Jésus étant venu dans le territoire de Césarée

[FR] When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying: ¶

[FR] "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? ¶

[FR] "And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist ; some Elias ; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. ¶

[FR] "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? ¶

[FR] "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." ¶

If the Lord will give me help, mes frères et sœurs, I desire to make this scripture which I have read the basis of the brief remarks that I am to make this morning. Never before have I more profoundly felt my own weakness and utter dependence upon the Lord. Facing this great congregation of Saints des Derniers Jours, which appears to me possibly the greatest ever assembled in the history of the Église, I am overcome with emotion, which leaves me in a very dependent frame of mind. ¶

[FR] I have prepared and must necessarily refer briefly to notes which I have, because I desire in a few minutes to take you over a long trail, a winding trail, which will lead us back a hundred years. ¶

Fundamental Doctrines

The scripture which I have read, uttered by the Redeemer of the world, so often quoted and expounded before congregations of Christian people, contains fundamental doctrines with which the members of the Église should be thoroughly familiar. The question propounded was a very simple one : "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am ?" The answer is equally simple, where definite information or knowledge is lacking : "Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Jeremias or Elias, or one of the prophets." But Peter made a definite and direct answer : "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Then said the Redeemer to him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. * * * Thou art Peter, and upon this rock (the rock of revelation) I will build my Église, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." ¶

[FR] And continuing, he said to Peter : "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." ¶

Upon the Principle of Revelation

A thoughtful study of these words reveals these great truths : First, that it is possible that knowledge not previously possessed may come from God our Father to his children who are here upon earth. It is probably true that Peter himself did not understand the direct source from which the impulse that prompted his answer had come, but this scripture makes it plain that it came from God our Father, who spoke to him through the influence, or whisperings, of the Saint-Esprit. ¶

Another important truth which this scripture reveals is that the means of communication between our Father who is in heaven and his children who are here upon earth, is the Holy Spirit of God, the Saint-Esprit, communicated to us through the precious gift of revelation. ¶

The Église of Jésus-Christ of Saints des Derniers Jours is to be built upon this principle of revelation. ¶

[FR] Another very important thing which is definitely implied by these words spoken by the Redeemer of the world is that the keys which were bestowed upon Peter, when in the possession of any other man, as they were in the possession of Peter, confer upon him the authority to bind upon earth and it shall be bound in heaven ; to loose upon earth and it shall be loosed in heaven. ¶

Questions which are of vital importance, and in which this principle or doctrine of revelation is directly involved, have come to the Église from the time of its organization until the present. They are constantly being introduced and discussed, many of which, unless properly understood and defined, lead to confusion and misunderstanding. ¶

A Temple Building Church

It is to one of these questions that I desire to confine my remarks this morning. I refer to the propaganda which is being so industriously circulated among members of the Église, in favor of the immediate construction of a temple at Independence, in Jackson county, Missouri. ¶

The Église of Jésus-Christ of Saints des Derniers Jours is a temple-building Église. Among the very first commandments that were given to the Église was the word of the Lord in regard to the building of temples; and we are told in the revelation that its members are always expected to do this in order that the house of the Lord may be erected, and a place properly prepared where the ordinances of his house may be administered in the manner in which he designs that they should be. ¶

In the early history of the Église, a temple was erected at Kirtland, Ohio, the first to be dedicated to the Lord in this dispensation. Prior to that time, however, the Lord had revealed to the Église that the center stake of Zion was to be established in Jackson county, Missouri. I desire to read the revelation which refers to this, and which is contained in the eighty-fourth section of the Doctrine et Alliances : ¶

"A revelation of Jésus-Christ unto his servant, Joseph Smith, Jr., and six elders, as they united their hearts and lifted their voices on high. ¶

"Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his Église, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion, which shall be the city of New Jerusalem. ¶

[FR] "Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the state of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased. ¶

[FR] "Verily, this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the Saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation. ¶

[FR] "For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house." ¶

Period of Persecution

All of you, mes frères et sœurs, who are familiar with the history of the Église know that after the gathering of numbers of its members to the state of Missouri, persecution developed which became so intense and unbearable that they were not permitted to remain there. During the period of these persecutions excavations were made at Far West in Missouri, and the corner stone laid there, with the intention of erecting a temple at that place, but because of persecution the work proceeded no farther. ¶

[FR] The people were finally driven from the state. Many were put to death. Many were imprisoned, and property of inestimable value was confiscated. ¶

Driven from Missouri, members of the Église migrated to the state of Illinois, where they found temporary asylum and peace. It was nine years after the revelation from which I have just read was given that the Lord commanded the Église to proceed immediately to erect a temple at Nauvoo, Illinois. Before this building was entirely completed, opposition to the Église again developed. Persecution became more intense, perhaps, than ever before. Men were placed under arrest, charged with sedition, murder, and other kindred offenses — not one of which was ever proved to be true — with the result, as you all know, that the members of the Église were again driven from their homes, and under the leadership of Brigham Young, turned their faces westward, in the hope that they might find peace and the opportunity to worship the Lord as their consciences dictated, here in the valleys of these mountains. Brigham Young, having become the leader of the Église, it was under his presidency that the migration across the plains was successfully carried out. ¶

Just as definitely as the Église was commanded to make Jackson county, Missouri, the gathering place of the Saints, and to erect a temple there in this generation, upon which a cloud should rest by day, so does he, in this scripture which I have read, release them from that responsibility. And he says further : ¶

[FR] "This I make an example unto you, for your consolation concerning all those who have been commanded to do a work and have been hindered by the hands of their enemies, and by oppression, saith the Lord your God." ¶

[FR] After the arrival of the pioneers in this valley one of the first important acts of the President was to designate a spot for the erection of a temple, upon the block where we are now assembled, work upon which was immediately commenced and prosecuted until the structure was finished and dedicated, and has for many years been in operation. ¶

Various Factions

At the time of the exodus of the Église from Nauvoo, Illinois, many of its members remained behind, among them the family, of the Prophet. Sidney Rigdon, the man who had dedicated the spot in Missouri where the city of Zion and temple were to be reared, a close friend of Joseph Smith, and at one time his counselor in the Presidency, retired to Pittsburgh, where he gathered around him a small congregation, and organized a Église after the pattern of the Église at Nauvoo. The movement, however, was an entire failure, and it was but a short time until his congregation left him and scattered. ¶

James J. Strang, another man of great influence and power in the Église, claiming that Joseph Smith had designated him to be his successor in the Presidency, led away a considerable number of people to Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan, where he organized a Église and sent his missionaries to Great Britain and other parts of the world. He was finally anointed king, by his congregation, and reigned as a king until finally his administration became unbearable, and he was killed by one of the members of his own congregation. ¶

Lyman Wight, a man of influence in the Église, gathered together a small body of these people who remained behind, and established himself in Texas, where for a time he held a small congregation together. But like all the others, it was only a short time until there was dissolution and he was left alone. ¶

It was from the members of these different congregations, brought together under the leadership of Joseph Smith, the son of the prophet, that the Église known as the Reorganized Église of Jésus-Christ of Saints des Derniers Jours was formed. This denomination is still in existence. ¶

Hedrickites or Church of Christ

The matter to which I desire to call particular attention relates to the small congregation of people known as Hedrickites. In 1851 Granville Hedrick and Daniel Judy, both of whom had been regularly ordained elders in the Église, began to preach the Évangile as they understood it. They gathered around them a number of converts. They rejected the doctrine of plural marriage, the doctrine of baptism for the dead, and practically all of the revelations given to the Église through Joseph Smith after 1834, declaring that from that time forward he had been a fallen prophet. These people, in 1864, removed to Jackson county, Missouri, and soon after, by purchase, acquired a small portion of the tract of land which was originally known as the temple block. The tract of land purchased by Edward Partridge, and which was designated as the temple block, consisted of some 63 acres. This had been subdivided and sold, so that the Hedrickites acquired only about three acres of the original tract, which they now hold. ¶

By the addition of numbers of people who have dissented from the Reorganized Église and others, the numbers of the Hedrickites have recently been considerably increased. They have now organized themselves into a Église which they call the Église of Christ. ¶

Soliciting Aid

It is a well known fact to many of you that these people have sent out their agents, who have recently visited many of the wards of the Église in the stakes of Zion that are in Utah, Arizona, California, Idaho and in other places. The message which they bring to us is this : that the Lord has revealed to them that the time has come when the temple is to be erected upon the temple lot at Jackson county, that this scripture which I have read, from section 84 of the Doctrine et Alliances, may be fulfilled, because they call attention to the fact that the generation which lived at the time that the revelation was given has about passed away. They have been to us. They have come to our office soliciting aid. They would like us to assist them in building a temple. In other words, they would like us to become a part of their organization, not to direct it, not to control it, but to act in harmony with it. ¶

A House But Not a Temple

My frères et sœurs, with all good feeling toward these people, which we have always had, and always manifested, you will readily understand the impossibility of such a coalition. It is true that a house may be erected upon that tract of ground in this generation, but it will not be a temple erected to the name of the Lord and accepted by him, until the time comes when he shall speak through the proper channel, and the work be accomplished by his recognized Église. ¶

The Purpose of a Temple

[FR] I asked these people what they would do with the temple if they had one. What would a temple be to people who do not believe in baptism for the dead? The first great purpose, when the Lord commanded the building of the temple at Nauvoo, was that a proper place might be provided for the administration of the ordinances of the house of the Lord in behalf of our dead ; and the Lord told us plainly that except we went to and completed that work, that the keys of authority for the administration of these ordinances might be conferred, he would no longer accept the administration of the ordinance of baptism for the dead as we had been administering it. ¶

[FR] Now, in connection with this I desire to call your attention to something which has direct application to it. ¶

Their Offerings Accepted

[FR] At the time that the revelation was given commanding the construction of the Nauvoo temple, which was about ten years after the one from which I have read, the Lord makes this plain and definite statement : ¶

[FR] "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings. ¶

[FR] "Therefore, for this cause have I accepted the offerings of those whom I commanded to build up a city and a house unto my name, in Jackson County, Missouri, and were hindered by their enemies, saith the Lord, your God." ¶

It reveals to us this great truth, that God does not require at the hands of men the accomplishment of that which is impossible — not impossible to him, but impossible to them. Whether it applies to this particular subject which I am treating, whether it applies to any other law that has been given of the Lord, and which the Église has conscientiously endeavored to carry out and been prevented from doing so by the enactment of civil law which would bring us into direct conflict with the government under which we live, — the Lord holds that in abeyance. ¶

In the Tops of the Mountains

Now, do not understand me to say, mes frères et sœurs, or to infer that Jackson county, Missouri, will not eventually be the gathering place of the saints, that it will not be the place for the erection of the city which shall be known as the New Jerusalem; but it is very definitely certain that it was not the will of the Lord that it should be made the first great gathering place of the members of his Église in this dispensation. Otherwise he would not have brought the people to these valleys of the mountains ; otherwise the words of the prophets of old would not have been fulfilled. Isaiah, long ago, before the birth of the Redeemer of the world, declared, looking into the future, that it should come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house should be established, — not upon the plains of Missouri, nor the rolling hills of Illinois, — but it should be established in the top of the mountains, and should be exalted above the hills, and all nations should flow unto it. Many people should go and say : Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. For what purpose? That we may there be taught his ways and learn to walk in his paths. ¶

From All Parts of the World

If that scripture to which I refer has not been fulfilled by the Église of Jésus-Christ of Saints des Derniers Jours, during the past hundred years, it has not been fulfilled anywhere. Father Jacob, when he laid his hands upon Joseph, his younger son, declared that his heritage had prevailed beyond that of his progenitors. They were given Palestine, but his heritage extended to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills ; to a land shadowed with wings ; to a land rich in gold and silver and the precious things of the earth ; to a land where the gathering of a people would occur, who would make the desert to blossom as the rose ; a land in which cities would be built in what had before been desolate places ; a land in which the voices of children and music would be heard, where before there had been silence and desolation. ¶

As I look at this congregation of Saints des Derniers Jours today I see in it the fulfillment of these words of the prophet. There are gathered here people from all parts of the world. They have come to Zion. They are the sons of Joseph, the heritage to whose race and people was conferred upon his younger son, Ephraim. Oh, it is a wonderful thing, mes frères et sœurs, if we could only understand it. The redemption of Zion is yet to come. ¶

The United Order

I found on my desk yesterday a printed communication from a man, undoubtedly a good man, undoubtedly earnest in what he says, in which he declares himself to be a forerunner of the establishment of the United Order, the law of consecration which was given to the Église. He is a seventy in the Église and in good standing. He makes himself the self-appointed guardian of the Église, a watchman upon the towers of Zion. ¶

The Lord gave us the law of consecration and the United Order, which is the order that God's people must sooner or later obey — I bear testimony to that ; I have tried it ; I know its benefits. It was not a failure on the part of the Église where I resided, but we were evidently not prepared for it. But the Lord told us, as recorded in the Doctrine et Alliances, that this law should be held in abeyance until the time of the redemption of Zion. ¶

The New Jerusalem

I would like to read if you will excuse me for possibly overrunning the time a little — from the Livre de Mormon, something that has a direct bearing upon this subject. These are the words of the Redeemer himself who came and ministered to the Nephite people upon this continent. Speaking of that which was yet far future he says: ¶

[FR] "It shall come to pass that I will establish my people, O house of Israel. ¶

[FR] "And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I have made with your father Jacob. ¶

[FR] "This people" — he was speaking directly to the Nephite people. ¶

[FR] "And it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you." ¶

[FR] Again, in the following chapter, speaking of the people that should inhabit this land, calling them to repentance, he says : ¶

"If they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my Église among them," — which he has done. ¶

[FR] "And they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance. ¶

[FR] "And they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem. ¶

[FR] "And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem. ¶

[FR] "And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst." ¶

The Accomplishment of God's Purposes

What a wonderful conception of the purposes of the Almighty we have, when we come to consider not only the accomplishments of the past century, but that which is still before the Église. The opening of the greatest Évangile dispensation in the history of the world, for it means the consummation of God's work. It means the redemption of his covenant people, the bringing of them together, and their restoration to the promised lands of their fathers. It means that Judah shall return to Palestine, which they are doing. The World War brought about wonderful changes, all looking to the fulfillment of these words of the prophets. It brought Palestine under the protectorate of Great Britain, the heritage of their own people, for Great Britain, the Anglo-Saxon people of the world today, are largely made up of the remnants of the ten tribes of Israel who were carried away captive by Shalmanezer. ¶

[FR] Thus the Lord moves in a mysterious way to accomplish his purposes. We do not always understand them. We do not always understand the end in the beginning, but as we see the gradual development of the Lord's work we come to understand it. ¶

I suppose few people see, in the coming to the United States of Ramsay Macdonald, the prime minister of Great Britain, anything that has particular relationship to the word of God, but I see in it possibilities of wonderful accomplishment. He comes from this British nation, this nation of Christian people, this nation among which Christianity was established while Rome was still a heathen nation, this people who were the first to erect a Christian Église, as far as we are aware ; where from that time to the present the people — speaking of the people at large — have retained their faith in Christ, and according to the light that they have had, have served him. The Lord will use them as his instruments in the bringing about of these mighty purposes, one of the greatest of which is the gathering of these dispersed tribes. ¶

There are a hundred and thirty millions of people in Russia. Who are they? What is their ancestry? Prof. Chwolson of the National Museum at St. Petersburg, has traced more than seven hundred tombs of people that had been buried along the route traveled by the Ten Tribes from the time they left Assyria until they found their way into southern Russia, into the Balkan states, into the British Isles and northern Europe. They are the people from whom the harvest of the Église is being gathered today. ¶

A Significant Thing

An interesting thing that I noted here, to which I wish to call your attention, is that the Livre de Mormon tells us that the Jews shall begin to believe, before the coming of Christ. At a meeting recently held at Hamburg, in Germany, attended by four hundred missionary Jews, it was announced that in Russia alone, during the past seven years since the World War — the World War gave liberty to the Russian people, the most down-trodden, priest-ridden people in the world who profess to be civilized — eight hundred thousand Jews have accepted belief in Jésus-Christ as the Redeemer of Israel. Rather a significant thing, is it not, mes frères et sœurs, if it is true ? ¶

The Mountain of the Lord's House

[FR] I must not continue my remarks. I thought of this hymn which we sang yesterday: ¶

"High on the mountain top, A banner is unfurled; Ye nations now look up ; It waves to all the world. * * * "For God remembers still His promise made of old" He hasn't forgotten it. "That he on Zion's hill Truth's standard would unfold! "His house shall there be reared, His glory to display ; And people shall be heard In distant lands to say: We'll now go up and serve the Lord, Obey His truth, and learn His word." I knew the good man who wrote these verses, inspired by the spirit of prophecy; for he declared just what we are realizing today, not only in behalf of the members of the Église, but thousands of people, who are coming here every year to this Bureau of Information, where they are asking for information regarding the Église of Jésus-Christ of Saints des Derniers Jours; and they are receiving it, information properly given. Its influence is felt in all parts of the world. Away down in Czecho-Slovakia, where President Widtsoe has recently opened a new mission, the influence of this Bureau of Information has made our elders welcome by the government of that country. So the words of Isaiah are being fulfilled ; the mountain of the Lord's house is established in the top of the mountains. That is what we are particularly interested in. ¶

[FR] It has been exalted above the hills, and many people have come here for the purpose of learning the way of the Lord, that they may learn to walk in his paths. ¶

Not Temples of the Lord

God bless you, mes frères et sœurs. Do not allow this question of the building of the temple in Jackson county to worry you. A house may be built by these people to whom I have referred, but it will not be a temple recognized by the living God. One of the first things the Nephite people did, after they landed here, was to erect a temple, and they built it after the pattern of the temple of Solomon. ¶

[FR] They forgot the Lord. They denied him, and became idolaters, even to the offering of human sacrifice. And yet when Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico he found the most magnificent temples there, dedicated to the worship of the Devil, and they acknowledged that they worshipped the Devil, not because they loved him, but because they feared him. They said that he appeared to them in bodily form and instructed them regarding their duties ; and I believe there was something in it, myself. They were temples, but they were not temples that were accepted by the Lord. ¶

There was one small building at Tezcoco, on the shores of the lake, just out from the City of Mexico, in which there was no idol, in which no human sacrifice was offered, which was adorned "with flowers ; and when asked to whom the house was erected, the natives said it was to their Fair God who had visited them and gone away, but had promised that he would return, and they were waiting for him ; that he was a man who taught them peace and love, to abstain from war, to love peace, and help one another. Just a remaining vestige of the Évangile of Christ which was left among that people, and they are looking for the return of Quetzalcoatl. I pray the blessing of the Lord upon you, through Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶