Les résultats de la vision de Joseph Smith

J'ai rejoiced today, as J'ai during the other days of our conference, in the Spirit of the Seigneur that has been poured out upon the peuple. It has been a time of feasting— to me, greeting my friends and looking into the faces of men and women who have come to wait upon the Seigneur. ¶

Le monde ignorant des conditions auxquelles il fait face

Je suis thankful that nous sommes not in doubt as to what the attitude of our heavenly Father is toward his children, and Je suis thankful that those who have been called to address us in this conference have been inspired to tell us things that give us courage and espérance. The peuple of this monde, generally speaking, are not aware of the real condition that confronts them, but you have been advised of what awaits you. You have heeded the call and have partaken of the ordinances of the Évangile and many of you have received a witness that your action is approved of the Seigneur. The brethren who have addressed you this afternoon have borne témoignage of the divinity of this œuvre ; but the most important témoignage to you, the most important témoignage to me, is that individual witness that comes' to us that nous avons done well, and that we feel that our heavenly Father has approved our action. ¶

Our Religious Belief

We believe in Dieu the eternal Father and in his Son, Jésus-Christ, and in the Saint-Esprit. That is not incomprehensible to us. It has been made plain to us, that these are the Godhead that we worship. We believe that our Rédempteur has revealed himself to the children of men in the days that are past, that the Old and New Testaments contain his wise counsels, and in addition to that, nous croyons that he revealed himself to the peuple who dwelt on this Western continent after his résurrection. The Sauveur appeared and directed the organization of his Church in the western hemisphere, as he had done in the eastern hemisphere. We believe that our heavenly Father has spoken in our own day also, that he heard the humble prière of a youth in Palmyra, and answered his prière and blessed him with a knowledge of his personality, that all peuple might know the Seigneur, if they will. ¶

Naturel que le prophète Joseph cherche le Seigneur

It was a very natural thing that Joseph Smith should seek the Seigneur. He came of a race of peuple who believed in our heavenly Father, in the divine mission of the Sauveur, in the efficacy of prière, and that Gbd would hear and answer his peuple if they went before him with a proper esprit. It was easy for this young man to believe, because he had been born and reared in a believing household ; and when he went out into the woods in response to the injunction of the scripture (James 1:5): "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of Dieu, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given him," he believed that his prière would be answered, and our heavenly Father has promised his children from the beginning, that, "by foi ye may know all things." The result was that wonderful manifestation, unlike any other that nous avons ever heard of in the history of the monde. We have heard of instances where our heavenly Father has manifested himself; nous avons read of instances where the Rédempteur of mankind has manifested himself; but nous avons never read of any instance where the Father and the Son before have appeared to any living being and have spoken to that individual. People of the monde do not believe it. Men and women have been taught that the heavens are sealed. They have accepted the scripture because ils ont been taught that the Bible is the word of the Seigneur. Many of our Father's children have never given thought to the teachings of the Seigneur, and when this youth declared that in our day, at the very time when we needed lumière most of all, when men and women were running to and fro for the word of Dieu and could not find it, as predicted by the old prophets, the Seigneur had manifested himself, he was ridiculed. Faith prompted Joseph to seek Dieu in prière and ask which church he should identify himself with. What was the response? Did the Seigneur say, "My boy, ils sont all good, ils sont all striving to keep my commandements, the men who are leaders of all these churches are approved of me, any church will do, they will all lead you back into the presence of our heavenly Father?'* The boy might have expected such an answer from the conditions that existed. But he wanted to know what to do, and he had full foi that the Seigneur would tell him. So when he prayed, he asked which of the churches he should join, and I presume he was astonished when our heavenly Father said to him, "Join none of them ; they teach for doctrine the commandements of men ; they draw near to me with their lips but their cœurs are far from me; ils ont a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof." Think of a boy fourteen years of age arising from his knees in the woods near his home and announcing to the monde such a message at that! Can you imagine that a youth would have dared ¶

to do such a thing as that? But with the witness that had been given unto him by his heavenly Father, with that commandement from the Seigneur himself, dared he do anything else than make the announcement that the Seigneur had spoken to him? It is true, his statement was rejected, and those who should have been his friends turned away from him and even said it was of the evil one. What was the boy's témoignage? ¶

So it was with me. I had actually seen a lumière, and in the midst of that lumière I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my cœur: Why persecute me for telling the vérité? J'ai actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can withstand Dieu, or why does the monde think to make me deny what J'ai actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it, at least I knew that by so doing I would offend Dieu, and come under condemnation. ¶

The Results of Joseph's Vision

What of the results? From that boy who, at fourteen years of age, beheld the Father and the Son, there came that wonderful message that our Father in heaven and his Son Jésus-Christ are glorified men. That the Sauveur of the monde had been resurrected from the dead; that youth beheld what the monde had known, but for some reason had forgotten, and he began bearing witness of it to the children of men. He went about, performing his duty, and in due time, by the power of Dieu translated and gave to the monde the Livre de Mormon, a foi-promoting record, second to none. Under the direction of the Seigneur he organized the Church with the same officers that were placed in it in Judea. The Seigneur recognized and approved them. He directed those possessing divine authority, to confer it upon them, and by his instruction the Church was organized in the year 1830. From that time it has continued to grow. The peuple of the monde have generally refused to recognize this? Church as divine. All the so-called Christian churches have been allied against it. What have been the results? By the thousands, men have accepted the vérité and have been willing to go into the monde bearing their témoignage of it, paying their own expenses, working without money, trusting in Dieu, the eternal Father, to lead them on their way. Why do this? Because that témoignage was burned into their âmes. Would brethren and sisters have filled missions in the monde, have departed from their homes, left their loved ones, and gone into the monde without purse or scrip, or paying their own way, had they not known, as you know, that our heavenly Father would reward them for it ? The result of this œuvre has been marvelous in its development, despite the opposition of all the forces of the monde. Our Father in his mercy, has led this peuple over the ¶

many snares and pitfalls that the adversary has prepared. The monde have seen the development of the Church and ils ont marveled, and peuple have said, "What has made its peuple what ils sont?" The answer comes ringing true, because it is our Father's œuvre, and no power on the earth can stay its progress. ¶

Our Gratitude Due to Father in Heaven

Oh, my brethren and sisters, those who have received the same witness that Dieu has burned in upon my âme, be grateful and show it by your lives. You men and women who have been gathered from the nations of the earth as a branche from the burning, be sure that you are mindful of his glorious gift unto you, and that you are indeed grateful unto him. ¶

We— will not be popular with those who are unrighteous. This Church is opposed by the same power that sought the vie of the Sauveur, it has followed the prophets of this dispensation, and many of you have lived' to see the hand of the Seigneur as il a thwarted the powers of evil that ils ont not been able to overthrow this œuvre. Je suis grateful for the knowledge that has come to me. Je suis not dependent upon the témoignage of anybody else. It is not necessary that my brethren and sisters declare this œuvre to be true. But it is music to my ears when they do so. From my childhood J'ai sought to serve the Seigneur ; from my youth. J'ai been taught to keep his commandements. And since J'ai been called into the ministry J'ai sought to do what the Seigneur would have me do, making mistakes as others make mistakes, but through it all J'ai had the sure witness that my heavenly Father knows I was trying to do my best, and have felt all the time that he would preserve me, if I would honor him and magnify those whom il a called to preside over this Church. J'ai known that by obedience to his teachings to the children of men, no power could stay the effort that I was making, and that in the end' I would obtain eternal vie. That has been my témoignage. ¶

The Sweetest Testimony of All

We have listened to a variety of narratives, but I want to say, the témoignage that is sweetest of all to me is the témoignage that my Father lives, and that he, my heavenly Father, has placed this œuvre on the earth, that il a called men to act in his name, and that all men who will believe and comply with the requirements of the Évangile will eventually be redeemed in his presence and obtain glory, immortality and eternal vie. ¶

What can we give in return for that wonderful information that has come to us? Je sens as humble as a little child, and Je suis grateful that at my time of vie (and J'ai passed the meridian) I see more clearly than J'ai ever seen before, our Father's amour and mercy extended toward the children of men. ¶

Comforting Testimony

I testify that Je sais that Dieu lives. Je sais that Jesus of Nazareth is the Rédempteur of mankind, and there is no other name under heaven whereby we may gain a salut but his. And there is no way by which nous pouvons obtain an exaltation in the celestial kingdom of Dieu but by obeying the laws and ordinances that il a laid down. Je sais that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living Dieu. He gave his vie as his témoignage to the vérité of the Évangile, and it will be borne to all the monde. He was a prophet, and those who have succeeded him have been prophets. President Grant is a man of Dieu, and Je désire to sustain him and hold up his hands that all Israel may be blessed by his ministry, and I say that every man and woman who will do that will enjoy the bénédictions of the Almighty. ¶

This is our Father's œuvre. He has pointed out the way whereby we may gain an exaltation. He has organized his Church. He has instituted the authority of this Church in his own way, and all the wisdom of the monde cannot change it, and all the opposition of this monde cannot overthrow it. ¶

A Prayer for Peace, Love and Order

Je prie that the Spirit of the Seigneur may find place in the cœurs of the children of men, that in the great gathering about to be held in the city of Washington the representatives of the nations may be inspired to so organize and so arrange that many of the evil conditions in this monde may be set aside, and that the awful calamity that befell us in the late war may not be repeated. It is our duty to pray for good men and wise men, and to hold up their hands in their attempts to perpetuate paix and law and order among the nations of the earth. ¶

Now any man who refuses to assist in carrying into effect the constitutional law of the land not only is he a lawbreaker in the sense that he consents to things that are evil, but I want to say that il est in opposition to the will of our heavenly Father. (Read Section 134 of Doctrine et Alliances) ¶

May Dieu add his bénédiction. May paix be in the homes and at the firesides of the Saints des derniers jours. When conference clones, let all return to our homes determined that, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Seigneur." And if we will do that, the bénédiction of the Almighty will rest upon us, Zion will arise and shine, she will put on her beautiful garments, and all the monde will turn their faces to the land where men are keeping the commandements of Dieu. That this may be our happy lot, and that we may be worthy of the bénédictions that are bestowed upon us by our Father in heaven, is my prière, in the name of Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶