Remarks

I have felt very much to rejoice in the testimonies which have been borne to the Gospel by our brethren. My heart is full of gratitude to God in that I have been permitted to live in this day and to hear and accept the Gospel. I trust that I may be among those who will be able to stand with this work in its final triumph. If there is one lesson more than another which the Lord has sought to impress upon His people and upon the world, it is that He alone will have the glory for the triumph of Zion, that He in the carrying out of His purposes is not under the necessity of asking the counsel of men, but is fully able to perform all that is predicted concerning Zion and the work of the latter days. There is no greater truth than that which was announced by President Woodruff this morning, that our strength, our power, our hope is in God and not in men. If we, as individuals, succeed in obtaining celestial glory, it will be through the mercy which He shows unto us, His weak and erring children. The Prophet Joseph Smith was untaught in religious matters and in the things of the world; he was unskilled in the arts of man; but he had within him an honest heart, a clear conscience, and possessed that great attribute which is necessary to the success of any man who engages in God’s work—willing obedience to that which was commanded of him. When he sought to know the will of God concerning his future action and course in life, the Lord had mercy upon him and revealed to him His mind and will with respect to the people of the earth, and through him established this Gospel in which we, as Latter-day Saints rejoice. He chose one of the weak instruments of the earth to bring to naught the wisdom of men and to confound the mighty in their plans and judgments. He empowered Joseph Smith to commence a work which is to extend throughout the countless ages of eternity, and which is to bring salvation or condemnation to every human being. The Lord sustained the Prophet Joseph through all the trials of his life, and raised up friends to assist him in this work. ¶

Let us cultivate the Spirit of God and not set up our own wisdom against that of the Almighty or the counsels of His servants. Apostasies may occur in the Church as they have before, men in high places may fall; but the fact remains that the Church of Christ will stand, and this great work will go on despite all the obstacles and difficulties which may beset it. Let us be true and faithful to our covenants and the blessing of God will assuredly rest upon us and our labors in His cause. ¶