The
following quotes come from:
Bonnie
Taylor, ed. J. Golden Kimball: His
Sermons (Latter-day Publishing, 2007)
The Importance of Perseverance in Faithfulness and Belief
The Lord’s ways are not as man’s ways, and He
does things so differently from the way we want to do them that many of us are
oftentimes surprised, and it requires constant faith to say in this Church. I
believed it is the hardest church to say in that there is on earth, because you
have to always go to keep exercising faith. (October 1905 [p. 72]; cf. God's
Love being conditional and unconditional for a discussion of the present
participle ὁ πιστεύων "the believing ones" in John 3:16)
Attempt to Balance Being Opposed to Antinomianism
and Not being Self-Righteous
Now, as I said, I waived certain rights when
I became a member of the 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 intent to say it, then I
will take back everything I said against him.” (April 1907 [p. 91])
The Importance of Repentance and "the Spirit of Repentance" being a Gift from God
Brethren, I want to call your attention to
one thing; I am a sort of transgressor. My father died when I was fifteen years
old. I have not committed any crimes, but there are some things in my history
that I regret. Environment has a great deal to do with a man, and men who have
colonized these outlying districts do not look upon some habits as seriously as
men who have never indulged in them; if they did, it would be an injustice to
themselves. You never saw a man in your life do a wrong thing, who was happy
over it. You never saw men violate a commandments 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, 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 despite 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. (April 1908 [p. 99, emphasis added])