Remarks

I am very pleased, my brethren and sisters, for the privilege of attending this Conference, and, like all the brethren, I feel that I need the assistance of the Spirit of the Lord or my speaking will not be profitable. We are not given to preparing discourses, but rely upon the Lord to give us those things to say that will be suited to the requirements of the Saints. It is a very delicate position for a man to be placed in to stand between the Lord and the people; but having taken upon us the name of Jesus and entered into covenant with Him to perform the duties required of us as bearers of the Priesthood, we are willing to labor and to give the glory to the Lord. The Gospel is the Gospel of Jesus; it is the Gospel of truth and righteousness, and it is not possible for us to properly preach it without the assistance of the Lord. Nor is it possible for us to live it without the presence of the Holy Ghost. No man can be a successful Latter-day Saint without the Spirit of the Lord. No man can hope to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord unless he keep the commandments of the Lord and preserve himself in all purity and righteousness; for the Spirit of the Lord will not dwell in unholy tabernacles. Hence we are first required to have faith in God. If we have faith in Him, we will then repent of our sins. If we repent of our sins, we will be baptizes for the remission of them; and then our sins are forgiven us and remembered no more against us, so long as we continue faithful; for all the promises made to us in the Gospel are on condition of our faithfulness. Therefore, every Latter-day Saint is competent to sit in judgment upon himself, and to know whether he is in the favor of the Lord or under condemnation. The Lord has ordered that every man should judge for himself, in his own heart, in regard to all the duties of life. As a man thinketh, so he is. As a man decides in his own heart, so he does. If we judge correctly and under the light and inspiration of the Lord, we will always do right. So far as we today are doing wrong, it is because we have judged wrongfully, whether it is in regard to what would be considered important matters or concerning the minor matters of life; for we never do anything without thinking and deciding, and exercising our will and judgment. The Savior did nothing but what was in accordance with the will of God. Hence He was righteous and without sin. The reason that we are sinners still is because we do not always do the will of the Lord. ¶

It is not sufficient for the Latter-day Saints to have good professions and to have really entered into the Church of Christ; but it is necessary that they should continue faithful every day, in all matters doing the will of God. The Lord has revealed to us His will, so that no one need be at a loss to know what to do and how to do it, for if there is not enough already revealed, or should we not be where we can refer to the revealed will at all times, we are entitled to the presence and inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord to inform us what to do. If we have not that Spirit, we are not in the line of our duty as Latter-day Saints; we are not serving the Lord and keeping His commandments as perfectly as we can do. We can do these things if we will, and the Lord is an ever present help. Our teachers, our bishops, our presidents of quorums and of Stakes, and the Presidency of the Church, may not always be where we can appeal to them; but our Heavenly Father is always near, we can always appeal to Him, and be sure of getting an answer; because by repenting of our sins and being baptized we have entered into a nearness to Him and have made ourselves entitled to the Spirit of the Lord. If we listen to the promptings of the Spirit of the Lord, we will never give a wrong judgment. Bishops will not give wrong judgments, High Councilors will not, Presidents of Stakes will not, if they are prompted and directed by the Spirit of the Lord. All the mistakes that we make are when we act independently and upon our natural judgment, unenlightened by the Spirit of the Lord. These can be avoided by living so that the inspiration of the Lord may be with us every day. If the Spirit of the Lord dwells richly in our hearts as it should do, we never forget our prayers, and we never forget to worship the Lord on the Sabbath day. We always remember that day to keep it holy. If the Latter-day Saints do not remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, it is because the inspiration of the Lord is not in their hearts as it should be. All Latter-day Saints who neglect to meet to worship the Lord and to partake of the sacrament are not imbued with the spirit of faith. All Latter-day Saints who are not obedient to the requirements of the Gospel are not enjoying the Spirit of the Lord to that degree that they ought to enjoy it. Where there is a lack of harmony, where there is contention and quarreling, it is because the Spirit of the Lord has not had proper sway in the hearts of the parties concerned. ¶

This is the Church of Christ, and our Father has established it. There are perhaps two hundred thousand Latter-day Saints in the world who know this just as well as they know light from darkness. There is no question about it in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. They have done the will of the Lord and have obtained knowledge that this is the Lord’s work. This being the case, it will be profitable to us as Latter-day Saints to devote our whole time and talents to the accomplishment of the purposes of the Lord and to the establishment of His Church upon the earth. It will be profitable to all Latter-day Saints to make this Church first in their hearts and affections. Why? Because the Lord has told us to seek first the kingdom of God. We have sought the kingdom and have found it and now that should have our attention before farming, before merchandising, and before literary pursuits and the like. The welfare of the Church of Christ in the earth and the spreading abroad of the Gospel should be our primary object. But is this the case with us? If it is not, then we have need for reformation. If the Church of Christ and the principles of righteousness are not foremost in our hearts, then I say all Israel, so far as they lack have need of reformation. If we have set our hearts upon property, whether it be little or much (for I presume a man could worship a little property as well as a great deal), then we are idolaters. He has commanded us not to bow down to worship anything on earth. Every man should feel that the welfare of the Church of Christ and the advancement of the principles of truth among men for their salvation are ahead of his home, of his merchandising, and of his flocks and herds. Let all these be swept away, but let our hearts be set upon the principles of eternal truth. ¶

Should I allow my property to cause alienation to come in between me and my brethren? Suppose a man should ever rob me, and he might be a professed Latter-day Saint. Would he be a brother if he was a robber? I would not care how often he had been baptized, nor what blessings had been placed upon him, if he was a liar, a deceiver and a swindler, he would not be a Latter-day Saint; for I say that a robber and a dishonest man has forfeited his blessings and his right to the Priesthood of God; for the Priesthood of God and its authority can only be controlled upon the principles of righteousness. But suppose a man professing to be a brother should really rob me and leave me without a thing in the world, what should I do? Why, I ought still to serve the Lord and to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord. I ought to have the spirit of charity burning in my bosom. I ought to be able to say that I had not lost the object of my worship in being robbed of my property; for I did not get wisdom, judgment, light and intelligence from my property. It was comfortable to live upon and to make me measurably independent; but my heart was not set upon it. A man never ought to have so much, or so little, nor have it in such a shape or kind, that his heart should or could be set upon it. The hearts of the Latter-day Saints should be upon the principles of salvation. They are far ahead of gold and silver, or of riches of this world. They bring peace and contentment, happiness and salvation, in time and eternity. But the fallen condition that we are in today has its effect upon us. We are so attached to the wealth of the world that we do not so easily discern the riches of eternal life; and when men who are infidels actually deny God and say there is no such person, and ask us if we have seen or talked with Him, we become immeasurably bewildered. Our fallen condition asserts itself because we have set our hearts upon the things of this world, and it is difficult for us, as has been stated by President Smith, to love our enemies. Oh, that we could love our friends! The Lord has said that the very first commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.” How can we learn to love our enemies if we have not first learned to love the Lord our God? I accept the doctrine that this is the very first and greatest commandment. When we have kept that, we will love our enemies, and we will keep the second greatest commandment: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” ¶

These are the labors that we have to perform, and they are difficult unless we enjoy the Spirit of the Lord. It cannot be done with the measure of the Spirit that we obtained in the very beginning. For this reason: it takes years of experience, of trial and of effort before a man can submit himself entirely to the Spirit of God. When he has done that, he can love the Lord with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. Would there be any Bishops’ trials, or High Council trials, or would teachers have to labor among us, if we loved our brethren as we love ourselves? No. What man ever had to submit himself to the judgment of his Bishop to make him do right to himself, to love himself, and to feed and clothe himself? You never heard of such a case. Does a man ever have any contention with himself? No. We are always looking out for and defending ourselves. So ought we to defend and speak well of our brother. Just as we love to have our own virtues magnified, so ought we to magnify the virtues of a brother. And so ought we to magnify the virtues of an enemy. Our enemies have virtues. The virtues are not entirely monopolized by the righteous. Our enemies are not altogether wicked. They have some merit and some virtues in them. We ought to discover their virtues, and magnify them, instead of magnifying their sins. We like our own virtues magnified. Every man want to be thought very good. That is natural. But let that same love of approval and of praise be extended to our brother. But do not set your heart upon property. Do not allow yourselves to be alienated from each other and embittered against each other because of property transactions. I would not have an ill feeling against a brother for all that I own on this earth—and I am not very wealthy. Possibly I have not enough to justify me in feeling bad and having a bitter spirit toward a brother. I say that it would be more serious for me to entertain bitterness in my heart toward a brother than to lose every dollar that I have in the world and to be left naked. A man cannot hope to love the Lord and have hatred in his heart toward his brother. We cannot despise or hate a brother and yet hope to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord. It is too sensitive and too easily offended. It is grieved at everything that is wrong. I say, therefore, it takes years for us to learn to subdue ourselves entirely to the Spirit of the Lord. The key to our success, our advancement and our perpetuity in the kingdom of God is the enjoyment of the Holy Spirit. We want to live for that, and to labor for it. And our labors are just as important in temporal matters as in spiritual matters. It is not enough for a man to pray; he must be good and honest to his neighbor. It is just as important to the Lord that I should deal honorably with my neighbor as it is that I should bow the knee before Him and pray. It is just as necessary that I should do right to my brother as it is that I should come here and partake of the sacrament. It is just as necessary that I should deal justly and righteously with my brother and with my neighbor as it is that I should go into the Temple of the Lord to receive blessings there for my salvation. The blessings that we may have given to us in the Temple, or that may be given to us at our baptism and confirmation, are only ours upon the condition that we love the Lord our God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves; yea, that we love our enemies; for we must come to it. President Smith felt that he was improving in some of these things. I presume we all feel that we are improving. The longer we live and the more years of experience we have in these things, the more advancement we make. If we did not, we would be poor scholars indeed. ¶

Then I exhort you, my brethren and sisters, to be faithful, to be humble. Do not neglect any duty that devolves upon you. Whenever you neglect your prayers, you are on dangerous ground. Whenever you neglect to worship the Lord and break the Sabbath day, you are on dangerous ground. Whenever you neglect to deal righteously and honestly by any person in the world, you are on dangerous ground and in danger of falling into the grasp of Satan. You cannot afford to do it. Satan has great power in the world, and he is more anxious about this little body of people gathered in these mountains than any nation on this earth. Why? Because these people have the Priesthood of God; they have the ordinances of the Gospel; they have the power of God for salvation to the world. Hence he is agitated, and he agitates others and stirs them up with prejudice and evil thoughts against the Latter-day Saints. We have the Church of Christ here, and it will remain. You and I may get shaky; we may fall away; but this Church will endure; for it is established and planted here by our Father who is in heaven. It does not depend upon any one man, or any number of men. The Lord has chosen spirits that have come at this time; and they have been sent here for the very work that has to be accomplished. Let us, my brethren and sisters, develop the fact in our lives that we are among those that the Lord has selected to come here and perform His work. ¶

I pray that God may bless you, and that we may be abundantly blessed during this Conference. I pray that the Spirit of the Lord may rest upon President Woodruff abundantly; that the prayers offered for him may be answered, that he may stand up and speak by the power of God to us in this Conference when he feels so to do, and that he may have strength and power to do it. God bless all Israel and help us to be true and faithful to our covenants, that we may obtain salvation, exaltation and eternal life in the presence of God, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶