that we have ever enjoyed since the Church and kingdom of God has been organized in the last days. We have had new lessons opened unto us by the servants of the Lord, and among those things the mercy of the Lord has been manifested in a great degree towards this people. I have reflected