Remarks

I will read from Section 84 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants: ¶

For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two Priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies; They become the sons of Moses and Aaron and the seek of Abraham, and the church and the elect of God; ¶

And also all they who receive this Priesthood receiveth me, saith the Lord; ¶

For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; ¶

And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; ¶

And he that receiveth my Father, receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him; ¶

And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the Priesthood. ¶

Therefore, all those who receive the Priesthood, receiveth this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved; ¶

But whoso breaketh this covenant, after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have the forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come. ¶

In connection with this, I will read the following, from the 88th section: ¶

And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. ¶

Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the day will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will. ¶

Brethren and sisters, with your help, through the exercise of your faith and prayers, I wish to say a few things. I have been very much pleased and edified by what has been said during this conference. It has been to me a feast of fat things. The instructions that have been given and the principles that have been elucidated have been presented to the people by the power of God. ¶

I often ask myself, what am I in the world for? Where did I come from, and where am I going? Well, we have learned something in regard to this. We have learned that we existed with God in eternity before we came into this life, and that we kept our estate. Had we not kept what is called our first estate and observed the laws that governed there, you and I would not be here today. We are here because we are worthy to be here, and that arises, to a great extent at least, from the fact that we kept our first estate. I believe that when you and I were in yonder life we made certain covenants with those that had the control that in this life, when we should be permitted to enter it, we would do what we had done in that life—find out the will of God and conform to it. I have not the least idea that I would be here today talking to you, unless it was distinctly understood in that life that when I came into this I would be obedient to the will of God as it should be revealed. Of course, we have forgotten these things; but the Lord is bringing to our recollection certain things in regard to how we were there, and for what we have come into this world. What you and I now want to know is how to secure the position we occupied in the other life when we go back, and that which will naturally be added to us in consequence of the experience that we had in this life; for the Lord has told us that those who would keep their second estate, glory should be added upon their heads forever and ever. It seems to me that no man or woman can afford to do anything in this life only that which directly or indirectly will be in conformity to the will of God. ¶

There is a course that men and women may pursue wherein there will be no failure. Whatever disappointments may arise or seeming failures may result, there will be in reality no failure, as a general thing. As we have heard from the different speakers, there has been no stoppage with this Church. Apparently there has been. There have been time when it seemed as though we were moving backward; at least, it has to those who were not full enlightened in regard to the mind and will of God. The Church has passed through very strange experiences, and the people have made great sacrifices. No people were ever raised up, excepting perhaps Enoch’s, that have sacrificed to the extent that this people have. But we have come along through these sacrifices, and as a people there has been no failure. Why has there been no failure? Because the people, as a whole, have had their minds fixed upon the true principles of life, and they have conformed to their duty, as they did in the other life. The people generally have had the spirit of the Lord, and have followed it. Hence there has been no failure. So it may be with individuals. There is a course for every person to pursue in which there will be no failure. It will apply to temporal as well as spiritual matters. The Lord has given us the keyword in these verses that I have read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants: ¶

If your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God. ¶

That is the key by which a person can also be successful. Paul says: ¶

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¶

A grand object that every Latter-day ought to have before him constantly. What is that prize? I have been reading it. “All that my Father hath shall be given unto him.” The Savior on one occasion made an extraordinary statement. It is in the 5th chapter of St. John, and is as follows: ¶

I can of mine own self do nothing. ¶

It is remarkable that God who made the worlds, who came down here clothed with flesh, performed mighty miracles, and sacrificed his life on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the human family—that He should say, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” And He goes on to say: ¶

As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. ¶

That is a wonderful saying, and there is a great deal in it. Now, what we want is to have that spirit in every act of our lives and in every undertaking, whether temporal or spiritual, and not think of self. We should try to ascertain how we should spend the money and the information that God has given us. The answer is simple—for the glory of God. Our eye should be single to the glory of God. That is what we have left the other life for and come into this. We should seek to promote the interests of the Most High God, and to feel as Jesus felt, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Inasmuch as we act today and tomorrow, this week and next week, in the interest of God, and have our eye single to His glory, there can be no failure. We send our Elders to preach the Gospel. Who sends them? President Woodruff? In one sense, no. The God of Israel sends them. It is His work. There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an Elder when he is preaching the gospel as the lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children. He begot them in yonder world, and they came here because the Lord wanted them to come. As we are told by the Apostle Paul, “The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope.” It was not a pleasing idea to come here. No one wished to come, only as it was the will of God, and that we would receive through this greater glory. I have not found it so very pleasant in my experience; still I have tried in the scenes through which I have been called to pass to enjoy the circumstances as far as God would give me wisdom and power to do so. A man’s mind should be single to the glory of God in everything that he starts to accomplish. We should consider that of ourselves we can do nothing. We are the children of God. We are in darkness, only as God enlightens our understanding. We are powerless, only as God helps us. The work that we have to do here is of that nature that we cannot do it unless we have the assistance of the Almighty. Those who go into these temples to accomplish the glorious labors there performed feel that they cannot do this work satisfactorily to the parties in whose interest they are officiating unless God gives them His Holy Spirit. Here is the great trouble with men of the world, and too much so with the Elders of Israel; we forget that we are working for God; we forget that we are here in order to carry out certain purposes that we have promised the Lord that we would carry out. It is a glorious work that we are engaged in. It is the work of the Almighty; and He has selected the men and the women whom He knows from past experience will carry out His purposes, as a general thing. ¶

What wonderful promises are contained in this 84th section! Can you comprehend them? I cannot. I can see that God means a great deal in these promises which He has made to us. There may be some strangers here who will say, “You read that from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which we do not know anything about. Why don’t you read something from the books that we believe in?” Now, what I have read here conforms exactly with what the Lord has said in the Bible. The Lord has said that He will give us all that He hath—and this according to the oath and covenant which belongs to the Priesthood. Nobody ought to doubt that Jesus says, and He declares, as recorded in the Revelations of St. John, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” Can anything be said greater than that? Does not that comprehend everything? And there are many statements of this kind recorded in the Old and New Testament. ¶

Brethren and sisters, my testimony is that this is the work of God in which we are engaged. I had not been in this Church two weeks when the Lord revealed to me a knowledge that He was God, and that He sent His Son into the world to be crucified for the sins of the world. No man ever did or ever could receive a more perfect knowledge in regard to the existence of God and of the truth of this work than God gave to me by revelation and the opening of the heavens. From that time on I have tried to live in such a ways as not to lose His Holy Spirit, but to be guided by it continually, trying to get rid of my selfishness and any wrongful ambition, and endeavoring to work in His interest. I believe these are the intentions and feelings of the Latter-day Saints generally. ¶

God bless President Woodruff and his two counselors with a fullness of His Holy Spirit; and may we all live in that way that we may be prepared at any moment to go back into the other life and inherit the position that we occupied there, with the additional blessing and glory that we receive by conforming to the mind and will of God in this life. The prayer which Jesus made before His crucifixion may be offered by the Latter-day Saints: “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and may we so live as to be worthy to receive these wonderful blessings and promises is may prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶