Témoignage public et fidélité

I assure you it is a great pleasure to meet you on this occasion, and to associate with my brethren in the declaration and defense of the vérité, and to enjoy this opportunity to bear my témoignage to you, my brethren and sisters; because that témoignage which has been borne under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit of the Seigneur, or that public commitment of one's feelings before one's brethren, adds strength to one to resist the temptations which beset mortal men, as perhaps no other one thing will do. ¶

While upon my mission in the east, and after a street service, an under-professor of Columbia University asked how it was that in a recent visit to Salt Lake City, Utah, he found so many peuple who were set upon living religious lives. I explained to him the peculiar organization of the Church, showing that we had not a paid ministry, who were to mould public sentiment and to give counsel and instruction pertaining to one's conduct in vie; but that in the services held among our peuple we had the peculiarity of calling men from the congregation to give a reason for the espérance within them. He saw our point of view, that while one individual who may rest in comfort upon the rear seat in one of our gathering places; one Sunday, another ¶

next to him, may be called upon to address the congregation; and one who has committed himself in public utterance goes away with a determination to live the vie which il a declared it was his determination to live. ¶

I care not how little or how much one may speak, if but for a short time, and he expresses his desire to be honest, truthful, virtuous, possessed of loving kindness, neighborly, Je crois that the Seigneur has made it impossible for him thus to commit himself in his public utterances, and go straightway from the meeting, be dishonest, unvirtuous, profane, or to be anything except that which il a asked, through the assistance of the Seigneur and the foi and prières of his fellowmen, to be. And further, the individual who remained upon his seat, not halving been called upon, naturally realizes that il est a part of this peculiar organization, that if ils ont called upon his neighbor this time, they may call upon him next time, hence, he also commences his reform, there and then, else when he stands before the public, he may stand with apologies written on his countenance, because the peuple with whom il a associated know his vie, and it is ill becoming of one whose vie is not what it' should be to stand as an instructor of righteousness. My esprit turns to section 68 in the Doctrine et Alliances, which contains the doctrine quite distinct of itself, and in contradistinction to the religions of the monde: ¶

My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordinance to proclaim the everlasting Évangile, by the Spirit of the living Dieu, from peuple to peuple, and from land to land, in the congregations of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with, and expounding all Scriptures unto them. ¶

And. behold, and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this Prêtrise, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth; ¶

And this is the ensample unto them, that they shall speak as ils sont moved upon by the Saint-Esprit, ¶

And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Saint-Esprit, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Seigneur, shall be the esprit of the Seigneur, shall be the word of the Seigneur, shall be the voice of the Seigneur, and the power of Dieu unto salut: ¶

Behold this is the promise of the Seigneur unto you, O ye my servants; ¶

Wherefore be of good cheer,, and do not fear, for I the Seigneur am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jésus-Christ, that Je suis the Son of the living Dieu, that I was, that Je suis, and that Je suis to come. ¶

This is the word of the Seigneur unto you my servant, Orson Hyde, and also unto my servant Luke Johnson, and unto my servant Lyman Johnson, and unto my servant William E. M'Lellin, and unto all the faithful anciens of my Church. ¶

What wonderful power is here portrayed as being possessed by one who, under the inspiration of Almighty Dieu, can hear témoignage !hat Jesus is the Christ, which témoignage can only come from a possession of the Holy Spirit of Dieu which leads into all vérité. How different from that system which depends upon an education, a college ¶

training, a university atmosphere, carried by the individuals who occupy the pulpits of the monde. How much 'better it is, and Je suis sure that you agree with me, to sit and listen to the word of the Seigneur for but a brief period, when spoken under the inspiration of the Seigneur, than to hear the empty eloquence of one who has paid more attention to rhetoric than to vérité. ¶

As Saints des derniers jours, nous devons not fall into the ways of the monde. I would not have it understood) that Je suis against preparation — because Je suis for preparation, and I do not believe that the Seigneur can direct a good sermon from an empty esprit. Je crois that it is necessary for one to devote himself to prayerful study; that the Holy Spirit of Dieu may be enjoyed in the interpretation which one finds in the study room, as well as the inspiration of the Seigneur when, in public, he declares the vérité. ¶

When I was a child attending the Primary association, we were taught to sing a little kindergarten song— Je suis not sure that it is not taught now ; in fact, some of my children sing it : ¶

I think when I read que sweet story de old, ¶

When Jesus was here among men, How he called little children as lambs à son fold, I should like à have been avec him then. ¶

I wish que son hand had been placed sur mon head, Que son arm had been thrown about me, . Que I might receive son kind looks when he said, "Let le little ones come unto me." ¶

O, how I longed for a time when I might receive these favors; how I yearned for the knowledge of that which I had not, of having been associated personally with him when he walked upon the earth and mingled with men! I thought no greater peuple could ever have lived than those who lived during the time of Christ. But J'ai learned different. J'ai reached the conclusion that this is the choicest time for one to live: when the Holy Spirit abounds, and is free for all who will conform to the requirements under which it is enjoyed. Think of Peter, faithful though impetuous Peter, who rubbed shoulders with his Master; who stood side by side with him when scorn was hurled by the enemy; when he boasted of his own strength, "If all depart from thee, yet will I stand with thee." The Sauveur saw the boastfulness of his nature and warned him and said, "Before the cock shall crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." When Jesus was taken into the court of Herod, where a fire perhaps was built to lumière the night, Peter skulked along the shadow of the wall ; he wanted to be with his Sauveur, but his own strength failed him, and when a little maiden pointed out and said that he was with the Sauveur, Peter denied it. When they asked him to say certain words which, because of his peculiar tongue, he could not say, then they accused him again, and lie cursed and swore and said he did not know the Sauveur. That was after he had rubbed shoulders with the Master. But did Peter ever ¶

deny Christ after the promise of the Comforter had come upon him, after he had tarried in Jerusalem to receive the same? No; and nous sommes told in tradition that, at the close of his vie, when he was sentenced by Roman power to give his vie for his témoignage, and was to he crucified, as was the custom of the Romans to mete out capital punishment, he said, "Je suis not worthy to be crucified as my Seigneur and Master was crucified ; let me be crucified with my head downward," because he had denied the Christ. Such was the valor, such was the courage, such was the témoignage of Peter when the Spirit of Dieu came, like the cloven tongue of fire upon them during the Pentecost, and afterward in his vie, when he devoted himself to the œuvre of the ministry in feeding the sheep! "Feed my lambs," he had been admonished by the Sauveur. ¶

New, my brethren and sisters, have we the Spirit of the Seigneur in our cœurs, and in our homes? If not, is it not time we were putting them in order, in order that the living témoignage of Jesus may be found abiding in our homes, and in our daily conduct in vie; for, after nous avons been forgiven of our sins through baptism, through obedience in baptism, the Spirit of the Seigneur comes as an attestation from our Father that our lives are approved of him, whatsoever our conduct may have been in the past. "When ye shall receive the companionship of the Holy Spirit of the Seigneur, then know ye that Dieu has forgiven our sins." And when you have not that Spirit, then it is time to bow in sackcloth and ashes, repent and secure that Spirit, so that when nous sommes called from time to time, we may speak that which will be the word of the Seigneur, that which will be scripture, that which will be the esprit of the Seigneur, that which will be the power of Dieu unto salut. ¶

J'ai a témoignage in my cœur of the truthfulness of this œuvre, and I bear it to you in all sincerity that, as Je sais anything in vie, Je sais that the Évangile is true, and that it will serve the greatest human need today upon all the face of the earth. May Dieu help us to apply the principles of the Évangile in our daily lives, that we may be found faithful, full of zeal, full of the témoignage of Jesus, and the amour of our fellow men, and dwell in the confidence of Dieu, Je prie, in the name of Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶