George Q. Cannon

“ If it were the case man would be deprived of that great privilege that he has received from God—that is, his agency, without which man would cease to be the being that he is, the child of God. The Almighty has given unto all the inhabitants of the earth their agency. A man can choose to be a wicked man; he can choose to be a devil, so to speak, if he wish. Will God interpose? Yes; but not to take away his agency. He can turn to wickedness, be corrupt, and do everything that is evil and abominable in the sight of God, so long as life is given to him, and God permits him to do it. ”

“ What are houses, what are lands, what is property of any kind compared with eternal life in the presence of God, to dwell there eternally in the society of Jesus, and of the Apostles and Prophets of old? This life is but a span. A few short years and we will pass away. Even if our enemies should suffer us to live, it is inevitable that we shall die. That fiat has gone forth. Death is in the world. But we have received a knowledge of the truth, and we can seal our testimony with our blood regarding it ”

“ The spirit of love should illumine our faces and gladden our hearts, for God delights in a glad heart. We should therefore carry peace and gladness into our habitations. Instead of going in cross, displeased, angry, we should dismiss all such feelings at the threshold and go into our homes carrying with us the spirit of peace. ”

“ There is nothing short of complete apostasy, a complete denial of every principle we have received, a throwing away of the Holy Priesthood, that can save us from persecution. When this takes place, when all the chief features of the Gospel are obliterated, when we can float along the stream and do as the world does, then and not till then will persecution cease, or until the adversary is bound, for the day will come when Satan will be bound and then persecution will cease, but until then there will be no cessation ”

“ When I think of the persecution they endured; when I think that God revealed unto his Apostles that there would be a falling away, that the Church would be overcome and the truth destroyed—that is, in its original purity—I cannot help contrasting our position to-day as compared with the position of the early Christians. Of course a great deal of truth has been saved. Some believe in one part of the Gospel and some in another. Every church possesses some fragment of the Gospel ”

“ Now the very fact that truth has not been popular, shows very plainly that mankind do not expect to receive it from the source through which it comes, or through the mediums that presented themselves to them. ”

“ But they looked beyond this, and, as has been quoted in our hearing, John the Revelator foretold the time when the everlasting Gospel would be restored again to the earth never to be taken away again. It might be persecuted, its followers might be hated, they might be driven, as they have been. Indeed there is no persecution the early Christians received; there is no trial or affliction that they had to pass through considering the time the Church had been organized that the Church of the Savior which he has caused to be organized in our day, has not endured. ”

“ No man need court any such thing. If it should come while we are in the path of duty, having espoused the truth, we should be willing to endure all the consequences involved in its espousal and should follow the path that God has pointed out, leaving Him to overrule and control all things. But it is important, my brethren and sisters, that we should know it is the truth. ”

“ There have been such persons found in all ages and among all people, but it has been especially the case with those who have received the Gospel as we have heard it described in our hearing this afternoon.
The world generally have the idea that when truth comes from God, it comes in such overwhelming power, that mankind are compelled to accept whether they will or no. ”

“ But the difficulty is to get men and women to comprehend the truth, to recognize it, to understand it when they hear it, to be able to separate the truth from error, for the reason that in the human mind there are certain conceptions of truth. ”

“ The declaration of the principles as we have heard this afternoon, kindles within their hearts the old fire and quickens their spirit and causes feelings of joy and satisfaction to fill their whole being. ”

“ All such feelings should be removed from the midst of the Latter-day Saints. We should dwell in love, in union and in peace, and if we cannot make our differences right between ourselves, then we should call in the aid of some of our brethren to assist us, and by their aid, perhaps, the wrong, if any exists, may be rooted out and the evil put away from our midst. ”

“ It has been so with those who have succeeded the Apostles; for in every age, and among all people, as we have been told, there have been those who have sought for the truth in heathendom, in christendom, among all people, as they would for a precious treasure of inestimable worth, and who have endeavored to comprehend it, to value it, and have been willing to lay down their lives for it. ”

“ It is true that such wholesale persecution as attended the preaching of Christianity in the primitive days has not followed its preaching in our day, for the dispensations are different. The Church was driven from the earth then, but as I have said, God has made a promise in these days that it shall not be destroyed again, and this ought to sustain you. ”

“ If any one has done you wrong go to him alone or her alone and tell him or her your grievance, instead of going to your neighbor to talk about the person whom you imagine has wronged you. Above all things we as a people should dwell together in love. ”

“ And when there are hard feelings existing, a feeling that some one has injured us, there should be a course taken to remove the same. We should not come together, as we have done this afternoon, and partake of the bread and water in remembrance of the broken body and spilt blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, bearing hard feelings towards one another. If I know or feel that a man has wronged me, should I come here and partake of the sacrament without going to him and endeavoring to make the matter right? ”

“ They knew that if they continued faithful they would receive a reward at the right hand of God, and the very thought of that eternity to which they were hastening was sufficient to stimulate them to look beyond the trials and persecutions of this life, and they walked to the stake joyfully having that knowledge. ”

“ It is bad enough to be persecuted by outsiders; it is bad enough to have hard things said by those who do not know us; but it is a cruel thing for men and women who profess to be brethren and sisters in the Lord to speak evil of each other. ”

“ I can endure anything and everything, it seems to me, from the outside so long as it is not true. I am so organized that I do not care anything about these things, they do not affect me, and I rejoice when I think I am trying to do the best I can; but if I should know my brethren and sisters spoke evil of me, that I think would hurt me, and I am sure it hurts others. We should be espe-cially careful how we talk about each other. If we cannot say anything good let us hold our tongues. ”