Ennobling Rules of Conduct and Man's Indebtedness to God

I desire to express my sincere gratitude to God my Heavenly Father and to all the Latter-day Saints assembled here for the unanimity of faith and feeling which exists among them, and for the confidence that they have shown in the presiding authorities of the Church, and also in observing the laws of God as far as they have done. There are laws which we do not observe as we should; there are principles of the Gospel which are perhaps too pure and exalted for us to live them as we should; but I believe with all my heart — I cannot consistently believe otherwise— that we are growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, and that the day will come, and I pray that it may be hastened, when the people of God will not only be faithful in keeping the law of tithing, but that they will be faithful also in observing the Word of Wisdom, which is a law of God, and that we will be faithful in observing that most sacred and most important law of God — the law of chastity, wherein we may preserve the purity of our own persons and the chastity of our neighbors and associates as we would preserve our own lives. I would to God that the time may come, and that it is not far distant, when the Latter-day Saints will live up to the golden rule taught by the Son of God, (than whom none so perfect has ever sojourned in the flesh upon the earth,) to do unto others as we would have others do unto us; and in this way stop all faultfinding, all bickerings, all jealousies, all contentions, and all strife, and, as far as practicable, remove every possible chance for misunderstanding amongst us, that we may see as we are seen and know as we are known, that we may be true men and women in the cause of Zion and of human redemption, that God may put His holy name upon us and we bear that holy name acceptably before Him. The object of our being here is to do the will of the Father as it is done in heaven, to work righteousness in the earth, to subdue wickedness and put it under our feet, to conquer sin and the adversary of our souls, to rise above the imperfections and weaknesses of poor, fallen humanity, by the inspiration of Almighty God and His power made manifest, and thus become Indeed the Saints and servants of the Lord in the earth. ¶

Let us sustain the cause of Zion. Let no man speak lightly of the principles of the Gospel. Let no one treat lightly the ordinances of the house of God. Let no one hold in derision the Priesthood that the Lord has restored to the earth, which is the authority that He has given unto men. Let no man look contemptuously upon the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as it has been established in the earth through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith, whom the Lord raised up when he was but a child to lay the foundation of the same. Let no man treat these things lightly or doubtingly; but let every man seek earnestly to understand the truth and teach his children to become familiar with those truths of heaven that have been restored to the earth in the latter day. I believe with all my soul in God the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I believe with all my might, mind and strength in the Savior of the world, and in the principle of redemption from death and sin. I believe in the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I believe in all the truth that I know, and I believe that there are many principles of eternal truth that still lie hid from me and from the understanding of men, which will yet be revealed by the power of God unto His faithful servants. I believe that the Lord has revealed to the children of men all that they know. I do not believe that any man has discovered any principle in science, or art.; in mechanism, or mathematics, or anything else, that God did not know before he did. Man is indebted to the source of all intelligence and truth, for the knowledge that he possesses; and all who will yield obedience to the promptings of the Spirit, which leads to virtue, to honor, to the love of God and man, and to the love of truth and that which is ennobling and enlarging to the soul, will get a clearer, a more expansive, and a more direct and conclusive knowledge of God's truths than anyone else can do. I tell you this, because I know it is true. The Lord Almighty lives; He made the heavens and the earth, and the fountains of water; and we are His children, His offspring, and we are not here by chance. The Lord designed our coming, and the object of our being. He designs that we shall accomplish our mission, to become conformed to the likeness and image of Jesus Christ, that, like Him, we may be without sin unto salvation, like Him we may be filled with pure intelligence, and like Him we may be exalted to the right hand of the Father, to sit upon thrones and have dominion and power in the sphere in which we shall be called to act. I testify to this doctrine, for the Lord has made me to know and feel the truth of it from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. I love good, honorable men — even men who may be mistaken, as far as their judgment is concerned, but who try to do right; I love them for the reason that they are my brethren, the sons of my Father, and I would that they might all see the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, and accept it, and receive all the benefits of it, in time and throughout all eternity. If the Lord has revealed to the world the plan of salvation and redemption from sin, by which men may be exalted again into His presence and partake of eternal life with Him, I submit, as a proposition that cannot be controverted, that no man can be exalted into the presence of God and attain to a fulness of glory and happiness in His kingdom and presence, save and except he will obey the plan that God has devised and revealed. ¶

My brethren and sisters, I feel in my heart that we have had a' time of rejoicing during this conference. I wish we had a place big enough to hold the Latter-day Saints at conference. I do not know but we will have to build some boweries or something else on this temple block, to accommodate by overflow meetings the multitude of people who come to conference in the performance of their duty, many of whom cannot be accommodated in this Tabernacle. But we will visit you; we will come to you who cannot come to us, and we will carry our spirit and testimony unto you and exhort you in your homes, if the Lord will give us the strength to do it. Provided my strength holds out and my brethren do not object, I propose, the Lord being willing, to visit the Saints a little, and encourage them in their homes; let them know what we are, what we believe in, and how much we love them for Christ's sake, that they may receive His truth, and be exalted by it and eventually return into His presence. We want to visit St. George, and all the settlements between. We want to visit the northern settlements, as far as we possibly can, and see you in your cities. When we come, brethren and sisters, we hope that you will receive us in the same spirit that we take to you— the spirit of love and of earnest desire for your welfare and happiness and for the happiness of all mankind. We have no ill feeling in our hearts toward any living creature. We forgive those who trespass against us. Those who have spoken evil of us, and who have misrepresented us before the world, we have no malice in our hearts toward them. We say, let God judge between them and us; let Him recompense them for their work. We will not raise a hand against them; but we will extend the hand of fellowship and friendship to them, if they will repent of their sins and come unto the Lord and live. No matter how malicious they may have been, or how foolish they may have acted, if they will repent of it we will receive them with open arms, and we will do all we can to help them to save themselves. I cannot save you; you cannot save me; we cannot save each other, only so far as we can persuade each other to receive the truth, by teaching it. When a man receives the truth he will be saved by it. He will not be saved merely because someone taught it to him, but because he received and acted upon it. The Gospel is consistent; it is common sense, reason, revelation; it is almighty truth from the heavens made known to man. ¶

The Lord bless you. We propose to do our duty according to the light we possess, by the help of the loving Father. I propose to do nothing that I have not the most positive assurance is right, through the unanimity of my counselors, our seeing eye to eye, and our understanding alike together with as many more of the leading brethren as possible. I do not propose to do anything, or suffer anything to be done or sanctioned which will affect the kingdom of God in the earth, except by common consent, or unless we can see eye to eye upon it, then I know we shall have strength behind us, that the power of God will be with us, and the Saints will uphold and sustain our hands. Now, I want to hear from Presidents Winder and Lund. God bless Israel. May peace and prosperity goodwill and holy love for the truth abide with you and be multiplied upon you, is my earnest prayer. And oh! my brethren, be true to your families, be true to your wives and children. Teach them the way of life. Do not allow them to get so far from you that they will become oblivious to you or to any principle of honor, purity or truth. Teach your children so that they cannot commit sin without violating their conscience. Teach them the truth, that, they may not depart from it. Bring them up in the way they should go, and when they get old they will not depart from it. If you will keep your boys close to your hearts, within the clasp of your arms; if you will make them to feel that you love them, that you are their parents that they are your children, and keep them near to you, they will not go very far from you, and they will not commit any very great sin. But it is when you turn them out of the home, turn them out of your affections — out into the darkness of the night into the society of the depraved or degraded; it is when they become tiresome to you, or you are tired of their innocent noise and prattle at home, and you say, "Go off somewhere else." It is this sort of treatment of your children that drives them from you, and helps to make criminals and infidels of them. You cannot afford to do this. How would I feel to enter into the kingdom of God — (if such a thing were possible) — and see one of my children outside among the sorcerers, the whoremongers and those that love and make a lie, and that because I had neglected my duty toward him or had not kept the proper restraint upon him? Do you think I shall be exalted in the kingdom of my God with this stain and blot upon my soul? I tell you, No! No man can get there until he atones for such crime as this — for it is a crime in the sight of God and man for a. father to carelessly or wilfully neglect his children. This is my sentiment. Take care of your children. They are the hope of Israel, and upon them will rest, by and by, the responsibility of bearing off the kingdom of God in the earth. The Lord bless them and keep them in the paths of righteousness, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶