The Spirit of God the Source of Union

While I attempt to speak to you, my brethren and sisters, I trust I may be able to make you hear, and that by the aid of the Spirit of the Lord we may feel encouraged and strengthened in our faith—We meet together frequently as a Church in general conference for the transaction of business and to receive the word of the Lord—We have the ancient Scriptures and we have the modern Scriptures, and scriptures are being made now, as has always been the case when the Lord has had His Church upon the earth, with the living oracles; for when they speak by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, what they say is scripture—We are entitled to know individually whether our brethren speak to us the truth, for it is our privilege to enjoy the same Spirit that they speak by—This is the power that binds the Latter-day Saints together, and that holds us to our obligations and covenants with the Lord and with each other—We are not held by threats, nor by fear, but by love — the love of the Gospel, which has been planted in our hearts and has been growing with the people for these seventy years—We have become a pretty well trained people, and four-fifths of the Latter-day Saints, I believe, are doing tolerably well, and I believe that the one-fifth that are careless in some things, are perhaps laboring fairly well in others—There will no doubt be Quite a percentage of the people that will not be found numbered among the wise ¶

While listening to Brother Brigham Young and to President Snow, the parable put forth by our Savior, as recorded in the 25th chapter of Matthew, was presented to my mind, and I thought to read it, that we might be brought to consider by its examination whether we are numbered among the wise or among the foolish—This is a very important matter; for if we travel along with this Church for twenty years, for thirty, forty or fifty years, and then at the last find that we have failed to save our souls and that we are among the foolish, it will be very unprofitable to us—As President Snow has said, we are gathered together for the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and there is some reason why we should be thus gathered; why we should take upon us the obligations that we have; why we should endure the hardships that we have; why we should, among all the denominations on the earth, be singled out for the despising of all people, and why this condition should stay with us and follow us in preference to any other people in the world—We are a small people, not very important in numbers nor in wealth, and yet every little while something occurs that creates quite a furore in regard to the Latter-day Saints—The whole world becomes agitated and in a ferment over the Latter-day Saints, and there is trouble in the hearts of many people for fear the Latter-day Saints will do something very wrong—What is the matter? Are the Latter-day Saints minding the business of any other denomination? Are we troubling ourselves particularly about our brethren who have other forms of religion? Are we excited and worried over them? Do we combine together with some other people in order to look after the morality and purity, or the immorality and corruption of other people? How carefully the Latter-day Saints attend to their own business! And is it not a proper thing for the Latter-day Saints to take care of themselves, their own morality and honesty? Shall we not give attention to our own affairs, and are we not just about of the same material, the same kind of people, as our other religious brethren? Have we not come from among other denominations? Have we not been gathered from among the Catholics, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Baptists, the Congregationalists and the Christians, as well as the infidels? Now, have we gone to these various denominations and gathered the very worst of them? Have we ever advertised in our periodicals and in our preaching and labors, publicly or privately — have we ever bid for the bad Methodists, the bad Presbyterians, the bad infidels? Have we ever promised them an easy way of salvation? Have we done any of these things, or have we gone to the world conscientiously and honestly and laid before them the offer of life and salvation on consistent and Christian terms? Have we ever promised anybody that they could be saved in their sins? Have we ever asked anybody to come into this Church without repentance, without reformation, without honesty, without virtue? Have we entered into a compact with anybody to be corrupt? Have we promised them immunity from the punishment of the law if they transgressed the law? Do we cover up their sins and hide them? Are we doing that? Are Bishops, Presidents of Stakes, Presidents of quorums, Elders, High Priests and Seventies asking the corrupt and wicked from among the nations of the earth to come to us and we will shield them in their corruption, in their adulteries, their fornications, their thieving and their dishonesty? "Why no—But we have presented to the world a very startling and remarkable work, a work that requires repentance and reformation—And when repentance has been complied with, in order that that repentance may be genuine and the forgiveness of sins continue, it must be eternal—It is not enough for men to repent in order to come into the Church, and then do as they please, but their repentance must be perpetual; it must not need to be repented of—If a man has been a thief and ceases to steal, he must continue to refrain from his larcenies—If a man has been a liar, a deceiver, or corrupt in any degree whatever, it is required of him in this Church that he must cease forever—If he should live a hundred years, he would not live long enough to have any degree of allowance shown to him for transgression because of his age, but the older men are the better they must be—I think that is reasonable; for the oldest of all whom we have ever heard of is said to be good and the only one that is entirely good — our Father who is in heaven—I say the father should be better than the son, the mother should be better than the daughter, and this Church has now arrived at the full ripe age of three score and ten—What shall we do who have been entrusted with the holy Priesthood? Can we afford to be indifferent and careless? We are now seventy years nearer to the coming of the Son of Man than we were when the Prophet Joseph, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, organized this Church—After this extended experience, can we not well afford to be good, conscientious and honest with the Lord—Can we not afford to make our repentance and reformation genuine from this time forth, believing that the coming of the Son of Man, the redemption of Zion and the fulfillment of the purposes of the Lord are at our door? ¶

Can we not afford to do this now, so that when the Bridegroom comes we shall be prepared to meet Him; for He will come; he has always come when he has promised—He has visited the earth in this dispensation and has established his authority and power among men, and the Millennium, the reign of righteousness, is to be ushered in; and it is liable to come in our day—The redemption of Zion is also liable to come in our day—There is doubtless a set time for the redemption of Zion and for the coming of the Son of Man—The time has not been made known to us, and is not likely to be, until He comes—It would hardly be fair for the Presidency, the Twelve, and the presiding brethren to know the very time of His coming, so that they could be prepared, and let the people be indifferent and careless—The coming of the Son of Man will be as much of a surprise to the presiding brethren as to any others—That is, it will occur when they are not looking for it particularly—"We hope to be prepared, and we hope the people will be prepared, but it will come suddenly, and you will know it as soon as we know it—We have the Spirit of that coming, and the Spirit of the redemption of Zion—We have the Spirit that indicates that in the near future the Lord will appear ¶

Hence, the Spirit of the Lord has been very powerfully upon President Snow and his brethren, and they have been led to urge upon the people the importance of reformation, not alone in the law of tithing, but in every other principle of the Gospel—Tithing alone is not enough—It will yield its measure of oil and light, and of inspiration and power, to those who observe that law—But if we are non-prayers, non-partakers of the Sacrament; if we are not found doing by others that we would that others should do by us; if we are not honest and virtuous, the fact of our being tithe-payers will not be enough to save us—But it is pretty well discovered and understood that if men can stand the test of the law of tithing, which appeals to our wealth, they will be able to make other sacrifices as well; for there is a strength and a power which comes in answer to our fulfillment of this law that will enable us to do other things much less difficult—There are many things less difficult than the payment of tithing—In our fallen condition, being of the earth earthy, we love the things of this world, and it is a most difficult thing for some of us to meet this requirement of the Lord—There is quite a percentage of the brethren who have received the Priesthood, as well as members of the Church, who ought to be tithe-payers and are not—I want to ask any man upon whom I have ever laid my hands and conferred authority in the name of the Lord Jesus; I want to ask any brother who has ever had the hands of the servants of God laid upon his head, to confer the Priesthood of God upon him, can you reconcile your course of life, if you neglect to furnish the revenue necessary for the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth? Can you justify yourself in this? I want the High Priest, the Seventy and the Elder to come to me as an individual and show to me his philosophy and reasoning as to how he can conscientiously hold the Priesthood of God and yet decline to meet the obligations that belong to that Priesthood—I believe that there is no man in this Church entitled to the holy Priesthood who will not magnify it—I believe the Lord requires it of every Deacon, every Teacher, every Priest, every Elder, every High Priest, every Seventy, every Patriarch, every Bishop, President, etc—And we will not always be tolerated with the authority of God unless we do honor it—We will be found among the foolish, lacking oil in our lamps and being unprepared for the coming of the Son of Man, unless we attend faithfully to these duties ¶

Is a man justified in this church who fails to partake of the Sacrament when the opportunity is offered? Is a man justified who does not bow his knee before the Lord daily, and who forgets the Lord in secret prayer? I think not—I believe that the Latter-day Saints are required to meet all these obligations and to be as honest with their brethren as they are required to be honest with the Lord—It is not enough for us to pretend to be honest with the Lord, and not be honest with our brethren—We cannot be honest enough with our Father in heaven to justify us in being dishonest with our brethren—We must meet our obligations to our brethren, to our families, to the world—We must deal honestly and conscientiously in all these things—If we do not the spirit of the Lord will withdraw from us, and when the spirit of the Lord withdraws from us, we complain, we find fault, we are not happy, and we are not satisfied—We cannot afford to sacrifice the presence of the spirit of the Lord, because we cannot be Latter-day Saints unless we enjoy it and are directed by it constantly—It seems to be a difficult thing to do to meet our temporal obligations to the Lord—Our hearts are naturally set upon the things of this world—We can see temporal blessings a little plainer than we can see the spiritualities of the kingdom, for they are here before us, and we enjoy them—We are inclined to gather the things of this world around us and to treasure them up, while the spiritual things, and eternal life with our families and friends hereafter, pertain to the future—They are a little ahead of us, and if we do not have the spirit of the Lord strongly in our hearts, there is more or less a question of doubt and misgiving about them—All these things, however, vanish when we discharge the duties that devolve upon us as Latter-day Saints—And we expect to look after every man, through the Presidents, the Bishops, and the Apostles, and see to it that all who have been entrusted with the authority and power of God, shall come to the mark and do their duties faithfully and well, that they with their families may be saved—We want you to be saved; but if you do not want the salvation that is offered through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, why make the profession that you do? There is no salvation in professions alone, or in promises and covenants, nor is there any salvation in the blessings that are put upon us under the hands of the servants of God, unless we do the will of God—I want to bear that testimony to this people, and ask that from this time forward we serve the Lord with all our hearts, so that when the Son of Man appears upon the earth, we will be numbered among the wise virgins of my text — which I have not read; you can hunt it for yourselves ¶

We feel encouraged in our labors, although we are all the time trying to stir the people up—Yet in our councils the Lord has manifested to us that the Latter-day Saints are improving, that they are gaining strength and power, increasing in numbers, spreading abroad and becoming more firmly established on the earth, and that prosperity and success are attending upon them—The best days that we have ever had are the days in which we live now—The kingdom is the Lord's and He will take care of it—It is our business, my brethren and sisters, to see that we take care of ourselves—The Lord will take care of the Kingdom, and no power on earth can prevail against it—As suggested this morning, if it was secure when it was organized seventy years ago, with only six members, what shall we say of it when it numbers over a quarter of a million? We certainly feel encouraged—We feel as though we were on the Lord's side, and that the Lord is on our side—We know He is, for He talks to us and directs us in all things pertaining to this Kingdom—He sustains His servant the Prophet, and magnifies him in the eyes of the people—The will of God is known, and the keys and authority of God are always present—The Lord has established His work, and ¶

He will preserve it— God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and may His Spirit fill our hearts, that we may rejoice exceedingly in this conference, is my prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord—Amen ¶