_TRIALS AND PERSECUTION_
_Trials are Necessary_--We are now in a day of trial to prove
ourselves worthy or unworthy of the life which is to come. 12:167.
If we have correct doctrines, and will fashion our lives to them, we
may sanctify ourselves without being chastened. 12:310.
The people of the Most High God must be tried. It is written that they
will be tried in all things, even as Abraham was tried. If we are
called to go upon mount Moriah to sacrifice a few of our Isaacs, it is
no matter; we may just as well do that as anything else. I think there
is a prospect for the Saints to have all the trials they wish for, or
can desire. 4:369.
All intelligent beings who are crowned with crowns of glory,
immortality, and eternal lives must pass through every ordeal appointed
for intelligent beings to pass through, to gain their glory and
exaltation. Every calamity that can come upon mortal beings will be
suffered to come upon the few, to prepare them to enjoy the presence
of the Lord. If we obtain the glory that Abraham obtained, we must do
so by the same means that he did. If we are ever prepared to enjoy the
society of Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or of
their faithful children, and of the faithful Prophets and Apostles,
we must pass through the same experience, and gain the knowledge,
intelligence, and endowments that will prepare us to enter into the
celestial kingdom of our Father and God. How many of the Latter-day
Saints will endure all these {530} things, and be prepared to enjoy
the presence of the Father and the Son? You can answer that question
at your leisure. Every trial and experience you have passed through is
necessary for your salvation. 8:150.
Should our lives be extended to a thousand years, still we may live and
learn. Every vicissitude we pass through is necessary for experience
and example, and for preparation to enjoy that reward which is for the
faithful. 9:292.
If Adam had not sinned, and if his posterity had continued upon the
earth, they could not have known sin, or the bitter from the sweet,
neither would they have known righteousness, for the plain and simple
reason that every effect can only be fully manifested by its opposite.
If the Saints could realize things as they are when they are called
to pass through trials, and to suffer what they call sacrifices,
they would acknowledge them to be the greatest blessings that could
be bestowed upon them. But put them in possession of true principles
and true enjoyments, without the opposite, and they could not know
enjoyment, they could not realize happiness. They could not tell
light from darkness, because they have no knowledge of darkness and
consequently are destitute of a realizing sense of light. If they
should not taste the bitter, how could they realize the sweet? They
could not. 2:301-302.
You will learn this in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and in the
revelations given through Joseph. We must know and understand the
opposition that is in all things, in order to discern, choose, and
receive that which we do know will exalt us to the presence of God.
You cannot know the one without knowing the other. This is a true
principle. 4:373.
Now if you possess the light of the Holy Spirit, you {531} can see
clearly that trials in the flesh are actually necessary. 2:8.
_Purpose of Persecution_--Let any people enjoy peace and quiet,
unmolested, undisturbed,--never be persecuted for their religion,
and they are very likely to neglect their duty, to become cold and
indifferent, and lose their faith. 7:42.
He led this people in different parts of the United States, and the
finger of scorn has been pointed at them. Officers of the Government of
the United States have lifted their heel against them, and this people
have been driven from town to town, from county to county, and from
state to state. The Lord has his design in this. You may ask what his
design is. You all know that the Saints must be made pure, to enter
into the celestial kingdom. It is recorded that Jesus was made perfect
through suffering. If he was made perfect through suffering, why
should we imagine for one moment that we can be prepared to enter into
the kingdom of rest with him and the Father, without passing through
similar ordeals? 8:66.
We are infinitely more blessed by the persecutions and injustice we
have suffered, than we could have been if we had remained in our
habitations from which we have been driven--than if we had been
suffered to occupy our farms, gardens, stores, mills, machinery and
everything we had in our former possessions. 10:38.
_Persecution May Be Expected_--I wish to inform you, brethren and
sisters, who have just arrived in these valleys, that all your trials
hitherto are but trifling in comparison to the trials you will now be
called to meet and pass through. 8:163.
War has been declared against the Saints over twenty-seven {532} years,
and our enemies have only fallen back so as to gain strength and
pretexts for making another attack. Will that spirit increase? If it
does, and we love our religion, let me tell you that we will increase
faster than our enemies will. 5:340.
Only be faithful, brethren and sisters, and I promise that you shall
have all such privileges as shall be for your good. You need not
be discouraged, or mourn, because you were not in Jackson County
persecutions, or were not driven from Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois,
and stripped, robbed and plundered of all your property. Do not mourn
and feel bad, because you were not in Nauvoo; have no fears, for if
the word of the Lord is true, you shall yet be tried in all things; so
rejoice, and pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks, even
if it is in the spoiling of your goods, for it is the hand of God that
leads us, and will continue so to do. Let every man and woman sanctify
themselves before the Lord, and every providence of the Almighty shall
be sanctified for good of them. 1:279.
The ancient Saints were, and the Saints of latter days have been,
driven from pillar to post, their name a hiss and a by-word, and their
character traduced to the lowest degree. I will appeal to men in this
congregation, who have lived for years in the society of the world, who
are judges, magistrates, sheriffs, merchants, mechanics, and farmers,
if anything was ever alleged against their character until they joined
the Latter-day Saints. But where are your characters now in the world?
Your former friends now have found out that you always were miserable
creatures, they now declare they never had any confidence in you, for
you always were enthusiastic beings, and knew not what you were doing.
They always believed you would prove yourselves {533} dishonest, etc.
This has been the character given to the Saints by the world in all
ages. 1:236.
[IMAGE: BRIGHAM YOUNG AS A YOUNG MAN]
[IMAGE: BRIGHAM YOUNG MATURED]
[IMAGE: THE HOME OF BRIGHAM YOUNG IN NAUVOO]
_Meet Trials Cheerfully_--We are the happiest people when we have
what are called trials; for then the Spirit of God is more abundantly
bestowed upon the faithful. If the Lord requires it, I would as soon
consume all I have and go into the mountains with my family as to do a
good many other things. 5:332.
I say to the Latter-day Saints, all we have to do is to learn of God.
Let the liars lie on, and let the swearers swear on, and they will
go to perdition. All we have to do is to go onward and upward, and
keep the commandments of our Father and God; and he will confound our
enemies. 19:50.
There is not a hardship, there is not a disappointment, there is not a
trial, there is not a hard time, that comes upon this people in this
place, but that I am more thankful for than I am for full granaries.
4:51.
We have passed through a great many scenes, we may say, of tribulation,
though I would have all my brethren understand that I do not take
this to myself, for all that I have passed through has been joy and
joyful to me; but we have seemingly sacrificed a great deal, and passed
through many scenes of trial and temptations, no doubt of this. We have
had to suffer temptation more or less, and we have taken the spoiling
of our goods joyfully. I have, myself, five times before I came to this
valley, left everything that the Lord had blessed me with pertaining
to this world's goods, which, for the country where I lived, was not a
very little. 18:237.
As to trials, why bless your hearts, the man or woman who enjoys the
spirit of our religion has no trials; but the {534} man or woman who
tries to live according to the Gospel of the Son of God, and at the
same time clings to the spirit of the world, has trials and sorrows
acute and keen, and that, too, continually.
Cast off the yoke of the enemy, and put on the yoke of Christ, and you
will say that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. This I know by
experience. 16:123.
I have heard a great many tell about what they have suffered for
Christ's sake. I am happy to say I never had occasion to. I have
enjoyed a great deal, but so far as suffering goes I have compared it
a great many times, in my feelings and before congregations, to a man
wearing an old, worn-out, tattered and dirty coat, and somebody comes
along and gives him one that is new, whole and beautiful. This is the
comparison I draw when I think of what I have suffered for the Gospel's
sake--I have thrown away an old coat and have put on a new one. No
man or woman ever heard me tell about suffering. "Did you not leave a
handsome property in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois?" Yes. "And have you
not suffered through that?" No, I have been growing better and better
all the time, and so have this people. And you may take the history of
the world from the days of Adam down, and I am at the defiance of any
historian to prove that the Saints have ever suffered as much as the
sinners. This is my belief about the religion of Jesus Christ. Some
may say, "Did not the children of Israel suffer?" Yes. "Why?" Because
of their iniquity. They transgressed the laws God had given them; they
changed the ordinances and broke the everlasting covenant, and for
their sin and disobedience they were led into captivity. If they had
been obedient, I reckon they would have been led direct to the Holy
Land, and stayed there. {535} Some may say, "Now, Mr. Speaker, you have
been driven from your home, was it for righteousness?" No, I expect
not. I expect it was to chasten me and make me better. 13:147.
_Cause of Persecution_--Hatred and persecution have been the lot
of every man that ever lived upon the earth holding the oracles of
the Kingdom of Heaven to deliver to the children of men. Wicked men,
Satan, and all the powers of hell and hate are at war with every holy
principle that God wishes to place in the possession of his children.
That is the true reason of the hatred and persecution meted out to us.
8:13.
Do you know that that very principle caused the death of all the
Prophets, from the days of Adam until now? Let a Prophet arise upon the
earth, and never reveal the evils of men, and do you suppose that the
wicked would desire to kill him? No, for he would cease to be a Prophet
of the Lord, and they would invite him to their feasts, and hail him as
a friend and brother. Why? Because it would be impossible for him to
be anything but one of them. It is impossible for a Prophet of Christ
to live in an adulterous generation without speaking of the wickedness
of the people, without revealing their faults and their failings, and
there is nothing short of death that will stay him from it, for a
Prophet of God will do as he pleases. 3:48.
The false religion that is in the world, is what raises this "hue and
cry," misguides the people, and opposes itself against the Kingdom of
God on the earth. Now if we would only fall in with the wicked all
would be right, and then no person would wish to persecute us. 2:181.
Why should we have enemies? "Why is it," say our objectors, "that
you cannot mingle and mix in society like {536} other religious
denominations?" It has been seen that the people would not permit us
to dwell in their midst in peace. We have been universally driven by
illegal force, by mobs, murderers, and assassins, as unworthy of having
a place amongst the abodes of civilized man, until, as a last resort,
we found peace in these distant valleys. It is because our religion is
the only true one. It is because we have the only true authority, upon
the face of the whole earth, to administer in the ordinances of the
Gospel. It is because the keys of this dispensation were committed by
messengers sent from the Celestial world unto Joseph Smith, and are now
held on the earth by this people. It is because Christ and Lucifer are
enemies, and cannot be made friends; and Lucifer, knowing that we have
this Priesthood, this power, this authority, seeks our overthrow. 2:177.
All hell is moved against this people, because we are of one heart and
of one mind. 5:228.
It is light, intelligence, the power of God that make the wicked
tremble and wish "Mormonism" out of the way. If it were a false
doctrine or a false theory, the Devil would not endeavor to disturb
it, wicked men would not fear it, Heaven would not smile upon it, nor
give a revelation to any man or woman to believe it, and we should
have poor success; and Heaven forbid that we should have success or
gain influence upon any other principle than the revelations of Jesus
Christ. 7:160.
We were not persecuted because we believed in having many wives, for
that principle was not known to our persecutors until we came to these
mountains, although the revelation was received by Joseph Smith and
written a year before his death. 14:119.
We are Christians professedly, according to our religion. {537} People
have gathered to themselves certain ideas, and laid them down as
systems, calling them religion, all professing to believe and obey the
Scriptures. Their religions are peculiar to themselves--our religion is
peculiar to God, to angels, and to the righteous of time and eternity.
Why are we persecuted because of our religion? Why was Joseph Smith
persecuted? Why was he hunted from neighborhood to neighborhood,
from city to city, from state to state, and at last suffered death?
Because he received revelations from the Father, from the Son, and was
ministered to by holy angels, and published to the world the direct
will of the Lord concerning his children on the earth. Again, why was
he persecuted? Because he revealed to all mankind a religion so plain
and so easily understood, consistent with the Bible, and so true. It
is now as it was in the days of the Savior; let people believe and
practice these simple, God-like truths, and it will be as it was in the
old world, they will say, if this man be let alone he will come and
take away our peace and nation. 18:231.
_Disobedience Causes Persecution_--When we look at the Latter-day
Saints, we ask, is there any necessity of their being persecuted?
Yes, if they are disobedient. Is there any necessity of chastening a
son or a daughter? Yes, if they are disobedient. But suppose they are
perfectly obedient to every requirement of their parents, is there any
necessity of chastening them then? If there is, I do not understand
the principle of it. I have not yet been able to see the necessity
of chastening an obedient child, neither have I been able to see the
necessity of chastisement from the Lord upon a people who are perfectly
obedient. Have this people been chastened? Yes, they have. 12:308.
We have been persecuted, driven, smitten, cast out, {538} robbed and
hated; and I may say it was for our coldness and neglect of duty; and
if we did not exactly deserve it, there have been times when we did
deserve it. If we did not deserve it at the time, it was good for
and gave us an experience, though I must say that one of the hardest
lessons for me to learn on earth is to love a man who hates me and
would put me to death if he had the power. I do not think I have got
this lesson by heart, and I do not know how long I shall have to live
to learn it. I am trying. 14:97.
Those who turn away from the holy commandments will meet trials that
are trials indeed. They will feel the wrath of the Almighty upon
them. Those who are still and are good children will receive the rich
blessing of their Father and God. Be still, and let your faith rest on
the Lord Almighty. 7:136.
_Result of Persecution_--Every time you kick "Mormonism" you kick
it upstairs; you never kick it downstairs. The Lord Almighty so orders
it. 7:145.
Can you destroy a true religion by persecuting it? No. 7:145.
Joseph could not have been perfected, though he had lived a thousand
years, if he had received no persecution. If he had lived a thousand
years, and led this people, and preached the Gospel without
persecution, he would not have been perfected as well as he was at
the age of thirty-nine years. You may calculate, when this people are
called to go through scenes of affliction and suffering, are driven
from their homes, and cast down, and scattered, and smitten, and
peeled, the Almighty is rolling on his work with greater rapidity. 2:7.
Well, do you think that persecution has done us good? {539} Yes. I
sit and laugh, and rejoice exceedingly when I see persecution. I care
no more about it than I do about the whistling of the north wind, the
croaking of the crane that flies over my head, or the crackling of the
thorns under the pot. The Lord has all things in his hand; therefore
let it come, for it will give me experience. 2:8.
Every time they persecute and try to overcome this people, they elevate
us, weaken their own hands, and strengthen the hands and the arms
of this people. And every time they undertake to lessen our number,
they increase it. And when they try to destroy the faith and virtue
of this people, the Lord strengthens the feeble knees, and confirms
the wavering in faith and power in God, in light, and intelligence.
Righteousness and power with God increase in this people in proportion
as the Devil struggles to destroy it. 8:225-6.
If we did not have to bear the iron hand of persecution, the principles
we believe in, which attract the attention of the good and the evil
upon the earth and which occupy so many tongues and circumscribe their
philosophy, would be embraced by thousands who are now indifferent to
them. The evil-doer would crowd upon our borders; and we have plenty of
them now without receiving any more. They would crowd into this Church.
18:359.
I say the same now. Let us alone, and we will send Elders to the
uttermost parts of the earth, and gather out Israel, wherever they are;
and if you persecute us, we will do it the quicker, because we are
naturally dull when let alone, and are disposed to take a little sleep,
a little slumber, and a little rest. If you let us alone, we will do it
a little more leisurely; but if you persecute us, we will sit up nights
to preach the Gospel. 2:320.
Moses was not to blame because Pharaoh's heart became {540} more and
more hard. He was not to blame because an overwhelming destruction came
upon that devoted army. Neither is God, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith,
myself, or the Apostles and Prophets of this last dispensation to blame
for the unbelief of this nation, and for the dark and lowering tempest
that now threatens to overthrow them with a terrible destruction.
Still, as Pharaoh's heart became harder and harder, so will it be with
the persecutors of God's people and purposes in the latter times, until
they are utterly destroyed. 10:4.
_Cannot Overtake Falsehood_--We have been asked a good many
times, "Why do you not publish the truth in regard to these lies
which are circulated about you?" We might do this if we owned all the
papers published in Christendom. Who will publish a letter from me
or my brethren? Who will publish the truth from us? If it gets into
one paper, it is slipped under the counter or somewhere else; but it
never gets into a second. They will send forth lies concerning us very
readily. The old adage is that a lie will creep through the keyhole
and go a thousand miles while truth is getting out of doors; and
our experience has proved this. We have not the influence and power
necessary to refute the falsehoods circulated about us. We depend on
God, who sits in the heavens. Our trust is in him who created the
heavens, who formed the earth, and who has brought forth his children
on the earth, and who has given the intelligence which they possess.
13:177.
If I now had in my possession one hundred million dollars in cash, I
could buy the favor of the publishers of newspapers and control their
presses; with that amount I could make this people popular, though I
expect that popularity would send us to hell. 3:160. {541}
_Danger of Persecuting the Saints_--When men lift their hands
against the Latter-day Saints, they lift them against the Almighty.
11:119.
He who lifts his heel against the Lord and against his anointed will
find himself a poor, pusillanimous, weak instrument in the hands of the
Devil to accomplish his designs. 8:33.
When men operate against this people, they may spend all they possess
and all their ability, and it will pass away like an empty sound, and
they will be forgotten. Such persons have always come to naught, and
all who fight against the people of the Most High will continue to come
to naught. 3:259.
Tell the world--sound it in the ears of kings and rulers, that they
are persecuting a people to whose God they will have to pay every
debt they contract; they will be brought into judgment for every act
against this Kingdom. This is the Kingdom of God; these are the people
of God, as are all who receive the truth and follow its principles.
As to parentage, we are no more the children of God than are the rest
of the inhabitants of the earth. Originally, as to our parents, as
to our organization and that which pertains to our life, we are all
the children of one Father, whether we be Jew or Gentile, bond or
free, black or white, noble or ignoble. The difference we see arises
in consequence of the different use made of the agency given to man.
8:194-5.
The sufferings that have come upon the Latter-day Saints, through
persecution, will not compare in severity with the sufferings which
have come upon the wicked in our own day. 11:274.
_Persecution Comes From Efforts of Few_--Now to tell the truth,
there are but few, in comparison with the numbers {542} that now live,
who are rabid against and seek to destroy the Kingdom of God. A great
portion of the human family are honorable men and women, and they would
just as soon that "Mormonism" should live as any other ism. The few who
seek to destroy the Kingdom of God are priests, politicians, and office
seekers, and they would care nothing about it, only they are afraid we
will take away their place and station. 11:323. {543}