Tithing Educates the Saints

If you will give me your attention I will endeavor to speak loud enough that all the congregation may hear what I have to say. I regret very much that all of the congregation could not hear the remarks of President Richards, and it is possible that there are many here that will not hear what I have to say; but he has touched upon many valuable points and advanced doctrine that is dear to the heart of every Latter-day Saint; for with all those who have Zion in their hearts, her interests are foremost on all occasions. President Richards touched upon the principle of tithing, and he used these words, as near as I remember, in reference to this principle: "The old theme of tithing; there is nothing new in relation to it particularly, but it is one of the most important principles revealed to the Latter-day Saints. If the people dwelling upon this land pay not their tithing, it shall not be a land of Zion unto them." It is very important, it seems to me that we should pay our tithing, for if this be not a land of Zion unto us, then the displeasure of God will rest upon us, for it was so predicted. ¶

There are many new things connected with this principle that I have heard the brethren speak of. I remember on one occasion, and I have mentioned it from this stand at one of our conferences, that I had a revelation in relation to this principle. The Lord revealed to me, that I needed not to open the book of Doctrine and Covenants and read the revelation on tithing, but to speak on that principle as the spirit should direct, and I obeyed the voice of the Spirit. I was told to say to that congregation, that I had the privilege of addressing, that the principle of tithing was given because the people had rejected the higher law; and this law of tithing was given that they might be in training. It was as the first primer in the system of education to the child, and when the people had adopted that which had been given on tithing, when they had absorbed it and become thoroughly conversant with it, and were acting in perfect obedience thereto, God would give unto them again the higher law ; but if a man who paid his tithing did it grudgingly, he was blinding his eyes to his own interests; if he laid his own judgment upon the revelation and paid according to his selfish ideas, and was very strict with the bishop, that he would be dealt with in precisely the same way by the spirit of God. Need I say to you that whenever the spirit of God begins to hew our sides off to straighten them, there wont be much timber left when it gets through with mortal man. That is my opinion, at least, and God has given us this law to perfect us. He has given it to us to bear and meet those expenses mentioned by President Richards, but He has also given it to us for a greater and wiser purpose than this, if possible. We are in training for the greater law; and the man who undertakes to interprete the law of tithing to suit his notions, as I find some of the brethren doing, they will be misled to that extent that they will not be prepared for the higher law when it is revealed. For this is a system of training that God has instituted for the people. I ask this congregation, how many of us are acting under that law of tithing with the free and full spirit of God to direct us? Every man that gives the Lord the advantage is on the safe side. Not like a sister I heard express herself. She had a horse to pay for tithing; she sent it to the bishop, and she put the price on the animal. She said: "This horse is worth fifty dollars, and I want that credit for it." The horse was worth twenty-five, no more; but she wanted a credit of fifty dollars for it or to have it sent back. That spirit operating upon the minds of the Latter-day Saints will becloud their minds to the greater blessings that God has in store for us. ¶

We, today, are in training by and through the influences of the spirit of God. As our President said yesterday, this people are in training throughout the length and breadth of the land for the glorious work — the redemption of Zion; and the man or the woman who puts his or her price upon articles they have to pay in for tithing, and who are glad to shovel off something that they have no use for in the tithing department, God will reward them according to their just deserts. If my heart is right, every time that I pay tithing, I pay it with this view and this understanding before God: — I am preparing my mind and all that is in me that when the higher law shall come, I may be prepared to receive it, and may be numbered among those who will return.-() to Jackson County and go into the order which God instituted to preserve His people. This revelation must be looked upon in this light: We are in a school of training and God designs that this people should be educated, that they may be prepared to redeem the earth and make it like the garden of Eden. This is an important part of the great school which the Latter-day Saints are in today and have been in ever since I can remember, and before, too. Think of it, Latter-day Saints, that when you are paying your tithing you are making your minds liberal, spreading out, broadening your ideas, that when the word comes, you can say, I am on the altar in the Church and kingdom of God with everything that I possess, with all that the Lord has given me," that you may inherit everlasting life in the celestial kingdom of our God. If we give all, we shall inherit all. It is a principle which God has laid down, and I exhort the Latter-day Saints to be very careful in paying their tithing, because this is the stepping stone to the greater law. ¶

The principle of revelation to me is the most important principle we have, in one respect. If men were not dual creatures, and could devise means as to how to proceed and act with certainty, we might say revelation was unnecessary. But there is no act of man, perhaps, that is not prompted by the thought that enters the brain. If that be the case, and man is dual, how necessary that we should be directed by the spirit of God, which He sends to lead men in the ways of life everlasting! How necessary it is to receive it and to keep it that the very thoughts of our minds may be directed by Him above, who gives life eternal. The principle of revelation to every man and to every woman is the safeguard that will keep them from becoming entangled in the meshes of the sinful. ¶

A passage comes to my mind that is found in Sec. 84 of the Doc. and Cov — A revelation given through Joseph Smith the prophet, at Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, the 22nd and 23rd of September, 1832, — four years before I was born in that place: ¶

"And I now give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life: ¶

"For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God. ¶

"For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is spirit, even the spirit of Jesus Christ; ¶

"And the spirit giveth light unto every man that cometh into the world; and the spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit." ¶

This is the spirit that Latter-day Saints are taught to cultivate. That spirit is given; it is yours; it is in the possession of every human being that comes into the world, so far as I know. I see no exceptions. It is the province, and duty of the Latter-day Saints to cultivate that spirit until it becomes as a living fire within them. There is no error, though it may be couched in the smoothest and most beautiful language that can ever entangle the spirits of those who walk in the way of life. Therein is safety. The brightest intellects, the strongest minds, the most powerful men, are swayed like children by the spirits of the air, by the spirits from beneath, if they are not guarded and protected and strengthened by the spirit of God. That spirit is given to them to cultivate it to the extent that it is an armor impregnable to all of the various sects and parties that are trying to drag our people down to destruction. ¶

"And everyone that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit cometh unto God, even the Father; ¶

"And the Father teacheth him of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world." ¶

Hear it Latter-day Saints — you are cultivating the spirit for the whole world. Not for you and your posterity, but for all of the children of men whom God has placed here. You have come out of the world, not to bring Babylon with you. But people have come here from Babylon, and are among the Latter-day Saints with their sins and filth, and we gather it up by the handfulls, sometimes to the extinction of that power that God has placed in every man. ¶

"And the whole world liveth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin. ¶

Who has said it? Jesus Christ said it to His servant the prophet. ¶

"And by this ye may know they are under the bondage of sin because they come not unto me. ¶

"For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin. ¶

"And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice and is not of me; ¶

"And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now." ¶

My brethren and sisters, here is a test for you: ¶

By these things that I have read you may know the righteous from the wicked. Who is it that will receive that spirit and cultivate it? Who is it that listens to the voice of the men whom God has placed to redeem the world and guide in the redemption of the human family? Who are these men? and what do they say to the people? What have they said to the people during this conference? What has the President and his fellow-laborers said at this conference? They have delivered unto you the words of life and salvation, and as true as God lives, according to the spirit that is in me, we will be judged by the words of these men in the time to come. They have given unto you the words of everlasting life. They have given unto you those things that God has given unto them, to purify you. ¶

I testify to you that the Church is growing; that the Gospel is here and men respect it and women respect it. But how many more might respect this glad message that God has sent us if they would but seek Him and be earnest and faithful and prayerful and humble and keep the spirit of light within them! ¶

God bless you and peace be unto you in all of your homes in all of the settlements of the Latter-day Saints. Be faithful that we may have victory, and sing the song of the victorious in the day that is not far distant, which I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen ¶