Wisdom consists not only in knowing, but also

I shall read a passage from the scriptures : ¶

"Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. ¶

"The words of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. ¶

"His work is honorable and glorious; and his righteousness endureth forever. ¶

"He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. ¶

"He hath given meat unto them that fear him; he will ever be mindful of his covenant. ¶

"He hath showed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. ¶

"The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. ¶

"They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. ¶

"He sent redemption unto his people; he hath commanded his covenant forever; holy and reverend is his name. ¶

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments; his praise endureth forever." ¶

The Latter-day Saints are highly favored in that once more they have had an opportunity to hear his voice as uttered by the mouths of his anointed servants. We have listened to the testimony of the President of the Church, and from his lips have again received admonition and have heard the gospel principles proclaimed. We have heard the testimony concerning the divinity of the great redeeming mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the divine appointment and calling of Joseph Smith the prophet, and of President Young, and the successors in the presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These testimonies and doctrines were declared unto us in power and in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit. There was not lurking therein even a shadow of doubt or darkness, but they came to us with all the brilliance of a fire struck from the very chief corner-stone of the foundation upon which this great latter-day work is built. ¶

Now, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding have all they that do his commandments." The Latter-day Saints were declared yesterday to be an intelligent people. They are an intelligent people. They ought to be as wise as they are intelligent, but I fear that in wisdom we sometimes fall short. A wise people are a people who will do what they know to be right. The Lord has declared to us that which is right, he has given us intelligence to understand the difference between right and wrong, to distinguish between good and evil, between the true and the false, so that there can be no excuse really for the Latter-day Saints being unwise. But if the Lord has given us intelligence to understand the truth, and to know all his commandments and we do not keep his commandments, then we are not wise. There are many intelligent people in the world who are exceedingly foolish. There are many people who are termed educated, who are lacking in wisdom, and there are countless multitudes of men and women in our country, and in other Christian countries, who know to do right, and yet who do not do it, and consequently to them it is sin. The Lord has declared, through the prophet Ezekiel, something to this effect, that the righteousness of the righteous will be forgotten if the righteous turn into wickedness, and the wickedness of the wicked will be no more remembered if the wicked turn from their wickedness unto righteousness. ¶

That great man Solomon offered a prayer unto the Lord which was eminently wise, and it was answered upon his head with a very great blessing. I should like to read a few words of it : ¶

"In Gideon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. ¶

"And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ¶

"And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in. ¶

"And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. ¶

"Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? ¶

"And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. ¶

"And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; ¶

"Behold, I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. ¶

"And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days." ¶

That should be the prayer that all Latter-day Saints should frequently offer unto the Lord, that the Lord should give unto them understanding hearts, that they might understand the truth, and that they might have the wisdom to obey the truth. ¶

Hear another passage of scripture. It contains the words of him who stood at the head of Israel in olden times, who was the mouthpiece of God, who led Israel out of their bondage in Egypt through the wilderness, and to the borders of the promised land. This passage, recorded in the Old Testament, was given to the people of Israel by the mouth of Moses the prophet. He was not permitted to enter into the Promised Land, but gave unto his people this admonition. The history of former-day Israel and latter-day Israel is similar at many points, and very dissimilar at others. The former-day Israel were not driven out of Egypt. It was the determination of the king of Egypt to retain the children of Israel, that they might be his servants and his slaves, and it was with great pleading and repeated pouring out of plagues upon Egypt that the Lord induced the king to let them depart. Israel, too, left reluctantly, and during their journey towards the promised land frequently complained and longed to return to the flesh pots of Egypt. ¶

The Latter-day Saints were not thus favored by the people of our own country. We were not wanted among them. The Latter-day Saints were despised and hated, and were finally driven out from so-called civilization— driven out into the wilderness, in the hope that there they might perish. The Lord evidently knew that it would be difficult to persuade his people, even in the midst of their persecutions, to come out into a desert, to an unknown world. Therefore he permitted them to be driven forth, that he might make of them what he has made of them, and determined to make of them, a mighty people in this greatest Nation in the world; and these words that Moses spoke to ancient Israel may be read to modern Israel. They are just as true and just as applicable, if we will heed the admonitions today, and in fact, similar admonitions and counsels are frequently given to the Latter-day Saints in our day. Moses said : ¶

"Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. ¶

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. ¶

"Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor; for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. ¶

"But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. ¶

"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. ¶

"Keep therefore and do them : for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. ¶

"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? ¶

"And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? ¶

"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons." ¶

The Latter-day Saints, if they will look over the history of the Church, may ask themselves the question : What has become of all those who remained behind, who refused to follow God and his servants out into the wilderness? The answer will be : They are dead and gone, lost ; lost to the faith, lost to the love of the truth, and their children and their children's children are today grown up in ignorance, lacking in wisdom, having no understanding concerning the work of the Lord which he established through the Prophet Joseph. All those who followed the Lord and his servants to these valleys, and their children who have remained faithful are alive this day, and you see the Saints grown into a mighty people ; and those who were faithful and have gone beyond the veil, those mentioned by President Smith yesterday, and many others, verily they are indeed alive, forevermore, and their children and their children's children are still in our midst. Those who have been faithful, those who are wise, those who sought for and received from God understanding hearts, are here today to rejoice in the gospel and in the testimony thereof, and they are willing to receive and be led by the word of the Lord. ¶

Brothers and sisters, on this stand are men the Lord has called and anointed. We, I said in the beginning, were privileged to hear the voice of the Lord. The Lord has declared in latter-day revelation, when his servant speaks under the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, his words then become the words of the Lord, they are the voice of the Lord, and the mind of the Lord, and the will of the Lord, and as such we receive the words that are given to us by those whom the Lord has called to preside over us and to speak in his name. ¶

The very burden of the message delivered to the Latter-day Saints yesterday by the President of the Church was obedience to the principles and the commandments of God; that we should be wise and have understanding hearts, and having understanding, demonstrate our wisdom in our obedience, that the whole world may see this people and recognize that there is no other people in the world to whom the Lord is so near, and that no other nation so great as that of which the Latter-day Saints form a part. The government of the United States is a nation established and founded by the Lord. Wise men were raised up by the Lord and inspired to lay the foundations of this government, and to give to the people correct doctrines and high and noble principles, the principles of liberty and peace. And this nation, if they will hearken unto those wise men and uphold the constitution established by them, and obey the laws that have been and that shall be enacted in accord with the constitution by those who are called to enact laws for our government, we will be a wise people, we will be a people with understanding hearts, and all other nations will be compelled to say that God is here, he is with these people and with this nation, to bless them and to make of them the saviors of mankind. ¶

President Lund yesterday called attention to the work that is being done by the historians of the Church. I gathered this great lesson from his remarks, that as the result of the Lord's wisdom and the people's obedience, we have in the Church a record, a history of the Church in latter-days as well as former days, and that out of these books, the history of the Church, the holy scriptures, ancient and modern, may be found the way of life eternal, and they are better than all other books ; and that we should seek out of these books words of wisdom and understanding. Why, there is more to be learned in five minutes reading in the Holy Scriptures, more that is worthy of retention in the memory, more that will be helpful if we remember and obey them, than we can find in reading all of the six best sellers in every month in the year. Here is the word of God, herein is the word of life, herein is the word of wisdom, herein we may get understanding, and learn to discern good and evil, and gather the courage and the faith to do that which is right, and to reject that which is evil. ¶

But in addition to the Holy Scriptures and sacred and inspired records, and even of greater importance to the Latter-day Saints, is the fact that the anointed living oracles of God are in our presence, as so forceably set forth by President Penrose yesterday. Through them the Lord speaks, counsels and commands this people daily. If we receive and obey their instructions we will prove that we are wise and of good understanding. ¶

Now, I should like to conclude my remarks, my brethren and sisters, with another passage of scripture, a passage of scripture that was given during the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are his words. He was the wisest of all. even wiser than Solomon, because he retained his wisdom and his understanding even to the end, and did not depart in any measure or degree from righteousness, and I should like, my brethren and sisters, to impress this passage upon your mind. It is a familiar one, all are acquainted with it, but in the words of a great poet, I fear that it is a passage more "honored in the breach than the observance :" ¶

"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. ¶

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ¶

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ¶

"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. ¶

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ¶

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. ¶

"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not. shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ¶

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell : and great was the fall of it. ¶

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: ¶

"For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." ¶

I testify that here in this conference yesterday, the Latter-day Saints heard men who spoke not as scribes and Pharisees, but as men having authority from the living God to preach the gospel, and to bear witness of the ministry and mission and redeeming power of his Only Begotten Son. I bear witness that if the Latter-day Saints will heed their admonitions and will do the Lord's statutes and judgments, and will keep his commandments, that they will be wise even unto life eternal, they will have understanding hearts, hearts to see and perceive and to know the truth, and by prayer and patience and humility before God they will be given the power to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord, and to be worthy of salvation in the kingdom of God. ¶

My brethren and sisters, no man can find forgiveness for one sin because he is righteous in some other direction. In other words, the payment of tithing will never compensate for the desecration of the Sabbath day. The faithful keeping of the Sabbath day will never make amends for the breaking of the Word of Wisdom. The refraining from murder, and adultery, will not satisfy the law which forbids bearing false witness against neighbors, or coveting their possessions. And the doing of good to men will never blot out the sin of blaspheming the name of the living God. We must keep the commandments, all of them, every one of them, every day of our lives, and then we will prove ourselves wise and of understanding hearts. ¶

May the Lord give this people wisdom in addition to their intelligence ; may we have understanding, and may we keep the commandments of the Lord as we know we ought to keep them, and never prove recreant. God bless his servants, the Presidency, and those who are called to preside in Israel, the general authorities, the stake authorities, the ward authorities, those who preside over the auxiliary organizations, over the branches of the Church, and over the mission fields. God bless Israel, and God bless this country upon which he has gathered Israel. God bless those who stand at the head of the government, and make them, even the President and his Cabinet and the Congress and the Supreme Court, wise like unto those wise men whom the Lord raised up in the beginning of our national government, to lay its foundations, that these men may adhere to that fundamental law and enact only wise and righteous laws for the progress and advancement of this great land of Zion ; and may the children of Israel be indeed Zion, the pure in heart, to teach all the world how to come to the Lord, how to learn wisdom, how to have and retain understanding hearts, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶