_Remarks following a lecture delivered by Elder B. H. Roberts, in
the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, February 23rd, 1892, under the
auspices of the Y. M. M. I. Associations of the Salt Lake Stake,
on "Priesthood and the Right of Succession."_
I realize it is somewhat late, but I want to beg the indulgence of
this assembly a few moments. I felt that as I was a member of these
Mutual Improvement Associations I wanted to attend this meeting and
hear this lecture. I did not wish to interfere with the time of
Brother Roberts. He has given us an excellent discourse, and has told
us the truth. There are a few things pertaining to this subject about
which I wish to bear my testimony to the young men of Israel.
First, I wish to say a few words regarding Priesthood. There is no
mistake about the Priesthood of God Almighty. The God of heaven
himself has created and redeemed this world by the power of that
Priesthood; and no being that ever dwelt on this earth ever has been
or ever will be able to do or perform any work pertaining to salvation
unless it is by that eternal and everlasting Priesthood. And where
that Priesthood of Almighty God is manifest, the power of that
Priesthood is with the people, no matter what age or generation they
have lived in. And I wish to say that there has been no generation, no
dispensation, any greater than the one in which Joseph Smith was
raised up. He laid the foundation of this great work, under God, and
He established the Church upon the face of the whole earth, in
fulfillment of revelation and prophecy, from Father Adam down to our
day; and the Lord has made, and will make no mistake in regard to
calling a people or giving them the Priesthood.
As I have said, Joseph Smith organized the Church. He lived but a
short time with us--though longer than the Savior did after He entered
the ministry. The Savior lived about three and a half years from the
time He commenced His ministrations among the people until He was
crucified. Joseph Smith lived some fourteen years, if I mistake not,
after he organized this Church. He also was slain. But before he died,
he organized the Church with Apostles, Patriarchs, Pastors, Teachers,
and the whole government of the Church of God; and that Priesthood he
organized or laid the foundations of remained with the people after
his death, as Brother Roberts has said tonight. The Twelve Apostles
stood next to the First Presidency of the Church; and I am a living
witness myself to this work. I am a living witness to the testimony
that he gave to the Twelve Apostles when all of us received our
endowments under his hands. I remember the last speech that he ever
gave us before his death. It was before we started upon our mission to
the East. He stood upon his feet some three hours. The room was filled
as with consuming fire, his face was as clear as amber, and he was
clothed upon by the power of God. He laid before us our duty. He laid
before us the fullness of this great work of God; and in his remarks
to us he said: "I have had sealed upon my head every key, every power,
every principle of life and salvation that God has ever given to any
man who ever lived upon the face of the earth. And these principles
and this Priesthood and power belong to this great and last
dispensation which the God of Heaven has set His hand to establish in
the earth." "Now," said he addressing the Twelve, "I have sealed upon
your heads every key, every power, and every principle which the Lord
has sealed upon my head." Continuing, he said, "I have lived so
long--up to the present time--I have been in the midst of this people,
and in the great work and labor of redemption. I have desired to live
to see this Temple [at Nauvoo] built. But I shall never live to see it
completed; but you will." Now, we didn't suppose but what he would
live. We didn't comprehend what he meant. Neither did the Twelve in
the days of the Savior comprehend what He meant when He said, "I am
going away from you; if I go not the Comforter will not come unto
you." And so we did not understand Joseph when he said he would not
live to see that Temple completed; it was not given us to realize it
at that time.
After addressing us in this manner he said: "I tell you the burden of
this kingdom now rests upon your shoulders; you have got to bear it
off in all the world, and if you don't do it you will be damned." That
was pretty strong language, but it was full of meaning, it was full of
significance. Joseph was trained in the Priesthood before he came to
this planet. He understood the Priesthood perfectly before he came
here. He understood its work and its lineage, so far as lineage
applies to offices in the priesthood. He also understood that he was
going away from this earth; but we did not know it until after he was
put to death. I was in Boston with President Young the very hour he
and his brother Hyrum were slain. And at that moment there was a power
of darkness surrounded us, a feeling of heaviness that I never felt
before. I had never seen President Young feel so bad in my life before
as he did that hour.
Nearly all the quorum of the Twelve were on missions in the eastern
States when the terrible tragedy at Carthage took place; and we did
not hear of it for some time afterwards. We returned to Nauvoo. It has
been repeated to you here tonight what was done in the conference in
Nauvoo. I do not know whether there is anyone present here tonight but
myself who was at that conference--there are but few living who were
present on that occasion. Brigham stepped forth as a leader of Israel,
as has been said here tonight by Brother Roberts, and Sidney Rigdon
also tried to get the presidency; but when his name was put to a vote
before the conference of the Latter-day Saints, and they were asked if
they wanted him as their guardian, to guide them in the Celestial
Kingdom, Brigham said: "All who do, raise your right hand," and I did
not see a hand raised in his favor in that congregation.
Brigham then asked if they wanted the Twelve Apostles to step forth
and magnify their calling and build up the Church and establish the
Kingdom of God in all the earth. "All who do, raise your right hand,"
and almost every soul in that congregation voted; and when Brigham
Young arose and commenced speaking, if I had not seen him with my own
eyes, there is no one that could have convinced me that it was not
Joseph Smith speaking. It was as the voice and face of Joseph Smith;
as anyone can testify who was there and acquainted with these two men.
Several men have claimed authority to lead the Church, but the Prophet
Joseph never conferred any such authority upon any of them. The keys
of the Presidency after his death were held by the Twelve Apostles,
and by them only, until the Council of the First Presidency was
reorganized.
I name these things to show that the Lord has put his mark of approval
upon the acts of the Apostles who followed the Prophet Joseph Smith in
the establishment of this great work upon the earth; and the
Priesthood will continue here and the work increase until Jesus Christ
shall come in the clouds of heaven.
I wish here to ask a question. How has every man who has gone on his
own authority and left the Church, and undertaken to build up a Church
to himself, succeeded? How has he prospered? What has he done? Why,
just as they did who tried to establish "Strangism," and "Rigdonism"
and every other "ism" that has ever arisen? They have gone overboard.
The power and influence of God have not been with them; the Priesthood
has not been with them; the Lord has not called them to do the work
they tried to do, and the result has been a failure--a complete
failure every time.
On the other hand, how has He prospered and blessed those who have
gone forth to the nations of the earth and declared the Gospel of
Christ to the millions upon millions of their fellow men? Why, He has
prospered and blessed them richly, and opened their way to success.
Who are they who have gone forth to the nations of the earth and who
have visited the islands of the sea, and have accomplished this great
work of gathering, built cities and reclaimed the desert? Not those
who tried to lead different factions from the Church, not those who
were ambitious to lead the people of God; but it has been the Elders
of Israel, those who have received the Priesthood from the hands of
Joseph Smith and his followers, or through the authority which God
gave them. Who are they who came here to these valleys of the
mountains whose coming had been pointed out by the finger of God? Who
are they who have built these Temples and erected edifices to the
great Jehovah? Why, it is the same class of men that was true to
Joseph, those who have been true to God and the covenants they made.
Has God made any mistake? Read the revelations of the Almighty; they
speak for themselves. The Lord has appointed this people to come to
this land; this is a great work; we are living in a great
dispensation--the dispensation of the last days. The Lord has not
deceived any one in this matter; He will deceive no man in regard to
this work. This people have traveled from place to place ever since
the organization of this Church, until today they are settled here in
the valleys of these mountains and have prospered and increased
marvelously; and they will continue to grow and increase in strength
and power until Christ comes upon the earth.
A man cannot leave this Church without the power of God leaves him. It
has been the power of the Priesthood that made men great; and no man
can handle it only according to the order of God. If they do they will
fall, as has been stated in the revelations of God, read by Brother
Roberts this evening. I want to say to the young men of Israel, go and
do what is right; you need have no fears regarding the authority of
this work. The Lord has called the weak things of this earth. He has
called them from the plow, from the plane the workshop and the
hammer--He has taken the illiterate men of the world and sent them
forth to preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. Even the
Lord Jesus Christ was born in a stable and cradled in a manger. He
came forth and fulfilled the prophecies. His whole life was one of
poverty and affliction. He was scorned and hated by the world of
mankind. His Apostles were selected from among the poor and the humble
of the earth. So it is with the men who have led the Church in these
days. They have been called from various vocations. They have been men
who were humble, and God has been with them. God has established His
work, and He has sent ministers to the different nations of the earth.
I wish to say to the Latter-day Saints, all that we have to do is to
be faithful, to keep His commandments, to be humble, to seek Him in
mighty prayer and all will be well with us.
There has been a great deal of work done in this dispensation. The
Lord called this people to the valleys of the mountains in fulfillment
of prophecy. Old father Jacob, in blessing Joseph and Ephraim, told
them what would take place with them and their posterity to the latest
generation; that their blessings should extend to the utmost bounds of
the everlasting hills. We are here as descendants of Joseph and
Ephraim, and Abraham, who were patriarchs and holy men of God. They
had the Priesthood, and it has been continued and handed down from
generation to generation as long as God has had a people upon the
earth. He has revealed it in this dispensation through the Prophet
Joseph, and it is here to stay and will remain until Christ comes.
I want to say to the young men and maidens of the Latter-day Saints,
have no fears from what you hear through the outside world or from
those who are professing to build up the kingdom of God, but who have
not got the Priesthood as established by the Almighty through Joseph
Smith. If you will do your duty all will be right. I am thankful for
the privilege of living so long. I have seen the progress of this work
almost from the commencement. I thank God for what I see today. I see
great improvement but there is still great room for improvement among
us now.
I wish to say to our young men there is an evil power, a growing power
of darkness around and amongst us. The powers of darkness desire to
lead the young men of Israel astray. They think if they can do this,
if they can get them to do wickedly, they can weaken this Church. But
our young men are raised up to follow in the footsteps of their
fathers, and not to be easily led astray.
I pray God my Heavenly Father to bless the Latter-day Saints, that we
may all have faith in Him and in the revelations and promises He has
given, and in all the truths we have received, and if we do so, all
will be well with us. We have come here upon a mission. Our mission is
a great and responsible one; it is mighty. In fact, we have been
called to leave our homes, our fathers, our mothers, our wives, our
children, all that is dear to us, and to go abroad to preach the
Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. We have been called to do
this, and as Brother Joseph Smith said, if we do not round up our
shoulders and help to bear off this kingdom, we shall be damned. No
man can receive the Priesthood from the hands of the Almighty and
abuse it but what it will be answered upon his head.
Therefore, let us all, old and young, improve the time, live our
religion, have faith in God and His works. The Lord brought us here,
His power has been upon us; by His power and His blessings we have
built temples and beautified homes; and there has never been a people
that I know of that have ever had the power to rear as many temples in
so short a time as we have done in the mountains of Israel. Let us
remember this and be faithful, remembering our fasting and prayers,
call upon the Lord in secret prayer, and ask him to bless and direct
us.
The Lord is with us, His hand is over us, and he is guiding this work
and will continue to do so until Zion shall arise and be built up and
shall stand in beauty, power and become the glory of the whole earth,
while the judgments of God shall extend throughout the nations.
May God bless you as Mutual Improvement Associations, may He bless
every organization and association that has been established as helps
and governments to this great latter-day work; and may we be blessed
in all our endeavors to do right--which may God grant, for Christ's
sake. Amen.