Remarks

The sentiment conveyed in three lines of the hymn which has just been sung, I think the Latter-day Saints can cheerfully respond to: ¶

“Though the world in arms combine, Happy Zion, What a favored lot is thine!” ¶

I presume to say that every Latter-day Saint within these walls naturally expects to receive something before leaving that will be of great advantage, and whoever comes here with this desire and with an honest heart will never be disappointed. There were none who listened to the remarks of the brethren this morning with an honest heart but received something that cheered them and that will be of use to them. Some ideas were advanced that I never I thought of before, and they were very profitable. We have found in our experience, and will still find, that the road we have to travel in some respects is a very hard one, while in other respects it is not so hard. Much depends upon ourselves in this matter. There are, however, promises which have been made to the Latter-day Saints that are very precious. We have found undoubtedly in our experience that it requires something of a desirable nature to incite us to action. If a person had a strong idea that there was a very precious mine undiscovered in one of these mountains east he would travel along the road to secure its discovery, and would be willing to make many sacrifices and perform much labor and toil in order to get at that mine, and he would endure the scorn that he might hear daily while endeavoring to reach this. This is natural. The Lord knew our natures and dispositions, and He knew exactly what to place before us in order to stimulate us to that course of action which will enable us to overcome the various difficulties that arise in our path of progress. ¶

The first hymn that we sung this afternoon speaks of the firm foundation which the Latter-day Saints have to build upon. We know from our experience that the foundation upon which we have placed our faith is grand and glorious. I know this for myself. I had been in this Church but a short time when I succeeded in securing the most perfect knowledge that there was a God, that there was a Son, Jesus Christ, and that Joseph Smith was acknowledged of God as His prophet. It was a knowledge that no man could communicate. It came through a revelation from the Almighty. That is a very good starting point for a Latter-day Saint, and it is something that every person, who has any ambition at all to advance in this path, will need at some time or other. He will come into circumstances of such a nature that he will need strength, and that strength will come from a knowledge of the fact that the path in which he is traveling will lead him to the possession of his highest and best desires. ¶

The Lord has placed before us incentives of the grandest character. In the revelations which God has given, we find what a person can reach who will travel this path of knowledge and be guided by the Spirit of God. I had not been in this Church more than two years when it was clearly shown to me what a man could reach through a continued obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God. That knowledge has been as a star continually before me, and has caused me to be particular in trying to do that which was right and acceptable to God. There are many things that people may do without being seen by man. But if those things are wrong, they feel in themselves that they are wrong and that God sees them. It is a long time since the knowledge of which I speak was communicated to me in a vision. But it has not been forgotten. When it was first shown to me it was personal property; I dared not communicate it. It was something that I had never heard before. Now, however, it is public property. It seems, after all the education that we had in things pertaining to the celestial worlds, that there are some Latter-day Saints who are so well satisfied with simply knowing that the work is true, that when you come to talk to them of our great future they seem surprised and think it has nothing to do particularly with them. John the Revelator, in the third chapter of his fist epistle, says: ¶

Now are we the sons of God. ¶

That is a strange thing for a person to assert—that he is a son of God. And he goes on: ¶

And it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. ¶

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as God is pure. ¶

These are strange sentiments. Such passages of scripture as this are not very often repeated in pulpits in the sectarian world because they do not believe what is there said. But the Spirit of God has conveyed to us that there are solid and solemn truths in expressions of this kind. Paul, in speaking to the Philippians, suggested that they cultivate an ambition which is quite strange to the people at the present time, though not so to the Latter-day Saints, especially those who are not satisfied to be but babes in the things of God. He says: ¶

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: ¶

Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. ¶

What a strange teaching that would be in the pulpits of the sectarian world! But this what Paul taught, and he understood what he was talking about. He was caught up to the third heaven and heard things, he tells us, that were unlawful for man to utter. Whether Paul got beside himself and taught things that were unlawful, we leave others to judge. But this was what he suggested to the Saints to whom he was writing. Would it be wrong for us to ask the people here to cultivate an ambition of this character? There are a number of sayings in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, that seem strange to people not in possession of the Spirit of the Lord. ¶

He that overcometh shall inherit all things. ¶

What an expression is that? Who believes it? If a father were to say to his son, “My son, be faithful, and follow my counsels, and when you become of age you shall inherit all that I possess,” it would mean something, would it not? If the father told the truth, that son would have something to encourage him to be faithful. Did Jesus to deceive us when He made use of this expression? I will assure you that there is no deception in the language. He meant precisely what He said. Again, Jesus said: ¶

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. ¶

That is a wonderful saying. Is there any truth in it? It is all true. It is the Lord Almighty that said it. We are told in the Scriptures by the Apostle Paul: ¶

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. ¶

I believe that. And when he says that Jesus “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” I believe that also. Do the Latter-day Saints believe these things that I am talking about? You must, of course, believe them. Again: ¶

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. ¶

Could anyone think of anything more that could be given? As President Cannon said this morning, everything that can be given the Lord has given to the Latter-day Saints. Paul comprehended these things very well, for he said “he pressed forward to the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” ¶

In these remarks which I have made we may see something in regard to the nature of this high calling in Christ Jesus. Now I will say what I received in vision, which was just as clear as the sun ever shone. The knowledge that was communicated to me I embraced in this couplet: ¶

As man now is, God once was. ¶

As God now is, man may be. ¶

That is a wonderful thing. It was to me. I did not know but that I had come into possession of knowledge that I had no business with; but I knew it was true. Nothing of this kind had ever reached my ears before. It was preached a few years after that; at least, the Prophet Joseph taught this idea to the Twelve Apostles. Now, however, it is common property; but I do not know how many there are here that have got a real knowledge of these things in their hearts. If you have, I will tell you what its effects will be. As John said: ¶

Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as God is pure. ¶

Now, how is it that God proposes to confer this mighty honor upon us and to raise us to this condition of glory and exaltation? Who are we that God should do all this for us? Why, we are just beginning to find out that we are the offspring of God, born with the same faculties and powers as He possesses, capable of enlargement through the experience that we are now passing through in our second estate. Let me illustrate. Here is an emperor sitting upon his throne, governing and controlling his empire wisely and properly. He has an infant son that sits upon the knee of its mother. That son he proposes to one day set upon his throne, to govern and control his empire. Here is that infant, perfectly helpless, not knowing how to sustain its own life, not able to walk alone, without any knowledge, and here is this mighty emperor sitting upon his throne and governing his vast empire. Who would believe that he could raise that infant up to such a condition as to make it suitable to be placed on his throne? No one would, unless he had seen such things accomplished in his experience; seen the infant develop into boyhood, and then to manhood, possessing all the powers, faculties and possibilities of its father. Now, we are the sons and daughters of God. He has begotten us in His own image. He has given us faculties and powers that are capable of enlargement until His fulness is reached which He has promised—until we shall sit upon thrones, governing and controlling our posterity from eternity to eternity, and increasing eternally. That is the fact in regard to these matters, and there are some people who understand distinctly what I am saying. Does it seem a hard thing that God should raise His posterity and place them upon thrones, to govern and control their posterity from eternity to eternity? ¶

There are a thousand things that might be said in connection with this subject, but I refrain from saying more because my time has expired. There are many things that we have to attend to, and it would pay us well to attend to them. God has pointed out the results of traveling upon this road of glory and exaltation and the promises are sure. The Lord knew precisely what He could do. He knew what materials He had to operate with, and He knew just what He said. If we do the part that He has assigned unto us, and keep our second estate, we shall be sure to realize these promises in every particular, and more than you and I can possibly comprehend. God bless you, my brethren and sisters. Do not be discouraged. The path may be rough, but much of its roughness arises from our own indifference and carelessness. It would be much smoother if we would diligently observe the commandments of God and keep the Spirit of the Lord continually in our hearts. Yet, after all, there are sacrifices to make, but in making these sacrifices there is a possibility of having enjoyment in the anticipation of what will be the final result. Amen. ¶