No ; but God could see it in him

No ; but God could see it in him. He was a natural Bishop — a first class man of affairs. Probably no other incumbent of that important office, the Presiding Bishopric, to which he eventually attained, has been better qualified for it than Newel K. Whitney. But he could not see it, and he shrank from the responsibility. The Prophet answered : "Go and ask the Lord about it." And Newel did ask the Lord, and he heard a voice from heaven say: "Thy strength is in me." That was enough. He accepted the office, and served in it faithfully to the end of his days — a period of eighteen years. ¶

When I heard this anecdote, it reminded me of the Prophet Jeremiah, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying in effect : "Before I formed thee in the body I knew thee, and I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." But Jeremiah, overwhelmed by the call to such a responsible station, exclaimed : "Ah, Lord God, behold I cannot speak ; for I am a child." But the Lord said : "Say not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. * * Be not dismayed at their faces * * for behold I have made thee this day a defensed city, and an iron pillar and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee ; ' but they shall not prevail against thee ; for I am with thee saith the Lord, to deliver thee." (Jer. 1:4-7; 17-19.) ¶

God was with his servant, Joseph Smith, a man of great gifts, a mighty soul, sent into the world to be a prophet, a seer and a revelator. But what could he have done if God had not been with him? When Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw that wonderful vision of the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial glories, they said concerning it: "Being in the Spirit, on the sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord, 1832, by the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened," etc. There is the key. It was because God was with them, that they were able to see the Son of God and converse with him "in ¶

the heavenly vision." They had eyes — spiritual eyes; they were seers. But what could they see until the Spirit of God came upon them and gave them the use of the seeric gift? The machinery was there, but the power had to be turned on. ¶

So it was with Brigham Young, with John Taylor, with Wilford Woodruff, with Lorenzo Snow, with Joseph F. Smith ; and so it is with Heber J. Grant, our beloved President of today. He has great gifts, a big heart, a kind soul, and because God is with him he will do a great and glorious work. But without God, neither he nor any other man could accomplish anything worth while. ¶

This is my testimony regarding the First Presidency of the Church. They are the right men in the right place — the men for the time and the hour; and it is for us to stand by them, to hold up their hands, to rally round them and follow them ; and God's work will triumph, his Kingdom will come in power and glory, and his holy will be done on earth even as it is done in heaven. Amen. ¶