Discourse by Apostle Lorenzo Snow at the General Conference, Salt Lake City, April 7, 1882, Reported by George F. Gibbs.—Reference to Moses and ancient Israel.—Distrusting results the effect of ignorance.—Latter-day Saints have more faith.—No such thing as standing still.—Move on, trusting in God, the watchword.—Persecutions of the Latter-day Saints.—Move on and work on.—If we do our part, God will do His.—How the Lord overruled in our coming to the mountains.—Plural marriage.—Good resulting from the Edmunds bill.—The great worth of the Gospel.—Move on, move on.
The speaker read from the ninth to the fifteenth verses, inclusive, of the fourteenth chapter of Exodus, and then said: A very important lesson is contained in those verses, applicable not only to this community as a whole, but to every individual. At the time referred to, the children of Israel were but little acquainted with the Lord—His ability to carry out His purposes—not having had the opportunity for spiritual enlightenment as the Latter-day Saints. They had witnessed some miracles wrought in their partial deliverance, but their hearts were not affected, nor their understandings enlightened by the intelligence of the Holy Spirit as has been the case with the Latter-day Saints; therefore, when they approached the Red Sea, which to every human appearance was impassable, and saw the armies of the Egyptians pressing closely upon their rear, their hearts failed them.
The Latter-day Saints have been placed in circumstances very similar, where it was necessary to rely on their knowledge of God and their faith in His promises. It is not strange that the Israelites on that occasion, considering the little knowledge they possessed, should have been alarmed and manifested such folly and ignorance as they did in expressing to Moses their doubts of the propriety of persisting in his efforts to deliver them from Egyptian tyranny, notwithstanding they had been treated with such great rigor and barbarity. They had so little faith in the word of the Lord, through Moses, they were willing to return and remain slaves rather than continue under the direction of the Almighty. They wished to know if there were not sufficient graves in Egypt that it became necessary to be destroyed in the wilderness by the army of Pharaoh, and chided Moses for the course he had pursued. I scarcely imagine the Latter-day Saints, in any period of their history, have displayed such lack of faith and cowardice; however trying their circumstances may have been, they have never been guilty of such weakness and foolish conduct. When the mob arose against us in Missouri, we were but few, and our circumstances so forbidding, it was impossible to expect deliverance except through the intervention of the God of Israel. It is true there may have been some Saints at that time who faltered under the peculiarly trying situation, but they were few.
The Latter-day Saints had received the Gospel, accompanied by the Holy Spirit; therefore they had confidence, and could exercise the gift of faith and entertain pleasing hopes in the confident expectation of their ultimate deliverance. They did not exhibit that weakness and folly which were manifested by the children of Israel on the occasion to which I referred. There were a few, however, who wished to escape the ordeal and return to Babylon.
In reading ecclesiastical history, we discover that Prophets exhibited more or less weakness and want of faith in times of peril; and I have thought Moses, perhaps, manifested a little on this occasion. He beheld the difficulties, and, although he had more faith and knowledge than the people whom he was leading, yet there seemed to be a fault in the course he advised on this particular occasion. With the Red Sea in front, and the hosts of Pharaoh threatening in the rear, the state of affairs certainly wore a fearful aspect; and while the people were bewailing their condition, Moses gave instructions, saying, "Fear ye not"—that so far was good, and should apply to the Latter-day Saints, and indeed always will be applicable in whatever position we may be placed; but the remainder of the counsel I would think hardly consistent, and certainly would not be applicable to us in any situation or under any circumstances, namely, "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." It appears that Moses began to cry unto the Lord for deliverance, and the Lord answered him, saying, "Wherefore cryest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." It was not proper to stand still. We are required always to move on—never stand still: while there remains one step forward that can be taken, that step should be taken.
In this example before us, it was not good for Israel to stand still waiting for the Lord; they had not exhausted their own abilities; there was still room to move on in the direction God, through Moses, had appointed, and neither were they, nor are we, justified in ceasing to press onward in the path of our duty while we possess the ability. Never stand still, never suspend our efforts, however insurmountable may seem the obstacle ahead, however fierce and threatening the enemy.
When driven from Jackson County, from Kirtland, from Missouri and Illinois, by mob violence, the Kingdom was still moving on—the purposes of God being accomplished, and the work of the Lord undergoing changes necessary to its growth and progress, and the trials and afflictions incident thereto were required for proving the Saints and advancing them in the knowledge of God. I would say, let this motto be that of every Elder in Israel, and of every person worthy to be called Saint, Fear not—never stand still—move on. Let the farmer go forward making improvements—plow, sow and reap; let those engaged in proper and useful enterprises continue their operations, and every man be faithful and very diligent in observing his covenants and keeping the commandments of God, and in cultivating a desire to do all the good possible; and if, in reflecting on the past, we discover we have not acted strictly in accordance with the dictates of our consciences, let us make ourselves right before God and man that we may be fully prepared for every emergency.
Let the building of Temples and houses of worship and education go on; let the Saints continue to school their children, bringing them up in the fear of the Lord; and let the Gospel still be carried to the nations afar, Israel be gathered, and the people be found always moving on as the purposes of God continue to roll forth.
Do not stand still looking for the salvation of God, but move ahead while there remains a step to be made in the direction which He has commanded; then shall we see the salvation of the Almighty. This is truly the work of God; He is directing its course and progress, and to promote its interests should ever be uppermost in our minds, that we may exhibit to the world our faith and confidence, and our devotion to the divine principles we have embraced. And because of this exhibition of our faith, confidence and integrity during our past trials and afflictions, God helped us in a marvelous manner to go through the fiery ordeals which indeed appeared to the world unbearable, though to us were not so grevious; the Spirit of God was with us, even the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. Our experience at those times was like that of the three Hebrew children when cast into the fiery furnace, the angel of God appeared and walked with them, side by side, to and fro, in the midst of fiery flames; and when Daniel was cast into the den of lions, God sent him a comforter in the person of an holy angel. Those men, instead of faltering in the path of duty, and waiting for the Lord to deliver them, moved on, and were irrepressible in their course. They possessed the knowledge of God through the Holy Ghost, which also imparted unto them a divine confidence and faith, enabling them to persevere. They knew that in Him, whom they were worshiping and obeying, were the issues of life and death; that to die in Him, is to live—live eternally—go on, though it lead through martyrdom to the realms of glory and immortality. This principle of faith and fidelity was exhibited by the Latter-day Saints when forced, at the point of the bayonet, to sign over their property to the mob in Missouri, and advised to disperse, scatter, and not venture to gather together, but live as other people.
We ignored that counsel, fled to Illinois, built the city of Nauvoo, and secured a charter from the legislature, embracing more favorable provisions than those of any other city in the State. We did not stand still, but with divine faith and hope, kept pressing forward, the Lord doing as He promised, namely, softening the hearts of rulers and impressing them to favor Zion.