The Love of God

Brethren and sisters, in arising to address you for a few minutes, I trust that I may be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, that I may be led to say something that will benefit the Latter-day Saints who are here present and build us up in our faith. ¶

I will read the 21st verse of the 14th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John: ¶

"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." ¶

This promise holds good in our day and time, although it was uttered many centuries ago. Still, we profess to have the same authority as the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the same Gospel as preached by them, even the power of God unto salvation. This being the case, there is no Latter-day Saint, no matter what degree of Priesthood he may hold, no matter what his standing may be, if he be in the Church of Christ and is faithful and keeps the commandments of the Lord, but what has this promise vouchsafed unto him: That the Father will manifest Himself to him; and this can be done in a very great variety of ways. ¶

I believe that there is no Latter-day Saint, that has any interest in the Church of Christ, but what has been ¶

led to marvel at the peculiar workings of destiny in connection with the Latter-day Saints, as a people. There is no one that has been an observer of the history of this people that can help but acknowledge that there is something supernatural or superhuman connected with the development of the latter-day work. In every instance where the people have observed certain commandments given to them, they have always received the promises connected therewith, and where they have not kept those commandments, God has poured out His judgments upon them for their disobedience. Every Latter-day Saint should be interested in the work of the Lord and seek to obtain for himself or herself a testimony concerning this work, for the evidences of its divinity are so abundant that if we strive to any degree at all to know of the truthfulness of this great latter-day work, we may know whether or not it is of God or of man. Sometimes we may ask ourselves the question, Is Lorenzo Snow a Prophet of the Living God? Is he the mouthpiece of God upon the earth? Do we believe it? Do we believe that he is authorized to say "Thus sayeth the Lord?" I believe and know that he is and that he possesses all the authority necessary to constitute him the mouthpiece of the Lord upon the earth. If we believe this we will be very anxious to follow his teachings, and we will be very anxious to be connected with the Church of Jesus Christ, that we may know and that God the Eternal Father may know which master we list to obey, for we have been told that his servants are we whom we list to obey. If we list to obey God the Eternal Father we will be His servants, and we will be desirous for the establishment of the work of the Lord upon the earth and to see it grow and increase, and we will love righteousness and hate iniquity. ¶

As Latter-day Saints, I feel that we ought to stand closely together in this day and time when it appears as though persecution would again be waged against us. It is a warning to us to stand more closely together. We ought to be a people who believe in supporting one another and the king- ¶

dom of God. We ought not, as we have done in the past in many instances, furnish the gold and silver to forge the instruments that are aimed at our lives, the lives of this people, as a community. Very often we have, through our patronage and support, built up men and institutions that have afterwards used every means in sending out falsehoods regarding this people, and that have done everything they could to bring persecution upon the Saints. I feel this is wrong, that we ought not to do it. I think that the Latter-day Saints, as a rule, do not fully comprehend what they are doing in this regard. It is true that we desire to do business with all honorable men. But I want to say to the Latter-day Saints that if this people would withdraw their support from those men, institutions and agencies, and from those papers that send out falsehoods about this people and the citizens of this state, they would not be able to live. It is the support which the Latter-day Saints give these agencies that maintains them. Therefore, I say that we feed the instruments that are intended to be used against us, and that are used against us. I think we should reflect more upon these things. In many of our settlements the Saints have given their patronage and support to men who have come into their midst and fleeced them, and who have then turned around and used those very means against them. This should be a warning to the Latter-day Saints that they ought to try and support themselves and their own institutions, to build up one another and be more united in the future than they have been in the past. ¶

I feel anxiously engaged in the work of the Lord. I desire above all things upon the face of the earth to enjoy the spirit of the Apostleship of the Lord Jesus Christ, that I might labor for the bringing about of the salvation of the sons and daughters of God upon the face of the earth. This is the work of God, the Eternal Father. It is not the work of man, and we do not need to be very much concerned with regard to the outcome of this people. We need not be agitated on account of the efforts ¶

being made for their overthrow. If we do our duty as individuals the Lord will take care of the rest. We have had no occasion in the past to worry regarding the final outcome of this community. The Lord has always brought to naught the plans that have been laid and devised for the destruction of this people by our enemies, and He will do the same in the future, if we will hold together and not allow ourselves to be led off and to mix up too much with our enemies. Of course, we welcome all good citizens. "We love all good citizens in this city and state and upon the face of the earth, who delight in telling the truth, but we have not yet learned to love those that tell falsehoods and that seek to destroy our influence in the nation. I suppose we ought to love them, according to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we have not perfected ourselves to that degree yet. ¶

I pray God to bless you and to teach us and fill us with His Holy Spirit continually, that we may so live, by keeping the commandments of God, the Eternal Father, that we may ever know for ourselves, whenever anything is enacted for the Church as a whole, whether it is of the Lord or not, and not set up our own ideas against the plans of the Lord. It is the right of every Latter-day Saint, who is living in accordance to the commandments of the Lord, to know of the truthfulness, correctness and righteousness of every enactment that is made by the Church of Christ, for we believe in revelation. We believe that God will manifest these things unto us, not simply to those who stand at the head of the Church, but to all the members of the Church of Christ. It is our privilege to know and understand whether anything that is done by the Church is right or not, if we are living in accordance with the commandments of the Lord. ¶

I pray the Lord to bless you, and may He fill our hearts with His peace. May we realize more in the future than we have ever done in the past the necessity of laboring continually for the establishment of righteousness and the building up of God's kingdom and work upon the face of the earth. May we so live that we may share in the blessings which God the Eternal Father has ¶

promised to those that love Him and keep His commandments. I ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶