J. Golden Kimball "What Can God do for a Liar?"

Of all the latter-day saints in history, perhaps not are as hilarious as J. Golden Kimball, the swearing apostle. He was born on June 26, 1853, to Heber C. Kimball. At the age of fifteen, his father died. TO make ends meet, he became a Mule driver, where he picked up his wearing habit. In 1881, he went to what is know BYU for two years, and after that went on a two-year mission to the American South. After that mission, he married Jennie Knowlton and in 1887 moved to Logan. They had six children, three boys and three girls. In 1892, Kimball was called to be the mission president of the American South mission. During that mission he was called to the seventy. Buring his years in the seventy, J. Golden became well known for his swearing habit, causing him to be one of the favorite general authorities in the church. Kimball died on the 2nd of September 1938 in a driving accident.

In April 1909, J. Golden Kimball gave a talk about the importance of Honesty, discussing how God cannot help us when we deceive others because we cannot deceive him.

I never like to preach to Latter day Saints who have already been over-fed with such spiritual nourishment and are not hungry; it seems like wasting effort. I have read somewhere that "Silence is golden," and I have been trying for the past year to think and keep silent. I do not think I have ever made as great an effort during my labors in the ministry, and among the people of this Church, to look at both sides of every question. I am not speaking of the gospel; to that there is only one side, and that is the right side. But there are other things that I have been trying to understand and see both sides and then keep still. I think some of you are very much like I am; I have said some things that I am sorry were said and printed. I never know just how I will begin nor how I will end.

I have been thinking of late, and during my time of thought, I have hunted for scripture and something to convince me that I was think thing in the right direction, and that it was approved by those who are in authority. I will read some of it to you; it is not original; there is very little that is original:

"I want to come to the hearts of the people. It is a blessed thing that the heart has an instinct which tells it who has a right to teach it. The world cares little for theorists and theories — little for schools and school men, little for anything a man has to utter that has not previously been distilled in the Alembic of his life. I come to you with shoes worn and dusty with the walk upon life's highway, with face bronzed by fierce sun, and muscles knit by conflict with the evils of the age. I do not knock at the human heart with gloved hands, and an attire borrowed for the occasion."

You ought to know that Latter-day Saints. I want to say to you, as far as I am concerned individually, I do not live altogether for myself. Does your own heart tell you, after my pilgrimage and labors among this people, if I have a right to teach you. I haven't been raised with a silver spoon in my mouth. I am not highly cultured. From the day I was 15 years old I have fought my battles practically alone. I am not old yet. I will tell you a great truth which is "To know thyself, oh man," and then let the other fellow alone. One of the good sisters said to me, "Golden if you wouldn't talk so much about yourself, it would be a good thing." Well, I thought to myself, it would be a good thing if you would talk about yourself and let other people alone. I know more about myself than any other person on earth, and I am going to try to keep some of it quiet, if I can.

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 I 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.

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men." I accept that with all my heart. A man must be honest, and he must be true, and he must tie chaste and benevolent, virtuous, and continue doing good to all men. What can God do for a man who is not honest? You may baptize him every fifteen minutes, but if he does not repent, he will come up out of the water just as dishonest as ever. What can God do for a liar who refuses to repent? Can the Lord save him? He can't claim salvation. Baptizing him in water will not settle the trouble, unless you keep him under. (Laughter.) What can the Lord do with people who are not virtuous, unless they repent? You cannot change the laws of the Lord. Men may deceive men ; they may deceive apostles; they may deceive the President of the Church ; they may even get into the temple, but that would not make them virtuous. You may confer the Holy Ghost upon them by the laying on of hands, but the Holy Ghost does not remain with the unrepentant; it will not remain in an unclean tabernacle. To deceive men is easy, but I want to tell you in the name of Israel's God, and this thought should be burned into the souls of our sons and daughters, that unless they repent of all their sins and cease immoral practices, they cannot remain in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Holy Ghost will not stay with them; they will not have the testimony of Jesus. This doctrine is true.

I have tried to be generous in my sentiments and be on the right side; I have tried to be tolerant, not intolerant, I have tried to respect men's opinions, and I have discovered that we do not always see things alike. We may as far as the gospel is concerned, but we are a long way from it in other things. In temporal things we do not sufficiently respect each other's opinions. Are we going to sit in judgment upon men? I am not in favor of it. I am not in sympathy with men who are intolerant, I am afraid of them. What does the Lord say? They were trying to tempt the Savior just as they have tried to tempt the Latte-day Saints. We are being tempted and tested. We are being dazzled and bewildered by the things of the world, and some are trying to make men offenders for a word. The Savior said to those who were tempting him: —

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation." We can talk about other churches that Brother Bassett has been reading about, but there is a division amongst other people than the Christian churches, even among the people of the Latter-day Church. It is a kingdom divided against itself, to some extent, on temperance and political questions, and they are considered weighty problems too. "A house divided against itself falleth." "If Satan be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?" The Latter-day Saints must be united to be successful. It is a great warfare between Satan and the Savior, and to some men it would appear as if Satan was going to be victorious. Not so. Through long continued patience, the victory will be the Lord's. It may take years, yea hundreds of years, but, as Brother McMurrin so beautifully portrayed to you, God will save His children after all. A condition of antagonism puts me a good deal in mind of a spectacle analogous to that represented in the caricature called the combat of the two serpents; after having devoured everything around them, the two reptiles attacked each other, finally there remained on the battlefield but two tails.

Now, brethren, let us repent, if we have got any bitterness in our hearts toward each other, let us be generous, and forgiving. No man has any influence or power for good when angry. It is "amen to the priesthood and the authority of that man when he uses unrighteous dominion," etc. It doesn't matter who he is. When a man has the Holy Ghost, his heart is full of meekness, it is full of love unfeigned. He loves the souls of the children of men, and he realizes how precious they are in the sight of God. May we as Latter-day Saints enjoy the fullness of the Holy Spirit, I ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.