Settling Difficulties Privately and Honoring the Priesthood

My brethren and sisters, I rejoice very much in the teachings of this conference, and in the way that President Smith has been led to conduct the conference. I would like to say to the Bishops that it is a good example for you to follow. It is impossible for the work of the Lord to be carried on by the intelligence of man, or by any premeditated arrangement carried out in a mechanical way. As the President of the Church has been led to conduct our conference, so ought every Stake President to conduct his Stake conference, and every Bishop to conduct his ward conference, as well as his meetings in general. I do not mean by that that you should follow it in mechanical detail, but that you should follow the whisperings of the Holy Spirit; for this is what has been done during this conference, as it has no doubt in the conferences of the past. We rejoice to hear the testimonies of our brethren who preside over the Stakes. I rejoice to be associated with men such as they are; and if I were as sure of my salvation as I am of the salvation of such men as have stood before us this afternoon, I would be exceedingly delighted. They are men of God, and we who live in the Stakes of Zion ought to look to these men for counsel, and not, when we have difficulties to settle, always run to one of the Twelve Apostles, or to one of the presiding Council of Seventies, when they are in the Stake. We ought to settle our troubles right in the Ward where they occur, and there ought to be a more strict observance of the law of God in regard to the adjustment of difficulties. Where there are differences between brethren and sisters, they ought to try and settle them in the way indicated by the Savior — between themselves, in the spirit of prayer; not with a determination to show how wrong your brother is, but in the Spirit of the Lord seek to be reconciled with your brother. If this will not accomplish it, then call in the Teachers of the Ward, and let them act as peacemakers; for blessed are the peacemakers. And when the Teachers find a difficulty in a family, they have no business to tell it to anybody else or to circulate it on the streets. They ought to guard such things with the utmost sacredness. ¶

The Lord has laid down His law on this subject, as well as on all other subjects affecting the welfare of the Church. In Section 42 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, it is written: ¶

"And if thy brother or sister offend thee, thou shalt take him or her between him or her and thee alone; and if he or she confess, thou shalt be reconciled." ¶

That is, it shall not be harped upon or talked about after it has been settled. Every man ought to esteem himself as put upon honor, after a difficulty is settled, not to stir it up or resurrect it among the people of God, but let it be settled forever. When Teachers find difficulties existing in families that they can settle without reporting them to the Bishop, it is not a duty in the sight of God that the Bishop even should know of them. In fact, I do not suppose the Bishop wants to know the failings of the people, if they can be rectified without his knowledge. The Lord has laid down the doctrine that the confession shall be as broad as the offense. If I offend my brother, I must make it right with my brother; and it is hypocrisy to go and ask the forgiveness of God until I have become reconciled with and made restitution to my brother. The Lord says: "If any one offend openly, he or she shall be rebuked openly, that he or she may be ashamed. And if he or she confess not, he or she shall be delivered up unto the law of God. ¶

"If any shall offend in secret, he or she shall be rebuked in secret, that he or she may have opportunity to confess in secret to him or her whom he or she has offended, and to God, that the Church may not speak reproachfully of him or her." ¶

The object is to save people; to make it as easy as possible for them to repent and to make restitution for their wrong; not to circulate the story of their wrongdoing and create a public scandal, but to have it settled according to the law of God. ¶

In another revelation, the Lord says: ¶

"It always has been given to the Elders of my Church from the beginning, and ever shall be, to conduct all meetings as they are directed and guided by the Holy Spirit." ¶

This is the law of God to every Bishop, to every stake president, and to the president of every quorum or association in the Church. They are to be guided by the Holy Spirit. This conference has been exceedingly interesting because it has been conducted by the Spirit of the Lord through the man who presides over us on this occasion. I may say that it is the most Interesting conference of the Church that I ever attended. ¶

Another thing: The Lord certainly placed prophets and apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers in the Church, as Paul describes, for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ; but He has placed the Bishops and the authorities of the stakes in the Church for the perfecting of the Saints, just as much as the Apostles, or the Council of Seventies, or the Presiding Bishopric, or the Presidency of the Church, who stand at the head; and there ought to be an improvement in all the stakes in regard to the adjustment of all matters affecting the salvation of the Saints of God in the respective stakes. I suppose that the President of the Church gets bushels of letters written by men and women who, disregarding the Bishop and the presidency of the stake, go over the heads of those officers in order to lay their cases before the President or to ask questions of him, some of which are of the most foolish character. This is all wrong. I want to advise the Latter-day Saints to settle these questions at home just as far as possible. When the Priesthood of God is trusted by the people, there will be a greater measure of the Spirit of the Lord attending the ministrations of our Bishops and stake presidents throughout the Church. I do not believe that the Presidency of the Church are under any obligation to do those things that ought to be done by the local authority, and I do not know that they have any promise of being blessed of the Lord in doing work that ought to be done by the Bishops and presidents of stakes. I am impressed with this, because I have been asked in various stakes of Zion a great many questions that could easily be answered by the Bishop of the ward, and I have been appealed to to settle difficulties that ought to be settled easily right at home. The Latter-day Saints should understand this and feel the responsibility of it. The Priesthood of God is the representation of God, if you please, in the earth. It is not man's personal individuality that we honor, but it is the authority of God which he holds. God has established His work upon the earth, and He has appointed men to be the recipients of His holy will and, through their administration, to voice that will unto the Latter-day Saints. The Savior said to His disciples, "He that receiveth you receiveth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth Him that sent me." When this principle is understood and properly carried out, there will be more of the power of God in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, there will be a stronger bond of union among them, and there will be greater and more effective work accomplished throughout the stakes and wards by the local Priesthood. I wish to say to every man in the Church, young and old, that the greatest desire of his heart should be to honor the office in the Priesthood which he holds, and not have constantly in his mind the greatness of somebody else's calling. It is all the authority of God, the one Priesthood, and it cannot be parted asunder. The High Priest holds the Melchisedek Priesthood ;the Seventy holds the same, just as the Apostle does, and he is entitled to the power of God in his ministrations among the people. I have heard President Woodruff say many times that he never enjoyed more of the Spirit of God than he did when he was a Priest, preaching the Gospel, I believe, in Arkansas. It was the same with John the Baptist, and with Philip; they enjoyed the spirit and power of Almighty God, and yet they officiated in the Lesser Priesthood. We are entitled to the same blessing if we live for it. I think it would be a good thing if every Bishop would call together all the Priesthood in his Ward, and would select from the High Priests, the Seventies and the Elders enough men to act in the capacity of Priests. I have enquired in the Stakes of Zion where I have traveled, about a quorum of Priests and have found but few. Yet the Lord has laid down that as one of the offices in the Lesser Priesthood, and has specifically stated that they are the ministers of the Gospel unto the people. ¶

We had instructions here last night by President Smith concerning our responsibility to the authorities of Wards and Stakes. I have been taught this doctrine all my life. I was born and raised on the same block as Brother Frank Y. Taylor and Brother John W. Taylor, and I used to act in the capacity of a Teacher in the home of President John Taylor. I was not very well qualified, it is true. I believe the only qualification I had was a willing spirit and an obedient heart; but the Lord blessed me in my labors. Whenever we entered into the house of President Taylor as Teachers, he laid aside all other things that were demanding his attention, and he would call his family together, sit down with us, and hear what we had to say. On one occasion a young man, who was asked to question President Taylor in regard to the performance of his duties as a member of the Church, said he did not want to. Why not? Because, said he, he is a so much better and greater man than we are. President Taylor told him it was his duty to question him. "Why," said the young man, "I don't think you would hold the office that you do if you did not perform your duty as a member of the Church." The President replied, "It is your duty to find out whether I do my duty as a member or not; whether I teach my children the principles of the Gospel, and pay my tithing, and attend to my family and my secret prayers." ¶

The more men know about the Priesthood of God, the more they respect it. I say to the people, seek unto the Priesthood of God, and let wizards, necromancers, hypnotists, spiritualists and all such things alone; for within the Church of God there is all sufficient for our salvation in this life and our exaltation in the life to come. God bless you. Amen. ¶