There seems to be at the present time a great deal of interest manifested among the Latter-day Saints, and even among those who are connected with our Church, in regard to some instructions that have been imparted to the Latter-day Saints in relation to their temporal affairs. The instructions which have been imparted, and which the people are, in some measure, receiving, are comparatively new in their estimation, that is, it is supposed they are new, and something which we, in times past, have not practiced. But if we appeal to the revelations of God, we shall find that no new thing has been required of us. It is generally termed, however, by Latter-day Saints, the New Order. You hear of it in all parts of the Territory. What is meant by the New Order? Is it really new in the revelations of God, or is it something new for us to practice it? We have been required, in the year 1874, to come back again to an old order, as taught in ancient Mormonism. What I mean by ancient Mormonism is Mormonism as it was taught some forty-three or forty-four years ago. There is a generation now living on the earth who seem to be comparatively ignorant of the doctrines which were taught some forty years ago to men who are now old and have grey heads and gray beards. Since that time a new generation has arisen; and they begin to think that something new, something that will turn things upside down, is being introduced into Mormonism. I will say to all who have such ideas, you are entirely mistaken, it is not so; we are trying to get the people to come back again to the old principles of Mormonism, to that which God revealed in the early rise of this Church.
Every man, whether he is or is not a Latter-day Saint, when he comes to study our written works, the written revelations which God has given, will acknowledge that the Latter-day Saints cannot be the people they profess to be, they cannot be consistent with the revelations they profess to believe in and live as they now live; they have got to come into the system which the Saints call the New Order, otherwise they cannot comply with the revelations of God.
I believe that I will quote a few revelations this morning, in order to show you what God said in relation to property or temporal things, in the early rise of this Church. The first revelation that now occurs to my mind will be found in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, on page 217; it was given in March, 1831, forty-three years ago last March. In the third paragraph of this revelation we read these words:
"For, behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance; but it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin."
Do you believe this revelation, Latter-day Saints? "Oh, yes," says one—"we believe Joseph Smith was a Prophet." Have you practiced it? Oh, that is another thing. How, then, are we to know that you believe this revelation if you do not practice it? How are the world to know you are sincere in your belief, if you have a revelation which you profess to believe in, and yet give no heed to it. I do not wonder that the world say that the Latter-day Saints do not believe their own revelations. Why? Because we do not practice them. "It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin." There may be some strangers here, and they do not believe this book, but I will tell you what they would say as men of reason, they would say that if you Latter-day Saints call this your book of faith, and doctrines, and covenants, to be consistent you ought to comply with it. That is what they would say, and it is really a true saying, and consistent and reasonable. If we believe this, let us practice it; if we do not believe in it, why profess to believe in it?