Personal Testimonies and Blessings
A Testimony--This is God's Work, a Testimony--A Testimony--The
Pledge of My Life--A Blessing--A Testimony--I Know that My Redeemer
Lives--Testimony
President Joseph F. Smith
An Appreciation--Reminiscences--A Biographical Sketch--Last of the Old
School of Veteran Leaders
Gospel Doctrine
{1}
Chapter I
TRUTH, THE FOUNDATION
OUR HOPE FOUNDED ON TRUTH. Our hope of salvation must be founded upon
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, for we cannot
build upon error and ascend into the courts of eternal truth and enjoy
the glory and exaltation of the kingdom of our God. That cannot be
done.--_Oct. C. R.,_[A] 1917, p. 3.
[Footnote A: _October Conference Report_.]
THE GOSPEL FOUNDED IN TRUTH. I have no fears in my heart, or mind, that
that which is called "Mormonism"--which is indeed the gospel of Jesus
Christ--will not bear the scrutiny of science and the researches of the
learned and literate into all truth. The gospel of Jesus is founded in
truth. Every principle of it is susceptible of demonstration beyond any
just reason for contradiction. The Lord is doing his work and will do
it, and no power can stay it.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1908, p. 127.
TRUTH THE FOUNDATION. We believe in righteousness. We believe in all
truth, no matter to what subject it may refer. No sect or religious
denomination in the world possesses a single principle of truth that
we do not accept or that we will reject. We are willing to receive
all truth, from whatever source it may come; for truth will stand,
truth will endure. No man's faith, no man's religion, no religious
organization in all the world, can ever rise above the truth. The truth
must be at the foundation of religion, or it is in vain and it will
fail of its purpose. I say that the truth is at the foundation, at the
bottom and top of, and it {2} entirely permeates this great work of the
Lord that was established through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith,
the prophet. God is with it; it is his work, not that of man; and it
will succeed, no matter what the opposition may be. We look now at the
opposition arrayed against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, and smile, so to speak, with feelings of confidence, doubly
assured by the experience of the past, in comparison to the feelings
that possessed the souls of our fathers and mothers in the early days
of the Church, when they were but a handful, with all the world arrayed
against them; just a few poor, homeless people, driven from their
possessions, cast out from the communities in which they sought to
establish themselves and build their homes. When I think of our people,
thrust into the wilderness wandering and seeking for a place where
the soles of their feet might rest, and see, then, the world arrayed
against them, and think of the little chance that appeared before them,
for success and the accomplishment of their purposes, I wonder that
more of them did not tremble and falter than did; but some of them were
true in the midst of it all, even unto death. If it had been necessary
for them to have been martyred for the truth, willingly would they have
given their lives, as they gave all else that they possessed in the
world, for the knowledge they had of the divinity of the work in which
they were engaged. Are we as faithful today? Are we as devout as our
fathers were? Oh, my God, help me to be as true as they were! Help me
to stand as they stood, upon the pedestal of eternal truth, that no
power on earth, or in hell, may remove me from that foundation. This
is my prayer to the Lord for my own sake, and it is my prayer to him
for every Latter-day Saint throughout the length and breadth of the
world.--_Apr. C. R.,_[A] 1909, p. 7.
[Footnote A: _April Conference Report_.]
MAN SAVED BY TRUTH. We have no ill feelings in our {3} hearts toward
any living creature. We forgive those who trespass against us. Those
who have spoken evil of us, and who have misrepresented us before the
world, we have no malice in our hearts toward them. We say, let God
judge between them and us; let him recompense them for their work. We
will not raise a hand against them; but we will extend the hand of
fellowship and friendship to them, if they will repent of their sins
and come unto the Lord and live. No matter how malicious they may have
been, or how foolish they may have acted, if they will repent of it we
will receive them with open arms and we will do all we can to help them
to save themselves. I cannot save you; you cannot save me; we cannot
save each other, only so far as we can persuade each other to receive
the truth, by teaching it. When a man receives the truth he will be
saved by it. He will not be saved merely because some one talks to him,
but because he received and acted upon it. The gospel is consistent,
it is common sense, reason, revelation; it is almighty truth from the
heavens made known to man.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1902, p. 86.
GOSPEL TRUTH CAN NOT BE SUPERSEDED. There is no science, nor
philosophy, that can supersede God Almighty's truth. The Lord has said,
"My word is truth," and indeed it is; and I believe that the Latter-day
Saints know enough about the word of God to know it is his word when
they see it and shun whatever is not; and that they win abide by the
word of God, for it is truth. As the Savior said, "If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free." I believe that the Latter-day Saints,
and especially the leading men in Israel, have sufficient knowledge
and understanding of the principles of the gospel that they know the
truth, and they are made free by its possession--free from sin, free
from error, free from darkness, from the traditions of men, from vain
philosophy, and from {4} the untried, unproven theories of scientists,
that need demonstration beyond the possibility of a doubt. We have had
science and philosophy through all the ages, and they have undergone
change after change. Scarcely a century has passed but they have
introduced new theories of science and of philosophy that supersede
the old traditions and the old faith and the old doctrines entertained
by philosophers and scientists. These things may undergo continuous
changes, but the word of God is always true, is always right. I want
to say to you that the principles of the gospel are always true--the
principles of faith in God, of repentance from sin, of baptism for
the remission of sins by authority of God, and the laying on of hands
for the gift of the Holy Ghost; these principles are always true and
are always absolutely necessary for the salvation of the children of
men, no matter who they are or where they are. These principles are
always true, and you cannot get away from them. No other name, under
heaven, is given, but that of Jesus Christ, by which you can be saved
or exalted in the Kingdom of God. No man can enter into the kingdom
of heaven except he be born again of the water and of the Spirit.
These principles are indispensable, for God has declared them. Not
only has Christ declared them by his own voice, and his disciples from
generation to generation, in the olden time, but in these latter days,
they have taken up the same testimony and declared these things to the
world. They are true today as they were true then, and we must obey
these things.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1911, pp. 7, 8.
MAN'S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT. The greatest achievement mankind can make
in this world is to familiarize themselves with divine truth, so
thoroughly, so perfectly, that the example or conduct of no creature
living in the world can ever turn them away from the knowledge that
they have obtained. "In the footsteps of the Master," the greatest of
all the teachers that this world has ever received, is the {5} safest
and surest course to pursue that I know of in the world. We can absorb
the precepts, the doctrines and the divine word of the Master, without
any fear that the exemplar will fail of carrying out and executing his
own precepts and fulfilling his own doctrines and requirements.
From my boyhood I have desired to learn the principles of the gospel
in such a way and to such an extent that it would matter not to me who
might fall from the truth, who might make a mistake, who might fail to
continue to follow the example of the Master, my foundation would be
sure and certain in the truths that I have learned, though all men else
go astray and fail of obedience to them. We all have heard of people
who have pinned their faith to the arm of flesh, who have felt that
their belief, their confidence and their love for the principles of
the gospel of Jesus Christ would be shattered, if their ideals--those
possibly who first taught them the principles of the gospel--should
make a mistake, falter or fall.
I know of but One in all the world who can be taken as the first and
only perfect standard for us to follow, and he is the Only Begotten Son
of God. I would feel sorry indeed, if I had a friend or an associate
in this life who would turn away from the plan of life and salvation
because I might stumble or make a failure of my life. I want no man
to lean upon me nor to follow me, only so far as I am a consistent
follower in the footsteps of the Master.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ 1915,
Vol. 50, pp. 738, 739.
TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL PREVAIL. I do not expect any victory,
any triumph, anything to boast of, to come to the Latter-day Saints,
except upon the principles of righteousness and of truth. Truth and
righteousness will prevail and endure. If we will only continue to
build upon the principles of righteousness, of truth, of justice, and
of honor, I say to you there is no power beneath the celestial kingdom
that can stay the progress of this work. And as {6} this work shall
progress, and shall gain power and influence among men, so the powers
of the adversary and of darkness will diminish before the advancement
and growth of this kingdom, until the kingdom of God, and not of men,
will triumph.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1914, p. 4.
REALITY OF THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS. There is no doubt in the minds
of Latter-day Saints in relation to the existence and personage of
the Lord God Almighty, who is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. There is no doubt in the minds of Latter-day Saints that Jesus
is the Son of God, being begotten of the Father in the flesh. And there
is no Latter-day Saint in all the world but knows as truly and as fully
as God can impart that knowledge to the soul of man, that he shall live
again after death, and that men and women shall be associated together
as God has ordained, and they have been united by his power, to dwell
together forever and forever; and they shall know as they are known,
they shall see as they are seen, and they shall understand as God
understands; for they are his children.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1907, p. 39.
MEANING OF SCIENCE. True science is that system of reasoning which
brings to the fore the simple, plain truth. The Savior of the world was
pre-eminently the Scientist of this earth, and the truths he uttered
1900 years ago have withstood the assaults of science and prejudice and
hate.--_Logan Journal,_ Logan, February 6, 1912.
ALL TRUTH FROM GOD. Let us sustain the cause of Zion. Let no man
speak lightly of the principles of the gospel. Let no one treat
lightly the ordinances of the house of God. Let no one hold in
derision the Priesthood that the Lord has restored to the earth,
which is the authority that he has given unto men. Let no man look
contemptuously upon the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints as it has been established in the earth through the
instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith, {7} whom the Lord raised
up when he was but a child to lay the foundation of the same. Let no
man treat these things lightly or doubtingly; but let every man seek
earnestly to understand the truth and teach his children to become
familiar with those truths of heaven that have been restored to the
earth in the latter-days. I believe with all my soul in God the Father
and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I believe with all my might,
mind and strength in the Savior of the world, and in the principle of
redemption from death and sin. I believe in the divine mission of the
Prophet Joseph Smith. I believe in all the truth that I know, and I
believe that there are many principles of eternal truth that still lie
hidden from me and from the understanding of men, which will yet be
revealed by the power of God unto his faithful servants. I believe that
the Lord has revealed to the children of men all that they know. I do
not believe that any man has discovered any principle of science, or
art, in mechanism, or mathematics, or anything else, that God did not
know before man did. Man is indebted to the Source of all intelligence
and truth, for the knowledge that he possesses; and all who will yield
obedience to the promptings of the Spirit, which lead to virtue, to
honor, to the love of God and man, and to the love of truth and that
which is ennobling and enlarging to the soul, will get a cleaner, a
more expansive, and a more direct and conclusive knowledge of God's
truths than anyone else can obtain. I tell you this, because I know it
is true. The Lord Almighty lives; he made the heavens and the earth,
and the fountains of water; and we are his children, his offspring,
and we are not here by chance. The Lord designed our coming, and the
object of our being. He designs that we shall accomplish our mission,
to become conformed to the likeness and image of Jesus Christ, that,
like him, we may be without sin unto salvation, like him we may be
filled with pure intelligence, and like him we may be exalted to the
right {8} hand of the Father, to sit upon thrones and have dominion,
and power in the sphere in which we shall be called to act. I testify
to this doctrine, for the Lord has made me to know and feel the truth
of it from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. I love good,
honorable men--even men who may be mistaken, as far as their judgment
is concerned, but who try to do right; I love them for the reason that
they are my brethren, the sons of my Father, and I would that they
might all see the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, and accept it, and
receive all the benefits of it, in time and throughout all eternity. If
the Lord has revealed to the world the plan of salvation and redemption
from sin, by which men may be exalted again into his presence and
partake of eternal life with him, I submit, as a proposition that
cannot be controverted, that no man can be exalted in the presence of
God and attain to a fulness of glory and happiness in his kingdom and
presence, save and except he will obey the plan that God has devised
and revealed.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1902, pp. 85, 86.
THE SAINTS MAY KNOW THE TRUTH. To the faithful Latter-day Saint is
given the right to know the truth, as God knows it; and no power
beneath the celestial kingdom can lead him astray, darken his
understanding, becloud his mind or dim his faith or his knowledge of
the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can't be done, for the
light of God shines brighter than the illumination of a falsehood and
error; therefore, those who possess the light of Christ, the spirit of
revelation and the knowledge of God, rise above all these vagaries in
the world; they know of this doctrine, that it is of God and not of
man.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1909, p. 9.
HOW THE TRUTH MAY BE KNOWN. It is a wicked and adulterous generation
that seeketh after a sign. Show me Latter-day Saints who have to feed
upon miracles, signs and visions in order to keep them steadfast in the
Church, and {9} I will show you members of the Church who are not in
good standing before God, and who are walking in slippery paths. It is
not by marvelous manifestations unto us that we shall be established
in the truth, but it is by humility and faithful obedience to the
commandments and laws of God. When I as a boy first started out in
the ministry, I would frequently go out and ask the Lord to show me
some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But
the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon
line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until he
made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my
feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He
did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did he
have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of
the still small voice of the Spirit of the living God, he gave to me
the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power he will give
to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth that will stay
with them, and it will make them to know the truth, as God knows it,
and to do the will of the Father as Christ does it. And no amount of
marvelous manifestations will ever accomplish this. It is obedience,
humility, and submission to the requirements of heaven and to the order
established in the kingdom of God upon the earth, that will establish
men in the truth. Men may receive the visitation of angels; they may
speak in tongues; they may heal the sick by the laying on of hands;
they may have visions and dreams; but except they are faithful and pure
in heart, they become an easy prey to the adversary of their souls,
and he will lead them into darkness and unbelief more easily than
others.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1900, pp. 40, 41.
HOW MAN LAYS AN IMPERISHABLE FOUNDATION OF TRUTH. But the men and
the women who are honest before God, who humbly plod along, doing
their duty, paying their tithing, and exercising that pure religion
and undefiled before {10} God and the Father, which is to visit the
fatherless and the widows in their afflictions and to keep oneself
unspotted from the world, and who help look after the poor; and who
honor the holy Priesthood, who do not run into excesses, who are
prayerful in their families, and who acknowledge the Lord in their
hearts, they will build up a foundation that the gates of hell cannot
prevail against; and if the floods come and the storms beat upon
their house, it shall not fall, for it will be built upon the rock of
eternal truth. I pray that this vast congregation will build upon this
imperishable foundation, upon the principle expressed by the words
of Joshua, "as for me and my house, we will serve God," and as also
expressed by Job, "though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." If you
have that spirit toward God and his work in these latter days, you will
build steadily and slowly, it may be, but surely, upon a foundation
that will endure throughout the countless ages of eternity. And if you
do not get any great manifestations, you need not worry about it. You
will get the testimony of Jesus Christ in your hearts, and you will
know God and Jesus whom he has sent, whom to know is life eternal, just
as well as those who receive visions. For those who do receive visions,
the devil will try to make them believe that they were delusions, and
if they commit sin, he will be sure to make them believe it. God bless
you, is my prayer. Amen.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1900, p. 42.
REWARD OF ALL HONEST PEOPLE. In some instances you will find examples
of people out in the world who do not know as much as you do of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, who have not the testimony of the Spirit in
their hearts, as you have, of the divinity of Christ and of Joseph
Smith, who are just as devout, just as humble, just as contrite in
spirit, and as devoted to what they know, as some of us are, and they
will be rewarded according to their works, every one of them, and will
receive reward far surpassing anything that they dream of.--_Apr. C.
R.,_ 1912, p. 8.
{11} THE GOSPEL IS SIMPLE. Some subjects are in themselves, perhaps,
perfectly harmless, and any amount of discussion over them would
not be injurious to the faith of our young people. We are told, for
example, that the theory of gravitation is at best a hypothesis, and
that such is the atomic theory. These theories help to explain certain
things about nature. Whether they are ultimately true can not make
much difference to the religious convictions of our young people.
On the other hand, there are speculations which touch the origin of
life and the relationship of God to his children. In a very limited
degree that relationship has been defined by revelation, and until we
receive more light upon the subject we deem it best to refrain from the
discussion of certain philosophical theories which rather destroy than
build up the faith of our young people. One thing about this so-called
philosophy of religion that is very undesirable lies in the fact that
as soon as we convert our religion into a system of philosophy, none
but philosophers can understand, appreciate, or enjoy it. God, in
his revelation to man, has made his word so simple that the humblest
of men, without special training, may enjoy great faith, comprehend
the teachings of the gospel, and enjoy undisturbed their religious
convictions. For that reason we are averse to the discussion of certain
philosophical theories in our religious instructions.--_Juvenile
Instructor,_ Vol. 46, pp. 208, 209, April, 1911.
OUR KNOWLEDGE IS LIMITED. Our methods in speculation and reasoning
about the things of God may often be harmless; but if we depart from
the simplicity of God's word into a spirit of rationalism, we become
the victims of vanity, which endangers the true spirit of worship in
the human heart. It is not easy for men to give up their vanities, to
overcome their preconceived notions, and surrender themselves heart
and soul to the will of God which is always higher than their own. The
dangers of religious {12} speculations are as great today as they were
in the days of Christ, and if we would avoid these dangers we must
adhere to the simplicity of our religious beliefs and practices. When
men and women realize they are getting into deep water where their
footing is insecure, they should retreat, for they may be sure that
the course they have been taking will lead them more and more away
from their bearings which are not always easy to regain. The religion
of the heart, the unaffected and simple communion which we should hold
with God, is the highest safeguard of the Latter-day Saints. It is no
discredit to our intelligence or to our integrity to say frankly in the
face of a hundred speculative questions, "I do not know."
One thing is certain, and that is, God has revealed enough to our
understanding for our exaltation and for our happiness. Let the Saints,
then, utilize what they already have; be simple and unaffected in their
religion, both in thought and word, and they will not easily lose their
bearings and be subjected to the vain philosophies of man.--_Juvenile
Instructor,_ Vol. 46, p. 269, May, 1911.
BLESSINGS FOR THE LOVE OF TRUTH. If you love the truth, if you have
received the gospel in your hearts, and love it, your intelligence
will be added upon, your understanding of truth will be expanded,
become larger than in any other way. Truth is the thing, above all
other things in the world, that makes men free--free from indolence
and carelessness, free from the fearful consequences of neglect, for
it will be a fearful consequence, if we neglect our duty before the
living God. If you will learn the truth and walk in the light of truth,
you shall be made free from the errors of men and of crafts; you will
be above suspicion and above wrong-doing of every description. God
will approve of you and bless you and your inheritances, and make you
prosper and flourish like a green bay tree.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol.
21, p. 102, December, 1917.
{13}
CHAPTER II
THE ETERNAL NATURE OF THE CHURCH, THE PRIESTHOOD, AND MAN
ETERNAL NATURE OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION. I feel this morning as I
have felt all my life, but I feel it stronger this morning, perhaps,
than ever before, that there is nothing under the heavens of so much
importance to me or to the children of men as the great plan of life
and salvation which was devised in the heavens in the beginning,
and which has been handed down from period to period through the
inspiration of holy men called of God until the day of the coming of
the Son of Man, for this gospel and this plan of salvation was revealed
to our first parents. The angel of God carried to them the plan of
redemption, and of salvation from death and sin that has been revealed
from time to time by divine authority to the children of men, and it
has undergone no change. There was nothing in it, in the beginning,
that was superfluous or unnecessary; nothing in it that could be
dispensed with; it was a complete plan devised in the beginning by
the wisdom of the Father and the holy ones for the redemption of the
human race and for their salvation and exaltation in the presence of
God. It was taught more fully, and exemplified more perfectly in the
being, the life and mission, the instruction and doctrine, of the Son
of God, than ever before, unless there may be an exception in the days
of Enoch; but through all the generations of time, the same gospel,
the same plan of life and salvation, the same ordinances, burial with
Christ, remembrance of the great sacrifice to be offered for the sins
of the world and for man's redemption, have been handed down from time
to time, from the time of the creation.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1913, p. 2.
{14} GOSPEL PRINCIPLES ARE ETERNAL. Faith in God is an irrevocable
principle, just as much as "thou shalt not kill;" "thou shalt not
steal;" "thou shalt not commit adultery." Repentance of a sin is an
eternal principle, and is as essential in its place, and is as much an
integral part of the gospel of Jesus Christ as: "thou shalt not kill,"
or, "thou shalt have no other gods before me."
Baptism for the remission of sin, by one having authority, is an
eternal principle, for God devised it, and commanded it, and Christ
himself was not above obeying it; he had to obey it in order to fulfil
the law of righteousness.
And then the rites of the Priesthood of the Church, as the Lord has
revealed them, and the principles that underlie the organization of the
Church of Jesus Christ, are irrevocable, unchanging and unchangeable.
We talk of the "everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ," which "is the
power of God unto salvation," and these principles in and of themselves
are eternal principles, and will last while life, or thought, or being
last, or immortality endures.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1912, p. 11.
PRE-EXISTING STATES.
_Mrs. Martha H. Tingey, President, Y. L. M. I. A._
DEAR SISTER: The First Presidency have nothing to advance concerning
pre-existing states but that which is contained in the revelations to
the Church. The written standards of scripture show that all people
who come to this earth and are born in mortality had a pre-existent,
spiritual personality as the sons or daughters of the Eternal Father.
(See _Pearl of Great Price,_ Chap. 3, verses 5-7.) Jesus Christ was the
Firstborn. A spirit born of God is an immortal being. When the body
dies the spirit does not die. In the resurrected state the body will
be immortal as well as the spirit. Speculations as to the career of
Adam before he {15} came to the earth are of no real value. We learn
by revelation that he was Michael, the Archangel, and that he stands
at the head of his posterity on earth (_Doctrine and Covenants,_ Sec.
107:53-56.) Dogmatic assertions do not take the place of revelation,
and we should be satisfied with that which is accepted as doctrine, and
not discuss matters that, after all disputes, are merely matters of
theory.
Your brethren,
JOSEPH F. SMITH,
ANTHON H. LUND,
CHARLES W. PENROSE,
First Presidency.
--_Young Woman's Journal,_ Vol. 23, pp. 162, 163, 1912.
SPIRIT MEMORIES. (Letter written to Elder O. F. Whitney who was a
missionary in England.) I heartily endorse your sentiments respecting
congeniality of spirits. Our knowledge of persons and things before we
came here, combined with the divinity awakened within our souls through
obedience to the gospel, powerfully affects, in my opinion, all our
likes and dislikes, and guides our preferences in the course of this
life, provided we give careful heed to the admonitions of the Spirit.
All those salient truths which come home so forcibly to the head and
heart seem but the awakening of the memories of the spirit. Can we know
anything here that we did not know before we came? Are not the means of
knowledge in the first estate equal to those of this? I think that the
spirit, before and after this probation, possesses greater facilities,
aye, manifold greater, for the acquisition of knowledge, than while
manacled and shut up in the prison-house of mortality.
Had we not known before we came the necessity of our coming, the
importance of obtaining tabernacles, the glory to be achieved in
posterity, the grand object to be {16} attained by being tried
and tested--weighed in the balance, in the exercise of the divine
attributes, god-like powers and free agency with which we are endowed;
whereby, after descending below all things, Christ-like, we might
ascend above all things, and become like our Father, Mother and Elder
Brother, Almighty and Eternal!--we never would have come; that is, if
we could have stayed away.
I believe that our Savior is the ever-living example to all flesh
in all these things. He no doubt possessed a foreknowledge of all
the vicissitudes through which he would have to pass in the mortal
tabernacle, when the foundations of this earth were laid, "when the
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."
When he conversed with the brother of Jared, on the Mount, in his
spiritual body, he understood his mission, and knew the work he had to
do, as thoroughly as when he ascended from the Mount of Olives before
the wondering gaze of the Jewish disciples, with his resurrected,
glorious and immortal body.
And yet, to accomplish the ultimatum of his previous existence,
and consummate the grand and glorious object of his being, and the
salvation of his infinite brotherhood, he had to come and take upon
him flesh. He is our example. The works he did, we are commanded to
do. We are enjoined to follow him, as he followed his Head; that
where he is, we may be also; and being with him, may be like him. If
Christ knew beforehand, so did we. But in coming here, we forgot all,
that our agency might be free indeed, to choose good or evil, that
we might merit the reward of our own choice and conduct. But by the
power of the Spirit, in the redemption of Christ, through obedience,
we often catch a spark from the awakened memories of the immortal
soul, which lights up our whole being as with the glory of our former
home.--_Contributor,_ 1883, Vol. 4, pp. 114, 115.
THE IMMORTALITY OF MAN. We are called mortal beings {17} because in
us are seeds of death, but in reality we are immortal beings, because
there is also within us the germ of eternal life. Man is a dual
being, composed of the spirit which gives life, force, intelligence
and capacity to man, and the body which is the tenement of the spirit
and is suited to its form, adapted to its necessities, and acts in
harmony with it, and to its utmost capacity yields obedience to the
will of the spirit. The two combined constitute the soul. The body is
dependent upon the spirit, and the spirit during its natural occupancy
of the body is subject to the laws which apply to and govern it in the
mortal state. In this natural body are the seeds of weakness and decay,
which, when fully ripened or untimely plucked up, in the language
of scripture, is called "the temporal death." The spirit is also
subject to what is termed in the scriptures and revelations from God,
"spiritual death." The same as that which befell our first parents,
when, through disobedience and transgression, they became subject to
the will of Satan, and were thrust out from the presence of the Lord
and became spiritually dead, which the Lord says, "is the first death,
even that same death which is the last death, which is spiritual,
which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say, Depart, ye
cursed!" And the Lord further says, "But behold, I say unto you, that I
the Lord God gave unto Adam and unto his seed that they should not die
as to the temporal death, until I the Lord God should send forth angels
to declare unto them repentance and redemption (from the first death),
through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son. And thus did I,
the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation; that by his
natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life,
even as many as would believe; and they that believe not, unto eternal
damnation, for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall,
because they repent not." From the natural death, that is the death of
the body, and {18} also from the first death, "which is spiritual,"
there is redemption through belief on the name of the Only Begotten
Son, in connection with repentance and obedience to the ordinances of
the gospel, declared by holy angels, for if one "believe," he must also
obey; but from the "second death," even that same death which is the
first death, "which is spiritual," and from which man may be redeemed
through faith and obedience, and which will again be pronounced upon
the wicked when God shall say, "depart, ye cursed," there is no
redemption, so far as light on this matter has been revealed.
It is written that "all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven
unto men" who receive me and repent; "but the blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven unto men." If men will not repent
and come unto Christ, through the ordinances of his gospel, they
cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, but must remain forever
subject to the will of Satan and the consequent spiritual darkness
or death unto which our first parents fell, subjecting all their
posterity thereto, and from which none can be redeemed but by belief or
faith on the name of the Only Begotten Son and obedience to the laws
of God. But, thanks be to the eternal Father, through the merciful
provisions of the gospel, all mankind will have the opportunity of
escape, or deliverance, from this spiritual death, either in time or in
eternity, for not until they are freed from the first can they become
subject unto the second death, still if they repent not "they cannot
be redeemed from their spiritual fall," and will continue subject to
the will of Satan, the first spiritual death, so long as "they repent
not, and thereby reject Christ and his gospel;" but what of those who
do believe, repent of their sins, obey the gospel, enter into its
covenants, receive the keys of the priesthood and the knowledge of the
truth by revelation and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards turn
away wholly from that light and knowledge? They "become {19} a law unto
themselves," and "will to abide in sin;" of such it is written, "whoso
breaketh this covenant, after he hath received it, and altogether
turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness in this world nor in the
world to come." And again, "Thus saith the Lord, concerning all those
who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered
themselves, through the power of the devil, to be overcome, and to
deny the truth and defy my power--they are they who are the sons of
perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have
been born, for they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of
God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; concerning whom I have
said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come,
having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having
denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father--having crucified him unto
themselves, and put him to an open shame."--_Doc. and Cov._ 76:31-35.
Now, there is a difference between this class and those who simply
repent not and reject the gospel in the flesh. Of these latter it is
written, "they shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead,
through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb," and "shall be redeemed
in the due time of the Lord after the sufferings of his wrath." But of
the others it is said, "they shall not be redeemed," for "they are the
only ones on whom the second death shall have any power." The others,
never having been redeemed from the first, cannot be doomed to the
second death, or in other words cannot be made to suffer eternally
the wrath of God, without hope of redemption through repentance, but
must continue to suffer the first death until they repent, and are
redeemed therefrom through the power of the atonement and the gospel
of salvation, thereby being brought to the possession of all the keys
and blessings to which they will be capable of attaining or to which
they may be entitled, through the mercy, justice and power of the
everlasting God; or, on the other {20} hand, forever remain bound in
the chains of spiritual darkness, bondage and banishment from his
presence, kingdom and glory. The "temporal death" is one thing, and
the "spiritual death" is another thing. The body may be dissolved and
become extinct as an organism, although the elements of which it is
composed are indestructible or eternal, but I hold it as self-evident
that the spiritual organism is an eternal, immortal being, destined
to enjoy eternal happiness and a fulness of joy, or suffer the wrath
of God, and misery--a just condemnation, eternally. Adam became
spiritually dead, yet he lived to endure it until freed therefrom by
the power of the atonement, through repentance, etc. Those upon whom
the second death shall fall will live to suffer and endure it, but
without hope of redemption. The death of the body, or natural death, is
but a temporary circumstance to which all were subjected through the
fall, and from which all will be restored or resurrected by the power
of God, through the atonement of Christ.
Man existed before he came to this earth, and he will exist after he
passes from it; and will continue to live throughout the countless ages
of eternity.
There are three classes of beings; or rather, man exists in three
separate conditions, before and after his probation upon this
earth--first, in the spirit or pre-existent state; second, in the
disembodied state, the condition which exists after the dissolution of
the body and spirit until the resurrection take place; and third, in
the resurrected state. For instance, some two thousand years before
the coming of Christ into the world to sojourn in the flesh, he showed
himself to the brother of Jared and said, "Behold, this body, which ye
now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the
body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit,
will I appear unto my people in the flesh." He further declared,
"Behold, I am he who {21} was prepared from the foundation of the world
to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ."
Here Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the
manner and in the likeness of the same body, even as he showed himself
unto the Nephites--that is, prior to his coming in the flesh. This I
consider typical of the first condition of all spirits. Again it is
written, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison: which sometime were disobedient, when
once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the
ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by
water," etc. Thus we see that while the body of our Savior slept in
the tomb, he went in the spirit and preached his glorious gospel to
"the spirits in prison," who were disobedient in the days of Noah,
and were destroyed in the flesh by the flood. This was their second
condition or state in the spirit, awaiting the resurrection of their
bodies which were slumbering in death. "Marvel not at this:" saith
Jesus, "for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear his [the Redeemer's] voice, and shall come forth; they that
have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." In reference to the third
condition or state, we will refer to the account given of the risen
Redeemer before his ascension. John tells us that he appeared unto his
disciples three times after his resurrection, on which occasions he
ate bread, broiled fish and honeycomb, and opened the eyes of their
understanding, that they began to comprehend the Scriptures and the
prophecies concerning Christ. But when he appeared unto them they were
terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
And he said unto them, "Why {22} are ye troubled? and why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:
handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have." Here is presented the true type of the resurrected being. And
after this manner are all those who have their resurrected bodies, and
there are many of these, for we are told in the scriptures that "the
graves were opened, and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and
came out of the graves, after his resurrection, and went into the holy
city and appeared unto many." This class of beings dwell in heaven, or
in the paradise of the just, having been counted worthy to come forth
in the first resurrection, even with Christ, to dwell with him and to
be associated with the members of the kingdom of God and his Christ.
These comprise the three conditions or estates of man in heaven. Not
all, however, of the disembodied spirits enjoy the same privileges,
exaltation and glory. The spirits of the wicked, disobedient, and
unbelieving, are denied the privileges, joys and glory of the spirits
of the just and good. The bodies of the Saints will come forth in the
first resurrection, and those of the unbelieving, etc., in the second,
or last. In other words, the Saints will rise first, and those who are
not Saints will not rise until afterwards, according to the wisdom,
justice and mercy of God.
Christ is the great example for all mankind, and I believe that
mankind were as much foreordained to become like him, as that he was
foreordained to be the Redeemer of man. "Whom God did foreknow"--and
whom did he not foreknow?--"he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brethren." It is very plain that mankind are very far from being
like Christ, as the world is today, only in form of person. In this
we are like him, or in the form of his person, as he is the express
image of his Father's person. We are therefore in the form of God,
physically, and may {23} become like him spiritually, and like him in
the possession of knowledge, intelligence, wisdom and power.
The grand object of our coming to this earth is that we may become like
Christ, for if we are not like him, we cannot become the sons of God,
and be joint heirs with Christ.
The man who passes through this probation, and is faithful, being
redeemed from sin by the blood of Christ, through the ordinances of the
gospel, and attains to exaltation in the kingdom of God, is not less
but greater than the angels, and if you doubt it, read your Bible, for
there it is written that the Saints shall "judge angels," and also they
shall "judge the world." And why? Because the resurrected, righteous
man has progressed beyond the pre-existent or disembodied spirits, and
has risen above them, having both spirit and body as Christ has, having
gained the victory over death and the grave, and having power over sin
and Satan; in fact, having passed from the condition of the angels to
that of a God. He possesses keys of power, dominion and glory that
the angel does not possess--and cannot possess without gaining them
in the same way that he gained them, which will be by passing through
the same ordeals and proving equally faithful. It was so ordained when
the morning stars sang together, before the foundations of this earth
were laid. Man in his pre-existent condition is not perfect, neither
is he in the disembodied estate. There is no perfect estate but that
of the risen Redeemer, which is God's estate, and no man can become
perfect except he become like the Gods. And what are they like? I have
shown what Christ is like, and he is like his Father, but I will refer
to an undoubted authority to this people, on this point: "The Father
has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but
the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage
of Spirit, were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."
(Doc. {24} and Cov., Sec. 130.) There is not time to refer to the many
scriptural passages which might be cited in proof of these important
facts, enough already have been referred to, to place the matter beyond
a doubt.
It is believed by many, in the Christian world, that our Savior
finished his mission when he expired upon the cross, and his last
words on the cross, as given by the Apostle John--"It is finished,"
are frequently quoted as evidence of the fact; but this is an error.
Christ did not complete his mission upon the earth until after his body
was raised from the dead. Had his mission been completed when he died,
his disciples would have continued fishermen, carpenters, etc., for
they returned to their several occupations soon after the crucifixion,
not yet knowing the force of their holy calling, nor understanding the
mission assigned them by their Master, whose name would soon have been
buried with his body in the grave to perish and be forgotten, "for
as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the
dead." But the most glorious part of his mission had to be accomplished
after the crucifixion and death of his body. When on the first day
of the week some of the disciples went to the tomb with certain
preparations for the body of their Lord, they were met there by two men
clothed in "shining garments," who said unto them, "Why seek ye the
living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he
spoke unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must
be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the
third day rise again." And not until then did the disciples remember
these words of the Savior, or begin to understand their meaning. Why
were they thus forgetful and seemingly ignorant of all they had been
taught by the Savior respecting the objects of his mission to the
earth? Because they lacked one important qualification, they had not
yet been "endowed with power from on high." They had not yet obtained
the gift of the {25} Holy Ghost. And the presumption is, they never
would have received this important and essential endowment had Christ's
mission been completed at the time of his death.
It may seem strange to some who may not have reflected on this
matter fully, that the disciples of Christ were without the gift of
the Holy Ghost until after his resurrection. But so it is written,
notwithstanding the Savior on one occasion declared, "blessed art thou
Simon, etc., for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but
my Father which is in heaven." While Jesus was with them he was their
light and their inspiration. They followed him by sight, and felt the
majestic power of his presence, and when these were gone they returned
to their nets and to their various occupations and to their homes
saying, "we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed
Israel, but the chief priests and our rulers have delivered him to
be condemned to death, and have crucified him." No wonder that Jesus
exclaimed unto some of them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken."
If the disciples had been endowed with the "gift of the Holy Ghost,"
or "with power from on high," at this time, their course would have
been altogether different from this, as the sequel abundantly proved.
If Peter, who was the chief apostle, had received the gift of the
Holy Ghost, and the power and testimony thereof prior to the terrible
night on which he cursed and swore and denied his Lord, the result
would have been very different with him, for then he would have sinned
against "light and knowledge," and "against the Holy Ghost," for which
there is no forgiveness. The fact, therefore, that he was forgiven,
after bitter tears of repentance, is an evidence that he was without
the witness of the Holy Ghost, never having received it. The other
disciples or apostles of Christ were precisely in the same condition,
and it was not until the evening of the day on which Jesus came out of
the grave that he bestowed upon {26} them this inestimable gift. John
gives a careful description of this important event which concludes
as follows: "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my
Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this,
he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," etc. This was
their glorious commission, and now were they prepared to receive the
witness of the Spirit--even the testimony of Jesus Christ. Yet they
were told to tarry in Jerusalem, until they were endued with power
from on high, which they did. Jesus further told them that if he went
not away the "Comforter"--that is, the Holy Ghost--would not come unto
them, but if he went away he would "send him," and he it was who should
testify of Christ, and of the Father, and bring to their remembrance
"all things whatsoever" he had commanded or taught them, and it should
"lead them into all truth." Thus we see that the resurrection from the
dead, not only of Christ, but of all mankind, in the due time of the
Lord; the endowment of the apostles with the Holy Ghost, and their
glorious commission from Christ, being sent out by him as he was sent
by the Father; the opening of the eyes of the disciples to understand
the prophecies of the Scriptures, and many other things did Jesus after
he cried out upon the cross, "it is finished." Further, the mission
of Jesus will be unfinished until he redeems the whole human family,
except the sons of perdition, and also this earth from the curse that
is upon it and both the earth and its inhabitants can be presented to
the Father redeemed, sanctified and glorious.
Things upon the earth, so far as they have not been perverted by
wickedness, are typical of things in heaven. Heaven was the prototype
of this beautiful creation when it came from the hand of the Creator,
and was pronounced "good."--_Journal of Discourses,_ Vol. 23 (1883),
pp. 169-175, delivered June 18, 1882.
{27} MAN ETERNALLY RESPONSIBLE. Man will be held responsible in the
life to come for the deeds that he has done in this life, and will
have to answer for the stewardships entrusted to his care here, before
the judge of the quick and the dead, the Father of our spirits, and of
our Lord and Master. This is the design of God, a part of his great
purpose. We are not here to live a few months or years, to eat, drink
and sleep, then to die, pass away and perish. The Lord Almighty never
designed man to be so ephemeral, useless and imperfect as this. I
would pity the being who had such a conception as this of the Creator
of the starry heavens, the planets, and the world on which we dwell,
poor as it is in glory in comparison to the many others created. Is
it conceivable that one possessing such power, majesty, intelligence,
light and knowledge would create a world like this and people it with
beings in his own image and likeness only to live and grovel through a
short, miserable existence, then die and perish? No such thing! There
is no death here, but there is life!
God is the God of the living, and not of the dead. He is the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of the ancient prophets. They live!
They live not only in the words they spoke, the predictions they
made, and in the promises handed down from generation to generation
to the children of men; they live not only in the record they made,
in the doctrines that they taught, and in the hope that they held out
for redemption, atonement and salvation, but they live in spirit, in
entity, as they lived here. They are prophets, as they were prophets
here, the chosen of God; patriarchs, as they were here; possessing
the same identity, the same entity; and by and by, if not already,
they will possess the same bodies they possessed while journeying
in mortality. Those bodies will become purified, cleansed, and made
perfect; and the spirit and the body will be reunited, never more to be
separated, never again to taste of death. This is the law {28} and the
promise of God, and the words spoken to his ancient prophets, come down
to us through the generations that have followed.--_Improvement Era,_
Vol. 21, p. 357, Feb., 1918.
OUR INDESTRUCTIBLE, IMMORTAL IDENTITY. What a glorious thing it is
to know and be true to that which has been revealed in these latter
times through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was
revealed anciently by the Savior himself, and he exemplified that
glorious principle of which I wish to say a few words, and which has
been renewed and emphasized more especially in these latter days
through Joseph Smith--I refer to our identity, our indestructible,
immortal identity. As in Christ we have the example, he was born of
woman, he lived, he died, and he lived again in his own person and
being, bearing even the marks of the wounds in his flesh, after his
resurrection from the dead--so also a testimony has been given to you,
in later days, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and others who have
been blessed with knowledge, that the same individual Being still
lives and will always live. Jesus is possessed of immortality, and
eternal life; and in evidence of his existence and his immortality, and
in evidence of the great and glorious truths of the gospel which he
taught, the death which he died, and the resurrection that he wrought
from the dead, he has revealed himself and borne his own record and
testimony to those who have lived and still live in this day and age.
What a glorious thought it is, to me at least, and it must be to all
who have conceived of the truth or received it in their hearts, that
those from whom we have to part here, we will meet again and see as
they are. We will meet the same identical being that we associated
with here in the flesh--not some other soul, some other being, or
the same being in some other form, but the same identity and the same
form and likeness, the same person we knew and were associated with in
our mortal existence, even to the {29} wounds in the flesh. Not that
a person will always be marred by scars, wounds, deformities, defects
or infirmities, for these will be removed in their course, in their
proper time, according to the merciful providence of God. Deformity
will be removed; defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall
attain to the perfection of their spirits, to the perfection that God
designed in the beginning. It is his purpose that men and women, his
children, born to become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ, shall be made perfect, physically as well as spiritually,
through obedience to the law by which he has provided the means that
perfection shall come to all his children. Therefore, I look for the
time when our dear Brother William C. Staines, whom we all knew so
well, and with whom we were familiar for years--I was familiar with
him, all my life, just as I was familiar with Aunt Rachel here all my
life, and do not remember the time when I did not know her--I look for
the time, I say, when Brother Staines will be restored. He will not
remain the crippled and deformed William C. Staines that we knew, but
he will be restored to his perfect frame--every limb, every joint,
every part of his physical being will be restored to its perfect frame.
This is the law and the word of God to us, as it is contained in the
revelations that have come to us, through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The
point in my mind which I desire to speak of particularly is this: When
we shall have the privilege to meet our mother, our aunt, our sister,
this noble woman whose mortal remains lie here now, but whose immortal
spirit has ascended to God from whence it came, when that spirit shall
return to take up this tabernacle again, she will be Aunt Rachel in her
perfection. She will not always remain just as she will appear when
she is restored again to life, but she will go on to perfection. Under
that law of restoration that God has provided, she will regain her
perfection, the perfection of her youth, the perfection of her glory
and of her {30} being, until her resurrected body shall assume the
exact stature of the spirit that possessed it here in its perfection,
and thus we shall see the glorified, redeemed, exalted, perfected Aunt
Rachel, mother, sister, saint and daughter of the living God, her
identity being unchanged, as a child may grow to manhood or womanhood
and still be the same being.
I want to say to my friends, my brethren and sisters, and to the
kindred, that the Lord Almighty has revealed these truths to us in
these days. We not only have it in the written word, we have it in the
testimony of the spirit of God in the heart of every soul who has drunk
from the fountain of truth and light, and that witness bears record of
these words to us. What else would satisfy us? What else would satisfy
the desire of the immortal soul? Would we be satisfied to be imperfect?
Would we be satisfied to be decrepit? Would we be satisfied to remain
forever and ever in the form of infirmity incident to age? No! Would
we be satisfied to see the children we bury in their infancy remain as
children only, throughout the countless ages of eternity? No! Neither
would the spirits that did possess the tabernacles of our children be
satisfied to remain in that condition. But we know our children will
not be compelled to remain as a child in stature always, for it was
revealed from God, the fountain of truth, through Joseph Smith the
prophet, in this dispensation, that in the resurrection of the dead
the child that was buried in its infancy will come up in the form of
the child that it was when it was laid down; then it will begin to
develop. From the day of the resurrection, the body will develop until
it reaches the full measure of the stature of its spirit, whether it be
male or female. If the spirit possessed the intelligence of God and the
aspirations of mortal souls, it could not be satisfied with anything
less than this. You will remember we are told that the spirit of Jesus
Christ visited one of the ancient {31} prophets and revealed himself
to him, and he declared his identity, that he was the same Son of God
that was to come in the meridian of time. He said he would appear in
the flesh just as he appeared to that prophet. He was not an infant; he
was a grown, developed spirit; possessing the form of man and the form
of God, the same form as when he came and took upon him a tabernacle
and developed it to the full stature of his spirit. These are truths
that have been revealed to us. What for? To give us intelligent hope;
to give us intelligent aspiration; to lead us to think, to hope, to
labor and accomplish what God has aimed and does aim and design that we
should accomplish, not only in this life, but in the life to come.
I rejoice exceedingly that I know and have known nearly all my life
such a noble woman. I do not remember the first time that I saw Aunt
Rachel, I can't recall it; it seems to me I always knew her, just as
I knew my mother in my childhood and all the way through life; and I
rejoice exceedingly in this testimony of the Spirit of the Lord that
has come to us through revelation in the latter days. Through this
testimony I am confident that I shall see Aunt Rachel, by and by; and
when I go--and I expect to go, perhaps, long before she shall recover
this tabernacle--I expect to meet her there. I expect to meet the same
individual that I knew here. I expect to be able to recognize her, just
as I could recognize her tomorrow, if she were living. I believe I will
know just exactly who she is and what she is, and I will remember all
I knew about her; and enjoy her association in the spirit as I did in
the flesh; because her identity is fixed and indestructible, just as
fixed and indestructible as the identity of God the Father and Jesus
Christ the Son. They cannot be any other than themselves. They cannot
be changed; they are from everlasting to everlasting, eternally the
same; so it will be with us. We will progress and develop and grow in
wisdom and understanding, but our {32} identity can never change. We
did not spring from spawn. Our spirits existed from the beginning, have
existed always, and will continue forever. We did not pass through
the ordeals of embodiment in the lesser animals in order to reach the
perfection to which we have attained in manhood and womanhood, in the
image and likeness of God. God was and is our Father, and his children
were begotten in the flesh of his own image and likeness, male and
female. There may have been times when they did not possess the same
intelligence that they possessed at other times. There are periods
in the history of the world when men have dwindled into ignorance
and barbarism, and then there were other times when they have grown
in intelligence, developed in understanding, enlarged in spirit and
comprehension, approaching nearer to the condition and likeness of
their Father and God, and then losing faith, losing the love of God,
losing the light of the Spirit and returning again to semi-barbarism.
Then again, they have been restored, by the power and operation of
the Spirit of the Lord upon their minds, until they again reached a
degree of intelligence. We have reached a degree of intelligence in our
dispensation. Will this same degree of intelligence, that now exists
throughout the world, continue to exist? Yes; if the world continue
to abide in the light that has been shed abroad in the world by the
Father of light, with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of
turning. But let them deny God, let them deny truth, let them depart
from righteousness, let them begin again to wallow in wickedness
and transgression of the laws of God, and what will be the result?
They will degenerate; they will again recede possibly into absolute
barbarism, unless they repent, and the power of God will be again
restored to them and they be again lifted up by that light which shines
and is never dim, except to men who shut their hearts and eyes and ears
against it and will not receive it.
{33} I did not expect to enter into any lengthy discourse. I thank God
for my relationship and acquaintance with this noble, good mother. I
expect to be associated with her throughout all the ages to come, if
I can be as faithful as she has been. I desire to be, and that isn't
all--with the help of God, I intend to be faithful, as she has been
faithful, that in the end I may be worthy to dwell where she will
dwell, with the Prophet Joseph Smith, with her husband with whom she
was associated here in the flesh, with her son and her children, from
generation to generation. I expect to be associated with them in the
mansions that are prepared for the righteous, where God and Christ are,
where those shall be who believe in his name, who receive his work and
abide in his law! Oh! that I could be instrumental in the bands of the
Lord in bringing every loved soul unto him, for there are souls that
are still lacking, whom I love, and if it were possible, how I would
love to be instrumental in the band of the Lord in bringing those loved
souls to a knowledge of this truth, that they might receive of its
glory, benefits and blessings, in this life and in the life to come.
From my childhood, I have always tried to be a savior on Mount Zion, a
savior among men. I have that desire in my heart. I may not have been
very successful in my ambition to accomplish this work, but I have
desired it, and I still desire that I may be instrumental in helping to
spread this truth to the earth's remotest bounds and the testimony of
it to the children of men in every land. I know it is true. It appeals
to my judgment, to my desires, and to the aspirations of my soul; I
want my family; I want those the Lord has given to me; I want them
now; I want them forever! I want to be associated with them forever.
I do not want them to change their identity. I do not want them to be
somebody else. This idea of theosophy, which is gaining ground even
among so-called Christians, in these latter days, is a fallacy of the
deepest kind. It is absolutely repugnant {34} to the very soul of man
to think that a civilized, intelligent being might become a dog, a
cow, a cat; that he might be transformed into another shape, another
kind of being. It is absolutely repulsive and so opposed to the great
truth of God, that has been revealed from the beginning, that he is
from the beginning always the same, that he cannot change, and that
his children cannot change. They may change from worse to better; they
may change from evil to good, from unrighteousness to righteousness,
from humanity to immortality, from death to life everlasting. They
may progress in the manner in which God has progressed; they may grow
and advance, but their identity can never be changed, worlds without
end--remember that; God has revealed these principles, and I know they
are true. They assert their truth upon the intelligent mind and soul
of man. They embrace or embody that which the Lord has planted in our
hearts and souls to desire, and to give it unto us. They put us in the
way of receiving that which we most desire and most love, that which
is most necessary and essential to our happiness and exaltation. They
take of the things of God and give them to us, and they prepare us for
the future, for exaltation and for eternal happiness, a reward which
all the souls in the world desire, if they are correct in their lives
and thoughts. It is only the vicious and the truly wicked who do not
desire purity; they do not love purity and truth. I do not know whether
it is possible for any soul to become so debased as to lose all regard
for that which is pure and chaste, good and true and godlike. I believe
that there still lingers in the heart of the most vicious and wicked,
at times at least, a spark of that divinity that has been planted in
the souls of all the sons of God. Men may become so corrupt that they
do not have more than mere glimpses of that divine inspiration that
strives to lead them toward and to love good; but I do not believe
there is a soul in the world that has absolutely lost all conception
{35} and admiration of that which is good and pure, when he sees it.
It is hard to believe that a human being may become so depraved that
he has lost all desire that he might also be good and pure, if it were
possible; but many people have abandoned themselves to evil and have
come to the conclusion that there is no chance for them. While there is
life there is hope, and while there is repentance there is a chance for
forgiveness; and if there is forgiveness, there is a chance for growth
and development until we acquire the full knowledge of these principles
that will exalt and save us and prepare us to enter into the presence
of God the Father, who is the Father of our spirits, and who is the
Father in the flesh, of his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who joined
divine immortality with the mortal, welded the link between God and man
made it possible for mortal souls, on whom the sentence of death had
been placed, to acquire eternal life, through obedience to his laws.
Let us, therefore, seek the truth and walk in the light as Christ is in
the light, that we may have fellowship with him, and with each other,
that his blood may cleanse us from all sin.
May the Lord comfort my brother Heber, and I know he will. Brother
Heber does not feel that there is any death here. I don't think I
could weep for sorrow. I could give way to tears just now, but they
would not be tears of sorrow, of mourning, or of grief, for this good
soul. They would only express the love I have for her; they would only
indicate my feelings toward her, for the noble and pure example she
set before me and all who have known her. I could weep for joy in the
knowledge that I possess that she, in her spirit life and being, is
and will be associated with all those who have been endeared to her by
the persecutions, the experiences and the trials through which she has
had to pass in this world. With them she is rejoicing today, as one
born of death into life everlasting. She is not dead; she lives! What
greater proof do you want of that fact {36} than to see her lifeless
form? Who is she? This is her casket. This is her mortal tenement;
this is but the clay that enveloped the immortal, living Aunt Rachel,
the living spirit. The spirit has fled. Her spirit, the immortal part,
has departed from this tabernacle; hence, this tabernacle lies here
lifeless and ready to return to mother earth from whence it came, but
to be restored again, every element to be recalled and re-formed in its
perfect frame, when Aunt Rachel will come and take possession of it and
inherit it forever, just as Christ came and took up his body that was
not suffered to see corruption, and inherited it in its immortal state,
never to be separated again; so it will be with her.--_Improvement
Era,_ Vol. 12, p. 591, June, 1909. Speech at the funeral services of
Rachel Grant, mother of President Heber J. Grant.
NO NEW PRINCIPLES IN THE GOSPEL. We have no new principle to advocate;
but we have come to preach the gospel of life and salvation, to testify
to the divinity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and of the divine
mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, through whose instrumentality the
truth was restored in this dispensation.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 21,
p. 98, December, 1917.
FOUNDATION OF TRUTH. We hear frequently of men who throw discredit on
the doctrine of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, because some of
the principles, doctrines, and philosophy which he taught are said to
have been spoken before his day by heathen philosophers.
A variety of examples are sometimes quoted to show that the ideals
which have grown from the doctrines of Christ are a direct development
of what is found in the teachings of the Old Testament, particularly
in the Psalms and in the second part of Isaiah. But, on the other
hand, it is just as certain that these ideals receive a finish and an
enrichment, by the touch of the Savior, vastly beyond and above what
they possessed before, and also they are placed {37} on deeper and
firmer foundations. This, let it be said to begin with, is because they
were his before they were ever uttered by man.
Even in the five distinctive and characteristic topics generally
considered by commentators original in the teachings of Jesus, we find
little if anything new, except the enlargement. These are named as,
the Fatherhood of God, the Kingdom of God; subjects or members of the
Kingdom; the Messiah, the Holy Ghost; and the Trinity of God.
But the idea of the Fatherhood of God was not unknown either to the
Pagans or to Israel. Zeus, from the time of Homer, had borne the name
"father of gods and men." But, both in Jewish and Pagan literature,
the idea was superficial and meant little more than "originator" (Gen.
1:26); and in the old Jewish scripture God is more particularly called
the "Father of his people, Israel" (Deut. 14:1; Isaiah 63:16). But in
the teachings of Christ there is a fuller embodiment of revelation in
the word Father, and the application which he makes of the Fatherhood
of God invests his life with supreme tenderness and beauty. As an
example: In the old scripture, we are told, "Like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him" (Psalm 103:13);
but by the interpretation of Jesus, the love of God as Father extends
beyond these limitations even to those who are unthankful and evil:
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which
is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45).
"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing
again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of
the Highest; for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil" (Luke
6:35).
{38} And so with other doctrines of Christ; while perhaps not
new they are enriched by the addition of fuller, broader, more
loving conceptions of God and his purposes; in which compulsion
was eliminated, and lowly service, love, and self-sacrifice were
substituted and made the true forces of an acceptable life. Even the
answer to the lawyer's question, often called the eleventh commandment:
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" had been given to
the children of Israel (Lev. 19:19), over two thousand years before its
perfected meaning was impressed upon the learned Pharisee (Matt. 22:34,
40).
But what of all this? Are we therefore to discredit the teachings of
the Savior? Verily no. Let it be remembered that Christ was with the
Father from the beginning, that the gospel of truth and light existed
from the beginning and is from everlasting to everlasting. The Father,
Son and Holy Ghost, as one God, are the fountain of truth. From this
fountain all the ancient learned philosophers have received their
inspiration and wisdom--from it they have received all their knowledge.
If we find truth in broken fragments through the ages, it may be set
down as an incontrovertible fact that it originated at the fountain,
and was given to philosophers, inventors, patriots, reformers, and
prophets by the inspiration of God. It came from him through his Son
Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, in the first place, and from no other
source. It is eternal.
Christ, therefore, being the fountain of truth, is no imitator. He
taught the truth first; it was his before it was given to man. When he
came to the earth he not only proclaimed new thought, but repeated some
of the everlasting principles which had been heretofore only partly
understood and enunciated by the wisest of men. And in so doing he
enlarged in every instance upon the wisdom which they had originally
received from him, because of his superior abilities and wisdom and his
association with the Father and the {39} Holy Ghost. He did not imitate
men. They made known in their imperfect way what the inspiration of
Jesus Christ had taught them, for they obtained their enlightenment
first from him.
Christ taught the gospel to Adam, and made known his truths to Abraham
and the prophets. He was the inspirer of the ancient philosophers,
Pagan or Israelite, as well as of the great characters of modern times.
Columbus, in discovery; Washington, in the struggle for freedom;
Lincoln, in emancipation and union; Bacon, in philosophy; Franklin,
in statesmanship and diplomacy; Stephenson, in steam; Watts, in song;
Edison, in electricity, and Joseph Smith, in theology and religion,
found in Christ the source of their wisdom and the marvelous truths
which they advocated.
Calvin, Luther, Melanchthon, and all the reformers, were inspired in
thoughts, words, and actions, to accomplish what they did for the
amelioration, liberty and advancement of the human race. They paved the
way for the more perfect gospel of truth to come. Their inspiration,
as with that of the ancients, came from the Father, his Son Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Ghost, the one true and living God. This may also
truthfully be said concerning the Revolutionary fathers of this nation,
and all who have in the ages past contributed to the progress of civil
and religious freedom. There is no light nor truth which did not come
to them first from him. Men are mere repeaters of what he has taught
them. He has voiced no thoughts originating with man. The teachings
of Jesus did not begin with his incarnation; for, like truth, he is
eternal. He not only inspired the ancients, from the beginning, but
when he came to earth he reiterated eternal, original truth, and added
gloriously to the revelations men had uttered. When he returned to the
Father he still took and does take an interest in his children and
people, by revealing to them new truths, and by inspiring their {40}
actions; and, as men grow in the knowledge of God, they shall become
more and more like him unto the perfect day, when his knowledge shall
cover the earth as the waters cover the deep.
It is folly, therefore, to discredit the Savior on the grounds that he
has uttered nothing new; for, with the Father and the Spirit, he is the
author of that which persists--the truth--that which has been, that
which is, and that which will continue forever.--_Improvement Era,_
Vol. 10, pp. 627-630, 1906-7.
ETERNITY OF THE SPIRIT OF MAN. Again, where are we going? We come here
and sojourn in the flesh a little season and then we pass away. Every
soul that is born into the world will die. There is not a soul that has
escaped death, except those upon whom God has passed, by the power of
his Spirit, that they should live in the flesh until the second coming
of the Son of Man; but they will eventually have to pass through the
ordeal called death; it may be in the twinkling of an eye, and without
pain or suffering; but they will pass through the change, because it
is an irrevocable edict of the Almighty. "In the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die." This was the edict of the Almighty and
it pertains to Adam--that is, all the human race; for Adam is many,
and it means you and me and every soul that lives and that bears the
image of the Father. We shall all die. But is that the end of our
being? If we had an existence before we came here we certainly shall
continue that existence when we leave here. The spirit will continue
to exist as it did before, with the additional advantages derived from
having passed through this probation. It is absolutely necessary that
we should come to the earth and take upon us tabernacles; because if
we did not have tabernacles we could not be like God, or like Jesus
Christ. God has a tabernacle of flesh and bone. He is an organized
being just as we are who are now in the flesh. Jesus Christ {41} was
born of his mother, Mary. He had a fleshly tabernacle; he was crucified
on the cross, and his body was raised from the dead. He burst the bonds
of the grave and came forth to newness of life, a living soul, living
being, a man with a body, and with parts and with spirit--the spirit
and the body becoming a living and immortal soul. You and I have got
to do the same thing. We must go through the same ordeal in order
to attain to the glory and exaltation which God designed we should
enjoy with him in the eternal worlds. In other words, we must become
like him; peradventure to sit upon thrones, to have dominion, power
and eternal increase. God designed this in the beginning. We are the
children of God. He is an eternal being, without beginning of days or
end of years. He always was, he is, he always will be. We are precisely
in the same condition and under the same circumstances that God our
heavenly Father was when he was passing through this or a similar
ordeal. We are destined to come forth out of the grave as Jesus did,
and to obtain immortal bodies as he did--that is, that our tabernacles
are to become immortal as his became immortal, that the spirit and the
body may be joined together and become one living being, indivisible,
inseparable, eternal.--_Deseret Weekly News,_ Vol. 33, pp. 130, 131.
PURPOSE OF THE ALMIGHTY UNCHANGEABLE. The purposes of the Almighty
are unchanged and unchangeable. His laws endure, and he is the
same yesterday, today and forever. His purposes will ripen and be
consummated and his designs be completed. Therefore, if we do not
conform to his will, obey his laws and yield to his requirements in
this world, we will be consigned to the "prison house," where we will
remain until we pay the debt to the uttermost farthing.--_Deseret
Weekly News,_ Vol. 24, 1875, p. 708.
{42}
CHAPTER III
REVELATION
VALUE OF THE SPIRIT OF REVELATION. The man who possesses the spirit of
revelation can realize whether he is a sinner, whether he is prone to
evil, whether he is magnifying his standing before the Lord, or not,
better than a man who has not the Spirit of the Lord in him, can he
not?--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1912, p. 7.
THE SPIRIT OF--INSPIRATION OF REVELATION--BY WHOM ENJOYED. And the
spirit of inspiration, the gift of revelation, does not belong to
one man solely; it is not a gift that pertains to the Presidency of
the Church and the Twelve apostles alone. It is not confined to the
presiding authorities of the Church, it belongs to every individual
member of the Church; and it is the right and privilege of every
man, every woman, and every child who has reached the years of
accountability, to enjoy the spirit of revelation, and to be possessed
of the spirit of inspiration in the discharge of their duties as
members of the Church. It is the privilege of every individual
member of the Church to have revelation for his own guidance, for
the direction of his life and conduct; and therefore I aver--and
I believe I may do so without any reasonable chance for it being
gainsaid or opposed that there is not another church in the world, or
an organization of religious people, who are so universally spiritual
in their lives, and who are so universally entitled to the gifts of
the Spirit of God as are the members of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. You are all entitled to revelation. It is your
privilege to have it revealed to you whether I am a servant of God or
a servant of men; whether I am in the discharge of my duty or not;
whether I, as a {43} presiding officer in the Church, am acting in
the discharge of my duty acceptable to you and the Lord. It is your
privilege to have revelation in regard to this, and to know the truth
yourselves. And it is my privilege to have revelation from God, as an
individual, for my own temporal guidance, and I repeat again that there
never was a time on the earth, since the Church was organized, when the
spirituality of the people of God was greater than it is today.--_Apr
C. R.,_ 1912, p. 5.
THE SPIRIT OF REVELATION ENJOYED BY ALL. I believe that every
individual in the Church has just as much right to enjoy the spirit
of revelation and the understanding from God which that spirit of
revelation gives him, for his own good, as the bishop has to enable
him to preside over his ward. Every man has the privilege to exercise
these gifts and these privileges in the conduct of his own affairs,
in bringing up his children in the way they should go, and in the
management of his farm, his flocks, his herds, and in the management of
his business, if he has business of other kinds to do; it is his right
to enjoy the spirit of revelation and of inspiration to do the right
thing, to be wise and prudent, just and good in everything that he
does. I know that this is a true principle, and I know that I know it,
too; and that is the thing that I would like the Latter-day Saints to
know.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1912, pp. 9, 10.
NEW REVELATION. So far as I know there is not an ordinance of the
Church now enjoyed or practiced that was not revealed to the Church
by the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know of no new doctrine that has been
revealed. Principles that were revealed to the Prophet Joseph have
grown and developed more fully and clearly to the understanding; but
we have received nothing new that I know of. Yet, if we should receive
something new, through the proper channels of the Church, we should be
as ready and willing to receive it as we were, or would be, to receive
the same at {44} the hands of the Prophet Joseph himself.--_Oct. C.
R.,_ 1900, p. 47.
WHEN TO EXPECT NEW REVELATION. We have nothing that is not in common
with the Latter-day Saints. We know nothing, and we will preach nothing
to the people except that which the Lord God has revealed, and we
advise and counsel those who are in authority, and whose duty and
business it is to teach and preach the principles of the gospel to the
world and to the Latter-day Saints, to confine their teachings and
their instructions to the word of God that has been revealed. There
is a great deal that has been revealed that has not yet been lived up
to, I assure you. There is a great deal yet remaining to be learned.
There is a great deal that is yet to be taught in the spirit of
instruction, and there is a great deal that has been revealed through
the Prophet Joseph and his associates that the people have not yet
received in their hearts, and have not yet become converted to as they
should. When we obey and are capable of observing the precepts of the
gospel and the laws of God and the requirements of heaven, which have
already been revealed, we will be far better off and nearer the goal
of perfection in wisdom, knowledge and power than we are today. When
that time comes, then there are other things still greater yet to be
revealed to the people of God. Until we do our duty, however, in that
which we have received, until we are faithful over the things that are
now committed into our hands, until we live our religion as we have it
now, as the Lord has given it to us, to add commandments, to add light
and intelligence to us over that which we have already received, which
we have not yet fully obeyed, would be to add condemnation upon our
heads. It is enough for us to live in the light of present inspiration
and present revelation and for each individual member of the Church
to keep the commandments of the Lord and labor in the Church as the
Spirit may give him and her guidance in the {45} performance of duty.
Every soul of us is entitled to inspiration from God to know what is
our duty and how we are to do it. We have not learned it yet, not all
of us, but we are in a fair way to learn. The Lord is still patient; he
is long-suffering; he is full of love and graciousness towards all, and
we are doing a little better all the time. I believe we are a little
more faithful in the performance of our duties than we have been in the
past; yet there is great room for improvement.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1917, p.
5.
HOW THE LORD REVEALS HIS PURPOSES CONCERNING THE CHURCH. And I know
this, that God has organized his Church in the earth, and I know
that when he designs or purposes to make any change in the matter of
governing or controlling or presiding over the affairs of his Church,
that he will make the change, and he will make it in such a way that
the whole people of the Church, who are doing right, will understand
and accept it. I know that the Lord will not raise up "Tom, Dick, or
Harry," here, there and everywhere, claiming to be Christ, or "one
mighty and strong," claiming to be inspired and called to do some
wonderful thing. The Lord will not deal with men in that way; that
while the organization of the Church exists, while quorums and councils
of the Priesthood are intact in the Church, the Lord will reveal his
purposes through them, and not through "Tom, Dick, or Harry." Put that
in your little note books now, and remember it; it is true.--_Apr. C.
R.,_ 1912, p. 10.
MODERN REVELATION IS NECESSARY. We are to understand, then, that God
does not, and will not further make known his will to men; that what he
has said suffices? His will to Moses and Isaiah and John is abundant
for modern followers of Christ? The Latter-day Saints take issue with
this doctrine, and pronounce it illogical inconsistent, and untrue, and
bear testimony to all the world that God lives and that he reveals his
will to men who believe in him and who obey his commandments, as much
in our day as at any {46} time in the history of nations. The canon of
scripture is not full. God has never revealed at any time that he would
cease to speak forever to men. If we are permitted to believe that he
has spoken, we must and do believe that he continues to speak, because
he is unchangeable.
His will to Abraham did not suffice for Moses, neither did his will
to Moses suffice for Isaiah. Why? Because their different missions
required different instructions; and logically, that is also true
of the prophets and people of today. A progressive world will never
discover all truth until its inhabitants become familiar with all the
knowledge of the Perfect One. How shall men become acquainted with the
knowledge of the Father? Only as he reveals it to them. Now if we are
permitted to believe that the Lord revealed himself to the ancients of
whose deeds we read in the Holy Scriptures, it seems to me that there
is no good reason for believing that it is not necessary that he should
reveal himself in this day to others who desire to be guided by his
Spirit and inspiration. Every new truth which grows into living action
in the lives of men is a revelation in itself from God, and without the
revelation of additional truth, men would not progress in this world,
but, left to themselves, would retrograde, being cut off from the light
and life of the great fountain of all intelligence, the Father of all.
What is revelation but the uncovering of new truths, by him who is the
Fountain of all Truth? To say that there is no need of new revelation,
is equivalent to saying that we have no need of new truths--a
ridiculous assertion.
Now, as to the usefulness of modern revelation, that has been referred
to above, in the brief treatment of its need, and it is no sign
that revelation is useless because it is not proper that it should
be accepted in the courts. "Render unto Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Revelation given
for the personal knowledge or guidance of any person should not be
given {47} to the public, either in a civil or religious capacity; but
because it might be (and in such cases is) considered improper for
public use, it is no sign that even such revelation is useless to the
person for whom it is intended. It might be said in passing, however,
that the revelation which the ministers were so troubled about, turned
out to be correct and in conformity with the evidence, and the decision
of the court and jury.
Our testimony is that God lives, and that he speaks by his power to men
who seek him and believe in him, thus making known his will to them in
matters that pertain, not only to his true Church, but in matters that
pertain to each individual who seeks him.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 5,
p. 805.
THEORY AND DIVINE REVELATION. Our young people are diligent students.
They reach out after truth and knowledge with commendable zeal, and in
so doing they must necessarily adopt for temporary use, many theories
of men. As long, however, as they recognize them as scaffolding useful
for research purposes, there can be no special harm in them. It is when
these theories are settled upon as basic truth that trouble appears,
and the searcher then stands in grave danger of being led hopelessly
from the right way.
There are so many demonstrated, practical, material truths, so many
spiritual certainties, with which the youth of Zion should become
familiar, that it appears a waste of time and means, and detrimental
to faith and religion to enter too extensively into the undemonstrated
theories of men on philosophies relating to the origin of life, or
the methods adopted by an Allwise Creator in peopling the earth with
the bodies of men, birds and beasts. Let us rather turn our abilities
to the practical analysis of the soil, the study of the elements, the
productions of the earth, the invention of useful machinery, the social
welfare of the race, and its material amelioration; and for the rest
cultivate an abiding {48} faith in the revealed word of God and the
saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which give joy in this
world and in the world to come eternal life and salvation.
Philosophic theories of life have their place and use, but it is not
in the classes of the Church schools, and particularly are they out of
place here or anywhere else, when they seek to supplant the revelations
of God. The ordinary student cannot delve into these subjects deep
enough to make them of any practical use to him, and a smattering of
knowledge in this line only tends to upset his simple faith in the
gospel, which is of more value to him in life than all the learning of
the world without it.
The religion of the Latter-day Saints is not hostile to any truth, nor
to scientific search for truth. "That which is demonstrated, we accept
with joy," said the First Presidency in their Christmas greeting to
the Saints, "but vain philosophy, human theory and mere speculations
of men we do not accept, nor do we adopt anything contrary to divine
revelation or to good common sense, but everything that tends to right
conduct, that harmonizes with sound morality and increases faith in
Deity, finds favor with us, no matter where it may be found."
A good motto for young people to adopt, who are determined to delve
into philosophic theories, is to search all things, but be careful
to hold on only to that which is true. The truth persists, but the
theories of philosophers change and are overthrown. What men use today
as a scaffolding for scientific purposes from which to reach out into
the unknown for truth, may be torn down tomorrow, having served its
purpose; but faith is an eternal principle through which the humble
believer may secure everlasting solace. It is the only way to find God.
Science and philosophy through all the ages have undergone change
after change. Scarcely a century has passed but they have introduced
new theories of science and philosophy, {49} that supersede the old
traditions and the old faith and the old doctrines entertained by
philosophers and scientists. These things may undergo continuous
changes, but the word of God is always true, is always right. The
principles of the gospel are always true, the principles of faith
in God, repentance from sin, baptism for the remission of sins by
authority of God, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy
Ghost--these principles are always true, and are always absolutely
necessary for the salvation of the children of men, no matter who
they are and where they are. No other name under heaven is given
but that of Jesus Christ, by which you can be saved or exalted in
the kingdom of God. Not only has God declared them, not only has
Christ declared these principles, by his voice to his disciples, from
generation to generation, in the old time, but in these latter days,
they have taken up the same testimony and declared these things to the
world. They are true today as they were then, and we must obey these
things.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 14, p. 548.
REVELATION AND LEGAL EVIDENCE. Recently a man charged with the murder
of another man was examined before a committing magistrate in Salt Lake
City. The father-in-law of the murdered man, during the examination
on the part of the State, related a conversation had between himself
and the accused soon after the commission of the crime. During the
conversation, according to newspaper report, the father-in-law of
the murdered man laid the crime at the door of the accused. In the
cross-examination the attorney for the defendant pressed the witness as
to how he knew that the accused was guilty of the crime. The reply, as
given in the press, was, because God had revealed it to him. It does
not appear from the further proceedings in the case that the testimony
was excepted to or withdrawn, or that the magistrate informed the
witness that such evidence was incompetent and could not be received.
The statement {50} gave rise to comment in the press and has been the
subject of discourse from the pulpit. Of course, every person must know
that such evidence is not admissible in a court of law, and if it had
been in a trial before a jury it would have been the duty of the judge
to order the testimony stricken out, and in the charge to the jury,
they would have been warned to disregard it altogether. In view of the
probability that there are those who may persist in the association
of such evidence with the religious body of which the witness is a
member, it may be proper to say, without discrediting in the least the
witness' conviction of the revelation he had received, that no member
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should, for one
moment, regard such testimony as admissible in a court of law, and
to make the case perfectly clear it may be further stated that such
evidence would not be permissible even in a Church court, where rules
of evidence, though not so technical, are founded largely upon the same
principles that govern the rules of evidence in a court of law. Any
attempt, therefore, to make it appear that such evidence is in keeping
with the tenets of the "Mormon" faith is wholly unjustified.--_Juvenile
Instructor,_ p. 114, Feb. 15, 1902, Vol. 37.
PROPER CHANNELS FOR REVELATION. It has sometimes been sorrowful to see
respected members of the Church, men who should know better, allow
themselves to become the tools of seductive spirits. Such men seem,
for the time at least, to lose sight of the fact that the Lord has
established on earth the Priesthood in its fulness; and that by direct
revelation and commandment from heaven; that he has instituted an
order or government that is beyond the capacity, and that is superior
to the wisdom and learning and understanding of man, so far, indeed,
that it seems impossible for the human mind, unaided by the Spirit of
God, to comprehend the beauties, powers, and character of the Holy
Priesthood. It seems difficult for men to comprehend the workings {51}
of the priesthood, its legitimate authority, its scope and power; and
yet by the light of the Spirit it is easily comprehended, but not
understanding it, men are easily deceived by seductive spirits that are
abroad in the world. They are led to believe that something is wrong,
and the next thing that transpires, they find themselves believing that
they are chosen specially to set things right. It is very unfortunate
for a man to be taken in this snare; for be it understood by the
Latter-day Saints that as long as the servants of God are living pure
lives, are honoring the priesthood conferred upon them, and endeavoring
to the best of their knowledge to magnify their offices and callings,
to which they have been duly chosen by the voice of the people and
the priesthood, and sanctioned by the approval of God, so long as the
Lord has any communication to make to the children of men, or any
instructions to impart to his Church, he will make such communication
through the legally appointed channel of the priesthood; he will never
go outside of it, as long, at least, as the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints exists in its present form on the earth.
It is not the business of any individual to rise up as a revelator,
as a prophet, as a seer, as an inspired man, to give revelation for
the guidance of the Church, or to assume to dictate to the presiding
authorities of the Church in any part of the world, much less in the
midst of Zion, where the organizations of the priesthood are about
perfect, where everything is complete, even to the organization
of a branch. It is the right of individuals to be inspired and
to receive manifestations of the Holy Spirit for their personal
guidance to strengthen their faith, and to encourage them in works
of righteousness, in being faithful and observing and keeping the
commandments which God has given unto them; it is the privilege of
every man and woman to receive revelation to this end, but not further.
The moment an individual rises up assuming the right to {52} control
and to dictate, or to sit in judgment on his brethren, especially upon
those who preside, he should be promptly checked, or discord, division
and confusion will be the result. Every man and woman in this Church
should know better than to yield to such a spirit; the moment that such
a feeling presents itself to them they should rebuke it, as it is in
direct antagonism to the order of the priesthood, and to the spirit and
genius of this work. We can accept nothing as authoritative but that
which comes directly through the appointed channel, the constituted
organizations of the priesthood, which is the channel that God has
appointed through which to make known his mind and will to the world.
Through Joseph, then, the Lord revealed himself to the world, and
through him he chose the first elders of the Church--men who were
honest in their hearts; men who he knew would receive the word, and
labor in connection with Joseph in this great, important undertaking;
and all that have been ordained to the priesthood, and all that have
been appointed to any position whatever in this Church have received
their authority and commission through this channel, appointed of
God, with Joseph at the head. This is the order, and it could not be
otherwise. God will not raise up another prophet and another people to
do the work that we have been appointed to do. He will never ignore
those who have stood firm and true from the commencement, as it were,
of this work, and who are still firm and faithful, inasmuch as they
continue faithful to their trust. There is no question in my mind of
their ever proving themselves unfaithful, as a body, for if any of
them were to become unworthy in his sight, he would remove them out of
their place and call others from the ranks to fill their positions.
And thus his priesthood will ever be found to be composed of the right
men for the place, of men whose backs will be fitted for the burden,
men through whom he can work and regulate {53} the affairs of his
Church according to the counsels of his own will. And the moment that
individuals look to any other source, that moment they throw themselves
open to the seductive influences of Satan, and render themselves liable
to become servants of the devil; they lose sight of the true order
through which the blessings of the priesthood are to be enjoyed; they
step outside of the pale of the kingdom of God, and are on dangerous
ground. Whenever you see a man rise up claiming to have received direct
revelation from the Lord to the Church, independent of the order and
channel of the priesthood, you may set him down as an impostor. God
has not called you to go out to the world to be taught, or to receive
revelations through apostates or strangers; but he has called and
ordained you and sent you forth to teach and lead people in the paths
of righteousness and salvation.
Now, how should it be? I will tell you. In the first place every person
should know that the gospel is true, as this is every one's privilege
who is baptized and receives the Holy Ghost. A man may be grieved in
his feelings because of some difficulty between himself and President
Taylor, or Cannon, or myself; he may have feelings in his heart which
lead him to think that he could not sustain us in his faith and
prayers; but if this should be the case, what is the course for him to
pursue? He should say in his heart, "God has established his kingdom,
and his priesthood is upon the earth; and notwithstanding my dislike
for certain men, I know that the gospel is true, and that God is with
his people; and that if I will do my duty and keep his commandments,
the clouds will roll by, and the mists will disappear, the Spirit of
the Lord will come more fully to my relief, and by and by I will be
able to see--if I am in error, wherein I erred, and then I will repent
of it, for I know that every wrong thing will yet be made right." I
think all men should feel that way.
Never is there but one appointed at a time to hold the {54} keys of
the kingdom of God pertaining to the earth. While Christ remained on
the earth he held them; but when he departed, he committed them to
Peter, he being the president or chief of the apostles; and it was
his right to direct and to receive revelation for the Church, and
to give counsel to all the brethren. After Satan and wicked men had
prevailed against the Church, crucified the Savior and killed the
apostles, the keys of the kingdom were taken from the earth. John the
Revelator describes it most clearly. And from that time until Joseph
Smith was called by the voice of the Almighty, and ordained to hold
those keys, no man held them upon the earth that we know of. It is
true the Lord did appoint other Twelve upon this continent, and his
Church flourished and prospered in this land for many years, but the
Lord declared that Peter, James and John, and the Twelve that walked
with him at Jerusalem, held the presidency over them. God may reveal
himself to different nations, and establish among them the same gospel
and ordinances as he did anciently, if necessity require, but if these
nations should be joined together there would be one head, and all the
rest would be subordinate. So that from the time that the keys of this
priesthood were taken from the earth until they were received by Joseph
Smith, no man ever possessed that priesthood, nor the keys thereof,
with authority to build up the Zion of God, and prepare a church or
people for the second coming of Christ, "as a bride is adorned for the
bridegroom," unless it may have been among the lost tribes, yet of this
we have no knowledge, but if so they would receive those keys necessary
to administer in the ordinances of the gospel for their salvation.
We know not of their existence or the condition in which they are
placed. The gospel that is given to them is suited to their needs and
conditions, and is for their salvation, not ours; and yet, it will be
the same gospel. And God will not call one from them to give to us the
priesthood, or to give to us the keys and {55} blessings, or to point
out the organizations of the kingdom of God, because he has established
that priesthood here, and we have it. If he has any communication to
make to us he will send his messengers to us. And in this way he will
deliver his law and give his mind and will to the people. He will do it
through the ordained channels of the priesthood which he acknowledges
and which he has established in the earth. He will go nowhere else to
do it, neither will he send us to them, unless they should be without
the priesthood and it becomes necessary to take the blessings of the
gospel to them, and I presume that will be the case.
When Joseph received the keys of the priesthood, he alone on the earth
held them; that is, he was the first, he stood at the head. It was
promised that he should not lose them nor be removed out of his place,
as long as he was faithful. And when he died, President Young was
chosen by the voice of the people, and sanctioned by the voice of God.
He held the priesthood which was after the order of the Son of God,
with the keys which pertain to the presidency of that priesthood upon
earth. He received it from the hands of Joseph, directly from him or
by his authority; and he held it until his death. When he died, that
mantle fell upon John Taylor, and while he lives he will hold that
authority, inasmuch as he is faithful. So it was with President Brigham
Young; he held it on condition of his faithfulness. If any man in that
position should become unfaithful, God would remove him out of his
place. I testify in the name of Israel's God that he will not suffer
the head of the Church, whom he has chosen to stand at the head, to
transgress his laws and apostatize; the moment he should take a course
that would in time lead to it, God would take him away. Why? Because
to suffer a wicked man to occupy that position would be to allow, as
it were, the fountain to become corrupted, which is something he will
never permit.
{56} The moment a man says he will not submit to the legally
constituted authority of the Church, whether it be the teachers, the
bishopric, the high council, his quorum, or the First Presidency,
and in his heart confirms it and carries it out, that moment he cuts
himself off from the privileges and blessings of the priesthood and
Church, and severs himself from the people of God, for he ignores the
authority that the Lord has instituted in his Church. These are the men
that generally get crotchets in their heads, that get inspiration (from
beneath), and that are often so desirous to guide the Church, and to
sit in judgment upon the priesthood. The only safe way for us to do,
as individuals, is to live so humbly, so righteously and so faithfully
before God that we may possess his Spirit to that extent that we shall
be able to judge righteously, and discern between truth and error,
between right and wrong; and then we shall know when a decision is
rendered against us that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, we
are in error, and that the decision is right; and although we may, at
the time, not be fully able to see and feel its justness, yet will be
constrained to say that "inasmuch as there are sixteen chances against
one for me to be wrong, I will gracefully and, humbly submit." The pith
of the matter is: the Lord has established his Church, organized his
priesthood, and conferred authority upon certain individuals, councils
and quorums, and it is the duty of the people of God to live so that
they shall know that these are acceptable unto him. If we begin to
cut off this one and that one, and set their authority aside, we may
just as well at once set God aside, and say that he has no right to
dictate.--_Journal of Discourses,_ Vol. 24, pp. 187-194, 1884, Ogden,
June 21, 1883.
THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS. I say to my brethren that the book of
Doctrine and Covenants contains some of the most glorious principles
ever revealed to the world, some that have been revealed in greater
fulness than they were {57} ever revealed before to the world; and
this, in fulfilment of the promise of the ancient prophets that in the
latter times the Lord would reveal things to the world that had been
kept bidden from the foundation thereof; and the Lord has revealed them
through the Prophet Joseph Smith.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1913, p. 9.
HOW TO READ THE BIBLE. That which characterizes above all else the
inspiration and divinity of the Scriptures is the spirit in which
they are written and the spiritual wealth they convey to those who
faithfully and conscientiously read them. Our attitude, therefore,
toward the Scriptures should be in harmony with the purposes for
which they were written. They are intended to enlarge man's spiritual
endowments and to reveal and intensify the bond of relationship between
him and his God. The Bible, as all other books of Holy Writ, to be
appreciated must be studied by those spiritually inclined and who are
in quest of spiritual truths.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 47, p. 204,
April, 1912.
PERSECUTION FOLLOWS REVELATION. I do not believe there ever was a
people who were guided by revelation, or acknowledged of the Lord as
his people, who were not hated and persecuted by the wicked and the
corrupt, and perhaps no people were ever more persecuted than this
people would be if it were in the power of the enemy today to persecute
us as it was in the power of Nero and the Romans to persecute the
Saints in their day. There never was a time when it was more fixed and
determined in the heart of the wicked to fight against and destroy the
kingdom from the earth than now, and their failure will be due only
to the impossibility of the task they have undertaken. And this is an
evidence to everyone that God's priesthood is here, that many of the
Saints are magnifying their calling and honoring the priesthood and
also the Lord, both with their lives and with their substance, which
are his.--_Deseret Weekly News,_ Vol. 24, p. 708, 1875.
{58}
CHAPTER IV
FREE AGENCY
THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS A FREE PEOPLE. We will now present before the
conference the names of the general authorities of the Church, with
the earnest desire that all the members of the Church present, who
by reason of their good standing before the Lord are entitled to the
privilege, will express their will according to the God-given agency
that every man in the world enjoys, and which is not lessened, but
rather increased, in all those who have made covenant with God by
sacrifice and through obedience to the principles of the gospel. The
freedom of the Latter-day Saints has never been curtailed nor lessened
one whit by their becoming members of the Church of Christ. Rather
has it been enlarged. There are no freer people upon the face of the
earth today than the Latter-day Saints. They are bound to the Church
by no ties or strings, but by their own conviction of the truth. And
whenever a man makes up his mind that he has had enough of what is
called "Mormonism," all he has to do is to make it known, and we will
sever the bond that unites him with the body and let him go his own
way, only bearing toward him the feeling of sympathy and true brotherly
kindness, and wishing him still the mercies of God. We will cry,
"Father, have mercy upon him," because he knows not what he is doing.
For when a man denies the truth, when he departs from the right way,
when he rejects the right of God to counsel in the affairs of men, he
is either ignorant or wilfully wicked, and it only excites our pity
for him. As the Savior cried upon the cross, so we will cry in the
same spirit, Father, forgive him; have mercy upon him; for he knows
not what he does. {59} Therefore, we expect only those to vote at this
time who are members of the Church in good standing, but all such we do
expect to vote, according to their own free will, whether it be yea or
nay. However, we wish it distinctly understood that no question upon
these matters will be discussed in this conference; for this is not
the place to discuss questions of difference or of feeling that we may
possess one towards another. Still we can manifest our approval or our
disapproval by the uplifted hand; and if there are any disapprovals,
we will have them heard and adjusted later on, but not here.--_Oct. C.
R.,_ 1903, p. 84.
THE USE OF FREEDOM AND HUMAN JUDGMENT. I think that in the realms of
liberty, and the exercise of human judgment all men should exercise
extreme caution, that they do not change nor abolish those things
which God has willed and has inspired to be done. It has been in this
realm of freedom, and the exercise of human judgment that most of the
evils that have occurred in the world have been done--the martyrdom
of Saints, the crucifixion of the Son of God himself, and much of the
apostasy and departure from the work of righteousness, and from the
laws of God, have occurred in this realm of freedom and the exercise
of human judgment. God in his boundless wisdom and gracious mercy has
provided means, and has shown the way to the children of men whereby,
even in the realms of freedom and the exercise of their own judgment,
they may individually go unto God in faith and prayer, and find out
what should guide and direct their human judgment and wisdom; and I do
not want the Latter-day Saints to forget that this is their privilege.
I would rather that they should seek God for a counselor and guide,
than to follow the wild harangues of political leaders, or leaders of
any other cult.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1912, pp. 41-42.
LATTER-DAY SAINTS SHOULD EXERCISE FREE AGENCY. We desire that the
Latter-day Saints will exercise the liberty {60} wherewith they have
been made free by the gospel of Jesus Christ; for they are entitled
to know the right from the wrong, to see the truth and draw the
line between it and error; and it is their privilege to judge for
themselves and to act upon their own free agency with regard to their
choice as to sustaining or otherwise those who should exercise the
presiding functions among them. We desire the Latter-day Saints at this
conference to exercise their prerogative, which is, to vote as the
Spirit of the Lord prompts them on the measures and the men that may be
presented unto them.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1904, p. 73.