Joseph F. Smith

“ How many of the Latter-day Saints whom God has blessed with the riches of this world, with houses, lands, flocks, herds, gold and silver, have forgotten to acknowledge His hand in the bestowal of the wealth they possess, and have been blinded by the gifts conferred upon them, and in that blindness have forgotten the Giver? Having an abundance, the rich are too apt to feel that they do not have to kneel down and ask God to give them houses and daily bread, for they have palaces and wealth. ”

“ And if, therefore, we are redeemed from sin through the atoning blood of the Savior—redeemed from the world—we will have power to establish the Kingdom of God upon the earth. There will be no swearing, no whoredom, there will be no crimes of infanticide or foeticide. No such sins will be known among us, our children will be born in honorable wedlock under the ordinances of the holy Priesthood, and not illegitimate, to be denied the privileges of the congregations of Israel, until perhaps the tenth generation according to ancient law. ”

“ God has said that they shall be burned as stubble; that the day that is coming shall burn them up; that neither root nor branch of them shall be left, but they shall become as ashes beneath the feet of the righteous. ”

“ Simply because we lack wisdom, faith, understanding, and confidence in the promises of God. If we felt the fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts; if we were conscientious in all our acts before God, this people would be raised to a higher plane; faith would be increased, good works would abound, and others, seeing our good works, would be led to glorify our Father in heaven. ”

“ Notwithstanding, the disciples of Jesus, excepting John the Revelator, suffered ignominious deaths, they sowed the seed of the Gospel among, and conferred the Priesthood upon men, which remained for several generations upon the earth, but the time came when Paganism was engrafted into Christianity, and at last Christianity was converted into Paganism rather than converting the Pagans. And subsequently the Priesthood was taken from among men, this authority was re-called into the heavens, and the world was left without the Priesthood—without the power of God—without the Church and Kingdom of God. ”

“ People in former days believed that they were doing God service to burn those Saints to death, to whip and to spear them to death, to drag them until they were torn to pieces and otherwise to torture and destroy them, and, indeed, in some instances they sewed up the believers in cloths and in sacks, which they covered with pitch or tar and then set on fire to light the streets of imperial Rome! ”

“ He calls a Prophet now and a Prophet hereafter, and He reveals himself to His servants the Prophets, and He makes known His will unto them, and it becomes their duty to proclaim the law and the will of the Almighty to the inhabitants of the earth, and to call others to the ministry, sending them forth that they may proclaim the Gospel to their neighbors and associates; and so the work of God has to work its way, spread and increase among the children of men, like the leaven, referred to by the Savior, that is placed in the measure of meal that works until the whole lump is leavened. ”

“ But "blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Then as meekness is one of the requisite qualities of a Latter-day Saint, a Christian, a member of the Church of God upon the earth, except we are meek and lowly, we shall not receive the promised blessing. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." Shall they that are not merciful obtain mercy? ”

“ Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. ”

“ If we act, for instance, in regard to the law of tithing as I have mentioned, we shall be judged accordingly, and receive according to our works. If we forgive them that trespass against us, it shall be measured back unto us in mercy, etc. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." ”

“ After Jesus was crucified of man, he went in the spirit to the spirits that were in prison, who had been disobedient "when the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah," that by his coming the Gospel might be taught unto them, their prison doors be opened, and liberty be proclaimed unto them, even the liberty of the Gospel, that they might live, through obedience to its requirements, according to God in the Spirit ”

“ There are to day perhaps nearly as many that have apostatized as are now in good standing in the Church; many of whom were honest but have been deceived and led away from the truth, many others, I admit, have turned away because of their own sins. ”

“ And in this way many that might have been brought to a knowledge of the truth, have been discouraged, disappointed and deceived, because they failed to discover or feel as they might and should have done, if all the fruits of the Gospel had abounded as they should, that power of the Priesthood and efficacy of the Gospel which should be exhibited in the midst of the people of God. ”

“ I can point out men and women that have been in this Church some twenty-five or thirty years, that are no nearer keeping the commandments of God, in this respect, than they were twenty-five or thirty years ago, and some of them not so near. If I were pressed on this point I could call the names of some individuals in proof of what I say. We have not lived up to the privileges nor kept the laws of God as given unto us. ”

“ But when: strangers come among us and witness drunkenness, hear profanity, see that some of us are dishonest and cheat each other, that so far some of us are no better than the people of Babylon; "the Pharisees and Sadducees" of the present age, at the same time professing to be the children of God; they justly say, "These people are hypocrites, they profess one thing and do another; they profess to be the children of God, but they are the children of the devil." ”

“ So God has done in all ages of the world when He has undertaken to renew His covenant with the people; He has called certain men (who doubtless had been foreordained to come forth in certain ages to do a certain work) through whom He has made known to the nations and peoples of the earth His mind and will. ”

“ These chosen disciples of Christ suffered ignominious deaths from the first to the last, with the single exception of the Apostle John, who we are informed, was preserved from the power of his enemies, from their attempts to destroy his life, for a wise purpose of God, to fulfil the promise of the Savior unto him; and yet, notwithstanding this promise, it is believed by the Christian world that he died a natural death after wicked men had attempted several times in vain to destroy his life. ”

“ And subsequently God sent messengers to him and ordained him to the Priesthood, or conferred on him the rights, powers, keys and authority of the holy Priesthood, to act as His representative in establishing the Gospel of the kingdom once more among men, and for the last time, also to restore the Priesthood to earth, that man might again officiate in the name and authority of God, for the salvation of the living and the dead. ”

“ They say, we have these things; we have no need to ask for them, nor to thank God for them, for they are ours; we have gained them by our own industry and ability. Thus God is left out of the question. But God has said, "I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me;" ”

“ President Young frequently charged the people with not paying one tenth of their tithings. I presume that was an extreme view. I believe the people are doing better than that, now at least; but at the same time I believe that a very large proportion of us pay only a portion of the tenth of that which God puts into our hands. ”

“ It may seem that we are making haste slowly; that we are not progressing very rapidly. It might seem to some of us that we ought to have accomplished a great deal more in the fifty years past since the organization of this Church. ”