Remarks

Discourse ¶

by Franklin D. Richards ¶

Beloved hearers, having an opportunity to occupy a few minutes this afternoon, I desire, before entering upon any remarks myself, to read a very short revelation that is contained in the sixty-fifth section of the book of Doctrine and Covenants, entitled “Revelation on Prayer, given through Joseph, the Seer, at Hiram, Portage county, Ohio, in the fore part of October, 1831.” ¶

Hearken, and lo, a voice as one from on high, who is mighty and powerful, whose going forth is unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice is unto men—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. ¶

The keys of the Kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the Gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth until it has filled the whole earth. ¶

Yea, a voice crying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom. ¶

Pray unto the Lord, call upon His holy name, make known His wonderful works among the people; ¶

Call upon the Lord, that His Kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of His glory, to meet the Kingdom of God which is set up on the earth. ¶

Wherefore may the Kingdom of God go forth, that the Kingdom of heaven may come, that Thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that Thy enemies may be subdued; for Thine is the honor, power and glory, for ever and ever. Amen. ¶

I felt inclined to read this revelation, as it seems to be the most direct one given to the Latter-day Saints upon the subject of prayer. Before the days of the Savior, John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray, and when the Savior had come, the brethren seemed to think that He, being greater than John the Baptist, and the work being advanced by His coming, could teach them better than he, and they wanted to know of Him how to pray. He taught them, as Latter-day Saints do all know; and this seems to be the direction and object of the prayer, that we should ask God and importune with Him that His kingdom may come and His will be done as in heaven so upon the earth, that it may be prepared for the kingdom of heaven to come, when the Son of Man shall descend from heaven, clothed in the brightness of His glory. ¶

From this revelation just read, it appears that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the great point at which all our prayers should be directed. It seems to be the great leading object of our work here upon the earth, to be endeavoring continually to spread abroad the kingdom of God here on the earth. It is the point, starting from whatever radius we will, that all the lines of our operations should be centered in—the one great and glorious event, when He shall come and take to Himself His ruling power, and rule and reign on the earth, King of nations, as He reigns already King of Saints. It would appear, from the spirit of this prayer and from the phraseology of it, that its tendency and its concentration of purpose would all point to that great event which is to be brought to pass—the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth. It is what the military man would say, the point d’appui —the point of all our operations and all our evolutions of life, as the armies of Israel and as the strength of the house of God, to be working in that direction. The Lord told the Elders in many of the early revelations, Ye know not the work that you are doing. Ye are called upon to lay the foundation of a great and a mighty work in the earth. The Prophet Joseph and all the early Elders, in the days of their liberty and freedom, when the light of revelation shone upon them continually, talked of and dwelt much upon the enlargement of the kingdom of God, the extension of the powers of His Priesthood and of His work, to prepare the people upon the earth that they should be ready for His coming and for the coming of those holy ones whom He will bring with Him, named in this revelation as the kingdom of heaven. ¶

I bear testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, this afternoon, that no less than this is the work in which we are now engaged. All the vicissitudes of the latter-day work, however pleasant or unpleasant they may seem to us, are couched in, contemplated by, and constitute a part of this great movement, which is to bring to pass the great event here spoken of. The work which is upon us in these latter days, as it appears to my mind, is the greatest dispensation that has been given to man, or that any of the Prophets have considered, unless we should except the grand, the deep and potential remark of the Savior when He spoke to the disobedient Jews and told them that upon them should come all the righteous blood that had been shed in the days of Abel down to the days of Zachariah, who was slain in their day between the porch and the altar. In that potential saying was couched a responsibility devolving upon that generation which the human mind, without the revelations of the Holy Ghost, cannot comprehend. ¶

To us in the dispensation of the fulness of times it is given to labor for the gathering together of all things which are in Christ Jesus, not only which are on the earth, but which are in the heavens also—a work which the Prophet Joseph, while with us, labored continually to unfold to our view, by setting forth in some of his last sermons the great responsibility that rests upon the people to hunt out and administer for their dead for the gathering together of all things which are in Christ, which are in heaven and which are upon the earth! What a saying! Who can contemplate the extent, the height, the depth and the breadth of the signification of that expression? Yet who is there of us, among all the vast assemblies of God’s people, who is not directly interested, absolutely affected personally in that work and in its mighty results and consequences? And how often are we, by the trivial circumstances of life, allowing ourselves to be diverted from these great and momentous consideration into many things which are exceedingly unworthy of us as Latter-day Saints? Yet the Lord has cared for us, and is caring for us continually. His work, as we see from these unbounded expressions, is a work which is so far beyond our comprehension that it is worthy indeed the character of a God. He has been working with us ever since we first came to learn of the truth. ¶

How singular it was that you and I got the spirit of gathering in the way that we did! When we came to hear the Gospel we became as strangers right in the lands in which we were born. That has been the condition of all faithful Saints in all periods of the earth of which we have any account. It was so with father Abraham. The Bible tells us but very little about him. Other histories inform us that so severe was his persecution, which yet an infant, that his mother had to take him and hide away in a cave of the earth; and his parents were so anxious concerning him that they carried food and sustained him and his mother for a long time. The sorcerers and the astrologers were stirred up to anxiety and curiosity, because there had another star appeared in the heavens at the birth of that boy Abraham. They thought it meant something, that it was significant, and it was whispered to the king, who tried to get the boy out of the way. Abraham’s father, Terah, brought forth a child, by the king’s command, from one of his other women, that was born just about the same time, and the king caused it to be destroyed. After awhile the mother of Abraham, thinking the anger of the king was appeased, ventured out with the boy. ¶

Another history tells us that he was placed to dwell awhile with Shem, the good old patriarch, and lived several years with him, hid up and secluded, studying the things of God. He loved righteousness, and, hungering for more righteousness, got away from the idolatry of his relations, and even of his father’s house, and was for some time studying the things of God in the houses of those early patriarchs that had just come through the flood. When he ventured to come out again, and it was found out that he was that same Abraham, the wrath of the king was aroused with double fury, and this time he was seized upon and put into a fiery furnace. The Bible does not tell us of this, but other histories do. The Mohammedan’s bible tells him of it. It is in the Koran. Abraham was so dealt with by this persecution that he wondered where he could find a place on the earth, wherein he could dwell in safety. The Lord told him to get him up out of that country, and He would show him a place, a little way off, that he should have for his own some time. ¶

This is just the feeling and spirit that took hold of many of us Latter-day Saints in the various nations where we heard this Gospel. We became all at once strangers. Our relations and best friends became our enemies, many of us were turned out and found a gathering place with the Saints, as it is written, “Gather my Saints together who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” This faith in the Gospel comes as a matter of sacrifice to the worldly. When we began to gather together and became a few in number, behold the wrath of the ungodly was such that it pervaded the township, or the settlement, or the Church abroad where we were, and scattered it, like the terrible wind, that blew the mustard stalk, scattered the seed abroad. Thus numerous converts were gathered into the Church, and the sacrifice brought in a harvest of souls, as the farmer sacrifices his seed to sow it upon the land, that it may bring forth the bread in the season thereof. Thus the work of the Lord has been the gathering of His Saints who covenanted with Him by sacrifice. ¶

It was so when we were driven out from Missouri and from Illinois. It will not do for me to stop to detail it to you. You know when we were driven from Missouri the kind sympathies of the people in Illinois received us among them, and we went through the counties there. Brethren took up farms, went to work, and labored in every way, and the truth was spread everywhere. A good many strong men in the Church embraced the Gospel in that period, and have grown up with us and established their seed in righteousness upon the earth. ¶

This has been the way of the Lord with us. When we were scattered from Illinois, we came out here, and our enemies thought they had got rid of the plague of Mormonism. The Lord led us. See how kind He was about it! Behind a frowning providence He hid that blessed smiling face. When he saw the horrors of war were coming, and that the revelation given to the Prophet Joseph at Christmas, 1832, must be fulfilled, He in His mercy would not have us stay there and be mixed up in that fratricidal war. In His great love for us, He allowed a mob to come upon us and demand of us that we should leave the country, just in time to save us from going into the ranks of bloody strife, laying down our lives, and perhaps many placing ourselves in the position that we could not make an acceptable offering unto the Lord in His holy temple. David, the man of God, because he was a man of much blood, was not allowed to build the temple; but God in His mercy spared us this terrible stain by bringing us out here. ¶

Here for many years what a great peace we have had! When the Lord made President Young to be our Governor, then were we happy. We only wanted to know the will of the Lord, we did it, and were prospered. The earth under our feet was blessed to us continually. Our hearts and our homes were sanctified. The earth, having rested for ages, brought forth its strength to us, as we in the states knew nothing about. ¶

After awhile we had to put up with a good deal of unpleasantness from our red brethren, the Lamanites. When emigrants traveled across the continent they considered they were doing God service in killing the red men. Then in turn the red man’s revenge was spent upon our brethren. By and by a Governor was appointed to come among us who determined that we should no longer have the public arms, even to celebrate the 4th of July with. The boys must not have swords with which to study sword exercise, and some that had wooden swords were placed under arrest for this childish employment. What was the result of it? Let me call your attention carefully to a consideration of the particular feature, that while in their wrath and in their determination to break down every means that we had for defense and leave the Indians to prey upon us, the heavens understood this, and turned the wrath of the Indians away till we have never had occasion to get up an Indian campaign since. ¶

Is not the goodness of God manifest in this providence, when it was determined that we should have nothing to defend ourselves with? Certainly it is, and the Latter-day Saints who contemplate it must consider it as a manifestation of God’s great kindness to us. He had not forsaken us; but with the taking away of these arms has been taken away apparently every vestige of ill-feeling on the part of the savages around us, and instead of their showing hostility to us, they come to the Presidency, who counsel them to keep peace among themselves and with the whites, and stop the shedding of blood. This excellent advice has preserved the lives of many people, as well as maintained a better and stronger relation between them and ourselves. ¶

Behold, brethren and sisters, the goodness of God in these things! The Lord is continually with us; and although it was not in His providence that we should be scattered from here, and driven forth on the face of the earth again, still the trials and sacrifices which pertain to our holy religion, can be applied to us here. He allowed our enemies to thicken the very atmosphere with lies and falsehoods concerning us, and we had not the power to prevail against them, and in their turn to oppress us in the exercise of our religious views to a considerable extent, until the prison walls enclosed many of our brethren. ¶

Now concerning the time that we have here at present. The Lord has said that He would soften the hearts of our enemies from time to time, that His work might go on and prosper. From the time of hard frost and kind of winter that we have had in these matters, the Lord has caused a pleasing change, like spring time, to come over us. I want to call your attention to a particular feature in this matter, which it appears to me is desirable for us to consider with care. There is a feeling with us, to a great extent, and it exists today more particularly in the outer settlements, that they would rather be entirely by themselves and excluded from the society and institutions of those that are not of our faith. This is very natural, after all the experience that the Saints have had. But I wish to tell you, it does not do for us to do like the snail—to coil ourselves up in a shell and have it to ourselves, and let those around us and in our midst take care of themselves. The Lord has brought us out here, put us among these hills and mountains, and placed these temples here, in order that we may make our light to shine to the nations of the earth. It appears to me, now that we associate in political matters with many men who are not of us in religious faith, and our sisters associate with many of the ladies of the nation of honorable and high standing, that we should consider that this is a peculiar condition which God wishes us to be exercised in, that we are here as a light set upon a hill that cannot be hid—not to be put under a bed, nor under a bushel, but that it is placed upon an eminence, where it can be seen. ¶

This Temple that is not nearly ready, we resolved at the last Conference should be finished for dedication by next spring’s Conference, and I am certain that it will. Our resolution, united and strong as it was when we sat under the walls of that building, cannot be broken and we expect to see the house dedicated in a short time. Then we shall have four temples in the one Territory of Utah, shedding forth their light, blessing, illumination, and glory to the minds of all who enter therein in faithfulness, in humility, and in dutiful obedience, to help to prepare deceased relatives that they may come unto Christ, that they may be among the number that shall be gathered in Christ from the heavens, when He shall come in fulfilment of this prayer and this revelation. ¶

We should be prepared to associate with the men that come among us in a good and proper way, be honest, pay our debts, and do as good neighbors and good friends to humanity should do. Our examples should be such that people among us should take cognizance of us, and that they should be led to feel, when they contemplate us and our mode of life, that we are the children of God. Not that we should go with them into their saloons, or into their places of diversion, wherein they forget God and defile His Sabbath, or profane His holy name. But that, in all our necessary associations with them, we maintain the Gospel and let the light of it shine forth in our conduct, that we be among them as the salt of the earth. The Savior has said, Ye are the salt of the earth; and if the salt loses its savor, wherewith shall the earth be salted? ¶

I wish to call the attention of the brethren and sisters to this matter, that they should not maintain this exclusiveness too rigidly. When people come among us—and the Lord is sending everybody among us—we should be able to treat everybody with propriety, and let them see that we understand all they know of the Gospel, and very much more. Unless we do this, we cannot emit that light to those that are among us; and if we do this, there will be here and there those who are honest in heart that will embrace the faith, and they who will not will be without excuse. It is necessary that we should be thus mixed up in these various capacities, and people sent among us, that they may be acquainted with us, in order that we may by association impart to them the virtues that we possess, but not that we should imbibe in vices which they may bring with them into our midst. ¶

Herein we know the brethren sometimes feel confused and scarcely know what is right; but, my brethren, this is another lesson from the Lord to each and everyone, that they may find out what is right. If you are of a doubtful heart and do not know the way to do this or to do that, go and find your secret places; find your way into the closet; get one, if you have to make it out of the sagebrush and willows, and ask the Lord for His Spirit to give you judgment and to understand whether you shall do this or do that, whether you shall join this or the other, that in every occupation and pursuit you may take such a course that you shall look back upon in times to come and feel thankful that you did as you did, and not look back with sorrow or regret at what you have done and wish you had done some other way. This is the course that all who are dutiful should take. They should learn that it is their duty to obey the Lord, hearken to His counsel, and walk in the ways of life. For a great many hardly know the way that would be satisfactory to themselves and those they are associated with. Then is the time to seek thy closet, “And when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly,” by leading you to take a proper and faithful course, that you will ever look upon with pleasure and satisfaction. ¶

We are living in a day when a great deal has to be done before this revelation and prayer can be answered. We seem to be going at a very slow rate in propagating the Gospel among the nations of the earth. But the Lord has said that He will cut his work short in righteousness. He has promised that He will hasten it in His time. Some have wanted to know how it was going to be done, and I wish to mention some little pertaining to this matter. The Book of Mormon is now translated and published in about ten different languages—the English, the French, the German, the Italian, the Welsh, the Spanish, the Danish, the Swedish, the Hawaiian, the Maori and the Dutch. It is also translated into the Jewish tongue, and I believe is translated into, but not published in, the Hindustani—a language that extends over a vast area of territory on the other continent. ¶

Now, what good are these doing if thousands of copies are lying on the shelves of our offices, as was told us yesterday, instead of being brought out and put to use? In 1851 there was a great exposition got up in London, the first of the kind that is now quite common in the earth. It was held in Hyde Park; I was there on a mission at that time, and I went and visited it. It was 1,851 feet long, allowing a foot for every year, and it was devised by the noble Prince Albert. Soon, there being such a spirit of national importance connected with it, France had to have one, the United States had one, and it had been followed up occasionally by the different nations. Now we have come to a time when in 1893 we expect, Providence permitting, that there will be a world’s exposition in the United States, looked upon as the leading nation, foremost in enterprise, foremost in liberty; and people will come from every one, as far as practicable, of the great nations of the earth. If it shall prove a success it will be but a few years till other great nations will want world’s expositions. ¶

The seven thousand Seventies that we have in the Church—for be it known the Presidents of the Seventies are everywhere ordaining people into the Seventies, and they have over one hundred quorums—may well be looked upon as the bone and sinew of Israel. Suppose these quorums should work up this matter, and consider that something rested upon their shoulders to get the Gospel to the nations of the earth, and should get up a department to one of these great expositions—say next year—and have all these different translations of the Book of Mormon in that exposition. When the visitors come up, say from St. Petersburg (they will not let a Mormon go into that empire to preach the Gospel), but the Czar will have some of his ministers at the exposition, who may be glad to get hold of the Book of Mormon. They can read it either in the French or German, and carry it over to the old country, and it would be sure to burn wherever they laid it down till some honest heart got hold of it and found out what it contains. ¶

We have not got the book in the Slav language, nor in the Chinese, but we have the Spanish translation. There is not only this Spanish, but there is the Italian, and between the Spanish and the Italian, nearly all the Latin nations, particularly all those that occupy South America, that can be at this exposition can take this Book of Mormon home. If the Elders cannot go to them they will be doing themselves a good turn to come up to the land of Zion and get the word of the Lord and take it home with them. When we come to the eastern continent there are the French, the German, the Danish, the Swedish, the Italian, and they can take them home to their countries if there is only someone on hand when they are wanted to remind them that there is a chance to have them. Just as sure as there are honest hearts there, the Lord will stir them up by dreams or manifestations of some sort, until they get to know the truth in their own languages. ¶

It seems to me that we are making slow work of the spread of the Gospel to the nations of the earth. The Lord says He will cut His work short in righteousness. Does it not look as though He knows how to do it? Make the nations come up to the land of Zion, and there by change and interchange with one another, get the way open so that the gospel can be sent among them. Concerning this North America, we have the English language; then the Spanish to work in the Mexican country and on the western coast, where they are more cosmopolitan; and it looks as if the Lord was opening up the way for the Church to send the Gospel to the nations of the earth one way or another. I feel that this is the great work that is upon us, to send the Gospel to the human family, to give them the chance to get out if they will from governments and laws which are so strict that we cannot go with impunity among them. ¶

We live in a time, as I before remarked, in which we have to look forward to the accomplishment of great purposes. We are now nearly closing this century. How wonderfully hath the Lord wrought! Motive power has been discovered, invented and improved upon, until, where it used to take months to cross the Atlantic, it can now be crossed in about six days. We have been blessed, too, with the communication by electricity, wherein we get word now from almost round the world so instantaneously that it is said to neutralize space and time; and we talk 50 or 100 miles apart with each other by the telephone, just as if we were in the next room. What will the Lord do in the next 50 years? Let us open our eyes to the subject. Let us consider well the work that is on hand, and let us try and conform ourselves to the wondrous times in which we live. ¶

I would exhort you again, my brethren and sisters, that you forget not how to pray, to pray in the language of this revelation that I have read to you, that His kingdom may go forth upon the earth and may be ready for the kingdom of heaven to come down with Him when He shall come to the children of men upon the earth. I do not need to tell you that this is the work of the Lord—you know just as well as I do. You have found out by the same general experience that I have found it out; and now, having found it out, it is our duty to lay hold of it and live according to it. May the Lord help us to do so, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶