Report on the Middle States Mission and Defending the Faith

(President of the Middle States Mission.) I sincerely trust that the Spirit of the Lord will be with us this afternoon, and that it will rest upon those who may speak as well as those who listen. If we are here to learn more concerning our duties to our God, it is as necessary for the congregation to have the Spirit of the Lord as it is for those who address the congregation. It is not enough that those who speak to us shall do so under the influence of that Spirit, but we should listen and strive to understand the spirit prompting the utterances made. ¶

I rejoice that we have the privilege of coming together and listening to the words of counsel and inspiration that fall from the lips of the authorities of the Church. While we are here in conference assembled our brothers and sisters scattered throughout the different nations of the earth are assisting us with their faith and prayers, and they are praying for their deliverance from the land of Babylon; they are praying that the time may come, and that speedily, when they will have the privilege of coming to Zion to worship the Lord. I have listened to the prayers of the faithful Saints in far off Europe and in the missionary fields of America, and I know that it is not necessary for the Elders to preach the principle of the gathering to those who render obedience to the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When they have faith in the Lord Jesus and repent of their sins, and are baptized for the remission of the same, and receive the seal of the Spirit through the laying on of hands, the spirit of gathering rests upon them, and they are anxious to gather to Zion, where they can learn more of the ways of the Lord. It has been predicted that in the last days the mountain of the Lord's house would be established in the tops of the mountains, and that people from many nations would be heard to say: "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." This is being literally fulfilled by the Latter-day Saints in the valleys of these mountains. People from all nations under heaven — all civilized nations — are praying that they might come up to this house of the Lord, where they may learn more of the ways of the Lord; for they want to walk in the path that will bring them near to God. Many, however, on emigrating to Zion are disappointed, and when they behold the acts of some people, they feel that this is a different Zion to the one they have seen in their dreams — to the Zion they have prayed for. ¶

The Latter-day Saints should understand that they all hold a portion of the Priesthood of God. All male members of the Church hold a portion of the Priesthood of God, or have the privilege of holding it, from their earlier years to the grave. We are expected to honor that Priesthood. When we come to Zion it is required of us that we shall aid in making it Zion in very deed, that we shall assist in purifying and cleansing it from everything that is displeasing in the sight of God, making it such a place as would be expected that the Lord would select for the gathering place of His people from the nations of the earth. ¶

Our faith is not a myth; it is a reality. God has come to the earth in the age in which we live, and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, came with Him, and They opened up this work in which we are engaged. ¶

They gave to us the Prophet Joseph Smith; They gave to us the ones who have succeeded the Prophet Joseph in the Presidency of this Church; They gave to us the Apostles and the Priesthood, and They have also given us to understand that while They have granted us our free agency, we are to be brought back into their presence. Then the books will be opened, and we will discover that we have been talking, aye, and thinking, into such a phonograph as has recorded our words, acts and thoughts in the Lamb's book of life. When that book is opened we will be held accountable for every idle word we have spoken; and the Lord is going to reward us, or He is going to condemn us, for that which we have done. We will be rewarded for our faithfulness, and we will be held accountable for the way and manner in which we have used the authority that He has given us to act in His name; this we know. We also understand that where much is given much will be required. We claim more than is claimed by any other religious body on the earth. We claim that the windows of heaven have been opened to us; that God has visited the earth in person; that Jesus is our Elder Brother; that unto us is given the privilege, honor and authority to speak in the name of our Father in heaven. As I said, we claim more than is claimed by any other people on the face of the earth, but I want to tell you, my brethren and sisters, that more will be required of us than of any other people, and that we will be judged according to the light that we have received. We have received more light than any other people on the earth; we have received the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness and power. To us has been given the knowledge that the Gospel is not only for the living but also for the dead. While we send missionaries throughout the world to preach to the living the principles of repentance and baptism for the remission of sin, we also have our brothers and sisters laboring in the same cause for the redemption of the dead, knowing as we do that the Priesthood of God does not pertain to this earth alone, but that it also pertains to the spirit world, where mission fields have been opened and are being operated. People on the other side of the veil also hear the glad tidings of the Gospel of salvation; we know that the living can do the work for the dead. We also know that the dead without the living cannot be made perfect, nor the living without the dead. Not one necessary principle connected with the Gospel of life and salvation, either for the living or for the dead, has been withheld from us, but we have been made the custodians of this knowledge. We are the light that God has placed on the earth, and He has commanded us not to set it under a bushel, but to set it on a mountain, where it can be seen from afar. ¶

We are commanded to go into the darkness of the world and spread the light of the Gospel, and to lift up our voices and cry, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Let us remember that we all shoulder a portion of this responsibility, that we have a portion of this Priesthood, and that we are expected to magnify the same. Let us remember that two Priesthoods have been given us — the Aaronic and the Melchisedek Priesthood. Those who have been ordained Elders hold the Melchisedek Priesthood, and also the Aaronic Priesthood. They have just as much Priesthood as any man in the Church. They have just as much Priesthood as the Presidency of the Church, or the Apostles; for there are but two Priesthoods, as I have said, and an Elder holds them both. However, there are different offices in these Priesthoods. In the Melchisedek Priesthood men are set apart to labor as Elders, others as Seventies, and still others as Apostles — special witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ in all the world; but there is only one Melchisedek Priesthood. Those who hold the Priesthood had better magnify their callings, for the day will surely come when the dead, great and small, will stand before the judgment seat of God, and then, as I have said, where much was given, much will be required. May God bless you. Amen. ¶