Heber C. Kimball

“ Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a pure woman, and was ordained and designed to bear the Son of God, because no woman in her sins was worthy of performing that work. How long will it be before we will have children filled with the Holy Ghost from their birth, who will grow up steadfast in the truth, even sons and daughters of God? No woman entering into this holy order should do so without she has the Holy Ghost, and she should ever after keep it, that her nourishment, example, and teachings may always partake of the life-giving principles of that Spirit. ”

“ Everything will be saved that cleaves to the vine; but if you are not connected to the vine, you cannot be saved. That vine is like a cable which reaches within the vail, and the Father has hold of it.
The Twelve Apostles sprang from Jesus in his day, and Joseph sprang from them, and brother Brigham, myself, and others, sprang from brother Joseph, and if we cleave together, how can any of us be lost? We never shall be. But do not jump on to the car and ride, instead of trying to do something to help keep the car in motion. Do not jump on, as did some women who crossed the plains last season. ”

“ Can a graft grow to a tree unless its nature is congenial to that of the tree in which it is grafted? Say that one man gives me a graft from his tree, and that I get hundreds of grafts from other trees, and that they are all grafted into my tree, then if they partake of the nourishment and fatness that are in the tree, they will certainly grow, but if they alienate themselves, they will wither and drop off.
Perhaps some of you do not believe that the Spirit of the Lord goes and comes throughout every portion of the vine, even to the smallest and farthest extremity thereof, but it does. ”

“ If there should be disorder in the root, vine, and branches, what would be the result? If there should be confusion and men should be opposed in their faith and feelings, there would not be much good done. But if every man was acting in his authority and the power of the calling placed upon him, there would be no obstruction. Suppose that City creek extended into ten thousand branches through this city, and that no obstruction or filth is thrown into them, then the ten thousandth stream would be just as good, as pure and as wholesome as the rest. ”

“ As I live, and as the Lord lives, I will defend the oil and the wine; and they will be blest with the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with all the blessings of the fathers clear back through all generations and dispensations ”

“ If you are subject to rebellious spirits, or to a spirit of apostacy here, will you not have the same spirit beyond the vail that you had on this side? You will, and it will have power over you to lead you to do wrong, and it will control your spirits. If, then, you are opposed to the truth while you are here, you will be occupied in that opposition hereafter, for the spirit that is opposed to the work of God here, will be opposed to that work when beyond the vail. ”

“ Some women will marry a man one day, and call for a divorce the next. They are playing with the things of God, and are sealing their own damnation. Some women get married and then run after other men; and some men get married and run after other women. ”

“ I have been trying to tell you how you may raise children to hold the Priesthood and be holy unto the Lord; and if all would take a right and proper course in regard to rearing children, from the commencement until they are grown up, and not take a course to weary the tree while it is maturing fruit, many would do far better than they now do. ”

“ The true seed of the house of Israel are coming out of the world, and the Saints are shut up in the mountains to learn and practise those principles which pertain to salvation in the celestial kingdom of our God, and my prayer is that we may be enabled to accomplish the gathering of Israel and the redemption of Zion. ”

“ Again, most of the members of those Seventies have wives and children, and from five to ten branches from each of them, and still the last child is as goodly as the first, because it receives the same nourishment, the same care and attention, for it sprang out of the vine, and abides in its fatness. ”

“ Many who have but one wife, and several of those who have more than one, take a course to excite adultery, and what is much worse, they often take that course at the most improper and unwise times, and thereby seriously injure their offspring. ”

“ I mention this to show you that you need not come to me, not one of yea who have talked against me; but acknowledge to your God and those that you have injured, for you have not injured me, nor brother Brigham, nor brother Wells, because you cannot get high enough to do it. You cannot reach higher than your length, and if your length does not reach high enough, you cannot reach us. It is the spirit of apostacy, when any one takes that course, as brother Wells has said. ”

“ It comes from the author of confusion, and is produced by those who rebel against God and against His authority. There were many who did this formerly, and they form part of that hell which brother Wells was talking about. Although those men and women are dead, they have a good deal of power; their spirits have power over us when we render ourselves subject to them; their spirits are busy at work. They are diligent in performing the work of destruction and confusion; they go at that work the very moment their spirits leave their bodies. ”