The Promises of God

I doubt very much if it is possible for us to appreciate the blessings that we enjoy as a people—It may be that those who have been gathered from the nations of the earth appreciate the Gospel, appreciate the light and truth that is vouchsafed unto us, individually, who serve God and keep His commandments—I know that my soul is filled with thanksgiving to Almighty God for the privilege I have of being a member of the Church of Christ—Why it should be so persistently called the "Mormon Church" is a curiosity—The Lord has given unto us a promise that is very sweet to us, and that is, that if we will love Him and keep His commandments we shall prosper in the land—He has also given unto us the hope of a glorious resurrection—We do not doubt the resurrection; we do not doubt the ability of God to raise us from the dead, for He promised the house of Israel, through Ezekiel, that He would bring them out of their graves, and put them in the lands of their possessions, and that they should know that He was God ¶

Let me refer you to the revelation that was given concerning the using of wine for the Sacrament—You will find it in the 27th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which says: ¶

3—Wherefore a commandment I give unto you, that you shall not purchase wine, neither strong drink of your enemies: ¶

4—Wherefore, you shall partake of none, except it is made new among you; yea, in my Father's kingdom which shall be built upon the earth ¶

5—Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I have sent among you to reveal the Book of Mormon containing the fulness of my everlasting Gospel; to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim: ¶

6—And also with Elias, to whom I have committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began, concerning the last days: ¶

7—And also John, the son of Zacharias, which Zacharias he (Elias) visited and gave promise that he should have a son and his name should be John, and he should be filled with the spirit of Elias; ¶

8—Which John I have sent unto you my servants Joseph Smith Jr., and Oliver Cowdery, to ordain you unto this Priesthood, which you have received that you might be called and ordained even as Aaron: ¶

9—And also Elijah unto whom I have committed the keys of the power of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, that the whole earth may not be smitten with a curse: ¶

10—And also with Joseph and Jacob and Isaac, and Abraham, your fathers, by whom the promises remain; ¶

11—And also with Michael, or Adam, the father of all, the prince of all, the ancient of days ¶

12—And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be Apostles and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry, and of the same things which I revealed unto them: ¶

13—Unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the Gospel for the last times, and for the fulness of times in the which I will gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven and which are on earth: ¶

14—And also with all those whom my Father hath given me out of the world: ¶

15—Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all ye may be able to stand. ¶

16—Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you. ¶

17—Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; ¶

18—And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of my spirit which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also—Amen ¶

We have the testimony of the Lord as to His having established His Church upon earth, having restored to the earth the Melchisedek Priesthood and Apostleship, and given unto man power on the earth to preach His Gospel and to administer in the ordinances of His house, and we are His witnesses—I can also bear witness to the truth of the expression of President Joseph F. Smith this morning with regard to men, besides the general authorities, being anxious concerning this work—I know that men are anxious concerning this work, those that are living their religion, living the principles of righteousness—I know the Latter-day Saints are not guilty of whoredoms and abominations, and fornications and adultery; it would be impossible for the Latter-day Saints to be guilty of anything of the kind, for a Saint is a man who is sanctified, who has accepted the principles of redemption, whom God has redeemed from death—A Saint is a man or a woman that worships the living and true God in the name of Jesus Christ, who acknowledges His hand in all things, who has repented of sins and gone forth into the waters of baptism and been immersed in the likeness of the burial of Christ and His resurrection, and who has received the efficacy of the precious blood of Christ, and who has received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and who has the fellowship of the Holy Ghost—Well, now it would be impossible for them to be adulterers, fornicators—just impossible—I want you to distinctly understand that the kingdom of God is like a man that went and sowed wheat and his enemy came and sowed tares, and we have the wheat and tares growing up with the wheat, and the wheat gets the character of the tares; but it is not so; it is the pure in heart that love God; it is the pure in heart that love the principles of the Gospel; it is the pure in heart that are faithful in the testimony of Jesus, and in the saying and doing of His will and the keeping of His commandments; they love righteousness and hate iniquity; and every man that hath the hope of a glorious resurrection, that hath the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ; that hath the hope of His kingdom to come, purifieth himself, even as God is pure; and they seek to become perfect; they strive to be honest and upright and full of integrity; they strive to keep the commandments of God for their own dear sakes in order that they may please God—If they do not do that, what worth are they? The ancient prophets were anxious that they should get this testimony that they pleased God—My anxiety is common with the Latter-day Saints; we are in our humble way striving to serve God and keep His commandments—I came out of the world for this—That is why, perchance, I appreciate it so much, to think that my Father should draw me into His fold; that He should give me the privilege of the schooling and experience that I have had since the year 1852—We had a powerful testimony at the organization of the Presidency—We did not meet together with any such feeling or idea in our hearts, that the Presidency should then be organized, but our Father in heaven by the power of His Spirit demonstrated unto us individually that it was His will; we knew it; we had the testimony—When I embraced this Gospel President Young was presiding, and I have had my experience under Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow—I know that these men are men of God—I know that they were pure in heart, and that they are pure in heart—I know that their disposition is the love of righteousness—They have endeavored, like the rest of us, to glorify God in their good works, and to seek to establish His righteousness—That is what we are striving in our humble way to do ¶

I know that the Lord hears and answers prayers—I know the infidels ridicule the idea of prayer—the idea of asking a blessing on the food—I think it is very consistent for the man that reverences God and acknowledges His hand in all things, who realizes that the Lord provides, and who understands this in his experience, to say: "Our Father, which art in heaven we thank Thee for this food, and pray Thee to bless it to the healing and nourishing of our bodies, and let Thy Spirit be in our hearts, and guide and direct us as Thy children, in the name of Jesus—Amen." What is there curious about that? Is it curious that a man should have that faith and confidence in God? And then knowing his own weaknesses and his own inability, that he should plead before the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ for the fellowship of His Spirit, for His protecting care, for His divine light, and more, for the testimony that we know that God lives, and that we know that Jesus is the Christ; that He has established His Church on the earth; that we have been the happy recipients of its blessings? "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, for herein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." There is no happiness in this world that is superior to the happiness of the man or woman that loves God and keeps His commandments ¶

And again, we ought to be just; we want to have a part in the resurrection of the just—There are two resurrections, the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust, and individually we will have a part in one of these resurrections—Now we want to be just for our own sakes; we want to be honest, to be upright and to pay our just debts, so that we may owe no man anything—We want to be just in all of our actions to all men and to treat all men right whether they see as we do or not—it does not make any difference, they are our brethren—There was a time when we did not see, nor understand, and we don't know what may be in the future for them—Paul was a persecutor of the Saints, and the Lord Jesus Christ called unto Him, "Why persecutest thou me?" Persecuting the Lord Jesus? Why, yes, when they persecute the Latter-day Saints they persecute the Lord Jesus, for we are His—We do not represent ourselves, we represent Him—We plead with the people in Christ's stead to be fully reconciled to God—These are our pleadings all the time ¶

I am thankful for the privilege of bearing my testimony at this Conference; and when we say I know that this work is of the Lord, we mean, I know that God has established His Church upon the earth with Apostles, and Prophets, and Evangelists, and Teachers, and Pastors, and for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ—I know it—I knew it a good many years ago, and I have a living testimony of this fact, and so have you, so have you my beloved brethren and sisters—I walked down with a young man on the sidewalk, and in conversing with him coming to meeting, his testimony and conversation carried me back to the time when I was of his age—just as devoted as I knew how to be; fond of being in the Sunday school; fond of being in the Young Men's Mutual Improvement associations, and in the quorums of the Priesthood; and of being faithful in tithes and offerings, and in sustaining the Priesthood; striving to keep clean from the blood and sins of this generation; and this reminded me of the testimony of President Joseph F. Smith—He remembers that when he held no authority in this Church he was just as devoted to the cause of truth as he knew how to be—It seems that it is natural for some men to serve God and keep His commandments; they have that disposition, and they love righteousness—I say that the Latter-day Saints are a righteous people—This is my testimony—I am laboring with them all the time and have been for a number of years, as I have said, and for most of the time have been more or less engaged in the ministry—I feel thankful to God my eternal Father beyond expression for the testimony that He has given to me, for the schooling and experience vouchsafed unto me, and I pray God that His blessings may be continued unto those holding His authority ¶

I have all the confidence in the world in President Lorenzo Snow—Why? Simply because for a number of years I have been under his schooling in connection with my brethren of the Twelve—We know his worth; we know that it has been a great benefit and blessing unto us; we know it in our experience, and our hearts go out to him with all the affection possible, for "we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren;" we do, and we sustain them by our faith and prayers because we love them ¶

My beloved fellow-laborers, God bless you, and give us faith and power that we may be true in our integrity, that we may never flinch, that we may be enabled to remain and endure to the end, that when we have finished our probation on earth, we may enter into that glorious rest that is promised unto all those that love God and keep His commandments, through Jesus Christ—Amen ¶