Value of Truth--Only One True Religion--Faith the First
Principle--Faith a Principle of Power--How Faith Comes--No Man Can
Find out God--Deity Must Manifest Himself--God the Father of the
Race--Personality of God--The Great Lawgiver Governs Himself by Law.
There is nothing more valuable than truth. Religious truth, or that
which relates to God, our duty to Him, His laws and purposes, and the
means by which we may now come to Him and eventually be exalted in
His presence, is really priceless. To obtain a knowledge of religious
truth, both young and old should be willing to make every exertion and
to offer any sacrifice.
There are many systems of religion in the world, but only one can
be correct, for the simple reason that there is but one God for the
inhabitants of the earth to worship and obey. If there were many
true Gods to whom mankind owed reverence there might be several true
religions. God is the author or revealer of true religion. Men may
invent and arrange methods of worship, imagine and think out doctrines,
and formulate and enforce creeds; but they are of no value as a means
of salvation. God must be approached and served in the way which He
ordains, or the worship and service will not be accepted.
The first principle of true religion is faith. This is the beginning
of righteousness. It is the very root of the tree of life, and its
sap runs through all the branches. "Without faith it is impossible
to please God." And "Whosoever cometh to God must believe that He
is." Faith, in its simplest sense, is the assent of the mind, and its
assurance of the existence of things unseen by the natural eye. This
is belief. In another sense, faith is a motive power, a principle of
action. Examination into the secret springs that prompt us in the
common affairs of life will show that faith moves us to exertion
and incites us to perseverance. It is the assurance we feel of the
existence or attainment of things unperceived by the senses, which
urges us onward and inspires us with energy. In a higher sense, faith
is a spiritual force. It reaches up to the heavenly spheres. It lays
hold upon eternal things. It acts upon the grosser elements, and moves
spiritual essences and immortal intelligences.
It is in its fullness all powerful. By its exercise God made the
worlds, bringing order out of chaos, light out of darkness and visible
things out of the invisible, all moved by that spiritual energy called
faith. By its power Christ stilled the winds and walked upon the waves,
healed the sick and raised the dead. Elijah, by faith closed the
heavens, that they rained not, and overcame the might of death, passing
with his body into the mansions on high. By faith, Job beheld the
coming of the Redeemer, and Paul ascended to the third heaven. And by
faith men and women can overcome the influences of earth and time, and
rise to communion with angelic beings, and even with God, the highest
and holiest of all.
Man must have faith in God in order to become exalted into His
presence. No man knows of himself how to reach that position, nor how
to obtain salvation from sin and its effects, among which are sorrow
and pain, and death as the ultimate. To learn anything in relation
to these important matters he must be taught of God, and faith is
therefore absolutely necessary in the outset of any attempt to learn of
Him.
This faith "comes by hearing," or in other words is developed by
testimony. Through the testimony of men divinely appointed to speak
in the name of the Lord, faith is awakened in the human heart. It is
a principle existing in every soul, but in the condition of fallen
humanity is measurably dormant, until quickened by a divine influence.
The word spoken by inspired men, accompanied by the influence of the
spirit of truth, arouses faith in the soul of man, and by its force
he is led to call upon the Lord, and by its light to see his way to
repentance and obedience.
No man by his own researches can find out God. He may, by reason and
reflection, by observing and pondering upon the wonders of creation,
by studying his own internal and external nature, come to the sure
conclusion that there is a God, and to a very small extent make an
estimate of His character. But without the Almighty manifests Himself
in some manner, finite man can never obtain a knowledge of infinite
Deity. The speculations of human beings concerning God are many and
various, and a vast number of their conclusions inconsistent and vain.
Human learning, no matter how extensive, and human research, no matter
how profound, are of necessity inadequate alone to the acquisition of
a knowledge of divine things. Hence an unlettered person enlightened
direct from God, will know more of Deity than the most erudite
collegian who has not received this divine illumination.
Some conception of God is necessary to proper faith in Him. On
this account He has, at different periods of the world's history,
manifested Himself to chosen persons, whom He has deputed to bear
witness of His existence and attributes to others, and declare His
will and commandments. The history of some of these manifestations
and revelations given in olden times is recorded in the Bible. Those
that have been vouchsafed to man in the latter times are embodied in
what is popularly known as "Mormonism," but which should be called the
Everlasting Gospel, renewed on earth.
By these we learn that God is the Father of the human race. As every
seed in nature bears its own kind, it is reasonable to conclude that
man bears some semblance to the Being from whom he sprang. And this
idea is confirmed by the divine declaration that "God made man in His
own image." Our Father in Heaven, is then, a personal Being. He is a
Spirit. But He is also enclothed in a tabernacle. In other words, He is
an immortal Spirit dwelling in an immortal tabernacle. Every faculty
and power to be found in mortal man exists in the fullness of its
perfection in the person of Deity. Those glorious qualities which make
so wide a distinction between man and the lower animals are undeveloped
photographs, or rather, embryotic duplicates of the perfected
attributes of the Eternal Father.
Being an individual, God, in His personality, cannot be omnipresent.
But by the Holy Spirit, which proceeds from His presence and permeates
all things throughout the immensity of space, He can see, and know,
and influence all things. Yet the Being who has power over all His
creations proceeds by law, and while giving laws to all His creations
is Himself governed by law and never violates the eternal principles of
truth, justice and mercy. The "laws of nature" are the laws of God, and
He is consistent with them and those higher laws which pertain to the
spiritual spheres.
The Fatherhood of God is a glorious truth that must at some time be
impressed upon every one of our race. It involves the brotherhood of
man. It is full of ennobling and elevating suggestions, and prompts
those who are impressed with its majesty to deeds worthy of so exalted
an origin; leads to humility and obedience, and influences all the
sons and daughters of the Eternal Father to mutual help, forbearance,
charity and affection, as brothers and sisters of a family, whose
destiny is connected with the glory, and dominion, and matchless power
of the Almighty framer and governor of the universe.