The Law of Tithing

I cannot say that I feel in excellent condition to address the Conference this morning, but it is desired that I should say a few words, or read a few words, to you, as the Spirit may direct—Before entering, however, upon my remarks, I, perhaps, should make an apology, for it is really not agreeable with my feelings to diverge, in the least, from the channel of the remarks which we have received during this morning's service and throughout all the day yesterday; for the brethren have been led on spiritual matters, and they have spoken to us, by the Spirit, and have given unto us many very important truths, suggestions and admonitions, and I would delight to continue in the tenor of those remarks for the short time that I may occupy, but if I do not, it will be because I feel impressed that there is a duty resting upon me which I will endeavor, by the blessing of the Lord to perform ¶

I desire to remind the congregation that we are coming to the close of the fruitful season of the year, and while many of the people have perhaps not gathered as heavy crops as they would like to have gathered, and as they may have gathered in the years past, yet, taking our country, and valleys, as a whole, we are led to believe that the harvests have been bounteous, and that the Lord has blessed the earth this year, and has given to the husbandman excellent fruits for his labors; and it is desirable that we should reflect upon this matter for a little season—In connection with this thought, I will take the liberty to read to you a few of the written words of the Gospel on temporal matters, which I think apply to us in our present condition and at this time ¶

In answer to a question, "O Lord, show unto thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of the people for a tithing?" the Lord answered: ¶

"Verily thus saith the Lord, I require all the surplus property to be put into the hands of the Bishop of my Church of Zion, for the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the Priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church—And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people—And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them for ever, for my Holy Priesthood, saith the Lord—Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass, that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you—And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you—And this shall be an ensample unto all the Stakes of Zion—Even so—Amen—(Doc—and Cov , Sec—119 ) ¶

Again it is said: ¶

"Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice and a day for the tithing of my people, for he that is tithed shall not be burned at His coming, for after today cometh the burning—This is speaking after the manner of the Lord; for, verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble, and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of hosts, and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon " (Doc—and Coy , Sec—64, v—23, 24 ) ¶

I do not read the following words because I think they are entirely applicable to the Latter-day Saints, nor because I suppose for a moment that there is not a large proportion of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have never in their hearts even thought of robbing God—But there are those among us who, even though they may not have thought seriously that they were guilty of robbing God, they carelessly and through their negligence place themselves in a position in which the children of Israel found themselves anciently when the Prophet uttered these words against them, and I propose to read them as they are, and let them apply to whomsoever they will, and whoever are not guilty, of course, will feel clear in their consciences toward the Lord ¶

"Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years—And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts—For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed—Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them—Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts—But ye said, wherein shall we return? "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me—But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings—Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation—Bring ye all the tithes into the store house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it—And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts—And all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts—Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord—Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee—Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered—Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name—And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him—Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not " (Mai—iii, 4-18 ) ¶

Now I want to read another little passage of Scripture—It is ancient, however, but it has an application; and if I read it, you who hear it will be able to make the application, possibly, to suit yourselves, or to suit your neighbors—Rather let us make the application to ourselves, each of us, and let each of our neighbors do the same ¶

"And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought, in abundance, the first fruits of corn, wine and oil and honey and of all the increase of the field, and the tithe of all things brought they in abundance—And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps—In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month—And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel—Then Hezekiah questioned with the Priests and the Levites concerning the heaps; and Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadock, answered him and said, 'Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty, for the Lord hath blessed His people, and that which is left is this great store ' Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them " (2 Chronicles xxxi: 5-11 ) ¶

No doubt, a good deal more could be read from the Scriptures in relation to this principle of tithing, which God has revealed to us in this dispensation, and which He requires at our hands, that we may sanctify, by obedience to His law, this land that it may become indeed a land of Zion unto us; and the promise is, that if we will obey the laws of God, if we will put our trust in Him, if we will draw near unto Him He will draw near unto us, and He will reward us with His favor and His blessing—He will rebuke the devourer, and He will cause that the earth shall be fruitful, that it shall yield in its strength to the husbandman, the tiller of the soil, and to the herder of flocks, He will increase his kine, and will prosper him upon the right hand and upon the left, and he shall have an abundance, because he puts his trust in God; he draws near unto Him, and he is willing to prove Him, to see whether He will not open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon him that he shall not have room to contain them—Let every man who has received the Gospel of Jesus Christ receive this saying, and hearken to these words, for all they are worth—Some men may esteem them lightly, and those who do will, without doubt, fail to draw near, they will neglect to prove the Lord, they will not fulfill the commandments that He has given, and they will never know that God tells the truth, and that He is able to fulfill His word and promise unto His people when they are willing to obey and keep His law—While they who appreciate these promises, who obey these laws that were given anciently, and have been renewed again in the dispensation of the fullness of times, for the blessing of the people, for the building up of Zion, for the feeding of the widow and the orphan, for the spreading of the Gospel of Christ to the nations of the earth, and for the gathering of the people from the four quarters of the earth, those who hearken to these words, prize them as the truth, and apply them in their practice throughout their lives, will come to know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently serve Him, and that He is able to fulfill His promises unto them ¶

A short time ago I met with a brother— I need not call his name, for he is but one among thousands who can bear the same testimony that he bore, and he bears that testimony not only by the word of mouth but by the evidences of thrift, of prosperity, of progress and of improvement which surround him in the midst of the deserts, this season he has gathered in rich harvests, his farms having produced in abundance, while the farms of many of his neighbors are clogged with weeds, and their harvests have been only one-half or one-third what his has been—How do you account for it? I account for it in the fact that God has blessed him, and so does he, for he is an intelligent man, a man that not only labors wisely and prudently, but in the fear of God, and in the desire of his heart to obey His laws—Said he to me and my companion with whom we were travelling: "God has blessed me because I have striven to keep His laws, and because I have been true to my family " He went out there upon the desert seven or eight years ago, impoverished by persecution and exile, being driven from his home and from his affairs, compelled to wander in exile for years, part of the time preaching the Gospel—He returned seven or eight years ago, and settled down upon the desert—Today, out of the earth, the burning sands, he has produced beautiful homes, he has fruitful fields, which are spread out before the eyes of any man who wishes to go and look upon them—He pays his tithing, he remembers his offerings, he is obedient to the laws of God, and he is not afraid to bear testimony to his friends and neighbors that it is through his obedience that God has blessed and prospered him, and made him what he is today—He is not the only one, there are others that are prospered in like manner—And I testify it is because God has blessed him, and his soil, and his labors, and has given him the increase, securing to him the blessings for which he sought and labored—He has acted in good faith with the Lord, the Lord has known his heart, and has blessed him accordingly, and he is prosperous today in that desert, while as to many of his neighbors—go and look for yourselves at their broad acres—They tell the story for themselves—His lands are clear from noxious weeds, because he has labored, and taken care of his lands, and that by his industry and intelligent application of labor, showing that God has inspired him, and enlightened his mind—The Lord has blessed him in his basket and in his store, in his labors and in the thoughts of his mind, he has been inspired and enabled to accomplish the work that he has done; I testify that it is because of man's faith in the promises of the Lord, and his desire to obey His laws, that he is blessed and prospered of Him ¶

I have been blessed—I have been prospered—I might have been more faithful, and I might have been more greatly blessed—But the Lord has blessed me insomuch that I have not lacked for anything that was needful for my welfare—I have not had luxury, nor "rolled in wealth," but God has fed and clothed me, with all of mine, and He has given us health and strength of body—And yet we might have done our duty better and been entitled to greater blessings, no doubt—I aim to pay my tithing—Now there is no use of my saying this unless it be true, because the evidences are there in the books—If I say I pay my tithing when I do not, Brother Heber J—Grant or some of the brethren who look after these things, men of figures, would go to the books, and they would say, "You said you pay your tithing, but you do not—We know just about what your income is, and here is what the books say " So I would stand condemned at once if I were to say to you that I paid my tithing when I did not pay my tithing, because not only the Lord would know I had not done it, but my brethren would know also that I had not done it, because the books show exactly what I have paid—No matter about that, the fact is this, I believe what I preach, and I do not preach that which I do not believe—I am not here for that purpose—I have not been called to that mission, or for that business—I preach that which I believe and that which I do know to be true; and I do know that if men will obey the laws of God, God will honor and bless them—I have proven it all my life through—I saw it manifested in circumstances which occurred in my childhood, and I know that God has blessed the widow and the fatherless when they have been obedient to His laws and have kept His commandments ¶

I can tell you the history of a widow woman, with a large family, who was more particular, if possible, to pay to the Lord what belonged to Him than she was to pay to her neighbors to whom she might be indebted, and she never was indebted to her neighbors, thank God, for anything that she did not pay to the last cent, because the Lord blessed her with plenty, and in her latter years she did not have to borrow of her neighbors, nor did she have to call upon the Church for support either, but she paid thousands of dollars in products and money into the storehouse of the Lord, although she was a widow with a large family to support—I know this—I can testify of this, and that the Lord Almighty blessed her, not only in the products of her fields, but in her flocks and herds—They were not devoured—They were not destroyed—They did not lie down and die—They increased—They did not stray away; and thieves did not steal them—One reason for that was, she had a little boy that watched them very carefully under her direction, and prompting—Her eye was upon everything, she had supervision over everything, she directed those whom she employed, and her children; and I am a witness — and here sits another witness [Patriarch John Smith] — that God, the Eternal Father, blessed her and prospered her while she lived and she was not only enabled to maintain herself and children that were left to her in poverty, in a day of trial, and when she was driven out into the wilderness, but she was able to feed scores of the poor, and to pay her tithes besides—"Verily the Lord prospered her, and she was blessed—I remember one time when that same widow went to the tithing storehouse in this city with a load of potatoes in the spring — they had been kept over winter—And one of the tithing office clerks said to her, "Widow ____, I don't see any use of your having to pay tithing; you ought not to pay tithing—You ought to keep what you have " She said to him, "William, you don't know what you are talking about—I pay my tithing that I may be blessed " "Would you deprive me," she said, "of a blessing?" "No," he said, "I would have you keep your tithing and bless yourself with it " Said he, "There are a number of able-bodied people here that are well qualified to work and produce their living, but they are living from the tithing, and I don't see that a widow should be required to pay her tithing to feed those that are not working for it " Now these are about the words of this man, who was employed at the tithing office—But "no," said the widow, "I propose to pay my dues to the Lord; I propose to pay my tithing, and any man that would prevent me from doing this would deprive me of a blessing " Where is that man and his family today? He apostatized—He didn't last long in the Church—He turned away, and went back to the east somewhere and took his family with him—He probably long since has gone to his rest—And not one of his family is in the Church—I bear testimony of these things because I know what I am talking about—I want to tell you a little more: While this widow was paying her tithing and being blessed, there was a little boy who really thought that tithing office clerk was about right—That widow's boys had to work very hard, and they knew how those potatoes were raised—They knew how the corn and other grain was raised, they knew what it was to take care of the sheep, and the horses and the cows that were tithed, and all about it—They knew how it was done, for they had it to do—And one of the little boys of that widow thought that clerk was more than two-thirds right about it—By and by the widow died, but she left very comfortable property for her children, dug out of the desert here: the children were young, and I confess to you that they were not as faithful in paying their tithes and their offerings as their mother was; they had lost their mother, and what was the result? In a few years, everything that she left them had gone to rack and ruin—That was the result—The cattle were turned out upon the range, and that was the last they ever saw of them—The neighbors' cattle broke into the fields and destroyed the crops, and they did not reap the harvests they had done before; and it was only a few years after the death of the widow when the children had not much to show for what was left them, and it was not until they became old enough to appreciate the truth, and to commence to obey the laws of God and keep His commandments, that the Lord began to bless them again, to build them up, to increase their substance, and to give them what was necessary for their good—And as they have obeyed the commandments of God, the Lord has blessed them—He will continue to do it while time endures, if they continue faithful; and throughout the countless ages of eternity they will reap the reward of fidelity to the cause of truth and to the laws of God; and so will all the people of Israel—I testify of this to you in the name of Jesus Christ—Amen ¶