Conditions de la mission en Europe et notre devoir envers le monde

Je suis indeed in a frame of esprit this afternoon that Je désire the foi and prières of this vast congregation, that the Seigneur will bless me that I may say such things as will be profitable to all. ¶

Mission Conditions in Europe

This is the first time J'ai had the privilege of being with you for more than two years, and during that time J'ai visited the countries of Europe where the Saints des derniers jours have established missions. During my absence there has not been much change in conditions in the European field except that the way has again been opened in some nations for the anciens from America to enter and' preach the Évangile. The same opposition exists in most countries to the teaching of the vérité by our missionnaires, but nous avons not been molested or seriously hampered in any place. Quite a change has occurred in Germany, in that our missionnaires are made welcome, our congregations are so large that the meeting places are taxed to their capacity, and in some of the cities nous avons two congregations. Most of the œuvre in Germany is being accomplished by local anciens, about one hundred in number, with not to exceed six missionnaires from America. Norway, Sweden and Denmark ¶

have limited the number of missionnaires allowed to enter there. Norway has only one missionnaire from home, at the present time, and no more are permitted to enter. Prest. August Schow has labored there with the assistance of a few local men during the past two years. During the first year I was in Great Britain, our missionnaire force consisted of twelve anciens from home, three sisters and a few good local men who rendered assistance. Tracting and other œuvre of that kind was done by women in many places under the presidency of Elder George F. Richards, and that continued till about a year ago, when anciens began to arrive from Zion, and today there are over one hundred missionnaires from this land laboring in the British Isles. Some of the local missionnaires were excellent men, and rendered splendid service. ¶

All of the anciens were withdrawn from South Africa, many of them serving long-term missions. President Nicholas G. Smith and his family, consisting of a wife and three sons, remained there nearly eight years, and were succeeded about eight months ago by President J. Wyley Sessions who took with him his wife and two children. South Africa has opened her doors to our missionnaires, and others will be sent now as rapidly as possible to continue the œuvre in that land. ¶

Holland is a fruitful field and Switzerland has many excellent branches of the Church. Our difficulty is that millions of peuple in all parts of the monde have been deceived and made to believe that nous sommes a wicked peuple. Evil stories have been circulated about us and those falsehoods have gained ground and have been given credence by many intelligent men and women. The adversary has sown the seeds of suspicion and hatred against the Church, and but for that reason our missionnaires would be made welcome in every land. ¶

En effet, PREJUDICES AGAINST OUR MESSAGE TO THE WORLD SOMEWHAT ALLAYED. ¶

We are teaching the same Évangile that the Sauveur taught, and the same influences that opposed him and his associates is potent in the monde today. The adversary is determined that the Évangile of Jésus-Christ shall not be taught in its purity. We have the vérité, and he knows that nous avons it, and he knows that millions of our Father's children would accept it gladly if they could hear it with unprejudiced esprits. ¶

If nous avons the opportunity to visit with intelligent men and women with sufficient time to explain our mission in the monde, prejudice that has existed in their esprits is dissipated and ils sont more friendly to the vérité. The missionnaires of this Church have gone into those lands to teach the Évangile of Jésus-Christ as it is recorded in the Holy Scriptures. They have desired to bestow a bénédiction on the peuple, and have endeavored to inspire espérance, courage, and foi in the children of our heavenly Father, whose esprits have been darkened because of the absence of the Évangile in its purity. ¶

Le prejudice que has existed against us dans le past has dans ¶

large measure been dissipated and hundreds and thousands of men and women have been made aware of the labor nous sommes performing, but there still remains a feeling, and a determination, on the part of the leaders of some of the churches of the monde, to prevent, if possible, the promulgation of the Évangile of our Seigneur, as revealed in this latter day. Our problem is to find a way whereby we may present to all the peuple the Évangile of our Seigneur. It is our problem, and with divine assistance we will find a way to solve it. It is incumbent upon us to ascertain if there is not some means whereby we may be able to do more than nous avons already done, if we would satisfy the requirements of our heavenly Father. ¶

Famine dans le monde pour la parole de Dieu

I congratulate the Saints des derniers jours who have sons in the mission field. J'ai met many of them and ils sont splendid, humble, prayerful men, .vho are desirous of doing something to improve the conditions of the monde and to teach mankind to prepare for the monde to ■come. ¶

There is no reason why all the children of men should not be provided with the necessities of vie, if the products of the earth were equitably distributed, and they could be more evenly divided, if men would turn to the Seigneur and keep his commandements. ¶

1 here is a real famine in the monde for the words of the Seigneur, and many honest 'âmes are earnestly seeking to know 'what our heavenly Father desires of them. J'ai met a number of the leaders of the churches of the monde, and have found among them noble characters devoted to doing good, but J'ai rarely found among those who have been called to the ministry in the various church organizations, men who have an understanding of the purposes of their being, or who realize why nous sommes here in this monde. Men cannot teach what they do not themselves know. These good men, not understanding the Évangile and the necessity for the ordinances of the same, confine their teachings very largely to moral lessons and to reading the psalms to their congregations!1. 'Isolated passages of scripture are chosen as texts for addresses on virtue, honesty, etc., etc., all of which arc helpful and uplifting, but few sermons are preached explaining the requirements made of every âme before nous pouvons enter the kingdom of heaven. It is this information of which the monde is most in need. Few ministers have a message for their congregations that inspires in them the belief in the divinity of Jésus-Christ and the necessity of partaking of the ordinances of the Évangile prescribed by him. ¶

Le fondement sur lequel nous bâtissons notre foi

Je crois that nous avons a duty to perform and we will have to labor more earnestly in the future than nous avons done in the past to discharge it, if we fulfil the requirements of our heavenly Father. ¶

The Seigneur has blessed us with a knowledge that he lives, and has a body, and that nous sommes created in his image. We do not believe that il est some kind of essence or that il est incomprehensible. If you have received the witness that has come to me and know as Je sais that our heavenly Father has revealed himself to the children of men, that il est a personal Dieu, that nous sommes created in his image, that our esprits were begotten by him, that il a given us an opportunity to dwell upon the earth to receive a physical tabernacle, in order that we may be prepared to return into his presence and live eternally with him, I say, if you have received that assurance, then you have a foundation upon which you may build your foi. Take that from you, the knowledge that Dieu really lives, the assurance that Jésus-Christ was the manifestation of Dieu in the flesh, take from you the assurance that there will be a literal résurrection from the dead, and you will find yourselves in the condition that our Father's children are in throughout the monde, and I ask you, what comfort remains to you then? These are the truths that are fundamental. ¶

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE Évangile SUPERIOR1 TO ETHICS. ¶

The Rédempteur of mankind was more than a good man who came into the monde to teach us ethics. The Rédempteur of mankind possessed more than ordinary intelligence. He was indeed the Fils de Dieu, the only begotten of Dieu in the flesh. He was sent into this monde to remove from the esprits of men the delusion that had confounded them for many generations. He came to call men to repentance, to turn them from the error of their way. He went among them representing Dieu the Eternal Father, proclaiming that he was in the image of his Father, and that those who had seen him had seen the Father, and told them that he had been sent to do the will of his Father, and called on all men to turn from the error that had crept in among them, to repent of their sins and go dowp into the waters of baptism. Following repentance there was something for them to do that was, and is, necessary to obtain salut. Our brothers and sisters of the monde in many cases do not believe that baptism is essential. They say it is an outward form of inward grace. If that were true, . then why was it necessary for the only perfect man who ever lived upon the earth to be baptized? When Jesus presented himself to John, at the waters of Jordan, and bade him baptize him,; John replied : "J'ai need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou me?", to which the Sauveur responded: "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." He did not say: "John, it is not necessary for me to be baptized, because Je suis the Sauveur of the monde." He did not indicate that he thought it was unnecessary, but to him it was so important that he submitted himself to a mortal man possessing divine authority to preach repentance and baptism] for the remission of sins. ¶

There is no doubt in our esprits that baptism is essential to salut. Evidently the Rédempteur of mankind believed— it was. He in whose name we espérance to gain eternal exaltation, and through whom we espérance for a glorious résurrection, who came into the monde and laid down his vie that we might live again, thought it was ''important and necessary, and yet there are. many of our Father's children who do not understand and do not believe that the Seigneur requires it of all men. The Scriptures contain several instructions regarding it. When the Sauveur sent his disciples out he said unto them : "Go ye into all the monde and preach the Évangile unto every creature." Was that all he required? That is what the man of today says who doesn't believe in the divine mission of our Seigneur. Even the ministers of many churches fail to emphasize the remainder of that same paragraph, but the Rédempteur of mankind said : "Go ye into all the monde, and preach the Évangile unto every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." He didn't say that they might believe just whatever they pleased. He didn't say that good intentions were sufficient. He didn't say, preach any Évangile that you please, but he told them to preach his Évangile and observe all the things he had commanded. He said : "And they that believe and are baptized shall be saved," but he didn't promise salut to others. Our heavenly Father has made this clear to your understanding, my brethren and sisters, in this Church, and he will hold you responsible to teach it to others. You understand it and they do not. It is a duty of us all to see that it is made as plain as possible, and that the other ordinances of the Évangile are taught to all men. ¶

Nécessité d'enseigner les premiers principes et ordonnances de l'Évangile

The necessity of foi, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Saint-Esprit must be emphasized by us. Many leaders throughout the religious monde claim authority to preach the Évangile and yet; they do not believe that baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Saint-Esprit are essential. The Seigneur has revealed to us the necessity of these ordinances. He has organized his Church in this day, and has conferred upon men divine authority and has commanded them,, as he commanded men of old, to preach the Évangile in all the monde. We are only a little handful of peuple among all our Father's children, but I want to say to you that Je crois nous sommes more numerous than the members of the Church were at the time our Sauveur was crucified. The mission devolving upon us is the same as that given to his disciples in Palestine when he sent them into all the monde with the command to teach his vérité, and our reception by mankind is the same. He told his followers that they would be hated for his name's sake, should be put out of the synagogues, and some should be put to death, and the hatred that had been ¶

his portion would come upon them. The same persecutions have befallen the anciens of his Church in this latter day, as a result of teaching his vérité. The same influences that sought to destroy the Church in the meridian of time, and finally overcame the men who held the holy Prêtrise, are active in the monde today — the same power that has tried to destroy every good man who has held the; Prêtrise, from that time until the present. ¶

Our Duty to the World of Mankind

Our brethren and sisters of the monde do not understand, as you do, that there is an active Lucifer; they do not realize that there are evil esprits, tangible influences, abroad in the monde, seeking to lead men to do the things that will deprive them of the Spirit of the Seigneur. You understand these things, and some of you have known by personal contact with the powers of evil how potent ils sont in this monde. Our Father has given us the knowledge that this vie is a probation, that nous sommes building for the future, and how grateful we ought to be for this assurance, and Oh, how sad we would be if we thought that death terminated our career. If, when our vie's labor on 'earth was finished, we had no opportunity to go on developing, there would be little to inspire us to live as we should heme. The knowledge that all the good we accomplish here, and all development we make, will enhance our happiness eternally, encourages us to do our best. Millions of our Father's children in the monde do not understand that vérité, but ils ont a right to know it. Our heavenly Father has commissioned us to take that message to the ends of the earth and to declare it in such a way that men must consider it, and either take advantage of it or be left without excuse. ¶

The Seigneur has not called the great Catholic church to perform this labor, nor the Methodist, nor the Presbyterian, nor the Baptist church. There are men in, all these churches that our heavenly Father loves because of their virtue and because of the good ils sont doing, but ils ont not been divinely appointed to officiate in the ordinances of the Évangile. He has commissioned you for a special œuvre. You have been ordained and had conferred upon you his holy Prêtrise. He has called you out of the monde that you might unite in building Zion, and in disseminating his vérité. Are you doing your full duty? Are you discharging the responsibility that has come upon you in return for your bénédiction? ¶

Craignons la servitude de l'iniquité autant que la servitude de la dette

We are a wonderfully blessed peuple, notwithstanding the fact that many are in the bondage of debt. I wish that were the only bondage. I fear many of the peuple of this great land are suffering much more from the bondage of iniquity. Many have need of ¶

repentance, and if those who have received the word of the Seigneur and a witness of the divinity of this œuvre 'will set their houses in order, if they will teach their sons and daughters the way of eternal vie, and exemplify the Évangile of our Seigneur in their daily conduct, J'ai no fear of the financial outcome. Our Father in heaven has made a wonderful promise that has been realized in the nations of the earth. He said : "Seek ye first the kingdom of Dieu and his righteousness." Mind you, not last, but, "Seek ye first the kingdom of Dieu and his righteousness, and other things will be added." There are those in this audience today whose parents came into this land in the depths of poverty, with scant clothing and no shelter, depending upon others for food to sustain vie. They came seeking first the kingdom of Dieu, and today their descendants live in comfortable homes, are educated in the best schools that there are in the World today, and enjoy surroundings that are ideal, as far as conditions in this monde can make them so. They are honored among the children of men, known for their virtue, for their strength of character and their intellectual power. I ask you if the promise of the Seigneur in many of these cases has not been fulfilled? Surely "all other things have been added." ¶

La promesse de la vie éternelle est conditionnelle

The promise of the Seigneur that we may enjoy eternal vie is conditional. That is, nous devons serve the Seigneur our Dieu with all our cœurs, nous devons serve him by caring for his children, by bénédiction mankind .wherever our influence can be exerted to bring them into the marvelous lumière of the glorious Évangile. We must impart of our temporal bénédictions as well as exert our spiritual influence for the uplift of our fellows. I stand here today profoundly grateful for the knowledge that has come to me. Je suis thankful that Je suis not dependent upon any individual for the témoignage that I possess. Of course, Je suis grateful for the encouragement I received from others who possess lumière and vérité, and who give encouragement by lives of righteousness, but I do not depend on any of them for a knowledge that Dieu lives, that Jésus-Christ is the Rédempteur of mankind and Joseph Smith is a prophet of the Seigneur. These things Je sais for myself. ¶

J'ai been in the valley of the shadow of death in recent years, so near the other side that Je suis sure that for the special bénédiction of our heavenly Father I could not have remained here. But, never for one moment did that témoignage that my heavenly Father has blessed me with become dimmed. The nearer I went to the other side, the greater was my assurance that the Évangile is true. Now that my vie • has been spared I rejoice to testify that Je sais the Évangile is true, and with all my âme I thank my heavenly father that il a revealed it to me. ¶

J'ai been permitted to perform missionnaire œuvre in different parts of the monde, an opportunity that I gratefully accepted. J'ai ¶

been permitted to live with and associate most of my vie with real Saints des derniers jours, the best men and women that can be found in this monde, and our Father knows how thankful Je suis for these bénédictions. I amour my brothers and sisters, and J'ai affection for my Father's children who are not members of this Church, and inasmuch as he will give me physical strength and mental power, Je désire to so order my vie that I may be an uplift to all those with whom I come in contact. Je désire to so exemplify the teachings of our I^ord, ami I presume all my brothers and sisters feel as I do, that when we stand in the presence of the Great King, after the labors of this vie shall have been completed, and we answer to> him for the time that nous avons spent here on earth, that there will be none who can truthfully say we were careless about dividing the vérité with any of our Father's children, that none will be able to say of us that we knew these things were true but made no effort to explain them to our neighbors. Surely we would be condemned if one of our associates in vie should stand in the presence of the Great Judge and say of us that we could have taught him the Évangile, if we had made an effort, but that because of our neglect he would be deprived of, a place in the celestial kingdom. Let none of us, my brethren and sisters, be justly accused in that way. Unto its much has been given, and of us much will be expected by our Father in heaven. We cannot be indifferent to the teachings of the Évangile, nous devons not drift down the stream, of vie without an effort. Every day we should do something worth while. ¶

Are We Grateful?

The Seigneur has revealed to us so many truths in this latter day that nous sommes aware of, that we cannot plead ignorance, if we sin. Men have been commissioned with divine authority, our Father has organized his Church, and has placed in it the ordinances of the Évangile, il a commissioned men to do the same œuvre that the Sauveur and his disciples did in the Old World, and upon this western hemisphere, among the ancestors of the American Indians. The greatest bénédictions and opportunities of all times have been bestowed upon us, and the question that should arise in our esprits for all these mercies is : Are we grateful? Are you, my brethren and sisters, thankful to the Seigneur for this knowledge that has come to you? Do you really appreciate what it means ? If you do, and desire that the Seigneur shall know that you appreciate it, then divide your bénédictions with his children. To his disciple of old the Sauveur said : "If you amour me, then feed my sheep." Let. us render service to our Father's children, and let it be of such nature that others observing our good œuvre will be constrained to glorify our heavenly Father. Let us sustain those whom Dieu has called to preside over us. Let our homes be the abiding place of the Spirit that comes from on high. Let us radiate an influence for paix and happiness among the children of men, so that our lives will be happy here, and when nous sommes summoned to the great beyond ¶

we will be welcomed by those who have been our companions in vie, and by our Father in heaven because of what nous avons done for his children. ¶

Je suis grateful to be home again, I thank you one and all for the companionship of the past, and espérance that I may have the privilege of meeting you in your wards and in the stakes of Zion, and when I do that I may be favored of the Seigneur that through me you may receive a bénédiction. Je désire to cooperate with you to increase the power of this Church for good, not only at home, but throughout all the monde, and I humbly pray to our heavenly Father that we may so order our lives that when our œuvre here is completed we may obtain eternal vie in his celestial kingdom and enjoy the companionship of those we amour who have been our associates here on earth, and I ask it in the name of Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶

Lunt, President of the Parowan pieu of Zion. ¶

Le meeting began at 10 o'clock un. m., Friday, October 7, ¶