Reproof and Intelligent Obedience

I would like to read a portion of a revelation given to Joseph Smith, the Seer, at Kirtland, in May, 1831, in which the Lord said: ¶

Hearken, O ye elders of my Church, and give ear to the voice of the living God, and attend to the words of wisdom which shall be given unto you, according as ye have asked and are agreed as touching the Church, and the spirits which have gone abroad in the earth. ¶

Behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many spirits which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world; And also Satan hath sought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you. ¶

Behold, I the Lord have looked upon you, and have seen abominations in the Church that profess my name; But blessed are they who are faithful and endure, whether in life or in death, for they shall inherit eternal life. ¶

But wo unto them that are deceivers and hypocrites, for, thus saith the Lord, I will bring them to judgment. ¶

Behold, verily I say unto you, there are hypocrites among you, who have deceived some, which has given the adversary power, but behold such [that is, those who are deceived] shall be reclaimed; But the hypocrites shall be detected and shall be cut off, either in life or in death, even as I will; and wo unto them who are cut off from my Church, for the same are overcome of the world. ¶

Wherefore, let every man beware lest he do that which is not in truth and righteousness before me. ¶

And now come, saith the Lord, by the Spirit, unto the elders of His Church, and let us reason together, that ye may understand. ¶

Let us reason even as a man reasoneth one with another, face to face. ¶

Now when a man reasoneth he is understood of man because he reasoneth as a man, even so will I, the Lord, reason with you that you may understand. ¶

Wherefore I, the Lord, asketh you this question, unto what were ye ordained? ¶

To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth; And then received ye spirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God, and in this are ye justified? ¶

Behold, ye shall answer this question yourselves; nevertheless I will be merciful unto you — he that is weak among you hereafter shall be made strong. ¶

Verily, I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? ¶

And if it be by some other way, it be not of God. ¶

And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? ¶

If it be some other way it be not of God: ¶

Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth, receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? ¶

Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understandeth one another, and both are edified and rejoice together; And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness; That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light and continueth in God, receiveth more light, and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. ¶

As remarked by Elder Reed Smoot, I also have rejoiced, during this conference, that my spirit has received gladly every word that has been spoken. Those remarks of the President of the Church, in relation to the Word of Wisdom, found my spirit in perfect accord, and I rejoice that I, who heard, understood exactly as he who spoke. I have understood the words of all the brethren. They have not been mysterious; they have been plain and easy to understand; and those who have spoken and all who have heard, I trust, have understood alike, and thereby evidence that they are possessed of the Spirit of Truth and of Light, and not of darkness. All that has been said has been edifying and good, and intended to build us up. From the manner in which the whole congregation, in one united "aye" expressed their approval of the resolution endorsing the sentiments of the President, I judge that they were in possession of the Spirit of God, that they understood His servants who reasoned with them as a man reasoneth with his friend, face to face. ¶

I am glad that there is the disposition in the President of the Church and in God, Who speaks through His servants, to reprove the congregations of Israel when they need reproof, as well as to commend them, when their lives are worthy of commendation. We should receive reproof with the same spirit that we receive commendation. We are sorry, to be sure, that we have to be reproved because of neglect of duty, but if neglect does prevail among us, then we need to be reproved, and it is my belief that this people will be more faithful in keeping the Word of Wisdom than they perchance have been before. I believe we are willing to receive the word of the Lord and that we will repent of our sins and overcome these evils that we have allowed ourselves to become addicted to and which were prompted by the false spirits that have gone abroad in the world to deceive men. The Lord is absolutely opposed to all manner of sin, of evil, of wickedness, of vice, and corruption. He has declared that He can look upon these things with no degree of allowance. He cannot wink at these things, because He has commanded that they shall be done away among His people. Yet, there are those among us who have been deceived and who have imagined that the committing of a little sin was not a great thing. But when sin is committed, in the face of the knowledge that it is sin, condemnation must follow just as surely as the sin is committed. ¶

There is no such thing as "necessary evils." When any man declares that prostitution or any other crime is a necessary evil, or that saloons are a necessary evil, we are inclined to ask him how he knows. He can not know it, other than by his personal experience; he can not know it for some one else; and if he knows it by his own experience he acknowledges that he is vile and corrupt and is unfit and entirely unworthy of the association, confidence, or trust of decent and respectable people. We know to the contrary; we know that these things are not necessary, because God has declared it, and the Lord knows. Nowhere has He ever said that sin and wickedness are necessary, but He has condemned all such. As was said yesterday, all Latter-day Saints ought to set their faces, as flint, against all manner of evil, and by that example prove to the world that it is possible to live above sin, and not yield to the seducing wicked spirits which have gone abroad in the world. The man who imagines that these things are necessary is one of those that the Lord referred to as having been deceived by those wicked spirits. The Latter-day Saints ought to be in possession of the Spirit of God, and be guided in all things by it. We ought to have tabernacles which are clean and pure, and which have never been defiled, and cannot be defiled, because they are controlled by the Spirit of the Lord. Our bodies should be temples of the Most High God, wherein may dwell the Spirit of the Lord, and our words and our acts should always be the fruits of the Spirit. We should never perform the evil works of the flesh, but subdue them, and control ourselves in all righteousness. Thank God we, both as individuals and as a people, have the power to resist evil and overcome it with good. Therefore, my brethren and sisters, I rejoice that the Lord can see when His chosen people in any manner or degree depart from strict obedience to His commands, and that He will, by His divinely constituted authority, in a spirit of love, chasten us and call our attention to our shortcomings, that we may repent and turn unto Him before it is too late. ¶

I believe in my heart that there is a disposition on the part of the whole people to receive the word of the Lord and to put it into practice in their lives. If we have been guilty in any way, we will repent sincerely, we will strive to do better in the future, and we will exert our influence, with those over whom we preside, or with whom we can possibly have influence. I will say for my brethren of the general authorities of the Church, we ought to receive the instructions given in this conference. They apply not only to us as individuals, but as families. It is our duty to bring to bear on our families, our wives and children, that influence which shall also make them believe and rejoice to obey the word of God. These presidents of stakes and bishops of wards should not only be free from every manner of sin, themselves, free from every degree of evil, but they should set their houses in order; and their wives and their children should be obedient unto them, as they are obedient unto the servants of God and unto our Father Himself. Their wives and children should obey the commandments of the Lord, walk in the paths of righteousness, obedience, and peace, and set an example that would add strength to those who preside. If it is possible for us to avoid it, none of us should be found in the condition of Alma of old. He had to say to his son: Because of your wickedness, because of your evil ways, my efforts in the preaching of righteousness have been neutralized, and I can do no good among the people who know you, because of your evil life; for they say: Go and set your own house in order, call your own son to repentance, correct his life, then come and teach us. That is the way I feel about it. I want those over whom I have influence, or authority and jurisdiction, not to obey me because of any coercion or force brought to bear upon them, but to obey me in the same manner that I feel to obey the servants of the Lord, and the commandments of God. Because it is right and the requirements are just. I want them to be possessed of the good Spirit, that they will not only obey gladly, but that they will know for themselves what spirit the instructions are of, so that when the servants of the Lord speak by the power and influence of the Holy Spirit, they will know and understand because they themselves have the same spirit. They will obey because they love the Lord and they love the Lord's anointed. They will rejoice and, of their own free will and choice, will serve God and keep His commandments. That is the condition that should exist in the families of all the authorities of the Church, both general and local. Their families are or ought to be, in this condition; and then, as with the Priesthood, so with the people; we will have greater power, we will have greater influence to overcome the evils that obtain in our midst, and be better able to resist these wicked and seducing spirits which preach to us the doctrines of devils and have deceived some. May we have power to reclaim those thus deceived and call all evil ones to repentance; and if they will not repent, as we have read, leave them to the judgment of God. Our hope and feeling is that all may repent, and that sin and wickedness and evil of every name and nature may be done away. It cannot exist in a community which loves only purity and virtue and righteousness and whose every act proves that they love God with all their heart, might, mind, and strength, and that they love their neighbors as themselves. May the Lord be merciful to His people, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶