strongly that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, surely the children of
the Latter-day Saints ought easily to learn to know this sublime truth.
Jesus came to earth, as He Himself declared, when He was twelve years
old, to attend to His Father's business. That business, we learned,
is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. And we
have learned also that it is life eternal to know God and Jesus Christ
whom He sent. Jesus devoted His life to expounding the principles
of eternal life. He showed in His own person what kind of being God
is. He explained His own relationship to God the Father. He revealed
the nature and the office of the Holy Ghost. He taught the essential
principles of the Gospel, which Paul called the power of God unto
salvation. He emphasized the necessity of divine authority in order
to act officially in the things of God. He explained by parable and
by teaching the duties that man owes to God. He made perfectly clear,
too, the duties that man owes to his fellowmen. He established by His
wonderful life and work His own divinity as the Son of God. He overcame
death, the barrier between God and man, by laying down His own life.
He proved the actuality of the resurrection and the life after death
by arising Himself from the tomb. He continues as the Living Christ,
interceding with the Father for us. All this the children of the
Latter-day Saints have had taught to them as clearly as it has been
{315} taught to the children of the world. In addition, the children
of the Latter-day Saints have membership in the true Church of Jesus
Christ. The Holy Priesthood is here established. The Gospel in its
fulness has been restored. The Church believes in continual revelation,
and is favored with the living word of God. These are the marks of the
Church of Christ. The inspiration of the Holy Ghost ought, therefore,
to cause the testimony of Jesus to burn brightly in the bosom of
every Latterday Saint. To us also Jesus has revealed the means of
salvation, by His teaching, by His personal example and influence, by
His death and resurrection. And to us He has delivered the keys of the
Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.
[Sidenote: Evidences of testimony in the Church.]
The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do know
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. They recognize
the fact that the object of Christ's life-work was to reveal God,
to teach men to know God as their Father, to persuade them to live
lives of righteousness, and to redeem them from the sin of the garden
of Eden. And as intellectual, men of the world have avowed their
conviction that Jesus is the Christ, so also have the leaders of
"Mormon" thought and life. Almost every meeting held in the Church
is a meeting of declaration of faith in Jesus. The monthly testimony
meetings, particularly, are filled with assurances of faith in Him.
The Presidency of the Church, the twelve apostles, and all the members
of the quorums of general authority, devote their lives as special
witnesses of Jesus to the testifying to His divine Sonship. And of all
the testimonies of Jesus as the true and living Christ, {316} the ever
present and ever active advocate with the Father, there is no other
so strong and effective as that of the Prophet, Joseph Smith, and his
associate Sidney Rigdon.
[Sidenote: "The testimony last of all."]
"We, Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the Spirit on the
sixteenth of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight
hundred and thirty-two. By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened
and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand
the things of God--Even those things which were from the beginning
before the world was, which were ordained of the Father, through His
Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the
beginning, of whom we bear record, and the record which we bear is the
fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son, whom we saw and
with whom we conversed in the heavenly vision.
"For while we were doing the work of translation, which the Lord had
appointed unto us, we came to the twenty-ninth verse of the fifth
chapter of John, which was given unto us as follows. Speaking of the
resurrection of the dead, concerning those who shall hear the voice
of the Son of Man, and shall come forth; They who have done good in
the resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil in the
resurrection of the unjust. Now this caused us to marvel, for it was
given unto us of the Spirit; and while we meditated upon these things,
the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about; and we beheld the glory
of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of {317} His
fullness; and saw the holy angels, and they who are sanctified before
His throne, worshipping God, and the Lamb, who worship Him for ever and
ever. And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him,
this is the testimony last of all, which we give of Him, that He lives;
for we saw Him, even on the right hand of God, and we heard the voice
bearing record that He is the Only Begotten of the Father--That by Him
and through Him, and of Him the worlds are and were created, and the
inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."
To us, then, removed nearly two thousand years from the time of the
birth of Jesus, comes with a new significance the chorus of the angels.
"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord . . . . Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
THE REFERENCES
Doc. and Cov. 76:11-24. Luke 2:10, 11, 14.
THE QUESTIONS
1. In what sense is Jesus the Living Christ?
2. To what does Napoleon testify?
3. Upon what is John Locke's conviction based?
4. What did Emerson and Webster say of Jesus?
5. What truth does Kant derive from the life of Jesus?
6. Why should the Latter-day Saints have exceptional testimonies of
Jesus?
7. How can you show that the Latter-day Saints do have exceptionally
strong testimonies of Jesus?
8. What is the powerful "Testimony last of all"?
9. What do the teachings of Jesus mean to us?
10. Explain what it means to know God and Jesus Christ.
{318} PICTURE: ANGEL MORONI
{319}
XL
A RELIGION WORTH WHILE
[Sidenote: The feeding of the five thousand.]
In a desert place in Galilee, Jesus performed one of the most
impressive and awe inspiring miracles recorded in His whole career.
A multitude of the five of approximately five thousand people had
gathered to hear Him teach. All the day He had instructed them, and
explained to them the law of the Gospel of salvation. Then the evening
drew near. The people were tired and hungry; but there was no adequate
supply of food available. The apostles would have had Jesus send the
multitude away. But He asked how much bread was to be found amongst
them. The apostles reported five loaves and two fishes. Jesus took the
five loaves and the two fishes, "looked up to heaven, and blessed, and
brake the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them;
and the two fishes divided He among them all. And they did eat and
were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments,
and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five
thousand men."
[Sidenote: The meat that endures unto everlasting life.]
This wonder-rousing miracle Jesus performed just before He left Galilee
forever, and while His popularity was at its height. One can easily
imagine how the people marvelled at what Jesus had done. And yet, a
miracle of feeding, more wonderful even than this, has Jesus performed
in turning the hearts of men toward Him. It is really not so very
strange that this Man, who could change water into wine, and open the
eyes of the blind, and cast out devils, and still the {320} tempest,
and raise the dead to life again, should be able also to multiply
five loaves and two fishes so as to feed a multitude of men. He who
is endowed with infinite power might easily be able thus to collect
the elements and to increase the quantity of available food. This was
a miracle of the physical world, calling into action some natural law
with which we are not yet acquainted. But in His ministry and death and
resurrection, Jesus has performed a spiritual miracle more wonderful
even than this. Jesus Himself considered the spiritual conversion much
more significant than the physical achievement. John records the fact
that the people sought Jesus again after this great miracle; and when
they found Him, He said to them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye
seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the
loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but
for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of
Man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed. . . . I am
the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst." It may be said now that the whole
world has heard of Jesus, and that most of it has learned to look to
Him as its Savior. New life and spiritual light has Jesus given to the
world. But while the world has learned to recognize Jesus, the teachers
of the world have perverted His doctrine so much that the people hardly
know which way to turn. They hunger still, and they thirst for the
true teachings of Jesus; they are looking still for the true Church of
Christ, with a religion worth while.
{321} [Sidenote: What Jesus taught.]
The history of the growth and spread of Christianity in the world reads
almost like fiction. Jesus Himself established His Church upon the
earth. We have learned that He called and ordained twelve apostles, and
others whom He called "seventy." He taught the fundamental principles
of the Gospel--faith, repentance, baptism, the laying on of hands for
the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the many duties that devolve upon
faithful Church membership. Jesus revealed in His own person the
personality of God the Father, and taught clearly the true relationship
existing between the Father and His children. Jesus taught plainly,
too, the duties that men owe both to the heavenly Father and to their
fellowmen. In short, Jesus revealed and taught to His apostles, and
to the peoples of the Holy Land, all the principles of the Gospel
necessary for a life of righteousness upon the earth. And when He
ascended to heaven, He left with the apostles the authority of the Holy
Priesthood, an organized church, and the Gospel, the plan of salvation.
The Church of the apostles possessed the three essential marks of the
true Church of Christ.
[Sidenote: The acts of the apostles.]
After the departure of Jesus, the apostles began strenuous missionary
labors. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost came upon them, and
through their testimony of Christ risen, many who heard them believed
and were baptized. From that day forth, the apostles traveled and
preached and baptized and confirmed. Many miracles, too, did these
apostles perform, in literal fulfillment of the promise of Jesus
that they should be {322} able to do the works that He had done. And
everywhere in their missionary travels, the apostles organized branches
of the Church--or Churches as they were called. To carry on the work
of the churches the apostles ordained high priests, seventies, elders,
bishops, priests, teachers, deacons,--the regular officers of the
priesthood--and left these officers in charge of the local ministry
while they themselves continued their larger service. But it must not
be imagined that the apostles met with no opposition. On the contrary,
wherever they went, the apostles found enemies, and were maligned and
persecuted. Often they were haled before magistrates and governors, and
not infrequently they were imprisoned. But they persisted in preaching,
and in bearing their profound testimonies. Finally most of the apostles
were done to death by their enemies. Peter, it is said, was crucified
at Rome. James was beheaded. John was banished to the isle of Patmos.
Andrew was bound to a cross and thus slain. Philip was crucified.
Bartholomew was flayed alive. Thomas was pierced by a lance, Matthew
was killed with a battleax. James, the Less, was beaten to death.
Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows. Simon was crucified. Mark
was dragged to death in the streets of Alexandria. Paul was beheaded
by order of Nero. Barnabas was stoned to death by the Jews. Thus
the apostles and the chief leaders of the apostolic church were all
tortured to death--save one--and sealed their testimonies with their
life's blood. The various churches scattered here and there in the land
were left with only their local leaders.
{323} [Sidenote: The great apostasy.]
After the passing of the apostles, troubles arose among the local
churches, and it was not long before a complete apostasy had taken
place. Strangely enough, while the apostles organized all the local
churches in full, they did not perpetuate the quorum of apostles.
Dissension therefore arose among the churches themselves as to
which one was the chief and leader of all. Then, after some years
of unpopularity and persecution, the Christian church was suddenly
raised to favor by an edict of Constantine the Great. To satisfy now
the desires of the heathens, many pagan customs were taken into the
Christian service. The doctrines of the church were corrupted; the
ordinances and ceremonies were perverted; the church organization was
distorted. In a relatively short time, the accepted Christian church
of the world was no longer like the church that Jesus Himself had
instituted. It lacked all three marks of the true church. It denied
continual revelation. It had lost the authority of the priesthood. It
preached a corrupted Gospel.
[Sidenote: The restoration of the Gospel.]
After many years of spiritual darkness and of strife, the Lord again
revealed His will to man. A boy was chosen to become an inspired
prophet, an authorized leader, and a divinely instructed teacher. To
Joseph Smith appeared the risen Redeemer as He had appeared nearly two
thousand years before to the apostles at Jerusalem. To Joseph Smith
were revealed anew all the sublime teachings that Jesus had presented
during His own ministry upon the earth. Upon Joseph Smith was conferred
the Holy Priesthood, with all its keys {324} and authorities, and
through him was established anew the Church of Jesus Christ. It is
founded upon the doctrine of revelation; it is fortified and directed
by the complete organization of the priesthood of God; it is guided by
what Jesus Himself taught--by the Gospel in its fulness, omitting not a
single detail that Jesus made a part of the God-shaped plan. To us is
given the religion worth while, the bread of life.
[Sidenote: A religion that satisfies.]
And the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ--commonly called Mormonism--is
destined to conquer the world, for it meets and satisfies all the
needs of human kind. In the first place, Mormonism is the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. It is the perfect presentation of what Jesus taught. We
have learned in the preceding lessons many of the truths that He gave
to His followers. The world has considered these truths, too, but has
not comprehended them. This truth, however, nearly the whole world
has learned to accept: Jesus is the Christ, the bread of life. His
teachings are true. Any religion that would aspire to conquer the world
must, then, be based at least upon what Jesus taught. But Mormonism is
that very truth itself, restored with power and authority, and favored
with the living presence of "the bread of God . . . . which . . . .
giveth life unto the world."
[Sidenote: A comprehensive religion.]
Then, Mormonism is comprehensive; it accepts and includes all truth,
no matter whence the knowledge of that truth may come. It renews the
teachings of Jesus concerning right living and right thinking. It {325}
emphasizes the necessity of acquiring a full knowledge of truth--the
necessity of reading and studying, and of gaining intellectual power.
It outlines what Jesus taught of man's duties in life--his duties
toward God: his duties toward his fellowmen; his duties to himself. It
prescribes anew man's obligations and responsibilities in the family,
in the state, and in the Church. In short, Mormonism meets every need
in physical life, in mental life, in economic life, in social life, in
spiritual life. You have heard people speak of a one-day religion--of
a religion remembered on Sunday and forgotten on the other six days
of the week. Mormonism is not such a religion, for the doctrine of
Jesus is not such a doctrine. Mormonism--or what Jesus taught--is a
practical religion that enters into the work of every day--into every
calling and profession no matter how humble or exalted that calling or
profession may be. It teaches that every day should be a Christ-like
day. It teaches that we should partake freely every day of the bread
and water of life everlasting, and take less thought of the loaves
and fishes that fill but satisfy not. Mormonism is both a system of
religion and a system of ethics; for so are the teachings of Jesus. The
whole man must be saved. Mormonism--or what Jesus taught--holds forth
such ideals and such standards of life--physical and spiritual--that
the noble, unselfish aim of Jesus may be accomplished. Only a religion
thus enwarped and enwoofed in what Jesus Himself has taught, can hope
to conquer the world.
[Sidenote: A Church of authority.]
It is the duty of everyone to learn to know God, and His Son, Jesus
Christ. To teach men to know {326} God was in part the mission of
Jesus to this earth. But such knowledge will not come through the mere
satisfying of the bodily appetites. That religion is not worth while
which feeds only loaves and fishes. The hunger which must be satisfied
is the hunger of the spirit. That religion only is worth while which
guides and directs in temporal life, and affords complete satisfaction
and contentment in the intellectual and spiritual life. Mormonism does
this; for it is what Jesus taught. In no other church than the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may one find today the uncorrupted
teachings of Jesus and the authority of His priesthood. Mormonism is
distinctly, then, the religion worth while.
[Sidenote: The bread of life.]
The stone which the builders rejected has become the Christ, the Savior
of the world. He is the Keystone, of our salvation. He is our Master,
our Teacher, our Friend. He has restored His Gospel to us with all its
blessings and privileges. Him will we follow, and His commandments will
we keep; for it was He Himself who said, "I am the bread of life: he
that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst."
{327}
THE REFERENCES
Mark 6:30-44. John 6:22-35.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What is the bread that endures unto everlasting life?
2. What did Jesus leave with the apostles?
3. How did the apostles carry on the work of Jesus?
4. What happened to the Church after the apostles had passed away?
5. How was the Gospel of Jesus Christ restored to the earth?
6. Why will Mormonism ultimately conquer the world?
7. In what sense is Mormonism a comprehensive religion?
8. Show that Mormonism is what Jesus taught.
{328} Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and
keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.--Eccl. 12:13.
{329}
INDEX
A
Abel, occupation, 197; offering accepted, 198; slain by Cain, 199.
Abou Ben Adhem, 221.
Abram, Abraham, 21; strove to find God, 21; seized by idolatrous
priests, 21; God delivered and spoke to him, 21; learns to know God;
father of Isaac and grandfather of Jacob who served God; from them
sprang the Children of Israel, 22; wavered not, 101.
Adam was like us, 23; taught by an angel, 24.
Aesop, fable of, 227.
Alms should be given in secret, 85.
Anger, fruits of, 199-200.
Apostasy, 323.
Apostles sent to preach, 291; slow to understand that the Gospel was
for all mankind, 292; their acts, 321; their deaths, 322;
Architect, figure of, illustrating Church of Christ, 153-4; 161; plans
and specifications of, 161; necessary, 162.
Articles of Faith, 129.
Ascension, 283.
Atonement of Jesus not understood by His disciples, 271; necessary,
272; theories regarding, 274; true theory, 275; Nephite explanation of,
276.
Authority, divine, test of true Church, 153; Jesus bowed to His
Father's; must be conferred, cannot be assumed, 155.
B
Baldwin, Matthias, an illustration of faith, 113-5; a liberal man, 175.
Baptism of Jesus, 41; essential; taught by Jesus to Nicodemus; a
rebirth, 130; necessity for it; case of Naaman; proof of obedience and
humility, 131-2; illustrated by chemical experiment, 132; Jesus taught
baptism and its proper mode; immersion, 133; purpose of; should follow
repentance; baptism of infants wrong, 134; summary of Jesus's teachings
regarding, 135; baptism of the Spirit, 137.
Beatitudes; high ideal of life, 192; great beatitude, 193. {318}
Beelzebub, Jesus's miracles attributed to, 263.
Book of heaven, 163.
Bread of Life, 326.
Brother of Jared cut sixteen small stones; asked God to touch them and
make them shine; saw the finger of the Lord; struck with fear, 45; the
Lord commends him for his faith; sees the Lord who was in the form of a
man; saw the body of God's spirit, 48.
C
Cain, story of, 197; offering not accepted; angry, 198; controlled by
Satan, slew Abel, 199.
Centurion's servant healed, 256-7.
Church organization necessary, 145-6; shown by parable of wheat and
tares, 146-7; meaning of the parable, 147; Church and Kingdom of God,
148; Church to be built on rock of revelation, 148-9; Church officers,
149; Jesus architect of His Church, 154; one test of true Church is
principle of revelation, 154; another is divine authority, 156; two
priesthoods, 156; architect's plans and specifications, 161; a third
test is presence and practice of the Gospel, 161; the three marks,
163; membership in the Church a supreme privilege, 167; conditions of
membership, 168; what it teaches, 233; established anew through the
Prophet Joseph Smith, 323-4; Church of authority, 326.
Comforter promised, 39; is the Spirit of truth, 39, 42; is the Holy
Ghost, a member of the Godhead, 42; came to disciples on day of
Pentecost, 43.
Commandment, great, 191.
Communities must exist, 228; must be organized, 228-9.
Cornelius, case of, 293.
D
Darkness covers the earth, 160.
Dead, gospel preached to, 285.
Defile, things that, 194.
Devil, power of evil; who is he? Lucifer the Lightbringer; volunteered
to be a Savior, 57; his plan rejected; he rebelled and became Satan,
the father of lies; a murderer from the beginning, 58; tempts Jesus,
61-2; entered into Judas Iscariot, 63; necessary that the devil should
tempt men, 65.
{329} Dickens, comment on parable of the prodigal son, 78.
Disciples learned about God, 31; overwhelmed when Jesus was crucified,
38; received Holy Ghost on day of Pentecost, 43; knew they were sons of
God, 72; why they could not cast out a devil, 108; regarded Jesus as
earthly King; could not understand atonement, 271; told by Him of his
coming death, 271-2.
Divorce, Jesus's teachings on, 230.
Duty to the state, 231; the Church, 232.
E
Emerson on Christ, 313.
Enemies, right attitude toward, 216.
Eternal life, greatest gift, 17; what is eternal life, 17; defined
again, 23; again, 24; conditions of, 25.
Eternal loss is to fail to find God, 84.
Evil always present, 56; how evil came into the world, 56; 58; devil is
power of evil, 57; why evil is in the world, 63-5.
F
Faith, power of; fig tree withered by faith; mountains may be removed
by faith, 105-6; interpretation of this saying; victory comes by faith,
107; Jesus walking on the water, 107-8; Peter failed for lack of faith,
108; impossible to please God without faith, 109; Matthias Baldwin, an
illustration, 113-5.
Fall of Adam made savior necessary, 24.
Family basis of society. 227-8; sacred, 229.
Fast, how to, 86.
Faults in others, 208-9.
Fault-finding wrong, 209-10.
Feast, call the poor to, 240.
Finding and losing one's life, Jesus's strange saying, 83.
Forgiveness should accompany prayer; unless we forgive God will not
forgive us, 106; law of, 214-15; must forgive to be forgiven, 216-17.
Free agency of man, 65.
Fundamental principles, 321.
G
Girls, two, story of, 205-7. God, work and glory of, "to bring to pass
the immortality and eternal life of man," 16; what it means to know Him
and Jesus Christ, 21; God speaks to {330} Abraham, 21; worshiped by
Children of Israel, 22; first commandment forbids idolatry, 22; false
conceptions of God, 22; what it means to know God, 23; what kind of a
being is God? 29; Jesus's explanation, "he that hath seen me hath seen
the Father," 30; God is a person, 31; called "Father" by Jesus, 31;
mankind are His children and He loves them, 32; to know God gives joy
and comfort, 32; what Saints know of God, 33; God is a spirit, 36; His
love for the world, 69; notes the sparrow, 70; no respecter of persons,
71; an exalted man, 71; reason for His love for man, 73; willing to
forgive, 80.