page_0004

ders of Israel; I have got to meet
Father Adam, in the Kingdom of
God in the heavens; and we have all
got to give an account to him, as our
Great Progenitor and the first man
who held the keys of the Priesthood
on the earth. When I go there and
meet him, I shall have to render an
account of what I do here. The
Lord has chosen the weak things of
the world to do His work. But He
is as able to teach me, or any of
my brethren, as He ever has been
in any age of the world. He has
always selected the weak things.
Take Moses in leading the children
of Israel. Moses said he was slow
of speech, and he thought that he
could not do anything. But the
Lord said he would raise up a spokes-
man for him. When the Lord want-
ed a king for Israel, he chose David,
the son of Jesse, who was herding
sheep. All the sons of Jesse, except
David, were brought before the
Prophet; but Samuel would not
anoint either of them. He asked
Jesse if he had any more sons. Jesse
said, Yes; there is a little fellow
down here taking care of the sheep.
The Prophet wanted to see him.
When he came, Samuel anointed
him king of Israel. [##1 Samuel 16:2-13##] So in the days
of the Apostles. Who were they?
Illiterate fishermen. So it is to-
day. Begin with Joseph Smith and
take the whole of us. Who are
we? We are poor, weak worms
of the dust. But the Lord has
chosen us because He thought He
could do something with us. I
hope He can. I suppose I have
held the Apostleship longer than
any man that has been on the face
of the earth in these last days.
Should I boast over this or be proud
and exalted because I have held the
Priesthood so long? If I did, I
should be a very foolish man. We
are obliged to honor God; we are
obliged to acknowledge the hand of
God. The devil has sought to de-
stroy me from the time I was born
until the present day. But the Lord
has always been on my right hand
and saved me. There have been
two powers at work—one to destroy
me, the other to save me. And I
am here today, a weak instrument
in the hands of God. But, as God
lives, if He will tell me what my
duty is, I am going to do it!

I pray God to bless us, and awak-
en us that we may see our position
on the earth. The eyes of all heav-
en are over us. The Father, the
Savior, Father Adam, the Patri-
archs, the Prophets, and all the
Apostles who have lived in our day
and generation, are watching over
us, and waiting for us to do our
duty; and when we perform that,
the judgments of God will be mani-
fest in the earth. I pray God to give
us wisdom, and to help us to be
humble, faithful, meek and lowly of
heart. Look at the purity of the
Savior, from the manger to
the grave, and where is there a
man on the face of the earth that can
feel anything like exaltation or
glory? I have seen Oliver Cow-
dery when it seemed as though the
earth trembled under his feet. I
never heard a man bear a stronger
testimony than he did when under
the influence of the Spirit. But the
moment he left the kingdom of God,
that moment his power fell like
lightning from heaven. He was
shorn of his strength, like Samson
in the lap of Delilah. [##Judges 16:15-19##] He lost the
power and testimony which he had
enjoyed, and he never recovered it
again in its fulness while in the
flesh, although he died in the
Church. It does not pay a man
to sin or to do wrong. Brother
Cannon spoke about difficulties be-
tween ourselves. What business
have we to go to law because of
a little water or anything else on
the earth? When we do this we
have lost the Spirit of the Gospel.
You have had good counsel with re-
gard to this, and if you carry it out
the blessings of the Lord will at-
tend you. I hope the people of
Provo will look to this. We should
be united and stand together in the
midst of the opposition that we will
have to meet. I hope this power
and influence will dwell in this
county and throughout these moun-
tains of Israel, which may God
grant, for Christ's sake. Amen.