Heber C. Kimball (first counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency) preaches that he “can see right through” many hypocritical Latter-day Saints with hidden sin, but that they should obtain mercy if they repent. Those who are not repentant, or whose sin is unforgivable (shedding innocent blood, or sinning against the Holy Ghost) “are worthy of death” as public examples.
As printed in Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp. 173-181
(typescript excerpts, original spelling preserved)
[page 164]
THE BODY OF CHRIST—PARABLE OF THE VINE—A WILD ENTHUSIASTIC SPIRIT NOT OF GOD—THE SAINTS SHOULD NOT UNWISELY EXPOSE EACH OTHERS’ FOLLIES.
A Discourse, by Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, January 11, 1857.
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[page 173]
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There are a great many old men who have the Priesthood upon them, who have been in the Church from the beginning, and yet they are spiritually dead. What is the matter? I can expose them, I can tell you just what ails them, and why they are spiritually dead. They do not wake up, and cannot wake up, because they do not consider that they are guilty of anything wrong. They cannot see themselves, but when you come to find out you will find that they have, from the death of Joseph and before he was slain, murmured and complained at Brigham and Heber, saying that “Mormonism is not as it was then; and if Joseph had lived, he would have taken hold of us and made us prominent members in the house of Israel.” You will find that that is a fact; I shall not draw back from that one hair. Let us have the plain English, and you will find that to be the difficulty with them.
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You say, “We knew and understood ‘Mormonism,’ when Joseph was alive, but we do not know the tree now, it has grown so fast,” and that is the difficulty with you. We have had trees set out in these valleys seven years, and you can now see some of them large enough for rafters. Suppose a man had gone away about the time they were set out, or had been asleep to the sight of those things, would he recognise those trees? No, for they change as they increase. That applies to you elderly people, both men and women; and then to you who are younger, there is something will apply rather plainer than that.
Have I not been modest to-day? I do think it is outrageous to unwisely expose so much filth as some of our Elders and Missionaries do. If a man is asleep and has besmeared himself, do not expose him, unless the necessity of the case requires it. I feel a good, wholesome spirit and a fatherly spirit to you, brethren; you know I do. But I want my brethren to take a course, if they find their brethren lying under blankets besmeared, not to pull the blankets off from them before they first get water and wash them; save them if you can. You hear us talk about it a great deal, and probably many do not believe one word we say, but this people will never, no never, prosper to a high degree until we make a public example of—what? Men, who have been warned and forewarned, but who will associate with the wicked and take a course to commit whoredom, and will strive to lead our daughters and our wives into the society of poor, wicked curses, with a view to gratify their cursed passions; we will take them and slay them before this people. I am talking of those that will persist in this course of iniquity, and
[page 174]
not about those who will repent and forsake their sins. Are there men in our midst who will court other men’s wives? Yes, and will take them right to the ungodly for them to seduce, and they will take our daughters and do the same. What are such men worthy of? They are worthy of death, and they will get it. That time is near by, and God has spoken from the heavens, and when certain things are about right, we shall make a public example of those characters. Do you see me? Do you see this Bible and Book of Mormon? If there were ten thousand of those books, I could raise them all to heaven, saying, it is as true as the contents of those books. Do you believe me, brethren? [Yes.] There is no doubt of it. But do all believe me? No. If God forgives you, I will; but there will be a public example made of such characters, and the time is just at our doors. Can we stop this iniquity, until that is done? No, no more than we can stop sense from stealing. There is some stealing right in the midst of your reform, brethren.
Don’t you think it is a better course to take the gentlemen privately and talk over matters, and then take the ladies privately and instruct them, and not open the budget of the filth of their husbands before the wives, nor that of the wives before their husbands? Such filthy characters seem to be the most sanctimonious, the most holy and gracious. I wish you could know one thing, that is, that we know you and can see right through you. I wish all those kind of men and women would get away to the back side of the congregation, and not stick themselves right under my nose. And if we make a party they stick themselves there also, and want to be the head, back, and everything else. If they would take a proper course, they would never intrude upon decent society, until they had repented of and forsaken their abominations.
John Hyde may spout as much as he has a mind to, and all such characters may spout and try to make out that Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Jedediah M. Grant, and Daniel H. Wells are guilty of the things they are; but we are as clean as a piece of white paper. No women from heaven, earth, or hell can present themselves with a truthful allegation that we have ever led them astray. We have lawful wives, and the most of them honour their callings, and God will bless them, and they will be raised to immortality and eternal lives. They will go with us, and then there will be others that will not go with us, who will not go were Brigham and Heber will go, I will warrant you, for ten thousand years.
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[page 175]
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I did not know but that I was too hard on such crimes, but the passage referred to plainly states that adultery is next to shedding innocent blood. Hyrum Smith gave the same instructions in Nanvoo; many of you have heard him speak of this sin many times.
Again, I wish you to read another passage in that good book, as follows:—
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[quoting from Alma 34:28-36]
[page 176]
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[33] And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you, that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness, wherein there can be no labour performed.
[34] Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this: for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have the power to possess your body in that eternal world.
[35] For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance, even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.
[36] And this I know, because the Lord hath said, he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said, that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out: but their garments should be made white, through the blood of the Lamb.
Brethren and sisters, it is for us to prepare and qualify ourselves for the great change that is coming upon us all. Many do not attend to it, but sleep and sleep on until the tinge of death, and Satan will seal their spirits his, as the Book of Mormon says; he will have power ever them, and they cannot help themselves.
God and His servants have instructed you to read that book, and if you read it faithfully and with a prayerful heart, you will find many principles and doctrines that you have heard brothers Brigham and Heber teach.
You who are tampering with the sin of adultery are sealing your damnation. Some are sitting right before me, with their looks as white as a sheet, who have tampered in these things. What have they done? They have done more hurt, more injury,
[page 177]
and thrown more obstructions in the way of the work of God than they ever can restore. They have an atonement to make, there is a debt against them. Why? Because justice will require the debt to be paid. It is for you to arouse yourselves from these things and pay all you can, that there may not be much against you when the accounts are settled up.
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I know that if this people will do right, our enemies, those who lay snares and gins to ensnare the servants of the living God, shall be slain by the sword of His wrath, and shall have no power to fight against God, nor against Zion, and all Israel shall say, AMEN.
[The congregation was unanimous in saying amen, with a loud voice.]
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[page 179]
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I don’t want you to merely talk about it, but I want you to go to and live your religion, do your duty, do all things that are required of you. If you have not done so, go and do it. If you have done wrong, don’t do wrong again, and do right from this time, making satisfaction and restitution for your wrong doing, and I will say you shall be forgiven, every one of you who has not shed innocent
[page 180]
blood or sinned against the Holy Ghost; that cannot be forgiven. If you will take this course, brother Brigham and Heber will live, yea, they will live and let live scores and scores of years.
Brethren and sisters, do not be the aggressors, always act on the defensive. I never will touch any of you, I never will offend or scold at you, nor injure you in any way, if you will not harm me but live your religion. I never will strike one of you, without you first strike me; but when you strike me, I shall be justifiable in striking you. I want you to remember what you read in the Book of Mormon, where Alma tells his son not to be the aggressor; also what Moroni said to Zerahemnah, at the time Nephites and Lamanites fought by the river Sidon.
[quoting from Alma 44:1-7]
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[2] Behold, we have not come out to battle against you, that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the yoke of bondage. But this is the very cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.
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[6] yea, and that is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way, and come not again to war against us.
[7] And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and inflict the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.
That shows the mercy and compassion of our God; although his enemies are in his hands, he will have mercy upon them. In the book of Doctrine and Covenants it is said, if thine enemy comes upon thee and falls into thine hand, forgive him, if he repent; and if he comes upon thee the second time, forgive him, if he repent; but if comes upon thee the third time, thou mayst do with him as seemeth thee good, still, if thou shalt forgive him, I will add glory unto thee for thy mercy. Just look at it, and see what kind of a God we are serving. That God is talking to you, through me, to-day.
Some of you may, perhaps, think that I have had wild fire in me to-day, but I have not had a bit of it about me.
[page 181]
I am preaching all the time to show you the propriety of being filled with mercy, for God says the merciful man shall obtain mer[c]y. That is the spirit which is in me. When I step forward here God speaks through me; and if brother Brigham had been here He would have spoken through him. Don’t you see that I have the same fatherly care, when I step up here to act in brother Brigham’s place for the time being? I do not care who you put here, he will have the same spirit when he is put here, that is, if he is dictated by the Holy Ghost.
I have had a good time here to-day. How nice it feels; there are good feelings here. Brethren, cultivate the spirit of compassion; if any man has committed adultery, have mercy on him and pity him, if he repents. You may say, “O Lord God, I thank thee that I never fell into that sin.” Have compassion on those who have, if they will repent.
You leading members of the Church, you Twelve, High Priests, Seventies, Bishops, &c., go ahead, press forward, and we will gain the victory. We will overcome, because with those that do repent, if there are not more than three hundred men, we will whip out the unrighteous, for, says the Lord, everything that can be shaken shall be, and that which cannot be shaken will remain. Amen.
Full sermon can be viewed at:
- Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp. 164-181 — (Utah Lighthouse Ministry, archive site)
- Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp. 164-181 — (Mormonism Research Ministry)
- Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 164 — (BYU Studies)
