The Riches of Eternity

I feel a good deal like President Smith expressed himself, last evening, that to stand before a large congregation of this character inspires one with a feeling of awe, if not of fear; and if I shall be able to say anything this morning that shall be profitable to us, it will be due to the help and assistance of the Spirit of the Lord. ¶

I quote from the Proverbs, chapter 23: "Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven." ¶

Again, in Proverbs, chapter 30: "Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: "Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; "Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." ¶

This prayer of the wise man is worthy of our consideration — how beautiful, how appropriate, how consistent! He prayed not for riches, for fear that he would forget the Lord; he prayed not for poverty, because it is a distressing thing and may lead to crime; but he prayed for just sufficient to meet his reasonable wants, and then he would be content. ¶

Brethren and sisters, the spirit of the age is a spirit to seek after wealth, to get rich, and to get rich quickly. There are innumerable schemes and enterprises devised by which this might be accomplished, and many people run into speculations that lead down, swiftly to financial ruin. ¶

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were very few people in America who could be classed as wealthy. If a man was known to be worth a million dollars, nearly every eye was upon him, it seemed to be such a wonderful thing; but now a million dollars is looked upon as quite a paltry sum, and he who has attained to this degree of opulence attracts no attention whatever. During the past century great fortunes have been accumulated by the wealthy in the United States. Henry Clews, a Wall Street banker, and an authority of eminence in financial matters, has prepared a list of some of the rich men of the country. Here it is: John D. Rockefeller $500,000,000 Andrew Carnegie, $115,000,000 given away, leaving 250,000,000 Wm. Waldorf Astor, chiefly real estate 200,000,000 John Jacob, Astor 175,000,000 The Gould family (of which Geo. J. Gould's personal portion represents $35,- 000,000) 150,000,000 Marshall Field 100,000,000 Blair estate 100,000,000 W. K. Vanderbilt 80,000,000 Russell Sage, now Mrs. Russell Sage 80,000,000 D. O. Mills 75,000,000 Wm. Rockefeller 75,000,000 J. P. Morgan 60,000,000 Jas. J. Hill 60,000,000 Henry H. Rogers 50,000,000 Henry Phipps 45,000,000 Jacob D. Archibald 40,000,000 Henry M. Flagler ... 40,000,000 Jas. B. Haggin 40,000,000 James Henry Smith (not John Henry Smith (laugh-" ¶

ter) 35,000,000 Wm. H. Tilford 20,000,000 James Stillman 15,000,000 [Just think of that — the paltry sum of $15,000,000.] George F. Baker 15,000,000 This makes a total, owned by twenty-two men, of two billion, two hundred and five million dollars. Mr. Clews admits that his list is incomplete, but says that it undoubtedly contains the names of the richest men in the country. Now, pause and reflect, brethren and sisters. Think what an immense responsibility rests upon these men who own such vast wealth. You could scarcely suppose that they would have a moment's time to devote to religion, or even to devote to their families, their time would be so completely occupied in looking after and managing these millions of dollars. ¶

I would like to say in this connection, brethren and sisters, that the possession of great wealth often leads to extravagance and folly of the worst character. I was reading, the other day, of a case in court, where a wealthy woman was suing out a divorce from her wealthy husband, and in order to impress the judge with the necessity of allowing her a large alimony, she gave to him and to the court a detailed account, which was published, of her yearly expenses, the moneys expended by her for dress amounting to $40,000. I am sure it would be interesting to you to know the number and cost of the various articles required by this wealthy woman to furnish her wardrobe for one year; and, of course, the expense is continuous, as the fashions, you know, change frequently. She required: Twelve morning gowns that cost from $50.00 to $100.00 each. These often very elaborately ornamented would cost from $350 to $800 each. ¶

Fifteen reception gowns, $250 to $350 each. ¶

Twenty-four street gowns at $100 to $200 each. ¶

Six house gowns, $350 each. Six negligee gowns, $50 to $175 each. ¶

Six tailored suits, $90 to $150. ¶

Four riding habits, $150 each. ¶

Twenty yachting suits, $50 each. Furs: One black muff and boa, $225. One black caracul skirt, $700. One black otter boa, $125. One fur coat, $300. ¶

Now I submit to you the question and ask if you do not think that one hundred women, and even a greater number, could be clothed properly, to make a very respectable appearance, and to look reasonably well in all respects, with the money that was expended by this one woman on her wardrobe for one year? So that it would appear to be a very foolish and extravagant outlay. In order to satisfy her it would require a very large sum in alimony, and that is what she wanted. ¶

Now, in the matter of wealth, as in all other matters, we must look to our Lord and Master as the great exemplar, and we may well judge from what the scriptures say that He despised wealth, for upon one occasion He said — think of it, the Lord of life, the Savior of the world, the Son of the living God, said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." He seemed to give very little attention to the question of wealth. Even the adversary was permitted to take Him to the top of a high mountain and to show Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof; and the adversary turned to Him and said, "Fall down and worship me, and all these things I will give thee." The Savior said, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Upon one occasion, as you will remember, a ruler of the Jews came to the Savior and said to Him, "Good Master, tell me what I shall do to inherit eternal life." The Savior turned to him and said, "Why callest thou me good? None are good except God. Thou knowest the commandment, Do not commit adultery; do not kill; do not bear false witness; defraud not; honor thy father and thy mother." "Why," said the young man, "all these have I kept from my youth up." And the Savior, looking upon him, loved him and said, "Yet lackest thou one thing." Now, think of it, what a remarkable life this young man had led, he had kept all these great commandments from his youth up, every one of them, and was only lacking in one little thing, the correction of which would enable him to grasp eternal life. The Savior said, "Sell all that thou hast and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." This made the young man very sad, and it grieved him sorely, for he had great possessions, and he turned away; and the Savior, addressing Himself to His disciples, said, "How hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven." Whereupon Peter replied, "Lo, we have left all and followed thee." Jesus answered, "Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an, hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." How very fitting were the words of the Savior upon another occasion, if applied to that young man, wherein he said, "Lay not up treasures unto yourselves upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust doth not corrupt, neither do thieves break through and steal; for where your treasure is there will your heart be also." The acquirement of riches was not only referred to upon numerous occasions, by the ancient writers of the scripture, and also by the Savior in His day, but the Lord in modern times has spoken very clearly and definitely respecting it. In His revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith, this subject is dwelt upon quite fully and seems to be counted of great importance. The Lord said to Joseph, in section 38 of the Doctrine and Covenants: "If ye seek the riches which it is the will of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old." And how were the Nephites of old? We read that they grew to be quite wealthy; they became proud and high-minded, and went with stiffnecks and high looks, and they seemed to think they were better than their poorer brethren and sisters, because of the costly apparel which they wore. This was a great evil in the sight of God. Upon another occasion, the Lord emphasizes the words of the wise man in the proverbs, when he said: "Seek not riches, but wisdom, and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded to you; then shall ye be made rich, for he that inherits eternal life is rich." ¶

Brethren and sisters, the late President John R. Winder is a rich man, for he will inherit eternal life. He fought the good fight, kept the faith and has won a crown in the kingdom of our God. ¶

Now, we have before us, on the one hand, the riches of eternity, and, on the other hand, the riches of the earth. Which will you choose? If you choose the riches of eternity, then all other things will be added unto you. If you choose the riches of the earth, you may lose all else, yea, even the riches of the earth. There are many, very many among the Latter-day Saints who are rich today, and others who are growing rich; but they do not derive their happiness from riches. There are five sources from which the Saints derive inestimable happiness, and in which the principle and power of wealth has no influence whatever: The first is the possession of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the second is the contemplation of spiritual things in that Gospel; the third is the blessings of the house of God, in which the endowments are given, and the principle of marriage for eternity is revealed; the fourth is the preaching of the Gospel to a fallen world, thus bringing to pass the redemption of mankind; and the fifth is administering the necessities of life to the worthy poor. This is what brings happiness, pure and unsullied happiness, to the Latter-day Saints. Let us seek after these things. ¶

May the Lord bless His people. May He prosper and sustain them. May He bring to them the riches of eternity, and may He bring to them the riches of the earth, if they can only have wisdom to employ these riches for the building up of His Church and Kingdom. May the Lord God of Heaven bless His Prophet and His people, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶