The Church Ordinance for Healing

My brethren and sisters, I will need your assistance, your faith and prayers, to be able to make you hear, and I trust that the Lord will bless us in hearing and in speaking, that we may be further instructed and edified in this conference. My mind has been resting upon a subject in connection with our doctrines and principles which, although generally recognized in the Church, has not, I fear, been fully appreciated, and that is the principle of the healing of the sick. ¶

Having had occasion to give consideration to this subject lately, I desire to express a few of my thoughts in regard to the same. I believe that this principle has been enjoyed quite generally in the Church; that it has been enjoyed by every family, if not by every individual member of the Church. There have been very remarkable healings, which have sometimes been brought to our attention. Some have been published, but generally the healing of the sick has not been commented upon. I think the Latter-day Saints should be aroused to the fact that this great blessing and spirit is in the Church, that we enjoy the benefits thereof, and that the Lord has so arranged, in the organization of the Church, that within the reach of every family, in every ward, there are those commissioned and authorized to administer to the sick, that the sick may be healed and their lives preserved. But I have wondered if the Latter-day Saints, on some occasions, have not been surprised, and their faith possibly weakened, because all are not healed, and that we do not always receive answers to our prayers. I thought I would just read to you from the forty-second section of the Doctrine and Covenants the word of the Lord upon this subject, so that we may be prepared in our hearts and minds for the conditions that obtain, and be willing to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in the ¶

experience of those who have not faith to be healed. For the time comes when men are appointed unto death, and the fact that we may be finally "appointed unto death" has aroused some question in the minds of the brethren. It is an expression that I always prefer not to mention when administering to the sick. In asking the Lord to heal our afflicted it is not necessary to add, "If they be not appointed unto death." In fact, I have felt that such an expression in our prayers, tends rather to weaken the faith of the afflicted, and to shake their hope and confidence. The time will come, however ; it will come to you and me, as well as it has to those that have passed away, when we may be appointed unto death, and I understand that that appointment is when fatal sickness is upon us and we have not faith to overcome it. At such times we may realize, in our administrations, that the sickness is fatal, and it is not possible to overcome it, for we may discover conditions that inform us in no uncertain terms that death is at the door. ¶

We should appreciate the fact that the Lord has provided, in the organization of this Church, that there are elders, including seventies, high priests and patriarchs, and other brethren of the Melchisedek Priesthood, always at hand to administer to the sick in our wards. There are stake authorities who may officiate in the stakes and do officiate as patriarchs, blessing the people, and as stake authorities they are at home in any part of the stake. Then there are the general authorities of the Church, with the presidency thereof, whose jurisdiction extends throughout the Church, both at home and abroad. But ordinarily the brethren bearing the Priesthood are expected to officiate in their own wards. I have thought of the wonderful opportunity that is provided there for the employment and service of the brethren bearing the Priesthood. They should cultivate the spirit of faith and the gift of healing, as well as other gifts that pertain to the Gospel, so that whatever is required in a ward, it will not be necessary for you to send to a neighboring ward for help. We do not have to send from one stake to another; for in every stake, in every ward in this Church, in every branch and in every mission, there are those who are entitled to administer to the sick and have experience therein, as well as in administering the Sacrament to us on the Sabbath day. These services belong to the ward. They belong also to the stake, and to the Church, and to those who are designated as officials in these particular positions. ¶

Sometimes brethren have felt that they had a mission and a gift, and I believe that men do ; I believe that some men have greater faith than others. I believe according to our living and our conduct and our service in the work of the Lord, so will our faith increase in the healing of the sick, and in other ordinances. But we should understand the limit of our jurisdiction and ministry. The brethren of the ward should not go to their neighbor wards. They should not be sent for; it is not necessary. And we should jealously be prepared ourselves for what is required in our own wards, in our own stakes. Baptisms, confirmations, the blessing of children, ordinations, and so forth, are all taken care of in order. The house of God is a house of order, so that it is not necessary for us to be moving about from place to place, from ward to ward. It ¶

sometimes occurs that brethren are inclined to make merchandise of their ministry, which is not proper to be done. All who are authorized should administer to the sick and wait upon them gratuitously; it is not proper that we should make merchandise of that ordinance. ¶

Presidents of stakes and bishops of wards and officials throughout the Church should be advised that they ought not to send abroad for help. We send for physicians, and for attorneys, and men in worldly affairs, whose jurisdiction extends everywhere ; but in our Church affairs each ward and each stake, as a rule, is provided with all officials that are necessary for the performance of the ordinances required in the Church, and to officiate in the Priesthood, to anoint with oil, to bless the sick, and to pray God for their restoration. ¶

These ordinances belong with the people where they live. As a rule we would not expect the elders who are officials in a ward, or the brethren who labor in a stake, to follow the example of the general authorities of the Church, for their jurisdiction reaches all over the world, while your jurisdiction extends only to where you are called. Men are called also to officiate in certain positions, such as stake positions, and as members of general boards for the Sunday Schools, for the Mutual Improvement Associations, for the Relief Societies, and the like, and when that is the case they are designated, they are appointed and set apart for the special ministry and labor, and they have their peculiar and marked responsibilities resting upon them in connection with these auxiliary organizations. We would not expect brethren in the missionary field to assume to enter into wards, nor branches, baptizing, confirming, blessing children, ordaining, and the like, only in the ministry that really belongs to them. And though the general authorities of the Church, the Twelve and others, have ample authority in all stakes and missions everywhere in the world, yet the discipline of the Church is so carefully straight that when we go into wards and stakes, and missions, we always labor in harmony with those who preside. We observe order in the official acts that are required at our hands, and we work in harmony with the people, with the common consent of all concerned. We do not want the brethren that labor at home and whose field is not quite so broad as ours, to feel that we are at liberty to do as we please ; that is, except we please to do exactly what is right. The Twelve are subordinate to the counsels of the presidency of the Church, are under their direction and counsel, and we never outrage order and discipline. The chief authorities of the Church should be models in all these things, and every consideration and care should be taken by us that we receive the approval of the Lord, the approval of the Spirit of the Lord, and in the hearts of the people. We work harmoniously with the First Presidency, and we are controlled, submissive, obedient, listen to counsel, and labor in harmony with the mind and will of the Lord. ¶

I am delighted to make this little talk before you leading brethren of the stakes of Zion, for we have had occasion to consider this matter. As I say, we have found occasionally a brother who is out of order — not very many; it does not frequently occur; but it occurs sometimes, as referred to in the remarks of the President this morning. There are people who sometimes get curious ¶

ideas in their minds, ideas that are not tenable, and that are not proper. Men sometimes get the thought that it is their duty to regulate the Church, and to set it in order, and to regulate the authorities of the Church, and the organization of the Church. These instances occur occasionally, not very frequently. I thank the Lord that we discover, when we look over the Church, that the brethren quite generally know where they belong; they know their field, they know their homes, they know their limitations ; and the presiding authorities in wards, in quorums, in the stakes and in the missions, know what is required of them. They are learning lessons ; and we are learning lessons all the time. Men are called to fill positions in missions, in stakes, and in wards, and are frequently changed ; hence new men are brought into the field, and they are not always supplied by their predecessors with the information that has been in their home offices. Consequently we have to continue to teach, instruct and exhort them, answer their questions and train them in the ministry that is entrusted to them. But there is growth and development, and we discover that the Church, as spoken of yesterday by the President, is in its very best condition, for the reason that we have been in long training. We have been born and reared among the Saints, and we have been in the ministry and have had great experience, and our questions have been answered. The doctrines of the Church are comprehended and thoroughly understood by these brethren who preside over us. When we gather with this body of men, with these trained brethren, tried brethren, general authorities of the Church, associated with the Presidency ; and then we go to the fields, we go to the stakes, we go to the wards, we find the very choicest and most model men have been chosen and are employed. The same is true of our sisters in the Relief Societies, in the Primary Associations, and in the Religion Class work. Our brethren and sisters are thus being well trained. In the quorums and classes of the Priesthood they are being more thoroughly trained now than ever in the Church, and these trainings, lessons, instructions, and experiences tend to establish the Latter-day Saints. But there is, no doubt, room for improvement, and always will be. ¶

I want to emphasize one fact, and I want to read this scripture now, my text, in order to close my remarks, so that the brethren will bear in mind and notice how reasonable and consistent is this doctrine. ¶

You will find something about the same principle included also in the 5th chapter of St. James, in the New Testament. And you will find the doctrine, also, in regard to the healing of the sick, contained in the 17th. "l8th and 19th chapters of III Nephi. Read them at your leisure, for they are very choice, and pertain to the ministry of the Lord in the flesh. Here is what the Lord says in our day: ¶

"And whosoever among you are sick, and have not faith to be healed, but believe, shall be nourished with all tenderness with herbs and mild food, and that not by the hand of an enemy, and the elders of the Church, two or more, shall be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name; and if they die they shall die unto me, and if they live they shall live unto me." ¶

The Lord does not expect us all to die when we are taken sick ; that is quite well understood. Generally we are healed, and I suppose that ¶

each person in this congregation, almost without exception, could bear strong testimony to their own healing, and some very many times healed from serious sickness, remarkable healings. ¶

"Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die, and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection. And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them; and they that die not in me, woe unto them, for their death is bitter. And again it shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed.' ¶

If they have not fatal sickness they may be healed ; if they have fatal sickness they will die. They have been doing so, and you and I will do the same, one time. ¶

"He that hath faith to see shall see; he who hath faith to hear shall hear; the lame who have faith to leap shall leap; and they who have not faith to do these things, but believe in me, have power to become my sons; and inasmuch as they break not my laws, thou shalt bear their infirmities." ¶

Many there are that are infirm in their hearing, faulty in their seeing and otherwise, and if they will but serve the Lord and keep His commandments they shall become the sons of God. They have that power, though they may not be able to overcome all their infirmities, and with them we must bear. You must bear with my infirmities, and I must bear with yours, for they will abide with us if we have not faith to be healed. We want the brethren bearing the Priesthood in every ward in Zion to be a little jealous to take care of the employment that is furnished them there in their office as teachers, and in administering to the sick; don't let the people send abroad, and don't make merchandise of your ministry. Attend to the ordinance of the healing of the sick in your own ward, and the ministering to them, and laying on of hands. It should be done in order; it should not be done offensively, but properly and rightly done, in a manner that no one need take exception to. I want to make the declaration that there are elders sufficient, and high priests, and seventies and patriarchs, and other brethren bearing the Melchizedek Priesthood, in every ward in Zion, for all the laying on of hands that is required ; and the Lord is just as near to one ward as another. He is near at hand to every one of us. If our faith is not quite so strong as our neighbor's, we should cultivate it, and we should have the experience and the practice. We don't send to a neighbor ward for somebody to administer the Sacrament for us, do we ? Nor yet to baptize, nor to confirm, nor to ordain, nor to bless children, or perform any of those ordinances. It is not necessary to do so. If the sick want the brethren who are general authorities, and who are traveling, if you can put the sick in their way so that you don't do them a hardship, they are always willing to bless the sick; and quite generally, almost invariably the sick are healed under the hands of the elders. This Church is remarkable therefor. ¶

Though there may be among us some that are a little careless and indifferent, they are always aroused in case of sickness, in case of death and hardships and trial. They are aroused at once to seek the Lord, and they want the help of those who are faithful and worthy. They want the assistance of the Holy Priesthood, and they appeal to us, and ¶

you know, my brethren, you that are here today, that the Lord has answered the prayers of His servants, and the sick have been healed and there have been some very remarkable healings. Sight has been restored to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and health to the sickly and the afflicted, and there is not a man on this stand, I presume, who has not been healed. I presume I have been generally as healthy as any man upon the stand here, but I have had the assistance of the Lord to help me on occasions when I have needed to be healed, and I have been healed very remarkably, and instantly, under the hands of brethren over whom I presided in the Southern States, and in our own state, and on different occasions. And so it has been with you. The sick have been healed under our hands. They have been restored and this is the experience of every family. I don't have to refer you to any one family where the sick have been healed, for it is manifest in every family; in every home. No family is so far away out on the borders but what they have been found, and the sick have been administered to, and they have been healed. Yet we who have been healed, who have received these remarkable manifestations, will pass away after a while, when the sickness is final and fatal, and death has been appointed unto us, and it will not be appointed to us until the time we are required to pass away. ¶

I took occasion to talk on this subject last Sunday in Davis Stake, and there were some remarkable cases there of the sick that I had been acquainted with and that were healed, such as Brother John R. Barnes who, like King Hezekiah, has been given a lease of life of about fifteen or eighteen years, and with prospects of living no one can tell how much longer, when he was at the point of death. And also the late President John W. Hess of Davis County. It fell to my lot to go and ordain him a patriarch when he was thought to be lying on his death bed, that he should take the office with him. He arose from his bed and blessed his numerous family, as I understand, almost every soul of them, and then he went from ward to ward and blessed the people in whole, all that would gather to hear him. He raised his hands and put blessings upon their heads after he had been at the point of death. We want to bear these things in mind and acknowledge the hand of the Lord, and when we offer up prayers and acknowledgments to the Lord, let us gratefully remember the good that we have received at His hands. Don't let us forget, don't let us lose our faith, don't let us wander from the straight and narrow path that leads to life, but be sons of God, serve and honor Him with all our might, mind and strength, to our latest day. ¶

May the blessings of the Lord be upon gathered Israel, upon the people in these valleys, these splendid valleys, and upon the presiding officers in the Church, that they may be blessed, that they may be healed when they are afflicted, and have the same experiences that we have had before, be healed and restored, that our lives may be perpetuated and extended, while the Lord finds it profitable for us to live. God bless you. The Lord bless these brethren, presiding brethren that have come up here, and who come up twice a year to worship the Lord and receive instructions. God bless you, my brethren. God bless the brethren in all the wards and stakes in Zion ; and the Lord bless our sisters in their labor and ministry as ministering angels, those that have been chosen and have sustained the work of the Lord, and have joined with their husbands and brothers in carrying forward the work of the Lord in the heat of the day. They have borne a great responsibility. They have borne the sons of men, the souls of men in this earth, and have builded up the kingdom. They are entitled to all honor and credit and blessing. ¶

We pray, Father, that Thy Spirit may rest abundantly upon these gathered people, and upon all Zion, and upon the honest in heart, the conscientious throughout the earth, the friends of the Latter-day Saints, those that have the courage to speak a good word in our favor, for we deserve it, we need it, and are entitled to enjoy it. May the blessings of the Lord be upon us always, I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶