Discourse

The highest calling the Lord ever called any human being to, in any age of the world, has been to receive the Holy Priesthood, with its keys and powers, and to be called to go forth to the inhabitants of the earth and teach them the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to qualify and prepare them for a part in the first resurrection and to go back into the presence of God, their Creator, to dwell in glory world without end. The Lord bestowed that blessing, that Priesthood and that power in the beginning of creation. Father Adam was called of God and ordained to the fullness of the Melchisedek Priesthood—ordained to the highest office and gift of God to man on the earth. Adam bestowed that blessing upon seven of his sons—Seth, Enos, Jared, Canaan, Mahalaleel, Enoch and Methuselah. They were all ordained High Priests by their father Adam, and possessed the privilege and the right to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to give it to the human family, so that they might qualify and prepare themselves for eternal life. In tracing the history of the dealings of God with men from that day to this, we find the Lord has in various dispensations and times given unto the sons of men that blessing. Israel had it in the beginning, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob down, and until Moses, who traveled with the children of Israel forty years in the wilderness. They had the fits and graces of that Priesthood bestowed upon them, and they had the privilege of magnifying their callings and preparing themselves for eternal life. But Israel would not accept the Melchisedek Priesthood, and therefore it was taken from them, and the Lesser Priesthood was conferred upon them while they traveled in the wilderness. It is not necessary for me to spend time in tracing this Priesthood through the six thousand years that have past and gone; but it has been manifest in every age and dispensation when God has had prophets and apostles on the earth. Jesus Christ came into the world in the meridian of time. He was the Great High Priest of Israel. He was the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He chose His Apostles, He organized His Church. He bestowed upon these Apostles all the gifts and graces belonging to the Apostleship. In that dispensation it seems that they were called to lay down their lives for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. The Savior himself was put to death. The Apostles were all, with one exception, put to death in their day and time, until finally the Priesthood was taken home to God, and remained there for a length of time. But my views are that whenever the inhabitants of the earth were prepared for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Priesthood, it has been bestowed upon them. ¶

In the days of the Savior and His Apostles, John the Revelator, while upon the Isle of Patmos, gave an outline of great events which were to transpire in the last dispensation of the fulness of times. Other Prophets and Apostles, who spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, left on the pages of history a record of what the Lord would do in the last dispensation. Among the great events that the Revelator saw was the one described in the 14th chapter of his Revelation, and which is often quoted by our elders, because it is very applicable. ¶

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, ¶

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come. ¶

If this revelation had not been fulfilled, neither you nor I would be here today, this Tabernacle would not be erected, this city would be still part of the Great American Desert, as we found it; but in the fulfillment of the revelations of God, these things have been done and some of us have lived to see them. The angel of God did visit Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God, who was raised up by the power of God as a prophet, seer and revelator, and who organized the Church of Jesus Christ in the earth. From that day until this the work has progressed and the Gospel has been preached. The Holy Ghost has been with the people. The Lord Almighty has set His hand to carry out the great program—to establish the Zion of God in the earth and to prepare the people for the coming of the Son of Man. ¶

These are my views with regard to the calling of men in this dispensation. Gold and silver may pass away; houses and lands may perish; all temporal matters will pass away; but the Priesthood never, salvation never, the kingdom of God never, and prophecy will never fall unfulfilled. We have had Apostles now for upwards of sixty years. Many have died and gone to the other side of the veil; and those upon whom God bestowed the glory and power of the organization of the Church have sealed their testimony with their blood, as the ancient Apostles did. They have gone home to receive their reward; but that organization has remained; the Holy Priesthood has been given to the sons of men and has remained upon their heads, and will remain upon the heads of this people until the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, I say to the Latter-day Saints, we are in this organization today. I do not pretend to say exactly the number that we have in the Priesthood; but we have from fifteen to twenty thousand Elders in this Church; we have many various organizations of the Priesthood, and churches are organized throughout the world as far as we have had an opportunity. I have been called, these Apostles have, many of the Elders have to go to the nations of the earth and the islands of the sea to preach the Gospel to our fellowmen. What greater calling can any man have on the face of the earth than to hold in his hands power and authority to go forth and administer in the ordinances of salvation? Do we prize these things in their fullness? I do not think we do. Nevertheless, so far we have been enabled to maintain our position, and to go forth and fulfill our missions as far as we have had time and opportunity. Certainly there has been nothing in this work that I have had greater consolation in than in preaching the Gospel to my fellow men and in administering unto them the ordinances of the house of God, both for the living and the dead. I may say the same with regard to my brethren who are called to perform those ordinances. ¶

There was something said yesterday by the brethren with regard to our sons and our missionaries abroad. I will say for myself—and when I say it for myself I think I speak for a great many others—there is no joy that I have ever had that has been greater than that which has come to me in having sons receive the Holy Priesthood and go forth and administer among the nations of the earth the ordinances of life and salvation. It is a glorious gift to the sons of men. It is what men have not enjoyed before us for the last eighteen hundred years almost. Then should we not prize these things? Yes, we should. The Lord, in the dispensation of His providences, has given to us an army of sons and daughters, and our sons are called to go to the nations of the earth. We want to instill into their minds the importance of these blessings to the inhabitants of the earth and the saving of souls from sin. You give unto any soul the principles of life and salvation and administer these ordinances to him, and you become an instrument in the hands of God in the salvation of that soul. There is nothing given to the children of men that is equal to it. ¶

This is our position today in these mountains. We have been led here by the power of God—led by a prophet, seer and revelator, President Brigham Young, who was full of the Holy Ghost and full of revelation, appointed of the Lord, who magnified his calling up to the hour of his death. We came here and found a barren desert. From that day till this it has been a continual growth and increase, until we have arrived at a point where we have a tabernacle as a “shadow in the daytime from the heat * * * and for a covert from the storm and from rain.” These things have all been prophesied of thousands of years ago by the ancient Prophets and Patriarchs who foresaw the work of go in the last days. ¶

I want to say a few words to our young men who are rising up among us. I want them to comprehend and understand the blessings that are within their reach. The Lord has given us a large number of sons and daughters. They have got to take the places of their fathers, the same as the sons of Adam had in his day and generation. A great responsibility rests upon them. The Lord requires at the hands of our sons that they shall bear off this kingdom of our God while they dwell in the flesh that they may be justified. The Lord told Oliver Cowdery, “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father.” It requires light, knowledge and understanding; it requires the spirit and power of God for us to comprehend our position, our blessings and our gifts that God has placed upon us. I feel to rejoice and thank God myself that I have lived to see what I do in these valleys of the mountains; that I have lived to see these multitudes that fill these tabernacles and temples and labor here in the building up of the kingdom of God. The Lord has been very merciful to me, and my life has been preserved to pass through these things, and I still remain in the midst of this people. I have to acknowledge the hand of God in the whole of it. I suppose you have to do so with regard to your lives. The fact is, there is not a blessing that God has bestowed upon us from the beginning but has been the gift of God. We should understand this. We have preached the Gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, as far as the Lord has opened doors for us and we have had the privilege of going. Still the world today is full of people who have not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and while the Priesthood rests upon our shoulders we are still under obligation and are still held responsible for the salvation of the children of men, as far as we have the privilege of bestowing these gifts upon the sons and daughters of Adam. Only think that by embracing the Gospel of Christ we can become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, that we can have part in the first resurrection, and come forth out of our graves and be clothed with glory, immortality and eternal lives, and pass into the presence of God and the Lamb and dwell with them eternally in the heavens! Who comprehends this? Do the inhabitants of the earth? They do not. Satan has warred against us from the organization of this Church, to try and destroy this people; but so far we have been preserved. We should be thankful for these blessings. I realize myself that we are dependent upon the Lord in all things. The Lord is our preserver. He is the author of our salvation. Jesus Christ has laid down His life to redeem us by His blood, and through that we have these blessings bestowed upon us. ¶

Among other things, we live in a generation in which the Lord has enabled us to rear several temples—some in these mountains and some before we came here; and hundreds and thousands of people go into these temples to redeem their dead. This is a blessing the Latter-day Saints should prize. It is a duty that is required at our hands to do what we can in this direction. It is a blessing that the inhabitants of the earth have not had for centuries until this dispensation. I hope that no man who has got a record of his father’s house will go down to his grave without having attended to this work. How would I feel, after living as long as I have, with the privileges I have had of going into these temples, to go into the spirit world without having done this work? I meet my father’s house, I meet my mother’s house, I meet my progenitors, and they are shut up in prison; I held the keys of their salvation, and yet did nothing for them; what would be my feelings, or what would be their feelings toward me? They would not like it. I feel that while the Lord has given us this blessing, every man and woman in this Church that has any faith at all in God and in the Gospel should attend to this duty. Jesus Christ, while His body lay in the tomb, went and preached to the spirits in prison, that were drowned in the days of Noah by the flood, because of their wickedness and abominations. They had been in prison for a long time, and He went and preached to them, “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, David Patten, and the Apostles and Elders who have been true and faithful unto death have also gone to the spirits in prison in their day and time and preached the Gospel of Christ to their fathers’ houses and to those who are shut up in prison, and they are laboring there for the salvation of the children of men. These are glorious principles—principles which the Latter-day Saints should not neglect while they have the privilege and power. As I said in the beginning, there is no calling, a man can be called to, any greater than to have this right and privilege to go forth and save the souls of men—save them by preaching the Gospel to them, by administering the ordinances of the house of God to them, that they may be prepared themselves to go into the kingdom of heaven, and into a celestial glory. There are three glories. Paul in speaking upon that subject said, “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.” These glories overshadow the whole human family. Now, how much better it is for a man to receive these ordinances, that he may go where God and Christ dwell, which is the highest glory. But Jesus said in His day, “Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;” while “broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” I think many times that we ourselves do not prize the blessings that we enjoy and that are within our reach. Our hearts should be set upon the building up of the kingdom of God, the Zion of God and the work of God, while we are here and have power to perform these things. It is our duty as the Presidency and as Apostles, not only to labor ourselves, but to send forth the Elders of Israel to the nations of the earth to proclaim the Gospel. Doors are open today among many of the nations for the spread of the Gospel of Christ, and to bring the people unto Christ, that they also may receive these blessings. ¶

Brethren and sisters, this is the way I feel this morning. Of all people under heavens we should be the best, the most righteous, and the most true and faithful to God and to our fellow men. We should be true and faithful to the Holy Priesthood while we have it resting upon us, and true to our labors. I rejoice at our condition today. I rejoice at the peace that has come unto us by the power and blessing of God. I rejoice at the change that is taking place in the world. We are visited now by hundreds of people from the nations of the earth. They are coming to behold the glory of Zion. They come to enquire at our hands concerning various matters, and there is a very different feeling to what there was in former days toward us. Brother John W. Taylor referred to our going to St. Louis and to Chicago. Yes, I recollect very well when we went into Jackson County, Missouri. My labors there have been alluded to. When I went on my first mission in 1834, I had to go through Jackson County on my way to Arkansas. It was just after our brethren had been driven out. I had to go and hide in the cornfields and in the brush during the day, and walk along in the night, till I got through that county, for the lives of myself and companion were in danger there. The last time I went there, the Mayor of Independence came out to meet us with a fine carriage. He had but one arm, having lost the other in the army, but he gave us that arm and made us welcome. I could not help feel the different between then and when I went through there as a missionary. There is a change taking place. Zion is going to rise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her. This people, if they do their duty, will fulfill and carry out these great principles, and the eyes of the world will be turned towards Zion, and men will come to enquire concerning the things of the kingdom of God. We are in a good condition. We are blessed of the Lord. The Latter-day Saints have never been so well off temporally. Go into the houses of the Latter-day Saints, and you will find them in a better position than they have ever been before. These are the blessings of God, and we should prize these things and give God the glory for them, while we try to do our duty and magnify our calling. I want to say that I am in for salvation and for eternal life. I have labored for that since I was a boy. I have desired the gifts and graces and blessings manifest in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. In my childhood I prayed God that I might live to see a prophet or somebody who could teach me the principles I read of in the New Testament. The clergy of the day did not do it. Nobody around there appeared to believe in such things. Well, I have lived to see Prophets and Apostles; I have lived to travel with them and to unite with them in the kingdom of God. I have been in the Apostleship fifty-eight years; I have been in the Church sixty-three years. My whole life almost has been spent in this Church; and from the time I came into the Church I went on missions and have never ceased altogether from that day to this. I have always rejoiced in this, and do today. When I die and lay down my body, I do not want anybody to rise up and say that I have neglected my duty in trying to give them salvation as far as I could. I have always rejoiced in preaching the Gospel; I have rejoiced in administering the ordinances of life and salvation at home and abroad, because I have known that this was the work of God, and I know it is today. ¶

I want to say now to the rising generation, gird up the loins of your minds, prepare yourselves, and realize you have a mission before you. Who are going to bear this kingdom off when we go to the grave? To whom does the God of Israel look to do this? He looks to our sons and daughters that are rising up here. This responsibility rests upon them, and I hope they will fulfill and magnify their calling. There is nothing like it on earth. You may get the riches of the world; they pass away; but eternal life, celestial glory, a place with the righteous after resurrection, with immortal bodies, are worth more than all this world can give. I have confidence to believe that the Latter-day Saints will carry out these principles and magnify their calling before the Lord. I have hopes that our sons and daughters will do the same. ¶

Brethren and sisters, I say, God bless you. I am glad to meet with you. I rejoice in the Gospel, in the kingdom of God, and in the Holy Priesthood. I pray God to bless you, to open your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your hearts to understand. I pray God to open your understanding, that you may comprehend the value and blessing of the Gospel that you have received and of the blessings of these temples and tabernacles in the midst of which you have the privilege of dwelling and receiving the ordinances of God. I pray that we may pursue that course that when we get on the other side of the veil we shall be satisfied with our record. We will find our history and our record there in the great library of the celestial kingdom of our God, and we will know what we have been doing in this life. If we do anything that is wrong we will be sorry for it. We should repent of wrong and try to do better. I pray that the Spirit of God may be with us to guide and direct us in our labors until we get through here, then when we pass away we may be received in the kingdom of God. We shall rejoice if we do right; for our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, and it has never entered into the hearts of the children of men the glory that lies before the sons and daughters of Adam. It is hidden from our eyes today, and will never be open to us until we enter into the presence of God and the Lamb. Amen. ¶