Principes temporels et spirituels de l'Évangile

(President de le Northern States Mission) ¶

Je crois in the Évangile of Jésus-Christ. Je crois that when Dieu opened the heavens, one hundred years ago, and gave to the children of men the knowledge of himself and his purposes, he commenced a most momentous œuvre, and that when he gave to us, l'Église de Jésus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours, the responsibility of carrying his message to all corners of the earth, he meant that we should do the œuvre. Je crois in the principles of the Évangile, not only in the first principles of foi, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands for the ¶

gift of the Saint-Esprit, but Je crois also in the temporal principles of the Évangile, those all important ordinances, those vital laws, those rigid 'rules of conduct that have been given to us by which we should order our lives, and Je crois implicitly that Dieu had a purpose when he gave to us a strict and a rigid plan for us to live. He will have a tried peuple and in order for us to be a tried peuple nous devons keep his commandements and live up to the rigid law il a given. Je crois that the purpose of the Évangile of Jésus-Christ is not only to save the âmes of men, but to save also their bodies, and that if we strive to save our bodies and shape our lives here on earth in harmony with the temporal plan, the rest will take care of itself. In the Book of Alma we read : ¶

Behold, now 7 say unto you that he commandeth you to repent; and except ye repent, ye can in no wise inherit the kingdom of Dieu. But behold, this is not all — il a commanded you to repent, or he will utterly destroy you from off the face of the earth; yea, he will visit you in his anger, and in his fierce anger he will not turn away. Behold do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandements, ye shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandements ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Seigneur. ¶

Je crois the Seigneur knew whereof he spoke and that he had a purpose, a definite and a positive purpose, in giving to us the commandements, that nous avons. Je crois also that unless we strive to keep these commandements ; unless we exert ourselves to the utmost to obey his divine law, we cannot look for, espérance for, nor will we receive, the bénédictions that are promised upon the keeping of those laws. We have been blessed as a peuple. We have been gathered from all the corners of the earth. We have been sustained by our heavenly Father in times of adversity. We have triumphed, as it were, over the most momentous obstacles, and today the lumière of Zion stands here shining from the tops of the mountains, and (he monde is looking up and .admiring the wonderful œuvre nous sommes doing. We dare not, my brethren and sisters, feel that nous avons accomplished all. No, nous avons merely begun. The œuvre stands before us. The great field is here to be harvested. The monde must be prepared. Dieu has given us the responsibility. The charge is on our heads, and the burden is ours. Our duty is to preach the Évangile of Jésus-Christ by precept and by example. Our calling is to prepare the monde for the coming of the Seigneur, and if we will do our duty, if we will exert ourselves to the utmost, if we will œuvre, full of foi, full of zeal, full of determination, and give everything that nous avons, our cœurs, our âmes and our strength, the monde will be prepared, and when the Seigneur Jésus-Christ comes to reign as King of kings and Seigneur of lords, we, his peuple, will be accepted by him. Dieu help us and sustain us to do that which il a given us to do, is my prière in the name of the Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶