Priesthood and Material Affairs

If I regret anything at all, it is that we have not time to hear the testimonies of many more of the brethren who are in attendance at this conference. Nothing would delight me more than to have the privilege of remaining here and listening to a score or two of presidents of stakes, presidents of missions, and other prominent men who are at this conference representing the different interests of the Church. I regret more than anything I can think of in connection with our conferences, that we do not have more time, and that we cannot hear from more of our brethren. But I think the time so far has been well employed, and I trust that all that has been said, all the counsel that has been given, the exhortations that have been offered and the admonitions that have been voiced, will be blessed and sanctified through the spirit of truth to the good and encouragement of all who have heard them. ¶

The one thing now that I desire to impress upon the minds of my brethren of the Holy Priesthood is that we should live so near to the Lord, be so humble in our spirits, so tractable and pliable, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that we will be able to know the mind and will of the Father concerning us as individuals and as officers in the Church of Christ under all circumstances. And when we live so that we can hear and understand the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit of God, let us do whatsoever that Spirit directs, without fear of the consequences. It does not make any difference whether it meet the minds of carpers or critics, or of the enemies of the kingdom of God, or not. Is it agreeable to the will of the Lord? Is it compatible with the spirit of the great latter-day work in which we are engaged? Is the end aimed at likely to advance the Church and to strengthen it in the earth? If its trend is in that direction, let us do it, no matter what men may say or think. ¶

I know, as I know that I live, that this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When I say this, I say it with a full understanding of the meaning of the term. It is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is not the church of man. The Lord laid the foundations of it. It was He who inspired the boy Prophet, Joseph Smith, and gave to him wisdom and understanding to organize the councils of the Priesthood and to establish His Church upon the foundation of prophets, apostles, evangelists, and inspired men. It was the Lord Jesus who restored the Holy Melchisedek Priesthood, through the instrumentality that He used; and all blessings, all offices, all callings, and all authority in this Church come under and are embraced in the holy Melchisedek Priesthood, which is after the order of the Son of God. There is no office growing out of this Priesthood that is or can be greater than the Priesthood itself. It is from the Priesthood that the office derives its authority and power. No office gives authority to the Priesthood. No office adds to the power of the Priesthood. But all offices in the Church derive their power, their virtue, their authority, from the Priesthood. If our brethren would get this principle thoroughly established in their minds, there would be less misunderstanding in relation to the functions of government in the Church than there is. Today the question is, which is the greater -- the High Priest or the Seventy, the Seventy or the High Priest? I tell you that neither of them is the greater, and neither of them is the lesser. Their callings lie in different directions, but they are from the same Priesthood. If it were necessary, the Seventy, holding the Melchisedek Priesthood, as he does, I say IF IT WERE NECESSARY—he could ordain a High Priest; and if it were necessary for a High Priest to ordain a Seventy, he could do that. Why? Because both of them hold the Melchisedek Priesthood. Then again, if it were necessary—though I do not expect the necessity will ever arise—and there was no man left on earth holding the Melchisedek Priesthood, except an Elder, that Elder, by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and by the direction of the Almighty, could proceed, and should proceed, to organize the Church of Jesus Christ in all its perfection, because he holds the Melchisedek Priesthood. But the house of God is a house of order, and while the other offices remain in the Church, we must observe the order of the Priesthood, and we must perform ordinances and ordinations strictly in accordance with that order, as it has been established in the Church through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors. ¶

I am aware of the fact that there are those who in the past have held different views to this. They may still hold different views; and if they do, they will have to change them by and by, if they ever get a correct knowledge of the Priesthood. No office of an Apostle, no office of a President, no office of a High Priest, or a Seventy, or an Elder, is greater than the Melchisedek Priesthood. I hope you will understand that. If an Apostle has any authority at all, he derives it from the Melchisedek Priesthood, which is after God's order, and he cannot have it in any other way. There is no authority except it comes from that Priesthood. It holds the keys of the administering of blessings, ordinances and promises upon the heads of all the members of the Church. Out of the Melchisedek Priesthood grows the Lesser Priesthood, which is called the Priesthood after the order of Aaron. This is an appendage to the Melchisedek Priesthood. The office of an Elder, of a High Priest, of a Seventy—all the offices in the Church are simply appendages to the Melchisedek Priesthood, and grow out of it. You can read the revelations regarding this in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and you must see it just as I have told it. ¶

Now, I think I can say, without any reservation, that the brethren who are placed in charge to look after the interests of the Church are doing their whole duty to the utmost of their ability. Brother Clawson, in his discourse, alluded to the condition of our books and records of tithing. Never since the Church was organized were they in so perfect a condition as they are today. We can tell you the name of every man, woman and child in the Church who pays tithing, and we can tell you exactly what they pay. Not only so, but we have records by which we can show the names and the number of the members of the Church who are not tithepayers. Furthermore, we can tell you that not one dollar of the tithings of the Church is used for any purpose except that which is legitimate and proper, according to the necessities of the Church. I say to you, too, that we are paying the debts of the Church, and the tithing is being used carefully and exclusively at present to meet all current expenses and to cancel our obligations, both bonded and note. I am happy to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that the people are doing as well in this direction, if not better than they have ever done before, with the exception, perhaps, of one year. There was one year wherein more tithing was paid than has been in any one year since; but we presume that was the result of unprecedented prosperity, and we are not disposed to measure subsequent years by that one, but rather to compare them year by year, on a consistent basis. It gives me pleasure to say to you that if you will continue to do your duty in this matter, it will not be long before the Church will owe nobody except God. So far as I am concerned, I have not cared particularly whether I shall live a long or short time; still I may say it would be pleasing to me if I could have the privilege of living until every dollar that the Church owes shall be paid, and a handsome surplus remain in the treasury. I want to see that day, if the Lord is willing. But if He is not willing for me to live till that day shall come. I intend at any rate to carry out that purpose to the best of my ability, and to work to that end so long as I do live and am permitted to occupy my present position. Moreover, I say to you that I have two strong, staunch, faithful counselors to assist and encourage me in this endeavor—Presidents Winder and Lund. I think if there is one of the three of us more inclined to be liberal than the others, perhaps it is Brother Lund. His generous, large soul sometimes expands a little farther than Brother Winder's or mine. We do not disagree about it, but we try to be economical and prudent, and eke out that which we have. We are endeavoring to assist the widow and the fatherless, and, as far as our means will go, the different wards and stakes of Zion, in the erection of their meetinghouses. We are trying to do the best we can for the maintenance of our temples and for the continuance of the work that is going on in them. And this requires considerable means. According to our means and the obligations resting upon us, we are doing handsomely, I think, for our Church schools, of which we have a number and they are a credit to the people and to the cause of education. We have at last succeeded in completing the Deseret News building, the foundations of which were laid by President Lorenzo Snow. We have also completed the Deseret News annex. These buildings are truly a credit to our city, but they have been a source of great expense to the Church. They are both costly buildings, especially the main one, built solidly and in the most expensive way, and will stand as a monument to the city for many years to come. They are now paid for, and that obligation is off our hands. Now we have undertaken to assist—not to do it all—in the erection of a Latter-day Saints hospital in this city, where the sick and unfortunate of our people may be taken in an emergency. It will be conducted under the auspices of the Latter-day Saints, and we hope to be able to assist in completing that and still go on paying our debts. But if anybody possessing a surplus of means is generous enough to voluntarily contribute towards the erection of that hospital, we will be glad to receive it from him. Others do such things, but we have not many rich among us, and therefore we do not expect so much from our brethren; but where men have abundance of means and desire to put some of it where it will do good, if they will offer it freely to this hospital, we will accept it with our blessing, and with the blessing of the sick and unfortunate that may be taken there in time to come. The blessing of all will be upon the generous giver. Still we expect to be able to go on with the building until it is completed—that is, the main part. By and by, doubtless, it will have to be enlarged to meet our necessities. Then again, we want the good sisters who have contributed means in the past for the erection of a woman's building in this city, for which a piece of land was designated, to understand that their efforts in this direction are not in vain. Inasmuch as you have contributed your means and have it in safe keeping, it will come in very nicely when we begin to lay the foundations of a memorial building to the name and honor of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and in that building the Relief Society, the various quorums of the Priesthood and the general Authorities of the Church will have official habitation and offices. We will erect a building, I hope, that will be creditable to the Church—not, however, until we pay our debts. We do not want to begin to incur new debts until the old ones are wiped out, nor then if we can avoid it. But when we get the means and are otherwise in a position to do it, we hope to put up a building on the old Deseret News corner that will afford headquarters to the presidency of the Church, the Twelve Apostles, the presiding Bishopric, the Seven Presidents of Seventies, and the general and auxiliary organizations of the Church. So we do not want you sisters to be discouraged because you do not see the work going on just at present. We have not used your money; in fact, you control it, and it is where you have put it. It will be there, and perhaps bring you in a little interest, until we get ready to use it. When that time shall come, we will then call upon you to help build yourselves and us a home. ¶

I feel happy in this work. I know it is good. I feel it in every fibre of my being. I am satisfied that the Lord's hand is over His people for good, and that He is lengthening the cords of Zion and strengthening her stakes. I have not been able to travel as much as I would like, but I have had the pleasure of visiting, this summer, our settlements in Canada, in Oregon, and in the Big Horn Basin; and wherever I have gone I have seen unmistakeable evidences of God's blessing and approval upon the people. On all sides there are evidences of progress, of increase, of the development of the resources of the land, and of building up and strengthening the stakes of Zion. I feel in my heart that the Lord will continue to bless and prosper Zion. As an evidence that He is doing so, we see that the devil is not dead yet, and he won't die as long as the work of God is alive in the earth. ¶

The Lord bless Zion. Peace be unto you, my brethren and my sisters, and in all your habitations. The peace and blessing of God be upon your families, upon your flocks and your herds, your substance, and all that He has made you stewards over, that these things may be sanctified unto the Lord and blessed of Him to your good and continued happiness in time and to your exaltation in eternity. God bless these faithful men who preside over the stakes of Zion, with their counselors and the members of the High Councils, and the Bishops and their counselors. God bless the presidents of Seventies, the Presiding Bishopric, the Twelve Apostles, and all those who are engaged in the labor of the ministry, until the Saints shall be brought to a knowledge of the truth unto the perfect stature of a man in Christ Jesus; that we may know as we are known, and not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine and by the cunning craftiness of men whereby they lie in wait to deceive. God deliver us from the snares of the adversary, and from the traps that are set for our feet and the pits that are dug for our destruction, and make us to prosper in the land now and forever, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶