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It is always a pleasure for me to hear the testimonies of my brethren in relation to this great work. I rejoice in the words of President George Q. Cannon, and I pray that his instructions may be sealed upon our hearts; for God requires at our hands a faithful performance of our duty. He has placed upon us a responsibility that few people have had since the world began. If these are the last days, and all things are to be gathered in one, and we are in truth the forerunners of the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, what a vast responsibility rests upon us!
We cannot comprehend it unless we are inspired by the Spirit of God. If our message is like unto that which Noah declared to the antediluvians, then it is just as important to this generation as his message was to the people in the day in which he lived. If we have the truth, if the coming of the Son of Man is nigh at hand, if the judgments of Almighty God are to follow our testimonies to the people as the flood followed the testimony of Noah, then I say it is all-important that we be upon the watchtower. These quorums of the Priesthood and these organizations which God has established to carry light and intelligence to the children of men should not stay their hands nor close their mouths, but proclaim the glad tidings of this Gospel which God has revealed, unto the people who know Him not.
I feel in my own heart that if I were not diligent, according to the light that God gives me, in declaring His word to the people, I would be under condemnation when the judgments of God should come. The testimony of the truth has been given to me, and to this people, and I know that all who seek God may find Him; for He is not hidden to the least that will seek Him with an undivided heart. Paul says, "If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." But the Gospel is not hid to this people. God has bestowed upon them the light and intelligence necessary to qualify them for the duties and labors that rest upon them.
Abundance is in the land. Some few are suffering for the want of money; but there is plenty of everything that God has placed upon the earth for the sustenance and comfort of man. We never saw a more bounteous time for the necessaries of life, or harder work to get the luxuries. I look upon the time in which we live as a day when we are forced, I may say, to do away with luxuries. The imported articles that come unto us should not be necessities. These luxuries that we crave so much because of our pampered appetites are not necessary to the welfare of Latter-day Saints. While I believe that a great deal of good can come to us from the north and south, and from the east and west, yet I believe God has furnished us with ample means for our sustenance, independent of every other people upon the face of the earth.
I cannot see the necessity of importing vast quantities of beef and pork, tea and coffee, tobacco and liquor, which are now brought here and find a ready market among the Latter-day Saints. Yet our streets are full of purchasers of things from abroad which are unnecessary to our comfort. People do not realize that those things which are brought to us so plentifully from abroad are, in many instances, impure. The demand for them is becoming so great that the pure article cannot be furnished in sufficient quantities to meet it. The tobacco that we use, the tea and coffee that we drink, are all adulterated in such a manner as to destroy the purity of the blood of those who indulge in their use.
Do you believe it? I know it. They are adulterated to that extent that no man can indulge in their use continuously and preserve his health. If I remember aright, I heard from this stand the servant of God say that the time was when the Word of Wisdom came to us as a word of persuasion and counsel, but now, he said, it is a commandment from God that this people observe it. Does anyone remember hearing those words from this stand more than twenty years ago? I remember it--and yet I have broken it many times. Is the time coming in my life when I will observe it? Is the time coming in the lives of this people when they will observe it, and before God and man carry out the revelation that God has given for the protection of His people, that they dwindle not, that their children may be healthy and strong, and a generation be raised up in these mountains that will honor God, having pure blood in their veins, and strong and healthy tabernacles, wherein the Spirit of God may dwell to the protection of the work of the Lord in these latter days? This is what is incumbent upon us, and I know that we cannot enjoy the blessing and the inspiration of God if we do those things that God has commanded us not to do.
I said to myself this morning, has the time come when I will assert myself and honor the Priesthood that God has given me, and observe the commandments which He has given? When I hear statistics read that there is more tobacco used, more tea and coffee drunk, than ever before, more imported pork used, and other things that are deleterious to health--when I hear these statistics read I wonder if the floating population of Utah is responsible for the increase. I do not think so. I think we are. I heard a brother remark that one of the Apostles had preached a sermon on the Word of Wisdom in a certain place, and had laid it down just as straight as it could possibly be done, but that from the President of the Stake down it had made no impression whatever; they indulged themselves just as freely after as they did before the sermon. They had made up their minds apparently to gratify their own desires, and let the word of the Lord go unfulfilled.
Now is the time, in my opinion, when these revelations on the Word of Wisdom and tithing must be observed by this people, or they must take the consequences. I do not believe God will stay His hand much longer if we fail to observe these things. Preaching has been done long and loud. We have all been preached to in relation to these matters, and I firmly believe that the time has come when these things must be observed by the people or they must take the consequences of disobedience.
Now, if this exhortation does no one else any good, I pray God it may do me good; that I may be strengthened and observe the things which God commands; that when the Elders preach unto me and my family friends that judgment is coming upon the earth, and they testify that this is the path of safety, we may heed their words. This is the way to sanctify the land unto the people who dwell upon it. It is the way which the Lord has signified. This ark of safety is offered to us. Shall we receive it? Or shall we go blindly forward, determined in our hearts to follow our own inclinations, and let the flood come, and say, "There is still a place of safety for me and mine; I can float with the current and be saved with the balance of the Saints of God?" I do not think I can do this. On the contrary, I think that the judgments of God are increasing, and that they are flooding the earth, and the Latter-day Saints must make this place of refuge a sanctified place for their salvation and the salvation of those who will listen to their testimonies.
God help us my brethren and sisters, to make our calling and election sure. God help us to do our duty, and to build up Zion in His own appointed way; perfect ourselves and our families, and have a forgiving spirit in our hearts, not a spirit to find fault with everything we see. That God may help us in all things requisite to make us perfect in the day of the Lord, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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