_TITHING; THE UNITED ORDER_
_The Law of Tithing_--One thing is required at the hands of this
people, and to understand which there is no necessity for receiving
a commandment every year, viz.: to pay their tithing. I do not
suppose for a moment, that there is a person in this Church, who is
unacquainted with the duty of paying tithing, neither is it necessary
to have revelation every year upon the subject. There is the Law--pay
one-tenth. 1:278.
I like the term, because it is scriptural, and I would rather use it
than any other. The Lord instituted tithing; it was practiced in the
days of Abraham, and Enoch and Adam and his children did not forget
their tithes and offerings. You can read for yourselves with regard to
what the Lord requires. I want to say this much to those who profess to
be Latter-day Saints--if we neglect our tithes and offerings we will
receive the chastening hand of the Lord. We may just as well count on
this first as last. If we neglect to pay our tithes and offerings we
will neglect other things and this will grow upon us until the spirit
of the Gospel is entirely gone from us, and we are in the dark, and
know not whither we are going. 15:163.
If the Lord requires one-tenth of my ability to be devoted to building
temples, meeting houses, school houses, to schooling our children,
gathering the poor from the nations of the earth, bringing home the
aged, lame, halt and blind, and building houses for them to live in,
that they may be comfortable when they reach Zion, and to sustaining
the Priesthood, it is not my prerogative to question the {270}
authority of the Almighty in this, nor of his servants who have charge
of it. If I am required to pay my tithing it is my duty to pay it. In
the days of Joseph, when my circumstances were very, very straitened,
I never had $500, $100, one dollar, fifty cents or twenty-five cents,
but what, if it were wanted, it went as free as a cup of water from a
well--Joseph was welcome to it. Was I tried in this? Yes, for many and
many has been the time in my poverty, when if I had a dollar or fifty
cents in my possession I have thought, "I can buy a pint or a half pint
of molasses for my children to sop their bread in," but it was called
for, and it went as free as the water of the river here would be to a
thirsty person. And as for my time, from the day that I entered this
Church until now, I have paid no attention to any business except that
of building up this Kingdom. The question may be asked, "Do you not
attend to your private affairs and business?" Yes, when I can, but I
do not know that I have ever spent one minute in attending to business
belonging to Brigham Young, when the business of the Church and Kingdom
of God on the earth required his attention. Yet I would not say that
this is any excuse for not strictly paying my tithing. I have paid a
great deal of tithing, more perhaps than any other man, or any other
ten men who were ever in the Church, and yet my tithing is not paid.
But I pay tithing, and when the grain upon my farm is ripened, or the
cattle upon it are matured, I say to my men, "Be sure and pay the
tithing on whatever we have raised." But in some instances I have found
that it was neglected. 16:111.
It is very true that the poor pay their tithing better than the rich
do. If the rich would pay their tithing we should have plenty. The
poor are faithful and prompt in paying {271} their tithing, but the
rich can hardly afford to pay theirs--they have too much. If he has
only ten dollars he can pay one; if he has only one dollar he can pay
ten cents; it does not hurt him at all. If he has a hundred dollars he
can possibly pay ten. If he has a thousand dollars he looks over it a
little and says, "I guess I will pay it; it ought to be paid anyhow;"
and he manages to pay his ten dollars or his hundred dollars. But
suppose a man is wealthy enough to pay ten thousand, he looks that
over a good many times and says, "I guess I will wait until I get a
little more, and then I will pay a good deal." And they wait and wait,
like an old gentleman in the East; he waited and waited and waited to
pay his tithing until he went out of the world, and this is the way
with a great many. They wait and continue waiting, until, finally, the
character comes along who is called Death, and he slips up to them
and takes away their breath, then they are gone and cannot pay their
tithing, they are too late, and so it goes. 15:163-164.
The Saints abroad are required to pay their tithing. 8:182.
When men are Saints, they will bring their thousands and lay them at
the feet of the Bishops, Apostles, and Prophets, saying, "Here is my
money; it is now where it should be." 6:175.
When a man wishes to give anything, let him give the best he has got.
The Lord has given to me all I possess; I have nothing in reality, not
a single dime of it is mine. You may ask, "Do you feel as you say?"
Yes, I actually do. The coat I have on my back is not mine, and never
was; the Lord put it in my possession honorably, and I wear it; but if
he wishes for it, and all there is under it, he {272} is welcome to the
whole. I do not own a house, or a single farm of land, a horse, mule,
carriage, or wagon, or wife, nor child, but what the Lord gave me, and
if he wants them, he can take them at his pleasure, whether he speaks
for them, or takes them without speaking. 2:307.
When my Bishop came to value my property, he wanted to know what he
should take my tithing in. I told him to take anything I had, for I
did not set my heart upon any one thing; my horses, cows, hogs, or any
other thing he might take; my heart is set upon the work of my God,
upon the public good of his great Kingdom. 1:376.
If we live our religion we will be willing to pay tithing. 10:283.
Here is a character--a man--that God has created, organized, fashioned
and made,--every part and particle of my system from the top of my head
to the soles of my feet, has been produced by my Father in Heaven; and
he requires one-tenth part of my brain, heart, nerve, muscle, sinew,
flesh, bone, and of my whole system, for the building of temples, for
the ministry, for sustaining missionaries and missionaries' families,
for feeding the poor, the aged, the halt and blind, and for gathering
them home from the nations and taking care of them after they are
gathered. He has said, "My son, devote one-tenth of yourself to the
good and wholesome work of taking care of your fellow-beings, preaching
the Gospel, bringing people into the Kingdom; lay your plans to take
care of those who cannot take care of themselves; direct the labors of
those who are able to labor; and one-tenth part is all-sufficient if it
is devoted properly, carefully and judiciously for the advancement of
my Kingdom on the earth." 16:69.
_The Lord Has Given All_--It is not for me to rise up {273} and
say that I can give to the Lord, for in reality I have nothing to give.
I seem to have something. Why? Because the Lord has seen fit to bring
me forth, and has blessed my efforts in gathering things which are
desirable, and which are termed property. 2:300.
We are not our own, we are bought with a price, we are the Lord's; our
time, our talents, our gold and silver, our wheat and fine flour, our
wine and our oil, our cattle, and all there is on this earth that we
have in our possession is the Lord's, and he requires one-tenth of this
for the building up of his Kingdom. Whether we have much or little,
one-tenth should be paid in for tithing. 14:88.
What object have I in saying to the Latter-day Saints, do this, that
or the other? It is for my own benefit, it is for your benefit; it is
for my own wealth and happiness, and for your wealth and happiness
that we pay tithing and render obedience to any requirement of Heaven.
We can not add anything to the Lord by doing these things. Tell about
making sacrifices for the Kingdom of heaven. There is no man who ever
made a sacrifice on this earth for the Kingdom of heaven, that I know
anything about, except the Savior. He drank the bitter cup to the
dregs, and tasted for every man and for every woman, and redeemed the
earth and all things upon it. But he was God in the flesh, or he could
not have endured it. "But we suffer, we sacrifice, we give something,
we have preached so long." What for? "Why, for the Lord." I would not
give the ashes of a rye straw for the man who feels that he is making
sacrifice for God. We are doing this for our own happiness, welfare and
exaltation, and for nobody else's. This is the fact, and what we do, we
do for the salvation of the inhabitants {274} of the earth, not for the
salvation of the heavens, the angels, or the Gods. 16:114.
I do not expect to see the day when I am perfectly independent,
until I am crowned in the celestial kingdom of my Father, and made
as independent as my Father in Heaven. I have not yet received my
inheritance as my own, and I expect to be dependent until I do, for all
that I have is lent to me. 3:245.
We own nothing but the talents God has given to us to improve upon, to
show him what we will do with them. 8:293.
_People Not Compelled to Pay Tithing_--The people are not
compelled to pay their tithing, they do as they please about it, it is
urged upon them only as a matter of duty between them and their God.
12:36.
We do not ask anybody to pay tithing, unless they are disposed to do
so; but if you pretend to pay tithing, pay it like honest men. 8:202.
Some complain and say that they are taxed by tithing. We ask no tithing
of any man. In this we are as independent as the Lord is. I say, do not
pay another dollar in tithing unless you want to. 8:345.
Pay your tithing, just because you like to, not unless you want to.
They say we cut people off the Church for not paying tithing; we
never have yet, but they ought to be. God does not fellowship them.
The law of tithing is an eternal law. The Lord Almighty never had his
Kingdom on the earth without the law of tithing being in the midst
of his people, and he never will. It is an eternal law that God has
instituted for the benefit of the human family, for their salvation and
exaltation. This law is in the Priesthood, {275} but we do not want any
to observe it unless they are willing to do so. 14:89.
_Use of the Tithing_--It may be supposed by some that the tithing
is used to sustain and feed the First Presidency and the Twelve; this
is a false impression. I can say, without boasting, that there is not
another man in this Kingdom has done more in dollars and cents to
build it up than I have, and yet I have not done a farthing's worth of
myself, for the means I have handled God has given me; it is not mine,
and if it ever is mine it will be when I have overcome and gained my
exaltation and received it from him who rightfully owns all things.
10:270.
The little moiety that is now paid on tithing is used to bring the poor
here, to find them houses to live in, bread to eat, and wood to burn.
Now, suppose we had a little more of this surplus on hand, could we not
help the brethren on their way to preach the Gospel to the nations?
Yes, we could. Some of them will leave families that will, probably, be
destitute, and if we had means on hand we could donate to help them,
and to prevent them from running continually to the Bishops. 12:36.
The Lord requires one-tenth of that which he has given me; it is
for me to pay the one-tenth of the increase of my flocks and of all
that I have, and all the people should do the same. The question may
arise, "What is to be done with the tithing?" It is for the building
of temples to God; for the enlarging of the borders of Zion; sending
Elders on missions to preach the Gospel and taking care of their
families. By and by we shall have some temples to go into, and we
will receive our blessings, the blessings of heaven, by obedience to
the doctrine of tithing. We shall have temples built throughout these
mountains, in the {276} valleys of this Territory and the valleys of
the next Territory, and finally, all through these mountain valleys. We
expect to build temples in a great many valleys. We go to the Endowment
House, and before going, we get a recommendation from our Bishop that
we have paid our tithing. 16:168.
In regard to this whining of the world about Brigham's handling the
tithing, I can say that he has put in ten dollars where he has taken
one out of the treasury, and he has paid more tithing than any other
man in the Church. Everybody should pay their tenth. A poor woman ought
to pay her tenth chicken, if she has to draw out ten times its value
for her support. It is all the Lord's and we are only his stewards.
16:45.
It is my business to control the disbursements of the tithing paid by
the Saints, and not the business of every Elder in the Kingdom who
thinks the tithing belongs to him. 8:170.
_The United Order_--The Lord has declared it to be his will that
his people enter into covenant, even as Enoch and his people did, which
of necessity must be before we shall have the privilege of building the
Center Stake of Zion, for the power and glory of God will be there, and
none but the pure in heart will be able to live and enjoy it. 18:263.
When the Lord gave the revelation instructing us in our duty as to
consecrating what we have, if the people then could have understood
things precisely as they are; and had obeyed that revelation, it would
have been neither more no less than yielding up that which is not their
own, to him to whom it belongs. And so it is now. 2:303.
When they bow down to worship the Lord, they acknowledge that the
earth is his, and the cattle upon a {277} thousand hills; and tell the Lord
there is no sacrifice they are not willing to make for the sake of the
religion of Jesus Christ. The people were crying this continually among
the churches when the Book of Mormon came forth, and the Lord spoke
through Joseph, revealing the law of consecration, to see whether they
were willing to do as they said in their prayers. 2:305.
There is another revelation still prior to this time, stating that
it is the duty of all people who go to Zion to consecrate all their
property to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This
revelation was referred to at the April Conference in 1854. It was one
of the first commandments, or revelations given to this people after
they had the privilege of organizing themselves as a Church, as a body,
as the Kingdom of God on the earth. I observed then, and I now think,
that it will be one of the last revelations which the people will
receive into their hearts and understanding, of their own free will and
choice, and esteem it as a pleasure, a privilege, and a blessing unto
them to observe and keep most holy. 2:299.
I have said, and say today, that according to the age of the people
we have improved as fast as the church of Enoch. I trust we improve
faster, for we have not as much time as they had. In some of the first
revelations which were given to this Church, the Order of Enoch was
given for a pattern to this people; and Enoch patterned after the
heavens. In the commencement of the Church, the Latter-day Saints could
not receive it, and they were driven from city to city, as the Lord
said they should be, through the mouth of his servant Joseph, until
they should be willing to receive this Order. 12:210.
Will the time ever come that we can commence and {278} organize this
people as a family? It will. Do we know how? Yes; what was lacking in
these revelations from Joseph to enable us to do so was revealed to me.
Do you think we will ever be one? When we get home to our Father and
God, will we not wish to be in the family? Will it not be our highest
ambition and desire to be reckoned as the sons of the living God, as
the daughters of the Almighty, with a right to the household, and the
faith that belongs to the household, heirs of the Father, his goods,
his wealth, his power, his excellency, his knowledge and wisdom? 11:326.
I will say, first, that the Lord Almighty has not the least objection
in the world to our entering into the Order of Enoch. I will stand
between the people and all harm in this. He has not the least objection
to any man, every man, all mankind on the face of the earth turning
from evil and loving and serving him with all their hearts. With
regard to all those orders that the Lord has revealed, it depends upon
the will and doings of the people, and we are at liberty, from this
Conference, to go and build up a settlement, or we can join ourselves
together in this city, do it legally--according to the laws of the
land--and enter into covenant with each other by a firm agreement that
we will live as a family, that we will put our property into the hands
of a committee of trustees, who shall dictate the affairs of this
society. 16:8.
And when this people become one, it will be one in the Lord. They will
not look alike. We will not all have grey, blue, or black eyes. Our
features will differ one from another, and in our acts, dispositions,
and efforts to accumulate, distribute, and dispose of our time,
talents, wealth, and whatever the Lord gives to us, in our journey
{279} through life, we will differ just as much as in our features. The
point that the Lord wishes to bring us to is to obey his counsel and
observe his word. Then every one will be dictated so that we can act as
a family. 12:57.
But to the text. We want to see a community organized in which every
person will be industrious, faithful and prudent. What will you do with
the children? We will bring them up until they are of legal age, then
say, "Go where you please. We have given you a splendid education,
the advantage of all the learning of the day, and if you do not wish
to stay with the Saints, go where you please." What will you do with
those who apostatize after having entered into covenant and agreement
with others, that their property shall be one, and be in the hands
of trustees, and shall never be taken out? If any of these parties
apostatize, and say we wish to withdraw from this community, what will
you do with them? We will say to them, "Go, and welcome," and if we are
disposed to give them anything, it is all right. 15:226.
I know how to start such a society, right in this city, and how to make
its members rich. I would go to now, and buy out the poorest Ward in
this city, and then commence with men and women who have not a dollar
in the world. Bring them here from England, or any part of the earth,
set them down in this Ward and put them to work, and in five years
we would begin to enter other Wards, and we would buy this house and
that house, and the next house, and we would add Ward to Ward until we
owned the whole city, every dollar's worth of property there is in it.
We could do this, and let the rich go to California to get gold, and
we would buy their property. Would you like to know how to do this? I
can tell you {280} in a very few words--never want a thing you cannot
get, live within your means, manufacture that which you wear, and raise
that which you eat. Raise every calf and lamb; raise the chickens, and
have your eggs, make your butter and cheese, and always have a little
to spare. The first year we raise a crop, and we have more than we
want. We buy nothing, we sell a little. The next year we raise more;
we buy nothing and we sell more. In this way we could pile up the gold
and silver and in twenty years a hundred families working like this
could buy out their neighbors. I see men who earn four, five, ten or
fifteen dollars a day and spend every dime of it. Such men spend their
means foolishly, they waste it instead of taking care of it. They do
not know what to do with it, and they seem to fear that it will burn
their pockets, and they get rid of it. If you get a dollar, sovereign,
half-eagle or eagle, and are afraid it will burn your pockets, put
it into a safe. It will not burn anything there, and you will not be
forced to spend, spend, spend as you do now. 16:11.
I have looked upon the community of Latter-day Saints in vision and
beheld them organized as one great family of heaven, each person
performing his several duties in his line of industry, working for
the good of the whole more than for individual aggrandizement; and in
this I have beheld the most beautiful order that the mind of man can
contemplate, and the grandest results for the upbuilding of the Kingdom
of God and the spread of righteousness upon the earth. Will this people
ever come to this order of things? Are they now prepared to live
according to that patriarchal order that will be organized among the
true and faithful before God receives his own? We all concede the point
that when this mortality falls off, and with it its cares, anxieties,
{281} love of self, love of wealth, and love of power, and all the
conflicting interests which pertain to this flesh, that then, when our
spirits have returned to God who gave them, we will be subject to every
requirement that he may make of us, that we shall then live together as
one great family; our interest will be a general, a common interest.
Why can we not so live in this world? 12:153. {282}