I feel an unusual degree of timidity in arising to address this vast congregation this afternoon. And I do not simply mean it for an introduction, or to hear the vain sound of my own voice, when I say that I would have been contented could I have remained a listener, instead of being called upon unexpectedly to be a speaker this day. I can only trust that my rising will not be in vain, that the God of heaven will speak, and that I may be His humble mouthpiece to this congregation; that your souls may be fed, that our minds may be edified, and that we may be built up in the good things of God and strengthened according to our needs.There is more importance attached to the act of coming here on the Sabbath day to worship God, than many people seem to imagine. I regard it as one of the most important duties we have to do--none the less important because it seems small and insignificant. It is here that we obtain spiritual refreshment, and our souls are strengthened and qualified the better to engage in the duties of the coming week; it is here we buckle on more firmly the armor of righteousness, and burnish and make keen those weapons which God has given us to overcome evil with, to fight the battle of faith, and win the crown in the kingdom of our God. And though the duty may seem small and insignificant, we are continually reminded that it is dangerous to neglect small duties. We cannot afford to overlook little things, as little drops of water form the ocean; little snowflakes, the mighty avalanche; little grains of sand, the continents of the earth. We are required to take things as they come and to make the best of all circumstances, and wisely use all that God has given us, no matter how small it may seem, no matter how great it may be, with an eye single to the glory of God, working out our salvation in fear and trembling before Him.
Man in his highest estate on this earth is only a steward; naked he will go out of the world, and all that he can accumulate of temporal things--houses and lands, orchards and vineyards, flocks and herds, gold and silver and precious stones, all that he can grasp of such things in this probation, he must leave behind when he departs hence. All that he can take with him is the education that he came here to acquire the experience (and the intelligence which is the result of experience), through which he is ordained to pass for the development and the expansion of his soul.
Therefore it needs but a glance to convince us of the superior importance of spiritual over temporal things. We may take with us an expanded soul; we may take with us those marks which have been made upon the immortal spirit during its pilgrimage through the waste of time; but outside of that we can take nothing; we cannot take a dollar; we cannot take even this body for the time being, but it must go back into the earth from whence it came, and wait there until it shall be sanctified by the spirit, by the power of the resurrection; and being sanctified, the temporal by the spiritual, it becomes an eternal inheritance for the righteous. But while here, temporal blessings are ours to do with them as seemeth best in our eyes. God gives us intelligence. He gives us conscience; He gives us light and inspiration from on high, and with this light we traverse the darkness of this existence, and are expected to avoid the snares and pitfalls which lie on either side of that path which leadeth to eternal life. We are given a lamp to guide our feet, and if our lamp go out, if it fails of oil, or if we do not deep the flame sufficiently bright to help us to see and avoid the snares that are in our way, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. If we step aside and are taken in those snares, if our flesh shall be torn by those briers and thorns of sin and temptation, or if we stumble and fall and depart out of the path which has been plainly marked out before us, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
There is a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and by that light will all men be judged. Yes, and all nations; for nations are but trustees of power. "Promotion cometh not from the east nor from the west, but God is the judge." He putteth down one and setteth up another, according to the judgment of His righteous will. And history is replete with instances of men and nations into whose hands God has given power for a season. He has given them wealth, learning, intelligence and civilization, and made them stewards of these things for a time. If they wisely used these blessings, then blessed were they; but if they abused them, retribution has followed. If you glance over the pages of history, you will see that this is true. No nation ever abused its powers and advantages without retribution ensuing.
There is a parable among those given by the Savior which illustrates this truth. The Son of God told His disciples the kingdom was likened unto a certain lord who called unto him his servants, and gave into their hands his goods; unto one he gave five talents; unto another he gave two; and unto another one; and straightway took his journey into a far-off country. By and by he returned, and he called his servants together and asked them to render up to him an account of that which they had received. The one who had received five talents came unto the master and said, "Lord, you gave me five talents. I have doubled them. Here are ten." The lord says unto him, "Blessed art thou, for a wise and profitable servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Then turning to him who had received two talents, he demanded of him an account, not the same, because this man had not received as much. He had only given him two talents, and he exacted from him only a due return and a fair account of his stewardship. That man could answer as faithfully and well as the other. He said, "Lord, you gave me two talents, and here are four. I have doubled what you gave me." In other words, "I have done quite as well with what I had as my brother with what he had. Here is your interest." Then came the one to whom had been entrusted but one talent.
Instead of saying, "Lord, you gave me one talent, and here are two," he hung his head and said, "I was ashamed of the little talent you gave me. I did not deem it of any importance. It was too small a thing to be considered. I hid it in the earth, and here it is as you gave it me." Was the Lord satisfied with this answer? Did he say, "All well and good, you have returned to me my own, and that is all I require at your hands?" No. He said, "Thou wicked and unprofitable servant, thou shouldst have put this talent out to usury, that I might have received my own with interest; you have not made a wise use of it; you are not fit for the society of those who have added to that which was given them. Take from him the talent which he had and give it to him that hath ten, for unto him that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." This, brothers, sisters, and friends, is the whole history of the world in a nutshell. This is what you and I are doing day by day--either adding unto and upon that talent which God has given us, be it small or great, or we are neglecting it and are preparing to meet just such a judgment as was pronounced upon the unfaithful steward in the parable. No one on this broad earth, will have it to say truthfully at the judgment seat of God, "Father, you gave me nothing; I have nothing to render up." All men have received something from the Great Creator. All men have received a measure of light and intelligence, and it is not for an individual or any set of individuals to sit in judgment upon the dispensations of the Almighty and say, "You have given me something so small that it was unworthy of improvement, and I have added nothing to it."
There is a passage comes to my mind from the writings of Abraham, contained in the book which we call the Pearl of Great Price. The Lord, speaking to that ancient Patriarch, revealed unto him some of His mysteries, and drew aside the curtain which hides things that are from things that have been. He revealed to him things pertaining to the creation of this earth before man had descended upon its surface, before a single blade of grass or the trees sprang forth, before the fishes of the sea or the fowls of the air were formed in the temporal body, although all these things had been created spiritually with man, who was destined to have dominion over them on earth.
All things were made spiritually, before they were made temporally. Before the earth was made temporally, God spake to the grand council in heav en in these words:--"We will go down, for there is space there, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell, and we will prove them herewith, to see whether they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall require at their hands. And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon, and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same `kingdom as those who keep their first estate;' and they who keep their second estate shall be added upon for ever and ever." Now this shows further, that not only is this parable of the lord and the stewards a type of the history of this earth, but that it foreshadows eternity--the history of the universe. Man's progressions, past or future, are all predicted upon the same principle. They who have kept their first estate or, in other words, have improved upon the talents which God gave them originally, have been added upon, and their condition today is no less an illustration of this great truth, than their condition will be a million ages hence, if they live and take the right course to perpetuate their existence. The whole past history of the universe, if known, would illustrate this principle.
We are working out the mystery of life. We are weaving the fabric of our existence, and we will hold it up at the last day and say, "Father, here is my record." How many stitches are we dropping that must yet be taken up? How many pages of the book have we blotted that we ought rather to have adorned? These are questions that ought to come with telling force to all.
President Brigham Young, in more than one of his discourses, endeavoured to rivet upon the minds of this people this important principle--that they would only receive that for which they labored; that there is no such thing in the Gospel as that popular doctrine believed in by so many that a "deathbed repentance" from a life of iniquity would enable one who was about to depart out of the world, perhaps at the hangman's hands, to seize upon and possess the eternal reward as the man or the woman who had filled up a life with good deeds, with righteous purposes and desires. President Young said something like this:-- If you think, Latter-day Saints, that you can loll back in your easy chairs and neglect your duties, neglect your meetings, neglect your prayers, neglect to take care of the poor, neglect to roll on the kingdom of God, according to the means he has given you, spiritually and temporally, and then all at once blossom into perfection, and be worthy of the society of the Gods and angels, and spirits of the just, made perfect, you will be very much mistaken; for if you do not do your work here, you will have to do it in the world that is before you. You will be restrained and hindered in your progress and advancement until you have learned there what you neglected to learn here.
We hear persons say, "I do not care about the future life, so long as I can enjoy myself here. I will shirk the labors and sacrifices of this life, and have a good time, and it will be all right when the time comes to die.
Brother so-and-so will be called in and preach a beautiful funeral sermon, and I will be wafted with a peal of trumpets and received into eternal bliss." This is the logic of some people's position, if not their very words. But we may be sure of this one thing, that there is no royal road to exaltation; there is no favoritism, no pets, with the Almighty. We will carry to His judgment seat our own record made by our own hands, written by our own acts, not like the footprints of one who might traverse a spotless field of snow, leaving behind him marks which the falling snow might soon obliterate; not like writings on the sand which the waves would wash into oblivion; but written with an iron pen and laid in the rock forever. We will all be judged according to the deeds done in the body, and there is a reward or a punishment awaiting us, according to the merits or demerits of our lives.
I remember an anecdote that was related to me once by an aged Elder, who was telling a dream which had been told him by the one to whom it had been given. Many years ago there lived an aged man, a member of the Church, in the northern part of this Territory. He dreamed one night that he went to Salt Lake City and attended the General Conference of the Chur ch; and he dreamed that he returned; and he dreamed that he died and his spirit passed into the world of spirits. One of the first persons he met--for he found that that world was just as tangible to him then as this world was when he left; that there was a real world of spirits, though in his body he could not see it, except God had permitted him--was one with whom he had been formerly acquainted, like himself a Latter-day Saint.
And he said to him, "This seems to be a very pleasant country."
"Yes," said the resident, "but is nothing to that country over there." "Why, then, do you not move there?Why not pitch your tent in that happy valley?" Says he, "I cannot."
"Why?"
"I am bound here. I must stay here until I pay my debts."
This man, in his lifetime, the story goes, had died without paying his debts, when he had the power to pay them, and went to the judgment to answer for his deeds. He found, though he had got out of this world, that the shackles were on him still. The God of justice reigned there, as he reigns here, and required of him that he pay the utter-most farthing before he could be liberated and go on in the march of progress.We must think more of God and the principles of truth and justice than of ourselves and our own immediate friends and relatives. How many do we hear saying to-day--Latter-day Saints who have allowed the lamp of God to go out within them--my first duty is to my family. They forget that there is a God in heaven; that they are the children of Abraham, and are required to do the works of Abraham. Suppose he had said, when commanded to offer his only son upon an altar, "Why, God, my first duty is to my family; besides, you have placed great promises on his head; surely you cannot require my now to slay him, especially when you have said `Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.'" But Abraham had a faith that was not to be overcome, and went forth as a man of God, obedient to the thing that God required at his hands, thus keeping his covenant and proving to the heavens what the heavens wanted to know: "We will make an earth whereon these will dwell, and we will try them herewith and see whether they will do all things that the Lord requires at their hands." No matter how much His requirements may come in contact with our private actions or contravene our selfish desires. These will never stand at the judgment seat of God, for when He speaks He must be obeyed, no matter what has been said or done formerly. The command of Noah to build an ark does not make it obligatory upon you or me to build one.
This Church is based upon immediate and direct revelation. It is what God says today, not what He said yesterday to someone else, that must be considered. We must not take the dead letter and with it judge the living oracle. We must not sit in judgment upon God and say, "I cannot do this, because yesterday you told someone else to do differently." We can only escape His wrath by being willing to do everything that He requires at our hands, and acknowledge His hand in all things.
There are some political stump-speakers nowadays who teach that a man's first duty is to his country, then to his family, leaving God out of the question. As if God did not make the world, create nations, and make all men. No. It is a false doctrine that puts any object between us and our Almighty Creator. "God first, and then our fellow-men." That is the motto that ought to be engraven on the heart of every son and daughter of God. Those who love the Lord will be true to their country and their families.
I believe it was Thomas Payne who said, "The world is my country; to do good my religion." Well, that is a pretty good religion for an infidel. Speaking of infidelity, it seems to me that the fathers and mothers of this people should be on their watch-towers--guarding their children in times like these. Infidelity seems to be sweeping like a mighty wave around the earth. Only lately Colonel Ingersoll has been brought prominently before the eyes of two hemispheres by an article replying to him from the pen of the Son.
Mr. Gladstone, the foremost statesman of Great Britain. It seems as though Satan were about to entrench his forces behind the breastwork of infidelity. Some of the ministers of Christendom come up before this great giant of atheism, and wield a trenchant pen with some degree of success; but most of them are powerless and feeble. This great infidel is strongly entrenched so far as modern Christendom is concerned. And why? Because Christendom has itself forsaken the Fountain of living waters. Their weapons are dull, their armor is rusty, and they are unable to cope with him effectually. Why? Because they themselves are not standing upon the Rock, and he blows them about like feathers before the breath of a playful boy.
I would like to see a Christian minister arise, a man of God, filled with the Holy Ghost, acknowledging revelation from heaven, acknowledging the good old Gospel of two thousand years ago, and not denying the voice of God and the gifts of the Spirit. I would like to see such a man, no matter whether he be a Methodist, a Catholic, or a Presbyterian, meet this man Ingersoll, and I know that with taking the Bible as it reads, being moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and going forth in the name of Israel's God, this man Ingersoll would go down before him like Goliath before David. I have this much confidence in eternal truth. Milton says, "Let truth and falsehood grapple.
Whoever knew truth to be worsted in an encounter with error?" But when error meets error, it is only a question then as to who has the least of it, for he will be the stronger. The other will go down. I tell you Colonel Ingersoll speaks some truths, and they are a battering ram against the walls of a false and crumpling Christianity. Colonel Ingersoll is doing a work that will redound to the glory of God, and future ages will recognize it. I do not mean to say that he is doing it intentionally. I do not mean to say that he will not be punished for his sins. But God will overrule his work for good; and the wrath of man, the blasphemy and irreverence of Ingersoll will praise Him. Perhaps a little sarcasm, a little ridicule, a little satire, may do something for the spread of truth. Before you build a new house you must clear away the debris of the old one. I believe that Colonel Ingersoll and many other men are only clearing away the debris of the past preparatory to the coming of a structure of which they have never dreamed. I am as willing to honor Colonel Ingersoll so far as he is honest and sincere in his views, as I am to honor any man who is honest and sincere. I honor our Christian brethren, although they preach much that we do not believe. I honor them if they are sincere, and I am glad to say that some of their ministers are coming back to more tenable grounds, driven back, perhaps by the assaults of infidelity, or wooed back by the magnetic power of truth.
They are gradually getting more light to answer the infidel with. Not that they would give the credit to Mormonism, the doctrines and influence of which have for over fifty years been permeating society. Men like Beecher, like Theodore Parker, preached Mormonism for years. Theodore Parker broke out one Sabbath with a glorious invocation to our Father and Mother in heaven, and Christendom shouted and praised the great man whose mind had given birth to the wonderful thought that we had a Mother as well as a Father in heaven. Long before this, however, Sister Eliza R. Snow wrote her hymn:
When I leave this frail existence;
When I lay this mortal by;
Father, mother, may I meet you
In your royal courts on high.Why did not the world shout then? Was it because it was a Mormon wrote it?
It took a Theodore Parker to bring it into prominence and make it respectable. The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, a man whom we esteem for his intelligence and liberality, who next came to the front and said that there was no hell burning with fire and brimstone for ever and ever, and never-ending punishment for the wicked; and his boldness and breadth of mind evoked the world's admiration. Why did it not admire and praise when Joseph Smith pronounced this doctrine fifty years before? It was because it was only "old Joe Smith," the Mormon prophet. The diamond in the dust is despised and trampled on, but pick it up and put it in a crown and the world will fall down and worship it. But here is a people who are not ashamed to pick truth from the dust, to acknowledge truth wherever found, in the religions of all men. Christianity? Yes, it has truth. The doctrines of Buddha? Yes, they have truth. The arguments of the infidel? Yes, some of them have truth; altogether they are like two-edged razors; unless men know how to handle them they are dangerous weapons to wield.
From the standpoint of Mormonism--which is only a nickname for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as newly restored in these latter days--it can be seen more clearly than from any other what measure of truth men have, and what measure of error. This Gospel which the world calls Mormonism is the original faith revealed anew, and now being preached to all the nations as a witness before the end shall come. We are all willing to acknowledge that there are truths in all religions, and by means of those truths they live and move and have their being. Error cannot live alone. It must have some truth to bolster it up.
But Mormonism is the fulness of truth. They who have not the fulness, but only retain it in a measure, knowing no better, and live up to light they have, are justified in the sight of God and will stand guiltless before him. But when we once hear the full Gospel, we are responsible if we do not accept it. My Christian friends who are here present, notwithstanding that I differ from you, and you from us, in our faith, I ask for the blessing of God upon you, and also upon the Saints, that our faith may be a living faith, that we may keep the lamp burning within our souls and pursue the straight and narrow path leading to eternal life, realizing that what we are doing here is preparing us for the life to come, and that all men will be judged according to the light they have and the deeds done in the body. I ask the blessing of God upon you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.