Voice of Revelation

In standing up to address you I depend upon the assistance of your faith and prayers. It is a serious responsibility to address an audience like this upon the principles of salvation. I should not attempt it if I did not hope to be assisted by the Spirit of God. We are in peculiar circumstances. There never was a time when, as a people, we needed to counsel from the Lord more than we do at present. We cannot live without the word of God. Our gathering into these mountains has been in compliance with the will of heaven. The organization of these settlements in this mountain region is due to the fact that God has given commands, and the Saints have gathered in obedience thereto. Our preservation, growth, union and strength are all attributable to His blessings. If these were withdrawn we would be in a most pitiable condition. ¶

We assemble to be instructed that we may better understand our relation and obligations to our Father, and to better know how to discharge our duties. Thus far He has not concealed His counsel nor withheld His words from us. The reflection gives me joy, that from the organization of the Church the Latter-day Saints have not been left to grope in the dark, without the will of God to guide them. The voice of revelation has not been withdrawn. There has been a voice from God, by which the people could receive a knowledge of His will. Shall we not today praise the Lord that there has been no darkness so great as to prevent the light of the eternal world coming to us? Our path has been plainly marked out. Mankind may have been pursuing devious paths, but the direction in which we should travel has been plainly manifest to us. This has been the case from the beginning, and I thank God that this certainty has been given to us. ¶

Our Father has answered our prayers in the past, and has shown us what to do. Persecution has laid its heavy hand upon us, but we have not been left to ourselves. This great work has not been deserted by its Founder; nor has His favor been withdrawn from us. He has ever been near to give us light and every gift necessary for our circumstances. This has been a great blessing and is worth more to us than all worldly honor. Who is there that values eternal truth, that loves God, that desires eternal salvation, who would not give all he possesses for the blessings and favor of God? Men have died for less truth than we have today. They have made great sacrifices for principles less Godlike than those that have been revealed to us. These men have felt that they could sacrifice life itself for communication with the eternal world. Men have prayed for the Priesthood and authority of God, and have made boundless sacrifices to obtain it. What would Martin Luther have given for this authority? As it was, he dared the whole world; he took his life in his hand, and was willing to die for even the modicum of truth he possessed. But how much more willing he would have been to make the sacrifice if he had had the truths that we possess. ¶

In the providence of God. His will was not communicated till this latter age. The earth had been drenched with the blood of Apostles and righteous men. The Priesthood was taken back to God till the time when He saw fit to communicate it. The courageous reformers will be rewarded for their labors, and receive the ordinances and salvation which they sought for God’s work is from eternity to eternity, and none of His children will be lost except the sons of perdition. Those men who struggled so nobly for the right will receive the great reward their fidelity to truth has entitled them to. ¶

To us who have beheld this glorious day the blessings and knowledge of the gospel are given. We are chosen to be saviors to our ancestors—saviors of the world—because of the grace of God to us. What a people we should be, and how our hearts should swell in gratitude to God. Men have died for these principles we have received. They were hunted and slain because of their fidelity to the truth. How is it with us? Contrast our circumstances with those of the men to whom I refer. We have everything necessary for our comfort; elegant houses, abundant food and clothing, no hardships such as the ancient Apostles suffered. For us there has been persecution comparatively light or there has been no sawing asunder, no beheading, no having to run to caves and dwell there with our wives and children; but we are enjoying all the blessings which God in His wonderful kindness has bestowed upon us, and he asks us to give unto Him our hearts. He asks us not to worship earthly things, but says to us, “Choose first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and I will add unto you these other blessings. I want your hearts; I want your affections; I want your devotion; I want you to obey me.” These are the requests which God, our great Creator, our beneficent Father wishes of us. Will we give to our father that obedience which belongs to Him, the source of our strength and life? How our hearts should swell praise to Him, for He has rewarded us a hundred fold for all we have done. ¶

Each Elder who goes on a mission testifies of the great happiness he enjoys in that labor. He testifies that God was with him and His angels were round about him. These Elders return and associate among the people. Today, you may go through our settlements, and though they may have spent years on missions, you cannot find them by their poverty; there is no distinction in their property to indicate their sacrifice, because God has multiplied His temporal blessings upon them and prosperity attends them. Thus God manifests that He is willing to reward those who serve Him. Examine these things and you will find they are true. You Latter-day Saints can testify to them. This shows that those who serve God are blessed as no others are. Those who have been liberal to the poor, and have been strict in the payment of their tithes, have also received of similar blessings. They have been prospered more than those who have been stingy and neglectful of their duties. In this way God has been testifying to us that He rewards us for serving Him. And if we continue to obey His laws, blessings will continue to flow unto us, and the favor of God will be upon us. ¶

The Apostle John says that “we will be like Him.” It is for this purpose that God has revealed the Gospel—that His children may become like unto Him. I do not mean in a spiritual sense; that is, in the way these things are spiritualized by some men. We believe that we are the literal offspring of Deity. We have descended from that great Being who formed this earth, and from Him we have inherited the glorious aspirations to be like unto Him. With this hope within us we will seek to purify ourselves as He is pure. ¶

In remarks made here a few Sundays ago by Elder Penrose, he referred to a doctrine held by some men about each people having their own God to worship. The Indian has his idea of God; the Hindoo has his idea of God; the various nations of the earth have their different views of God; and the Christian has his idea of God. Now, there is something correct in this. We worship that which we admire; and no doubt everything that is admirable pertains to God and the Godhead. We may not have it all even with our light and our intelligence. We may not comprehend all the attributes, and certainly cannot comprehend the greatness of our God. Others may have ideas of Him, correct to a certain extent. There is truth among even Pagans. With the lowest of the human species there is something of truth from God. As men advance they receive more truth. This is the distinction between us and others. We believe in a God of revelation who will give more and more light to us till we can become like Him. ¶

We worship the Being who has revealed Himself to us. It was necessary at the outset of this work to have a revelation from Him. There were many erroneous ideas about God, and the first revelation to Joseph Smith was the appearance of the Father and the Son. I have heard that there are some among us who say both are one person. This is a fallacy. There are two personages, the Father and the Son. God is the Being who walked in the Garden of Eden, and who talked with the Prophets. This revelation came to us in certainty. As I said, in the very outset, the Father and the Son were revealed in ineffable glory and were seen by mortal men. Their testimony, this testimony, stands on record, corroborated and sustained by the testimony of others who have since seen the Lord Jesus Christ; we are living witnesses that they have seen Him, that He lives, and that He is indeed the Son of God and one of the two which form the Godhead. In this respect we differ from others; among this people there is knowledge concerning God. We know to a certain extent of Him and His attributes. “As man now is, God was; as God now is, man may be.” We possess the attribute He possesses, and the object of the Gospel is to lead us to what He is. This is the true theory of evolution—that we can progress to become like unto God. This is the incentive of faithfulness. ¶

Who that comprehends this principle would think of sacrificing such glorious prospects by committing sin? No one who has the Spirit of God would sin to be deprived of these great blessings. We may do things when we are not conscious of the results, but no Latter-day Saints will commit sin in view of the glorious prospects we have ourselves. There have been thousands upon thousands who have made all kinds of sacrifices for earthly preferment. But who shall compare this with the great glory that God has in store for us? Who shall compare it with the Kingdom which God has promised unto us? He has promised that we shall sit upon a throne, that we shall have a crown, that we shall have a posterity as numerous as the stars in heaven, as countless as the sands by the seashore. “For,” says he, “I seal upon you the blessings of kingdoms, of thrones, of principalities, of powers, and of dominions. I seal upon you the blessings of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; I seal upon you the promise that you shall come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed with glory, clothed with immortality, clothed with eternal life.” These are the promises which are made to the Latter-day Saints. They have been sealed upon the heads of most of you. What sacrifice is there, then, that we should not make for such blessings? None. There are none of us who understand these things that will relinquish them for worldly pleasure. ¶

Those not of us, and yet who profess Christianity, say that our doctrines are strange. Are they any more strange than the principles believed in by the Christian world? They worship Jesus as their God, and He is. But he was once a babe, and there are many who worship his mother Mary. He was born of a woman. And if one God was born of woman, may not others be also? To say they could not is not logical. Some deny the doctrine of pre-existence in the face of the fact Jesus the Lord was born of woman and that this same God had appeared to Moses and others. Is it mystery to say that if He could be born of woman, our spirits could also be so compressed that we could be born as infants? Because we do not comprehend these things, shall we reject them, or shall we wait till we receive the full light? On one occasion Jesus met a man possessed of devils, who said their name was Legion. The devils besought Him that they might enter a herd of swine. Jesus gave permission, and they entered the swine, which ran down into the Sea of Galilee and were drowned. Just think of a legion of devils in one man! Yet that was the fact. These spirits had rebelled against God in heaven, and lost their first estate. They wander about the earth, seeking to lead men astray, and endeavoring to bring the rest of the family of God to the same condition in which they are. We have in this an instance of how spirits can be compressed. ¶

We had an existence before we came into mortality. There is probably not a man or woman who has not an impression as of something they feel they have forgotten. How many there are who recognized, as something they were familiar with, the principles of the Gospel. I believe that when we meet our Father, the recollection that we were with Him will come back again. We will also know our mother, and those with whom we before associated. We will know each other, father, mother, husband, wife, children. I was a boy when my people gathered with the Church. I was curious to see the Prophet Joseph. I had no means of identifying him, but recognized him as though I had seen him before; and I doubt not that I had. There are kindred spirits that are drawn together no doubt by ties that were formed anterior to their birth into this sphere. In the future our memories and our powers will be quickened. There is a remarkable power latent in the human mind, and when quickened by the Spirit of God it will reach back to the life that was before this. Abraham saw that he had been chosen to perform a mighty work. ¶

I will refer briefly to one doctrine which I have heard of. I have heard that there are those among us who entertain an idea that some are predestined to be damned, no matter what they do. This is a fallacy. Men and women confound foreknowledge with fore-ordination. God knew that Pharaoh would oppress Israel; but it was in Pharaoh’s power to choose his own course. He was not foreordained to be damned, but God knew what he would do. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him and become a devil, but he was not foreordained to become such as he did. It was his own choice. The doctrine that men are fated to commit sin is false. There is no such doctrine existing in the Gospel of the Son of God. We have our free and unfettered agency, as we were told so plainly yesterday. ¶

We have the agency to do that which is right; the agency also to do that which is wrong. But it is for us to do that which is right. It is for us to keep the commandments of God and to serve Him with all our hearts; and if we will do this God will bring us off triumphant. We shall triumph over every obstacle, and this Kingdom of our God will spread and increase in power; it will overcome all the difficulties with which it has to contend, until every word spoken concerning it will be fulfilled. It will fill the whole earth; it will rule and bear dominion, and Jesus will come to reign on the earth for a thousand years. If we are faithful we shall reign with Him; those who go to sleep will be resurrected and will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air as well as those who lie in the grave, as the Apostle Paul says. That day is near at hand. Be encouraged; do not be discouraged and fearful in your hearts, for God is watching over this work and over you. There is not a hair of your heads but what is numbered. Not a sparrow—a bird that is so common among us here now—can fall to the ground without His notice, and you are of more value than many sparrows. God watches over you; His care is for you; His angels are around about you. ¶

Remember what He said on one occasion: “Be careful that you do not offend the least of these my little ones; for I say unto you that their angels are before the face of my Father continually.” Offend not then the elect of God. Be careful about trespassing upon your brethren and sisters. Their angels stand constantly before the face of our Father in heaven, pleading their cause, watching over them, and having charge concerning them. ¶

I have spoken about the evil spirits and the evil influences of Satan; but I have not mentioned that glorious host of angels and pure spirits that are at the right hand of God our Eternal Father, and are as agents who are carrying out His behests over His elect at all times, lest they should strike their feet against a stone. God takes care of us and of all His children; and if we will be faithful unto Him, no matter how deep our afflictions may be, no matter how heavy our sorrows, no matter though it may seem to us we will be crushed to earth, God is still near unto us; His angels have charge concerning us, and we shall be saved and delivered, and eventually exalted, if we are faithful to our God, which I pray for you all and myself, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. ¶