The Divine Calling of Joseph Smith and Temple Building

Gospel principles did not originate with Joseph Smith—Joseph called of God to be a great prophet—Gathering and Temple building—The Church of Christ, and His disciples, always persecuted—The Saints loyal to the nation, and to the Church—The Church thoroughly established. ¶

I have been very greatly interested in the remarks of our brethren, and, with the assistance of the Spirit of the Lord I shall take pleasure in talking to you for a few moments. The congregation this morning is unusually large for the first meeting, which indicates that the Saints are interested and are anxious to participate in the conference. The testimonies that we have listened to from the Presidency find an echo in our hearts. The Latter-day Saints are a peculiar people, and every individual member of the Church has the same kind of testimony that is enjoyed by the Presidency. These testimonies are not confined to any quorum or council, but every member of the Church, whether his membership is of long or of short duration, has the same abiding spirit in his soul, and is established and fixed in his faith. For that reason there is no danger to this Church, because the members thereof enjoy the same spirit. We are one; and the doctrines so commend themselves to the judgment of honest people, that when we have tested them and realized how precious, reliable, and soul-satisfying they are, we are never inclined to depart from them so long as we are true and faithful. The principles of the Gospel have always been and will always be true. They have been revealed to us in the latter days. They have not been created in this dispensation. They have not originated with the Prophet Joseph Smith, but they have simply been brought to light and revealed to the children of men in this age. They are possessed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the only living and true Church established among the children of men — this Church that has been brought out of obscurity into the light and brought to the attention of the peoples of the world. We have been preaching these doctrines as revealed through the Prophet Joseph, for seventy-five years. We are in the ministry, and are increasing gradually, steadily, and surely, spreading abroad and becoming more solid, substantial and reliable than ever. The work is so well settled that it cannot be disturbed, so we believe, and absolutely know, for it is the work of the Lord. The Lord has called and qualified His servants, commencing with the Prophet Joseph many years ago. He took him in hand, He gave him birth, He brought him forward, introduced him to the world, planted in his heart the doctrines of life and salvation, and early in the last century honored him with the sacred calling of an Apostle, a Prophet, Seer and Revelator, a man of God, a living minister, endowed with inspiration and revelation, a law-giver, such a man as has rarely ever been known among the children of men. I can hardly think of one who has been superior to him among the prophets and patriarchs of God. Of course, the Savior is far in advance of all patriarchs, of all prophets, and of all men in the earth, that are, that have been, or that will be. He is at the front and is the head of all. But among the prophets of God born of women, no man has been superior to the Prophet Joseph Smith. ¶

This congregation of thousands of people know it. Hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints know it well. We have entered into covenant with the Lord, we have become acquainted with the doctrines and principles of the Gospel, we have demonstrated and see and know most perfectly that they are the power of God unto salvation. Hence we are not ashamed of these principles. We love them and we honor them, and through our love and devotion and faithfulness to this cause we have obtained that remarkable testimony, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, for our brethren of other denominations to convert us to their ways. The Latter-day Saints possess the truth, and have many principles of truth in addition to what is possessed by the people of the world. Of course, we are peculiar for a number of reasons. It is our peculiarities that make us different from other Christian people. One of our peculiarities is that we gather to the land of Zion, to those sections of the country that have been selected and set apart for the gathering of the Latter-day Saints. Other religious denominations have their churches and their branches where they are successful, but they do not gather as we do. No other people, that I can think of, at present, gather together as we do. This doctrine of the gathering is one of the remarkable features of this church, established by the Prophet Joseph Smith. We believe also in the building of Temples, and have built several. We believe it is necessary for the salvation of the people living and dead, that temples should be built to the name of the Lord and ordinances performed therein, without which men may not enter into the Celestial Kingdom of the Father. No other people, so far as I am acquainted, are building temples. They build houses of worship, tabernacles and the like, all of which are very useful, and we build them also, but we are remarkable for the building of temples. There are doctrines and principles sacred to the hearts of the Latter-day Saints, revealed through the Prophet Joseph, which require us to make the sacrifice of gathering together, of building temples and of laboring for our kindred that are dead. The living must perform that work for themselves or forfeit the blessing, but those who have died before the knowledge of the truth was among the children of men, we believe, are entitled to salvation, especially if they would have received the truth had it been presented to them. We feel that all such are entitled to salvation, and we make the sacrifice that is necessary for their redemption and for their union throughout eternity. We believe most earnestly and thoroughly that our family relations that we enter into in this life will continue beyond the resurrection. This doctrine has been revealed to us by the Prophet of the nineteenth century. We expect that those relations so sacred to men in this life will continue in the life to come; and we have been taught to be true and faithful men, and we are such. ¶

I say to this congregation that we are true and loyal men, not only true and loyal to the Church and to the doctrines that we have received, but we are true and loyal among men, honorable as neighbors and as citizens. We love our country, we love its laws, its liberties, its institutions; we love the people of our nation, and we love to live with them, to neighbor with them, and to be friendly with them. We desire to share with them in the benefits of this nation. We desire to share with them the benefits of this city and of the states and territories in which we reside, not only in the United States, but where we have spread abroad into the neighboring commonwealths of Mexico and Canada. Wherever we settle and locate we desire to share with the people, our neighbors, the blessings that are given to mankind. We are a moral people, a sober people, a God-fearing people, who love the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Of course, there are exceptions; but this is a rule with the Latter-day Saints. I speak of those who are faithful and true to the doctrines of the Lord Jesus and who are thoroughly established. They are not only here in Salt Lake, at headquarters, but they are in the cities and counties north, south, east and west of us. You cannot find a little branch or ward of Latter-day Saints but what they are so thoroughly settled and established that an innovator can have no influence over them, and they cannot be converted unto any other form of religion. But we are not all Latter-day Saints here, there are some of us who are fit subjects for the labors of missionaries of all denominations, whom they may make converts. We thank the Lord when they are converted, if we have been unable to convert them and to redeem them. If others can do them good, the Lord be praised; we have no fault to find. But Latter-day Saints, followers of the Prophet Joseph, walking in his footsteps and in his doctrines received from the Lord Jesus, can no more be turned from their faith than anything in the world, for they do know, they are thoroughly converted, and they are established so that they cannot be moved nor led astray. This Church the Lord has established. He laid its foundations and has built it up. He hath taken care of it and will preserve it. You can always know just exactly where the Church of Christ is, for where it is the darts of the enemy are always directed, and particularly against the head of the Church. Was not the Savior the head and front of all offending in his life? Was not every dart of the enemy directed against the Son of God until His life was taken? And after Him, His apostles, one by one were destroyed; for at that time the people would not endure the sound doctrines of the Lord Jesus. And is it not the same today? Did He not tell His disciples that if the world hated them it hated Him also? The world loves its own; the world is friendly with its own; and if we were of the world and believed as they do, worshiped as they do, and lived as they do, do you think they would find fault with us here? No. We believe more and we do a great deal more in the direction of the saving of mankind than any other body of Christianity, and for that reason they dislike us. Our lives offend them, not because we are wicked, but because we are not of them. They were not offended with the Savior because of his transgressions; they were not offended with His apostles because of their sins. There is no need of sentiment being aroused in regard to people, who are wicked and corrupt, for the law is ready to take hold of them; and, if we transgress the law, we are subject to the law and liable to be handled by it. But as Latter-day Saints we live above the law. We observe the law and keep it sacred, that it shall not take hold of us. We are true to our cities and counties, to our state and to our nation. We are loyal, and, as I said before, we love the institutions of our country. We thank the Lord for the religious liberty that is guaranteed in the United States. We thank Him for the protection that has been given to this Church in the United States, and that we have been preserved and established so solidly that we are in no danger of being removed. The kingdom will remain with this people, and not with any other. ¶

Many have gone out from among us. Among them have been men holding great and important authority, nearly as great as there has been in the Church — even the counselors of the Prophet Joseph. He could hardly get a man that would be true to him, aside from his brother Hyrum. They fell one by one, until every counselor that he ever had departed from his side. But he was true and faithful to the end, and, like our Redeemer, he almost trod the wine-press alone. There were false brethren in those days, much more than today. Though the Church was only few in numbers at that time, false brethren were many. Now look over the Church today; can you find a Bishop, a Bishop's counselor, a president of Stake or his counselor, or a High Councilor, can you find a President of Seventy, can you find a presiding authority in any mission of the world, or any branch of this Church, that is not true to the faith? There are individuals occasionally who show that they have received a bad spirit, by which they are led astray, but you will find that every President of a Stake and every Bishop of a Ward knows just exactly how to take care of the flock. They are trained, they are inspired, they are established, and they have the same testimony burning in their hearts that burns in the hearts of President Joseph F. Smith, his counselors and the Twelve. I wanted to draw the attention of the conference to this fact, for there are representatives here from almost every Stake and Ward in Zion. You all know that what I say is true. When missionaries go out among the Latter-day Saints, they find that the people are so thoroughly trained and experienced in the doctrines of the Gospel that they are not easily deceived or blinded. The work is so established and so thoroughly fixed upon the earth that it will endure. You will find the Latter-day Saints just as true as their leaders; for they have the same spirit and the same testimony burning in their hearts. These Presidents of Stakes, these presidents of quorums, and these men who stand at the head of the wards and the missions at home or abroad, are filled with the same inspiration of the Lord. They know the voice of the true shepherd and they do not know the voice of strangers, and they will not follow them, but they will follow and listen to the true Shepherd. That is my testimony to you, and I thank the Lord that it burns in my heart as it does in yours. ¶

Blessed be those who are fortunate enough to maintain their standing and their fellowship in this Church, for this is the Church of Christ. It is not the Church of the Prophet Joseph, it is not the Church of any of his successors, or of those that may succeed hereafter, but it is the Church of Jesus Christ: He has established it, and He will preserve it among the children of men. Righteousness shall be cultivated among this people; corruption and wickedness will not be tolerated. ¶

Speaking of the experience of the Prophet Joseph in the early days, I want to say that though there were many who turned from him, yet he had true and devoted friends, who stood by his side and sustained him to the very last; and he rolled upon their shoulders the cause of the kingdom, and they have been true to that trust. This Church has been taken care of from that time to this, and these men have walked in the footsteps of their file leaders, in the footsteps of the Prophet Joseph, and they have built upon the foundations which he laid. They have magnified the doctrines that he taught, have sent them to the world, have advocated them, lived by them, and defended them in the earth; and the fruits are seen throughout this mountain country, where the Prophet Joseph saw by vision that this people would be established. He so announced it, and was prepared himself to lead the Church into this very location if his life had not been taken; but in the Prophet Brigham he found a devout, faithful and competent successor. The Church has been established and stands today on foundations that shall never be shaken. It is true and faithful. It is the Lord's and He will take care of it, if you and I will only take care of ourselves and be sure that we are faithful and true, and that we are not deceived nor darkened in our minds. God bless you and all Israel, our neighbors, our friends, and all that love truth, righteousness and justice, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶