Discourse

I will read a portion of the 15th chapter of Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, commencing at the 35th verse: ¶

“But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” ¶

In standing up to address this very large congregation this afternoon, I do so with considerable fear and trembling, and my trust is that God will help me, through your faith and prayers, that that which I may say may be from Him. It is a very responsible thing for a man to attempt to address his fellow men, unless he can impart some light and some instruction, and say things that will be of some profit to them. I hope to be able to do that this afternoon. ¶

Since I have been in this conference, my mind has rested considerably upon the Salt Lake Temple and its near completion, and upon the distinguishing features that we as a people are possessed of, making us a different people from the rest of the religious world. The distinction between us and others who worship God, and who profess to be religious, is very marked in some respects. It is true that there is a union of feeling and of belief between us and the denominations that prevail in Christendom on some of the cardinal points of what is called Christianity. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of the world, and that through His death and atonement we are redeemed. All the so-called orthodox sects entertain this same belief. In common, too, with the most of them, we believe in repentance of sin. We believe also in the resurrection of the body. Upon these points there is a similarity of belief between us and other denominations. But upon many points that we believe in there is an absence of belief in the minds of the great majority of the Christian world. We are distinguished in this respect as entertaining very strange ideas, and some think them almost heathenish. But there is this to be said concerning the doctrines which God has revealed to us: they are the most philosophical of any that are believed among men. I say this with, I believe, a full comprehension of what is meant by this statement. I believe that the religion of the Latter-day Saints is the only religion that will bear the test of philosophical investigation, and that will meet the burning questions of the day. I believe that it is the only religion that will satisfy the yearnings of the human heart, and that will give light upon points that are considered mysterious by the religious world. I believe that the religion of the Latter-day Saints shows in the plainest, in the simplest and in the most conclusive manner the relation of man to God. I do not know any other religion that teaches in a satisfactory manner the object that God has had in placing man upon the earth. I do not know any other religion that teaches concerning the relationship that existed between God and His children prior to the organization of the earth and the placing of man upon it. I do not know any other religion that professes to teach the relationship that will exist between men and women, between parents and children, and between husband and wife, after this mortal career is ended. I do not know of any other religion that gives any distinct idea as to the character of the life beyond the grave, or what shall constitute the glory of man when he becomes immortal and when he receives the fulness of the blessings that God has promised. I do not know any other religion that throws light upon these questions. But I do know that there exists at the present time among men a great deal of uncertainty upon all these points. Some even go so far—and they call themselves intelligent, too—as to doubt the future existence of man, and think that when this mortal career is finished that is the end of man as a living entity. Now, who is there, with the light that is possessed by the religious world, that can explain in a satisfactory manner how it was that Jesus, our Redeemer, in whose name we approach the Father, existed as God in a previous state—that is, that He existed and exercised power and dominion, and then became a little child, born of a mortal woman? Is there any religion on the earth that can give any explanation of this great event? I have not met with any religion that will answer satisfactorily questions that arise connected with the pre-existence and the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But it is supposed to be clothed in mystery—a mystery that cannot be explained, and that is beyond human ken; and if inquiry arises, it is suppressed, because it is considered almost blasphemous to think of such things. So it is with most of these questions that I have briefly alluded to. ¶

In the religion that God has revealed to us, there is light and intelligence thrown upon all these questions. We are not left to grope in the dark and in uncertainty as to why we are here. The object that God had in placing us upon this earth has been made perfectly plain to us; of course, not in its fulness, not as we will be able to comprehend it in eternity, but sufficiently so to satisfy our inquiries and to remove from our minds doubt and uncertainty concerning this important matter. I say that our religion is philosophical, and that it will satisfy intelligent men. They may not believe that which we tell them; but it is the only religion that I know of that attempts to meet these questions and to answer them, and it does so effectually. ¶

I have read in your hearing some words of the Apostle Paul, in which he describes the resurrection. Who can explain this? Was there a minister upon the face of the earth that could give an explanation to these teachings of the Apostle Paul until the Lord revealed the everlasting Gospel through His servant Joseph Smith? No; for the belief has been general that there is only one place of happiness; that there is only one glory; that there is no difference in heaven; that every human being who is saved goes to one place and is gathered into one gathering, and that those who go to the other place are also consigned there indiscriminately. Is not this a belief that has existed for generations? Of course, the Catholic church believes in purgatory—an intermediate state; but after the soul emerges from purgatory it is, they say, ushered into heaven, and there is no distinction. The murderer who dies on the scaffold, who says he believes in Jesus and repents of his sins, is supposed to be ushered into the presence of God and the Lamb and to have all the blessings of salvation and exaltation which the most faithful men and women have received—to the companion of the prophets, apostles and martyrs who have laid down their lives for the truth. This has been the general belief, but here Paul distinctly states that there is a difference in the resurrection; that some receive the celestial glory, which is likened to that of the sun; that some receive the terrestrial glory, which is likened to that of the moon; that some receive the telestial glory, which is likened to that of the stars; and as one star differeth from another in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead. This is in perfect harmony with all the scriptures. The whole burden of the prophets who have spoken upon this subject is to the effect that men will be rewarded according to their works, and that they will receive a glory in proportion to their faithfulness. Until Joseph Smith received the revelation from God which is embodied in the 76th section of our Book of Doctrine and Covenants, this was a profound mystery to the religious world. But through that revelation it was made plain to us. Joseph Smith was the means of revealing through the knowledge which God gave to him, that according to man’s obedience so would be his reward; that the man who obeyed a certain law would receive the reward that was affixed to that law; that the higher the law the greater would be the glory. And this was the incentive that the Saints had in ancient days to be faithful. If a man could lead an immoral life and gratify all his passions and appetites, and then in the last days of his life, when his passions and appetites were all dead within him, he could profess repentance and obtain forgiveness and receive the assurance that he would be ushered into the presence of apostles and prophets who have suffered death for the truth, what inducement would there be for a man to be faithful to the truth all his days, and then perhaps to lay down his life for it? It is such teachings as these that have led the world into the depths of sin which it has reached; that have encouraged vice and sin in every direction; that have encouraged men even to commit murder; and the result is, many souls have been lost. ¶

God has revealed unto us something different to this. He has shown that if we commit sin we must pay the penalty of sin. If we live lives of righteousness, we shall receive the reward that is affixed to righteousness. We shall have the spirit of that glory which we shall attain unto; and just as there are grades in this life among men, so it will be in the resurrection. There will be grades of happiness, of glory and of exaltation. You put a man that has not lived so as to receive the spirit of a certain glory with those who have received that glory, and he would be entirely out of his element, and unhappy. God will give to every man a glory that will be suited to his condition. So that if a man obeys every law that God gives, and maintains his integrity, he will receive the highest glory that God has to bestow, even the celestial glory. But there are some who cannot do this. As the revelation that Joseph received teaches us, there are honorable men who do a great many good things, but who have not faith enough to receive the Gospel in its fulness. All of us have met such individuals. We have also seen men and women who gladly obeyed the Gospel when they heard it. They were baptized; they had hands laid upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost; but they did not have faith enough to go beyond this. It was too great a trial to them to forsake the lands of their nativity and all their old associations and gather with the Saints of God. Such persons will receive a reward in proportion to their obedience. Then you will find others who have faith enough to obey the first principles of the Gospel and perhaps receive the Priesthood and gather with the Saints; but when they are taught the doctrine of tithing they have not faith enough to obey that, or if they do pay tithing, they pay but very little. Persons who have no more faith than this will not get a reward like those who are obedient to tithing. So with all these works that God requires at our hands. There are some men that have not faith enough to go upon missions when they are called, and they offer excuses. They will get their reward according to their diligence and faithfulness; but they will not get the reward of the man who is always willing to do that which he is required to do, and whose life is crowded with good works; who is liberal to the poor, honest in his dealings, just and merciful in his actions, and who is willing to suffer wrong rather than do wrong. ¶

I would like to impress upon your minds, brethren and sisters, that we shall get a reward according to our desires, because sometimes we cannot do that which we would like to do, but we say in our hearts, “If I had, I would do; but because I have not, I cannot;” and having that spirit within us it is acceptable in the sight of God. You remember the words of King Benjamin, in speaking about the poor. He taught that it was an important thing to help the poor, and he said: “Ye who have not and yet have sufficient that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts, that I give not because I have not; but if I had I would give.” There are some laws that we are prevented from obeying that have been declared to be necessary to exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our God. What will be the condition of those who do not obey these laws? God, knowing all our desires, if He should see a spirit of willingness and obedience in our hearts, will judge us accordingly. That which we cannot do we are not expected to do. God does not ask impossible things from His children. But He asks us to be obedient to Him and to carry out His laws in our lives; and if for any reason we cannot do this, but are willing to do it, He will accept the offering and the good desires that we entertain in our hearts. There are some who cannot do what they would like for this Temple that we are talking of, as they have not the means; but the widow’s mite is as much as the thousand dollars of the rich man, if it is only given in the right spirit. The Lord looks at the hearts of His children. The woman who is poor, but who gives to the extent of her ability, God accepts that and she is blessed accordingly, and will be rewarded just as much in her place as the rich man that has done to the extent of his ability. Our God is a just God, and He deals with His children in justice and mercy. ¶

It should be the aim of every Latter-day Saint to strive to attain to the highest exaltation, and the way to attain that is to obey all the laws connected therewith. Now, God has commanded us to build Temples. The building of Temples and giving of endowments therein are matters of great curiosity to the world. We have all kinds of falsehood told about our endowments. We have been accused of being disloyal to the government and taking oaths that were antagonistic to the government, and doing things that were very wicked indeed, because, forsooth, we have believed in giving endowments and ordinances that God has revealed. It is this that distinguishes us from every other people on the face of the earth. God has revealed to us the means by which we shall prepare ourselves to dwell with Him in eternity. Is there anything strange about this? Is there anything wrong about it? Are we to live upon the earth like so many animals, and when death comes, to die unprepared for the future? Would this be consistent with our ideas of God and of the importance of the human soul? In the world today righteous men do not seem to have any advantages over wicked men. There is nothing to distinguish them. But this was not the case in ancient days, when God had a servant like Abraham, like Isaac, like Jacob, and like other faithful men. He made them promises that distinguished them from the rest of the human family, and He rewarded them for their services. It was so in the days of the Apostles. The Savior promised them great blessings. On one occasion he said: “Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” What a great blessing this was! What dignity! And He not only promised to them these blessings, but He sealed them upon them. We are also told that the Saints of God are to be kings and priests unto the Most High God. ¶

God gave His ancient servants extraordinary marks of favor. He called Abraham His friend, and made great promises to him and his posterity. He told him that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. He repeated this promise to Isaac and to Jacob, and their descendants received the fulfillment of it. He gave to Abraham a promise that he should have the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and that his posterity should inhabit that land. And through the faithfulness of those men their posterity today are marked because of the miraculous care that God has had over them, in preserving them amid the vicissitudes that have befallen the human family, and keeping them as distinct people, in many respects, up to the present time. I refer now to the Jews. There are also other branches of the House of Israel that have been in like manner preserved, and will be preserved, through the promises which were made to their fathers. There was some use in serving God in those days. There were blessings promised that were very great, and that encouraged the men who served Him to endure all things, even death itself; for they had the promise that they should become kings and have dominion and rule, and their posterity should be blessed in the earth, and they should have great rewards in eternity. These were incentives for them to keep the commandments of God. Where are any people who receive such promises now? Outside of the Latter-day Saints, there are none to be found on the face of the earth. Why is this? Is it because God is dead? Is it because He is not the same today that He always was? Is it because He has become a respecter of persons, and in one generation He will bestow great blessings upon His servants and in another generation withhold them? No, it is not for any of these reasons. It is because the inhabitants of the earth have not lived up to His commandments and they have not exercised the faith that the ancients had in order to receive these blessings. Can you not all perceive what a difference there is in the world today, outside of our Church, from that which existed in ancient times when men served God and kept His commandments? The Bible is full of promises to them. They were favored individuals, favored family, favored races and favored nations, because they kept the commandments of God. There is certainly something wrong in this condition that exists now in the world. Either God has changed, or else He has died, or gone to sleep, or else the inhabitants of the earth do not live so as to receive His blessings. I prefer to believe that God lives, that He has not gone on a journey, and that He has not gone to sleep. I prefer to believe that the failure to receive these great blessings and promises is due to men. ¶

Now, God has restored the Gospel, through which these blessings are to be received. How shall they be received; and where shall they be received? Why, God has commanded us to build temples, and we have had the same anxiety in relation to building temples that the children of Israel had in the days of David and Solomon; and we have built temples and have received blessings in them. We have received promises, endowments and keys by which we can go to God as the ancients did, exercise faith before Him, and obtain the promises that they received. It is for this purpose that temples have been built. I said to you the other day that this is the only people on the earth that I knew anything of where every reputable male member of the Church held some portion of the Priesthood and where every man, as fast as he was prepared, received the Melchisedek Priesthood and the power and authority connected therewith. Why is it that God has distributed this power among this people? It is for the purpose of raising them up and making them a holy nation—a nation of kings and priests. Not three men standing between God and the people. Not twelve men sitting on a platform and being the oracles to the people without the people having the chance to know whether they are the servants of God or not. Not seventy men, nor any number of men. No caste, no distinction, no classing of the people in that way; but every one that behaves himself and serves God, receiving the same as all the rest. Where is there anything on the earth like it? You cannot find it among men. It is the beginning of that great power that will overshadow the earth, and that will lift every man near to his God. No man need be afraid, for he will get all that he can bear. It ought to make us rejoice from the bottom of our hearts that in this respect we are so blessed. Other churches have their preachers, and they are divided into classes. The preachers are lifted up. They explain the word of God to the people, and the people sit and listen. Do they tell them that it is their privilege to know for themselves? No, they do not, because it has become a profession to preach the Gospel for money and to divine for hire. Men are educated in colleges and in universities to give them these distinctions and to lift them above their fellows. That is not God’s way, and that is not His design connected with this people. He intends to make us a great and mighty people, and He wants to get us to realize—and the servants of God are striving to that end as fast as they can—our own importance and our own privileges. The First Presidency and the Twelve do not want the people to think that everything depends upon them. They are trying to infuse into the hearts of all the men and women of this Church the dignity of their calling and the closeness of their relationship to God, and to have them feel that they are important in His sight. ¶

We are building temples for the express purpose of bestowing blessings upon the people and preparing the people for eternity. We have come to the earth for that purpose. We have not come here to be like so many animals—to eat, drink and die. That is not the purpose that God had in view in sending us here. We are filled with the aspirations of Deity. We have great and godlike qualities lying latent and undeveloped within us; but they will be developed for we are the offspring of God, and He wants to make us like Himself. That is why He has sent us here; not merely to eat and drink, but to prepare ourselves for eternity. How shall we live in eternity? I said in the beginning of my remarks that the religious world did not tell us anything about this, for they did not know. Will husband know his wife? Will wife know her husband? Will there be any closer tie between the husband and the wife in eternity than between the husband and a strange man? “I think not,” the religious man will say; “The Savior says there is no marrying or giving in marriage in the resurrection, and I think, therefore, that we will all live separately.” Well, how about these delightful associations that we have in this life? How is it that when men are separated from their wives, or when women are separated from their husbands, they frequently die themselves? How is it that mothers, when they lose a loved child, almost feel as though they wanted to die, too, and do sometimes die through grief? Are these affections anything? Are they to be obliterated? Are none of them to survive the resurrection? Are we to be mixed like so many cattle in eternity? Is that the fate which awaits men and women, created in the image of God? Is the procreative power to be lost—that gift which is the greatest that God has given to a human being? Are all these affections that are so delightful and so tender to be crushed out and never have room for expansion? Why, is it the most hideous thought that can be presented to reflecting men and women. No; God has taught us better than this. He has revealed to us that these relationships that are so tender and that make life so delightful will exist beyond the grave. Wife will be united to husband. Children will be united to parents. The family relationship will exist in eternity, and the glory of a man and a woman will be in dwelling in the midst of their posterity and seeing that posterity increase. For after God seemingly had exhausted every blessing that He could give to Abraham, or that human heart could desire, He took him out and showed him the stars of heaven and said to him: “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore.” That seemed to be the crowning blessing—the blessing of all blessings—that He pronounced upon His faithful servant Abraham, after he had expressed a willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. And this is the blessing that God has promised to every faithful man and woman—that to the increase of their seed there shall be no end. This will constitute the great glory of eternity—the man presiding over his family, and being lord over them. Thus it is that Jesus is called Lord of Lords. He is Lord of Lords because His brethren will exercise this power and authority over their posterity. And then what? Why, the creative power will be given to men. They will not be sitting upon a cloud, thrumming a harp and singing songs. We will not spend our days throughout the endless ages of eternity in any such monotonous employment as this. It is delightful as a recreation. It is very nice to sing and to have music at intervals; but to follow it up through eternity, and that be our sole occupation, it would be the most dreary prospect that the human mind could conceive of. There was a concert here last night. Would you like to have one tonight, tomorrow night, and the next night, and every night for a week, and have to go there to sing and hear singing? Why, you would get so tired of it that you would not know what to do with yourselves. That is not heaven. It is one of the joys of heaven, but it is not the sole occupation of the redeemed. What will be their occupation? The exercise of that creative power that our Father and God has exercised in preparing this earth as the abode for man. He called together the elements and formed the earth as a habitation for man; and man, if he is faithful, will progress until he will do that very same thing for his posterity. Abraham, standing at the head of an innumerable posterity, will find it necessary to have room. He will want to emigrate after awhile from this earth and find a new habitation, for there will not be room enough on the glorified earth for him and his posterity in the coming eternity. Thus it is that the heavens are bespangled with the glorious orbs that we see at night—the creations of God, people by the children of God. ¶

And all this God promises to us, if we are faithful. He says, “You shall be kings, you shall be queens, you shall sit upon thrones, you shall sway scepters, and you shall have power and dominion, if you prove yourselves faithful and true to me; and you shall be my heirs, and joint heirs with my beloved Son, Jesus Christ, your Redeemer.” We have built temples that within their sacred walls these holy ordinances can be administered and these promises given and sealed upon the heads of the children of men. We have not commenced to do many things that will yet be done in temples. But we have made a beginning. We have begun to seal, by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, wife to husband, and where children are not born in the covenant, children to parents, or where they cannot be sealed to their parents, adopted to others as parents, for be it known, there must be a connecting link between every generation and dispensation from our father Adam down to the present. And that will have to be done in the temples of God. The marriages of our fathers and mothers—that is, those of them who were married before God restored the Priesthood—were not eternal marriages. They married until death should them part. It was a covenant that they entered into. The priest that married them had no more authority from the Lord to marry them than a justice of the peace has. These marriages were recognized by the laws of the land as legal, but they did not extend beyond this time; they were only until death should them part. Now they have died, and the covenant that they made with each other terminated with death; it was no longer binding. How shall they be united for eternity? If the family relationship be the true relationship that shall exist in eternity between the sexes, how shall those who have died be united one to the other in eternity? God has commanded temples to be built in order that the ordinance may be attended to therein. Jesus died for us. He made a vicarious offering for us. He died in our stead, and through His death we are redeemed. In like manner, we can be saviors, to a certain extent. We can act vicariously for our dead. If my grandfather and grandmother died before they had the opportunity of being married by the authority which God recognizes, and which would make their marriage binding for time and eternity, I, as their heir, can go forward in the temple of God, with the heiress, my sister, who may represent the female branch of the family, and we can be united for and in their behalf, acting for them in this vicarious manner. Thus the family relationship that existed and that was dissolved with death, can be re-created and made perpetual and binding throughout all eternity. Thus children can be sealed to their parents, and one generation to another, until the whole family of man shall be re-united and bound together, all being the children of God. Hence it is as the Savior said, that there will be no marrying nor giving in marriage in the resurrection, because this ordinance will be attended to upon the earth in this manner. ¶

These will be some of the labors that we shall have to perform in the millennium, during the thousand years of peace on the earth, when Satan will be bound. We shall build temples, and we shall go forth in peace and in righteousness, doing the works of redemption that have to be done for those that have died in ignorance of the Gospel and without receiving these saving ordinances. We shall find plenty of employment during the thousand years in doing these works, and the earth will be cleansed from sin. Satan will be bound, and he will not have power to tempt the nations of the earth, and we shall dwell in peace and righteousness. There will be no war, for swords will be beaten into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks, and there shall be peace from one end of the earth to the other. And this is the beginning of it here in these mountains. Already we have a foretaste of that spirit which, when it spreads throughout the earth, will bring about that happy consummation, that glorious period of which the Prophets and Apostles have spoken. Already that spirit has been poured upon us, to a certain extent, and we enjoy it; and when we live according to that spirit, there is no quarrelling, there is no contention, there is no disposition to fight, but we are filled with love. This, my brethren and sisters, as I have said, is a foretaste of that which is to come; and though it may seem to you that it is a long delayed day, it nevertheless is near at hand. All we have to do is to bear patiently the trials and the afflictions that we have to contend with, for the hour of our deliverance is near at hand. The Lord is mighty, and this wickedness that now afflicts men and that is so sorrowful to contemplate, will be banished from the face of the earth; for there will be calamities, and scourges and judgments go forth to remove the wicked; and there will be but few men left, the Prophet says. We are required to prepare ourselves for these things. God has not forgotten us, and will not forget us. He is with this people, and is overruling all things for our good, and if we are faithful He will deliver us. ¶

But I want you, my brethren and sisters, to realize if you can—I want to realize it myself—that which God has done for us. How different are all our thoughts and all our anticipations from those that our fathers had who had not the Gospel. We look at things differently. God has thrown a flood of light upon the principles of the Gospel. He has shown unto us that we lived with Him before we came here. We can understand why our Savior should be born as He was, because through the revelations that God has given to us we know that we were born in like manner. We know that we existed in the spirit world before we came here, and that we are really the offspring of our Father in heaven, and that He desired us to come here and receive tabernacles of flesh, that we might be tempted, tried and proved, to see whether we would be true to Him or not. The scenes through which we pass have for their express purpose this testing of our integrity. I tell you that Latter-day Saints ought to be a people of the strongest friendships. We ought to be a people that are bound together by ties that are far stronger than death. We ought to have a love for one another that would be like the love of angels. How can I be true to my Father in heaven if I am not true to my brethren? As the Apostle John says, “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” A man that is not true to his brother cannot be trusted. A woman that is not true to her husband and to her children cannot be trusted. Such people God will not trust, and sooner or later they lose the Spirit of God and go out of the Church. And this spirit of divorce that is so prevalent in the world is not of God. There is too much of it among Latter-day Saints. I tell you that where that spirit prevails the spirit of God does not prevail. God intends to have a people who will not break their covenants; a people who will suffer death rather than do this. If they have a friendship, they will not break that friendship. If they have a brother, they will be true to that brother. They would rather lay down their lives than be untrue. They will not speak lightly about their brethren. They will not belittle their brethren nor disparage them. Neither will sisters disparage their sisters, nor speak lightly of them, nor backbite them. God is going to have a people of this kind. You remember what the Prophet Joseph said: “O ye Twelve! and all Saints! profit by this important key—that in all your trials, troubles, temptations, affliction, bonds, imprisonments and death, see to it that you do not betray heaven; that you do not betray Jesus Christ; that you do not betray the brethren; that you do not betray the revelations of God.... Yea, in all your kicking and flouderings, see to it that you do not this thing.” We are now in the midst of politics and all sorts of things, and I think we are going to be tried, or are being tried, as we never were tried; and a good many, if they are not careful, will forfeit their integrity. We have got to be watchful, for I tell you God has sent us here to test us as they prove us. We were true in keeping our first estate. The people that are here today stood loyally by God and by Jesus, and they did not flinch. If you had flinched then, you would not be here with the Priesthood upon you. The evidence that you were loyal, that you were true, and that you did not waver, is to be found in the fact that you have received the Gospel and the everlasting Priesthood. Now you are in your second estate, and you are going to be tested again. Will you be true and loyal to God with the curtain drawn between you and Him, shut out from His presence, and in the midst of darkness and temptation, with Satan and his invisible hosts all around you, bringing all manner of evil influences to bear upon you? The men and the women that will be loyal under these circumstances God will exalt, because it will be the highest test to which they can be subjected. It is not as it was before. We were then in the presence of God. Now there is a veil between us and our Father, and we are left to ourselves, to a certain extent. We are left to be governed by the influences that we invite, and there are any number of evil influences around us, whispering into our ears and hearts all manner of things. If we will open our hearts to receive them, or allow them to enter our hearts, we will think evil of our brethren and of our sisters; we will have malice towards them; we will envy them, and we will say bad things about them. God will test us in all this. I have always thanked God, since I was old enough to understand principle, that I was among a people like the Latter-day Saints. The Lord has helped me to stand anything that the world can do. I have been made perfectly bullet proof, it seems to me, so far as the world is concerned. But it has always been a great source of grief to me to have anything occur between my brethren and myself. I do not want to have any feeling in my heart towards my brethren, or say or do anything that will give them pain. I know there is more integrity among the Latter-day Saints than among any other people on the face of the earth. They are true to each other; they love each other; and many of them would die for each other. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” ¶

Brethren and sisters, I would like us to keep before us the grand promises that God has made to us and the glorious prospects that are open before us. We may have our trials and afflictions here. But let our eyes look forward with faith to that glorious future that God has prepared for us, and the great reward that He will bestow upon us. For we shall have crowns; we shall have thrones; we shall have dominion; we shall have power. God will give all this to us just as fast as we are prepared for it; and if we enter into these holy temples and receive there the ordinances that He has commanded His servants to give, these promises will be fulfilled to the very letter, if we are faithful. No one will fail. How was it when you were baptized by one having authority? Did you not have the testimony that your sins were remitted? God accepted the offering. He accepted the administration of the ordinance. He accepted the laying on of hands, and He gave the Holy Ghost to those upon whom hands were laid. And when you come to the altar, and the servant of God says, I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection, with power to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed with glory, immortality and eternal lives; and I seal upon you the blessings of kingdoms, thrones, principalities, powers, dominions and exaltations, the blessings of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob—when the servant of God pronounces these words upon those who come to the altar, and he seals the wife to the husband, just as sure as God lives, just as sure as the heavens are above our heads and the earth beneath our feet, so sure will those words be fulfilled upon the heads of those upon whom they are pronounced, if they are faithful to the covenants which they make; and they will come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed with glory, immortality and eternal lives. When we lay down our dead, after having received these holy ordinances—our husbands, our wives, our children, our fathers, our mothers—we lay them down without a shadow of doubt in our hearts as to the future. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Under such circumstances as these, death has lost its sting; the grave has lost its victory; it is robbed of its terrors by the glorious promises that God has made unto His servants and His children. Others may fear death. Others may dread the future. Others may think that it is a leap in the dark. But not so the Latter-day Saints! The future is illumined by the glory of God and the promises that He has made to us; and when the time comes for us to lay down these mortal lives, we will do so just as we do when we go on missions and the time comes for us to return home—we will go home, with regrets of course for those we leave behind, but with gladness and joy to think that our missions are ended and that we have been faithful, and we will be welcomed by our brothers and sisters and our families. We will look forward with joyful anticipation to the delightful reunion that we will have with those whom we have left, who have been our fellow-laborers and companions in the afflictions of this life, and it will be a heavenly time. Therefore, I say that death has lost its terrors, and the grave no longer triumphs over people who have received such blessings as these. ¶

Oh! my brethren and sisters, what is there that should tempt us to waver in our devotion to the work of God? Shall we hesitate with our means in building temples and in carrying forward this glorious work? God forbid. Let us devote ourselves with every energy of our souls and with all the means that God has placed within our reach, to the advancement of the cause of righteousness. Let us teach our children to do the same. For the day of righteousness is approaching, and we should do all in our power to bring about that happy period, when sin shall be banished from the face of the earth. I feel as though there is nothing on the earth that I have that I would hesitate to give for this great and glorious cause. God has made my life a constant joy. He has clothed my days with peace and happiness, and has blessed me in every direction, and shall I not worship Him? Shall I not serve Him? Shall I not do all in my power for Him and for His cause? I try to do so. I certainly want to do so, and I want to see my brethren and sisters do so. I want to stir them up to diligence. I want to present before them the glorious Gospel that God has revealed, the glorious promises that He has made to us, and the glorious future that He has assured us of; that we will remember them, and that we will teach our children, and not be led away by the paltry baubles of the world, and by the spirit of the world. God forbid that men and women who have made such covenants as we have, and who have been blessed as we have, should do this! God has given everything to us that we could ask for in righteousness. Is there any knowledge that would be of use to you that God has not given you? He has clothed the past with light. He has illumined the present with glory; and the future—it is beyond the power of human tongue to describe that which God has revealed concerning the future! We may occasionally get a glimpse of it in the vision; but we cannot describe it, nor fully comprehend it. ¶

I am desirous to see this Temple finished. I am desirous that when we go away from this conference we will go with a determination to do all in our power to furnish the necessary means. And not only this Temple, but everything else. For God will reward us abundantly. He will multiply us upon the right hand and upon the left. I can testify of this to you in the name of the Lord, for I know it; and I know that God will bless His people if they are devoted to Him and their eyes are single to His glory. ¶

I pray God, the Eternal Father, to bless you. Oh! this is a glorious Conference. I wish you could stay here a week. I feel as though we were near the gates of heaven. I pray God to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Above all things, be firm in the truth, and steadfast even unto the end, that we may receive the glorious reward that He has promised unto us. Amen. ¶