A SERMON DELIVERED BY PRESIDENT B. YOUNG, IN THE TABERNACLE,GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, APRIL 6, 1853, AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE.
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We have assembled together this afternoon to continue the business ofthe Conference, a portion of which I feel should be devoted to instruction,teachings, traversing the experience of the Church, or in any way the SpiritOf the Lord shall manifest.
The special business that has to be transacted in a Conference likethis, can be done very quickly-perhaps we might do all that is necessaryin half a day, or in a day at the furthest.
We came together for the purpose of worshipping the Lord, and many havecome from a distance, who wished to come up here and join with their brethrenin contemplating the work of the last days, and in speaking to each othercomforting words, for it is a very agreeable exercise, on occasions likethis, as well as in other meetings, to rehearse over to each other the scenesof life, the feelings of the heart, the tragedies that have passed amongus, the difficulties we have surmounted, and the days, months, and yearswe have been brought through.
I will say, for one, so far as it concerns my own feelings, my brethrenare at liberty to talk about that that is in their hearts. This is my privilege,and I wish it to be understood that it is the privilege of those who shalladdress this Conference. If they want to preach us a discourse on doctrine-onthe gathering of Israel, for instance, they are at liberty so to do. Ifany one wishes to preach the first principles of the Gospel-repentance andbaptism, with the gifts, he is at liberty.
Were it not that our bodies have to be fed and clothed, I would proposethat we tarry here a few months, to give all a chance to speak, to exhort,to pray, to prophesy, to sing, to speak in tongues, or to do whatsoeverthe Spirit should manifest unto them. But our work is a work of the present.The salvation we are seeking is for the present, and, sought correctly,it can be obtained, and be continually enjoyed. If it continues to-day,it is upon the same principle that it will continue to-morrow, the nextday, the next week, or the next year, and, we might say, the next eternity.
If we are saved, we are happy, we are filled with light, glory, intelligence,and we pursue a course to enjoy the blessings that the Lord has in storefor us. If we continue to pursue that course, it produces just the thingwe want, that is, to be saved at this present moment. And this will laythe foundation to be saved for ever and for ever, which will amount to aneternal salvation.
Brethren, we have accomplished the design of our hearts, that we listedto accomplish. And really, this thought inadvertently rushes upon my mind-Whereinhave we not accomplished all we have listed to do? not only in excavatingthe earth, and laying down the Corner Stones in the centre of the main bodyof the building we shall rear for the Temple, but wherein have we contemplateddoing one thing we have not done, to build up the Kingdom of God? If therehas been a failure, it does not occur to my mind at present. I cannot nowrecall to my mind one circumstance of that kind, with all the mobbing, driving,and afflictions that this people have passed through.
Though the enemy had power to kill our Prophet, that is, kill his body,did he not accomplish all that was in his heart to accomplish in his day?He did, to my certain knowledge, and I have many witnesses hear that heardhim declare that he had done everything he could do-he had revealed everythingthat could be revealed at present, he had prepared the way for the peopleto walk in, and no man or woman should be deprived of going into the presenceof the Father and the Son, and enjoying an eternal exaltation, if they wouldwalk in the path he had pointed out.
From the day that he fell, until this day, if there is one item of business,if there is one thing that should have been done by this people, that hasnot been done, I cannot call it to mind, though it looked gloomy for a monthor six weeks past, the weather being so unfavorable with regard to beingready to lay those Corner Stones, to-day.
I am happy to say that there has been a great deal of faith manifestedby the Saints, and, through that faith, the Lord has granted unto us thedesire of our hearts, or else the devil has been sent on an errand anotherway, and has forgotten himself. I do not think, however, he need troublehimself much about the world, for he has them secure enough. Perhaps hemay have slept a little too long, as he has not been here on this notableday. I attribute it to our Father in heaven, for giving us this beautifulweather to-day.
The congregation was not accommodated as we desired. We should havebeen pleased if they could have been so situated that all could have heardthe orations and prayers that were made upon those four stones; but theywill be in print, so you can read them at your leisure.
I do not like to prophesy much, I never do, but I will venture to guess,that this day, and the work we have performed on it, will long be rememberedby this people, and be sounded as with a trumpet's voice throughout theworld, as far, as loud, and as long as steam, wind, and the electric currentcan carry it. It is a day in which all the faithful will rejoice in alltime to come.
Some will inquire, "Do you suppose we shall finish this Temple,brother Brigham?" I have had such questions put to me already. My answeris, I do not know, and I do not care any more about it than I should ifmy body was dead and in the grave, and my spirit in Paradise. I never havecared but for one thing, and that is, simply to know that I am now rightbefore my Father in Heaven. If I am this moment, this day, doing the thingsGod requires of my hands, and precisely where my Father in Heaven wantsme to be, I care no more about to-morrow than though it never would come.I do not know where I shall be to-morrow, nor when this Temple will be done-Iknow no more about it than you do. If God reveals anything for you, I willtell you of it as freely as to say, go to City Creek, and drink until youare satisfied.
This I do know-there should be a Temple built here. I do know it isthe duty of this people to commence to build a Temple. Now, some will wantto know what kind of a building it will be. Wait patiently, brethren, untilit is done, and put forth your hands willingly to finish it. I know whatit will be. I am not a visionary man, neither am I given much to prophesying.When I want any of that done I call on brother Heber-he is my Prophet, heloves to prophesy, and I love to hear him. I scarcely ever say much aboutrevelations, or visions, but suffice it to say, five years ago last JulyI was here, and saw in the Spirit the Temple not ten feet from where wehave laid the Chief Corner Stone. I have not inquired what kind of a Templewe should build. Why? Because it was represented before me. I have neverlooked upon that ground, but the vision of it was there. I see it as plainlyas if it was in reality before me. Wait until it is done. I will say, however,that it will have six towers, to begin with, instead of one. Now do notany of you apostatize because it will have six towers, and Joseph only builtone. It is easier for us to build sixteen, than it was for him to buildone. The time will come when there will be one in the centre of Templeswe shall build, and, on the top, groves and fish ponds. But we shall notsee them here, at present.
The First Presidency proceeded to the south-east corner, to lay thefirst stone, though it is customary to commence at the north-east corner-thatis the beginning point most generally, I believe, in the world. At thisside of the equator we commence at the south-east corner. We sometimes lookfor light, you know, brethren. You old men that have been through the millpretty well, have been inquiring after light-which way do you go? You willtell me you go to the east for light? So we commence by laying the stoneon the south-east corner, because there is the most light.
Just as quick as the minutes of this day's proceedings are out, therewill be Elders, High Priests, and Seventies, inquiring whether the sameorder has been carried out to-day, as was observed in laying the CornerStones of the other Temples. I want to give you a little history of it,that you may know.
When the corner stones were laid in Kirtland, they had to pick up boysof fifteen and sixteen years of age, and ordain them Elders, to get officersenough to lay the Corner Stones. The Quorum of the Twelve, and the HighCouncil, and many other authorities that now exist, were not then in existence.Joseph presided over the Church, by the voice of the Church.
Perhaps it may make some of you stumble, were I to ask you a question-Doesa man's being a Prophet in this Church prove that he shall be the Presidentof it? I answer, no! A man may be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and itmay have nothing to do with his being the President of the Church. Sufficeit to say, that Joseph was the President of the Church, as long as he lived:the people chose to have it so. He always filled that responsible station,by the voice of the people. Can you find any revelation appointing him thePresident of the Church? The keys of the Priesthood were committed to Joseph,to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth, and were not to be taken fromhim in time or in eternity; but when he was called to preside over the Church,it was by the voice of the people; though he held the keys of the Priesthood,independent of their voice.
I want the Elders of Israel to reflect upon this subject. I would beglad to teach you something, that you may not get into such snarls as heretofore.You make me think of a child that is trying to make rope of a parcel ofold thrums, until he gets the whole into snarls. It is so with the Eldersof Israel as touching their ideas of the Priesthood.
Now hear me, and I will try to talk so that you can understand. I willpresume to go a little further than I did, with regard to the Presidentof the Church, and say to this people, a man might have visions, the angelsof God might administer to him, he might have revelations, and see as manyvisions as you could count; he might have the heavens opened to him, andsee the finger of the Lord, and all this would not make him the Presidentof the Church, or an Elder, a High Priest, an Apostle; neither would itprove that he was even a Saint: something else is wanted to prove it. WhyI mention this, is because of the frailty, weakness, and short-sightednessof the people. If a man should come and tell you he had had a vision, andcould appear to substantiate his testimony that he had had the heavens openedto him, you would be ready to bow down and worship him; and he might be,at the same time, perfectly calculated to destroy the people-one of thebiggest devils on earth. He would appear to be one of the finest of men,to be honest and unassuming, and come with all the grace and generalshipof the devil, which is so well calculated to deceive the people. Admit thisto be the case.
If you ask me what will prove a man or woman to be a Saint, I will answerthe question. "If you love me," says Jesus, "you will keepmy sayings." That is the touchstone. If you love the Lord Jesus Christ,and the Father, you will keep the commandments of the Son-you will do hiswill. If you neglect to do this, you may have all the visions and revelationsthat could be bestowed upon a mortal being, and yet be nothing but a devil.Why I use this expression is because when a man's mind is enlightened, andhe turns from that light to darkness, it prepares him to be a devil. A mannever knew how to be wicked, until light and truth were first made manifestto him. Then is the time for men to make their decision, and if they turnaway from the Lord, it prepares them to become devils.
Now, I want to go back, for I have wandered on a little with regardto laying the Corner Stones, and take up the Apostleship, in connexion withthis. Let me ask the High Priests' Quorum a question, in order to bringout the thing I wish to lay before you. I ask the High Priests, from whencedoes the Apostleship grow? Does it grow out of the High Priesthood? I willventure to say, if I was not here to-day, and this question was proposedfor debate, you would find the Elders in this congregation, perhaps, nearlyequally divided on the point. There would be as many High Priests to saythe Apostleship grows out of the High Priesthood, as there would to sayit does not. Let me answer the question. Now recollect that the High Priesthood,and the Lesser Priesthood, and all the Priesthood there is, are combined,centered in, composed of, and circumscribed by, the Apostleship. Brethren,did you ever know that before? If you had read that book attentively, (pointingto the Book of Covenants,) it would have told you the story as I am nowtelling it to you, yet the High Priests did not know it.
I speak thus to show you the order of the Priesthood. We will now commencewith the Apostleship, where Joseph commenced. Joseph was ordained an Apostle-thatyou can read and understand. After he was ordained to this office, thenhe had the right to organize and build up the kingdom of God, for he hadcommitted unto him the keys of the Priesthood, which is after the orderof Melchisedec-the High Priesthood, which is after the order of the Sonof God. And this, remember, by being ordained an Apostle.
Could he have built up the Kingdom of God, without first being an Apostle?No, he never could. The keys of the eternal Priesthood, which is after theorder of the Son of God, are comprehended by being an Apostle. All the Priesthood,all the keys, all the gifts, all the endowments, and everything preparatoryto entering into the presence of the Father and of the Son, are in, composedof, circumscribed by, or I might say incorporated within the circumferenceof, the Apostleship.
Now who do we set, in the first place, to lay the Chief, the South East,Corner Stone-the corner from whence light emanates to illuminate the wholefabric that is to be lighted? We begin with the First Presidency, with theApostleship, for Joseph commenced, always, with the keys of the Apostleship,and he, by the voice of the people, presiding over the whole community ofLatter-day Saints, officiated in the Apostleship, as the first President.
What comes next in the Church? I will now refer you directly to thebuilding up of the Kingdom of God in the last days. What do we see next?Joseph as an Apostle of the Lamb, with the keys of the eternal Priesthoodcommitted unto him by Peter, James, and John. What for? To build up theKingdom of God on the earth. Next grows out an office pertaining to thetemporal affairs of this Kingdom, the keys of which are committed to manon the earth, preparatory to its establishment, preparatory to its spreading,growing, increasing, and prospering among the nations. The next step wesee taken by the Lord, is to provide for the body, therefore some personmust be appointed to fill this office, to stand side by side with this Apostle,this first President. Who was it? It was not brother Hunter. Who was it?It was brother Partridge. We see brother Partridge was called to fill thatplace before there was an Elders' Quorum, or a High Priests' Quorum, inexistence, yea, before the thing was talked of, and also before the TwelveApostles were chosen, not, however, before the revelation was given to signifythere would be such a Quorum.
We see this Apostle with the keys of the Priesthood to build up theKingdom, to give light to those who were in darkness, to succor those whowere feeble, to sustain the trembling, to administer salvation to the penitent,and to be a stay and a staff to those who were ready to fall. We see thisgigantic Apostle thus standing forth, clothed with the authority of heaven,to build up His cause on the earth. Him the Lord told to call a Bishop.So the Bishop was the next standing authority in the Kingdom of God; thereforewe set the Bishop at the second corner of the building. The MelchisedecPriesthood, with the altar, fixtures, and furniture belonging thereunto,is situated on the East, and the Aaronic Priesthood belongs in the West;consequently the Presiding Bishop laid the second stone.
Do you ask, was it so in the other buildings? I do not know, neitherdo I care.
The High Priests' Quorum-do they come next in order, do they next stepinto the field? No, not particularly, any more than the Elders, nor theElders any more than the High Council, nor the High Council any more thanthe Teachers, Deacons, or Priests. The High Priests' Quorum is a standingQuorum, abiding at home. So is the Elders' Quorum; but the place of theBishop is in the temporal affairs in the Church; so then what shall we say?Why, out of due respect to the High Priesthood, which is nothing more thanwhat is right and reasonable, that we should honor the Priesthood that Godhas bequeathed to us, we say to the High Priests; lay the third corner stone.
We started at the South East Corner, with the Apostleship; then theLesser Priesthood laid the second stone; we bring them in our ranks to thethird stone, which the High Priests and Elders laid; we take them underour wing to the North East Corner Stone, which the Twelve and Seventieslaid, and there again join the Apostleship. It circumscribes every otherPriesthood, for it is the Priesthood of Melchisedec, which is after theorder of the Son of God.
To say a man is an Apostle, is equal to saying that a man is ordainedto build up the Kingdom of God from first to last; but it is not so by sayinghe is ordained a High Priest. The Bishoprick by right belongs to the literaldescendants of Aaron, but we shall have to ordain from the other tribes,men who hold the High Priesthood, to act in the Lesser, until we can finda literal descendant of Aaron, who is prepared to receive it.
The Lesser Priesthood then, you perceive, comes within the purview ofthe Apostleship, because a man that holds it has a right to act or officiateas a High Priest, as one of the High Council, as a Patriarch, as a Bishop,Elder, Priest, Teacher, and Deacon, and in every other office and callingthat is in the Church, from first to last, when duty demands it.
This is the order of the Priesthood, brethren. I felt as though I wishedto make some remarks upon this subject on the Temple ground; but dismissingthe congregation hurt me much. I wanted to make some remarks at the sametime, but I despaired of making you hear, so I thought I would omit speakingin the open air, and say what I had to say in the Tabernacle.
I know what was done at Nauvoo; it was all right. Everything is rightwith me. There the Twelve were called to lay the North West Corner Stone,if I mistake not. However, it is no matter, they were just as well there,as anywhere else. But to take up the Priesthood in its perfect order andform, you perceive that the Apostleship circumscribes everything in theChurch of God on earth. This is the order, and I have endeavored to carryit out before you, that you all might know hereafter, what is the true order,as far as it can be exhibited in the laying of Corner Stones. So far assimply laying a corner stone is concerned, one corner is just as good tome as another.
I will give you the explanation why we proceeded as we have. It wassuggested to me, that perhaps the Twelve would feel better to lay the secondstone. When I told them the fourth stone was the stone they should lay,it struck my mind that I was ordained an Apostle; and I still belong tothe Apostleship; did you ever cut me off, brethren? (Voices in the stand,No.) It struck my mind if you wanted to lay the second stone, you did notfeel that you had the Apostleship in you, or your did not feel like as Idid; for it is the beginning and the end, the height, depth, length, andbreadth of all that is, that was, and ever can be to all eternity. I havenot heard that there were any feelings about the matter, only somebody suggestedthe thing. It was three of the Twelve, then, that laid the first stone,and then the Quorum of the Twelve laid the fourth.
Now will it cause some of you to marvel that I was not ordained a HighPriest before I was ordained an Apostle? Brother Kimball and myself werenever ordained High Priests. How wonderful! I was going to say how littlesome of the brethren understood the Priesthood, after the Twelve were called.In our early career in this Church, on one occasion, in one of our Councils,we were telling about some of the Twelve wanting to ordain us High Priests,and what I said to brother Patten when he wanted to ordain me in York State:said I, brother Patten, wait until I can lift my hand to heaven and say,I have magnified the office of an Elder. After our conversation was overin the Council, some of the brethren began to query, and said we ought tobe ordained High Priests; at the same time I did not consider that an Apostleneeded to be ordained a High Priest, an Elder, or a Teacher. I did not expressmy views on the subject, at that time, but thought I would hear what brotherJoseph would say about it. It was William E. McLellin who told Joseph, thatI and Heber were not ordained High Priests, and wanted to know if it shouldnot be done. Said Joseph, "Will you insult the Priesthood? Is thatall the knowledge you have of the office of an Apostle? Do you not knowthat the man who receives the Apostleship, receives all the keys that everwere, or that can be, conferred upon mortal man? What are you talking about?I am astonished!" Nothing more was said about it.
I know that Joseph received his Apostleship from Peter, James, and John,before a revelation on the subject was printed, and he never had a rightto organize a Church before he was an Apostle.
I have tried to shew you, brethren, as briefly as possible,, the orderof the Priesthood. When a man is ordained to be an Apostle, his Priesthoodis without beginning of days, or end of life, like the Priesthood of Melchisedec;for it was his Priesthood that was spoken of in this language, and not theman.
When I arose to address you, I wanted to talk to you a little of myexperience in practical "Mormonism," but I have not had time,and have talked long enough already. I have been round about it, you know,for it is all inside of what I have been telling you.
May the Lord bless you forever, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.