The Rich Man's Obligation

A hundred years ago this last June the Lord Jesus Christ delivered a message to the Church that I consider most important and applicable just now, and I desire to read a portion of it from the fifty-sixth section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants: ¶

"Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!" ¶

The only security that rich men have today comes out of obedience to law and order, and unless there is a liberal giving I am sure that great uncertainty may be experienced by those of great wealth. ¶

The Rich Man's Obligation

What should a rich man give? His tenth. That belongs to the Lord, for man is but a steward of it. I do feel to rejoice in my heart that in this Church we do have men of means who give their tenth. ¶

But, oh, how difficult it is for some to pay an honest tithing when they make much money! They can do it very well when their income is small, but when they get to the point of giving a hundred dollars it is about as far as many can go, no matter what their income may be. ¶

I wish that throughout the whole length of the land today every man of wealth would feel his obligation to the Lord Almighty for his stewardship, and that he would give one-tenth at least of his income each year for the charity that is so necessary to provide for the hungry. As I have seen in various sections of this country great groups of hungry and idle men who seek work, it would seem to be but a simple thing that they, like in Russia, would reach the point where they would take possession of property unlawfully and illegally. There is only one way by which that may be averted. They must be fed, they must be cared for. ¶

Every Man a Beggar

There may be an objection, however, that these have been unwise men and are suffering for their own sins. But nevertheless, let me read what the Lord has to say on that subject also, because the people referred to in the Book of Mormon, I presume, had times very much like ours. In the fourth chapter of Mosiah I read the following: ¶

"And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor ; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need ; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. ¶

"Perhaps thou shalt say : The man has brought upon himself his misery ; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just — ¶

"But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perishetb forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. ¶

"For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? ¶

"And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain?" ¶

Every man needs the pardon of God. Every man is a beggar, because he is pleading for that which he does not have himself, though he may be possessed of all the wealth of the world. One thing the Lord has clearly indicated is that no matter how worthy or unworthy, every one of his children should have food and shelter. Beyond that, however, we may not be able to go. ¶

A WORD TO THE POOR And now, a word to those who are in need, the poor. I am reading again from the fifty-sixth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the balance of that admonition: ¶

"Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men's goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands !" ¶

Their attitude is equally as objectionable in the sight of the Lord as that of the stingy rich. Let the poor, therefore, not be possessed of the spirit of Bolshevism that would unlawfully take possession of that which does not belong to them. ¶

I am pleading that the Latter-day Saints will respond to the appeals that are made. Last night the Presiding Bishop of our Church informed the brethren that every bishop in a ward where Latter-day Saints are in a majority should care for the hungry and see that none goes without food or shelter, whether he belongs to this Church or not ; and that is why we need the support of your tithes and offerings, that the poor may not lift up their appeals in vain. And the poor who receive these blessings must be patient. This is not the time for them to be possessed of other men's goods. They must be wise and prudent in the future, to store up against such a day as this, and consider themselves fortunate that they are provided with food and shelter during these trying times. They should not become envious and jealous and full of the spirit of anarchy. That is not the spirit of the Christ. ¶

The Lord's Promise

"But blessed are the poor," the Lord continues — and I would add, and I feel sure it is in harmony with the spirit of this text — blessed are the rich too — "who are pure in heart, whose hearts are broken, and whose spirits are contrite, for they shall see the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory unto their deliverance ; for the fatness of the earth shall be theirs. ¶

"For behold, the Lord shall ,come, and his recompense shall be with him, and he shall reward every man, and the poor shall rejoice; ¶

"And their generations shall inherit the earth from generation to generation, forever and ever." ; ¶

Such a promise will be realized and that through the coming of the kingdom of God. ¶

Development in Adversity

I believe that these experiences through which we are now passing all have their lesson. What is the lesson the Latter-day Saints should learn from the experiences of today? But three or four years ago, in the midst of our greatest prosperity, I was attracted by a question propounded to Mr. C. W. Barron, who owned the Wall Street Journal— I think he has since passed away— one of the greatest financiers of our country. Some man had declared that there would be a hundred years of uninterrupted prosperity in the United States, and to that proposition Mr. Barron answered: ¶

"Will there be a hundred years of uninterrupted prosperity?" I asked. He shook his head. ¶

"Why not?" , . . . . ¶

"I expected him to show me a chart or say something about the business cycle,' or 'economic fundamentals,' or to use some of the other well-worn phrases. But to my relief he took an entirely different approach. ¶

"There will not be a century of uninterrupted good times, because the universe is not arranged on that basis," he said. "What is taking place on this earth is a great experiment in the development of human character. (The Creator is not interested in money or markets, but in more enduring men. ¶

"Such men are not developed when everything is easy. They never come out of the countries where the sun shines every day. Trials develop them ; problems develop them ; suffering develops them. As long as the present Divine plans continue to operate, we shall continue to have enough setbacks to keep the race from growing altogether soft. Years ago, Roger Babson made a chart on which one wavy line represented national prosperity and the other wavy line showed church membership. It was decidedly interesting. When money rolls in too easily and too long, men drift away, not only from their churches, but from hard work and simple living ; they form extravagant tastes ; they take long chances. ¶

"Then came the panic. Their easy wealth evaporates. They clear their lives of rubbish and start in again on the sound basis of economy, worship and work. Sometime the race may develop to a point where it can stand prosperity all the time, but in our present state hard times still have their needed work to do." ¶

god's plan to be established ¶

Yes, I believe there will come a time when we can stand prosperity all the time, and that time will be when that order which God established in the heavens before man lived upon the earth, is set up. ¶

Upon various occasions in the past the Lord has endeavored to establish that order — in the days of Enoch, as referred to by President Nibley this morning, and in the days of Christ himself while he ministered among men upon the eastern hemisphere and upon the western hemisphere also. He has revealed to this Church his plan for the equitable distribution of the wealth of the world, which is his. We have gone forward marvelously in mass production; and now, brethren and sisters, it is essential that we shall have mass distribution. We will have these recurring periods until the people learn, as learn I believe they will in time through these experiences, to let the Lord's plan become established. ¶

The Lord's Rental

I am happy that the Church, a hundred years nearer the solution of this problem than anyone else, is making headway. Sometime after the order referred to was revealed to the Prophet the Lord gave the law of tithing. That is the thing that concerns us now. It is the schoolmaster to prepare us for this greater, this bigger thing. The law of tithing is just and righteous. We need the blessing of the Lord today, of a material character. No man would think for a moment that he was not under obligation to pay rental to the owner for land that he tilled ; and yet the owner cannot guarantee that the rain shall fall, that the snow shall come in the mountains, that the moisture so essential shall be provided, that the sun will shine, that the grain will germinate, that the harvest will come. Someone else must provide these essentials without which your farm is of little more value than an ash heap. ¶

Who provides these other important blessings? The Lord Al- ¶

mighty. Is he entitled to recognition and rental? Yes. The earth is the Lord's. It belongs to him, and we are but tenants. We owe him a rental, and he has enjoined upon us that a just rental is ten per cent of that which we obtain from the soil and from our labor. You expect, I am sure, to live in an eternal world with an eternal possession. How can any man who understands this law hope to have an eternal inheritance in this world, celestialized by the power of Christ, unless he has paid his tithing? It is the law of inheritance. He will establish a right to an eternal inheritance if he has paid his rental. ¶

CHURCH GROWTH The Lord's work, however, is making progress. It is going forward. I am not disturbed by the things that are now occurring. In the beginning of this Church he declared that the time had come when everything would be shaken that could be shaken and that that which he had established would stand. The Lord has been shaking to the very foundation the fortresses of evil, of error, of darkness, of skepticism, and of apostasy. The Lord has been building up the truth by the same process. Just a slight reference to it : A recent report of the census of the United States reveals the fact that in the last decade, of the twenty-three religious denominations of the United States six of them show a loss of membership. This Church is one of the twenty-three, but there is not another one in the group whose percentage of growth is equal to the growth of this Church. ¶

The Christian Herald of recent issue calls attention to the fact that last year. 1930, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of this Church, for the first time in one hundred years the Methodist Church of the United States lost membership. Its loss was 42,211 souls. The Presbyterian Church's loss was 22,763 souls, while the great Catholic Church, the largest Christian religion in the United States, had a growth of only 17,526 souls, a growth that this Church exceeded last year. The growth of total membership in the year 1928 in the United States was a million souls, the next year it dropped to 242,000, and the following year, last year, it was 88,000. The Lord Almighty is shaking the foundations of error and man-made institutions, while this, his work, stands all the tests that have been applied to it, the test of mob violence, the test of persecution, and now I am sure it will stand whatever test the future holds for we are founded upon the truth. ¶

Prophesies Good for Zion

God help us, my brethren and sisters, to see our glorious opportunity, to adhere more closely than ever before to these Gospel principles. Don't you brethren become discouraged. Don't you leave your farms. This is no time to sell your land, no time to desert your flocks and herds. I prophesy good for Zion if the Latter-day Saints will only serve God and keep his commandments. You shah be delivered financially, delivered from that which oppresses you, but among the wicked there shall be times of trouble. The devil is in the earth to try to reclaim his kingdom. God is here to help the progress of his work, for that glorious day of the coming of his Son must arrive, and the Lord Almighty is at work to that end. ¶

The Lord help us to be wise and learn the lessons out of the present and profit by them in the future, and listen to the counsels of this glorious conference, for I bear witness that the Lord is here, the light is in the ship. It is with the leaders of this Church. I know it. You have had witness of it this day and during the other sessions of this conference that shall remain with you forever and ever. God grant it, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶