This evening I decided to read some of the General Conference sermons by J. Golden Kimball (1853-1938), sometimes known as the “Swearing Apostle.” Here are some excerpts (some are doctrinal, while a few are just plain funny!):
I am fearful that some of the Latter-day Saints simply come to the leaders and listen to the servants of God, and they never study it out in their minds; they never go to the written word, and compare it with the servants of God in their doctrines and teachings, and consequently they are unable to judge righteously, and they are losing confidence. Their confidence is being shaken, and they are unable to judge, because they have not first studied it out in their minds, because, as a people, we are mentally lazy. I will say that, because I do not expect to preach here again for a long time. If any of us have got a bad taste in our mouth for anything that has transpired, why, let us repent, let us study it out in our minds, and then go to our Father, in humility, and ask Him if it is right, and if it is right He will cause a burning within our bosoms, and we shall know that it is right; but if it be not right, we shall have no such feelings, but we shall have a stupor of thought. And how greatly blessed are we in that direction! We are all blessed, more or less, with a stupor of thought. (Conference Report, October 1897, p. 51)
But I pray the Lord to bless this people. Why, you are a wonderful people. The Lord has blessed you as He has blessed no other people. He has given you the Holy Ghost. Remember how particular He was with His Apostles, with His servants that He sent out to preach the Gospel. He promised them the Holy Ghost, "whom the world cannot receive," and we are in a different situation to what the world is. As Paul says: "What! know ye not that ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost, and that ye are not your own; and if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Now I want to say to you people, in soberness, and with consideration I don't want to be an alarmist, I don't want to be a revivalist; but I want to say to you, the great sin that is creeping in among this people, together with other worldly sins, is the sin of adultery. This is creeping in amongst us, and in some instances our daughters are running the streets as common harlots, and we, seemingly, cannot help ourselves. But I want to say to you, there needs be an awakening. I want to tell you there needs to be a fear planted in the hearts of the young people. Take the Book of Mormon. Go to the 316th page, and read what Alma said to his son Corianton, who had left the ministry, and had followed after the harlot Isabel. He told him what a terrible crime adultery was, that it was next to the shedding of innocent blood. O, I am fearful that our young people do not comprehend that great sin that is creeping in amongst us; and, as the Prophet Joseph said, a man that commits adultery cannot enter into the celestial kingdom of God. If he enters any kingdom, it will not be the celestial kingdom of God. I pray that our people may be moved upon to be a virtuous, to be an honest, to be a faithful people; this is the prayer of my heart, in the name of Jesus. Amen. (Ibid., pp. 51-52)
I feel a good deal, or at least I imagine I do, like a man does when held up by a burglar and he is looking into the muzzle of a six-shooter. I would quietly and willingly hold my hands up, but during the time would think very profoundly of what I would do if given my liberty. We are in a similar position today, but all the men in the United States cannot prevent a man from thinking. There are not Apostles enough in the Church to prevent us from thinking, and they are not disposed to do so; but some people fancy because we have the Presidency and Apostles of the Church they will do the thinking for us. There are men and women so mentally lazy that they hardly think for themselves. To think calls for effort, which makes some men tired and wearies their souls. Now, brethren and sisters, we are surrounded with, such conditions that it requires not only thought, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Latter-day Saints, you must think for yourselves. No man or woman can remain in this Church on borrowed light. I am a strong believer in the following statement made by my father in the House of the Lord in 1856 "We think we are secure in the chambers of the everlasting hills, but the time will come when we will be so mixed up that it will be difficult to tell the face of a Saint from the face of an enemy to the people of God. Then, brethren, look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many will fall; for I say unto you there is a test, a test, a TEST coming, and who will be able to stand?" (Conference Report, April 1904, p. 29)
We must have a knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, or we can not stand. Latter-day Saints who have failed are those who have not obtained a knowledge that Jesus is the Christ; all such are liable to apostatize. I am afraid there will be a lot of apostates, and that worries me.You can't live on borrowed light any longer. This Church has passed through many close places, and, as my father said, it will pass through many other close places before victory and triumph is given to you or given to the Church. (Conference Report, October 1904, p. 57)
Arising to speak to you at this time puts me in mind of a story I read not long ago. It was during the late war, when some soldiers were around a camp fire, trying to keep themselves from freezing to death, a preacher came along to hold services. He looked around among the soldiers, and said, "I will take for my text Chilblains." So he instructed the soldiers what to do, which was to put soft Soap in their shoes, place them on their feet and wait till their feet were healed, and then he would talk to them about the Lord the next time he came You can't talk to people when they are uneasy, not if you are like I am. You can't preach to people when they want to go home. Now if any of you want to go, please go, and the rest of us will stay till we get through. (Conference Report, October 1905, p. 81)
I am not going to announce any blood and thunder doctrine to you today. I have not been radical for four long months, not since I had appendicitis. I came very nearly being operated upon. I thought I was going to die for a few hours. People said to me, "Why, brother Kimball, you needn't be afraid, you'll get Justice." "Well," I said, "that is what I am afraid of." (Ibid.)
During the time I occupy this position, I desire to be safeguarded by the Holy Spirit of God. I have no desire whatever to say or do anything that can be construed to hurt the Church. I am perfectly willing to bear my individual responsibilities, but I believe a responsibility rests upon every man and woman in the Church of Christ to protect the Church, although I am confident that the Lord is amply able to take care of the Church of Latter-day Saints, whether we succeed or fail: I have that faith. I am a Strong advocate of individuality and agency. I value it above everything that I can conceive of, except salvation. I am very doubtful if a man can be saved in the kingdom of God who has no individuality, and does not assert his agency, because salvation is an individual work. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, and is no man's Church. It does not belong to President Joseph F. Smith, and he does not pretend to say that it does; nor to his counselors, nor to the Twelve Apostles; it is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I am sure that the Lord will take care of it, no matter what we do, whether we do right or wrong. (Conference Report, April 1907, p. 79)
Now, as I said, I waived certain rights when I became a member of this Church; I waived the right of sin. I had my agency and individuality; but as long as I am a member of this Church, I waive the right to sin, to transgress. When you joined the Church, became members of it, you also waived the right to do a great many things. You have no right to break the ten commandments, have you? You have no right to be dishonest. You have no right to commit adultery, or to be immoral. You have waived all these rights. You have waived the right to break the Word of Wisdom. And in many other things we have waived our rights, and sometimes I feel muzzled when I wrestle with my nature and human weaknesses. You know there is no other man just like me in all Israel, and probably you are glad of it. I am having a pretty hard time wrestling with myself. I don't feel self-righteous; I feel more like that poor fellow who stood on the street corner and bowed his head and said, "O God, forgive me, a poor sinner." I feel confident, when I think about the matter carefully, that some people become self-righteous in their own estimation, because they keep one or two or more commandments they then commence to exercise "unrighteous dominion" when they find a transgressor in the Church. Now, Latter-day Saints, you have all "sinned and come short of the glory of God," and you stand condemned before the Lord unless there is such a thing as repentance and forgiveness of sins. It is a question, How long will it take for me to secure salvation? The Lord only knows; I don't: I am not competent to tell whether I will be saved or not. I am making an effort for salvation, and, as I said, I waived a great many rights in order to become a member of the Church. I have trampled ambition under my feet, for I have an ambition, and it takes me all the time to keep my feet on it. I am sometimes afraid of my friends, because if one don't qualify every statement he makes, he may be like one man said of me in the north country: "Well, he didn't say it but he intended to, and if he will say to me that he did not intend to say it, then I will take back everything I said against him." (Ibid., p. 80)
You never saw men violate a commandment of God and feel jubilant over it, but if they have the Spirit of the Lord they feel miserable. I say to you Latter-day Saints, and I say it to myself: I have preached this Gospel for fifteen years, and I now understand the doctrine of repentance. A man can't repent simply because an Apostle tells him to repent; he can't do it until he gets the spirit of repentance, which is a gift from God; and some of us don't get it very quickly. Some of us don't get the spirit of repentance and see things right until our hair is gray. Brethren, let us be tolerant; let us be kind and considerate. It is the proper thing to despise sin and wickedness; but I think it is wrong to despise the man that has a weakness, and make him feel that he is good for nothing, and that there is not much chance for him. I think I can safely say to you Latter-day Saints: You will all be saved, every one of you; the only difference will be this, some will be saved sooner than others. Every man that has transgressed and done wrong must pay the penalty of his transgression, for salvation costs something, and you have to pay the price or you don't get it. (Conference Report, April 1908, p. 117)
I have read about the Prophet Joseph Smith. I have the story of the Prophet, and it is a wonderful story for a boy to tell. About those two personages that came to him, also John the Baptist, Peter, James and John. To me it is very wonderful. Do you believe it? If that is not true, Joseph Smith was the biggest fraud that ever came to a people on earth. There has never been a more sacrilegious thing uttered by man, if it is not true. Now, I say, do you believe it? Do t believe it? I believe everything that has been revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith. If any principle that has been revealed to the Prophet is not true, then it is all wrong, as far as I am concerned. There is no use of mincing over it. Every Latter-day Saint in the Church should receive every truth, or else none of it. I believe it all. I believe every word of it. I "believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and I believe the Lord will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God." I believe all that God has revealed, as fast as I can understand and comprehend it: and I believe that God will yet reveal many great and important things. I am not sure if we will be prepared to receive all or not. Joseph Smith said the Lord had revealed things to him which if he had repeated to the people they would have taken his life. It is a good thing he didn't: we have more truths and doctrine than we now live up to. (Conference Report, April 1909, p. 37)
What can God do for a liar who refuses to repent? Can the Lord save him? He can't claim salvation. Baptising him in water will not settle the trouble, unless you keep him under. (Ibid.)
We need revelation for the calling of officers in the Church. Men should not be called merely through impression. I have felt censured for some work that I have done in the Church. I set apart Seventies as presidents of quorums, and after having set apart some of these presidents, I have been doubtful whether God had much to do with it, other than they had been chosen and set apart by one who had authority. It has not been demonstrated by the actions of some men that they were chosen of God; they were chosen by mere impression, and time was not taken to consider what God wanted. My conviction is that men ought not to be appointed by mere impression. The word of God teaches me that no man has a claim upon appointment in this Church, unless he is called of God as was Aaron. It doesn't matter whose son he is: although I fancy sometimes that I got my position as one of the First Council, out of respect to my father, so that his name might be represented among the authorities of the Church. (Conference Report, April 1910, p. 55)
Now, whether the Lord is going to give a revelation or not I don't know. I have read revelations that are not in the D&C, and they were given to men for their comfort, for their consolation, to tell them that certain things were true. But the Prophet never received them; they were not given for the Church, for if they had been given for the Church they would have been received by the man appointed, and they would have been binding on the Church. I might reveal something to you that you do not know. My father received revelation, that is why I honor him so. I know his weaknesses; my father was not a perfect man, but he was just as good a man as ever lived; yet he had his weaknesses. But God communicated with him. God never communicated with Heber C. Kimball, the first counselor to Brigham Young, to direct the Church of Jesus Christ. I have revelations written over the signature of Heber C. Kimball, and I have witnessed their fulfillment, and I know that God revealed His mind and will to him. But there is not a word in one of those revelations to direct the Church of Jesus Christ. Father was a Prophet. Brigham Young says: "Here is my prophet, and I love to hear him prophesy." But Heber C. Kimball never sought to run the Church. If he had tried it he would have lost his place. But he did not lose his place. (Ibid., p. 58)