Divine Mission, Priesthood Duty, and the Sacrament Prayer

I pray that the same good spirit may assist me, the little time I undertake to talk to you, that was enjoyed by my brethren. It appears that the good Spirit of the Lord has been with us, generously, and that we have been instructed and exhorted very fervently, and that we have been commended before the Lord for our good works and the success that has attended upon our ministry; for the brethren feel that the Church is in good condition, progressing, and that we are as faithful, if not more faithful, than we have been before. I believe that that testimony is true of those who are gathered here today and of those who are at home and could not be with us. We can't all come to Conference at one time. It is very difficult, at all times, for some people to make it convenient so that they can attend upon our General Conferences, and our stake conferences, and ward conferences, and mission conferences ; but there is always a good strong representation of choice men and women who have been trained a long time in the Gospel, and who love the truth, love righteousness, and have a testimony in their hearts in regard to the truth, that they have found out the way of life, have found out the commandments of the Lord and are living those commandments pretty well, with ample room, no doubt, for improvement. ¶

We are a peculiar people. I thought the President was rather impressing upon us, this morning, the features that emphasize our peculiarities. We are gathered together as religious people, generally, do not gather. We come from everywhere. Wherever the Gospel has been preached the people gather to the land of Zion ; and we become neighbors, we become kindred and friends. We fellowship together, and we have one spirit. Though we talk different languages, yet we have one spirit, the Spirit of the Lord that is conferred upon us, in a goodly measure and in a degree corresponding with our devotion and faithfulness, and of our repentance and works of righteousness. This is my testimony, in connection with my brethren, having traveled among the people for some years, and being pretty well acquainted with the brethren, particularly, who bear the Priesthood ; and nearly all the male members of the Church are entrusted with divine authority, and speak of the divinity of the Savior— and the divinity of the mission of the Prophet Joseph, the divinity of this work the divinity of the Scriptures — the Jewish and Nephite Scriptures — and the divinity of the revelations given through the Prophet Joseph, our law-giver, the Lord's law-giver to us in this last dispensation particularly. I thought I was brought to this conclusion, in addition to what my brethren said, that your mission, our mission as members of the Church, as men bearing the Priesthood, that our mission is also a divine mission — so beautifully touched upon by the President, in regard to the Savior, and the principle of revelation for every person who has faith in God, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost, and who repents of his sins, or her sins, is entitled, through genuine and proper baptism, to the remission of their sins, and to receive the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, that Spirit which bears record of the Father, and without which no man can know that God lives. They may believe, and they may have hope, but to have positive knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Savior of the world, and a testimony in regard to the mission of the prophets and of Joseph Smith, the prophet of this dispensation, no man can have this knowledge except it be given him of the Father by the Holy Ghost. ¶

It is as much the right of every other member in this Church as it is your right and mine, my brethren who are presiding, bearing the Priesthood and authority in the Church; it is the right of every other member to have that same spirit and to have it in rich abundance, in proportion to our devotion and faithfulness, and to know that this Gospel is true. We can know it by the Holy Ghost ; we can know it is true ; we can know of the divinity of this work in which we are engaged ; we can know of the divinity of the lives and labors of the prophets that have gone before, and the patriarchs, and those who have represented the Lord in His divine authority among the children of men. Every member is entitled to that witness and testimony. Our mission is divine, is of God ; we are called of Him, and He has converted us, and He has brought us to receive of the Spirit of Christ, to the remission of our sins ; that is what the Father has done. We, under His direction, have been preaching the Gospel, expounding the Scriptures, advocating the truth and laying out the way of life and salvation to the children of men. But it is the Lord that has called you ; it is His inspiration, His Spirit that has converted you and brought you to feel the truth, and to accept it, and to submit yourselves to it. It is the Lord that has brought you to repentance and reformation, and works of righteousness. Men have not done it ; men cannot do it, cannot accomplish that mission ; the Lord has done it. ¶

I have been brought to realize, literally, that the Lord will be moving upon the children of men, and that He has already moved upon them and has enabled them to see the truth, and to see the Gospel, and to realize that there is truth in it, and power in it ; and men will be brought to inquire after the truth. They are so inquiring now, and they will continue to inquire— great, and important, and remarkable men — and when His Spirit is bestowed, when the Spirit of Christ, following the exercise of men's agency, opening their ears and listening to the truth, with a desire to know, and the Spirit of Christ takes possession of them, then are they entitled to come into His Church — to receive the ordinance of baptism in water, and the ordinance of baptism by the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. When this is brought about, they will become established as we are, my brethren and my sisters, as we feel today, as we are established and as we hold on to the truth and are willing to suffer, willing to endure, willing to labor for the Gospel and for the kingdom, for the salvation of the children of men and for our own salvation. People will come from afar and will enter into the fold, and will labor as we are laboring. The Lord will have to accomplish that. ¶

I have discovered that the work is too great for men to accomplish, and that the Lord will work among the peoples of the earth, and convert them, and bring them to see the truth. They will inquire after it, and when the Spirit of Christ takes possession of them, whether they be great and remarkable among the children of men or not, they will receive the truth and they will submit to it, and they will listen, and obey. They will not allow business, they will not allow the wealth of the word, they will not allow the honors and the greatness of this world to stand between them and God, whenever they have so far listened to the truth and discovered it that they realize and appreciate it, and receive of the Spirit of Christ, entitling them to the remission of sins. You will find that they will take hold of the Gospel, and they will stand for the truth, and as you are willing and have been willing to sacrifice what you have had, you will find the great men of the world will come to that point also ; and they will come to our defense and the help of the Lord. I anticipate that ; am looking for it, and expecting it. This Church, after a little while, will be looked upon, among the churches of the world, and in the world, as respectable. We are pretty respectable now ; that is, we are thought respectable by the people of the earth. We have been respectable from the beginning, before the world ; and there are people in the world today, many of them, that consider the Latter-day Saints, the "Mormon" people, as the very choicest of people there are in the world ; and they know it because they have discovered morality, purity, honesty, integrity, and devotion ; they have found them a prayerful people, as suggested by the President this morning. They have been taught under the direction of the Lord, and have listened, and are following out His counsel. I thought I would just read a little word here, in regard to this subject, and then apply it not only to the principle of prayer but to other principles ; but most important, emphasized by the Savior Himself when He visited the Nephites, on one occasion, that is the occasion that I am speaking about now, He visited them a number of times and gave them very ample instructions. Wonderful and remarkable counsels were given to the Nephites by the Son of God Himself, in His ministry, after His resurrection and ascension to the Father. On the occasion referred to, He was talking to them particularly in regard to the Sacrament, and gave them special instructions. You will find it in the eighteenth chapter of the third book of Nephi. He says, after urging that they should remember these things and attend to them in the season thereof — the Sacrament, eating and partaking of bread and wine in remembrance of the body and blood of the Lord ; He says : "Therefore blessed are ye if ye shall keep my commandments, which the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you . ¶

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye are led away captive by him. ¶

"And as I have prayed among you, even so shall ye pray in my Church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light ; I have set an example for you. ¶

"And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto His disciples He turned again unto the multitude and said unto them" — the whole people as well as to His disciples that He had chosen and given authority to baptize and confer the Holy Ghost upon the people — "Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you ; that he may sift you as wheat ; "Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name ; "x\nd whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name which is right, believing that ye shall receive behold it shall be given unto you." ¶

That principle holds good in regard to the principle of prayer ; and it is important and indispensably necessary that the Latter-day Saints should be a prayerful people. The Lord has so arranged that the Priests in the Church shall take particular pains to teach the people to pray and to walk uprightly before the Lord, and to attend to all the duties that devolve upon them in their families. Now, this is one of the peculiarities of the Latter-day Saints, as well as many others — not only the gathering, but the principle of prayer. There is not a man in this Church, who thoroughly attends to his duties, but what not only upon the Sabbath day remembers the Lord and worships Him, and renews his covenants at the Sacramental table, but every other day. Every morning and every night of our lives, it is held important and necessary, by the Son of God, that we should bow the knee before the Lord, and that we should remember each other, that we should remember the work of the Lord, that we should remember the necessities of the children of men, and that we should pray for them, that we should call upon the Lord and ask for the blessings which we require and the success which we are entitled to attain to in our ministry. For we are ministers, we are called of God and inspired of Him to perform this labor. ¶

I thought the splendid exhortation by President Penrose was something very fine, intense, and beautiful for us to listen to, that we should be found ministering faithfully every day of our lives, every man who has received divine authority from the Lord — just as much in the Deacon, the Teacher, the Priest, the Elder, Seventy, and High Priest, as it is with the brethren who are called to preside in the Church, and the general authorities of the Church, and in the stakes and wards in Zion. Every man who has this divine authority is called of God and is expected to minister, and magnify that authority constantly — not just for a little while, not that they be called on a mission abroad, but at home. That is the condition of the brethren, we understand, who are called upon to preside in wards, stakes, quorums, and associations, and that go on missions, every man who is called to this divine authority, whatever the office or position in the Priesthood may be, it serves notice on him that he is expected to be a laborer, just like the president of a stake, the Bishop of a ward, the president of a mission, just like the president of a quorum or council, or the superintendent of a department, whether brethren or sisters. They are called and are expected to labor ; it is so understood when they are set apart; and it is just as true of every other person baptized into this Church, confirmed, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and receive the Priesthood. The brethren are called of God and are expected to open their mouths and to defend the faith and advocate it and teach it, at home among themselves, in the family, with their neighbors, and on all occasions, and to preach it to the world by the good examples of their lives. That is what is understood. So that this Church reaches out and cares for all, because of its organization, for there is no one neglected, everybody is recorded and registered. It is understood what the enrollment is of every ward and quorum and association, how numerous they are, the Sunday schools and the like. Everybody is looked after; somebody to care for everybody ; no one left to himself entirely without anybody to care for him and sympathize with him. We sympathize with each other, counsel each other, we compare notes, and moderate, and assist each other in our lives and labors ; and that is what is necessary. ¶

We can't all come to Conference. A few of the brethren are always here. You always see President Smith here, and his brethren on the stand, and these leading brethren in the stakes, the High Councilors, Patriarchs, and so forth. These brethren can come, with a struggle, but they are nearly always here ; they come out faithfully, and they are among the very choicest of brethren, and they seem to be under the care and attention of the general authorities of the Church, and we are kept in pretty fair condition. Now, that should be true of us, then ; it is just as true and should be just as true with those who are under our influence and direction, wherever we are. We should be just as faithful and devoted as those under the direction of the Presidency of the Church. It is necessary, and it will take as much to save others as it will to save us ; and the Lord requires of us that we shall be devoted and faithful, and keep the commandments of the Lord, and serve the Lord, and honor Him, and walk uprightly in His presence all the time ; and those that can't come here, we must go to them. For the people everywhere are represented and have their representatives here, and the brethren who can come here, the Saints that can meet together in this Conference, and in quarterly conferences, and ward conferences should go out to those that are abroad and that are not gathered together, and cannot come together, because of sickness and other conditions. So there is quite a percentage of the people who cannot very well come together. Some of them are sick and need attention, consideration, consolation, comfort, and encouragement ; and that is the labor that devolves upon these men who bear the Priesthood. ¶

I have felt, and I hold, that whenever a man receives the Priesthood he should receive some instruction from his Bishop, from his president, from his file leader, that will put him in the line of duty; that every Deacon shall be a worker, that he shall have some ministry assigned to him; and every Priest the same — just as well as for me to have a ministry, or anybody else. The divine authority of the Lord is not given to us simply to magnify us and that we may feel that we have an important office or position in the Church, and that it is going to save us. It won't save us, it would be better that we had not received it; as there are expressions, I think, in the Scripture, that it would have been better for some people that they had never been born than to be born, and to be worthless, wicked and corrupt. Now, I say that it would be better for man not to receive the Priesthood, not to receive an appointment or calling, and not to be baptized in this Church unless he intends to serve God and keep His commandments. Our probation is not very long. We can't tell when it will end; it is liable to end any time; and it is imperatively necessary that every member of this Church should be upon his mettle, advised, established, encouraged and fixed in his purpose to serve God and keep His commandments, and do what is right. For every member in this Church has all the authority that is necessary for works of righteousness ; and there is no limit or prohibition upon men doing good, but we have no right whatever to do anything that is wrong ; we do nothing that is wrong when in the line of our duty. We are not required to do wrong, but always to do right and to deal justly by all men, whether they be Latter-day Saints or not, whether they be our neighbors or our friends, if they be the children of God, and they all are, it is our duty to treat them in the spirit of righteousness and of charity, and to teach them the Gospel by that great and eloquent sermon of example. That is what we should do. ¶

With the good things said about us today, I think I would never do anything wrong, after President Smith said the good things to the brethren, prominent in the Church ; he feels as though they are growing and improving right along, possibly in better condition than ever before; thank the Lord. Let us endure and continue to the end, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶