The Increasing Light of Testimony

I trust, my brethren and sisters, that in the effort I may put forth in attempting to address you this afternoon we may be mutually blessed with a rich outpouring of the Spirit of God, for by and with his aid I may be able to say something that will be mutually beneficial to the speaker and the hearers. ¶

The Gospel with which we have become identified is the power of God unto salvation to every human being who will adopt its principles, and conform their lives to its requirements. For this purpose the Elders of the Church have left their homes, and traversed sea and land in order to reach the people with their message of salvation that the Lord has committed to us. Wherever mankind has been greeted with the sound of the everlasting Gospel, they have been called upon to repent of their sins and turn from the error of their ways. Where they have done so in faith, nothing doubting, the Spirit of God has carried conviction to their hearts. On rendering obedience to the requirements of the Gospel, we do not expect a complete understanding of it will come to us at once, but we will receive a little here and a little there until our minds are fully satisfied in relation to the matter. But a testimony of the truth of it is carried to our hearts when we hear it. ¶

I remember hearing a man give his experience in regard to the testimony of the truth which he had received. He was traveling, and had stopped at a hotel where an Elder of the Church had engaged to speak, in that hotel, that night. This man was sitting in the room; and as soon as the Elder began to spread out his books, prepared to address the people, the Spirit of the Lord bore testimony to him, before the Elder had opened his mouth, that that man was a servant of God, and that the message that he bore was the truth, was the everlasting Gospel. The brother that bore this testimony lived to an exceedingly ripe age, and never lost that testimony. When we arise in the morning, if we are up early enough, we see the morning star, and after a little while see a little streak of light, showing that day is dawning; and as we remain and watch it we see it increase until light fills the earth, and the sun in its magnificence comes forth, casting its rays upon the face of the earth. It is just so in relation to this Gospel that we have received. We receive a little light here, and we render obedience to its requirements, repenting of our sins, manifesting our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, going down and being baptized for the remission of our sins; then receive the imposition of the hands of the servants of God for the reception of the Holy Ghost, which begins to open our understandings. As we conform to the laws that the Lord has revealed for the guidance of His people, the light increases in our minds until we have received a fullness, and the hope of eternal life has become so strong in our hearts that we can withstand anything, and our testimony remains undimmed. ¶

I bear testimony to the people here assembled that I know the Gospel to be true. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and so have been the various servants of the Lord who have presided over the Church from the days of the Prophet Joseph until the present time. They have been legally called to those positions, and have been the right men in the right place to direct the affairs of this Church. This work has only just fairly begun, although this is the eightieth year since the organization of the Church. Its destiny has only fairly begun in the midst of the nations; eventually every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ to the honor and glory of God. ¶

I do not desire to occupy more of your time, but merely add that I rejoice in this conference. The more I become familiar with them, the more beauty I can see in the principles of the Gospel. As we become conversant with them, we will find that they are applicable to every condition of life. No condition can be found in which a person will not find these principles applicable. May the Lord bless His people, and prosper His work. May He comfort the minds of His Saints under the bereavement that has just come upon them in the death of our beloved President John R. Winder. May we live and see Zion progress and prosper in the earth, the power of evil be done away, and righteousness fill the earth as the waters fill the mighty deep; through Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶