The Saints as Peacemakers and the Gathering of Israel

The Saints not contentious, but peacemakers.— The ethics of "Mormonism." — The gathering an important feature of God's work. — Outcasts from home, but blessed in Zion. — Joseph's prophecy fulfilled concerning the Rocky Mountain region. ¶

I am happy, this morning to have the privilege of being present with you, of listening to the discourses that we have heard, and the good instructions given us. I believe that they have been enjoyed by all. I rejoice in the testimony that we have heard, and I rejoice in possessing this same testimony, that I know the Prophet Joseph Smith was authorized and sent of God to perform the great and important work which he accomplished. ¶

President Smith said that a contentious spirit showed the spirit of apostasy. I thought of the words of the Savior: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." We want to be peacemakers. We do not want to contend. The Lord says to us : "Contend against no church, save it be the church of the devil." Our desire is not to contend, but to preach the Gospel of peace unto men. Where men want information concerning what we believe, we are always ready to give it unto them ; but if they only want to contend with us, and they have a quarrelsome spirit, we do not want to encourage argument with such. If, however, they are seeking for truth we are ready to meet them in a friendly spirit, for the sake of convincing them of the truth. The Lord has given unto us the truth, and the truth has made us free. We do not labor under the oppression of doubt and darkness, but through the truth revealed from heaven we have been set free, and we rejoice in this freedom. ¶

I am pleased to see so many here this morning at the first session of our conference. I would like to read to you a few words from the fifty-ninth section of the Doctrine and Covenants : ¶

"Behold, blessed, saith the Lord, are they who have come up unto this land with an eye single to my glory, according to my commandments ; "For them that live shall inherit the earth, and them that die shall rest from all their labors, and their works shall follow them, and they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them; "Yea, blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of Zion, who have obeyed my Gospel, for they shall receive for their reward the good things of the earth; and it shall bring forth in its strength ; "And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few; and with revelations in their time : they that are faithful and diligent before me. ¶

"Wherefore I give unto them a commandment, saying thus : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength ; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve Him. ¶

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal ; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it. ¶

"Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things." ¶

These verses give us the ethics of "Morm'onism." Here also are glorious promises unto those who have come up to the land of Zion. Through the principle of gathering, this vast congregation is present today. Most of the older people have come from other states and other nations. They have come here because they wanted to assemble with the people of God. They have left their homes to come to the land of Zion, and all those who came here with an eye single to the glory of God, have found Zion. Those who did not come with an eye single to the glory of God, but whose aim was to build up self, make means, and so forth, have not found Zion. but have been ready to find fault with it. You who came here with Zion in your hearts did not feel to find fault with existing conditions, although you may have had to take hold of labors that you had never been accustomed to. ' You may have left good homes to come here ; you may have tasted of poverty, and so on, yet, having Zion in your hearts, you felt you had come to the land that God had appointed for a gathering place for His people. ¶

The principle of gathering was taught early in the history of our Church. When I read the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, which the angel Moroni quoted to the boy Joseph, then only eighteen years old, I see that he was taught this principle of gathering, and of building up a Zion unto God. It was not a principle that was evolved after the Church was organized and it had been thought best to gather together the people. The angel Moroni taught it to Joseph before any one was baptized in the Church. In May 1829, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that He would gather His people together, and said that if they would come they should partake of the water of life freely. The Prophet received this principle from the Lord; he could not have taken it from any of the existing religions, for it was taught in none of them. He was told that the Lord intended to gather His people, and during the first year after the organization of the Church, from month to month, there are allusions to this principle ; and before a year had passed the Lord spoke like this, concerning Zion : , "And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion. ¶

"And it shall come to pass, among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for safety. ¶

"And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven ; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another. ¶

"And it shall be said among the wicked, Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible ; wherefore we cannot stand. ¶

"And it shall come to pass that the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy." ¶

This revelation was given March 7, 1831. The Church was not then a year old, and but very few had accepted the faith; but the Lord revealed through His servant, the Prophet Joseph, the glory that should come unto Zion, and He told him that the people of Zion should be gathered from every nation. Think of this young man called to lead the Church, then but twenty-five years of age, given this promise that there should be established a Zion to which the people should gather out of all nations ! What likelihood was there for him to imagine this himself, when he looked at the small flock around him that believed in his words? But it was not his imaginings ; it was the revelation of God unto him that there should be established a Zion to which people should come from out of all nations. It was the fulfilment of the prophecies in the second chapter of Isaiah, and fourth chapter of Micah, in language similarly worded, when they looked down through the vista of time and saw there was to be a gathering, and that the people would go up to the "mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob," in order that they might learn of His ways and walk in His paths. Isaiah prophesied to this effect, and we bear testimony it is coming to pass. ¶

In this congregation before me there are people from all parts of the world. They have heard the Gospel preached in their different homes. They have learned what it means to accept the truth. They have learned that those who will live godly in Christ shall be persecuted. They had not done anything to deserve the strictures, the mockings, and the persecutions of their neighbors ; they had simply believed in the words they heard from the servants of God and made covenants with the Lord, in the waters of baptism, to serve Him'. In the sincerity of their hearts they had repented of their sins and were trying to live better lives, and for doing this their neighbors and friends, yea relatives, looked down upon them. They felt like a certain mother who, when she heard that her son had received the Gospel and become a Mormon, said: "Oh, how could you do such a thing and bring shame upon us. Had you stolen and been sent to the penitentiary, you could have got over that, but the thought of your becoming a Mormon, the thought of the shame that is brought upon us, makes us say that you are not a son of ours." Yet he had done nothing except that he believed in the Gospel as preached to him and had repented of his sins and been baptized. Thus he was rejected by his own mother. In this way friends and relatives have risen up against those who have joined the Church. You, my brethren and sisters, have learned what it costs to join an unpopular people, but do you feel that you would exchange the blessings you have received by obeying the Gospel, for the good will of those who despise you? I think not. You have found the "pearl of great price." To you it is of inestimable value, and you cannot afford to lose it. "Blessed are they who have come to this land," says the Lord, "with an eye single to my glory, according to my commandments ;" and He also says, "Blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of Zion, who have obeyed my gospel, for they shall receive for their reward (the good things of the earth, and it shall bring forth in its strength." This was the promise. I have often wondered if the pioneers, when they first saw this valley, with its barren, sunbaked soil, covered with sagebrush, except along the creeks where willows and a few straggling cottonwoods grew, thought it possible that this promise could be fulfilled : that they should receive the good things of the earth, and that it should bring forth in its strength. When these words were revealed through the Prophet to the Saints of the Colesville branch in Jackson county, and they looked upon the beautiful country around them — the rolling plains, the fertile soil — it was easy for them to believe it; but it was not so easy for the Saints who came here to believe that this dry soil would be able to bring forth in strength the good things of the earth. Yet they had enduring faith ; they had followed their leader, President Brigham Young, over the plains and had come here having full confidence in his leadership for they knew that he was the successor of the Prophet Joseph. ¶

The idea of going to the Rocky Mountains was not original with President Brigham Young. He just executed the plan which had been given through the Prophet Joseph, when he prophesied that this people would gather here in the Rocky Mountains and become a mighty people. So imbued was the Prophet with this thought that a committee was appointed by him to go to the Rocky Mountains to examine the country and select a gathering place for the Saints. Through circumstances which arose the committee did not go during his lifetime, but it shows that the Prophet Joseph, with the eye of -prophecy, saw what would come to pass. President Young followed him. He called upon men to come with him, and having a testimony of the truth, and believing that he was the Prophet of God, they followed him. He did not know much about this country. Before them lay the pathless plains on which roamed the savages ; and beyond those plains, what? The Rocky Mountains, unexplored. Only a few had been here before the President, inspired by the Spirit of God, led the people to this place; and as forbidding as this land looked when they came here in 1847 he still said : This is the land, and here shall the Temple of God be erected. With the eye of prophecy he saw the future. It was not an easy task that was given to the pioneers to settle this country, but the Lord had said : "Blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of Zion, who have obeyed my gospel, for they shall receive as their reward the good things of the earth, and it shall bring forth in its strength." That promise was made, and you can all bear testimony that it has been fulfilled. You can testify that the Lord has blessed this land, that He has tendered the elements, and through His blessings and the labors of His people this land has been made to blossom as a rose, to use the figurative language of the Prophet. ¶

The Lord is able to bless His people, but He asks of them' that they shall keep their eye single to His glory, single to this one aim, to serve Him. None can serve two masters. He that serves two masters, Jesus says, will love the one and despise the other. We love the Master, we love to serve Him, for He is able to bless us, not only in the present but in all time to come. If we strive to live with an eye single to the glory of God, doing His will, we will be able to gather riches that, will be imperishable riches that we will not need to leave behind us, for they will go with us. When working for self we acquire the things that will perish, but that which we do through faith in God, with an eye single to His glory, with love and brotherly kindness for each other, that will be placed to our credit, and no one can take it from us. ¶

Brethren and sisters, let us all resolve that we will serve God. Let this thought go through the heart of each of us : As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, come what may. The time which the Lord has given us here upon the earth is very valuable indeed. There is so much that we can do. Let us not neglect our opportunities. Let us rejoice in having received this Gospel and the testimony that it is the Gospel of Christ. Let us rejoice that we are members of His Church, and resolve to so live that the whole world may know that we have received the truth and are what we profess to be. May God bless all Israel, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶