The Immortality of Individual Identity and the Resurrection

Harmony in the Church— Spread of the Gospel— Seeds Sown in Time Will Bear Fruit in Eternity.— Individual Identity Immortal.— Godhead of Jesus Christ.— The Atonement— Faithfulness in Adversity as in Prosperity. ¶

This is a magnificent sight viewed from this upper stand. To see so many noble countenances upturned, expressive of devotion and faith and a desire to be instructed, places a person occupying this position in a state of anxiety, to some extent. I believe this has been felt by all our brethren who have stood up before the congregations during this conference to speak in the name of the Lord. We feel that a great responsibility rests upon us. The task might not be so great if we were in the habit of framing discourses to deliver to the public, and coming prepared not only with subjects but with words and phrases to deliver to the congregation, but you, my brethren and sisters, are aware that that is not one of the customs in this Church. We are required, as the servants of the Lord, to treasure up in our hearts continually the words of eternal life, so that we may be prepared when called upon or when necessity requires, to speak that which the Lord shall inspire on the occasion. ¶

I have greatly enjoyed the sessions of this conference, and the discourses that have been delivered, and the reports that have been made. There has been present with us a delightful spirit. We have enjoyed good fellowship and harmony. There has been no discord in the spirits of the men who have spoken to us, nor in the words that they have delivered, but the Spirit of God has borne witness in our hearts to the truth and the importance of that which has been declared to us. We have learned that all things are prospering in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not that we have arrived at perfection in the individuals or in any department of the Church; there is room for improvement in us individually, and in the Church as a whole. But we have learned that Zion is prospering. We have learned that the Gospel is being preached to the world, and that the way is being opened up among the nations of the earth whereby the servants of God may have freedom to go forward and perform their respective missions. We have learned, too, that there has been an increase in the membership of the Church: that although great hosts of people have not come forward to embrace the Gospel, there are some thousands who have been baptized into the Church, and there are a great many others who have been profoundly impressed with the message which has been borne to them. If it were not for the pride of the world, if it were not for the fear of the scoffs and scorn of men, I am fully persuaded that many thousands who have heard the testimony of the Elders would come forward and embrace the Gospel and rejoice with us in its glorious privileges. ¶

The work that is being performed by our brethren who are laboring in the various mission fields is a very important one, and it rests upon all of us Latter-day Saints to do our part in this great missionary cause. When the Church was first organized the word of the Lord came that every man who is warned should warn his neighbor; that the testimony which was given to the Saints should be borne by them for the benefit of others, so that the Gospel might go forward to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. This work rests upon the Latter-day Saints. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel to all the world, and the Lord will open up the way from time to time, and give His servants access to the honest in heart, some of whom will receive their testimonies and come out of the world to be baptized into Christ and become members of His Church upon the earth. And now while we are bearing this testimony and bringing a few into the fold, the seeds that are being sown by the Elders will, in time, bear fruit in a great many directions that do not now appear. Like seed that is sown in the soil, and disappears from view, in the due time of the Lord it will bring forth fruit to His honor and glory. So we must be encouraged in our labors, leaving the result with the Lord; for though Paul may plant, and Apollos may water, it is God who gives the increase. I believe, with all my heart that the testimonies which are being borne by these brethren who have spoken to us and the Elders who are laboring under their direction, will not fall to the ground, but will accomplish a good work in due time. ¶

There are hundreds of thousands who have heard the Gospel in the flesh and through fear or folly have not embraced it, having been afraid to come forward and join themselves with this unpopular people, when they pass away from this stage of being into the spirit world will be prepared to receive it when it is being preached among the spirits that are there. For the work that Christ did after He departed from the flesh and went and preached to the spirits in prison who were disobedient in the days of Noah, will have to be repeated and is being repeated now by the servants of God who have gone behind the veil, and it will be continued by those who shall follow after. While the Saints upon the earth are ministering in the temples that have been reared, and performing the necessary ordinances that pertain to the flesh which cannot be attended to by people in the spirit land, the prophets of the living God, who sealed their testimony with their blood, and their faithful brethren who have followed after them, are now laboring among the people behind the veil that they may be prepared to receive the blessings that shall come to them through the labors of the Saints in the flesh. For in this dispensation of the fullness of times the Lord has promised he will gather together in one all things that are in Him, both in heaven and on the earth, and the work that we are performing now in the flesh in carrying the Gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the earth, and gathering in the upright in heart from all parts of the world, is but a portion of the work of the Latter-day Saints. The powers of the Holy Priesthood which God has revealed are inseparably connected, he has told us, with the powers that are behind the veil. They are working together in harmony, and the time will come and it is not far distant, when the veil will be taken away which separates us from our brethren who have gone before, and we will work with them, and they with us. We will be in perfect harmony; and the Priesthood behind the veil will reveal to the Priesthood in the flesh, in the holy Temples of God where these conversations will take place, the names of those for whom we must officiate which we cannot obtain by the means now at our command. This is the Lord's work, and it is not only going on here in the flesh, but it is going on in the world behind the veil among the spirits that have departed. Every man who has been called to hold the Priesthood should endeavor to qualify himself for the work that lies before him, both that which he will be called to do while he dwells in the body, and that which he will have to perform when he goes out of the body; for it is a fact that when we go away from here we will take with us that which we have spiritually. That intelligence which we gain, that knowledge of principle, that fellowship we have with the heavens, that Holy Priesthood which we bear, that divine spirit by which we have been inspired, and all the powers that we have gained in being exercised in the duties of the Holy Priesthood, will be strength and power and might to us when we depart from the body and are delivered from the weakness of mortality, and called to labor in the world of spirits. The same authority, the same power, the same intelligence, the same experiences that we have had here we will have there. We will not leave any of it with our bodies to be dropped down in the grave. Another thing: if we are not diligent, if we are dilatory, if we are negligent, if we do not prize this authority that the Lord has sent down out of Heaven in the last days for us to use for the salvation of the souls of men, we shall not be wafted into light, intelligence, power, and glory when we go out of the body, but will merely carry with us that which we have when we drop our bodies. Therefore every man holding the Priesthood should endeavor to qualify himself for the work of the ministry, in time and in eternity, so that we may labor under the direction of the Captain of our salvation until redemption shall come to all the race, and "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, to the glory of God the Father." ¶

In the opening remarks made by President Smith, he stated that we were building up this Church to Jesus Christ. That is a very important point for us to keep in mind, in view of the fact that the trend of modern religious thought is in the direction of holding up Jesus of Nazareth simply as a great man and wise teacher. This idea has been preached right here in Salt Lake City; it is being preached in all the great cities of the land, that Jesus is to be looked upon as a model man, and great teacher, but not in any sense the Son of God in the way He is proclaimed in the Scriptures. All those expressions concerning His being one of the Godhead are spiritualized, and the trend of modern thought in the religious world, as I have said, is in the direction of placing Jesus of Nazareth on the plane of mortality. It was proclaimed in this city not long ago that Jesus died like any other man, or simply as a martyr; that he was put to death, and died because he could not live any longer, and he was the embodiment of righteousness and truth, and in that way, and that way alone, He was the way, the truth, and the light. ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, the Lord has revealed something concerning the personality of Jesus of Nazareth and what he stands for, and our relationship to him. We frequently bear testimony concerning Joseph the Prophet, as we ought to do, for we should "praise the man who communed with Jehovah," and whom "Jesus anointed as prophet and seer;" but when we bear testimony that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God we do in effect proclaim the truth that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way and the Truth, and that only by and through Him can we approach the Father. That is the great doctrine for which Joseph Smith stood, and lived, and died as a martyr. In the beginning, the Father and the Son appeared to him in that grove which Brother George Albert Smith was talking about this morning, where the company that went to dedicate the monument to the Prophet met and sang the song of Joseph's first vision. The Father and the Son appeared to Joseph, and the Father, pointing to the Son, said: "This is My beloved Son, hear Him." He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and He is the light of the world. He was in the beginning with the Father. You can read it in this Book of Doctrine and Covenants. I will not turn to it now, but you read the 76th section, in which the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon tell us that they beheld the Father, seated upon His throne, and Jesus Christ, His Son, by His side; and they bear witness — the last witness of Him — that they saw Him in the heavenly vision, and they learned that "By Him and through Him, and of Him the worlds were made, and the inhabitants thereof were begotten sons and daughters unto God." ¶

In the Book of Mormon we read from the words of Jesus Christ Himself to the people on this continent, to whom He appeared after His resurrection, that He is the Savior of the world; that He was with the Father in the beginning; that by Him the worlds were framed, and that He came at the time appointed and died for the sins of the world, that all who believed in Him and obeyed His Gospel might obtain eternal life. The same things are revealed in Sec. 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Jesus Christ says there, "Behold I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the first born." He proclaimed this Himself, in this revelation; and all through the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants and in the Book of Mormon, the great truth is proclaimed that that person who was known as Jesus of Nazareth, who was born at Bethlehem, who was cradled in a manger, who was brought up as the son of Joseph, the carpenter, and when he became 30 years of age was baptized in the Jordan, and who after the ministry of about three and a half years, was put to death, was in very deed the Son of God, and that he was in the beginning with the Father. When God said "Let us make man in our own image, and after our own likeness," He spoke to His beloved Son, who is called in the New Testament the "first begotten," "the beginning of the creation of God." Read the first chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews where the great truth is proclaimed by the Apostle, that "God who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake unto the fathers in times past by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." It goes on to tell that after he had purged us from our sins by His atonement, He ascended to the heavens and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. This is the truth that we have to proclaim to the world. That Jesus of Nazareth is one of the Holy Trinity. In the words of the Apostle John, which are repeated here in the Doctrine and Covenants from the mouth of Christ Himself, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is God. "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." That is the testimony of John. And Jesus Himself bore testimony to the Prophet Joseph Smith, that this is the truth, and that he is the Word, and the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. ¶

In proclaiming this Gospel of the Kingdom to the world we are proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus, the good tidings and glad news that Jesus was the Messiah, that He is the Son of God, that as He built up the Church when He was upon the earth in the flesh, so He has built up His Church anew in the last days, because after the death of His apostles, darkness came into the world, and apostasy from the truth, and the Priesthood was taken away, but He has restored it, and He is at the head of this Church. Every one of these revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, one or two of which we have heard read this afternoon, have come from Him. It is the voice of Jesus Christ to Joseph the Prophet, and to others who are spoken of here. He is our living head. We worship God in his name, and all the ordinances that are performed in this Church are done in the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. When He died He did not die as we do; for He declared himself: "No man taketh My life. I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again. And this commandment I have received of My Father." So when Christ died He voluntarily laid down His life for His brethren; and greater love hath no man than this. ¶

We sang at the opening of the services this afternoon "Worthy the Lamb." Yes, indeed, praise, and honor, and glory, and power will be unto the Lamb forever and ever. But when He comes again it will not be as a Lamb, although He is still without blemish and without spot — the spotless Lamb of God — but He will come as the King of kings, to sit on the throne of His ancestor David, and to rule and reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth. He will come in triumph, and in power, and the kingdom will be built up to Him, and the people will be prepared for His coming through the ordinances which He has revealed and the spirit which He is pouring out. He will come "the second time without sin unto salvation." We are building up this Church to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who died for us that we might be redeemed from the effects of the fall; that as through the transgression of our first parents' death came into the world, which is the wages of sin, so by the perfect righteousness and atonement and voluntary death of our Redeemer we shall all be raised from the dead, every one of Adam's race, and appear before the Judgment Seat, and give an account of our own acts. By faith in Jesus Christ, and obedience to His Gospel, we shall be cleansed from our sins, and by repentance and baptism they shall be blotted out through the atonement and good works of Jesus our Redeemer and Savior of the world. These simple truths should be impressed and stamped upon every soul in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We worship the Father in His name. We bow to Him. The priesthood that we hold is a priesthood after the order of the Son of God. We minister in His name. We minister by the power and influence which He has sent down from the heavens. Joseph Smith the prophet was His servant, His mouthpiece, and he received from Jesus Christ all the light, intelligence, and truth there is manifested in the records that we have. ¶

I wish to bear my testimony to this congregation that Jesus Christ is still with His people, with His priesthood, with His servants upon whom He has conferred authority to minister in His name. Every key of power and authority given to the Prophet Joseph Smith has been handed down to his successors, and is now vested in the man who stands at our head, President Joseph F. Smith, who is the lawful successor of his ancestor, and who is clothed with the power and authority of his calling. The Lord is with him, and His power is around about him; and when the Lord Jesus Christ desires to make any thing more manifest for the government of His church (for this is His church) He will reveal it through His servant who is appointed for that purpose. His spirit permeates the whole church, and all of the people receive of it according to their faith and their faithfulness, their diligence, and their persistence in seeking after it. There are some of my brethren and sisters, I am sorry to say, who are not diligent in seeking after these things. The Lord is near unto every one of us, for in Him we live, and move, and have our being. We can seek Him; we can ask and receive; we can seek and find; we can knock and the door will be opened to us; and every comfort and blessing pertaining to the everlasting Gospel enjoyed at any period of the world's history can be enjoyed today. But they must be sought after by the prayer of faith, and by diligence, obedience, and by being in harmony with Jesus Christ our living head. His spirit will permeate the Church. His spirit will prompt His people if they will be obedient to His laws. These prophecies which Brother John Henry Smith read to us this afternoon from the fifty-ninth section of the "Doctrine and Covenants" are of great importance, and there are blessings promised predicated upon obedience to these laws. Read what the Lord has promised to us if we will keep these commandments. There will indeed be blessings not a few, and revelations in the time thereof; for God is a God of revelation, and His spirit is a spirit of revelation, and He and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost do not change. They are the same yesterday, today, and forever; and they are not afar off. They do not count distance as we do. We can ask and receive, and while we are asking we can be receiving. The time is to come, according to ancient prophecy, when before we have done asking we shall receive, because we shall be brought into such close harmony with the powers that are on high. This is what we need in our homes; to have the spirit of Christ in our hearts, to be kind, forebearing and charitable, to love one another, to seek to bless all mankind and not curse, and to be patient. When we are reviled against, when our enemies speak evil of us, when they try to do us injury, we should possess our souls in patience and wait for the Lord to move. Those who will not repent we should leave in His hands. We have no desire to do injury to any living being. I know that this is the spirit of Christ, and that we should cherish it. We should not desire to curse or to retaliate, but to bless and to do good, to build up and not to destroy. If we will seek for this spirit, realizing that Christ is our living head, and that our brethren who are called to labor in our midst are His servants, and we are all building up a church to Christ and should pattern after Him in all His perfections as far as we can, peace will be in our minds and in our hearts, and the power of God will be upon the elders in carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and the Lord will bear them up and bring them off more than conquerors. ¶

While thinking about the great blessings we are enjoying, the splendid condition of the Church, financially and spiritually, the means that are being employed for the extension of the work and for providing employment, the thought came to my mind, supposing it were not so; supposing that instead of our hearing these comforting and encouraging reports and learning how the work is prospering, and spreading forth, and on what solid foundations the Church is being reared, and how everything is smiling and pleasant, we should hear another story — that clouds were coming over us, that it was a day of trial, a day of temptation, a day when we are to be proven, a day when it would seem almost as though the Lord had forsaken us, like it was with Jesus when He was nailed to the cross. "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me," was His cry. Not that God had forsaken Him, but He left Him to bear the brunt, that He might feel the pain, that He might understand the anguish, that He might comprehend how people feel when they are in sorrow, that He might be touched with a feeling for our infirmities, because He bore the pains of us all. Supposing that we should be in such a condition, should we falter, should we fail, should we shrink? No, my brethren and sisters, we should stand firm in the liberty wherewith God has made us free. We should stand in our lot and place. We should be ready to labor for Zion, to carry the Gospel forth to the nations of the earth, to labor at home, to do anything and everything that we can, in joy or in sorrow, in prosperity or in adversity, in times that are good and times that appear to be bad. We should always be on hand, in season and out of season, ready to perform our duty to the very best of our ability; and if we will do that God will fight our battles. And if clouds do arise and sometimes difficulties and barriers appear to be raised in our way, God has the power and will exercise it to sweep them out of our path. "Zion will rise and shine, and the glory of God will be seen upon her, and kings will come to her light, and gentiles to the brightness of her rising," as the prophets of old have predicted. The Lord has to do with those things that are temporal as well as those that are spiritual; for He has declared that "for brass He will bring gold, and for stones iron, and for iron He will bring silver," and He will beautify Zion and cause her to shine and be made glorious. He will convert unto her the abundance of the riches of the earth; for they are all the Lord's, and the Lord has an interest in the earth He has made. He fashioned it, He made it with His hands. As we sing sometimes, "His hands prepared the dry land; the sea is His and He made it." The cattle upon a thousand hills are His, and the fullness of the earth and the precious things (as we look upon them) are His, and He can convert them and will do it to our good when we are ready to use them properly. The Lord is in the temporal as well as in the spiritual things of His kingdom, and will be if we keep His commandments and seek to sanctify them in His service. That is the point. As with Him, all things will be spiritual to us, if we use them to the glory of God and the benefit of our fellow creatures. ¶

I rejoice with all my soul in the midst of this congregation this afternoon. I have spent many years in this glorious ministry, and the Lord has blessed me, strengthened and supported me, and has prolonged my days. All I am, and all I have are His, and I desire to devote them still to His service, to labor for the salvation of mankind, the living and the dead; to work under the direction of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and His servants whom He has appointed to minister for Him. I praise Him with all my soul this afternoon for His mercies. I magnify His holy name. I bear my testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, and that through Him and by Him the worlds were made, and through Him and by Him they will be redeemed, and light and truth will prevail and darkness and evil will be overcome. Satan will be bound and mankind will be redeemed from his thrall; the Christ will reign over the earth, and those who are true and faithful unto Him will reign with Him in glory. May the peace and blessing of God abide with us all, for Christ's sake. Amen. ¶