The Duties of Parents and the Warfare of the Saints

Duties of parents in Zion. — Wrong spirit in some young people. — The warfare of the Saints not carnal. — The powers of darkness. — Mission of the Saints. — Jesus, not Lucifer, the Firstborn. — Pre-existence of all mankind—Civil rights equal to all citizens.—Shall we stand the great test. —Final victory of light and truth. ¶

I hope, my brethren and sisters, that I shall obtain the same attention and be led by the same good spirit which the brethren who have preceded me have enjoyed, not only this afternoon, but in all the meetings of this conference. I have seen it in print that the attendance at this conference was not so large as on some former occasions. I could not help marveling at that statement ; for from the first meeting of the conference we have had a most splendid attendance. Not only has the lower part of this tabernacle been filled, with the exception of a few seats in the northeastern part, but the galleries also have been crowded with attentive Latter-day Saints, desiring to worship God and to be instructed in the things of His kingdom. The Spirit of the Lord has been poured out upon those who have spoken to us, from the opening remarks by President Joseph F. Smith down to the present time. I have enjoyed the sessions of this conference exceedingly. I have been pleased to see the desire manifest by the Latter-day Saints in their attendance and in their attention, and in the spirit which surrounds them and which they breathe. I have seen in this a token of the spread of the work of God and of the growth of His kingdom — His spiritual kingdom — in the hearts of the people, as well as the spreading forth of the visible Church of Christ among the nations of the earth. ¶

I hope that our children have been taught to learn the Ten Commandments, read to us this afternoon by Brother Hyrum M. Smith, also the precepts of the New Testament, that they may be familiar with them. I notice that our children in the Sunday schools are taught these precepts and these commandments, and they will grow up with a knowledge of them if they do not merely learn by rote the lessons that are given to them, and if they are also instructed in their homes in relation to these important things. I remember a story told of a man who made a bet that a friend of his did not know the Lord's Prayer, and the bet was taken up, the money was deposited, and the man who laid the money down was very confident. When he was asked to repeat the Lord's Prayer he said : ¶

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." ¶

The other man said, "Well, the money is yours ; but I didn't believe you could do it." (Laughter). It is alleged that this was a United States senator, but I consider that scandal. It may be true, however. What we need, my brethren and sisters, is to have these principles and precepts impressed upon our own minds, and also upon the minds of the rising generation. There is a spirit prevailing among a portion of the Latter-day Saints — young men — not the young ladies very much, but some of our young men, who are being led astray by a spirit and influence which does not proceed from God, but from the Evil One, and I am afraid that they have not been sufficiently indoctrinated in the principles and precepts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they have grown up with them implanted in their souls. This part of the work devolves upon the parents in Zion. The Lord revealed in the beginning that inasmuch as parents having children in Zion did not teach them to understand the doctrines of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, when eight years old, the sin should be on the heads of the parents ; and the inhabitants of Zion were to teach their children to pray, to observe the Sabbath day, and to walk in all holiness before the Lord. They should teach them the precepts that we have heard taught in this conference. I do not believe that so many of our young men would run wild, and drink into the spirit of the world, use intoxicants, and befoul their systems with tobacco and other things that the Lord has said are not good for man, if a proper example had been always set before them in the home and these principles had been instilled into their minds by their parents. They may learn these things in the Sunday school and easily forget them ; but the force of example in the home and the impressions made upon little children by their mothers are lasting, and will be upon their souls as long as they live in the flesh, and throughout all eternity. ¶

We have heard today that the Latter-day Saints do not desire to do evil to anyone. They do not seek to bring injury upon anyone. They do not attack the creeds of men. They do not go forth to fight. They do not wish to take up carnal weapons. But they have had to stand on the defensive from the beginning of this work. From the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it has been assailed. Generally speaking, the movements against it have originated among people of different religious faiths. It has been from persons professing to hold the Christian religion and to be teachers of it that the falsehoods and misrepresentations concerning us, our acts, our motives, our principles, have emanated ; and they have been taken up by corrupt, wicked and evil-minded persons. And so the warfare has continued. We have stood in self-defense. Sometimes we have been a little vigorous in taking up these weapons, not the weapons that are called carnal, but polemics, arguments, statements of the truth, references to the scripture and to the lives and works of our leaders, whom we have held up as honorable men who desired to keep the commandments of God and to live in peace with their fellowmen. But a mission has been entrusted to the people of this Church, and that is, to publish the gospel of peace to the ends of the earth, to declare the truth, to bear witness that God has spoken again from the heavens, that He has restored the authority of the holy Apostleship and Priesthood, that He has placed the power and authority upon men on the earth, to represent Him and to act for Him, and that what they do by His authority and in the way He has appointed will not only be sealed and recorded on earth, but will be sealed and recorded in the heavens, and that this Gospel is "a savor of life unto life or of death unto death" to all that hear it. This mission is given to us. We are required to bear this Gospel abroad, or help to send it, until every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people under the whole heavens shall hear the sound of the Gospel and shall have an opportunity of receiving or rejecting it; and the consequences will be on their own heads. ¶

Now, in this great work in which we are engaged, as I have said, we do not expect to use carnal weapons. God has declared that He will fight our battles. He has told us not to be afraid of our enemies. I do not believe that the spirit of fear is among the Latter-day Saints. I know it is not among their leaders. We are not to be afraid of our enemies ; for God has declared that He will fight our battles. It is true, He has permitted the Church to be driven from place to place. He has allowed the wicked to rise in their anger and wrath and slay some of the saints of God ; and Joseph and Hyrum, those two noble brothers who lived together in love and who died at the same time and went into the presence of their Maker, were martyrs for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. But so it was of old ; so it has been from the beginning. And while the Lord may permit these things to occur, out of all these seeming evils He will bring out good. The work of God has rolled forth, the principles of the Gospel have been preached, and the world has been roused up by the light that the Lord has sent into it, which has scintillated from the teachings of His servants. But the spirit and power of darkness are here, too, and there will be a great struggle until they are overcome. ¶

I want to read two or three verses which have occurred to me while our brethren have been reading scripture. They are from the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, in the 6th chapter, commencing at the 12th verse : ¶

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ¶

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." ¶

This is a real warfare that is taking place on this planet where you and I live. It commenced in the beginning. It was made possible through transgression. Our parents in the Garden broke a law that God gave them, and by the breaking of that law the power of evil entered into this world. It is stated that in the beginning Satan entered the serpent, and Satan was the serpent;" that he was more subtle than any of the beasts of the field. That is his character. We learn a little about his character by that which he did before this globe was framed as a dwelling place for the children of the Lord. He was in the beginning with the Father, as Jesus was. Jesus said, "I also was in the beginning with the Father, and am the firstborn." I know that some of our people have obtained a notion that Lucifer was the firstborn, and that he lost his place and birthright through transgression. But Jesus is the Christ, the firstborn among the sons of God, ''the firstborn of every creature." In that 93rd section of the Doctrine and Covenants, from which Brother George Albert Smith read just now, Jesus Christ, who was crucified on Mount Calvary, and who rose from the dead, and who sat at the right hand of the Father, and who in these last days has appeared with the Father and revealed the everlasting Gospel, makes the declaration that He was in the beginning with the Father, and was the firstborn. "Ye also," He says, "were in the beginning with the Father." "Man was in the beginning with the Father." We are the sons and daughters of God, and were in the beginning with Christ. When we speak about "the beginning" we mean the beginning as it relates to this earth on which we live. When the plan was formed for the formation of this globe, to go into its right place at the right time and in the right way, that it might revolve in its orbit and not interfere with the revolutions of any of the planets and stars that God our Father had made, that was "the beginning" spoken of in scripture. But with God there is no beginning, and there is no end. With intelligence which is the light of truth, there is no beginning, and there can be no end. The nature of our spiritual existence is on a par with that. But in our beginning as the sons and daughters of God we were there with the Father and with the Savior; and according to the revelations that God has given in these last days, the being who is called Lucifer, or Satan, or Beelzebub, or the serpent, or the adversary, or the accuser of the brethren, he also was there and led away "a third part of the hosts of heaven, because of their agency," and was indeed a subtle intelligence, but he prostituted the intelligence he had to an evil purpose. Through the transgressions of our first parents he obtained power on this globe, and he has held it from that time to the present. He has aided in setting up kings and casting down kings. He is "the prince of the power of the air." He is that Evil One whom Christ will bind at His coming, that he may not any more have power upon the face of this earth. But he is here now, and his hosts are here; and they have been from the beginning. ¶

I have not time to take up the scriptures and show the influences that he and his associates have exercised over nations and kingdoms, princes and peoples; but suffice it to say that when Christ Jesus our Lord was baptized of John in the River Jordan, when He was thirty years of age, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness that He might be confronted with that evil power which has been on the earth from the beginning. Light came upon the world, and there was also darkness. The conditions of this globe are typical of this spiritual condition. Light is here, and men may receive light. Darkness is here, and men may go into the deeds of darkness. When light comes into the world and they reject it, they do so because their deeds are evil, as Christ pointed out. Jesus was taken up into the mount that the spirit and power of darkness might be confronted with Him. He was shown the kingdoms of this world, with all their pomp and might, riches and glory and strength. That Evil One tempted Him, and said, If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you these ; for they are mine. Of course, when he works he generally has a little truth mixed up with a great deal of falsehood. That is the way with that wicked one. There was this much truth in what he said to Jesus ; he had obtained control, temporarily, over the nations of the earth, he influenced them and their rulers, and they were under his dominion, but that dominion was only for a time. Still he promised Jesus that if He would worship him, he would give Him all these kingdoms and their glories. But Jesus told him to get behind. He understood better; He comprehended that that was the spirit of darkness. So it was when the same being confronted Moses, as we read in the Pearl of Great Price. ¶

I merely refer to that to show the attitude of this being. According to the Book of Mormon, he is an individual. According to the Doctrine and Covenants, he is a personage. According to the Bible, he is a spiritual person. He is here on the earth, as Paul says, going about "like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour," or as a serpent, trying to tempt and lead mankind from God. Now, that spirit is in the world — the spirit of the power of darkness, the spirit of that wicked one. After Jesus Christ had been in His ministry for some time He declared, "The prince of this world cometh, but he hath nothing in me." Jesus had been tried and tempted by him; all kinds of arts had been brought to bear upon our Savior; but they utterly and completely failed, and Jesus was without blemish or spot. He knew no sin. Guile was not found in His mouth. He kept every commandment ; and He came, not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. So when the prince of this world came along, there was nothing in Christ that he could touch ; for He was sinless and spotless. ¶

Now, if we will keep the commandments of Christ and walk in the spirit of our Redeemer, there will be no place for Satan in our hearts nor in our homes. But these powers of evil are on the earth, and they have come down, as John saw them in the vision, just before the time of the end, "having great wrath ; for they know that their time is short." How do they work? Why, if they can, they work through the children of the kingdom. If they can, they move upon you, upon me, upon every man and woman in the Church that can be tempted or drawn aside. But after we have resisted, again, and again, the time will come when they will cease their personal efforts upon us; but they will attack us through our children, or our companions in the home — the man or the woman in the home who does not keep the commandments of God. Snares are laid particularly for the rising generation. These spirits are here in this city. They are throughout the land. They are measurably over all the earth ; but they are concentrated in their efforts to a large degree right here where we live. Now, we have no personal warfare against even our enemies. Those who slander and abuse, who try to irritate us to make us respond and retaliate, let them do that and fail. Let them go on with their evil works. Daniel saw in the vision of the last times, that "the wicked should do wickly, and none of the wicked should understand ;" but the wise shall understand, he says, "and they that turn many unto righteousness shall shine like the stars and like the sun forever and ever." Let them go on, therefore, with their evil work. But let us do our work of light and truth and righteousness. ¶

I am sorry to hear remarks that come sometimes from some of our young men, showing that they have drunk into this evil spirit of slander and reproach against men who are pure in their lives, who are serving God, who are serving their country, and who are doing their duty. I will say here for myself, that I think every man in this Church, no matter what authority he may have in the priesthood, has just as many civil rights as any other American citizen. I do not claim for him any more, and I do not concede that he has any less. Every man who is an American citizen stands, according to the theory, equal before the law. It is not true that we are all born equal in size or in physical stature or strength, or in wealth, or in intellect, or in some opportunities ; but every person born in the United States, or legally naturalized, is a citizen on an equal plane with other citizens, so far as the rights and privileges of a citizen are concerned. I have heard some of our young men talk in a way that shows they do not appreciate that, and they are drinking into the spirit of opposition which comes from that Evil One. I have no doubt that there are some people opposing this Church who are mistaken, and who are not corrupt or wicked in their intentions, but their eyes are blinded by the powers of darkness. But the root of this opposition is in iniquity, in darkness, in corruption, in evil. Scan the lives of many of those who speak, and particularly fight, against the Church of God and against His Zion, and you will find that they are of the character that has been mentioned here today. But we do not want to bring that up against them. We are not fighting against them as individuals. Our warfare is with these powers that are behind the veil ; and the only way to fight them effectually is to bar them from our souls, and to teach our children the principles of eternal life, that they may not become subject to these evil powers. If we yield to them, they will become the masters. Satan cannot obtain the mastery over any human being, except by yielding to him. We are his whom we list to obey. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you," the Lord says. ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, we are in one of those tests that have occurred frequently— one of those trials that come upon this Church; and it remains to be seen what we will do. The Lord allows these periods to come upon us that we may be tested, tried and proved, to see if we will stand firm, as we are exhorted to do in what I have read to you. Shall we stand firm, or shall we yield? Shall we give place to the devil and his works, or shall we stand as a united body of the saints of the living God, to serve our heavenly Father, keep His commandments, and preserve the rights and privileges which we should enjoy in common with all other people upon this goodly land ? We love the Constitution of our country, as we have heard today. We love the institutions which secure to mankind that liberty which all the sons and daughters of God should enjoy; and we hope to see the principles of liberty spread throughout the world, and the flag of liberty floating in every breeze, and that the time will soon come when all people shall be free to serve God and keep His commandments, or to take that course which pleases them, the consequences being in the hands of the Lord, and will be dealt out to them according to justice and mercy. But we do not want to fight with any carnal weapons. We do not want to descend to the measures and plans and methods of the ungodly and the wicked and corrupt. We do not want to be brought under their dominion, either. And I will tell you that if we will stand firm in the liberty with which God has made us free — in the Gospel, which is the perfect law of liberty — God will take care that out of all the seeming evil good will come, as He brought light out of darkness in the beginning of this globe. He is above all ; He is over all. His power and dominion stretch out through the vast domains of space, on this earth and all others that He has created. He has purposes in regard to us as well as to them, and He has sent us down here on the earth for a time and a season, that we may be proven, tested and tried, to see what we are worthy of, so that in the future we may be placed where we belong, and have glory, immortality and endless increase, with dominions, and kingdoms, and principalities and powers forever, if we are fit to have them ; and if not, that we may go to our own place, receive the judgment which we ought to have, and enter into that degree of glory for which we fit ourselves. ¶

Now, shall we stand firm in the Gospel of Christ? Shall we resist the powers of evil? Shall we take care that in our own personal conduct and lives we shall be worthy of the Spirit of the Lord, that Satan can have no dominion over us, in body or in spirit? Shall we stand by the servants of the living God whom He has called and appointed to lead His people in the last days ? Shall our hearts go out to them? Shall we stand by them under every circumstance, in every condition? Shall we be true to the Priesthood that God has restored? Shall we be true to the Gospel which He has revealed? ¶

Shall we teach our children the things of the kingdom, and train them up in the fear of the Lord? Shall we check our boys and our girls when they would depart from the right and from the straight and narrow way? Teach them to keep the Sabbath holy. Teach them to come out from the wicked, and be not unclean as they are. Teach them to shun the very appearance of evil. Teach them to be pure in heart, in spirit, in word, and in act, as well as in body. Teach them to observe the precepts that are continually being presented. Then the blessing of God will be upon Zion, and she will arise and shine ; and though the wicked may look upon her and say, Let her be defiled, God shall deliver her out of all her afflictions in the future as He has done in the past, and bring her off more than conqueror. Christ Jesus, our King, shall come and bind Satan with the chain of the Holy Priesthood, that he may be banished from the earth, and the earth delivered from his influence and his bondage, and prepared for the coming of our Eternal Father, whose tabernacle will be with men, and He will dwell with them and be their Father and their God, wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more sorrow and no more pain and no more death. God hasten the day, through Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶