Show DISCOURSE delivered at the utah stake conference provo saturday april 17 1897 by PRESIDENT GEORGE Q CANNON REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER I 1 have been very much interested in the remarks which have been made this morning and this afternoon and have been greatly pleased to hear such good reports concern concerning the stake and the wards which concerning have int been een represented it is very gratifying to hear of the condition of the saints and of their despos di disposition to perform their duties as members of the church we have had instruction given to us concerning seeking the spirit of the lord and having it to be with us it is a cause of constant sur prise to those who pay attention to the subject that the latter day saints are so united it has been one of the great objections urged against us at times and has caused people to fear us they have looked upon the union of tb the people and their willingness to be gov 4 arned as almost a menace to the rest of 0 4 world and have the thought there here was something very wrong in the influence that has been exercised and in the people being willing to be governed by abe counsel of the leading men because this is so contrary to the usual practice t in the world it is very uncommon to find a large body of people so united and so eo willing to listen to the counsels and advice of their leading men and as 11 j have said it is looked uvon upon by many as dangerous and many evils ite a e supposed to result from such a combination they forget or at least if they do not dot forget sa s1 they y do not understand that it if the people had evil designs any it the leading men were actuated k by bilm i improper motives that union would woul d impossible be possible the union of the lat apro ay saints is only possible through dome right we would not be united if we had wrong objects in view or were ted by wrong motives but the 0 world do o not belive that I 1 ever that the only cause ot of the union of this people is the disposition to do right and to keep the commandments of ofed gd and it the leading men of this church wid had wrong objects in view and sought to accomplish them their influence with the people would cease so that really the union of the latter day saints is not it is not to be feared we can do dono no harm to mankind by this union we are not bound together by improper ties nor combined for any evil purpose A people scattered as widely as the la tet ter day saints are and occupying such an aai extent of country could not be held together by evil bonds it would be an im impossibility ability tor for a few men living say in salt lake city to control two or three hundred thousand people and keep them united by the means that men ordinarily use for that pu purpose therefore as I 1 say it men understood too d the nature of the tie that binds the latter day saints together they would see that the union of the people is is only possible under one condition and that is upon the principle of righteousness no man can have influence among this people to any extent who is a wicked man or who has wicked ends in view of course we are all fallible we are human beings subject to all the frailties ot of humanity but there must be a disposition among the leading men to keep the commandments of god and to teach righteous principles or they could not succeed in holding this people together it is of the utmost importance that we should be united if we are not united we are not the lords the lord has commanded us to be united and he has placed the means of union within our reach every unit of h this whole body lis is composed has access to the means of union and when every unit avails itself of the opportunities which god has placed within reach then we lorm form a compact whole and we assimilate like ake so many drops of water and become one it is the power of god that does this not the power of man man cannot do it we see man mans manis Is incapability to do this exhibited in all or organizations g an i lations of which he is the author th there ere is no power ot of human origin that can bind men to men for any length of time there are occasions when some great exigency or peril arises when people will c ing together when nations are attacked and when all their liberties and perhaps their lives are at stake they will then move forward animated matt d by one common impulse and they will c ing together with wonderful wonder lul tenacity there are numerous instances of this kind in history have bave seen it in our own day but apart from these great crises in the history of individuals and nations there is no power among men that will unite and hold men together they will differ in a little while they will separate we see this in the religious world As soon as men attempted to reform religion as soon as they dissented disse anted from the mother church and began to establish reformed religions li they began to differ and they went on differing and separating until now the whole of christendom is filled with churches among which there is is no aalon notwithstanding they call themselves the churches of christ they have not the secret of union with them now the difference between this church and other churches churche i is this when bep mep men receive this gospel wherever they 1 ME may y b be however widely separated they may 1 be b as a soon as they are confirmed m members embers of the church they receive a spirit that fills them with that union and when they are brought together from the ends ot of the earth they feel alike and are drawn together true they have their failings and their weaknesses but they po possess sess a spirit of union that no human being is able toj to impart i unto his fellows it comes from god it is the power that reigns re gus in in heaven it is the power that makes heaven the glorious place that it is described to be by all who have any conception of it in contradistinction to to hell the place of misery and torment god has restored this secret through the power that he has bestowed it is pos sibe e through that power to effect these grand results it is outside of mans power it requires the power of god and this power of god has been manifested among the latter day saints which is an evidence that it is gods work it if we were not united we would not be the people of god it is the true silz sign by which the people of god may be fo found d I 1 do not care what we may ciaio claim or what our pretensions may be we are not the people of god when we are not united union is one of the fruits of the S spirit the savior in that memorable prayer of his prayed to the father that H his is disciples might be one as he and the father were one imagine the oneness that prevails between god the father and god the son they are one and indivisible so far as union is concerned we cannot conceive of the least difference existing between the father and the son Is it possible for men to attain to that union union if 4 at k is not then jesus prayed in vain and his td rayer prayer was a waste of words but but jesus did not waste words in that way and jie je prayed that they might be one as he and the father were one from this we can imagine how close we ought to be together and how necessary it is that we be united we can perceive too that it ii not a sin nor a menace to any human being or community or nation for us to be one because if we are one as the father and the son are one we cou con d not be guilty of wrongdoing wrong doing and remain one we woud aou d inevitably divide and separate when a household is united the husband and wife and the chi dran dren ad one then that family has a fore taste of heaven those who live in that condition app near to the throne of god enlarge that circle and extend that union from one family to ano another until it embraces the community and so far as they are concerned it may y be s faid aid f that the kingdoms kingdom of god is a come and god is there because god is love and love begets this union edfar so far as we do not live in this condition so solar are we removed from god there is no better test within our reach than this to judge as to the condition of an individual or a community I 1 know some forne people think this unnatural and in fact imp impose osibe ibe they are especially opposed to it because in order to have such a condition as this there must be authority and power from god recognized in the community I 1 cannot conceive of a condition of society like this that does not have an authority in it that is recognized as the authority of god were it not so it would be every man for himself now the question is is it a bad condition of society for one man or a number of men who are united and who have authority from god to be recognized in a community as authority and their words to be recognized as words of u weight eight because of their being inspired of god Is a community in in a damge dangerous rous condition with an authority of that kind and which it recognizes this is an important taut question that we as latter day M saints ts have bad to ask ourselves a great many times of late laie because it has been openly avowed that such an authority i in n the midst of this people is a dangerous authority and one that should not be countenanced or obeyed this has been told us time and again until many of our own people especially the young and inexperienced have almost become convinced that the statement is a correct one if it is coart comet ct then how are we to bring to pass that which the lord has promised how are the grand results to be achieved of which prophets and even poets who sho never pretended to be inspired have written there is an almost universal desire among men for a better condition of things than tean exists now on the earth every man that I 1 as had any desire for the welfare of his fellow man has dreamed of it has indulged in hopes that by some mears means inc inam m preben sible perhaps to him a change would be wrought in the affairs of the earth and the evils under which mankind groan would be corrected there is no righteous man that ever lived that has not had this desire and this anticipation and by what means shall it be accomplished complis hed shall god himself come down from heaven among amon men chedid he did once in the person of ti ilis is son and he was slain he has acme down also through angelic messengers they could not be slain but hose those whom they visited and unto whom they imparted their power have been slain I 1 he inhabitants ot of the earth have seemed determined terin ter mined ined that no man claiming the authority necessary to bring about a better CL ci ridi edition tion of things should live upon the earth they have wai faired red against every man arn of this kind in almost every age until they have been extirpated from the face of the earth but god in these last days has again stretched forth his band to accomplish his work god himself has visited t the he earth accompanied by his son jesus re he has bas sent holy messengers from on high h agh to restore the key that has been 10 lost i t the power kowt r and the authority that has be been cn taken from the earth by means ot of which these great changes and these glorious orious ends may be accomplished and and ro sooner were men ordain ordained td to re ceide this power than the evidences ot its cavine origin immediately appeared ta atte spirit of of union to which 1 have referred berred descended upon the leoel people pro a union unexampled in t the e earth a union that bad not been seen for centuries which holy men had desired but had not been able to obtain what was it my brethren and sisters that bro brought tight this change it was the authority of the son of god the authority of the everlasting priesthood it was that authority that transformed a mortal man possessed ot of all the weaknesses common to mortality mortA mort clity ity into an agent of the almighty and gave him almighty power for nothing iri g short of the power of god would ha have ve been sufficient angels who held the authority and power by the laying on of hands endowed men with it these men were touched as it were by the finger of god and powers were bestowed upon them that no mortal man possessed in that sense they became as gods in the midst of the people for that which they did god confirmed and sealed and their words were fulfilled to the very letter so long as they confined themselves to this power up to that thai time lime joseph smith the prophet of god had been a translator and a seer he had received reve revelations latious buthe but he had bad not power to give unto men the hoy ghost ml he e did not have the gift himself although he was a seer and a revelator and of course not having received it himself he could not impart it to others and when the angels laid their hands upon his head as I 1 say he became transformed into an agent of the lord an ambassador fully empowered to act in the name of heaven havin having authority to seal upon the heads of his fellow men if they complied with the requisite conditions dit ions the necessary blessing to make them the children of god strange and marvelous is it not to think that a man endowed as he was a man that had beheld the lace face of god a man that had been ministered unto by angels a man that had such great and precious gifts never presumed to have authority that he did not have the authority of the Melchi sedek priesthood but when be received the Melchi sedek priesthood then he was able to seal that precious gift of the holy ghost upon the heads of those unto whom he administered all those unto whom he and his fellow apostle administered received this gift and from that day to this it has spread men of the most humble origin unassuming and without anything in their appearance to convince people that they were more than ordinary men have gone forth carrying the message of salvation and promising the people without a doubt ever entering their hearts that the promise might fail that if they would repent of their sins believe in the lord jesus christ and be baptized their sins should be remitted and if they had hands laid upon them they should receive the holy ghost how wonder full how God godlike likel one man baptize another and through the administration of that ordinance the sinner have his sins remit remitted lay hands upon a man and that man receive the holy ghost that grand gift which was so mighty in the days of the ancient disciples disciple st now this thing has been done in our dagand is being done coneby by this power er the nations of the earth are being warned and the honest in heart are being gathered they are drawn to zion b by y a magnet if I 1 way may use that illustration a magnet that is irresistible drawing them them here from all lands and everyone that receives it bearing witness that it is from god abey testily that they have a spirit within them that they never had before and that the bible 4 like a new book to them so in rela tion to other things they look upon everything pertaining to god in an en 3 new light they testify that they J know for themselves that this is the work of god they do not say they believe they say they know of coursed course there is a difference in individuals some receive a stronger testimony than i others some are moved upon in a dif ferent manner to others some are coni vinced from the very moment that the they hear the voice of the servant of god I 1 1 have known instances where they felog nihed men as servants of god before dl they even knew they were pre preachers achell 1 others have said 1 I have seen you in ak I 1 a dream and when I 1 met you I 1 knew you were a man of god others are slow in receiving a testimony sta others are very cautious and do not for fear of deception open their hearts to toa believe all at once they perhaps wakat 1 something unusual they would like an angel to come and minister unto them as though |