_JOSEPH SMITH_
_A Prophet of God_--I honor and revere the name of Joseph Smith. I
delight to hear it; I love it. I love his doctrine. 13:216.
What I have received from the Lord, I have received by Joseph Smith;
he was the instrument made use of. If I drop him, I must drop these
principles; they have not been revealed, declared, or explained by any
other man since the days of the Apostles. If I lay down the Book of
Mormon, I shall have to deny that Joseph is a Prophet; and if I lay
down the doctrine and cease to preach the gathering of Israel and the
building up of Zion, I must lay down the Bible; and, consequently, I
might as well go home as undertake to preach without these three items.
6:279-280.
I feel like shouting Hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever
knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet whom the Lord raised up and ordained,
and to whom he gave keys and power to build up the Kingdom of God on
earth and sustain it. These keys are committed to this people, and we
have power to continue the work that Joseph commenced, until everything
is prepared for the coming of the Son of Man. This is the business of
the Latter-day Saints, and it is all the business we have on hand. 3:51.
Not that Joseph was the Savior, but he was a Prophet. As he said once;
when some one asked him, "Are you the Savior?" "No, but I can tell you
what I am--I am his brother." So we can say. 14:202.
Joseph Smith has laid the foundation of the Kingdom of {701} God in the
last days; others will rear the superstructure. 9:364.
I never saw any one, until I met Joseph Smith, who could tell me
anything about the character, personality and dwelling-place of God, or
anything satisfactory about angels, or the relationship of man to his
Maker. Yet I was as diligent as any man need to be to try and find out
these things. 16:46.
What is the nature and beauty of Joseph's mission? You know that I am
one of his Apostles. When I first heard him preach, he brought heaven
and earth together; and all the priests of the day could not tell me
anything correct about heaven, hell, God, angels, or devils; they were
as blind as Egyptian darkness. When I saw Joseph Smith, he took heaven,
figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took the
earth, brought it up, and opened up, in plainness and simplicity,
the things of God; and that is the beauty of his mission. I had a
testimony, long before that, that he was a Prophet of the Lord, and
that was consoling. Did not Joseph do the same to your understandings?
Would he not take the Scriptures and make them so plain and simple that
everybody could understand? Every person says, "Yes, it is admirable;
it unites the heavens and the earth together," and as for time, it is
nothing, only to teach us how to live in eternity. 5:332.
When you hear a man pour out eternal things, how well you feel, to
what a nearness you seem to be brought with God. What a delight it was
to hear Brother Joseph talk upon the great principles of eternity; he
would bring them down to the capacity of a child, and he would unite
heaven with earth, this is the beauty of our religion. 4:54.
There is not that being that ever had the privilege of {702} hearing
the way of life and salvation set before him as it is written in the
New Testament, and in the Book of Mormon, and in the book of Doctrine
and Covenants, by a Latter-day Saint, that can say that Jesus lives,
that his Gospel is true, and at the same time say that Joseph Smith
was not a Prophet of God. That is strong testimony, but it is true. No
man can say that this book (laying his hand on the Bible) is true, is
the word of the Lord, is the way, is the guide-board in the path, and
a charter by which we may learn the will of God; and at the same time
say, that the Book of Mormon is untrue; if he has had the privilege of
reading it, or of hearing it read, and learning its doctrines. There
is not that person on the face of the earth who has had the privilege
of learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ from these two books, that can
say that one is true, and the other is false. No Latter-day Saint, no
man or woman, can say the Book of Mormon is true, and at the same time
say that the Bible is untrue. If one be true, both are; and if one be
false, both are false. If Jesus lives, and is the Savior of the world,
Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, and lives in the bosom of his father
Abraham. Though they have killed his body, yet he lives and beholds the
face of his Father in Heaven; and his garments are pure as the angels
that surround the throne of God; and no man on the earth can say that
Jesus lives, and deny, at the same time, my assertion about the Prophet
Joseph. This is my testimony, and it is strong. 1:38.
Who can justly say aught against Joseph Smith? I was as well acquainted
with him, as any man. I do not believe that his father and mother knew
him any better than I did. I do not think that a man lives on the earth
that knew him any better than I did; and I am bold to say that, Jesus
{703} Christ excepted, no better man ever lived or does live upon this
earth. I am his witness. He was persecuted for the same reason that any
other righteous person has been or is persecuted at the present day.
9:332.
I never have professed to be Brother Joseph, but Brother Brigham,
trying to do good to this people. I am no better, nor any more
important than another man who is trying to do good. If I am, I don't
know it. If I improve upon what the Lord has given me, and continue to
improve, I shall become like those who have gone before me; I shall be
exalted in the celestial kingdom, and be filled to overflowing with all
the power I can wield; and all the keys of knowledge I can manage will
be committed unto me. What do we want more? I shall be just like every
other man--have all that I can, in my capacity, comprehend and manage.
6:275-276.
_Called and Directed by God_--He called upon his servant Joseph
Smith, Jr., when he was but a boy, to lay the foundation of his Kingdom
for the last time. Why did he call upon Joseph Smith to do it? Because
he was disposed to do it. Was Joseph Smith the only person on earth who
could have done this work? No doubt there were many others who, under
the direction of the Lord, could have done that work; but the Lord
selected the one that pleased him, and that is sufficient. 11:253.
In all ages of the world that we have any knowledge of, when there
was a people on the earth whom God acknowledged as his people, he
has invariably dictated them in Spiritual and in temporal things.
This question was agitated year after year in the days of Joseph. The
first two Bishops in the Church--Edward Partridge was the first--I
was well acquainted with him, and Newel K. Whitney was {704} the
second--questioned the propriety of Joseph having anything to do with
temporal things. Joseph would argue the case with them a little, and
tell them how things were, and bring up scripture to show them that
it could not be otherwise--that it was impossible for the Lord to
dictate to people unless he dictated them in temporal affairs. The
very first act after believing is a temporal act. After I hear the
Gospel preached and believe it, I go down into the waters of baptism,
which is a temporal act; it is an act that pertains to my will and my
body; I will that my body shall go down into the water and be immersed
for the remission of my sins; consequently, I have to go to the Elder
who taught me the Gospel, the spiritual portion of the Kingdom, and
apply to him to administer this temporal ordinance, and he has to
do it; having taught the doctrine he officiates in the act and you
will find it through life, every circumstance, in every case, the man
that dictates the spiritual Kingdom of God, must dictate the temporal
affairs, it cannot be otherwise. I say this to you, because the idea
in the minds of a few of the people is, "Brigham ought not to meddle
with temporal affairs." They said so to Joseph, and they said so much
about it, that I went into the temple at Kirtland, and challenged the
men who were querying on this, to prove or bring up one instance where
God did not manifest his will concerning temporal things whenever he
made known his will to the children of men for establishing his Kingdom
on the earth. They always came to the floor; they had to do it, there
was nothing else for them; it prostrated every person. There were
William E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, and Lyman Johnson who belonged
to the Twelve, Frederick G. Williams, second counselor to Joseph, and
two-thirds of the High Council, all talking {705} about this, and I
went into the temple and just challenged them to show wherein the
Lord ever conferred upon any man in the world the power to dictate in
spiritual affairs, that he did not in temporal affairs? They could not
do it. I told them they could not draw the line between the spiritual
and the temporal. All things were created first spiritual, and then
temporal. Everything in the spirit world was presented as we see it
now, and this temporal earth was presented there. We were in the spirit
world, and we came here into this time, which is in eternity, nothing
in the world only a change of time and season is allotted to a change
of being that makes it time to us. It is in eternity, and we are just
as much in eternity now, as we shall be millions of years hence. But it
is time measured to finite beings, and it is changeable, and we call
it temporal, while the fact is it is all spiritual in the first place,
then temporal, then spiritual, and made immortal, consequently you
cannot divide them. I say this for those to reflect upon who think that
there is a difference between temporal and spiritual things. I do not
say, for I do not know that there are any such here. 18:243.
_Development of the Prophet_--From the day that Joseph obtained
the plates, and previous to that time, the Lord dictated him. He
directed him day by day and hour by hour. 8:66.
Joseph continued to receive revelation upon revelation, ordinance upon
ordinance, truth upon truth, until he obtained all that was necessary
for the salvation of the human family. All the inhabitants of the earth
are called of God; they are called to repent and be baptized for the
remission of sins. 16:42.
We have passed from one thing to another, and I may {706} say from
one degree of knowledge to another. When Joseph first received the
knowledge of the plates that were in the hill Cumorah, he did not then
receive the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, he merely received the
knowledge that the plates were there, and that the Lord would bring
them forth, and that they contained the history of the aborigines
of this country. He received the knowledge that they were once in
possession of the Gospel, and from that time he went on, step by step,
until he obtained the plates, and the Urim and Thummim and had power to
translate them. This did not make him an Apostle, it did not give to
him the keys of the Kingdom, nor make him an Elder in Israel. He was
a Prophet, and had the spirit of prophecy, and had received all this
before the Lord ordained him. And when the Lord, by revelation, told
him to go to Pennsylvania, he did so, and finished the translation of
the Book of Mormon; and when the Lord, in another revelation, told him
to come back, into New York State, and to go to old Father Whitmer's,
who lived in a place opposite Waterloo, and there stop, he did so, and
had meetings, and gathered up a few who believed in his testimony. He
received the Aaronic Priesthood, and then he received the keys of the
Melchizedek Priesthood, and organized the Church. He first received the
power to baptize, and still did not know that he was to receive any
more until the Lord told him there was more for him. Then he received
the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and had power to confirm after
he had baptized, which he had not before. He would have stood precisely
as John the Baptist stood, had not the Lord sent his other messengers,
Peter, James and John, to ordain Joseph to the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Then, after some of the brethren had been out preaching, he had a
revelation that they should go up to {707} the State of Ohio. I knew
of them, though I was not acquainted with them before they went up
there. They were seen by some of my family, my father saw and conversed
with them. Then the way opened for a large gathering in the State of
Ohio. Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Ziba Peterson, David Whitmer,
John Whitmer, and a few others, went up there and preached the Gospel,
and they came among the members of the society called Campbellites,
formerly members of the Close Communion Baptists, their leader's name
being Alexander Campbell. This man preached the doctrine that baptism
was for the remission of sins, and that split the church; but when the
brethren came to these societies and taught them, not only baptism for
the remission of sins, but the laying on of hands for the reception of
the Holy Ghost, they believed it, and were baptized for the remission
of their sins, and received the laying on of hands for the Holy Ghost,
and then received other ordinances.
At this time [1841] came a revelation that we could be baptized for our
dead friends, but at first it was not revealed that a record should be
kept of those who were baptized; but when he received an additional
revelation to that effect, then a record was kept. Hundreds and
thousands, I suppose, were baptized before any record was kept at all,
and they were baptized over, and a record kept of the baptisms and the
names of the administrator, those who acted for the dead, and of the
dead, and of the witnesses. You can read in the book of Doctrine and
Covenants, the letter that Joseph wrote, when he was away from home, in
regard to having witnesses at these baptisms. I relate this to show you
that the Lord did not reveal everything at once. But I need not dwell
on this any longer, 18:239-40. {708}
_What Joseph Taught_--All that Joseph Smith did was to preach the
truth--the Gospel as the Lord revealed it to him--and tell the people
how to be saved, and the honest-in-heart ran together and gathered
around him and loved him as they did their own lives. He could do no
more than to preach true principles, and that will gather the Saints
in the last days, even the honest-in-heart. All who believe and obey
the Gospel of Jesus Christ are his witnesses to the truth of these
statements. 10:326.
The excellency of the glory of the character of Brother Joseph Smith
was that he could reduce heavenly things to the understanding of the
finite. When he preached to the people--revealed the things of God,
the will of God, the plan of salvation, the purposes of Jehovah, the
relation in which we stand to him and all the heavenly beings, he
reduced his teachings to the capacity of every man, woman, and child,
making them as plain as a well-defined pathway. This should have
convinced every person that ever heard of him of his divine authority
and power, for no other man was able to teach as he could, and no
person can reveal the things of God, but by the revelations of Jesus
Christ. 8:206.
No man was to be found who could teach repentance and baptism for the
remission of sins, with authority to administer in the ordinances,
until God commissioned Joseph Smith, and sent him forth with his
commandment to the people. Previous to that time, I searched everything
pertaining to the churches; I searched high and low to find whether
there was any such thing as pure religion upon the earth; I searched
for a man that could tell me something of God, of heaven, of angels and
of eternal life. I believed in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ,
but I could not believe that the Church of Christ was upon the earth.
The question {709} was frequently asked, "Is the Methodist Church, the
Quakers, or the Mother Church right?" No, I would reply, there is not
a Bible church upon the earth. I might have continued to study the
Bible and all the books that have been written, and without revelation
from God I would have been like the sounding brass or tinkling cymbal,
having no knowledge of God, of true religion, of the redemption of the
living or of the dead; I would have lived and died in ignorance; and
this was the condition of all the inhabitants of the earth. 10:311.
There was nothing of a temporal or spiritual nature suggested by Joseph
Smith in his day, for the action of the Latter-day Saints that would
not have been beneficial for them, if they had, with one heart and
mind, performed all he desired them to do. 11:18.
_Results of the Prophet's Labors_--Joseph Smith, though he spent
only fourteen years in presiding over this people, organizing the
Church, proclaiming the Gospel and receiving revelations, yet had
hundreds and thousands of men and women who were ready to go to the
death with him. 14:149.
Now, as bad as myself and my brethren are, and as far as we are from
the mark, and from the privileges we should enjoy, if Joseph Smith,
Jr., the Prophet, could have seen the people in his day as willing to
obey his voice, as they are today to obey the voice of their President,
he would have been a happy man. He lived, labored, toiled, and worked;
his courage was like the courage of an angel, and his will was like the
will of the Almighty, and he labored till they killed him. 11:322.
_Persecutions of the Prophet_--Are there not scores of men
and women here who are familiar with the death of our Prophet? Why
did people hate him? Because of his {710} influence. Did he gain
or exercise an unrighteous influence? By no means. He possessed
a righteous influence over the spirits, feelings, passions, and
dispositions of all who delighted in truth and goodness, so far as he
associated, and could guide them at his pleasure.
Am I hated for the same cause? I am. I am hated for teaching people the
way of life and salvation--for teaching them principles that pertain
to eternity, by which the Gods were and are, and by which they gain
influence and power. Obtain that influence, and you will be hated,
despised, and hunted like the roe upon the mountains. The way to obtain
that influence is pointed out--by whom? By him through whom the worlds
were created, and who has redeemed this earth and all things upon it.
7:3.
Our situation is peculiar at the present time. Has it not been peculiar
ever since Joseph found the plates? The circumstances that surrounded
him when he found the plates were singular and strange. He passed a
short life of sorrow and trouble, surrounded by enemies who sought day
and night to destroy him. If a thousand hounds were on this Temple
Block, let loose on one rabbit, it would not be a bad illustration
of the situation at times of the Prophet Joseph. He was hunted
unremittingly. We have the privilege of believing the same Gospel that
Joseph taught, and with him of being numbered with those whose names
are cast out as evil. 10:315.
June 27, 1844, a little over fourteen years after the organization of
this Church, Joseph Smith was slain. In his day there were but very
few years of rest for the Saints. They occupied Nauvoo longer than any
other one place; they lived there about seven years. We left Nauvoo
in 1846, and from that time until now this Church has not been {711}
compelled to abandon their property and homes. We came here in the
best and quickest way in our power, and have been building, fencing,
planting, sowing, and making ourselves comfortable. It is now more than
ten years since we first located here, unmolested and undisturbed. 7:42.
I lived close by where these plates were found. I knew that Joseph
found them, from outward circumstances that transpired at the time.
I shall not take time to relate but a little of the delicate, kind,
benevolent, Christian-like, I will say anti-Godlike feelings of the
priests and of the people who professed Christianity at the time that
Joseph organized this Church. The very first thing that was circulated
was this--"Did you hear that Joe Smith and his followers got together
last night, blew out the light, stripped themselves stark naked, and
there they had the holy roll?" A great many of you do not understand
this term. It came from the Shaking Quakers. I shall not attempt to
relate here the conduct attributed to them, but from that sprung the
peculiar phrase I have mentioned in your hearing this afternoon. In a
very short time we were all thieves in the estimation of our so-called
Christian neighbors. Said the priest to a beloved sister, "Sister,
did you hear of such a man, he was a member of our church a few days
since, but he has joined old Joe Smith?" Says the sister, "No, can it
be possible?" "Well, they say so," says the priest, and he himself had
fabricated the entire story. This sister would tell it to another, and
it would go all through the neighborhood that such a man, who only a
few days before had been considered by them as good a brother as they
had in their church, had become a chicken thief. But you cannot mention
any crime that this people called Latter-day Saints have not been
accused of committing by their so-called {712} Christian neighbors; and
these stories would generally commence by the priests whispering to
some sister, "Did you hear of such and such a thing?" That was enough,
all that was wanted, it became a solemn fact by the time it passed the
third mouth. 16:67.
Had Joseph Smith been an impostor and of the world, the world would
not have hated him, but would have loved its own. Had Joseph Smith
made political capital of his religion and calling, and raised up a
political party, he doubtless would have become celebrated and renowned
in the world as a great man and as a great leader. 9:332.
_Harrassed by Lawsuits_--He was poor, harrassed, distressed,
afflicted, and tormented with lawsuits, persecution upon persecution,
and it cost thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep
him alive, which a few had to sustain. Is this affliction upon them
now? It is not. The scene is reversed. And as the people once thought,
that many by one man could be made poor, they now believe, by one man
many will be made rich. At the present day I do not know where the
opportunity is to prove the people. 1:75.
Joseph Smith was arraigned before Judge Austin A. King, on a charge of
treason. The Judge inquired of Mr. Smith, "Do you believe and teach the
doctrine that in the course of time the Saints will possess the earth?"
Joseph replied that he did. "Do you believe that the Lord will raise
up a kingdom that will fill the whole earth and rule over all other
kingdoms, as the Prophet Daniel has said?" "Yes, sir, I believe that
Jesus Christ will reign King of nations as he does King of Saints?"
"Write that down, clerk; we want to fasten upon him the charge of
treason, for if he believes this, he must believe that the State of
Missouri {713} will crumble and fall to rise no more." Lawyer Doniphan
said to the Judge, "Judge, you had better make the Bible treason and
have done with it." 9:331.
Joseph, our Prophet, was hunted and driven, arrested and persecuted,
and although no law was ever made in these United States that would
bear against him, for he never broke a law, yet to my certain knowledge
he was defendant in forty-six lawsuits, and every time Mr. Priest was
at the head of and led the band or mob who hunted and persecuted him.
And when Joseph and Hyrum were slain in Carthage jail, the mob, painted
like Indians, was led by a preacher. 14:199.
Joseph Smith, in forty-six prosecutions, was never proved guilty of
one violation of the laws of his country. They accused him of treason,
because he would not fellowship their wickedness. 10:111.
_Of Good Character_--We can find no person who presents a better
character to the world, when the facts are known, than Joseph Smith,
Jr., the Prophet, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, who was murdered with
him. 14:203.
The history of Joseph and Mary is given to us by their best friends,
and precisely as we will give the history of the Prophet Joseph.
We know him to have been a good man, we know that he performed his
mission, we know that he was an honorable man and dealt justly, we know
his true character. 3:366.
But let his enemies give his character, and they will make him out
one of the basest men that ever lived. Let the enemies of Joseph and
Mary give their characters to us, and you would be strongly tempted to
believe as the Jews believe. 3:366.
_Why the Prophet Was Killed_--If it be the will of the {714} Lord
for the people to live, they will live. If it had been the will of the
Lord that Joseph and Hyrum should have lived, they would have lived. It
was necessary for Joseph to seal his testimony with his blood. Had he
been destined to live he would have lived. The Lord suffered his death
to bring justice on the nation. The debt is contracted and they have it
to pay. 13:95.
Many of the Prophets have sealed their testimony with their blood, that
their testament might go forth with force and not return void. As in
ancient days, so in modern days. When Joseph Smith sealed his testimony
with his blood, his testament from that moment was in force to all the
world; and woe to those who fight against it. 19:5.
Joseph Smith knew this, and when he went to Carthage he said, "I go to
death; I go like a lamb to the slaughter; I go to my fate." 10:194.
If Brother Joseph Smith had taken a company and come to this country,
as he intended to do, he could have been living here now, in spite of
earth and hell. 5:342.
Forty-five years ago they were determined to kill the Prophet Joseph.
I have lain upon the floor scores of nights ready to receive the
mob who sought his life. This persecution commenced with a little
neighborhood, then a town, then a county, then a state, and then the
people of the United States; and by and by other nations will be just
as bitter towards us and the doctrines we preach, as many of the people
of our own nation now are. They will struggle and strive, and plan
and devise, saying, "Let us take this course, and that course;" and
they will struggle until they will come to a stop as though they were
against a mountain of solid rock. They will do all they can to break
us up, and even destroy us; this has been the case now for the last
{715} forty-five years. Joseph Smith had forty-six lawsuits, and I was
with him through the most of them, and never was the first thing proved
against him; he was never guilty of the first violation of the law or
of good order. And when Governor Ford asked him to go to prison, as the
mob were so enraged that he could not insure his life, that he might
be safe until he returned from Nauvoo, he said: "I will pledge you the
faith of the State of Illinois for your safety." But as soon as he was
gone, the mob murdered both Joseph and his brother Hyrum, in the jail.
That was to be so. I heard Joseph say many a time, "I shall not live
until I am forty years of age." The spring before he was killed--his
death occurred the 27th of June, 1844--he hurried off the first Elders
of the Church. All right, I thought then, and I think so now. It is
all in the hands of God. They killed Joseph, and what for? For the
Gospel's sake. It was for no evil, for I was well acquainted with him.
He testified to the truth, he sealed his testimony with his blood.
Whether we believe in blood atonement or not, the Lord so ordered it,
that Joseph, as well as others of the Prophets, sealed their testimony
with their blood. 18:361.
_Joseph's Work in the Spirit World_--Jesus had a work to do on the
earth. He performed his mission, and then was slain for his testimony.
So it has been with every man who has been foreordained to perform
certain important missions. Joseph truly said, "No power can take away
my life, until my work is done." All the powers of earth and hell could
not take his life, until he had completed the work the Father gave
him to do; until that was done, he had to live. When he died he had a
mission in the spirit world, as much so as Jesus had. 4:285.
Is Joseph glorified? No, he is preaching to the spirits {716} in
prison. He will get his resurrection the first of any one in this
Kingdom, for he was the first that God made choice of to bring forth
the work of the last days.
His office is not taken from him, he has only gone to labor in another
department of the operations of the Almighty. He is still an Apostle,
still a Prophet, and is doing the work of an Apostle and Prophet; he
has gone one step beyond us and gained a victory that you and I have
not gained, still he has not yet gone into the celestial kingdom, or,
if he has, it has been by a direct command of the Almighty, and that,
too, to return again so soon as the purpose has been accomplished.
3:371.
_Nature of the Prophet and His Family_--What of Joseph Smith's
family? What of his boys? I have prayed from the beginning for Sister
Emma and for the whole family. There is not a man in this Church that
has entertained better feelings towards them. Joseph said to me, "God
will take care of my children when I am taken." They are in the hands
of God, and when they make their appearance before this people, full
of his power, there are none but what will say, "Amen! we are ready to
receive you." 8:69.
_The Twelve, the Successors of the Prophet_--At the death of
Joseph, when the Twelve returned to Nauvoo, to use a comparison, the
horses were all harnessed and the people were in the big carriage, and
where were they going? They did not know. Who would gather up the lines
and guide the team? No man would step forward, until I did. There was
not one of the Twelve with me when I went to meet Sidney Rigdon on the
meeting-ground. I went alone, and was ready alone to face and drive the
dogs from the flock. 8:317.
Now, it is no more my duty to live so as to know the {717} mind and
will of the Lord than it is the duty of my brethren, the rest of the
Twelve. I say the rest of the Twelve, because I am the President of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the earth, and the only one that the
Lord has ever acknowledged. It is true that Thomas B. Marsh was once
President, but the Lord never acknowledged any man by revelation as
President of that Quorum but myself. At the death of Joseph I stepped
out from that position in the advance, according to the organization
of the Church, for the sake of preserving the flock of God, but not
according to my wishes, nor the desire of my heart, but it was my duty.
When I heard of the Prophet's death I said, "What will become of the
people? What will the Saints do now that the Prophet has gone?" It was
my whole desire to preserve the sheep of the flock of God, and it is so
today. Brother Kimball also stepped into the first Presidency, and we
called others and ordained them to take our place for the time being,
that the Church might be fully organized, and we expect to ordain more
when we feel like it. 18:70.
_Some Sayings of the Prophet_--Joseph used to say, "When you get
the Latter-day Saints to agree on any point, you may know it is the
voice of God." 12:301.
Will the Constitution be destroyed? No; it will be held inviolate by
this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, "The time will come when the
destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At this critical
juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened
destruction." It will be so. 7:15.
Hundreds of people in this house are my witnesses, who heard Joseph
say, when asked whether we should ever dare to leave Nauvoo, "The
Saints will leave Nauvoo. I do not say they will be driven, as they
were from Jackson County, {718} Missouri, and from that State; but
they will leave here and go to the mountains. And the next time the
Saints remove, or are caused to remove, they will be turned out of the
frying-pan, not into the fire, but into the middle of the floor." If
this is not the middle of the floor, I do not know where you will find
it. 8:356.
I recollect many times when Brother Joseph, reflecting upon how many
would come into the Kingdom of God and go out again, would say,
"Brethren, I have not apostatized yet, and don't feel like doing so."
Many of you, no doubt, can call to mind his words. Joseph had to pray
all the time, exercise faith, live his religion, and magnify his
calling, to obtain the manifestations of the Lord, and to keep him
steadfast in the faith. 2:257.
Who delivered Joseph Smith from the hands of his enemies to the day of
his death? It was God; though he was brought to the brink of death time
and time again, and, to all human appearance, could not be delivered,
and there was no probability of his being saved. When he was in jail in
Missouri, and no person expected that he would ever escape from their
hands, I had the faith of Abraham, and told the brethren, "As the Lord
God liveth, he shall come out of their hands." Though he had prophesied
that he would not live to be forty years of age, yet we all cherished
hopes that that would be a false prophecy, and we should keep him
forever with us; we thought our faith would outreach it, but we were
mistaken--he at last fell a martyr to his religion. I said, "It is all
right; now the testimony is in full force; he has sealed it with his
blood, and that makes it valid." 1:364.
The question was asked a great many times of Joseph Smith, by gentlemen
who came to see him and his people, {719} "How is it that you can
control your people so easily? It appears that they do nothing but what
you say; how is it that you can govern them so easily?" Said he, "I do
not govern them at all. The Lord has revealed certain principles from
the heavens by which we are to live in these latter days. The time is
drawing near when the Lord is going to gather out his people from the
wicked, and he is going to cut short his work in righteousness, and the
principles which he has revealed I have taught to the people and they
are trying to live according to them, and they control themselves."
Gentlemen, this is the great secret now in controlling this people.
It is thought that I control them, but it is not so. It is as much as
I can do to control myself and to keep myself straight and teach the
people the principles by which they should live. 13:176.
I recollect one remark that Brother Joseph used to make frequently,
when talking to the Elders. No matter what he set them to do, whether
he wanted them to go to a foreign land on a mission, or to go into
business, he would say, "When you commence, go in at the little end of
the horn; for if you do not, but enter at the big end, you will either
have to turn round and come out at the end you went in at, or go out at
the small end, and be squeezed nigh unto death."
Let an Elder hire the best halls in large cities to begin with, and go
to lecturing, and it will take him a long time to raise a Branch of
this Church. But let him begin among the poor of the earth--those who
live in the cellars, and garrets, and back streets; "for," says the
Almighty, "I am going to take the weak things of the earth, and with
them confound the wisdom of the wise." You will see that trait {720}
in every step of "Mormonism." God has chosen the obscure and weak,
to bring them up and exalt them. Is not that the work of a God, the
performance of this work without money and without price? The Gospel
is sent to all the inhabitants of the earth--to the high and the low,
the noble and the ignoble, the young and the old. "Here is the Gospel;
you are welcome to it." "Don't you ask anything for it? Not a farthing.
It has to go to the world, without money and price." Now, compare this
with carrying the Gospel with your pockets full of money; and in the
latter case, where is your glory and honor? 8:354.
I recollect, in Far West, Joseph, talking upon these matters, said,
"The people cannot bear the revelations that the Lord has for them.
There were a great many revelations if the people could bear them." I
think it was the eighth day of July, 1831, Joseph had a revelation that
the people should consecrate their surplus property for the building
of a temple there in Far West, for the support of the Priesthood, for
the paying of the debts of the Presidency, etc., which I could give an
account of, for I was present when it came. Joseph was doing business
in Kirtland, and it seemed as though all creation was upon him, to
hamper him in every way, and they drove him from his business, and it
left him so that some of his debts had to be settled afterwards; and I
am thankful to say that they were settled up; still further, we have
sent East to New York, to Ohio, and to every place where I had any
idea that Joseph had ever done business, and inquired if there was a
man left to whom Joseph Smith, jr., the Prophet, owed a dollar, or a
sixpence. If there was we would pay it. But I have not been able to
find one. I have advertised this through every {721} neighborhood and
place where he formerly lived, consequently I have a right to conclude
that all his debts were settled. 18:242.
Brother Kimball quoted a saying of Joseph the Prophet, that he would
not worship a God who had not a Father; and I do not know that he would
if he had not a mother; the one would be as absurd as the other. If he
had a Father, he was made in his likeness. And if he is our Father we
are made after his image and likeness. He once possessed a body, as we
now do; and our bodies are as much to us, as his body to him. Every
iota of this organization is necessary to secure for us an exaltation
with the Gods. 9:286.
My name is had for good and evil upon the whole earth, as promised to
me. Thirty years ago Brother Joseph, in a lecture to the Twelve said to
me, "Your name shall be known for good and evil throughout the world,"
and it is so. The good love me, weak and humble as I am, and the wicked
hate me; but there is no individual on the earth but what I would lead
to salvation, if he would let me; I would take him by the hand, like a
child, and lead him like a father in the way that would bring him to
salvation. 10:297. {722}